Review - Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 448 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN:978-0374388294
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 3/5 stars


I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This is a hard book to review for me. There were some parts of the book I really enjoyed and other parts that I found to be boring and confusing. This book was an inconsistent read. Some parts were rambling and boring, while other portions were very intriguing and engaging. I almost stopped reading it multiple times and am still uncertain as to whether I enjoyed it or not.

The story is set in an alternate New Zealand in the late 1950’s. It follows the story of Canny. Canny is a teenager whose mathematical genius defines her, however she has a lot of trouble getting along with others. When her brother and his fiance decide to travel to a small town for the summer, Canny is sent along to accompany them. While Canny’s brother tries to dig up historical accounts of a tragic mining accident that happened many years ago, Canny explores the Valley. Things are strange in the Valley, for example there is a house that no one but Canny can see. In the valley Canny meets the Zarene family who practice a strange sort of magic. When Canny finds that she too can perform the magic, she is drawn into a story of dark secrets and determined to unravel the mystery of this strange house.

As I said this is a tough book for me to review. Some chapters I found boring and confusing and some were incredibly engaging. At points in the book the dialogue and language between characters is very awkward. There were a number of points in the book I had to reread a passage a few times before I could figure out what the author was trying to say. Some of the dialogue is so awkward that I ended up thinking maybe Know did it that way on purpose; but it was awkward in an inconsistent way (not with just one character, but sporadically throughout the book). It was almost like parts of the book were written by different people.

Canny is an interesting character but hard to engage with. She is a genius of sorts, and has a lot of trouble interacting with others. She breaks even the most basic things (locations, colors, poems) into a mathematical way of thinking. This results in her being lonely and curious, but her lack of emotional engagement with the world makes her hard to like. When she does show emotion it comes off as distant and stiff.

The most interesting character in the book is the young man Canny meets in the strange house, Ghislain. He has a mysterious past and is an intriguing character. Throughout the book his interactions with Canny come off as a bit dreamlike, awkward, and disjointed. Still I was intrigued by his mystery and why he was trapped in that house.

Canny and Ghislain have a romance of sorts, but that also came off as a bit awkward for me. They didn’t have much chemistry together and the “romance” comes off as a bit creepy at times.

I did enjoy how this world in the Valley was both part of and removed from our world. I enjoyed the magic system of runes. I also enjoyed the somewhat peaceful and dreamline quality to the writing. The book wraps up fairly well too.

Overall this was a mixed read for me. I enjoyed the magic and Canny’s genius. I enjoyed the mystery behind Zarene Valley and behind the character of Ghislain. I also enjoyed the interesting asides into mining and the mining disasters. However the writing was awkward and alternated between engaging, confusing, and boring. It was just very inconsistent. The conversations between characters felt forced and awkward. The romance between Canny and Ghislain is sudden and a bit creepy. The pacing of the story is also a bit off; parts are incredibly engaging and parts are wandering and boring.

Honestly I can’t really recommend this as a good fantasy read. If you really have your heart set on reading this I would recommend reading the first chapter of the book...it’s one of the most awkward parts of the book...if you can get through that and enjoy it then you will probably enjoy the rest of the book. If that chapter bothers you, then the rest of the book will most likely bother you as well.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days, Book 1) by Susan Ee (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 290 pages
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: August 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0761463276
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Penryn and the End of Days series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This book was recommended to me by one of my Goodreads friends. It sounded interesting and ended up being a decent read. I am a bit sick of post-apocalyptic/dystopia type novels right now, so take that into consideration when reading this review. This is another YA post-apocalyptic novel but with angels!

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was okay. This isn’t one of those audiobooks that was so stellar I would recommend listening to this instead of reading it. Still the narrator did a decent job of distinguishing between character voices. I had a bit of trouble with the different male voices since they sounded awkward and occasionally similar to each other.

Penryn is trying to survive in a world where angels have recently (6 weeks ago) ravaged many major cities on Earth. As if just surviving isn’t bad enough Penryn has a psychotic mother and a handicap younger sister (who can’t walk) to take care of as well. When an angel with black wings kidnaps Penryn’s little sister, Penryn is determined to rescue her. Penryn has decided the best way to do this is to kidnap an injured angel from the scene of the crime and make him take her back to his aerie.

