Review: Amber House

Amber House by Kelly Moore, and Tucker and Larkin Reed

Published by Arthur A. Levine Books

Genre: YA

$17.99 (US hardback)

368 pages

 

 

What it's about:

"I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ."

Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls.

But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to threaten the person she holds most dear, Sarah must do everything she can to get to the bottom of the house's secrets, and stop the course of history before it is cemented forever.

My thoughts:
This was one of those books that when I finished it, I hopped on facebook and wrote this:

Just finished reading one of those books that leaves you going "wtf just happened??? What did I just read! I need the next book right now!" *goes onto Goodreads to see when next book comes out* "December?!?!? But I need it now! Hey look, the author lives in Oregon... maybe I should pay her a visit..." hahaha

 

This book. Man, this book. It was pretty cool. Amber House is this crazy big house with all these rooms being added on throughout hundreds of years, always owned by the same family. And all the women in this family have this gift to see what has happened in this house throughout history. Touch something and it's like you are back in time, watching it all happen.

 

That really was the best part of the book. Seeing all the different things that happened in Amber house. Sure the characters were pretty likable (oh man is Sam adorable!) but it was all about the plot. Very interesting and different. I can't wait to get my hands on the second book.

 

My rating: 8/10

Review: Splintered

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Published by Amulet Books

Genre: YA fantasy

$17.99 (US hardback)

384 pages



What it's about:

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My thoughts:
I have finally found a redone Alice in Wonderland that I liked! I never thought that this day would come. It makes me happy that someone was actually able to mix the odd Caroll Wonderland with a bit of their own and actually have it work.

At first, Splintered was a little slow. I remember thinking "wow, how am I only on page 40??" and thinking it would never pick up. Then all of the sudden, it did. Alyssa started seeing things and hearing voices and the weirdness of Wonderland was finally there and didn't stop till the end.

I've been seeing a lot of "If you  love Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, you'll love this." and to that, I say "no." Just, no. I personally very much disliked Burton's version of AIW, I found it dull and none of the characters had any personalities, even Johnny. While Splintered had some of the darkness of Burton's AIW, it had a lot more too it. The characters had more depth to them and were even more odd. Howard's interpretation of the characters was very clever, I particularly liked the Mad Hatter and the Caterpillar.

I want to keep rambling on about how much I adored this book. This Wonderland was so bizarre and creative. While I was sad that some of my favorite characters didn't really play a part in this book (like Tweedle Dee and Dum and the Cheshire Cat), I loved the new characters and all the variations of the old ones. The twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing and was always one step ahead of me. Completely enjoyable.

My rating: 9/10
Just for the slow beginning.

ARC Review: The Dead and Buried

The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

Published by Scholastics Point

Release date: Jan. 1, 2013

Genre: YA paranormal/mystery

$17.99 (US hardback)

304 pages

 

 

What it's about:



A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

 

My thoughts:
I have read Kim Harrington's, Clarity series a few times. I thought that she had done a marvelous job with keeping the suspense and creepiness going through the whole story. When I saw The Dead and Buried on Netgalley, I couldn't wait to read it. Unfortunately the book was a miss for me. It just didn't live up to my expectations.

I never really felt any connection to the characters in the book. Jade moves to this new house in the city and then she starts her new school. Immediately she is accepted and falls for the outcast, Donovan and the school hottie falls for Jade. All the sudden she is dating both boys and is in with the dead girls crowd. Jade was very accepting of everyone and everyone to her and I just couldn't believe that. Not within a matter of a day or two.

Another miss with me was the writing. it was all in lower case, with a few random Capitals thrown in. WTF? It drove me crazy. I very much need my i's to be correct, I want the names to be capitalized as well. It goes against everything I've had drilled into my head since I was six and it just seems wrong. Unfortunately this seems to be a trend in writing techniques because I've been seeing a lot more of it lately. Maybe this was also part of the reason for my disconnect with the book.

In Clarity, the killer wasn't obvious. Harrington had kept the reader guessing, but in Dead and Buried, I thought it was obvious almost from the very beginning. There wasn't any guessing on my part and all the big moments in the book didn't seem like big moments. There wasn't any "Ah HA!" moments for me. I kept waiting for them and it just never happened.

My rating: 6/10

Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Published by Blazer + Bray

Genre: YA horror/suspense

$17.99 (US hardback)

294 pages

 

What it's about:

 

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

My Thoughts:
It's no secret that I'm madly in love with Agatha Christie. I talk about her books all the time, so when I saw that someone wrote a newer, teen version of Ten Little Indians (or for you British people out there, And Then There Were None) I was excited, really really really excited.

