Book Review: Mystic City

TITLE: Mystic City
Book 1 in the Mystic City series
AUTHOR: Theo Lawrence
PUBLISHED: October
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, fantasy, romance, drama
PREMISE: Aria is engaged to the son of her family's political rivals. She's been told they had a passionate affair and are madly in love but she doesn't remember any of it.
MY REVIEW: This was the last book I read in the year of 2012 and I have to say it wasn't a bad way to end the year. Not going to lie, I mostly read it for the cover. It's even prettier in person. Then it promised me X-Men combined with Hunger Games and Matched. Well, that just makes you have to pick it up. Now I will say, I don't see where the Hunger Games comes in. But I definitely see the X-Men allusions as well as the similarities to Matched (but thankfully this is not as dreadfully dull as Matched).
This book is clever and is building on this emergence of dystopian/fantasy that I've been noticing (and am all for by the way). Aria is a nice character. Not a brilliant one but I'm pleased to report that she has a backbone, cares about others, and gets that the world doesn't revolve around her starcrossed romance. Her love interest is actually a likeable guy (really nice change) and I actually want these two Romeo and Juliet wannabes to work out. However the strength of this book is more the interesting world that Lawrence has built and the fact that there's always something going on. Lawrence does not bore me to tears with melodrama (though there is some) or constant declarations of love. For once a romance inclined dystopian didn't bore me. Also nice to see was nice writing. Lawrence has great dialogue and nice prose that don't go overboard but aren't bland.
So this was a decent debut. I definitely give the author points for making me interested in a dystopian when one considers just how crowded with dystopian YA has become.
WHO SHOULD READ: Matched fans, X-Men fans, dystopian fans, Urban Fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five Romeo and Juliets who are smarter than Romeo and Juliet

Book Review: Magisterium

TITLE: Magisterium
Book 1 in a series?
AUTHOR: Jeff Hirsch
PUBLISHED: October 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian/Fantasy, adventure
PREMISE: Glenn has always lived on the edge of the Rift with her father until one day changes everything she thought she knew.
MY REVIEW: So I've never read Jeff Hirsch's stuff. I know of him. I've heard of The Eleventh Plague and thanks to my anal need to compile release lists for my YA Shelfari group (and for my own benefit, not going to lie) I know the guy is prolific. This is the first book of his I've actually been interested in though. So my thoughts are...mixed to be honest.
On one hand: LOVE the creativity going on in here. For once a world felt fresh and like nothing I expected. I didn't feel that deja vu feeling I often get while reading YA fantasy/dystopian. It was a nice feeling. The plot was also a nice one. Fairly straight forward and not overly complicated though. Glenn...was up and down as a character to be honest. This was mostly focused on adventure so I feel characters got sacrificed a bit for "lets go on a quest! Look, cat person!" Romance wasn't bad but not the point so I can't really bitch about it too much. The writing was pretty average.
So honestly this book was a bit of a mixed bag. It's nice if you're looking for something a bit different but part of me felt it was rather rushed, particularly at the end. I put a question mark at the series part because I felt the author left room for a sequel but none has been announced that I know of yet.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those looking for more adventurey type dystopian/fantasy
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five cat guys

Book Review: The Lies That Bind

TITLE: The Lies That Bind
Book 2 in the Liar Society
AUTHOR: Lisa and Laura Roecker
PUBLISHED: November 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic fiction, drama, mystery
PREMISE: Kate starts getting messages from her dead friend Grace and starts investigating her friends death again.
MY REVIEW: Now we're talking! I was somewhat lukewarm to this series last year. It was fun but a little TOO much like Veronica Mars for me to call it original and I didn't think it was as good as Veronica Mars. While the VM alluisions do continue to persist in this series, it has started to pull away and become it's own thing and it's become stronger as a result.
Still not thrilled about the romance part because I just don't get the connection between the two but character-wise, mystery-wise, and plot-wise this was all a giant leap forward. Writing is still average but not cringe-worthy or anything.
I am far more satisfied with this second book then I was the first book. If like me you were ho hum about the first, give it a second chance. You may find yourself surprised. Now I'm really looking forward to book 3.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of The Liar Society, Veronica Mars fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five sassy girl detectives

