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Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Rating: Two out of Five Stars

This book was nice. Cute. It’s definitely a cross between Heist Society by Ally Carter and Tarnish/Gilt by Katherine Longshore. The voice is like an amateur version of Ally Carter with the same easy, girlish tone, but sadly, not the same level of storytelling. I would recommend this for a beachy summer read. It can easily be read in a sitting which is good when you aren’t reading any thing uber magnificent and don’t want to spend days trudging through BS for a lame ass story. So, it’s good for a fluff read.

With that being said, this book is shallow and cliche. *shocker* With her bitch-pretty rich girl frenenmy and oh-so-sweet chubbier bffl, Colette (love the name btws) goes on a Parisian adventures. They go to parties (tres cool!) and meet boys (Je t’aime!) all while poor little Colettie is seeing scary ghosties (mas no!). And of course, she just has to solve the mystery because, omg! SUCH a coincident, the murders have to do with her! *gasp*

Ok, so besides the pretty lame plot, I actually enjoyed the read. It’s easy and it flows and I got suckered in for a little bit. But then the ending happened and well…. well… um… it was… stupid. There, I said it. The climax was such garbage. It was poorly written, way to cliche, and stupid as hell. I mean, why did she just have to get dressed up in a fancy time period gown with hair and makeup and go to a castle? Yeah, no point. I don’t even remembered WTF happened.. something about a key.. and a bookcase falling.. oh and of course the ghostie. All I know is that it ended and *SPOILER* everything magically worked itself out. *shocker again*

Congratulations to you. Wootie woot woot.

But besides the dumb ass climax (you were just trying too hard, sweetie) the book is cute and quirky and fluffy.

Tags: 2013 releases, Katie Alendar, Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer, YA, YA books, YA Novel

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Categories Reviews

Tarnish by J.D. Brink

27 Feb

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

So I was lucky enough to actually a signed copy of this from the author. CHEA! So thank you thank you Mr. Brink for the fantastical read.

Different than my normal read purely because it has a male pro-tag but VERY good. I would say this is more of a crossover YA-Adult book based on the storyline, characters, and tempo.

The longer I am away from this book, the more I like it. What’s amazing about this book is that it is its own story. It’s well written, although it got a little choppy (more on that in a minute) and the characters are their own beings. It’s not some spin off, take off, bullshit twisting of the same young adult themes. And honestly, I think that’s mostly because for ONCE we get a very real male pro-tag.

Billy/Will, our main homeboy, is adorable. This is my Will:

Smexy, and buff and clean faced. He’s exactly what I would think a medieval teen-aged adventure junkie would be. And I think it’s completely cute how smitten he is with the illusion of Will vs Billy. And love how he has to wrestle with the age old “who am I?” question and how Brink makes it very entertaining. He has all these ups and down and highs and lows and by the end, he’s really gotten booted off this pedestal he put himself on. But I couldn’t help but giggle at the last name he comes up for himself, Thunderstrike. Call me dirty minded but heyyyy…

Personally, I am A HUGE fan of switching narrators. I love being able to feel and see the story through different eyes and voices. It adds depth and dynamics to a book. And while a did enjoy all our narrators, I only wish we got to spend a little more time with each of them. I felt like sometimes we would meet someone and he’d be gone before we got a chance to know him.

And OMG, I love love love that you get all these stories within stories because there’s all these storytellers in the story. It’s like, bookception.

Tags: J.D. Brink, male narrator, Male protag, Tarnish, Will Thunderstrike, YA Adult Crossover, YA books, YA Fantasy

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Categories Reviews

Fallen by Lauren Kate

24 Feb

Book One in the Fallen Series

Rating: Two out of Five Stars

Thank god that’s finally over with…

Let me sum up this book with a few short gifs:
Luce:

Daniel:

Cam:

And for the plot…

Take some

and some

with a dash of

And there ya go. The end.

Which by the end, I mean a super weird, awkward, WTF just happened ending…

And BTWS, I audio booked this book. Don’t do it. The narrator is annoying with her voices. I dreaded every second that Gabby or Daniel talked. Ugh.

Tags: angels and demons, Fallen, Lauren Kate, YA books, YA Novel, YA Review

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Categories Reviews

Best of 2013

24 Jan

I am waaaaay late on this post… whoops! But I present to thee

*drum roll*

The Best of 2013!

Remember! Click on the covers to add these books to you Goodreads account!

