Read and Reviewed

3.5/5 stars.This book starts off with a bang - literally - when the main character, Janelle, is hit by a truck and dies. The strange thing, though, is that she wakes up, with a classmate - Ben Michaels - leaning over her telling her she'll be all right. Janelle knows that Ben brought her back to life, but can't figure out what that means. Meanwhile, her FBI agent father is working on a case where badly burned bodies are appearing out of nowhere, and a countdown has appeared, ticking down to some unknown conclusion. Things come to a head when someone Janelle cares for is killed, and it becomes a race to stop the countdown and save everyone's lives.Janelle is a girl with some very serious problems (dying and being brought back to life only one of them): her mother is mentally ill, her father surrounds himself in work and is rarely home, and the parenting and care of her younger brother, Jared, has fallen solely on her. She's also dealing with some personal things, namely the aftermath of a traumatic experience while at a party a couple of years prior. Ben - the boy who saves her - had never even been on her radar until she saw him leaning over her; she'd taken him at face value and assumed he was your typical stoner loser. But after he saves her, she can't help but be drawn to him, namely because she wants to know exactly what he did to her - at least at first - but their relationship starts to grow from the get-go.I found myself really engaged with Janelle's narrative. The book is told in present tense, which is really the only way an "it's the end of the world" book can be written, especially one that incorporates the countdown into the beginning of each chapter. There was an urgency in the narrative, the frantic-ness (that's totally not a word, but bear with me) of the characters thoughts and actions setting the pace and making this a very hard book to stop reading. I was literally drawn in from the very first page. I also adored the slow-burning romance that builds between Ben and Janelle, even while everything else is spinning out of control and more and more is discovered about Ben and his abilities and how everything comes together. While you have the initial fascination of Janelle with Ben, there isn't any "insta-love"; they slowly start talking, spending time together, and becoming friends before anything romantic really happens.I do, however, have a couple of complaints. First off, I have an avid dislike of the phrase, "I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding," and it happens five times in this book. And yes, I noticed it all five times. This is totally just a personal preference/annoyance, but MAN did it pull me out of the narrative. Also, the author utilized flashbacks to talk about various things that Janelle was thinking about. When she's lying there dead, she gets one of those "life flashes before her eyes" occurrences, in which she sees a number of things. All of those crop up again throughout the book, with her flashing back to experience them again. We also have actual flashbacks, like to Halloween when she was ten, or to that party where something happened to her, etc. Some of the times it worked all right, but other times it was really disruptive to the narrative and flow of the story. I wish the author had done less of these, or found some other place to insert them, particularly when it got to the end of the book and everything was coming together fast and furious. But that was really my only complaint: as far as the plot and suspense and all of that, this book was really well done.And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the ending, which broke my heart a bit. I am not going to elaborate as I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but, yes. Sad. I read that the author is writing a sequel, though, so that's good news for me. Perhaps some of that sadness will be alleviated in the next installment.I do want to point out that this book does contain a fair bit of profanity, which is tossed around seemingly without thought. Just a heads up if that sort of thing bothers you.If you're a fan of suspenseful and action-packed writing, and an engaging main character who is strong but still fragile and trying to handle entirely too much, then check this book out. I definitely recommend it.An e-galley was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