This book was okay. It was pretty typical YA post apocalyptic type of fiction. In this case rather than a nuclear disaster or a plague wiping out humanity it's a host of angels attacking from heaven that wipes out all the major cities. This isn’t ever explained very well and it seems like even the angels aren’t all that sure why they attacked the humans.

Penryn is an interesting character. She is small but tough. Penryn’s mother thinks that she (the mother) gets possessed by demons and is worried about hurting her daughter during one of her demonic episodes. As a result of this insanity Penryn has been trained to fight from a very young age. Penryn has this very practical attitude towards life and just kind of goes with everything. Her dedication to her family is admirable.

The other main character is the angel that Penryn rescues, Raffe. To be honest Raffe is kind of a pretencious jerk through the first part of the story...then again Penryn isn’t very nice to him. As the story continues we learn that Raffe is a complex set of secrets and has a very complicated history of his own.

There is a lot of grotesque and horrific stuff in here. Including cannibalism, genetic tampering/torture of small children, and of course angels attacking humans in brutal ways. There is actually quite a bit of talk about sex as well; the angels really love human women and Penryn is constantly in danger of being sexually assaulted. Needless to say it's an incredibly dark story with very little light or hope throughout.

The book was decently enough written, but this book just basically sets everything up. We don't ever get any resolution around anything by the end of the book. There is no explanation as to why the angels have attacked humanity, as to why humanity couldn't defend themselves, or even much explanation about the angels' society in general.

Then there is the whole star-crossed love thing going on between Penryn and the angel she saves. This kind of made me roll my eyes a bit. I get a bit sick of the tortured man forbidden to love a human girl thing that seems to be ever present in paranormal YA.

Overall I didn't really love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It was somewhat engaging and an okay read. I did like the idea of angels causing an apocalypse, that was creative and intriguing....however, why all this happens is never really addressed. Penryn is an okay heroine, but didn’t really stand out for me. The world is interesting but not all that well developed. I guess in general I am just a bit sick of post-apocalyptic YA and this book didn’t change my mind about that. So if you are a huge fan of post-apocalyptic YA I would tentatively recommend this to you. I personally will not be reading any more of this series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Audio Book Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge/a>
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Early Novella Review - Spartan Frost (Mythos Academy, Book 4.5) by Jennifer Estep (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 325 KB
Publisher: Kensington Books
Release Date: June 25, 2013
ASIN: B00BJPYGQE
Stand Alone or Series: 4.5th novella in the Mythos Academy series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is a Novella from the Mythos Academy world told from Logan’s POV, it takes place in between books 4 and 5. I got a copy of this novella to review through Netgalley(dot)com; thanks to Kensington and NetGalley for providing a copy for me to give an honest review of. This is kind of a take it or leave it novella; it adds a bit to the series but you aren’t missing much if you skip it either. This review does contain spoilers for previous book in the series, so you have been warned. You definitely do want to read the books prior to this one before reading this novella; it is not a stand alone kind of novella.

Logan almost killed Gwen while he was possessed by Loki and now he is trying to recover. He’s returned to his family home with his father and is trying to work out and refocus on what is important to him. Along the way he is drawn to some action against the Reapers with his father.

This book doesn’t really give us any insight into Logan’s thoughts about Gwen, which I was kind of hoping for. The part of Logan that this novella does fill out is Logan’s relationship with his father. So we do get to learn a bit about Logan’s past and how he interacts with his father. This was kind of nice and gave a little more depth to Logan as a character.

Gwen is mentioned a few times in passing but she is mostly absent from the story. Logan is staying away from his friends because he fears hurting them, like he did when he was possessed by Loki.

Overall this is pretty short little novella that gives us some additional background about Logan but definitely isn’t significant to the main story. If you are a huge fan of the series and want to know more about what Logan and his dad did when Logan left Mythos Academy then go ahead and give it a read. It’s a decent story just nothing all that profound. I am not sure it’s worth $1.59 to read and you definitely won’t be lost in Book 5 if you skip this little tale about Logan.

