Book Review: “The Devil You Know”, by Trish Doller

Recommended Beverage While Reading: Go to Starbucks and get a Venti Black Tea Lemonade with 3 pumps of mango. Do it.

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it’s just the risk she’s been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions.

A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. (Goodreads)

The day before yesterday, I was reading in the park with a friend and, stupidly, left my back-up book in the car. I say stupidly because I knew I only had about eighty pages left in Grave Mercy and would need another book to read when I finished. Derp. Anyway, I finished it, of course, and then immediately started scrolling through OverDrive to find a library book I could download ASAP. Hence, The Devil You Know. I recognized it from entering a giveaway on Goodreads, so I figured I might as well go for it. This is what happens when you forget your back-up book — you make poor decisions like this. Do not forget your back-up book.

So basically, I really didn’t like this book. Yes, I read it in only a few hours so I didn’t waste much time on it, but I could’ve used that time reading Kurt Vonnegut, so really it wasn’t worth it. What didn’t I like about it? It’s billed as being a book “that will keep readers on the edge of their seats” but I knew what was going to happen from about page 15 because that is how fast she meets and decides to trust these to random boys. Which is my absolute main problem.

Arcadia is in most respects an intelligent and mature girl. She reads a lot of books, has a job, takes care of both her father and her 4 year old brother, and knows how to take care of herself. Theoretically. I hate when characters are described to be intelligent or mature or whatever and the entire book is based on them not being these things. Arcadia meets two rando-s and decides to run off with them after talking to one for 5 minutes and the other for 15. I mean….seriously? That does not make you intelligent or responsible, that just makes you dumb. Yes, we are all allowed moments of stupidity and I don’t begrudge her that option. But the issue is that she continuously makes this same stupid decision. She’s offered the option to go back home at least three times and she never takes it. Umm, wat?

Now, you may think I hated Arcadia, then. That is, weirdly, not the case. I think that her decision to go with Noah and Matt was out of character and I hated it, but Cadie herself wasn’t annoying. Shocking, I know! Female leads in contemporary YA novels are usually the epitome of annoying, but Cadie was okay — it was just her decisions that weren’t. So I liked that I wasn’t irritated by her, but I also liked that she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself. **Spoilery** She has her first sexual experience with one of these strange dudes, which (in my opinion) is irresponsible, but it is completely her own decision and she’s totally allowed to make it. She knows this and doesn’t apologize for losing her virginity. Yay for characters who don’t suffer from Catholic Guilt!

So yeah. There were a few aspects that were okay, but overall I just couldn’t get over the poor decision to run off with a couple of strange (though mightily attractive) dudes. If you read this and like it, I recommend Stolen by Lucy Christopher. The writing is better, the suspense is better, and it’s just entirely more gripping.

Book Review: “Grave Mercy”, by Robin LaFevers

Recommended Beverage While Reading: Black iced coffee. It makes sense when the main character is the daughter of death. ;]d

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart? (Goodreads)

A few months back I stopped in a thrift store to kills some time because, let’s face it, you can find some amazing books in them. I feel that bookworms don’t utilize thrift stores often enough — but at the same time I really can’t complain because it means more for me. #greedy

Anyway, I finally got around to reading it with a couple of my fellow bookstagrammers (check them out @readersoftheworld and @livelovereadya). Knocking out that TBR slowly but surely (actually, to be perfectly real with you, the TBR will never, ever be “knocked out”).

My thoughts, over all, are that I liked it. It wasn’t the best book ever, but by no means was it the worst. It didn’t feel especially special to me, to sound a bit pretentious. There are aspects of it I really liked and others that were just “meh”, and sadly, the “meh” bits overshadowed the other parts.

So what was mediocre about it? I mean, based on the blurb, it sounds like everything I’d want. A bit of Sherwood Smith, Sarah J Maas, and Kristin Cashore, all rolled into one but with the added bonus of being set in our same world. What could go wrong? I don’t know about you, but for some reason I thought this would be a little heavier on the fighting and badassery than on the courtly intrigue. Alas, it was not. Don’t get me wrong, I love courtly intrigue. It’s what I liked about Game of Thrones and about the Crown Duel duology. However, this wasn’t done nearly as well as the aforementioned titles. I wasn’t surprised by much that happened in this book and none of the “twists” actually felt as such.

