A Dance of Cloaks - Book Review

In a world where thieves rule the underworld, it's important to be part of the right guild. Not all thieves are the same, and by getting involved in the wrong one, that could warrant an early death sentence. The most powerful guild in the underworld is under the leadership of Thren Fellhorn, a ruthless man who has no problem exerting his control. Even if it means ending a life or more. So of course, he would mold his sons to be the exact same way. Right off the bat, it is believed that his eldest would be the one to rule. But he is seen as a disappointment, and he orders his youngest son to kill him.

So he does.

No mercy. No tears. No hesitation. Just like that, his first born is no more, and his youngest son at only 8 years old has just killed his first person. His brother, no less. That is how ruthless Thren is, and that's exactly how he molds Aaron to be if he is supposed to take his father's place in the future.

Fast forward a few years, and Aaron is well on his way to being the most dangerous weapon his father has ever created. He is barely a person anymore, and those in his father's guild are scared of this creature before them. Aaron is okay with this, and he does whatever he can to make sure that he is perfect in his father's eyes. He had no issue killing his brother, his own flesh and blood at such a young age. He shouldn't have any issue killing anyone else in order to get what he wants, or to make sure that his father's guild stays in power in this land. So why is it that now, all of a sudden, he can't kill the daughter of a priest?

With that decision, he is forced to question everything that he was ever taught. Will his father agree with his decision, that is, if he ever decides to tell the truth about what happened? Will those around him continue to die at the hands of the Trifect, a group of the richest men in their city, who have been on the losing side of this war with the guilds? Everything begins to break down in front of his eyes, and even those that he trusted with his life will not make it to the end.

This was an interesting book to read. There were a lot of characters that I ended up liking but weren't there by the time the book ended. It made me feel like it wasn't the first book of an entire series, with getting rid of a lot of characters so soon. I was a little heartbroken by who does end up dying, but I won't spoil it. I think Aaron made a big decision on his own, and this ends up being his way of rebelling against his father, basically having an alter ego that will fight against those who stand with Thren. Will he be able to survive the rest of the series, when so many of those who were there before him have not? I have no way of telling from this point. I do believe that I would rather have a different protagonist to follow than Aaron though. I just can't relate to him as much as I would like.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

Matched - Book Review

There's always something particular about dystopian societies in the future that make people keep coming back to read them. It doesn't matter how many books out there in this genre, it will always remain one of the most popular types of books to read. It all depends on what makes each one different from the others.

The Society has been at peace for as long as they can remember. As long as its citizens follow the rules, there will be no trouble at all. Everyone has their place, everyone has their jobs to do, and everyone has a role in the survival of the human race. Some will bring in the next generation, and others will be Singles, where their use to the Society will not be involved in making more babies. In the Society, everything is perfect, and Cassia has no need to question how things are run.

Until one day when the perfect Society makes a mistake in her Match.

How can Cassia be matched with two different people? The Matching Ceremony told her that she was matched with her best friend Xander, someone she knew her entire life, someone who could she could feel safe with. But when she took a glance at Xander's information card, another face popped up on the screen, someone else she knew from her life but someone she had never really seen until the Society told her to. From that moment, everything she knew about the Society changed. It wasn't perfect like she grew up knowing it to be, and she couldn't help but become more and more curious about Ky, the other face on the screen. 

Would she have fallen in love with him if it wasn't for that mistake? Was she meant to be matched with Ky in the first place? So many questions run through her mind, and it is in this journey that she discovers something powerful and dangerous about what the Society has been keeping from them, and it comes from the most unlikely of sources.

"Do not go gentle."

I thought that this book was a really great read. This is actually my second time reading it, but I decided to review it this time around. It's so interesting to see that there are those in dystopian societies that just accept things for the way they are. They don't question whether the Government should be doing what they are doing, or even what is really going on behind the scenes. I love seeing the little acts of rebellion from Cassia's grandfather, the one who basically helped her wake up to what was going on and make her think for herself. This is the first book in the trilogy, and I need to know if Cassia ever finds Ky again, if she ends up doing something so drastic that it makes the Society change their ways. I basically need to know if Cassia becomes the hero that I want her to be.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Red Rising - Book Review

The Earth has long been destroyed by now. Humanity has relocated across the galaxy, and this story takes place on Mars. Near the core, underground where the masses seem to habitat, is where we meet our story's protagonist, Darrow. He is part of a caste that was created to build a new home for those that haven't moved to Mars yet. They are made to do the dirty work, putting their lives in danger to find whatever bio-material that can be used to make living on the surface bearable. To Darrow and the rest of the Reds, they are the ones that will help save humanity, that will help make Mars into a new Earth where humans can thrive again. But what they don't know, what they were never told in the first place, is that Mars is already thriving, and so is the rest of the galaxy.

It's just that nobody wanted the Reds to know that they were slaves to the higher castes.

