Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Rating: 1/5
Release Date: January 5th, 2016
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 486 

Summary: 

passage, n.i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.
In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.

 Review:

It is with a heavy heart that I only give 1 star to Bracken's newly released Passengers. The Darkest Minds is one of my all-time favourite series. The friendships demonstrated in those novels is impeccable. However, Passenger didn't show that to me. I had a LOT of issues with this book. Let me take you through them:

1) It took about HALF of the book before the "treasure hunt through time" began. WHEN YOU ADVERTISE WITH A TAG LINE LIKE THAT, AND HAVE A NEARLY 500 PAGE BOOK, THE TREASURE HUNT SHOULD HAPPEN BY THE FIRST 100 PAGES!!! *internally screaming*

2) The STUPID, REDICULOUS INFO-DUMP Q&A SESSION BETWEEN ETTA AND SOPHIE (another time-traveler who KIDNAPPED HER and then WILLINGLY told her information about time-travelling EVEN THOUGH Sophie was holding Etta as her hostage -.-; *more internal screaming*). I couldn't believe it when I read it. Bracken has written FOUR previous books, shouldn't she have enough skill to not have to info-dump at this point? AND ESPECIALLY IN THE WAY IT WAS GIVEN.

3) Etta and Nikolas' relationship. Just like with Ruby and Liam (I must admit), this relationship just felt flat and I never felt like the characters had any real chemistry. 

4) Loooooong, repetitive, rhetorical question inner monologue. Etta was constantly contemplating the same things OVER and OVER and OVER again. This book easily could have been cut by 200 pages if it had been condensed, or even taken out. It just didn't add anything to the story line and had me skimming paragraphs from time to time. 

5) The length of the chapters (this is more of a personal thing for me). Anything longer than 20 pages I consider to be a long chapter, and these were upwards of 30 pages at some points. I just don't like it. It means I have to wait longer for my next break. :P

6) The endless descriptions. I don't know if it was the writing style, or me, or what, but the endless description of clothes and food and other such things really irritated me - I started skimming on that too (maybe it's because I was trying to find the plot).

So, you're probably wondering why I read the nearly 500 page book in its entirety. ITS BECAUSE I WAS HOPING I WOULD FIND SOMETHING THAT WOULD MAKE THIS BOOK REDEEMABLE AND GIVE IT MORE THAN A 1 STAR RATING. But nope, didn't happen. Trust me, I'm super disappointed that this book didn't live up to my expectations. I don't even want to touch the second one.

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Rating: 5/5
Release Date: October 20th, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 388

First, a quick summary from Goodreads:

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball.

Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year's only female victor, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin's brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move. But as Yael begins to get closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?

This book was incredible. Graudin created a believable, tangible alternate history of Hitler winning WW2. The characters were incredible, I loved reading from Yael's point of view and watching her struggle with the fact that people are more than what they believe in. It made for a huge amount of grey area and I loved it.

The Axis Tour was also a great concept and done extremely well. The tour was rough, and Yael really had to struggle in order to compete in the race.

The ending also threw me completely for a loop, too! I did NOT see that coming. At all. And I loved it! I think this book would make an incredible movie and really hope that one day it does make it to the big screen.
 

How to Demolish Your TBR

Like many book lovers and consumers across the globe, I have a ridiculous TBR pile. As I compile this post, my count sits at 120 books (and BookOutlet's Black Friday sale starts tomorrow). This past year I've attempted to reduce my TBR pile to less than 100 books, and it has worked and it hasn't. Let me explain.

Somewhere around the winter time at the beginning of the year (2015), I put what I like to call a "book buying limit" on myself. In an attempt to reduce that pile, I told myself that I could only buy 1 book for every 5 that I read, and that the 5 books that I read following that had to include my new purchase.

It was new, it was exciting, and it only lasted a month or two before I broke. So, how do you successfully eliminate your TBR pile? What kind of method should you use that will work for you in the long run? All of us are different, and not every solution will work for everybody, but here are some suggestions that I am going to attempt:

1. Book Buying Limit
This only worked for me in the short run, but I think if I changed up the rules a bit it could work in the long run. Here's how it works:

For every 2, 3, 4, or 5 books that you read (whatever kind of requirement you feel comfortable with setting for yourself), you get to purchase one new book in exchange.

I think the main reason this didn't work for me is because I didn't change it up. I set myself a ratio of 5:1, for every five books read I was allowed to purchase 1. It was fun and exciting and made me outrageously excited for buying books again, something that I hadn't experienced in a long time. However, it was short lived. Especially as new releases were coming out and I wasn't reading at a fast enough rate to buy them. So... Switch it up! Maybe you feel like reading 5 books for every book you get to purchase is too much, so make it smaller for a time being! Maybe it's your birthday month, so do something a little daring! For every book you read, you're allowed to buy TWO book for every book you've read during the week (or even the whole month, if you wish!) of your birthday!

