Summary from pub:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

Review:

I really love high fantasy books, but I am always nervous about starting a new one. If the world is constructed well, there are holes everywhere. If the characters aren’t focused with full personalities, dreams, and motivations, it is easy to get sick of them quickly. If the villain isn’t complicated, the entire story just falls apart.

None of that happened in this book. My only complaint is that there were a couple chapters that slowed down, but it was purposeful to build suspense and suspicions, so it is a very minor complaint.

The characters are great from the main heroine to her teachers and guards around her. The only flat characters are the royalty, and they are flat because they are useless. It is a case where I wish it had not been in first person so the reader could see more of some of the other characters; their motivations and doubts along with Alina’s. Seeing things from Mal and The Darkling’s side also would have been awesome.

And about Mal and The Darkling, I even liked the love triangle, and you know how much I usually despise love triangles. That is probably because it is less of a triangle than it appears. I also got why she was interested in both – one because he was awesome and the other because she was drawn to his power and smoothness (but his age made it kinda icky). The romances in the book felt so genuine and wonderful and part of me kept expecting betrayal from all sides. It was hard to see what was really going on which just made it so much better.

The end of this book will blow your mind. There was one aspect I was disappointed in because it had been done earlier in the book and was the one hole I saw, to put it in a non spoilery way- realizations having that much power irked me.

Overall, this book was great and if you love some high/epic fantasy in young adult books, go get it so you can read the next book in a couple weeks!

Summary from pub:

Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library – a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That’s where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales; seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White’s stepmother’s sinister mirror that talks in riddles.

When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime or captured by the thief.

Review:

I love fairy tales and any book that includes them is something I really need to check out. This book looks at fairy tales in a very clever way – through the objects in them. And it turns out those objects are real, as is magic.

The creativity is this book is what stood out most. Every page seemed to have something new and imaginative. There were not just magical items, there were also regular items from history or even more modern items that people could borrow. It really made me start looking at the objects around me more closely and with some amazement.

The characters were such teenagers, and I mean that in the best way possible. They felt like real kids with real thoughts and language. At the beginning, the main character was irritating because she wanted answers to everything. It felt genuine though, so it wasn’t bothersome. This is what any teenager might act like. All the crushes in the book felt like they were realistic too. Everyone is at first attracted to the athlete or the gorgeous girl, but realize that someone else might make them happier. The pair of sibling relationships were also great and the dialogue sounded like what you would hear in bedrooms around the world.

All of this made the world feel so real and I half expected to go to the address in New York and actually find this place so I could check out the Grimm Collection for myself!

If you like fantasy, magic, or fairy tales, check this book out! The companion book is coming next month and I look forward to reading it!

Summary from pub:

Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.

What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode…and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

Review:

I went in to reading this book hoping it would be an exciting story and a sweet romance. And that is what I got, mostly.

I really liked Jules and her family. They felt like an actual family, which is always good to see. I also thought McMann showed mental illness and the effect on the people around someone dealing with depression. It also showed how scary it is to see the possibility of it happening to you. In the end, I think this is what I liked most about the book and I hope that more young adult authors look at mental illness in a realistic way and it helps end the stigma.

Back to the story though – it is exciting and suspenseful. Will I ever reread the book? No, it is a true suspense novel in that way. Even though I liked the characters, it isn’t enough to make me come back to this book. There is a sequel coming out this fall that I will probably read, but it doesn’t sound as good.

The book really would get 3.5 stars because I didn’t really get the romance. It wasn’t insta-love which is always a plus, especially when life and death is involved, but the word love is thrown around way too much when people aren’t even together. No Jules, you don’t love him, you haven’t even been friends for the past 4 years. You lust after him. You are infatuated with him. Not love. /endrant.

I would still recommend it as long as that won’t completely drive you nuts. It is a good suspense book with some humor and good characters.

Eleanor & Park

Summary from publisher:

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Review:

I have wanted to read this book for months, so when my copy came in at the library, i was really excited. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. More on that in a bit.

Eleanor is a character than many teens can relate to. She doesn’t have much and she has to struggle with the teasing and the feelings she has about it every day. She has a horrible home life and an abusive stepfather. I would ope that teens couldn’t relate to her, but I know there are many that can relate to that part of her story. Her life is far from perfect, but it feels very real. I like that it shows that there are real problems in the world. I also like the friends she makes at school – they don’t take crap from people and are a good contrast to the rich around them. I wish Eleanor had been closer with them, but could understand why she couldn’t. She broke my heart and I shed some tears for this fictional character.

I also adored Park’s parents. Were they always right? Not at all. They were both not always very nice, but they loved him and were very good people once they got the situation. When Park’s dad tells Eleanor that the invitation for dinner is always open, he was redeemed for not understanding his son. His mother was also very understanding when she got what was going on. His family was so interesting because they were such a blend in a time when it was less often. It made me get him a little more.

Rainbow Rowell knows how to write a fantastic book. I will continue to read her books because it is easy to get lost in the book and the characters. The pop culture references were integrated that they felt organic and not like they were references to be trendy. The tackles horrible issues head=on, but isn’t an issue book, it is a book about people dealing with issues so it means more. It was almost the perfect book.

Yet I didn’t buy Park. Park at the end is very different from Park at the beginning. It felt like he was whoever was needed at the time. One friends said she thought Eleanor made Park be more himself and I can see it interpreted that way, it was just different than what I saw. It may be that way because I think Elanor was just Eleanor and it felt like he had many sides to his personality. He was also a really shitty friend – and didn’t even care that he was – once he started spending time with Eleanor and that always pisses me off.

It is still a very good book and I look forward to reading her next one!

If you have been following this blog for a while, you know i love TV, so I thought I would pay tribute to my favorite shows that have been cancelled or are over.

The Office

It has been a rocky path at times, but this last season has been one of its best. Jim and Pam had me crying last week and I know the big finale event this week will bring tears to my eyes again. 

30 Rock

Another one of my favorite comedies ended this year. If you never watched it, you should go on Netflix and start. The first season isn’t the best, but the entire show is one of the funniest ever.

Smash

Smash was not perfect, but I still loved it. I loved seeing how the shows were made and the cast album for Bombshell is fantastic. The finale is in a couple weeks and I heard they re-shot it when they heard it was cancelled, so hopefully it will have an actual ending. 

Whitney

I didn’t love this show, because Whitney’s friends were annoying, but when it was just her and Alex on screen, I laughed a lot.

Go On

I am still the most shocked by this show. Matthew Perry was great in this, but it was an ensemble cast and they really worked well together. It was the perfect mix of funny and sweet and got better and better as the season went on. The last six episodes were fantastic, which really shows that they needed to give it more time.

Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23

Terrible titles, amazing show. James Vanderbeek was hilarious as himself. I laughed more at this show than most others. Sometimes titles really matter. 

The New Normal

This was another great show that was a mix of funny and sweet. The episode on the Boy Scouts was one of the best they did and if you didn’t see it, it is probably still online. 

Happy Endings

USA is looking at picking this up so there is some hope. If you weren’t watching this show you were missing out. This is the best ensemble cast since Friends. In fact, they may be better than the Friends cast. Each actor knew the character so well and it made the show phenomenal. I really hope this continues on another network because it is one of my favorites. 

Did any of your favorite shows get cancelled? 

Summary from pub:

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword. . . .

The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

Review:

This book has been called the Game of Thrones for teens. As someone who has read and (mostly) loved that series, I can say I agree…to some extent. First of all, it isn’t just for teens. The only things that makes this young adult is the characters ages and the lack of explicit sex. It does not read as a young adult book and is something all fans of high fantasy can enjoy.

The world is also not as richly imagined in this book, but it is different than other fantasy worlds.The three lands are as different as can be and these differences can be seen in how the young adults live and act around others. It is fascinating to see their differences, and more importantly their similarities. These similarities is what can give the reader some hope at the end of the book.

The story isn’t necessarily all that unique, but it is written in a way that makes it feel fresh, mostly due to the various voices throughout the book. Seeing from all the perspectives really shows how people fail to imagine others complexly and why the lines of communication break down.

This was a very good book and if you like high fantasy, you should read it. But be prepared – like George R. R. Martin, Morgan Rhodes will kill your favorite character that you thought would be centrally to the entire series. And you may cry. Or throw the book down in anger. I look forward to Rebel Spring which comes out in December 2013.

Summary from pub:

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Review:

I have often said that I like The Infernal Devices series more than The Mortal Instruments. Now that I have finished this book, that opinion is completely solidified. Jace and Co. are great, but they are nothing compared to their ancestors.

Tessa is still a little frustrating at times, but she is bright and caring. She is everything you would want in a leading lady. Will has grown the most of all of them and it makes him so likable and funny. Jem is just the best – the bravest, the most kind, and the most loving. He is one of my favorite characters, period. All the other characters shine also. The bad guys are perfectly villainous and evil, the other young people are brave and head strong, and the adults are true leaders.

Just like all the books in this series there are twists and turns throughout. It is so exciting and so hard to put down. Reading just one chapter isn’t possible, especially with all the crazy things happening.

If you haven’t picked up this series yet, you really should. It is a fun read and.I love the feminism in the series, especially in Charlotte. This is a great conclusion, even though there were a couple things I found strange.

What series have you finished this year?

Summary from publisher:

Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol’s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn’t know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside — safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can’t avoid.

She’s different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador’s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn’t a coincidence. It’s a conspiracy.

Within the Icon’s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions — which they’ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses — may actually be their greatest strengths.

Review:

I have never read Beautiful Creatures, but when I saw the description of this dystopian book, I knew that this had to be a priority. I am a sucker for dystopian, especially is there is a science fiction twist.

This book is exciting. The plot never seems to slow down, which makes it a hard book to put down. At the end of each chapter, there are government documents that give hints to what happened one The Day and what is going to happen in the future. It is an interesting structure and makes it more difficult to put the pieces together.

Just because it is hard to put down doesn’t make it a plot-driven novel, the characters are very well-rounded. Seeing what is in Dol’s head make the reader feel more compassion for those is pain and reveals the other main characters feelings in a different way. It made it easy to understand not just Dol’s emotions and instincts, but also the other hostages. It also makes it hard to be on their side when they do things that are wrong. Ro was my least favorite character and is part of the reason that I liked the book and didn’t love it.

The other main issue I had was there was yet another love triangle. Well, kind of two separate love triangles. I am really getting sick of them, especially since one really feels like insta-love. Due to the special power the person has, it makes a little sense, but not enough for it to be okay.

Overall, this is a strong first book in the new series and I am really interested in finding out what happens next. The aliens and genetics make it more science fiction which is great to see in a young adult book.

WIth BEA less than a month away (YAY!) i wanted to do a few posts about it! This first one will focus on the galleys that will be available through giveaways or signings. I only am going to talk about books i have heard good things about from other bloggers or friends or books that I have read already.

I am going to break it down by age.

Adult books – there aren’t as many of these because a lot of the galleys are from major authors that I don’t read. I am sure there will be a lot of great literary fiction, but I will be looking for recommendations on other blogs for those.

 William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher – Quirk Books

I haven’t read this yet, but Star Wars + Shakespeare = must read. Also, May the Fourth be with you! This is from Quirk Books who are totally awesome.

 Night Film by Marisha Pessl – Random House

This is from the author of Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which I read shortly before starting this blog and lobe. This one is more of a thriller that I have herd wonderful things about. It will most likely go very fast.

 Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – St Martin’s Press

I adored Attachments and have her YA book sitting on my coffee table, so I am really excited about this New Adult title.

Young Adult – lots of great stuff.

The Testing and Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau – Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Both of these books will be a BEA and I cannot wait for others to read it. I am in love with this series. it is the best dystopian series I have read in years. You all know how much I love Legend, but this is better. I even moved around my BEA schedule to meet this author.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah Maas -Bloombury

I haven’t read this one yet, but thought I would let you know that the author is signing this book on Friday

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason – Chronicle

I only read the first fifty pages of this, but it has Holmes’ niece and a Stoker Chosen One in steampunk London/ If these things sounds appealing, get it.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein – Disney

This is a companion to Code Name Verity (which i still have to read).

 The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson – Tor Books

The first YA book byt the amazing Sanderson. If it isn’t ticketed, it will go fast, but from what I have heard, it is worth the wait.

Middle grade – Middle grade is where it is at this fall. There are so many great titles.

 The Show Must Go On by Kate Klise – Algonquin

This is on the younger side of MG for ages 7-10 but is super cute and fun

Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea  by Lisa Martin

This is a really great adventure novel with two great cats in the center. Great book for anyone who loves cats, fun stories, and the idea of the sea.

Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman – HarperCollins

Nail Gaiman has a new book for kids and it is wonderful. It is hilarious and creative in a way that only Gaiman can do. This is a must-get if you can find it.

 The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson – HarperCollins

If you are a love of adventure and pirates, this is a great book. It has a great main character and a lot of humor. This is a fun book that middle grade readers will really enjoy.

 Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde – Harcourt Children’s Book

This is the sequel to the The Last Dragonslayer and should be as fun and entertaining as the first.

 The Fantastic Family Whipple by Matthew Ward – Razorbill

This debut mystery is one of the most imaginative books i have read this year. It has great characters, a fun mystery, and twists and turns that are hard to predict. This might not be one everyone is grabbing, but if you are a middle grade reviewer, it is one you need to get.

What galleys are you grabbing at BEA?

Circle of Fire

Summary from publisher:

With time dwindling but her will to end the Prophecy stronger than ever, Lia sets out on a journey to find the remaining keys, locate the missing pages of the Prophecy, and convince her sister Alice to help–or risk her life trying. Lia has her beloved Dimitri by her side, but Alice has James, the man who once loved her sister–and maybe still does. James doesn’t know the truth about either sister, or the prophecy that divides them. And Alice intends to keep it that way.

Review:

I really should have continued and finished this series earlier. It is historical fiction and fantasy together, two of my favorite things in books. When they are combined in one book, I think it adds so much. This is such a feminist series and the time period really adds to that. Watching Lia challenge the norms just brought me so much joy.

This was an exciting and wonderful end of the series. It was stressful to read at times, but a good stressful! I kept saying I will only read two chapters, and closed it 60 pages later,

Lia really struggles with trust in this book. It made it more realistic. Other characters would have just gotten over a companion being taking over by the bad guy, but it stuck with Lia and changed her, even when she didn’t want it to. This means she needs more inner strength and she really struggles. She is still strong, but her strength is dwindling after all this time. The one issue with this is that it does slow down a few times and I really had to push through some chapters to get to the action. There were only so many times I could read about how hard it was for her to sleep.

The ending is perfect. Of course i will not spoil anything, but it is just a perfect ending. Not perfect as things wrap up nicely, but perfect as in I can’t imagine it ending any other way.

this cover is pretty terrible. I actually read the first book in the series because it had such a great cover and this is just generic without the darkness and mystery. I wish the next books had kept that style instead of yet another cover with a girl on it.

Michelle Zink is a fantastic writer and I need to read everything else she had written!