Book Review: Gilded

Sixteen-year-old Jae Hwa Lee is a Korean-American girl with a black belt, a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows, and a chip on her shoulder the size of Korea itself. When her widowed dad uproots her to Seoul from her home in L.A., Jae thinks her biggest challenges will be fitting in to a new school and dealing with her dismissive Korean grandfather. Then she discovers that a Korean demi-god, Haemosu, has been stealing the soul of the oldest daughter of each generation in her family for centuries. And she's next.

But that’s not Jae’s only problem.

There's also Marc. Irresistible and charming, Marc threatens to break the barriers around Jae's heart. As the two grow closer, Jae must decide if she can trust him. But Marc has a secret of his own—one that could help Jae overturn the curse on her family for good. It turns out that Jae's been wrong about a lot of things: her grandfather is her greatest ally, even the tough girl can fall in love, and Korea might just be the home she's always been looking for.

Rating: 1 ½ stars

This was the kindlefirst for last month and I was psyched because the last book I read this way I absolutely loved!  This one sounded better than the other had, too.  I did a little research and saw both good and bad reviews and went into it expecting a good story, just nothing special.  The idea was original and I love mythology, so by all means I should have liked this one.

I really, really didn’t, though.  At first, for like five chapters, I liked it.  Do not be fooled by the back, it’s much cooler from the little blurb on the back then it is reading the whole entire thing.

The big problem, I believe is the writing.  It’s mediocre at best, childish at worst.  The words don’t always flow, the story makes sense on a very basic level, and there is absolutely no character growth.  This book takes place in Korea and so I expected to get some culture, but the few parts there are don’t really seem that different from America.  And there’s absolutely no “show” to the storytelling.  It’s all “tell”.  We don’t get to experience this ourselves at all, we just have to go along for the ride and let Jae tell us everything.  Looking back on it now, if written a little better and with a few scenes tweaked around, it would be great middlegrade storytelling (and I don’t mean to demean other MG writers, I’m just saying the way that it was written felt more like it was aimed at younger readers in that it wasn’t as mature as some YA and NA writers write).

The characters were all dry.  Jae, the protagonist, should have been freaking awesome, but she fell flat.  Plus, she’s also some amazing warrior already in all these AP and IB classes at school, and you don’t get into those unless you’re smart.  The whole time, though, she can’t seem to pick up on simple concepts or understand that her plans are atrocious.  She just accepts she’s not good at planning and moves on.  An AP student doesn’t act like that, I mean, come on.  Another problem was that, being an awesome warrior and all, there was no room to grow in that section.  She was already freaking perfect and so, oh no, no way for her to learn at all.  Where’s the character growth?  Just a little?  Oh, wait, there is a little.  For half a chapter she learns this awesome new trick that’s supposed to be mind bending or something.  Yeah, she learns it in half a chapter.  Really?

And the romance.  Marc could have been dreamy, but he was too… nonexistent.  He’s there for her all the time, ready to do anything for her, and should have been your regular prince charming.  Nah, for me he was just blah.  Not particularly romantic or anything.  And the chemistry between the two?  None.  They share a few kisses that are described as being explosive, but um, there was no description to actually show us how great they were.  She was happy, he was happy, it was a good kiss, done.

The consequences in this book are totally off-kilter, too.  Here’s a spoiler to explain what I mean, so read the following paragraph at your own risk:

Jae and Marc are arrested by the police for stealing from a museum.  Her dad’s just mad she was talking to her grandfather.  They’re fined a little.  No court date.  No nothing.  They spend a couple hours in jail and are grounded.  Which, by being grounded, I mean she just can’t… or wait?  There’s really nothing she can’t do.  It’s just a word: grounded.  The police aren’t even super mad.  That doesn’t happen in real life no matter where you are.  Stuff like this just kept the world an arms-length away and totally unbelievable on every level.  End spoiler.

Really, there wasn’t much good about this book except the originality of the concept.  I’d say don’t bother picking it up.

Book of the Month: Poison Princess

She could save the world—or destroy it.
Sixteen-year-old Evangeline "Evie" Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.
But she can't do either alone.
With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?
Who can Evie trust?
As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side.

It’s got a gorgeous cover, so there’s something going for it, at least.