Early Review - Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Flux
Release Date: July 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0738736433
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for review
Rating: 4/5 stars


I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. Thanks to Flex and Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this book. What first drew me to this book was the stunning cover and title. I was convinced to read it after reading the synopsis about a girl who cannot feel emotions but sees them as people. This was a very interesting read, incredibly creative but I had some trouble with the plausibility of it all.

Elizabeth doesn’t feel any emotions; she is never happy, sad, angry, afraid...she doesn’t know why. It makes her family fear her and also makes it very hard to make friends. However she does see emotions as people. She will see Guilt and Resentment standing behind her abused mother, and Anger at her father’s shoulder. Sometimes she sees Courage standing at a boy’s back as her works up the courage to ask out a girl at school. All of the Emotions have given up on Elizabeth however...that is except for Fear. Fear is fascinated by Elizabeth and constantly visits her trying to scare her, he is obsessed and determined to find out what made her the way she is. As Fear helps Elizabeth unravel her past and the accident that made her this way, another mysterious figure starts showing up and warning Elizabeth to leave well enough alone.

This book has a very creative and interesting premise. The idea of Emotions being omnipresent entities that visit people to influence their reactions is really interesting.

The ambiguity of concept driving this book (emotions as people or the lack of Emotion) does lead to the book being a bit confusing at times and the idea of emotions being people seems a bit improbable. I had some trouble with the scenes where Elizabeth is describing the Emotions she sees around the classroom at school. She usually sees a few Emotions standing around at a time, which I thought was improbable. Wouldn’t you think a room full of teenagers would be packed from wall to wall with Emotions if Emotions were people? If you can get beyond this issue, then the book becomes a lot easier to read.

Elizabeth is an interesting heroine. She is pretty uninspiring in the beginning of the book. Since she has no emotions and doesn’t really react to anything, she is very hard to engage with. This is a bit of a flaw in the book, how do you get readers to engage with a heroine that is disengaged from everything? Still as Elizabeth unravels the mystery of her past she changes, and by the end of the book I found her to be a lot more interesting. Elizabeth has a horrible home life and lives with an incredibly abusive father. This was an interesting situation for an emotionless person to be in and it was interesting to see how Elizabeth dealt with the abuse when she really didn’t care about much beyond survival.

THe character that steals the show in this book is Fear. Of course Fear is sexy, dark, brooding, and dangerous...just like real fear. His determination to get Elizabeth to feel him and to unravel her secret past is fascinating. He is a very driven and emotional character, and of course a bit mysterious. The fact that everyone around Elizabeth acts...well....fearful when Fear is beside her makes for some interesting situations. Fear also likes to break the rules and mess with the universe in general. He was just an awesome character.

The other main male character, Josh, is a sweet cowboyish boy who has known Elizabeth forever and really cares for her. He is a bit vanilla but does truly stand by Elizabeth’s side when no one else will. He provided good balance to the rather crazy Emotions wandering around.

There is a lot of pain and sadness in this story. Elizabeth’s best friend, Maggie, is very sick with cancer throughout and that was very very sad to read about. What Elizabeth, her brother, and her mother go through because of their abusive father is also hard to read about. When the Emotion Nightmare enters the story there are graphic scenes of torture that were also very difficult to read. Lastly as Elizabeth uncovers her past she finds it steeped in more sadness and misery. Despite all the sadness the end of the book left me feeling hopeful and happy, so it all balanced out well.

The book was well written and easy to read. It was a very engaging story. Things wrap up nicely and there are some creative twists and turns. There is also some excellent imagery and description that really brings the story alive.

Overall I enjoyed this book. This book was incredibly creative and Fear was a wonderful character. The situations the emotionless Elizabeth are put into are very painful to read about, but they are also fascinating. This is one of those books that you will think back to after you finish reading it. The mystery of Elizabeth’s past is unraveled in way that well-paced and engaging. The only drawback to the story is that with all these ambiguous concepts the story gets a bit confusing at times. I definitely recommend this to fans of YA who are looking for something different to read and I am curious as to what Sutton will come up with in the future.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Debut Author Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna Dressed in Blood, Book 1) by Kendare Blake (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Horror
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: August 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-0765328658
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Anna Dressed in Blood series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

I have had this book sitting on my shelf to read for quite some time. I am going to be blunt and say I originally wanted to read this book because of the intriguing and hauntingly beautiful cover. Once I read the synopsis I found that the story sounded intriguing as well. I enjoyed this book, it was a like YA novel version of the Supernatural TV series. It never got too scary for me, but was still very creepy. There is a sequel to this book called Girl of Nightmares that has already been released.

