Mila 2.0

Book Title: Mila 2.0
Author: Debra Driza
Number of Pages: 470
Genres: YA Fiction, Sci-fi, Action-Adventure
Books like it: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
My favorite quote: "No two people ever view the world from exactly the same perspective, understand things the same way, human or not. The best we can ever do is try."

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

My Summary:
This book was like seeing that girl in school that always dresses in black pull out a pink fluffy unicorn...... Totally unexpected. It compares this book to the Bourne movies, and as a person who has seen and loves the Bourne movies, I have to agree. Mila 2.0 is a fast-paced book with twists and turns and a whole bunch of unexpected explosions.

Mila is just a regular sixteen year old girl, although she has a completely messed up life. Her dad recently died in a fire, and she suffered memory loss because of it. Devastated, her mom decides to move to a new town and start over. It isn't the perfect dream life, but she has got friends, a cute guy interested in her, and a determination to remember the past.
 

As it turns out, there is no past to remember.

When Mila falls off the back of a truck and lands on her spine, she is sure she must be dead. And then she realizes that where blood should be rushing out of her arm, instead a white ooze gushes out. Horrified and confused, she goes to her mom for answers. The only problem is, the answers she gets are not necessarily what she wants to hear.

Somehow I'd come up with the notion that Hunter could set me free. Like some twisted version of Sleeping Beauty. But instead of saving me from an evil spell, his kiss would save me from the iPod. I'd convinced myself, in the tiny space of time, that Hunter's kiss would make me human.

Mila is not her name, it stands for Mobile Intel Lifelike Android, a CIA experiment designed to help the military's defense. Nicole, a scientist, and the person Mila knows as "Mom" thought that what the CIA had in mind for Mila's future was inhuman and unfair. She escaped with Mila, planted fake memories into her mind, and enrolled Mila in high school.

 Now that Mila no longer believes she is a normal girl, her mom turns on her defense mode, and all the abilities that Mila didn't know she possessed suddenly come to her aid. The CIA hunts Mila down, determined to take her back into the military and train her to be their weapon. The only thing they didn't know that while she was away from them, she gained one thing that will stand in their way.
Mila has emotions.
She gets angry, sarcastic, sad, happy, and she falls in love. Those emotions are one thing that keeps her from being a killing machine: human. As Mila fights to win General Holland's praise to keep her mother alive, she also discovers things about herself and her past that can change her forever.

Despite the undeniable knowledge that I wasn't human- or mostly human, anyway-despite the proof that the computer screen had shown in the repair room, I still pictured my interior just the same as any other sixteen year old girl's. Blood and guts and bones. A brain, and a functioning heart. Hopes and dreams, fears and sorrows.
  This book was sooo hard to put down because it was freaking awesome! As soon as Mila learns she is an android, the story picks up the pace and we are thrown into this action packed adventure story. I'm pretty sure there is also a love triangle, although I guess I'll have to wait and see in the next books. 

Word of advice: don't read this book until 2015 when the last one comes out, because the ending is a total cliffhanger and I am willing to bet that the second book will be the same way. Now I can't wait until the second book comes out in March! This is a great action read.

Pros: This was an action packed book with twists and turns and even a teenage romance. It will please everyone :)

Cons: I thought the start of this book was a little slow, just because nothing is really going on except her normal "human" life. The action picks up around page sixty.

Cautions for Parents: Mild language and violence. Pretty much a good book for age 12 and up.

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Uprising

Book Title: The Uprising
Author: Lisa M. Strasse
Number of Pages: 400
Genres: YA fiction, Dystopian, Romance
Books like it: Legend by Marie Lu, Starters by Lissa Price
My favorite quote:
“Maybe I need to find a new myth
to get me through each day.”

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
In this dystopian sequel to The Forsaken, Alenna has survived the brutality of life on the wheel—and now she’s going back for more.
Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA—the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.

In order to bring down the UNA, they must first gain control of the wheel. If the mission succeeds, the wheel will become a base of revolution. But between betrayals, a new Monk leading a more organized army of Drones, and the discovery of a previously unknown contingent, Alenna, Liam, and their allies might be in over their heads. One thing Alenna knows for sure: There will be a reckoning. And not everyone she loves will make it out alive.

My Summary:
Reading this book was like watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie. Disappointing and definitely not living up to its full potential.

I better start off with some positive things, because this isn't going to be the nicest review. Strasse still has her way with words and she describes every detail very vividly. I only wish the picture she painted had been more interesting.
I loved Forsaken, and therefore I was expecting a sequel that was just as good with an intense fight with the UNA, butt kicking and some awesome action packed scenes. What I was not expecting was a hot Twilight-worthy romance and a lot of boy obsessing. A lot. Alenna has turned from a fighting machine into a romantic goey mess. Her head is so caught up in fantasizing about Liam that she is not focusing on the dilemmas at hand. Her friends are back at the wheel, and there are hundreds of kids that need to be unfrozen.

But now is not the time for romance. 

You think, honey? 

Alenna actually says that in the book. She is in the middle of a fight with the drones and the new Monk, whose identity was definitely not a surprise to me, and I would think cunning Alenna could have figured it out. Anyway, she is in the middle of this fight and she kisses Liam. In fact, she is so distracted she actually stops to say I love you and stare into his eyes. Why don't you just have a tea party right then and there and all the drones that want to kill you will stop and wait.

The start of this book was so boring. I almost couldn't push through it, and the only reason I did was because I loved Forsaken. It had some "action scenes" but most of them were not even a page long and did not even spark my interest.
The action finally picks up near the end, and soon the book has ended.

This was probably the worst sequel I have ever read. Alenna totally switched her personality and Liam was the worst romantic character ever. 

The end of the book kind of freaked me out. It was sort of disturbingly strange, and I didn't expect it. It was one of the interesting parts, though. 

Anyway, I totally recommend Forsaken, but definitely not this book. If you are a person who likes romance and not action packed books, you might like this book. I just thought some parts were very unrealistic and quite boring.

 

Pros: Pretty awesome cover.
Cons: Read the summary. Says it all.
Cautions for Parents: Mild swearing, h***s and d***s and OMGs.
Review: 1 star
Reading next: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza 

Monument 14

Book Title: Monument 14
Author: Emmy Laybourne
Number of Pages: 294
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Adventure, Sci-fi
Books like it: Struck, The Lost Code
My favorite quote:

“Night came and fell hard.
Not like God drawing a blanket over our land
But like someone snuffing a candle.
Sudden and total.
Out—just like that.
Now we are waiting.
Waiting in the dark
To see if someone
Will switch on the light.
We can cower,
We can fear,
We can get lost together or
Get lost alone.
But the truth is:
I am the light. You are the light.
We are lit up together.
We are silhouettes of sunlight
cast against the night.
Shining now, let us
Shining, hold the light,
Shining, so that our families
Can find us.
Shining.”          