That sounded really harsh, and I hate being mean when I know someone puts a lot of work into something and is extremely proud of it… but I feel like there was absolutely no heart in this book. I felt like the author just slapped stuff together because she wanted a bestselling YA novel she knew she could achieve. The characters are boring and stereotypical, the world used up and, while being a depressing dystopian world filled with horrors, seemingly easy to survive, compared to other ones. Let’s break it down:

Plot- I knew who the bad guy was the second it was mentioned. There isn’t really a “bad guy” I should say, but the figure haunting Evie’s dreams is who I’m talking about. It was obvious with a capital O. And the matters of sex. The whole book tries to be steamy, but it’s not really. There was very little chemistry between Jack and Evie, even less between him and Selena. Plus, Evie’s pretty much worried about who to give her V-Card away to, and it was rather uncomfortable reading that when the world was ending around her.

Characters- Boring and barely there. Evie is that girl I would hate in school. Very popular, super smart, and a “friend” to everyone. What little perfect world does she live in that that can all happen? I can see by the end why characterizing her so extremely (it’s a case of telling rather than showing, btw) is important, but I also feel like it was totally unrealistic. And annoying, because no one can be that perfect. And her major character flaw? She might be crazy. Come on, we know she’s not. It’s the oldest trick in the book. So really, she’s not crazy, she’s just a super important person. She’s not a mean person, though. Not bratty or whiny, which was nice and comfortable reading about, but also totally unrealistic. Who doesn’t complain when the world just ended? No one’s that perfect. Then there’s Jack. His accent- Cajun- really got on my nerves. I couldn’t pinpoint it through the writing. It sounded a little like he just had a lisp or something because he didn’t say every word with an accent, really. Just a few, most particularly, “goan” instead of “going” and “doan” instead of “doing”. It didn’t work and it was very frustrating. When there’s a character with an accent I like it to fly off the page so I can hear it. He’s also supposed to be really Catholic, but he never really acts that way.

World- Dystopia is all the rage, and while it’s not my favorite genre (I prefer fantasy), I can appreciate a well written one. At first I thought it might be a pretty cool world. Bag men, militia’s, cannibals, slavers, etc. They’ve been seen before, but I’ve never really seen them together. Guess what? I still didn’t. They kept saying all these things existed, but, I don’t really believe it until I “see” it, and we never “see” half of them. So, it wasn’t just a plain world, where they were somehow managing to survive, but it was a really boring one, too.

The Good- Tarot cards! I love tarot cards, I think they’re so pretty and fun, which is part of the reason I was attracted to this story. That portion of it didn’t let me down. Each tarot had its own personality and alliance and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that aspect of the story.

So overall, I’m giving this a three star rating. I may read the next book. I may not. Really, it depends on whether my library has it or not. So, we’ll see.

Book Review: Croak

Fed up with her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex's parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape.
But Uncle Mort's true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He's a Grim Reaper. And he's going to teach Lex the family business.
She quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. But Lex can't stop her desire for justice - or is it vengeance? - whenever she encounters a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again.
Will she ditch Croak and go rogue with her reaper skills?

I picked this one up from the library a while ago and just left it sitting on my shelf.  I had seen it in stores when it first came out and had been interested, but not enough to actually pick it up.  So seeing it in the library with that amazing cover I couldn't resist.

And it was great.  Reading it was like taking a breath of fresh air in a sense.  It's not a very heavy book- actually a rather quick read- and the writing, while a bit shaky at the beginning, was easy to fall into.  The story is very life and death, seeing as the main character is a Grim Reaper, after all, and there are parts where some of the squeamish readers may want to look away.  There wasn't much of a plot compared to other things I've been reading and watching (I've been binge watching Doctor Who so anything compared to that is pretty much a puny plot) but it was enjoyable.

The characters were... interesting.  But not in bad ways!  No, not in bad ways at all.  It takes about a chapter before you fall in love with Lex, and while I never really became attached to her family, through her I was able to like them enough that they mattered.  Mort was also another that I couldn't really connect with because I felt like we were missing a vital piece of information about him, that will hopefully be revealed later on in the series.  Driggs didn't take long to like, but I wouldn't say he's exactly swoon worthy, either.  All the junior reapers were likeable enough.  I must say while I was able to guess who the villain was (because there were really only two possibilities), figuring out how they did it was a surprise of sorts.

The mythology in the series isn't super new or exciting, but it's fun and an expansion on an idea that normally has to play second fiddle to a vampire or werewolf storyline.

Overall, I was very happy with this book, so I'm giving it 4 stars.

Book of the Month: The Darkest Minds

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her-East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. I’ve heard so many things, so maybe I was just setting the book up to fail, but I think it was more than that. The book was certainly exciting (and I got the novella seconds after completing it!) but I don’t think it was exactly my cup of tea. Which is okay. In fact, if anything, that gives this book more credit because I still rather enjoyed it.

