Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful #1) - Yvonne Woon

Review: Dead Beautiful

Author: Yvonne Woon

Rating: 3/5

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Recommend To: fans of boarding school fantasies

The Plot: Strangely, I had higher expectations of this book. I'm as much of a fan as anyone for the girl who goes off to the elite boarding school, meets handsome guy, learns new secrets. But, only as long as it also puts something new and original onto the table. This was pretty typical I must say. Half of the plot twists I had completely figured out by the halfway point. So many pointers were given, plus the title...Dead Beautiful? At first I thought it was haunting, but the book truly was the opposite.

The Characters: Also very unoriginal, plain characters. Renee? Eh. Dante? He is supposed to be this absolute Adonis (oh wait that's Greek not Roman, oh well) but he was just kind of weird and trying to hard to be mysterious. I really dislike that stuff. Guy with big secret that is worried he'll hurt you if he tells you and whiny girl struggling through the most obvious plot details possible. Boring. The other characters? Practically nonexistant. The introduce Brett for a second and I thought, uh oh, love triangle? Nope, Brett just disappears. Renee's roommate disappears for 2 days before Renee finally gets the brains to tell someone. Yeahhhh. 

The Romance:  I love dynamic character relationships with actual tangible friendship before true love. Or, even better, if you are going to make them argue before said love, make it a good fight, with lots of feistiness and whatnot. And please above all, do not make them literal soul mates. That is all.

The Style: What is to be said here? Nothing original but no gaping holes either. Just average.

Overall: Now you are asking me, I just read a terrible review on this book? But why 3 whole stars. Well the book fit together well, it was and easy-cheesy read and lastly the mythology was the best part. All that stuff about why we bury the dead, Romulus and Remus, Latin, and the 7th Meditation was actually fascinating. That was the one aspect of the book that wasn't stamped word for word from another book. Other than that, if you want to read about mysterious deaths and hot guys saving wimp girls on the beach, be my guest and read it. 

Top-10 Science Fiction

I'm a pretty big fan of this genre, so let's see how this goes. All of the books mentioned include their series. The worst part about writing this list was struggling not to include all the Dystopia or Steampunk books. I tried to focus more on pure geeky scienc-ey stuff, but that was really hard.
PS. Sorry a little late but I was sick (lame excuse)

1. Insignia by S.J. Kincaid

2. The Host by Stephanie Meyer (wait, isn't that the lady who wrote Twilight? Umm, yeah but what can I say, the Host was actually good. Can't wait for the movie...)

3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (you should go read this if you haven't yet)

4. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson (the first 3 only)

5. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

6. H.I.V.E. by Mark Walden (uh-huh the Higher Institute for Villainous Education, how awesome is that?)

7. The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma (random read from years ago - pure sci-fi)

8. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows)

9. Partials by Dan Wells (yeah I give up I know this is Dystopia I tried my best to resist ok?)

10. LUX Series - Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout (for steamy aliens)

Others include:

Artemis Fowl Series  by Eoin Colfer (yeah who hasn't heard of that?)

Some that I must read:

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix

The Pledge (Pledge #1) - Kimberly Derting

Review: The Pledge 

Author: Kimberly Derting

Rating: 4/5

Genre: dystopia, sci-fi?

Recommend To: fans of Article 5

Plot: Taking place in the country of Ludania, we have a tyrant queen who can move to another body when dying from old age. A queen for all eternity. And we have a class system enforced by language, which I thought strange at first, but Derting makes it work. Basically, after people were forbidden to learn a language other than their own class language and the universal language, the ability to learn was lost. Yet, Charlaina can understand all languages, an ability that puts her in greater danger than thought before. She fights to save her younger sister and ends up with the help of a handsome soldier, Max (yay). Finally, they have a rebellion running through the city. Yeah there is a lot going on but I absoltely loved every minute of it. 

