Ditched July Books

So in the past when I've ditched a book I just haven't reviewed it because I don't think it's right to review a book that you haven't read from beginning to end. Now what I'm going to do is just at the end of the month make a post about the books I ditched and explain why I ditched them. Hopefully this won't be too many but hey, sometimes a book just isn't for you, you know?

TITLE: The Mephisto Covenant
The Redemption of Ajax Book 1
AUTHOR: Trinity Faegen
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: YA
WHY I DITCHED IT: You know how sometimes when you start a book you can literally tell within a chapter that you will wind up loathing every minute of the thing? Well, this was me and Mephisto Covenant. Those first few chapters were a huge hot mess and a huge turn off for me. The main character was obviously the selfless flawless Mary Sue type who was going to need rescuing all the time, and to top it off I could smell judgement over non-religious folk from pretty much the first page. Look, I don't hate religion, but I do hate when authors take religion and use it to judge how teenagers/people behave nowadays. If I want to be preached at, I will go to church author. Plus the world building was making absolutely no sense.I think she was going for a Supernatural sort of thing but utterly failed because Supernatural actually makes sense. This, does not. I got about five chapters in before I just couldn't stomach it anymore.

TITLE: Harbinger
AUTHOR: Sara Wilson Etienne
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
WHY I DITCHED IT: Frankly it was just utterly confusing. I was completely lost about fifty pages in and at that time I had a pile of library books to read and it was due the next day so I just gave up. Maybe I'll get back to it but considering I wasn't feeling it that much...probably not.

TITLE: Deadworld
Book 1 in a series
AUTHOR: J. N. Duncan
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Adult
WHY I DITCHED IT: Another one that was just utterly confusing. Authors: explain your worlds. I'm not saying you need info dump after info dump. But at least explain the little stuff. It's a bad sign when by the tenth chapter I still have no idea who the main character is or why I should care. Plus the main character was boring as all get out. She didn't appeal to me much.

TITLE: Ascension
Dark Breed series Book 1
AUTHOR: Sable Grace
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Adult
WHY I DITCHED IT: Because it was frankly just more of the same old same old. I'm addicted to UF/PR as much as the next girl but even I get tired of these plots that all start looking alike after awhile and I was getting extreme deja vu while reading this. Plus the main character didn't do anything for me. Gave up about fifteen chapters in.

Book Review: The Council of Mirrors

TITLE: The Council of Mirrors
Book 9 in the Sisters Grimm series
AUTHOR: Michael Buckley
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: Childrens/middle-grade
GENRE: Retellings, mystery, adventure
PREMISE: The Sisters Grimm have their final showdown in this conclusion of The Sisters Grimm.
MY REVIEW: It will forever puzzle me why this series hasn't gained more popularity. Seriously you guys are missing out. I mean sure, at heart this series isn't overly complicated and certainly with things like Fables and Once Upon a Time it isn't even a new idea but gosh is it fun. Especially if you're a fairytale nerd like myself because the author goes by the book versions of fairytales/classic stories instead of the more popular movie versions.
By far the appeal for this series is the humor, there is even a heart to it because the sisters do grow as the series moves along and I love the messages the author sends and how it makes you think about the original tales more. For sure, this ending is kind of obvious and sometimes the scenes are over dramatic. But still this was a solid series from begining to end and I can't rec it enough. Especially if you have kids who are into Disney.
So I for one am really sorry to see this fun series go. But it's been a fun ride and I am definitely satisfied by the conclusion (especially as my OTP Puck/Sabrina got together...). If you haven't picked up this series now is the perfect time to do so as it's finished so you won't have to wait for more books to come out, you lucky dogs you.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read books 1-8, fairytale junkes, Once Upon a Time fans, Fables fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five angry Queen of Hearts

Book Review: Cross My Heart

TITLE: Cross My Heart
AUTHOR: Sasha Gould
PUBLISHED: 2012 (in the US)
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fiction, drama, mystery
PREMISE: A girl goes to a secret society to escape her arranged marriage...
MY REVIEW: This one is just kind of a shrug book really. I don't have that much to say about it. Historical details were okay, writing was okay, characters were rather blah but not horrible, romance forgettable, mystery was kind of obvious. It was all just sort of ho hum.
There's nothing wrong with the book. It should make for a decent library read at least. But a must read? Not really.
WHO SHOULD READ: historical fiction fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five masks

August 2012 Book Picks

All the books in August 2012 that I'm looking forward too and that you should probably expect a review for at some point in time.

Childrens/Middle-Grade:
Heroes of Olympus series: The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan. Do I want to read the diaries of Annabeth and co? Um...hell yes. Release Date: Aug. 14th.
Infinity Ring series Book 1: A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner-Historical time travel series written by the author of Maze Runner. Could be cool. Apparently this is a new series by scholastic that will be written by multiple authors. Carrie Ryan has that next book. Release Date: Aug. 28th
Princess Academy Book 2: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale-Yes, a sequel to Princess Academy. You know you want to read it. Release Date: Aug. 21rst

YA:
Anna Dressed in Blood Book 2: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake. Because I loved Anna Dressed in Blood and can't wait for the sequel. Release date: Aug. 7th.
The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent. Because I have a steampunk addiction. Release date: Aug. 14th.
Spookygirl by Jill Baguchinsky. Cool looking paranormal book. Release date: Aug. 16th.
The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Long. Damn my weakness for faerie books. Release date: Aug. 16th.
Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein Book 2: Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel. Because I liked the first book. Release date: Aug. 21rst.
Leviathan illustrated Guide by Scott Westerfield and Keith Thompson. Release Date: Aug. 21rst. Because the art to this trilogy is utterly gorgeous.
The Demon Catchers of Milan Trilogy Book 1 by Kat Beyer. Looks interesting and gorgeous cover. Release Date: Aug. 28th.
Nevermore Trilogy Book 2: Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh. YES! FINALLY! The sequel to the awesome book Nevermore. About damn time. Release date: Aug. 28th.
Defiance by C. J. Redwine-Looks cool and I love the cover. Release date: Aug. 28th.

Book Review: Darker Still

TITLE: Darker Still
Book 1 in the Magic Most Foul series
AUTHOR: Leanna Renee Hieber
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical fiction, paranormal, romance
PREMISE: A mute girl gets caught up in a world full of dark magic.
MY REVIEW: Sigh. I had high hopes for this one because the premise sounded so awesome and there was the talk of it being influenced by the Picture of Dorian Gray and so on. Unfortunately it's pretty much same old same old.
There's nothing absolutely horrible about it. Writing and plot are sound. It's just I've read so many plots that follow this path that after she started speaking I basically lost all interest. Girl swooning over slightly jerky love interest? Seen that a million times. Dark plots that naturally involve the boy in question and despite warnings our heroine can't help but get involved in plots too? Total deja vu. Originality is not this book's strong suit.
But hey, if you like these sort of plots with historical fantasy thrown in, go for it. Frankly though if you never read this, you're not missing much. If you want dark historical fantasy, I suggest the Gemma Doyle Trilogy instead.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five pretty gowns

Book Review: Ruby Red

TITLE: Ruby Red
Book 1 in the Ruby Red Trilogy
AUTHOR: Kerstan Gier
PUBLISHED: 2011 (in the US)
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Time travel, romance,
PREMISE: A girl inherits her family's time travel gene.
MY REVIEW: Okay YA what the hell is up with all the time travel lately? Especially in books from last year. I swear every other book I read lately has had some sort of time-travel plot. Did you all have a group watching of Doctor Who and then challenge each other to different time-travel plots like CS Lewis and Tolkien did way back when or something? Seriously, what the frak?
That said, This is the first one that has actually used time travel in a way that I somewhat get so I give the author points for that. Even though as usual it makes very little sense (A time travel gene? Really?). Honestly I sort of shrug at this. It was fun at parts but annoying in other parts. The MC was rather forgettable as was the male lead. The family members were obviously purposely written to annoy the reader (particularly the aunt and cousin) and it's frankly kind of telling that a week later after finishing this book I can't even remember character's names.
This book was just...okay. I get that there's two more coming but honestly I'm not sure if I'm going to bother with those. I'd read this only if you really like time-travel plots which if you do, you're apparently in luck because that's clearly the thing in YA right now.
WHO SHOULD READ: Time travel plot fans, Hourglass fans,
MY RATING: Three out of Five bored time travelers

Book Review: Behemoth

TITLE: Behemoth
Book 2 in the Leviathan Trilogy
AUTHOR: Scott Westerfield
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Steampunk, adventure
PREMISE: Alec and Dylan (aka Deryn) continue their journey and adventure through a tricky war.
MY REVIEW: What can I say about this trilogy? Most of the appeal for it admitedly comes from this fascinating world Westerfield has created. I love the illustrations in the book (and yes, I will be buying the artbook coming out for it this summer). It's just plain fun. I definitely rec it for boys too.
Plus it has one of my favorite tropes: a girl dressing up as a boy in the army. Blame Tamora Pierce, I get a kick whenever this idea comes up. I honestly can't wait to read book 3 just because I want to see Alec's oh frak reaction. Going to be good.
Yes, I admit Westerfield does have a bad habit of trumping character development for action, action, action but still. I can't deny the pure fun and solid world-building he does with his books. I defintely get why he has a lot fans. While I'm not a huge Westerfield fan, I definitely rec his stuff. You can do a lot worse. Trust me.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read Leviathan, boys, steampunk fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five wth creatures (no seriously, wth? Some of these creatures in there made the ones from Avatar: The Last Airbender look normal)

Book Review: Liesl and Po

TITLE: Liesl and Po
AUTHOR: Lauren Oliver
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Childrens/Middle-Grade
GENRE: Fantasy/drama
PREMISE: Liesl meets a ghost named Po and discover a strange magical box with a apprentice named Will...
MY REVIEW: Lauren Oliver has quickly become another author whose work I just adore. I can't help it, her books are everything I love about writing: thoughtful, creative, and able to make you think about things. Is Liesl and Po the best book ever? No, probably not. But like Oliver's other books it is interesting and absorbing.
Granted being a children's book, it is fast-paced and sometimes I felt a lot of things were left unexplained. But the heart of the story: Liesl and her journey is a good one and I definitely would rec this for any young readers out there into magic. Plus the illustrations are just lovely. If nothing else, it's a beautiful book to have on your shelf.
For a author who mainly writes YA, this book is pretty darn good. As always, I can't wait to see what else Oliver has up her sleeve even after she wraps up the Delirium Trilogy (which I highly rec).
WHO SHOULD READ: Lauren Oliver fans, fantasy fans, younger tweens/children
MY RATING: Four out of Five magical boxes

Book Review: Grave Mercy

TITLE: Grave Mercy
Book 1 in the His Fair Assassin Trilogy
AUTHOR: Robin LaFevers
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical fiction, adventure, romance
PREMISE: A girl is trained to be a assassin by a convent but her first assignment is more difficult then she ever imagined...
MY REVIEW: Let me guess, a lot of you thought I would love this book, right? Well, for a large part I did enjoy it. I think it's one of the stronger debuts of this year that I've read so far. Not that this is saying much mind you, I've been slightly disapointed by this years batch of new writers. There've been good books sure, but none I've fell in utter love with yet.
I like Grave Mercy and definitely recomend it, but it's got its problems. First it requires a LOT of suspension of disbelief. You have to believe that nuns would train girls to kill for instance. Yeah, took awhile to wrap my head around that one and after awhile I just gave up and enjoyed the journey the premise gave instead. It is a nice premise. A bit predictable for my taste (I've read much fanfic like this, sorry to say), and I'll admit much of the middle dragged and needed to be cut. Plus the author's writing, while nice descriptive wise and character developement wise, had a bad habit of telling instead of showing and needed quite a bit of polishing.
But for the most part, this was a fun romp. It's got action, intrigue, romance, complications, and basically anything you can think of that would make a entertaining read. I will definitely pick up the next book and rec this especially for fans of Graceling. It's definitely reminded me of that book a lot.
WHO SHOULD READ: Graceling fans, Tamora Pierce fans,
MY RATING: Four out of Five crossbows

Book Review: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar

TITLE: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
Book 2 in the Steampunk Chronicles
AUTHOR: Kady Cross
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban fantasy, steampunk,
PREMISE: Finley, Griffon and friends go to America to help out one of their own.
MY REVIEW: Ah, Steampunk Chronicles. Like Mortal Instruments this is one of those series I'm kind of conflicted by. I enjoy it and definitely think others would enjoy it. Certainly I've read worse. It's heavy on the entertainment factor and I will most likely read the next book.
However it's cliche. I mean the fighter ring is a old old old plot device. Almost every supernatural show/series tries to use it at least once. At the top of my head those include: Angel, Kate Daniels series, Justice League animated cartoon (twice), the list goes on. The couples aren't super terrible but they're also kind of super predictable and thus kind of boring. I'm sorry I have little interest in the Finley love triangle. I do however like the friendship aspect that Finley and her group of friends have. There's female friendship! That's not frienimies! Shocker, right? Mostly I keep reading because I find their interaction and care for another interesting and sweet.
So like MI, this series is one of those that I recomend for light reading. I also would use your suspension of disbelief filter a lot for more enjoyment. This is one of those series just to be read for fun.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that read book 1, steampunk fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five awesome victorian dresses