Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa...

Series: The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten (Book #1)
Published: October 23rd 2012 by Harlequin Teen
Pages: 379
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:
Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Review:

For me this book was a complete suprise. I knew it was going to be good because I loved reading "The Iron Fey" series and Julie Kagawa is an amazing author. But I was nervous to see what Ethan was going to be like in this book but I found that I really liked his character.

The plot. I loved being back in the Iron Fey world again and I loved the plot of this book from the very first page. I thought that the plot and charcter set up in the book was really good and how it went through things that had happened to Ethan previously. Another thing that I really liked about this book was how it was told from a male POV I thought that it was a nice change from constantly having a female perspective on everything. I thought that the book was really fast paced especilly when they were back in the Nevernever and having to try and find out what this new threat was. I loved seeing how Ethan and Kenzie's relationship developed throughout the story and I just found the book to be a really enjoyable read.

The characters. I loved Ethan's character. I thought that he was very strong minded and willed by seperating himself from the rest of the world just to make sure that nobody got hurt through him being able to see the fey. I loved how Ethan took Kali as a means to protect himself and others against the fey, I found it very interesting learning about the martial art and how it had also shaped his personality. I really liked seeing how his perspective changed throughout the book when he started to let Kenzie in and how by doing that it even changed his perspective on the fey.
I also loved Kenzie's character, I thought that she was a great match for Ethan. She was very strong willed herslef and she has had to go through some very tough things in her life. I loved how she was not afraid to take risks and to go after what she wanted or how she would do what needed to be done to protect the people she cared about.
The other characters that I loved were Keirann and Razor. I thought that Keirann was very strong willed and did what he needed to do to look after the people he cared about and for Razor I loved his charcter, he always had me laughing and made the book a lot more fun.

Overall I thought that this was a great start to the series and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.

Monday, November 19, 2012

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells...

Series: Summer (Book #1)
Published: June 1st 2010 by Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 295
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish. But I'm jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life.

My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything.

Review:

I was really suprised by this book, sure I had heard a few things about this book so I knew that it was good but was it only after reading it did I realise how good it was.

The plot. I loved the plot! Though I did think that it was slow to start off about half way through things started to really pick up and then I couldn't stop reading so many different things were happening, people were starting to show different sides to themselves but the thing that I definitely was not prepared for was the ending... It was so sad! But I thought that it fit the story very well and ultimitley made it an even better book. I loved seeing how relationships developed throughout the book aswell.

The characters. I thought that all of the charcters were written very realistically and that includes the side characters.
I loved Mia's character, I thought that she was so relateable because she had the same concerns and insecurities that a lot of teenage girls have and I just really liked seeing everything from her perspective so I was able to see what she was thinking and feeling about everything that was happening to her and around her. I thought that she dealt amazingly well with what happened in the end of the book and I just really ended up loving her character.
I also really loved Simon's charcter, though I didn't really know what to think of him at the start as Mia and his relationship started to deepen I got to see more of his personality and he became someone I really liked. He knew what he wanted in his life and he wasn't going to let anyone stand in the way of that and I also really loved the way he interacted with Mia and how he was so kind and caring towards her.
Some charcters that suprised me were Corinne and Beth by the end of the book they seemed to have completely turned their lives around and in Corinne's case had changed for the better which I was really pleased to see.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was a very thought-provoking book and really solidified the message of living everyday like it's your last. This is a book that I would highly recommend and one that I will be reading for summers to come.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally...

Series: Hundred Oaks (Book #2)
Published: October 1st 2012 by Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 256
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?


Review:

I had high expectations going into this book because I had really enjoyed the first novel in the series "Catching Jordan" so I was excited to see that I would enjoy it as much as the first and if it would live up to my expectations which it did.

The plot. I really enjoyed the plot, I loved the forbidden romance and seeing how that played out as well as seeing how Parker's relationships developed with her friends and family throughout the book and how she dealt with the things that were happening in her life whether they be good or bad. I thought that the pacing of the story was really great and it had me turning page after page because I had to see what happened next in the story.

The characters. I loved Parker's character, I thought that she was really realistic and I loved her voive throughout the whole story. I really enjoyed seeing how she grew into her own person and started to do the things that she needed to do to for herself and how she took the courage to mend her friendhips and tried to make her wrongs right.
The other charcters that I liked in this book were Drew and Will, I thought that they were great character written really realistically and they both had their own issues to deal with which I got to see play out while reading the book. I thought that they were both really great friends to Parker, even though they weren't there when she needed them most they overall were still great friends to her.
The one charcter that I didn't like in this book was Brian, sure at first I liked him but as his realationship with Parker started to become more serious it showed who he truly was.

