Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Title: Unearthly
Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly (#1)
Genre: Angels, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen

Pre-Reading: I just read the sample on my nook. I NEED the rest of this book now. It was actually really much better than I expected, for the first 35 pages they gave me...i hope the rest is as good as the preview.
The rest is as good as the preview. (Warning: minor spoilers ahead, major laziness, which is why I did this rather than mark spoilers.)
To cut it short, this book was...Unearthly. (See what I did there? Haha...yeah.)
I have always wanted to meet, or come in contact with, a book that was so wonderful it made me question everything I thought I knew about books- specifically, a book that broke every rule in the Young Adult market. A book that is so creative and refreshing that it makes you cry or squeal.
Fortunately, this is one of those books. I mean, admit it. You read the premise, the summary, whatever. You look at the cover. And now you're thinking, "Great. Another predictable book with a Mary Sue. I know everything that's gonna happen." You open the book and roll your eyes, because- ADMIT IT- You feel like you figured everything out already. Girl is angel, girl is beautiful, girl rescues boy, girl and boy live happily ever after, book ends in random cliffhanger for no reason. Right? This is what you are thinking. And I know because I was definitely thinking that too. I thought this would be a disappointment.
*WRONG*
Even Simon Cowell would be impressed by this book. And I'm sure he does not like or read Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy/Romance/Angel books. The characters- Jeffrey, Clara, Tucker, Christian, and Clara's mom- are so realistic and relatable. I LOVE THEM. Everything about them (well, maybe not EVERYTHING) is likable. They have great backgrounds, flaws, and redeeming qualities. I can easily name three flaws every character has, and four redeeming qualities as well. They jump off the pages, and are so fleshed out and real, I feel as if they are my best friends. If one them was to suffer (and when they did suffer) I felt as if I was suffering too. I mean, Clara is as far from a Mary Sue as you can get. Yes, she is an angel, and of course, therefore she has supernatural abilities that could make her a Mary-Sue, such as the fact that she is beautiful and good at everything. However, the author writes her characters so well, that giving Clara those wonderful abilities actually just add to her appeal, and she has enough flaws to be a real human (well, maybe not HUMAN human...she is an angel and all) being, but enough good qualities to make her likable. She's more than likable. She's lovable. She's angelic (Pun fully intended). And I just love the fact that, even if she is beautiful like an Angel, the author made her have orange hair by accident, orange enough that kids call her Bozo at school. Because, really, if you dye your hair, sometimes it isn't going to turn out right, especially if you had Clara's hair. The best thing is that her appearance doesn't matter anyway. She can be blue-haired and purple eyed for all I care. Her personality outshines everything. At the beginning, she was so awkward around her new school and Christian that it made me cringe. I felt so bad for her- yet I knew, if I was in her place, I'd be handling everything almost the same way. Unlike in some books and TV shows, going to a new school, you won't become super popular and admired in the first week, let alone first day (*cough*BellaSwan*cough*). You also are obviously not going to be a total outcast, if we're being realistic- there will be a few people who will talk to you, and everything Cynthia Hand wrote about high school and the way the characters interacted with each other screamed "REAL"! There was nothing fake, dramatic, or unreal about this book. Exciting, amazing and real are the words that come to mind when I try to describe Unearthly. I don't know how Cynthia Hand did it, but she managed to write a world and book so utterly relatable that I couldn't stop staring at the cover. I have NEVER seen a book that was this real. Sorry for lack of better words to use other than "real", but that's what this book was. Oh- don't let it fool you. Just because this book is real, doesn't mean it's any less entertaining or fascinating. It is EXTREMELY entertaining and fascinating. The plot is solid and creative. You think it's all about her rescuing some hot boy? No way, Jose. As amazing as it is, Hand wrote a book with a plot so creative that I was fooled by the summary. I thought I was so great, having figured it out. But then I realized, Hand had fooled me- she had bettered me. I sulked for about eight seconds and squealed in delight for the next five days. Because this book is absolutely flawless. The world building was complete, neat, almost perfect- I had a few questions, but those were more of a plot's mystery factor than lack of world building. I was so glad to see that the author actually seemed to have studied and researched upon angel mythology and Angels before writing this - everything made sense, and it fit in. It wasn't stupid or random or awkward. Everything fit, like a nice little puzzle, and that was another breath of fresh air.
TALKING ABOUT FRESH AIR....OH MY GOD. THE RELATIONSHIPS. Don't take that as a bad "Oh My God" it's a happy "Oh My God". It's an, "Can she be more of a genius?" type of "Oh My God." I mean, every. single. book. in the YA market (or almost every book) suffers from a case of Insta-love syndrome. (*ahem*TwilightMortalInstrumentsHushHushShiverHaloAndThatsJustAFew*AHEM*) This book? It has THE MOST developed, slow-forming relationships I have ever read. I'm not kidding. THIS IS THE MOST DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIP THERE IS. I can't give away much - but Clara and the boy don't fall in love immediately. It takes more than half the book for them to even become friends. I mean, don't take this the wrong way- there is romance. Lots of it. Just...unexpected romance. As in, it takes a while for them to be friends, and a lot longer for them to be together. They (not saying who!) go from strangers, to enemies, to friends, to close friends, to a relationship, to head-over-heels. The thing is, though, that the plot is exciting even without any romance. It just adds on.
And, the best part? WE DON'T SEE IT COMING! We can feel it [the romance]- but we can't see the relationships coming. It's amazing. I love Cynthia Hand. I seriously do. I worship her for writing a novel with a plot that's a thousandfold times better than the summary and cover combined,a novel that I was able to clutch to my chest and cry, because I was so happy that it was so utterly real and exciting and unpredictable.
Talking about relationships, brings me to another thing I love about the book. Family. This book also does not suffer from absent-parent syndrome. Clara's mom is very, very, very involved in Clara's life- her mom is a big part of the puzzle. Without her, it wouldn't be the same. A great book, but just not as amazing. And the fact that their relationship isn't all rainbows and sunshine or clouds and ice makes it better. Clara loves her mother - it's obvious - but has conflicting feelings about her and her complex situation. Her dad isn't as present, but he is definitely a part of Clara- and she does think about him. Her brother is a pretty big part, too- Clara loves her family, though they do have their fights. It just makes this book better. And it GETS better. There is something about the way Cynthia Hand writes, something about this book I can't pin point, that makes it so....AMAZING. ENCHANTING. THRILLING. EXCITING. PAGE-TURNING. EVERY GOOD ADJECTIVE THERE IS. Please, you all have to read this book. I will definitely read it again - I already re-read this book 4 times, and I finished only a few days ago with reading it the first time. And I'm still not tired of it. I doubt I ever will be. '
Five-stars. A solid five stars, since I can't do five and a half, or six. I really recommend this book to everyone. You can't miss. This is a must-read with one of the best plots and characters I have ever seen. Read it and you will not be disappointed. It exceeded my expectations BY A LOT. I expected to rate it one-star after the premise. Now, look at those nice five little stars. I swear- if you don't read this, I'll have to find you and do something about it.

And by the way- TEAM TUCKER! FTW! TEAM TUCKER ALL THE WAY! -Astrid

Review: Angel by James Patterson

Title: Angel
Author: James Patterson
Series: Maximum Ride (#7)
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Publication Date: February 14, 2011
Publisher: Pageturners



