Plus One, by Elizabeth Fama

Release Date: April 8th, 2014
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Sci-Fi
Categories: Sci-Fi, Romance
Read on December 2013
Summary:

Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller.
Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller prohibited by law from going out during the day. When she fakes an injury in order to get access to and kidnap her newborn niece—a day dweller, or Ray—she sets in motion a fast-paced adventure that will bring her into conflict with the powerful lawmakers who order her world, and draw her together with the boy she was destined to fall in love with, but who is also a Ray.
Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.

My Opinion:

What started as a book I thought would go one way ended up being something entirely different, filled with action round every corner and tons of romance! 

What a fantastic way to use a historical fact, as it was using the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and turn it into a What If scenario. 

What if we had really been forced to divide our days and separate our population into Day and Night? 

Elizabeth tells a magnificent tale of lies and love through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Sol (short for Soleil), a Night dweller, or as they call each other, a Smudge. 

Sol's lived her life believing the death of her parents was a mere accident; her only relief was drawing on the desk at school with a partner she never knew, him being a Day student, a Ray. 

In their drawings and writings they told each other everything, becoming best friends across a bridge that seemed unsurmountable. 

Each chapter begins with the name of that particular day of the week, and the specific time of day. What seems to be a random naming system (to me at first!), turns out to be significantly important in the layout of the book: being a Smudge, Sol's bound by the Night schedule and she can only be outside after dark and before sunrise. 

The book opens with a "Wednesday, 4:30 a.m.", a pretty crazy hour to be up and working. But for her, it's the end of her day, moments away from the rise of the sun and the beginning of the Ray day. 

I say that I was a little confused by this system because entwined with these chapters were others titled, "Little Doe" and things as meaningful as that. Those chapters offered a glimpse into Sol's previous life, and through them we got to know her story with her desk partner all the better. 

Sol's been abandoned by her brother, Ciel. Or at least, it's how she feels it. She's all but crossed him off her list, until, on her grandfather's final moments -the only parent she's ever known-, he asks her a dying wish: to see Ciel's newborn daughter. 

Sol's life changes dramatically thanks to that one final wish; she's ready to do everything to make it happen, even if it means throwing her own life to the drain. 

It's in that situation that she finds herself in the middle of a wage between Rays and Smudges, criminal Noma (neither Day nor Night felons), her own brother Ciel and a very powerful Night Minister. What Sol thought was a "simple" baby-napping escalates into something much more significant. 

It was one heck of a ride, and I loved every second of it! D'Arcy I loved more. He brought his own personal Sun into the story and I can't wait to read him more. 

QUICKY: External Forces (The Laws of Motion, #1), by Deborah Rix

Release Date: November 26th, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Dime Store Books
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Dystopia
Categories: Dystopia, Romance, Series
Goodreads / Deborah Rix's Website
Read in October 2013

Summary:

It’s 100 years since the Genetic Integrity Act was passed and America closed its borders to prevent genetic contamination. Now only the enemy, dysgenic Deviants, remain beyond the heavily guarded border. The Department of Evolution carefully guides the creation of each generation and deviations from the divine plan are not permitted.
When 16-year-old Jess begins to show signs of deviance she enlists in the Special Forces, with her best friend Jay, in a desperate bid to evade detection by the Devotees. Jess is good with data, not so good with a knife. So when the handsome and secretive Sergeant Matt Anderson selects her for his Black Ops squad, Jess is determined to figure out why.
As her deviance continues to change her, Jess is forced to decide who to trust with her deadly secret. Jess needs to know what’s really out there, in the Deviant wasteland over the border, if she has any hope of making it to her 17th birthday. Because if the enemy doesn’t kill her first, the Department of Evolution probably will.

My Opinion:

What an awesome debut! With hints at Lauren Oliver's Delirium series, Deborah Rix has crafted a new and intriguing post-apocalyptic world. 

We're introduced to Jess a Divergent... um, DEVIANT! (LOL, jk), in a world where any signs of genetic deviance can cost you your life. Jess's only way to survive is to blend in... and become a part of an army dedicated to erradicate and keep at bay any Deviants.

I really should have written this review as soon as I finished it! I could have told you so much that I now seem to have forgotten!

But I can say that I loved this book so much more than I initially thought I would! Deborah created a world full of secrets and romance and action, a fast-paced world I want more of!

Jess's own personality was brilliant. She was her own woman, fighting to keep her secrets and her life. Her relationship with her new friends was very well developed too. 

DNF: Countdown, by Michelle Rowen

Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 1 Monkey
Interest: Dystopia
Categories: Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Romance
Goodreads 

Summary:

3 seconds left to live. Once the countdown starts, it cannot be stopped. 
2 pawns thrown into a brutal underground reality game. 
Kira Jordan survived her family's murder and months on plague-devastated city streets with hard-won savvy and a low-level psi ability. She figures she can handle anything. Until she wakes up in a barren room, chained next to the notorious Rogan Ellis. 
1 reason Kira will never, ever trust Rogan. Even though both their lives depend on it. 
Their every move is controlled and televised for a vicious exclusive audience. And as Kira's psi skill unexpectedly grows and Rogan's secrets prove evermore deadly, Kira's only chance of survival is to risk trusting him as much as her instincts. Even if that means running head-on into the one trap she can't escape. 
GAME OVER

My Opinion:

To me, first chapters are everything. They're what define if I'll stick with a book or not. 

Sadly, Countdown's first chapters didn't do it for me. I got no substantial backstory (only a brief mention of some Great Plague, which, by the way, wasn't explained in the following chapters). 

Until chapter five I had no idea how Kira looked like. She did detail her and Rogan's clothes, but it was a long list I soon forgot and didn't feel like going back to check again. 

And Kira's power... it just felt forced. The narrative didn't do it for me either. 

In the second stage of the game, Kira magically finds the bell to get them to the next level. Here there's a passing mention of her life before, trying to give the story some backdrop (why would she be so comfortable going through the Dumpster?). But just as easily as it appears, it vanishes, and we're left with Kira and Rogan meeting a random man who wants to fix Rogan's shoulder. This did not seem plausible to me. Kira wanted to run at the first opportunity, so why would she act so nonchalant in front of a stranger who is clearly working for the people who've put her in this game? 

It all happens too fast and it doesn't get a chance to be properly developed. Five chapters were more than enough for me. 

Sorry, Michelle!

Endless, by Amanda Gray

Release Date: September 10th, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Month9Books
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 3 Monkeys
Interest: Romance
Categories: Paranormal, Romance
Read from October to November 2013

Summary:

Jenny Kramer knows she isn't normal. After all, not everybody can see the past lives of people around them.

When she befriends Ben Daulton, resident new boy, the pair stumble on an old music box with instructions for “mesmerization” and discover they may have more in common than they thought. Like a past life.

Using the instructions in the music box, Ben and Jenny share a dream that transports them to Romanov Russia and leads them to believe they have been there together before. But they weren't alone. Nikolai, the mysterious young man Jenny has been seeing in her own dreams was there, too. When Nikolai appears next door, Jenny is forced to acknowledge that he has travelled through time and space to find her. Doing so means he has defied the laws of time, and the Order, an ominous organization tasked with keeping people in the correct time, is determined to send him back. 

While Ben, Jenny and Nikolai race against the clock - and the Order - Jenny and Nikolai discover a link that joins them in life - and beyond death.

My Opinion:
I picked up Endless from NetGalley because of its beautiful cover. Isn't it just lovely? And then I read the description and I knew I had to read it. 

Unfortunately, it's ending left more to be said than the solutions it gave, making me somewhat mad for having read a book so beautiful only to have it end like it did. 

Don't get me wrong, it is a really nice book. But, as far as I know, it's a standalone; when it should be the first in a series. 

The MC, Jenny, is a lovable 16-year-old, with a weird habit of wearing fingerless gloves. Why? Because she sees things when she touches people. So far so good. Gray has a nice, solid start. Jenny's chapters intertwine with ones where we see a teenage Russian girl, named Maria. 

And the story begins to weave itself into life. I really enjoyed most of the book, but as Gray began introducing us to the reality of the conflict, she started leaving behind things that she'd written at the beginning. 

I was very unsatisfied with its ending. It's left quite open, but it doesn't give the closure some of the subjects needed. Jenny's ability is forgotten halfway through the book and we get no explanations as to what the Order would really do. We get hints, yes, but no satisfactory ending. 

I felt like I was reading a rushed ending.

Anyway, it IS a lovely book. And perhapd you'll see more in its ending than I did.

Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits, #3), by Katie McGarry

Release Date: November 26th, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Romance, Bad Boy/Good Girl
Categories: Contemporary, Romance, Series
Goodreads / Katie McGarry's Website

Summary:

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane 
The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

My Opinion:
Wow, I'm slow. I had no idea this book was part of a series when I requested it on NetGalley. Anyway, the book stands on its own, and what a great choice I made by requesting it!

The story of Rachel and Isaiah is fast and dangerous, just like what they most love: speed. They seek freedom at all costs, freedom from their families, from their school life, from everything that overwhelms them.

I seriously love a good bad boy-good girl book, and this one was just brilliant! I love how it alternated between both main characters, giving us a much wider take on their story.

Isaiah is a guy who puts up a front for everyone, he wants people to believe he's bad news. But then along comes Rachel, who can see past his walls and into the boy he really is. Both characters are from broken homes: Isaiah is a foster care system kid, while Rachel's existance is an excuse to make up for the death of an older sister she never knew.

I had no idea, none, about how bad a panic attack can be. This thing, this disease that Rachel suffers from... it's just WOW. Nice work, Katie, you really changed how I view them. I now know how serious they can get if whoever suffers from them doesn't get help. 

Where can I get myself an Isaiah? The tough bloke with the soft interior... I could just feel his love for Rachel through the pages, and I LOVED (kudos Katie!) how Rachel changed him and his need to always be in control. He learned how to fully trust her, and that just shows that he really, really loved her, and my heart just... <3 

Both of them get in real deep trouble with Eric, resident ruler of the streets, and they need to pay off their debt to him before something bad happens. The pressure of this drama, combined with Rachel's older brothers' bullying, really made her ill. 

I had to keep myself from screaming at my Kindle, they were so, so MEAN. Except for Rachel's twin, Ethan, they all pushed her so hard, I wanted to beat them until they felt the same pain I was getting from Rachel. (They eventually begin to change, but still. This just goes to show that you can be as rich as a king and still have a crappy family.)

Then there were the friends, who I now know have their own stories. Noah and Echo were lovely, all suportive, Logan was wicked cool and Abby... LOVED her. I would love to read her story.

The road to a good place will be difficult for these two, but they'll get there safe and... relatively sound. 

I'll of course be reading the previous books soon, I wish I'd read them before reading this one!
PRE-ORDER CRASH INTO YOU NOW!

DNF: The Children of the Mist, by Jenny Brigalow

Release Date: September 1st, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 2 Monkeys
Interest: Vampires, Werewolves, Aussie Lit
Categories: Paranormal, Romance, Series
Goodreads / Amazon / Jenny Brigalow's Website 
Read in September-October 2013 

Summary:

An original paranormal YA about an unconventional girl, an unconventional boy, their extraordinary transformations, and the secrets of the Scottish Highlands.

When skater girl Morven Smith turns sixteen, she develops boobs, acute appendicitis...and a pair of pointy teeth. While she is stunned by her metamorphosis into vampire, her best mate, the enigmatic Zest, is not. For the young werewolf, Morven’s transformation is an answer to his lonely prayers. 

But they are unable to celebrate their mutual paranormalcy for long — there are too many dangers, too much suspicion, and too many questions. It’s only in Scotland that Morven can learn the truth about her past. But she discovers more than she bargained for when she meets her birth family — an ancient feud between vampires and werewolves. They may both be Children of the Mist, but only one species can survive.

My Opinion:

I first decided to read this book because I really like aussie books, I like their cool idioms and reading about places that I'd love to visit someday, in this case, Australia and Scotland. 

So I met Morven, a skater girl, 16-year-old and with a penchant for adrenaline. The first couple of chapters introduced her and her friend Zest. I read about them skating, trespassing private property and freeing a lively Dog, but I still couldn't feel anything for them. 

I couldn't tell you why, but I couldn't bring myself to care for these characters. Sometimes I'd get excited about a situation, like when Morven starts to transform, to Become, and nurses and doctors try to pin her down and stop her from escaping. 

But then the book would go back to its previous slow pace and lost its grasp on me. I read half of the book and still, I couldn't get into it. I really tried to finish it, but it's been a long while and I need to read the other books on my Review List. 

Maybe the book will make up for these things I'm listing here in its second half, but I'm not tempted to read it any time soon. Sorry, Jenny! I really hate it when I can't even finish a book. 

If any of you have read the whole thing, let me know how it ends!

xo, Ella

Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1), by Simone Elkeles

Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Romance, Simone Elkeles
Categories: Contemporary, Sports, Romance, Stand-Alone, Family Issues
Goodreads / Amazon / Simone Elkeles's Website
Read in September 2013

Summary:

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.
Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

My Thoughts:

Simone has done it again! This woman can really make you fall for her characters! There are so many things I loved about this book, I'll just list them for you:

1. A strong female MC. Ashtyn is such a good and independent (American) football player that her teammates choose her over her boyfriend to be the team's captain. When she first meets Derek, she brandishes a pitchfork at him to protect herself. She can take care of herself and she lets everyone know it.

2. The bad boy with a soft heart. Admit it. You love them. I love them. We all do. Derek has the Elkeles stamp all over him: hard exterior, but really loving heart. I just wanted to hug him all the time.

3. A really cool set of secondary characters. I mean, how great are Ashtyn's boy friends? Her relationship with them is amazing. She's one of them, but she can be a girly girl, too. And I just LOVED them whenever they stepped up to protect her. Those are real friends.

4. A greatly built story that has actual meaning, as opposed to just being there for the sake of giving the characters an environment to meet and fall in love. Derek has lost his mother, his father is overseas with the Navy and his stepmother is a 25-year-old girl with a little son and a baby on the way. Ashtyn's mum is MIA, her father barely gives her the time of day (but for ACTUAL reasons, not just to be out of her way!) and her sister's coming back home after seven years of having no contact with her. These are the conditions in which Derek and Ashtyn meet, and they shape up their story in a beautiful, beautiful way.

5. Sports in a Contemporary book! I don't understand squat about American football, I just think about it like I would rugby, but Simone really made me like the sport! I usually avoid Contemps with sports, but since this was an Elkeles book, there was just no way I was going to miss reading it.

Yes, your heart will twinge a little in pain, but trust me, it'll live. This is just a really lovely book meant to be read when you want to feel a little bit of loving.

Pre-order the book now through the links listed above.
Happy reading,
Ella

Black City (Black City, #1), by Elizabeth Richards

Release Date: November 13th, 2012

Age Group: Young Adult

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons BYR

Source: Bought

Overall: 5 Monkeys

Interest: Dystopia, Paranormal, Series

Categories: Dystopia, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance

Goodreads - Amazon - E. Richards's Website

Read in August 2013

Summary:

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.
In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.
When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

My Opinion:

I'm so glad I paid attention to the many reviews for Black City! If you think like I do, that there are so, so many new dystopian books coming out and you're getting a bit tired of them, and why don't authors just write something other than dystopias, thank think again about reading Black City. 

This is a book that can be qualified as Dystopia/Paranormal (much like the Juliette Chronicles by Tahereh Mafi), a genre on the rise. 

Black City is told from the two alternating POV's of Natalie and Ash (it's got to be at least the fourth book in a row I read with multiple POV's). Like any other dystopia, it's got its over-domineering government and the growing resistance, but what makes it so unique are the characteristics of both sides.

Natalie is the youngest daughter of the city's Emissary, something much like a mayor. She is human, and she's been brought up to believe that Darklings are bad creatures. Ash is a Darkling stuck on the human side of the town. He's what they call a twin-blood, the son of a Darkling mother and a human father. 
They meet under some very stressing circumstances, but through the book they manage to make it. Kinda.

We're told from the start that Natalie's got a scar along her chest, and it's this simple detail what will help Richards give the story a really great turn and closure. I won't say more about it, but that it was very well thought out.

This is a dark book, and I mean dark. The human government uses its power (and here I couldn't help but compare its Purian Rose to TGH's President Snow, they're so similar) to slowly wipe out the Darkling population. There are some pretty gruesome scenes, but it just makes the book that much better.

I just have one complaint: Somewhere to the third quarter of the book we're introduced to a new character, Evangeline. And she's a pretty important character. So much so, that it's her intervention what manages to twist the future of our characters in a significant way. I just wish we could have known about her sooner, or in a different way. Her appearance just felt too out of the blue to me.

There's a big secret surrounding Natalie's family; I loved learning it and can't wait to see how it influences the next books! Ash's secret is pretty big too, and it definitely helps make his story really interesting.

Black City's secondary characters enjoy the spotlight a lot too, so kudos to Richards for making intriguing secondary characters that readers will remember.

The book's political plot is very nicely built. Natalie will learn a lot, being the Emissary's daughter, and she'll have her own opinion made out by the end of the book. Beetle, Ash's best friend, has an important role in the Humans for Unity resistance. Even Beetle's aunt, Roach, is a character with a little of backstory.

All in all, a great read. For its 374 pages, I read it in two sittings. It was that great.
Happy reading,
Ella

Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2), by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: July 13th, 2010
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Bought
Overall: 3 Monkeys
Interest: Series, Werewolves
Categories: Werewolves, Paranormal, Romance
Goodreads - Amazon - Maggie Stiefvater's Website
Read in August 2013

Summary:

the longing.
Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

the loss.
Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of being human.

the linger.
For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces -- wolf and human -- with love bearing its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

My Opinion:

I read Shiver a few years ago, I don't know what took me so long to continue reading this series. 

While I loved Shiver, I only liked Linger. I was expecting something different, something with a little more action thrown into the story. 

Linger is purely a character driven book. It's all about what's happening to Grace, with a bit of a side story starring Isabelle and a new wolf, Cole. To be honest, I enjoyed Cole's and Isabelle's interactions more than Grace's and Sam's. They were more spicy, more dramatic. Grace and Sam's story fell a little flat to me in this book. 

Throughout it, Grace becomes seriously ill, and it's not until the last few chapters that we're told what's happening. And it's in those same chapters that a solution to her problem comes along. I just wish Maggie would've developed her illness differently, and also how it affected everyone around her. 

I also think that Isabelle's dad, Tom, could be turned into a nice villain, which is what this story is lacking. (Not a villain in a purely evil sense, just an antagonist strong enough to carry some drama into the mix.)

Linger is a very sweet book, full of romantic moments, but it just didn't cut it for me, action wise. I have Forever waiting on my shelf; I'll see if I like it soon. 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (DoSaB, #1), by Laini Taylor

Release Date: September 27th, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 5 out of 5 Stars (Unputdownable!)
Categories: Paranormal, Romance, Angels, Reincarnation, Magic
Goodreads Page 
Read in March 2012

Summary:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Opinion:

I started this book without having read any reviews, so I didn't know what to expect. Laini's world definitely blew me away. I was not expecting that! 

The writing style of this book is so light and at the same time, intense; I couldn't put it down (but there were times when I had to). Taylor's descriptions made my imagination soar through the cities she wrote about, imagining scenes, towns, people, like a good book is supposed to do.

We start out not knowing who Karou is, or where she comes from; we only know that she has a lot of secrets, like her family and Brimstone, the closest thing to a father she has. With her blue hair, she's a rebel that seeks the truth about herself, but at the same time, does not want to disappoint mighty Brimstone. 

Her human friend Zuzana, is an ordinary girl, your typical teenage friend. I'd love to see more of her, see how she progresses in the story. Karou keeps many secrets from her, but she's still loyal to her, and that says so much about her character. She's definitely an anchor for Karou, who's losing touch with everything that means something to her. 