Darrow's life completely changes when he loses the woman he loves, sentenced to die because she chose to stand up for her people and rebel in the most haunting and beautiful way. He almost throws it all away, for he would rather die and be reunited with Eo than live the rest of his days alone and in pain. But he gets a second chance, and doesn't die like he's supposed to. Instead, he gets drafted into a secret society that is bent on bringing down the caste system, bringing the Reds to their rightful place among the rest of the colors, and tear down the Golds that have oppressed them for so long. With this newfound reason to live, a reason besides Eo, Darrow transforms himself into a Gold, completely changing his body and mindset, infiltrating their academy where the best of their children go to become warriors, soldiers, important leaders in their world. It is here where Darrow is really tested, where The Institute teaches them about strategy, and how mercy never prevails.

This was one of the best books I ever read, and I'm so glad that I came across it. This book had an interesting take on the popular dystopian genre that seems to be the topic of discussion lately, and I would love to see how the rest of the series turns out. Darrow becomes Gold through and through, and it's like his entire Red identity disappears the longer he's in the Institute. He has to be Gold if he is to survive the onslaught of torture and pain that he has to go through. Not just him, but all the other Gold children that survived the initial reaping, the one that decimated the entire Institute population by half before the games really began.

It was only hard to get through this book because I really felt Darrow's transformation. All the difficult decisions he had to make being a part of the game, helping those on his team survive and take down the enemy that threatens to wipe them out of existence. All of those who died because of him change him even more, and even though he's Red and they are Gold, there's a part of him that still feels guilty when he doesn't wait to. The game is changing him, and his journey to help free his fellow Red people has only just begun.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Tall Cool One - Book Review

The more I go through these books, the more I feel like Anna should just give up on boys completely and focus on her relationships with her girl friends. I mean, when her and Sam are actually on the same side, the two can take on anything, that's so much fun to see. When she's constantly having to fight with Cammie and Dee, then it gets hard to deal with. Why can't they all just be friends and say "screw you" to Ben and the rest of the boys that cause them nothing but heartache and headaches? I say, girls rule and boys drool.

I'm probably not going to go too deep into this review since the book is really short and sweet. Honestly if I really wanted to, I could read it in a day while I'm waiting to fall asleep or while I'm enjoying dinner by myself. It's that quick, and I'm glad these books are. Honestly we don't need these books to be over 300 pages in order to be interesting. Zoey Dean keeps it straight and to the point, making sure that the drama contained in each segment of the series is enough to make us wanting more. That's how I like my teenage drama books, and this is no different.

I still need to finish the rest of the series eventually, and hopefully I will soon. I just say that I need Anna to actually be friends with these girls and I need Cammie to stop being such a biyotch to Anna so much. Ben doesn't like you anymore, so get over it. Besides, Adam is a much better option anyway. He actually treats you like the princess you think you are.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

The Exiled Queen - Book Review

It is the second book in this series and Raisa is forced to be alone on her journey of trying to save her queendom. Rather than being forced to marry the High Wizard's son, who is being sorely manipulated by his own father, she runs away to live with her father's clan. But before she could get to her clan, her family, she and her best friend (possible lover) and his guard go to Oden's Ford. Not only do Raisa and her new companions go to Oden's Ford in order to train to be the new royal guard, but she ends up running into Han Alister, where he and other wizards in training are learning how to hone their skills. It is from there that the real journey will take place, and while this book only touched upon their meeting towards the end of the book, the rest of their time at Oden's Ford is not completely void of mystery.

Han may still not be completely accepting of his heritage, the one that we learned from the previous book, but he has no choice in the matter. Being the direct descendant of the Demon King means that he has a responsibility of either saving the world, or destroying it. He can learn how to hone his magic all he wants, but whether he uses it for good or evil will depend on him, and the direction that he takes. It doesn't help that he isn't sure of the type of man who is mentoring him during this journey, or if the man who is helping him get better at his magic has any ulterior motives. Will he be able to see the truth before it's too late?

And what about Raisa? She's undercover in this school, where she goes through such a physical and mental transformation that makes her so much stronger than when she started. It might have been better for her that she didn't end up staying with her father's clan, because now she can fend for herself if the occasion ever arose. She is growing into herself, becoming the kind of woman that she needs to be by the time she becomes Queen. With the help of Han, by the time they have to leave Oden's Ford, they will have the opportunity to set things right in their world, and hopefully work together in order to restore balance.

This book I felt was so much better than the first one, which is always great to hear. I love it when the series just get better and better, rather than stay the same or get worse in quality. Sometimes it's hard for sequels to keep up the momentum of the first book and so on, but this one just gets better as it goes on. I took a break from this series to read other books but I can't wait to get back in to this one and finish the last two books.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Becoming Alpha - Book Review

It's one thing to be considered a bruja, a powerful witch that can feel the memories of people based on items that were touched by them. It makes it so difficult to be around anybody, or any public place for that matter. One of the very few perks of being a bruja would be getting brand new items just for yourself, whether it's clothes or books or furniture. It's almost too much for Tessa to handle. So when her family gets relocated from busy California to rural Texas, she takes it a chance to start over, a chance to not be "Freaky Tessa".

It seems to be going well for her, with her getting invited to a party early on in her arrival, but something happened. Something that should have been a good thing for her, but ended up being so very wrong. See, Tessa ends up getting kissed by a boy that she met when first arrived, but that's not all she got. And when her so-called friends find out what happened, they basically abandon her and want nothing to do with her. How bad could that kiss be that this group of Tessa's friends would completely leave her? It all makes sense when Tessa has to attend the boarding school that her father recently got a job at the whole reason why Tessa and her family relocated in the first place.

It's one thing to be a bruja, but now Tessa has to deal with being a werewolf too. And if that's something surprising, it's also worth noting that this boarding school, St. Alibe's, is a boarding school completely made up of werewolves. Not only are there werewolves involved, even the mean girl werewolves that make high school such a wonderful place, but they have to go up against their mortal enemies - the vampires, and they are anything but nice.

This book honestly had such a fresh feel on the werewolf mythology. There are so many books about vampires and while this book still does pit them against werewolves, it's nice to read about the werewolves as the main species to root for rather than the vampires. This was the first book specifically about werewolves that I've read and I honestly really loved it. It also had witch mythology involved and having Tessa become an enigma to her kind, both a witch and a werewolf, making her one of the most powerful supernatural creatures in this world was a stroke of genius. I also really appreciated Tessa's attitude, and how no-nonsense she was. There were times when she would feel like all was lost, or at least felt like giving up, but she would always get back on the horse and figure it out. I honestly love when the main character is one with attitude, one that doesn't have everyone in the world loving her and her behaving like a dainty princess. I love the girls that can fight and hold their own, and Tessa is exactly that.

This is the first book in the Alpha Girls series, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Tessa is honestly one of the main characters that I can actually get behind without completely losing all faith in her. I highly recommend this one for anyone who is into supernatural books, or wants to try out a new werewolf series.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Blonde Ambition - Book Review

I don't think there will ever be An A-List book that I don't like. It's hard to find any book in this series that I have read that I have an actual problem with. I'm so glad that Anna broke up with Ben, especially since it seemed like she was head over heels with him. There's a difference between loving him and lusting over him, and she finally realized that before it was completely too late. Anna is so far my favorite character throughout the series, but Sam is a pretty close second. It's a tie between those two right now, and when Sam and Anna work together, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Cammie is still the girl we love to hate, even if we can't help but envy her body and hair. At least, I probably would if I had seen her in person. Just the way she has been described throughout the books screams sex icon, and I'm pretty sure she has been called that by quite a few characters in the book as well. We know that Cammie is hurting over the death of her mother, even if it happened when she was a little girl. She's also hurting because it seems like her dad doesn't take the time to actually get to know her, and would rather immerse himself in work and his other family members than her. Is that necessarily her fault? Or is it her father's fault? I feel like it could be a little bit of both.

Dee is still a mystery to me. She can seem like a complete airhead, and then in another breath it seems like she has all this hidden wisdom inside her. It's like she pretends to be stupid so that nobody will realize just how smart she really is. But sometimes her pretending to be dumb gets in the way of her friendships, and I think that Dee just needs to be herself with her friends if she wants these relationships to last. Sam and Cammie always look down on Dee because they think she's a few tools short of a full set, so of course they take her for granted. It's not right to Dee, and hopefully things will start to change.

This was mostly a brief overview of my thoughts so far of the series, but it stands to say that I thoroughly enjoy this series and I'm so glad that there are more books for me to read. I haven't had enough of Anna and the Unholy Trinity, so bring it on!

Rated: 4/5 Stars

Casted - Book Review

The world is falling apart, never being able to stay in one spot for too long, or risk getting caught by a mysterious group of enemies that want to see you dead. Living in a state of constant fear, never knowing who is going to be around the corner when you walk down the street, never knowing which day is your last is terrifying enough without having any living family members or even knowing who you are anymore. It's enough to drive someone crazy, and that's not even including the magical powers that haven't reared their heads yet.

Powers? Yes, powers.

Jade was running from someone. She didn't really know who, and nobody could tell her who either because her family was dead. At least, she figured they were dead since she never had them in her life for as long as she could remember. She wasn't alone forever though, because she was saved from a life of loneliness by two women who would become her best friends, Rainy and Jessa. For months, it seems like things are going to be okay, that whoever is trying to find Jade won't be looking for her anymore. But one day their peace is shattered, and someone ends up finding Jade, someone who opens the door to a whole new kind of drama.

Jade ends up finding out that she has magical prowess, and it becomes even stronger when she ends up reading for a mysterious book with a woman in the book, literally. It's like she is telling Jade what to do, which spells to perform, all that jazz. But can Jade really handle everything that this mystery woman is telling her to do, and is everything that this woman shouts in her head "good", or does this woman have her own agenda against the Triad?

This book was such an amazing story to read. It takes a while for me to find good books about witches and magic, and this one definitely did not disappoint me. I really loved Jade and just her attitude and character. Of course, there were times when she would freak out like any normal person would, and that would of course be extremely frustrating to read. Despite her freak outs, and despite her doubting her abilities sometimes to the point where I wanted to shake her and tell her to get over it, she was an amazing character to relate to, and I couldn't help but root for her. I still have to read the second book, but I know that it won't disappoint me.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Enchantment - Book Review

In a world where someone's name can determine the kind of powers they have, it's very important to make sure that those powers aren't dangerous in an unnecessary way. In this case, Channie - short for her full name Enchantment - and her parents did not heed that warning. Her powers are even more powerful than her own parents sometimes, and she takes advantage of the fact that she can get people to do just about anything she wants. So why is it that Channie's personality is anything but enchanting at all?

It's very difficult for me to review this book in full because it was very difficult for me to get through it. I was very frustrated with Channie's behavior, along with her entire family as well. She was very disrespectful to her family, using her own powers on them to make her parents do what she wanted. Of course, this is probably something that the author did on purpose, but it made it really difficult for me to get through. I feel like it made Channie hard to get behind, to see her as someone that I would want to relate to. I also felt like this book did have some potential to be an amazing story. How often do you find a story about a girl with powers that come from her name? It was the first of its kind for me, and I was really excited to read it and get through this amazing concept of a story. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed.

I'm sorry that this review is not up to my normal standards, but it's one that I just would not recommend to anyone who has high expectations like I do.

Rated: 2/5 Stars

Anna and the French Kiss - Book Review

Who wouldn't kill to have the opportunity to spend an entire school year in Paris? Apparently, Anna thinks it's a horrible idea and fights it even while she's already in the beautiful country of France. Luckily for her, even though she doesn't think so at the moment, her parents don't give her the satisfaction of spending her senior year of high school in Atlanta. At her new school, she will have to learn how to immerse herself into the French culture, pick up on the language, and everything else that comes with studying abroad.

Anna meets an amazing group of students at her new boarding school, including one very charming boy named Etienne St. Clair, and she is immediately smitten. They live close to one another in the dorms, are in some of the same classes, and Etienne really helps Anna learn how to adjust to being in a new country and a new school. They are the perfect couple, even if they aren't an actual couple. There's just one problem:

Etienne has a girlfriend, and it's not Anna.

While this may have the "typical" Young Adult love triangle that seems to resonate strongly in a lot of other books, I didn't feel like this one was that terrible. It didn't feel like it was unnecessary to me, and it didn't start off as a love triangle at all. Etienne knew how he felt about his girlfriend, and was very loyal to her even with his friendship with Anna. It wasn't until his girlfriend started getting really jealous about him being with Anna that the relationship starting to crumble. Even though Anna really started to like Etienne, when she found out that he was seeing someone else, she made sure that she didn't act on her feelings.

I feel like this book could have been a standalone book, but it looks like it is part of a trilogy. The other two books don't seem to have anything to do with Anna and the rest of the characters from this book, but since I have yet to read it so I don't know for sure. Anna really grew into herself by going to Paris, going to this boarding school and living out on her own. I feel like she needed this in order to find herself and become her own woman. She learned her own worth by not allowing her crush from Atlanta to string her along while he went out with her best friend without saying anything. By the time she comes back to Atlanta, she tells him just where he can stick it, and it was such a worthwhile moment.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Frostbite - Book Review

It was bad enough that Rose and Lissa had to deal with a betrayal so close to them when they were taken back to St. Vladimir’s Academy in the first book. To have your own uncle go behind your back and try to have you sacrifice your mind and spirit just for him to have his health back is enough to make you lose your trust in anyone. But that was only the beginning of the story. Dangers lurk ahead of the lives of Rose Hathaway and Lissa Dragomir, and the Strigoi are nowhere near done with them.

In the aftermath of the events of the first book, St. Vladimir’s Academy feels like everyone needs a break for all the death and destruction. With another Strigoi attack so close to the school, the authorities decide to move the entire school to a winter vacation in Idaho, a “mandatory holiday ski trip” if you will.

But just because you take the kids out of the school, it doesn’t mean the danger takes a vacation and leaves them alone for the holidays.

If anything, it just makes things worse. Putting so many Moroi together in one spot, not just the children but the adults as well, makes it that much easier to cause some trouble. Three of the students end up running away, trying to do what they think they need to do in order for the Strigoi to be destroyed once and for all. They leave the safety and comfort of the ski lodge to the nearest town where they heard another attack occurred, and it’s up to Rose to make sure that none of them end up dead. Does it work out in her favor? Is she able to save them all, or does she end up being captured herself?

This addition to the Vampire Academy series really shows just how much things can change in a matter of days.  Rose matures from the impulsive girl we know and love into one that has seen tragedy firsthand and must change the way she does everything. The journey isn’t over yet, but Rose has more than proven just how strong an adversary she can be, and the will to survive and protect those she cares about will be what makes her extraordinary. She has to grow up pretty fast in this book, becoming responsible for her three classmates that escaped the lodge and trying to save them from the Strigoi that want to either kill them or turn them into part of their ever growing army. They even discover that the Strigoi are so much more organized than they imagined, and that there is something way bigger going on than they believed. They are targeting the Royal Moroi families, that much is certain. But the fact that they are now working together in much bigger nests that initially thought is alarming enough, and Rose has to find out what their ultimate plan is and protest Lissa at all costs.

Rose has always been my favorite protagonist out of all the books I’ve ever read. There’s just something about her that really draws me to her, and even though she can be stubborn at times,  those moments only remind her of me that much more. Like I mentioned before, she really has grown up into a mature woman and now fully understands the dangers that come with being a Dhampir, with giving her life to protect her best friend and the rest of the Moroi. Classes at the Academy don’t fully show the scope of what she needs to be prepared for, and it was not the same as seeing a Strigoi face to face, one that is older and powerful than Natalie from the last book. In Vampire Academy, she hesitated in killing Natalie, which almost cost her life, and we wouldn’t have had any more books to read. In Frostbite, she had to figure out a way to kill two very powerful enemies, with her being only a novice not even finished with high school yet. Her strength will only increase and that is something that I can’t wait to see in the next book.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Girls on Film - Book Review

There is a difference between old money and new money. When someone thinks of old money, they think of New York City, the Upper East Side, and all those powerful businessmen and women with their hands in everything. Basically, think the world of Gossip Girl. Now, new money is different. New money is Hollywood actors and models and all those people who rose to fame recently. There’s no family history of owning property or starting businesses from the ground up. No building an empire or a legacy that lasted many generations. It’s completely different, and those with old money can feel that those with new money don’t appreciate the value of said money like they do. Think Beverly Hills, with all the agents and record companies. Two different atmospheres, two very different outlooks on life, all rolled together into one.

This is the second book of The A-List series, and the drama only gets more intense as the series goes on. We have already been introduced to Anna, our Upper East Side WASP from New York who made the big move to California to live with her father. There she meets the Unholy Trinity in the form of Sam, Dee and Cammie. Three very different girls but best friends that will do anything for each other, or so we thought. With Anna in the mix, we see that the three best friends may have a rift in their otherwise tight knit alliance, and soon those lines may change.

We see that Sam may actually like hanging out with Anna, even if they had a bad first impression. Throughout this book, you see the two of them starting to get along much better when Sam isn’t with her two best friends. The infamous Sam Sharpe actually has a heart, and somehow Anna has been able to bring that good side to the forefront. Sam may have known that Cammie was a major bitch to begin with, but now she can see that sometimes her behavior is unwarranted and downright cruel. Anna is learning quickly that sometimes she needs to play dirty in order to survive in her new zip code, but as long as she remembers who she is and where she came from, she won’t turn into one of them.

Technically this is a re-read for me, even though the last time I read this book I was either in middle school or high school. It’s been years, trust me. I don’t know what it is about this series, but I just can’t stay away from it for long. I also don’t want it to end so that’s probably why I’ve been stalling in reading the rest of the books that I haven’t read yet. In this book, Sam really impressed me with her change of character, even if it wasn’t permanent. I like that we see a softer side to her, and that she and Anna can put aside their differences to come together and work together to do what needs to be done. I would much rather see these girls become friends to be an unstoppable force, but then where would all the drama be? To me, Ben is completely out of the picture and is so irrelevant to me. I don’t care if Anna really likes him, maybe even loves him, and he still winds up to make appearances in this series. To me, the story of each of the four girls is so much more interesting to me and I would rather delve deeper into their thoughts and their psyche than Ben’s.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Absent - Book Review

What would happen if you were to die tragically, but could never cross over to the other side? Having to "live" - the term used loosely of course - the rest of your strange existence out in the high school where you lost your life sounds like a horror movie in and of itself. You have to watch everyone else go on about their lives, when you can't go on with yours.

Sucks, doesn't it?

By the time the story begins, our main girl Paige is already dead, wandering the halls of her high school listening to what people have to say about her death. It doesn’t help that she can only stay on the grounds of her school. Anytime she tries to go past the parking lot, she is whisked away to the spot on the roof where she died. Why does it happen like that? Nobody really knows. None of the rest of the ghosts there can understand why they are stuck there, or why they have to revisit the spot where they lost their lives when they try to leave the school. At first it just sucks, but then she starts to hear that there is a rumor going on about her death. Some people are saying that she did it on purpose, like she would end her life in front of her Physics class like that. She’s pissed, especially because it was just a freak accident. She didn’t want to die that day, and she certainly didn’t want to kill herself on that day. So why are people so quick to believe it?

It doesn’t help either, that she can’t clear her name, with her being dead and all. Or can she?

Paige isn’t entirely sure how she ended up discovering it, but once she did, she just couldn’t help herself. She found out that she could temporarily inhabit another person’s body. She could be alive again, all her thoughts and memories and actions her own, even if just for a moment. So, of course, once she heard that rumors were going around about the circumstances of her death, she got busy trying to get everyone to see the truth. It was a strange sensation to her though, because she could feel them fighting against her sometimes. It was like they knew that something was wrong and they didn’t want another spirit inhabiting their body. In all honesty, they reacting in a way that anyone else would normally react, but to Paige it felt like they were fighting what she needed to do. Sometimes she was stronger than them, other times they just gave in and let her do what she needed to.

I considered this book to be very moving to me. Paige had to learn how to accept what happened in her life, and somehow come to terms that people were going to believe what would seem to be completely preposterous to her because they didn’t know the entire story. The kids in that school had a rumor on how Brooke, one of the other ghosts that Paige is stuck with, died that Brooke never tried to fight. It was as if that was how these kids had to deal with two girls dying in their school mere months apart from one another. It was one tragedy after another and it rocked their world. It especially devastated Paige’s best friend, who for a while was actually angry at Paige for dying, like she did it on purpose. Maybe that was how the rumor started in Paige’s eyes, especially since it seemed like her best friend didn’t care at all about her anymore. But every single person who knew Paige had to come to terms with the fact that she was dead, that she wasn’t coming back, and learn how to live without her.

The ending of this book was really heartwarming, and made me believe that good things can actually come from dying. They never show what happened on the other side, when they felt the mural painted in the hallway and how warm and alive it felt to them. But maybe that’s a good thing, and maybe that’s just how the book should have ended. It ended with the hope of knowing that things were going to get better for Paige, better for Brooke, better for their friend Evan who has been there longer than anyone else in that school has. Even though they were dead and were stuck in that school, they had one another, and were finally able to move on to a whole new adventure.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

The Lake - Book Review

It's one thing to lose a loved one. It hurts, it's hard, and sometimes it comes so suddenly, it's hard to react to it. It's another thing entirely to lose everyone you've ever known, your entire family completely gone. Everyone who has ever loved you and taken care of you is dead. So what do you do? How do you start over? For our main protagonist, Layla Weston, her journey started the day of her Grandfather's funeral. After her parents died in a terrible accident, she was sent to live with her grandparents, although it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Her grandmother was ruthless, making her feel guilty for her parents' deaths, and making sure that Layla knew that her grandmother blamed her every single day for the death of her beloved son. It was enough to make Layla lose herself completely, giving up everything that identified her as an individual to take care of her new guardians. She stopped going out with friends, doing the things she loved, anything to make her happy didn't exist anymore. She was stripped of what made her Layla, and with the death of her grandfather, she had to figure out who she was.

The silver lining to her grandparents dying was that she was able to live with her aunt and uncle. Sure, she had never really spent time with them before this, and she did feel a little apprehensive about having to live with strangers, even if they are technically her relatives. But the longer she does live with them, the more she actually starts to feel happy again. They allow her to be a teenager again, they allow her to live her life without having to take care of anyone older than her. They even allowed her to do some of the things that used to be a part of her old life, like reading to her heart's content and getting to know her classmates. She has a new set of friends, and a potential boyfriend who seems to think the world of her and is not afraid to show it. From a life full of tragedy, it finally seems like Layla is back on track.

Of course, not everything is as good as it seems, and although Will seems like he's a modern day Prince Charming, there is a dark side to him that is very reminiscent of his power-hungry father. Layla may not see it right away, but it's there, and if she's not careful to tame that temper of his, things may happen that she can't protect herself from. As sure of herself as she becomes, even to the point of standing up to Will's father and declaring her love for his son, she needs to make sure that his father doesn't take drastic measures to remove Layla and her new family out of the picture for good. Will's father isn't a stranger to... persuasive negotiations, and he has no problem doing it again.

I thought this book was pretty interesting. It's different from losing your sister, like what happened in Love Letters to the Dead. Layla was left with nothing, and had to learn how to live with strangers that was never a part of her life before. She did well, though, and finally learned how to trust her Aunt and Uncle. I also feel like she did end up finding herself again. She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, whether it was to her boyfriend's father, or just in general to the rest of the students at her school. She was never really bullied at her new school, which was lucky on her end, but she also didn't allow anyone to make decisions for her. She just took her new life in stride, and became friends with a group of kids that really had her best interests at heart. The ending was surprising, but also makes me feel like Will's father had something to do with it, and of course it ends as a cliffhanger because there are two more books in this trilogy to read. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, hopefully this year.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

The Demon King - Book Review

Magic is prevalent in this world, even if it's not highly liked. The world has changed a lot since the Demon King tried to destroy the world, almost succeeding in his quest. Because of the Demon King's actions, wizards and clans are in a precarious situation, so close to being at war with one another. In this land, we meet two very different people from two very different ends of the spectrum. Han Alister, a former head of one of the city's gangs, comes across a special amulet that has a dangerous history, and brings his world crashing down around him. The amulet he found is supposed to belong to the Demon King, the same one that almost caused the world to end.

Enter Raisa ana'Marianna, the Princess Heir of Fellsmarch, the future ruler of her country. Not only is she royalty through her mother's side (it is a Queendom, after all, and the monarchy is a matriarch), but also through her father's side. Her father is a very important figure in the clans, and she has to somehow combine both sides of her heritage into her life. When she feels like her mother is making her choose between her crown and her father's family, she has to decide where her loyalties lie, and why she even has to choose in the first place.

The queendom is on the brink of an all out war, and Raisa doesn't realize just how bad it really is. She ends up running away when a plot to change the rule of succession is hatched, which also involves her marrying the High Wizard's son without her approval. On her journey across the land, she meets Han, and they find out that their journey together is more intertwined than they initially thought.

This book was so amazing to me, and it is the first book of this four part series. Han never knew who his father was, and when he does end up finding out the truth of his ancestors, it goes to show just how powerful he really is, and the potential of gaining even more. Raisa also discovers just how much she needs to learn about being the next Queen, and how she needs to learn how to trust her own instincts. I especially loved the fact that this is a matriarchal society, something that I rarely see in the books I've read so far. I need more of those in my life for sure. Granted, the current Queen is not doing such a good job, but that doesn't mean that all of them were bad at their job. In fact, it was the first Queen that was able to prevent the Demon King from destroying the world in the first place, and that's saying something.

I know that this is only the first book, and I know that both Han and Raisa have a lot of growing up to do, but I can already tell that their journey is going to be a crazy one. It looks like there's another pair of teenagers that are bound to save the world, and I'm actually very okay with that. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, along with the companion series that takes place after the events of The Seven Realms series.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Unfortunates by Lillian Graves - Book Review

This book came into my TBR list through the power of GoodReads. I don't remember what group it was that was having an Read to Review event, but this was the book that I had to read for an honest review. So, here it goes.

This book was basically about a high school girl that finds out that her best friend has a secret, a secret that apparently isn't as uncommon as we were made to believe. To keep this blog mostly spoiler free, the secret that Vanessa's best friend has is one that almost every single person in the world has. Eventually, Vanessa ends up having a secret of her own, in the form of Adam, a boy who needs her help to come back from the dead. He isn't really a Ghost, per se, and it's not like he has an unsolved murder that will help him cross over. 

Not everyone becomes an Unfortunate, which is what Adam is. Unfortunates are born when they die of an unfortunate event. You find out how Adam died in the book, and it is heartbreaking to hear it. In order for Vanessa to help Adam cross over, she needs to perform one selfless act of kindness, not just being kind to get something out of it. There is no exact number of acts that she needs to perform in order to change Adam back, to give him a second chance at being alive again, so she just has to continue to do what she needs to if she wants to help him.

The problem is: does she really want to?

It was very difficult for me to get through this book, mostly because of the main character of Vanessa. She was an extremely selfish girl, and it made sense that she would have to learn how to be kind without expecting anything in return in order for her to save Adam. There are different levels for each Unfortunate, and each level deals with a different task and emotion. The first level, the one that Adam falls in, is the lowest level and has the most shallow of the Unfortunates. I believe that if Vanessa were to ever become an Unfortunate, she would fall in this same category.

I also feel like Adam could be a little selfish as well, but much less than Vanessa could be. His time being an Unfortunate, and waiting until he was able to be seen with Vanessa changed him enough that he wasn't as selfish as he was when he died. He tries so hard to get Vanessa to understand how to help him, to even get to know her, and yet it seems like it's so difficult to get through to her. I could only imagine having to deal with her attitude. 

There is a happy ending to this, and Vanessa does have a little character development to make her a little bit more bearable, but I feel like the story was rushed and needed some more editing. I probably wouldn't read it again, but for those who like reading about ghosts and happy endings, then you should give this book a try.

Rated: 3/5 Stars

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - Book Review

“No. If I let myself love you, I won’t throw myself in front of her. I’ll throw myself in front of you.” -Dimitri Belikov

What would you do if your best friend had the power to heal you from the brink of death? Would you tell the proper authorities, or run away from the most heavily guarded place you know and risk the anonymity of the outside world to protect her from being exploited by those who may try to take advantage of her? This is exactly what Rose Hathaway had to decide on when she received disturbing news from a teacher at St. Vladimir’s Academy (fondly known as Vampire Academy by its students). So what did she do? The only logical thing she could do:

Break out.

This story takes place after they have been living in the real world for some time, and how they are found and whisked back to the Academy, where they find that their troubles are only just beginning, and not just in the form of petty high school drama. It is one event after another, things that make both Rose and her best friend Lissa cringe in disgust and realize that maybe they were safer outside the Academy’s iron gate. But will they be able to figure out who is after Lissa, and why, before it’s too late?

This has got to be one of the best vampire book series I have ever read. Not only does Mead completely give us a whole new look on vampires and what we know about them, but she brings a completely new species to the mix in the form of Dhampirs. The main character Rose is one such Dhamphir, and she is training to become Lissa’s guardian come graduation. But since she missed out on so much while they were away, the only way for her to catch up and graduate on time would be to have extra training sessions with the Russian God Dimitri Belikov. Now there’s a story all on its own that is enough to make you want to read the book, and it doesn’t take away from the main issue: Lissa is being hunted and it is up to Rose to protect her.

This is Book One of the Vampire Academy series, and I know that there are only going to be more dangers headed their way. I can’t wait to read them all.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson - Book Review

I’d grown up practically worshipping the Reckoners, all the while loathing the Epics. Discovering that Prof was both … it had been like discovering that Santa Claus was secretly a Nazi. - David

The world is not the same as it used to be. Years ago, Calamity happened. What that means exactly, some still don’t know to this day. All we do know, is that with Calamity came the birth of strange beings with powers called Epics, and some of them were out for blood. But with coming of the Epics came something that could help turn the tide, help those who who still had some humanity left in them find a way to fight back. Those were the Reckoners, and they would do whatever they could to hold back the Epic plague, and bring peace back to Earth.