This entire series is now ON PROBATION for me.
I fell in love with Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever, and Saving the world and Other Extreme Sports. After The Final Warning, I started to have second thoughts. After reading FANG, I threw up and smashed my head against the wall.
Now, I know that's not a very good note to start on for a book review. But this book was HEAPS better than the last book, Fang. After reading Fang, I felt as if the author was milking it. Patterson, my man, I love you- but even I can tell this is just for the money. The book series came to an end in Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports- they saved the world, after all, which was the goal. But then, we figured out that NOOOO, they totally still haven't saved the world. Which is obvious for, "I know, I know, I already wrote the final book, but they're so famous that I better keep going and drag it out." Even after reading Fang, which is not only the worst book in the series but is actually amongst one of the few that I rated one-star, I felt obligated to continue and read ANGEL, seeing as how the characters feel like my friends now and I care for them (except, Angel sort of scares me now). I did not make a mistake. Angel is TWO AND A HALF STARS better than FANG, and honestly, everything was almost back to normal. I did say ALMOST back to normal. Of course, Fang is still running his cirque de freak gang, whom I want to kill with a malet very badly.
Let's start with the plot. The plot, as I said, is still dragged out- but I feel like this is one of those books where the author suddenly comes up with a brilliant, fresh, exciting new idea that will make the next book better. I feel like rather than being boring and plotless, James has come up with a new idea for the series, which will be revealed in Nevermore. Therefore, the plot wasn't as washed out, bland, and pointless as in the last book. I mean, it was a lot of sitting around and I miss the action we had in the first three books, but they had some good action bits and I enjoyed how it seems to be setting up for something big. The book also consisted of less action than the first three books, but I think it was a lot more fascinating and action packed than the last two books. Another thing that MAJORLY saved this book for me: The fact that Angel is back to normal. The first three books, Angel is sweet, and Max just loves her. She's smart and very loyal to the flock. Then, for some JACKED UP REASON, Patterson turned her into a demonic bird child that keeps trying to control everyone and get Max kicked out of the flock. In this book, Angel is a lot more like her old self. She's sweeter, calmer and she seems to support and stand behind Max like she did the first few books. I don't know if she's just planning to earn our trust and then kill us in our sleep, but she was the peacekeeper between Fang and Max and she was very good and more like her old self, which i was grateful to see. Which brings us to another point, something I didn't like and that I am sure nobody did: Max and Fang's relationship. They absolutely hate each other in this book. They can't seem to get along for longer than seven and a half seconds. They each have their own new little love interests, which we all know they are using to make one another jealous. How did that HAPPEN? They were disgustingly in love last book, and now they seem ready to snap eachother's heads off. Yes, that is mostly Max, but I just feel that it's unfair and too big of a change. From love birds to fire throwers. How the heck do you make THAT leap, Patterson? And not only is Fang crushing on Max's clone, the annoying and obxnoxiously girly Maya, but  he has his own flock now. And I hate all the people in his new flock. Sure, I get it- they're just people. But I feel like he's trying to replace the flock, the way a poor person buys cheap knockoffs of purses in New York. It annoys me endlessly, and none of the flock members he has are deep or complex in anyway. They are mindless hooligans and honestly, if they all got on a boat and it sunk and an octopus served them for breakfast, I'd be okay with that. I'd also be okay if Fang went with them, seeing as how he isn't acting like himself and is actually spraying people with Cheeze Whiz now. I want to smack him upside the head, hang him by his feet and poke him with sharp sticks, which I also want to do with the annoying, obnoxious, dense, singing, Gary-Stu we call Dylan. It's not RIGHT for Fang to be apart from the flock, to have his own group. It's messed up and I just can't read it- it seems awkward and sticks out in the worst ways. I hope Patterson fixes it by Nevermore. Now, the Flock...I think it's safe to say that in the last book, they were falling apart. Max isn't a great leader anymore. She's weak, uncertain, and too focused on other matters besides her Flock to be a strong leader anymore. She was the best leader in the first three books, but the more books that are published, the worse she gets. However, she had a few redeeming moments in this book that made me think maybe not all hope is lost.
Overall, I think the way I felt about Max is the way I felt about the rest of the book. Like it was falling apart and that it was very weak, but there were a few moments or chapters that reminded me of the first three books and that helped the book go from one star to three. This book had a few redeeming moments and I think that, by the end of this book, everything could be much more normal. The only thing I truly hated was that the Flock used to be a family, and now they are like strangers to each other. I feel like I don't know anyone anymore except Iggy, and that they're falling apart, and it breaks my heart. I miss how close they used to be, how united they were, in the first two/three books. However, they seemed more like a family at the end, and hopefully in Nevermore, Fang's stupid gang will be vanished (along with Dylan and Maya), and everything will be back to normal. I really hope so. If not, I might have to die unhappy and hang James Patterson by his feet and poke him with sharp objects while forcing him to read his own book and eat spoiled bananas. It breaks my heart to rate this book a two. -Astrid

Review: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Spell Bound
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall (#3)
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Publication Date: March 13, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

(ATTENTION: MAJOR TO MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.)
Aha.
After the MAJOR cliffhanger at the end of Demonglass, a cliffhanger that challenges the one in The Hunger Games, I was so excited to see this book waiting for me in the mail, all nice and new in the nice packaging Barnes&Noble provided. I sat down with a bottle of pepsi, turned on the fan (Summer can get violent here), and started to read.

Spell Bound picks up right where Demonglass left off. No joke- it literally picks up the second after the ending sentence of the last book, with Sophie arriving at a mysterious location, which will stay mysterious seeing as how I am trying to avoid spoilers for this one. After not reading this series for at least five months, I found it hard to remember what was going on- but I warmed up to it after a few pages, three at most, and so that was good. The best part? The book started right away with what it is most famous for- the action. Yes. Hardly a dozen pages pass before our favorite heroine, Sophie Alice Mercer, is stuck in the middle of a very fascinating fight. A fight that had me laughing and gripping my book in anticipation. We find out what I and a few others had guessed, and the next few chapters of the book is a little too slow-paced, but still interesting enough. It's mainly a small history lesson on The Brannicks and Sophie's family (view spoiler)[Yes, her family is the Brannicks. So now her name is Sophie Brannick/Mercer/Atherton/whatever. (hide spoiler)] and them preparing for battle. The action in this book is great, but it doesn't compare to the everpresent, heart-stopping action of Demonglass. Sophie is her old, snarky self, and she shows a lot of development because despite having to be a hero and do some things she probably wasn't happy to be doing, she was working hard to do the right thing and hardly complained about anything. She was still hilarious and made me choke on my pepsi. Archer was the same, as well- hot and comedic - while Cal was...well, Cal. Hot and alluring. The love-triangle really made itself known in this book as well, which i enjoyed, up until the last few chapters (view spoiler)[[Yeah, because Cal dies. WHAT THE HELL, HAWKINS?] (hide spoiler)]. It really seemed like Sophie loved Archer, but there was definitely something with Cal too- it was interesting to read and figure out how you felt about that, since there definitely was some Chemistry between both couples. Another thing I liked was the fact that, though mostly very predictable (I never thought I'd use that word when describing the hex hall series.), there were a few things that stunned you and made you squeal. And the way Sophie handled almost everything, including the love triangle, was very mature. She has/had her flaws, obviously, but she was still fascinating and fun to read about and would make a pretty good role model. Bravo, Rachel Hawkins, for pulling off a non-Mary-Sue character that couldn't possibly be more amazing. I loved Sophie and her story and was very sad to read the ending...which brings me to the worst part.
THE ENDING
I was not satisified. We spend the whole book waiting for The Eye to make this appearance- for this huge, big fat battle, for the Eye to have their moment. I mean, we've been waiting for the Eye to have their spotlight dance since we heard about it in Demonglass. And yet, though it is really needed and necessary for the book, they never get their moment to shine. A few people from the Eye show up, but the actual Eye never actually make an appearance. In fact, Archer was basically the only Eye we saw (BASICALLY, not really the ONLY one, but...). It was kind of a let down. Also, Archer kept hinting to Sophie about having the Eye and Council unite and have a sort of agreement to take down the Casnoffs, but they never actually agree on anything- there is no closure in that aspect. We never know whether they end up having an alliance with the Eye for any reason. Actually, a lot of things don't have lots of closure. Hawkins kept hinting around about Isabelle and Torin and them having a interesting relationship- which I really really REALLY want to find out about - but we never find out ANYTHING. And Now I will die sadly, wondering- what was really up with Isabelle and Torin? Seriously. There was this big fat MYSTERY right there, and despite this being the last book, IT NEVER IS ANSWERED! She better write a separate book based on Isabelle and Torin alone because otherwise she will be getting angry letters from me. Also, the fact that (view spoiler)[Cal dies (hide spoiler)] was very unnecessary and I didn't like it. I mean, why? How did that help? Because now Sophie won't have to deal with all that baggage and make a choice? Wow. I never thought Hawkins would stoop to such a level that I actually glared at something she wrote. I was so unhappy with the cheesy, happy ever after ending- I mean how many times have books ended the way this one did? I'd need multiple hands to count on my fingers. It just wasn't an original ending and I needed more closure on a lot of things.