When Haven Terra and two of her classmates (one of which is her best friend, Dante) are chosen for a prestigious internship at a beautifully restored hotel in downtown Chicago, she's hardly sure what to think. Upon arrival, she's instantly surrounded by the most beautiful, talented people, once of which - Lucian - instantly captures her attention. When he starts to return her interest, at first she can hardly believe her luck. But it soon becomes apparent that there's more going on at that hotel than meets the eye, and Haven finds herself thrust right in the middle of a battle between good and evil. Along the way she discovers truths about herself, and, with the help of a magical book, must find a way to bring everyone at the hotel down.Let me start this review by stating (perhaps) the obvious: this is a very long book. At 519 pages, it was a really hefty tomb to carry around and read. There were portions of the book - particularly the monotony of the daily internship duties - that became tedious and rather slow-moving. Haven, also, is one of those girls who is very book smart but perhaps not so wise in the common sense department. But nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book a lot. I found Haven a really fun narrator (occasional stupidity aside) and liked watching through her eyes as she slowly became more and more confident in herself. Haven has some physical flaws that she really focuses on throughout the first portion of this book, to the point where she dresses to hide them and is very very ashamed of them. But at the end, she kind of realizes that they're not a big deal, and accepts them and just deals with them in a way that I found really refreshing. One thing I will say is that, for someone who calls herself a "tomboy", she sure pays a lot of attention to what others are wearing. Maybe this is because of the gay best friend, Dante, who is always taking her shopping, but I found it a little odd that someone who professes she doesn't care about clothes pays so much attention to them.This book uses some of the old Chicago history of Capone and his gangsters to build the world of the hotel, and I found all of the little tidbits and secret passages very interesting to read about. There is a lot of dialogue in this book, not only when Haven and others are speaking, but dialogue is the way Haven discovers what's truly going on at the hotel; she's listening, not actively doing anything herself. While I mentioned that the specifics of Haven's tasks became a bit tedious, I actually enjoyed the look at what exactly an internship requires, and the little daily tasks that Haven and Lance had to deal with every day, on top of trying to figure out what to do about the overarching problem of the Great Evil brewing. I probably didn't mind it as much, though, because of the growing friendship between Lance and Haven, which really progressed on their daily trips into the city to take care of hotel business. One thing that made me eye roll a bit is that, again, Haven is supposed to be book smart, but she instantly starts listening to this magical book that somehow found her and keeps showing up in her line of sight when she's trying to ignore it. Perhaps it's the Harry Potter fan in me, but I am instantly leery of books that talk to the main characters and don't actually provide any concrete advice or help. I was surprised with how Haven just instantly starts trusting it and following its instructions, especially considering where she is, in a hotel where there are truly treacherous and untrustworthy people. Anyone could have been writing to her, especially since the tasks it sets for her are inherently dangerous and place her in harms way multiple times. But she just continues to blindly follow, without any true attempt to ignore it.I could tell that this book had something to do with angels from the cover (and the series name), and that's what initially drew me to check it out. I am always looking for a book that handles the subjects of angels in a unique way, and this one was pretty satisfying on that front. I was a bit surprised that it took Haven so long to figure it out (see above re: the lack of common sense at times), but that could have been, again, because I already knew going in. I hope we get to see more of the angel lore (and its demonic counterpart) as the series progresses.Illuminate is probably not for everyone; the action is a bit slow-moving and much of the book is taken up with mundane daily work tasks and other various types of repetition, like Haven's evening exercise runs. Much of the plot is relayed through eavesdropping, and Haven doesn't actually start DOING anything re: Aurelia and her staff until close to the end, so it's not exactly action-packed. But there was still a quality to it - I did really enjoy the author's way of wording things, and her style - that made me unable to stop reading. Even with the slow parts, I just really enjoyed this story, and am glad I read it. I look forward to seeing what happens to Haven and the others in the next installments.