The premise sounded good and original, and for the most part it was. The mythology and history behind the plotline made complete sense, and, scarily, I feel like that’s what’s in in store for our nation someday. This believability factor played throughout the whole book- characters faced problems that were real under the circumstances and reacted how one might expect. I did feel like the book was one of those adventure-journey’s that go on forever, though. They were always running, always on the move, and it took a while to settle into these parts, especially when the scenery was constantly changing. Once I did, though, it was easy to feel right at home, whether in Betty or with the Slip Kid.

The characters, too, took a little time to like, but now I don’t think they’ll ever leave me. Ruby was an interesting main character. From the very beginning I saw she wasn’t what most heroines tend to be these days. She’s not conventionally “strong”. In fact, I would go so far as to say she was rather meek. When she had to, though, there was certainly a fire that burned within her that other characters didn’t have. She was willing to step up and do terrible things that others couldn’t or wouldn’t. This dual nature, though, made it hard to connect with her, even up until the end. I would think I had a grasp on her, but wouldn’t, and that frustrated me. I felt that way about pretty much all the characters, too.

Liam is totally crush worthy- let’s start there. He’s a good guy, too. Not too tough, but somewhat romantic, and also a leader. He hates to see other’s hurt but sometimes has to deal with it. He’s got a past shrouded in some mystery, but he’s honest. I liked him right away and thought his voice was the strongest of the characters, even over Ruby’s. Again, though, the dual nature of him- a really soft hearted guy who led an escape and is on the run in a dangerous world- made it hard to connect. When he and Ruby were together, though, everything would fall into place. Chubs was by far my favorite character. I didn’t like him right away, but once he grew on me, I knew he would be the one I cheered for throughout the novel. I really, really liked him, even though he was rough on the outsides. Finally, Zu. I felt like there was little to work with for her. I liked her, sure, but I never got too connected to her. Maybe it was the age thing, because I find it harder to enjoy younger characters, or maybe it was because she didn’t talk so finding her voice in all the text was rather hard. Whatever it was, she wasn’t a bad character, just not as well developed as I would have liked to see.

I can see why so many people have liked this series (even though I haven’t yet read the sequel, Never Fade). With the dystopian love spreading throughout the book community, there is no reason this shouldn’t be on the top of the list of TBR books for everyone. I’m not especially fond of the genre, however, so that’s why it’s not exactly a favorite. I plan on continuing the series to its end.

Rating: 3 ¾ stars

This was our first book for the book club this year. Next month is Poison Princess by Kresley Cole. Please feel free to follow here, on Tumblr or goodreads where most of the discussions will be held. If you’ve read the book before feel free to join in, too, because we’d love to have you!

Book Review: Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4)

This is the fourth installment in my favorite urban fantasy series and I couldn't have been happier with it.  While number three was all about the action, this one was all about the color and the imagination.  The NeverNever was amazing, the faeries were amazing, the everything was amazing!  Butcher's descriptions were so real I felt like I was watching a movie.  He pulled from Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, and other assorted fairy tales to populate his magical world and I never wanted to leave (which is the very point of the fey).  In fact, I think the cover is perfect for this very reason.  At first glance it's nothing special.  You might use the word nice to describe it.  But then you look closer.  You look at the shades of yellows and greens, the monsters, the small red accent, and you go, Oh!  This is sorta amazing.  Which was how I would describe Butcher's imagination leaking into the pages.

 

Equally amazing was Harry's growth.  I feel like, out of all the books I've read so far, this is the one that has most defined him.  In this book I can really see who Harry is and I can understand him.  Somewhere along the way we shared a soulgaze, because finally, finally, I truly understand this character.  All walls have been broken down and every installment after this will be all the better because he has grown into a permanent thing in my life.

 

Plot-wise I was completely surprised by the big revelation.  The lead-up investigation was my favorite so far and the hints throughout the novel towards where it was going were well placed and subtle.  The re-appearance of old characters made my heart sing and the insight on the White Council was great, as well.  The battle at the end really takes the cake, though, and I can see that Butcher has a talent for fantasy (Codex Alera, his other series).

 

My biggest problem is that I would like to see more of Murphy.  Yes, in this book, she does make great leaps and bounds into the world of the supernatural, and that was awesome and kick-ass, but she still remains sidelined for the majority of the story.  I want to a see her take center stage with Harry for a bit longer at some point, but there are many books to go, so my wish may yet be granted.

 

Overall, I'm giving this book a 4 3/4 stars, just shy of a perfect five.

 

Hell's bells, that was a good book.