THE ACTION
Okay. I'm going to pounce on Hawkins here. The action is partly what made Demonglass and Hex Hall such great books. The action was exciting, well written and around every corner. The action was either unexpected or expected but still very heart-stopping. It made you squeal and stare with big eyes at the book in your hands. Sadly, for Spell Bound, this was not the case. There was always a major climax in the last two books, but here, that climax was sadlt lacking of action. I wasn't sure when the climax was coming, and I had to go back and re-read to make sure that I hadn't missed it. Then, there were times when the characters were preparing for a big battle, mission or action bit, where there was all this excitement leading up to the final moment- and then NOTHING happened. An example: (view spoiler)[When Sophie and her friends had to go down to hell, or the underworld, and get the demonglass, you'd expect this big, demon filled, evil, page turning battle would go down. In reality, they spent about ten minutes down there, and all they did was walk, shatter glass, breathe heavily, and go back. I mean, sure, they saw their biggest fears and nightmares happen, but it was more of a silent-fear thing than an action filled thing. There was nothing exciting about it, not in the swords-and-blood-and-battle type of thing the last other 2 books were so rich of. And that was a big let down. Also, the parts where there was some sort of battle, was tuned down. There wasn't anything that was really as EXCITING as you'd expect. No REAL epic show down, and the action seemed to watered down. Hawkins didn't measure up. (hide spoiler)]. That was a big disappointment- everything that was action related was watered down. Hawkins didn't write to her full potential.

Of course, I still adored the characters. Jenna was as adorable as ever, Archer as hot and funny, Sophie as snarky, Cal as stoic, her mom as dangerous and deadly as usual. And I loved the fact that throughout the entire series, Sophie's parents were a BIG PART of Sophie's life, even in Hex Hall when Sophie was away from her parent(s), she still called and cared and thought a lot about her mom. Her family was largely integrated and important to the story, and if it weren't for her dad, there probably wouldn't be a second book- it was because of him that she got to London, after all. And not only were her parents present, parent-y, and important, but she had a rich relationship with them, and she cared about them and what they thought. I really liked that aspect, and it was a fresh breath of air in the parent-free YA section. The characters were amazing, the relationships were amazing, but the world-building and the action were sadly lacking. It could've been MUCH MUCH better. Strangely enough, I feel like- though this is a solid three-stars because there WERE some exciting parts- Hawkins changed her mind and is going to write a fourth book. After all, Sophie is now HEAD OF THE FREAKING COUNCIL. She is ruling the Prodigium government. Don't we have a right to know how that GOES? I can totally picture another book coming along. If anything, more questions were ASKED AND UNSOLVED than ANSWERED in this book, when it should be the other way around. All in all, this book disappointed me. I liked it, I did, but it could have been something great- could've been my favorite in the series. SHOULD have been my favorite.

It was not. And I am sad about that. However, as I said, there were good things, and bad things. Great things and terrible things. A solid three stars. -Astrid

Review: The Giver by Louis Lowry

Title: The Giver
Author: Louis Lowry
Genre: Classics, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Young Adult
Publication Date: January 24, 2006
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers


I read this in the fourth grade. Well, I was supposed to be in fourth grade, but was in fifth grade reading class. We read this in advanced 5th grade reading class, and back then I found it so fascinating, I spent hours either discussing it or thinking about it. First off, how the main character has no reason to rebel- in his head, anyway. That alone sets it apart from other dystopias. There is Jonah, who thinks his society is so perfect- as does everyone else - and he has no idea what is going on to make it so perfect. It really is perfect, on the outside- but what it takes to make the society perfect *SPOILER* such as, getting the twins and weighing them and killing the weakest one, and choosing what their future jobs will be, isn't such a merry-go-round of joy.
I found the entire concept so amazing. I can't put it into words, and I usually can put anything and everything into words. This was the first dystopia I ever read, and the first book that really struck something in me. In fact, this is the book that made me think, "Someday, I am going to write a book that will change someone's life." Because this book changed mine and the way I look at everything.
From character development (Jonah believing everything is fine, to seeing the horror behind his father's job and society), to plot, to setting, to writing style, everything in this book is deep and perfect. Every sentence is perfectly woven into the bigger picture, every word a necessary action. It is amazing, how gifted Lois Lowry is. This is a book that children will read hundreds of years from now in school, such as Pride & Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. Truly a classic, and a book rare enough to find in the midst of today's Vampire romance and Hunger Games wanna-bes.

Rreview: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Title Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult
Series: Fracture (#1)
Publication Date: January 5, 2012.
Publisher: Walker Childrens
*SIGH* LOOK AT THAT COVER <3 (#coverlove)

I have been wanting to read this for such a long time. The cover was just so beautiful, everything about it - the dramatic face on the beautiful girl, the color scheme, the lake, the woods...the color scheme- drew me in. The blurb drew me in as well. I forgot about it after a while, but found it while nook browsing the other day. From page one, I THOUGHT I knew it was one of those books that have so much potential that they never live up to. And I know, that's probably starting on the wrong note for this review, but the reason I said that is because I'd like to inform you all that this author proved my initial feeling wrong. This was much better than I expected.
I'll give Miranda this- it was easy to imagine that I was being the one drowning in the first chapter(s). I could feel the water over me, the fear. She does a great job with that part. And of course, though the concept of the book isn't as original as one might think,the characters did develop- most of them, anyway. I have to say that I feel that the main character, Delaney, did develop from the beginning of the story to the end. Not in a BIG BIG way, but really, she was a lot less annoying and selfish. I saw so much depth and complexcity in all of the characters. I also really enjoyed how the main character, Delaney, WAS A REAL PERSON. In the way that she tried her best to have great relationships with everyone around her as well as wanted to have a real life and education. She has goals- the author obviously knew her character well. And the fact that the parents weren't so obscenely absent from Delaney's life was great- you never find parents in YA novels anymore, with the Mortal Instruments series and Unearthly being an example of books that DO happen to have parents. Have you noticed that those two books are also very succesful? Yes, the author did a good job with having the parents involved in her life, but not to the point that it prevented the characters from being teenagers. The relationship between Decker and Delaney is very complex and it is hard for me to put into words- they had some issues throughout the book that had been there for quite a while and needed to be solved. The hot, mysterious, cliched love interest, Troy V, was a bit too sulky and tortured and emo for my liking, but he was sympathetic enough- as well as alluring enough to make you want to keep reading [about him]. At the beginning, I felt like she [Delaney' was acting so superior, so above it all. Like, "Oh, yeah, and then this happened, but whatever. Oh and then that, but i mean, whatever, so." She just had this attitude and I couldn't really bring myself to like her at the first few chapters. But when she raged, it made me think, maybe I should stay open minded.And as the story went on, I grew to really care for and like Delaney and her story. I think she was well written in the end and I feel like her story was really good. She's like a friend now. Another thing was that after I first met Decker, I thought he was a jerk. He seemed to just want to go and kept dismissing Delaney at the beginning of the story, and I couldn't tell if he was mad at her or what- he just seemed to be annoyed by her, like she was his little sister who kept following him around and he couldn't care less. After the book went on, I started to like him better. I guess the author's strongest points as a writer is how well she develops and writes her characters- they felt so real, and yet had more depth than many people I know today. I kept stopping and thinking to myself, "These are people I could be friends with." The writer had me go from thoroughly disliking her character to really caring for and appealing to them. I think this book shouldn't be a series, and should only have one other book at most, but it was so great to have some great, 3-D, believable characters, because in most YA now a days all you see are Mary-Sues. The story itself could have been told a little better, and I sadly admit I knew what was coming from five pages away before it happened, but it was a nice plot and I really, really enjoyed the characters- something that can make or break a book. In the end, It deserves a solid 3.5 stars, because though it was NOT horrible, I feel as if there were some flaws and things that could have been avoided. Me rating a debut author a 3.5 is really something, since this is their first novel and usually I place debut authors in a solid 2 star rating. However, I feel like this book was very well written overall and that the author has a lot of potential. This story did warm my heart a few times, and overall was greater than I expected it to be- I think it measured up to the beauty of its cover, if not passed it a little bit. That's another exciting thing we never see in YA- When the content is more beautiful and good than the cover. A round of aplause to miss Megan Miranda. She really is someone to look out for in the future. Three and a half cupcakes.

