Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there is one this year :(

Truly a spellbinding finish to the bestselling Heroes of Olympus series! Rick Riordan flawlessly combines emotion, suspense, description, high stakes, romance, character development, and humor into five hundred unputdownable pages. I truly could not stop reading; each chapter starts off with such a darkly humorous sentence—"Dive-bombing a volcano was not on Reyna’s bucket list," for example—that it's impossible not to get all the way through. The tension just keeps mounting until the ball finally drops and the event we've been waiting for for five novels finally happens. Everything is so ridiculously satisfying, and the aftermath of the main climax point at the end feels so warm with a note of melancholy, truly perfect for this particular series. When I first started HoO, I didn't expect to like all of the seven demigods chosen for the prophecy; if three's a crowd, then seven's a population. But every one of these characters is so multifaceted, with their own fears, strengths, and weaknesses, that it becomes nearly inconceivable not to resonate and empathize with each of them. Even the characters who were not part of the Seven, like Nico and Reyna, captured my heart in this book. Truly a worthwhile read.

Truly a spellbinding finish to the bestselling Heroes of Olympus series! Rick Riordan flawlessly combines emotion, suspense, description, high stakes, romance, character development, and humor into five hundred unputdownable pages. I truly could not stop reading; each chapter starts off with such a darkly humorous sentence—"Dive-bombing a volcano was not on Reyna’s bucket list," for example—that it's impossible not to get all the way through. The tension just keeps mounting until the ball finally drops and the event we've been waiting for for five novels finally happens. Everything is so ridiculously satisfying, and the aftermath of the main climax point at the end feels so warm with a note of melancholy, truly perfect for this particular series. When I first started HoO, I didn't expect to like all of the seven demigods chosen for the prophecy; if three's a crowd, then seven's a population. But every one of these characters is so multifaceted, with their own fears, strengths, and weaknesses, that it becomes nearly inconceivable not to resonate and empathize with each of them. Even the characters who were not part of the Seven, like Nico and Reyna, captured my heart in this book. Truly a worthwhile read.

Every one of Marie Lu's novels is a cinematic experience, but Warcross, in particular, was just so lovely and intricate. I loved the gamer girl vibe—Emika was such a fun narrator!—and every one of the settings in the book, be it a run-down New York apartment or a sparkling, fantastical level in the Warcross game, was described with such detail. I was literally dying on the pages at some of the plot twists at the end. The journey of reading this is so fun, and even when things hit rock bottom, I'm optimistic because Emika is so determined to do good. I'm so excited to read the next book, Wildcard. Thank you, Marie Lu, for yet another literary masterpiece.

1. walls 2. sky 3. chocolate 4. Annabeth's eyes 5. fairy dress

Happy early birthday!

I'm currently reading Love & Gelato! I recently read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, it was great. (I followed you!)

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