Then the reviews started coming in. All the Agatha Christie lovers out there were saying run, run away as fast as you can from this book. I still have not seen one review from a Christie fan that has liked this book. Obviously, this made me a little nervous going into the book.

Knowing both the book and the play version of TLI, I knew what to expect. I knew that there are two possible outcomes for this book and that it was most likely going to be the play version. This did take away some of the suspense of the book, but McNeil added a lot of her own characteristics to the book. The one big big big change McNeil made to her version is that the death message is on a dvd, is a little cheesey, and didn't explain much. Part of the brilliance of TLI is the little song that is posted on the table with the little Indian figurines. The party guests didn't think anything of it until a few deaths in. But with Ten, you didn't have that. You didn't know how each person was going to die and there wasn't the added song to make it errie. Because of this, it took away from the cleverness of the story and turned it more into a teen horror movie feel.

So for being an adaptation of a beloved story, it was okay. Adaptations of other stories can be very difficult and I think that McNeil did a pretty good job taking TLI and adding her own twist to it. I would definitely recommend mood setting while reading this book. Read it at night, a cold, rainy night. In a dark house. Set yourself up for the mood of the book and I think this could be a really fun read.

My rating: 7/10

Review: Poison Princess

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Published by Simon & Schuster

Genre: YA paranormal dystopian

$18.99 (US hardback)

384 pages

 

 

What it's about:



She could save the world—or destroy it.
Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can’t do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side….

My thoughts:
I've been a fan of Kresley's PNR books for a while now and couldn't wait to see how she would take on the world of YA paranormal/dystopian.

When I first started the book and saw that Evie is retelling everything that happened, I was pretty excited. I like when stories begin that way because there is always a good twist at the end and Kresley did not fail me on that. But once I got to the part when the Flash happens and all hell breaks loose, I started losing interest in the story. It wasn't because the world was so depressing (but it truly was) it was because I couldn't stand Evie or Jack. Evie is such a damsel in distress. I know that not many people would know how to survive in the situations that Evie was put into, but I really wish she would have smartened up. She was driving me crazy with how naive she was being. Ironically I didn't end up liking her character until the very end (if you read the end you will understand why it's ironic.) Jack I just never liked. He was broody and moody and always played the "it's cause I'm poor isn't it?" card. No Jack, it's not cause you are poor, it's because you are a pig.

This is one of the few times that I can say that I actually liked a book while I hated the characters. Normally I'm all about the characters, but I really enjoy Kresley's writing and the idea behind this book is fantastic. It's a bunch of different books meshed together but with a new twist and great writing. If you enjoy violent dystopians, I'd say read it. If you are reading it for the romance, you might want to stay away.

My rating: 8/10

ARC Review: The Lost Prince

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Published by Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA paranormal

$9.99 (US paperback)

379 pages

Release date (US): Oct. 23rd 2012

What it's about:

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he's dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myths and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.

My thoughts:

AHHH!!!! Oh how I love Julie Kagawa's fey series!

When I saw that NetGalley had The Lost Prince on there, I squealed really loud and requested my copy. Thankfully Harlequin Teen always allows me to get copies real fast so within the hour I had my hands on a copy of Lost Prince.

It only took me two sittings to read the book and that was only because I had to force myself to put the book down so I could get a few hours of sleep. Otherwise, it would have been a one sit read.

It made me a little sad thinking about how the adorable little Ethan who loved his sister so much and called her Meggy turned into this brooding, angry teenage boy. I wanted to hug him during the whole book and tell him everything will be okay, and then beat the crap out of some fairies for him.

This is definitely a part two series. There is constant reminders of what happened in all of the Iron Fey books throughout all of LP. All the same characters we know and love are back along with some new and interesting ones. There is new bad guys, new settings, and awww, new love as well. Can't forget the new love lines.

While this is a new Iron Fey book (sorta) it definitely has the same feel as Meghan's story, yet it is completely different. I'm really excited about this series and can not wait till the next book comes out.

Review: Eve and Adam

Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

Published by Feiwel & Friends

Genre: YA sci-fi

$17.99 (US hardback)

291 pages

 

What it's about:

 

And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

 



My thoughts:
I read a few reviews for this and a couple of them said that the book was funny and not all down in the dumps like it could be. I don't really agree with this because I feel the word "funny" doesn't fit this book. I can see what they mean, the book is a little more light-hearted than one would expect, but I wouldn't say it was funny.

