Loop

Author: Karen Akins
Series: Loop # 1
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: 21 October 2014
Summary: At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels…at screwing up.   After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn’t go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he’s in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn’t think he’s a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her.  Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self.  But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future.
Review: Loop was, interesting.  There were a lot of things I enjoyed about Loop, I liked the world building, I loved how time traveling was explained throughout the book, and I like how Akins plays on it being genetic and not completely scientific, and I really liked the idea, different timelines corresponding.  I just had a hard time with the execution.  I'm a fan of science fiction, and my suspension of disbelief is pretty high, but there were a lot of parts in Loop that left me confused.  I wish that Bree had been two separate characters, and I really wanted to hear more from Finn about how he remembered her from the future/past.  I felt like the romance was rushed, and that Bree was too far away from her future self to really be believable, I didn't like how bad she felt for reacting the way she did to her best friend Mimi, because Mimi is right smack in the middle of "okay" as far as literary best friends go.  It sucks because time travel is one of my favorite branches of science fiction, but this was hard for me to follow. Add to all of this the not-quite-futuristic jargon and my head was spinning, and not in a good way.  There is a good chance that most of the plot holes will be resolved in the next book, I just had an incredibly hard time with hearing about all of these relationships that Bree has with people and not actually seeing them built, although timelines do intersect at some points, overall this story was a hard one for me to work out.  If I'm feeling ambitious I may attempt the second one, but probably not.  I do feel like I should add an addendum: this would really work as a movie because you could see flashback sequences, etc.  but having to make that up just showed poor editing and plotting, unfortunately.
I would check out the Ruby Red series if you're looking for a good time-travel romance, or if your looking for something more science-fiction check out This Shattered World (out December 23rd).

Throne of Glass

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass # 1

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s

Released: 7 August 2012

Summary: courtesy of goodreads.com After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Review: This book was one that I had greatly anticipated.  It sounded like a cross between Graceling and The Hunger Games set against a Poison Study backdrop.  Here’s the thing: plot-wise this was that, but you know what I missed? Yelena, Katniss, and Katsa.  The heroine in Throne of Glass didn’t seem to have many “flaws” at least as she saw them.  She had no humility what so ever.  I mean even Katsa had some humility.  There didn’t seem to be much of a journey that she had to go on or through as a character.  Maybe further down the line she will, but as far as who she is at the beginning (an extremely self-assured assassin with no real emotional ties) she doesn’t change in any way by the end.  Sure, there is a lot of talk about what she went through while in the mines, but I never really connected to the pain that she felt.

Emotionally Celaena doesn’t deliver at all.  She is a very two dimensional character in a three dimensional world.  The “love triangle” felt like an awkward episode of 90210.  I guess what I’m trying to say is this: the world building was excellent, but I expected the character building, especially of the protagonist, to be astounding.  A story this epic needs a female this epic to back it up, and I didn’t feel like Celaena delivered. 

The only other thing that truly bothered me was this: I like consistency when I read a book (any book) and flip flopping back and forth between given (for lack of a better word I’m going to say Christian) names to titles had my head spinning.  The author flip flops back and forth between calling the Prince “Dorian” and simply “The Prince”.  It is the same with going back and forth between “Celaena” and “The Assassin”.  There may or may not have been a specific reason for it, but if there was I wasn’t seeing it straight off.  Normally, if this were a film or play, I would say it was a way for characters to distance themselves from one another, but in print it doesn’t work as well.  It only left me confused, and wondering if there was more than one prince, or more that one head to the prince’s guard, etc.  I couldn’t keep them straight, and that made it harder to identify with them (finally, about 45% in, I had everyone figured out, but by then it was too late to really latch on to any one character.)

I honestly think that Maas knew everything that there is to know about this story, these characters, and this world.  I honestly do, there is a certain degree of intelligence in this writing and it’s pretty incredible, especially in the concept of the characters, and it could be due to a bad editor, but somehow I felt like a lot of things didn’t transfer.  Like there were things that I was supposed to know and didn’t, some bit of information that was right on the fuzzy outer scope of my brain but I just couldn’t reach it.  Normally I never want more detail, but in Throne of Glass I did.  I really really did.    

The Raft **warning: minor spoilers ahead*

Author: S.A. Bodeen

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Survivalist, Young Adult

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Released: 21 August 2012

Summary: courtesy of goodreads.com Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.
And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.

My Review:  I don’t usually hate books, as a matter of fact I consider myself to be a major book lover, but . . . I really hated this book.  The Raft has one of the most misleading blurbs I have ever seen.  I would dissect it, but I think that would be a little too much snarky on a Thursday.  Let’s just say: Robie is NOT an experienced traveler.  And it is that once sentence: “Robie is an experienced traveler” that ruined this novel for me. 

So how can you still give it a two?  Well, let me explain.  Robie was annoying from an adult point of view, but to a fifteen year old (how old Robie is in the book) she may be slightly more identifiable.  I can say with honesty that some of the things she does (really long explanations about things I don’t care about – like freaking birds) were incessantly annoying, but her fight for survival, although filled with massive amounts of stupidity, was engrossing.

I mean seriously, what “experienced traveler” doesn’t read the freaking handbook to the raft that she is stuck on.  What “experience traveler” doesn’t check in for her flight?  What “experienced traveler” forgets to zip up her bag and ends up dropping the remaining food into the ocean.  What “experienced traveler” that is literally starving, finds food and then won’t eat it because she has too much “heart”.  What “experienced traveler” doesn’t check her flares?

I smacked myself in the face a lot while reading this book because it was an endless, “seriously??” moment.  There were so many things that seemed to be poorly researched (with the exception of birds, so many birds).  I was really looking forward to a survivalist story about a girl who kicked some serious butt, and knew how to, you know . . . survive.  Like I said: a fifteen year old may like this, and I feel like it would appeal to both guys and girls, but the more I think about it, the more I realize just how much I didn’t like it.  It had me at the edge of my seat, I’ll admit, I couldn’t put this book down, and it literally flies by, I would be surprised if you didn’t read it in one sitting, and I did think about what I would do if I was in the same situation as Robie (hint: I would zip up the bag with the food in it, AND read instructions even though I’m not an “experienced traveler”) but, the more I think about it the more I am bothered by it.  And the big "spoiler" by the end.  I can't even discuss it, but seriously?? seriously?!

Whoever wrote the blurb for this book should probably be fired.  Completely misleading, and the honest reason why I detested this book so much. I mean if they had said, “Robie has made the trip from Honolulu to Midway Atoll hundreds of times.” instead and I probably wouldn't be so bothered by this thing.  Just saying, don’t call someone an “experienced traveler” when they aren’t.  It’s called lying, and it’s rude.

Jane

Author: April Linder

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Re-telling, New Adult (a term I’m trying for a more “adult” YA novel, it’s floating around goodreads currently…)

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Released: 11 October 2010

Summary: courtesy of goodreads.com Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.
But there’s a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane’s much-envied relationship with Nico is soon tested by an agonizing secret from his past. Torn between her feelings for Nico and his fateful secret, Jane must decide: Does being true to herself mean giving up on true love?
An irresistible romance interwoven with a darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers

My Review:  Let me begin by saying that I am a massive, MASSIVE fan of Jane Eyre.  I’ve written papers about the novel, seen nearly all of the films, memorized passages, etc.  So it was with some trepidation that I began Linder’s take on my favorite classic.  Unfortunately I came out with pretty mixed feelings, and I can nearly pin down the exact reason why.

Linder follows the same recipe as others have before her, taking a classic take and updating it to be more applicable and relatable to a modern audience.  This has been done with numerous stories, especially recently.  Updated versions of the Greek Gods and Goddesses, updated versions of Jane Austen.  Most recently For Darkness Shows the Stars (review here) is an updated version of Persuasion.  However, what those novels had that this one did not, was updated jargon.  Linder did NOT update bits and pieces of the jargon in Jane.  As a matter of fact, some of the statements were directly from the original text.  Which is why I had such a massive problem with the novel.

I just can’t imagine Mr. Rochester saying the F word, and then “you transfix me quite” in the same novel.  It was like her characters were suffering from a massive and confusing bout of reincarnation.  It didn’t feel updated, it felt strange and annoying.   I understand that in the time period the things Mr. Rochester stated were probably similar to what Mr. Rathburn (Linder’s Rochester) said, but why take the time to mix in the 18^th century stuff as well?  He is modern, right?  So for him to speak like he is well educated (which, in today’s day and age, speaking like you are from the 18^th century can be a sign of a good education, or a serious disorder) just seemed so off. 

The real problem is that Linder didn’t depart enough from the original text.  She tried to blend the two together, instead of reading other “updated” versions of novels where they keep the same basic plot structure, but make the characters their own, make the story their own.  Linder didn’t do that.  I didn’t hate this book, but if you’re going to read a Jane Eyre-type novel, I suggest you just read Jane Eyre.  And if you read this book and really enjoyed it, read the original, because I can guarantee you will probably like it even more.

Adorkable

Author: Sarra Manning

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult

Publisher: Atom

Released: 24 May 2012

Summary: via goodreads.com Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian's 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World. And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane's boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can't she stop talking to him?

My Review:  So…Adorkable.  Definitely not what I was expecting from a young adult novel.  I’ve read a lot of British authors in the past and I’ve never come across anyone quite like Sarra Manning.  She is so sharp in her writing style that at times it’s a little hard to keep up with her.  For some reason I always expect her books to be really light and funny looks at British teens.  This is definitely not what they are at all.  The characters in Adorkable do not act like teenagers.  I can’t figure out if this is simply an ‘English’ thing or if it something…more?  Maybe it’s my Americanism shining through, but the school that Michael and Jeane go to looks like an American high school and feels like an American high school, but somehow the kids that attend this school have the maturity level of, like, twenty-five year olds.  They also have the same issues, or similar issues as twenty-five year olds.  This was also something that bothered.  This is definitely not a book that I would classify into the “Young Adult” category, although the F word is in it minimally (strange for a Brit read) there were a lot of other situations that made me a little bit slack jawed.  The thing I really did enjoy though was Manning's unabashed and poignant view of social networking.  Jeane says so many things, especially in reference to Twitter about logging on and not feeling so alone, whereas Michael realizes that it's temporary.  It really was amazing to see the underlying political commentary on social networking that rungs throughout this novel.  However, my big problem really it goes back to the main characters, they act so much older.  Their thoughts are so much older, their reactions to things are so much more adult.  I have a feeling that this is a British thing, but it was still slightly unsettling.  Although I liked watching the drama between Michael and Jeane play out, their relationship is definitely multi-layered and both of them grow from it, it did become convoluted by the end.  It was nice that Michael was realizing why Jeane acted and reacted the way that she does to things, and it helped from a reader stand point, but I still felt like Michael was all feeling, and Jeane was all about – herself.  Even things from her perspective projected this mentality, and that’s what I disliked about it.  Although Michael is trying to justify her actions, Jeane’s point of view doesn’t back them up.  That is why this is getting kind of a low rating, I just couldn't identify with Jeane enough to make her likeable.

Everything Beautiful

Author: Simmone Howell

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Contemporary, Realistic, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Released: 28 October 2008

Summary: via goodreads.com Riley Rose, atheist and bad girl, has been tricked into attending Spirit Ranch, a Christian camp. There she meets Dylan Kier, alumni camper and recent paraplegic, who arrives with a chip on his shoulder and a determination to perfect all of his bad habits. United in their personal suffering and in their irritation at their fellow campers, they turn the camp inside out as they question the meaning of belief systems, test their faith in each other, and ultimately settle a debate of the heart.

My Review: Everything Beautiful was one of those books were I kept waiting for something really big to happen. It had a really interesting premise, a girl who believes herself to be an Atheist sent to Christian camp for a week, but what I had a hard time with was: why is she making such a big deal out of this? They don't treat her badly at the Christian camp, as a matter of fact a few of the girls are really nice to her in the beginning, and yet she still does everything that she can to beat against it. Why, Riley Rose, why? I mean, I understand that things aren't going the way that she expects them to, but seriously, the way that she handles somethings in the book made me embarrassed for her.

Not everything about this novel was bad though, Howell paints a lovely picture of the Australian outback for us, and gives readers and insight to some of the kids that end up at these Christian camps. I felt like the characters were wide and exciting and lovely, especially Olive and Bird. Dylan was a little heavy handed for me, and the way that the relationship between Riley and Dylan develops was a little hard for me to follow at times. It felt like one minute they hated each other and then suddenly they were running away together. A little bit strange. The only other honest complaint that I have is this: as far as a “YA” book goes this one really pushed the boundaries for me. Even without the F bombs, there was a lot of stuff discussed quite bluntly by Riley that I really had a hard time with. There were so many times where I would read a passage and think: “wait, did that really just come out of her mouth?” yes, yes it did.

I have to admit, this definitely gave me a different perspective on Australian kids today, maybe a little more shocking than I first thought. I swear I didn't graduate from high school that long ago, but books like Everything Beautiful make me feel like I was one of the most sheltered high school students on the planet (and maybe I was). But the “reality” of this novel was just a little too hard for me to grasp to make it truly memorable.

Abandon

Author: Meg Cabot

Series: Abandon Trilogy # 1

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Mythology

Publisher: Point

Released: 26 April 2011

Summary: via goodreads.com Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.
Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

My Review: Abandon was…difficult. I LOVE Meg Cabot books, seriously. She is one of the authors that I actually follow blog-wise. I think she is hilarious, I usually count down the days until her books are released, so I was pretty disappointed with Abandon. Abandon doesn’t sound like Meg to me (see, I call her Meg, that is how much of an affinity I have with this woman). Abandon sounds…older. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to like this book so much that I read it twice. I love Meg’s characters, I think that they are hilarious and captivating. Except Pierce. Pierce is kind of an idiot. Pierce is annoying. Pierce is...well, Pierce. I wanted Pierce to be more intellectual. She would do the strangest things and then expect everything to work out in her favor. I know that Meg's heroines aren't necessarily the brightest bulbs in the box, but I just felt like Pierce was being forced into a role that didn't really suit her, and with that I mean I felt that she was forced into being the "nice girl" everyone is always telling her how nice and helpful and great she is, which is nice, except I would like to see how nice and helpful and great she is, not have characters telling me right and left. I don't know, maybe I'm alone in this, but if you want a Persephone re-imagining then skip this one for something else. (I recommend The Goddess Test, even though it’s completely different from the actual Persephone tale. Still, the characters were more entertaining and less ridiculous than in Abandon.)

Underworld

Author: Meg Cabot

Series: Abandon Trilogy # 2

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Mythology

Publisher: Point

Released: 8 May 2012

Summary: via goodreads.com Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead. Not this time. But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey. Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves. But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies. And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape

My Review: After reading Abandon, I really didn’t know if I had it in me to continue on with the series. But, they’re not that many pages and I read pretty fast so I thought “what the heck, might as well” and unfortunately, I wasn’t too impressed (I should have known, right!?) Underworld picks up exactly where Abandon left off. It was a worthy sequel in that it didn’t really feel like a sequel. Pierce is still kind of a whiner, and manipulates John into doing whatever she wants. Although she is getting a little bit better at listening to him. The strangest thing for me about Underworld is that I never really felt a lot of chemistry happening between Pierce and John. Cabot is excellent at chemistry. She is practically the QUEEN of shy glances, and epic pseudo damsel in distress sequences. Seriously. This is one of the best things about Meg. She knows how to write the perfect girl book. She has a lot of heart, and so do her characters. And she knows how to write the perfectly cute dialogue between teenage boy and girl that makes up the relationship. However, with Pierce and John the spark that Meg is so good at was noticeably absent.

I’ve read all of Meg’s books (well, all of the ones for Young Adults and Middle Readers, and the Boy series, and the Heather Wells Mysteries and the first and second Queen of Babble books) and there was just something so…off about this one.

The story was well constructed, and I love the idea the Meg has done. The story of Persephone is one that has always been incredible fascinating, and the way that it is incorporated into this one is awesome! Because Meg isn’t trying to re-create anything, or do a simple “YA Updated Version” she is spinning the tale on it’s head and has created some pretty real characters. In fact, it’s their real-ness that has me annoyed. Meg is pretty good at taking me out of real life, to a witty, hilarious other-world that I really love and wish actually existed. Is that weird. Underworld, which is one of Meg’s first legitimate “fantasy” novels is the one that is most real dialogue wise. And that is the reason that I was kind of disappointed in it?

  

The Storyteller

Author: Antonia Michaelis

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Realistic, Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Publisher: Abrams

Released: 2011

Summary: via goodreads.com Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

My Review: There are only so many things that can be said about this book, the first being that I was not a fan. Although I found the premise promising, as the story progressed, and became darker and darker, I found myself getting lost. Not in a good way. Abel is such a torn and twisted character, and although everything in me wanted to like him, he is supposed to be the heroic lead after all, he was so seriously flawed that I could never get myself to that point. I wish that I could say there were some redeeming qualities in the ending, but sadly there was nothing. This is a book about a young man's life spinning out of control fast, and the girl he takes down with him. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
The writing, however, was very well done. The stories that Abel told and the actual story itself were effortlessly weft together. The mystery that runs throughout the novel is well written, and when it comes apart in the end it is definitely a surprise (which is usually the point of a mystery - correct?) The biggest problem I had was with the subject material, it was depressing not just mildly depressing either, all out pop a prozac depressing. However, even though it wasn't for me, that doesn't mean you won't like it. I think it is an accurate portrayal of how kids are growing up today, especially those that live in metropolises of both Europe and the States. However, I, the suburban white kid who loves happy endings, found the material to be slightly disconcerting, un-relateable and heavy. 

Storm (Elementals)

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Series: Elementals # 1

Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Kensington

Released: 24 April 2012

Summary: via goodreads.com Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn't want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming . . .

My Review: Maybe it’s just been the last little while, and it’s more of a personal thing, but this book kind of bothered me. Don’t get me wrong, the author is incredibly talented, and the story is really fantastic. I love the idea of a family that can control the elements, especially when that family is four fantastic looking brothers. The villains were also quite…villainous. As in I got angry at them in my head villainous. If they actually lived in my real life I would have wanted to run them over with a truck. Or a steam train 1850’s Western style. Not kidding. But that was also my problem with it. Becca has to go through a lot of crap in this book. Seriously. I felt SO bad for her throughout most of the book. And some of the things that happen to her seriously made me cringe and my stomach turn over.

They weren’t the kind of things that I wanted to read happening to the heroine. I feel like it’s okay to send your heroine through some bad crap, but the way that is was illustrate in Storm made me want to rip my hair out (not in a good way). I understand that life is not rose pedals and rainbows, but a little bit of happiness never hurt anyone did it?

I loved the family in this book, and the villains were a particularly evil brand, but I just wonder if there could have been a little bit more of a balance between good and evil? I wanted Becca to be happy more often, when really she spends the novel confused, scared, and sad.

Fracture

Author: Megan Miranda

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Supernatural, Fantasy

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Released: 17 January 2012

Summary: via goodreads.com Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it? Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening? For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

My Review:  Fracture was a hard one for me, mainly because I felt like there were two warring plot lines that didn’t feel like getting along. One was a paranormal, ghost story, first love sort of thing and the other was a girl trying to figure out what exactly has happened to her. A lot of books have competing plot lines, but for some reason in Fracture, it doesn’t work. The reason, in my opinion that they don’t work is because Miranda skims the surface of both without making either the dominant.
Is Delaney somehow a paranormal anomaly now? Or is she just crazy? I felt like her condition was never really explained and that things were all over the place. Like a parent trying to keep a child under control. That’s how this plot felt to me. Like someone was constantly getting reigned back in. Although I really liked the idea, it almost had too much basis in the realm of reality that when the paranormal stuff was introduced I had a hard time believing it. This also made it hard to get behind any of the characters. Delaney makes a lot of lame decisions concerning Decker and Troy and I get that she is just a girl trying to figure things out, but seriously. Another love triangle? Why not just axe Troy, he was annoying and vindictive and kind of a creeper anyway.
For a novel about death, that is sort of similar to this I would go for the Soul Screamer series, because although they aren’t exactly the same at least the plot isn’t all over the place.

The Alchemy of Forever

Author: Avery Williams

Series: Incarnation # 1

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Released: 3 January 2012

Summary: via goodreads.com Seraphina has been alive since the 1300's, made immortal when the boy she was beginning to love back then, Cyrus, saved her from death with a strange liquid - a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. But now, in modern day America, Sera has decided that she can no longer bear the weight of stealing people's lives so she can keep living on. So she decides to run away from Cyrus and end her stolen existence once and for all. Her plan goes awry when she accidentally takes the body of a dying teenager and feels forced to take over her life. When the lines between Sera and Kailey's identity begin to blur, Sera finds a reason to desire to live once more. But she can't shake the guilt of having taken Kailey's life, even if she was dying. And what if Cyrus finds her?

My Review: The Alchemy of Forever reminded of a firework, in that at the beginning it was really enticing and exciting and fun with an initial boom and really grabs you, but slowly things fizzed out and by the end I was asking myself why I had bothered finishing. Because of the pacing I felt that Alchemy fell into the category of “novella” as opposed to a bonafide novel. I felt that things were pretty stop and go from the beginning, and it also relies heavily on fads, specifically ‘Words with Friends’. I have a really hard time when novels rely on fads because it automatically dates them. As a matter of fact the only novel I’ve been able to accept a fad in has been Flat Out Love. Which worked because of the characters.
For some reason I couldn’t really get behind any of the characters in Alchemy. For someone who has been around for a couple hundred years I felt like Seraphina should have been a little stronger and a little less stupid. I mean, if she is so set on dying than why is she afraid of Cyrus in the first place? Because it really didn’t make sense to me in that respect it made it hard for the novel to make sense.
I don’t know, Alchemy just felt really cookie cutter to me, I didn’t really understand the point of the novel, I realize that books especially ya books are meant to be entertaining, but I have a hard time when they don’t make any sense, as in the point of them doesn’t really make sense. I left this one asking more questions about than feeling like I had any answers. I understand that with a series there should be some questions left behind, but with Alchemy I felt like I had asked too many questions throughout the novel to make it worth seeing how it ends.

  

Wrecked

Author: Anna Davies

Series: Stand Alone

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Released: 1 May 2012

Summary: via goodreads.com Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control. But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.     Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale

My Review: I’m pretty sure I was supposed to learn something from Wrecked, and that something is that pseudo mermaid tales and I don’t get along. At. All. So basically, this was my final shot and I won’t be reading any more. Don’t get me wrong, Wrecked was a good story. It had it’s moments of severe aggravation amongst characters, but all in all the story was really solid. It held with the same ideas throughout, and the characters didn't go all bi-polar, so that was a bonus. I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for Miranda, but at least it was consistent sorrow. However, what I wasn’t planning on the ending. I won’t spoil it for you, but I will admit I was kind of bummed.
I dislike books that are sad, and Wrecked was a pretty sad book. Interesting because of it’s source material being mermaids and sea creatures, but not one that I would pick up. Like I said, I am officially banning myself from reads that contain anything involving mer-creatures or things from the ocean. Because of this bias, I’m giving it two pie, but normally I would have given it one. It was just so darn sad, I kept having to ask myself why I was reading it. Man, I've got to stop picking up books based purely on the cover art! And no more mer-whatever!