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
 Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

My Summary:
Just finished Monument 14, an action packed sci-fi book about fourteen kids trapped in a supermarket. I heard about this book from Jack at The Book Stop, so check out his website. It's awesome! Anyway, when I first picked up this book, I was like....whoa. I mean, my number one wish is to own a fully stocked Walmart and live in it for the rest of my life. I mean, you would have junk food, books, movies, electronics, toys, BEAN BAG chairs, music and cd players... it would be heaven.
And they have no adult supervision. Party time, right?
 In this book, not so much. It's the end of the world. Literally. An eruption from a volcano causes a mega tsunami that wipes out half of the U.S. Also, in their small town in Colorado, a nuclear plant has been knocked over and now chemical gases are in the air. The chemicals are affecting each blood type in a different way. For Dean, type O, it isn't good. He turns in to a crazed monster that wants to hurt people.
Blocked from the outside world with no way to know what's going on, these fourteen kids and teenagers learn that sometimes, being trapped in a fun place is no longer fun.
This book by Emmy Laybourne was action packed and brilliant. My only problem was some character development with Jack and Astrid. (I will get to that later.) Here are the fourteen kids trapped in the superstore:

Sahalia, a thirteen year old girl who dresses and acts like she is seventeen and just wants to be treated like an adult. She definitely wants a boyfriend. Niko, who is the leader of the group and wants everything to be perfect and structured. He's also a former boy scout. Batiste, who is one of those characters that cracks you up. He is a little religious kid who goes around preaching to everyone and insisting everything they do is a sin. Then you have Ulysses, a Spanish speaking kid that no one can understand but who can make some delicious food.
Also in the group is cute little twins Caroline and Henry, who have grown up living next door to Dean and adore him. The funniest character was probably Max, a little boy who has lived a messed up life with his terrible parents, but thinks everything that he has experienced is perfectly normal. Then you have Alex, Dean's little brother and a mathematical genius. Chloe didn't have too much character development, so I will just say she is sweet and loves dogs. Josie is a sixteen year old girl who acts like the mother to all the little kids and takes charge of the living quarters. Both Brayden and Niko are fighting over her.

Off to the more main characters. Brayden, someone who might seem like a complete loser and jerk, is actually pretty nice if he isn't drunk. Jake is a jock who believes there is no hope left and is losing his sanity. Astrid, who I believe is supposed to be the main female character in this story, is actually pretty minor and I really don't like her. She thinks she is a monster because she has O type blood and keeps herself locked up until the end of the book when BAM she is suddenly Wonder Woman. Yes, not the best character. Dean, the main character of this book, (a really unpopular guy who can cook and is really nice) has a huge crush on Astrid. Who doesn't notice him much unless she needs his help.
Welcome to my world.
Just kidding.
This was a thrilling book and I personally enjoyed it. I was celebrating that it was clean of language! Whoopee! It does have one kind of mildly inappropriate scene, which I skipped and just kept reading. I know. I'm weird.


Pros: This was a really great Apocalyptic book (whenever I say Apocalyptic, I just get the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons in my head. Serious.)

Cons: One kind of inappropriate scene, and a h*** or a d*** here and there.
Cautions for Parents: (Refer to cons section)

Review: 4

Reading Next: The Uprising by Lisa Strasse

Clockwork Princess

Book Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Number of Pages: 570
Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Supernatural
Books like it: Breaking Dawn, City of Fallen Angels
Favorite quote: “Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not read. I would read them together with you, as many as I can, before I die -"
She put her hand against his chest, just over his heart, and felt its beat against her palm, a unique time signature that was all its own. "I only wish you would not speak of dying," she said. "But even for that, yes, I know how you are with your words, and, Will- I love all of them. Every word you say. The silly ones, the mad ones, the beautiful ones, and the ones that are only for me. I love them, and I love you.”  

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Infernal Devices will never stop coming.

Tessa Gray should be happy – aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net shadows begins to tighten around the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. And he needs only one last item to complete his plan: Tessa.

The Shadowhunters are desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever. But their small group cannot stand alone, and the powerful Consul doubts Mortmain's advance. The Shadowhunters find themselves trapped when Mortmain seizes the medicine that keeps Jem alive; now it is up to Will to risk everything to save the girl he and Jem both love. But Tessa is discovering her own powerful true nature. Can a lone girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

The Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Trailer:

My Summary:

While reading this book I was completely and utterly devastated. Sorry to all the Jem fans out there, but I was totally voting for Will and Tessa. After all, they are the exact same and perfect for each other, and it seems that Tessa agrees with me:

"Don't you see, Will? You are a person, like me." His eyes watched her face, mystified, she held his hand tighter, lacing her fingers with his. "Don't you see, Will? You are a person like me. You are like me. You say the things I think but never say out loud. You read the books I read. You love the poetry I love. You make me laugh with your ridiculous songs and the way you see the truth of everything. I feel like you can look inside me and see all the places I am odd or unusual and fit your heart around them, for you are odd and unusual in the same way."

Bawling. Just kidding. So anyway, off to the actual summary of the book, with brief interruptions of some of my favorite Will quotes. After Clockwork Prince left off with the cruel breaking of Will's heart and Jem's unexpected and fast proposal to Tessa, I was demanding justice! How dare she break my Will's heart. It seems that whenever I pick a side in a love triangle, I always loose, and that is why I do not like love triangles.

“I'm afraid to answer that. I've heard that when I speak, it makes American women wish to strike me with umbrellas.”  

In Clockwork Princess, Tessa is getting ready for her wedding with Jem when she comes to two very big problems. The first is that the drug that Jem's life is dependent on is now gone, and he is rapidly approaching the brink of death. (And I am not a sadistic person, although I don't want him with Tessa, I like Jem and do worry about him.) The second problem is this: One day at the Institute, Tessa is kidnapped by the Infernal Devices and taken to Mortmain, and with Jem laying on his sick bed and everyone else searching for a cure, Will is the only one who can save her. (I am getting very excited at this point in the story, here comes the wonderful knight in shining armor!) Anyway, Tessa discovers that she is the key in Mortmain's plan to destroy the Nephilim. Can one girl, however small and alone, defeat the Infernal Devices and save the ones she loves? Can Will reach her in time?

“Life is a book and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read.”

In conclusion, you will definitely get what is expected when you read this book, including love, sacrifice, action, forgiveness, loss, courage, and believing in yourself. I absolutely loved this book although the epilogue made me bawl for everyone's sake, and let me say this: I loved the Infernal Devices and am heartbroken that it is over, but glad that I read it.


“The world is a wheel...when we rise or fall, we do it together.”

 Pros: This book was the second best in the entire series. Clockwork Angel will always be my favorite, but this was a close second. It had just the right amounts of action, love, mystery, and suspenseful twists. Both Will and Jem lovers were given satisfaction, and Tessa discovered new things about herself. Although some parts in the story were slow, it picked up the pace after a while and it was well worth the patience. The epilogue was heartbreaking and beautiful and I loved it.

