Vanish

"Vanish" by Sophie Jordan
Hardcover: 294 pages
Published: HarperTeen (September 6, 2011)

Book description:
To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

This book is the second in the "Firelight" series.  It's about a girl that is part human, and part dragon...a draki.  She is part of a larger tribe and she is sought because of her special talents.  I found this book to be just as good as the first one was.  The way this one ends leads up to a very interesting and exciting final book.  I'm looking forward to it. 

 

Forbidden

"Forbidden" by Tabitha Suzuma
Hardcover: 481 pages
Published: Definitions (May 27, 2010)

Book Description:
She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

This book was kind of predictable and dull.  I guess teens reading this would probably think more of this story, but I found it boring.  I was just flipping through the pages to get through it mostly.  This book took me forever to start reading, and now I just wish that I had tried reading something else instead.

In My Stack

Delirium

"Delirium" by Lauren Oliver
Hardcover: 441 pages
Published: HarperTeen (February 1, 2011)

Book Description:
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Forgive me, but I just couldn't keep reading this book.  Every time I tried I only got about a chapter done.  I've been trying to read this book since summer, but just haven't had the time.  Now that I have the time, I couldn't read the book.  This book has gotten some pretty good reviews on other sites, but I just didn't like the fact that LOVE has become a disease that is undesirable in the not too distant future.  The whole idea of removing that part of the brain that controls love and other strong emotions is just dumb.  Why make a book on this subject?  It may be a creative idea, but not very likely.  I generally enjoy most post-apocalyptic books, but they are usually dealing with some kind of event and change in the economy, weather, etc.  I only got about a third of the way into the book and stopped reading.  Therefore, I'm not giving this book a rating.

A Long, Long Sleep

"A Long, Long Sleep" by Anna Sheehan
Hardcover: 352 pages
Published: Candlewick (August 9, 2011)

Book Description:

It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone— and her future full of peril.
Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose— hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire— is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes— or be left without any future at all.

This book was OK.  I liked it enough, but the futuristic sayings bugged me.  Since she wakes up 62 years later, the slang has changed for teenagers.  The author could have been a little more thoughtful on what the slang would sound like.  I don't think that what she chose would really ever be incorporated into the English language, especially by teenagers.  "Holy coit" and "That is so sky" and "Oh burn it".  Uh, what?  It gets annoying.  The story was good, but the language got in the way for me.  If you can get past the language, then go ahead and read this because it is an interesting book and idea.  A sort of Sleeping Beauty in the future, but with parents that are somewhat abusive.  All in all, just OK for me.

Possess

"Possess" by Gretchen McNeil
Hardcover: 384 pages
Published: Balzer + Bray (August 23, 2011)

Description:
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

I realize that I didn't list this book as being read by me right now, but I got sidetracked with it and couldn't put it down.  I was just looking at new books that had come into the library, and started to read the first few pages of this book.  I thought it would be good to read, and it was!  I couldn't stop reading it.  It moved along very quickly and was a great page turner.  I think it's going to be the first in a series, as it was left open-ended.

This book is kinda creepy with the whole demon thing, but had a good believable storyline.  I mean, people have made movies about this sort of thing so why not a book.  Definitely worth reading if you enjoy paranormal and angels/demons.

Starcrossed

"Starcrossed" by Josephine Angelini
Hardcover: 514 pages
Published: Harper Teen (May 31, 2011)

Description:
How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

This book is the first one in a series.  I'm glad it is, because I want to know what happens to these characters.  This book is different in the fact that the characters and storyline deal with demigods...the ancestors of the big gods like Zeus and Athena, etc.  The main female, Helen, has no idea who she really is or what her powers are until a family moves to her island.  Of course, they are fated to meet and be together.  Destiny plays a big part in this book.  I really enjoyed the characters and how they developed and how we learn about their existence.  I was a bit confused at times with all the different names and background, but overall it is a good book.

Hereafter

"Hereafter" (Hereafter #1) by Tara Hudson
Hardcover: 404 pages
Published: HarperCollins (June 7, 2011)

Description:

Can there truly be love after death?
Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.
Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss.

I thought this book was pretty good.  It had a nice different kind of storyline that I haven't read before.  Sometimes it gets tiring reading the same kinds of books, and this one was nicely different.

This book was fast paced and the writing was good.  Sometimes with YA books, you'll get the "teen talk" that authors think teens talk like.  It gets annoying.  This one was good.  This book was full of the otherworldly supernatural, yet romantic.  A love story where two people can't really be together.  Maybe in some future installment they will be.  I noticed that all books I choose to read are becoming sequels.  This one I can see having a sequel.  You want to know more about these characters and if they ever will be together.

Wither

"Wither (The Chemical Garden #1)" by Lauren DeStefano
Hardcover: 358 pages
Published: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (March 22, 2011)

Description:
Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings.

This was a fantastic book!  I absolutely can't wait to continue this series when the new books are published.  I only wish that I didn't have to wait.

This book reminds me a lot of the book "Matched" that I did a review on.  I really like these kinds of futuristic events type books.  This book is about a future society that has women only living until the age of 20 and men until the age 25 due to messing with genetics in the past.  A perfect genetic society is created from the remnants of the older society with health problems, diseases, etc.  They create a society that doesn't get sick and get cancer, etc.  Only after creating them, do they realize that they don't live long.  Many of this new society become experiments to determine the exact cause in hopes of finding a cure.  The children born of this new society also are the subject of experimentation.  Many of the women/girls of this perfect society are married off and auctioned off to help create a new generation.  This book is the story of one such girl that is kidnapped against her will, and forced to marry.  She is constantly trying to find a way out of her prison.  The imagery in this book is wonderful and beautiful.  I really loved it.

The next book in this series: "Fever" due out on 2-21-12

Beastly

"Beastly" by Alex Flinn
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Harper Teen (October 1, 2007)

Description:
Now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer
I am a beast.
A beast!
Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. I am a monster.
You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll, stay this way forever ruined unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly...beastly.

I thought this book was way better than "Cloaked" by Alex Flinn.  If all of Alex's books were like this, then maybe more would be made into movies.  I didn't think I would enjoy this after reading "Cloaked" but I was wrong.  It was cheesy in some parts, but it is after all a re-tell of the classic "Beauty and the Beast".  Just make it in today's time period, and there you go.  I'm looking forward to seeing the movie now that I've read the book, but I've heard that they changed some very important parts in the movie that should have been left alone.  We'll see, I guess.

Not Enough Time

Uughh!!!  I just can't find the time to read this summer...I'm quite bummed by this.  I really wanted to read "Delirium" but had to return it to the library because it was due.  This is the second time that has happened with this book...maybe it's a sign?  Anyway, I'm back to trying to start to read "Uglies".  Hopefully I will finish it before summer is over.

"Beauty Queens"

"Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Hardcover: 390 pages
Published: Scholastic Press (May 24, 2011)

Book Description:
From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.
Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

This book was a really great fun read!  I read this in no time, and had fun doing so.  If you are in the mood for a good beach/summer read, then pick this one up!

The storyline reads as that of a movie or television show including commercial breaks.  Very interesting that way, too.  Was fun to see how these beauty queen characters handled being stranded on an island.  You can almost imagine these events actually happening to teenage beauty queen contestants with hilarious results!  A very fun and funny book!

Cloaked

"Cloaked" by Alex Flinn
Hardcover: 341 pages
Published: Harper Collins (February 8th, 2011)

Description:
I'm not your average hero. I actually wasn't your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.
It all started with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.
There wasn't a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I've ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades.
Don't believe me? I didn't believe it either. But you'll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got cloaked.

Hmmm...where to begin on this review?  There were times when I liked this book, but mostly I thought it was too cheesy and fairytale-like.  I know that this is the whole point of this book, and if you like that kind of stuff then you'll enjoy it.  I tend to prefer books that are at least believable in their fiction.  This was an interesting read, and I didn't stop reading it.  It took me a while tho, since I wasn't anticipating reading more.  I probably won't read any others by this author, although her book "Beastly" is wildly popular and made into a movie.  I guess if you liked that movie, then you might like this book also.

