Book Talk: GRAVE MERCY

Guys, guys, guys. I read Grave Mercy last week and I have not been left salivating for sequel like this in a very long time.

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. 

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Grave Mercy is a unique book. The premise is exciting, intriguing and the world is really solid. I enjoyed reading every second of the book.  Now things you should know going in: it is not a quick read. The story takes place in the 1400's and it's written for the period. There's a lot of world building happening--not only for the mytho and the nuns, but also for the history of the time. It slows it down some, but once all that is developed, the story is unputdownable.

Why should you read it? 

Well, aside from there being NUN ASSASSINS?!!?!? There's a kick-butt female heroine, who knows her way around a poison, a knife, a bow, and how to kill with her pinky. She's like Nikita--only in fancy clothes and timely speech. She's Nikita in disguise as Elizabeth Bennett! Ah! That's totally it. But she's more than just as assassin--she's a girl, devout and yet uncertain. She's willing to bend, to grow, to change and to take a stand at the same time. I like that about her.

Plus, there's a boy. (Of course there's a boy!) Duval is his name...and he's very Mr. Darcy meets Miles from The Pink Carnation books meets Robin from AC Gaughen's Scarlet. He reads like all these boys I already know, only he's very much the best parts of them and that makes him his own. He's smart, loyal and unwaivering, which I like. He's a little aloof, but that's totally because he has to be. I mean, nun assassin girl. I'd be aloof too. But then he's a great gentleman, worthy of all the swooning that takes place on the pages and off, and he too is kick-butt. And unlike a lot of romance, they develop slowly and it was very believable.

Now, this wasn't just a romance story, even though that definitely sticks out as a major component. It's also more. 

The plot was refreshing and even though I already said that, I think it's worth noting again. I'm a huge fan of historical books (when they're done well) and Grave Mercy totally was. In addition to the characters, all of whom seemed to jump off the page for me, and the amazing writing, the whole world was well-researched and utilized. The politics of the time, the war against France, the over-taking of the church, the fight for power and nobility and truth was all encompassed here. It's very much a world in the middle of changing and  trying to hang on to something.  Plus, toss in a little bit of paranormal and I think it's the perfect backdrop for this story. 

The second book is supposed to follow another character from the nunnery--and I'm pretty sure I know the boy involved, which makes me very happy! I can't wait for it. If you're looking for something a little different, with some mystery and romance then you should look no further.


Have any of you read it yet? What did you think??

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**Also, as an update, right after this review went live, I read THIS from the author.
Check it out. **

**

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Publisher: Poppy
 Date: January 2, 2012
Series or Standalone:  
ISBN: 978-0316122382
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages  
Source: borrowed from friend (BEA)

 Rating: A+  
First line: There are so many ways it could have all turned out differently.

You know how sometimes we (we readers) complain that there aren’t enough cute, funny, awesome, make-my-heart-race romantic YA books out? I’m talking the kind that make you wait for it and root for it and then reward you with this moment of epicness only to leave you guessing again? I think people started to listen. At least, Jennifer Smith did because The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is absolutely THAT.

This story all starts when Hadley Sullivan misses her flight to England (for her dad’s wedding) by four minutes. She’s re-booked on the next flight out, a few hours later, and that’s when she meets Oliver. The two are seated next to each other on the plane ride to England and so starts the story. (Now, I realize that description is lacking but I can’t tell you.)

Know that this review is so hard because I adored this book. I adored everything about it. I smiled from page one all the way to the end. It was funny, cute, a perfect blend of swoon and sadness and family dynamics. Every single character was rounded and relatable and really propelled the story forward. Smith did a fantastic job at weaving in these little twists and building the story around these moments. The way the story is revealed in some sort of masterpiece on all it’s own. The whole thing takes place over 24 hours.

Hadley is a great character. She’s flawed and sweet and a little lost. The whole story happens because her dad is getting married. As the story goes along, we learn about their relationship and why this wedding is a big deal. There’s this huge space between Hadley and her father that creates a lot of tension. Sometimes in books like this (these awesome cutesy ones) the drama stories get pushed to the side or glossed over. But here, Smith really tackles and breaks and re-builds this huge aspect of the story and of Hadley’s life. I was really impressed with that.