Review: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Demonglass
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall (#2)
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Paranormal, Young Adult
Publication Date: March 22, 2011.
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

 Yay!
That's all that comes to mind when I think of this fantastic book, the sequel to Rachel Hawkin's Hex Hall debut. Sophie Mercer finds herself in England, learning about her demonocity (come on. Sophie would SO use that word) and spending some demon-dad-and-demon-daughter time with her dad. Throw in a LOT of action, eye-lash glitter, vampires, demons, hot boys, swords, fire, and night clubs, and you have one of the best books in YA fiction.
Let's start with Sophie Mercer. She's her same old, snarky, sarcastic, comedic self, but this time, she really impressed me with her maturity. She thought things through and really tried to keep an open mind when handling everything. And hooray for a YA heroin with a consience! She actually listened to her parents and said no to the love interest, which is a big step up from Bella Swan's constant spineless, selfish behavior and rule bending. Sophie thinks of what's best for everyone, and her and Jenna's relationship continues to flourish and grow like a beautiful flower (hah, im getting corny now). But honestly, the best part? The action and the characters. The dialogue between every character with one another was fantastic. They were all realistic, three dimensional, and they feel like my best friends. I liked all the new characters, and it was a big breath of fresh air to have her dad be so involved with her life, since parents are ALWAYS abscent in YA fiction. But not with this series- in Demonglass, her dad is a big part of her life, and he's there almost every chapter. He also is the whole reason she's in London, so basically, if he wasn't in this book, there probably would be no book. And Daisy and Nick tugged at my heart strings- I liked their relationship and characters a lot. Everyone was so complex, and yet they were all fascinating for their own reasons. Lara was also interesting (to refrain from any spoilers, I will not spectulate on her any longer). The amount of chemistry and tension between Archer and Sophie was off the chain. I have not read a series where I wanted to reach into the book, and make the two characters kiss like I used to make my barbie dolls. Honestly, their feelings for eachother were so strong- it was amazing. And the thing is, you KNOW why they like each other. It's not because of how hot they are to one another (In fact, another aspect that I like is the fact that Sophie is very plain and not beautiful. She's just...plain, girl next door, and she's always addressed that way. She can look pretty, but her looks aren't the best thing about her. Brown hair, brown eyes, freckles. And the thing is, she really IS plain- she doesn't just say she is to be modest. Nobody ever says she's so beautiful and hot. She's just plain, with a FANTASTIC personality), it's because of how well they get along and how they compliment eachother. I could easily list why Archer likes Sophie, and why Sophie likes Archer. I think anyone could, but not for any book, which makes this series that much more spectacular- also, their relationship wasn't insta-love. Sophie hated Archer at first, then she developed a futile crush, then a not so futile crush, but at first you weren't sure if he reciprocated, and at the end, they had a solid friendship before they moved on to romance, which is very new. I swear, this book...its flawless. There's nothing I didn't like about it, and I can be picky, but it's just so fun and amazing. Everyone has realistic conversations and the relationships were realistic, but not too intesne- unlike most fantasy/paranormal YA fiction, this series doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't have intense, sorrowful, angsty characters- it can be serious, but it is humor filled and packed with more action than cake is packed with sugar. The action makes your heart-stop and sweat form on your brow. It is page-turning and VERY fascinating- there is never a dull moment. This book lacks of "filler" sentences that bore you, which I find AMAZING and am eternally grateful for. The world-building is great- every detail of Sophie's prodigium world is stated, and there's nothing confusing about it. Everything is smooth as a pearl and just as shiny and pretty looking. I loved the banter between Archer and Sophie and Sophie and her dad- there are so many great quotes. An example:
Sophie: "So, did the eye come down here looking for me tonight?" Archer:"No, we came down for free corn dog night. Imagine our disappointment."
Archer and Sophie's banter is seriously out of this world. I am so lucky to have stumbled upon this series. Actually, I picked up DEMONGLASS first, figured out it was the second book in the series, and picked up Hex Hall first. Anyhow....I think that's all I can say. Hawkins has real talent. Of course, this ends with the BIGGEST CLIFFHANGER IN HISTORY, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book.

But the very best part? Demonglass is the sequel to Hex Hall, and it's BETTER than Hex Hall. It doesn't suffer from second-book-syndrome. It seems like every book Hawkins writes is better than her last, and I thought Hex Hall couldn't get any better. As I said, I am so pre-ordering Spell Bound...
FIVE CUPCAKES <3 !!

Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Title: Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publication Date: May 4, 2009
Publisher: ChickenHouse





Do you want to know how many tears I cried while I read this small, immensely powerful and emotional book? No, I can't count how many tears I shed. There were too many.
WOW.
That's all that comes to mind when I think of this powerful book that altered my views on...well, everything around me. About Love, Family, Life in general.
I was very hesitant at first, seeing as how this was written in letter format. I wasn't sure how I would feel. But right away, after page one, I was hooked and I knew letter format must be the only way to truly get the emotion and power this book needs to (and does) get across to the reader. The fact that it's in letter format allows the reader to experience how Gemma, a 16 year old girl who was kidnapped by Ty from an airport one day, feels towards Ty and everything around her in a way that first-person narrative couldn't have accomplished. Since instead of "Ty" or "He", Gemma writes, "You", it's like you are in Ty's position, but at the same time, in Gemma's place. It gives you perspective on both the character's, and I think that's great.
I feared that, since it was in letter format, it wouldn't describe the scene or setting well enough. I was wrong. Lucy Christopher described everything just beautifully, in a way that I myself can not put into words. The characters, Gemma and Ty, who are basically the only characters (seeing as how Ty kidnapped Gemma), jump out from the page. They feel like real, flesh, livuing people who you could meet any day in the street or at school or at a fair. But they are still fascinating, and honestly, I don't think any other author has made me feel so much for his or her characters as Lucy Christopher made me feel. I was naturally rooting for Gemma and Ty to be together, as I think anyone would. They are the only ones basically in the book. You want them to be together. But then you slip into Gemma's mind, the feelings she had, how it felt for her to be kidnapped and her conflicting feelings over a handsome young man who has a temper but a vulnerable, gentle side as well. I loved Ty- and then he would scare me, or scare GEMMA, which in return scared me. By the end of the book, I was just as confliced about my feelings towards the couple as Gemma was towards Ty. And, actually, I bawled my eyes out. I was just so confused and lost and conflicted, but not lost and confused in the, "Wait...what just happened here?" way, but in the way that I was emotionally conflicted to the point of not knowing how to feel or act or do. That was also the position that Gemma was in by the end of the book, and Lucy Christopher makes it so that if her characters hurt, you hurt as well. You have no option but to hurt- it just happens. You fall in love with Gemma, who is so deep and complex that it will just amaze you. This book exceeded my expectations. It BLEW MY MIND. I had no idea writing could be this powerful, without using complicated metaphors like in other books such as The Book Thief. No, it was just so beautiful. It makes you experience Stockholm Syndrome and confuses you just as it confused Gemma, because you wonder- IS this Stockholm, or is this real? Does she even LOVE him, should she, do I even want her to...i do want her too... You want them to be together, but at the same time, it is so hard to accept them being together because of the fact that there really <i>is no escape</i> and it's hard to get over the fact that he took Gemma. It's hard not to hate him for what he did, but it's also hard to hate him once you see the vulnerable, gentle sides of him- it's hard to do anything, really. And then you hear about Gemma's old life, and how he thought he was proteting her by saving her from that life. And That is one very big and powerful part of the story. Everything here will make you lay at night thinking, it will make you cry and change everything for you. The characters are so real, they seem to be close friends- it's like you know them and, as i said, if they cry, you cry, if they laugh, your heart smiles. You see their flaws plain and simple but can't help but feel for and care for them so much. Numerous times I cried. I cried, because....
Because I wanted Gemma to go home.
Because there was no escape.
Because she was so afraid.
Because she was starting to love him.
Because Ty wanted her to love him so bad.
Because Ty was so gentle and she rejected him.
Because Gemma was conflicted.
Because it was impossible to love him, but impossible not to.
Because Ty could be scary.
Because of how bad Gemma's life was before, and because you don't know if this new life is any better. 
Because I just didn't know how to feel- and Gemma didn't, either. It was just a maze of emotions, this book- and the fear you feel when she first wakes up in a strange bed, in the outback of Australia- it is such a real fear that it makes you want to cry, and you can't help but imagine yourself in her position, and the terror washes over you and suffocates you.
This is an amazing book. Every single sentence will fill you with some kind of emotion. The plot is original- so original. The characters are realistic, three dimensional, and VERY well developed. You watch them grow throughout the book, it's beautiful and really, I think this book is the perfect example of a real, solid, perfect, emotional, powerful book that will change your life. I wish all books had the same raw, emotional power, plot, and well written characters that this book did. Lucy Christopher is a genius. She writes gracefully and finishes perfectly, not rushed, but beware- you will need a box of tissues for this book. And this might just change how you view everything in your life.  A fantastic book. This will be a classic, trust me- right up there, children from all over america will read this in 20 years. Beautiful. Just beautiful. If you haven't read this, you need to. Now.