The Characters: If there is a place the book was lacking, this was it, but I didn't have much of a problem here. The characters were thought out and obviously had more depth than I previously thought (ahem Brooklynn). Other than that, Charlie could be a bit dense at times (seriously, Max and Xander was so obvious) but other than that, she cared and was strong. Max was a definite hunk and he was definitely courageous and all so yay. But my favorites were Xander, Eden, and definitely the Queen. She was an awesome villain. The female villains are always worse, and more fun to hate.

The Romance: Maybe it was choppy at first, but it was cute and fun to love. Max was pretty dang adorable at times. Again Xander and Eden were probably better as a couple but I liked both. Hopefully in the next book it'll show more of Max being supportive and all. 

The Style: I loved Derting's Body Finder series. So I suppose thats a huge reason why I loved the Pledge so much. From a reader's standpoint, it lacked a little. From a fan's standpoint it was absolutely ah-mazing and it couldn't possibly be loved more. I loved the world where language represents who you are and I loved the legend of the lost royal legacy. Plus the Queen was just so evil.....

Overall: Romance could use some work, it was very insta-loveish but I hope she and Max will learn more about each other. A great first book to a series with a great setting and exactly the kind of plot I love. Breakneck speed, rebellions, romances, secrets, its all there 

Snippet Saturdays - Splintered

Splintered by AG Howard

       He's right I remember. "Envision where you wish to go," I say, using his words from years before. The key is a wish granter, and will open the mirror to my desires. Letting the backpack fall to the floor, I dig out the sundial brochure and study it. When I look up again, it's the picture from the brochure staring back at me from the cracked reflection. I insert the key into the hole and turn.
       The glass becomes liquid and ripples, absorbing my hand. I jerk back, and the key falls against my chest, suspended on its chain. I hold my fingers up. They look the same as always...completely unaffected. They're not even wet.
       A crackling sound snaps my attention back to the mirror.The splintered glass begins to smooth, forming a watery window instead of a reflection. It's a portal that opens into the garden bright with sunlight and flowers where the statue sundial waits.
      "Want it with all your heart." The command swims in my head, so quiet it's an echo from my past. "Then step inside."

Foretelling Fridays - The Elite (Selection #2)

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Expected Release Date: April 23, 2013

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestsellerThe Selection.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

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

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

My Reaction: 

Well now. I hate love triangles don't I? I do. With a passion. Yet this one caught my attention and really wouldn't let me go. On this one, I can't decide. Predicting who the protagonist will end with is usually easy. Yet on this one, I actually can'f figure it out. Throw in an ending for the previous book where nothing is sure, and all of a sudden getting my hands on this book is of the uttermost importance. There are times when the first book felt like a season of The Bachelor, but there is a lot more at stake here. And who can forget the beautiful covers. All of that together, makes this a book to remember, because to sum it up, we have a fight to be princess, beautiful dresses, a handsome prince, a gorgeous old friend/guard, and a full-scale rebellion. The palace is full of secrets and I can't wait to learn them all in this next release. 

Splintered - AG Howard

Review: Splintered

Author: AG Howard

Rating: 3/5

Genre: fantasy, paranormal, retellings

Recommend To: fans of creepy (in a good way) retellings of beloved classics, fans of Wicked Lovely

The Plot: This was harder to adjust to as opposed to other aspects of the book that were excellent. Part of it was that it started out one way, Alyssa jumping into Wonderland to break the curse on her family, and then ending another way. You might say excellent, there are plot twists, and there were some things that I didn't see coming, but the fact of the matter is, I felt that things were just being heaped on and not being explained thoroughly. There was a lot going on and being revealed constantly. Almost too fast.

The Characters: There was also a lot going on in this region. Alyssa is smarter that most heroines I must say. Instead of griping on half the time about how Wonderland had to be a dream or that she of all people couldn't possibly have anything to do with magic and the supernatural, she accepts it very quickly. Yet, other times, she behaves ridiculously. I guess the only actually cool thing about her is that she can hear bugs and flowers and then she kills them to make artwork. Creepy but interesting. I wasn't in love with her character, but at least she didn't complain and she figured out where she was quickly enough. The only other two major characters are Jeb and Morpheus. Neither whom I really liked either. Jeb was noble and loyal, and Morpheus was mysterious and untrustworthy. But neither felt very developed. 

