Thursday, October 31, 2013

Book Review: Secondhand Spirits

TITLE: Secondhand Spirits
Book 1 in the Witchcraft Mystery series
AUTHOR: Juliet Blackwell
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Witches
PREMISE: A witch runs a vintage clothing store and gets caught up in a murder mystery.
MY REVIEW: This book is another result of me going through the cozy mystery genre. But this is one series I think I may actually continue. It's not just a cozy mystery, it's urban fantasy as well. Now, for a lot of these, the world-building can suffer and be put aside for drama (see the Bewitching Mysteries series) but not for this one. I do get the sense that the author has actually thought this world through and is not just having the magic there to grab interest or something.
True, as with all of these cozy mysteries, there are a lot of tropes that are familiar. But the author does make me care about the characters. Also: yay, female friendship. It's amazing the lack of female friendship in books so I always like to give a shout out to authors who actually have it (actual friendship guys, not frienimies stuff. Frienimies do not count as friends in my book).
If you're in the mood for a magical cozy mystery, I highly rec this one.
WHO SHOULD READ: cozy mystery fans, Bewitching Mystery fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five vintage dresses

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Book Review: Let the Sky Fall

TITLE: Let the Sky Fall
Book 1 in the Sky Fall series
AUTHOR: Sharon Messenger
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Romance
PREMISE: Vane remembers nothing of his time before he lived with his adoptive parents. Then he meets a strange girl who tells him he's a prince...
MY REVIEW: First, I swear I will refrain from making James Bond references during this review. Because lets all be honest here: the first thing that pops into your head with that title is the Adele song of the same name. Sadly, this doesn't have much to do with Bond.
This book suffered from what I like to call Deja Vu Ville. It is when you read a book, it has a slightly interesting world in it, but the plot, the characters, the scenarios all sort of feel very familiar because they are really common book tropes. The world-building is very nice. Messenger's writing is also solid. It's just that everything else....has kind of been done before. Especially in YA and especially in the fantasy/urban fantasy genre.
So...it's not the best in terms of uniqueness. But, if you're in the mood for a romantic urban fantasy, I suppose you could do worse then this one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those who don't mind cliches, Urban fantasy fans (who again: don't mind cliches)
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five this has been done before shrugs

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Top Ten Halloween Reads

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

This week: Top Ten Halloween Reads

1) Dracula by Bram Stoker-Pretty much a no-brainer.

2) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley-Again, a no-brainer.

3) Edgar Allen Poe-Specifically, Tell-Tale Heart. But he's got a bunch that are wonderfully creeptastic.

4) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving-Another no-brainer. Oh, and if you haven't checked out the new show Sleepy Hollow, you totally should. It's awesome.

5) Anything Stephan King-It or Carrie would be my picks. But you also can't go wrong with The Shining or Pet Cemetery.

6) Anything R. L. Stine-If you like light spooky, this is the guy to go with. The Goosebumps series and Fear Street series were my crack back in the day and basically my introduction to horror.

7) Bunnicula series by James Howe-What, you never knew about this series with a vampire bunny? If you have kids who are into the creepy, I'd give them this.

8) Anna Dressed in Blood Books by Kendare Blake-One of the best recent paranormal series in YA.

9) Bad Girls Don't Die series by Katie Alender-But especially the first book which features a sister possessed by a ghost.

10) The Mediator series by Meg Cabot-Great series about a girl who sees ghosts and has a hot ghost living in her bedroom.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Book Review: The Wicked Within

TITLE: The Wicked Within
Book 3 in the Gods and Monsters Trilogy
AUTHOR: Kelly Keaton
PUBLISHED: September 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mythology Referencing
PREMISE: Ari and her friends face down Athena and the gods in the conclusion to the Gods and Monsters Trilogy.
MY REVIEW: This was one of those trilogies that when it started out, I enjoyed it. It was a bit cheesy, sure, but it was fun and there was good stuff. Then the second book happened and I enjoyed it less. Now...I'm kind of apathetic about it really.
This was kind of a ho hum ending really. Nothing happened that I didn't really expect. The only thing that really came out of left field was the ending with Athena (really, that's how you get rid of a Goddess? Throw a baby at her and watch her coo at it?). Oh and the thing with Violet was a wee bit of a surprise, but she turned out okay so it wasn't a huge deal in the end.
I honestly don't have much to say here. Sure, it tied up loose ends, but it was sort of a lackluster ending to a overall just okay trilogy.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of books 1 and 2, Percy Jackson fans, mythology fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five mythology figures
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Three and a half out of Five