Cons: I can not believe that there is only three books in TID, and six in TMI, when the Infernal Devices, in my opinion, were so much better. Tessa is now on my list of favorite female heroines, probably landing second place after Tris from Divergent. I know that I really need to work on my cons, or maybe I should just get rid of them :) Some parts of the bok are slow and they do drag along, but be patient.

Cautions for Parents: Brief scenes of violence and mild language. Recommended age 12+. Review: 4 stars

Clockwork Prince

Book Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare
Number of Pages:
Genres: Supernatural Romance, Fantasy
Books like it: Hex Hall, City of Bones, Twilight
My favorite quote: “Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you?
“It’s biannual,” said Jem. “And no, this is not that meeting.”

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s time—for the riveting sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling Clockwork Angel! The situation at the London Institute has never been more precarious. With Mortmain and his clockwork army still threatening, the Council wants to strip Charlotte of her power and hand the running of the Enclave over to the unscrupulous and power-hungry Benedict Lightwood. In the hope of saving Charlotte and the Institute, Will, Jem, and Tessa set out to unravel the secrets of Mortmain’s past—and discover unsettling Shadowhunter connections that hold the key not only to the enemy’s motivations, but also to the secret of Tessa’s identity. Tessa, already caught between the affections of Will and Jem, finds herself with another choice to make when she learns how the Shadowhunters helped make her a “monster.” Will she turn from them to her brother, Nate, who has been begging her to join him at Mortmain’s side? Where will her loyalties—and love—lie? Tessa alone can choose to save the Shadowhunters of London…or end them forever.
Trailer:

 

My Summary: My advice to you right now is this:

 



“They’re not hideous,” said Tessa.
Will blinked at her. “What?”
“Gideon and Gabriel,” said Tessa. “They’re really quite good-looking, not hideous at all.”
“I spoke,” said Will, in sepulchral tones, “of the pitch-black inner depths of their souls.”
Tessa snorted. “And what color do you suppose the inner depths of your soul are, Will Herondale?”
“Mauve,” said Will.

After reading a book like Clockwork Angel, are you going to be disappointed by the Clockwork Prince?
My answer: Heck no!
Be prepared for love, mystery, pain, curses, sacrifice, and a lot of good vs. evil. And a lot of crying over Will and telling Jem to back off, if you are on Team Will like me. What I really liked about the Clockwork Prince was you learned a lot about why Will acts like poison to everyone who shows kindness to him, and there is also a lot of sweet things that Will does and says that makes me want to TAKE HIM AWAY FROM TESSA! If she doesn't want him, fine, but I want him!

This is a part from the Clockwork Prince, found in Chapter 5 on page 113. I think this is one of the best Will and Tessa moments in the whole series, and most don't agree with me.

“Tess.” A voice came urgently in her ear.  “Tess, you’re dreaming. Wake up. Wake up.” Hands were on her shoulders, shaking her; her eyes flew open and she was gasping in her ugly gray dimly lit room at the York Institute. The covers were tangled around her, and her nightgown stuck to her back with sweat. Her skin felt as if it were burning. She still saw the Dark Sisters, saw Nate laughing at her, and Henry dissecting her heart.

“It was a dream?” she said. “It felt so real, so utterly real-“

She broke off.

“Will,” she whispered. He still wore his dinner clothes, though they were rumpled, his black hair tangled, as if he had fallen asleep without changing for bed. His hands remained on her shoulders, warming her cold skin through the material of her nightgown.

“What did you dream?” he said. His tone was calm and ordinary, as if there were nothing unusual about her waking up and finding him sitting on the edge of her bed.

She shuddered at the memory.  “I dreamed that I was being taken apart-that bits of me were being put on display for Shadowhunters to laugh at-“

“Tess.” He touched her hair gently, pushing the tangled locks behind her ears. She felt pulled to him, like iron fillings to a magnet. Her arms ached to go around him, her head to rest on the crook of his shoulder.  “That Starkweather is an idiot for showing you what he did, but you must know that it’s not like that anymore. The Accords have forbidden spoils. It was just a dream.”

But no, she thought. This is a dream. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark; the gray light in the room made his eyes glow an almost unearthly blue, like a cat’s. When she drew a shuddering breath, her lungs filled with the scent of him, Will and salt and trains and smoke and rain, and she wondered if he had been out, walking the streets of York as he did in London. “Where have you been?” she whispered. “You smell like nighttime.”

“Out kicking over traces. As usual.” He touched her cheek with warm, calloused fingers. “Can you sleep now? We’re meant to rise early tomorrow. Starkweather is lending us his carriage so that we might investigate Ravenscar Manor. You, of course, are welcome to remain here. You need not accompany us.”

She shuddered. “Stay here without you? In this big, gloomy place? I would prefer not to.”

“Tess.” His voice was ever so gentle. “That must have been quite a nightmare, to have taken the spirit out of you so. Usually you are not afraid of much.”

“It was awful. Even Henry was in my dream. He was taking apart my heart as if it were made of clockwork.”

“Well, that settles it,”  Will said. “Pure fantasy. As if Henry is a danger to anyone except himself.” When she didn’t smile, he added, fiercely, “I would never let anyone touch a hair on your head. You know that, don’t you, Tess?”

 

I hope you enjoyed this review, and I think I will end here. The Clockwork Prince has much in store for you, please read it!

*None of the images above are mine.

Clockwork Angel

Book Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Number of Pages: 478
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Supernatural
Books like it: The City of Bones, Hex Hall
My Favorite Quote: “One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”  

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
Orphan Tessa Gray, sixteen, crosses the ocean from New York to find her brother Nate in Victorian London, her only possession a clockwork angel necklace from her mother. She is ignorant of her power to transform; the Dark sisters are not. They kidnap her for the Magister, who wants to marry Tessa and claim her power.

Shadowhunters, warriors of angel blood, battle demons and keep the peace in the Downworld of vampires, warlocks and other supernaturals. Orphan teen Shadowhunters Jem, Will, and Jess rescue Tessa and agree to help save Nate. Vengeful vampire Lady Camille Belcourt and her current lover, warlock Magnus Bane provide entrée to the Magister's secret Pandemonium Club.

Trailer:

My Summary:
I never thought that Clare could top a series like the Mortal Instruments, but after picking up my new copy of Clockwork Angel, I could not believe how utterly wrong I was! I was BLOWN AWAY. In the first few pages, you are completely hooked because there is a girl named Tessa who has a unique talent: She can Change. By changing, I mean she can hold an object that belonged to someone and completely Change her appearance to look like them. I have never heard of this talent before, and I thought it was an amazing idea! Two evil old ladies are forcing Tessa to Change, and preparing her for her marriage to a mysterious being called the Magister. Tessa is afraid, but if she tries to escape, they have one thing to hold against her: they have her brother.
And of course, when there is a damsel in distress, there has to be a knight in shining armor.
WILL!!!!

