Book Review: Hammer of Witches

TITLE: Hammer of Witches
AUTHOR: Shana Mlawski
PUBLISHED: April 2013 (review the same month it came out! Go me!)
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/YA (kind of somewhere in between, but it's marketed as middle-grade from what I see)
GENRE: Historical Fantasy, adventure
PREMISE: Baltasar always thought the stories his grandfather told about demons were just that: stories. But when he gets thrown into the path of the Spanish Inquisition, he learns the stories are very real.
MY REVIEW: Hammer of Witches is one of those books that will appeal to some people, but probably to others. It's a historical fantasy quest story basically. The book takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and it goes into a lot of the history during this period. You can really tell, the author did her research and it helps make the book all the more vivid. I'm telling you people: research matters. Don't let anyone try and tell you it doesn't matter in YA. It totally does.
I will say, some of the dialogue confused me. I felt the characters sounded way to modern for people living in the 1400s but considering the way they did speak it's probably just as well. If you're a fan of romance, this probably won't appeal to you. Other then flirting with a girl, most of it is focused on Baltasar's quest, which it should be because it is a pretty big quest.
If you're in the mood for something different with your historical fantasy, I definitely suggest that you try this one. This book is an example of why I hang my head whenever people try to say YA/Middle-grade fantasy is all the same.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical Fantasy fans, boys, historical fiction fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five demons

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with the eARC on Net Galley.

Book Review: Also Known As

TITLE: Also Known As
Book 1 in a series?
AUTHOR: Robin Benway
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Adventure, Drama
PREMISE: Maggie is a safe-cracker. Best in the business. Finally the agency her parents work for, give her a mission. Only this mission is to go undercover in a high school...
MY REVIEW: I'll be honest, I have never heard of Robin Benway before. I thought this was a debut, till I looked her up after reading this. My bad. I will say, the idea was somewhat silly. But like Gallagher Girls/Heist Society the ludicrous idea of a teen spy is lifted by being just plain enjoyable. I would have liked more focus on the mission part but honestly, even the drama part was fun because the author made her characters likable.
The best part was by far Roux. Seriously, she was fabulous. One of the best YA sidekicks to come along in contemporary fiction in awhile. I also loved the commentary on how ridiculous high school can be. Particularly drama in high school. Even as I wanted the story to move along, I was laughing and there's a lot that can be said about a book that can just put a grin on your face.
So, is it the most creative/challenging? No. But this book was definitely fun. I don't know if it'll be a series. Benway seems to do mostly standalone books. But I think it certainly left the door open for a series and I wouldn't be opposed to one. If you're looking for a fun read to tide you over till the next Gallagher Girls book comes out (seriously, do not get me started on how long a wait we have), this might do the trick for you.
WHO SHOULD READ: Gallagher Girls fans, Meg Cabot fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five awesome YA best friends

Book Review: Scorch

TITLE: Scorch
Book 2 in the Cloaked series
AUTHOR: Gina Damico
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Paranormal, adventure
PREMISE: Lex's life as a reaper becomes difficult as Zara escaping and causing mayhem has far reaching consequences...
MY REVIEW: If anyone were to ask me to describe the Cloaked series I think I would say part Percy Jackson series and part Dead Like Me and part its own thing. What this series definitely is, is fun. Cloaked was a total surprise for me last year. I got it on Net Galley, not really expecting much because no one had really talked about it (and that usually means dud or just not marketed well) and it turned out to be really fun and surprising.
Sure, there are really familiar tropes in it. But the author is smart in the way that she makes the characters likable enough that you want to spend time with them (I adore Lex) and she keeps things happening with twists and turns that will keep you coming back for more.
This one really surprised me with the direction the author took it. I honestly wasn't expecting it to go this way and frankly, I like it. Bring on book three which comes out in September so you guys have plenty of time to check out the first two if you happened to miss them.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Cloaked, Dead Like Me fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five sassy reapers

Book Review: Clockwork Prince

TITLE: Clockwork Prince
Book 2 in the Infernal Devices series
AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy, spin-off
PREMISE: Tessa continues her life at the institute while growing closer to Jem despite her lingering feelings for Will.
MY REVIEW: My feelings for this universe are honestly sort of complicated right now. I think you could say I'm growing dis-enchanted with it? Luckily, I at least still enjoy Infernal Devices.
I don't think this installment brings anything really huge to the table. Most of it really is pretty much reveling in showing us what the Shadowhunter world was like in the Victorian Era. I do like this and that is why I am still reading the series and will pick up Clockwork Princess whenever I can. This one was pretty much more of the series. No huge revelations that shocked really, most of it was focused on the love triangle drama. At least Tessa/Will/Jem have a far more interesting dynamic then Jace/Clary/Simon.
Honestly nowadays these books pretty much sell themselves. I don't think anything I say will discourage or encourage people from buying/not buying this because likely you've probably already have made up your mind if you want to continue. Despite getting annoyed with how much Clare is dragging this series out (well, Mortal Instruments anyway, no word yet on if there will be more historical books but give it time. I bet there'll be some), I will probably keep reading them. I do this thing where I don't give up on series until they get just downright horrible or just utterly unreadable or I just plain lose interest. I may not be as excited for these books as I originally was, but I still at least get some enjoyment out of it so I guess that's the important thing here. I also will be seeing the movie by the way. It looks like they actually did a decent job on it.
WHO SHOULD READ: MI fans not tired of the series
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five Magnus Banes being sassy

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did

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

This week: Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did

Generally, I try not to have any expectations about books/movies/TV etc so I go into it with a open mind/not expecting anything so I can give it a fair chance. However, there are always those books you hear about constantly/get buzzed about/hear lots of opinions about that sometimes...I can't help but get expectations/impressions about it. These are just some of the instances where this happened to either fail me, or help me.