Going into this, I thought it would be more psychological and less action. I thought it would be more about Eve creating Adam and all the decisions one would have to make when creating a person. How do you decide what traits to give a person? Not just physical but mental as well. How do you decide what to make a person? This takes up very little time in the book and is only a part 2 of the story plot. The book is told mostly from Eve and Solo's POVs and a little of Adam at the end. While we are in both Eve and Solo's heads, we never really get to know them. Their personalities are just skimmed and not in depth. I had a hard time believing both of their feelings. They were just lonely, misunderstood, horny teens. That's about it. We never get to know much else about them. Sad really.

This is an incredibly fast read. The book is less than 300 pages and has a giant font. I would have liked to see this book be about double in size and had much more in depth characters and plots. This book could have been fantastic but it fell short. I wasn't really wanting some weird sci-fi action flick, I wanted sci-fi drama.

My rating: 7/10

Review: Whispers at Moonrise by CC Hunter

Whispers at Moonrise by CC Hunter

Series: Shadow Falls #4

Published by St. Martin's Griffin

Genre: YA paranormal

$9.99 (US paperback)

 

What it's about:

Shadow Falls Camp is back in session with the most explosive installment yet. A shocking new threat will rock Shadow Falls—changing it forever and altering Kylie’s journey in ways she never imagined.

Even at a camp for supernatural teens, Kylie Galen has never been normal. Not only can she see ghosts, but she doesn’t seem to belong to any one species—she exhibits traits from them all. As Kylie struggles to unlock the secrets of her identity, she begins to worry that Lucas will never be able to accept her for what she is, and what she isn’t…a werewolf. With his pack standing in their way, Kylie finds herself turning more and more to Derek, the only person in her life who’s willing to accept the impossible.

As if life isn’t hard enough, she starts getting visits from the ghost of Holiday, her closest confidante. Trouble is, Holiday isn’t dead…not yet anyway. Now Kylie must race to save one of her own from an unseen danger before it’s too late—all while trying to stop her relationship with Lucas from slipping away forever. In a world of constant confusion, there’s only one thing Kylie knows for sure. Change is inevitable and all things must come to an end…maybe even her time at Shadow Falls.
.

 



My thoughts:
I have a few things I want to say about this book. Don't worry, they won't be gushers about how much I love the characters, settings, and so on. Those reviews will be found in my first three reviews for the other books in the series.

First thing I want to say. This is the 4th book in the series (and thankfully not the last), so while I'll try to not post spoilers, there very well might be spoilers to the other books in the series. If you have not read the first 3 books, I wouldn't recommend finishing this review. Just warning you.

Second thing. The love triangle. Oh that damn love triangle between Kylie, Lucas, and Derek. I follow CC's blog and she has asked lots of questions to her readers, one being which team are you on, Lucas or Derek. About 85% (if not more) of us said Lucas. I personally think that this was sort of shocking for CC by some of the comments she made in that post and I believe that is who she plans on having Kylie be with. Since there really aren't many team Derek people out there, during most of WaM I felt that CC was trying to sway people away from Lucas to being team Derek. Lucas's actions didn't seem to fit in with how he acted in the first 3 books and some of the situations with him were just a little ridiculous. It felt a little forced and that tainted my views of this book. I couldn't really get over it the whole time I was reading.

One thing that I really enjoy about this series and also kinda bugs me is that you are thrown right into it. The first sentence of this book is literally the next sentence from the last paragraph in the last book. There is no rehashing of what happened in the last book (well, there is some, but not like how most books do it) so you really need to remember what happened in the previous books. This is a good thing if you are reading all the books right in a row. You don't have all those pesky reminders you know are only there to help the reader to remember what happened constantly getting in the way. But this is sort of a problem when you are reading the next book after waiting 6+ months for the next book to come out. Overall though, I love how CC Hunter trusts the readers to remember what previously happened.

WaM definitely has a different tone than the three previous books in the series. Poor Kylie just has everything piling up on her. While I found one (maybe 2) of the plots of this book pretty forced and not all that necessary (and NEVER explained. Pissed me off that did), I still really enjoyed the book as a whole and cannot wait till the 5th and final book of the series comes out April 2013.

