Book Review: The Lovely and the Lost

TITLE: The Lovely and the Lost
Book 2 in the Dispossessed Trilogy
AUTHOR: Page Morgan
PUBLISHED: May 13th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: Ingrid and Gabby deal with their new lives now that they know about the magical world around them.
MY REVIEW: Beautiful and the Cursed was a fun read from last year. It wasn't the most impressive thing in the world, but it did manage to be entertaining and feed my historical fantasy addiction. So I was perhaps a bit more lenient then I should have been, rating wise. But I stand by the fact that it was a solid debut.
This one...has bit of the usual problems second books often have. There were a few twists here and there, particularly at the end, to keep you wanting to read. But much of the beginning and middle book was mostly just busy work. I also feel there were too many love triangles but as we all know: I'm not a love triangle fan.
I still do mostly like this series though. It's fun and great summer beach sort of read. Which is exactly what I wanted it to be, so no major complaints, other than maybe cool it with the love triangle drama. You're better than that Morgan. You have lots of interesting characters/ideas going on in here. You don't need love triangle fodder to keep it going.
WHO SHOULD READ: Mortal Instrument fans, The Beautiful and the Cursed fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five grumpy gargoyles

Book Review: Always Emily

TITLE: Always Emily
AUTHOR: Michaela MacColl
PUBLISHED: April 8th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fiction, slight mystery
PREMISE: Emily and Charlotte, the two girls who would grow to become two of the famous Bronte sisters, help solve a mystery in their small town.
MY REVIEW: While I liked this book, I also have to admit: it's probably just going to be for a select group of people. Namely: Bronte fans/historical fiction fans. Everyone else....will probably get bored with this.
Because even a history lover like myself got bored while reading it. Also, I have to ask: why didn't Anne get to join in on the adventure? Seriously, why does everyone always forget about poor Anne Bronte? Even I'm guilty of it, hers is the one Bronte book I haven't read (my bad Anne, I'll try and get to it this year maybe). You know what would be great? If someone wrote a book about the forgotten Bronte sister. Authors, I give you permission to use this idea.
So this was a pleasant if a bit droll read. If you're a historical fiction/Bronte lover, it's a must read. If you're neither of those things...I'd look elsewhere.
WHO SHOULD READ: Hardcore Bronte fans, historical fiction fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five forgotten little sisters

Book Review: After The End

TITLE: After the End Book 1 in new Trilogy
 AUTHOR: Amy Plum
PUBLISHED: May 6th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
 GENRE: Urban Fantasyish, Mystery
PREMISE: Juneau's life is turned upside down when she returns to find her clan murdered and in an attempt to find answers, learns her entire life was a lie... MY REVIEW: First, I apologize if this post is funky. Blogger has changed the way they do things post wise. AGAIN.

So if this is messed up, THAT is why. Seriously Blogger, WHY? As for the book, I actually quite liked this one, mostly because it wasn't at all what I expected. Also, kudos author for writing something completely different from your last series. I love when authors go against type. It's a GOOD thing. It means more variety in stories. This one starts out as one thing, and winds up being something else by the end and it's a great journey in between getting there. Juneau was a nice change of pace, character wise. Miles...not so much, but at least he wasn't a douchebag love interest. Also note: no love triangle. You can make a series interesting without having one. Future authors, please take notes. This was definitely NOT what I was expecting and that's actually a good thing. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the author takes this.
WHO SHOULD READ: Amy Plum fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five LOL, you thought this was dystopian books
Edit: I figured out what went wrong on this post. Now, it's hopefully fixed.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

Sorry for not doing these lately. I've had work and so have not had enough time to prepare a list for these. Plus, for some of the recent ones, I just didn't really have any books that answered it so I left it to people who had better lists.
But here I am this week, at least. This is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

1) The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black-Took me awhile to get to Black's latest. But I loved it just as much as I suspected I would.

2) Circle Reforged Book 3: Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce-Another brilliant one from last year that I missed and wound up loving. But it's Pierce so really, it's no surprise that this was a favorite. ;has major bias where this author is concerned;

3) Madman's Daughter Book 2: Her Dark Curiousity by Megan Shephard-One of the best sequel's I've read this year.