Though I may have found this book predictable, it wasn’t bad. Actually, as I said before, there were some parts that I found really enjoyable. What I enjoyed most was Ismae’s growth into a character who understands that she can serve her god, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be by the set guidelines of her convent. She is beholden to a power higher than those of mortals and doesn’t apologize for recognizing that there are ways to honor him other than vengeance. Bonus: I didn’t find her character annoying, as is so often the case in YA for me. The way I judge whether a book is worth recommending is whether or not I find the main heroine irritating, because it happens way too often.

I also liked the magical elements of this book. They weren’t overly heavy-handed but still managed to play a large role in the book. It was nice that there wasn’t a whole lot of back-story into how Ismae’s powers worked and that even though she didn’t fully understand them herself, she didn’t really feel the need to understand them. Rather, she saw them as a gift and accepted them as a part of herself.

TL;DR: Read this if you really enjoy politics-heavy historical fiction and/or courtly intrigue. Not the best book ever, but still worth reading and I will be continuing the series!

Book Review: “The Glass Arrow”, by Kristen Simmons

Recommended beverage while reading: Just some plain black iced tea — no sweetener.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars.

The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.

In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning. (Goodreads)

So a while back, in one of my Watch Out! Wednesdays, I mentioned this as a book I was looking forward to reading. I’ve had my issues with dystopian after basically reading nothing else for months a couple years ago, but I felt it was time to take a tentative step toward getting back into the genre.

Honestly, this book could very easily have been cliche and terrible. Don’t get me wrong, it was cliche at points. But all the right points. Okay, so there’s a group of people who are subjugated by another group — been there, read that. It only gets old when it’s done poorly, though. This felt a little more complex than your stereotypical dystopian YA. There were multiple groups, and little was discussed about any of them, really. And, since this was a stand-alone, I kind of liked that. Aya’s purpose wasn’t to change the world. Her purpose was to change her fate, which is difficult but not improbable. I liked the realistic nature of her goals. We didn’t get a whole lot of detail into the world because, let’s face it, that wasn’t exactly important to Aya and her family. Sometimes, books can’t be too heavy on the world-building, otherwise they get bogged down and dull.

This one may have been less detailed as far as the world goes, but it was heavily character-driven, and because Aya was a strong lead, that wasn’t a problem. I didn’t find her annoying, and that’s remarkable. She never gave up hope, but was at the same time a realist. She had her core beliefs and never sacrificed them, but she also knew that sometimes the world is so far gone that you can only hope to influence it to a certain extent.

I only had one problem with the book, and it’s one I have with a lot of books, actually. In novels that strive to demonstrate the strength and value of women, it’s often only a single woman who is illustrating these tenets. I wish I could read a (YA, especially) book where it isn’t just one woman but a large group, if not the entire gender, who decide that the world needs to change. I feel like if an author wants to empower women, they should write powerful female characters, not just a single lead. Does that make sense?

But overall, I’m super happy with this book! Could hardly put it down and was bleary-eyed from the reading by the end. Always a good sign!

March 2015 Wrap-Up!

Alrighty, friends. This month was pretty decent as far as reading goes. I read a total of 10 graphic novels/heavily illustrated books, 6 books, and listened to 1 audiobook. That’s a total of 17 things! I’m also part-way through four other books, but we won’t count those, because obviously.

So let’s go through them, shall we? Some I’ve already written reviews to, so I’ll link to those, but others I’ll just give a really quick review for.