The Romance: To me, its clear who she belongs with. That makes the end satisfying I suppose. But at the same time both Morpheus and Jeb are sucky love interests. I didn't like either of them. The whole love triangles was just irritating and boring too. She's in love with Jeb, Morpheus is her childhood friends, blah blah blah. You bled for me, I bled for you, you saved my life....it goes on. 

The Style: This is where the book shines and really saves itself. It is quite disturbing at some parts, with images of grotesque creatures from Wonderland. It is a truly creepy spin on Alice and Wonderland's original story, with Alice being completely mad and never truly escaping Wonderland's mad world. The characters have all been shifted such as White Rabbit becoming Rabid White. Yeah, pretty interesting. The writing is very lyrical and fits the mood of the novel very well. 

Overall: I really wanted to love this book being a fan of the original Alice in Wonderland and I do love retellings. Especially unusual interesting ones with a great overall mood and beautiful writing. But when they are filled with disappointing characters, an almost too confusing, and actually boring plot,  and a very flat romance, it just doesn't work for me. There are many out there who love this novel, but sadly I am not one of them. 

3/5 Butterflies

Thoughts On: Myth Based Books

I really love myths. Especially Greek, but Norse and Egyption stuff is very ok too. Lots of these are gaining prominence like, the Percy Jackson and Kane stuff by Rick Riordan (he’s a genius), Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, stuff about Valkyries (Norse) and Sirens, etc. It’s starting to become a whole little genre and for good reason. Because it’s fun to read. Yeah there is all that educational stuff (and I actually learn a lot) but mostly because it’s just good. It’s enjoyable having modern day mixed with ancient history and many authors actually balance it really, really well. Having modern day main characters thrust into a world of old stories, traditions, rules, and powers is really exciting to read about and I definitely want more! If you have any recommendations of books that include myths (any kind really) just reply or drop it off in my ask box!

Top-10 Fantasy

Oooh this is going to be really hard…ok I’m not including paranormal in this list (that’ll be separate otherwise my head might explode from trying to choose)

I’ll be focusing mainly on high fantasy so if a paranormal series isn't there chances are I’m putting it in a different list. Or I may have totally missed it. Either way you can reply and comment.

1. Harry Potter by JK Rowling (duh)

2. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

3. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

4. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

5. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

6. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder 

7. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (beautiful series)

8. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone  by Laini Taylor

10. Eragon by Christopher Paolini

More that could have just as easily been on the list if I had thought of them in time or something:

The Battle of the Icemark by Stuart Hill

Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede

Crown and Court Duel series by Sherwood Smith

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

Oh jeez I need to stop. There’s too many....

Stormdancer (Lotus War #1) - Jay Kristoff

Review: Stormdancer

Author: Jay Kristoff

Rating: 5/5

Genre: I don't even know....steampunk-fantasy? Whatever it was, it was awesome.

Recommend To: Fans of awesome chainkatana action and sarcastic griffins

Completely blown to pieces right now. I can't even process the magnitude of this book.

The Plot: So much happening. I'll just sum up. Yukiko and her father are sent on a hunt for an arashitora, a legendary thunder tiger, on the whim of the dictatorial shogun Yoritomo. In a storm, the ship goes down, and Yukiko is stuck on a mountain with only the arashitora for company. They realize they need each other to survive and begin to form an unlikely, but unbelievably adorable friendship. (Yeah you might ask how the heck they get to know each other, but she can talk to animals ok?) Not the point. Eventually, she starts to learn all these complicated truths about the Lotus Guild and the shogun and her own family. Plus all this absolutely horrific stuff that has to do with the Blood Lotus itself and the war with the foreigners and basically, we have ourselves a very polluted version of Japan with incredibly detailed myths, and some not-so mythical myths, fantasy griffins, some cool engineering and a full scale rebellion. Can I have more please?