Best Cover

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano (UK Version)

Best New Series

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Best Sequel

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Best World Building

Falling Kingdom by Morgan Rhodes

Best Romance

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Hector and Elisa *swoon*

Best Come to Jesus Moment

The Elite by Kiera Cas

America’s reaction to Maxon’s reaction

Favorite Female Character

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Elisa – I love her

Favorite Male

World After by Susan Ee

Raffe

Most Badass Character

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Cealena Sardothien – duh.

Best Science Fiction

Reboot by Amy Tintera

Best Fantasy

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

Best Dystopian

Champion by Marie Lu

Best Short Story/Online Series/Bridge Book

The Starkillers Cycle by Sarah J Maas and Susan Dennard

Favorite Author of 2013

Best Book of 2013

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

“Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone, remember that.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

Tags: 2013 YA Top Books, Amy Tintera, best of 2013, book reviews, books, Champion, Crown of MIdnight, Falling Kingdoms, HarperCollins, Kiera Cass, Lauren DeStefano, Marie Lu, Morgan Rhodes, Perfect Ruin, Rae Carson, Reboot, Rick Yancey, Susan Dennard, Susan Ee, The 5th Wave, The Bitter Kingdom, The Elite, The Starkillers Cycle, World After, YA books, YA dystopia, YA Fantasy, YA Review

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Categories Reviews

Perfect Lies by Keirsten White

17 Oct

Book Two in the Mind Games Series

Rating: Three out of Five Stars

**PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS**

To preface before I launch into my review: If you’ve read Mind Games you MUST read Perfect Lies. (just try to brief yourself with all the deets of book one before launching into book two.)

I’m a little bored with my reviews lately so I am going to spice it up by using my helpful friend from Hercules:

So with Hades as my lovely assistant, let’s get to the dirty shall we?

In general, I liked this book. It was a little more disjointed than Mind Games but that’s to be expected with Fia’s spiraling mental state. White does a great job of exemplifying her struggles, her mental trauma and mental health. That part, I really enjoyed. Besides, the fact that Fia is just an effing badass (Katna from Graceling style) makes her legit.

My issues lie with Annie. She drove me nuts. She’s boring, slightly selfish, and annoying.

First of all, I don’t want to sound crude. I can appreciate that Annie has a disability, but the way White writes her, I feel like she’s using her blindness as a crutch. It’s not empowering like I feel it should be in a YA novel.

Second of all, and here is my REAL problem, is her damn obsessions with this vision she has of her true love. Gag me. All we hear is “is he the one?” “Is that him?”

FOR REALS, HADES!

SO the plot progresses and Fia is getting more awesome and Annie is getting more annoying and shit is getting crazy and confusing. And things are like bam bam bam and your neck is getting whip-lashed with all the twists and then…. “is this the guy?” and “is this my love?”

I did enjoy the ending but that flip flop narrating plus the alternating time flash backs had me confused until I finally got the hang of it. Talk about throwing some time-space continuum shit at me. I would have to constantly flip back and forth between chapters to understand what the hell was going on. And then a chapter with Annie would pop up and it was “OMG are his hands, like, HIS HANDS???”

But the ending is perfect. It definitely had the suspense and the drama and the dun dun DUN! The conclusion was anything BUT predictable. I seriously don’t think White could have made the ending any better.

Thanks for joining me today, Hades. You’ve been extremely helpful.

Tags: 2014 Releases, Annie, Graceling, Hades, Hercules, Kiersten White, Mind Games, Perfect Lies, YA books

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Categories Reviews

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

26 Sep

Book Three in the Fire and Thorns Series

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

I was legitimately upset when I finished this book. It’s heartbreaking knowing my journey with Hector and Elisa are over. I adore them in every way possible and I will miss them like they are my friends IRL.

Hector and Elisa will always have a little corner of my heart. Their romance and their steadfast love for each other is what everyone dreams of having.I am jealously happy for this fictional couple and wish more than anything that there were five more books to be written about them. About little Prince Rosario and fiery fierce Red, about Conde Tristan, Storm and Alodia, Cosme, Mara and Belen. There is so much Carson could do with this world and these people because she’s developed these characters so thoroughly and so wonderfully I can create futures in my head for all of them. There are living breathing people to me and I am going to miss their stories.

The Bitter Kingdom is dazzling. It’s drips with beauty, from the world to the words to way her characters live, Carson has captured every bit of imagination. This series is one of the greatest I’ve ever read. Carson solidifies herself in rank with fantasy authors like JK Rowling, Kristin Cashore and Cinda Williams Chima.

I can’t write anymore. Anything I write won’t live up to how breathtaking this story is. Won’t ever truly make you understand how ardently I adore this series. Instead, I am going to write Rae Carson a letter begging and pleading her to write another series about the characters. Look for it on my blog soon.

