Book Blog #77: Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Title: Tuesdays at the Castle
Author: Jessica Day George
# of Pages: 254 (paperback)
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one-other than Celie, that is-takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom. This delightful book from a fan- and bookseller-favorite kicks off a brand-new series sure to become a modern classic.

Review: Three days ago I decided that it was time to finally read the middle grade book that found it's way on my shelf two years ago.  It was given to me as a gift, and, although I smiled at thanked the person, I found the cover all together unappealing. As a result, I put it ago the other books who have been patiently waiting for me to read them for years. Since I have a bit more time on my hands, and my progression on Chosen at Nightfall (by C.C. Hunter) is a bit behind schedule, I read this book at the same time.

It defiantly is a middle grade book. There are only two-hundred pages, leaving room for a short, slightly undeveloped plot. But, honestly, that wasn't what I didn't like about Tuesdays at the Castle. The plot was decent enough and had me up until midnight last night just so I could finish reading it.

Celie, on the other hand, was a problem. George claims that she's eleven, but she acts more like she's five. It would be better if she WAS five; then her childish antics wouldn't seem so immature. By the time I finished the book, I couldn't believe that it was HER that was the hero.

What's worse is that the supporting characters seem to be ecstatic over her ideas and act as though they are incapable of thinking of a better idea which, I assure you, there are defiantly better ideas than Celie's.

If George had removed Celie completely from the story and replaced her with someone who actually acts her age, then I would have enjoyed the book a lot more. I recommend this book to people twelve and under.

Book Blog #51: Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Specials
Author: Scott Westerfeld
# of Pages: 350 (paperback reprint)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: "Special Circumstances": The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor -- frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary.

And now, in the third book in the series, Tally's been turned into a Special: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it's easy to tune that out -- until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

Review: I was actually really disappointed. I love this series, but I just wasn't feeling the usual excitement I felt when I read the first book. However, I still have hopes for the last book. Maybe this book was just part of the build up.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

What I found extremely disappointing was the fighting scene when Tally first encounters the war. I usually like fighting scenes, but I found myself spacing out and not even paying attention.  I also didn't particularly like the part where they were cutting themselves. Any kind of self-harm doesn't sit well with me at all. So I was really glad when Tally rewired herself.

On the other hand, my favorite part was when Tally figured out that Zane was going to die. That was really sad for me, but I think that it could have went on for a little longer. Maybe she should have stayed by Zane's bedside for the full five minutes versus leaving almost right away.

SPOILERS END!

I don't usually do this last, but the cover is weird, just like the other covers of the series. All these people seem naked...But the cover DOES give off this new, futuristic feel, which is exactly how it SHOULD feel.

The book is okay. I had high expectations. Maybe it will be able to redeem itself in the last book.

Book Blog #49: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Crescendo
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
# of Pages: 427 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Angels, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it. A mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever (if that's possible) and what's worse, he seems to be spending time with Nora's archenemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn't been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude, Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feelings that he is hiding something.

If that weren't enough, Nora is haunted by images of her murdered father, and comes to question whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death. Desperate to figure out what happened, she puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations to get the answer. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.(less)
Review: I found this book to be very confusing. I'm not sure if its because it took me longer than usual to read it (I was watching anime and reading manga 24/7 busy!), but I don't think that I was the definition of five star quality, let alone four stars. The story was all of the place. Throughout the story, I was puzzling over what it was actually about.

Now, I'm not sure why, but I just can't shake the feeling that it's similar to the Twilight Saga. Because its not. Not really. I kept trying and trying to pull out bits of the story line and proclaiming it a replica of the hot vampire romance novel. But then something later on in the story would counteract it. It was a very frustrating process. If you've read m review of the first book, then you know that I tried (and failed) to conducted this comparison. But I'm going to try again anyway.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

1) Scott is introduced into the story. He doesn't get along with Patch's kind, just like Meyer's werewolves and vampires don't get along. Scott's part of this group, like Jacob is part of a pack. In the beginning of the story, Bella Nora sees Jacob Scott as a potential boyfriend.

2) Nora's weak. She's your average girl, just let Bella if you ignore Nora's bloodline and Bella's mind-power-thingy. And this point is actually one factor that dragged down the star rating. I realized that she's not a kick-butt protagonists I like to read about. She's just a girl who the guys want. Like Bella.

I stil think that the two points of made a weak (I can counter them myself, but I won't. It would make me look bad in my own review), but it's the best I've got for now. I hope at least my points are valid; it's been a while since I have set eyes on anything Twilight.

SPOILERS END!

I do think that this book deserves a reread, not because it's good, but because I think I've forgotten part of the beginning of the book since it took me practically a week to read and because I was busy fan girling over Nastu, Naruto, and Kyo. But based on this first reading, I'd advise you to read the first one and stop. It's a bit of a let down, this one it.

Book Blog #47: Fearless by Francine Pascal

Title: Fearless
Author: Francine Pascal
# of Pages: 585 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: Fearless introduces us to Gaia Moore, a girl born without the gene for fear. Gaia's mother was murdered, and her father, Tom Moore, a famous covert antiterrorist mastermind, is in hiding. Now 17 years old, Gaia is living in New York City with Tom's CIA friend, George, and his wife, Ella. Gaia is a prime target for terrorists and is in constant danger, but she is trained in all forms of combat so she can defend herself. Like Buffy and Xena, Gaia Moore is a force.

But she is also a high school student, trying to be like everyone else. As her friendships develop, we see that Gaia is in many ways a typical teen -- when she's not busy getting herself into and out of dangerous situations, righting wrongs, avenging hurts, and solving mysteries.

Review: SPOILERS AHEAD

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was fearless. She walks around beating people up for "the greater good" and dreams of being a waitress. But she. She realizes that she MIGHT just die soon, so she decides that she HAS TO sleep with a guy. The guy she chooses happens to be good looking AND the boyfriend of her enemy. This guy gets kidnapped, the kidnapper makes the girl go through a whole bunch of tests, the guy is saved. End of story.

If you haven't read the book yet, I'm sorry. I just told you the whole story

The author has absolutely no idea what she's doing

When someone tells a story, the best way to do it is by sticking to either first, second, or third person. But in this book, Pascal constantly switches between first and third. One moment, we're following the characters around (third person), and the next the characters are talking TO THE READER!!! And then Pascal has to make sure the reader knows every single detail about what the characters are thinking/plotting/etc, leaving little to no room for surprises. What a downer.

Now lets talk about Gaia. This is how she introduces herself:

"I am seventeen. The good thing about seventeen is that your not sixteen. Sixteen goes with the word sweet, and I am so far from sweet. I've got a black belt-in kung fu and I've trained in karate, judo, jujitsu, and Muay Thai...I'm not bragging..." -7

It's really obvious that Pascal is trying to make Gaia sound tough while also (failing) to trick the reader into thinking that its not bragging. I don't care what anyone says; it's bragging. And being sweet and being able to kick butt are not mutually exclusive.

Gaia also claims that she wants to be able to experience love before she dies. But 1) she might not die in the first place! She could probably survive for quite a while and 2) Doing it doesn't mean that your in love.

Ed and Sam sometimes don't seem quite like guys. Most of times, they pass, but every now and then they will think/say/act unrealistically. And what's up with Ed? It seems to me that he completely changed the way he acts and dresses after he got in his accident. Doesn't seem quite right to me.

SPOILERS END

So in short, I didn't like it. It was a mess.

Book Blog #43: Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce

Title: Trickster's Choice
Author: Tamora Pierce
# of Pages: 403 (hardcover)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the Lioness of Tortall. Aly is bold and brave like her mother, but she has no wish to become a knight. Instead she longs to follow in her father's footsteps as a spy, an ambition her parents vehemently oppose.

After a furious argument Aly runs away, with disastrous consequences. Captured and sold as a slave in the Copper Isles, she discovers that this whole nightmare has not come about by chance - the Trickster God, Kyprioth, has plans for her...

Review: I was really excited to read another series by Tamora Pierce! The Alanna series had been decent, and her Beka Cooper trilogy much more enjoyable, so I was curious of how this one would turn out.

The cover is kind of weird. The covers for the Alanna series weren't the greatest, and there is minimal improvement for this one. It's dark and dreary, and the title isn't big enough. And I don't like how she seems to be watching my every move. Freaky.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Now, let me be frank; the story bored me. It lacked he drama and suspense that I love to read. I think the best part had to be the ending after the duke died, but that wasn't even the big finale I was expecting.

Pierce's writing style in the book has definitely improved since Alanna: The First Adventure. It still takes place in the Tortall world, but with Aly as the main character. My favorite character has to be Nawat. I mean, how can you not like a crow-human?

SPOILERS END!!!

So it was decent. Not something I'd read again, but not something I'd burn at the stake.

Book Blog #42: White Fang by Jack London

Title: White Fang
Author: Jack London
# of Pages: 252 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Classics, Adventure, Animals
Rating:★★★★★
Synopsis: FIERCE. FEARED.

White Fang is part dog, part wolf-and the only one of five tiny cubs to survive. In his lonely world, he soon learns to follow the harsh law of the north-kill or be killed. 

But nothing in White Fang's life can prepare him for the cruel owner who buys him and turns him into a vicious killer-a pit dog. forced to fight for money.

Will White Fang ever know the kindness of a gentle master or will he die a fierce killer?

Review: So, let me give it to you straight; I'm not a big fan of classics. At all. Like, all those layers, the symbolism? Not my thing. And Jack London? I've defiantly heard of him. I even tried reading one of his books, Call of the Wild.

Key word: tried.

In short, I wasn't very enthusiastic in reading this book. And what's up with addiction to wolves? A lot of people like them, but I would prefer the soft, furry puppies that I know and love. The cover, on the other hand, was something to be enthusiastic about. It's very artistic y'know?

The first thing I see when I open the book is an introduction from K.A. Applegate (well, actually, the first thing I saw was the title page, then a list of Scholastic classics, another title page, and the verso), who I know as the author of Eve and Adam. I found that it was one of the most enlightening introductions I have ever read (which is great, but not that big of an achievement considering the fact that it was one of the few introductions I actually read).

So then finally I get to the actual book. And even though it took me a whole week to read it, I actually enjoyed it. A lot.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So it starts out with these two dudes who have a bunch of sleigh dogs. But there's this pack of hungry wolves and a reddish color dog kept bringing the dogs to the pack and eating them. So one of the guys dies and the other guys almost dies, blah blah blah. Then you get to hear more about the reddish dog and how there are three dogs hitting on her. One of them is, like, really young, the other has one eye, and the last one is just some youngish one.

This part was really epic. One-eye and youngish one team up and kill the really young one, and then One-eye kills Youngish! And then She-wolf has the hots for One-eye and have pups together. And, of course, one of those pups is our very own White Fang!

It really surprised me that White was introduced so late into the book. But, hey, fine with me! It's kinda cool to see how everyone is connected. So, One-eye ends up dying and so do White Fang's siblings. And White Fang goes exploring and finds man, who are described as gods. His mom finds him and it is revealed that her name is Kiche. I found the way humans were described very...revealing. I never really thought about how the relationship between man and dog might feel different to the animal than to us.

Gray Beaver acts like a weirdo and gets drunk, eventually selling White Fang to stupid Beauty. And then Beauty is EXTRA mean, making White Fang fight. I was wondering when he was actually going to become a pit dog...it didn't seem like he was going to for the longest time (I read the back cover, y'know?). But he does and then FINALLY he is saved by a new owner!

I love, love, LOVE the ending! When he was learning to love and to be loved, I almost cried. It was so adorable!!!!

"White Fang had ceased eating, lost heart, and allowed every dog of the team to thrash him. In the cabin he lay on the floor near the stove, without interest in food, in Matt, nor in life...And then, one night, Matt...was startled by a low whine from White Fang...A moment later, Matt heard a footstep. The door opened, and Weedon Scott stepped in. The two men shook hands. Then Scott looked around the room.

'Where's the wolf?' he asked.

Then he discovered him, standing where he had been lying, near to the stove. He had not rushed forward after the manner of other dogs. He stood, watching and waiting.

'Holy smoke!' Matt exclaimed. 'Look at 'm was his tail!...He never looked at me that way all the time you was gone.'...What of his joy, the great love in him, ever surging and struggling to express itself succeeded in finding a new mode of expression. He suddenly thrust his head forward and nudged his way in between the master's arm and body. And here, confined, hidden from view all except his ears, no longer growling, he continued to nudge and snuggle" -White Fang, 203.

I thought that the above quote was one of the cutest things! I loved that. So much. Another thing I really loved is that the dog doesn't die at the end. Jeez, what a relief.

SPOILERS END

So, you kind of have to read the book yourself to understand why it's such a good book. The first few chapters might be hard to read, but once you get to the part that focuses more on the dogs (I think it's about Chapter 4), it gets really good! And the chapters are really short, so it won't take that long to get to that point.

Just read it.

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Read the first draft here

Book Blog #41: Paper Town by John Green

Title: Paper Town
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 305 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary
Rating:★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

Review: Honestly? This was my least favorite John Green book so far. But it's probably my own fault. I didn't do my research and realize that one of the genres was mystery.

See, the cover looked so innocent! There was a nice little map with a big ol' push pin! And the title, Paper Towns, sounded so cute! Note that I didn't know what a paper town was at the time.

SPOILERS BEGIN

The only time I had to read this week was at night. I thought it was going to be a pleasant nighttime read, so you can imagine my horror when Margo and Q found that dead guy. And when Margo told Q to close the window and Q said that it was as if Margo saw a ghost, I flipped out. So I thought it'd be a good idea to read the back cover which said a bunch of stuff about discovering the real Margo. This added to my panic because I thought FOR SURE that Margo was going to be some ghost seer or something. And I hate ghosts!

By now, you can tell that I probably the biggest wimp ever.

Luckily (or unluckily for me. To save myself from further terror, I refused to read this book only during the day when, incidentally, I didn't have very much time to read, thus the five days it took me to finish a three-hundred page book) that wasn't what the book was about at all, but it didn't help that Q kept suggesting that Margo killed herself! This probably wasn't a good book for me.

Is it just me or did Margo seem a lot like Alaska (from Looking for Alaska) and Q seem like Miles (also from LfA)? Margo and Alaska seemed daring while the dudes were both wimpy, "perfect", and sheltered.

What I DID like was the familiarity of Green's writing style. He never fails to makeme laugh SOMEWHERE in his book My favorite part was when the people on the rode trip realized that Radar had to wear a Confederate shirt!

SPOILERS END

All that aside, this wasn't his finest work. But in his defense, Green wrote this in 2009. He improved a lot since then.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #39: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
# of Pages: 288 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Realistic Fiction, Mental Illness
Rating:★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in fragile bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the thinnest. But then Cassie suffers the ultimate loss—her life—and Lia is left behind, haunted by her friend’s memory and feeling guilty for not being able to help save her. In her most powerfully moving novel since Speak, awardwinning author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s struggle, her painful path to recovery, and her desperate attempts to hold on to the most important thing of all—hope.

Review: Well, gosh. This book was surprisingly depressing. It shouldn't have been though, surprising. I knew what this book was before I began reading.

The cover looks mysterious and...ice-like, I guess. Seems like an appropriate cover according the the title.

The big thing that I really didn't like about this book was how the protagonist came about her solution to her problems. Not everyone is going to see ghosts of her best friend who died  (which was another thing that I didn't like. I wish the author supplied more details about the best friend before she died. Ad not in those out-of-order flashbacks either).

I'm having a really hard time writing a view about this book, though. The reason? Anorexia is a sensitive topic to, well, most people. The extent of my knowledge about it is none of your concern. But I really didn't enjoy reading this book. Some of you reading might love this book, whether you can relate to it or not. I didn't. So don't tell me that I'm wrong or I can't understand something. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #38: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 231 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:★★★★☆
Synopsis: Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Review: It's weird; the book is similar to TFIOS yet it is nothing like it. I mean, not to sound vague on purpose or anything. It seemed like a nice way to start off a review at the time, but no it just sounds confusing. Forget it.

I remember when I found this book at the bookstore. I looked at the cover and thought, "What the heck is THAT?!" It seemed like steam or something completely unrelated to looking for something (I didn't read the back cover). But I get it now. It's smoke! ...right? Smoke from a cigarette.

I had very, very high expectations for this book. I mean, it's JOHN GREEN, the author of TFIOS! Bt I guess I should have lowered my expectations since this book was written BEFORE his master piece.

I'll start with the bad stuff. The role-modeling factor was bad. There's smoking, drinking, bad language, reckless driving, etc. I personally did not like the fact that Green made it seem that all teenagers did this stuff (see list in pervious sentence). I wish he tossed in more rule FOLLOWERS instead of rule BREAKERS. Just for variety.

Another thing I didn't like was the plot line. It seemed to be all over the place. Half of the time, I couldn't even figure out the point of it all. I suppose it's about Pudge finding the Great Perhaps, but I don't know. Before seemed to be a lot of development and nonsense fluffy while After was the actually meat of the story. And yet the After was smaller than the Before. Weird.

Now to the positive stuff. The constant countingdown of days because it left the reader wondering what was going to happen. And I really like how the readers can relate with the characters. Sometimes. Like the quote below:

"I hated discussion classes. I hated talking,  and I hated listening to everyone else stumble on their words and try to phrase things in the vaguest possible way so they wouldn't sound dumb, and I hated how it was all just a game of trying to figure out what the teacher wanted to hear and then saying it. I'm the teacher, so teach me." -Page 32-33

Besides the obvious fact that Pudge is complaining (which I think annoys everyone because no one wants to hear someone complain all the time), I totally get that. I also wish that all classes would be lecture classes. And that's why I love Green so much.

But, despite all that, I have to knock off a star. It just wasn't amazing like TFIOS.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #37: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Title: Tiger's Curse
Author: Colleen Houck
# of Pages: 403 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Paranormal-Fantasy
Rating:★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

Review: IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S STARING INTO MY SOUL. The cover is freaky. Like, really freaky. Imagine waking up every morning, and then glancing over to your bedside table to see THAT. It might not seem that scary on your screen, but your probably haven't just woken up from a deep sleep not exactly knowing what going on.

Like usual, I'm writing this review based on my notes, so I'm sorry if its really choppy.

SPOILERS AHEAD

It's really, really obvious that the tiger is the prince. The prologue, the extremely tame tiger, and it's human like actions are all clear signs that its not a regular tiger. So when it was revealed that he was Ren the prince, it felt like a magic trick gone wrong.

Our protagonist, Kelsey, is not all that bright. I don't care what kind of instinct you have, you DO NOT touch a tiger without a professional handler around. And even then, it's not safe. She's an idiot! It also seems really unrealistic that she'll just up and go to Indai with a strange man that she hasn't know for very long and a tiger. And who in the right mind would send an eighteen year-old girl who has pretty much not training as a handler to India to help the tiger settle in?

The author concentrates on too many little details. Like how fantastic the plane is. Or how awesome Ren's house is. I don't really care! Why does Kelsey have all this free time, anyway?

So, I was looking at the praise for the book and I noticed that two talked about how it's like Twilight. This freaks me out. If there's someone out there linking this book to Twilight,  then it must be really similar in some way. And, what do you know? It is! There's the stupid love triangle and a guy who's really old, but looks really young. And Bella's kind of an airhead, just like Kelsey!

Speaking of Kelsey, you know what really annoyed me? The fact that she ordered Ren to call her Kells. It's not cute if the other person didn't make it up!!! And the dialogue is really weird.

"'My favorite style, though, is the way you were wearing it earlier when you had it draped across both of your ram loosely. That way, I get the full effect of your exquisite hair tumbling down your back.'" (Pg 131).

Okay, seriously you guys? Exquisite hair tumbling down your back? I mean, who talks like that? ONLY FANTASY GUYS IN CHEESY ROMANCE BOOKS!

The action scenes are poorly written. I don't feel the suspense at all! You know they're going to survive, been there, done that.

I don't get the big deal about Kelsey leaving. Why is she leaving, anyway? It's not like she's doing anything important at home. Sure, she can say all that crap about Ren not being independent enough without her, but personally, I think he'd do fine. Who needs Kelsey, anyway?

Something else I noticed was that there wasn't really a bad guy. Sure you can probably find the opposing side, but it's not very obvious. This, in particular, bugged me. I love reading about the bad guys! They're usually brilliant masterminds (although I wouldn't set my expectations too high for one in this book) that are SO much smarter than the protagonist. Well, that is, until they're beaten at the end.

Of course, I could rant on. But I think of bored you enough. I DO NOT recommend this book!

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #36: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky
Author: Veronica Rossi
# of Pages: 376 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered.

This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent energy storms will. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must come together to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

Review: Alright, you guys. What happened to her legs? If you look really closely at the cover, you could see that they're cut off. Weird. Other than that, it's very eye catching. Loved the colors too.

Now let's quickly move on to the content.

 There have to be a billion words that Rossi just threw at me without an explanation. Sure, maybe some of them were explained later on (some of them later than other's), but by that time, I didn't really care. Well, I did, but I'm trying to say that it was too late.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Also, I noticed a few mistakes/stuff I didn't like. The scene when Roar is introduced into the story was too fast paced. Some of the beginning scenes where Perry shows sights of liking Aria were really, really cheesy.At the Box, Aria said that she took the elevator up to the roof when Perry clearly stated earlier that the elevator only went down, which is why it didn't have any buttons. I thought at first that maybe there was more than one elevator, but they both called it THE elevator. And when did Aria learn to read?

Sorry I put that all in a giant, wordy clump. But now I want to get to the awesome stuff.

I frickin' burst out laughing when Perry smelled Aria wanted to touch him and stuff. And when they finally get together was absolutely cute, cute, cute!!! I'm almost cried, it was so awesome. And the ending, my gosh, I can totally see it all in a movie. AWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, and the was this quote:

"Perry tipped his chin at Roar. 'I need you.' Roar followed him without question. He explained what he wanted in the elevator."

I just thought it sounded funny.

Let's give it 4.5 stars

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Book Blog #35: Legend by Marie Lu

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
# of Pages: 320 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. 

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Review: Oh jeez. This is going to take a while.

The cover looks fantastic. Very clean, neat, and futuristic looking. This is why I bought the book; the cover's awesome. But I should have learned my lesson from Grave Mercy, the other time I read a book based on it's cover. I should have read the back.

My rant begins with the Trials. What are these things, anyway? Lu barely explains them in the beginning, and, although she provides a little more depth later, it's still not very clear what EXACTLY they are.

And what's up with these names? Day and June? Lu must have been staring at the calendar when writing. Day and June are our two lovely protagonist. The whole book is written in first person, but switches POVs ever chapter. I don't know, some authors can pull it off. But not Lu. No way. Absolutely not. It seems to me that Lu is an amateur writer who can't tell a story without having TWO people telling the story instead of one. Do you get what I'm trying to say? It was an bad decision as an author to use two points of view.

"The minutes drag on. I tuck my slingshot away and play a few rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Tess. (I don't know why, but she's crazy good at this game.)" -Page 9

How old are they, five? It's sounds like they play Rock, Paper, Scissors a lot. WHY ARE THEY WASTING PRECIOUS TIME DOING THAT WHEN THEY SHOULD BE CONCENTRATION ON THEIR SURVIVAL?!

Metias, June's brother, has to be bipolar. One moment, he's got a stick up his butt and is all mad at June (because she misbehaved), but the moment someone agrees with him, he's all "Don't be so hard on her!" Can't look like the bad guy, huh, Metias?

"When I was seven years  old...I dipped a ball of crushed ice in to a can of gasoline, let the oil coat the ice in a thick layer, and lit it. Then I launched it with a slingshot through the window of our local police headquarters...They never found out who did it...I had committed my first perfect crime." -Page 22.

Wow. The security of the police headquarters must be really bad or something because I REALLY doubt that a seven year old can commit and so called "perfect" crime without get caught.

Y'know, all this complaining about the rich/poor people really gets on my nerves. Sure, you might think that the poor are filthy and the rich are snotty, but don't you have anything better to think about?

I found it surprising that no one knew the faintest detail of what Day looked like. He's committed so many crimes, you'd think they'd at least get a better guess at his skin color.

I noticed all of these points mentioned about in the first eighty pages. Now onto the rest.

I wish the characters would stop talking TO me. Just tell me your story and go away. Here's an example of when June asked me a question:

"How did he break into this bank in ten seconds, with four armed guards at the back entrance?" 

I don't know, June. How DID he do that? Why don't YOU tell ME? It's your story, isn't it? So you should tell it! This is all really, really stupid. That's the thing; Lu tries to make her characters equally smart. Which, I guess, makes sense SINCE THEY'RE BOTH EQUALLY STUPID!!!

Day is constantly meeting his brother (John) behind the house. I'm surprised that his mom doesn't question his actions. I mean, John mysterious gets some...stuff for Eden to help him recover and his mom doesn't push John to reveal where he got it from? Speaking of Eden, Day thinks that he's Eden's only chance of survival when he's not. Eden could recover on his own! Anythings possible.

I found it incredibly unrealistic that June could just spend, what, three days in a poor sector and suddenly WHAM! Your an instant beggar. This is, of course, how June meets Day. And it makes me sick, sick, sick! They have that instant attraction thing, and Day trusts her almost immediately. I knew he was a fool, but I thought he would have a little common sense. And that kissing thing...it's just not right.

So, yeah. If you couldn't tell, I didn't like this book. It might be good for, like, fourth graders, or something. But not me, no way.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #34 Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

Title: Darth Plagueis
Author: James Luceno
# of Pages: 481 (paperback)
Genre: Media Tie-In, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: At long last, the Star Wars story of the mysterious Sith Lord Darth Plagueis and his apprentice, Darth Sidious, is revealed! 

Darth Plagueis: Like all Sith Lords before him, he craves absolute power. But like no Sith Lord ever, he possesses the ultimate power—over life and death. 

Darth Sidious: In secret he masters the power of the dark side, while publicly climbing to the highest government office. 

One desires to rule supreme; the other dreams of living forever. Together, they will destroy the Jedi and rule the galaxy. Unless merciless Sith tradition becomes their undoing. . . .

Review: Okay. I'll try to make this quick.

I'm a Star Wars fan, and yet I STRONG DISLIKED this book. First of all, the cover's disturbing. Second of all, the writing style was awful. The one good thing about it was the stuff about Maul. And the epilogue. That was pretty good too.
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Book Blog #33: Whispers at Moonrise by C.C. Hunter

Title: Whispers at Moonrise
Author: C.C. Hunter
# of Pages: 383 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Rating:★★★★★
Synopsis: Even at a camp for supernatural teens, Kylie Galen has never been normal. Not only can she see ghosts, but she doesn’t seem to belong to any one species—she exhibits traits from them all. As Kylie struggles to unlock the secrets of her identity, she begins to worry that Lucas will never be able to accept her for what she is, and what she isn’t…a werewolf. With his pack standing in their way, Kylie finds herself turning more and more to Derek, the only person in her life who’s willing to accept the impossible. 

As if life isn’t hard enough, she starts getting visits from the ghost of Holiday, her closest confidante. Trouble is, Holiday isn’t dead…not yet anyway. Now Kylie must race to save one of her own from an unseen danger before it’s too late—all while trying to stop her relationship with Lucas from slipping away forever. In a world of constant confusion, there’s only one thing Kylie knows for sure. Change is inevitable and all things must come to an end…maybe even her time at Shadow Falls.

Review: Oh. My. Frickin. Gosh.

I forgot how good this series was. It was probably the best book I've read in a long time.

As much as I would like to go straight to the content, I have to talk about the cover first. To tell you the truth, it's not my favorite. It has a bit of an erie feel to it; not a feeling I like very much. And the girl has a weird expression on her face.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Okay, so I haven't read the first, what, three books in a while. When I started reading, all I could remember is that there was a girl who could see ghosts, a hot boy fairy (I'm sorry Derek!), and a hot werewolf. But after I read the first, I don't know, fifty pages, I was pleasantly surprised that I could remember a lot of the characters again. So I giver Hunter props on that.

I also LOVED some of the sentences that could be mistaken as...something else. Here's some examples:

"That night, Kylie lay in her bed with her clothes on..." -Page 202

Okay, I know what she really means....but I can't help thinking "I sure hope she has clothes on!"

"Holiday tried to touch everyone." -Page 291

...it was funnier in the book. Trust me.

And the whole "she's a witch/vampire/fae/were" thing was pretty funny (at items) too. It gives you a little taste of what she would be like if she was a certain supernatural.

Honestly, after all this time, I thought I wouldn't like this book very much. I mean, c'mon, they're talking about werewolves and vampires? After Twilight, both of those topics are pretty much ruined. But I seriously was pleasantly surprised. Even with all the cliché parts (like the super hot boys that both love our protagonist) didn't bother me like they should. Kind of crazy, right?

And, just a little side note, I counted how many times Derek and Lucas made what I considered direct contact with Kylie. For Derek is was fifteen times and for Lucas it was...fifteen times! Ha! Fancy that; they both tied! But don't you think that's a little weird, considering the fact that Lucas and Kylie were an item throughout the book. I glad, however, that Hunter is giving Derek an equal shot in the love game (I am NOT saying love is just a game. It just seemed appropriate for this book). Just saying, y'know

Oh, umm, there is one thing. The whole "Collin Warren" was trying to kill Holiday was pretty predictable. Especially since they kept trying to blame it on Blake and Hayden. And they make Collin all innocently shy (which was suppose to cover up his fearfulness of being caught)  and even defend him. But, lets think this through. Hannah (who annoyed me. I mean, of course Holiday has a twin! Hunter made it impossible for the reader to guess who the ghost really was) flipped out when she saw the new teachers. So it has to be one of the three (four? I can't remember how many of them there were). And Hayden is scratched off the list because all the attention was pointed at him, and that would make the killer way too obvious. But Hunter doesn't really talk much about the other teachers throughout the book, until the very end. Hunter mentioned that Holiday was talking to Collin. Kylie detected fear of some sort. None of the other teachers were mentioned that much (for goodness sakes, I can't even remember the female teacher's name! So it was pretty obvious it was Collin.

But, like I said earlier, this was the first book I loved in a long time. It's probably one of the few that truly put a smile on my face. C.c. Hunter truly has talent.

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Book Blog #31: Solider's Heart by Gary Paulsen

Title: Solider's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers
Author: Gary Paulsen
# of Pages: 128 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, War
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Charley goes to war a boy, and returns a changed man, crippled by what he has seen. In this captivating tale Paulsen vividly shows readers the turmoil of war through one boy's eyes and one boy's heart, and gives a voice to all the anonymous young men who fought in the Civil War.

Review: I didn't read this book in a very critical sense, just for fun.


It wasn't a fun book.

There were some pretty crazy details about what happens to the soldiers when they're in battle (and even after that). It's pretty amazing. But I was so sad at the end!

SPOILERS AHEAD

This review is really short for two reasons; the book's based off a true story and I can't even remember half of it.

I read while I was reading a whole bunch of other books, so I can't quiet remember what happened in the very beginning. But I do remember some of my favorite detailed scenes.

One of them was when Charley (our protagonist) drank some water that was dyed red from the blood in the dead bodies. Another was when Paulsen said there was a pile of amputated limbs stacked in a pile. And when Charley had to stack the bodies of the dead to form a wind barrier.

But, it's too short.

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Book Blog #30: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
# of Pages: 323 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating:★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Review: I HATE AMERICA!!!

Okay, maybe not the America your thinking of. I'm talking about America in the book pictured at left. Yes, that one.

Speaking of that book...it's kind of ugly. The girl is alright, but the dress, well, there's something terribly, terribly wrong with it. Ew.

I've got a lot to say about the content, so I'm sorry if it gets all out of order.

SPOILERS

For those of you who have read this book, do you remember the Halloween party that America and Maxon brilliantly thought up? Yeah, maybe it wasn't so brilliant. I mean, what are they thinking? "Oh, let's have a Halloween party and spend loads of money on nonsense while poor people starve!" The prince shouldn't be wasting money on that, especially if it's not a live tradition!

And why was America wearing a butterfly costume? I thought she and her maids were fond of those bird costumes. Do you know what I think? I think America didn't want to wear the same thing as Celeste. C'mon, man up America!

Speaking of America, did I mention how much I hate her? Some how, she comes up with all the "great ideas." They don't seem very great to me. And she's really funny, right?

"'It seems you've fully recovered from me nearly running you over,' he joked. 

'It's a shame you didn't do any damage,' I shot back. 'If I was in a splint, I wouldn't have to dance at least,' He laughed.

'I'm glad you're as funny as everyone says you are...'" -The Elite, page 71

Yeah, that wasn't very funny.

It also seems like America's ALWAYS PMSing or something. I mean, she tries to pick fights with other girls. Like, for example, she was talking to someone (I forgot who) about her friend's punishment, and the other girls were saying that the punishment was justified, blah, blah, blah. But then America has a stick up her butt and has to make sure everyone knows that she's a "big, tough, Five" and that no one else would choose to be canned over death because it would be "too painful". She's pressing her opinion on other people!!! Just because someone might not do well with the punishment canning, it doesn't mean that she can assume that it would be better that the person DIES.

And what IS this big deal about being a five? It's not THAT big of a deal. Let's look at a number line:

Beautiful number line, right? Anyway, here we have a number line 1 through 8. Our crybaby lovely protagonist is a five, which is circled in red on our line. You'll notice (if any of you can count) that 5 is just after 4, which is your average joe. The average joe is probably going to be pretty well off, not to rich, not too poor. So a 5 is probably going to be a little poor, but not that bad off. So America goes marching around the castle, stomping her foot and saying how she is more worldly because she was a five and all that, well that's just a bunch of poo. If she was a 7/8 or even a 6, I might believe her. But not when she close to a 4, no way.

Okay, enough about stupid  America. Let's talk realism. The magazine article doesn't read like a real magazine article AT ALL. And the fights between characters didn't have enough emotion in them. It's one of those "oh, here they go again" kind of fights. This includes ALL fights, from cat fights to the north/south raids. I think America should have gotten stuck outside more often instead of huddling in the safe room moping and kissing and stuff. Maybe she should have gotten stabbed too.

I sympathize with Celeste. I think there's actually more to her. Y'know, more background and stuff that no one actually sees.

Ugh. The ending! Why can't America go home like a normal person!!! Stupid book. And to think that I actually LIKED The Selection!

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Book Blog #28: Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

Title: Mastiff
Author: Tamora Pierce
# of Pages: 596 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis: The Hunt is on!

Three years have passed since Beka Cooper almost died in the sewers of Port Caynn, and she is now a respected member of the Provost's Guard. But her life takes an unexpected turn when her fiancé is killed on a slave raid. Beka is faced with a mixture of emotions as, unbeknownst to many, she was about to call the engagement off.

It is as Beka is facing these feelings that Lord Gershom appears at her door. Within hours, Beka; her partner, Tunstall; her scent hound, Achoo; and an unusual but powerful mage are working on an extremely secretive case that threatens the future of the Tortallan royal family, and therefore the entire Tortallan government. As Beka delves deeper into the motivations of the criminals she now Hunts, she learns of deep-seated political dissatisfaction, betrayal, and corruption. These are people with power, money, and influence. They are able to hire the most skilled of mages, well versed in the darkest forms of magic. And they are nearly impossible to identify.

