Bookalicious » Fiction

Review: Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (The Immortals Series)

Pam — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:31:16 +0000

To me Noel’s second book was stronger than her first. In Evermore the main character Ever annoyed me a bit. She seemed so dependent and weak to me. A bit over annoying and self pitying. Her parents died yes, but the pity party was a bit much.
In Blue Moon Ever is secure in her own skin. Damen and Ever’s relationship is strong and will probably withstand the tests of eternity. Roman a new bad boy in town gives Ever the creeps. Damen, Miles, or Haven notice nothing and even accuse Ever of just not liking new people. Figuring they are right Ever tries to open up to Roman to devestating consequences. Ever begins a race against time to save her friends and her true love. Will the Summerland give her the answers she is looking for?
Ever made some really bad decisions in this book. I would normally slam the book for the turns this took. It gets a bit outlandish, but it all works together well to end the book and makes me anticipate the time when I pick up the third book in the series. I have to know how all of this Damen / Ever stuff works out. If Miles becomes a pop star, if Haven and Josh’s relationship survives.
However what I do not need to see is Ever’s Aunt bumbling through like an idiot. I love YA books where the adults actually have a clue and aren’t complete idiots. Not every teen, or every teen who reads hates their parents. Ever seems to feel gratitude to her Aunt but not much real love going on there.
I missed the presence of Riley but adding the creepy twins Romy and Rayne made me miss her a bit less.
Ever grew up a lot in this book. I was very happy with her development. I would however like to see some development in the other characters in the third book.
If you like Shiver, The Mortal Instruments Series, or The Dark Guardian Series you will like Evermore and Blue Moon.

Unsung YA

Pam — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:59:54 +0000

So Kelley from over at YAnnabe had an awesome idea, the most epic of awesome ideas I have heard this year so far. I was tripping over myself running to her comment box to ask if I could also participate.

The idea is to share your top five or ten or twenty favorite unsung YA. You need to be a LibraryThing user to participate.

After the kid lit award announcements on Monday, I daydreamed about how those authors’ lives will never be the same. Their winning books will forever more sport a shiny badge, reserving them a spot on crowded bookstore shelves. And other books the authors write? “By Newbery Medal winner Rebecca Stead” certainly won’t hurt sales.

But the flip side of all this is that many wonderful books get published every year without registering a ripple, let alone a splash. And in the YA world specifically, the vast majority of great books don’t approach anywhere NEAR the fervor of Twil—er, The-Series-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. The Cybils help spread the love a little. As does the Nerds Heart YA tourney.

So head on over to Kelly’s post to see her list and get more info.

My unsung YA:

Warrior Princess by Frewin Jones (whom you will see later in the list again). I loved this book for well the only thing I can call it is historical fantasy. I just made that up but still if it exists then please pretend I did not just make that up. Midievel Wales, princess, losing family to Saxons. Beautiful story and number one in a series of I think three. You can check out Frewin and his work by clicking that link and heading to his official site.

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble. Anastasia survived the Romanov massacre that rocked Russia and ended the era of the Tsar. Since then she has been stuck in a hut with creepy evil witch Baba Yaga whose house runs around on chicken legs. It is up to Ethan who has remained 18 for all of these years to find the one who can save Anastasia. A decedent of the Romanov line, a young girl obsessed with her dreams of Anastasia and Russia. Can Ethan and the girl race against time to save Anastasia? This book had me immensely interested. Really this story has it all!

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner. Dystopian fans how did you miss this one? The apocalypse has come and gone. Faeries slipped through the veil into our world, destroyed most of our race and left behind magic that makes even the plants dangerous to be around. Liza lives in one of the smaller towns left. Day dreaming about a world long gone with cars and television. Her father rules the town and Liza with an iron fist. Any child born with the least bit of magic is ‘dealt with’. When Liza begins to realize she has some magic of her own she risks escape.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. George is swiftly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her fairy tale re-telling of Grimm’s Twelve Dancing Princesses knocked my socks off. I am forever championing this book to those who enjoy a good re-telling. I always wanted more from this Grimm story as a child and George has filled in those gaps for me. I also loved her Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, a revision on the Scandinavian Polar Bear Prince story.

What’s a girl to do when she realizes her boyfriend is a powerful faerie who has came to the mortal world only to guard her until she realizes and accepts she is the daughter of Oberon and Titania. A princess in the realm of faerie and medieval world parallel to our own. I love The Faerie Path and really anything from Frewin Jones. I loved the urban feel of London and the old feel of the Faerie world. I love the characters, especially the bookish sister Sancha.

So there you have it my unsung YA, what’s yours? Have you read any of these books?

Review: Graceling by Kristen Cashore

Pam — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:58:23 +0000

Graceling was a book that had been showing up a lot on Twitter and in my recommendations on Amazon. I hadn’t really wanted to read it and I think it was the cover art that was holding me back. At some point there were so many great things said about the book that I did pick it up, and read it in a couple of days. For me the story line and plot were refreshing.

Graceling follows Katsa through a coming of age story. She find out at an early age she is graced. Gracelings are born with different color eyes, the king takes in all gracelings and when their grace is revealed usually around 9 or 10 the king then decides if the grace is beneficial to him. If not the child is sent home and lives a horrible life. People naturally fear the graced. Katsa is graced with fighting and killing she is unstoppable. Until she meets Po who is a prince of a strange kingdom, his grace is also fighting and while Katsa wins the battles she has to work hard to overcome. Po’s sister and niece Bitterblue live yet again in another kingdom with the kindest king in the realm but when things start going wrong, Po and Katsa set out to learn the truth. Maybe there is a grace out there that can overcome Katsa.

I gave this book three instead of four stars due to the fact that the language at times fit the setting. Other times it was way too modern and broke me from the story and it took a few pages to get back in. Other than that a delightful read.

Top 15 books of 2009

Pam — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:07:49 +0000

2009 has been an awesome year for young adult books. I have had the pleasure of this being my first year book blogging as well. I have poured over my list of books I have read this year (around 200 in all), and my top ten quickly became a top twenty. Since all my favorites can’t be mentioned I had to stop the buck somewhere and leave some off.

In no certain order:

Cashore had a hit with me in this novel. A prequel to Graceling which I did like but not really love, Fire follows a girl through finding safety and love while dealing with her past. A father who was literally a monster and what that meant to the way she wanted to live her life. It also explains how the Graced King in Graceling came to be what he was.

I can relate so much to Ethan, oh so much. Growing up in a small town in the very southern tip of Virginia. Ethan’s town of Gatlin sounds like a big city. We had one stop light, civil war reinactments, and the sign coming into the town even says “Welcome to Saltville the salt capitol of the confedercy”. Oh the ways I can relate to a teenager who loves to read growing up in a confederate town. However Gatlin has something Saltville never could, beautiful creatures known as casters. Lena doesn’t know anything about herself but is coming to the realization that her sweet sixteen is (I can’t resist, gonna throw some southern at ya) gonna be a doozy of a birthday. Will she strive for what is right or take her fate with the dark?

First things first, I cannot gush enough about the cover of this book, it still leaves you with some room to imagine the character. While all the time drawing you to those perfect lips. Also I have to say, my husband being Dutch and ‘van’ being in my name there is a problem with this book. Any Dutch name with van in it the van will always be lowercase. It is a prelude to the last name, and unimportant part of it. Mine is van Hylckama Vlieg, and the van in van Alen should also be lower cased. Now that I have had my mini rant about proper Dutch form. Hello! The fourth installment of the Blue Bloods books by de la Cruz are amazing. I could not put this book down. I stayed up a whole night, I had to know what was going to happen next. If you didn’t read this in 09 or you haven’t picked up the series I suggest you do, vampires with a HUGE twist. Heaven Hell, Fallen Angels and Lucifer, blue and silver blood. Amazing.

Gayle Forman has a masterpiece in this one. Not the same old teenage angst novel here. The main character was completely stable in her mental state, and loved her parents and thought they were awesome. Normalcy to the max and I ate that up like strawberries and cream. It was so refreshing to have a story which turned to be pseudo heartbreaking, while also showing a strong sense of family. If I stay is not to be missed.

On this one I should probably just say “SQUEEE” and move on. I mean we have all surely read and loved the latest Suzanne Collins? Nod your head if you are with me? Catching Fire is just as if not even more amazing than it’s predecessor The Hunger Games. I didn’t want to read either of these books, I told myself they are too wildly popular you will never like them, it will just be a dissapointment and you will have to tell all your tweeps (that’s the language of cool for twitter friends) that you didn’t like it and everyone would be like 0_o at you. However I read The Hunger Games mostly do to Michelle over at GalleySmith.com and loved it. I was crying about having to wait a month for Catching Fire when Trish from Hey Lady let me borrow her awesomely pristine ARC. Please if you haven’t read it and you read nothing else from this list let it be Catching Fire.

The end to one of the most lovely series ever written. Clare wrote a trilogy so haunting, and so real it was like you could feel yourself developing battle wounds. The characters were likable and well thought out and although I would have loved for it never to end the way she sewed up even the smallest of plot made me dance for joy. If there is one thing I cannot stand its the end of a series with gaping holes that will go unanswered for eternity. Keep an eye out for a new trilogy from Clare set in Victorian England.

If you read this blog on a regular basis you will know that LJ Smith is a staple here. From The Vampire Diaries, Secret Circle, Dark Visions, and Nightworld. This series is my definitive favorite. LJ has so many fun creatures running around these books with the main focus of course being vampires. The apocalypse is nigh and there are only a few wild powers around to right the wrongs of the Nightworld residents. Sabotage is the name of the game and with the next installment we will know who wins!

I guess this is more middle grade but I just cannot get enough of Septimus Heap and his little band of misfits! This spot was a toss up between Percy Jackson and the Olympians and this, but not every one of the books I have read can make this list. Septimus always has a good sense of right and wrong and a lot of empathy for those less fortunate. The stories read fast and have a good pace. I usually cannot wait to finish the book once I am started. The books feature adorable little illustrations and maps of the lands Septimus and friends will visit.

Another Middle Grade book, again about a wizard but Bran Hambric is much more than wizardry. Bran lives in a town where magic is feared to the point of hatred and finding out he is a mage himself and how to deal with that are the focus of the books. Can Bran race against time and find out about his real parents and right the wrongs they unleashed into the world, or will Bran himself create more evil and not worry about the cost to his soul? A really great read. To the point, quick, and with little plot twists all through out the novel.

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble was quite the little delight. A teen historical fiction focusing on the last Tsar family of Russia it was full of historical content as well as folk tales and stories from the region. Told chapter by chapter by a teen-aged boy and girl protagonists Dreaming Anastasia deals with love, magic, fate, and death in a neat little package. If you like YA fiction and you like it historical and missed this one than I suggest you running out and getting a copy to read over the holiday break.

I admit I am a little late to the game with Laurie Halse Anderson. I found her this year, with this exact book that I won from Get Glue. I have since back read her entire catalog and I cannot say enough wonderful things about this author and the issues for teens that she tackles. Constantly battling her books from being banned in libraries through out the nation. Anderson is a beam of light that sheds truth one book at a time and deserves an award for helping our children learn more about the world and themselves, rather than the fear mongering and banning she faces almost daily. The disturbingly delicious plot of Wintergirls follows two teen girls on their quest to be a true winter girl. The girl who is so skinny she is almost dead but not quite. Hovering in the borderlands. This book also gets the best book trailer of the year award from me. A powerful read.

I have this thing about zombies. I dislike them horribly. I do not like zombie movies. I thought I would not like zombie books. Watching everyone’s tweets did however make me pick up this book. I am so glad that I did. I was late in reading it and late reviewing it but it really is a must read of 2009. Don’t get me wrong, this book has major disadvantages. Their are plot holes the size of an ocean in this book but I think the next book will take care of those. If you can get over that fact the story in its own right is amazing. Growing up in a post zombie apocalyptic setting Mary really has only known one life. You do not marry for love, you marry to procreate. In kind of a communist setting, everything is given and taken away by the sisters, a fanatic religious group that keeps the town in order. No one knows what lies beyond the fence until ‘the fast one’ shows up and ruins the only life that Mary knows. She dreams of seeing the ocean but does the ocean really exist anymore?

There is one thing you may (or may not) know about me and that is I love The Grimm Brothers. So a retelling of one of their classics already has a negative vibe from me. George floored me with her telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. She took the greatest things from the original tale and elaborated and sewed in so many beautiful and heartbreaking plots that the reader ends up in tears. The author took my negativity and turned me into an absolute fan of her retelling and made me wonder why the Grimm Brothers didn’t add so much of the creativity into their story. A fantastic read.

One of my favorite covers of the year. I love when the author and publishing company leave absolutely everything to my imagination. I really do not need you to slap faces and towns on the cover for me. Reading is my creative escapism, learn a lesson from this cover and let me be the pilot of what I envision from your words! Another post apocalyptic novel. This time however magic and faeries have ruined our planet. Again a small town who is scared of magic, and any children born with magic in their veins are immediately killed when the parents are certain. Magic is left everywhere in this world. In the bushes and grass, constantly afraid of being bled to death by an apple tree is really no way to live. The character however manages to find her way in this overly religious and over zealous community and I love her spunk and style.

Another great understatement of a cover. Oh how I loved this book. It took me through so many deep and dark twists and turns I didn’t know which way was up anymore. The love story was phenomenal and how the characters met and what they didn’t know about each other said it all. The end of the book had me a complete mess on the couch in tears wish a plague of locusts on the author when she bumps it around and has me singing her praises all over the living room. A wonderful quick paced read.

So there we have it my top 15 posts. My top adult read of this year goes to Follow Me by Joanna Scott. Some of the runner ups that got left off mostly for plot holes or just because they didn’t move me the way these did are Blood Promise, Warrior Princess to mention a couple. I hope you made it through this meandering post and that you read and liked some of the same. If you have a top books of 2009 post please link me to it on twitter or here in the comments I am curious to see the favorite reads of all of you. If you do not have a blog just write in the comments your favorite books of this year.

Review: Tempted (House of Night Novel) by P.C. Cast

Pam — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:20:19 +0000

So we all know by my review of Hunted that I have a love / hate relationship with the House of Night novels. I felt that book five spent too much time rehashing books one through four and the amount of relationships Zoey holds onto became annoying. When other characters though she was a ho, I tended to agree. Book six however was a major improvement.

Cast begins Tempted right where Hunted left off. Kalona and Neferet are banished from Tulsa and the fledglings red and blue are looking to Zoey to lead them back to the House of Night. Zoey although she still has the major boy problems and too many relationships does grow up a bit in this book and her character becomes mildly likable for me again. I was going to rail against this book also. Although it wasn’t just a rehash of the other novels, I felt it dragged quite a bit. If you aren’t a fan of the series or haven’t read any of the other books, I do not recommend you start, but if you are vampire crazy and reading House of Night then Tempted is not to be missed! The last three chapters brings so much together and a major event happens that I still cannot believe happened, and I never saw it coming! Let me know if you have read it and what you think.

Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Pam — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:53:12 +0000

To be quite honest I had never heard of this book until I saw the trailer linked from Twitter in reference to the moving coming out next month. After watching the trailer I said to myself “wow that had to have been a book first”, a little tiny search on Yahoo brought up a plethora of results and I am happy to say that Sebold’s book is the second I purchased on my Sony Pocket Reader. I tore through this book in a day, staying up into the night to finish it. It brought me out of my funk of not reading after having the baby and put me back on track. I am so happy to have read the book before watching the movie.

The story follows fourteen year old Susie Salmon from her after life as she deals with her rape and brutal murder. She resents being killed and wishes her murder to be brought to justice. She also wishes to relive her first kiss and have many more, she wishes of course to have grown up. We watch her family crumble under the pressure of having a child murdered, her school friends grow up without her. How everything evolves except for Susie who is stuck just watching waiting for her murder to be captured.

This is a lovely story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and will also make sure you lose some sleep due to the fact you cannot put the book down. Don’t watch the film without buying a copy first!

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Pam — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:43:47 +0000

Thirteen Reasons Why follows Clay who is listening to outdated tapes from a suicide victim he went to school with. The girl Hannah who made these tapes sent the box to the first person who she wanted to listen and then committed suicide. I really wanted to like this book because so many reviews and people I spoke with did but I couldn’t help the fact that I couldn’t stand any of the characters. Clay for being too wussy to talk to Hannah, and Hannah for blaming everyone else for her problems. Things that shouldn’t have happened and that were not great in her life, but also things she set herself up for, even on purpose towards the end. The book never said how Hannah ended her life but there was a lot of speculation. A lot of girls deal with worse things than Hannah in high school and live productive normal lives, I guess I just expected if this girl was going to end her life and be dramatic by sending tapes to everyone on the list that something life changing might have happened. I am the first to love the books that deal with tough issues for teens. Wintergirls from Laurie Halse Anderson is one of my favorite reads of the year. She however makes the situation grave enough so that these are extreme cases. This book gives the air of “Oh so that was a tough year in school it sucked, kill yourself and do something really cool while you do that!” Hannah blames her counselor for not running after her, why did she leave if she truly wanted help? I found Hannah’s reasoning annoying and her reasons not good enough. This being said, the writing style is amazing and I love the different fonts for when Hannah is talking and Clay is talking or thinking. If you like Wintergirls or Speak then you may want to pick this up.

Pitch Black: Are you a lover, fighter or a biter?

Pam — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:01:52 +0000

Harper Teen Publishing has this really cool site Pitch Black for their paranormal YA books. Most of you have probably seen it before but it has been revamped and updated with more titles. You can take quizzes on your favorite novels and find out how easily a vamp can sink his teeth into you… for me I am an idiot loner who doesn’t pay attention… aka vamp bait!

So check it out and let me know if you are more clever than I am, or if you are vamp bait also!

Review: Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

Pam — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:18:23 +0000

I have read two previous works from author Sarah Dunant(@sarahdunant), and have been a fan of her style of writing and historical fiction for quite a while. Dunant is able to capture your interest from early in the book, make you fall in love with the characters and provide a history of a time or event while keeping the story interesting. Dunant also uses her platform (or at least I feel so) to show us the history of women in different lifestyles and professions, you always come away with a feeling of happiness the world for women has evolved as much as it has. Flowery language, and brilliant descriptions capture and transport you to an ancient time where you can actually smell the bread baking.

Sacred Hearts follows a choir nun Sister Zuana, and a novice Sister Serefina through the reformations of the church in the 1600′s, first loves, and realizations of what life really means when you are cloistered behind abbey walls. Zuana was raised outside the abbey by a physician father who taught his daughter much of his own alchemy. Having a daughter educated in medicine however did Zuana no favors, when her father passed she was forced to either marry or become a nun. Zuana grapples with her sin of placing her father in her thoughts and prayers more than the holy father himself. Serafina a novice in love struggles with anorexia by holy proxy, being locked in a convent unwillingly, and finding her true place in life. Events in the convent are constantly disruptive as the novice finds her place and learns consequence. This novel transports you to Italy in an amazing time for the church and women. The ending of the book is absolutely perfect. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read and enjoyed Dunant’s previous works, if you like Historical Fiction, if you are interested in women’s hardships in ancient times, or if you just feel the need to read a beautiful story of love and life.

Review: Enchanted Inc Series by Shanna Swendson

Pam — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:14:03 +0000

I won all four of these books from a contest at I Heart Monster, a great book blog I frequently read for recommendations on what to read next. I started with the set immediately and in order and I was fascinated by the story line. I being a southerner myself instantly connected with the main character Katie Chandler, and the small town girl in the big intimidating city story line. I have hopes that Swendson’s publisher will pick up at least one more book for a nice finish to the story, there are a lot of unanswered question about other characters and the general plot. I struggled between giving these books 3 or 4 stars. In the end my decision was based on the fact I believe the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out. Through the books you receive the same information about the same people, when I feel there was chances to enhance the perception and personality. I also thought at times the books took a long time to get going and all the excitement was pushed into the final chapters. That being said I gobbled all four books down in a week and was hungry for more. The books are a simple read, very fun, and I loved the mix of craziness. My favorite character from the series was the A.D.D. bad guy. Idris while not a mastermind criminal was a pretty nasty fellow, however easily distractable by something shiny.

Book One: Enchanted Inc

From Publishers Weekly

In her first mainstream novel, romance writer Swendson puts a Harry Potter–inspired twist on the standard tale of a smalltown girl in the big city, with lively if saccharine sweet results. Fish-out-of-water Katie Chandler suffers in her thankless job as assistant to marketing manager “Evil Mimi,” worrying that maybe she just can’t hack it in New York City. Will her colleagues ever consider her anything but a hick? For a girl from Texas, the Big Apple is stranger than a foreign country, but she discovers that the weird things she notices are signs of real magic afoot. Her “small-town honesty and common sense” soon land her a new job at Magic, Spells, and Illusion Inc., which traffics in benevolent sorcery. “You… are of the rare breed who can neither do magic nor be influenced by magic. You see the world as it is,” an MSI executive explains. With her clear-sightedness—plus business acumen gained working for her family’s feed-and-seed store—Katie will play a pivotal role in MSI’s magical battle against a malevolent competitor. From sanitized descriptions of New York City life to hunky wizards and fairies on the subway, this book is pure and innocent fantasy, suitable for preteens or readers hungry for a cotton candy read.

Book Two: Once Upon Stilettos

From Booklist

The winning follow-up to Enchanted, Inc. (2005) finds Katie Chandler, a young woman immune to magic, working at the epicenter of New York City’s magic community as Merlin’s personal assistant. When Owen Palmer, the sexy wizard Katie’s been secretly swooning over, reports that a spy has been in his office, Merlin puts Katie on the case to discover the identity of the traitor. It’s no small task, and Katie is distracted by the arrival of her parents, who have flown up from Texas to see how their daughter is faring in the big city. Katie is upset to learn that her mother is also immune to magic, and can see all the strange goings-on in the Big Apple. To make matters worse, Katie is shocked to find that she’s losing her own magical immunity, which she fears will jeopardize her position and hamper her ability to identify the spy. Swendson’s smart, snappy novel will delight fans that loved the first installment, and win over new readers, too.

Book Three: Damsel Under Stress:

From Booklist

The third entry in Swendson’s charming series, which began with Enchanted, Inc. (2005), finds Kate Chandler, whose immunity to magic makes her a valuable employee at the magic company where she works as Merlin’s assistant, finally about to go on a date with her crush, handsome but bashful wizard Owen Palmer. While Kate waits for Owen to join her at a coffee shop, she encounters Ethelinda, a sloppy fairy claiming to be her fairy godmother, who unfortunately proves to be more hindrance than help. Matters become further complicated when Kate learns that Ari, a fairy who betrayed the company by helping their biggest rival, the wizard Idris, has escaped custody. Swendson blends chick lit and magic effortlessly, making the reader equally invested in the magical skulduggery and Kate’s burgeoning romance with Owen, which includes a trip home to meet his icy foster parents. The novel culminates in an exciting ending guaranteed to leave readers thirsting for another chapter in this whimsical, clever series.

Book Four: Don’t Hex With Texas

From Booklist

As Swendson continues her exciting Enchanted Inc. series, magic-immune Katie Chandler is back in her hometown of Cobb, Texas. Katie has left New York City and her beloved job at Magic, Spells, and Illusions Inc. to protect Owen Palmer, the handsome wizard she is crazy about. Working with her hapless siblings at her parents’ store doesn’t exactly make up for the excitement she is missing out on in New York until strange goings-on start happening in Cobb, leading Katie to wonder if the magic has followed her home. When she discovers her old nemesis, Phelan Idris, has concocted a plan to train wizards over the Internet in the hopes of building an army, Katie contacts MSI. She is surprised when Owen himself shows up, and is relieved to find the chemistry between them is hot and heavy. But when the pair learns Idris is in town and planning a deadly endgame, they fear their enemy may prevail this time around. Another page-turning installment in one of the best romantic-fantasy series being written today.

Kristine Huntley