Overall I loved this book and I thought that it was a great summer read and a book that I will be reading for years to come.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski...

Series: -
Published: June 2012 by HarperCollins
Pages: 368
Rating: 2 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:
If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) is a mystery to them. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.

Review:

I had pretty high expectations fot this book. I was really looking foward to reading it after seeing rave reviews on it and everyone saying how great it was but for me it didn't hold up to my expectations.

The plot. I liked the idea of the plot, I thought that it looked cute and like a great book to read for summer so that's why I bought it. But this was a book that I couldn't finish, I got up to page 143 before I put it down. For me I didn't think that the plot was picking up and I gave it more of a chance then my normal rule of one hundred pages so I was a bit dissapointed in the plot of this book because I thought that the books idea showed promise, but for me I felt that it wasn't told in the best way.

The characters. I liked the charcters in this book I thought that the few that I read about were realistic.
April. I liked April's character, I thought that her reactions and feeling were very realitic for a girl going through her situation but there was something about her character that I couldn't really relate to and I think that might have been one of the reasons why I couldn't finish this book.
Vi, I really liked Vi's character she was really outgoing, adventurioud and fun and managed to bring April out of her shell a bit more.

Overall for me this book was a bit of a let down, I thought that the idea of the book had a lot of promise but just wasn't executed in a way that for me was attention grabbing enough, but I will update this review if I get around to finishing it.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Elixir by Jennifer L. Armentrout...

Series: Covenant (Book #3.5)
Published: November 27th 2012 by Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 80
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Aiden St. Delphi will do anything to save Alex.
Even if it means doing the one thing he will never forgive himself for.
Even if it means making war against the gods.


Review:

I've always loved reading parts of the Covenant series from Aiden's persective and this was no exception.

The plot. I loved the plot of this novella, I have to admit when I first saw that this book was only eighty pages I was worried, I was wondering how Jennifer L. Armentrout would be able to make an amazing story within those eighty pages, but she managed to make an amazingly emotional and an all-around perfect book.
I loved seeing how Aiden's circle started to plot against Lucian and Seth and what lengths he would go to stop the war as well as protect Alex and try to get her back to her normal self. Something else I really loved in this novella was the interaction between Aiden and Alex even though she wasn't who she used to be I could see a sliver of their old relationship and that they both still did love each other.

The characters. Really there is only one character worth mentioning and that is Aiden. I LOVED Aiden's character, just when I thought I couldn't love him anymore I found out I could. I really felt for him when he was making the choice of what he would do about Alex and I felt his pain when he saw what his choice had done to her.

Overall I thought that this was an AMAZING novella and it is definitely worth a read.

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout...

Series: Covenant (Book #3)
Published: November 6th 2012 by Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 360
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. "

Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden.

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

Review:

This book was AMAZING, everything I had hoped for and more... This book completely surpassed my expectations and has pretty much left me at a loss for words.

The plot. I loved the plot of this book, though I was a little bit confused at the start because I had forgotten a bit of what happened in "Pure" which I probably should have re-read before reading this but I got caught back up really quickly and from then on it was an action packed emotional roller-coaster for the next three hundred pages of plot twists, unexpected relationships and things that I just didn't see coming. I loved Aiden and Alex's relationship and how it developed throughout the book and the ending.... so incredibly sad.

The characters. I Loved the characters in this book and reading all of them again. Like always Jennifer L. Armentrout has written the charcters flawlessly and they really came to life as I was reading them.
I loved Alex's character, I loved seeing how she changed throughout the book and how she finally had some happiness in her life no matter how short the time was. I thought that she was very strong throughout the book and I loved being able to read about her again.
I also really loved Aiden's character. He did struggle with his feelings for a lot of the book but I was glad to see him finally happy and that he made the right choice for himself no matter what the consequences.
The one charcter that I didn't like throughout this whole entire book was Seth he pretty much turned back into what he was in the first book and then some, completely self-centred, her hurt Alex for probably over half the book and betrayed her trust in him, to say that I dislike him now would be an understatement.

