Early Review - Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (2.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 384 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0374372835
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Struck series
Source: eARC through NetGalley.com
Rating: 2.5/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. It sounded like a really interesting premise. While it started out pretty interesting; the characters and the story degenerated into your pretty typical paranormal-type YA book. In the end it was an okay story but nothing special.

Mia is addicted to lightening. She's been struck a number of times and has suffered some injuries but has never died from her numerous run-ins with lightening. Her, her mother and her brother live in Los Angeles now. A huge earthquake has happened and Mia and her family are trying to eke out an existence among the rubble. Her mother is out-of commission dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome caused by what she survived during the quake and is becoming increasingly obsessed with a man named the Prophet who is recruiting people to join his Followers. Mia's brother is being pulled towards a cult-like group that opposes the Followers called the Seekers. Mia is stuck in between them and is having run-ins with a mysterious boy named Jeremy who is warning her to stay away from both groups.

The idea of humans being struck by lightening and gaining super-human-like powers from the lightening strikes is an interesting one. Having the whole story set after a huge quake which precedes the supposed end of days provided an excellent setting for the story.

The above being said I had a lot of problems with this book. Mia as a character is nothing outstanding, in fact none of the characters in this book stand out all that much. Mia is constantly warned over and over not to do things and does them anyway. The book was basically a chain of Mia doing stupid things that resulted in bad things happening. I don't mind tragic heroines, but I have trouble reading about stupid ones.

Now lets discuss Jeremy and Mia's relationship. Jeremy has that stalkerish like behavior that for some reason is portrayed quite frequently in YA literature. He is looking into Mia's windows and constantly standing outside her house. That's okay though because Mia is inexplicably drawn to him. If this instant love of Mia for stalker-Jeremy isn't bad enough it gets worse. When Mia discovers that Jeremy was the one standing above her bed with a knife trying to kill her she gets a little angry. Does she avoid this creepy-boy? No, she falls in love with him and starts making out with him. I guess if people trying to kill you is what does it for you...but seriously what is up with this kind of relationship? Are these the kind of role-models we want YA readers to read about...seriously?

I wish I could say that was the end of the rant but it's not. This story is basically about two groups vying for Mia's "powers". The Followers and the Seekers. The Followers are uber-religious freaks who want the world to end because we are all sinners. The Seekers are uber-anti-religious freaks who want to save humanity I think...actually I am not sure of their agenda...the only thing made really clear about the Seekers is that they hate the Followers. If you are religious or non-religious you will find parts of this book offensive. Personally I don't care one way or the other, I just don't like reading books with a overly-religion driven plotline. So yeah, I pretty much thought all the fire and brimstone sermons were a bummer to read through. I didn't really enjoy anything that drove this story.

The book is decently written, the plot is pretty simple, but technically there was nothing wrong with it. It seems like a fairly self-contained story; everything was well wrapped-up.

Overall this book just wasn't for me. There is nothing technically wrong with it. The characters are so-so, there is that wonderful teenage boy stalks teenage girl and she likes it thing going on (which I can't stand), and the plotline is heavily religious but not really pro-religion (so there should be things in here to offend people from both camps). In general I was just disappointed, this could have been an awesome book...there are some really awesome ideas in here. Instead you get some typical YA themes with some lackluster characters. I would steer clear of this book and read some other apocalyptic YA like Blood Red Road, Hunger Games or Divergent.

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

Audiobook Review - Ex-Patriots (Ex-Heroes, Book 2) by Peter Clines (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Super Hero
Size: 310 pages 
Publisher:   Permuted Press  
Release Date: September 4, 2011
ISBN:  978-1934861875 
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Ex-Heroes series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the Ex-Heroes series by Clines.  I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was incredibly well done.  They have different actors for the characters and the story is very well done.  I thought this book was even better than the first book, I really enjoyed it.  The third book in this series, Ex-Commincation, is tentatively scheduled for a December 2012 release.

St. George the Mighty Dragon, Stealth, Zzzap, and Cerberus have been doing their best to protect the citizens of the Mount from the Ex-Humans dwelling outside of the Mount’s walls.  Food is growing scarcer but things are going okay.  That is until the military shows up with the supersoliders.  The military claims they want to help the people of the Mount and join forces with Stealth and crew to protect humans and re-build America.  But seriously, have you ever heard of the military being good and helpful after an apocalypse?

