Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

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Publication: 2013

# of Pages: 386

Source: Books-A-Million, Purchased Copy

Favorite Quotes:

  • "You can't be so frightened of what might happen that you are unwilling to act."
  • "Where there are villains, there will be heroes. Just wait. They will come." 
  • "You've got a passion to kill but you need to find passion to live." 
  • "Incredible cosmic powers do not equate with high IQ." 


Goodreads Summary/Blurb:

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills. Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in. He wants Steelheart--the epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying and planning---and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He's seen Steelheart bleed, and he wants revenge.


My Review/Thoughts:

Imagine your favorite superhero: Batman, Superman, Spider-man, Ms. Marvel, etc. Okay, have them in mind? Now picture those same characters as evil power hunSteelheart. With the arrival of this object in the sky called Calamity came the Epics. Epics were once normal people who gain extraordinary powers. This particular novel focuses on a high Epic (indestructible) Steelheart who cruelly rules Newcago (formally the city of Chicago). Enter the glorious David Charleston, the main character dedicated to seeing Steeelheart bleed once more. Along with his fellow members of the Reckoners, David sets out to complete his life long dream of murdering one of the most powerful Epics in this world.
gry individuals set on destroying the world and you have the general premise of Brandon Sanderson's

What was truly amazing about this book was it's fast paced nature and it's crazy plot twist. The ending was not something I saw coming in the least bit. There was never a dull moment and I was particularly fond of getting to know all of the history related to the Epics including their abilities and weaknesses. David kept such an extensive coverage of each Epic that it's clear that he was solely dedicated to his mission. In order to fully appreciate this novel one must appreciate it's character development. David Charleston is probably one of the most light-hearted characters I have read about in a while. He as a unique sense of humor, an awful ability to make metaphors, and an impulsive attitude that is often reckless, but usually saves the group from impending danger. It is his personality that adds a lightness to a rather dark setting.

The only issue I had with this novel was the slight insta-love between David and another character. He gets this overwhelming sense of feelings towards her after knowing her for a few weeks. It was rather awkward and cringe worthy at times; however, I think it'll get better as the series continues. So if you like super heroes with a twist, adventure, action, and intrigue I would definitely recommend checking this novel out.


Rating: 5/5

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20 Harry Potter Cover Variations

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For some reason Harry Potter has been on my brain all day. I've been thinking about the coloring books, re-reading the series for the 7,000th time (okay so I'm exaggerating), listening to the soundtrack, watching the movies, even playing around on Pottermore. So as a result I decided to channel my Harry Potter energy into a post. I saw another blogger do a post on cover variations so I thought I would include 20 Harry Potter cover variations from around the world. Be sure to tell me in the comment section below which one is your favorite or if you have a favorite that I have not included in this post! Enjoy!!


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WWW Wednesday #1

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So I knew I wanted to post something today, but for some reason I had no idea what I wanted to write. I started looking around on some blogs and found a new meme!! This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking On A World of Words. The point of this meme is to answer three questions that all begin with the letter W. The three questions are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading? 
  • What do you think you'll read next? 

So let's go ahead and get started!!



Currently Reading


 As you can see I'm currently reading a variety of books spread across several different genres. The first book that I am currently reading is Firefight by Brandon Sanderson. This is the second book in his Reckoners trilogy which includes a twist on super heroes. I absolutely loved the first book so I definitely needed to jump into this right away. The second book I'm reading is a novella/in-between book of the Addicted series by Krista & Becca Ritchie. This series is a group of new adult books that I discovered on recommendation from another reader. I actually really liked the first book as it takes a heart-breaking and breath-taking perspective on addiction so I decided to continue with the series. And last but definitely not least is Fables Vol. 10! Anyone who knows me or follows me on this blog knows how much I enjoy reading this comic series. I still can't believe I'm on volume 10. I know I'm going to enjoy it just as much as the other novels.

Currently Finished 


I just finished a variety of books; however, I chose to highlight these three. I wrapped up Fables Volume 9 with a huge smile on my face and I gave it 4 stars. These series gets better each volume. I also read Steelheart and Mitosis both by Brandon Sanderson and a part of the Reckoners series. I absolutely loved each one of these. Steelheart was a re-read for me, but it was just as good as the first time I read it. Mitosis just added a flare/edge to the series.  

Reading Next


 Okay so my goal is to definitely finish Anna Karenina this month coming up. I was supposed to finish it this month, but I just got a little distracted. I really can't wait to continue with the Addicted series and Jack of Fables which is a spin off to the original Fable series.

What are you guys reading? What have you finished and what do you plan on reading?

Let me know in the comments below!

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Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite Graphic Novels

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It's Tuesday! So you know that means another Top 10 Tuesday  hosted . This week's topic is considered to be a freebie which means that we can pick any topic of our choice. This week I decided to do my top 10 favorite graphic novels/comics. If there are any comics and/or graphic novels that you love be sure to leave your comments below.




  • First on the list we have the Chew series. I discovered this series last year across booktube and I haven't been able to put it down since. The series focuses on Tony Chu a detective/police officer who can tell someone the origin of anything once he eats it including the origin of murders (yes he has to occasionally taste human flesh). It's a truly captivating series that I cannot put down!


  • Another series I discovered last year is the Wicked + the Divine Series. If you love mythology then I would definitely check this out since it incorporates mythology from all different backgrounds. It does contain some gore and violence; however, it has a great story line with wonderful graphics. 








  • There was no way I could create this list without the world of Fables. This series is hugeeeee with about three to four spin-offs. If you like fairy-tale re-tellings I would definitely recommend picking up this series. 


  • Everyone is fully aware of this series; however, it definitely was on of my favorites of 2015. I devoured theses books within hours after purchasing. The artwork is truly spectacular and it gives such a new and refreshing twist to science-fiction. 






  • Lumberjanes is such a cute series that focuses on the power of female friendship. I absolutely adore all the characters and would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a graphic novel and/or comic that is on the lighter side. 

  • If you love anything that is themed around a post-apocalypse I would recommend Y: The Last Man. The main character and his pet monkey are the only two individuals left in the entire world with a Y chromosome meaning they are the last men on earth. This book has humor, adventure, and action. Definitely check it out if you're interested in how the last man survives on an earth full of women!  









  • If you like anything related to Gotham city and you enjoy a boarding school setting I definitely would recommend check out this series. I flew through the first trade paperback and cannot wait for the next one to be released. 






  • Horror, gore, and violence are the best words I can use to descrive the Locke & Key series by Joe Hill. Imagine having hundreds of keys that can do all types of things besides unlocking doors. I was completely absorbed in this series the first time I picked it up. I'm currently on the 5th trade paperback volume and will be so sad to see the series come to a close. 

  • One of my more recent discoveries in the comic world is Morning Glories. If you love supernatural things tied into a boarding school setting I would definitely recommend this series. I've only finished 2 of the trade paperbacks so this is still fairly new to me; however, I'm loving what I read so far.



  • Last, but not least is the Zodiac Starforce series. It was one of my favorite discoveries of 2015. There are only 3 issues currently out so if you love female friendships and supernatural creatures/beings I would definitely check this out. I cannot wait for issue #4 to come out next month! 


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The Friday #56, #6 My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins

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The Friday #56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice. Join in every Friday and share an excerpt from the book you've been reading. Here are the rules:


  • Grab a book, any book 
  • Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader 
  • Find any sentence (or a few, don't spoil it) that grab you
  • Post it
**Be sure to the post the link to your Friday 56 comments below.

Happy Reading!!

So this week I decided to take an excerpt from My True Love Gave to Me which is a compilation of twelve short holiday stories edited by Stephanie Perkins. I was looking forward to reading this book since Christmas; however, it is falling slightly short of my expectations. Some of the stories are great; however, others fall short and would have been better if they were full length novels.

"But at the same time, all of us were aware that I'd failed to learn the one thing that dined Espinoza men: the ability to work with one's hand. Pops had tried to show me how to change the oil in his truck, how to strip shingles off an angled roof and lay hot tar, how to rewire a dead outlet, but it didn't take long for him to realize I was a lost cause. My one talent in life? Filling in those little bubbles on Scantron sheets."
This was an excerpt from from "Angels in the Snow" by Matt de la Pena which is one of my favorite stories in the entire book. I'm almost finished with the book so hopefully the last few stories turn out to be really good. I'll be doing a full review with a break down of each story soon.

Synopsis

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms, and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.
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End of the Year Survey

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Hey fellow readers and bloggers with 2016 already underway I decided to participate in Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner's annual end of the year survey. This is my first year doing this survey since I just started my blog in May of 2015; however, I'm extremely excited for you all to see a layout of all the books I read in 2015.
2015 Reading Stats

Number of Books You Read: 99

Number of Re-Reads: 7--of course most these were all Harry Potter books and the second was Romeo and Juliet, but I anticipate doing some more re-reads this upcoming year and yes Harry Potter will be included again! :) 

Genre You Read The Most From: This year it was mostly fantasy and graphic novels/comics. I think this was the year of comics and graphic novels. I read one and then I was instantly hooked. 



Best in Books
  • Best Book You Read in 2015: The best book I read this year besides my Harry Potter re-reads was definitely It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. This book touched my heart in ways that I could not even put into words. I attempted to write how wonderful the story was in my review; however, it did not do the book justice. After my own experience in a mental hospital, this was my first time feeling such a strong connection to an author writing about mental illness. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. 
  • Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More (But Didn't): This is a pretty easy one for me. I thought I was going to love Throne of Glass as much as everyone else, but I didn't. I liked it well enough, but it didn't bring as much excitement as I expected. 

  • Most Surprising (In A Good Or Bad Way) Book You Read: For this I'm definitely going to with More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. I did not expect that book to be amazing as it was. He did a brilliant job. 

  • Book You "Pushed" The Most People To Read (And Did They): I have been pushing the Falling Kingdoms Series since I read the first book and now I've read every single book that has been published to date. I don't know if people are reading the series, but they definitely know I refuse to stop talking about it. :) 
  • Best Series You Started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015? This answer should be quite clear from the previous question. The best series I started this year hands down was the Falling Kingdoms Series by Morgan Rhodes. It also had the best sequel considering that I binged every single published book in the series as well as the spin-off series. I just can't seem to get enough. However, the best series ender of the year goes to P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han. This book is so dear to my heart and genuinely brought tears to my eyes. 
  • Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2015: MORGAN RHODESSSSS ! I love this woman. :) 
  • Best Book From A Genre You Don't Typically Read/Was Out of Your Comfort Zone: Okay so graphic novels and comics are now definitely in my comfort zone, but before this year they were not so the best book I read from this genre this year was easily The Wicked + The Divine. I just love the addition of mythology in this graphic novel series. 
  • Most Action Packed / Thrilling / Unputdownable Book of 2015: The Falling Kingdoms Series without a doubt. And yes I say series, but each book was just perfection. 
  • Book You Read in 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year: Other than the Harry Potter series I definitely will be looking forward to reading It's Kind of A Funny Story again. 
  • Favorite Cover of A Book You Read in 2015: The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
  • Most Memorable Character of 2015: King Gaius -- he's such a nasty character no one could ever forget him. 
  • Most Beautifully Written Book of 2015: It's Kind of A Funny Story--are you guys seeing a pattern yet? :) 
  • Most Thought Provoking/Life Changing Book of 2015: Snowflower & The Secret Fan wasn't the most life changing book, but it was the most thought provoking in terms of my perception of beauty. It made me realize that the standard of beauty is different in every culture and beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. 
  • Book You Can't Believe You Waited Until 2015 to Finally Read: I cannot believe it took me so long to read Americanah. I mean I knew who the author was and I had listened to her Ted Talk on feminism, but it took me forever to get to her book. When I say this book was amazing I truly mean it. The writing alone was captivating enough to make me want to read everything she has every published. 
  • Favorite Passage/Quote
"Life can't be cured, but it can be managed." 

  • Shortest/Longest Book Read in 2015:
Shortest 23 pgs
Longest 870 pgs
















  • Book That Shocked You The Most: For this it would definitely have to be The Wicked + The Divine Volume 2--I did not see that ending coming at all. 
  • OTP of the Year: Jamie & Claire--oh my goodness I absolutely love their story and yes I know there are some questionable parts to their romance, but I instantly fell in love as soon as I read Outlander. 
  • Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship: The picture below is squad goals. I don't care what anyone else says haha :) 

  • Favorite Book You Read In 2015 From An Author You've Read Previously: For this I would have to go with The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. I read my first book by Rick Riordan at the end of last year and ever since then I have been unable to stop reading him. 
  • The Best Book You Read in 2015 Based Solely on a Recommendation from Someone Else/Peer Pressure: For this I'm going to go with Outlander. I have a lot of book community friends that continuously told me how good the series was. I even joined a read-a-long group and it definitely was worth tackling that big book. 
  • Newest Fictional Crush From A Book You Read in 2015: Jamie, Jamie, Jamie!! *screams out loud* 
  • Best 2015 Debut Novel:  The Wrath and the Dawn 


  • Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year: The Harry Potter series of course. 
  • Book That Put A Smile on Your Face/Was The Most Fun to Read: For this I would definitely have to go with P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han. That book had me smiling from ear to ear. 
  • Book That Made You Cry/Nearly Cry in 2015: It's Kind of A Funny Story. Me and this book had a serious connection this year. 
  • Hidden Gem of the Year: Once again I'm going to go with It's Kind of A Funny Story. I never expected to make such a beautiful connection with a book this year. 
  • Book That Crushed Your Soul: I would have to say re-reading the Harry Potter series this year definitely made me re-live through some heartbreak scenes. Especially when I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
  • Most Unique Book You Read in 2015 : For this category I'm definitely going to with the Fables comic book series that started. It has the most unique and interesting manner of combining all these fairy-tale creatures and re-telling their stories. 
  • Book That Made You the Most Mad (Doesn't Mean You Didn't Like It): P.S. I Still Love You was probably one of the only books this year that made me angry simply because of the love triangle. I really had a hard time deciding who I wanted the main character to end up with and apparently she did as well. However, I still love the book. 

Your Blogging/Bookish Life


  • New Favorite Blog You Discovered in 2015: Honestly I found so many great blogs this year that I cannot even begin to choose a favorite. I just started blogging in May so I'm trying to find and discover as many new blogs as possible. 
  • Favorite Review You Wrote in 2015: For this I would definitely choose my review of Spelled by Betsy Schow. I absolutely loved that book. Be sure to check it out! 
  • Best Discussion/Non-Review Post You Had On Your Blog: It would definitely have to be the Harry Potter tag that I did this summer. Be sure to check it out here! 
  • Best Event That You Participated In (Author Signings, Festivals, Virtual Events, Etc): Definitely YallFest. Check out my v-log of the event! 
  • Best Moment of Bookish/Blogging Lifestyle in 2015: It definitely would have to be when I got my first comment on my blog and the first time I was asked to review an author's book. 
  • Most Challenging Thing About Your Blogging or Reading Life in 2015: I would definitely have to say working out a schedule to post consistently. 
  • Most Popular Post On Your Blog This Year (Whether It Be By Comments or Views): My most popular post was definitely my review of Dark Confessions of an Extraordinary, Ordinary Woman by Jenn Sadai. You can find the link to that post here. 
  • Post You Wished Got a Little More Love: I think that post would be my review of It's Kind of A Funny Story. I just love that book and the awareness it raises about mental illness. You can find the link to that post here. 
  • Best Bookish Discovery: Book Outlet!!! It will be the death of my poor wallet. 
  • Did You Complete Any Reading Challenges or Goals That You Had Set for Yourself at the Beginning of this Year: Yes the biggest challenge I completed was reading 99 books when my original goal was to only read 85. 
Looking Ahead



  • One Book You Didn't Get to in 2015, but Will Be Your #1 Priority in 2016: Okay for this one I actually have two answers. It will be the House of Hades by Rick Riordan and re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 
  • Book You Are Most Anticipating for 2016 (Non-Debut): The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes
  • 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating: A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. 
  • Series Ending/Sequel You Are Most Anticipating: Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige 
  • One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do in Your Reading/Blogging Life in 2016: I want to post at least 3 times a week this year. 
  • A 2016 You've Already Read & Recommend to Everyone: I haven't read any yet. :( 
Thank for checking out my 2015 End of Year Survey! I hope everyone enjoyed it and here's to a wonderful blogging/reading year in 2016. 
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