“Let me give you a piece of advice. The handsome young fellow who's trying to rescue you from a hideous fate is never wrong. Not even if he says the sky is purple and made of hedgehogs.”  

If you can't tell, there is going to be a love triangle in this book, and I am definitely Team Will. Well, anyway, not to fear: he saves her, and takes her back to his castle. Or, rather, the Institute. There, Tessa learns that she is a Downworlder, and that there is another world that has been unknown to her. Will is something called a Shadowhunter, that fights vampires and werewolves and demons. Something called the Pandemonium Club is responsible for multiple deaths and a secret organization determined to take over the Shadow World and the race of humanity. With a further investigation, they learn that the Magister is building clockwork creatures to use for a secret army. With the help of Will, Jem, Charlotte, and Jessamine, Tessa's new friends, can Tessa stop the Magister, rescue her brother, and find out who she really is?
Find out in this enchanting story written by Cassandra Clare.

Also, everyone is very in love with Jem. Jem has a secret that might be threatening his life. Tessa finds him intriguingly mysterious, oddly beautiful, and kind. He never looses his temper and is a safe harbor for her to go to. Then there is Will, who is the complete opposite. Don't be fooled by his gorgeously great looks, he has a sharp and sarcastic tongue and is ready to be venomous to anyone who attempts to show him kindness. (Sound familiar? He is a lot like the Jace Wayland from TMI) Although he is frequently mean to her, Tessa finds herself drawn to him. Despite the fact that it seems that he is a coldhearted boy, his few acts of kindness lead Tessa to believe he is not what he fools everyone to be.

“That was enterprising," Will sounded nearly impressed.
Nate smiled. Tess shot him a furious look. "Don't look pleased with yourself. When Will says 'enterprising' he means 'morally deficient.'"
"No, I mean enterprising," said Will. "When I mean morally deficient, I say, 'Now, that's something I would have done."

In conclusion, Clockwork Angel was a refreshing and enchanting read from Cassandra Clare. I think that it will be the next supernatural romance, but unlike Twilight, I found it interesting and unique. If you have entered the world of Shadowhunters through Clary Fray you will love it even more through Tessa Gray. And even if you have not read TMI, again, I thought TID was a million times better anyway.

“You know," Gabriel said, "there was a time I thought we could be friends, Will."

"There was a time I thought I was a ferret," Will said, "but that turned out to be the opium haze. Did you know it had that effect? Because I didn't.”  

Pros: I love this author because she brings new and unique ideas to the table. Her new take on shape-changers was fascinating, and I loved how she opened every chapter with a poem or expert from one of the classics. It adds a more classical taste to these books and an appreciation for the great works that some young readers have forgotten and left in the dust.
Cons: I know that I stink at doing cons. I'm sure critics of fiction would have a lot to say about how stupid these books were but I enjoyed the whole series.
Cautions for Parents: Brief scenes of violence and a little bit of mild language.

Review: 5 stars

The Goddess Hunt

Title: The Goddess Hunt
Author: Aimee Carter
Number of Pages: 92
Genres: Mythology, Romance
Books like it: The Goddess Test, Of Poseidon

My favorite quote:  "Doing the right thing is never nothing."

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

A vacation in Greece sounds like the perfect way for Kate Winters to spend her first sabbatical away from the Underworld...until she gets caught up in an immortal feud going back millennia. Castor and Pollux have been on the run from Zeus and Hades' wrath for centuries, hiding from the gods who hunt them. The last person they trust is Kate, the new Queen of the Underworld. Nevertheless, she is determined to help their cause. But when it comes to dealing with immortals, Kate still has a lot to learn....

Trailer: None

My Summary:

This is not going to be the longest summary since the book was an ebook and was only 96 pages. I got it for a dollar, and was reading it for my Summer Reading List when I realized that I had put the Goddess Legacy on the list. So I changed it, okay? Um, so anyway, this book is a book that goes in the middle of Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted. It is about Kate's summer with James, and how all is going well until they stumble into two traitors to the gods who have been on the run for thousands of years. Pollux helped his brother escape from the fate of living in the Underworld forever, and he will do anything to protect them. Kate is determined not to let the sentence happen again, but, there is little she can do, and she might find out that Henry is not the man she thought he was. And maybe the council isn't as good as they say they are.

It's been a while. I see you still haven't found a shirt.

Pros: This book was really great. I know that I am way to positive about these things, but Castor and Pollux are really interesting characters and I was not expecting that to happen. Seriously. I read the synopsis for Goddess Legacy and then bought the Goddess Hunt, so you can see why I was thinking that the synopsis was misleading.

Cons: Why didn't they mention this in Goddess Interrupted? I mean, it meant a lot to Kate and the story closed off with her thinking about a lot of things to ask him. Also, when this book closes, she has a completely different opinion about the council, and Walter doesn't really like her that much any more. So why is this not mentioned at all in Goddess Interrupted? It should have been. It is just too much of the things that Kate learns about Henry to leave out of the storyline. Oh well.

Cautions for Parents: This book does swear. I think it used mostly every word except b and f. So if you don't want that for your kids they should not read this book. I just mentally replace each word in my head, personally.

The Series of Unfortunate Events (Series Review)

The Series of Unfortunate Events, sadly, has way too short of books to do a review for each book. So here is how it is going to work: I will put the books in order along with a synopsis and then review the series as a whole! I hope that you enjoy it and you will read these books!


Dear Reader,

I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

Dear Reader,

If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. the story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery.
In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible smell, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the re-appearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again.
I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket






All the other books:
















 


 

I thought these books were easy reads, but you wanted to finish them, all the same. They are 13 books about the misfortunes of the Baudelaire orphans, whose parents left them quite a fortune, and a man named Count Oalf who will stop at nothing to get it. No matter where they go, the orphans are in deep trouble. If you have not read this terrible series, you must get it at your library or wherever they keep the misfortunes.

The characters are Sunny, Klaus, and Violet Baudelaire. Sunny bites things, Klaus reads things, and Violet invents things. These may not seem like very important talents, but they will help the clever children escape from their crazy uncle, who has some very good disguises, except that he has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle and only one eyebrow. Can they outsmart him before they are in danger and a lot of trouble? Find out in this series!

Cinder

Book Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Number of Pages: 387
Genres: Dystopian, Fairytale Retellings, Romance
Books like it: Ever, The Princess of the Midnight Ball, Scarlet
My favorite quote:

“Kai cleared his throat. Stood straighter. "I assume you are going to the ball?"
"I-I don't know. I mean, no. No, I'm sorry, I'm not going to the ball."
Kai drew back, confused. "Oh well...but...maybe you would change your mind? Because I am, you know."
"The prince."
"Not bragging," he said quickly. "Just a fact.”  