Review: Flowers In The Attic by V.C Andrews

Title: Flowers In The Attic
Author: V.C Andrews
Series: Dollenganger Series (#1)
Genre: Suspense, Drama, Young Adult
Publication Date: 1979
Publisher: Pocket Books.

In Flowers in the Attic, the first installment of The Dollenganger series, Cathy, Carrie, Chris, and Cory, four siblings, must deal with living in the dark attic in their grandparent's house after their fathers death, while their mother tries to win back her father and inherit a fortune. This is, needless to say, a very mature book. It was written by the well known V.C, Andrews, and I picked it up last-minute because I was desperate for a new book- any book. I saw the cover, the time, and bought...moIn Flowers in the Attic, the first installment of The Dollenganger series, Cathy, Carrie, Chris, and Cory, four siblings, must deal with living in the dark attic in their grandparent's house after their fathers death, while their mother tries to win back her father and inherit a fortune. This is, needless to say, a very mature book. It was written by the well known V.C, Andrews, and I picked it up last-minute because I was desperate for a new book- any book. I saw the cover, the time, and bought it before the store closed. When I got home, I started to read. And I was very hooked. The story deals with many topics as the four dollenganger siblings grow up in the attic, topics such as puberty, family, wealth, love, sex (yes, there is lots of sex. Its mentioned quite a lot, actually, and I read this when I was younger and was wondering how someone could write such risky, naughty topics), and such. It is very powerful and immensely well-written. The only thing that detained me from rating this story was Catherine Dollenganger, better known as Cathy, the narrator of this book. She suffers from Mary-Sue syndrome, though she is probably not even close to making it to the top 100 Mary Sues I have ever read about. Cathy can be selfish, egotistical, mean, stubborn, and whiny. Whenever she doesn't get her way or sometime upsets her, she becomes easily upset and refuses to forgive for quite awhile. She doesn't have a great relationship with her mother, dances ballet, and is described as obscenely beautiful, like her mother, with lush blond hair and fair skin and big blue eyes, like a dresden doll. The reason I rated this three stars rather than four is because I couldn't really like Cathy. I felt sympathetic towards her, but she didn't really show a lot of character development, and even in the next book she seemed to be still selfish, whiny and self centered. Though she does care for others, like Cory, Carrie, and Chris, most of the time she thinks of herself first, and her own needs and wants. if she doesn't like something, it must be changed. She holds grudges against the smallest things and at one point even wishes harm upon herself so that others will feel bad for her, just because they made her mad. She is prone to throwing "hissy fits" and such, but is very talented at lots of things, such as academics, ballet, acting, and singing- which also causes her to suffer from Barbie Syndrome, meaning she can do almost, well, everything. The fact that she does not get any less selfish or whiny throughout the first and second book doesn't help, but there were times when she was likeable and she was a great mother to Carrie and Cory. The other thing I didn't like was the fact that Christopher Dollenganger, her brother, seemed to worship his mother AND Cathy (which made Cathy very angry) in a way that just sort of creeped me out (for lack of better word). He easily seemed to forgive Cathy for her misdoings and never really got angry at things that I, and any reasonable person, would get angry for. The only times he did not worship or love Cathy was when she was derigatory towards their mother, and even then that just made HIM look stupider while it made Cathy look smarter and more in the right, which feeds her being a Mary-Sue. One more thing I didn't like was that the mother was the ultimate villain, because though that goes far to show how lust for money and fame can change a person, it is unrealistic the things she did, and Cathy was the only one who didn't like their mother, who was a very weak and very horrible person. Everyone else, Cory, Carrie, and Chris, seemed to be blind to how horrible and despicable their mother was acting- they all loved and forgave her for the things she did almost the second she entered the room. Cathy was the only one with sense enough NOT to forgive her, which is good and makes me respect Cathy, but is also bothersome to see how dense the rest of her family and the other characters are when it comes to things that are so obvious. It was infuriating, at times, how dense Cathy's siblings were- especially Chris[topher]. However, Andrews made up for mary-sue Cathy and slightly dull, worshipping-Chris in the way she told the story and how powerful the plot and writing was. Unlike many Young Adult books now adays, this story did have a plot that was NOT relying on the characters themselves. If you took away the characters, there would still be a solid plot. This story also has many morals and things that deal with the hardships of life and I think it's great to find a story with such power behind its plot. You are with Chris and Cathy as they deal with puberty and raising themselves and their siblings all alone. You are there as the twins fall ill, as they are mistreated by their grandmother, and as their own mother falls in love more with MONEy than her own children. These aspects, of course, are unrealistic, but they do touch your heart in a way that is hard to describe. Just watching them grow up and have to deal with these things makes this book a worthy read. However, this is also a painful read- not because it is a bad book, but because of the horrible, atrocious things the characters have to deal with, even having their own mother do the worst things imaginable for money. It goes far to show how our world is today- how greedy people can be, how manipulative looks and money is, how hard it is to grow up, such and such. I think this is a great book with depth, and despite the characters lacking development and common sense at times, I really did enjoy this book. It was very well written, captivating, and it took many risks along the way. I think it's a great read and I recommend it to mature teenagers and to adults. There is something terrorizing and mesmerizing about this book. It's horrible and sad and twisted and has incest and an attempt at murder and even has rape...but something about it makes it a enjoyable book anyway. I guess it's the way the author HANDLES all those mature topics. She handles it well, in the end. -Astrid

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection (#1)
Genres: Romance, Dystopian, Young Adult
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen

Let's start off with a quote from the protagonist, America Singer (Hey, guys...guess what she does!):

"Maybe what I wanted was stupid. Maybe it wasn't even something I could have. But still, it was mine. I didn't think I could sacrifice my dreams, no matter how much my family meant to me. Besides, I had given them so much already." -America Singer, Page 16 (Nook).

Okay. This is probably the only book I have ever read that I don't hate or love. It's simply...boring. Uninspiring. Yes, there were times when I would glare at my copy or make a noise of outrage at some bone-headed thing America (god, the name?) would do, or at how selfish she was, but most of the time I was bored. Uninspired. This book was flat, flat, flat to me. The character of Prince Maxon was weak and awkward- and definitely NOT in the cute, endearing way. In the way that makes you cringe and shake your head or acquire a immense migraine. The character of Aspen seemed...well. He's not a complete douche bag, but he felt like a jerk to me. And the reltionship of Aspen and America...I couldn't bring myself to care for them, or about her and Maxon. I couldn't bring myself to care about anything in this book much, except that sometimes I would be so angry at America Singer. Oh guys, guess what? SHE SINGS! Yeah, I know, never saw that coming, did you? I thought she was probably a cook or a mime. Besides the flat characters and nonexistent character development, the world building (or lack thereof) was just...ugh. I am having trouble coming up with words to express how ridiculous it was. There were so many holes and things that needed to be more detailed or looked over, things that if I were enjoying the book I'd overlook, but since enjoyment is one of the things that do not come to mind when I think of this book, I noticed an awful lot wrong with this so-called "dystopian" society. First off, the name. Creative, pretty name, but what kind of country is called after a person? A state, city, or town? Sure, you can call those after a person. But to call a country after a person seems unnecessary and just something that doesn't make sense to me. Then, the fact that CHINA INVADED AMERICA BECAUSE AMERICA OWED IT SO MUCH MONEY, made me laugh out loud. I showed this to everyone around me, and they eiter gave me, "What the hell?" looks, or snorted. Because if the country doesn't have the money to pay you back, invading that country isn't going to make them suddenly have the money to pay you back- and if that was how people handled having other countries in their debt, why didn't we all go invade Germany long long ago? The world would be CHAOS if that is how we handled it. The worst part is that people are daring to compare this to The Hunger Games, when the only thing that is even remotely Hunger Games like is the fact that the country has a new name and...well, maybe I'll think of something else later.
The only thing dystopian about this is the caste system, but really, is the caste sustem that dystopian? I mean, we already have first-class and middle-class and lower-class. Add detail into it, and you have the caste system. Not very original, really, if you think about it. But it's not like they have a horrible government, and really, the caste system could be changed if everyone stopped being prejudiced. It's not really a dystopia, in my book.