Book Review: Phoenix Island

So time has just gotten away from me.  I feel like I've done absolutely nothing.  I meant to write and post this review earlier, but heck, it's still early enough, right?  Phoenix Island is the first ARC I have ever received and I was so excited to get it.  It releases on the seventh along with the first episode of the TV series it inspired, Intelligence.  I'm super excited for Intelligence and can't wait to see how they tie into each other.

Now, this book was underwhelming, and you have no idea how much I hate writing that down.  I wanted to read this book, so, so, so, so bad.  I may have set my standards a little too high, though, because in the end I just couldn't get into it.

My biggest problem was Octavia.  Pretty much, the only female character in the whole book, and she was nothing special.  In fact, she depended on the guy's for absolutely EVERYTHING.  It wasn't trying to be sexist, I don't think, but the way the book is written makes it very guy-centric with no room for the strong female character.  I was glad to see that there were female characters, though, because before I even started reading I had the impression that there wouldn't be any.

Now, before I go any further, let me tell you that this is very, very similar to Lord of the Flies.  For those of you who haven't read that book, I seriously recommend it.  I had to read it for school and thoroughly enjoyed it.  But having read that book (albeit being a couple years ago) this book wasn't that original.  I even felt like I saw some parallels between characters.  If you were a fan of Lord of the Flies, pick this one up!  If that's your bread and butter, you'll love this one, I promise.

It is really guy-centric, though.  Not something I would have picked up if it weren't for the fact that Intelligence was based off of it.  The main character, Carl, spends a lot of time talking about wrestling and his knuckles.  There's also a large deal of obsession over the city of Philadelphia.  I mean, neither of these things are bad, but they took up to much room.

The storytelling voice was dry at some parts.  The flashbacks were boring when they were meant to shed light into the characters.  There were a lot of parts that you just can't believe in, even with a good imagination, this book took things a little too far.  Besides Carl there weren't any flavors to any of the characters.  Disappointing.

But there was good!  The action scenes were heart-racing and intense.  The details and images sometimes made perfect pictures in my head, like I was watching them on a screen (although for those with weak stomachs: it can get pretty gross).  At parts my heart was clenching in sadness, fear, and, at parts, I felt empowered by the wise things coming out of characters mouths.

This is not a light read.  In fact, it's a rather heavy one, even though the page count doesn't way in at that much.  I do want to read the next installments of this series, and I don't think it was really as bad as the picture I'm painting.  It just wasn't my cup of tea, and that's disappointing.

Overall, I'm giving this book 2 3/4 stars. 

Book Review: Soar

In the city that never sleeps the Chronicles continue…

Serving coffee is temporary, just like Casey's year off from school. She’s going to come up with a plan to stay in New York City and go back to college, and that plan does not involve dating a paranormal creature—let alone two.

Running the supernatural society of New York is not as fun as it sounds, especially when you still have to answer to your ex-girlfriend’s fiancé. Toby doesn’t mean to bring Casey into the chaos of his life, but he can't resist the girl who makes him smile when he thought no one else ever could.

Jared's in New York checking out a security risk for his best friend, the king. He plans to return to New Orleans quickly, but not if it means losing his chance with the brunette who pretends she wants nothing to do with him.

In over her head with a bunch of winged creatures who most definitely are not angels, Casey has to figure out who to trust with her life and maybe her heart.

This is the companion/sequel series to the Crescent Chronicles. If you remember, Flight was my first book of the month, way back when. When I heard that she was writing another series using Toby and Jared as main characters (and newcomer Casey) I was aboard. Unlike the first series this one switches narrators between the three characters I just mentioned. Each was interesting, although Jared wasn’t as fun to read about as I had hoped, and my heart certainly went out to Toby. This book was twice as entertaining as the original trilogy and it had me captivated from the very start.

We see a ton more shifters in this book than we did, really, for the rest of the series, and this is where the main threat is held for the series. I don’t want to spoil anything, but like with Allie, Casey is a wanted woman. Trust me when I say you won’t see the terrible little cliffhanger coming. I was so caught up with the book I didn’t even realize it was over until I turned the page and there were no more (reading on my kindle certainly didn’t help!). I shrieked when I realized we were going to be left dangling like we were. In a good way. I think it will please many people to see the direction Rose Ivy takes us in.

Now, this is a New Adult book and it really should be taken at that value. The romance was intense. It also drags out through the whole story and one of the reasons I kept reading as closely as I was, was for the love story. I was just dying to see how it played out and my nose was glued to the screen. 

Overall, it was a pretty amazing book. I’m giving it four stars.

Book of the Month: Sequel Review- Gray Moon Rising

It’s been almost a year since Rylie Gresham was bitten by a werewolf on Gray Mountain. Now something is beckoning her back to the place she was attacked, along with every other werewolf in the world. But they aren’t the only ones heeding the call. A group of hunters notices them gathering and sees it as their chance to wipe out the entire species.

Seth is about to graduate high school when he learns of the final hunt. He secretly plans to save Rylie and his werewolf brother even though he has to play along with the hunters to do it. But Rylie doesn’t want to be saved. She’s already decided to solve her problems with a silver bullet if answers aren’t waiting on Gray Mountain.

One way or another, everything is about to end—whether it means Rylie’s liberation or the end of her life…

The series is over. The final book in the final series of this year’s book of the month. Wow. It’s been so long. Voting for the favorite will start in December and a page focused on the BoM will be going up soon. Next year I’ll be switching gears, and rather than promoting little-known books the theme will be “Books Gathering Dust On The Shelf”, so basically the books that you’ve had for a while and just haven’t managed to get to yet. They’ll be buzzier books and hopefully we’ll have more to talk about. I’ll also be doing it differently, reading the book throughout the whole month, and every 25% (or there-a-bouts) I’ll post a review so far. Feel free to read along and we can have all kinds of fun.

Now, onto the actual review.

The endings in these books have always been really good so I was excited to figure out what was in store for the final chapter. I was a little let down by the anticlimactic ending. The book itself was the best so far, really full of plot and action. There weren’t any really dry spots and the story is pretty strictly paranormal. Reine has certainly found how she writes best so it’s refreshing to read something so clearly defined (especially since it hasn’t gone through a traditional publisher).

There are very few new characters, and none that are worth mentioning at all. We get a larger sense of the werewolf hunter’s, or the Union, opening a whole other half of this world. I’m pretty sure she uses that half of the series for her Adult Urban Fantasy books (which I’d love to dive into… if only I had the time).

All in all, I’m giving this book a very generous rating of 4 ¾ stars. I’m sad to see the characters go, and if you are, too, there is a spin-off novella series, Cain chronicles. I don’t think I’ll continue on, it feels like a real ending to me, but I won’t discourage you!

Book Review: A Desire so Deadly

In this digital original novella set in the thrilling world of Suzanne Young’s A Need So Beautiful and A Want So Wicked, eighteen-year-old Claire Becks is forced to choose between a life of darkness and light.
Eighteen-year-old Claire Becks leads a charmed life surrounded by her loving family, great friends, and doting boyfriend, Ezra. Claire’s known for her great advice—and how easily she puts others at ease. And although she feels occasional bouts of sadness she can’t quite place, she is otherwise happy.
Then, one day, a mysterious stranger walks into her family’s bakery. Claire immediately senses something about Harlin—something tortured and dark. Even after he leaves, she can’t stop thinking about him, inexplicably feeling like there is unfinished business between them.
When Lucy, the new girl in town, starts to draw Claire into her world of darkness, Harlin realizes who Claire really is. But Claire will have to realize it too if she hopes to escape the fate of the Shadows.

This is the third and final book in the Need So Beautiful series by Suzanne Young, a series I have loved from the very beginning, and it only has nine chapters. So I’m only going to take nine sentences to review it:

I wish it were longer. The beginning takes a while to set up, but the writing is pretty flawless, so you don’t mind that the revelations were rushed. It would be hard if I didn’t remember the first two books so well (and there are gaps in my memory). The newest incarnation is nice, although we don’t get as much time to know her, and I think she’s rather gullible. But…Harlin is there, so it’s OK. The ending is certainly rushed, and not filled with any action to help butter it up, and the stakes are less than ideal. Lucy plays the role of the villain, and it just wasn’t believable. It does end up being a happy ending, which is all I was asking for, though. All in all, 3 ¾ stars.

Book Review: Grave Peril (Dresden Files #3)

Harry Dresden - Wizard
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden has faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're the only professional wizard in the Chicago-area phone book.

But in all Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: The spirit world has gone postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble - and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone - or something - is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself....

From the very beginning it’s nonstop action. With a slew of new and interesting characters (I loved, loved, loved Michael and Thomas was pretty awesome, too) and villains that actually make you cringe in fear this book is pretty much un-put-down-able.

Really, the pace is so fast you don’t have much time to breath, and neither does Harry, who’s put at a major disadvantage not even halfway through. His magic is zapped from him (well, a lot of it, at least) and as interesting as that it is, I feel like he’s never really been able to use the full extent of his powers in any of the novels so far. They keep saying he’s this great wizard (and while I love him) I haven’t seen much proof of this at all. The mystery is original, although a little confusing. I feel, too, that some parts are left unexplained. No major plot point, but it’s a little annoying that I didn’t feel like the story truly completed like they normally do.