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

 Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Summary:

Even in the Future the Story Begins with Once Upon a Time.

This book is a futuristic Cinderella story, and I found it very interesting and compelling. There are a number of problems: People from the moon, Lunars, plot to take over the Earth and enslave the humans, and a plague sweeps the nation. The entire world is tense and waiting for a war that will be their destruction. Meanwhile, the emperor is sick and hanging on the thread of life.

A cyborg mechanic named Cinder roams the streets of New Beijing. When her sister becomes sick and her stepmother blames her for it, she finds herself on her own and stranded. Her life unexpectedly collides with Prince Kai's. She finds herself falling for the prince, and though she may not know it, the fate of her country and the world rests on her shoulders.

I have never read a futuristic fairytale, so this book was a new experience for me. It was definitely different. Years in the future, we are threatened by people from the moon who want the Earth under their control. Humanity's last hope was a princess, but she died long ago and now they are left  alone. This book had a ton of things that I didn't expect, and it was written... just amazingly. I have, actually, read Scarlet, book two, that is an even better book than Cinder and cannot wait for the third book, Cress.

Pros: I loved the characters in this book. Cinder was a special girl, and she felt that no boy could ever care for her, especially since she is partly cyborg.

He was the fantasy of every girl in the country. He was so far out of realm, her world, that she should have stopped thinking about him the second the door had closed. Should stop thinking about him immediately. Should never think about him again, except maybe as a client - and her prince.
And yet, the memory of his fingers against her skin refused to fade.

So when Prince Kai, of all people, shows interest in her, she feels like it is a dream come true. I love how this book had a forbidden romance and action with a lot of dilemmas.

Cons: THE END WAS AGONIZING! What was that, Marissa Meyer?!? I am seriously terrible at thinking up cons unless I absolutely hated the book. Um, let's see.... Well, the one problem I am having with this story is that it does not include a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Ugh, THAT WOULD BE AMAZING. I'm trying guys, really.

Review: 4.5 stars

Cautions for parents: Brief mild language.

Venom

Book Title: Venom
Author: Fiona Paul
Number of Pages: 435
Genres: Fiction, Murder Mystery, Romance
Books like it: Falling Kingdoms, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

My favorite quote:

“You should be more careful, you know."
"Careful?" she managed to croak. "You're the one who knocked me over."
"I couldn't resist," he said, and he actually had the nerve to wink at her. "It's not often I get the chance to put my hands on such a beautiful woman.”

Brief  Synopsis from Goodreads:

Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancé, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.







My Summary:

Take a step back into the past as you enter the Renaissance Venice. Cassandra Caravello (aka Cass) is one of the richest maidens in the land, and she has the life of a dream come true, full of riches, and gowns, and jewels. But she feels like a caged bird, trapped inside a golden cage with no way out and no allowance for freedom.

“How terrible it must be to be a member of the noble class. So many rules. Such restraint. You must feel like a caged bird, battering its wings against the sides of its golden prison.”  

Ever since she was a little girl, her fiancé was chosen for her: a man named Luca. Though he does have a way with words, and he does have the looks, the one thing he doesn't have is her heart. Then, something extraordinary and strange happens that changes Cass's life forever.

She finds that her late friend's coffin has been replaced by someone that is not her friend. It is a girl with an X carved across her chest. Terrified, Cass wants to go to the police, but a street painter named Falco, who runs into her at the graveyard, convinces her that the police are drunken men who cannot help and that they must do investigating on their own.

As Cass is spending more and more time with Falco, she finds herself falling in love with him, even though he is a commoner and she has already been promised to Luca. But both men have secrets that they are not telling her, and it makes her decision harder to choose the man who will have her heart forever.

As she and Falco set off on a hunt to find the killer, Cass finds out that sometimes investigating can be dangerous. Especially if the killer is determined not to be found.

I must admit, the only reason that I picked this book off the library table is because it the cover was gorgeous. After reading the first few chapters, I grew slightly bored, and the ending was a bit page turning/on the edge of your seat. This book was actually really good and was written well. I really only had two and a half problems with it, and these are them:

The first problem was that the synopsis was misleading. They say don't judge a book by it's cover, ha. Don't judge a book by it's synopsis on the back of the book, that's what I say. When I read the synopsis I thought it was going to be a thriller-chiller action packed novel, and that is why I picked it up. I was like, yes! A murder mystery! I'm not saying this isn't a murder mystery, because it is. All I'm saying is that I expected it to be A MURDER MYSTERY. Now, you're probably like, Sarah has gone nuts. Well, yes, I have gone nuts, actually, but that's not the point. Since this was a murder mystery, I expected it to be running from the crazy killer, adrenaline filled scenes. Nope. I actually thought that the whole point of this book wasn't even the mystery, it was a 15 year old girl falling in love with a guy. And we all know how much I love romance. (If you did not get that right then was sarcasm you are now allowed to slap your own forehead.)

The second problem with this book was that I had heard it all before. I mean, seriously. Forbidden romance. Love triangle. Commoner loves noble. Does that sound familiar? Love triangles are everywhere, and forbidden romance? Twilight. Matched. Delirium. Take your pick. And of course every where we look it is princess and the pauper. Fine, I will say that this book was unique because it combined murder and love, which is not a common combination. But Falco, most of all, bugged me because he was such a suck up Romeo. He was constantly telling Cass how beautiful she was.  And flirting with her. I hate characters like that who go after women by hitting on them. So, Falco was my half problem of the two and a half problems with this book. Basically, I was rooting for Luca the whole book even though we didn't meet him until almost the very end.

Examples of Falco's attempt at charm:

“I know you want this as much as I do," he said. "You aren't going to report me. And even if you did, I'm inclined to think a night with you might well be worth imprisonment.”  

“Come on," Falco said. "I'll see you safely home to your fancy sheets. I'd say you need your beauty sleep, but it looks like you've been getting plenty.”

Yes, I know what you are thinking, my favorite quote was one of those attempts at charm. But I laughed aloud at that one, and it still makes me laugh, and is therefore my favorite quote.

I am making this book sound terrible, but it was a pretty good read and  I enjoyed it. My favorite character was Luca, and I am very excited to learn more about him in Belladonna, which is coming out next month. This was an average read but it had some good parts and even though I was very disappointed that it wasn't a thriller, I think that it was okay in the end and the mystery still had some good twists. I just really hope that Falco never appears in the series ever again.

Overall Review: 3 stars

Cautions for Parents: There are murders in this book, and some scenes that might be a little scary for some younger children. The kissing scenes are intense sometimes.

After the Fear

Book Title: After the Fear
Author: Rosanne Rivers
Number of Pages: 314
Genres: Romance, Action, Dystopian
Books like it: Hunger Games, Legend
My favorite quote:

"No one ever told me that in order to ignore someone, you had to be painfully aware of everything they are doing all the time."

