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!

May Wrap-up!

The last couple months I’ve been doing really well as far as reading goes and kind of expected my pace to slow down, which is why I didn’t post a bi-weekly wrap-up this month. Buuuut, I apparently didn’t really realize how many books I was reading because it did turn out to be a semi-significant number: 15! I tried to take a step back from the graphic novels this month, but I still read 5. So, basically, I didn’t anticipate anything really well. Anyway, let’s get started shall we?

1. The Orphan Queen, Jodi Meadows

Full review here. Basically, I loved this book. Jodi Meadows is seriously talented and I recommend her to fans of Sarah J Maas (let’s face it, who isn’t?) or who just want something unique. What I love about her style is that it appears to be cliche, but it actually takes typical plot devices and twists them into something just…better. 4.5 stars.

2. The Wicked Will Rise, Danielle Paige

Full review here. I gave this book a high rating mostly because of the potential it had. What kept it from being as good as the first book was the fact that it felt very much like a filler novel. Almost like a novella and the ideas weren’t as fleshed out as they could have been. Which is a shame, because it could have been truly epic. As it was, though, it left me wanting more in both good and bad ways. Will I be reading the next one? Of course! Amy is still bad ass and I love the twisted world of Oz. 4 stars.

3. The Glass Arrow, Kristen Simmons

Full review here. So this is a YA novel loosely based on The Handmaid’s Tale. Having never read that one, though, I can’t say how accurate that is. If they are at all similar, though, I’m going to have to add it to the top of my TBR because this book was stellar. I liked that Aya was a strong character but that the scope of the book was minimal. She was made more realistic by the fact that she didn’t set out to change the world, but rather to change hers. That’s the way things work. One person does not change the entirety of a culture, but they can set some things in motion by being examples to others. I also really enjoyed that this was a stand-alone because it was well-rounded and though I did feel a little sad at its ending, it made sense. 4.75 stars.

4. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J Maas

Full incoherent review here. Now that I’ve had a couple weeks to gather my thoughts on this book I have some difficult things to admit. Was it as good as Throne of Glass? No, it wasn’t. Did I love the Feyre as much as Celaena? I did not. BUT, it was still amazing. Because that’s just the way Maas rolls. While Tamlin and Feyre fell a little flat for me, I feel that Feyre will become more developed in the next book and if the next one heads in the direction I feel it will, Tamlin will become less relevant anyway. This book was super fast-paced — so much so that it could have been a stand alone aside from a few loose ends left by the end of the book. And you know what? I liked that. It had it’s own story and it was a nice introduction into the Fey world before things get crazy in the next books. 5 stars.

5. Hausfrau, Jill Alexander Essbaum

I initially added this book to my Goodreads TBR based purely on the cover. No shame. It’s still one of the most gorgeous covers I’ve seen. And the book was splendid as well. I thought it would be one of those books that took me a week to finally get through, but (as per usual) I was wrong. I flew through this book and had trouble putting it down. It wasn’t action-packed and wasn’t super exciting, but it was thought-provoking and intuitive. Read this for the writing, because it is abundantly apparent that Essbaum is an experienced poet. And the final line was like a punch in the face in the best way possible. Trigger warnings for abuse and depression, though. So if those things sit the wrong way with you, I really don’t recommend it. I found it’s depiction of depression to be insightful. I have multiple friends who battle depression to varying degrees and this book helped me see how they might feel. 4 stars.

6. Boxers, Gene Luen Yang

I’ve seen this all over the place and people generally seem to love it. I was kind of “eh” about it though. I enjoyed the fact that I wasn’t rooting for any particular side and that it showed you that both sides in a war do awful things. However, I wasn’t super attached to any of the characters and, to be honest, didn’t enjoy the art that much. 3 stars.

7. The Enchanted, Rene Denfeld

This book went in a direction that I didn’t expect. I figured it would be magic realism maybe? Maybe it was a little bit. Whatever. All I know is that I was surprised by the route the plot went and I loved this book. This, like Hausfrau, has a really unique and poetic style. And again, like Essbaum’s novel, it gave us an insight into mental disorders. The main character inspired so much sympathy in me and yet left me conflicted due to the horror of his crimes. Read this book for it’s writing. It’s short and I read it in one go. Just bite the bullet and do it. 4.5 stars.

8. Stephen King’s N., Marc Guggenheim

I’m up for reading most anything written by Stephen King. I’m pretty vocal about my love for him. But this graphic novel fell flat for me. True, it was originally a short story and it was merely adapted into a graphic novel. It probably should have stayed a story. Part of King’s talent is to write simply but vividly enough to convey the proper amount of horror in a given situation. In graphic novel form, that chilling tone is lost. I wasn’t scared at all and found the GN a little hard to follow. 3 stars.

9. Ragnar’s Daughter, Aliza Rudman

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway quite a while ago and only just now got around to it. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read, I’ll be honest. It definitely felt like a first attempt at a novel by a young author. I thought the main character was a little volatile and that the world and romantic aspects were a little underdeveloped. But, I give props for potential. If Rudman went back and maybe fleshed things out a bit more or perhaps upped the formality of this book, it could be amazing. Even so, I’d be happy to read the sequel. It was a really fast read and I did like the characters, even if they seemed a bit immature at times. 3 stars.