To my German friend:

Wie geht es dir mein deutscher Freund?
Wie gefällt Ihnen mein Blog?

I just won a free book!

I am a subscriber to the blog: www.addicted2novels.blogspot.com and signed up for one of her giveaways, and I won a free book from anything YA that was published in April!  Yippeee!  Thanks, Lena!

Sing You Home

"Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult
Hardcover: 466 pages
Published: Atria (March 1, 2011)

Book Description:
One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds. Like her House Rules and several other previous Jodi Picoult novels, Sing You Home grapples with hot button issues. The novel also includes a CD of songs, each matched with a chapter in the book.

Jodi Picoult sure knows how to write about controversial topics.  I almost always love all of her books.  Each one is so uniquely different.  This book was no exception.  I think that putting gay rights and religion in the same book was something to really think about.  Depending on your religious beliefs, this book could sway your mood either way.  I found that the book touched on things that I already believe and also things that I need to grapple with before deciding.  Her books make you think that way, though.  If you like Jodi's other books, then you'll enjoy this one, too.  Not a YA book like I usually read, but a good author to consider alternating between.  I never got a chance to listen to the music, tho.  Bummer.  (I had it checked out from the library)

Flip

"Flip" by Martyn Bedford
Hardcover: 272 pages
Published: Wendy Lamb Books (April 5, 2011)

Book Description:
One December night, 14-year-old Alex goes to  bed. He wakes up to  find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers.And when he looks in the mirror, another boy's face stares back at him.  A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life,  he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else.  Questions of identity, the will to survive, and what you're willing to sacrifice to be alive make this extraordinary book impossible to put down.

This was a surprisingly good book to read.  I really like that it was different from other books and ideas that are so common right now.  This book is a fast read and is hard to put down like the description indicates.  This book is about guys mostly, so right away different from most books I read.  Not to say I don't read all kinds, but commonly the books I read are written with girls in mind.  This book will appeal to both.

Room

"Room" by Emma Donoghue
Hardcover: 321 pages
Published: Little, Brown and Company (September 13, 2010)

Book Description:
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

This book is a big "WOW" from me.  To have the complete perspective of a 5 year-old boy and be so compelling is truly amazing.  I could really imagine what this boy's (and mother's) situation would be like.  The author was gifted in the way that she could dream up such a nightmare, but in a realistic sense. You are given both sides of the story, really.  The boy only knows his world, the room, since birth.  He doesn't know what the outside is or feels like.  It's unknown to him other than TV.  His mother lied to him over the years as a protective measure and said that outside wasn't real.  When he turns five, she decides that she can't take it any longer and begins telling him the truth.  You only find out about half-way through the book that the mother was stolen 7 years before and forced to live in an 11x11 room that has been her world and her son's.


The book takes a turn when they are finally free of their prison, but Jack (her son) has to learn all about the real world he didn't know existed.  One can imagine what it must be like to not know something, and then having to learn about everything all at once.  They each learn to live in the world outside the room as only they can.  A very good book.  I really recommend this book to everyone.

Desires of the Dead

"Desires of the Dead" (Body Finder Series #2)
by Kimberly Derting
Hardcover: 368 pages
Published: HarperCollins (February 15, 2011)

Description:
The missing dead call to Violet.  They want to be found.


Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered--and the matching imprint that clings to their killers.  Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.


As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession.  Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed.  And with Jay spending more and more time with this new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong.  But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

This book is the second in the Body Finder series.  The first book, "Body Finder" introduces us to Violet and her ability to find dead bodies and their killers.  She can find dead animals as well as dead people, so she never knows what she'll find when their pull calls her to them.  The first book also puts her in the path of a serial killer and almost gets herself and Jay killed in the process.