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
You have not attended a Demonstration this month.

In Sola’s city, everyone obeys the rules. Stay away from the trigger cameras and regularly update your Debtbook, and you just might survive. But having to watch the way criminals are dealt with—murdered by Demonstrators in the Stadium—is a law Sola tries to avoid. When a charming Demonstrator kisses her at a party, however, she’s thrust into the Stadium and forced into the very role she despises.

Armed with only natural resourcefulness and a caring nature, Sola narrowly survives her first bout. Her small success means she’s whisked off to a training camp, where she discovers a world beyond the trigger cameras and monitoring—a world where falling in love with a killer doesn’t seem so terrible.

Yet life as a Demonstrator has no peace. Sola must train her way through twenty-five more Demonstrations before she can return home to her father. At the end of each battle, only one survivor remains.

Sola could face anyone in the Stadium . . . even a loved one.



My Summary: When I read the synopsis on the back of this book (see above) I thought, great, this is going to be another wannabe Hunger Games. But, if you will keep reading this review, it was not at all like Hunger Games! The plot was similar, but After the Fear had its own writing style and I felt that it was very unique. I loved the heroine, Sola, and also the gorgeous Irish Demonstrator, Dylan. Get ready for this review of an amazing book!

In Sola's world, the country is in great debt to other countries. To help pay off the debt, the country hosts Demonstrations where Demonstrators battle and kill criminals and traitors to the country. To become a Demonstrator, you are selected to "pay your debt to your country" and sent to the arena. There, the group of people who have been selected are split into a blue group and a red group. The game ends when every single member of one team is dead, and the survivors on the other team become Demonstrators and must go on a Tour, going throughout stadiums and killing the people they are thrown into the arena with until the Final Demonstration.

Sola has always obeyed the rules. Stayed in the shadows, kept her head down, and gone to watch the Demonstrations. But when she attends a party and kisses a handsome Demonstrator, she is caught and condemned, or "selected" to pay her debt for her country. When Sola survives, she is made a Demonstrator and must go from arena to arena, killing people she doesn't even know in order to survive. Much to her shock, when she arrives to the training camp, the Demonstrator she kissed, named Dylan, is her instructor.

Sola starts having problems when she keeps fainting in the arena. She doesn't know why, only that as soon as she steps through those doors, her knees buckle. She is also the only one who refuses to use a gun. As she discovers secrets about her society, her life is on the line. And although she can't stop falling in love with Dylan, he has interests in another girl and is constantly getting angry at her for reasons she can't figure out.

Between killing in the arena and trying to figure out her feelings for the boy who dragged her into it, Sola must survive the fights, and the dark truths of her world.

This book was intense, and I loved Sola. She was one of those heroines that just amaze the reader.
You will not want to ever put this book down until you have finished the last page.

I've learned that being afraid of something does not stop it from happening.

I fell in love with Dylan. Just kidding. But I did love his character, mysterious and a lot to learn. And of course, he was supposed to be handsome and he has a cute accent. Plus, throughout the book he has just a touch of sarcastic humor, which is always refreshing.

"Well." The leaves rustle once more. The trampoline dips slightly. Risking a glimpse over, I see he's leaning both elbows on the surface, palms cupping his face. "I saw you jumping around with all those leaves and I thought you were being attacked by some sort of bush monster."

In conclusion, this was one of the best dystopian novels I have read in months. It is intensely and painfully suspenseful and page turning. I was pleased that it was stuffed full of so much action. But, for all the girls out there into the romancey Chick-Lit, this definitely had some gooey romantic relationship stuff. I would recommend it to anyone who likes anything, and I would like to say thanks to all the people who recommended it to me. Put this near the top, if not on top of your TBR list.

Pros: I basically just listed a whole bunch above, but I will give you some short sentence information. Action-packed. Great plot and character development. Humor. Suspense. Betrayal. Surprises. Cliffhangers. Romance. Twists and turns. Uniqueness. And thank heavens that there was NOT a love triangle. I am getting so sick of those, authors! They are getting cheesier and worse with every book. And they are in every freaking book! Except for this one, which was a relief! Anyway, I could write the whole book down in this section as a pro because that's how good the book was. It is definitely a wonderful read for Hunger Games and dystopia fans.

Cons: As far as I know, I am pretty sure there is not going to be a sequel. Huge disappointment! Ugh. Well, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. Also, I would have liked some more info about some certain things in the society.... but whatever, I guess.

Overall Review: 5 stars.

Cautions for parents: I said I was going to start doing this but I keep forgetting to..... parents there are some scenes where brief language is used, but that is pretty much it. I would say ages ten and up can read this book. It is clean as far as "adult" scenes and very foul language. Since they do fight in the arena there are a couple scenes of violence, but nothing too descriptive.

Beautiful Darkness

Book Title: Beautiful Darkness
Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Sohtl
Genres: Fantasy, Witchcraft, Romance
Books like it: Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Redemption
Favorite Quote: “I had never been this mad at her before. It was one thing to be attacked by someone you hated, but this was something else. This was the kind of hurt that could only be inflicted by someone you loved, who you thought loved you. It was sort of like being stabbed from the inside out.”  

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

 Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

My Summary:

My Review for Beautiful Creatures was one of those really short reviews from the past, so I hope that this post is a lot better and a lot more detailed. The truth is, I bought this book for only two dollars on the Kindle Daily Deal! It was amazing and I loved Beautiful Darkness, although it was not (in my opinion) as good as Beautiful Creatures. If this review is kind of lacking in detail I apologize because I read this book in January and keep forgetting to do it, so I am going off of memory here.

The main problem in this book is DEPRESSION. Of course, Lena is devastated by the death of her Uncle Macon. Ethan still does not know that his life was traded in exchange for Macon's, but he does know that Macon died and it is pulling Lena forever away from him. When Lena starts to withdraw, and keep secrets, Ethan is worried about her. And when he keeps finding her with another boy, he wonders if her love is lost. When Lena gives him the devastating news that she is leaving, Ethan watches his life slowly fade. And to top it all off, he is having odd hallucinations that only he can see. The second book in the Caster Chronicles is intriguing and will definitely delight the readers of Beautiful Creatures.


I must say, in the beginning of this book, I was like, why did I pick up this book? And then I got to the finale and I wanted to slap myself! Why did I ever doubt these authors? Push through the first hundred or so pages! You can make it!

Ridley is definitely my all time favorite character. Yes, I know she was one of the main villains. I don't care, she is such an amazing bad girl! I was excited when she became one of the main characters in this book. Also, some new characters were introduced, including a girl named Olivia, a boy named John, and a cat named Lucille. I loved Olivia, or "Liv," as she prefers to be called. She was an awesome British nerd girl (and everyone knows that I love British nerds, you just have to watch Doctor Who). John is a very interesting twist, but I will not spoil anything about him. And the cat was an amazing cat.