This book was even better than the first.  Like the first book it goes between Then and Now.  The Then parts tell the story of the creation of the super-soldiers.  The Now parts tell about the superheroes dealings with the military.  The plot was put together better than the first book, more complex and interwoven, and really action packed which was very engaging.  We get to know our favorite super-heroes even better and I enjoyed every second of it.

What really impressed with this book were the layers of deception.  Stealth and crew encounter so many layers of deceit as they deal with the army; nothing ends up as you think it will and everything is more complex than it first seems.  Even though St. George is willing to give the army the benefit of the doubt as a reader you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time.

Our favorite super-heroes all grow to some extent in this story (as much as can be expected in a pulp-fiction kind of story like this).  Stealth is learning to act more human and Ceberus is dealing with her fear of being out of her armor.  All of them are pushed to the very limits of their powers, yet always seem to be just powerful enough.   A lot of the action scenes were very awesome and it was wonderful to Stealth in full battle-mode...she kicked butt a number of times.  

We meet some great new characters.  The Driver is introduced, he can take over machinery and wear it like a body.  We also meet the lead super-soldier Captain Freedom; he was a bit too cookie-cutter Captain America for me...but it worked for the story.  I hope he developes into a more interesting character in future installments.

The story wraps up nicely, as with the first book, and I can't wait to read future installments.  These books have been fun action-packed reads set in an interesting post-apocalyptic zombie-infested world.  They are well done and just plain fun.

Overall I enjoyed this installment in the Ex-Heroes series.  These are fun books, well-written, and just plain entertaining.  The audiobook quality was exceptional.  We get to see our favorite superheroes at the top of their game, lots of action, and a fast-paced and unpredictable plot add to the enjoyment.  We also get to meet some great new characters.  I enjoyed this book.  I recommend to people who like action packed super-hero stories.  This is also a good book for all those zombie fans out there. 


 This book goes towards the following reading challenges: 
- Zombie Reading Challenge 
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge 
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop

Thanks for stopping by the Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop.  This hop is being hosted by: Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and vvb32reads.

The prize for this giveaway is an advanced reading copy of The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.  Please fill out the form below to enter.  Also please make sure to check out the linky below to visit other great sites participating in this hop.

One of my favorite fairy tale characters is Sorcha from Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest.  This book is based on the Grimm's fairy tale The Six Swans or The Wild Swans.  I have always loved this fairy tale in all of its variations.

The fairy tale itself is sweet, terrifying, and so sad in a number of ways.  The bonds between family and lovers talked about in interesting and thoughtful ways.  Marillier did an excellent job portraying this character in Sorcha.  Sorcha has to go through excruciating pain and torture in order to save her family.  Sorcha confronts her problems with a silent and determined strength that is admirable.  Through it all she never looses her sense of self and never gives in to despair.  It is a beautiful story, with a lot of sadness but also a lot of hope.  I remember reading it and being absolutely enchanted with Sorcha and her silent strength. Just talking about it makes me want to pick it up to read again!

The Swan Princes by Anne Anderson

Waiting on Wednesday - 4/25

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my Waiting on Wednesday book is Night's Engines (The Nightbound Land, Book 2) by Trent Jamieson.  Click on the image to go to Amazon and read more about this book.

Night's Engines (The Nightbound Land, Book 2)

Release Date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Angry Robot
Length: 432 pages
ISBN:  978-0857661876 

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

"The conclusion of the Nightbound Land duology. The Roil has not yet been defeated – and the Roil extends its grip on Shale, following the commands of the Dreaming Cities.

Wars will be fought. Doomsday weapons employed. And night will fall."

Review - Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice, Book 7) by John Flanagan (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Middle Grade

Genre: Fantasy
Size: 384 pages 
Publisher:   Puffin 
Release Date: September 6, 2011
ISBN:  978-0142415252  
Stand Alone or Series: 7th book in the Ranger's Apprentice series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the seventh book in the ten book Ranger's Apprentice series.  Like all of the previous books, this book was a solid middle grade fantasy book.  Nothing epic happens but the story is well-put together, features great characters that are very heroic, and has just enough humor to keep things light.

This book goes back in time from the Seige of Macindaw.  This is the right before Will was given his Silver Oak Leaf and made a full Ranger.  Will is concerned about his upcoming test for full Ranger status.  Halt is getting married and is concerned about loosing his apprentice Will.  All of the characters' concerns must be set aside when they are given the task of accompanying the Princess to neighboring lands to ransom Erak, the Skandian Oberjarl whom Will and crew befriended.