1-4. The Dark Tower Issues 2-5, Stephen King

So this was the first story arc of the graphic novel series based on King’s Dark Tower novels. I haven’t read the actual books, but I’ll just say that these set the bar for all other graphic novels I’ll read in the future. I loved them. The art was stunning and there was just enough humor that all the death and destruction didn’t wear you down (completely). 5 stars

5. The Journey Begins, Stephen King

This was the first of the next story arc after The Dark Tower. Honestly, I was a little let down. What bothered me was that there was a new illustrator and the art didn’t appeal to me as much. Also, the way it was laid out could be confusing at times. Overall, I’ll probably finish it, but it’s not a priority. 3 stars

6. Ocean, Warren Ellis

Ocean was another graphic novel, but SciFi this time. It was bad. You could tell it was published in 2005 by the style. It was confusing and lacked sufficient explanation for things. I did, however, really like the idea of it. I just wish that it would have gone into more detail! 2 stars

7. Through the Woods, Emily Carroll

Yes. So much yes. The art was fabulous, and I loved that it changed slightly with every story. The stories were creepy (not scary) and truly read like a classic fairytale. It was excellent. 4 stars

8. Shutter, Courtney Alameda

You can see my review here. TL;DR: Worth the read. I thought the writing was a little over-worked, but overall it was scary and the characters were realistic. 4 stars

9. Stolen, Lucy Christopher

Review here. TL;DR: Amazing. The writing was poetic and evocative. It left you feeling just as confused as the main character, and it made me cry. 5 stars

10. Isla and the Happily Ever After, Stephanie Perkins

Review here. TL;DR: It was my favorite of the series, but I still thought it was too cliche and, though I related to Anna on some levels, I found her irritating nonetheless. Good for fans of YA Contemporary Romances, but generally I’m not the biggest fan of them. 3.5 stars

11. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Jenny Han

Review here. I read this on the recommendation of a friend, and thought it was okay. As with Isla, I think I just read it at a time where I’m burned out on the genre, so I judged a little more harshly. I related to every one of the Song sisters on some level and actually liked them all. But I also thought that the whole premise was a little disorganized and immature. 3 stars.

12. Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson

Review here. This one was amazing. Sanderson has a truly awe-inspiring imagination and he does it service by writing well. Even now, two weeks later, my mind is still blown by how incredible some of the idea in this book were. 4.8 stars

13. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard

More detailed review here. Overall, I disliked this one — intensely. I nearly didn’t finish it. My main problems were that the characters were one-dimensional and I’ve seen this story a billion times before. The details may be slightly varied, but just barely. 2 stars

14. Welcome to the Monkey House, Kurt Vonnegut

I haven’t written a review on this one because I’m not entirely sure how to review a collection of short stories yet. But I’ll just say that Vonnegut is my new love. I read Cat’s Cradle way back in the day and loathed it (I’ve no idea what the reason for that was anymore). Since then, I’ve stayed far away from his other works. But after reading so much YA these last few months, I decided to branch out a bit and randomly grabbed this one. It was fabulous. His writing style is reminiscent of Bradbury, in that it’s deceptively simple and straightforward. But he also has a snarky and dark sense of humor that is unique to him. I loved that no matter the genre (realistic, scifi, etc.) he found a way to make it relateable and to comment on basic human traits. 5 stars

15. Saga, Volume 1, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Yet another graphic novel. Everyone has been going crazy over this series lately, and I’m sad to say that I don’t agree with them. I mean, it was decent enough, but as I mentioned Dark Tower set the bar. Unfortunately, Saga fell short of that standard. The art was great and the plotline was alright, but I dislike the characters enough to not want to continue on with the series. 3 stars

16. Shadow of the Queen, Once Upon a Time #2, Daniel T. Thomsen

I didn’t realize this was the second of a series until just now. Oh well. I liked some of the art, but it did this weird thing, where it changed illustrators every issue, which I did not like. The plot was a bit confusing (which now I’m seeing may be because it was the second one). I won’t be continuing on with this series. 3 stars

17. The Pied Piper of Hamlin, Russell Brand

Loved the illustrative style and thought the story was an interesting retelling. You could definitely tell it was in Russell Brand’s voice. I may have only given it 3 stars, but this looks like it’s going to be a series of sorts and I will continue this one. 3 stars

So there you have it. If you made it to the end, kudos to you! You’re a stronger person that I am.