Pros: This was an okay and average book. It had some twists and turns and new surprises.
Cons: This book was nowhere near as good as Beautiful Creatures. I think it is always disappointing when books do not get better as the series progresses.

Review: 3 stars

Uglies

Book Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfield
Number of Pages: 425
Genre: Dystopian
Books like it: Pretties, Specials, Extras
My favorite quote:
“What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.”
Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.


My Summary:
Well, to all of the Uglies fans out there, I am sorry for this awful review, but I just did not connect with it, and in the next few paragraphs I will tell you why. This was such an awesome idea and it could've been awesome if the author had not totally ruined it.

This book is about a girl named Tally who lives in Uglyville. Her dream, {like ours nowdays is to be rescued by a dashing knight in shining armor} is to be pretty, like all those in Prettyville. In her dystopian world, their society has brainwashed everyone into thinking they are plain old ugly. So when everyone turns 16, they get this surgery that makes them breathtakingly beautiful, "Pretties," who then get to live in Prettyville, a village full of parties and fun and laughter, a dream come true to all the Uglies.

As Tally is reaching her sixteenth birthday, and excited to finally be a Pretty, she meets a new girl named Shay. Shay does not want to be Pretty, and insists that Tally is beautiful, and that the society {aka the Specials} has brainwashed her into thinking she is ugly. She teaches Tally that breaking the rules is fun, and also how to ride a hoverboard. Tally loves her new friend and is thrilled to know that Shay has the same birthday as her so they can turn Pretty on the same day.

However, Shay has different ideas. She tells Tally about the Smoke, a place where people can escape the operation and live by their own standards and rules. She tells Tally that she is running away to the Smoke and wants Tally to come with her. However, Tally can not bear the thought of being ugly forever, so she refuses. When Shay goes missing, the Specials confront her and tell her that if she does not agree to find Shay and betray her, they will never make her Pretty. Tally has a choice to make: Betray her best friend or stay ugly forever.

I know, this book sounds amazing, right? I wish it were so. And those of you who liked Uglies, hurrah for you, and I am glad that it worked for you, but I am a book reviewer, and not every book out there is perfect. Uglies had many , many problems.

First off, my biggest problem with it was the romance. In the middle of the book, these two characters meet and about twenty pages later they are kissing! I was like, dude! WHOA! How about taking it slow? I usually am okay with romance but this one was terrible! I did not even feel like they were in love. The boy told the girl the aforementioned quote, and it was really weird. I felt like we were thrust into this romance that there was no buildup to, and the boy drove me crazy! There was absolutely no development of his character, he was just like a whisper in the wind, so bland and monotone. I didn't understand him at all.

And Tally, the main character. She had a multiple personality disorder. I felt like she was changing people over and over and OVER! Do I want to be pretty, do I want to be ugly, do I want to do this blah blah blah blah. I think she was not that well developed either. Shay was the only character that I liked, or had any personality.

I really had to push through the first hundred or so pages of this book. It was like going to a play and watching the start where they have to explain everything, and it was SO BORING! There was no action in those first hundred pages, either. There were just so many things wrong with this book and I really did not like it. Sorry to all the Ugly fans and sorry to all readers.

This blog is for telling the truth. I praise the good books and tear down the bad ones.
Maybe this book will work for you.
I hope it does.

Review: 2 stars {Although there was no foul language in this book.}

The Fault In Our Stars

Book Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Number of Pages: 313
Genres: Romance
Books like it: This is a uniquely wonderful book and I refuse to compare it to any other book.
My favorite quote: There are so many! One of them is a picture (below to the right) and here is another one that I hope does not spoil anything:

"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”  

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

My Summary:

This post is being written mere seconds after finishing the Fault in Our Stars. I don't know what to say. My thoughts are stars which I cannot fathom into constellations. At first, when I was reading this book, I could not see why it was the Young Adult winner for 2012. But as I reached the last few hundred pages, I knew, oh, how I knew. You cannot put this book down, nothing else in life is worth doing until you read the very last words on the very last page. I read this book in two hours, which is indeed a record time for me. Another thing about this book, it made me cry. Not in an emotional sense, real actual tears. It is the only book in my entire reading experience that I have cried, and the words have blurred on the page. This book reveals the beautiful, tragic truths of life. And I loved every word of it, although I want to ask Mr. Green, why? WHY?

A small side note, none of the photos on this post are actually mine.




This might possibly be the longest post in the history of our posts. But you know what? If you have not read TFIOS, please plow through this. It will have absolutely no spoilers unless you hate quotes and you have to KNOW about this book. Please!

While surfing the internet of other reviews on our friend Goodreads, I actually found a very long and detailed review about how terrible this book was. Can you imagine that? Well, I suppose one could find fault in amazingness. The only thing in this book I really disliked was the SWEARING! Call me a goody-two shoes if you want to, but I absolutely HATE dirty language. You don't need to ruin a piece of literature with crude words. Ten pages toward the end, it dropped the f-bomb. I was ready to cry, like, really John Green? You just lowered my respect for that character.

Well anyway I do suspect that you want to know what this is all about, eh? Why is this book so popular? This book is gut-wrenching, and there is a sense of desperation because Hazel, the main character, is dying. And there is something that lures the human mind when there are two people in love and one of them is dying. It is cruel, and it is sad, but it is real life.

 Some of you are probably wondering right about now if this review is going to be longer than the actual book, but I promise you I am getting over the ranting and into the summarizing. Here it is, my official, heartfelt summary of the Fault in Our Stars:

The Fault in Our Stars is about a girl named Hazel who is past her deadline for life, by two or three years. She carries around a oxygen tank, and is ready to give up on life. Until she meets a boy at her Cancer Support Group. He is gorgeous, funny, and much to her surprise, interested in her. As she gets to know him better, she learns that cancer is not the ending of her story, it is only the beginning.

Hazel knows she is hanging on to life, but her one lifelong dream is to meet the author of her favorite book, An Imperial Affection, whose words she felt described her life. But at the ending of the book, it ends midsentence. Hazel assumes, since the girl in the book had cancer, that she died. But she desperately wants to know how the rest of the book goes on, and the only way she can know that is to meet the author in person.

When she was ready to give up, and she thought her life was over, Augustus Waters showed her that in reality, her life was just starting, full of endless possibilities she never dreamed could happen to her. Green spins a breathtaking tale of love, hope, and meaning in this novel about life.

This was the first book I ever read by John Green, and I must say, I HAVE TO READ MORE!! I loved his characters, and although Hazel was charming, I found Augustus quite funny.

"How about I call you when I finish this?"
"But you don't even have my phone number," he said.
"I strongly suspect you wrote it in the book."
He broke out into that goofy smile. "And you say we don't know each other."


 


 So, I have decided to do this new thing with my reviews where I tell parents who are concerned about what their kids are reading the cautions of each book.