Book Review: Finale

TITLE: Finale
Book 4 in the Hush Hush series
AUTHOR: Becca Fitzpatrick
PUBLISHED: October 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Angels, romance, urban fantasy
PREMISE: Nora leads the Nephilem in a war while hiding her relationship with Patch.
MY REVIEW: When I think of Hush Hush I don't think of it with anger like I know most readers do (with good reason, there's tons of problems with this series and all complaints are pretty legit), I think of it with sadness. This series had SO MUCH potential. I mean that second book made me so hopeful that I gave it a higher rating then I probably should have. Unfortunately Fitzpatrick doesn't really think outside the box and thus the series basically wound up being a HUGE let down. I mean, talk about a anti-climatic ending.
One would think a war between angels would be interesting, right? Well, apparently not. See, apparently angels really care about who their leader is dating instead of you know, winning the damn war. So we're treated to a utterly contrived scenario where Nora has to hide her relationship with Patch. Again. Because she's never done that before. And Marcie...oh how I weep for Marcie and all her wasted potential as a character. Marcie could have been the Cordelia of Hush Hush because she's just as awesome, but no...she gets slammed and judged and slut shamed instead. Complete. Utter. Waste. Don't get me started on the completely predictable ending. I'll give you a hint: the only one that dies is a character none of the main characters even care about.
So this series honestly just makes me sad. It could have been ten times better then it actually was. This is like Twilight where I wish the idea had been put into the hands of a better and more ambitious author who wasn't stuck in Epic True Love land.
WHO SHOULD READ: Twilight fans, fans of the first three books
MY RATING: Two and a half out of Five cliches
RATING FOR OVERALL SERIES: Two out of Five sad sighs for such wasted potential

Book Review: Throne of Glass

TITLE: Throne of Glass
Book 1 in the Throne of Glass series
AUTHOR: Sarah J. Maas
PUBLISHED: August 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, adventure
PREMISE: Celeana is a assassin serving out her sentance when she's brought forth to the crown prince with an offer to become the kingdom's chief assassin.
MY REVIEW: So I was originally under the impression that this was self-published, apparently I'm wrong about that. This was a original fiction universe on Fiction Press that got a book deal which frankly can be just as a mixed bag as self-publishing. Don't misunderstand, I am not bashing authors/people who use Fiction Press. In fact I think the site is good for beginner authors to work on their writing, gain a support group, etc. But that's the key word there: beginner. I don't think one should look for fiction to publish on it. This book is a example of why.
Don't get me wrong, Maas has lots of potential. She's good at pacing, action, and dialogue. However her characters and world building need TONS of work. Especially her characters because I'm sorry but Celeana is flat and excellent example of what a Mary Sue is. She is literally perfect. She reads, she kicks butt all over the place, she's sassy, she is just plain never wrong, and she of course is beautiful. Literally she has no flaws. It also does not help the author that the picture on the cover is basically the author herself so that furthers the implications that this is a self-insert idealized  Mary Sue. The male leads were equally perfect and cookie cutter characters, as was the best friend character. Literally these were the barest minimum stereotypes. To all those saying this is Game of Thrones for teens...NO. Just...NO. These characters are about as morally gray as a Disney princess. Actually, I think Disney princesses have more depth because even Tiana from Princess and the Frog has flaws. And I highly doubt this author is gutsy enough to kill off any of the characters who aren't evil/or sidekicks.
Honestly this was just a nice effort but I could really tell it was a first book by a amateur and I really don't see the Game of Thrones thing AT ALL. Seriously, where the hell did that come from? I think this is one that was guilty of overhype. I think Maas definitely has potential but I would have prefered to read something from her when she had worked on character and setting developement more. Which is basically why this self-publishing trend/looking for original fiction online business just makes me not very happy.
WHO SHOULD READ: fantasy fans, fans of the authors online fiction
MY RATING: Three out of Five swords