This case - a Hunt that will take her to places she's never been - will challenge Beka's tracking skills beyond the city walls, as well as her ability to judge exactly whom she can trust with her life and country's future.

Review: OH MY GOSH IT'S OVER!!!!!!

I can't believe this. I can't. This whole week, I haven't been reading the book because I had "better things to do" and "had to finish Alanna 4" when I should really have been reading Mastiff in all it's glory.

The cover that I had (pictured at left), wasn't THAT fantastic. But I looked closer and realized that Achoo (I think) and Pounce were on it, so it made it all better.

I'm going to try to go through my rant quickly so that I can tell you why I'm giving it the ranting I am. The beginning was a bit slow because the words didn't really...flow.

...Okay, enough of that. Now to the good stuff.

BEWARE OF MAJOR SPOILERS!!!

Achoo's almost death freaked me out! I was all like "HOW CAN PIERCE DO THAT TO ME!!!!!" I started hyperventilating. I officially love Pounce/Faithful (I KNEW THEY HAD TO BE THE SAME CAT!!!!) I really want a purple eyed cat now.

Tunstall's betrayal had me in tears. I really wasn't expecting it at all until seconds before Beka found out. It reminded me a lot of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith when Anakin and Obi Wan were fighting.

(Please excuse my poor photo editing skills!!!)

And Farmer and Beka are adorable!!!! They had their little moments when they were traveling and when they were in the dungeon (but that whole I-have-magic-silk-up-my-butt thing was really gross). And I totally predicted that he would take Beka's last name, 'cause otherwise how would George have Cooper in his name?

The really awesome ending is what convinced me to give it the rating I did. This has to be one of my favorites EVER.

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Book Blog #27: Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce

Title: Lioness Rampant
Author: Tamora Pierce
# of Pages: 384 (hardcover)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Having achieved her dream of becoming the first female knight errant, Alanna of Trebond is not sure what to do next. Perhaps being a knight errant is not all that Alanna needs....But Alanna must push her uncertainty aside when a new challenge arises. She must recover the Dominion Jewel, a legendary gem with enormous power for good -- but only in the right hands. And she must work quickly. Tortall is in great danger, and Alanna's archenemy, Duke Roger, is back -- and more powerful than ever. In this final book of the Song of the Lioness quartet, Alanna discovers that she indeed has a future worthy of her mythic past -- both as a warrior and as a woman.

Review: OH MY GOSH IT'S THE FINAL BOOK OF THE SONG OF THE LIONESS SERIES!!!!!!!!

...to tell you the truth, I'm a little relieved that I finished it. These covers are just so...mediocre, it's killing me. But the title is better than the one before it, The Woman Who Rides Like A Man. Lioness Rampant sound a lot more, I don't know, mysterious? Action-y?

If you haven't read this book yet, scroll down to the bottom-ish, below the words "SPOILER END".

Caution: This review contains spoilers. You have been warned! O.O

The Alanna in the cover looks better, too. More woman-like. But, isn't that the outfit she wore when she presented (King?) Jonathan with the Jewel? If it is, where are her black earrings ear bobs?

The return of Duke Roger was very, very anti-climatic. Pierce could have done so much more with his rebirth, something that would make the reader gasp. But no. She just had Alanna have these "mysterious dreams" about what was happening while she was running around with Liam to find the Jewel (who's finding was also very anti-climatic).

And since we're talking about Liam, why does Alanna keep switching men? At first she's with John, then George, and, when she's still in love with George, she goes off and sleeps with Liam! And of course, George doesn't mind, which is lucky for Alanna. This goes to show how much better George is than Alanna. Or maybe he's just stupid because he can't get it in his head that he should break up with her and find some other girl who ONLY loves him.

Near the end, everyone seems so unconcerned about Roger. C'mon you guys! He was plotting to steal the throne from John before Alanna swooped in and saved the day! WHY IN YOUR STUPID LITTLE WORLD WOULD YOU NOT KILL HIM?!?! I wanted less reunion-with-old-squire/page-friends time and more kill-all-the-bad-guys-and-become-a-hero moments!

As far as littler things, Pierce makes it so obvious when a character is defeated verbally to the point where it sounds cheesy. Does that make any sense? Here's an example:

"Surprised by the attack  from this unknown source, Alanna took a step back. She clenched her hands, her nails bitting into newly formed scars, as she controlled her temper. 'I'm told you replaced me in his affections--for a little while,' she replied sweetly. 'Why didn't he make you Prime Minister?' Josiane's beautiful face changed into an ugly mask. 'No one gets the better of me,' she hissed." 

 And I wish I could just read the story from Alanna's point of view, not Alex's, not George's, but ALANNA. It just goes to show that Pierce was an amateur when writing the books in the Song of the Lioness series.

But the ending (like, the epilogue and the bit before that with Roger and Alanna), was pretty awesome. I still think that George is too good for Alanna though.

SPOILERS END

The reason why I read this series was because I had read the first two Beka Cooper books and thought that I should read the Alanna series since it was where this whole Tortall thing started in the first place. The Beka Cooper series was very interesting (I will be writing a review on the last book, Mastiff, as soon as I finish it ^_^), which was one of the only reasons why I was able to continue reading the Song of the Lioness. To readers who have not read either series, read Beka Cooper first. Then read Song of the Lioness. Well, actually, read the first two Beka Cooper's first, then read the whole Song of Lioness series, and then read the last Beka Cooper because there's an epilogue from one of the characters in the Song of the Lioness in Mastiff. I don't know. Read them in whatever order you want to. But Beka Cooper is better!!!

Meh...2.5 Stars

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Book Blog #26: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

Title: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
Author: Tamora Pierce
# of Pages: 256 (hardcover)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of Tortall. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a duel to the death -- either she will be killed or she will be inducted into the tribe. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mythic fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe's first female shaman -- despite the desert dwellers' grave fear of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must fight to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes -- for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall.

Review: Okay, you guys. What is up with this cover? I wanted the cover that corresponded with the other books, but this was the only one available. Alanna looks like a girl Santa Clause with all the red and green. And what's with the weird title? I get that Alanna was called that with the tribes, but its not going to bring in readers. I wouldn't even touch it if I was already reading this series.

Now let's go onto the good stuff; my rant.

What is up with the Alanna and Johnathan drama? It was a lot of kissing, fighting, making up, and all of that over. There was so much of it that there wasn't a very big climax in the story (I don't even know what the climax for this story IS).

Now, I might be biased here, but I think George is the better choice for her. But, then again, he might be too good for her.

John's and Throm's character changed so much from what I originally thought they were. They have both become less like-able. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I'll leave that up to you to decide,

Some stuff that I DID like about this book was the big, foreshadowing-ish dream that Alanna had. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but...she dreamed that Throm would bring Roger back to life. That was the only shocking, mind-blowing thing in the whole book. I also liked the stuff that is also in the Beka Cooper trilogy. For example, the light-up-the-rock-thing that Alanna did was also done by Farmer in Mastiff. I love the Beka Cooper series soooooooo much.

But this book was very bland.

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Book Blog #25: Zombies vs Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Title: Zombies vs Unicorns
Author: Holly Black, Justine Labalestier, Garth Nix, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Naomi Novik, Carrie Ryan, Margo Lanagan, Maureen Johnson, Diana Peterfreund, Scott Westerfeld, Meg Cabot, Cassandra Clare, Kathleen Duey, and Libba Bray
# of Pages: 418 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Short Stories
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Review: Wow, what an interesting title. And the cover is equally as...lovely.

I noticed that this book brought a lot of attention when I carried it around in public. Everyone would glance at what I'm reading, then looked at me with a weird look in their face, and then ask me what team I was on.

Every single person I asked said that they were on team unicorn. Not a single zombie? Isn't that funny? And when I asked why, they said that zombies were gross (Keep in mind that I asked this to dudes too) and unicorns can stab people with their horn. Which is absolutely true.

So, here's the thing about this book. It's actually twelve mini books all bound together. At first, I thought it was a stupid idea to have all these authors writing stuff until I realized that it gave me the opportunity to read other authors' writing styles.

Since there ARE so many books in this one, I thought it'd be best to grade each on individually.

The Highest Justice by Garth Nix

TEAM UNICORN

I've read Nix's book before and I wasn't a big fan. But I did know that he has the ability to write and that he was a good author. It's kind of like classics; they aren't your favorites, but there's value to them. His lovely unicorn story was a great start to the book. I like how he made the unicorns stab all those people; it shows the more violent side to our pure, fantasy creature.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson

TEAM ZOMBIE

This was one of my least favorite short stories in the whole book. First of all, what's up with all the f-bombs? C'mon people, what every happened to variety? We get that your main character wants to...do things to other characters, so we don't need to be reminded ten times throughout the whole thing. And I hate her writing style. Johnson is going to cost Team Zombie.

Rating: 1 Star

Purity Test by Naomi Novik

TEAM UNICORN

Novik's stereotypical unicorn story is funny, lighthearted, and easy to read. I absolutely love the Voldemort reference. This has to be one of my favorites of the twelve.

Rating: 4 Stars

Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan

TEAM ZOMBIE

This is the very first zombie story I've actually like so far (which isn't that big of a feat considering the fact that there was only one other zombie story before this one). There was action, there was love, and (best of all), there was the twist ending. I was sitting around, telling people around how sweet it was with the little love scene at the end and then...then THAT happened, and I was just sitting there in shock. I absolutely love these endings so I proudly reward Ryan a perfect score.

Rating: 5 Stars

A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan

TEAM UNICORN

Although I like the depth of story (I'm sure I missed something), the point-of-view changes were very confusing. I thought it was funny that both character in the Purity Test and this one are suffering the effects of drinking. Just something I noticed, y'know?

Rating: 3 Stars

Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson

TEAM ZOMBIE

This one was really, really erie. It kind of freaked me out with the little zombie children. And it had one of those no hope endings. But what really, really bugged me was that the actor wasn't given a name. Any name would have been fine, even a fake one. 

Rating: 3 Stars

The Caring and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund

TEAM UNICORN

"I'm blindingly fast and scarily strong." This quote totally reminded me of Edward! The title is very...creative. But there wasn't anything special about it.

Rating: 3 Stars

Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld

TEAM ZOMBIE

Westerfeld is one of my favorite authors, so I had high expectations for his zombie story. But I was very disappointed.  There wasn't enough development and WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THE F-WORDS!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot

TEAM UNICORN

Somehow, Meg Cabot was able to create a unicorn story in the most normal, casual way possible. This story was obviously Cabot's style. I'm not a big fan of Cabot's books because I think that they lack depth, but the story was interesting enough.

Rating: 4 Stars

Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare

TEAM ZOMBIE

As much as I don't like Clare and her books, I must admit that her short story was very interesting even though it almost completely revolved around love. And I can't help but think of Jace when I see James's name. But, as much as I hate to, I have to give it a decent rating.

Rating: 4 Stars

The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey

TEAM UNICORN

I think its very creative that Duey decided to use a unicorn POV. But I couldn't help but cringe at what our dear unicorn was trying to do to itself. It made me really sad.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Prom Night by Libba Bray

TEAM ZOMBIE

Our concluding zombie story was a big downer. It was really, really boring to the point where I can't even tell you what it was about or how it ends.

Rating: 1 Stars

So, to figure out what team I'm on, I've totaled up the number of stars per team, and which ever one has the largest number of stars wins.

Team Zombie: 17/30
Team Unicorn: 22/30

I'm Team Unicorn!!!!

It's obviously the better team anyway. 

And finally, for the total book rating, I have averaged all the scores. So, drumroll please, I am rating it...

3.2 Stars!

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