Book Review: The Eternity Cure

TITLE: The Eternity Cure
Book 2 in the Blood of Eden series
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
PUBLISHED: April 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Vampires, Dystopian
PREMISE: Allison goes to rescue her creator, Kamin and along the way has to enlist the help of her enemy Jackal and the human she fell in love with who now knows what she is: Zeke.
MY REVIEW: The best thing about Kagawa's writing is, she knows how to spin a story. She keeps you turning the pages, she knows how to get you to pick up the next book, in short she's smart about her writing. Sometimes smart writing is what it takes to become a bestseller.
Yes, she still has the problem with cliche dialogue (So. Many. Monologueing villains/heroes). Yes, I still don't see why Allison/Zeke are THE it couple and why I should root for them to be together. Honest? I actually saw more chemistry between Allison and Jackal but Jackal's the villain so....But despite flaws, this series is still entertaining as hell.
This was very much a second book (that had a very evil cliffhanger) so much of it is mostly exposition. If you're a fan of the first one, you won't be disappointed. Unless, like me, you just don't find Zeke all that interesting and kind of want him to go away.
WHO SHOULD READ: Iron Fey fans, Julie Kagawa fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five boring love interests

Many thanks to Harlequin Teen for the Net Galley

Book Review: Money Run

TITLE: Money Run
Book 1 in a series
AUTHOR: Jack Heath
PUBLISHED: Re-issued April, 2013, Originally published 2008
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Action/adventure, realistic fiction/contemporary
PREMISE: Two kids get caught up in a rich man's scheme...
MY REVIEW: I wanted to like this one more then I did, if only because I got it on Net Galley and I always feel bad about not liking ARCs I receive. Especially if it's one I requested. It's sort of why I don't go out of my way to request ARCs from book agents because I feel less guilty if it's a book I bought/checked out from the library.  Much safer for me to do it the old-fashioned way and that way I keep libraries in business and give money to authors. Win/win for everyone.
That said, this one...not a fan. It just didn't click for me. Part of it was me, I just couldn't get into it, and part of it was that it is thriller writing style. When you write in the thriller writing style you better make your book engaging and this...was very action heavy and little plot heavy. It doesn't help that the plot was littered with gaping plot holes and the characters weren't all that interesting.
This is fine if you just want a action heavy book that you don't have to concentrate on but if you concentrate on it...the flaws show. Therefore I can only say it didn't suck. But it wasn't great either. Would make a awesome tv movie of the week though.
WHO SHOULD READ: boys, thriller fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five teen thieves

Many thanks to the publisher for the Net Galley. Sorry I didn't like it more.

Stacking the Shelves: May 26th

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga, over at Tynga's Reviews that tell people what new books we've gotten over the week.

Bought books:

Looking For Alaska by John Green-Yes, my friends, I am FINALLY going to read John Green. I figured the award winner was the best way to go and people keep telling me to read this one first so Looking for Alaska it is. I really hope I like this because the John Green fandom is huge and I don't want to piss them off.

Delirium Book 3: Requiem by Lauren Oliver-Final Delirium book which I've been looking forward too. Apparently everyone hated it, which probably means I'll love it. Every time people bitch about the third book in a trilogy, I wind up loving it and not knowing what they're talking about (see: Mockingjay, 3rd Hex Hall book, 3rd His Dark Materials book, etc.)

Book Review: What's a Ghoul to Do?

TITLE: What's a Ghoul to Do?
Book 1 in the Ghost Hunter Mystery series
AUTHOR: Victoria Laurie
PUBLISHED: 2007
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, mystery
PREMISE: MJ and her friend Gilley run a ghost busting business. She comes across her trickiest case yet when a handsome doctor needs her to clear his place out.
MY REVIEW: Like most Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romances, there's not much I can say about this one. It is what it is.
I got some LOLs out of it and enjoyed the fun of it but it's not really what I would call a must read. I will say Gilley was a horrible gay stereotype. He was funny, sure, and kudos author for having diversity. I did enjoy the banter between him and MJ and did get the sense they were friends. But he was a worse stereotype then Kurt from Glee. Which is sort of bad. Still going to tag this under the LGBT tag because there are gay characters at least. But just know, the inclusion isn't terribly ground-breaking.
So it's got its problems, but overall this is a fun series. You could do a lot worse. If you're in the mood for a fun new series to look for now that Sookie Stackhouse is over (gosh, I'm going to miss Sookie), I say this one could interest you.
WHO SHOULD READ: Paranormal Romance fans, fans of Laurie's other series, fans of the Mediator series
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five sassy ghost mediators

Book Review: The Obsidian Mirror

TITLE: The Obsidian Mirror
Book 1 in the Obsidian Mirror Trilogy
AUTHOR: Catherine Fisher
PUBLISHED: April 2013
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/YA (no one seems to agree which it is, I say it can pass for both)
GENRE: Fantasy, Time Travel, Adventure
PREMISE: Jake finally finds a way to confront the man he thinks murdered his father and then finds out the truth is more complicated then he could imagine...
MY REVIEW: I love Catherine Fishers stories. She's always inventive, she keeps the pace going, she has complicated morally gray characters, and her stories are just plain fun.
Like Incarceron, this was imaginative. I don't think it was as well thought out as Incarceron but I know it's a first book so hopefully world-building questions will be answered later in the series. I did have some trouble getting into the characters this time around (Jake was kind of annoying) but as always, they are complex and you never know what they'll do next.
I don't think this one is as good as Incarceron but it's still pretty solid. I definitely look forward to book 2.
WHO SHOULD READ: Incarceron fans, time travel fans, Catherine Fisher fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five magic mirrors

Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC, which I won in a Goodreads giveaway

Book Review: Dark Triumph

TITLE: Dark Triumph
Book 2 in the His Fair Assassin Trilogy
AUTHOR: Robin LaFevers
PUBLISHED: April 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Romance
PREMISE: Sybella has to confront her past on a mission.
MY REVIEW: Grave Mercy was one of those books I enjoyed but also had problems with (assassin training nuns will never stop being weird to me. Sorry, but it won't)  but I do enjoy these books for what they are: good historical romance. Good historical romances are so hard to find. Usually they develop into just plain bodice rippers with no real plot. This is the opposite of that.
I honestly kind of enjoyed this one more then Grave Mercy. I found Sybella more interesting a character and Beast more interesting a male lead. The plot also didn't drag as much as the last one. LaFevers has improved on pace which made for a more enjoyable experience (Grave Mercy dragged a bit in the middle).
So this was a good sequel to a good book. No sophomore slump here. I can't wait to read the third one, which is apparently going to be about Annith and coming out sometime next year (probably April like the last two).
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Grave Mercy, historical romance fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five daggers

Stacking the Shelves: May 19th

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga, over at Tynga's Reviews that tells people what new books we've gotten over the week.

Downloaded to Kindle:
Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger-On sale now at Amazon for 2.99 as part of the Big Deal sale. YA debut.

Bi-Weekly Library Haul:

Mercy Hollings Book 1: Beg For Mercy by Toni Andrews-Adult UF. Warning you guys now: one of my summer reading goals is to try out all those adult UF books I've been meaning too read for awhile so you'll see a lot more reviewed on here then usual. Whether or not I'll continue said series...will depend on the series in question.

Blood Ties Book 1: The Turning by Jennifer Armintrout-Adult UF about Vampires. Thought I'd give Armintrout a try.

Tales of Beauty and Madness Book 1: Nameless by Lili St. Crow-Retelling of sorts. We'll see how this one goes. I've heard mixed things.

Unearthly Trilogy Book 3: Boundless by Cynthia Hand-FINALLY off of reserve! With this book, I am done with all books I wanted to read in January.

Ghost Hunter Mysteries Book 1: What's a Ghoul to Do by Victoria Laurie-Adult UF/Paranormal mystery that I've been meaning check out for awhile.

Unraveling Book 2: Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris-Unraveling was one of my surprise favorites last year. I can't wait to read this one.

Demon Trappers Book 4: Foretold by Jana Oliver-Finally finishing this series. I sort of forgot about the forth book for awhile...

Furious by Jill Wolfson-YA debut about Furies. Hopefully I like it better then Fury.

Not a book I received, but I did happen to start a YA group on tumblr (because there really just needs to be more, right guys?). It literally just started this week and is very much in the planning stage but if you're on tumblr, follow if you want: The YA Helpers

Book Review: Poison

TITLE: Poison
AUTHOR: Bridget Zinn
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure
PREMISE: A girl potion maker is on the run from a failed assassination attempt.
MY REVIEW: Usually when you hear people talk about how we've lost a great voice in the community etc. whenever someone dies before their book is published I tend to pay that very little mind because usually...it's hyperbole. Don't get me wrong, I always think it's sad when a author dies before something they worked hard on sees the light of day. But really, we have no way of knowing if that author would have gone on writing great books or if that would have been their one major hit before fading into obscurity. The only time I believe this claim is in the case of Steig Larsson because I think he would have become a great thriller writer. He maybe wouldn't have had stuff that reached the popularity of Girl with a Dragon Tattoo but I bet his stuff would have been one of those things you continuously look forward too and it saddens me that we will never get to read anything else he could have written.
This is also the case with Zinn. Because if this was just her first book, can you imagine all the great stuff she could have written after? No, this book isn't perfect but for a debut book I am pretty impressed with it and really am sad we will never get to see any other books she may have come up with. Because this was really good and it's her first book. Plus this is just plain enjoyable. It's fun, creative, and there whiffs of Diana Wynne Jones/Terry Pratchett in it which pretty much is a guarantee I love it.
This is one of the cases where I will agree: we did lose a author who had the potential to be one of the good YA writers whose books would have been one of those you looked forward too each year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Diana Wynne Jones Fans, Fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five piglets

Book Review: Legacy

TITLE: Legacy
Book 1 in the Legacy series
AUTHOR: Molly Cochran
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Witches
PREMISE: Girl goes to boarding school. Discovers she's special.
MY REVIEW: If that premise I gave sounds like every other YA book you've read you would be right. This book has what I like to call Attack of the Tropes syndrome. Literally it is all the YA cliches rolled into one.
I would be able to forgive this if it had something to offer like maybe good writing or fun characters. Heaven knows, I've liked my share of cliche ridiculous things (you don't know how pumped I am for the new Star Trek guys). But these characters are all boring and cliche as well. They never wander outside their cookie cutter stereotype and the book itself never veers off the predictable path it is set on from page one.
Basically this was one huge disappointment. Because this idea could have been awesome. Also the writing? Not the best. Which is weird when you consider that the author has published over five books and is a bestseller to boot. My only theory is she felt she had to dumb down the book for a YA audience which is almost as irritating as bad writing.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that don't mind cliches upon cliches
MY RATING: Two and a half out of Five cliches

Book Review: Fragments

TITLE: Fragments
Book 2 in the Partials series
AUTHOR: Dan Wells
PUBLISHED: 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science Fiction, Dystopian
PREMISE: Kira continues to learn more about the past in the hopes to help both Partials and Human alike.
MY REVIEW: This book is very much a second book. It mostly serves as a way to expand on this really interesting world Dan Wells has created as well as shed some light on questions I had in the first book.
There are great action sequences in here as well as quiet revealing ones. There hasn't been a huge leap in quality but this one did put many issues I had with world building to rest (though I still find it odd that in all these years of experts finding a cure for RM, it takes one teenage girl to suddenly find it, but whatever). I'm sure much of the science is dubious but luckily for the author I'm not a huge science expert or anything so that doesn't bug me. Though I have an issue with the cover now because it turns out Kira has light brown skin. I'm sorry, but that girl on the cover (who I'm assuming is supposed to be Kira) looks awful white to me unless you're going by the claim that lighting is effecting her skin but even then...That is a cover artist fail, though the rest of the cover is beautiful.
If you liked Partials and are looking for some science fiction YA in your life, I suggest you pick this one up.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Partials, science fiction fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five experiments gone wrong

Book Review: Personal Demon

TITLE: Personal Demon
Women of the Otherworld Book 8
AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong
PUBLISHED: 2008
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: We get to learn more about Hope.
MY REVIEW: Honestly at this point there's not much I can say about this series that I haven't already said. There was a huge drop in quality (Armstrong's books are always good really) but likewise there wasn't a huge leap in quality either.
This is very much more of the same. The only difference is we got a different character. I have no huge opinion on Hope. She was fine to spend time with, that's all.
So if you like the series, you're good to go with this one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Women of the Otherworld fans who've read books 1-7
MY RATING: Four out of Five pendants

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

This is a weekly meme hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish .

This week: Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

1) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson-This one is probably on every other person's list and for good reason. It deals with a subject people don't like to talk about: rape and it does it in such a well done way. If I had my way, this would be required for everyone to read in high school.

2) 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher-While I don't think this book is perfect it is fantastic for making you realize just how much your actions can effect someone else. Again, another I sort of wish we made all middle schoolers read (I say middle-school because that is when some of the worst bullying can take place/start).

3) Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson-Yes, another Anderson book. This woman is fabulous when it comes to getting you to see from someone else's point of view.

4) The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney-This is one of the most interesting takes on dealing with things like date rape and school injustices that I've ever read.

5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee-I know The Help is trendy now and that's fine, but I'm sorry, this is my pick for a book to use to talk about racial issues.

6) The Diary of Anne Frank-Have someone who claims the Holocaust didn't happen? Put this in their hands (and if you can take them to Anne Frank's home/one of the internment camp museums. That'll open their eyes).

7) Forever by Judy Blume-Really all Blume's books are great for tackling things like sexuality, grief, friendship etc. Think of her as the old school Sarah Dessen. FYI, Tiger Eyes is coming out as a film this year. FINALLY.

8) The Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson-Say what you want about the quality of it, this book was great for tackling things like rape, child molestation, sexism, corruption in the government social services etc.

9) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak-Fabulously done book about dealing with grief, war, etc. I can't wait for the movie, even if I'm also really nervous about it. But Geoffrey Rush as Hans makes me hopeful.

10) Going Bovine by Libba Bray-About a boy suffering from Mad Cow Disease and dying. Both hilarious and heart breaking at the same time.

Note: Fault in Our Stars is not on here because I haven't read it yet and I don't believe in putting books on here that I haven't read.

Book Review: Etiquette and Espionage

TITLE: Etiquette and Espionage
Book 1 in the new Finishing School series
AUTHOR: Gail Carriger
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Steampunk, Mystery, Adventure, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Set twenty years or so before Alexia's time in the Parasol Protectorate series, we meet Sophronia who is sent to finishing school. Or at least, it's a finishing school on the surface...
MY REVIEW: It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog daily: I loved the hell out of this. No, Sophronia is not Alexia and you know what? I like that. I don't understand this complaint at all really. It's a good thing that the author is introducing new characters. Yes, I adore Alexia, but her story was DONE. Now we get new insight to this world from a different place and different character. To me, that's a good thing.
This one was mostly set up and introducing readers to the world. The author was smart in that she realized this new YA audience maybe hasn't read the previous books and does take some time to explain things and for us veterans of the Parasol Protectorate I suppose that could be annoying. There are various nods and winks to veterans of the series as well, because I noticed several characters popping up here and there (Vieve!) and I'm positive that the contraption that Sophronia and her friends are hunting down has something to do with Alexia's Soulless state though I'm not sure how yet.
I think enjoyment of this will depend on what you wanted from it. Veterans of the Alexia series may enjoy it more then new readers. But if you wanted more of Alexia and crew...you probably were disappointed as you only get glimpses of them, here and there. Most of it is about Sophronia and her new friends who I personally find just as enjoyable as Alexia and co. Just enjoyable in different ways.
WHO SHOULD READ: Parasol Protectorate fans (who don't mind reading about a character other then Alexia), steampunk fans, Diana Wynne Jones fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five girl spies in training

Stacking the Shelves: May 12th

First off: Happy Mothers Day to all the mom bloggers out there! Hopefully your kids got you something nice/did something special for you.

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews that tells people what new books we've gotten over the week.

Just have one thing downloaded to Kindle this week:

Dante Valentine: The Complete Series by Lilith Saintcrow-I couldn't resist this Kindle Daily Deal from about two days ago: it was the whole series (five books in all) for 1.99 and normally it's 17.09. You can't beat that and it's a series I've been meaning to check out anyway. Bless Kindle Daily Deals.

Ditched Books for April

Here are some books I wound up ditching these past two months and why I ditched them.

TITLE: Blue Diablo
Book 1 in the Corine Solomon series
AUTHOR: Ann Aguirre
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: A woman who gets visions from things she touches solves cases.
WHY I DITCHED IT: No originality whatsoever. Literally everything about this book I had seen done before and done in better ways and the characters weren't interesting in the slightest. I got bored fifty pages in. Bad sign. Didn't bother to finish it. And I probably won't bother with the author's other books now because her writing wasn't that great.

TITLE: Notes From Ghost Town
AUTHOR: Kate Ellison
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Drama
PREMISE: A girl moves to a small town and is visited by the ghost of her first love.
WHY I DITCHED IT: This one is just a case of it's not you, it's me. Probably there's nothing hugely wrong about it. Ellison's books and me just don't jive for some reason.

TITLE: Mila 2.0
Book 1 in a Trilogy
AUTHOR: Debra Driza
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science Fiction (of sorts), Romance
WHY I DITCHED IT: SO many YA cliches where do I begin? Then there's the fact that this story has kind of already been done in the Adoration of Jenna Fox and that idea was so much better and much better written. Then to top it off the main character was whiny, the love interest bland (and it was insta-love on top of that), there was so much stuff that just plain made no sense. It even had the pretty popular girl = shallow mean girl stereotype that I had hoped was dead in the water but apparently not. Yeah, spare me. By one hundred pages I was done.

Book Review: Web of Lies

TITLE: Web of Lies
Book 2 in the Elemental Assassin series
AUTHOR: Jennifer Estep
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Gin gets involved in protecting a client when she is attacked in her own restaurant.
MY REVIEW: Estep has basically become one of my favorite authors. Yes, okay, this series is very much business as usual UF. Original, it isn't. But it does what a lot of UF books fail to make me do: care. I actually care about Gin and these characters. I like them instead of wanting to smack them and there's an ongoing storyline that's not totally obvious and interesting.
In the end, that's really all I ask from my UF nowadays, particularly the overcrowded adult UF shelf. So much of it is alike that it's damn near impossible to actually find one that's unique. So for me, the trick is to get me to actually like the characters enough to keep reading past the first book and Estep accomplishes that.
So if you're in the mood for some kick-butt UF that isn't tedious to get through, I rec this series. It's addicting and entertaining. For the record, this would make an awesome TV show. Just putting that out there, Hollywood.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Spider's Bite, UF fans, fans of Women of the Otherworld, Mercy Thompson fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five elemental duals

Book Review: Scarlet

TITLE: Scarlet
Book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Retelling, Dystopian/Sci-Fi
PREMISE: In the sequel to Cinder, we meet Scarlet, whose story ties into Cinder's in a unexpected way...
MY REVIEW: Cinder was one of my top ten books last year and unless ten more fabulous books pop up, I'm thinking Scarlet is going to be on the top ten list as well. This was SUCH a well done sequel. No sophomore slump here at all. Meyer, totally brought it.
In fact, I think she even elevated the series. I loved Cinder but because it stuck mostly to the tale of Cinderella, with a few diversions here and there...it was slightly predictable. This one didn't stick so much to Red Riding Hood, though there definitely were illusions to the tale. Plus, I loved how the author managed to tie in Scarlet with Cinder's story. It's not just a cute way to tell tales in a sci-fi world. This story ties into the last seamlessly and is very much a continuation. It's fabulous.
This series is pretty much becoming one of my favorite retellings in YA. It's now up there with Beauty by Robin McKinley and I love Beauty. That is the book that got me into fairy tale retellings in the first place. So basically, if you loved Cinder, you will love this. If you haven't read the series yet, you should totally check it out. Seriously, other then some minor plot points being obvious my only major complaint is that I have to wait a year in between books.
WHO SHOULD READ: Cinder fans, Retelling fans, Once Upon a Time fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five wolves

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Light and Fun Books

This is a weekly meme hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish

This Week: Top Ten Books For When You're in the Mood for Light and Fun

1) Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling-Wow, this series ends up a lot on my top ten lists....but it is one of those comfort series for me. I've read Sorceror's Stone I don't know how many times now.

2) Anything Meg Cabot-Particularly the Princess Diaries but stuff like Avalon High, or her Heather Wells books also puts smiles on my face whenever I just want some fun books.

3) Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead-Because Rose is awesome.

4) Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare-Despite how frustarating this series has become for me, it does still manage to entertain me and nothing puts a smile on my face faster then Magnus Bane putting Shadowhunters in their place.

5) Discworld series by Terry Pratchett-Particularly the Tiffany Aching books which are my favorites but really all Pratchett's books are hilarious and fun.

6) Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman-Who knew the end of the world could be so hilarious?

7) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams-I don't really have to explain this one, do I?

8) Tortall series OR Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce-I love Tammy's books period (hence why again, they show up a lot on my lists...) and I love knowing that at least once a year I can look forward to a book in one of these universes. You don't know how much I'm itching to get my hands on Battle Magic.

9) Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray-Because I love Bray's books period. The Diviners can also go on this list but there's not enough room.

10) Paranormalcy Trilogy by Kierstan White-Because Evie is awesome.

Others considered (but not added for reasons): Percy Jackson series, Sookie Stackhouse series, Mythos Academy series by Jennifer Estep, Hex Hall Trilogy by Rachel Hawkins, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, and Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger.