Cas has inherited an interesting job from his father, he kills the dead. Cas is especially interested in killing the dead that are horribly violent and dangerous to the rest of humanity, these are the ghosts who rip people apart in the night or shove cars off of roads. Cas has been doing this job since his father was viciously killed one night and Cas inherited the knife that can damage the dead. Cas has a side mission to hunt down the ghost that murdered his father. As a result of this vocation Cas and his mom hop from place to place, going wherever the trail of dead lead them. That’s when Cas here’s about Anna, aka Anna Dressed in Blood. She haunts a house and what she does to the people who venture in there is truly disturbing. Little does Cas no that Anna is unlike any ghost he’s ever dealt with before.

This was a very well done book. Much of it reminds me of the Supernatural TV series, so if you enjoy that TV show I think you would enjoy this book. Cas and his mom have kind of inherited this ghost hunting thing from Cas’s dad. Cas does a lot of research about ghosts to find the ones that are dangerous, he also gets tips from some of his acquaintances. Of course beneath all of this you have Cas’s terrible desire for vengeance against the ghost that brutally murdered his father.

Cas is an interesting character. He’s kind of chameleon, he can fit in anywhere. He’s very good at blending in at high school and fitting in with the popular group right away because that is where he needs to be to get the information he needs to get. So it’s an interesting contrast. He’s a bit of a loner, yet everyone wants to hang out with him.

Anna is fascinating as well, she has a horribly tortured past and is an interesting mystery to unravel. She is a surprisingly engaging character and, despite her horribleness, you end up very attached to her by the end of the book.

There is a bit of high school drama here when Cas starts hanging with a popular girl, Carmel, and Carmel’s ex gets all bent out of shape. I enjoyed how Carmel, Cas, and Thomas end up joining together to figure out the mystery of Anna.

There is a lot of character development throughout. Cas goes from being a total loner to learning the value of having friends to back him up. Thomas and Carmel also change and mature a lot throughout the book as they learn to deal with the world Cas faces from day to day.

There is a lot of creepy stuff and gore in this book as well, but I never thought it was over the top or too scary. I enjoyed the level of creepy and there were a couple parts where I had this urge to hide under my covers because the suspense was just killing me.

The story is very well written and easy to read. I love that the text throughout the book is in a deep maroon color; it added to the creepiness. Part of the story is wrapped up very well, but the book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. I was happy to see that there is a sequel to wrap things up.

Overall this was a very well done YA horror/ghost story. I enjoyed it alot. I loved the complex characters and the way they grew and developed through the story. I love the whole theme of fighting off the dead who are killing humans. I also loved the idea of a horribly violent ghost that the reader can be sympathetic towards. There is some excellent mystery, some excellent creepy, and just wonderful moody writing in here. I really enjoyed it and strongly recommend to those who love YA horror. Things never got so gorey or creepy that I felt ill reading this book, but it was still enough to be spooky and scare me. Highly recommended, I am very excited to read Girl of Nightmares.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

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Review - If I Should Die (Revenants, Book 3) by Amy Plum (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 416 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062004031
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Revenants Trilogy
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the final book in the Revenants Trilogy. It was did an excellent job of wrapping up things nicely. I love how we are finally seeing Kate step up and take action.

The book starts exactly where the last book left off (at that horrible cliffhanger!). Kate is determined to find a way to save Vincent even though his fate seems sealed. Meanwhile Violette is gathering more and more numa in Paris in preparation for a final war with the good Revenants.

The majority of the story is spent with Kate and company trying to find a way to save Vincent’s soul somehow. This was actually really interesting and I enjoyed the crazy magic Bran performed and how everything worked out.