It's 1293 in North Wales, and Cecily D'Edgeley's sure her life is over. Her father has just uprooted them and moved them to Caernarvon, Wales, where she's sure she'll never meet a proper suitor or certainly be attacked by the barbarian Welshmen. Meanwhile, Gwenhwyfar is struggling just to survive, and has found work as a maid in the house she should be the lady of, had the English not taken everything from them. The two girls' lives collide when Cecily and her father move into the house where Gwenhwyfar works. But life is only really good in Caernarvon if you're English, and things have about reached their breaking point.First off, I want to say that I really enjoyed this book, although parts of it were difficult for me to read. Cecily is perhaps one of the most unlikable main characters I have ever read. While her internal monologues are pretty funny, particularly her thoughts about the upper echelon of the Caernarvon population, she was really a very mean, spiteful girl who is very concerned with material things, at least for the majority of this book. There were times when I'd start to feel sympathetic towards her and then she'd do something that would totally change my mind. She was particularly cruel to Gwen's brother for no other reason than a perceived slight which wasn't really serious at all. And then she would do these things for Gwen herself, but always with ulterior motives. I just found her really hard to take, and had to set the book aside for periods of time because her behavior was so off-putting.I did like the way that the book switched points of view between Cecily and Gwen, as it allowed you to see the severe differences in how they were living. I was more sympathetic towards Gwen because of the sheer poverty and difficulties her daily life gave her, but she, too, was hard to read at times because she was filled with so much rage and bitterness. She's pretty vengeful in her own right, but I was able to tolerate it more because it seemed like her actions were completely justified. I just felt really sad for her throughout, with having to deal with supporting her ill mother and trying to keep herself and her brother from starving when it was so hard for them to find food. This is not to say that I agreed with all of her actions, because I didn't, but I definitely found her to be the more sympathetic narrator.There are tons of historical details in this book that seemed completely true to the time. The prose and the way the characters thought and talked was perfect for the period they were living in. All the details of the walled-in city and the poverty of the Welsh was just really well done and helped set the tone and helped pull the reader into the book. I do want to warn that this is violence, particularly at the end, and it's pretty in your face and not watered down. I am not a fan of violence for violence's sake, but that's not at all what was going on here. Again, it was true to the time and helped accurately express what life was really like in Caernarvon during the English rule and the Welsh revolt. Just go into this knowing that portions of this book are quite dark.All in all this was a really engrossing read that completely captivated me. I started it yesterday morning and, after brief periods of putting it down due to Cecily's brattiness (Gwen calls her "the Brat" through most of this book and she's totally right), finished it at 12:31am. I just didn't want to stop reading until I could see how everything was going to turn out. Be forewarned that the character study is more the point of this book, though: it's not non-stop action by any means, and nothing significant really "happens" until almost the end. But the evolution of Cecily and Gwen and the ways their lives intertwined and the twists and turns of their own personal stories were definitely engaging enough to keep me interested. If you like well-researched, solid historical YA books, then do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I don't think you'll regret it.An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Kingdom Keepers are back, this time set to join the launch of the Disney Dream, the newest edition of their cruise line. But all is not right: a journal that belonged to the Disney Imagineers has been stolen by the Overtakers, and more and more teens have joined the ranks of the villains. Finn and the others know that the Dream is the perfect place for the Overtakers to spring a trap, and know that they are sitting ducks. It's a shell game: who can you trust when no one seems trustworthy?First of all, I have loved this series from the very first book, but felt like the last two (including this one) have been a bit of an editing disaster. This book is very long for the age range it's targeted at, and I feel like it's turning Harry Potter-esque in that respect: each book is getting longer and longer and the story seems less tight and concise. Truthfully this book was a bit of a mess; there were typos, lines of dialogue that didn't match up with the speaker, and occurrences where the Kingdom Keepers were in DHI form when they weren't supposed to be, rendering their actions impossible since they were actually in human form. Add to that the addition of new characters, points of view shifting from paragraph to paragraph, and the whole thing was a bit difficult to read and follow at times.That being said, this definitely continues the overarching story line of these five Kingdom Keepers - only freshman in high school - trying to save the Parks from the Disney villains. The stakes keep getting higher and higher, the risks they're taking more dangerous, and the problems they're facing more difficult to manage. This book also has a definite "cannot stop reading" feel to it, even if it does suffer at times from Non-Stop Action Syndrome, which I'm not always a fan of.As for the characters, we're definitely starting to see sides of them that aren't so great; each of them is dealing with changes in their lives, and their feelings for each other. You have watered-down versions of love triangles all over the place, which gets sort of tedious but also fits with this age group. I still really love Finn, but the others have grown on me throughout this book, although I am as annoyed with Philby in this installment as the characters in the book are. I also had qualms with two new editions to the villains: Jack Sparrow and Tia Dalma. I didn't view them as "villains" in the Pirates movie at all, so to see them in that role in the book was a little eyebrow-raising for me personally.This is the fifth of a planned seven books, and it ends with a cliffhanger although I am sure nothing terrible is going to happen to any of the main characters, particularly with the main narrator, so that diminishes its impact a bit, a least in my opinion, which won't be resolved until January of next year when book six is released. While I was disappointed with parts of this one, you can bet that I'll be reading the next installment; I just hope more attention is paid to the editing.