My rating: 9/10

Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Genre: YA historical fiction

$17.99 (US hardback)

549 pages

 

What it's about:



Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

My thoughts:
This is a book that I bought on a whim (which isn't something I do that often. Pretty much never actually). I had money left in trade that I had to use that day and Powells didn't have any more of the books I knew I wanted, so I went with Grave Mercy. It sounded pretty good and it had a good rating on Goodreads so I bought it.

For the book being about assassin nuns (seriously! how cool is that?) and is a historical fiction, it started out insanely slow. I found myself constantly drifting away from the story in the first 60 pages at least. I couldn't focus on what was happening because it just didn't catch my attention. I had to reread multiple pages just to actually understand what I had already read. I think this had to do a lot more with the writing style than the story plot itself. It was so dry. Even the action scenes were blan.

Then we got into the religion bit of the story. This was something I was concerned about even before I started the book. I normally try pretty hard to stay away from any sort of religion in the books I read. Yet I decided to give this one a go anyways because the idea of assassin nuns made me giggle. The women in this book are worshiping the God of Death and are assissins for him. That is their mission. They kill the people the God tells them to. I couldn't hop on board with this because of my own personal reasons, but also because there was a lot of man hate involved with it. I do not like when there is a lot of hate towards either sex in my books.

BUT....
Even though I just complained about how boring the beginning is and how I disliked the religion, once I got about 140 pages into it, I started enjoying the story. It started to fade away from the religion and moved onto a little mystery and politics. It focused on who was going to marry duchess Anne and who is betraying her to the French. Then of course it started to have a love story as well. Became much more interesting.
So even though it took me a long time to get into the book, I eventually did and enjoyed it.

My rating: 7/10

Review: Unspoken

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Series: Lynburn Legacy #1

Published by Random House

Genre: YA paranormal

$17.99 (US hardback)

370 pages

 

What it's about:



Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him

My thoughts:
Be prepared for a gusher of a review. I can't get over how much I ADORE this book.

When I read the synopsis for the book, looked at the cover, and saw people calling it a "goth" book, I obviously expected the book to be pretty dark. I've read Sarah Rees Brennan's Demons Lexicon series and that was a pretty dark series and so I thought Unspoken would be a lot like those books. I was so wrong. I really wasn't expecting this book to be as goofy as it was. I could not stop laughing at many parts and had to stop and write down or bookmark my favorite quotes because they were too priceless. The humor is very British seeing as how the author and the setting are both British. So if that's not your thing, you might just find it awkward rather than funny.  I also wasn't expecting the characters to be so...teenagery. Most YA books lately seem to have characters that are 16 or 17 but they don't act like teenagers. But Kami and her gang are definitely teenagers and I loved it. They were so out there and come up with the weirdest plans, and they most definitely had the "nothing can hurt me" personality that all teenagers have.

I also loved how Brennan didn't go with the obvious love story. Kami and Jared have been able to read each others minds since before they could remember. They are each others not so secret secret. Yet when they finally meet in person, they dislike each other and wish they would go away. It would have been so easy for Brennan to make the characters have insta love yet she went in the other way. I thought that was really interesting and loved watching Kami and Jared figure out how to be around each other and then watching all the other characters try and deal with it as well. I also loved how both Kami and Jared were not all that good looking and not all that remarkable. That was left to the other characters and I really liked that. I liked how not everyone was swooning over Kami and how she was normal looking. Then there is Jared whose flaws are constantly mentioned. He has creepy eyes and a big scar on his face, and an aura that makes you want to flee from him. So not your typical love interest.

I had checked this book out from the library and read it in 3 sittings (would have been one sitting but my social life rudely interrupted my reading). I love this book so much I will be going out and buying myself a copy. I will be rereading this and counting down the days until book 2 comes out. Damn these stupid cliffhangers.

My rating: 9/10

Here is an excerpt that I particularly liked. Don't worry, there isn't really any spoilers.

Kami strode through a froth of daisies to a half-fallen wall that might once have been part of a fortress, but was now a tumble of stones studded with spiky yellow blooms. She bent down, rummaging in the wild tangle of garden around her feet, and chose a pebble. A large pebble. Kami wound her arm back, took careful aim, and threw.
The "pebble" crashed through both glass and curtain.
There was the creak of an old sash window being thrust open, and Jared's head and shoulders appeared at the window. "Hark," he said, his tone very dry. "What stone through yonder window breaks?"
Kami  yelled up at him, "It is the east, and Juliet is a jerk!"
Jared abandoned Shakespeare and demanded, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Throwing a pebble," said Kami defensively. "Uh...and I'll pay for the window."
Jared vanished and Kami was ready to start shouting again, when he reemerged with the pebble clenched in his fist. "This isn't a pebble! This is a rock."
"It's possible that your behavior has inspired some negative feelings that caused me to pick a slightly overlarge pebble," Kami admitted.
Jared's gaze softened slightly. His voice did not. "I saved your life, and you broke my window!"

