Friday, July 26, 2013

Beautiful Souls
By Sarah Mullanix

3 out of 5

Becca thinks that she is a perfectly normal teenager, living her boring life, having an adorable crush on her best friends, normal. But things are about to get very not normal. First come the weird notes and the unexplainable visions and dreams. And those new kids are definitely not normal. Soon Becca is entered into a world of warlocks and witches, and Leo, Becca's best friend and boyfriend, is a warlock too! Everything seems fine, Becca is having fun with her newfound powers, but danger lurks around every corner and she has to keep herself and her family safe.

This took me forever to read, which I feel really bad about because I was asked to review this, but I just really struggled with reading this.

The beginning of the story was just, in my opinion, really not good. The characters were shallow and they seemed to flit from emotion to emotion without much of a second thought. Also I felt that Sara Mullanix had a lot of great ideas for the story but she just kind of threw them all out there at once and didn't really give them time to develop. I kept with the story because I did like the story and because I was asked to, but I really didn't enjoy it.

Then at some point, the story got better. The second half of the book is way better than the first half of the story and I really found myself enjoying it and wanting to read it instead of forcing myself to read the book. All the different plot points came together and the story and the characters really deepened and became something with a lot of potential.

I feel like as I read this, I saw Mullanix grow and mature as a writer. The story is so much better at the end than it is at the beginning, and now that I am done, I am interested in reading the next book in the series and continuing with this story.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Breaking Point (Article 5 #2)
By Kristen Simmons

4 out of 5

Ember and Chase have joined the Resistance in Knoxville and are hoping to lie low until the FBR forgets all about them and they can make their way to the coast and safety. But that plan goes awry when Ember is named as one of the FBR's most wanted and one of the top suspects for the sniper taking out the MM all over town. Now Chase and Ember have to decide, what are they going to do? Chase wants to run for safety, but Ember still needs to help Sean get Rebecca back. And then everyone's least favourite  MM guard shows up in the middle of everything. Tucker Morris is back and nobody knows what he's going to do. Can Chase and Ember stay together, stay safe, and accomplish all of their goals?

This was such a great sequel to Article 5. It had the same gripping, amazing quality that the first one did, but the story is different and mature and fabulous. I really like all the action and all the complex emotions that go on in this book. The fact that sometimes, you do have to work with someone you don't trust is such a valuable life lesson and we see Ember learn that in every page. Also we see Chase and Ember's relationship really grow and mature, which is so cool because I love those two and I think they are so cute! I am really excited to read the finale, Three, which comes out in February 2014!

ok also, here is my favorite quote from the book which I think completely sums up Chase and Ember's relationship and reminds everyone that even though they are both carrying guns and on the run and have Tucker Morris riding in the back seat of the car, they are still to teenagers who are in a relationship together.
    

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Article 5
By Kristen Simmons

4 out of 5

Ember Miller is a seventeen year old girl living with her single mom in this post apocalyptic book. The police and the Bill of Rights are no more, instead there are soldiers and the Statutes, and those who don't follow the rules usually don't hang around for long. Ember and her mom are surviving until a knock on the door changes everything. The soldiers have come to take Ember's mom for violating article 5, and one of the officers is none other than Chase Jennings, Ember's used-to-be next door neighbor and boyfriend. Ember is taken to a reformatory school and her mom is taken who knows where. But Ember won't give up hope, she will find her mother, even if it means having to work together with Chase.

I thought that this was really great! I have been wanting to read this for a while, and then my sister finally got it for Easter and of course she instantly hid it away from me, but I have at last gotten my hands on it. I love the premise of the book. And I know that sometimes the post apocalyptic world is a bit overdone and everyone's just dying and there's no hope, but I never get tired of it. I love the end of the world books. And I love Chase and Ember's relationship. Their relationship is so complex and there is so much going on between them, but at the same time, the reader is never confused. They can relate because everyone has had someone in their life who they were close with and then they dramatically changed and you're just left so confused about what happened. That's how Ember feels, and probably Chase too. And they just don't know how to get back to where they were after so much has happened. I thought it was so good, and I am getting the next one, Breaking Point as soon as I can.