Obviously, too, this is a love story. And for good reason! His name is Oliver. Sigh. He’s British. He’s smart and funny. He’s sarcastic and real and so cute. I love him. I was saving him for the end because I have no idea what to say about him. Or what to say about the love story part—aside from sighs and awws.  So I will say nothing. 

I will say nothing except GO BUY THIS BOOK. You will not regret it, as it is happy and cute and will at the very least make you feel gooey inside.  

And Oliver, Oliver is great. He's my favorite Oliver yet! But don’t take my word for it. Here's a fun moment for you to swoon over..

“What’s your favorite animal?”
“The American Eagle.”
She laughs. “I don’t believe you.”
“Me?” he asks bringing a hand to his heart. “Is it wrong to love an animal that also happens to be a symbol of freedom?”
“Now you’re just making fun of me.”
“Maybe a little,” he says with a grin. “But is it working?”
“What, me getting closer to muzzling you?”
“No,” he says quietly. “Me distracting you.”
“From what?”
“Your claustrophobia.”
She smiles at him gratefully. “A little,” she says. “Though it’s not as bad until we’re up in the air.”
“How come?” he asks. “Plenty of wide open spaces up there.”
“But no escape route.”
“Ah,” he says, sighing dramatically. “I get that from girls a lot.”

(insert sigh and laughter here) :D The whole book is pretty much like that. I love snarky flirt action. I can't say enough about this book. If you're a fan of cutesy, snark and great characters, then you'll for sure like this one. 

*all quotes from ARC form and subject to change in final

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Ashes, Ashes by Jo Teggiari

Publisher: Scholastic Press 
Date: 2011   
ISBN:  0545255635
Kind: Hardback, 344 pages  
Source: For review

 Rating:  B-  

I'm never one for "The End is near!" Books, but I really did like this one.
 
Lucy is living by herself in a park after smallpox, floods, and droughts have wiped out most of humanity. She runs into a guy named Aiden who tries to convince her to join him and this band of survivors. The group is terriorized by sweepers, who go around gathering people and are never seen again. They want Lucy and they'll stop at nothing to get her.
 
   I like how Teggiari doesn't focus so much on the epidemic and end of the world as he does the story, it makes the whole book seem less political. Teggiari also did a great job at keeping the story up and going. There was never a part where I didn't want to keep reading.
 
I didn't see Lucy as her own person though, it was more like I was the one playing out these things which I guess is a big seller for the whole romance thing. If you take out the romance of the whole thing it'd be a pretty bad book. At times it seemed as if Lucy and Aiden's relationship was the only important thing. I guess if you're into the whole Romance thing you'd really like that but I'm always in it for a story before I am romance. Teggiari set up the usual love triangle with Del but I never really understood her and Aiden's relationships before Lucy came along. As far as the ending I woln't give anything away but I will say it was pretty predictable.

The book did have a lot of good things though. I love the drama, and how the characters reacted, and the bond Lucy formed with the survivors, and the whole world Tiggiari set this up in. This would be great for Junior High to Lower High school. I don't really see Upperclassmen or college grade people reading this.Again I'll say it was really enjoyable and I didn't want to put it down.

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And Then Things Fall Apart by Adrianna Tibensky

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Date: July 26, 2011
Series or Standalone: Standalone
ISBN: 978-1442413238
 Format: Paperback, 272 pages
 Source: for review 

Rating: C
First line: I once watched a collector kill a monarch butterfly on a nature show by putting it under a glass dome with a piece of cotton soaked in gasoline.

And Then Things Fell Apart is quite literally a book about things falling apart. Or somewhat. Mostly.

In the book, fifteen year old Keek is holed up in her grandmother's house with the chicken pox. It's the proverbial icing on her over-cooked life (as in, less than perfect and unexpected, like when you burn a cake. Go with it.) She and her boyfriend have broken up, her baby cousin is dying, her mother has fled (temporarily) and her father had an affair and destroyed his marriage. Enter the pox. Now, all Keek can do is read The Bell Jar, her favorite book, sleep and spend her waking high fevered hours reflecting on how she ended up trapped in a guest bedroom with only an old typewriter for company.

This book has a unique charm to it. There's something so cynical about Keek and her view on things, that it's entertaining. She has this story to tell, these things that happened to her and really affected her in a way she doesn't even know how to express. So, she reads The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and she writes away the delirium caused by her extremely high fever.

