Review-Not A Drop To Drink

For quite some time I've been hearing some pretty great things about this book, so naturally I was very interested in getting my hands on it and seeing what all the hype was about.  The one thing I kept hearing over and over again was the fact that this was a gritty book that didn't pull punches, which, in this day and age could cause some problems and will definitely raise some heads.  I have to say that one of the things that fascinated me the most about this I'm sure that there's more than one book that has a world where water is sparse, but while this could technically be considered a dystopian book that's not really what it is at its heart.  McGinnis writes a harsh unforgiving world where water is scarce and people will do anything to take the water that you might have.  I'm pretty sure that in dystopian books the author focuses on a seemingly perfect society that is actually teeming with problems, mostly government lies.  While there is a city in the book it's not talked about as paradise that's not the focus at all, the focus is on one girl and her house that has a much valued pond near it.  Overall there was really nothing wrong with the book and I enjoyed it a great amount, I just didn't enjoy it as much as it seems some people have, which I guess happens every once and a while.  That being said I loved the fact that McGinnis wrote such a bold and unique story.  At it's heart I think this book is almost about what some people will do to stay alive, and the things that change the way we look at things.  McGinnis wrote a stunning debut that I'm sure will make a splash once it hits shelves, and hopefully she will continue to write, because I would love to read another book by her sometime in the future.  Before you pick this book up be warned that there is death and swearing and insinuations of rape, so it's not exactly one for younger teens or for those with a faint heart, but should you feel like you can handle what it dishes out I would recommend it.

Out September 24, 2013

4/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Harper Teen (Katherine Tegen Books) for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Review-Find Me

If you know anything about me you know that I can't pass up a good murder mystery.  All of those crime shows on TV?  I watch them.  All of the teen slasher flicks?  Yeah, those too (cause they're kind of the same thing), so when I heard about this book I was TOTALLY going to read it.  One thing most people don't know about me, I think it would be REALLY cool to be able to hack things, although the most I can do with computers is the basic Microsoft Office stuff, so there's no real chance for that, but I think it's cool when characters have cool hacking skills.  The main character was just like that.  I think the thing I liked most about her though, aside from her snark (because I do love snark) was the fact that despite being terrified (and, okay, maybe a little too paranoid about the cops) she did what she needed to do anyway because it would protect someone she loved.  To me there is nothing better than a character who does what they do to help others, especially if they're terrified to do it.  The plot was nice and twisty, and the fact that the dead girl was still such a major part of the story made it even better.  I'm actually embarrassed to say that I didn't actually figure out who the killer was, although I feel like maybe I should have, because really, it was CLASSIC nut-job.  The two things that I didn't like were the way that the character talked about "pushing her feet farther into the floor" (she used that phrase or something like that a LOT, and it didn't really make much sense to me, because, well, how do you do that?) and the second was the...I guess you would call it the epilogue.  Do I like things wrapped up into neat little bows?  Sure, I like bows, they're pretty and don't leave me going "but what about x!?" but this one felt a little...forced?  I would have been happy without it, and I do think there's such a thing as TOO neat.  It could have been there to set up a sequel, because the last paragraph made it seem like a second book could be in the works, but it also left it wrapped up a little TOO neat but at the same time too open, if that makes any sense.  Those things aside I enjoyed the book immensely and I hope that Romily will write more books along these lines in the future, but if not I do hope she will keep writing.

Out September 24, 2013

4.5/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Harper Teen for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Review-Frozen