Before I start my review, let me first direct you to an online copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death, which was the inspiration for this book. I had never read it, but it definitely adds a bit more to this book. Find the online version HERE.In a fictional land very reminiscent of New Orleans or Paris, set in a time period somewhere between Victorian and Edwardian Age, the plague has wiped out most of the population. Araby Worth spends all of her nights at the Debauchery Club, trying to forget the desperation and fear that surrounds her every day, and also tries to forget her guilt and loss over the death of her twin brother, Finn. While searching for Oblivion, she meets Will and Elliot, one a handsome aristocrat and the other a working-class club employee, both of whom make her feel things she swore she'd never feel. Caught up in a revolution, Araby finds herself torn between the two, while the world spins further and further out of control.And with that summary, you're probably thinking this is a typical YA paranormal romance, right? What with the love triangle, and the boys who make the girl feel something she's never felt before, yes? But this totally isn't your typical anything. First off, let me just say that the setting of this book is very dark. Imagine a world where humanity lives in constant fear of death by plague, where they wear masks to help keep out the contagion, where the Prince who rules over the city cares nothing for the people and isn't doing anything to make anyone's lives better. Araby is suffering horribly over the death of her brother, who died in her arms, and has sworn a vow to not experience anything Finn would miss out on. As such, she drowns her nights with Oblivion, a drug similar to heroin which is injected into the body. Make no mistake: this book is dark. There is drug use, implied sex, and minions of the Reverend Malcontent running amok killing and causing general mayhem. And there is that overwhelming despair that comes with the plague seeping through pretty much every sentence. As such, I would definitely recommend this book for older YAs rather than younger.But I really REALLY enjoyed this book. It sort of makes you think, and I found myself completely immersed in the story and setting. I wanted to know how things could possibly become better. I wanted to know how the characters would change and come together. And overall I just had trouble putting this book down. While the subject matter is dark, I was compelled by the characters and their stories. Araby was a wonderful narrator; her grief and guilt is palpable in places, and I just wanted so desperately for her to realize that she didn't need to punish herself for something that was NOT her fault. Elliot is arrogant but vulnerable at the same time, and really started to grow on me as the book went along. The character I felt the most compassion for, and enjoyed the most, however, was Will; I was really moved by the fact that he was trying to be the sole parent to his younger siblings, and desperately trying to do his best for them. Even with the twist at the end regarding him, my feelings didn't change, because I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing.Be forewarned, however, that this book very clearly sets itself up for the sequel. There are secrets revealed about several of the characters in this first book, but nothing is resolved in the general overarching plot of the plague and the new illness, aptly named the Red Death, or the fact that the evil Prince Prospero continues to rule over the city. I am definitely looking forward to the second book in this series, which is of course ironic, since this one hasn't even been released yet.Masque of the Red Death will be released in North America on April 24, 2012. I definitely recommend picking up a copy.An ARC of this title was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

When Sasha Bowlder jumps off a bridge in Ascension, Maine, it's the catalyst for several other horrible things. Em decides to get together with her best friend's boyfriend while her friend is out of town. Chase is dealing with the repercussions of his own actions. And both are about to realize that sometimes sorry isn't enough: for the Furies are watching both Chase and Em, and are about to dish out their own brand of punishment.So, this book. First off, I have a massive love affair with anything that uses Greek Mythology and sets it in the modern world, so I figured that this book would be right up my alley. And for the most part, I did enjoy it (hence the three stars). But there were some things that really bothered me, which I'm going to attempt to talk about in as nonspoilery a way as possible.First off, the book flips between Em and Chase's points of view. And I have to say that, for much of this book, Em drove me absolutely crazy. See, she decides to hook up with Zach, who is her best friend's boyfriend, and then proceeds to make excuses as to why this is okay. She justifies it to herself by saying things like Gabby (the best friend) is shallow and Zach deserves someone more grounded (like herself, of course). And she uses the "there's something serious between us!" thing, too, which there totally isn't. For much of the book, she sort of ignores the fact that she's being a really horrible friend. Em also has a best friend named JD who is clearly in love with her. But when he says things Em doesn't like (mostly about Zach), she throws tantrums and treats him like crap. Truthfully JD is a bit of a doormat, because he just takes it and ends up being the one to apologize for upsetting her. Em just isn't a very good person, and as such, it was hard to sympathize with her or relate to her in any way.And then there's Chase, who has clearly done SOMETHING because it is absolutely tearing him apart. Chase - for me - was the more sympathetic of the two, because he's basically just trying to fit in. He comes from a poor family, living with his mother in a trailer park outside town, but doesn't want the others to know his financial situation. He's the star quarterback of his football team, and has "friends". But he's also a pretty awful person himself, because he hooks up with random girls and generally treats them horribly. That being said, the fact that whatever he's done - and we don't find out what it is until almost the end of the book - is totally tearing him apart and making his life spiral out of control (and frankly he has to withstand the far more serious punishment) makes me feel bad for him. His story arc just made me really sad.Also, this book starts fairly slowly, and it takes a long time for the plot to come together. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a surprise for the reader to realize who the Furies are; if so, I'm sorry to say it's dead obvious from the start. There are also a lot of really terrible things going on in this book, from characters throwing around terms like "slut" and "faggot" (I HATE this word), from characters trying to hook up with slightly-drunk girls whose inhibitions have been lowered (they actually say this in the book), from drunk driving/texting while driving, etc. I'm not sure if this is really how teens act nowadays or not, but it definitely seemed over the top.Still, I'm interested enough to see what's going to happen next that I'm definitely going to read the second book. In particular, I want to see what Em's going to do next, and I'd like to see if the story line about Zach is going to materialize into something worthwhile (because while Em is punished for hooking up with Zach, absolutely NOTHING happens to Zach himself, even though he's been cheating on Gabby from the start with a variety of girls). If not, I will be extremely disappointed, because he is by far the character who is the crappiest human being, at least in my opinion.Anyway, this book could have been loads better, but the plot itself is interesting enough to keep me reading. I just wish I knew why on earth the Furies would choose to punish people in this small town in Maine. Surely there are others more deserving of their wrath.

This was a really great collection of stories that are not only suitable for telling aloud but also for sharing with students or your own children. I particularly appreciated the author's little notes at the end of each story which summed up his thoughts on each tale, and also how well he cited the culture/country the story came from, and gave credit if he took them from another teller. I liked many of them quite a lot, but it would be too tedious to list them all by title. If you want a great collection of tales that really appreciate age and the wisdom that comes with getting older, this is a good book for you to pick up.

EDIT: Jessica Warman has written a little spin-off of this book that's posted on her blog. If you're curious about what happened to Richie post-Liz, check it out here.

Liz Valchar is one of those annoyingly beautiful, popular and perfect girls you meet in high school. However, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, when she and her equally popular and good-looking friends are partying it up on her father's boat (which is named after her, of course), Liz is roused from her sleep by a thumping sound that irritates her so much she gets up to see what it is, and is completely shocked when she finds her own body face down in the water, dead. Soon after, she meets Alex, a schoolmate (but not a friend) who was killed the previous year in a mysterious hit-and-run accident, and the two of them set out to discover the truth behind Liz's death. How did she die? Who is responsible? Throughout it all, Liz must come to terms with the fact that she really wasn't as perfect as she wanted everyone to believe.

This book grabbed me from the get-go, especially once Liz sees her own body in the water. Liz is not a nice girl: there are several instances throughout this book where we get to see just how awful she really was. And then there's Alex, whom Liz doesn't like, mostly because he was a "nobody" in school: poor, nerdy, and a loner. I especially liked how he stood up to her in death (in a way he never could have in life) and made her realize exactly what type of person she was. I liked their growing relationship, as Liz had to come to terms with not only her death, but having to spend this "between" stage with someone she treated horribly in life. This was very much a coming of age book, in that Liz has a lot of growing up to do in order to figure out what exactly happened to her that night on the boat.

I do want to point out that Liz is suffering from anorexia in this book, though, and the scenes when she's talking about calorie intake or her nonstop need for control might be triggering for people who are suffering from the disease, so just a heads-up regarding that bit of the story. Also, it was really nice to see a stand-alone book! So much of what's released nowadays are series books that it was great to see a title that managed an entire plot arc in one volume.

There were lots of twists and turns in this story; I was constantly guessing about what had happened, and who was responsible, and why Liz died in the first place. The pacing and writing in this book were really first-rate; there was never a moment where things slowed down or lulled, but at the same time it wasn't non-stop, can't catch my breath action, either. Once I hit the midway point I simply didn't want to stop reading until everything was figured out. It was gripping and intense, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Cora Alexander's life is forever changed when she falls into a sinkhole during her father's funeral and lands in the Underworld still alive. This, of course, upsets the balance of the Underworld and the rule of Minos and the judges, who control the realm with an iron fist and have turned it into a computer-generated world full of shades. With the help of her untrustworthy guide, Minotaur, Cora must journey through the realm to find a way to return to the world above.

That is the book in a nutshell, although I left a lot of stuff out (read the summary here on Goodreads if you want the full version). This book was strangely incomplete; there is no wrap-up of the story line and the book ends on what could be called a cliffhanger if I cared enough to be interested in the next installment. I felt like Cora is a very flat character; she does things, and occasionally provides a teeny bit of insight into why she's doing them, but we don't really get to know her very well at all. I also felt like the book suffered from too many points of view: there are at least three that I can remember off the top of my head, and switching between the points of view (one of which is strangely in third person while everything else is in first) caused the story to lose momentum and made it kind of tedious to read. After a fast-paced start which grabbed my attention, the rest of the story just failed in comparison and I found myself really uninterested in how things would end. For me personally, this just wasn't a very well-constructed story. And that hurts me a bit to say that, because the summary was really promising. But there just wasn't any resolution to the plot, and I can't enjoy something that didn't have a point.