Because Rae? “I love this series like a dying man loves air, and I would hate to have it just once.”

Tags: 2013 releases, 2013 YA Top Books, Alodia, Elisa, Girl of Fire and Thorns, Hector, Rae Carson, Storm, The Bitter Kingdom, The Crown of Embers, YA books, YA Fantasy, YA Review

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Categories Reviews

Tarnish by Katherin Longshore

19 Sep

Book Two in the (sorta) Tudor Series

Rating: Two out of Five Stars

I adore the Tudor era and the opulence of books that are written based off of it. But this book, blech. Might as well be discussing the grass growing.

I guess I shouldn’t have set the bar so high for Tarnish considering Gilt was such a let down for me. But I just WANTED so much from this story, it has so much potential and was an utter failure. The richness, the drama, the romance, lies and hate and passion and everything that exemplifies the Tudor court was gone. Not only that, but Anne was meek and annoying and trivial. The Anne Boleyn that brought down kings is absent in this story. True, this book is based on her before-Queen time, but that fiery personality isn’t even relevant to this plot. Its rather ridiculous that someone could make Anne Boleyn, the woman who changed the English culture, the girl who changed the face of politics throughout the ENTIRE world, who spawned a BRAND NEW RELIGION, make her BORING! Completely inconsequential.

I do give mad props to Longshore for attempting to show a different side of the Boleyn story, but to end the book right before the juiciest part even begins?!? AGH! I want to tear my hair out. I could have suffered through this book if there was a second one coming that would validate this bland, boring, book as set up. I could survive if this was a first installment of decadent, passionate, sexy series that brought Henry, Anne, George, Jane, Thomas to a singeing peak of a climax that saw Catholicism in England diminish. Where we could experience the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn. I mean, at least Gilt lead us through Kat’s execution and finished the whole damn story. This book leaves you on the precipice of a cliff so tall you want to jump, no matter the landing, because you had to struggle through hundreds of pages of nonsense to reach nothing.

And the cover redesigns? Awful. Boring as hell. Why would someone think that the new cover for Gilt and Tarnish are better?

Needless to say, I wanted more. It was a disappointment. And now I am sad. And for some reason, I know I will read Brazen because I like to torture myself.

Tags: 2013 releases, Anne Boleyn, England, Gilt, Katherine Longshore, Tarnish, Tudor period, YA books

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Categories Reviews

Crash by Lisa McMann

8 Aug

Book One in the Visions Series

Rating: Three out of Five Stars

I really wanted to give this book two stars, but the wit in the book is just too damn amusing to not get three.

I’ll be a little harsh here, the concept of this book is laughable. Not in the “har har it’s supposed concept is a comedy” way but a “how did this get published” way. I almost hope that McMann was spoofing all of the big YA themes in this book and Crash really was a silent jab at the overuse of the YA ideas (insta love, boy treats girl like shit but girl still loves him, wrong side of the track friends/lovers, blah de blah). But, that could just be me trying to rationalize why I actually did enjoy this book in twisted way.

Crash is basically a modern-day food-obsessed version of Romeo and Juliet with a heavy layer of supernatural smothering it. Boy and girl lurve each others, parents hateses each other, and she is destined to save him or die trying! ONWARD LEAD THE CHAAARGE!!

(man I am REALLY getting into this review…*settles down*)

Crash is an amusing book, shallow, but entertaining. There’s not a whole lot of meat and potatoes but the banter had me cracking up. I would have to set the book down because it would launch me into little giggle fits. The exchanges between Jules and her brother were spot on. The sarcasm was level awesome, especially at the end.

But the book, the plot, the characterizations, was weak. You can’t sink your teeth into anything and Jules annoyed the hell outa me most of the time. On top of it being pretty predictable and me literally scoffing out loud at the end followed by a huge eye roll.. that’s why this book will only be getting three stars.

(Could be that because pizza was mentioned throughout the entire book and intimately described at the beginning is also why I’ve bumped up the rating.)

But regardless.. it’s quick and easy and funny. Just don’t except something epic.

Tags: 2013 releases, Crash, McMann, Romeo and Juliet, Sara McMann, Visions Series, YA books, YA Review

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Categories Reviews

To Read Tuesday – 2013’s remaining releases

25 Jun

I have been a SUPER SLACKER on my To-Reads Tuesdays lately. I wish there was some way to quit and be a full time blogger/reader… but alas, I must make money. So until some smitten publisher comes and swoops me up, I do have to work a normal job.

Instead of giving some in-depth analysis into one book, below is a list of all the 2013 releases I am looking forward to for the next 6 months!