4) The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson-Don't read much contemporary, but when I do, it's Anderson because she always delivers.

5) Lunar Chronicles Book 3: Cress by Marissa Meyer-Again, much bias where this series is concerned because I just love it so much.

6) Rebel Belle Book 1 by Rachel Hawkins-Looking for a fun YA Urban Fantasy that spits on making girly girls out to be villains? This book is that book and it is made of win.

7) Legend Book 3: Champion by Marie Lu-THIS is how you end a dystopian trilogy ;looks at Divergent pointedly;

8) Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell-I was a little late to the Rowell fangirl party, but I'm here at last. I also read and really enjoyed Eleanor and Park, but I figure two Rowell books on one list is overdoing it a bit....

9) Dark Star series Book 2: Burn Bright by Bethany Frenette-Another really good sequel. Seriously, why aren't people all over the Dark Star series?! It's urban fantasy, WITH SUPERHEROES!

10) Avalon Trilogy Book 1: Avalon by Mindee Arnett-New series that is sort of Fireflyish. Really wish more people were talking about this one.

Book Review: The Long Quiche Goodbye

TITLE: The Long Quiche Goodbye
Book 1 in the Cheese Shop Mysteries series
AUTHOR: Avery Aames
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
PREMISE: A woman tries to clear her grandmothers name while running her family business.
MY REVIEW: Yes, another cozy mystery. What can I say, my library is full of them and this is part of my library project, so here we are.
Not much to say about this one. It's a cozy mystery. Lady with too much on her plate? Check. Quirky family? Check. Place to run (in this case a cheese shop)? Check. Multiple love interests to keep interest in the story going? Check and check.
So...not really much to say. If you like this genre, then this is one to check out. If you don't, don't bother, it's more of the same.
WHO SHOULD READ: Cozy Mystery fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

Book Review: The Specialist

TITLE: The Specialist
Book 1 in the Tasmanian Thrillers series
AUTHOR: Gordon Aalborg
PUBLISHED: 2005
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Thriller, Mystery
PREMISE: A woman pits wits against a serial killer who murdered her sister.
MY REVIEW: So in an attempt to get out of this reading rut and to do one of my goals: explore more books out of my comfort zone, I've started going through the books in my libraries adult fiction section one by one. So if you see a random book on here that's adult, it's likely a result from this project.
This is the first one I picked up. I honestly don't have much to say about it. It's usual thriller du jour. The writing is average, the mystery isn't all that mysterious because we already know the killer killed her sister, and it vaguely reminds me of a duller Hannibal.
So...I say this is a library read only type of book. Unless you're really into thriller books. There's a second book that my library has but this was so dull that I won't bother. I've already agreed with myself to not bother with the rest of the books if I didn't like the first one. It'll go faster that way and life's too short to spend time on books you dislike.
WHO SHOULD READ: Hannibal fans, James Patterson fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five

Book Review: The Taking

TITLE: The Taking
Book 1 in The Taking series
AUTHOR: Kimberly Derting
PUBLISHED: April 29th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science Fiction, Mystery
PREMISE: Kyra wakes up after an accident only to discover that she's been gone for five years...
MY REVIEW: You really have to hand it to Derting: she mixes it up. I may not always be thrilled with her stuff (see The Pledge trilogy), but I can always be sure that a) it will not be like her last book (unless it's part of the same series) and b) it will be an interesting idea. This new series of hers is no exception.
It starts off slowly. At first I actually did figure this was just going to be a regular mystery but I was proved wrong and it was awesome when I was. There are some things I could have done without as usual (damn love triangles, things are like weeds, you can't get rid of them!). But those are mostly minor complaints that absolutely don't ruin the fun ride this book is.
As I've come to expect from Derting: this is a clever and entertaining read. Not the best in the world, but certainly not a waste of time. If you like the sci-fi side of mysteries, absolutely check this one out.
WHO SHOULD READ: Derting fans, Sci-Fi fans, fans of Project Paper Doll
MY RATING: Four out of Five alien spaceships abducting people