This book is the second in The Reckoners trilogy, and while I wish I had read the first book before I read this, I wasn’t completely lost going through it. That is very important to me when I read a book series out of order, especially if I don’t realize it until it’s too late. In this case, I read this book as part of a GoodReads buddy read, so I didn’t have much time to read the first book before this one started. It’s okay though, and I definitely don’t regret it.

David, the protagonist in the story, is one that I found very amusing and very frustrating at the same time. I didn’t realize it until much later on in the book that he really wasn’t that much older than I expected. In fact, he’s actually younger than I am, which was probably why I thought that some of his thought processes seemed almost juvenile. But his track record has proven to the world that he is very capable at doing his job, which to him is killing Epics. Throughout the book, he realizes that things aren’t always black and white, and his belief is tested even more than it was in the first book.

This book was one of the most amazing stories I have ever read. I couldn’t believe that I had never heard of this series before, but then again I know that there are so many books out there that I haven’t heard of yet, that are just waiting for me to explore their worlds. Firefight is action packed, tells an amazing story, and just really changes the way you think when it comes to the special things people can do, and the darkness that can consume them because of it.

Rated: 5/5 Stars 

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira - Book Review

I wish you could tell me where you are now. I mean, I know you're dead, but I think there must be something in a human being that can't just disappear. It's dark out. You're out there. Somewhere, somewhere. I'd like to let you in. - Laurel, p. 10

 Losing a family member, especially one that you are close to, can be the worst feeling in the world.  Imagine losing your best friend, your sister, and watching her die. This is exactly what happens with the main character Laurel, and the death of her sister May rocks her entire world. She ends up transferring schools, trying to make herself into a different person where nobody will ever know about her sister and the fact that May is dead.

Throughout the book, we see if this plan of Laurel's actually works, through her own words. Since it all started as an English assignment - write a letter to a dead person - Laurel ends up using this assignment as a grieving mechanism, even if she doesn't realize it yet. Her choices of dead people to write to seem to revolve around her memories of May. The more the letters come, however, Laurel eventually makes her own memories and opinions about the people she writes to that don't always involve her sister.

Laurel does end up going through some character growth in the book, and while it does seem to take a while to happen, it eventually happens. Unfortunately, she is also a difficult character to fully relate to, and there were more times than one where I would get extremely frustrated with her thoughts and actions. Maybe it was because she was just being a teenager that was experimenting, or going through a rebellious stage, or maybe something else entirely. It just bothered me, because it seemed like she was doing it to herself, or letting herself be the victim of such actions.

It is important for those who do read this book to understand that you should never allow yourself to be victimized, and if something happens that makes you feel uncomfortable or violated, you need to talk to an authority figure and someone who can help you make those actions stop. Out of the entire book, this is the message that I feel needed to be stressed the most, and it was only mentioned at the very end.

Rated: 4/5 Stars

The A-List by Zoey Dean - Book Review

The ridiculously tacky song was actually delivering an important message - that even though Anna had just had her heart shattered, and even though she had to fight the urge to hop on the next plan for New York, it was all happening on her terms. In essence, it was her time to party. Because for one, Anna Cabot Percy was free.

 If you had the chance to change your life, leave everything behind and make a new name for yourself, would you take it? In a sense, this is exactly what Anna Percy does, trading the lavish life of the Upper East Side for a chance to take on an internship in the oh-so wonderful Beverly Hills. The reason why Anna decides to leave – besides the fact that her internship in the UES fell through – is that she wants to change her life. No longer does she want to be prim and proper, just like her mother. She wants to have an exciting life, like her best friend Cyn, who has done some pretty crazy and exciting things in her 18 years of life. Anna wants to reinvent herself, and moving temporarily to live with her father in Beverly Hills seems like the perfect starting point.

Her adventure begins on the plane, where her first test comes to fruition. The way she handles the situation is the start of the new Anna, and it only goes on from there. She still retains some of her breeding, as that is something that she will not let go of very easily, but from the moment she gets on that plane, she makes decisions in her life that will change the way she takes on new situations. The more the book goes on (and the rest of the books, as this is a series), we see a change to Anna and we can’t help but applaud her.

For every protagonist, there are formidable antagonists, and they come in the form of Samantha Sharpe, Delia Young, and Cammila Sheppard – better known as the Unholy Trinity. Each girl has their own personality, but they are all extremely threatened when they see Anna for the first time. Every book needs their own set of Mean Girls right? Well these three will give you a run for your money, although there may be times where you actually feel sorry for them. Does this change the fact that they can be extremely cruel to Anna for no logical reason whatsoever? Not at all. These three are the type of girls that you love to hate, or are at least grateful that they stir up some drama. After all, Anna’s change of lifestyle can’t be completely conflict-free, right?

All in all, this is a great first book for the series.  Zoey Dean does an excellent job at portraying the colloquialisms of teenage girls that care more about high class, high priced items. She names famous brands of clothes, shoes, purses, and other items that those of the rich and famous would care about. It is also nice to see Anna slowly come out of her shell, despite her inner thoughts telling her otherwise. I look forward to reading the rest of the series in the future.

Rated: 5/5 Stars