Also, a note on the e-galley version of this, there were some weird sentence breaks that made the reading experience even more annoying because I had to keep deciphering what the sentences were supposed to say. Here's an example: His arrival was merely the realization of destiny was entirely different through our gates. a prophecy. Cora's before she slipped. This makes absolutely NO sense, and what's supposed to be written was this: His arrival was merely the realization of a prophecy. Cora's destiny was entirely different before she slipped through our gates. Now this was a fairly easy one to figure out, but there were others where it literally took me a good minute to put the words back into their proper order in order to read them, which just further pulled me out of the story. Hopefully all of those issues have been found and fixed in the final version.

All in all this was a disappointing read for me. The characters were flat, there were too many points of view, and absolutely no resolution to the plot. I won't be reading the sequel.

The White Oak is now available in e-book format via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jacinda Jones is a draki - a descendant of dragons - and is the only draki in her pride to have the ability to breathe fire. This makes her something of a "hot" commodity (pardon the pun), but when she breaks one of the pride's rules, her mother, twin sister, Tamra, and Jacinda flee the pride to avoid the consequences of her actions. While trying to adjust to a completely human existence, she meets Will, a smoldering boy at her school, who makes her want to manifest into draki form. There's only one problem: Will is a hunter, the draki's main predator. Jacinda knows she should stay away from him, but soon realizes that this is impossible, as Will is the only thing keeping her draki from withering away and dying.So, this book. I read the synopsis and my initial reaction was, "Yay, something new that isn't angels/vampires/werewolves!" And then I saw the mixed reviews and thought, "Hmm, maybe I'll be one of those who loves this!" Oh, silly self. While this book isn't terrible, it reminded me pretty significantly of Twilight and Hush, Hush, which I've read more recently. And I don't say that as a compliment. Overall I found myself irritated with Jacinda, and only reading the latter half of this book just to finish it. Not what I wanted at all; to say this was a disappointment would succinctly sum up my thoughts.I'm not going to go on and on about what I didn't like, but here are a couple of brief summations: Jacinda was unbelievably indecisive. "I need to stay away from Will. I can keep my draki alive myself." Then on the next page, "I couldn't do this myself. I needed Will." Lather, rinse, repeat. Also, we have another case of insta-love, in that Will sees Jacinda in the hallway and is instantly interested. And Jacinda's been smitten with him since she first met him in her draki form. It was all a bit too much. Will is a bit of a stalker, too - he watches her from afar, visits her house late at night (and never mind that he convinced the school secretary to give him her address), picks her up unannounced for school one morning, etc. The one thing I will say about their relationship is that Sophie Jordan definitely knows how to write make-out scenes; Jacinda wasn't the only one bursting into flames at Will's touch. :-PThis entire book was one big, "I want to be with him but I CAAAAAAAAAAAN'T because we're ENEMIES, but I NEEEEEEEEED him and can't live withOUT him,"-fest and it got really irritating after a while. The only interesting bits were when when Cassian (who is the next alpha-in-line of the pride) showed up; he helped move the "plot" along, at least. But overall I was left with the impression that this book was a bit too long and far too heavy on the "forbidden love" theme. I would have liked to see more about the drakis and their world, instead of being thrust into a high school setting where the new girl gets the hot (and previously uninterested-in-dating) guy. I wanted more struggle for Jacinda to hold on to her draki ancestry, not an easy and sudden fix once she starts spending time with Will. I don't know. This book just really didn't do it for me.Also, there were a few lines that made me think immediately of Twilight, and I will share one of those: "He's an addictive drug to me that I can't quit." Hmm, sound familiar? As if we needed MORE to draw the comparisons between the stories.Anyway, to wrap this up, this wasn't a great book by any means. I found the main character irritating, the plot pretty formulaic and the surprises completely not. Portions of it were enjoyable, but the things I didn't like definitely outnumbered the things I did. Definitely not going to rush out to read the sequel.

When Gen is arrested for stealing the king's seal ring, his escape from the prison comes in an unlikely way: the magus, the king's scholar, needs Gen's help in retrieving a magical artifact from a neighboring (and unfriendly) land. Little does the magus know that not only is Gen a thief, but he's also far cleverer than people are giving him credit for.While initially slow to get started, this book turned into a really solid, well-written and enjoyable book. I don't have a lot to say, really, but here's my general thoughts: this book had lots of twists and turns, political intrigue, and engaging and fun characters (particularly the narrator, Gen). I have heard from many that the series gets better as it goes along, so I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the books.