I've never read The Bell Jar. Aside from a few poems, I've never really read Plath. I know who she is, but that's about all. I was hesitant about how Tibensky would weave together this world of fiction to this character's life, but she really pulled it off as far as relating things. Keek's story has these odd and quirky parallels to Plath's words. 

However, despite the cute quirks of And Then Things Fall Apart, I didn't love it. Keek was so whiny! She whined all the time. I'm not saying it wasn't justified--it was--but as a reader it was a little too much for me. Sometimes, it was very funny whining, but whining is still what it is even it's funny.

One major issue of the book for me was that Keek did not sound like a fifteen year old. I could peg her for seventeen--sixteen maybe--but that seemed really misplaced to me. There are so many times when she's too experienced, too sophisticated and too well versed to be fifteen. And then she sends a text message (later in the book) that I have to read 3-4 times to understand. It seemed off to me. Sometimes, I felt as if the author was talking through the character--forcing out some of the things she believed or felt into Keek--and it caused her voice to slip.

While I was reading it was hard to connect and difficult to enjoy. BUT as the weeks have passed since I've read it, I can see it's charm more and more and would actually call it likeable. I think fans of Sylvia Plath would really enjoy the parallels and I'd be interested to hear their thoughts. Even if I didn't love the book, my friend Nikki really did. I think it totally depends on personal taste! It has quirkiness to offer and I think it could be fun for some readers.

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Eve by Anna Carey

Publisher: Harper
Date: October 2011
Series or Standalone: Series (book #1)
ISBN:0062048503
Format: Hardcover, 318 pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: It is very pretty

Rating: A
First line: By the time the sun set over the fifty-foot perimeter wall, the School lawn was covered with twelfth-year students.

I was excited to get Eve because I have heard nothing but good things about it. When I was done reading it I had nothing but good things to say about it as well. It was a great read.

the night before Eve's graduation she learns what really happens when the girls graduate and the horrible fate that awaits her. Eve runs away from the school, into the wild, which she has only ever heard about. Eve meets Caleb, a boy living in the wild. Eve was always taught that she couldn't trust men, but Caleb slowly wins her trust and her love. When soldiers begin hunting Eve she must choose between her love for Caleb or her life.

One of my favorite things about the book was definitely the setting, it kind of reminded me of like a zombie movie, with everything some what destroyed, not many people around, and the people that were alive were hiding. Eve didn't know what most of the stuff was that she was finding, it was the stuff she had read about. It was kind of weird to see things that we see everyday, destroyed. I remember Eve seeing a Wal Mart and it being like a quarantined area.

I loved Caleb, he was just so cute and friendly and he risked his life to help Eve, he is a good guy. I also knew he wouldn't hurt Eve, unlike some of the other men out in the wild. And even when Eve hurt him, he still went out of his way to save her. He was selfless.

Eve is a fast paced, amazing read, that will keep you reading until you reach the last page, then want the next book because it ends on a huge cliffhanger.

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Sharks and Boys by Kristen Tracy

Publisher: Hyperion
Date: June 2011
Series or Standalone: standalone
ISBN: 142314354x
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: Goes with the story very well

Rating: B
First line: Seeing yourself on TV changes you.

The thing that really attracted me to this book was the title. Sharks terrify me but they also fascinate me. Boys, well, I like those. I was expecting a light and fun read. I soon realized that it was a story of survival and it kept me enthralled until the end.

When fifteen-year-old Eden's boyfriend Wick tells her that he needs a break from their relationship and goes to Maryland for a party Eden follows thinking that he is going to cheat on her. She soon finds herself sneaking onto a house boat and locking herself in the bathroom. Then the boys decide to take the boat out in a horrible storm and the boat sinks landing the kids floating in a yellow life boat on the ocean with no food or water. To make matters worse, hungry sharks are circling the boat. Eden and the other kids learn they must work together and trust one another to survive. If they survive?

The thing that I liked most about this book was the visual the author created. When the characters were almost dying and having to do the unimaginable I could see it inside my head. When Eden described the scene inside the lifeboat with the disgusting conditions, I wanted to go bathe. It was so real the way it was described when the characters were starving and thirsty and what they were willing to do to make it subside. I loved the visuals, even if they were horrible.