However this led to the whole epic battle between the good and bad Revenants being incredibly rushed, I mean seriously the main portion of the battle happens in 20 pages or something like that. So, that was a bit disappointing. There was a lot that happened in the last little bit of the book and it happened so fast that I was like...woah...seriously rushed here.

Kate is an excellent character. She continues to give off a “girl-next-door” type of vibe but she has also become more confident and seems to have found her purpose. Her relationship with Vincent is still a bit too lovey dovey for me. People who are huge fans of Kate/Vincent scenes might be a bit disappointed because they don’t get a ton of page space together...there is just too much else going on.

The main storyline was resolved well. It is pretty darn predictable, but there are a couple small twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I was hoping for some big surprises but there really weren’t any. That being said it was still a very engaging story. There was more mystery solving in this book as Kate and crew tried to hunt down a way to help Vincent and less action.

Although the main storyline was resolved there were a number of side characters with unresolved issues. The main one of these is Jules. He disappears for large portions of the story and seems to have things going on that we never get to hear about. I predict a offshoot of this series featuring Jules sometime in the future.

Overall this was a great conclusion to the series. It was entertaining and well written. I enjoyed the mystery behind trying to save Vincent and enjoyed the strong and capable girl Kate has become. I can’t say much else without spoilers, so I won’t. The story was a bit predictable though and the ending did feel pretty rushed. Still, overall I thought this was a creative series and I enjoyed it so I will definitely read more of Amy Plum’s works in the future. This is recommended to fans of YA paranormal books.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Early Review - Dance of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death, Book 2) by Bethany Griffin (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Steampunk
Size: 336 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062107824
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Masque of the Red Death series
Source: eGalley through Edelweiss
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the second and final book in the Masque of the Red Death duology by Griffin. I really loved both books in this series. I love the contrast between grime settings and beauty of the crazy world that is created here.

Araby is fleeing the city she loves so much with members of the Rebellion. They need to regroup and find a way to save their city. Araby wants to return to the city to find her father and hopefully a cure for April. Elliot on the other hand wants to raid the Prince’s palace so he can return to the city with much needed food and weapons. Both of them are determined to find a way to cure the Red Death and cleanse the city of its disease.

Griffin does such an excellent job with this world and with creating a bleak and dark atmosphere that is sprinkled with bright glimmers of beauty. This is a world of disease and grotesque beauty where even the smallest glimmers of good will and hope stand out brilliantly. The language throughout is beautiful and really made these scenes come alive for me.

In this book we learn more about the Red Death and about the disease that struck down the world before current time. We learn about Araby’s father’s involvement in the whole thing as well.

Much of this book is dedicated to Araby searching out her father while Elliot plots to take the city away from the Prince (his uncle). Along the way they must dodge the men of the man who has been terrorizing the city, who is Elliot’s father (although Elliot isn’t aware of this in the beginning of the book, Araby is). There is much rabble rousing and strategizing and a mystery to be solved about a mysterious machine that can drain the swamp away from the city.

There is still a love triangle going on between Araby, Elliot, and Will. I liked how all of this wrapped up; I thought it was appropriate and fit the story well.

I also liked Araby a lot more in this book than the last one; she is much less naive and takes more action. You can tell she is finally emerging from the depression that gripped her in the first book. While she dislikes the gore and death around her she never flinches from it and does what needs to be done. She still comes across as weak at times, but you can tell she is finally turning into someone she is comfortable with.

Griffin does a phenomenal job of giving the reader the unexpected; for example in the darkest and dankest of settings the characters will have some of the most tender and loving scenes while in the gilttery beauty of a ballroom the most awful and horrible things will happen. I really enjoyed the unexpected contrast in these scenes.

The story does have a bit of a steampunk feel to it; there are airships and clockwork mechanisms, as well as some tinkering with genetics. Society has reverted to Victorian type of sensibilities, so this also lends a bit of a steampunk vibe to the story. However this story is also one about a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by disease and about the people who try to survive in it. There is also a gothic feel to the story with all of the Victorian-like tragedy and talk of death.

I thought this book wrapped up the series well and did an excellent job doing it. The writing flowed well, was engaging, and the book was very easy to read. Mostly I just had trouble putting it down!