10. Sappho: A New Translation, Sappho, trans. by Mary Barnard

It’s hard to give a star-based rating to a book of poetry, but I’ll try anyway. I really enjoyed this little book. A lot of her poetry has been lost and most of what’s left is just fragments, but they’re still lovely to read. I actually tabbed this book (something I rarely do), and was marking almost every other page for poems/snippets I loved. I do recommend this one to anyone trying to get into poetry! 4 stars.

11. Deadly Class, Rick Remender

Yet another graphic novel I’ve seen all over the place. And yet another I was disappointed by. Honestly, I kind of hated all of the characters. I assume that’s part of the point, but even that won’t sway my rating of this one. The art was really good, however, and it’s an interesting story! Beware of drug-use and sex and violence. If those aren’t your thing (though, really, what graphic novel doesn’t have those nowadays), then I don’t recommend it. 3 stars.

12. October Faction Vol. 1, Steve Niles

I got this as a galley from Netgalley, so one of my main issues may not be with the actual graphic novel. My biggest problem was the fact that the art was way too dark. I could hardly discern what was going on. So maybe it was just a problem with the galley I got? I’m not sure. What little I could see of the art was good, though. I did also take issue with the pacing and just overall exposition. It jumped around and was pretty hard to follow and not a lot was explained. Points for unique story, though! 3 stars.

13. Bodies, Si Spencer

Another galley from Netgalley. This was one of the few reads I’ve ever given 1 star. Seriously, guys, it was terrible. It’s a shame because it could have been really cool. The art was alright, but nothing special, but the main problem was the fact that it made no sense whatsoever. I could follow the plot for about three pages and then it would jump to something else and I’d have to start all over. It felt like it was supposed to have some grand message but if it did, it was completely and utterly lost on me. I feel bad for giving such a bad review, but it’s the truth. 1 star.

14. Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter

I’ve seen this book around for years and I’ve always wanted to read it, but always kind of held back for whatever reason. I thought it would remind me a bit of Under the Tuscan Sun or even Eat Pray Love, and in some ways it did. But saying it was like those also kind of does it a disservice. Don’t get me wrong, I love both of the others, but Beautiful Ruins is it’s own thing. It covers generations and thousands of miles and follows so many characters and it’s just lovely. Having grown up watching movies from the 50s and 60s, I loved knowing all the movie stars mentioned and having some idea of the way things worked back then. And I liked that it was realistic in saying that happily endings don’t always happen — or at least they change. Dreams don’t always come true, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live a happy and fulfilled life. 4.5 stars.

15. Bell Weather, Dennis Mahoney

This was another ARC I won in a giveaway and decided to knock off my TBR. It’s being released July 7th, so be sure to keep an eye out for it! Because, yes, I recommend this book. It was one of those rare books where the world is perhaps not as well-developed as it should be and where the romantic interest just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it still managed to be a really good read! We’re given just enough information to know that this world is different from ours and it piques your interest so that you want to know more. That we’re denied that is kind of frustrating, but understandable. It’s not really a mark against the book, but more illustrative of how good it is. I knocked off a star because, like I said, the romantic bits didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and because I didn’t feel like the characters were appealing people. Which sounds bad, but isn’t actually that distracting. So make sure to pick this book up, guys! 4 stars

Well there you have it. I don’t expect anyone to get to the end of this, frankly, but I had fun writing it nonetheless! Hope you’re all having a good week! 🙂

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!

Review: “The Orphan Queen”, by Jodi Meadows

Recommended Beverage While Reading: Black tea with plenty of sugar.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others. (Goodreads)

When I first started this book, I was in the process of falling into a reading slump. I knew it was going to happen — I’d been a reading machine for almost two months. It had to happen at some point. I desperately tried to avoid it. Overall, I think I was pretty successful because I only had trouble reading for about a week. The Orphan Queen was largely to thank for it, too. Though it may have taken me forever to read only 50 pages, after pushing myself to continue I had issues putting the book down. Don’t get me wrong — it had it’s issues. Which is why it’s not a full 5 stars. I feel like the issues can be remedied as we delve further into the series, though.

Mostly, I love Jodi Meadows writing because her imagination is wild. Like, yes, Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series is perfect in pretty much every way imaginable, but — and I feel like I’m betraying everything I know and love by saying this — it’s not particularly out of the box. What makes it beautiful is that it combines the best elements of a lot of great fantasy traditions. When I’m reading Meadows, however, I have no idea how she comes up with some of her ideas and I love it. The overall plot itself isn’t necessarily super out of the box (in some ways it’s quite like Throne of Glass or Graceling to be honest). But the elements of the plot are cray cray. I always have trouble explaining what I mean by this, and I only have this issue when describing why I love Meadows’ books. Basically, I just love the random things she comes up with, and if you haven’t read her books, you probably won’t know what I mean.

So yes, I loved it. The only issue I have is that I wanted more — more explanation, more difficulty. Sometimes things just happened, and it wasn’t really explained how we got there, or there were times where it was just too easy. Wil wanted to leave for three weeks? Cool, her friend covered for her, with no previous planning or anything.

I feel like that can be remedied as we go further into the series, though. And yes, there is a cliffhanger. I got to the final line on the final page, and screeched “NO!” Now I have to wait for the next one.

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.

Review: “Red Queen” by Victoria Aveyard

Recommended beverage while reading: Put some cranberry juice cocktail in a sippy cup and get in the right frame of mind to read this book.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win? (Goodreads)

First off, I will state that my opinion does not coincide with those of pretty much everyone. I didn’t like this book at all. I’m sorry! I don’t want to offend anyone, because if you liked this book, then good! I’m glad you liked it. I, however, did not.

Red Queen had potential. I can see that. But so do a lot of books. The idea of it was somewhat interesting, but has been done about a thousand times. It’s your generic dystopian YA novel, with a love triangle and a twist you see coming from a mile off.

I could not for the life of me get attached to the characters, and didn’t care a bit when they were in “danger”. Mare was portrayed as being this savior for the Reds — the one who would save them ALL! The Red QUEEN. She continuously talked about doing anything to save her family and friends and all the reds, which should make her a mature and generous character, right? She’s not. She’s immature and whiny.

And I understand that Aveyard was trying to portray that you can make a case for or against war, depending on your point of view, and what you have to gain and whatever. War is a grey-area. I get that, and honestly, I love grey areas! I’m reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and just read Welcome to the Monkey House (review to come soon, hopefully), and that is how you do grey area. You don’t shove it in people’s faces. The best way to pull off a message like that is with subtlety, in my opinion. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Where subtlety was used, however, was in the dystopian aspect. And I liked that. Most of the time it read like fantasy, and then you’d get a little glimpse of what happened “before”, just to remind you that this is probably post-apocalyptic. I liked that there were little islands of text that hinted at a history not described. But that’s about all I liked, really.

I think that if you want to get into the genre, you might like this as a stepping stone. There are much better dystopian reads out there, though. There is no shortage of them in fact.

TL;DR: Didn’t like it. Definitely will not be continuing the series. But I get that lots of people LOVE this book! Which is perfectly okay, so I hope it’s okay that I disagree.

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: “Steelheart” by Brandon Sanderson

Recommended beverage while reading: Chai tea. I haven’t a reason why. Just do it!

Rating: 4.89700345

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart – the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning – and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.(Goodreads)

So, I currently own two other Brandon Sanderson books: Mistborn: The Final Empire and The Way of Kings. I have read neither of them. I made a valiant attempt at Mistborn last month, and mulishly continue to say that I am “still reading it”, even though the last time I opened it was to retrieve my favorite bookmark. I hope to finish it at some point, because it is very good, and I can’t say why I put it down. Perhaps I was just intimidated.

But now that I’ve completed an actual Sanderson novel, perhaps it’ll give me the strength to push through Mistborn. Anyway, to the real task at hand: reviewing Steelheart.

I don’t know about you guys, but whenever I read futuristic/dystopian books, I have this idea of a perfect and amazingly interesting world. For some reason, I’m fascinated by a life lived underground and the challenges humans would face in that. I think that’s part of the reason the only video game I’ve liked has been Fallout. But anyway, the books never quite achieve this weird world I want to see happen. That is, until now.

I went into this without a clear picture of what the world would be like, but as I continued on, it progressively got more and more interesting. Something along the lines of “This is so effing cool” went through my mind countless times. And of course, because Sanderson has experience writing massive pieces of fantasy, his talent for world building is profound. I would say read this book for it’s world, but honestly, that’s not the case.

Because you could also read it for the characters. They all have quirky character traits that make you want to love them, without these traits being all up in your face and annoying. I loved David’s inability to create a decent metaphor, but that he always had a logical reason behind them. I loved Abraham’s slightly different way of speaking. And I loved Tia’s seemingly unhealthy relationship with cola. And Cody’s obsession with his Scottish heritage. I liked that though these people are completely different, they’re all working toward the same goal. It doesn’t matter that all these people have different reasons for fighting the epics, because they know it doesn’t matter.

Honestly, though I loved this book while reading it, I thought it was pretty straightforward as far as plot goes. And then. Fricking plot twist(s). I suspected them both, but didn’t think that both would happen, and really didn’t see the information being revealed in the last 10 pages of the book. Ugh. When a book actually manages to surprise me, it automatically gets a better rating. I mean, I wasn’t planning on giving this anything less than 4.5 stars, but that plot twist boosted it an extra ~0.35 star (Don’t give me that look. It matters!).

Plus Sanderson left enough unanswered and hinted at that you know the next book will be just as fabulous. I am so eager to read the next one. All hail Brandon Sanderson!

TL;DR: Read the book. The world is crazy interesting. The plot sucks you in. The characters are funny and endearing.

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.