Overall I thought that this was a fantatstic book, full of unexpected events and it was just a really amazing book. Waiting till April for the next book is going to be hard but I guess I'll just re-read the series again.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally...

Series: Hundred Oaks (Book #1)
Published: December 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 281
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

ONE OF THE BOYS

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Greeen moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?
Review:

I didn't know what to expect when I opened this book, I had high expectations because I had seen great reviews on it and had read the synopsis and it looked like something I would like, but I hadn't read any of Miranda Kenneally's work before and I was pleasantly suprised.

The plot. I loved the plot of this book. I loved the twist of Jordan being the captain of her school's football team, I thought that it put a great spin on what was already a great storyline because she not only had to navigate her changing feelings for certain people but she also had to be strong and be a great leader even though she had problems she was dealing with. I thought that the pacing of this book was great I never wanted to put it down. I also really ejoyed the relationships in this book because they are so realistic! Both the relationships between Jordan and Ty and Jordan and Henry were really realistic and I thought that they progressed at a good pace.

The characters. I really enjoyed Jordan's character. I thought that she was a very realistic and relateable character as she had her own problems with her father as well as relationship problems with people at school and I thought that she was strong throughout everything she went through. I loved seeing how she progressed throughout the book and in the end made the decision that was right for her.
I also really ejoyed Henry's character. For the first part of the book I thought that he was halerious and a great friend for Jordan and even when things started to go bad in their relationship and he started to pull away I could see that he was only doing it because he didn't want to ruin his friendship with Jordan.

Oberall I thought that this was a great start to the series and I cannot wait to start reading the next book.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler...

Series: -
Published: June 1st 2009 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 290
Rating: 4 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"


According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.


Review:

I had very high expectations for this book when I finally picked it up because I had been hearing such great things about it and though it didn't meet my high expectations I was still pleasantly suprised.

The plot. I really enjoyed the plot, it was like nothing I had ever read before and I thought that the twenty boy summer bet that Frankie came up with was an interesting twist to the book and I was pretty suprised that Anna went along with it. I loved the emotion in this book aswell, I thought that it was expressed very well and I found it very easy to feel what Anna and Frankie were feeling because of the loss of Matt. I thought that the paced very well also, and it was written in such a way that I had to see what was on the next page and I also loved the flashbacks to Anna and Matt's past.

The characters. I thought that all of the characters were written very well in this book, I loved Anna's character, I thought that she was very relateable and a great choice to have her POV told, I loved seeign how she grew throughout the book and started to enjoy herself especially when she meet Sam and their relationship started to progress.
I also really liked Frankie's character, though I didn't like her at times I could see that her acting out was the way that she dealt with the greif of loosing her brother and I really felt for her. I thought that she did make some wrong choices in the book but she also did try to make up for them in the end.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, though for me it wasn't a five-star book it was still one I thoroughly enjoyed and is a book that I will be reading for summers to come.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Easy by Tammara Webber...

Series: -
Published: May 25th 2012 by CreateSpace
Pages: 316
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: 15+ (Due to mature content and subject of the book)

Synopsis:

A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.


Review:

Wow... What a book! When I went into reading this book I didn't really know what to expect, I had seen amazing reviews about it and I also read the synopsis a long time ago and loving it, but by the time it got around to ordering it and having it show up on my door step I had completely fogotten what it was about. But that doesn't mean that my expectations were low, not by any means because I remember thinking how great this book sounded and when it came to finally reading the book I couldn't put it down.

The plot. I loved this plot! I thought that it was a great spin on the forbidden love storyline that is used so often. I loved that all of the contact with Landon was done over email so there was a lot of added mystery of trying to figure out who he was. I also loved Lucas's character and seeing how both of their relationships with Jacqueline developed over the course of the book.

The characters. I really enjoyed reading all of the characters in this book, I thought that they were all written very well.
I really enjoyed Jacqueline's character, I thought that she was a very relatable character who was also very strong, who coped extremely well with what she went through. I also liked seeing how she coped with the things that she learnt about Lucas and how she tried to help him through his greif.
I also really loved Lucas's character, sure there was some deception on his part at the start of the book, but other than that I couldn't fault his character. I loved seeing the interaction between him and Jacqueline and also seeing how he started to open up a lot more when his relationship with her developed and how he started to come to terms with what had happened in his past.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was a very fast read and a book that I will definitely be recommending to a lot of people and re-reading in the future.