You could even do this by setting a limit on how much money you want to spend on books per month, or how many you want to purchase in a month (you could always carry over if you don't max out!)

2. Read-A-Thons
Love read-a-thons? I kind of do. The ones that I'm really into are Booktube-A-Thon, and RYBSAT. Read-a-thons are a great way to read a lot of books in a small amount of time, a very effective way of demolishing that TBR!

3. Avoiding the Bookstore
I don't know about you, but if I walk out of the bookstore without a book I feel like I'm missing a limb on the way back home. This is very bad, especially since I tend to visit the bookstore two or three times a week. So... avoid the bookstore! In the mall doing some Christmas shopping this season? Don't forget your blinders! Avoid walking past the bookstore! DO NOT GO IN! (Just be very careful when you finally do enter, all those new shining books that you have yet to see in person can be very tempting.) You can't buy books if you don't have a way of getting a hold of them.*

4. Add up those Books!
Keep a running tab of what you're spending! These numbers can give you a huge reality check if you feel like you're spending too much money on books. I did this once before, and I was appalled by the results... So, naturally, I stopped keeping track and kept up my habits! (Don't follow by my lead, though. This will result in bottom line of $0.)

Do you have any strategies for keeping your book buying under control? What do you find does and doesn't work for you? I would love to hear your experiences, please share them with me!!



*This excludes online shopping, you're on your own for that one.

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

RATING:1.5/5

I am extremely sad to say that BREATHE did not live up to my expectation whatsoever. I remember Breathe being one of my most anticipated releases of last year. Needless to say, I’m not disappointed that I waited this long before I finally got around to reading it.

The world has gone through an extremely rough time. Trees all over the world have  been dying off and now there isn't enough oxygen left for the worlds population to live on. So, the government put its people through “The Switch.” Putting up domes in major cities around the world, the government found a way to manufacture the oxygen that we need to breathe. 

Bea is a lowly “auxiliary,” forced to walk only three miles per hour (unless she wants a fine) and her family can only afford powdered and chemically manufactured food. Bea’s best friend Quinn lives a much nicer life-style. Being a Premium, his family can afford all the oxygen they need and then some. They’re able to exercise, do the dance with no pants, and anything else that requires a high amount of oxygen consumption. Quinn has a new crush at school, Alina. From what Quinn can see she’s smokin’ hot, but Alina doesn’t want anything to do with him.

One day, Quinn decides to take Bea outside the dome on a camping trip since neither of them have ever been. So they load up with oxygen tanks and set out. But just before they reach border patrol, they run into Alina and she desperately needs her help. Quinn, having this massive crush on her, decides to help her with no questions asked. Little does he know that she’s running away to re-join the resistance. It’s no longer safe for her within the dome of Breathe.

From here, things take off and Quinn and Bea are introduced to the resistance pretty much right off the bat because there was NO DOUBT that Quinn and Bea would betray Alina and the resistance. Why wouldn’t they betray them, you ask? Because they LOOK like they would make good members. Alina TRUSTS them. She thinks they’re GOOD PEOPLE. Well, miss Alina. I think you SHOULD have been expelled from the resistance because you clearly don’t take this thing seriously enough. It was SO easy for Quinn and Bea to convince Alina to let them into the resistance, even though she pretty much met them for the first time at border patrol. Alina literally claims that they’re all best friends by the end of this EVEN THOUGH SHE HARDLY SPENT ANY TIME WITH QUINN AT ALL.

All of the relationships between any of the characters felt so 2D and fake and forced. This might have been because all of the characters were also so 2D and fake and forced. Nothing felt real, there was no real depth to ANYTHING in this book. GAH! IT JUST MAKES ME SO FRUSTRATED.

The plot is pretty much what held this book together for me. This whole idea of having to buy our oxygen and then having a resistance trying to re-plant trees and things (which would never actually work out considering how long it takes for a tree to grow) sounds so COOL. But because the characters were so flat, because the relationships were so forced, because it was so easy to get into the resistance I wasn’t really able to fully enjoy the plot since I was busy being mad by almost every other element in this book.

Needless to say (unfortunately), I wouldn’t recommend this book if you’ve been reading for a while. I have no doubt it will frustrate you on some level as well. Although, I do think this would make a good starting book for people who are just starting to get into reading because it's not a very huge book to process.

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

RATING: 5/5

Ho. Ly. Cow. THAT WAS SO FREXING GOOD!!!!!

