Book Review: The Lost City of Z

TITLE: The Lost City of Z
AUTHOR: David Grann
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Biography/History
PREMISE: David Grann explores the life of the explorer Percy Fawcett and ponders about what could have happened to him during his quest to find the city of gold/city of Z...
MY REVIEW: I have to admit, had it not been for the buzz that surrounds this book and the fact that it was made into a movie this year, and I'm trying to read the books made into movies this year, I probably would not have picked this one up. Sorry, explorers...don't interest me that much.
So I was kind of just okay with this one. As a non-fiction biography, it gets the job done. It gives you all the details you need to know, he doesn't wander off on other subjects like some non-fiction authors have a bad habit of doing, and despite not being terribly interested at first, I did find myself enjoying this. Mostly because it was about things I wasn't terribly familiar with.
I'll give this for Grann: his writing is very engaging. He also does not sugar-coat his subject. Sometimes you can tell when an author has become too attached to their subject, because they then try to paint everything the person does in a good light. Grann doesn't hold back on the fact that Fawcett was very very flawed. Like all human beings.
All in all, it was an okay book. I'm far more interested in the newest one he wrote though. That one sounds really good.
WHO SHOULD READ: non-fiction fans, those interested in explorer history
MY RATING: Four out of Five explorer hats

Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty

TITLE: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Book 1 in the Summer Trilogy
AUTHOR: Jenny Han
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary/Romance
PREMISE: A girl's friendship with two brothers changes one memorable summer...
MY REVIEW: So I'm still pretty new to Jenny Han. I only discovered her just last year. I'm not ready to say good-bye to Lara Jean just yet, so I thought I'd pick up her first trilogy first. I liked it...but not as much as I liked the Lara Jean series for some reason.
As always with Han, the writing is great. Like Lara Jean, there are interesting family dynamics going on. I just for some reason couldn't click with it. There were a few instances where I sighed (like when the fat-shaming jokes happened in the beginning), but those instances weren't enough to ruin the book or anything. It still had some great character stuff like the Lara Jean series has. Just for some reason this one...I just shrug at. I'll still be reading the next two books, because it's summer and this series is perfect summer reading.
I don't know, you guys. I still say it's good. Just for some reason that has to do with mostly me, I think, I just didn't get into this one as much as I got into Lara Jean.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jenny Han fans, Sarah Dessen fans, contemporary romance fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs

Book Review: Ash

TITLE: Ash
Book 1 in the Ash duology
AUTHOR: Malinda Lo
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy/Retelling, Romance
PREMISE: A retelling of Cinderella with a bit of a twist...
MY REVIEW: This is one of those books I've been meaning to get too forever. There was no particular reason I kept putting it off. It was just one of those things. I was always sure I was going to like it though, and lo and behold: I was right.
This is not my favorite Cinderella retelling. That honor goes to Cinder at the moment. But it is definitely up there in my top five along with the Ever After movie. So, that's a pretty high compliment. Story-wise, this goes much like most fairy-tale retellings do, except in this one, she doesn't exactly fall for the prince, instead she falls for a female huntress. The writing is perfect for it, it's done in a very fairy-tale like way and I love the inclusion of the fae in this.
Is it the most brilliant retelling of Cinderella ever? Perhaps not. But I was personally very satisfied. And again, with all the LGBT ladies dying lately on TV, it was nice to read a book where a female LGBT couple gets their happy ending. Definitely will be reading more Malinda Lo in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Cinderella retelling fans, Malinda Lo fans, those looking for happy ending LGBT books
MY RATING: Four out of Five happy endings