Of course, being the fan girl I am, I loved this book. For those of you who weren’t fond of the first two, I feel you. This book (if you feel like you can get through another, and you should try) really makes you love the series. Butcher has finally found his niche in writing, developed characters, and now he’s just playing with them, comfortable in their skin as he writes. A wonderful book. I’m giving this one 4 ½ stars.

Music: Gypsy

Book of the Month: Sequel Review- Long Night Moon

Something is killing innocent people around Rylie Gresham's town. The police think it's a wild animal, but she has other suspicions. There are new kids at school, and they have a lot in common with her: gold eyes, super strength, and a habit of turning furry. It seems Rylie's not the only werewolf around anymore.

It's up to Rylie and her werewolf-hunting boyfriend, Seth, to stop the killings. But saving lives doesn't come naturally to a monster, and territory battles could risk the life of her sickly aunt--not to mention her own. Rylie has no choice but to stand her ground, protect her home, and stop the murderers before anyone else gets hurt.

This picks up soon after the previous one and Riley is still settling into dealing with being a wolf. Recent murders have her on high alert and when she notices the new kids, Levi and Bekah, are werewolves too she’s sure it’s them. The whole book is almost a murder mystery in that they’re searching for the killer the whole time. The twist ending threw me off for a few moments but wasn’t too unbelievable. Gwyn’s disease also plays a larger part in this one, amping up tension throughout the story and giving everyone a non-paranormal stake.
We don’t get to know Levi and Bekah too well but they do play an important role. We see more of Abel and, dare I say it?, we start to like him! Gasp! Actually, I really do like him. He’s a good guy at heart, just with a tough surface. I could get used to seeing more and more of him in the series, which I think is the point. Seth is still as adorable as ever, though, and I hope he stays with Riley. Speaking of Riley, as a narrator she has grown so much since the last book that I can barely imagine her as the same person. The writing, and the fact that it’s become very good, is what truly works the magic, here, though. Without Reine’s newly discovered talent at spinning words I don’t know if I could stomach the story.

I’m giving this one four stars.

Music: I Need Your Love (feat. Ellie Goulding)

Book Review: The Gathering

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.
 

So this one has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. I read the original trilogy three years ago and while I can’t remember all the little details I remember how much I really liked it. The characters were great, the story was unique, and it was one of those story worlds that almost wish were real.

This book, the first in the spin-off/continuation trilogy, was no different. Dare I say, it was better? Maybe not in every single sense, I felt like it was flimsier and less to chow down on while I read, but it was such a nice reprieve from the heavy things that have been circulating about my shelves. 

The characters were not as in-depth as they could have been, even Maya, Daniel and Rafe, the main characters, felt like they were missing something. I’m willing to bet that’s important for the series, though. I liked all the characters, but another problem I had was that I just wasn’t connecting with any of them. Normally it doesn’t take much for me to feel like they could be my new best friend, and while I admired each of them, none of them shone out. The love triangle- can I call it that?- was fun and not as serious as some people write it, which was nice because it makes it breathable. I didn’t feel like I had to choose a side, Daniel or Rafe, and then stick with it. Personally, I think she’s going to end up with Rafe (because they never end up with the best-friend character) and I have no problem with that.

The story was very classic-YA as I call it. By that I mean that school and normal life are very important to the characters before their whole world is shifted and they are still forced to deal with normality even after the shift (i.e. Evermore by Alyson Noel; Hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick) and this style has pretty much gone out of YA. I like having the change in my reading diet and while I don’t think I’ll be overdosing on books like this I can look forward to the next one in complete excitement.

Over all I’m giving the book four of five stars because it just didn’t wow me. It was predictable and mundane when so much more could have happened. I plan on getting to the next one eventually, but I’m not planning on buying it anytime soon.

Book of the Month: Sequels and three-quels: All Hallows Moon

Rylie survived becoming a werewolf at great cost. She moves to her aunt’s ranch in the hopes she can enroll in a new high school and quietly continue her life... with a few distinct changes. She transforms into a beast every new and full moon and struggles to control her murderous urges.

Without many werewolves left, it’s hard to stay in hiding. A family of hunters -- Eleanor, Abel, and Seth -- recognize the signs and follow Rylie to her new home. They want to stop her before she murders someone, and the only way to do it is with a silver bullet. Seth soon realizes the werewolf is Rylie, the one monster he failed to kill. Worse yet, he’s still in love with her.