3.5/5 stars.After her mother's sudden death, Arabella "Abbie" Sharp is brought to London to live with her grandmother. When it's decided that Abbie needs something to help her better appreciate her life of leisure, she's sent to volunteer at Whitechapel Hospital. Little does anyone know that Whitechapel is about to become a dangerous place: for it's 1888, and Jack the Ripper has just started his murdering spree....This was a thoroughly engrossing read, and a solid mystery. I enjoyed the author's take on Jack the Ripper; the whole time you're wondering who is responsible, when he'll strike again, and who will be his next victim. Abbie was a very headstrong girl, and I very much enjoyed reading this story from her point of view. There were some very unique things done with this story, especially in the way the author used Abbie's story to weave her idea of the Ripper and his crimes.I also enjoyed the secondary characters: William and Simon, the two doctors Abbie is drawn to, Sister Josephine, the stern but caring nurse, Mary, the Irish immigrant trying to find a better life for herself, etc. I felt like they were all fairly fleshed out, and I enjoyed the glimpses of their back stories, and Abbie's growing relationships with all of them.As for the dealings with Jack the Ripper, they were, quite frankly, really creepy at times, especially when Abbie finds herself in close proximity to them. I will say that there's a bit of a paranormal aspect to this book in terms of Abbie herself, but won't say anything else to avoid spoilers. What I WILL say is that the story of Jack the Ripper was done in a really creative way, with a bunch of plot twists and turns I didn't see coming. As I said above, the mystery aspect of this was really solid.I hadn't realized that this book sets itself up for a sequel, but the ending made that quite apparent. It wasn't cliff-hangery so much as very open-ended, but there are some definite threads of the story that have yet to be sewn up. I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment.An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Zardi, short for Scheherazade, loves hearing stories about the times when magic was plentiful and abundant in the land of Arribitha. But those times are gone, ever since the evil sultan, Shahryar, came to power and forbade anyone from even talking about magic. When her sister, Zubeyda, is taken to be the sultan's next praisemaker - a job that always results in the girl's death - and her father is imprisoned, Zardi and her friend Rhidan must seek out Sinbad, and hope that the sailor's tales of lands faraway are true. Together they're all thrust into an adventure that none of them saw coming.This was a really fun book that used the tales of One Thousand and One Nights in a very interesting way. Zardi was a downright fantastic female lead: she's tough, stubborn, and unwilling to give up. Her friendship with Rhidan is first rate, too, and I liked the way they complemented each other. While I'm familiar in passing with the story of Sinbad, this was an interesting look at his character, and definitely tarnishes the legend just a bit. Zardi is unrelenting in her search to save Zubeyda, and is willing to face danger after danger in order to ensure her sister's life. While the adventures were fun (and dangerous!), it was her spirit that really made me love this book. She was just a really perfect narrator.I will say that this book took me far longer to read than it should have, because I stopped midway through to read a whole bunch of other things instead. This is not a knock on the book - I was thoroughly enjoying it - but it does suffer a bit from what I call the "non-stop action" affliction. Zardi and the others certainly have to go through a lot.Also, a word of caution, this is very clearly the start of a new series, which doesn't become apparent until almost the very end. While one story line is wrapped up, there are tons of other things that have yet to be figured out. The book doesn't really end on a cliffhanger, though, so much as it's very open-ended. I look forward to seeing what Zardi and Rhidan get up to next.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (via NetGalley) for the e-galley of Wonder Show.When Portia Remini is taken to McGreavey's Home for Wayward Girls and put under the "care" of Mister, the only thing she can think about is escaping and finding her father, who left her when she was young. When a traveling circus-slash-carnival comes through town, Portia decides that the best place to hide from Mister and start her search is as a member of the carnival, where she is one of the so-called "normals" amongst all the circus freaks. And thus begins Portia's search for answers, and most of all, herself.I really enjoyed this book. I found Portia to be a very real character: a girl who has been deserted and left behind her entire life, who grew up with a love and gift of storytelling, who only wants to find her father and be reunited with him. Instead she's put into a horrible situation at Mister's, and after a terrible event, can no longer stand to be there. So she escapes on a red bicycle and takes shelter with a traveling carnival show. I found her to be so incredibly strong; she has dealt with one blow after another and never gives up hope, even when things seem out of her control and falling apart. Portia was really the strength of this story for me personally, although the entire thing was really well put together.I also liked the fact that the surrounding characters, from the two girls she becomes closest to at the Home to the various people populating the carnival, were all fleshed-out with their own back stories. I liked the glimpse of what it was really like to be part of the bally of a 1939 circus, which had already reached its heyday and was slowing dying out and winding down. The book is told mostly from Portia's point-of-view, told in third person, but has first person chapters from some of the characters, from Gideon, who becomes Portia's closest friend, to Jim the giant and Jimmy the dwarf. I liked the fact that the third-person voice was always slightly removed, telling it like it was, while the first-person narrative really allowed you to see exactly how the character was feeling. It added something special to the story that just made the book even more engrossing and interesting, and was something I personally hadn't seen before.This is very much a coming-of-age story, with a very strong, independent female lead who has some weaknesses but never completely allows them to bring her down. It's about the search for a place in the world, someplace you can leave a mark--and someplace to call home. And it's done in a really wonderful way.Wonder Show is now available from your local bookseller. Definitely check it out.

