Archive for category: Book Reviews

Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess

by Cassandra Clare
5 out of 5 on Goodreads.com

Tessa Gray should be happy – aren’t all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her.

Yes, I’m almost 30. Yes, I real YA fiction. YA fantasy. No, I don’t care if you think that’s lame or I have a bad taste in books.  I really loved this series — more thank Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Clare’s other series, The Mortal Instruments. This book now takes the #1 spot of my favorite YA book. I’m one of those people who reads a book and falls into it — they consume me. But no book has ever over taken me like this one.

I can’t give a review without spoilers. All I can say is read it. Read the entire series, if you haven’t. Enjoy a love triangle unlike any other — all three sides are equal, one would never do something to hurt the others. Pure, selfless love. (Also known as agape…see my tattoo for reference) Above all, enjoy the ending. It may be too “happily ever after” for some. Too easy of a way out, but I like my stories tied in a bow.

A head’s up: I cried the entire last 50 pages. You have been warned.

Click Read More for spoilers!

March 23, 2013 0 comments Read More
Boundless, by Cynthia Hand

Boundless, by Cynthia Hand

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Boundless

by Cynthia Hand
5 out of 5 on Goodreads.com

The past few years held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner ever could have anticipated. Yet through the dizzying high of first love to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she could no longer deny was that she was never meant to have a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seemed like the best option, so she’s headed back to California—and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfill her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must choose her fate once and for all.

I bought this book the day it came out (January 22nd), yet didn’t read it until Friday (coincidentally February 22nd). Why? Because I knew once I read those 300-something pages, Clara’s story would be over.  But I happened to be sick on Friday and without anything else to do, I curled up under the covers and pulled out my tablet.

Four hours later, I was sniffling into a tissue staring at the last page.

Somehow through all of this divine growing up Clara had to do, she was at the same time kept an eighteen year old with thoughts and problems any college freshman would have. Most of our heros and heroines of YA stories lose that innocence as the series progresses, but Hand kept that in balance. Before I cut to spoilers, for those who aren’t going to read them I just want to say I liked the ending. It’s impossible to truly end a story in a way everyone will be happy about it, but Hand gave Clara and the rest of the characters their curtain call and closed the red drapes on a great adventure.

SPOILERS BELOW!

February 26, 2013 0 comments Read More
Ripples in the Sand, by Helen Hollick

Ripples in the Sand, by Helen Hollick

Sorry for the delay! WordPress was angry at me today and wouldn’t post anything! Better late than never!

Ripples in the Sand

Ripples in the Sand

by Helen Hollick

Approaching England’s North Devon Coast Captain Jesamiah Acorne is worried. A Royal Navy frigate is trailing in his wake and Sea Witch has a hidden cache of brandy and indigo aboard. His instinct is to hoist full sail and flee, but he cannot attract attention, for his wife, Tiola, is ill and getting worse. She says the sea is affecting her, but Jesamiah has never seen seasickness like this before – is it something worse; something to do with her being a white witch perhaps?

Like an approaching storm, his worries get deeper, darker and more sinister.

In a world where shelves (and e-readers) are filled with demons, vampires, and werewolves, I was shocked when I came across Ripples in the Sand.

Pirates? Say what?

And we’re not talking characters dressed as pirates, yet they still speak as though they’re from the 21st century. The dialogue and narration will make sure you never forget where you are and who you’re with. Hollick even goes so far as to give the reader a map of  eighteenth century England and diagram of a ship in the beginning of the book, because there is no hand-holding when it comes to nautical terminology.

Beyond the bare bones of the where and when, there is an array of colorful characters, and every single one of them from Captain Jesamiah to his first mate, Rue, is truly unique.  As with so many good stories, the backdrop of this book is the love between Jesamiah and his wife (and witch) Tiola, which is a catalyst for an unbelievable journey piecing together both of their pasts, some they would soon wish had stayed a mystery.  There’s a great balance between the historical side of the era and the magic Hollick so perfectly wove in.

This book is the fourth in the Sea Witch series, but Hollick re-introduces the characters very well, and pieces together past events so I never got lost in the plot. My vocabulary definitely grew with the talk of flying jibs and topgallants, but please don’t quiz me on them! The third character point of view was great, but sometimes thoughts jumped from one character to the next so quickly I had to stop and re-read it to get back into the correct “mind.”

In the end though, Hollick taught me about a much forgotten era of our history, all the while creating a great adventure I couldn’t help but be pulled into.

Check out Helen’s site with the rest of the Sea Witch series and her other great books on helenhollick.net. Buy Ripples in the Sand on amazon.com.

February 25, 2013 5 comments
Over You, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Over You, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Over You

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

4 out of 5 on Goodreads.com

When seventeen-year-old Max Scott got her heart broken she didn’t just sit at home sobbing into her ice cream and obsessing over her ex, Hugo’s, latest Facebook postings. Well, actually she did. But she also decided that no girl should have to be tortured like that, so she read through all the psych books, Oprah transcripts, and historical precedents she could get her hands on and came up with a foolproof program to get over being dumped.

These days, Max is the go-to guru for heartbroken high-school girls all over NYC. But when Hugo shows up in her neighborhood, suddenly Max is so busy trying to avoid her own ex that she isn’t able to help anyone else with theirs. As Hugo invades her life all over again, Max’s carefully controlled world starts to unravel. With her clients’ hearts hanging in the balance, Max will have to do the seemingly impossible: get over her ex once and for all.

This story was adorable.  I don’t think I’ve ever described a book with that word, but it’s the first word that came to mind.  High school may have been eleven years ago for me, but the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college I had my heart BROKEN.  Two years of dating down the drain and The Ex was now with one of my friends. I would have loved for a Max to help me out of my insanity.

Luckily, I had friends who did pick me up off of the floor and into the shower.  And I eventually had my Moment, though it took years instead of weeks and I remember walking away and being like YES YES YES THIS IS IT!

The point of my relationship history is that I’ve been through it. So completely exactly through it, as most girls (and guys) have whether it was a short passion-filled month or years of dedication.

Over You is written for a YA audience and isn’t one that I see crossing over to a general adult audience like many in the genre are these days.  But the characters are great, the storyline is relatable from all angles, and I highly recommend it.

August 29, 2012 0 comments
The Forsaken, by Lisa Stasse

The Forsaken, by Lisa Stasse

The Forsaken

by Lisa M Stasse

4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

I started this book five hours ago and I’m now sitting down to review it, if that gives any indication into how addicting this book is.  The book was always moving.  There was always something happening.  Even when there could have been stretches of time — like traveling through the terrain — where they could just well, tramps through the woods looking at how green the trees are.  Nope, BAM, something happens.  There were no “defining moments” which I actually LIKED.  It was all slowly unraveled and each event was remembered, even when they moved onto the next.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Alenna, which is surprising since I normally can’t stand when a story is told in first person present tense via a female character.  The girls normally drive me crazy.  I liked that the romance never truly takes center stage, though towards the end their teenage love is hard to chew.

While the book was great, it sticks at 4 stars because I could call half the stuff that was going to happen (except for one major one towards the end, which was a big WTF moment).  This is not a bad thing, since obviously I still read and enjoyed the book, but the mystery was a bit gone because of it. It has nothing to do with Stasse either.  It’s just that so many of these dystopian books have been done that a pattern has formed.

All in all, it was a great book and I look forward to the sequel!

August 11, 2012 0 comments