Watch Out! Wednesday, April 2015

It’s that time again! Last month, I posted about the 4 books I was most looking forward to reading in March. I must add that Danielle Paige’s The Wicked Will Rise is being released on March 31st. Since I’ve actually read Dorothy Must Die since posting that list, this sequel should also be added to February’s Watch Out! Wednesday. That being said, I still have read exactly zero of these so highly anticipated books. But! I’m waiting on a few of them from the library, so can I really be blamed?

Yes. Yes, I can.

Moving on!

1. Empire of Night, Kelley Armstrong (4/07)

Sisters Moria and Ashyn are the Keeper and Seeker of Edgewood. Or at least, they were.

Their village is gone. Their friends have betrayed them. And now, the emperor has sent them on a mission to rescue the children of Edgewood—accompanied by Prince Tyrus and a small band of imperial warriors. But the journey proves more perilous than they could have imagined. With treachery and unrest mounting in the empire, Moria and Ashyn will have to draw on all their influence and power to overcome deadly enemies—not all of them human—and even avert an all-out war. (Goodreads)

Now, I know I posted about Sea of Shadows a while back on my Goodreads account, and I didn’t love it. I had a lot of problems with it, but at the same time recognized its strengths. I liked the ideas in the book, but didn’t think they were executed as well as they may have been. So I’m willing to give the sequel a shot, just to see if maybe Armstrong needed more time to develop the plot.

2. Rook, Sharon Cameron (4/28)

History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she.

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse. (Goodreads)

This sounds pretty interesting, and I’m eager to see what direction it takes. Will it be steampunk-y? Or will it be more paranormal? Neither? It also sounds a bit dystopian from the blurb, but those can be so far off sometimes (lookin’ at you, Falling Kingdoms).

3. Magonia, Maria Dahvana (4/28)

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this fantasy about a girl caught between two worlds…two races…and two destinies.

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie? (Goodreads)

I’ll confess that I’m less interested in the plot than the idea that this is described as a mash-up of Neil Gaiman and John Green. But I also like the idea of there being a world above the clouds, which is why I enjoyed Stardust, Castle in the Sky, and even Airborn. And I’m fascinated by it enough that I have a recurring daydream of my own that there is a world above ours. So we’ll see!

4. An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir (4/28)

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.(Goodreads)

I think this may be the one I’m most looking forward to. I continuously compare books similar to this to Throne of Glass or Graceling, because, let’s be real — they’re essentially perfect. So I like that this one is similar in some ways to the premise of the aforementioned books, but I also like that it’s got its own things going on. A brutal Rome-like world? Um, yes.

5. In a World Just Right, Jen Brooks (4/28)

High school senior Jonathan Aubrey creates worlds at will. In Kylie-Simms-is-my-girlfriend, he’s given himself everything he doesn’t have in real life-–the track team, passing grades, and his dream girl–-until one day he confuses his worlds and almost kisses the real Kylie Simms. Now his girlfriend Kylie and the real Kylie are changing, and Jonathan must solve the mystery of his own life to save his love from a gruesome fate. (Goodreads)

This one sounds…interesting. I can’t tell much from the blurb, but I feel like it could go in a really cool, intriguing direction, or in a really annoying one. Not at the top of my TBR pile, but I hope to get to it someday.

So there you have it, y’all! What are you most looking forward to being released next month?

Review: “Shutter”, by Courtney Alameda

Recommended beverage while reading: Hot cocoa, because you might need something a little more comforting. Just bring a bag of marshmallows with you, too.

PopSugar Challenge category: “A book set in your hometown” — this book takes place in San Francisco, and technically I was born outside of there and moved when I was a few years old. BUT, I still count SF as my second hometown because I have family there and have visited enough times for it to still feel like a home.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She’s aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera’s technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn’t exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she’s faced before . . . or die trying. (Goodreads)

As some of you may recall, I posted a while back about the books I was looking forward to seeing released in the month of February. This was one of them! I had the privilege of working with Courtney before she became a published author and remember her talking about the book she was working on. Ever since, it’s been in the back of my mind to keep an eye out for her book. So when I looked it up and saw that everyone who had read an ARC absolutely loved it, I was incredibly excited. I put the release date down in my planner and everything (yes, I write the release dates of books down in my calendar). And when I got my hands on it, I couldn’t wait to start. I mean, that blurb? How could you not be excited?

