Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks [Again]

May 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Digital Copy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen — literally, ouch! — both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

Review
Much like Crewel, I picked this one up because Anna Banks is going to be in my neck of the woods for the Fierce Reads Tour next month. While I loved Crewel, I wasn’t as big a fan of this one. It wasn’t a bad book, but mermaids just aren’t my thing really — I liked The Little Mermaid growing up (and I still do) but otherwise I’m kind of like MEH. So I was a bit nervous going into it — what are mermaid books even about and/or like? Do they talk about smelling like fish? Do they think humans are weird? Are they just like us? Do they have a separate language? Inquiring minds, people.

Banks addresses most of these things because the main character, Emma, is a human who knows absolutely nothing about mermaids (or the Syrena as Banks calls them.) It all begins with Emma going on vacation with her best friend’s family in Florida when she literally runs into Galen. It’s cute, if a bit overdone. Galen thinks there’s something about Emma and Emma obviously thinks he’s hot but she’s on vacation, nothing can come of it, right? That all turns on its head when her best friend is attacked and killed by a shark. During the attack Emma is able to talk to the shark and somehow get it to leave her alone. This is when Galen knows that something is definitely up with her.

Before I go further, however, I must address the fact that Emma’s best friend was African-American (extremely cliché with a weave and fake nails at that) and then killed within the first five chapters of the novel. As a rule of thumb, I try not to let race alter my opinion of a novel or think of it at all while reading. Sometimes it’s impossible — Hooked is a prime example, as is Eleanor & Park which I DNF — and while this time it’s not impossible, I felt compelled to point out that I felt it was in bad taste. I felt it wholly unnecessary to portray the character that way and then play into so many clichés and tropes (one of the biggest being that black people can’t swim/always die in the water even if LL Cool DJ did survive Deep Blue Sea.) So that irked me a bit and we weren’t even into the meat of the story!

Once we get the meat, it does get interesting, however, so I do need to give Banks points for that. It turns out that Emma is Syrena but she can’t transform once she’s in the water. Add to that, the fact that she can speak to sea creatures? It’s a special gift given to special descendants of Poseidon — Triton’s gifts are a bit different (I might also have them backwards so apologies if I do.) Anyway, they can’t figure out how she’s Syrena because both of her parents are human and Emma is certain that she wasn’t adopted. She and Galen do some investigating, with the help of a doctor who is in the know about Syrena, and make some shocking discoveries, leaving for quite a cliffhanger. There were certain aspects that I was expecting but others that I weren’t, so the end was actually quite exciting.

Finally, the love story is fairly cliche but easy enough to get behind. Galen is kind of an asshole, but it’s not your typical asshole, as he doesn’t understand a lot of what actually happens in a human relationship. He’s not abusive or anything like that, but he kind of stalks Emma a bit and doesn’t realize that isn’t okay because HEY HE’S A MERMAID. He truly hasn’t interacted much with humans outside of his assistant and the trusted doctor, so the excuse is viable and not like the Edward Cullen “he’s a hot vampire” excuse. Galen is ok, I’m not super attached to him, but I wasn’t bothered by his borderline overbearing moments because it is early on established that he is not human and does not know how to even pretend to be.

The things that saved the book the most for me were the characters, who were quick witted and feisty, and the interesting storyline. There are royal mermaids included! More appeal to me. While there were some drawbacks, I felt like the good parts were good enough for me to continue on with the series. This is Banks’ debut novel and I found her writing quick and fast paced, which I enjoyed so I’m hoping that her writing evolves because I think she shows a lot potential and with the right plot and characters — who knows! I would give this a “quick summer read” status.

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The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass

April 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Review
I debated about reviewing this book and then I debated about actually posting my review but part of the reason I blog is that I want to express myself. If I didn’t post this review because I was scared I might hurt some people’s feelings or people might judge me, then that would be silly. I’m entitled to my own opinions just as everyone is and, although I’m aware of the drama associated with this author and series, I still like the books. Nice authors don’t mean good books and mean authors don’t mean bad books. So I’m reviewing this and that’s all there is to it.

So I didn’t review the first novel, The Selection, here, but I really enjoyed it. I even reread it before The Elite came out and it got me ready for this one. It reminded me why I liked this series (royalty!) and where I stood in the love triangle (Prince Maxon!) If you haven’t read The Selection, the series is set in the not-so-distant future when North America has gone through two more world wars and is now known as Ilea and has a royal family instead of a president. We’re not quite sure exactly how all of this came about because America, the heroine, isn’t sure herself. No one is really taught history like we’re taught history today – and they history that they are taught is very selective. A very dystopian monarchy. Because a monarchy isn’t something that most people would be amenable to, the royal family appease the people by marrying a commoner and that commoner is chosen by a process known as ‘the selection.’ Through a series of fights with her secret boyfriend, America ends up in the selection process and vying for the heart of Prince Maxon.