Book Review: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

TITLE: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Book 1 in the Flavia de Luce series
AUTHOR: Alan Bradley
CATEGORY: Sold as Adult, but I think it can be considered YA/Middle-Grade as well.
GENRE: Historical Mystery
PUBLISHED: 2009
PREMISE: A precocious little girl goes on the case when her father is accused of murder.
MY REVIEW: This is one of the many series out there that I've been meaning to get to for ages. I definitely see why it's caught on. It's very charming. Most of that is due to great narration that Bradley has with Flavia.
As far as mysteries go, this one isn't terribly ground breaking. It's an interesting one with some twists. It was well played out. Like most of these series though what carries it are the main characters. Flavia is a great character and the dynamics of the family are fascinating and honestly most of what made the book for me. There's also that sardonic sly humor that I have come to associate with British authors. No one does sarcasm quite like Brits.
While it does get terribly slow around the middle, for the most part, this is a good read. I'll definitely be looking into the rest of the series for next year as I plan to focus next year on mystery and romance books.
WHO SHOULD READ: Nancy Drew fans, historical mystery fans, fans of kid sleuths
MY RATING: Four out of Five magnifying glasses

Book Review: The New Jim Crow

TITLE: The New Jim Crow-Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
AUTHOR: Michelle Alexander
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Social Commentary/History/Racial Issues
PREMISE: Examination of many racial issues, but mostly focused on the mass incarceration of young black men.
MY REVIEW: When Ferguson happened (should probably be present tense as protesting is actually still going on. It's just not as violent so now no one cares), everyone looked for answers. In searching for those answers, many book lists were compiled. This book wound up on quite a few of those lists. When that happens, that tells me a non-fiction book is legit. So I made a mental note.
This is not light reading. If you're into the idea that racism is over...you'll probably dislike it. Because this book will burst that bubble and do it proudly and with no apologies. As well it should. Some of the information in here I was aware of, due to, of all things, tumblr. Mock social media all you like, it has made people more aware of issues going on. This book provides history and context for the tidbits I've picked up. It's a very well organized book, the author is very straight-forward with the information.
This is not what I would call entertainment reading. It is not easy reading. I do think it should be read by everyone who feels the slightest interest in the subject.
WHO SHOULD READ: Everyone.
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five

Book Review: No Mercy

TITLE: No Mercy
Book 1 in the Mercy Gunderson series
AUTHOR: Lori Armstrong
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Mystery
PREMISE: A woman goes on the case when native american children start showing up dead in her town.
MY REVIEW: If I could rate this book on just plot alone, I'd give it much higher marks. The plot and mystery part are decent. It's everything else that gets in the way.
The main problem for myself is the slut shaming. Yes, this is one of THOSE kind of heroines. The kind billed as strong and naturally better then basically every woman who she comes across. God, there's so much slut shaming in this book. It's aggravating. I am so tired of this trope and I wish it would die. If you need to throw every female character under the bus just to make your character look strong, then maybe your character isn't really a strong character, much less a strong female character.
There's also a bunch of other little details that served to be annoying, such as the complete one-eighty that Mercy's friend did that was clearly just another way to try and gain sympathy for Mercy. So the mystery part of this is good. A tad predictable, but good. The rest of it? Kind of annoying.
WHO SHOULD READ: mystery fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five annoying main characters

Book Review: Bury Me Deep

TITLE: Bury Me Deep
AUTHOR: Megan Abbott
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Mystery, True Crime, Historical Fiction
PREMISE: True crime story about a woman who kills two of her friends during an argument and buries them in trunks.
MY REVIEW: So...I don't really read true crime fiction. I just find little interest in reading about a crime that has already been solved and that I know the ending of thanks to tabloids/news. But as I've mentioned, I'm doing the reading through the library project and this was one of the books my library had so here we are.
I'm not sure how to review this to be honest. As I've said I don't read true crime fiction, so I don't really have any ideas about what makes a true crime book actually good. I can only tell you how I felt about the book which is...it was okay. The writing was decent, I got what was going on. The story was interesting and the research the author did was obvious.
I just didn't feel much for it. But apparently this has won all sorts of awards so critics think this is a good true crime novel. I'd listen to them before listening to me. They probably actually know the genre way better.
WHO SHOULD READ: True Crime fans, historical mystery fans?
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five trunks with surprises in them (not the fun kind of surprises though)

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

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: Some Girls Bite

TITLE: Some Girls Bite
Book 1 in the Chicogoland Vampires series
AUTHOR: Chloe Neil
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: vampires, urban fantasy
PREMISE: Merit gets made into a vampire against her will but she's not going to let the vampires rule her life.
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing about Urban Fantasy. Specifically adult urban fantasy: there's a LOT of it. Most of it tends to look alike. Some will be about vampires, some about werewolves. Some may have a kick butt heroine, some will....try to have a kick butt heroine. The frank truth of the matter is a lot of urban fantasy has the same tropes, same ideas, same sort of characters etc. You have to have a lot of patience and just read the series one by one to find the ones that appeal to you specifically because honestly for me, it's hard to review urban fantasy because I find it silly to whine about the same tropes when the main point of the genre is mostly familiar formulas for the average reader to consume. It would be like complaining about the mystery part in police procedural shows.
So once again I'm sorry to say: not much to say about this one either. It has plenty of familiar adult UF tropes: tough girl with parent issues becomes vamp, somehow kicks butt despite no previous training, promise of lots of love triangle loving in the future books, sassy best friend/sidekick who is basically the best thing about it (seriously, I love Mallory), okay writing, average plot.
So once again I will say your enjoyment of this will probably depend on whatever you like in your books. I'm sort of indifferent to it but I can see why this has become popular. Merit is at least a likeable heroine. It's a decent library read for sure.
WHO SHOULD READ: Urban fantasy fans who love the genre no matter what.
MY RATING: Three out of Five sassy vampires



Book Review: Dying Bites

TITLE: Dying Bites
Book 1 in the Bloodhound Files
AUTHOR: D. D. Barant
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, werewolves, vampires, mystery
PREMISE: Jace gets pulled from our world into a different universe where vampires, werewolves, and magical beings are abundance and humans are a dying breed. But she's not there for fun, she's been asked to catch a killer...
MY REVIEW: Now if Dead on the Delta is an example of how UF can be pretty damn average. This is an example of how to make your series stand out amongst the pack and create interest.
First off, Jace is an interesting and likeable protagonist. When she says she's an FBI agent, I believe her. The author uses first person POV effectively and makes me believe this is a tough FBI agent speaking. Second, the sending her to a alternate reality thing is again, used effectively. We aren't just told it's a alternate world, we're shown it. I can tell the author has sat and thought about how things would be different. Not just in the presance of magical creatures but in things like how government works, what's on TV, how music is different, etc. The MC and ourselves are reminded time and again that this world is different and it's great reading to see how much things have changed. Plus, there's a interesting mystery and villain! Not everything is black and white. This made for a nice change of pace in a world of straightforward UF.
See, not every Urban Fantasy has to be the same. This series proves that the genre isn't totally dead. If you are a adult urban fantasy reader who has become somewhat irritated with the same old, this might be a good change of pace for you. It still has the usual suspects in there of course, but it's well done.
WHO SHOULD READ: Urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five guns

Book Review: Wondrous Strange

TITLE: Wondrous Strange
Book 1 in the Wondrous Strange series
AUTHOR: Lesley Livingston
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban fantasy, faeries, romance,
PREMISE: A girl attracts the attention of faeries and finds out she's one of them.
MY REVIEW: You ever have a book where you're literally scratching your head wondering what the hell is going on the whole time you're reading it? Well, that was me during Wondrous Strange. I'm sorry but not one bit of this made sense.
Now I will say I get the feeling this is aimed more at the younger tween crowd into Twilight then older teens who fell in love with Wicked Lovely. So it's really not fair of me to judge the juvenile tone of the book. The writing isn't awful...but it's not great either. The characters frankly bored me. They were cookie cutter characters down to the Mary Sue main character who naturally found out not only was she special, she was a fairy princess. Sigh.
Still though, I have to wonder if even tweens would raise their eyebrow at the randomness of this book and the slight stupidity of the main character (seriously, she finds a magical horse or something and decides "Hey I know, I'll lead it to my NYC apartment!" at one point. Despite her roommate specifically saying no pets). Honestly to me the book was one big what the hell hot mess. I say the younger crowd may get a kick out of it but for everyone else...it's kind of a waste of your time.
WHO SHOULD READ: Younger tweens into Twilight, Wings fans
MY RATING: Two out of Five what the hells

Book Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

TITLE: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Book 2 in the Millaneum Trilogy
AUTHOR: Stieg Larsson
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Thriller/mystery, contemporary
PREMISE: Two journalists friends of Michael Blomkvist are murdered and to his shock the number one suspect is Lisbeth Salander.
MY REVIEW: It has been longer then I meant to for me to get to the second book of this trilogy. My only defense is that a) they're really big, even by my book standards, b) have you seen my TBR list on Shelfari? Yeah, it's long. c) I got into Game of Thrones in between and those books are just as long as these. But now I've had time to really think about this trilogy and learn about Stieg Larsson and it's actually upped my opnion of it. Now reading the second one I'm in full blown love with the trilogy. The only flaws it really has are the flaws that most adult thrillers tend to have: flat impersonal writing and way too many details that are unimportant. I mean I'm sorry but I don't need to know what Lisbeth bought at the store therefore a lengthy paragraph about the items and why she bought it is highly unneccessary. But like I said, this is bad habit that tends to be in all thrillers (have you all tried reading Clancy? Sheesh).
That small annoyance aside this is once again a engrossing noirish type murder mystery that goes deep into the character of Lisbeth Salander and shows the evolution of her character. It's one of the best character studies I've read in awhile. Like Girl with a Dragon Tattoo the mystery is dark and complex and this just reminds me of why I really like noir fiction thrillers in the first place even though I've sort of put the genre aside in recent years due to trouble finding characters I enjoyed. It doesn't help that most thrillers are male oriented. I think James Patterson and few other older writers are the only ones who actually write thrillers with female protagonists.
Basically if you loved Girl With a Dragon Tattoo you will most likely love this. Just be warned you will need Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest right away because it ends on a evil cliffhanger.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, thriller fans, James Patterson fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five kick-ass heroines

Ditched Book Review: Halfway to the Grave

TITLE: Halfway to the Grave
Book 1 in the Night Huntress series
AUTHOR: Jeanine Frost
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, romance
PREMISE: Cat hunts vampires. Pretty much about it.
REASONS I DITCHED IT: Well first and foremost the main character was SUCH A MARY SUE, of the annoying kind not the tolerable kind. I'm sorry, I can't get into books when the main character does nothing for me. By all rights, I should love this character, she's kickass or so people tell me. But it was pretty clear thirty percent in that Cat is what I call a faux-feminist Mary Sue. She is presented as a kick-butt character so the author can say "see, feminests? This book isn't sexist! You can enjoy it!" But the actions of said Mary Sue pretty much derail any feminist ideals that may be in the book. Because once the guy (whose name I can't even recall now, that's how unremarkable he is) comes along she basically turns into his sex kitten and does his bidding. Yeah, that's feminist all right. See, turns out she was going about things entirely the wrong way and he shows her the right way. Which or course, includes sexing her up (oh and naturally Mary Sue is naive as hell when it comes to sex even though she's HAD SEX and blushes prettily at sexual innuedo. Sigh)
Don't even get me started on the fact that Cat is apparently part human, part vampire. I mean, what? How the hell does that work? That makes no sense whatsoever. Even main guy said that she shouldn't be possible which frankly makes her more of a Mary Sue.
Then there were just little irritating things like the unremarkable writing style, the male lead who was obviously modeled after Spike from Buffy but without any of Spike's character depth or any of the things that made you root for Spike. Literally he treats her like crap and I'm supposed to want these two to get together? Sorry, but no. I got about as far as her using her sex appeal to lure vamps before I finally just said to hell with it and washed my hands of this book. Look, if you want mindless UF with sexyness then this probably fits the bill but it was just too ridiculous for my taste. I will not be trying any of the rest of the series despite people telling me they get better, nor will I be reading any of Frost's other stuff, assuming she's written anything else besides this series. I just can't.

Book Review: Once a Witch

TITLE: Once a Witch
Book 1 in the Witch series
AUTHOR: Carolyn MacCullough
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: Witches, urban fantasy, drama
PREMISE: A girl with no magic in a family full of magic users tries to find her place in the world.
MY REVIEW: I actually quite enjoyed this book. True, one or two things were obvious. The MC was a bit annoying at times, and the writing isn't anything special. But it's one of those books you just can't help but enjoy.
One of the things I loved was the world MacCullough created. She thought it through (mostly, the time traveling is a bit funky) and it was a fun world to be in. The plot was also a solid one. I'm a sucker for family drama and this one had that in spades. Granted I would have prefered the MC to wind up not having powers at the end because I think that would have been a better message about how you are just fine the way you are but still, it made for a interesting twist. I didn't even mind the romance. Gabriel was a fun love interest.
All in all this was a fun addition to the witch genre. I look forward to reading Always a Witch.
WHO SHOULD READ: Witch fans, fans of family drama
MY RATING: Four out of Five spell books

Book Review: The Demon's Lexicon

TITLE: The Demon's Lexicon
Book 1 in the Demon's Lexicon Trilogy
AUTHOR: Sarah Rees Brennan
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: urban fantasy, drama
PREMISE: in a world of demons and magic, Nick and his brother Alan have survived on their own by relying on each other. Then two kids show up and change everything...
MY REVIEW: Oh my God, why didn't I pick this trilogy up sooner?! I had heard of it and everyone kept reccing it right and left but I just never got around to reading it. Well I finally saw a cheap copy in Books a Million (seriously best chain store ever. Their bargain book bins are glorious) and picked it up. I'm not sorry I did either.
This book has good writing, interesting characters, engrossing storytelling, action, a wee bit of romance (but not the sappy annoying kind thank god and it's relagated to subplot like romances should be in fantasy books), humor, and most important: creativity. Granted while reading sometimes felt the author went a tad over the top with trying to make her book too edgy. She didn't need to do so because it was a good solid book without all that. Also sometimes Nick angsted a bit too much for my tastes but it never got to Bella Swan levels and he did stuff so I'm not going to complain about that too much.
But seriously if you haven't read this trilogy you totally should. Just be warned, it's dark. If you like happy tales with moral characters or sappy love triangles this is not for you. But if you don't mind darkness in your YA enjoy.
WHO SHOULD READ: Holly Black fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five long swords

Book Review: The Pale Assassin

TITLE: The Pale Assassin
Book 1 in the Pimpernelles series
AUTHOR: Patricia Elliott
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: Historical fiction, drama
SHORT PREMISE: A young aristocrat deals with the horrors of the French Revolution
MY REVIEW: Young Eugenie is a well to do living in France during the brink of the French Revolution. She goes from rich to poor to persecuted and having to run for her life to England.
The Pale Assassin certainly is a well researched and well written book, sadly it's only interesting to those who actually want to know more about the French Revolution. For anyone not a historical buff...this book will probably be a tad boring. Part of the problem is the summary is very misleading. From the book's summary it sounds like Eugenie gets driven into the French Revolution fight and uses her brains in court intrigue and so on. Unfortunately that does not happen. Really Eugenie is basically a spectator to the horrible events and never really goes beyond that, except at the end when she flees to England. Thus...I was rather bored despite loving the detailed history that the author put into this novel.
So it's not a bad book persay, it just wasn't what the summary made it sound like and I kind of get annoyed when that happens. But I blame the publisher not the author for that because publishers write the summary. This book is good, but you have to have a taste for it. I'd recomend it to all history buffs for sure though.
WHO SHOULD READ: history buffs
MY RATING: Four out of Five gaudy period dresses