Melissa came to my city earlier this year on tour for her final Blue Bloods novel, and despite the fact I've never read a word she had written I went because, well, when was the next time she was gonna be here?  At the signing she talked about this new book she was writing with her husband, and I thought it sounded pretty cool, so when a battered ARC showed up on my door along with Andrea Cremer's newest teen book I decided to give it a shot.  I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting when I opened the book, I mean, sure there's the synopsis that you can find on the Internet and somewhere on the book, but it didn't really tell me much about what the plot really was.  So honestly I came into the book with some confusion.  There were points in the book where I felt that things were being explained for no real reason, like the world was just being built, which I thought was odd because it seemed out of place.  That problem aside I did enjoy the book.  Melissa and Michael created a fascinating new broken world for the characters to explore, and all of the creatures that were included just made the book that much more fun.  The dual POV was interesting, and I'm assuming the girl's was written by Melissa and the boy's by Michael, which means that's double-y cool.  Overall I think that Melissa and Michael have created a very unique start to a series that holds of lot of promise for the future.  I'll be interested to see what happens in book two just because of how book one ended.  Having never read Melissa's previous books I can't really say "if you loved x book by her you'll love this" but Frozen reminded me of almost a mix between Under the Never Sky and Shadow and Bone with other things mixed in.  I also think that dragon lovers will be pleased with the direction the book takes (which is not a spoiler because, really, look at the O in the title!).

Out September 17, 2013

4/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Penguin for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Review-3:59

I read an early copy of Gretchen's debut novel Possess and while I enjoyed it I didn't love it to death, but then she wrote her sophomore novel Ten and by golly did I just eat it up.  For quite a few years now I've been a huge fan of the horror genre, but horror and YA don't really mix because...well, if you scare the crap out of kids people [parents] might get kinda mad.  When I heard about this book I was super excited because it was Gretchen McNeil (so a horror book), and it had SCIENCE in it!  Yes, this book has science in it, and however loose it might be there is still science, so beware, it's not a teen slasher book (see Ten).  This book started out as a more mellow sci-fi book, and I was like "I like it, but why does the T-shirt I got to show around say 'be afraid of the dark', that's kinda horror-y" and then it got to that part and I was like "oh crap!".  There aren't a ton of sci-fi books out there for the YA age range, and when I come across one it's really fun to see what aspect of the sci-fi genre the author chose to write about, and in this book it was the multi-universe theory.  I've only read one other book within the YA age range that deals with multiple universes, so the fact that I found another one that was also well done and had a horror-y edge to it pleased me a great deal.  The creatures that were in the dark reminded me of the Vulcra from Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, which I found to be super cool. although these were more science based as opposed to magic-y based.  Props for that Gretchen.  There was that fun "who's the bad guy" thing going on in the book, and amazingly there's romance in there too (only Gretchen can work romance and killing into the same book).  The ending is open-ended enough that I could see a sequel happening, whether or not that's in the future I don't know, but I know I would enjoy coming back to the world and would not object to it.  I really enjoyed this novel and think that sci-fi fans, probably more so those of The X Files and Fringe, will find this book really entertaining.  Whatever Gretchen is up to next, bring it on.  Just be warned that there is science (possible pseudo-science.  Well, yes pseudo-science seeing as none of it can be confirmed) so you'll have to pay attention to some parts and possibly understand basic physics and whatnot or you might end up skimming over those sections with a look on your face like this "o.O".

Out September 17, 2013

4.5/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Harper Teen for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review-Thornhill

Last year I read a debut novel that had been blurbed by Body Finder author Kimberly Derting and I loved it.  Werewolf murder mystery, enough said.  When I heard there were ARCs of the sequel I traded whatever I had to to get a copy, although again I've come down to the wire reading it before it comes out.  Once I started this book and got past my initial "wait, what happened in book one again" moment, I was down for reading large chunks of it at a time.  This book follows Mac and her friends as their adventures continue, but for this one Kathleen pulled out what are very much like concentration camps, only they're for werewolves.  That made me super happy (and I say that from a reader's standpoint just because they're interesting.  I would love if things like that never existed again).  The first book was chill-inducing, but this one made me break out in full-on shivers, because it stars one of those characters that TRULY believes that what they're doing, hurting some to "help" many is the RIGHT thing to do, and in real life those people are the scariest of all.  Sure, that crazy guy that likes to slice people up in his van is nightmare worthy, but he's not gonna lock up thousands of people because he thinks he's helping them.  Kathleen perfectly captures this attitude in the book's villain, and I loved seeing old and new characters come together in this new story.  Despite the fact that this is the sequel to Hemlock I almost feel that it could stand alone in terms of plot, although one might be mighty confused about the characters.  I can't wait to see how this series ends, especially because Kathleen seems to be really good at the suspense/action parts of her books, which makes me think book three will really pack a punch.  Hopefully it will come out within a year of this one unlike this book (it came out over a year after the first one), but if not I will trust it's so that Kathleen is making it into the best book it can be.  Fans of the first book will be excited to finally get this installment in the series, although don't expect the same story line told slightly different this time, there are big changes for our beloved characters, and not all of them are happy.  In fact, almost none of them are.

Out September 10, 2013

4.5/5 dust spirits

*I received this ARC via a swap with another blogger, but that does not change the fact that this is my honest opinion on the book.

Review-The Chaos of Stars

A few years ago I found this book called Paranormalcy and I just loved it.  It was funny and original and completely adorable, but at the same time heart-crushing (because that's how Kiersten works).  Then I found her new series that starts with Mind Games and it was thrilling and edgy and still heart-crushing (is anyone else seeing a pattern here?) so when I heard Kiersten was writing ANOTHER book I was like "oh, heck yes".  Let me tell you something before I continue, history isn't my thing.  Sure, I aced in all through school but I just really don't care about it, although ancient Egypt is one of the few areas that I enjoyed studying (it has to do with the mummies).  I think one of the main things I don't like about history is all of the dates and names. GOD the NAMES. I HATE the names.  Kiersten uses the ACTUAL names of the gods, which is probably a large part of the reason it took me a while to actually get into this book, but once I did I found myself enjoying it.  Having recently read Kendare Blake's Antigoddess and seeing all of these Greek myth-based books out it was really cool to see an Egyptian myth-based book, even if the names are a pain in the butt to say.  Kiersten did something new (AGAIN) and for that I give her ALL OF THE APPLAUSE.  I also loved the fact that Isadora was a human kid with god parents, although I'm still not exactly sure how that worked.  This book fell under the category of Kiersten's debut novels, it had a lighter feel to it (especially compared to Mind Games) which I'm glad to see, because I feel like Kiersten is really a lighter-feeling person (although I did ADORE Mind Games).  It was my own experiences and likes/dislikes that cause me to have some trouble with this one, it was by no way anything that Kiersten did that could make me go "well she needed to *insert something she could have done differently here*".  I'm thrilled that she branched out even more than she has for her writing, and fans of mythology and mythology series will eat this up (although it is a standalone novel).  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next, and I'm pretty sure that no matter what it is I will want to read it.

Out September 10, 2013

4/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Harper Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Review-All Our Yesterdays

I'm not sure when I first heard about this book, but I do know that I wanted to read it.  I was THRILLED when I got the ARC in the mail, but as it so often turns out the reading of it was pushed back until the last possible moment.  Honestly I have SO many books I need to read I was considering putting this book aside mid-read so I could get to the others, but MAN am I glad that I didn't.  If you know me there's no question that I love Doctor Who, and I find time travel fascinating.  Who doesn't think about the question "if you could go back and change something in your life what would you change?".  I've thought about it, and of course it would make a great book.  Add in the fact that the world has gone to hell and I don't think it could GET any better, but time travel books can be SUPER tricky, because, well, they have to make sense.  If you're at ALL familiar with the theory of time travel you know about paradoxes, and when reading (and writing of course) you have to be acutely aware of potential paradoxes, so this isn't one of those books that you can just read with half of your attention.  Honestly there were some points in the last few chapters that caused me to go "wait, what, how is x happening" and then I would think about it and go "OH, that's how. Duh!".  I loved the dual POV told from the same person at different points on their timeline, and although the plot at it's very core was pretty simple (go back in time to stop something that plunged the world into chaos) and had been done before the way it was pulled off was wholly original, which can be very hard to do in today's day and age.  I just can't get over the ending, because in all honesty it was PERFECT for the book.  This book could do just fine as a stand-alone, and in all honesty I'm not quite sure how the sequel will work with how this book ended, but I'm happy there will be a sequel because I'm excited to see where Terrill takes the story next.

Out September 3, 2013

4.5/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Hyperion for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.