The thing I really disliked about this book was Eden. She follows Wick five-hundred-forty miles to see if he is cheating, how desperate can you get? Maybe she is in love with him, but she is fifteen. She hasn't even lived. It was annoying to see someone so needy.

Sharks and Boys will keep you reading late into the night and not knowing right up until the end in the characters will survive.

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The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes Blog Tour

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Date: October 1, 2011
ISBN:  978-1402255441
Format: Hardcover, 32 pages
Source: for review

 

I don't review a lot of picture books. In fact, this is my first one ever! But I love reading them. As an ex-nanny, ex-children's bookseller, big sister and a life-long babysitter, I've got this soft spot for picture books. I love them. I even have favorites. There's something about creating a world for a child that I've always loved. These simple principles and thoughts presented in fun, imaginative ways. 

When I was asked to review THE GIRL WHO NEVER MADE MISTAKES, I said yes immediately. As a girl who never makes mistakes (kidding! I make tons but I hate them!) I was intrigued. The book is a cute concept of a girl who learns that mistakes are part of life and when you make them--even though it's terrifying not to be perfect--things are more enjoyable.

You should check out this book. I also have a treat for you. Co-author Gary Rubinstein has offered up this lovely guest post about co-authoring a picture book. It's really interesting stuff. I know about the process of a YA book, but a picture book brings other challenges--especially when you are co-authoring.

Mark and I met in 2000 at a Teach For America reunion. At the time he was writing a comic strip called Mr. Lowe, about a teachers, and I had just had my first book Reluctant Disciplinarian (about my first year of teaching) published. We became friends and soon found ourselves sending each other drafts of our new projects for one another to evaluate.

Ten years later, around the time that both of our daughters had turned one, Mark and I talked about finally working together on a project. We each came up with about five ideas and over Skype we agreed to work on one of Mark's ideas about what life might be like for a girl who never made any mistakes. When I wrote the first draft, I thought it reminded me a bit of a Twilight Zone episode where a world exists with an unusual character with an unusual ability, yet people are accepting of this reality.

Throughout the next four months, we went back and forth writing drafts until we had about fifteen. Then we evaluated what were the best parts about each draft and assembled them together. Mark drew rough sketches for the book, which we learned needed to be exactly 32 pages. This limitation was a challenge since it meant that certain scenes we had wanted to have needed to be completely changed or deleted so the ending wouldn't be rushed.

We sent the illustrated draft to several agents, and heard back from Kerry Sparks at the Levine Greenberg agency that she wanted to represent us. Within two months, we had an offer from a great publisher called Sourcebooks. The next year was a lot more work than we had anticipated. There were a lot of issues that our editor pointed out to us about certain word choices and other things which we needed to fix. It was tough, sometimes, trying to get all three of us to agree, but the final product, I think, is that much better for the process.

When the final text was approved, Mark got to work on the huge task of producing 32 watercolor paintings. As the co-writer, my job was to 'annoy' Mark (at his request) by asking him how it was going every few days. Finally, after more than two years the book is a reality.

I'm glad that Mark and I both already had internalized the message of the book--that you can't be paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes. Getting a children's book published is hard and had we really thought about the likelihood that it would never go anywhere, we may not have worked so hard on it.

Luckily, they didn't think it through and now this cute book is in the world!! Thanks so much Gary for stopping by.

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*Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Publisher: Harper Teen
Date: September 20, 2011
Series or Standalone: standalone
ISBN:006199622X
Format: Hardcover 336, pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: Pretty

Rating: A
First line: I wasn't thinking about falling in love the day I met Danny Greer.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. I mean look at it, it's kind of creepy, but gorgeous! I also heard the book was very sad, and I hate crying, so I put it off. Then I finally read it and I was so glad! It was an amazing read!

When Wren's boyfriend Danny is killed in a car accident, she is so devastated she uses her inherited powers to bring him back to life. What Wren doesn't know is that the Danny that comes back is not the boy she knew. Wren has spent the past 4 month hiding Daniel in a neighbors garage loft and Wren becomes more distant from her friends and family. When Gabriel transfers to her school he can sense what she is hiding, what she has done. She is attracted to Gabriel who is much more alive than Danny. Wren soon realizes that she must take responsibility for what she has done and make it right, even if letting Danny go will break her heart.

Wren is pretty messed up and it is completely understandable. I feel like I didn't get to know Wren very well, but I wanted her to be happy and I was pulling for her to do the right thing.

Gabriel was interesting from the moment her entered the the story with the way he could sense what Wren could do. He was caring and he wanted to help Wren because he knew what she was going through was horrible. He wasn't judgmental, he just helped her.

Since Wren has these incredible inherited powers, I was excited to see more of them. I was hoping she would do something cool like make the door open without touching it, but sadly it didn't happen. The story really didn't focus on the powers except when talking about Danny and Wren's mother.

Cold Kiss was a heartbreaking and beautiful read that will make you cry into the final pages.

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The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date: September 2011
Series or Standalone: series
ISBN:1442421762
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: I love it; it's dark and pretty

Rating: A
First line: The ornate script on the board twisted in the candlelight, making the letters and numbers dance in my head.

Description (from goodreads):

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

It would be strange to wake up in a hospital bed and not know how you got there. It would be scary and frustrating. Even worse not remembering what killed your friends and not knowing why you were unharmed. It made me want to find out the mystery of what happened that night and keep reading the book until I did.

The book was really suspenseful. Mara was able to put the pieces together in flashbacks. It could get a little confusing at first because she would be doing something in the present then a have a flash back from the past, it made it a little hard to distinguish which was from the past and the present. But you will pick up really quickly. It is a really important part of the book and one I enjoyed once I got used to it.

Mara's love interest in the book was so cute. Well first off he has a British accent, I have always had a thing for British accents, I don't know why, I think they sound cool. And he is cute in a way that isn't perfect, but in a messy normal way. He is also kind of mysterious, and you just know that he is keeping secrets, and then you want to know what he isn't saying.

It was kind of frustrating when Mara and Noah seemed like they needed to have a conversation about everything that was going on, but they kept putting it off. I wanted to know NOW what was going on, but it was another aspect of why I kept reading.

I am so glad this book lived up to the hype. I loved the way the book was written and the mystery behind it all. In the end I was left wanting more, it was a fantastic read!

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Three Quarters Dead by Richard Peck

Publisher: Penguin
Date: October 2010
Series or Standalone: standalone
ISBN: 0803734549
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
Source: For Review
Cover thoughts: I love the purple on the cover, it's pretty.

Rating: C
First line: You wait forever to get to high school.

When Kerry is noticed by the three most popular girls at school she thinks her life is finally starting. She is sitting at the right table and is in on all the jokes. And she would do anything to keep it that way. But how far would she go? And when being part of the group starts to feel worse than anything else, what will she do about it?

Kerry is one of those girls that would do anything to have the popular friends. It didn't matter that they wanted her to do their dirty work and weren't very nice to her anyway. But Kerry was happy with them. I would never let my "friends" treat me that way, even if it meant being popular.

And her "friends" were cruel and arrogant, they looked down upon almost everyone, they were fake. They were spoiled little brats that expected every thing, but didn't give anything in return. They talked badly about others and did horrible things to people just to make them feel bad.

This book had a quality I did like--the unexpected. I seriously did not see the story going in the direction it did, the story was much more interesting because of it. It also made me want to keep reading. It also made me guess what was going to happen next, and I was completely wrong. At parts I was even questioning Kerry's sanity, like what she was doing and seeing and why wasn't she questioning everything that is going on. This was probably my favorite part of the book.

Overall Three Quarters Dead was a fast and surprising read!

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The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen
Date:  October 25, 2011
Series or Standalone:  Fourth in series
ISBN: 978-0373210367
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Source: Netgalley

 Rating: C   
First line: "Oy, ice-boy! You sure you know where you're going?"

Description (from goodreads): Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing.

Unless he can earn a soul. (More)

Oh, The Iron Knight. Oh, Ash who I love so, so, so, so very much. Oh, how I was kind of disappointed.  Oh, reader who is probably thinking of all the ways you are about to kill me for this rating. 

This is the one time I will say I wish a book had never been written. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Ash. This series is one of my favorites.