Review: Don't Turn Around

Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

Published by HarperCollins

Genre: YA contemp/action

$17.99 (US hardcover)

310 pages

  

What it's about: 

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her computer-hacking skills to stay safely anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in an empty warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.

Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa's talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation called AMRF threatens his life in no uncertain terms.

But what Noa and Peter don't realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who'd stop at nothing to silence her for good.


My thoughts:
When I first started reading this book, I couldn't help but think it read like a movie. Then the further I got, the more I thought "huh, I think I've seen this movie before..." so I read all the blurbs on the cover of the book. Someone said that it is a younger version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and whua-la, I figured out what movie I saw that was a lot like this. Then I really hoped that certain things that happened in that movie were not going to show up in this book.

After finishing the book, I don't have much to say about it. I just don't really have an opinion on it. It was just "eh." The book reads as a movie so most of it was action. And I'm not a fan of action movies either. Just like with those, you get a lot of running and close calls, but you never really get to know the characters very well at all. So everything that happened to them, I thought it sucked and felt bad for them, but I never got connected or cared too much. When I got to the last 60 pages and everything was discovered and the characters were starting to do some really stupid things, I got annoyed. The only reason I finished those last pages was that it was only 60 pages but even then, I ended up skimming them. I hate stupid characters and the fact that I didn't have a connection with them, I was just annoyed.

I think the idea of the book was kinda cool, but I dunno. I wasn't invested in it. There was too much action and not enough character developments. I could have gone without reading the book. The only thing I thought was cool about the book was all the computer hacking. There is just something cool and sexy about hackers.

My rating: 7/10

Review: Every Day

Every Day by David Levithan

Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA

$16.99 (US hardback)

322 pages

 

What it's about:

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.

My thoughts:
In the acknowledgments of this book, David said he came up with the idea for the book after having conversations with John Green and Suzanne Collins. So you know this book is going to be awesome if those two authors helped come up with the idea and David Levithan wrote it.

I'm starting to believe that both David Levithan and John Green are brilliant. Truly. When I read books by either of them, I'm always surprised by them and amazed. In Every Day, Levithan took me by surprise. I was thinking it was going to be good, but I didn't think it'd be this good. The story starts on the day A goes into Justin's body and him falling in love with Rhiannon. It just throws you in and you have to figure it out from there. I didn't know what to expect from the rest of the book, but I was always a little surprised. It blows my mind how Levithan is able to get you to connect to all the characters so fast. A is only in the body for about 15 hours, and yet in those few pages it takes to talk about those hours, you are already connected. Throughout the book I was wondering what happened to the kids A inhabits? What happens the next day? How was everything solved? Was it even solved? I wanted to know. Yet you never really do and that was the point.

Levithan had me asking myself so many questions while reading the book. He talks about religion, love, gender roles, and a little of everything. It had me wondering. Like for instance, A. Is A a boy or a girl? Or is A neither or both? Does it matter? Yet I kept thinking of A as a him. Then had to ask myself why.

The only complaint I have about this book is the abrupt ending. After finishing the book, I sort of just sat there, scratching my head in confusion. I'm still not possitive about the ending and would have liked to know more about it, but once again, that was the point. I see what Levithan was doing and get it, but I'm not thrilled with the ending.

My rating: 9/10

Review: Blood Fever

Blood Fever by Veronica Wolff

Series: Isle of Night #3

Published by NAL

Genre: YA paranormal

$9.99 (US paperback)

272 pages

 

 What it's about:
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME—EVEN IF HOME IS WHERE THE DEAD LIVE...

It’s the start of the fall semester, and a new crop of Acari and Trainees have descended on the Isle of Night. Watcher training has intensified, and Drew has a new roommate named Mei-Ling. But Mei-Ling harbors a dangerous secret that drove the vampires to abduct her against her will. Drew knows she shouldn’t get involved, but she can’t seem to leave her roommate to fend for herself.

Luckily, Drew has other things on her mind—like vampire Carden. A blood bond to a brawny, eighteenth-century Scottish bad boy tends to preoccupy a girl. And though she’s still figuring out what this bond means, one thing has become clear: She craves him in a major way.