There are so many characters worthy of mentioning, but then this post would be very long. Karou's "monster" family is extremely caring, I started loving them just as much as Karou does. 

The veil between our world and the Other Side (I read the book in Spanish; how do you call Brimstone's world?) is thinner than Karou could know, and she'll soon learn that there's more behind Brimstone's closed doors than she could ever have imagined.

Then there's Akiva. A tortured soul with a heavy bagagge. He's here to destroy Karou's world, but when they meet, sparks fly. He's such a deep character, I loved him from the start, even when he was trying to kill Karou!

A legendary battle is playing our between the monsters that have raised Karou and Akiva's own race, and she's stuck in the middle. But what part does she play?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a book filled with hope: hope of a better world, of happy endings, and of sad stories. You'll pick it up and won't want to let it go until you're finished, and then you'll cry because you'll want to know more! 

Is it November already?

New Girl, by Paige Harbison

Release Date: January 31st, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall: 3,5 out of 5 Stars

Categories: Drama, Romance, Retelling
Goodreads Page

Read in March 2012 

Summary: 

A contemporary young-adult retelling inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.

My Opinion:


It took me a while to get into this story. Normally I don't go for contemporary, but I'd read that this had a supernatural twist, so I decided to give it a go.


The first half of the book narrates the New Girl's life in Manderley, the boarding school her parents send her to. That's the school she wanted to go as a little girl, not now that she's a senior and has all of her friends in Florida. But she goes anyway, because she doesn't want to disappoint her parents. 


I loved that the book had two POVs: Becca's and the New Girl (BTW, we don't learn her name until the final chapter, if I remember correctly. When I read her name, I was like, what, this is your name?, and started looking for it in past chapters. Very well played, Ms. Harbison!). Becca's chapters would be in the 3rd person and NG's in the 1st. With Becca's we got to learn more about the why behind her disappearance. 


I only wish the first part of the book would have been faster-paced (yes, I like inventing terms, if they don't already exist). That's the part where you have to engage your reader. I felt like I was constantly reading a new girl's whines about how much she missed her family and home, and why everyone at school compared her to Becca. Becca's chapters, however, were completely engaging. She was a very cool character to read. 


The boys from this book were appealing, and their story with Becca really showed us who they were. I started feeling sorry for them, for how Becca had treated them. Max and Johnny were good characters. Max definitely captured my heart along with NG's!


This school fed on gossip and rumours, and the NG got to be the centre of attention from the start. I liked how her character evolved towards the end, and how the mystery around Becca was finally solved. 


So, my only critique would be: the book should have been more engaging in the beginning, like it is in the end. We can forget about the NG's whines, because they show her character, and she does change in the end. The end of the book definitely makes up for the slow parts.  

I'm giving it 3,5 stars based on my personal enjoyment. 

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2), by Cassandra Clare [Audiobook]

Release Date: December 6th, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Narrators: Ed Westwick, Heather Lind

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall: 5 out of 5 Stars (multiplied by four)

Categories: Paranormal, Drama, Romance
Goodreads Page

Read in February 2012 

Summary:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends. With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

My Opinion:

The beginning of the book.

If I thought I'd loved Clockwork Angel, then I'm crazy for Clockwork Prince! I can't even describe this book's greatness, it's too much.

It'd been a while since I'd read C. Angel, so it took me a bit to get back into the story, but oh boy, did I fall for Will all over again!

The middle part.

Will has got to be one of the best characters ever. His life history (which we learn in this book) is so deep, I can't help but feel completely sorry for him. I want to reach into the pages (or sound waves) of the novel and hug him and tell him everything will be ok.

The rest of the cast is amazing as well, and just the whole book is perfect.

This would be me after finishing the book.

That ending! OH CASSIE, HOW COULD YOU! Now I don't know how I'll live until C. Princess comes out. Not one chapter is dull or boring, and they're all essential to the story.

Sexy Eric has a nice voice too.

And then the narrators. Ed freaking Westwick and his sexy voice was too much to handle. Heather was great too, but I just wanted her to finish her parts so Ed could start reading again. His Will voice was beyond swooning! DEAR!

I don't really have anything else to say, other than, GO READ THIS BOOK!

The Alchemy of Forever (Incarnation, #1), by Avery Williams

Release Date: January 3rd, 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall: 5 out of 5 Stars 

Categories: Paranormal, Drama, Romance, Reincarnation 
Goodreads Page - Buy The Book

Read in January 2012

Summary:

After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world's riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human's life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she's done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again.

Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying to save her. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she's inhabiting--and falling in love with the boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she's his again, and every moment she stays, she's putting herself and the people she's grown to care about in danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that's eluded her for centuries: true love?

My Opinion:

A great, fast-paced debut from new author Avery Williams! It seems reincarnation is the topic that's "in", what with Jodi Meadows's upcoming Incarnate.

I read this last week, in a few hours split into two days. I hadn't read a book that fast in a while! 

Since this is the first in a series, I'll forgive Avery for not giving us as much backstory as I would have liked. But I'm guessing she's saving the best for later. 


The book opens with Seraphina going to a ball in Victorian Era's London, and right after that we meet Cyrus, the boy who will change Sera's life forever. She's badly injured, but instead of watching her die, he gives her the life elixir, turning her into an Incarnate. From then on, she'll have to steal other people's lives to stay living. 


What I loved about this book, was Sera's voice. The way she narrated her story was unique, and I can't wait to read more. 


Also, Avery's use of alchemy for something other than gold-making was really surprising! I'd love to see what's in Cyrus's book on the subject. The idea of body-hopping to stay alive was great, it gave the MC something to think about: does she want to keep living like this, killing others for her own benefit; or is she ready to let go, and go into the unknown? 


All in all, I found Sera to be a really strong character, and I can't wait to see what happens to "the boy next door"! That ending was terrible, in a great way! 

Firelight (Firelight, #1), by Sophie Jordan

Release Date: September 7th, 2010

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall: 4 Stars 

Categories: Fantasy, Paranormal, Dragons, Romance

Goodreads Page
Other books in the series: Vanish (Firelight, #2) 

Read in January 2012

Summary:

A hidden truth. Mortal enemies. Doomed love.
Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.
Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

My Opinion:

Firelight drew me in and didn't let go until I was done! What a good read! It took me a while to read this, but that was because I waited until it was published in Arg, instead of buying it through the internet. But now, I don't know if I'll be able to wait until Vanish is published here, I want to read it now!

Although I really enjoyed this book, I was a little annoyed at the plot: girl's family has to move for whatever reason (in Firelight it was to save Jacinda from a terrible fate), girl starts new school, doesn't make many friends, and the cutest guy -the one all the girls drool about- notices her among the throng.

But I get it: sometimes these things -writing about new kids in school and falling for the boy/girl you've dreamed about/seen in your mind/are destined to meet/etc.- are inevitable if we want to make the story work. I know this from experience, I'm writing a book where my female character dreams about a boy whom she later meets, and oh, what a surprise, she meets him because he's new in school. But I've learnt it doesn't matter what others write, it's what you make of your story. Honestly, I don't see any other way for neither mine nor Sophie's story to work: Jacinda's in danger and they have to move. She's the new kid in school -along with her sister, Tamra- and it's there where she meets Will, the hunter who refused to kill her.

And it's because of that that she wants to be around him (why did he spare her, when he kills her kind for a living?), and also, because without him, her draki (her dragon spirit) will certainly die in the hot desert where her mother took her.

I love dragons, and this story did not disappoint. Their history was explained very well through Jacinda's voice, which I thought was unique. I loved that the draki have all different abilities, like Jacinda being a fire draki, the last of her kind, and that they live in closed communities. And I also can't wait to learn more about the enkros and the hunters, and Will's story.

I only wish the love triangle wasn't so strong and present in the book. Sophie created wonderful characters, and while I can tolerate the new girl syndrome, I really dislike a bad love triangle.

I'd recommend this to Inheritance's fans: while this is nothing like Paolini's series, a) it's got dragons, and b) we've got no more Inheritance books, so we might as well move on to the next series.