But for me, The Iron Queen was SO fantastic. It was the *perfect* book. And then I heard there was going to be another one. I was pretty darn excited--as was the rest of the world. But I have to be honest and say I was a little let down by this one. I'm not entirely sure if this is a case where my tastes have changed during the waiting because I've grown as a reader and so I'm not as easily satisfied OR if it's really the fault of the book. I will tell you all the reasons and then you can form your opinion.

Also, I have lost sleep over this review because I didn't want to write it. But as I'm trying to put my thoughts together, I know I have to say this to have an honest review. So. Here we go. I will try really, really, really hard not to spoil things.

It took me 60 (maybe more) pages to believe that it was Ash telling the story. It wasn't what I expected him to sound like. Then there was a point when I accepted it was him, and the voice didn't bother me as much. But then, there were other things that did. One example, he saw a lot of random things that I didn't understand. (Ie. the hairs on someone else's neck stand on end. How did he see that? How?)

Then there is the return of a character who I a) totally knew would come back b) was not happy that this character was back and c) completely predicted the reason the character was back. It was a trick that left me really dissatisfied because the character was supposed to create tension, and didn't really do that.

Everything happened really quickly. Our characters are on a quest here to do something really epic--give Ash mortality so he can be with Megan--and it's built up in the book as impossible. No one ever survived the quest. But then, as Ash, Puck and company go along, they complete it so quickly. Every chapter was Ash and company defeating a new challenge. I know that it was happening so it would all be done in one book, but I wanted SO much more than I got. I would have rather had less things happen and them take longer, than to have so much crammed into one book. There was so much happening I still don't know the point of some of those things they did--and definitely can't remember them all.

The ending was a really, really, really big let down. I'm not going to say anything as to what happens, but the POV switches in the last chapter and I still can only think of how much that was the one moment I wanted to see from Ash's perspective and didn't get to. So sad. So sad. That's probably the biggest thing that made me like it less. The other things I could've gotten over, but not that.

Not everything was bad.

The best parts of this book were Grim (as always) and, surprisingly for me, Puck. Puck and Ash had such great banter and comroderie that I can't even begin to express how much I loved it. It was so perfect. Seriously. Perfection. For me, maybe because Ash doesn't work as well as a narrator, Puck made the book. Shocking, I know since I'm team Ash.

All in all, I think everyone who loved the series will read the book. Most people will really love it. If you were like me and totally fell hard for The Iron Queen then you may want to think and wait and let some of this review marinate with you. Check out some other opinions. I may be the only who feels this way. It was a hard adjustment for me.

What else should I say.....? I am a cat.  

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date:  September 27, 2011
Series or Standalone: First of series
ISBN: 978-0316134026
Format: Hardcover,  432 pages
Source: ARC from BEA
Cover thoughts: love this cover, actually.

 Rating: A++++++ (I really loved it, okay?) 
  First line: Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.

Once upon a time…

Imagine a world where wishes hang around necks on a string. Where teeth can be traded for wishes.

Imagine a world where chimaera—demon creatures that seem to be woven together from spare parts—collect teeth.

Imagine a world with portals to other lands, and a girl with blue hair who was raised by demons.

This is the world of Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Laini Taylor has built the most incredible world I’ve ever experienced in a book. Ever. Thinking about how fantastic this book was just gives me chills. If you’re around the internet at all, you’ve probably heard people talking about this book. It’s for a good reason. The book is utterly fantastic.

a demon…

The novel is split into four sections and each one opens with a short fairy tale. The first section, we learn all about Karou and her unusual life. Karou is a girl who has blue hair, eye tattoos on her palms (called Hamsas), no family and a talent for art. She wears wishes around her neck and spends all her spare time running errands for a chimaera named Brimstone, a demon creature who raised her and trades wishes for teeth.

Karou doesn’t know much about the chimaera world—a place called Elsewhere that is only a portal away. Aside from the four who raised her and the few who come into Brimstone’s shop to trade teeth, she doesn’t encounter many chimaera. It’s almost as if she is a secret. Of course, she doesn’t know just how much that is true. Brimstone keeps Karou busy and away, sending her on errands to gather teeth and giving her wishes—usually scuppies which she wears on a necklace—as payment.