Book Review: The Dead Girls Detective Agency

TITLE: The Dead Girls Detective Agency
Book 1 in a new series?
AUTHOR: Suzy Cox
PUBLISHED: September 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Paranormal, mystery
PREMISE: Charlotte wakes up to discover she's been murdered and in order to pass on she must solve her own murder.
MY REVIEW: This is one of those books that I wish I loved more then I did. I mean the idea is just so awesome: ghosts solving murders! That should be interesting, right? Well, apparently not. Instead of a savvy detective agency who solve mysteries like the title implies we're given Charlotte as a protagonist. This I think was the authors major mistake.
Because Charlotte? Is ANNOYING. She's whiny, judgemental, and frankly by the fifth chapter where she was obnoxious to everyone trying to help her I just wanted her GONE. I think the author would have been better served to have this actually be about the agency characters because they were the interesting part. The mystery part? Ridiculous. The main character? Hard to like.l All the stuff I wanted more info on was pushed aside in favor of Charlotte and frankly Charlotte's story was just not that great. The writing and the plot were pretty average but didn't make up for a annoying protagonist.
If the author plans on making this a series like I suspect then she needs for it be about the actual agency characters. Or she needs to come up with better mysteries and characters then this first novel because frankly this one doesn't make me want to read more.
WHO SHOULD READ: paranormal fans, mystery fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five whiny ghosts

Book Review: Days of Blood and Starlight

TITLE: Days of Blood and Starlight
Book 2 of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series
AUTHOR: Laini Taylor
PUBLISHED: November 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy (yes, I swear it's both), drama
PREMISE: Karou has remembered her past life and in attempts to atone for her past mistakes is helping her kind battle the angels.
MY REVIEW: Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one of my top ten reads of 2011 and one of my favorite debuts so my expectations were very very high for this one. I'm pleased to say that Taylor delivers. Literally, I can't think of one flaw in this except for maybe if you're reading this purely for the romance part you're going to be disapointed because Karou and Atkiva don't spend much time together and the time they do spend, breaks your heart.
But I felt the strong parts of this was the storytelling part anyway and Taylor delivers on that. She not only develops characters, she develops plots, and she goes in completely unexpected directions. It's not often I'm surprised by YA nowadays but I was definitely surprised by this book and the way the story went. I will say there is one scene that may be dark for some people but it is neccessary for the whopper of a cliffhanger at the end.
Basically I have nothing bad to say about this. Taylor took the plot in a wonderful direction. The writing and the story are just as absorbing as the first one. Honestly my only complaint is how long I have to wait for book 3.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Daughter of Smoke and Bone
MY RATING: Five out of Five chimeras

Book Review: Wings of the Wicked

TITLE: Wings of the Wicked
Book 2 in the Angelfire series
AUTHOR: Courtney Allison Moulton
PUBLISHED: January 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Angels, romance
PREMISE: Ellie tries her best to balance her life as a warrior angel with her human one.
MY REVIEW: Well, I definitely think this one was a improvement over the first one which I liked but it had several flaws which is why it took me awhile to get to the sequel. This time around Moulton focuses more on plot then melodrama and thus I enjoyed the book much more. Even though I'm upset about a certain person dying.
As I've said many times, angel books are difficult for me to get into. The only other ones besides this series has been Unearthly and a standalone book that I think no one else but me has read. So for me to say I like this series is actually several points in the author's favor. Granted the relationship between Ellie and Will is still rather ho hum for me (I found Ellie's drama about Will rather irksome if I'm honest) and frankly the least interesting thing going on in the book because I know they'll end up together because it's YA. I can count on my hand the number of main YA couples who haven't gotten together in the end and one of them is just because the guy wound up dying. Something tells me this isn't one of those types of endings so I'm not all that worried about the Ellie/Will drama.
But the overall plot is actually rather good this time around. There's twists you don't see coming, it's fast paced for a five hundred page whopper, and there's even character developement of sorts. So I say this is definitely a improvement on the series and I look forward to book 3.
WHO SHOULD READ: Angelfire fans, angel book fans, Unearthly fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five swords