Okay, moving on. The biggest problem for me was not only the boring plot, the blunt and literal writing (Miss Kiera Cass, have you ever heard of DETAIL or DESCRIPTION? Or elaboration? at all?), or even the awkward prince and annoying, flat boyfriend. It was the fact that America Singer was such a big Mary-Sue. She is everything someone shouldn't be, with absolutely NO redeeming qualities. She is selfish, rude, egotistical (Besides, I had given them so much already. -America, Page 16), boring, and judgemental. She's selfish because she doesn't care about her family OR her country. She whines and WHINES AND FREAKING WHINES SOME MORE about the unfairness of the caste system, but then refuses to run for Queen. Doesn't she realize that if she was Queen, she could FIX the caste system? Then she complains about how there is never enough food, but she DOESN'T EAT HER DINNER and still won't try to become Queen. If she cared so much about her family and shortage of food supply and money, she would run for Queen and actually EAT her dinner. Which brings is to a lot of other topics. The fact that doesn't want to run for Queen is completely insensible. She gives NO reason for not wanting to run for Queen except that she is already in love with Aspen and will not give up her love to help her family and her country. Forgive me, maybe I'm inhumane and don't have any feelings, but I think that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Didn't anyone tell her, sisters before mistsers? She's so selfish! She WHINES about everything, but won't run for Queen to FIX everything. Which brings us back to WHY she won't run for Queen. Not only is she secretly in love with Aspen, but she never (America) elaborates in ANYTHING. She said she didn't want to be a caste One or Two, that she had seen their luxurious homes and din't want to live there. Okay- WHY? FOR GODS SAKE, WHY? Just because you want to have a better, glamorous life doesn't make you shallow, you know. Everyone wants a better life. I SEE NO REASON FOR YOU NOT TO WANT A BETTER LIFE FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. So, in exasperation, throughout the novel I kept crossing my fingers that she would elaborate in SOMETHING. But no, nothing, she never let us know any details about why she felt a certain way about something or someone. That itself was infuriating. At least if she said the whole Selection thing was shallow or something, she would have a reasonable excuse. But she doesn't say that. She just gives us selfish reasons. And then she complains some more. Another thing that irritated me was how she, as a "Five" caste family, is supposed to be poor, yet she has a TELEVISION AND MAKEUP. If you are so afraid of the fact that winter is coming and you will not have enough jobs or food, why don't you use the money you have for food and clothes instead of TELEVISION and Makeup! She even goes as far as to complain about the fact that, yes, there is never enough makeup. I'd find it SO much more easier to be sympathetic towards the fact that they won't have enough money to eat if they didn't own MAKEUP. And that's even worse. A few morequotes from miss America Singer herself are:
"To pick a girl to smile and look pretty next to him on TV....Could anything be more humiliating?" Page 19 (Nook)
"You are Not!" May said. "Because I look like you, and I'M pretty!"' -May Singer, Page 21. (Yeah, did I mention her family is also egomanacs?)
"I wrapped my mostly untouched plate under a napkin." Page 24 (IF YOU ARE SO WORRIED ABOUT NOT HAVING FOOD...WHY DONT YOU EAT?)
"There was a mirror by my door, and I stopped to make sure my hair looked as good as it had this morning." Page 25.

I won't include anymore because going over the notes I posted in the book is making my head want to explode. There is NO character development. She stays selfish and egotistical through the entire thing, and she's not even likeable. The author's writing style is enough to make me want to light my hair on fire and jump into a pool of acid and sharks. Because really, the second biggest problem was lack of detail and elaboration. Decapitation would be less painful than reading over and over things like, "There was wallpaper." and she says how much she loves Aspen, but their relationship seems forced, fake, and is SERIOUSLY lacking in chemistry and depth. I have no idea why they like eachother. Maybe because they are both PRATS? Maybe? I don't know. The worst part is that America is obsessed with him- she even confessed to going crazy and wondering what he was doing every second of everyday. He's just not that good looking, and since he's about as interesting as a piece of cardboard (and that's an insult to the cardboard), I don't see what makes him (or her) such a great boyfriend/girlfriend. And, again, CASS WILL NOT ELABORATE ON THAT. Besides, we don't get to know them or their backstory as a couple. They're just there, together, right away, and as I said, it all feels fake. And at times it seems like the "love triangle" was so obvious and forced, it actually PAINED ME TO READ THE ROMANTIC DIALOGUES. It gave me PHYSICAL pain. If I read this book too long, it would melt my brain or numb my body because there was such a luck of depth and feeling integrated in this story. Finally, the fact that there is a big cliffhanger despite the fact that basically NOTHING happened in this book (okay, something happened. America WHINE WHINE FREAKING WHINED.) is just infuriating. Like, oh, there was just so much information that it couldn't FIT. If you wanted room, Cass, you couldn't deleted about 200 pages. No difference made, really, seeing as how there was no real plot. It was just another selfish, narcissistic, obnoxious, dense, unlikeable girl whining about how two guys are in love with her, and...well, that's about all. I think I sumed up the book pretty well. I've read countless books that were uninspiring and boring, but this, by far, is the most forgetable, boring, mind numbing book I have ever read. I couldn't care about America Singer, and the fact that the author went as far as to call America's mother manipulative to try and make us agree with America's not wanting to be in the Selection, to try and make us sympathize with America, was just sickening. Really. This book was bland, flat, poorly written, with characters that are about as entertaining and interesting to read about as it is entertaining to watch rocks, or the sidewalk. There is nothing good about this book. It's the perfect example of how NOT to write a good book, because honestly, I don't doubt that this book will be long forgotten in a few months. There is nothing remotely interesting or good about it. Seeing as how the author has such a great personality, i at least expected the book to be FUN. But it has NOTHING. NOTHING. Nothing.

My rating is one star. But if I look at the beautiful cover, I will give it one and a half. This book had potential- if you use your creatviity, America could have discovered secrets about her society or something while at the Castle. But there was nothing remotely creative about it. The bachelor, royal edition, with bland, two dimensional EVERYTHINGS. One star/cupcake. -Astrid

Review: Marked by P.C Cast

Title: Marked
Author: P.C + Kristin Cast.
Series: House of Night (#1)
Publication Date:
Publisher:
Pages: 306 (Paperback)
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Young Adult
*WARNING: This review has swear words and minor spoilers. Also, explosive anger on my part. I am not fond of writing angry, hatred filled reviews, but with books that are this painful and cause me to go into a Book Coma (Yes, this book put me into a coma/reading coma), I can hardly stop myself from throwing flames at the book, though I do try to support my anger and criticism with facts and examples from the book. So, beware, this review isn't very "professional", but it does have things in it that may help you decide whether you want to read this book or not. This is a scathing review.*



KILL IT WITH FIRE AND GIVE ME MY MEDICINE.
I read this book right after I read Fallen my Lauren Kate. Afterwards, I couldn't eat, read, sleep, breathe, or stop banging my head against the wall. I kept hearing voices in my head- Zoey's voice, repeating particularly dreadful phrases from the book, and I would scream and cover my ears, close my eyes, but it continued. Every time I walked by the library, I turned around and went the opposite way. I threw this book at the back of the car after I read Chapter 8 (One of the worst chapters in the book, and they're all abysmal and crappy, so that's saying someonething) and never dared enter that car, or touch the book, again. My dear mother was kind enough to return it to the library for me, seeing as how if I set sight on a real life copy of that thing again, I will have seizures, my eye will twitch, and I will have a conbustion. Or vomit. Either way it will not be pretty.
After this terrifying and severely traumatizing reading experience, I had to hire a therapist to help me get over my fear of reading books again. I was afraid to read because I might stumble upon another "House Of Night" type again, seeing as how this isn't a original plot and the characters are as annoying as hell. In fact, i'd much rather get decapitated by demons and eaten alive by lions than read this book or another one like it. The therapist helped, but the fact that I have to reminescence about this book to write the review, is making my hands shake with fear and sweat form on my brow. In fact, I may have to take several breaks while writing this and have a water break and healthy dose of Harry Potter, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Hunger Games, or more Harry Potter. My deary Harry, always there for me.
Okay. Okay. *water break, slowly breathing, have Harry Potter by my side.* I can do this.