As the last book in the Across the Universe trilogy, I had high expectation for the finale. Admittedly, when I first started it I was disappointed. It seemed like Elder still couldn’t get his shit together and Amy wasn’t doing much better.

But wow, did I ever underestimate these two. The things they were willing to do, the things they were willing to sacrifice. It just about took my breath away. These two kids were phenomenal decision makers when it really came down to it. They had more sense than both the shipborns and earthborns put together. They took the time and effort required to gather together the information needed that enabled them to make these hefty decisions. And did they ever make those decisions. The fearlessness both Amy and Elder used to protect those relying on them and even those who weren’t was just… I have no words.

The plot twists in this novel were phenomenal! Although I was able to predict a couple of them, there were many that I never saw coming and one that literally made me go “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” out loud. And I NEVER do that. EVER. Needless to say, the twists to this book were pretty amazing. This book was amazing (clearly I don't know what synonyms are).

And not only that, but the new centauri-earth was amazing (that glass stuff was incredible!). Revis described it in such detail and everything was so different and lethal from sol-earth while at the same time everything also felt so similar and safe. I don’t think there was a better way that she could have constructed it.

Needless to say, this trilogy is easily one of my new favourites. I will push it onto anyone who will listen and maybe even onto a few who won’t. If you haven’t read this book yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? That was the first question that popped into my head when I finished the book. Why had I waited so long? I’m so glad this was the titled I picked from my TBR jar this month. SO GLAD.

Book Buying Habits

So, I've been watching BookTube for a long, long time now (online book community on YouTube), and I always see the book vloggers come out with these cool, fun looking tags! So I've decided to tag myself and post it to my blog. :) (The video originated from Megan Olivier!)

Without further ado, let's get started!

1.Where do you buy your books from? 

A number of places, but the places that I'm consistently buying books from are Chapters/Indigo's/Coles and the Book Outlet. 

Chapters/Indigo's/Coles because they're all so close to home and the hardcovers are 30% off online! Then there's Book Outlet because they're books are even cheaper than that! I think the most I've paid for a book off of there website is $7.99 for a hardcover!

 

2.Do you ever pre orders book and if so do you do this in store or online?

I do! Quite often, actually. Especially when I'm really excited for a book! I will always order it online. This way, I don't have to worry about picking it up or anything since it will be delivered straight to my door-step!

3.On average, how many books do you buy a month?

Eesh, definitely way more than I should. I've actually started to keep track of how much money and how many books I'm buying a month in an excel sheet. I'm averaging about 11 books a month so far this year... Poop. :(

4.Do you use your local library?

No... And it's not really anything I plan on starting to use anytime soon. I love my books. I love buying them, I love reading them, I love smelling them, and I love owning them. Those things would be a little weird and gross to do if I got them from the library. Not to mention illegal...

5.If so, how many books can you/do you borrow at a time?

Not applicable to me!

6.What is your opinion on library books? 

Oh, I'm kind of repeating myself here, but they're just not my thing. I love owning my books and being able to see all the ones I've read over the years and keep the ones that I've loved and even see the ones go that I hated. I wish to have my own library someday. :D

7.How do you feel about charity shop/second hand books?

I have bought a couple of them! But for the most part I don't go looking for them. I find a lot of them smell old and dusty and that smell really doesn't sit well with me. Actually, I've had to stop reading a book before due to that very reason. 

8.Do you keep your read and TBR pile together/on the same book shelf or not? 

I do! I have a little double-stacked book case that comes up to my chest with three shelves in it. I also have a shelf that's nailed to my wall that holds some of the books I've yet to read.... And that's just at my dad's house, haha.

9.Do you plan to read all of the books that you own? 

Of course I do! That's always my intention when I buy new books. Never have I ever bought a book for the sole purpose of having it sit on my shelves. Now, getting around to actually reading it? That's another story... (see what I did there)

10.What do you do with books that you own that you feel you will never read/felt you did not enjoy?

I get rid of them! I find going through my books is just like going through my wardrobe. Some books I grow out of and some books I don't like anymore or some book I didn't like once I tried them on. These are the books that I will say goodbye to. This usually happens every couple of months and I'll get a pile of about 10 every time. :)

11.Have you ever donated books?

I have! This is exactly what I do with the books I no longer want. Usually a donation company will call my house sometime soon after I've gone through my shelves, or them calling is what will prompt me to go through my shelves, and I'm just glad to be rid of them so easily. 

12.Have you ever been on a book buying ban? 

I have. But it never works. Whenever I get off of it I go book crazy and end up buying way more books than I would have if I'd never put myself on the ban in the first place.

13.Do you feel that you buy too many books?