Torn between family and love, Rylie struggles to reconcile her feelings and control the wolf within while Seth fights to do what’s right. But what is right-- obeying desire or duty?

The story takes another step in the right direction with this installment. The writing is twice as good as before and the characters really endear themselves to the reader over the novel. The ending is just as amazing as the first one and it’s hard to put down.

There are several new characters introduced, most notably Gwyn, Abel, Tate and Eleanor. Gwyn and Eleanor are pretty fully fleshed out but Tate, as handy as he is to have around, seems little more than a best-friend character the author is forcing on the readers. Not bad, but a little unnecessary. Gwyn is certainly an important addition to the story. At first she’s hard to like, but as with the general writing, over the course of the book she gets more likeable. Eleanor is an okay villain but I think there are shades of her we haven’t seen yet. Most importantly is Abel: I don’t know how I feel about him. He’s a more complex character than the other newcomers and he’s painted in an evil light, but there are parts where you can’t help but feel like he’s actually a good guy. I guess we’ll see, right?

Overall I’m giving it a 4 out of 5 stars because I think it could have been better.  

Book Review: Allegiant SPOILERS

So you've read it now.  That ending.  There are so many things I could talk about, but I'm going to talk about that ENDING.  So if you haven't read the book, don't click to continue reading.  Just don't.

Book Review: The Iron Traitor (Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2)

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal" as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal" simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all

I love Julie Kagawa.  She’s one of my favorite authors in the whole entire world.  I think she’s just amazing, and her stories are so captivating.  My favorite parts?  Her endings.  They make you want to scream but you can’t help but feel satisfied with them anyways.  This one was no different.  It had everything I love about her in it.  Unfortunately, I found the beginning to be… lack luster.  I didn’t care about anything until maybe part three because, well, nothing to care about was happening.  I would say that’s because this is just a filler book, but it’s really not.  Another problem, the characters didn’t really grow as much as I would have liked.

Of course, as a fan girl it was amazing.  I loved returning to one of my favorite worlds.  As a review, though, I’m inclined to give this book only 3 and a half stars.  Nothing personal, because as a fan it gets five for sure.  The next (and final, I think) book will certainly be mind-blowing and I can not wait!

Book of the Month: Sequels and three-quels: Darkness, Kindled

The fourth and final book in the Fire Spirits series.  In a way I'm glad it's over, but on the other hand, I wish it weren't.  Let me explain:

I don't normally read all the books in a series right after each other, I try to cushion other novels in between.  Why?  So that when I finish reading the series I'm not in such a book funk that I can't pick something else up.  I get so immersed in the world, in the characters, that leaving them can become painful.  When I read Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue in a row I couldn't read anything else and enjoy it for about a month.  The drawback?  I don't get as involved with the characters, with the world.  I still get really passionate, don't get me wrong, but if I marathon a series I get in deeper.  So, yes, I wish this series weren't over because I would love more, but I'm so glad it is because I don't think I could take more.

This was a good last book in a series.  It wrapped up nicely, though I felt the climax was a little premature and the ending a little useless.  All the characters ended up in their perfect places, something you don't always get when dealing with life and death (I'm talking to you, Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins, Richelle Mead, Julie Kagawa) and I love seeing happy endings.  I'm glad not all authors do them because then it would become really artificial, but seeing one or two every blue moon is nice.

This book gets four stars from me.

Check out the next book of the month starting later this week and feel free to read along!

What did you think about this months book of the month?  Comment and let me know!

Book Review: Allegiant

This is going to be a short review because I plan on doing a spoiler filled review in exactly two weeks.  So if you're interested on what I have to fangirl about in detail come back in two weeks.  Hopefully enough people will be done with the book by then.

Trust me when I say don't spoil the ending for yourself.  Don't peek at the last page, don't go on Tumblr, don't ask your best friend who already finished it.  JUST DON'T!  Seriously, you'll thank me.

I was going between giving this book one star or five stars.  I did give it five stars on Goodreads, along with the review of :O.  That was it, really, because it was eleven at night and I was absolutely brain dead.  Also, finals, so, yeah.

The ending of Insurgent was an unbelievable cliff hanger.  It killed me.  I threw the book at the wall when I first read it.  Now we see what has become of said ending and it's really interesting.  It doesn't fit into the rest of the series like you would think but still works well.  This book did seem a little rushed, but it wasn't bad because of that, it was just really fast and easy to read (for a 500 page book.  I finished it in a day, by the way). 