Book Review: Two Truths and a Lie

TITLE: Two Truths and a Lie
Book 3 in The Lying Game series
AUTHOR: Sara Shepard
PUBLISHED: February 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery, drama
PREMISE: Emma pokes further into her sister's life and discovers Thayer: the boy that Sutton was cheating on Garrett with.
MY REVIEW: I will not lie to you and say this series is wonderfully written, a must read, and so on. In truth, this series is average. But, it's ADDICTING. Say what you want about Shepards annoying  and sloppy name dropping habit (seriously author, Pandora hasn't been around that long, I doubt Emma and her elementary school friend were using it), her flat writing style, and amatuerish need to describe what everyone's wearing. I'll even give on the plausibility of all of this in the first place. But damn, Shepard knows how to spin a good mystery and keep you coming back for more. There's a reason PLL is as popular as it is. Though personally, I say this series is MUCH better then PLL.
This is mostly due to the one thing PLL is missing: characters I like and who are sympathetic. Sorry but Arya and company are not sympathetic to me. They continue to lie/cheat/do stupid things even while A is on the loose and after she killed their best friend so please tell me how I'm supposed to root for them when they continue to do the things that got them in that situation in the first place. Emma is likeable. I also find the dynamics between Sutton and the whole crew from her friends to her family just fascinating character wise (and again, makes much more sense then PLL). This, combined with the complex mystery is what makes this series worth continuing despite some of Shepards writing flaws.
This was another interesting installment with more twists and turns and insight into the complex drama that was Sutton Mercer's life (and damn did she have a lot of drama; I wasted my time as a teenager apparently). Can't wait to read the next one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read books 1 and 2, PLL fans, mystery fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five fashionista sleuths


Book Review: The Raven Boys

TITLE: The Raven Boys
Book 1 in the Raven Cycle
AUTHOR: Maggie Stiefvater
PUBLISHED: September 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban fantasy, drama, romance
PREMISE: Four boys search for ley lines with the help of Blue, a girl who if she kisses her true love, he will die.
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing I've decided about Steifvater: her writing style/books just aren't for everyone. She has a slower pace then most YA authors do, and even I admit to a lot of frustration with that. She has beautiful writing, no doubt, and I love how she developes characters. But she kind of takes forever to get to the point sometimes. I can see how people would get easily bored with her books.
Personally, I really love her stuff. Still don't at all agree with her on some stuff (particularly her views on reviews) but I tend to seperate authors from their books anyway unless their personal views just tend to utterly take over a book. I despise Orsen Scott Card's homophobic stance for instance but I can't deny that Ender's Game is a good book. I love His Dark Materials but sort of think Phillup Pullman himself is a arrogant jerk. So this is not the first time I've loved an authors book/writing more then the author themselves. The Raven Boys is wonderfully written. I don't think it's the best thing Maggie's ever done (still is Scorpio Races for me) but for a urban fantasy this is wonderfully creative and with interesting characters I like spending time with. I will say however that compared to the boys, Blue was woefully underdeveloped. With the boys, I feel I have a good handle on their personality, backgrounds, and understand them. Blue...I know things ABOUT her. Like I know her family life and whatnot. But Blue's actual personality? I've got nothing except for maybe she's stubborn? I'm hoping this is just because this is the first book and a lot of this was focused on the boys and the ley line stuff though.
So there are a few flaws in this, but still it's Stiefvater so the good far outweighs the bad. This isn't really a stretch for Stiefvater though so if you've decided you don't like her stuff then this probably won't appeal to you either. But for fans or new readers of Stiefvater I definitely recomend this one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Maggie Stiefvater fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five ravens