Wishes are powerful things in this world—ranging in size from a scuppy (used for small, meaningless wishes) to a bruxis (a powerful wish that requires the wishmaker to extract all his teeth in exchange.) We get to see the effects of every kind of wish there is and I must say, some of them are haunting.

and an angel…

“The angels are coming.” That’s a line from Doctor Who, but oh, so appropriate here. The angels in Daughter of Smoke and Bone are all sorts of terrifying—in their beauty, in their power, in their hatred of chimaera. This is no ordinary good vs. evil, demon vs. angel story. No, these angels are trained for one thing: killing the chimaera.

And one certain angel named Akiva has a personal vendetta against the chimaera. One in particular…

So when he sees a girl blue hair running around the city, gathering teeth, he knows she’s the key to find that one chimaera. The one who took everything from him. He follows the blue haired girl, and soon, they both find themselves trapped. Akiva is trapped with this memories and Karou in the mortal world with no way to get to her family. All that’s left of the portals that connected them are gone, charred with black handprints fitting angels.

fell in love.

 Taylor does this fantastic job at picking all this moments to tell these seemingly insignificant things and you don’t really know their purpose. And it happens so much that there are more questions than there are answers, and they keep building and building and building…

Just when you think you can’t take any more questions, any more trails of these random things—they all come together and Oh. My. Gosh. It’s more than you dreamed. This book is so layered. Every hing builds. Every thing matters. Everything is not what it seems.

The characters—everyone from Karou to Brimstone to the graverobber Karou takes teeth from—are so well-rounded. I’m in awe at how Taylor did that so well. The way she can take a simple emotion and these simple words and make these sentences that dance off the page….I can’t even fathom it.

There’s humor in this book, romance, an intricant level of plot, characters, writing, history and details that develop together to build this fantastic book. I wish I could tell you all the reasons I loved this book without ruining it. But there’s just no way to that. You will need to read it.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is not a book that you can zoom through. It’s too layered, too build, too descript for that. It’s one that you have to read when you have nowhere else to be, nothing else to do and long for escape. It’s a slow race, a slow story because there are so many things that are being developed—but I promise it’s worth the wait. It’s 400 odd pages of amazing.

It did not end well.

But it did. It so, so did. I am waiting on bated breath for book two.

*all quotes are from ARC form and subject to change in final version

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The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Date: September 20, 2011
Series or Standalone:  First of trilogy
ISBN:  978-0062026484
Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: Not good. Not good. Even with the constant changes. Eh.

 Rating: C-    

Hyped books are either hit or miss with me. Majority of them have sadly been a miss for me. We are not friends currently, I guess. I was so looking forward to this. It was going to be so awesome and kick butt and bam! But, in the end, it wasn’t.

My only thought when I think about this book is: I can’t believe she ___ ____ !

The story is of princess Elisa, who has just turned sixteen and is about to be married to King Alejandro. She’s not excited, to say the least, but it is her duty. Elisa is also the chosen one, a bearer of a mysterious Godstone that has given her a destiny to fulfill. The only problem? Elisa is not special. She is fat and has never done anything exciting, ever. The prophecy says she will lead a revolution, but she doesn’t believe it. Not at all.

Elisa fell flat for me. I didn’t really feel like she grew at all. When I started reading the book, I completely liked it. It was interesting, it was fast moving, it was kind of exciting. And then we jump into part two of the story, and things reached a stand still for me. There wasn’t much happening. She wasn’t impressive. Another big flaw between me and Elisa, was her weight thing.

Now, I’m a fat girl. Elisa kept saying she was a fat girl. But all of it was such a stereotype. She loved to eat, and okay I like to eat, but I don’t think about food all the time. I don’t think about how fat I am. I just live. Elisa relished in these statements—her desire for food, how she knew how fat she was, etc--and the worst part about is that I didn’t believe it at all. I never saw her as fat in my head because she didn’t act like a fat girl. What do I mean? She ran with ease. She climbed stairs. She hauled things. There’s only one instance—halfway into the book—when I knew she was fat, when I believed. And then, SPOILER, she gets skinny. Awesome. Thanks for ruining that for me. (I have many thoughts on that but I won't say them for spoiler reasons.)

The things that were so important didn’t seem that important. There was a lot of telling me SO MANY THINGS and I just didn’t believe most of it. Not at all. Something about it didn’t connect with me—and it definitely wasn’t for the lack of trying to connect.