The characters finally reach their peaks in this book and it's pretty awesome.  There's a new villain (duh) and a new set of supporting characters.  None of them really got into my heart like all those guys from the first two.  Maybe because I felt like the book was all about Tris and Tobias, which it is on purpose.  Speaking of Tris and Tobias, they take turns narrating and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE FOUR AS A NARRATOR!

Overall I'm giving this book five stars but if you read my spoiler review you'll understand why I wanted to give it one.

PS

Don't spoil the book for yourself!

Book of the Month: Sequels and three-quels, Borrowed Ember

The third book in the series is really breathtaking.  At first it's a little shaky, but the ending makes your heart stop.  It's a flash!-bang!-pow! kind of ending and I just LOVED it.  I'll try not to spoil anything, so it'll be a short review, but this book was really, really good.

The story took more time to tell, but all those dominoes set up in the first two books?, well, they fell and they really made an impression.  There are several fighting scenes in this book and they're written wonderfully.  I could picture them in my head, and, honestly, they looked like something out of Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon (which is very high in my book).  We also get pretty much all the answers we were looking for in this one.  Which means the next book isn't focused so much on "ending" but expanding in a new direction I didn't see coming.  I'm actually really excited to start the next one pronto.

The core cast of characters don't really grow, rather they begin to fill out into their parts.  One thing I hadn't really realized until this book was how complex the Jinn Kings really were.  They have their own personalities and own histories.  They're each unique and they really add to the story.  They're all complicated and some of them could probably hold their own stories.  Asmodeus (I know I didn't spell that right...) in particular really grows on you even though he's an evil SOB.  I think the Jinn Kings are my favorite part of the books, really.

This book gets 4 1/2 stars out of five.

Book Review: Fool Moon (Dresden Files #2)

And here we are again, talking about that other wizard named Harry. Funny enough, I’m currently re-reading Sorcerer’s Stone.

This book has twice the action the first one has and it’s so much better for it. It starts off slow and dry, but by the end, culminates in a pinnacle of “OMG!” that has you getting all these wonderful feels. Harry again manages to get himself into the worst situation possible by pissing off every single type of werewolf there is, Johnny Marcone, and Murphy. This book is also high on magic, there’s so much more here than in the first one where it also had a great deal to be solved in a more traditional method.

There aren’t any new characters that need much of a mentioning, but going back to Marcone, I think he may be a favorite. There’s this scene near the end where (well, I won’t tell you what’s happening and spoil it, will I?) and it just had me sold on what kind of a character he is. I wouldn’t stretch and call him an anti-hero, he’s a villain through-and-through, but maybe there is something underneath that hard exterior. Anyways, Dresden himself remains my favorite character in the book.

This plot, like the first one, keeps you guessing until the end when you’re so blown away by what’s happening that you don’t get to marvel at the way-to-complex mystery involved. I give it 3 ½ stars.

Book of the Month: sequels and three-quels: Scorched Skies

So instead of reviewing all of the sequels together I’ll be giving each its own spotlight. The second book in the Fire Spirits series is Scorched Skies and it picks up almost immediately where the last one left off. While the first one was really about Ari discovering she was Jinn, this one is about her dealing with the threats of being one and it sets up the rest of the series nicely. You’re being warned now: If you haven’t read/finished the first book don’t read on. There are some major spoilers.

Charlie is now a sorcerer, something I’m really glad of because he’s not the “delicate flower” of the bunch anymore. Of course, that means Ari is. And she should be because she’s the one everyone’s trying to kill, and, actually, listens when people talk her out of bad situations and lays low when she needs to rather than put herself in undo risk (while I’m all for the tough-girl thing, it’s really annoying when they don’t listen to reason; I wish more characters did!). Back to Charlie, though, now he’s kind of shed his bad-boy image and is little more than a recovering drug addict. Nothing too special or lovable about him anymore. Which is also a conclusion Ari reaches, ending the love triangle when she chooses Jai. Jai himself doesn’t really grow in his character, except that he, too, realizes he wants to be with Ari and won’t let his family or job get in his way.

In the way of new characters there are only two big ones: Dali, who’s the villain of this story, and while not a great character, he does his job in the book; and Fallon, who’s the one to fill the hole Ari left in Charlie’s heart. I like Fallon, but I feel like her addition was very… unnatural. She totally needed to be there, but she didn’t need to show up when she did. I almost wish she hadn’t been introduced till book three where there is much more room for her.

There was a lot more of the hunter’s side of the Jinn world but it wasn’t really anything stunning. I liked it and all, but it wasn’t really necessary. Plot wise, there’s a major something at the beginning (I’m not spoiling THAT) that changes everything.

This book gets 3 ½ of 5 stars.