Cautions for Fault in Our Stars:

Some language, including the f-word
Some puking scenes as one side effect of the cancer
Briefly described "safe sex" (it really only says that they get into bed, but still)


In conclusion  to this very long review, I would like to say that this book screwed up my emotions forever. Not really, but it did take me on and I quote "a rollercoaster that only goes up, my friend." If you read this book, bring a box of tissues. And your favorite teddy bear. And although this book was really sad, but maybe not in the way you might think, the writing was beautifully brilliant .And I loved it.

I just did basically all the pros and cons in the writing above, and since you are getting tired of this review, I will just say, this definitely deserves five stars.

XOXO

Sarah

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Title: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Author: Jessica Day George
Number of Pages: 336
Genres: Romance, Fairytale Retellings
Books like it: The Rose Daughter, Beauty, Kissed
My favorite quote: “Love’? What do you know about love?”
"It’s at the heart of every story,” Rollo said with authority. “If humans could avoid falling in love, you would never get yourselves into any trouble.”

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servants. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess. 
 (cont) When a great white bear promises untold riches to her family, the Lass (as she's known) agrees to go away with him. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle. To unravel the mystery, the Lass sets out on a windswept journey beyond the edge of the world. Based on the Nordic legend East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with romantic echoes of Beauty and the Beast, this re-imagined story will leave fans of fantasy and fairytale enchanted.


My Summary:

One of my favorite genres of the bookish world is fairytale retellings. The first books that I ever read as a kid were the brothers Grimm. I fell in love with their stories and grew up loving fairytales of any kind. My absolute favorite fairytale has always been Beauty and the Beast. So, naturally, since this book was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I liked it for the most part. It apparently was also based on a Nordic legend, which I have never read and will have to hunt down on my kindle. Although this was an odd version of Beauty and the Beast, I could see the similarities.

In a land far away, a cold and harsh winter has stretched on for more than a hundred years. There lives a girl called the Lass, for she was the unwanted ninth child of a poor family, and her mother will not give her a name. Her oldest brother, Hans Peter returned from the sea so many years ago, but he is different. Changed, and sad. The Lass knows that he has a secret, too dark and cursed to speak aloud.

The Lass's life changes forever when a white bear, called an isbjorn, shows up at her doorstep and claims he will not harm her or her family if she will come live with him for one year and one day in a castle of ice. In return, he will give her family wealth beyond imagination. The Lass accepts and goes to live with the strange creature in the palace of ice. She finds that it has many deadly secrets, and as she falls deeper in love with the isbjorn, she discovers he is a prince who was cursed by an evil queen (of course). Can she save him before it is too late and she looses him forever?

Okay, so another big part of this book is the Lass's "gift." When she is young, she frees an enchanted deer and he grants her one wish. He gives her a name and kisses her forehead, which, as it turns out, gives her the gift to speak and understand the animals. There is a wolf named Rollo who is her pet and a big part of the story line.

In the very back of the book, there is a glossary on how to pronounce the names in the book. I suggest that if you read this book, go to the glossary when you reach a complicated looking name so you are not pronouncing it wrong the entire time. For example, Erasmus is pronounced er-az-mus.

Pros: This book had a sort of poetic flow and I liked the sense of storytelling in it. If you want more pros, I basically just listed them in the paragraphs above. Another pro is that you can read this story to little kids, like a chapter at a time just before bed or something.

Cons: I have read all of Jessica Day George's work, and it is cruel but the truth to say that this book is my least favorite that she has written. The reason that I could not give a very lengthy review for this one is because the start of the book drags on, and to tell the interesting parts would literally give away the ending. I was not totally interested until page 199, and until you get to that point everything is a slow drag. Page 200 and on for the rest of the book is pretty good, so just push through the start and you will be fine. So, true that this does have a lot of similarities to Beauty and the Beast and the tale West of Moon East of Sun, (which by the way, I did read while researching for this review) it is not the best fairytale retelling that I have ever read.

Review: 3 stars

Goddess Interrupted

Book Title: Goddess Interrupted
Author: Aimee Carter
Number of Pages: 304
Genre(s): Romance, Greek Mythology
Books like it: Arise, Dreamless, Of Poseidon
My favorite quote: "Being brave doesn't mean never being afraid, you know. It means going for it anyway because you know it is the right thing to do. "
Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

Kate Winters has won immortality.
But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.
Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.
As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.
Henry's first wife, Persephone.





My summary:

Kate Winters was ready for this, to be queen of the Underworld. She was ready to love Henry and have the life with him. However, Henry seems to be pulling away from her, and when her coronation is interrupted by a monster her life changes forever. That monster is the only thing that is strong enough to kill gods:
Cronus, the king of the Titans. When Henry and his brothers are captured, the others want to avoid the monster so they cannot also be caught. So it is up to Kate to find Henry, and there is only one person who knows where he will be.
Persephone.

Now Kate must try to work together with her sister to save Henry before it is too late. With her sister returning, Kate might not be the one fighting hard enough to win Henry's affections. She can save his life, but maybe not his love for her.

Persephone was one of those characters I automatically knew was going to be evil, you know? And I am all for Kate and Henry, but that girl was getting in the way. Henry still has feelings for her, and A LOT of them. Kate fears that she will always just be her sister's replacement in life.

Is it going to be like this forever? Tell me now. Save me the misery if you are never going to look at me the way you look at her.

That very statement was heartbreaking. And then, of course, when Kate went to rescue Henry, he had to make things WORSE:

Instead of looking at me, however, his gaze focused on something behind me, and his jaw went slack. “Persephone?”
I would have rather been sliced open by Cronus than experience the gut-wrenching pain that came with hearing her name before mine.

Also, I know that Cronus is supposed to be the really bad, evil titan villain, but I actually felt more threatened by Calliope. She is one vengeful gal, let me tell you. She will stop at nothing until Kate's heart is broken and Henry no longer loves her. Can I say something about the ending right now? It is such a cliffhanger that you should not start reading this book unless you have the third book waiting on your shelf to be read. Otherwise you will go crazy.

In conclusion, this book was better than the Goddess Test. Yes, better. It would seem worse, Henry's first wife coming back and an evil Titan waking up, but to tell you the truth, I kind of like having the characters in pain. That sounds really sadistic, but if everything in a book was happy, happy, happy, I would never read it. I could never keep going to see if my worries can be soothed.

Pros: This book had a lot of cliffhangers and a lot of scenes where, after telling yourself a million times, "I am going to go eat food. I am going to do something useful with my life," food and having a useful day does not seem appealing until you have read all 304 pages of this beautiful, terribly awful book. In translation: Bring some food into your room before picking this book up.'

Cons: This book broke my heart. A lot. And I think that it gave me stress. And depression. But luckily for me, there is an antidote for broken hearts, stress, and depression.
Chocolate, here I come.

Review: 5 stars