But then bodies start turning up on the island. All the evidence points to the existence of a rogue vampire, and the sinister vampire Alcántara is gunning for Carden, even though Drew has proof that Carden had nothing to do with the murders. Now she has to find the true killer—without endangering Carden, Mei-Ling, or herself…
 

 

My thoughts:

This is a series that I'm surprised isn't more popular. I don't think I've ever seen reviews for any of the books in this series before (in the blogging world, not on Goodreads), it's not sold in most bookstores, and is all around hard to find. I wouldn't have known about this series if it wasn't for Goodreads and their recommendations page. Thank goodness for Goodreads, because I LOVE this series. It's like if the Hunger Games were held at a all girls boarding school and vampires were the game makers. It's just that good.

 

The second I get my hands on these books, I start reading them and don't put them down until I've finished them. I like seeing Drew try and figure out people and their actions because she is so book smart and it makes her so people stupid. I find it fascinating. The relationships she has with the other people on the island is always shifting and so complicated and I never really know what is going to happen next.

 

Because of the things that happened at the end of book 2, Blood Fever has almost a completely different feel to it. We get to see a whole new side to Drew, the sappy side! Yup, she is falling in love and I really hate to say it, but it was insta-love. This normally bugs me and I did notice how cheesey some of the dialogue was in this (Carden had some cheesetastic lines that had me rolling my eyes), yet I was rooting for Drew. I would love to see her character have some happiness.

 

I'm excited about the different feel of the book and the turns that have been taken. I can't wait to see what happens next on the Isle of Night and can't believe I have to wait till June 2013 to find out what will happen.

 

My rating: 8/10

Review: Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Published by Bloomsbury

Genre: YA fantasy

$17.99 (US hardback)

416 pages

 

 

What it's about:



After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined


My thoughts:
I was seeing lots of people saying this was a fantastic book. One of the best they have ever read. It's been on loads of Top Ten lists and at first, I didn't understand this. It took me a while to get into the book. I'd read a few pages here, a few pages there, but it wasn't catching and keeping my attention. After a week of this and only being 60 or so pages into the book, I almost gave up. But so many people talked about how good it was, I pushed through. Now I get what people are talking about.

Once you get into the story, it's fantastic. Celaena is arrogant, cocky, and a little frustrating, but she's also an 18 year old girl and that shows through. She loves clothes, she loves going to dances, and she can't resist chocolate. She was such a complicated character. At first I wasn't believing her. Could one person really be that  good at everything? Then I'd remind myself that she was raised this way. She was raised to be the best and definitely had the motivation and the right trainer to become the best. I ended up really loving her, even if she was an assassin.

One thing that did surprise me about the book was all the new things that were constantly being introduced. When the fae and magic was introduced, I was a little thrown back. I wasn't really expecting that. Then there were a few other things that were introduced and I was sort of like "wtf?" Then I just kept reading and it all sorta fit. I wish that it would have been explained more but that is what the second book is for.

The book is full of surprises. There are twists in it that I wasn't expecting, a love triangle that is actually well done (I'm definitely Team Dorian ;) and very lovable characters. Now I'm really excited for the next book in this series.

My rating: 9/10

Review: Girl of Nightmares

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Series: Anna Dressed in Blood #2

Published by Tor Teen

Genre: YA paranormal

$17.99 (US hardback)

332 pages

 

What it's about:

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live--not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep, and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong... these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

 

My thoughts:

I read the first book, Anna Dressed In Blood, back in December and loved it. I thought it was creepy and dark, but great. I loved Cas, Thomas, and Carmel (especially Carmel. Her and her anger cracks me up) and thought they made an interesting trio. Everything I loved about the first book, I still loved about The Girl of Nightmares.

The problem I found I had with this book was that I couldn't read it  in one sitting, or two, or three. I would read a few pages, and have to put it down. Maybe I'd get through a few chapters before I had to put it down. Either because something came up that I had to do or it wasn't holding my attention.  When I read Anna, I read it in the perfect setting. I read it at night, in the dark, during a huge storm. It was perfect. But while reading GON, it was a 100 degree sunny day. This is not a good setting and having the right setting while reading this book is a big deal. It's the difference from loving the book or just liking it.

I think that is the biggest thing I want to say about this book. The other big thing I want to say is about the ending. While the ending was good, I felt like it just...ended. Everything was getting to the exciting part, the part you wait the whole book to get to, and in about 20 pages it's done. And then to my utter horror, there is no epilogue! Ugh. I really truly hate it when there is no epilogue.

If you liked the Anna, you'll like this one as well. Just make sure to read it in the right setting ;)

My rating: 8/10

No epilogue = lower rating from me. It's a pet peeve of mine. 

Review: Something Strange and Deadly

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Published by Harper Teen

Genre: YA historical paranormal?

 $17.99 (US hardback)

388 pages

What it's about:

The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

My thoughts:
This was instant cover love for me. Cool, dark, somewhat steampunky background and a girl in a beautiful black dress on the front is something I always love in covers. Yet after reading this book, I feel the cover doesn't match the book that well.

Going into this book I knew it was about two things 1. a historical setting and 2. zombies. That was all that needed to be said in order for me to be interested. Then the cover blurb also said it's a lot like the Clockwork Angel and I was sold. Now I just had to read it.

There are 4 main questions in this book. 1. Where is Elijah? 2. Who and what is the spirit? 3. Who is the necromancer? and 4. What's wrong with Clarence? I thought that all of these questions were pretty obvious, all but one of them I knew pretty much from the beginning. At some points I was wondering why the characters didn't see the answers as well. Even though I thought the answers were pretty clear very early on, Dennard did a wonderful job with the layout and the turn of events. I may have guessed the answered, but I didn't see how Dennard was going to answer the questions until it happened and it left me shocked. She is most definitely not afraid to make her characters do what they have to do.

And as for her characters, I absolutely adored Eleanor. She was strong, brave, and always had a good comeback, yet she had enough girly insecurity to make her believable. There were things that Eleanor said that had me cracking up (the Grecian position and women being camels? So funny!) and she made good choices as well. I never wanted to yell at her and ask what she was doing because she wasn't stupid. She made the right choices. I love that in a character.

The only complaint I have for this book is the lack of character descriptions. It isn't until the end of the book that we find out that Eleanor has blonde hair (though you can sort of guess from the cover) and throughout the book she mentions having a little extra weight in her hips and others also mention it. She also compares the heights of other characters to Eleanor's height, but we are never told her height as well. This doesn't just go for Eleanor, but to all the characters. We never really get descriptions of any of them besides hair color. I'd really of liked to see more than that.


My rating: 9/10

Series review: Solid and Settling

Solid by Shelley Workinger

Published by Createspace

Genre: YA

$7.99 paperback or $3.99 kindle ebook

221 pages

What it's about:

Clio Kaid may be 17 and just beginning the last summer before her senior year, but her life is anything but typical.

She's just discovered she was genetically altered before birth and is now headed to a top-secret Army campus to explore the surprising results of the experiment.

Follow Clio and the other teens as they develop fantastic super-abilities, forge new friendships, find love, and uncover a conspiracy along the way.

 

My thoughts on bk.#1 Solid:
I read Solid a year ago when I first received a copy of it and I thought I had written a review for it but it turns out I didn't, so I read it a second time.

The first time I read this book, I read it really fast and enjoyed it. I thought that the idea of being genetically altered teens with super powers was pretty neat. Plus there was a boarding school/camp setting which I always enjoy. I know that a lot of people get annoyed when the parents are conveniently absent, but that is not a situation I have a problem with. I actually really enjoy the whole boarding school setting. I like the hardly there parents.

I also really liked the group dynamics of Clio and her friends. I like how there are flaws in each character and how all the characters are aware of them. I like how there is a friend in the group that doesn't fit in and is unwanted for a while (isn't there always one of those people in a group?)

And lastly I liked how Clio wasn't super special when it came to all the genetically altered special kids and I liked how there was questions as to what in the world is Jack's special abilities? Does he even have any? I want to know!

The only problem I really had was it all seemed too easy. The group of friends discovered everything very easily and the problem at the end happens very fast and is easily overcome. I would have liked to see more complications.

Settling (book #2)

$9.99 paperback or $4.99 kindle ebook

242 pages

What it's about:

At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…

My thoughts on Settling:
I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as Solid. I was so annoyed with Clio during the whole book. I really just wanted to shake her and talk some sense into her. She was being so stupid and she never seemed to stop being stupid. This really ruined the book for me. I just couldn't get over it and due to spoilers, I can not say what it was she was doing that bugged me so much.

Settling also had the same problem when it came to everything happened so easily. The big problem of this book according to the description is that people were being murdered, yet that seemed to be a side story to Clio and her whining and all the mistakes she was making. Ugh.