Seventeen-year-old Ismae was rescued from a brutal arranged marriage three years earlier when she was taken to the convent of St. Mortain. Here she was trained to become a deadly assassin, able to wield weapons and poisons with dangerous precision. When it's believed that Anne of Brittany's older brother, Gavriel Duval, is betraying his sister and country to the French, Ismae is sent to become a member of his household in order to keep an eye on him. Having grown up in a country town and then a convent, Ismae must learn to navigate the intrigues and deceptions of court, all the while trying not to fall in love with the person she very well may have to kill.

This book was really and truly awesome. Honestly, that was my only thought the entire time I was reading it, and once I'd finished. I absolutely adored the look at this semi-fictional Brittany, with the insertion of the magic and lore of the gods and the beliefs of those that followed them. I found Ismae to be a really refreshing heroine with a wonderful voice; while physically strong and capable, she's far from perfect, and has to navigate not only her past but her uncertainty regarding her present and future. I loved watching her grow as she started to really question what she wanted to do with her life and the fact that the convent might not always be right, or even the best path for her. She was faced with a lot of truly difficult decisions, and I was rooting for her as she navigated them all.

And Duval! What a swoon-worthy hero! It was so refreshing to see a truly GOOD guy who cared so deeply for his family and only wanted what was best for his sister. I so appreciated that the romance between him and Ismae didn't just pop up instantaneously but was very slow-burning. I liked the fact that they became friends first, sharing an alliance that slowly grew into more. By the time the romance actually happened, it seemed like such a natural progression that I hardly blinked at it because it was just perfect for what was going on in the book at that time. I also loved how Duval was able to help Ismae let go of her past, how she naturally grew more trusting of him, and how he was able to help her realize that she wasn't just a weapon of the convent. He was perfect for her, and she for him, and I just really loved the entire progression of their relationship.

This book was full of such twists and turns that I was constantly guessing and wondering what was going to happen next. I was literally unable to put it down until it was finished, because I just wanted to know how everything was going to be brought together for the finale of the book. This was a really perfect read for me that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. I am really looking forward to the second book, and learning more of Sybella; I hope she's able to get a happy ending, too.

 

An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had seen these books advertised around for a while but was never really interested in reading them. However, I was reading the description a couple of weeks ago here on Goodreads and realized that it really sounded like it would be a really fun read. And I wasn't wrong; this book was really fantastic in a completely fun, adorable way.So, Cammie Morgan is a student in a typical, prestigious, private, all-girls school called The Gallagher Academy. Or, at least, it WOULD be typical, except that this is a school for female spies. While on an assignment for her Covert Operations course, she meets a boy named Josh, and that's when Cammie's well-planned, well thought-out world completely changes. She can't tell Josh anything about herself, because of where she goes to school and who she'll be in the future, so what follows is basically Cammie living two different lives: her real one, and the one she creates for herself when she's with Josh.First of all, all of the spy stuff in this book was awesome. I loved all the backgrounds for the teachers, and the lessons in their classrooms, and the little asides about various accidents that the girls have had while learning to be spies. However, the big draw of this book for me personally was just that the whole thing had a really fun, totally cool vibe about it. I loved Cammie. She has such a quick wit and sense of humor, and there were some serious laugh-out-loud moments in her narration. She just seemed very real to me, and I loved every second of her. Her interactions with Josh were absolutely perfect; this is truly a book that describes that feeling you get when you meet your first crush and are starting out in a relationship. Honestly I can't find any other word to use to describe Cammie and Josh except for "adorable". The whole thing just made me want to draw hearts all over it.