The Characters: In this section, everything was Buruu. He ran this whole book, I'm not even kidding here, I literally read this book to make sure Buruu would be okay. Because he was the best. I want to meet him, and hear him call me MONKEY CHILD and just feel his fur. I couldn't help laughing at his remarks about human "coupling" among other things. Who wouldn't love Buruu? The rest of them, yeah, Yukiko, very independent, driven young-lady, with a lovable father (with some issues), and then the rest of the team. Kin (awesome), Hiro (should go die), Kasumi (badass), Akihito (big, whenever the mentioned him, my first thought was always big), Michi (also badass). You get the picture. Lots of very awesome characters who were overshadowed by Buruu cause he was the best. 

The Romance  Relationships: Is this even a category for this book? Yeah, I'm changing the title of this category. Okay, so the relationship between Yukiko and Buruu was obviously the main one. The way they begin to care for each other and become one was too precious for words. Of course, there is also Yukiko's rocky relationship with her dad. Then I guess there is Yukiko and Hiro (the sea-green eyes guy). Yechh, I wanted to stab him with his own chainkatana. Whatever. Kin, was sweet though. Team Kin anyone? So yeah, lots of different undercurrents going on in the book. Yukiko and Kasumi. Kasumi and Masaru. Yoritoma and Aisha. Not to mention the complexities involved in understanding clan rivalries and whatnot. Phew. 

The Style: Wow. This was one area it took me a little while to get settled into. Very wordy, descriptive, and a little foreign. The Japanese vocabulary took a little while to get settled into, but the dictionary in the back helped. Other than that, it was breathtaking. After a while, it was impossible to put down and you were hanging on to every word. The world-building was exquisite and your understanding of Shima and its complex hierarchies just continues to build throughout the book. It's unbelievable how the small descriptions of the color of the sky, or the black-lung can emphasize the pollution and corruption happening in Shima.

Overall: If you are a person looking for some light-reading, this is not your book. It is complex and takes up a bit of your time, no matter how fast a reader you are. There is a lot of new vocabulary in there and you actually learn a lot about feudal Japan, even if they have chainsaws and a Lotus Guild. But, if you want to read something completely new that will blow your mind with beautiful descriptions and characters, and places, then read this. It has everything and more. It's not all pretty, and there are some gruesome truths about pollution and human nature that some people don't want to face, but it's one of the most unusual and incredible books written in a long time. 

Foretelling Fridays - Let The Sky Fall

Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger 

Expected Release Date: March 5th, 2013

Goodreads Summary: 

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them

My reaction: 

This is a book I am really eagerly anticipating. For a number of reasons. I guess the first is the cover, I mean come on, is that not awesome or what? Plus the title, I mean yeah Adele song and all, but I just really like it. Then, beyond the superficial "read a book by the cover" which I must admit I do sometimes, the story just seems awesome. Sylphs, yeah that's right air elementals. No vampire, angel, demon, werewolf nonsense. Plus dual POV. Watching two sides of the love story and then seeing them fall together is always one of the best parts of dual POV. I like dual POV more than singular, just because it makes the story so much more interesting. Rather than seeing the inside of the head of one character, and then the aloof other character, you can understand both characters better. Another interesting point, the supernatural half, of the couple is actually the female. Who doesn't love an awesome, strong female character?  And finally, forbidden romance. Yeah whatever, whatever. Overdone? If you say so. But I am a total sucker for anything forbidden. What does that say about me? I don't know. But I do know I am absolutely thrilled that this book is coming out. 

Thoughts On: Love Triangles

Perfect topic for Valentines Day right? There are lots, I means LOTS of love triangles appearing in books these days.  It’s like authors think romance isn’t good unless it goes in three directions. So not true! I’m actually getting sick and tired of love triangles. Sure if done right they add romantic tension, add interest, and have you actually putting a personal stake in the book. They can be absolutely great too. But unfortunately they're usually not. A lot of the times they’re just useless, boring, annoying, gross, and you feel like shaking the stupid character who can’t make up their minds. Or the stupid authors who wrote them that way. Indecision is uncool. Angst, denial, dark pasts, forbidden love, fighting between the two characters without a third character, that really makes me more interested and adds excitement. Like, “When will they finally get together?? I NEED to know! They’re perfect for eachother!” It’s usually why I think a lot of the time the first book in a series is great, we get to see two soulmates overcome something and fall in love. Then in the next book (because the author doesn’t know how to continue properly) they add a love triangle just to add plotline. Bleh. A plea to authors out there, less love triangles and  more love!