Friday, October 25, 2013

Book Review: Conjured

TITLE: Conjured
AUTHOR: Sarah Beth Durst
PUBLISHED: September 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl with no memories tries to find out who she is and why she's important to the people holding her captive...
MY REVIEW: As you all know by now: I love Sarah Beth Durst's books. To me, she's one of the many underrated YA authors who fly under the radar which is a darn shame. She's a great writer and she's one of those rare authors who is always always writing something new that she hasn't done before. This book is totally different from her last book, Vessel. The only things her books ever have in common are that they have fantasy elements.
This book is a good example of how she plays with writing style and ideas and I just love that. Though I will say, this is not my favorite of hers (that's probably between Vessel or Drink, Slay, Love) and I don't think it's as good as some of her other books. But like all Durst books, it was interesting because I couldn't predict what would happen. That's a pretty rare thing in YA nowadays.
So, not Durst's best work. But like all her stuff, it's unique and definitely one of the more interesting books of the year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sarah Beth Durst fans, Fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five memories

Book Review: The Infinite Moment of Us

TITLE: The Infinite Moment of Us
AUTHOR: Lauren Myracle
PUBLISHED: August 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Romance, Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: Girl meets boy basically.
MY REVIEW: I confess, I never quite got around to reading Shine last year despite everyone reccing it right and left. It's on the list, believe me. It's just one of those that's not really a priority read for me. When I saw Myracle had another out this year, I thought I'd give it a try to at least see how I like her writing despite the fact that contemporary romance is honestly not my genre at all. Sometimes I like to push myself and read books that I otherwise wouldn't normally read. Every so often, that works in my favor (like with Anna and the French Kiss). But a lot of times it backfires on me.
This one, sadly, was a backfire. I just plain didn't like it. I liked the writing style for sure. Myracle has a wonderful way of writing that makes me think that maybe Shine will be way better then this. I hope so because this was a aggravating book for me. The characters drove my last nerve. I didn't believe the insta love for a second. The story was also predictable as hell and thus kind of boring.
So this one was a bust. I may still give Shine a shot, because as I said, I liked the writing style. Unfortunately, writing style alone, cannot carry a book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Contemporary Romance fans (who don't mind cliches)
MY RATING: Two and a half out of Five yawns

Book Review: Dancer Daughter Traitor Spy

TITLE: Dancer Duaghter Traitor Spy
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Kiem
PUBLISHED: August 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery, Historical Fiction (still not comfortable with the idea of a book that starts literally the same month I was born, being categorized as historical fiction)
PREMISE: A girl's life is torn upside down when her mother gets caught up in state secrets in Russia during the Cold War.
MY REVIEW: I think I liked the idea of this novel more then the actual execution of it. Come on a spy novel in the Cold War era? Awesome, right? To be sure, the author did do great research into this. I did honestly feel like this was the eighties and she captured the era and feel of the story well.
Unfortunately she takes far too much time to get to the meat of the story so I spent a large part of this novel being really bored. I'm sorry, but Marina's personal life was simply not as interesting as the stuff going on with state secrets and only like a third of the novel was spent devoted to that. The rest was mostly teen drama in a eighties setting. Which, fine, but when you promise me a great mystery and then don't get to the mystery till over half way through...I get irritated.
So, it was a good idea, it just needed better execution and less wandering plot. I do think this author has potential though, because it was interesting. She just needs to work on focusing her plot.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical fiction fans, those interested in the eighties
MY RATING: Three out of Five leg warmers

Monday, October 21, 2013

Book Review: The Enchantress

TITLE: The Enchantress
Book 6 in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series
AUTHOR: Michael Scott
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Adventure, Mythology, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: The twins finally face their destiny in the last book of the series.
MY REVIEW: This series is one of those underrated series that I wish more people knew about but at the same time it does sort of have issues so I also understand why it's not very popular. It didn't help that it was one of the many that came out just as HP was nearing its end and publishers were pumping out fantasy books like whoa in the hopes of finding something that would make it as big (spoiler alert: never happened, but we did get many wonderful series as a result of this frenzy such as Percy Jackson).
So this series has been going on for quite a bit. I'm a little sorry to see it end because as wacky as it could sometimes be (seriously, William Shakespeare is alive in this and is sort of a villain) it was sort of fun. I love how Scott mixes up history/mythology and just plays with it. Again, much of it is wacky and probably will make no sense. But it was fun too.
As an ending to a series this was satisfying. Some of it was predictable as these things can sometimes be, others were actually a surprise. All in all, I liked the ending and am going to miss this series. But I look forward to whatever Scott has in store for us next.
WHO SHOULD READ: Percy Jackson fans, those that have read books 1-5
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five historical figures still alive and kicking ass
Rating for series: Four out of Five

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Book Review: Omens

TITLE: Omens
Book 1 in the Cainsville series
AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong
PUBLISHED: August 2013
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mystery
PREMISE: After finding out she's the daughter of notorious serial killers, Olivia runs away from her life to the town of Cainsville...
MY REVIEW: I love Armstrong's stuff. You all know that by now. That said...this isn't a favorite of mine. I don't think it totally stinks. There's actually a lot here to make me want to read the next book.
But I will warn: it's slow. Like really slow. I get it's the first book but damn. Also it's more mystery then urban fantasy. So if you were hoping for something knee deep in the supernatural, you're probably better off going elsewhere. Honestly this book was mostly just a set up and a promise that things are coming and it will be supernatural most likely.
So...I'm not a huge fan. But...it's also not bad? I'm on the fence with this one. It doesn't help that I'm really biased towards Kelley Armstrong.
WHO SHOULD READ: Kelley Armstrong fans, Mystery fans, Haven fans (it reminds me a lot of Haven)
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five spooky towns

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Top Ten Books I Was Forced to Read

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

This week: Top Ten Books I Was Forced to Read

1) Peter Pan by James M. Barrie-Let me explain, you guys had teachers who forced you read stuff.I had them AND I had a grandmother who was a retired English teacher. Whenever I visited her (which was often in my childhood because then she lived half an hour or so away) she would press books into my hands. Or sigh when I told her what we were reading in school and say "here, read this instead". When I told her how much I loved the loved the Disney Peter Pan, she pretty much nodded and said, "okay, then you're ready for this." When she handed me books, I was expected to read them. Luckily I loved it.

2) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll-Another Grandma made me read.

3) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott-One of the few school reads I actually liked.

4) Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling-Because if you say you've never read it, you get horrified looks from readers.

5) The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett-Grandparents read (My Grandfather, also a book reader, would occasionally conspire with Grandma and get me stuff he thought I should be reading as well)

6) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee-Was a "suggestion" from my Mother. Are you getting why I'm a reader yet?

7) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle-School read. Again, one of the few I actually liked.

8) The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis-Made to from Grandmother number two who is quite religious. I didn't notice the religious stuff till someone pointed them out to me and suddenly I knew why she had given them to me despite frowning whenever I mentioned my love of fantasy books.

9) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien-Made to by a well-meaning Middle School but naive teacher who didn't quite get that Lord of the Rings is not something for middle-school. I hated it when I first read it, but when the movies came out I went back and reread it and Lord of the Rings while in late high school and fell in utter love.

10) The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi-Was a gift from Step-Grandmother who was married to Grandfather aka the co-conspirator. This is still one of my favorite historical fiction reads.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Book Review: Prep School Confidential

TITLE: Prep School Confidential
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Kara Taylor
PUBLISHED: July 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery
PREMISE: When her roommate is murdered, new girl Anne goes on the case...
MY REVIEW: Can I just say I'm so happy teen mysteries are a thing again? For awhile it seemed like no one was writing them accept for Sara Shepard with the Pretty Little Liars series and its eighty million red herrings. As a mystery fan this made me sad. But now a few new teen mystery series have gotten started and this makes me very happy.
This is the latest teen sleuth series to start up. I didn't love everything going on it (the oh-so-obvious love triangle, the mean girl stereotyping, etc.) but there was far more good then bad. The mystery was good and even with the roommate's murderer found, there's a larger mystery to be solved. It's all very Veronica Mars and as a huge fan of Veronica Mars, I approve.
So I liked this one and look forward to the next book, coming out in the Spring of 2014.
WHO SHOULD READ: Veronica Mars fans, Nancy Drew fans, The Liar Society series fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five plaid skirts

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Book Review: Deja Dead

TITLE: Deja Dead
Book 1 in the Temperance Brennan series
AUTHOR: Kathy Reichs
PUBLISHED: 1998
GENRE: Mystery/Thriller
PREMISE: Temperance Brennan is a anthropologist who gets caught up in a case that brings danger to her and her family...
MY REVIEW: There are two ways to go about reviewing this series, it all depends on why you picked it up. Option 1: You love mysteries. It sounds cool. Option 2 (and the now more common option): You've seen the Bones TV show and fell in love and wanted to read the series that inspired it. For the record, I'm a bit of a combination of both. I love mysteries and any series with a female scientist/doctor type I'm going to likely pick up. But I also got really into Bones this past year thanks to a month long marathon of the first six seasons (don't judge me, it's Netflix's fault).
While reading this, it quickly becomes clear: this is nothing like the TV show. So I threw the comparison compulsion out the window because if you are going to judge something by a show you've seen before, chances are you'll wind up not loving the book. If you need proof, check out the negative reviews of this on Goodreads. Practically all of them started out with the whine of "this is nothing like the TV show. That's so much better!" No, it's not like the TV show but to say that makes this bad...I don't understand that at all. No, I don't like it AS MUCH as Bones. But I still think what Reichs has here is a very solid mystery. It's a bit too technical for my taste but to say it stinks just because it's not like the TV show it inspired...no. Sorry, but no.
If you want my advice, I would read this before watching Bones (assuming you haven't watched that already). If you've seen Bones and are not one of those readers who can read something without comparing...then don't bother because I can pretty much promise you won't enjoy it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Bones fans (willing to read it without comparing it constantly to the show), Mystery fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five skeletons


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Book Review: A Darkness Strange and Lovely

TITLE: A Darkness Strange and Lovely
Book 2 in the Something Strange and Deadly series
AUTHOR: Susan Dennard
PUBLISHED: July 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Steampunk, zombies, Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: Eleanor was left behind in Philadelphia after all the mayhem caused by the zombies. When she finally has a enough and goes searching for answers, she gets more then bargained for...
MY REVIEW: Something Strange and Deadly was one of the pleasant surprises of last year. I hadn't been expecting much from it beyond a fun zombie romp and it was a fun zombie romp but there were also some great characters and interesting stories going on. This sequel took those promising story elements and completely delivered on them taking this story in a direction I wasn't expecting and totally loved.
In other words, this was a good sequel. Characters were brought in directions I wasn't expecting (especially Eleanor) and it left on a good cliff hanger. Granted, it still has a case of monologue villains but it's minimal and it is zombies so what can you do?
This is another addition to the awesome sequel pack of 2013. Really, most of the sequels this year have been pretty good. Keep it up authors.
WHO SHOULD READ: Something Strange and Deadly fans, zombie fans, steampunk fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five corsets

Book Review: All Our Pretty Songs

TITLE: All Our Pretty Songs
Book 1 in a series
AUTHOR: Sarah McCarry
PUBLISHED: July 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Two girls who have lived liked sisters find their lives complicated when a boy appears and brings a magical force with him...
MY REVIEW: Ever have one of those books where you just don't know what to make of it? I admit, this doesn't happen to me often. Usually I have a very clear idea of what I like and don't like. But every so often a book will come along where I honestly just don't know how to feel about it.
All Our Pretty Songs is one of those things that is sort of like the writing of Nova Sen Ruma. It's just not going to be for everyone. Actually, now that I think about it, this reminded me a LOT of Imaginary Girls which also threw me for a loop and made me puzzle over whether I actually thought it was good or not. It's got that same sort of writing style that I know a lot of people don't care for.
So...I think this one will be a matter of the person's taste. Me, I'm personally spit by it. There's a lot about it I do like. But I also have problems with some of it too. I do know I liked it enough that I'll probably be checking out the next book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Imaginary Girls fans, Wicked Lovely fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Book Review: Spell Bound

TITLE: Spell Bound
Book 12 in the Women of the Otherworld series
AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Witches
PREMISE:  Savannah has lost her magic and is now on the run from witch-hunters.
MY REVIEW: This review is going to be short because my opinion hasn't really changed from the last one.
I love Savannah. I really like this story arc and where it's going. B
Bring on the last book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Women of the Otherworld fans, Urban Fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five witch pendants

Friday, October 4, 2013

Book Review: Goddess

TITLE: Goddess
Book 3 in the Star Crossed Trilogy
AUTHOR: Josephine Angelini
PUBLISHED: May 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mythology
PREMISE: Helen deals with the consequences of her actions in book 2.
MY REVIEW: The Star Crossed Trilogy is one of those up and down sort of series for me. I enjoy a lot of it. I love the way the author plays with the mythology for one. She puts new spins on it in fun ways but also pays attention to actual Greek mythology. This is also one of the few YA mythology series I've read that has actually acknowledged that a lot of the Greek myths are messed up and often end tragically.
On the other hand some of the stuff in it bugs me. For instance there are some rather sexist comments in it occasionally which I find strange considering there are some pretty fierce women in this series who quite obviously don't need a man to tell them what to do with their virtue. Some of the things happening in this book were also odd for me, like the entire thing with Matt, Claire, and Ariadne. That whole thing made no real sense to me, sorry. I could maybe see Matt and Ariadne doing what they did, but Claire? No, not with the Claire that was presented in books 1 and 2. Oh, and did I call the whole Lucas and Helen not being related after all thing, or what?
So...while I still like this trilogy as a whole...stuff about it bugs me. All in all it's a satisfying series though, so I'm not complaining too loudly. I'll be interested in reading whatever Angelini has in store for us next for sure.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of the first two books, Greek Mythology fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five angry gods
Trilogy as a whole: Four out of Five

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Book Review: Button Holed

TITLE: Button Holed
Book 1 in the Button Box Mystery series
AUTHOR: Kylie Logan
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
PREMISE: Josie's life gets hectic when a famous star gets murdered in her button shop.
MY REVIEW: I admit it: I have a cozy mystery problem. That's why you'll see some pop up here from time to time. I know, I know, the genre isn't overly complicated. It's one of those that often has look alike books. But I can't help it, I like them.
Button Holed is no real exception to the cozy mystery store formula: savvy business woman gets into shenanigans, loves her hobby of choice, that leads to mystery, add in hot cop love interest. Stir. I will say this is one of the better written cozy mysteries out there. I got a chuckle or two out of Josie's sassy inner commentary.
Basically, if you want a fun mystery that you don't have to concentrate on, this one fits the bill.
WHO SHOULD READ: Cozy mystery fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five buttons

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Book Review: Stolen Nights

TITLE: Stolen Nights
Book 2 in the Vampire Queen series
AUTHOR: Rebecca Maizel
PUBLISHED: January 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Vampires
PREMISE: Lenah deals with the consequences of her actions in book one.
MY REVIEW: I liked Infinite Days a lot better then I thought I would. At the time I was a bit burned out on Vampire books, and it was like a breathe of fresh air in a stale genre. So I was really looking forward to this sequel.
Unfortunately I wasn't really that into it when I actually got my hands on it. I don't know if I fault the author here for taking it in slightly lackluster directions, or if I just had unrealistic expectations, or what. I just know I wasn't as fond of this as I was of the first book.
So this was a case of, I kind of wish they'd left it alone instead of writing a sequel. Because the sequel disappointed me. Oh well.
WHO SHOULD READ: Twilight fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five I expected better reactions

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Turn-Offs

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

This Week: Top Ten Book Turn-Offs:

1) Bad editing-For example: Fifty Shades of Gray. I don't know how ANYONE can get through that book. Just a few paragraphs of it and I was itching to take out my red marker and correct every mistake that was in it and send it to the publishers with a big note saying that if you're going to charge someone for this junk, you can at least edit the damn thing.

2) Writers who tend to treat the readers like they're idiots-This is a bad habit I've seen in many a YA novel. Writers, just because you may have a young audience does not mean that audience is dumb. They don't need their hand held through out the thing. By that I mean, I don't need you to tell me what I should be thinking about a character or a situation. Let me draw my own conclusions please. If you've done your story right, chances are I'll be able to figure out a character's motivations anyway. Oh and before you think this is just a YA problem, I've seen it in many adult books too. Particularly in overly pretentious literature books written by authors who think their story is so special their audience can't possibly comprehend the special meaning on their own.

3) Books with NO Original Ideas Whatsoever-This is probably one that's often in the eye of the beholder but it's a problem that can pop up from time to time in genre fiction (ALL genre fiction, not just YA). You know these books when they happen. As you read it, you'll think "hmm...this plot feels familiar" a lot. Then you'll see common character tropes. Then you'll see common story tropes. Then it will basically play out exactly how you thought it would because you've read this story a million times in other books. Some of these aren't always so bad. I myself admit to having a weakness for certain kinds of plots (for instance I love the sassy girl sleuth discovers something, gets into shenanigans, along the way snags hot guy who she snarks with a lot, and then helps save the world trope). But the key is to have some sort of thing that makes your non-original at least slightly different from the rest of the pack. If you don't have that thing...then I tend to lose interest.

4) Authors Who Use Their Characters as Mouthpieces-I get that people like to have messages in books. That's fine. But don't put it in where it makes no sense. I can't tell you the number of times I've read a book and a character has voiced an opinion on something that really makes no sense for that character and I can just tell that this is the author speaking, not the character (House of Night series for example). I just find this habit annoying. You want to have a specific message in there, show it by actions in the story. Not by having your character tell me the message I'm supposed to be getting.

5) When Romance Takes Over a Story That Was Not Supposed to be a Romance-Authors, if I want a story that is strictly romance, I will pick up a romance story. Do not promise me a epic dystopian world and then sideline that epic dystopian world for epic romance love triangle instead. The dystopian genre is not supposed to be just a backdrop for your epic love story. It's annoying. Cut it out. Or at least make the romance actually worth it.

6) Shallow Mean Girl Blonde Cheerleader Trope-Stop me if you've read this one before-Hey, I'm the MC. I'm brunette and so smart and so nerdy. But no one likes me you see because of popular mean girl who is of course totally shallow and dumb and not as deep as me. Words do not describe how annoying this trope is for me. It's not only a really tired and overdone trope. It also pushes the "being feminine in any way is bad" ideas that tend to float around and I despise that way of thinking.

7) Slut-Shaming-An awful lot of slut shaming pops up in YA. STOP IT AUTHORS. By the way, going out of your way to point out how the popular mean girl has sex with boys and that's bad, counts as slut-shaming.

8) Stereotyped Characters Who Never Grow Past Their Stereotypes-I have no real issue with stereotypes themselves because honestly, there's only so many types of characters you can do. What I do have an issue with is when you keep that character in the stereotype and never give them depth or make them their own character. Best example of this is any of Zoey's friends in the House of Night series. Granted, I never read past book three so maybe, just maybe, the authors actually grew their characters a bit. But from what I've heard, I doubt it.

9) Over-use of Dictionary Words-Congratulations. You have a love of words. But guess what? Most people don't go around sounding like a walking, talking dictionary. If it makes no sense for your character to say that big fancy word. Do not have them do it. Less is more, people.

10) The Bad-Boy Douchebag Love Interest Who Somehow Gets the Girl Despite Being a Jerk to Her-I hate hate hate this trope. It needs to die a fiery death. Now, you can have a bad boy love interest. Sure. Rob from 1-800-Where-R-U series? That's an example of a GOOD bad boy love interest. He's got an edge to him that's rather hot, but he respects Jess and doesn't treat her like dirt. Patch from Hush Hush? BAD bad boy love interest because the way he treats Nora is horrible. More Robs. Less Patchs.