So, when I finally did start it (in the midst of a ghost battle), and it was full of action and crazy battles, I was surprised that it still took me so long to get into the book. I mean, I liked all of the characters and wanted to see what happened, but for some reason, I couldn’t sit there and read it straight through. It wasn’t because it was scary (though it was at times, I just don’t generally feel terrified by books) or dull, and for the longest time I couldn’t put my finger on it. Finally, I figured out that it was because I got bogged down in the descriptions and similes and metaphors. It seemed like everything had an adjective attached, and that kind of detracted from the fast-paced craziness of the rest of the book. That being said, I can still see the value in this writing style, because it really shows how much research Alameda put into her work. I appreciate that.

Once I figured out what my problem was though, it was a lot easier to read. As you can tell, the rating didn’t suffer too much from this teeny problem. And, really, that was the only thing I took issue with. Everything else was awesome. I would have given 4 stars even if the characters were annoying, simply for uniqueness alone. When I was reading it, there were moments when I just paused and thought, “Really, how did she come up with this one”.

Also, I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the main characters. Of course, there’s a love interest, but there’s no love triangle, which seems almost ground-breaking in the world of YA. I liked that even though there was romance, it didn’t get top billing. It makes sense that, in the midst of hunting down murderous and psychopathic ghosts, they might not have time to worry about their next make-out session.

Okay, another thing, there were hints of a necrotic disaster to hit parts of the world, and everyone seems to know and accept that zombies and ghosts are real things. But we never get a full back-story. That may sound annoying, but honestly I loved it. The way to survive is to live in the here and now, just like Micheline, who suffered a terrible loss but made it through by trying not to remain focused on the past. Eventually, she comes to terms with it and confronts her past, so that she’s truly healed.

That being said….I still want to know what happened! I like that it wasn’t in this particular book, but if you ever happen to read this, Courtney, just know that I think people would love a prequel. Also, a sequel!

TL;DR: Read this! It’s well-written and the plot is incredibly unique in the YA world. It’s action-packed and full of wonderful ideas. So yeah. Just do it.

Review: “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”, by Jenny Han

Recommended beverage while reading: A soy vanilla latte!

PopSugar challenge category: “A book recommended by a friend”

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all. (Goodreads)

This book was recommended not only by my friend, but also by everyone who read it (seems like). I honestly think I did this book a disservice by reading it right now, but there’s no helping that at this point. You see, I’m afraid I’m a little burned out on YA Contemporary. Unfortunate, really. The same thing happened with Dystopian, and I still haven’t recovered from that. But I think I caught this particular burnout early, so there shouldn’t be too much of a backlash.

Anywho. Onto the review! First, I will say that this book was unique in that I not only liked all of the characters, but I identified with traits of all the “Song girls”. So, for that reason, I loved reading about their interactions as a group. And it took me less than a day to read this one, so it was still engaging enough to keep me going.

However, it did feel somewhat like a zainy RomCom movie, and I have trouble even investing an hour and a half into those. Like, why would Lara Jean need to pretend to have a boyfriend? And why does it have to be a real person attending their high school? And why does that dude feel like it’s a good idea to keep the front up? None of it makes sense. Which, I feel compelled to add, Lara Jean does point out after-the-fact. I appreciate that because she’s clearly a pretty self-aware character, and that doesn’t happen often. A lot of times I spend most of the book mentally shaking my fist at the “heroine” and telling her to be less derpy. I really didn’t do that much in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

It’s because I love the characters so much that I know that if I hadn’t read this one at the end of a burnout, I would have liked it so much more. Perhaps I’ll reread it at some point so I get a better feel for it. And then I’ll read the sequel, because I really don’t want to make the same mistake twice. At this point, though, P.S. I Still Love You isn’t at the top of my TBR.

I don’t really know when I’ll get to it, but I think I will at some point. If I don’t get distracted. Me? Distracted by other books? Nah.

I’d still recommend this book to fans of Stephanie Perkins or even Rainbow Rowell and John Green.