I can go on and on about how a simple, not-special girl starts a revolution. About how her actions have no validity. About the pacing of the story—which is slow in parts and too fast in others—the characters. Things happened so easily for Elisa, and I hate when that happens. Make the character work for something!

I think there were good things in this book. The world that’s built is pretty concrete. For the most part, I really enjoyed the love interest of the story. (Who’s not the husband, even though he was fine too.) I liked the idea of the story. The battles were descriptive, the magic and the power of the Godstone were developed. I think some readers—especially if you like high fantasy—will enjoy it. Things happened that I didn’t expect—i.e. that OMG moment I listed above—and there are some really great one-liners where Carson’s writing ability shines through.
 

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Trapped by Michael Northrop

Publisher: Scholastic
Date: February
Series or Standalone: Standalone
ISBN: Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
Source: For Review
Cover thoughts: Fits story line very well

Rating: B
First line: We were the last kids waiting around to get picked up from Tattawa Regional High School.

Scotty was one of the seven kids that was waiting to get picked up that day when the biggest blizzard they had ever seen started. Soon they all realize that nobody is coming. It really didn't seem so bad at first, spend the night at school and be rescued in the morning. But then the power goes out, there's no heat, the pipes freeze, the ceiling creaks, and each coming day the snow continues to pile up. They make a decision, one that is potentially deadly.

This situation that the kids are in is scary to think about, being trapped inside your school in a horrible snowstorm and freezing, and knowing that nobody knows where you are. It is horrifying. I don't know what I would do in the situation. Sit around and wait? Or go out in freezing temperatures and tons of snow and try to get help?

The question I kept asking was, where were the kids parents? Didn't they care that there kids were not home in a huge blizzard. They didn't know where they were after school, but knew that's the last place they were, wouldn't you want to go check to see if your kids were at the school? Or call the police?

None of the characters were really all that memorable to me. The plot was what made the story; it's not a cheerful one, it's depressing. When reading this book you feel like your trapped with these kids, not knowing what's going to happen to you. It's scary.

Trapped was frightening and suspenseful. It was a story I hope I never experience myself.

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Legacy by Cayla Kulver

Publisher: Harlequin
Date: June 28, 2011
Series or Standalone:  First in trilogy
ISBN: 978-0373210343
Format: Paperback, 496 pages
Source: netgalley

Rating: B-   

Legacy sounded really, really awesome to me from the beginning. I'm a fan of fantasy. Give me queens, kings, princess forced into marriage and I'm going to at least try to read it. I write this review a little torn. So let's talk about the reasons.

On one hand, I really liked so much about this story.

I liked the soldier/courter of Princess Alera--Steldor. He's pompous, concieted, a big shot in everything he does. Alera hates him for all those reason. Me? From the second I met him and saw their banter exchange, I called him Mr. Darcy in my head. They had the same kind of feel to them--that backward attraction that keeps each other on their toes and ready for a snarky comment. Yea.

Then there is London. He's Alera's  bodyguard from the time of her birth. At first, I thought he was her age. They had this really weird chemistry and I thought they were going to end up together! Then, I learned he was double her age. And I'm not sure still if there were homosexual vibes between him and another character or not. It's all very confusing in my head because I don't know where to put them!

Enter the Cockyrian. His name is Narian. He's a boy Alera's age and he comes from the enemy camp. Only wait--he's really something else entirely, someone else. Of course, from the moment he stepped on the page I knew--I KNEW--he would be a love interest. And I was not wrong. And darn it, I really liked him too. Well damn. What now?

Obviously, there's a war. There's fighting. There's the evolution of Steldor, the complication of London, betrayal, breeches and lots of flirting. So yea, it was really good.

At the same time, I figured out the whole story from the beginning, so I wasn't reading to be pulled along. Why was I reading? I don't know.

There was something about this book that kept me reading. And I really did enjoy it. Was it my favorite ever? No. Were things I didn't like? Yes. Did it entertain me and pull me out of reality? Yes.
The world-building was great. I  liked the secondary characters more than Alera and thought they really made the story. I can't wait to see what else we learn about Narian and Steldor and London and even her sister, Miranna. I am definitely going to read the next one!

My favorite parts were ones that involved Steldor. I guess I'm a fan of the underdog. If you like epic fantasy, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's definitely worth a read--if for no other reason, do it so you can tell me what you think of all the boys.

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