No. I mean, I do buy an accessive amount and probably more than I need to. But, I do I consider it too much? Not at all. The way I see it is I'm spending my hard earned money on the things that I love. And do I ever love books!

If any of you guys do this tag for yourself, link it for me down below! I would love to see them! :)

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

 RATING: 3.5/5

If I were to use one word to describe BEFORE I DIE by Jenny Downham, it would be depressing. This book is extremely depressing. There are no true happy moments in this book, only moments that are just sad.

However, I did like how Tessa acted while having cancer. While it was extremely sad and gloomy, it was believable and realistic and traumatizing. I could feel Tessa’s low spirits creep into me as I read the book. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t finish this book with a heavy heart.

When Tessa realizes that she can’t let her cancer dictate how she’s going to live the rest of her life, she makes up a list of ten things that she wants to do before it consumes her. At the very beginning of the book we cross off the very first on her list: sex.

The beginning of this book bothered me quite a bit and made me feel uncomfortable with the way Tessa started crossing off the things on her list. She did it in a very dark and haunted way that made me cringe on the inside. Although the rest of the book always has that dark under-tone to it, you can begin to see that Tessa is starting to have her happier moments as we get closer to the 150 page mark. But use the term “happier” loosely because I just want you guys to understand how extremely depressing I thought this book was.

Bleh. I’m just going to end my review here because simply thinking about this book is making me sad.

So, yeah. DEPRESSING.

Shatter Me by Thereh Mafi

RATING: 3.5/5

        **May contain minor spoilers**

So. It looks like I’m in the minority for this book.

I’m going to be honest with you. I have no idea how to start off this book review. I willfully admit that it disappointed me in so many ways. Juliette’s powers were never explained. Why can Warner and Adam touch her? Why did she desire Warner in ANY way when he forced her to do all that stuff she CLEARLY did not want to do. I can honestly not understand why ANYONE would be Team Warner after all the lunatic shit that he did.

The writing style for this book was really cool… At first. I kind of associated the cross-offs with her sanity. It’s pretty easy to tell that Juliette isn’t 100% stable (not that I blame her). But just when it seems she’s getting her shit together and acting normal, she’ll think something she shouldn’t be thinking and cross it out. Towards the 250 page mark it started to get very annoying for me.

Speaking of the writing style… THE METAPHORS. Some of them were really pretty and powerful, but I know a lot more left me when a look of confusion on my face than they should have. For example, that one about the rose petals. Can someone please explain that one to me? I don’t get it!

Now. Juliette and Adam’s relationship. I understand that they have a past history together, but does Juliette really know Adam? I think my biggest problem was how eager they were to take each other’s clothes off.

Half way through the book it looked like to me that I wasn’t going to bother picking up the second one. But once Kenji showed them that I place (I’m trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers) I became A LOT more interested and I definitely plan on picking up the next one now. :)

Safe With Me by Amy Hatvany

RATING: 5/5

Wow. How do I even begin? This book was exactly what I wanted and then some. I’d never heard of this book before visiting Costco with my mom yesterday. You have no idea how happy I am that I went with her after finishing this book.

How do I describe the difficulties of Olivia’s life? When she first met James he was charming, kind, funny; absolutely everything you would want from a man. So when he proposed to her, how could Olivia say no? But not long after moving in with him, he would say things that made small bells go off in her head. But her sweet, charming James couldn’t have possibly meant it in that way, right? He must have just had a rough day at work

. A year later, Olivia and James have their beautiful daughter Madelyn and nothing could be better. Fast-forward a couple more years and James has taken his slight jabs too far. Far enough that Olivia decides she needs to take Maddie and run far, far away. But then the unspeakable happens. Maddie gets sick with a liver disease and Olivia knows she can’t afford the treatments on her own. How can she leave James now?

A couple years later, Hannah’s daughter Emily has been hit by a car. After being rushed to the hospital and hours of surgery have gone by, Emily is alive… but only because of the life support the hospital’s machines are providing for her. The doctor asks Hannah if her daughter was an organ donor. There’s a 15 year old girl in dire need of a liver transplant and time is of the essence. 

Knowing this is what Emily would want, Hannah donates everything that’s left of her daughter in order to save the lives of many others, one of them being Maddie.

A year later, Hannah and Olivia meet by coincidence and become very close very fast. This is a story of family, friendship and courage. So much courage.

I loved this book so much more than I ever expected to. I cared for these characters more than I ever expected to. I don’t think I’ve ever cared for any fictional character as much as I cared for Hannah, Maddie and Olivia.

Watching these three girls go through their own forms of grief and struggle was so incredibly moving. All three of their stories demanded to be heard through Hatvany’s writing style. It was very simple and yet very elegant, and I think that is why it worked so well.

Nothing about this book was black and white. Everything was a millions shades of gray. The pacing was beautiful, the situation was so believe and so heart breaking on all accounts that I found myself tearing up on multiple occasions.

There is not a single flaw that I am able to identify in this book. There is not a single person that I would not recommend this book to. There is not a page that I didn’t love within this book.

Please, just read this book. It is definitely the kind of book that leaves its mark on you.

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

           Rating: 4.5/5

The Power of Six picks up right where I Am Number Four left off and does not let you catch your breath for one second. Throughout the entire novel there is nothing but action, action, ACTION!!! And while this was a very good thing in my eyes (the real only reason why I gave it such a high rating), there was little to no character development to be heard of.

In fact, a lot of the decisions the characters made caused me to freak out at them and how stupid they are (but only in my head, of course). There were three of four decisions that I just couldn’t believe these kids were making (and you’ll probably know which ones I’m thinking about if you’ve read the book). The decisions lead to nothing but trouble (obviously), which could have been avoided SO EASILY if they just knew when to TURN AROUND and MOVE ON. (This is why I kept from giving it a full five stars)

This book is still extremely good, though. If you like plot driven books more than character driven books this series is definitely for you, because once this plot started, it made no stops until the very end.

Ps; HOW THE HELL DID SIX GET THERE SO FAST?! WTF, MAN?

A Temptaion of Angels by Michelle Zink

RATING: 3/5

I’m sad to use the first few words of this review to say that A Temptation of Angels was a bit of a let-down for me. I am quite a fan of Zink’s Prophecy of the Sisters series (at least the first two that I read), and I was very excited to read her fourth novel for that reason.

Although, one would never be able to guess that this was Zink’s fourth book from the way it was written. The writing style was extremely simple, there wasn’t much explanation to why the Keepers existed and the plot was mediocre at best.

During the beginning of the novel I kept rolling my eyes at Helen and her foolishness. Her trust in the brothers came all too quickly and easily, and even though she claimed her words never failed her she was often contradicting herself when she couldn't help but stumble over them.

At the beginning of the book her attraction to Griffin was a little creepy, more so because I pictured her as a 13 or 14 year old girl and him as a 20-something year old man. Ew. *shivers*

Also, the romance of this novel became highly annoying towards the end. Just after declaring she only loved one of the boys as a “friend,” when earlier she declared that she loved the other, not too far from then she found herself “desiring” the first one. THIS. IS. RIDICULOUS. YA romance, WHY U MAKE NO SENSE?!?!

However, the letter that she received from her father was very cute and heart-warming and I really liked it. I also really liked how much of an influence the parents had on Helen throughout the entire novel. So while this book was a bit of a disappointment for me, I still liked it enough to give it a 3/5 rating.

Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde

           RATING: 3.5/5

Shades of Grey is a very humorous and sometimes confusing book. When I first started reading this book I was immediately confused since a lot of the books objects and pop culture references are mostly left to you to put two and two together to figure out what they are. Luckily, I was in the right mood to read this book and its smart writing style had my brain cranking a lot more than usual and I quite enjoyed that.

Because of the way this book is written, you’re going to need to put a good amount of time off to the side to read and fully enjoy this book. Unfortunately for me, I read a majority of it on my lunch break at work and I think that it really pulled away from the books full story.

However, during the last 150 pages everything really starts to pull together and I started to really enjoy it a lot more than I was and I quickly dedicated a whole night to finishing up this book.

A solid book for me and I’m actually super excited to get my hands on the next book (which I think will be much more exciting now that I know what to expect from the writing style).

The Originals by Cat Patrick

 RATING: 5/5 

To put it as simply as possible, Patrick’s THE ORIGINALS is about three triplets who find out that they’re actually clones of one another. They’re mom is worried that she’ll be discovered for unethical research and decides to hide them away as one person: Elizabeth Beth. For the next ten years of their lives, Lizzie, Beth, and Ella live as one person and take each day in shifts… This all goes quite well until two of the girls have their first crushes. From here the story takes off, one of self-discovery and exploration.

Let me start saying that I LOVE Patrick’s novels. The love in them feel so earnest and real and it’s written in such a way that I can’t help but fall in love with this book. Lizzie is the MC for the entire book (which I think was a fantastic idea instead of splitting it up between the three… That would have been confusing) and I just love her and adore her to pieces… She kind of reminds me of me, a little bit. Her relationship with Sean is beautiful and screams of first-love and adorable and I just loved it so much (mostly because it reminds me of me and my boyfriend c:)!

The plot of this book is so unique and it is carried out and executed so well. The pacing was beautiful and always kept me glued to the pages, it was never dull or boring and I never once rolled my eyes at any of the characters.

What I love so much about Patrick’s novels is the genre, oddly enough. They focus on a contemporary, coming-of-age feel but you always get this unique si-fi twist thrown into it and I just can’t help but love her ideas. They’re all so unique and original and I just think she deserves a huge pat on the back and extreme notice for this.

Needless to say, I really need to get on to reading the rest of her books (Forgotten and Just Like Fate).

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rating: 3/5

Armentrout’s WHITE HOT KISS is an addicting book. I flew through just over half of it in a couple of hours. However, this book did not wow me like I expected it to. After hearing so much about her Lux series (and after reading Obsidian), I honestly expected this book to be pretty close to a knock-out. But it wasn’t. While the details and plot in WHK were different from its counter-parts in Obsidian, WHK still gave me a feeling of similarity to Obsidian. The voice of Layla felt really similar to the MC in Obsidian and she seemed to always have love on her mind. Plus some of the decisions she made were so incredibly DUMB! YOU DO NOT FOLLOW A DEMON – NO MATTER WHAT ITS RANK – INTO A DARK, SECLUDED ALLY. NEVER! EEVVVEERRRR!! And then there was the whole part where she didn’t tell anyone about Roth and a couple of other things that also made me shake my head.

Also, this may sound odd, but the cover and spine of this book just look so disappointing. The cover is just horribly disgusting – you’d think Harlequin Teen could do better than that (unless they were going for a Harlequin romance kind of feel) – in a way I will never be able to explain. The spine is just so BORING. The back of the book is merely acceptable in my books. I think it would be better without the tag line down the left half of it. REMOVE IT!

But, this book still has it’s redeeming qualities. Even though I found nothing special about it and definitely was never moved by it, it was still entertaining. Armentrout’s style is quick, easy & HOLY COW ADDICTING. Overall, I liked this guy.

Winterling by Sarah Prineas

Rating: 3/5

Cute, quick and easy to read. This book was fun and entertaining and I liked reading it. :)

Jennifer (or "Fer") is often pestered, teased and even bullied at school. Because of this, Fer often feels like she doesn't fit in. And she is right on more levels than she knows...

After having a rough day at school, Fer decides to take the long way home so she can en

joy the outdoors more than usual since her Grand-Jane keeps her under lock and key at home. Upon coming home, Fer's Grand-Jane gets angry and scolds her for arriving home late. Coming home to this after her already stressful day at school, Fer escapes the house the first chance she gets. Feeling alone and isolated, she runs into the forest near their house until she fins a small pond that is just like her. Alone and isolated.

Collapsing in front of the pond, Fer touches the surface of the pond to cool off and... Falls into a whole new world.

This is where things take off. Fer meets Rook and the Lady of the Land and is quickly whisked away on an adventure of self-discovery and bravery.

As I said in my little mini-review at the top... This book is fun and cute and easy to read... And it's not really much else. It's not life-altering. It's not heart-shattering, but it's not a book that you make you feel with your whole heart, either.

However, that is not to say that this book is not at least a little bit of each of these things. WINTERLING is a fun book that would be great to introducing someone in this age group (8-12) to the world of reading. Again, it was nice, fun, cute & quick to read. :)

I liked Winterling and that's about that. :)

Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur

Rating: 2/5

"Sixteen teenagers taken from their homes. Eleven bodies recovered, each completely drained of blood. Some believe vampires are responsible. Jon Barnett knows that what’s happening is far worse. Sent by a group of paranormal investigators known as the Damask Circle, Jon quickly becomes enmeshed in a web of black magic and realizes he needs help. But fate gives him only one choice."

With a synopsis like that, how could I not expect edge-of-your-seat suspense? But I guess the other half of it should have warned me...

"Madeline Smith has retreated to an isolated farmhouse, afraid of the abilities she cannot control—abilities that have killed. But when a “ghost” brings a warning of danger and her nephew goes missing, Maddie not only has to leave her haven, she has to place her trust in a man who is neither ghost nor human. As the noose of sorcery tightens, the search for the teenagers becomes a race against time. But the greatest danger to Maddie and Jon could be the intense feelings they refuse to acknowledge but cannot ignore."

That one sentence should really take up more than one little line of the synopsis, because for me, CIRCLE OF FIRE felt more like a sappy insta-love story than anywhere near a thriller.

This book is about 45% romance, 45% repetition and 10% action. while reading the CIRCLE OF FIRE, we would constantly be reminded of how badly Maddie's past has messed her up and made her become oh-so-scared and how Jon could tell something had messed her up and mad her oh-so-scared.

And honestly? If this story's main characters weren't adults, I never would have guessed that this was an adult book... The writing was extremely simple and juvenile, and there was the annoying repetition at least every page or two throughout the entire book. Every other page we were either reminded about 1)how Maddie's past still effects her to this day or 2)how drawn Maddie/Jon was to the other.

However, it is the small bit of action and this books simplistic writing style that is it's saving grace. The small bit of action at the end made me bump up my rating from 1 star to 2 stars, and the simplistic writing is what was allowing me to finish the book.

I think the main reason I disliked this book so much was because the synopsis mislead me. Going into it I expected an intense, magic-filled thriller that would keep me on the edge of my seat. Yes, this book was filled with magic, but the thriller part just wasn't there for me and was instead taken over by the extremely aggravating love story between Maddie and Jon.

If you plan on reading this book, please be sure it's because you want one of those sappy love-stories. If you go in expecting what I did, I have no doubt that you will be just as disappointed as I was.

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Rating: 3.5/5

Joy already has a tough enough life before a stranger tries to stab her in the eye. Her mom abandoned their family in the company of a younger man, her brother Stefan doesn’t talk to her since leaving for college and Joy just can’t relate to her father. Needless to say, Ink stabbing her in the eye is the last thing Joy needs. Especially when he accidentally misses and ends up marking her as his instead. Thus, Joy is thrust into a new world of strange creatures, dark corners, and danger at every turn.

Joy is a typical YA MC. A whiny, moody, “nobody understand me” type of girl. We are never really given a physical description on her, so it’s pretty hard to make Joy unique from all of the other characters I’ve read about. Throughout the majority of the book, Joy is always the damsel in distress. She does her best to solve her problems, but she always needs to rely on others to finish the job for her. Mind you, most of these situations were out of her control, so we’ll cut her some slack. (Plus, she did really kick some butt in those last few pages!)

As for Ink &Inq, they’re what Melcalf describes as “scribes.” From what I got from the book, they’re there to act as a type of messenger between the other-worldly beings also known as the Twixt. They are given jobs by different members of the Twixt (some warriors, some aether spirits, amongst a whole slew of other un-named creatures), to carry and mark their signaturae on humans so that they can claim them as their own.

Why the Twixt needed them to mark people for them is unknown to me. In the book Metcalf explains it as keeping the Twixt safe and out of the way of exposure… But the only reason Joy was even able to see all these other-worldly creatures was because she has the “Sight,” which obviously gives her the ability to see Ink & the like. Ergo, I am very confused as to why these Twixt would need to keep to themselves from “risk of exposure” if there really is no risk at all.

Now, let’s break down this plot…. Wait. What plot? Pretty much the first two-thirds of this book are dedicated to Joy & Ink and them being seen together so that Ink doesn’t get in trouble for messing up and marking Joy by accident (Ink & Inq claimed that marking Joy was done on purpose so that they wouldn’t be considered fuck-ups & therefore disposable & replaceable). It’s not until you hit about page 200 that there is even a baddy/conflict identified for Ink & Joy to beat/over-come.

So, by now you’re probably thinking to yourself… Lex, why the hell did you give this book a 3.5 star rating if all you’re doing is trashing everything about it? Well, let me tell you…. This book has some unknown addictive quality to it that I can’t even begin to understand… Also, I was really in the mood for a super cheesy paranormal romance thing, AND! THE CREATURES IN THIS BOOK WERE SO FANTASTICAL. I think that’s why the plot and everything else was so lacking, because if I were Metcalf and I had images of these creatures in my head, I would want to spew them out on paper and show them off to everyone, too. These creatures, and the last 150 or so pages make up for pretty much all of the weak points of this book.

I read a review of someone else’s that mentioned that the creatures reminded her of a Miyazaki film and I think that’s why I liked this book as much as I did. I love his movies and I can’t help but be amazed by the different types of creatures. So, if you’re a fan of Miyazaki films I would suggest checking this book out and giving it a shot for yourself. :)

Rapid Reviews (1)

Hey guys!

A good, lengthy review takes a lot of time, thought and effort and thought to produce and sometimes just by missing one I won't write a review on a book. So, I thought I'd start something that I like to call Rapid Reviews! These are basically just books I've recently read but haven't written a full-length review on and not really planning to...

Hopefully this way I will actually post more, because the idea of doing this kind of excites me. :)

So, I'll start with what I've read since I finished The Darkest Minds (check out my review for that here).