Let's start with the biggest problem of all. Zoey Mary-Sue Redbird. I think she upped the Mary-Sue scale- sorry, Bella Swan (from Toilet by Stephenie Meyer), you are no longer the biggest, living, waking Mary Sue in Young Adult fiction. You have been replaced by the whiny, spoiled, OBSCENELY hypocritical, boring, dense, *excuse me for the vocabulary, but there is no other word* bitch that we call Zoey Redbird. In the span of the book Marked (yeah, "marked" as the worst book in history of YA fiction...), Zoey goes around hating EVERYTHING on sight, playing victim and calling other girls sluts for kissing a boy. Then, she calls girls who suffer from eating disorders <b>freaks</b> because they suffer from psychological, mental disorders that really have little to do with having a perfect body. COME ON, P.C + KRISTIN CAST. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING? Eating disorders are serious psychological diseases, it's not about girls wanting to be skinny! Stop acting like you know what you're talking about. You have no right to insult something serious that does kill hundreds of girls around the world every year, if not thousands. Eating disorders and the girls who SUFFER FROM THEM are not 'freaks, and if they read this book, it'd probably worsen their eating disorder condition, not make it better. You have NO idea how much that line bothered me, as I happen to have three people very dear to me suffer from anorexia and bulimia, and it's NOT funny and it's NOT just to look hot, bitch queen Zoey. (Zoey Redbird: She wasn't stick thin like the frak girls who puked or starved themselves into what they thought was Paris Hilton chic. ("Thats hot," yeah, whatever. Paris) Page 46). Zoey goes around bitching and being self righteous about how girls who don't eat to be skinny are pathetic. That's not pathetic- pathetic is whining about girls who are slowly dying from a severe mental disease, Zoey! God, doesn't she have something else to go do, like talk about "boobies" with her annoying, dull best friend Stevie Rae? Which reminds me.
 One minute, Zoey is going on about how deep she is, acting all important as she offends Christianity (because that's basically all this book does when they explain the People of Faith.), the next she is giggling with yet ANOTHER boy or gossiping about other girls with Stevie Rae. This is like, taking the stereotypical teenage girl, and taking it up a big notch. Which brings me to yet another topic that makes me want to barf and die- Zoey, boys, and how hypocritical Zoey is. She goes around calling everyone a slut, and by the end of the first book, she has at LEAST three guys- and she's calling Aphrodite a slut 24/7. At least it was just ONE guy Aphrodite made off with, not five, which is thus far the total count of boys Zoey has either slept, kissed, or gotten together with. Zoey is the biggest slut on earth, but when SHE sleeps with 25 different people, it's justified. When another girl sleeps with her boyfriend or crush, suddenly they're some huge slut. Zoey goes around insulting everyone and acting like she's above Aphrodite and her Queen-bee crew, when Zoey is just as shallow, pigheaded, dense, spoiled, whiny, and dull as everyone else, even more so. And all she wears is THONGS. Like we needed to know that. As if the book itself wasn't traumitizing enough on its own with its bad characters and plot, they also take rape and sexual assault and try to make it look all sexy and seductive. WHEN is rape and sexual assault sexy? Seriously, P.C + Kristin Cast? Why did you have to GO there? It was a completely unnecessary element in this book that probably gave me more mental damage than Zoey's pig-headedness and whining. Which brings me to YET ANOTHER TOPIC- the sexism in this book. When a GIRL sexually assaults a boy, somehow it ends up being the poor boy's fault. That's about as sexist as you can get. And I don't know about you, but when a book bashes girls with eating disorders, has sexism,mary sue characters everywhere, and a unoriginal plot, I about want to burn it. NOT to mention the terrible and obvious lack of editing. Everytime I saw an error, I closed my eyes, counted to 20, took 3 deep breaths, and tried for the life of my not to crumple the books pages. Not just because of the obvious lack of editing, but because of the STUPIDITY of the mistakes. And the writing style- well, since I can hardly call this writing, I guess this little part of my "review" (aka my venting about my hatred for this book) is going to be a little...weird. Sorry for my lack of vocabulary in this review, but this book killed my brain cells, so. The writing and its style was TERRIBLE. I don't know how I managed to take noticed of the writing, what with the characters distracting me with their immense stupidity and pig-headedness. They're all more annoying, spoiled versions of the Twilight characters. So how I managed to take note of the sloppy, indescriptive, atrocious writing is beyond me. Really.
*takes water break, reads harry potter to calm down*
Thank god for libraries. If i bought this book, I'd have to torture myself for spending a penny on this sad excuse of a book.
As I said, this wasn't as much a good, structured review as me venting about my overflooding emotions for this book, which still haunt me even when I read this a while back. Sorry about the swearing and lack of organization, but when I come across books that make me cringe, cry, and twitch at every sentence, like the House of Night series, well....I can't seem to write well structured reviews. not that I'm a professional in the first place. Also, I'm pretty sure this book killed my brain cells, so that may be why this review was so...explosive, with lack of better vocabulary to replace the words "stupid, horrible, terrible, crappy, pig headedness, and traumatizing", which were repeated many times, along with the swear words and "spoiled, obnoxious, dull, and lifeless".

So, here it is. I am Team Kill This Book With Fire, because since Zoey has about 3 guys love her, and since she deserves NO guys and all 3 guys SUCK, I am not picking a team. But I am picking ONE STAR.

Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Title: Fallen
Author: Lauren Kate
Series: Fallen, (#1)
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publication Date: December 8, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
KILL IT WITH FIRE.


Do you see that pose the emo girl on the cover is doing? The miserable, melancholy one that involves burying her face in her hands? Thats the pose I was doing when I finished this book. I also did it numerous times while I was reading this...novel.

I wanted to give this book five starts for the cover. Seriously. I'm one of those people that takes the bait of pretty, sad covers. I am a fool. I have been hurt my books with these enchanting, mysterious covers before, and I have not learned. I keep hoping someday the book will be better than the cover. This is a great example of those books that fool you with a beautiful cover.
Well, this book made me pull my hair out and scream. Literally.

There are a lot of problems with this book. The fact that the cover really is the only good part about the whole thing is one of them. Another is the fact that the plot completely relies on the reader not only caring for, but strongly liking, the characters. If you don't like the characters, you'll throw this book at the flames. I nearly did, but I contained myself. Because I am civilized.
Okay, now I'm going to stop being civilized.
This book is a literature disaster zone. Everything authors are taught and told and expected not to do, is done here. The main character, Luce Price, is a spoiled, weak minded, air headed, dense, obnoxious, fragile, flat, injudicious girl that nobody can relate to, because she's more unrealistic and dull than Bella Swan. She suffers from immense lack of intelligence, intuition, common sense, AND SELF RESPECT. Serious, SERIOUS lack of self respect. At the beginning of the book, Luce is as annoying as she is at the end of the book. I'd have expected her to have gotten a little more mature, after all she went rhough- which, let's admit it, we ALL knew what the "big secret' was about 50 pages into the book. Kate reveals the big secret at the end of the book, but if you take in the summary, book title, and first 50 pages, you can figure it out on your own. It might as well be written in big red letters in the front of the book- it wouldn't make it any more obvious than it already is. And not only is the plot predictable, it's almost nonexistent. The plot is technically the core of the book. The characters of the book are created as plot devices, to help establish the plot and tell the story. If the plot is based only of the characters and their history with one another, then there really is no plot, is there? And it doesn't work if you don't care for the characters. Which I don't. Because they are monotonous. They all lack personality and depth. Every human being has depth. Characters don't have to be likeable all the time, or even likeable at all, but they have to be three dimensional and realistic in some aspects. The characters in Fallen, are not. Especially Luce. She spends the whole book pathetically lusting after some boy who is good looking, but treats her like something a the bottom of his shoe. Or something his cat might've puked up. This is not an exaggeration. He even flips her off, before they even officially meet. And yet she comes crawling back. TAKE A HINT, SWEETIE- If a guy flips you off and sends you hateful looks, he probably doesn't want to get all cuddly with you. I don't know about you, but it seems like any self-respecting female should have enough sense to get over a boy (if not hand him a Hermione-punch) who treats her so badly. I understand the reason he did it- I get why he acted the way he did. But her reaction to how he treated her, no matter how in love they are, is a horrible example and even offensive to adolescent girls everywhere. Throughout the book, I was hoping someone could knock some sense into Luce, but everyone seemed to like the air-headed, dense girl. She made the worst decisions possible, and I can imagine her running into a pole just because it looks so beautiful. The worst part is that despite her lack of depth, personality, or hair, she seems to attract the most male attention. Well, she made ME want to pull my hair out. Her decisions were senseless and, as I have said before, dense. She gets rejected, treated worse then trash, and then comes back for more- yes, they are both in love with each other, but in the book, Luce does not initially know they are meant to be together, and I understand something makes her keep looking for him, but it still doesn't make it okay to let a boy treat you that way, and ask them to treat you that way more. The worst part is not only does she look for him to treat her like this and to talk to him, she stalks him, always watching him, following around. It's not right. I don't care if they are in love, I don't care if he is doing this for her own good- it is unhealthy to keep WANTING A GUY WHO TREATS YOU LIKE CRAP. It just is not right. The worst part is that they don't have a reason to love eachother. I can't figure out for the life of me what Luce sees in egotistical, idiotic Daniel, except for his great face and jawline, or what Daniel sees in air headed, insensitive, weak Luce who seems to be unable to stand up for herself or anything in her life. I swear, she has no spine, and that alone can ruin the whole book. Their romance is forced and is void of chemistry or depth, LIKE EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK. Honestly, the one thing nobody has yet figured out about this book is why they like eachother. They are both moronic, sure, but I don't think that results in deep, everlasting love, which they do not seem to share. And the whole romance wouldn't be a tragedy if Daniel found a hobby instead of waiting for Luce to come around so he can go step on her and say they can't be together. Seriously, could it get worse? Yes, it can. Kate, Characters need to be...readable. They need to be interesting and complex, they need to jump out of the page. They don't have to be likeable. In fact, some may argue, Katniss Everdeen is very unlikeable- but realistic, and fascinating, and fleshed out. Nothing here touches my heart or is even remotely interesting. And, really, this book can be just plain out confusing. I knew the entire plot right away, but by the end of the book I felt like I was missing something. Everything ex explained, but the ending just didn't make sense and was unsatisfactory. I couldn't understand what happened to any of the characters- it was clear, but it just didn't make sense or connect with the rest of the book. I mean, 3/4 of the book is made up of Luce sulking, being dense, and stalking a guy who, as I have mentioned before, treats her like trash. Then, the last 1/4 of the book, the secret is suddenly revealed and theres this big battle out of absolutely nowhere. One second it's all good then the book is tellins us what we already know. I mean, that book could've been 300 pages shorter had you taken out the sulking, stalking, and "Go away, I don't like you Luce, you are so stalking me." parts between Dan and Luce. Really, that was what bothered me even more than the characters- and that's saying something. The fact that NOTHING HAPPENED for the first 380 pages, and by the last few pages we already know the big secret, but there's a big revelation anyway, as if the author thinks we're not stupid enough to figure it out. What makes the revelation WORSE is that Luce, after ASKING AND NAGGING for Daniel to talk to her, runs away, when he does talk to her. Wow.
 It took me 5 days to read this book because I felt like everytime I read it too long, my feelings and mind went numb, like the characters in the book are so void of feelings and real thoughts and personality that it sort of affected me too. So, no, I didn't find this book enjoyable and I don't recommend it to anyone. The only reason I am giving it two stars instead of one is because I can't get over the pretty cover. And, by the way, I am quite aware of the fact that one-dimensional doesn't exist, but saying her world and characters are two-dimensional is too much of an over-statement. If thats even a word or phrase.
So, there you have it. Boring lifeless, obnoxious, injudicious characters, a virtually inexistent plot, a pathetic excuse of a romance, delinquent clad setting, and a melancholy cover that lies because apparently Luce has very very short hair. Which, of course, is traumatizing to Luce- she just loved her hair. She even weeps about how she had to cut it off in the book. No joke.
I think you know my rating.
ONE STAR.
....
*looks at cover of beautiful girl in woods, with pretty dress*
....
ONE AND A HALF STARS.

(Way too many calories. Don't eat again. Unhealthy.)

The Indigo Spell Book COVER

HERE IT IS, MY LOVELIES! THE COVER OF THE BLOODLINES SERIES BY RICHELLE MEAD.
The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) by, Richelle Mead.

One problem- I have absolutely no idea who the guy in the back is. On Sydney's left (our right), is Adrian, with too little of his face showing. On Sydney's right (our left), is a guy who looks startingly like Cory Monteith. Richelle, please....no love triangle....we already suffered through Brayden. And we want Sydrian. *foam comes out of mouth* SYDRIAN!

Book Review: Spirit Bound

Title: Spirit Bound
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy (#5)
Publication Date: May 18th, 2012.
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)
Pages: 489 (Hardcover)

I have to admit, since the last book was a bit of a bore (don't take me wrong, I loved it- but compared to the rest of the VA series, it was a snooze fest, except from the beginning, and  towards the end; then it picked up, but for the most smart I was hoping some random Strigoi would come so Rose would go all badass on them.), I wasn't sure about this one. Actually, that's not true. I was drowning in prayers that Spirit Bound would have the action I loved and was deprived of in Blood Promise (though, it WAS a fantastic read, for the record). I was not disappointed, for the most part.

In Spirit Bound, our favorite heroine, strigoi-killing, ass-kicking Rose Hathaway has returned to the Academy and is preparing for her final exams. Things heat up when Rose decides to find Rober Doru -brother of the our old friend, Victor Dashkov- and the only person who could help Rose turn Dimitri into a dhampir once again. Only, getting to Robert is easier said than done. And so is turning Dimitri back to a Strigoi.

The action I was hoping for was found around every corner in this book. From beginning to end, I found the action satisfactory and almost always present.Adrian was the usual, sarcastic, snarky self we all adore, and Lissa was just as kind as usual. Christian was aggrivating and also made me snort pepsi with his witty remarks.

However, the reason this book did not receive a solid four stars (it even had the potential of five) is because of the main character- or rather, main characters. Rose Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov. While Rose was still out there and ass-kicking, there were times when I stared at the book and thought, dumbfounded, "Rose wouldn't do that." Especially in the dialogue between her and Dimitri- it seemed somewhat awkward and as if it was missing the usual spark. Dimitri himself was out of character, through there were some parts where the fire in him was back. You do knot believe how overjoyed I was when he acted like his old self, but for the most part, his actions (mostly towards Lissa) were uncharacteristic and bland. I understand why, but I think Mead could've handled (and written) the situation much better.
I also was exasperated for the first 3/4 of the book because of Lissa and Christian. They, as Rose said, made me want to pull my hair out at times. Their feelings for each other were so obvious, and sometimes the way they acted towards one another I found childish. Though, I suppose, in their situation (like Dimitri), it is justifiable. Really, I can't complain about Lissa and Christian. It was expected for them to act the way that they did.

The thing that really did it for me was Rose Hathaway. I adore Rose, and couldnt't wait to cheer for her. But for the most part, she just wasn't herself. Even when she defied rules and made snarky (and insulting, of course) comments towards someone, I felt like something was missing. She wasn't as complex as I last imagined her. Sometimes I found her to be saying totally contradictory things. It just seemed like something was missing from her usual personality, she didn't seem as deep and realistic and herself as she did in the past. However, my biggest issue was her and Adrian's relationship. I will try to spare you of any spoilers, but I think the way she handled their relationship was very immature. While Adrian is setting down below, watching her from the high pedestrial he put her on, Rose is so hung up on Dimitri that everytime Adrian mentions his love and devotion to Rose, it makes me cringe- or want to rip my hair out. It's like Mason all over again, only this time, the red-headed boy is our beloved Adrian Ivashkov. Which brings me to another topic- one I love to talk about.
Adrian has developed into a complex character. It seems as if everyone dismisses him as, "oh, just adrian." or doesn't take him seriously. Everyone seems to expect nothing from him but him indulging in his vices. But at least twice throughout this story, Rose believes Adrian is getting drunk or wasted when he is actually taking part in something productive. That lets you know that he really isn't who we think he is. He has low-self esteem, and I'm not sure Rose dating him but still being (incontestably and obviously) in love with Dimitri doesn't help his self esteem. I think he needs someone to believe with him, and when he has that someone, he will grow. I don't think Rose is giving him much of a chance, as much as he tries- or as much as SHE tries.

Overall, this book didn't impress or connect with me the way the others (even Blood Promise did). However, I did find it immensely delectable, and could not put it down. Though it is not Mead's best work, there is a huge cliffhanger at the end, and the way she describes the action and other characters is just astounding. Truly talented, that woman is- I can't wait to read Last Sacrifice tonight. Spirit Bound could've been better, but I think most every book can have its improvement. This is a solid, good novel and I think those who have just finished Blood Promise, will be in for a nice surprise
-Astrid