Book Review: The Talents

TITLE: The Talents
Book 1 in the Delcroix Academy series
AUTHOR: Inara Scott
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban fantasy, Romance
PREMISE: Dancia has a strange power that she does her best to hide but then she gets invited to a fancy boarding school where hiding isn't an option.
MY REVIEW: I remember seeing this one back when it first came out and I took note of it but promptly forgot about because of...I don't remember actually, I just forgot about it. But eventually I remembered and I picked it up last week. Turns out there's a reason I forgot about it: it's forgetable.
Literally this is every YA fantasy trope thrown into one: plain heroine (who somehow manages to get two guys into her despite being "plain") finds out she's special? Check. Boarding school with students who have powers/abilities of some sort? Check. Two guys into one girl who isn't really that interesting?Insta romance with no basis? Check and Check. There's also good old fashioned evil mean girl stereotype, main character hating on the pretty girls for no apparent reason that I can see other then her being really petty, and to even top it off plain girl is a orphan. Sigh.
I like the boarding school trope as much as the next girl but due to it being everywhere you have to make it interesting. This? Was not interesting. I pretty much yawned my way through this. If you're really curious about this one, I say check it out from the library and save your money for good boarding school books. Might I suggest Harry Potter?
WHO SHOULD READ: Um...those who really like boarding school books I guess?
MY RATING: Two and a half out of Five "I've read this before" moments


Book Review: Black Heart

TITLE: Black Heart
Book 3 in The Curse Workers Trilogy
AUTHOR: Holly Black
PUBLISHED: April 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban fantasy
PREMISE: Cassel Sharpe has gotten himself in deep. The girl he loves is now in the mob and he himself has gotten himself tied to government agents.
MY REVIEW: Curse Workers has been one of those trilogies that I'm sorry has never become as popular as it should have been. Black seems to be one of those authors people either love or hate. I admit, her style probably isn't for everyone.
But her books (the curse workers at least) definitely appeal to me. I love how complicated she makes the plots in this and no character is totally one dimensional. This has often been described as Godfather mixed in with X-Men and yes, it pretty much is, but Black does it in a way that makes it work and in entertaining ways. This third one brought the ending of the series (or at least this trilogy, the way it ended had me smelling spin-off potential) and man, did Black deliver. I was completely satisfied with this and I don't often say that about endings of trilogies. Even if I like the ending, there's usually something that bugs me, but in this one? Nothing.
This a utterly satisfying end to a entertaining trilogy that I'm sorry to see go. As always, I look forward to whatever Black has in store in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Holly Black fans, those that have read the first 2 books, Godfather fans, Soprano fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five gloves

Book Review: Shadow and Bone

TITLE: Shadow and Bone
Book 1 in the Grisha Trilogy
AUTHOR: Leigh Bardugo
PUBLISHED: June 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, adventure
PREMISE: Alina learns she has a strong power and gets whisked from her life as a lowly apprentice and ignored best friend to the palace to train in magic.
MY REVIEW: So I've noticed a slight increase in epic fantasy these past few months and more are coming next year and all I can say is yes please. Fantasy will always be my favorite genre (hence my handle) and I'm glad it's starting to make a comeback.
This is great debut. Yes, a few flaws are present. Alina was off and on as a character for me personally and I spotted several familiar fantasy tropes so sorry but I don't think it's as original as people claim. It's original if you don't read a lot of fantasy, particularly if you've never picked up Tamora Pierce. However, the world building is great, the plot is interesting and it's got that court intrigue thing going on and I have a weakness for court intrigue plots. I also give Bardugo many points for writing. I honestly couldn't tell that this was her first book, the writing was that good.
So while this does have a few flaws it is one of the stronger debuts of the year and more of what I hope is a continueing trend of epic fantasy. This one is definitely worth a look if you're looking for fantasy that doesn't have vampires, faeries, or werewolves.
WHO SHOULD READ: Tamora pierce fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five court conspiracies


Book Review: Dark Eyes

TITLE: Dark Eyes
Book 1 in the Dark Eyes series
AUTHOR: William Richter
PUBLISHED: March 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery, adventure
PREMISE: Wally is on the run and in search of her birth mother.
MY REVIEW: This...was not what I was expecting. Not totally a bad thing, I'll give it that. I do definitely get the Girl With the Dragon Tatoo vibes from it. However, I don't think it's nearly as good as that trilogy.
I will warn that this is probably better suited for older or more mature teens as there's some pretty dark stuff going on here. Honestly some of it was a bit over the top for my taste but at least the author didn't try to glamourize living on the streets and making things really convenient for the main character. The plot is interesting and there are twists and turns abound.
As a debut goes, this was a decent start to a series. I wouldn't read this if romance is your thing though, there's very little of it. But if you're a Dragon Tattoo fan, this may be a fun read.
WHO SHOULD READ: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fans, mystery fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five sleuths