So to say the least, I will probably not be continuing with this series. The first book was good and interesting while I found the second book lacking.

Ratings:
Solid- 8/10
Settling- 6/10

Review: Endlessly

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Series: Paranormalcy #3

Published by Harper Teen

Genre: YA paranormal

$17.99 (US hardback)

385 pages

What it's about:

Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate.

The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands.

So much for normal. 

My thoughts:

This series went downhill for me. I loved loved loved Paranormalcy. I couldn't sing more praises for that book, but then Supernaturally came along and I wasn't madly in love with that book, and now that I've read Endlessly and the trilogy is over, I'm not madly in love with it.

The thing I adore about this series and that has never changed through all the books, is the voice. Kiersten White created one of the most fun and unique voices that I have ever read in a series. I'd be able to tell the difference between a Kiersten White book from any other easily without being told it was her book. She is able to create a cute and hilarious voice without being cheesey and lame. After watching a few of her vlogs and reading her blog, I fully understand why the voice in her books is so fantastic. She just seems like such a cool person.

I don't know if I can exactly pinpoint what it was about Endlessly that I didn't like as much as I loved Paranormalcy. Maybe it was that everything seemed a little too easy? Maybe it was the fact that the ending was lesss than satisfactory? (Really Kiersten, no epilogue???), or maybe it was just the fact that it was the 3rd book in a series and lately I've only been wanting to start new series. Who knows, there was just something. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed it and finished it in a few days (which is actually kinda a long time for me) I just can't say I loved it.

My rating: 8/10

Review: Saving June

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Published by Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA contemporary

$9.99 (US paperback)

336 pages

 

What it's about:

‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going, California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.

 

My thoughts:
Every time I read a book about the loss of a family member/friend/boyfriend, ext. I always wonder why I read it. It makes me depressed every time and I always cry while reading them, yet I can't seem to keep away from them. And this book was no exception. It definitely made me cry, but it also made me laugh and awww. I really enjoyed this book.

One thing that I felt would have made this book a lot stronger is if the reader was able to meet June before her death, or to be shown flashbacks with her in them. While Harper's grief over her sister's death was depressing, I never really felt a connection with June and therefore never felt all that sad about her death and I didn't really like her. I just thought she was selfish for commiting suicide and hurting her family like she did.

I also really really really disliked Harper's mom and her aunt. I thought they were horrible. I could not believe how they treated Harper. I mean, really, who treats their kids that way? Ugh. I wanted to yell at them through the whole book. You should not make your kid feel horrible and guilty because the other one commited suicide. Obviously that is just wrong on so many levels.

But besides that, I really liked this book. I always love road trip books. I like how they always have a focus on music, and cultures, and places. And while this was no Amy and Roger's Epic Detour (the book in which I compare all road trip books), it was definitely good.

My rating: 8/10

Review: The Death Cure

The Death Cure by James Dashner

Series: Maze Runner #3

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA dystopian

$17.99 (US hardback)

325 pages

What it's about:

Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.

What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.
Will anyone survive the Death Cure?



My thoughts:
I feel so cheated by the ending of this book.

I was so addicted to this series. When I finished The Scorch Trials, I didn't hesitate to flip to my menu on my ereader and immediately start with The Death Cure. I had to know what happens. And then for the rest of the book I was so so so tempted to skip to the end and see what happened. I was incredibly anxious. I'm really glad I didn't though, because the ending was HORRIBLE! I finished the book at 2:30am and had to sit there for a minute, thinking about what had just happened. Then when I was trying to sleep, I was fuming over what happened, and all the questions that stayed unanswered, and I couldn't go to sleep. I was just too annoyed.

I was really connected to the characters in this series. Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, and even Brenda. I wanted happy endings for all of them. I wanted all of them to be safe and happy, but James Dashner didn't seem to agree with me on that one.

I was a little scared going into this book because I knew that the ending was a bad one. I have a few friends on Goodreads who gave Maze Runner and Scorch Trials 5 stars, but gave Death Cure 2 stars, so I knew something was up, yet I still got my hopes up for the ending, and then had them squashed.

Even though this ending pisses me off to no end, the series as a whole was fantastic. I would definitely still recommend that everyone who loves Hunger Games and YA dystopians should read this book.

My rating: 7/10

On a side note, did anyone else have a hard time picturing what the Grievers look like? To me they looked like the Daleks and Jabba the Huts love child.