It was interesting to read some filler about the time in between The Battle for Skandia and The Sorcerer from the North.  I was a little irritated that Flanagan couldn't have provided this story in the correct order, but I like things orderly...so don't let that prevent you from reading this book.

Like all of these books the story is pretty straight-forward and an easy read.  There is enough humor throughout to keep things light and make you laugh a bit.  If you are up to book seven you already know that all of these characters are likable, admirable, yet very human.  They all make some mistakes but through a combination of heroic action, luck, and smart-thinking they are able to pull through.

It was interesting to watch these characters in a completely different climate.  Watching the Rangers navigate through desert sands and suffer through sandstorms was interesting.  In fact Will's almost fatal mistake is caused because of his unfamiliarity with his surroundings.

The plot doesn't go much outside the main goal of rescuing Erak.  Will and Halt both learn things about themselves along the way and become better people for it.  I did like having Princess Cassandra (Evelyn) along; she has a lot of fire to her character and was a lot of fun to read about.

Overall another great addition to this well-written and very solid fantasy series.  These books aren't all that creative and the storyline isn't epic; but they are great adventurous fantasy reads about characters going about their duties in a heroic and admirable way.  Definitely great for younger readers, I think even adults who are fantasy fans will be enchanted by the solid writing, the human-like characters, the humor, and the well thought-out world.  Recommended for fans of fantasy adventure reads.

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

Review - The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Middle Grade

Genre: Humor/Fantasy

Size:  448 pages
Publisher:  Walden Pond Press  

Release Date: May 1, 2012 

ISBN:  978-0062117434
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone

Source: ARC from Amazon Vine

Rating: 3/5 stars

I got an advanced reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program.  I was super excited to read this book.  It sounded like a lot of fun and I love fairy tale retellings.  I ended up not liking it that much.  The dialog and characters went beyond funny to the point where they were very campy.  This book is a really neat idea, but the execution of the story needs some work.

That Prince Charming you hear about...well he's not really Prince Charming.  He's actually Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan, and Prince Gustav.  These princes are in the doghouse with their respective Princesses and end up on a journey together in which they encounter various baddies and save the kingdom from a witch who steals bards to gain notoriety.

This is a really cool idea.  I love funny, fairy tale mixups and this seemed like a wonderful concept.  The book has a light tone and doesn't take itself seriously.  Unfortunately I had some serious problems with both the plot and the characters.

Let's start with the characters.  Prince Liam is your typical hero; rescues things and is your all around good-boy.  Prince Frederic is the resident fop; he dresses to the nines, loves planning picnics and is scared to set foot outside his castle.  Prince Duncan is the token space cadet; he is eternally distracted, names random woodland creatures, and is generally completely random in everything he does.  Prince Gustav is the strong man; always rushes into danger, tries to be manly, and disdains everyone.

So that's quite a variety of personalities and initially looks like a lot of fun.  Except that it's not.  The princes are just stereotyped personalities; we never really get to know and understand them.  They are very one-dimensional and the things that drive them incredibly simple.  I realize this is a children's book.  As such I sat down and read some of this with my 5 year old son...I thought maybe I am missing something here that he will get.  We read a few chapters and his response was "Mom, why are all these guys so stupid?"  My response; "I don't know...I guess being quirky means you have to be an idiot."

The princesses aren't much better.  Ella is your typical sheltered girl seeking a life of adventure.  Briar Rose is your typical "everyone should love me because I am a princess no matter how mean I am" variety.  Every character in here is an overdone stereotype.  It was just soooo over the top it crossed funny and splatted into just plain dumb region.

The plot isn't much better.  It switches viewpoint between the various princes, the witch, and the princesses.  As can happen with multiple POV's, this breaks the story up and makes it less engaging.  Then you find out the whole story is focused on these four doofus prince's rescuing bards from a witch who wants attention.  I mean seriously?  This is supposed to be a heroic quests for the Princes to redeem themselves....it doens't even really make sense.  Let's just say the climax of the story was a let down.

I think there is supposed to be a message in here about liking who you are no matter what anyone else thinks.  The message comes across more as "If you are a loser you will always stay a loser no matter how much you try to change things."

Geez...looking back at what I wrote I guess I really didn't like this book.  I am trying to be positive, but I guess there just wasn't much I liked here.  The book was a serious drag to get through; I struggled through the inane characters and lackluster plot page by page determined to finish.  The writing isn't technically bad, but the story and characters just didn't do anything for me (or my younger son).