This second book, "Desires of the Dead" picks up where the first one left off.  Jay and Violet are now a romantic couple instead of just friends and they enjoy spending every free moment together.  As with any teen relationships there are ups and downs and arguments between them.  Violet continues to explore her ability in finding bodies, and finds a little boy that had been missing for weeks.  Video surveillance caught her at the scene, and tipped off the FBI.  They try and discover her secret just as she's entangled in a mess of her own (again).  She's still trying to figure out all the aspects of her body finding ability, but decides to let others in on her secret.  She wants to help others get the closure they need.

This book is a really enjoyable read and moves along quickly.  I like her writing style and hope that there are more in this series.  I'm not sure if there will be as this one has a good ending.  I'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Throat

"Throat" by R.A. Nelson
Hardcover: 464 pages
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers (January 25, 2011)

Book Description:
R.A. Nelson takes us on a supernatural thrill ride, a modern day vampire story set on a NASA base and filled with space-and-science intrigue.  Seventeen-year-old Emma feels cursed by her epilepsy-until the lost night.  She's shocked to wake up in the hospital one morning, weak from blood loss.  When her memories begin to return, she pieces together that it was a man-a monster-who attacked her: a vampire named Wirtz.  And it was her very condition that saved her: a grand mal seizure interrupted Wirtz and left Emma with all the amazing powers of a vampire-heightened senses, rapid speed-but no need to drink blood.  Is Emma now a half-vampire girl?  One thing soon becomes clear: the vampire Wirtz is fierce and merciless, feared even by his own kind, and won't leave a job undone.

I, unfortunately, didn't finish this book.  I only read about 212 pages and had to stop.  I was bored by the lack of intrigue and thought the storyline was cheesy.  After having read many other vampire books, this one, although different, was not as good as it could have been.  I really wanted to like it, too.  It started out good, but then dragged on and on.  Her love story with Sagan was dumb and made me feel like she was just using him.  She would blow off his comments about work and science saying how stupid and boring she found them.  Boyfriend material this does not make.  Also, how can a seventeen-year-old girl just suddenly leave home and know how to take care of herself without any help?  She suddenly had vast knowledge overnight?  These kinds of things made the book cheesy.  Oh, well.  On to the next book.

If You Are Tired of Vampires...

If you are tired of vampire books, then try this one out:

"Firelight" by Sophie Jordan
Hardcover: 323 pages
Published: Harper Teen (September 7, 2010)

I give this one 5 stars!

The next book in this series is "Vanish" (due out in September 2011)

My Favorite Vampire Books

"House of Night" series by P.C. Cast (lots of magic along with vampires in a high school setting...series starts out strong, but fizzles with the latest books)

"Blue Blood" series by Melissa de la Cruz (preppy and wealthy high school vampires with the odd girl out setting)

"Evernight Academy" series by Claudia Gray (a love story in a special high school mixed with vampires and humans)

"Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer (you should all know this one by now)

My Favorite Zombie Series

Numbers

"Numbers" by Rachel Ward (#1 in series)
Hardcover: 325 pages
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic Inc. (February 1, 2020)

Book Description:
Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head.  That number is a date: the date they will die.

Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships.  Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance.  But while they're waiting to ride the Eye Ferris Wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number.  Today's number.  Today's date.  Terrorists are going to attack London.  Jem's world is about to explode!

This book was really good and believable.  I imagine there are people out there that have this ability and choose not to face up to it or ignore it.  Anyway, I really like this book.

You really are just getting to know the characters when the ferris wheel incident happens, and then the books takes on a different turn.  Because Jem can see everyone's death date, there are some inevitable moments in the story.  You'll find yourself wishing differently, but it's going to happen.

This is the first book in this series, the second one "The Chaos" having just been released.  I'm waiting for that one to read.  The ending of "Numbers" leads me to believe that "The Chaos" will also be a good book.  I'll just have to wait and see.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello everyone!  I apologize for the delay in my review of the book "Numbers".  My time has been crazy lately.  I'm almost at the end, and the book is great so far!  The review should be a good one.

I wore green today like the good Irish girl that I am.  Hope you had a great one!

In My Stack