Book Review: Eve and Adam

TITLE: Eve and Adam
AUTHOR: Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
PUBLISHED: October 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science fictionish
PREMISE: Eve is given a task by her mother: create the perfect boy.
MY REVIEW: Honestly I don't have much to say about this book. It's a nice book for getting the conversation started about ethics in science but it's certainly not groundbreaking.
Writing is average, characters average, everything is just...okay. This I think is a book whose enjoyability will probably depend entirely on the reader.
WHO SHOULD READ: Um...not sure. Science geeks maybe?
MY RATING: Three out of Five apples

Book Review: Endure

TITLE: Endure
Book 4 in the Need series
AUTHOR: Carrie Jones
PUBLISHED: May 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Faeries, werewolves, urban fantasy
PREMISE: It's all out war in Zara's town as she deals with becoming the thing she's learned to hate the most.
MY REVIEW: The Need series has been a up and down sort of deal for me. I really enjoyed the first book for its creativity and at the time it was written, Zara was refreshing. Then the second book happened and it was like Zara became all about Nick and that was definitely annoying. Third book was a little better but still sort of meh.
The conclusion...is also okay. It's a satisfying ending, I'll give it that. The author ties up loose ends. Brings all storylines to their logical conclusions. It's all very...neat I guess you could say. It's not horrible, but it's not overwhelming either.
For the overall series...I say a B minus if we were doing letter grades.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read books 1-3, faerie book fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five iron forks
FOR SERIES ITSELF: Three out of Five

Book Review: Innocent Darkness

TITLE: Innocent Darkness
Book 1 in the Aether Chronicles
AUTHOR: Suzanne Lazear
PUBLISHED: August 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Steampunk, urban fantasy, faeries, romance
PREMISE: Noli gets sent to reform school after one too many hijinks and then gets whisked away into the world of the fae.
MY REVIEW: Sigh. Ever have a book start out so promising only to have it jump quickly into the clicheville pond a few chapters in? That was me and this book. I had such high hopes for this too. I mean steampunk! With faeries!
Noli also started out really promising. I mean I adore female characters who rebel against society's restrictions on women. But then suddenly she's judging other women for not being as awesome as she, then there are one too many emphasis on her so-called "innocence", then the real kicker is just how naive she is. I mean this is a girl who's interested in science, right? So naturally you would think she'd be somewhat in the know about how kissing someone arouses them. But nope. She and one of her beaus (yes, one of, because of course there is a love triangle) start kissing all hot and heavy and he pulls away and she's all mortified and asking what's wrong. Really, author? REALLY? I thought this girl was in her late teens, not ten. Then it falls quickly into sexist territory (so much for that positive feminism in the first few chapters) where the guys fighting over her must totally protect her and she basically does nothing but sit around and be innocent and this of course is her best quality. I've seen better developement for females in Disney movies.
The plot does sort of exist and kind of ties up nicely but that is not enough to erase the poor quality of the plot, all the cliches, as well as the poor female characters in this book. Basically this is one giant book of cliches with unself aware sexism thrown in for good measure (I say unself aware because I get the feeling the author intended for Noli to be a strong female but missed). Very poor debut I'm sorry to say because this could have been a awesome book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Um...steampunk fans who don't mind weak female characters who do nothing, Twihards
MY RATING: Two out of Five weepy protagonists

Book Review: Rebel Heart

TITLE: Rebel Heart
Book 2 in the Dustlands series
AUTHOR: Moira Young
PUBLISHED: October 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, adventure
PREMISE: Saba's life is not nearly as simple as she had hoped after she rescued her brother. Now she travels west to reunite with Jack but word travels that Jack has betrayed them...
MY REVIEW: So I will still say this, despite enjoying this series: I still HATE the writing style. As I said in my review last year, no quotation marks is a stupid idea. It is NOT clever. All it does is a) confuse your poor reader who has to read clearly to make sure what is spoken dialogue and what is not when they should be focusing on the story, and b) makes it look like you don't know basic writing rules. I can get past different dialect of your characters because that actually does serve a purpose in giving your characters and world a voice. But no quotation marks hinders your book, it doesn't help it. Unless someone can give me a honest legit reason for this writing style I'm going to continue to loathe it with the fire of a thousand burning suns.
But, when one ignores the stupid no quotation marks, Young's writing content is great. She knows how to pace, she's got a interesting world, and I am frankly dying to see this series made into a film (I know it's been optioned already but as fans of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle can tell you: this means nothing until they actually start to cast it). I will say I was annoyed at how in this one my wonderful kick ass Saba suddenly became all "Jack, Jack, Jack" twenty four seven. No, she wasn't as bad as some YA heroines get but still, it was pretty big departure from book one Saba who was cool and confident on her own.
So I don't think this one was quite as good as book one because I was rather displeased with how suddenly Saba is all insecure and of course we just HAD to introduce a love triangle. Because you know, YA doesn't have enough of those going on. But still, as far as sequels go, it isn't bad. I just hope in book two there's less romantic angst and Saba is back to her more sensible self.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Dustlands, Hunger Games fans,
MY RATING: Four out of Five dustbowls

Book Review: Deadlocked

TITLE: Deadlocked
Book 12 in the Sookie Stackhouse series
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
PUBLISHED: May 2012
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, southern, mystery, vampires, werewolves, faeries
PREMISE: Sookie deals with her distant husband, her faerie relatives, as well as the usual murder mystery in Bon Temps.
MY REVIEW: Long series like Sookie Stackhouse are hard for me to review because really not all books in long series are going to be action packed with reveals a minute. For me the key is to make sure all books build on the story slowly but surely and lead into a ending eventually. So I'm probably in the minority where I think Harris does well with Sookie in that aspect. I certainly prefer her thoughtful character developement over the sloppyness that True Blood has become that's for sure.
For me, this one was all about leading up to the ending of the series because guys? The next book is apparently the last one! No more Sookie! Can you believe it? So really, I think this was all about bringing about change in the Eric/Sookie relationship (not for the better, sorry Team Eric) and bringing the ending that I've always sort of thought was coming: Sookie is going to wind up either a-strong and independant on her own (possibly leaving Bon Temps?) or b-She and Sam are going to be the end game. Which, considering I adore book!Sam is perfectly fine by me (FYI, not nearly as fond of TrueBlood!Sam even if the guy who plays him is seriously hot).
So basically this is more Sookie. I haven't noticed a drop in quality or a gain in quality. Probably by now people have figured out if this series is for them so if you're still a Sookie fan, go for it and gear yourself up for the end. Which is near my friends. Very very near ;sad face;
WHO SHOULD READ: Sookie fans who've read books 1 through 12, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five half naked werewolves

Book Review: Dearly Beloved

TITLE: Dearly Beloved
Book 2 in Gone With the Respiration
AUTHOR: Lia Habel
PUBLISHED: September 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Zombies, dystopianish, steampunk
PREMISE: Nora and Bram plan their future together as the world around them deals with changing ideas about the undead.
MY REVIEW: So the thing about this book is, it's very much a second book. Meaning you can tell it's a stepping stone to get to the next one. As a result it suffers from a lot of dragging.
But if you were a fan of the first, you should be able to get into this. Granted, I sort of think the author added in too many points of views this time around. It was hard enough in the first book, in this one, there's more people added. Which I'm sorry, was unneccessary in my opinion. Also Nora and Bram get more sappy then they were in the first.
So it does suffer from second book syndrome. But it still is entertaining as the first book so I'm willing to give the author leeway in the hopes that she rewards us with a awesome third book.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Dearly Departed, fans of Something Strange and Deadly, zombie fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five frilly parasols