Review: “Isla and the Happily Ever After”, Stephanie Perkins

Recommended beverage while reading: very strong, very hot, black coffee.

PopSugar challenge category: “A book you can read in a day”

Rating: about 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. (Goodreads)

Alrighty, so Isla and the Happily Ever After is the final installment of the Anna and the French Kiss series, just in case anyone isn’t aware. But they’re only a series in that they have some overlapping characters and that they follow the same basic story outline. They focus on different characters, while still letting us check in on the previous books’ story-lines. Which I love. I dunno about you all, but there’s just something about finding out what’s going on in the background of a story, or seeing the same story from another person’s perspective that I find immensely enjoyable.

Maybe it’s because we get to check in on both Anna and Etienne and Lola and Cricket that this is my favorite of the series. Or maybe that’s part of the reason, anyway. I think the main reason that I liked this one best was that I related to Isla more than I did to either Anna or Lola. I mean, yes, I liked them both, but I know what Isla deals with when she berates herself. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe in other people’s abilities than it is to believe in your own.

That being said, I did have my issues with it. But I think it’s more that I have my issues with YA contemporary romances in general. In my Goodreads review I said “The fluff level is just gnawingly saccharine. It was like inhaling cotton candy.” And, like candy, it was addicting. Don’t get me wrong — it was enjoyable. But at the same time, perhaps marthoning it wasn’t the best idea. For some reason, doing that just makes all the problems that much more irritating.

**Possible spoilery-ness ahead**

The problems Isla and Josh faced just seemed so inconsequential, you know? I get that that’s part of the deal — their love is so powerful that any problems should seem bearable. And I get that teenagers are dumb and make stupid, impulsive, masochistic decisions. Even knowing all of that, I still didn’t really feel like that the “obstacle” our main characters had to face really made that much sense, and I didn’t really see that it was as earth shattering as it was supposed to be. Maybe I’m just getting too old and pessimistic (or as I like to say, realistic) for YA.

**End of “spoilers”**

Anyway, the series is now finished, and I don’t feel all that torn up about it. I hear that Stephanie Perkins’ next novel is going to be a horror/slasher, and you know what? I am pretty damn excited about it, because despite my problems with these books, I recognize that Perkins has a gift for description, and for writing relatable characters. This genre is so far from what I’m used to seeing from her that I can’t help but be eager to see what it’s like.

I’d recommend this series to fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell. And possibly Gayle Forman (even though I have given up on ever liking one of her books).

Review: “Stolen”, by Lucy Christopher

Recommended beverage while reading: Just grab some water. Trust me.

PopSugar challenge category: “A book set in a different country.”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.

This is my story.

A letter from nowhere.

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?

The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don’t exist – almost. (Goodreads)

So often I read books that have been hyped by what seems like everyone, and I’m left unimpressed. This, however, was not one of those books. I read it in one day and hardly put it down, except when necessary.

It’s told in first-person, past-tense, as a letter from Gemma to her captor. I didn’t think I would enjoy this style, but let’s be real, when have I ever been right on that front? Seems like never. It helped me feel like I understood Gemma and her confusion, because we were getting everything from her perspective, and all her secret thoughts and actions. So even though I’ve never been in a situation remotely similar to Gemma’s, I still felt like I totally related to her. That’s when you know an author is really good at his/her job.

And let’s just talk about Christopher’s writing for a minute. I don’t know all the technical terms and what not, but I can only describe her writing in Stolen as “lyrical”. Sometimes I felt like I was reading poetry. And other times I read a passage and then had to pause, because, re-reading it, I realized that it was a pretty weird way of describing something, but it was also perfect. Unfortunately, I didn’t bother to mark these passages because I couldn’t be bothered to put the book down for three seconds. Sorry, y’all, guess you’ll have to read it yourself to find these magical examples of writing!

By the end of this, I was just as confused about my feelings toward Ty as our main character. Was what we (because by the end of the book, it is we not her) were feeling completely Stockholm Syndrome? Ty was a monster for what he did to Gemma, but was he truly an awful person? Was he deranged? Or was everything he said a complete lie, geared toward making Gemma his?