Overall definitely not my favorite read.  The concept is super neat, it's really a great idea.  The execution fell flat.  The book crosses funny and ends up being just plain..well..boring.  The plot isn't engaging and the characters are overdone characterizations of characters we've seen many times.  I wanted to love this book, I wanted to laugh and be entertained...instead I ended up rolling my eyes in disgust.   I won't be reading any future books from this author.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges: 

- 150+ Books Reading Challenge 
- Debut Author Reading Challenge

Early Review - The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, Book 1) by Julie Kagawa (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopia

Size: 512 pages
Publisher:   Harlequin Teen

Release Date: April 24, 2012 

ISBN:  978-0373210510
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Blood of Eden series

Source: eARC through NetGalley.com

Rating: 5/5 stars

I loved Kagawa's Iron Fey series, she put a grittiness into her writing that no other YA faerie novels had.  So I was super excited to get an eARC for The Immortal Rules through NetGalley(dot)com for review.  This was a very well done book; much different and for a slighly older audience than her Iron Fey series but well-done and creative.


Allison lives in the Fringe of a vampire city.  She refuses to Register with the Vampire Nobles to give blood to them and wants to live free.  Life as an Un-Registered is tough though and, on a run to get food in the dangerous land outside the city, shen is attacked and mauled by Rabids.  A vampire that happens to be near by gives her a choice, die or be turned.  Allison doesn't want to die but can she face life as the very thing she hates with such vengence?  When Allison seeks to run away from her own vampire nature she joins up with a group of humans who are seeking the mysterious cure to the illness that drove humans mad and made the Rabids.


This book is an interesting mish-mash of genres.  It takes place in a very dark and dank post-apocalyptic setting.  The Rabids are basically zombies of a sort, they are filled with mindless hunger and attack and eat anything the moves.  The illness that turns things into Rabids makes them bleed from their eyes (which is creepy and slightly disturbing).  Then there is the vampire part of the story which gives the story a bit of Dystopian feel; the vampires seem to be some sort of genetic mutation or other race that takes over when humanity is on its last legs. They provide humanity protection and food for a price.  Oh yeah and these aren't sparkly vampires, these vampires are viscous and downright dangerous.  Allison also spends a good portion of the book in a group of human survivors and that portion is very much survivalist; they are trying to survive however they can.


So there is a lot to take in here.  This is a very complex world with a lot of problems and strange things going on.  It's a lot to absorb and the beginning is a bit of an info dump...I didn't mind that too much though because it was interesting.  This book reminds me of a lot of different things.  The main story line reminds a bit of Vampire Hunter D; humans are the minority after a huge life-ending event and Vampires rule in the post-apocalyptic world.  There is a bit of Mad Max here too; Allison runs into a Vampire City that has a very post-apocalyptic-punk feel to it if you know what I mean.


Romance is a driver here, but not a huge driver...not like it was for the Iron Fey.  Allison and Zeke are drawn to each other and grow to respect and even love one another, but that doesn't stop Allison from doing what needs to be done.  The characters are more driven by the events that surround them than by their feelings...personally I liked this but other die-hard Iron Fey fans might feel differently.


Everything said and done I have a hard time reviewing this book because I wasn't drawn to any of the characters.  I loved, loved, loved the world.  I loved the complexity of it.  I loved the mystery behind the rogue vampire that turned Allison, but he wasn't present for very long.  Allison herself I had trouble with, she does a lot of bad things, but she is a survivor above anything else...so sometimes if you are a survivor you aren't the most admirable person.  Zeke was a bit too bible-beating for me, although he changed as the story continued.


This story is much grittier than The Iron Fey series so readers should be aware of that.  There is more violence, more gore, and beatings.  People are struggling to survive here and that makes people violent and desperate.  As such, I would probably recommend for older young adults.  I did find the story completely engaging and I thought it ended in a great spot.


Overall I enjoyed the story.  I think this series may become something exceptional, but I am withholding judgement for now.  I loved this world to death and loved the mishmash of genres.  It reminds of Vampire Hunter D and has a bit of Mad Max in it too.  I had trouble liking the characters though and the story moved a bit slower than I expected; there is a lot of info dumping especially in the beginning of the story.  Don't get me wrong this was a great book and I look forward to the next one.  I recommend for older young adults and older who are interested in post-apocalyptic stories.  I am definitely looking forward to the next Blood of Eden book.


This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
-  Dystopia Reading Challenge
- Zombie Reading Challenge
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge