Review: Legend by Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

Summary from Goodreads:

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias' death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.


Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

My Thoughts:

I'm not totally sure how to word this review. I really, really wanted to love Legend. I really did. It got a lot of hype, I've seen great reviews on it, and it's selling really well.

But, I just didn't... love it.

I think my main problem was that there was almost too much detail and not enough at the same time. I felt like about a quarter of the detail there was in the book could have been left out, and then from there the book needed to be about twice as long as it was. I never felt like I fully understood the world of Legend, and I never really loved the characters that much. I hate to say it, but I think Legend is a book that I won't remember much about 6 months from now.

Man, I feel terrible writing this review...

I will say that I will read the next book. I do think it may be better, with more world building and more development behind the characters.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Catching Jordan

Summary from Goodreads:

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.



My Thoughts:

I had really high hopes for Catching Jordan. The premise sounded cleaver: a girl who’s the quarterback on her high school football team? Yes please! Falling in love with the guy that plays her same position? I’ll take some of that! And just look at that adorable cover!

I have to say, I have really mixed feelings about Catching Jordan. Jordan is a compelling character, she’s tough and can hold her own, but she’s still a girl who has very girl-ish feelings. She gets confused by her feelings and doesn’t know how to deal with things.

But I kind of felt like Jordan was a player. What I didn’t expect from this book was the major love triangle. I really don’t mind love triangles, I usually love them, I just like to know when to expect them. I was really thrown by it, not really sure who it was that I was supposed to route for.

Parental alert: There is a LOT of swearing in this book. It does kind of make sense, considering these are all football players, but there is a lot of it. And sex is dealt with very casually.

Overall I did enjoy the book. It was compelling and I did finish it in about two days.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Summary from Goodreads:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?


My Thoughts:

This review won’t be long because, well, this is the week of insanity for me…

I wasn’t so sure about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, to be honest. It seemed like it just all of the sudden cropped up, it has kind of a weird cover (though makes sense after reading it), and the description just didn’t really grab me. But I saw some great reviews on it. So I decided to go ahead and get it.

Wow, am I glad I did! I think this may be my favorite book of 2011. Taylor’s writing is complicated and lyrical, but still has the power to hook you and draw you in. And the world in this book and how things were connected together were simply fantastic. I kept smiling as I read and my husband would just chuckle and shake his head as he watched me. I loved every moment of this book.

This may sound weird but Daughter of Smoke and Bone really reminded me of Harry Potter. Maybe it was the well-built world, or maybe it was the weird creatures Taylor came up with, but honestly, I would place the two side by side in quality. Just as a note- I’ve probably read the first Harry Potter book about 7 times since I first read it about 10 years ago. And I liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone just as much!

So, word of advice: Read this book! Now!

5 out of 5 stars!

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Summary from Goodreads:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.


It can.


She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.


There is.


She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.


She's wrong.


My Thoughts:

Hmmm… honestly I’m not really sure what to say about The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
A lot of other blogs have said that about this book. And then continued to rave about the book.
I’m not really sure that’s what my feelings were. I have a feeling this review is going to sound more negative than I mean it to.

It took me a lot longer than I would have liked to really get into this book. Some weird stuff started happening but I didn’t find myself going “Oh my gosh, what is going on?! I must read this NOW to find out.” It was more like “huh, that’s kind of weird, I guess”. I think I went into this book with too high expectations after all the hype that surrounded it. I think it was expecting it to have the creep factor that Anna Dressed in Blood did. Sadly it didn’t for me.

What I did really like about Mara Dyer was the romantic factor between Mara and Noah (love the name Noah btw). There was so much tension between the two and I couldn’t help but smile at the two of them. My daughter kept asking me “what’s so funny mom?” as I was reading. The banter between the two of them was great.

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I felt like I was missing about a third of the book. There were many things that weren’t explained, left very open. Many seem to have liked this about this book but for me it was just frustrating.

I’m sad to say that is was only a 3.5 out of 5 stars for me.

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Summary from Goodreads:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.


So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.


When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.


But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.


My Thoughts:

Anna Dressed In Blood is one deliciously twisty book.

I cannot seem to get this book out of my head. I’m serious about that. I devoured Anna. I drank it in and didn’t want it to ever end. I’m actually kind of annoyed that it is over now. I WANT MORE. Now. Thank goodness there is another book coming sometime next year. I might kill someone if there hadn’t been another one… kidding.

I am not normally a big ghost fan. But there was something so wonderfully dark about Anna and her possessed, kill-you ways that I just absorbed it. Cas was fantastic as a main character, totally believable. He did swear a bit more than I would have liked, but then again, he is a teenage boy.

This is how much Anna stuck with me: After reading about the first 200 pages, I finally had to go make dinner, put the kids to bed, and finally go to bed myself. I had a dream that night. I dreamed about a ghost that lived in a house. I went in such house with a group of people. This ghost got inside of me and started suffocating me from the inside out. I literally woke up gasping, feeling like I was being choked to death. Yeah, it was freaky.

Now, not a lot of supernatural stuff in books and movies gets me freaked out. But for some reason Voodoo does. I don’t know if it’s because I kind of believe in Voodoo and kinda think it’s some real stuff, but it is some seriously freaky shiz to me. Holy cow, Voodoo guy at the last half of the book… *shivers*

Wow, what a ramble this was. In case you didn’t get the picture, I loved Anna Dressed In Blood. It is the perfect read seeing as we’re approaching Halloween. So go out and buy it. NOW!

5 out of 5 stars!

Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

From Goodreads:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?


My Thoughts:

I know, more werewolves! You all know I’m not normally a fan, but I really, really liked Nightshade.  I fought reading it for a long time but I'm glad that I finally gave in and bought a copy.

I really liked that Calla was tough. I’m starting to like tough chick heroines more and more and honestly, Calla reminded me a lot of my own character, Eve, from Eden. She knows how to handle herself, she can have a bit of an attitude, and she’s one confused girl.

Be warned, there is a love triangle here. A very conflicted love triangle. Calla wants Shay, Shay, Shay but there’s hot, hot, hot Ren. It was fairly clear from the beginning who she was going to end up with, and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. I think I liked the guy she didn’t pick better, despite his faults. The other guy didn’t seem to care that he was constantly putting Calla in danger. I am curious to see how things go in Wolfsbane and I already have my copy!

One of the things I really loved about Nightshade was the world building. I was really lost and confused for about the first 50 pages or so. Mrs. Creamer uses a lot of words like Keepers, Guardians, and Searchers, but doesn’t give much explanation for quite a while. But once you figure it out you feel pulled in and like you’ve been raised as one of the pack. And I loved the relationships in this book. The friendships felt real and I felt pulled into their triumphs and dramas like I was a character in the book.

I can’t wait to start on the next book! 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

From Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.


As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?




My Thoughts:

After reading so much dark fantasy and dystopian, I was ready for something different. Contemporary YA is not something that I read very often but I’ve seen a lot of praise for Anna and the French Kiss so I went ahead and bought it. I wasn’t disappointed!

I can’t even imagine how terrifying it would be to be dropped off on your own, at a new school, in a country that you don’t speak the language of, and without knowing anyone. This is Anna’s new world. After her Nicolas Sparks father (yeah, that’s pretty much who her dad’s supposed to be… lol) decides she needs some more culture he ships her off to Paris. Teenage insecurity ensues.

Miss Perkins does a great job of painting a picture of Paris and makes her readers try and calculate in their head how they are going to possibly afford to make it there. I’ve honestly not been one that wanted to go to Paris but after reading this book, I’m SO ready to go!

Anna and St. Claire were cute and yet frustrating. I wanted to smack St. Claire upside the head and tell him to dump his girlfriend as he was obviously in love with Anna and I wanted to smack Anna for being SOOO obsessed with St. Claire! But… they were very cute and I could totally feel the heartache Anna was going through, pining away after him.

I highly recommend Anna and the French Kiss if you’re wanting something that reads fast, is light hearted, and will make you go awwww! 4 out of 5 stars!

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Summary from Goodreads:

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit, Forever wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put down.  I set a schedule for myself of when I wanted to have it finished by, and finished it on that day. 

What I do love about this series though is Grace and Sam’s relationship.  They truly are a couple made for each other and their relationship feels real.  Sweet is the perfect word to describe the romance here.  There is no question about how much Sam loves Grace and how much Grace loves Sam.  Things felt real here.

But I think my favorite part about Forever was the dynamic with Cole.  For one I’m a sucker for his name considering one of my own MC’s name is Cole, and in certain ways their personalities are the same.  For two, the boy is smart.  And unpredictable.  And I loved the relationship between him and Isabel.  The tension was obvious and had me dying for them to just get over themselves and admit they want to be together. 

While I loved the relationships in Forever, like I said, it is slow.  It felt like nothing was really happening, for a really long time.  I would put the book down for a while, go back and try and review in my head what had happened previously, and couldn’t think of much that had gone on that was important.  And then with how slow most of it was, the ending just raced along.  It did feel a bit rushed.  I got to the last 20 pages, kept looking at how much was left, and kept thinking “how is this possibly going to wrap up in time?”  But it did.

I do have to admit, I am not a huge werewolf fan, but I do recommend it to all those who do love their shape-shifting characters!  3 out of 5 stars.

Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

From Goodreads:

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

My Thoughts:

You know those books that you find and after you read them you keep thinking about them and find that you’re really anxious for the next one to come out?  Thankfully, thankfully, Blood Red Road was like that for me.

Saba comes from a dysfunctional yet close family.  Her mom passed away giving birth to her little sister and Saba hates the sister for it.  The dad’s gone a little loopy since the mom passed.  The sister is a pretty normal winey little kid.  But Lugh is perfect in Saba’s eyes.  He means everything to her.  So when he’s taken away, it pushes Saba to grow up and go after him.

In the reviews I’ve seen of Blood Red Road, people talked about the rough way Saba talks.  And it is rough, jarring, and now what you’re used to reading in a novel.  But I LOVED it!  I found myself thinking in the language Saba used for days after I finished.  It was just a raw, no nonsense way of thinking. 

Saba’s growth in the book was wonderful.  In the beginning she wasn’t much more than her twin brother’s shadow, always looking to him to do the right thing.  And as she goes after him, she becomes a tough, quick thinking warrior.  I have to say, I loved how she became known as “The Angel of Death” without giving away any spoilers.  It was just great.

I did have a few hang-ups with this book.  The fact that there were no quotation marks around any of the dialogue drove me CRAZY!  It made me pay very close attention but when I’m reading I don’t want it to have to be work.  There were a few twists that seemed predictable to me.  And I was having really high hopes that this might be a standalone novel but the last three pages made that not possible.  Now I have to wait for the next one… sigh.

Overall, I really did like Blood Red Road.  I would place it in my top 5 favorite books I’ve read in 2011 so far.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Review: Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

Never Eighteen
By Megan Bostic
Published by:  HMH Children's Books
Pages: 204
Release Date: Jan. 16, 2012
Source: ARC from NetGalley

Summary from Goodreads:

I had the dream again. The one where I’m running. I don’t know what from or where to, but I’m scared, terrified really.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It’s probably hopeless.

But he has to try.




My Thoughts:

I had the awesome chance to hang out with Megan Bostic for a while at the writers conference a few months back and I was thrilled when I got the chance to review her book through NetGalley!

Austin is on a mission.  A mission to set things right, to mend the wrongs of his past, to help those he hasn’t had the gumption to help before.  He faces his greatest fears and takes his best friend along for the ride.

I loved the friendship between Austin and Kaylee.  It was sweet, realistic, and charged with romantic tension.  It reminded me a lot of a relationship I had in high school, and just in general reminded me what it was like to be in high school and all the drama that is involved.  Kaylee was totally believable and I loved her sarcastic, don’t-give-me-any-crap attitude.

Never Eighteen reminded me a lot of Thirteen Reason’s Why, but while 13 was really sad and depressing, 18 was hopeful and uplifting.  It made you think about what your priorities in life really are, who you’ve effected throughout your life, and what things you need to fix.  The message is one that we’ve seen done many times before but it puts a young and fresh spin on it.

The simplistic style in Never Eighteen was great.  It read fast (and it is a short book) and I actually really enjoyed the short chapters.  I buzzed through the book in about 3 days (fast for me having 2 kids and my own writing to do, lol!).

Be advised: there is a LOT of swearing in Never Eighteen.  It didn’t bother me too much because it was all believable and it flowed with how a teenager would talk.

I recommend this book to those who want to read something a little different from all the other YA stuff out there.  It was nice to slow down, and take a look at my own life, and put myself in Austin’s shoes.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance

Summary from Goodreads:


Fans of romance don't need to look any further than the fauxmance brewing between teen idols Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers-known on their hit TV show as Jenna and Jonah, next-door neighbors flush with the excitement of first love. But it's their off-screen relationship that has helped cement their fame, as passionate fans follow their every PDA. They grace the covers of magazines week after week. Their fan club has chapters all over the country. The only problem is their off-screen romance is one big publicity stunt, and Charlie and Fielding can't stand to be in the same room. Still, it's a great gig, so even when the cameras stop rolling, the show must go on, and on, and on. . . . Until the pesky paparazzi blow their cover, and Charlie and Fielding must disappear to weather the media storm. It's not until they're far off the grid of the Hollywood circuit that they realize that there's more to each of them than shiny hair and a winning smile.




My Thoughts:

Forced to pretend to be in love on and off screen, Charlie and Fielding can’t stand to be around each other in real life.  Let the Fauxmance ensue!

This book was a lot different than I was expecting.  While this isn’t my normal reading material, I picked it up for my e-reader for only $1.49 and started reading it as research in a way for an idea I’ve had for another book (but am still quite a ways away from having time to write…).  I thought I knew where this book was going to go.  I was wrong.

This felt a lot like two books to me.  There was the first half of running and hiding from the paparazzi, of being on camera, and watching their every move so they don’t screw their careers up.  And then there comes the time when they do, and suddenly they’re being forced to be part of a Shakespearian festival?  Say what?

I almost wish I could give two ratings on this book.  While I was disappointed with the second half, feeling like it kind of drug on, I would give it a much lower rating than the first half.  I really enjoyed seeing Charlie and Fielding realize that even though they can’t stand each other sometimes, they really have always been able to count on one another.  And sometimes the one you need the most has been standing right next to you all along.

My overall rating is 3 out of 5 stars.