Book Review: The House of Ivy and Sorrow

TITLE: The House of Ivy and Sorrow
AUTHOR: Natalie Whipple
PUBLISHED: April 15th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Witches
PREMISE: A girl lives with her grandmother and studies magic. Her life is turned upside down when a man who might be her father returns...
MY REVIEW: Ivy and Sorrow was definitely an interesting read. The author managed to give a good sense of this world and also give a fast paced plot to keep you turning the pages.
What interested me mostly was the magic of course. It was actually kind of refreshing. Magic wasn't easy and there were rules to it and some of it was slightly twisted. That and the interesting family dynamics were what kept me reading. The romance was...okay. Nothing spectacular, but no douchebag love interests, so I'm happy. It was also nice to see a girl with actual female friendships. It's sad that this happens so little in YA that when it does I sit up and take notice when it does occur.
So it's a bit of a mixed bag really. I feel like it was a bit rushed and this is one of the few instances where I wish the author had stretched it into a series for that reason. But there was a clear beginning, middle, end. Characters were interesting. Plot was interesting. So I say a job well done. I'll be looking into Whipple's future books and the one she wrote last year that I missed.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of her last book, witch fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five talking sassy cats

Book Review: Sea of Shadows

TITLE: Sea of Shadows
Book 1 in the Age of Legends Trilogy
AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong
PUBLISHED: April 8th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Two sisters get caught up in intrigue that will change their world forever...
MY REVIEW: This is actually quite different from anything I've read by Armstrong. It's NOT in the Women of the Otherworld series for one. It's not urban fantasy either. It's actual fantasy. I have to give props to authors who aren't afraid to step out of their genre. Easily she could have just done another Woman of the Otherworld series because that world is HUGE and honestly I love it so much, I wouldn't have complained too loudly if she did. Unlike another series that shall remain nameless ;cough;MI;cough;, WotO has variety in its characters and Armstrong doesn't tell the same story over and over again. I'm sorry, I like MI but its formula has gotten stale and I really wish Clare would try something new.
Now as for the actual book...I have mixed feelings. Some things I was horribly confused on and felt needed to be expanded on more. But I'm trying to keep in mind that this is the first book, and perhaps she's waiting to expand on that at the correct time because Armstrong tries to avoid info dumps, which I appreciate. The characters were the interesting part of this for me. I just loved the dynamic between the sisters and actually didn't mind the romances that much.
So...it's not the best Armstrong has ever done. But I appreciate that she's trying out a new thing and there is a lot here to make me want to check out the next one. I say, check this one out from the library to see if it's for you.
WHO SHOULD READ: Kelley Armstrong fans, Fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good starts

Book Review: Toxic Heart (contains spoilers so beware)

TITLE: Toxic Heart
Book 2 in the Mystic City series
AUTHOR: Theo Lawrence
PUBLISHED: April 8th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Steampunk
PREMISE: Now with the rebellion in full swing, Aria has put her heart on the line and is all in with the rebels...but just because you love someone doesn't mean it's meant to be.
MY REVIEW: This was a sequel that actually managed to surprise me. Oh, not in a lot mind you. Once again, we have a love triangle where previously, we didn't have one. SO ANNOYING. There was also some stuff I saw coming.
My surprise mostly comes from the realistic handling of the Hunter/Aria thing. My gosh, a YA book is actually pointing out that just because you're together doesn't mean you're going to STAY together because there's this thing called LIFE. I know that doesn't sound like much, but most YA books have their heroines marrying their first loves and everything happily ever after, all tied in a bow. This one doesn't actually do that. The couple actually breaks up! What's better: THE GIRL DOES IT. It's not the guy doing it for "her own good" like most of these things go (and seriously, screw that nonsense). Aria straight up realizes that she and Hunter want different things and so it's probably not a good idea for them to be together. I just want to do this:

So I admit, there are some flaws here. But I was overall pleased that the author is trying his best to be realistic about this relationship. Now, whether or not he sticks to that in the coming books, remains to be seen. I hope he does though. It would kind of cheapen this if he had the two of them go through this growth only to go "oh hey, we're back together!" in the next one. Unless he does it really well. Personally, I look forward to the next book. 

WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Mystic City, Romeo and Juliet fans, Hunger Games fans

MY RATING: Four out of Five heroines realizing that it's not the end of the world if she and her honey aren't together.