Books I Thought I Would Like Less Than I Did:

1) The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling-I resisted this one as long as I could. In fact, I didn't even read it until a few months before the fourth book came out and just a little bit after it was announced there would be movies. I'm naturally suspicious of bestsellers because I've had far too many be disappointing. Luckily, HP turned out to be one of the few times the public got it right.

2) The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margeret Stohl-Everyone kept calling this one Twilight with witches and I was all "yeah, no thanks" and that summery and the way they marketed it for Twihards particularly did not help matters. But I bought the first and read it with low expectations. Luckily it turned out to be ten times better then what people were pitching it to me as.

3) The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare-Another I had low expectations for but wound up enjoying despite the fact that I do agree it's rather cliche (and for the love of God, it needs to END) and Clare herself I don't have a particularly high opinion of (I don't detest her like I've seen some on the internet do, but I don't absolutely love her either. I'm actually rather indifferent towards her).

4) The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan-Books billed as perfect for reluctant readers can be a double-edged sword for those of us that actually like to read and while the PJ series is another that has its issues, they did surprise me with how enjoyable they managed to be even if they aren't the most difficult books in the world.

5) Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead-C'mon, with a name like Vampire Academy can you really blame me for avoiding this series? The blah Twilightish covers and comparisons to House of Night did NOT help matters either. But it wound up being much better then I thought it would and now I'm hopelessly addicted.

Books I Thought I'd Like More (aka hello, disappointment, old friend. I know you well)

6) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness-People kept going on about this series to me and said "it's a intellectual Twilight! You'll love it!" Yeah....no. Just because something is set in Oxford and has professors doesn't mean it's intellectual. This books is an example of how to be utterly pretentious. Because yeah, the author tried to give her characters brains, but somehow they still wound up being as utterly irritating as Bella Swan and Edward Cullen but more so because they were adults and kept going on about how smart they were, while doing dumb things.

7) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin-Basically this was a case of deja vu feeling story and unlikable characters who annoyed me too much to continue. People keep telling me to give it another chance but no, if I want to reach in and smack somebody three times and it's only chapter five...it's time to stop reading.

8) Maze Runner Trilogy books 2 and 3 by James Dashner-Maze Runner started off so well. There were some great concepts in here and I have no doubt the upcoming movie will be cool. But I'm sorry that ending was unsatisfying and kind of annoying. It answered NOTHING. It was Lost all over again but ten times more annoying then the ending of Lost because even the Lost finale sort of told you stuff and let you decide what the ending meant. This one...yeah, hardly any answers. Oh and the fact that the female character who was constantly questioning the male lead was pushed aside/killed off in favor of a more docile/whatever you want honey female side character at the end? Yeah, I loved that (yes, this is sarcasm).

9) Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black-Such a awesome concept. Could have been great. But the author was stuck in clicheville and it wound up being disappointing.

10) The Selection by Kiera Cass-Another one that could have been awesome but the author got stuck on so many tropes that it wound up being annoying instead. Sloppy world building that made no sense, did not help matters.

Book Review: The Mirrored Shard

TITLE: The Mirrored Shard
Book 3 in the Iron Codex Trilogy
AUTHOR: Caitlin Kittredge
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Steampunk, Faeries
PREMISE: Aoife journeys to the underworld to bring back Dean.
MY REVIEW: Okay, technically there is nothing really wrong with The Mirrored Shard. It continues the story and brings it to it's conclusion in a fairly believeable way. It has resolutions.
But...I've read this ending before. It is almost a mirrored version (ha ha) of the ending of Beautiful Creatures and have to say Beautiful Creatures? Kind of did it better. Part of the problem is that I still don't get the Dean/Aoife relationship in the first place. I certainly didn't believe in it enough to buy that Aoife would be willing to do a greek myth worthy quest to bring him back. Then the rest of it was just so...predictable.
Honestly, it just sort of felt ho hum which is surprising to me, considering the first two books. I mean the way the second one ended I was expecting tons more stuff then this. It's like all the other plots just fell by the wayside and were solved half hazardly in comparison to bring Dean back from the dead. It sort of left me disappointed, I'm sorry to say. It's an okay conclusion that gets the job done, but I've read much better and more satisfying endings.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the first two books, steampunk fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five graveyards

Book Review: Unremembered

TITLE: Unremembered
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Jessica Brody
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science fictionish, Romance, Drama, Mystery
PREMISE: A girl is found after a violent plane crash with no memory. As she starts to relearn things, she starts to wonder who exactly she was...
MY REVIEW: Ah the amnesia trope. Amnesia stories are tricky beasts and can be either rather good or just cliche. Now, I've never read any of Brody's previous work so I have no clue if this book is her best or just average for her. Personally, I think it wavered between average to intriguing.
Things I liked in it included the mystery part. Brody did a good job in building suspense without making things too obvious. The twist at the end while good...kind of made me raise my eyebrow but I'm hoping that more comes from it in the second one. I did appreciate that for once, a author researched amnesia and thought about what amnesia does to a person and didn't make Violet getting her memories back easy, nor did her getting them back solve everything. Also Cody in this book was perfect. I hope we see him in book two, he was the best.
So a bit of a shaky start but this series intrigues me. I'm hoping more is explained/revealed/explored in the second book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Mystery fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five amnesiac girls

Book Review: Mind Games

TITLE: Mind Games
Book 1 in the Sister Assassins series
AUTHOR: Kiersten White
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Paranormal, action/adventure, mystery
PREMISE: Fia and her sister Annie work for a corporation that uses their unique abilities for personal gain.
MY REVIEW: There have been mixed reviews for this one. Some have hated it, complaining how it's nothing like Paranormalcy, yadda yadda yadda. First, no it's not Paranormalcy and I'm okay with that (and I'm someone who fangirled HARD over that trilogy). Fia and Annie are totally different characters then Evie and are honestly kind of harder to like than Evie was. So I'm not surprised that people didn't love this as much as Paranormalcy.
But personally? I liked it. I do hear and kind of agree with people on the complaints about the writing style of this one. The flashbacking was good but kind of annoying. I've said before and I'll say it again: the Lost style of writing is risky in books because it doesn't work as well in print as it does on TV. Also, the romance with Adam, while cute, was insta love. White, I know you can do better.
But I don't think this book was horrible. Some things need to be worked out but that's why it's a series. I do hope we get more info on the people Fia and Annie work for in the next one because that's where I'm a little fuzzy. But for me personally, I think it was a good book. It's not as good as Paranormalcy but it's not god awful either. The author is trying new things and I'd much rather she do new things myself. I look forward to the next one but I can understand how this series wouldn't be people's thing.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of Paranormalcy (who are willing to let Evie go and embrace new characters), Alias fans, Lost fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five kick ass girls with guns

Book Review: Dualed

TITLE: Dualed
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Elsie Chapman
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopianish, action
PREMISE: In a world where survival means knowing you'll have to kill someone before you're twenty, West is given her first assignment: kill her alt or be killed herself.
MY REVIEW: This book is one of the many YA books I've read recently that has the following problem: awesome concept but bad execution. This is a problem that has plagued YA over and over again. I feel like we need to sit authors down and tell them hey: don't publish a book till you've gone through it with a fine-toothed comb and plothole detector device. Also publishers, for gods sake, make your authors really sit there and read through their book. Because I bet, if more authors did that, we'd be having less books like this one.
Yes, technically it does have good writing style. The author is fabulous at action no doubt, she has a plot of sorts, and there is character in there somewhere. But once more: this makes no sense. I WANT to like this more but I'm constantly bothered by details that make no sense. I'm sorry, just who would even choose a society like this? How would pitting your citizens against each other in a battle to the death even ensure survival? Because...yeah, it doesn't make sense. At all. The more I think about it, the more confused I feel. Doesn't help that West is a extremely flat heroine.
So once again: great idea....bad execution. I am sad that I keep running into this problem with YA dystopians over and over again.
WHO SHOULD READ: Hunger Games fans, Enders Game fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five this doesn't make sense worlds

Book Review: The Madman's Daughter

TITLE: The Madman's Daughter
Book 1 in The Madman's Daughter Trilogy
AUTHOR: Megan Shepherd
PUBLISHED: January 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Retelling/Continuation, Experiments
PREMISE: Juliet Moreau has lived under the shadow of her father's reputation her whole life. After running into his servant, she finally gets to go meet him on his mysterious island...
MY REVIEW: The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of those lesser known classics. It's not nearly as popular as say, Treasure's Island or H. G. Wells more popular books such as the Time Machine. This one took a classic and basically expanded on the ending of it without trodding all over the original book to suit the author's purpose which is a bad habit a lot of classic retellings have.
Now the downside to this book is that a large chunk of it does stall. Far too much time is devoted to the forced love triangle drama that was totally unnecessary and the middle of the book is mostly just that. The great parts of the book really come in the last few chapters. But the author does actually get that the point of Dr. Moreau was not romance, it was to talk about ethical science and she does talk about in this. As someone who has a hard time finding classic book retellings that get the point of the original and do keep that idea going in their own version...this was nice to see.
A few usual amateur flaws aside, this was a rather good debut. I can't wait to see what comes of this trilogy, especially after that cliffhanger. Word is, this has been optioned for movie rights. We'll see what comes of that.
WHO SHOULD READ: Island of Dr. Moreau fans, classic book retelling fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five experiments gone wrong