The Emerald Atlas
by John Stephens

The Emerald Atlas was a fantastic read full of great characters! I loved Emma, Michael and Kate! They all worked so well together and you could see the obvious love between the three siblings. Being a middle-grade read this book is chalk-full of lots of adventure and wonderful, creative imaginings! I give this one a 5/5 because I simply loved it! :)

Virtuosity

by Jessica Martinez

Virtuosity is a great book about self-discovery and what it really means to follow your dreams. The main-character plays the violin and I'm just a sucker for all things musical so there was no way that I couldn't not like this book. I give it a 4/5 and would recommend it to anyone else who loves music too.

The Friday Society

by Andrienne Cress

Now, this is the book that I got stuck on while I was in my disgusting month-long reading slump. My only complaint about it was how slow it was in the beginning. Since we had to meet all of the  three main characters and wait for them to be introduced to each other, it took me until the last third or so of the book to really get into the story. But once I did get into it I ended up really enjoying it and giving it a 3/5 star rating :). 

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme held by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Through Wow, bloggers alike can share what they just can't wait to get there hands on this Wednesday!

I thought I'd do another two books for this week's WoW. So, without further ado... Here is what I'm waiting on this week!

                         Ink by Amanda Sun            A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Ink: First of all, the cover is freaking GORGEOUS, and second of all the summary for the book just sounds amazing, check this out: 

"I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive."

I don't know what you're thinking right now, but all that's going through my head is how much I want to get my hands on this book! Inkheart fascinated me when I was younger. The whole idea of bringing fictional characters to life plastered a huge smile on my face. Hell, it still does. So to see a book being written about a girl who can draw things to life? That is so, so, SO cool!

A Million Suns:
Now, I know that this book has been out for over a year already and that it's sequel Shades of Earth is coming out on the fifteenth, I wanted to point out that I'm waiting on this because I am. So desperately. I read Across the Universe a couple of weeks ago (check out my review here), and I absolutely adored it. So, needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting the day that I open up the cover to it's sequel and devour it page by page.

And for the curious, here's the summary of the book (which may or may not contain spoilers for the first book):

"It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceshipGodspeed. But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision--no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder learns shocking news, he and Amy must race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed, all the while dealing with the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart."

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Rating: Starry Eyes (5/5)

Release Date: December 18th, 2012

Publishers: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 496

Source: Bought

Series: The Darkest Minds #1

A quick summary from Goodreads:

"When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living."

Let me start by saying how  absolutely wonderful The Darkest Minds is. Even though I'm sure an idea similar to this has been published before, Bracken's novel seemed so original and fresh and something that can stand completely on it's own. 

When kids started dying on their 10th birthday as a result of IAAN, the kids who survived started to show that they had unbelievable abilities and were forced into Thurmond and camps similar to it as a result in an attempt at "rehabilitation." Immediately upon their arrival, they were marked with a large red, orange, yellow, green, or blue X across the backs of their camp clothes.

The reds are able to set things on fire.

The oranges can simply whisper something into your ear and you have no choice but to follow their words.

The yellows have power over technology.

The greens are incredibly smart.

The blues can send things flying across a room with a flick of their wrists.

Ruby is classified as a green upon her arrival to camp Thurmond, where she's put into a cabin of other green girls. After a couple of months, all of the reds, oranges, and yellows are sent away after the camp finds them too hard to control, even with the effects of the Calming Wave, set to a certain frequency that only the kids can hear. One day while Ruby is working on the grounds, a Calming Wave is released and has more of an impact on Ruby than it usually does, leaving her head pounding, nose bleeding and passed out on the ground. When she wakes up, she's in the camp's hospital, and the doctor that's looking after Ruby leaves her a note of promised escape.

And from there the story takes off. Ruby then meets Chubs, Liam, and Suzumi, two blues and a yellow. Each character has their own wonderful back story and I just couldn't help but fall in love with everyone of them. Chubs is the unyeilding, loyal, cynical friend who would do anything for you once you get on his good side. 

Suzumi is the little girl who was dealt a harsh life and only wishes for a life where she can fill her days with simple things like pink dresses. 

Liam is the leader of the group. The one who trusts easily and leads with an eager heart. 

There is romance in this book, but this is a romance that only adds to the story, and never takes away from it. Without it, the ending would have had a completely different tone and wouldn't have left me in such an emotional wreck. 

The relationship between the four of them is just so well done that you can see the love that the four of them have for each other through every word, every look, every touch. And I absolutely love the fact that friendship plays such a large roll in this book. 'Cause while romance is great, let's face it. It's in just about every single YA book that you pick up off of the shelves and it can never substitute what the element of strong friendship does in a book.

All together, The Darkest Minds pulls together a little bit of everything that you could ever ask for in a book, and I absolutely loved it, and I can easily say that this book will stick within my top 10 - maybe even my top 3 - for this year.