**Possibly a bit spoiler-y?**

Toward the middle of this, I was actually rooting for Gemma to stay with Ty. I mean, sure, he kidnapped her and spirited her away to the middle of fricking nowhere. But he also seemed to genuinely care for Gemma. I think at that point, Gemma was secretly rooting for them, too. By the end of it, though, Gemma and her audience understand the choice she ultimately made. I won’t say more. But the fact that her audience goes through the same emotional turmoil and confusion that she experiences simply goes to show that Christopher is extremely talented.

**No more spoiler-y-ness**

But I will warn you that if you’re in the mood for fluff, do not read this. It was amazing, but by the end of it, I was so emotionally drained that I sat there in a somewhat stunned silence. I don’t remember ever feeling so tired after reading a book, but sometimes that’s just what we need.

I’d honestly recommend this to anyone, but especially to people who enjoyed Room by Emma Donoghue or for people who like books that are very morally gray.

Thanks, as always, for reading! Tell me what you thought of it, if you want! I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts. 🙂

Review: “Dorothy Must Die”, by Danielle Paige

Recommended beverage while reading: very strong lemonade. Pucker up!

PopSugar challenge category: A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit. (So it’s an imaginary place — it could happen).

Rating: ~4.2 out of 5 stars.

I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado – taking you with it – you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I’ve read the books. I’ve seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can’t be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There’s still a yellow brick road – but even that’s crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm – and I’m the other girl from Kansas.

I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I’ve been trained to fight.

And I have a mission. (Goodreads)

As so many of my reviews seem to start out, here, I was kind of hesitant to read this book but finally gave in due to the fact that I was seeing it everywhere. And, unlike a lot of my reviews, it actually lived up to the hype. Surprised? Not nearly as much as I was, let me tell you.

This book could easily have been dumb and cliche and dull, but it was none of those things. The idea behind it is brilliant. I’ve mentioned before that I love fairytale re-tellings, and while The Wizard of Oz might not be a fairytale in the truest sense of the word, it may as well be in my world. It’s just as much a part of my childhood as Grimm or Andersen

I have no idea how authors come up with the ideas they do. But even though Baum may have created the world of Oz first, it still took an amazing amount of talent and imagination for Paige to write Dorothy Must Die, and to do it well. She isn’t any less talented for not creating the world in which she wrote, especially since it really isn’t the same world Baum created. The descriptions were vivid and I got wrapped up into the goings-on almost immediately.

Amy could very easily have annoyed the hell out of me, but she didn’t. I actually really liked her, which is pretty rare for me. I loved that she always knew the right thing to do and that she was beyond snarky. I loved that she came into her own so quickly and that she shrugged off a lot of things she didn’t understand and just accepted them. I have no patience for characters who constantly mull over things that I know aren’t really important to the storyline. Maybe it’s supposed to be more realistic for them to try to understand everything going on in their life, but from personal experience, I think not. More than that, though, she’s smart. A lot of female leads are theoretically smart, just because that’s what we’re told. But do they demonstrate their supposed mental prowess? Hardly. You know those situations where you’re yelling at the character because they obviously missed that this person is clearly trying to tell them something and they’re just too dense to see it? Yep, not in this one. Amy’s already telling you she sees it. It was such a relief not to feel irritated with the heroine.

Another thing I enjoyed was the action. There may not have been a whole ton of true action scenes, but there was always something going on, and it was clear that there was always a goal on the horizon. By the end of this book, I was yelling (okay maybe not yelling, but I did raise my voice) from frustration because of reasons I will not go into due to spoilers. But it wasn’t the awful kind of frustration, it was the kind that just reaffirms that the book is really well written and that you’re truly invested in its plot.

A few days ago, I wrote a post about the books I was looking forward to be released next month, and I left off The Wicked Will Rise, because I hadn’t started this one. Well, suffice it to say that it now has top priority on my list, as well as The Orphan Queen.

I’d recommend this to people who enjoy fairytale re-tellings (obviously). Maybe even fans of Wicked, but I don’t know that I’d recommend it to big fans of the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Now, to keep frustration levels down, I think I’ll move on to reading the prequel novellas!