If you liked
Legend, I would recommend this book.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Obsidian (Lux #1)
By

4 out of 5

Katy thought that her life was going to be boring when she moved from Florida to West Virginia. But she didn't anticipate her neighbors. Dee and Daemon Black are both beautiful and very different. Dee is warm and outgoing and instantly becomes friends with Katy. But Daemon, is moody and dark and he doesn't seem to like Katy, at all. After several warnings to stay away from them, things start to get weird. Katy notices strange things about the Black siblings. Like lightning out of nowhere, and strange breaks of time, and those glowing eyes. Are the Black siblings even human? And how much danger are Katy, Daemon and Dee getting each other into?

I thought it was really good! I read the book in 3 days and I stayed up late all of the nights that I was reading. I have read so many good reviews about this book, and I just decided that enough was enough and I had to read it. I loved that Katy was a book nerd and kept a book blog--sounds like she would fit right in. I really liked the few chapters that were in Daemon's point of view, they were great. But overall, I liked all the characters, and I think the story was really solid and worked really well together. And I really liked the chemistry between Daemon and Katy, even though they clearly did not.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Not that any of you care, but I changed the name of my blog. The old title was just getting too old and boring for me. I'm still not completely sold on the current name, so it might change again. We will see.
Ok so I have a serious question for everyone that has finished the Hush, Hush saga. If you haven't read the books, don't continue reading this post, there are spoilers.

I finished these books quite a while ago, but I really love them and tend to reread them whenever I have nothing else to do. And one question has always bothered me.

At the end of Finale, when Patch gets the sense of touch and everyone is happy, does he now age like a person? Cause isn't Nora still aging? I understand that she is Nephilim and everything, but that means that she ages until she swears fealty. So is Nora still getting older and Patch is just staying the same age?

Now if this is the case, I have no judgment. I've read Clockwork Princess and I'm all for the Tessa & Will love story--always have been, always will be--but that relationship was fully explained. And I'm just not sure what's going on with Patch and Nora.

If anyone has any insight they would like to share with me, I would love to hear it. I don't care if you make it up, or if Becca Fitzpatrick said it herself, I just want someone to break this down for me, real slow.

Thanks Loves,
keep reading!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

My Beloved World
By Sonia Sotomayor

3.5 out of 5

Memoir. A personal account of Sonia Sotomayor's life from when she was diagnosed with diabetes at age eight, until she is appointed as a judge in New York City.

I really liked this book which was a surprise because I expected it to be dull and boring and a very slow read. This is the book all incoming freshman at my school have to read for our freshman seminars, and when I found out I was kind of dreading reading it. But once I actually opened the book and started to read, I really liked it. It is an incredibly personal account and I feel like I really know Sonia now, and that if I saw her on the street we would have tons to talk about. I will admit that I knew very little about her life before reading it and I was amazed at what I found out.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Beautiful Redemption

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4)
By Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

5 out of 5

Ethan Wate is dead, but this is not the end for him. Stuck in the Otherworld, Ethan is desperately trying to get back to Gatlin and Lena and everything he left behind when he jumped off the water tower. But can he make it back to the land of the living? And what terrible dangers will he have to overcome to do so?
Lena is mourning the loss of Ethan and is handling it just as awfully as Amma is. But then she gets a sign. Ethan is still alive. And so with the help of Amma, Link, Macon, and even a little Ridley Lena waits for the signs and tries to help Ethan any way she can. But will it be enough? Does their love really have to power to bring back the dead?

This was probably the best book in the entire series! I loved it, I think partly because I thought it was over after the third book Beautiful Chaos I was just so excited that there was another one. I thought the characters really worked well together and came up with a great ending that suited the story line and satisfied the loyal readers who stuck it out until the end.