Simple Sentiments: August 2016

Exile for Dreamers by Kathleen Baldwin

Soooooo I started reading Exile for Dreamers two days ago and I'm only halfway through. That's not good. This book should only have taken me two days to finish not to get halfway into it! Exile for Dreamers is the sequel to A School for Unusual Girls which I absolutely LOVED (I give it 4 out of 5 stars), so when I finally started reading this sequel I was very disappointed.

Before I get started with the review I need to let you know what the first book is about.

Goodreads Synopsis:

It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don’t fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle them in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.

After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts…

Alright we finally have that out of the way, lets start this review/rant. Haha! I will tell you there will be spoilers, so if you're planning on reading this book I wouldn't recommend reading this.

*~*~*~*~*~SPOILERS~*~*~*~*~*

Synopsis:

Tess Aubreyson can't run far enough or fast enough to escape the prophetic dreams that haunt her. Her dreams bring nothing but death and grief. Tess refuses to accept that she may be destined for the same madness that destroyed her mother, until her disturbing dreams become the only means of saving Lord Ravencross, the man she loves, and her fellow students at Stranje House. Tess’s old friend, the traitorous Lady Daneska and the Ghost, ruthless leader of the Iron Crown, have returned to England, intent on paving the way for Napoleon’s invasion of England. Can the young ladies of Stranje House prevail once more? Or is England destined to fall into the hands of the power-mad dictator?

Let's start out on a good note! I loved how action packed the beginning of this book was! It starts out with our protagonist, Tess, and her friend, Georgie, who decide to go on a run. (Yes, not the most normal thing for young women of the 1814's). Turns out our "dear friend" Lady Daneska sent some assassins out to kidnap Georgie for her secret formula of invisible ink and to kill Lord Ravencross. We see our heroine stand her ground a try to fight off three assassins to save her friend. After giving it her all, even killing one of the assassins, she gets captured. THEN we see the valiant Lord Ravencross come and save Tess while getting shot. So already it's starts out very nice!
I also really enjoyed the new character Alexander from the United States. He has such a great sense of humor that really lightens up the book. I have a good hunch that one of the students, Lady Jane, will end up falling in love with him which would be fun to see especially since she thinks he has such horrible manners! Haha!

Now for the not so good news. I DID NOT like Tess which made this book even more difficult to read because this was based on her point of view. Tess seems really mean to me. She's so blunt and rude to all of her friends. She speaks her mind even when she knows she shouldn't, she complains constantly, and she's very selfish. I could totally overlook all of this thinking she may change, but what kills me is she SO CRUEL to Lord Ravencross! I mean she's IN LOVE WITH THIS DUDE AND HE ENDS UP PAYING FOR HER TO STAY IN THIS SCHOOL! Could ya be a LITTLE bit nicer?!?!! (I'm sorry I just had to rant there). She also seems really depressing to me. I understand that she has a curse that claims she will die at a young age, but that is literally all she thinks about, (that and how good looking Lord Ravencross is) but she could still try and live life to the fullest!!
What makes everything worse is after that action packed beginning we see that it won't be continued during this book. I kept trying to finish reading this, but I just couldn't stand the narrator and the boring plot. Maybe if I kept reading it might have gotten better, but I've already moved on.

I'm going to give this book 1 out of 5 stars. All in all I would say read the first book, it's worth it, but don't continue with the series. I think it would be a waist of your time.

Have a great rest of your day!

How many of you enjoy shopping? I DO!!!! My good friends Anna and Layne went out with our families to go see a movie and do a bit of shopping in the local bookstore, Page 158 Books. Here are a few pictures of our little adventure. :)

I absolutely love this little shop. It's so quaint! It almost looks like a little coffee shop with all the cute and comfy chairs. Not only is this shop very cute, but it's also very nice to shop in. Everything has a little sign indicating what genre is in that section. It's quite convenient.

The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. This series in on my TBR for this month. :)

Don't you just love these covers? So bright and cheerful!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Anna and I purchased these lovely books today. We were so excited that they had them! I'm hoping to one day own the entire series.