Book Review: 17 and Gone

TITLE: 17 and Gone
AUTHOR: Nova Ren Suma
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Paranormalish, Mystery, Drama
PREMISE: Lauren is having visions of girls who've disappeared and goes on a search to find them.
MY REVIEW: I picked this one up with hesitation because while I loved Suma's writing style in Imaginary Girls, the story itself...was a bit of a confusing mess. This one was a vast improvement story wise.
I will warn that like Imaginary Girls, this style of writing is probably not for everyone. The twist at the end may also not appeal to some. I had no huge problem with it, but I know others who did. I did find what it had to say about runaway girls and the way the system is with runaway girls really interesting and it definitely makes you think about how things need to change regarding runaways.
So this was definitely better then Imaginary Girls in my opinion. Still has a few issues but most definitely an improvement.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Imaginary Girls
MY RATING: Four out of Five runaways

Stacking the Shelves: May 5th

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews that tells people what new books we've gotten over the week.
This one's a wee bit late, I had work all day. Sorry.

From NetGalley:
Ink by Amanda Sun-Debut that is due out on June 25th that looks interesting. Thank you to Harlequin Teen for the eARC!

Library Haul:

The Sweetest Dark series Book 1: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe-Despite not being totally crazy about the one adult Abe book I read, I'm giving this a shot. However, my expectations are low.

Women of the Otherworld Book 8: Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong-Trying to wrap up this series. Only 5 to go after this one!

Legacy series Book 1: Legacy" by Molly Cochran-One of those old series I meant to read but forgot about.

Elemental Assassin Book 2: Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep-Trying to get this series caught up this year.

His Fair Assassin Trilogy Book 2: Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers-Sequel to Grave Mercy. Do I need to explain why I wanted to read this? Yeah, didn't think so.

Partials Book 2: Fragments by Dan Wells-sequel to Partials which was good enough that I'm continuing it.

Poison by Bridget Zinn-Debut by a sadly, now deceased author. I've been itching to read this one since I've heard about it.

Book Review: Orleans

TITLE: Orleans
Book 1 in a series?
AUTHOR: Sherri L. Smith
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, Adventure
PREMISE: In a future where the south has been abandoned by the states and quarantined, Fen does her best to give a newborn baby a better life beyond Orleans.
MY REVIEW: Good dystopians are hard to find in a YA world that is overcrowded with them nowadays. Orleans is one of those that manages to stand out from the pack. Part of it is in part that Smith is a damn good writer. I've never heard/read of Flygirl before, but now I'm thinking I need to take a look at it.
Another part is that this is the author made me buy this world. Finally, a YA dystopian I could actually see happening in real life were events to occur like the author has in here. Now, if you want a story full of sunshine/romance then this probably is not your book. It's dark. The characters are hard to like and that includes Fen herself. There's pretty much zero romance.
But if you have no problem with that, I really rec this. It's a well written original dystopian. As I said before, those are hard to find nowadays.
WHO SHOULD READ: Dystopian fans (who don't mind darkness in their books)
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five kick butt heroines

Book Review: Spellcaster

TITLE: Spellcaster
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Claudia Gray
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Witches, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Nadia moves to a new town and discovers secrets.
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing about Spellcaster: it's not original. I won't lie to you and say it is. In fact, I'll say it's pretty much The Secret Circle/Beautiful Creatures combined with every other YA witch book out there. Gray is never one to shy away from familiar tropes and there are definitely familiar tropes here. Luckily they aren't the super annoying ones so it's not that big of a deal.
But...it works for me. If you think of books on TV terms, Spellcaster would be a SyFy/CW show. It's corny, unoriginal, but it's also readable and works despite itself. I like Nadia, there's some fun scenes in it, there's enough stuff in it to keep it entertaining, and I like the world building.
So original this series is not. But it's not the most horrible thing I've read and despite a few misgivings, I like it and will probably read the next book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Evernight, Secret Circle fans, witch fans, Beautiful Creatures fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five familiar but fun plots

Book Review: Shards and Ashes

TITLE: Shards and Ashes
Various Authors (edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian
PREMISE: Several authors write short stories set in dystopian worlds
MY REVIEW: Like all short story collections, this one had a few good stories, one or two really memorable ones, and other just so so stories. It was a bit of a mixed bag really though I did find more stories I liked in this one then usual since all the stories were done by authors I like.
Most memorable ones were probably the one by Veronica Roth and the one that Beth Revis did that took place in the Across the Universe that gave some insight to Orion. Other likable ones include the ones by Armstrong, Marr, and Stohl. Most of the others were okay but too short for me to really form an attachment too.
Honestly, this is one of those books you probably already know if you want to read or not. It will probably ultimately depend if you like the authors in question and dystopian stories.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the authors in the collection, dystopian fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five mixed bags