Book Review: On the Edge

TITLE: On the Edge
Book 1 in the Edge series
AUTHOR: Ilona Andrews
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, romance
SHORT PREMISE: A girl meets a demon who wants to marry her but she's having none of it.
MY REVIEW: Rose has been hunted for her powerful gift for years so she's understandably suspicious of Declan who comes and proposes marriage. She gives him three challenges, if he fails he goes away, if he wins, she marries him. But now Rose isn't so sure she wants Declan going away anymore...
On the Edge is more romance based then the Kate Daniels series and it's still good. If you must write cliche romances at least do it well like Andrews does here. Declan and Rose are fun snarky romantic leads and we all know I like my snarky couples ;). So it was a tad predictable and I didn't feel as great attachement to it like I did with the Kate Daniels series but it's still fun and decently written and once again, Andrews creates a fantastic world that fascinates me and I want to know more about.
If you're in the mood for a good urban fantasy romance then I definitely rec this series. No, it's not as good as Kate Daniels but it's definitely a step above your typical romance book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Kate Daniels fans, romance fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five shifters

Book Review: If I Stay

TITLE: If I Stay
Book 1 in the Mia Hall series
AUTHOR: Gayle Forman
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Young Adult
GENRE: Realistic fiction, drama
SHORT PREMISE: A girl is in a car accident.
MY REVIEW: Mia's family goes for a drive and wind up in a accident where her parents and brother are killed and she's in critical condition. Mia sees the reaction of her family and learns the news and now has a choice to make: does she want to live or die?
Have you ever had a book where you do honestly think the writing and plot and characters are good, it just doesn't click for you a lot? I've had this happen before, mainly with classics (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera, Wuthering Heights to name a few). If I Stay is like that for me. It never really got to the point where I thought myself OMG!this is amazing! but I do honestly see that it is a good well written solid book. My only complaints really are that the whole girl watching people grieve and thinking over her life thing is a tad cheesy and contrived but it's at least done well here. I also found the whole flashbacking between the past and present vaguely annoying as I cared more about the present even though I understood why the author was doing it. But really, this is a solid book. Characters are believable and nicely fleshed out, it talks about grief, it's well written. I was just sort of passive while reading it and I don't understand why to be honest.
So despite not really getting into it, I do really recomend this book because it is good. I just guess it wasn't my thing. However I am going to read the sequel that just came out this year because I'm curious about how things turned out for Mia. I just hope it doesn't include the going back and forth between the present and the past.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Jodi Piccoult, fans of Sarah Dessen, fans of realistic drama
MY RATING: Four out of Five tissues

Book Review: Dreamfever

TITLE: Dreamfever
Book 4 in the Fever series
AUTHOR: Karen Marie Moning
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Faeries, drama, romance
SHORT PREMISE: In a war torn Dublin Mac fights faeries.
MY REVIEW: Dublin has been overrun with faeries, Mac is in danger of losing herself as she's raped over and over by faeries but is rescued by Barrons and Dana. After much struggle she finally comes back but not without a few scars, namely that she and Barrons had sex (lots of sex) while she was unhinged. Now she deals with a faerie run Dublin and Rowena who is trying her darnest to kill her.
I was only mildly into the Fever series during the first two books. I enjoyed them but they were just ho hum. Then book 3 happened and Moning upped the ante and this book is no different. We see a Mac finally say "to hell with it all" and while it's nice to see, it's also a tad scary because it doesn't feel like the Mac I've come to know and adore. But still, all the stuff that made you fall for the fever series in the first place is still here: Barrons and Mac bickering, V'Lane being...V'Lane, plot developements up the wazoo, and a nail biting ending that makes me eager to get my hands on Shadowfever. I totally understand why this series gained a large following. I loved that Moning is not afraid to take her characters to dark places and she doesn't ignore the complications that come with people like Barrons and V'Lane.
Sometimes I admit I wish she would have slowed down a bit, but we're nearing the end so I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Will be getting Shadowfever as soon as possible (possibly this week if my library has it). I am definitely a Fever fan and can't wait to see what Moning has in store for us next.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that have read the first 3 books, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five daggers