Top-10 Dystopia

First edition of Top-10 Tuesday! Decided to post a list of my favorite dystopia novels. Keep in mind there are so many more that I love than this, these are just my attempt to try to get my priorities straight. If you believe there is one that I missed, or should add, comment! I might not have read it yet!

1. Divergent by Veronica Roth

2. Legend by Marie Lu

3. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

4. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

5. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

6. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

7. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

8. Matched by Ally Condie

9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

10. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Others that I think rock this genre and had to be mentioned (I know I'm defeating the whole purpose of narrowing it down to 10:

The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Selection by Kiera Cass

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Partials by Dan Wells

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Of course some of these are series and so the following books are implied

(Except for the Maze Runner series, that got progressively worse and I was so upset by the last one)

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) - Julie Kagawa

Review: The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

Rating: 5/5

Genre: Dystopian, paranormal

Recommend To: Fans of Black City

Shocking as this may be, it wasn't a completely typical vampire nonsense book. It was actually really, really good! It helps I was already familiar with Julie Kagawa through her Iron Fey series (which still makes me swoon) and so I was eager to try her next big thing. And it was definitely big.

The Plot: It wasn't human girl meets vampire boy....it was vampire girl meets human boy. And that makes a big difference. And said human boy doesn't even show up until part 3 or something. Huh? It doesn't matter actually, the beginning was just as good, even if it was a little slower. Kagawa takes time to build the world, really emphasizing the scary, ruins of New Covington. She lets us see the utter desolation humans live in, and we meet Allison as a human. This is crucial because after Allison is Turned, she retains those human qualities that made her special. 

The Characters: Each was really written in depth. We have Allison, a beautiful, badass heroine who isn't afraid of much. Her internal emotions were expressed so well, and we could feel her inner turmoil. And she is a real survivor, she will always choose to live. Next, there is Kanin, mysterious and brooding. He teaches her (and us) all the Vampire history that we need to know. He reminds me of a father figure...if you know, you teach your children how to avoid rabids, fight with katanas, and avoid the sun. And of course he has a mysterious past too. Finally, Zeke, Jeb and other humans. Zeke is adorable. It's funny when strong, immortal female lead, meets naive human boy/love interest. He is quite adorable, but a bit too floppy. Nevertheless, he also has a fiercer side which helped me to warm up to him. We (me and Zeke) had issues when he wouldn't trust Allison, but he resolved them quite nicely. The rest of the humans are equally as adorable, if also slightly dumber. It was frustrating, watching them tramp around looking for their Eden. Humans are such flawed creatures. But it is absolutely impossible not to get attached to every single one of them. Except Ruth maybe.

The Romance: This doesn't actually start until hallway through the book. By that time, Allie has already become a vampire, been betrayed, learned Vampire history, learned how to use katanas, and had to fight off psychotic rabids and grinning vampires. No romance though....until, enter Zeke. He is just a ray of sunshine. But it makes him and Allie work. Her dark side trying to suck his blood and him tripping over himself to talk to her. Just kidding. Actually no, not really but they do get to know each other, and even though he mistrusts her, he still loves her (and stuff). 

The Style: Not much to say here. Allie's POV is great and in depth with her struggle to come to terms with the fact that she is now the thing she hates the most. The dialogue is fierce and funny at times, and each character expresses their own little quirks (ex. Dorothy).

Overall: If you are bored of Vampires, don't read it I guess. What can I say? There are the typical "I don't want to be a monster and drink human blood" conundrums. But if you are looking for a fresher take on the whole Vampire genre, I highly recommend this one. No irritating, arrogant, sparky boys here. Just great characters, a terrifyingly real world overrun by evil, and a lot of blood.