Overall an absolutely wonderful conclusion to this duology. I really enjoyed how Araby grew as a character and continue to love this dark and dreadful world. I also loved the beautiful writing and how Griffith often had beautiful things happen in horrible settings or visa versa; the contrast between beauty and tragedy was interesting and ironic. I definitely recommend this series to fans of YA books; this is a creative YA read that is a bit steampunk, a bit gothic, and a bit post-apocalyptic.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Get Steampunk’d Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Color Coded Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Early Review - Tides by Betsy Cornwell (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 304 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-0547927725
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 3/5 stars


I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. I am always interested in selkie mythology and was curious and interested in reading this book. It was a decent book but not spectacular. There is a lot of interesting selkie mythology in here but I didn’t find the characters to be all that engaging.

Noah and Lo are a brother and sister who go to live with their grandmother in her island home for the summer. Noah is working on a marine biologist internship there and Lo hopes to escape to a place where she can draw in peace. Once there they notice something strange about their grandmother’s friend. Things get even weirder when Noah finds out the beautiful girl he is drawn to is a selkie.

I really enjoyed the selkie mythology throughout the story. This was the best part of the story for me. Selkie mythology from various parts of the world is discussed and it was really interesting.

The book also explores some social issues but not in much depth. For example Noah’s grandmother and her female friend are lifetime partners, so there is some brief discussion on how hard to was to be a lesbian back in the day. Noah’s adopted sister Lo suffers from bulimia, so there is discussion about how Lo is fighting this horrible disease. None of the issues are explored in great depth, Lo’s bulimia does play a large role in the story though.

I had a lot of trouble engaging with the characters though. The point of view bounces from Noah, to Lo, to Mara (the young selkie), to Mara’s mom, to Noah’s professor, etc. The story ends up being fractured by all of the points of view and I feel like as soon as you start to engage with a character then suddenly you are reading from someone else’s POV.

I thought the story was a bit predictable and boring as well. Mara is searching for one of the lost Younglings and Noah is working with a marine biologist. Right from the beginning you can tell what is going on and what will happen. There were no twists and turns, the story was very simple and linear.

The writing was easy to read and the story wrapped up nicely. There were some very beautiful descriptions throughout the book as well. The setting is beautiful and has a very dreamy summer feel to it.

Overall this book was okay; it didn’t offend me in anyway but it didn’t really grab my attention either. It was just something to read and then set aside. While I enjoyed the selkie mythology, I found the story predictable, and the characters difficult to engage with. I would definitely recommend reading The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan if you are interested in selkie folklore, this book was an excellent YA read that I absolutely loved. While I probably won’t be reading any more of Cornwell’s books I can tentatively recommend this if you are really into reading about selkies; it’s an okay...if not inspiring story.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge
- Debut Author Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Size: 224 pages
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Release Date: May 10, 2005
ISBN: 978-0375832994
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 5/5 stars


I have been wanting to read this book forever. I’ve read a couple other books by Levithan (Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Every Day) and really enjoyed them. They are always quirky and fun reads that are heartfelt and entertaining. This book fit that perfectly. It’s quirky, fun, heartfelt, and a good commentary on life in general.

Paul has known he was gay since Kindergarten, he’s had a couple of boyfriends but he knows he has met his soulmate in Noah. Him and Noah are perfect together, with Noah at his side life makes sense. Then Paul blows it when he comforts his ex-boyfriend Karl with a kiss. As if things aren't bad enough Paul’s best friend Jodi has started going out with a colossal jerk and won’t even talk to Paul now. Thrown into the mix is poor Tony, Tony is trying to help everyone when really it’s him that needs help. Tony’s parents are absolutely convinced that he will go to hell if they can’t cure his gayness and he is so sick of dealing with that.

This is an absolutely hilarious and heartfelt read. It takes a humorous and endearing look at high school life and life in general. I was seriously laughing my butt off at a number of points in this book. Some of it is just so outlandishly funny.

Paul goes to a very quirky high school. No one has ever given him trouble about his gayness, the cheerleaders ride Harleys, and the star quarterback (who used to be Daryl) is now called Infinite Darlene and is also the Prom Queen. It is a crazy high school. It’s also surprisingly endearing because despite all the quirkiness it just works so well for all involved. Yes there is a lot of drama here, a lot of high school angst...but it’s dealt with in such a humorous way and with so much grace that it is just a wonderful read.