Now we’ve reached the top 6 contenders and ‘the elite’ stage of the selection and America is still in the running! Not only does America have feelings for Prince Maxon, which she never expected, but her ex-boyfriend is now a palace guard and isn’t going away without a fight. Add to that, there are rebels from both the North and the South attacking the palace for reasons that America is slowly starting to understand. As her feelings for Maxon grow, so do her doubts about her abilities to be the princess and future queen of Ilea. Not only is the selection a competition for Maxon’s affection, it’s a competition to see who can be the next queen of the country. I mean – can you imagine? I can’t imagine being Kate Middleton (sigh…luff her) who endured years of trial by fire with the British royal family, but to be put through an actual competition against other girls? That’s absolutely awful.

All this internal turmoil is happening while America is still competing against five other girls. Some of the girls are her friends – Marlee is one of her best friends – while others will do anything for the crown and when I say anything, I mean anything. They’re forced to work and learn how to be princesses together, while still being pitted against each other. Each girl is there for a specific reason and America knows that the only person keeping her in the selection is Maxon himself. The other girls have connections overseas, strong connections within the country or are simply favorites with the public. Politically, there are many reasons for them to be in the selection but America has nothing to bring to the table except that she’s from one of the lower castes. I’ve left out the caste system too, haven’t I? It’s pretty much what it sounds like although there are some details that you’ll read about in the book that are pretty interesting.

Without spoiling anything, there’s a lot that happens in this book both plot-wise and character-wise. We learn a great deal more about Ilea and its royal family as well as the rebels that seek to overthrow them. America grows right in front of our eyes as she learns more, grows up and is forced to deal with more than most other 16-year-olds her age do. There were a few moments when I was a bit nervous about where things were going, but Cass definitely knew what she was doing from the beginning. There are reasons for everything that happens and a lot is explained in the end, before even more questions are raised. It wasn’t the middle novel of the series that I was expecting and I was happily surprised with the events that took place. I’m looking forward to the last in the series, The One, next year!

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Let the Sky Fall (Let the Sky Fall #1) by Shannon Messenger [Again]

March 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Digital Copy
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy It: Amazon
A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

Review
** I had this mostly written days ago but then this little thing called the NCAA Tournament happened and I got super distracted. Apologies for the delay.

I read this book in about 6 hours. And I gave it 5 stars. Does that tell you something? Generally I’m a pretty fast reader and I read this at the beginning of a 2-day bender where I read 5 books – YIKES! Anyway, I’ve been anticipating this book for agessssss. Not only is the cover gorgeous, the premise is fantastic and Shannon Messenger is a total sweetheart. You guys should totally follow her on Twitter if you don’t already. To the point, the combination of great writing, a fascinating plot put out by an awesome author was part of the reason I kept reading incessantly for the next 36 hours. (That also might have something to do with the fact that I actually had two days in a row off.) Anyway, Messenger dips into mythology some with Let the Sky Fall, but only to a certain degree, which I liked because so many times mythology-based novels can be bogged down in the mythos. This one was not — it had just the right amount, enough to get me super interested but not too much to get me confused.

The story begins with Vane bored on summer vacation. His best friend convinces him to go on a blind date, which is where he sees Audra — but not for the first time. Vane has been dreaming about Audra for as long as he can remember and he’s unconsciously been searching her out everywhere he goes. Now he’s finally seen her and he confronts her! But his blind date was going really well and when he takes the girl home he almost kisses her. A mysterious wind keeps them apart, however, and Vane still has yet to get his first kiss. We then learn that Audra is manipulating the wind so that nothing can happen. And that she has perhaps been doing similar things for much longer than Vane even suspects.

It turns out that Audra has been watching and protecting Vane for most of his life, without his knowledge of course, because he’s like her and he just doesn’t know it. They are wind manipulators called sylphs. It’s really very cool and something different that I haven’t seen from any novel that I’ve read. Obviously everyone has different affinities for different things, but the basis is the same – the ability to call on and control the wind. We quickly learn that Vane is so important because he’s the last of the Westerleys, the sylph line that can control the Westerlies [winds.] Pretty important in the sylph world.

I don’t want to ruin anything, but the plot is engaging and intriguing and is a great introduction to the series as a whole. When it was over, I knew there would be more, but I was also happy where it stopped (FOR NOW.) Not only are Vane and Audra battling the enemies they’re anticipating, they’re battling some internal conflicts they weren’t expecting either. And there’s the whole fact that Vane needs to deal with the fact that he’s a sylph and he needs to learn how to be a sylph. Plus there’s some stuff that Audra’s hiding from him that comes to light later — don’t worry the reader knows what it is long before Vane does. Overall the angst and the conflict were fantastic and I couldn’t put it down to save my life. This is just the first book since Pivot Point that I would highly recommend both because of originality and overall writing. This one isn’t one to be missed and I can’t wait for the next one!

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The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3) by Aimee Carter

February 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter
Release Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or the end of the world.
Kate must choose.

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can’t stop her–until Cronus offers a deal.

In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he’ll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.

With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.

Even if it costs her eternity.

Review
So this is a series that I’ve read from the very beginning and although I enjoyed the first novel – Greek gods and romance! – the second was kind of off the mark for me. The mythos was a little too in-depth and there was just too much time lapse between the first and second novel for me to truly remember what was happening. One of the series’ biggest downfalls is that it has far too many characters – I could never keep them straight except for the main few, Kate and Henry specifically. Even as I write this, having just read the book a few days ago, I couldn’t name more than two more characters probably because there are just TOO many. I think that’s part of the problem with the disconnect. That being said, the third and final book in the series starts off with a bang – Kate’s giving birth! – and it doesn’t let up until the very end.

Unlike the second novel, I could follow what was going on because I didn’t necessary have to know who the characters were and their relationships with each other to get it. I just had to know that Calliope was bad and working with the Titan Cronus. The world’s going to end unless all of the gods and goddesses can ban together and take him down. The problem? They barely took him down last time and that was when Calliope was on their side. There’s no way they’ll be able to gain control of him this time. So even though there are a lot of characters and the entire book is like a giant game of chess, it’s kind of easy to follow after a while. Most of the characters are pawns while Kate and Henry are obviously the king and queen. I believe Kate even makes the comparison herself in the book. It’s a good comparison because it’s true. Sometimes big plots like these bother me because they don’t end up paying off in the end and you’re sitting there wondering why you just read a series for three years to get to THIS but it wasn’t like that at all. There were other parts that I didn’t necessarily agree with, but Carter was smart in her plot devices, that’s for sure.

One of my biggest problems throughout the series is Kate’s behavior and that doesn’t change much in the third novel. You’d think it would especially after becoming a mother! But no. She never grows a spine and she never stands up to Henry or her mother or (who we find out to be) her father. Even at the end of the novel, she doesn’t get to take a stand – she’s outsmarted by Henry – and then they compromise when push comes to shove. All of her whining gets to be pretty grating. Not to mention there’s not much character growth throughout the entire novel. But what do I know? All in all, I liked this better than the second in the series but nothing can stop the intrigue and mystery of the first one for me.

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Boundless (Unearthly #3) by Cynthia Hand

January 23, 2013 by 1 Comment
Boundless by Cynthia Hand
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy It: Amazon
The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California – and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfil her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.

Review
To say that I was excited about this book would be an understatement.  I was literally counting down the hours on Monday until I could get my hands on my pre-ordered digital copy (along with my hard copy that didn’t get here until after I finished the book.)  At the end of 2011, I was able to get an ARC of Hallowed so I’ve literally been waiting over a year for the last installment and some resolution!  Luckily, last month, Hand released a novella – Radiant – that was fantastic and centered around Angela and Clara’s time in Italy.  It did tide me over but it didn’t come close to being a full-fledged novel in the series, however, I definitely recommend reading it before starting Boundless.  It explains a lot of what takes place in Boundless and it gives a good refresher from Hallowed.

Now to the meat of this review – there is a lot that happens in this book but I loved every single second of it.  There was one single moment towards the end where I thought, “OH MY GOD WHAT HAS CYNTHIA DONE!?” (because I’m on a first name basis with authors in my head) otherwise it was absolute perfection.  The book begins with Clara, Christian and Angela headed off to Stanford.  Nothing too out of the ordinary going on at this point.  Clara is still upset that her mother is gone and is still worried that her brother is missing in action but her father is back in the picture!  It’s a double-edged sword of sorts.  He’s not around full-time or anything, she is a college freshman after all, but she definitely has a family support system in place.  Not only is he there for as her father, but he’s there to help mentor both her and Christian in an angel capacity.  It’s an interesting contrast to the mentor that Clara’s mother, Maggie, was for the first two novels.  I like Michael, her father, but Clara had such a connection with her mother that it’s just not the same, you know?  Especially since her father was absent for so much of her life.

Moving on to the friends and boys part of the novel: I have soooooo many feelings about Tucker, Angela and Christian and their roles in Boundless.  I had to wait to quite a while to write this part to make sure I didn’t accidentally spoil anyone because so much happens with all of these characters.  Angela moves into the spotlight in a big way in this novel – her purpose comes to light now that they’re at Stanford – and I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t the only one blindsided by her purpose.  Christian becomes Clara’s confidante and training partner as they prepare for their visions.  They’re quite literally in the dark about what their visions mean but Clara just knows that they need to be ready, that their purpose will come sooner rather than later.  All the while, Tucker is still in the picture, to an extent, even though he and Clara have broken up.  I adore Hand’s writing but I think what sets her apart, for me at least, is her way of writing relationships.  There wasn’t a moment that I doubted there she was taking these characters.  I’m personally Team Tucker but I’ve never disliked Christian; that happens so often with love triangles – loving one and hating the other.  I truly just preferred the cowboy over the angel blood.  I won’t reveal anything about this love triangle but I think no one will put the book down feeling angry.

In the end, Hand did a wonderful job of weaving the plots from the first two novels into Boundless and rounding out the trilogy.  We meet a few new characters, but the cast stays mostly the same as Clara tries to defeat the ever-present Black Wings that are trying to conquer the angel bloods.  While the first two novels in the series were almost stand alone novels but with this last one, everything that happened in the first two wound back into this last novel.  It all came together and made sense.  When Clara has her “AHA!” moment in the book, I had mine as well.  Hand definitely had a plan from the beginning.  A good one.  To sum up, this was a fantastic end to a fantastic series.  I highly recommend every single book and I cannot wait until Cynthia Hand writes something else.

On a side note, she’s going to be in my neck of the woods in 3 weeks time (EEP!) so look out for a post about that afterwards ;)

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The Lost Saint (The Dark Divine, #2) by Bree Despain

January 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Lost Saint (The Dark Divine, #2) by Bree Despain
Release Date: December 28, 2010
Publisher: Egmont USA
Source: Audiobook
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace’s relationship with Daniel is put in danger – in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her – not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

Bree Despain delivers sizzling romance and thrilling action in the heart-pounding sequel to the The Dark Divine

Review
As soon as I finished the first book in this series I had to start the second one, even though I feared the middle child syndrome. Although, to be fair, I fear that with EVERY series I read. This book did not suffer from the dreaded middle child syndrome as much as previous books have! The Lost Saint picks up quickly after the first book ends. Grace’s brother is still a werewolf, Grace has been infected with the curse, and her father is on a great search to find the golden child, Jude, because the matriarch of the family has slowly begun to lose her mind because her son isn’t at home anymore.

I thought The Dark Divine was a dark book, but The Lost Saint proved to me that Despain could get even darker and make me wonder what twist and turn she was going to make next. Throughout the book, Grace is searching for her brother, Jude, while she herself is becoming a stronger person/werewolf. Plus, a new mysterious person enters the scene, and while you could tell they were bad, you were never quite sure of what they were going to do. Of course, Grace, being a teenager, finds the appeal of the mysterious interesting (heck, I at almost 25 find the appeal interesting.) It was fast-paced with twists and turns that I did not see coming. That being said, if the two main characters, Daniel, the boyfriend, and Grace, would have just talked most of the conflict wouldn’t have existed. Yes, I get they are teenagers and they aren’t supposed to be “logical” (something I have issues with). But seriously, if I’m supposed to believe that you’re in love, but you never actually talk, it makes it hard to believe that you’re really in love.

Even with the conflict, which I tend to hate, I couldn’t put this book down. The ending had me gasping with shock on more than one occasion. I can’t wait to see where Despain goes with the third book.

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Crash (Visions #1) by Lisa McMann

January 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Crash (Visions #1) by Lisa McMann
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Simon Plus
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy It: Amazon
Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode…and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

Review

I’m probably not the right one to be writing this. Tina and I daily email each other discussing who loves Lisa McMann more. That being said, my local bookstore happened to get their shipment in early. Because of this and the fact that I pre-ordered the book, I got to pick my copy up on Friday and quickly devoured it. Actually the only thing I stopped for was having to drive home, eat dinner, and watch part of The Shining with my parents.

Really, the book was that good. I couldn’t put it down. Of course I quickly finished (I’m a fast reader, my friends complain about it) and then got upset because the next one isn’t out yet. When I was reading McMann’s Wake series, what I was thrilled about was I read the first two the weekend before the third one came out so I had no real waiting for the series. This is different; the second book doesn’t come out until October. Although that’s only 10 months and not a year. I understand it could be worse.

Crash is the story of Jules, snarky, sarcastic, bitter Jules whose voice often seems like my own. Jules does not have an easy life. First of all, she is a teenager who has to drive a truck with giant balls on the top of it. They’re meatballs, but still, they are balls. Jules does appreciate the good puns that come out of having to drive the truck. Second, her father has…his problems. He is a hoarder. He’s a neat hoarder, but he still hoards. McMann is not new to writing conditions such as hoarding, with a previous book of her featuring OCD. Jules’ mother and father own the family business, an Italian eatery (hence the balls) and the hoarding affects the family business. Jules, however, deals with it. She isn’t on her own, she has a younger quirky sister and an awesome older brother. Her older brother, by the way, is gay. McMann inserts this so subtly into the story that, to be honest, I had to re-read that page because it was perfectly handled. It wasn’t handled as a big way, which in my opinion, is how it should be handled. McMann even brought the Church into it at one point; again, handled perfectly.

But still, Jules goes on with her life. Her crush doesn’t know he exists, because they were once BFFs and then he stopped talking to her. Of course he comes from a rival pizza-making family; they are serious arch rival enemies. At the end of the book when the whole horrid story finally comes out I gasped and then wanted to go in the book and hug the characters. What? That isn’t normal?!

Again though, she continues on with her life until she has a vision. This vision of people dying, including her crush, Sawyer. This affects her in various ways. It of course freaks her out, understandably. It makes her closer to her older brother, who thinks she’s a wee bit crazy, but is happy to help her and makes her on edge all the time because this vision keeps occurring. She can’t stop it from occurring and when she finally tells Sawyer, “hey! I think you’re going to die. Someday at some location” he of course thinks she’s crazy, which is no surprise because she thinks she’s crazy.

McMann’s writing continues to be strong and on point. From the first page to the last, where I am left wanting more, McMann had me hooked in, holding the pages closer to my face, wanting more, but at the same time hoping it would never end. And then when the moment happened? Perfection.

 If you love and adore the Wake series I promise you this one will have you hooked, too.

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Prophecy (The Dragon King Chronicles #1) by Ellen Oh

January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Prophecy (The Dragon King Chronicles #1) by Ellen Oh
Release Date: January 2, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Edelweiss
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms… is a girl with yellow eyes.

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope…

Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy.

Review

This is the story of Kira, a strong warrior girl. Her sworn duty is to protect her younger cousin, the Crown Prince Taejo, from any and all harm. At the same time she is fighting with her culture, because she is hated by everyone in the land. This is weird, to me, because her job is to save everyone from demon attacks. Personally, I think that would make her liked by everyone in the town, but alas it doesn’t. Another weird point is we, the reader, are told that people have no clue about her talent, yet everyone calls her the Demon Slayer. Weird, right?

Still though, I like Kira: she’s strong, she tends to hate tradition (like being told who to marry), and can stand up for herself. Throughout the novel this becomes clear when a huge betrayal ruins the country, and she ends up on the run with her cousin and a handful of others. The action scenes are extremely well written by Oh, and Oh isn’t afraid to have Kira kill anyone. In my opinion, this is awesome when reading a novel. I loathe nothing more than reading an action book is the fear of killing off characters. Oh doesn’t fear killing off characters one bit. It is also interesting that while this is heavily a YA book, the romance section is almost always on the backburner. YA tends to be so heavily romantic lately that it was interesting to read a book and have it involve romance, but at the same time not really involve romance. It was an unexpected twist.

All of this being said, I could not get into this book. I tried, I even finished it, but when I finished it I had no interest in being the excited about the second book, which is upsetting because I was so excited for this book. This book to me is like Origin: it’s a good book, but it isn’t the book for me. It is a book I would call a Tina book. Tina and I agree about 80% of the time when it comes to books, but 20% of the time I book I find “meh” Tina thoroughly enjoys and vice versa. So me calling this a Tina book isn’t an insult to the book, if that’s what you thought, because I didn’t mean that at all. If Tina’s reviews are spot on to your book taste then this is very much so your book, but to me it’s an okay one time read.

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The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, #1) by Bree Despain

December 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
Release Date: December 22, 2009
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared–the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood–but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude’s high school. Despite promising Jude she’ll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel’s shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy’s dark secret…and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it–her soul.

Review

This is the story of Grace Divine. Yes, that is her name. Her father is a preacher who named his eldest son Jude. Jude, who happens to be the perfect child. But we’ll get more into that later. Grace Divine lives a fairly normal life. She has a loving family, goes to school, volunteers. She is a completely normal teenager. Until the day her brother comes home after a night out with his friend Daniel, who Grace happens to be in love with. Jude and Daniel’s friendship was forever changed that night and no one talks about it again. That was over three years ago and that night is still not discussed in the Divine household.

Until Daniel comes back. Grace didn’t know how much she missed or how much she was drawn to Daniel until he comes back. They are drawn to each other like two magnets. Daniel is artistic and makes Grace want to be a better artist and makes her look at things in a way she never truly did before. Of course this is problematic because Grace promised Jude that she would stay away from Daniel and she doesn’t lie to anyone, family or not. She takes that very seriously. She also turns many shades of red which make it next to impossible to lie, but that’s not the point. When she promises something to her family it’s important to her to stay truthful and honest.

Of course she doesn’t stay away from Daniel. She can’t. The magnets! The more she stays near Daniel and talks to him, the more she comes to find out what happened that night with Jude three years ago. This is where the mysterious element comes into play which I will not ruin for you. I will state that Despain handles it in an interesting way and with this being a series, I will be interested to see how it continues.

I wanted to like this book, and I did. Don’t get me wrong, I totally liked this book, I just expected more from it in the end. Thankfully it is a series and more is coming. Despain has a very interesting writing style and while I enjoy it, I often found it a tad too preachy for me. The fact that Grace’s father is a preacher, Jude is perfect, Grace often makes sure her point gets across in a childish way while continuing to be the good girl. I have no problem with the good girl character. However this version of the good girl was so sickeningly sweet it often hurt to read in parts. That is honestly another reason it didn’t get another star from me. I hate when books get preachy with me. You can get your point across without repeating it over and over again.

Alas, I will be reading the rest of the series because well, I am hooked.

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Origin by Jessica Khoury

December 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Origin by Jessica Khoury
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Library Copy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home–and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia’s origin–a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.

Review

Origin was a buzz book of 2012. It is YA heaven. This is the story of Pia. Pia’s life is surrounded by a jungle, literally. She was born and raised in the middle of a jungle to be immortal. Pia was created by a group of scientist to be the strong immortal out there, which she is. Her skin cannot pierced, she has heightened hearing, sight, smell and even speed. Pia  however has her weaknesses. She has normal strength and is extremely stubborn, both of which are extremely looked down upon by her ‘family.’ Of course she doesn’t really have a family, she has a group of scientists who have become her family. She calls a woman ‘mother’ and a group of men ‘uncle’. There is nothing wrong with creating your own family, I am all for it. However when it comes down to it, and in a pivotal point of the novel it will, she’ll come to find who is really her family and who isn’t.

Pia is often seen as naive throughout this book by many scientists because she has never left this bubble that is her life. And it’s true until one day her need to know about the outside outweighed her need to stay in the bubble that was her world. She  found a hole in the electrified fence and went through it. Once through that hole Pia realized that the world outside of all that she once knew isn’t that scary. In the outside world, Pia meets Eio, who happens to be a jungle boy. While he is kind and patient with Pia, he sees the danger of her bubble, of Little Cam as it is known. Eio is also honest to a fault and because of this honesty he tells Pia how bad Little Cam is and how dangerous it is to Pia.

Pia of course doesn’t believe Eio because Little Cam, her bubble, is all that she knows.  Yet, even with Eio encouraging her to leave, Pia and Eio slowly fall into love. Eio is quicker to admit to love of Pia than Pia is of Eio because she isn’t confident in what love is. Pia’s world of Little Cam is quickly changing throughout the week that Origin covers. Even though Origin only covers a week, Khoury’s writing is so strong that you don’t even notice the fast pace speed of the book.

All of this being said, this book is a solid 3.5 book. There is nothing wrong with it to me, this book just isn’t my type of book. I highly recommend it, I just couldn’t give it a higher rating because I personally won’t be running out to buy the book.

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