Paul is an incredibly unique character, he is solid in his identity in a way most people never are. His friends love him for it and are a bit jealous. Paul is always trying to fix everything for everyone, and is a bit blind when it comes to taking care of his own issues. His family is wonderfully supportive and funny too.

There are a lot of wonderful characters in here. They are all interesting, intriguing, and inherently trying to be good people.

As everything starts to fall apart for Paul be finally begins to doubt himself and despair...of course this is when his friends step it up and support him the most. Paul finds maybe that first everything had to fall apart before it could be put back together in a way that totally makes more sense.

Tony definitely deserves a shout out as an excellent side character in this book. He is secure in who his is but tired of his parents not accepting that. He makes some incredibly mature decisions throughout the book and really was an absolutely wonderfully wise and supportive character throughout the story.

Overall an absolutely fun and entertaining read. This is a funny, quirky, hilarious, and heartfelt book about a crazy high school where everyone is just trying to figure out who they are as people and find a way to be happy. This book is about love, friendship, life, and of course all the hilarity that ensues. It’s one of those books that just makes you feel happy and good to read. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book 1) by Rick Riordan (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 576 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Release Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1423113461
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Heroes of Olympus series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Riordan. There are five books planned for this series, the series is a spin-off from the Percy Jackson series and takes place after the last Percy Jackson book. I enjoyed the book, it was well done. If you enjoyed the Percy Jackson series I think you would enjoy this book as well. You don’t have to read the Percy Jackson series to understand what is going on in this book, however that series does provide a lot of excellent background for this new series.

I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed it. The narrator did an excellent job with the different character voices and with conveying the characters’ emotions. This book uses a different narrator than the Percy Jackson series which was a good idea for starting a new series like this. I would definitely recommend listening to this on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

The book is told from three points of view. Jason, Piper, and Leo all go to the Wilderness School for troubled children. Jason, however, has no memory of how he got there or who he is. Piper is the daughter of a famous actor and has a secret of her own. Leo can build things, pretty much out of nothing. All three of them end up at Camp Half-Blood and are sent on quest to help the Gods face a new and dangerous enemy.

This book was a solid addition to the extended Percy Jackson world. This book features a different set of characters. It's a bit formulaic, but I liked the Percy Jackson books so I am okay with more of the samish type of story done in a different sort of way.

All of the characters are very engaging, easy to relate to and interesting. They all have a lot of depth to them and have secrets and mysteries they need to unravel. As in the Percy Jackson books, all three of them need to figure out who their godly parent is.

They go on a quest to free Hera from capture and along the way find out they are facing an enemy even more dangerous than the Titans. I won’t say a lot more than that about the plot. As with previous books by Riordan there are lots of excellent action scenes and encounters with crazy and creepy mythological creatures. There is a lot of humor throughout as well which makes these books a fun read.

I pretty much liked all of the characters equally. It was nice to have part of the story from a girl’s (Piper’s) perspective. This should make the book a bit easier for young girls to relate to as well. I enjoyed the characters’ interesting powers too.

As I said above the layout of the book is very similar to other books Riordan has written; the characters get a quest, fight an evil monster, travel, fight another evil monster, travel to beat a tight timeline and then confront a very big bad monster. I enjoy the action and the mythological creatures, so I happen to enjoy the story even if it is similar in structure to previous ones.

I love how this books builds on the Percy Jackson series some. We do hear about the characters from the Percy Jackson series and they are in the story some. They don’t play a major part in the story, but they are there in the background and occasionally the foreground influencing events and helping out our new characters.

Overall this was a very enjoyable and entertaining read. I loved the expansion on the world we were introduced to in the Percy Jackson series. I enjoyed the new characters a lot and found them interesting and easy to engage with. I love the new plot and the new big bad enemy that these heroes have to face. I also enjoyed the mythological fights and creatures that we run into throughout the story. I definitely recommend this to fans of middle grade fantasy. I also recommend to anyone who enjoyed the Percy Jackson series. I can’t wait to read The Son of Neptune now!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Audio Book Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge