Book: Entice by Carrie Jones

Publishing Info: Bloomsbury USA; 266 pages in hardcover

Goodreads Summary: Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that’s not quite how things have worked out. For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he’s been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it’s taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla? And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there’s that other small problem: Zara’s been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn’t turned into just any pixie. . . She’s Astley’s queen.

I liked it.  Not as much as Need.  In fact, I’d say that I liked it as much as I liked Captivate.  To me, it felt like Captive and Entice were one book that was split into two.

Zara was slightly annoying in this one.  Not as annoying as Captivate, but she was still annoying.  Her need to save Nick was getting completely ridiculous.  No matter how hard she tried, she kept trying to get to Valhalla.  And of course, she makes it there, fights Frank, an evil pixie king that turns out to be Astley’s uncle, and manages to rescue Nick.  Who, of course, seems to be okay with the fact that Zara became a pixie to save him.  There’s no telling how long that will last, because his memories of Valhalla were wiped clean.

But back to Zara.  She is very determined to save Nick, I’ll give her that.  And things were not going her way, which was a nice change from other books, where things are wrapped up nicely.  But her insistence to get him out of Valhalla…I don’t know why, but something about it was off.  The battle against Frank was a little too nice, now that I think about it.

I wasn’t sure about Astley in Captivate, but he’s starting to grow on me.  He was very protective of Zara, and did whatever he could to help her.  He’s very interesting, and I want to know more about him, and whether he’s as good as he says he is, or if he’s hiding something.

The love triangle aspect didn’t really play out in this book, but so far, it’s turning out like any other love triangle I’ve read.  For once, though, I feel like it really could go either way.  It’s still pretty one-sided, but hopefully, it’ll be interesting.  I really can’t care about Nick anymore, with people and pixies dying left and right just so Zara can save him.

I give it a 3 out of 5.  Zara has some decisions to make in the next book, and while I didn’t love Entice, I still can’t wait to see what happens next.

Book: Captivate by Carrie Jones

Publishing Info: Published by Bloomsbury USA; 273 pages in hardcover

Goodreads Summary: Zara and her friends knew they hadn’t solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king’s needs grow deeper every day he’s stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It’s made him vulnerable. And now there’s a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he’s one of the good guys. Nick isn’t buying it, though Zara isn’t as sure — despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it’s a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It’s her life — and his.

I liked Captivate, but I think I liked Need better.

While I liked Zara and Nick’s relationship in Need, it was a little too corny and over the top for me.  And I didn’t like Zara as much either.  Her whole “I don’t want to be a pixie because they’re evil but in the end, I’m going to turn pixie to get Nick out of Valhalla even though he hates pixies because I need to save him and no one else can do it” thing was really annoying.  I was hoping that she wouldn’t turn pixie, but unfortunately, she did.

With a pixie war looming, this book felt like it was a setup for the next one, and there are hints at a potential love triangle in the next book.  She is Astley’s pixie queen, and Jones does get some credit for hinting at it to save everyone.  I have the feeling she might end up with Astley if there is a love triangle.  Oh, who am I kidding, that’s probably what is going to happen in the next couple books.  These pixies seem hellbent on having Zara as their pixie queen.

It was no surprise that Issie and Devyn ended up together, although it was surprising it didn’t happen in the first book.  Zara was complaining and whining a lot, Nick was super-protective, and Issie and Devyn were just there.  Cassidy and Astley were a breath of fresh air next to everyone else.

It does seem like Zara is (possibly) facing her fears, because she only recited phobias a few times.  I did miss it though.  And each chapter is now headed by a pixie tip, which was fun, because pixies are out to get Zara.  I liked how her skin would randomly turn blue and I liked the Norse mythology that was introduced.  Like the mysterious Valkyrie that appeared and eventually took Nick to Valhalla.

Overall, it gets a 3 out of 5.  I liked it, but Captivate was not very captivating.  I’m hoping the next one is better.

Book: All The Things You Are by Courtney Sheinmel

Publishing Info: Published by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing; 256 pages in hardcover

Goodreads summary: Twelve-year-old Carly Wheeler lives a charmed life. Her mother is a stylist for the soap opera Lovelock Falls, she lives in a nice house, and she goes to an excellent private school. But when Carly’s mom is arrested and charged with embezzlement, everything starts to unravel. There are shocking stories about her mother’s crimes in the local newspaper. Carly’s friends start avoiding her. And her stepfather starts worrying about money. How can Carly put her life back together when it feels like she’s missing all the pieces?

This book was just okay for me.  I know I was supposed to feel bad for Carly, but I just didn’t care that she was going through a hard time.  Overall, I just couldn’t muster up any kind of sympathy or emotion for Carly, her family, and her friends.  It was hard to relate to, as far as a close relatively embezzling money to support me goes.  I guess I can relate to wondering if I can trust people after they’ve betrayed it, but the book just felt bland.

There wasn’t a lot of emotion in it, and I was really bored.  Schinmel did a lot more telling than showing, and I was bored out of my mind reading about what Leigh (Carly’s mom) court case was like.  I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, and unfortunately, it didn’t get interesting.

I did like that Carly learns things like forgiveness and who her real friends are.  And her stepfather did stick by her, even though he didn’t have to.  She calls him Faux Pa, which was cute the first few pages, but by the end of the book, it got way too cutesy and annoying.

It gets a 2 out of 5.  It was okay, but a little bit younger than I was expecting.

Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 14 by Natsuki Takaya

Publishing Info: Published by Tokyopop; 192 pages in paperback

Goodreads summary: Isuzu loves snooping through Shigure’s life, especially when she’s totally convinced that he is hiding something. But when Tohru finds a passed-out Isuzu in the house, she tries to drag Isuzu to the hospital. Meanwhile, Yuki goes to the ASB student council room only to find it trashed again! But as the secrets if who vandalized the room come out of the closet. Yuki accidentally gets locked in one. Who will be the one to help him get out? 

I love the storyline, and how determined Tohru is to break the curse.  She’s a pretty sunny person, but she seemed almost angry when talking to Rin about breaking the curse.  Things are progressing quite nicely, and Yuki is really starting to realize things.  Like the fact that he likes Tohru because he’s been looking for a mother.  The sidenotes were pretty interesting.  Takaya was talking about how she came up with most of the names for the 12 members of the zodiac.

I’m really impressed with the artwork, which is so expressive and has the right amount of detail.  But that shouldn’t be a surprise since I’ve been saying that since Volume 1.  Speaking of artwork, the fan art is pretty impressive too.  It’s amazing what the fans have come up with.  And we learn about the Year Of The Rooster in this volume.

Volume 14 gets a 5 out of 5.  Fruits Basket continues to impress me!

Book: A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Publishing Info: Published by Simon and Shuster; 403 pages in hardcover

Goodreads Summary: A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy–jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.

Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions “for a bit of fun” and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the “others” and rebuild the Order.

A Great And Terrible Beauty was a really interesting.  I loved the relationships between Gemma, Ann, Pippa and Felicity.  They felt very real, and seemed accurate for something set in a boarding school in the Victorian era.  They were pretty rebellious for a group of girls in the Victorian era, and they seemed slightly out of place, as did one of their teachers.  I’m not doubting that there were women who didn’t conform to what society expected, but it was a nice change from a lot of other protagonists.  And overall, it felt very Victorian and very Gothic.

It’s a pretty engaging book once you get past the first few chapters.  It’s also a lot funnier than I expected.  Gemma is certainly an interesting, likeable character.

I liked the idea of the other realm, and that even in a fantasy world, there are consequences to our actions.  I felt like we got glimpes of the other realm, instead of a backstory, but overall, the other realm was an interesting escape.

It gets a 3 out of 5.  It’s well-written and an interesting read.

Book: Privilege by Kate Brian

Publishing Info: Published by Simon Pulse; 291 pages in hardcover

Goodreads Summary: Ariana Osgood ruled exclusive Easton Academy — until she was arrested for murdering Thomas Pearson. She’s spent the past two years at the Brenda T. Trumbull Correctional Facility for Women plotting her escape and is determined to get a second chance at the glamorous life she left behind. And Ariana will do anything to get her way….

I liked it a lot more than I expected.  It’s fast-paced, enjoyable, and not as predictable as I thought it would be.  Ariana is really messed up- she has no problem killing people to get what she wants and thinks she deserves.

Ariana wasn’t sympathetic, and it was nice to see a character who is not supposed to be portrayed sympathetically.  The ending wasn’t a surprise at all, but if it had ended any other way, it would have been a little too unbelievable.  I did like that Kaitlynn used Ariana to get out of prison.  It was a little unexpected, but it wasn’t a huge surprise either.

There were some things that didn’t make sense to me at all.  Like Ariana thinking about her life before ending up at the Trumbull Correctional Facility, and killing the people who betrayed.  After doing a little research, I found out that this series is a spin-off of another one.  It was still easy to follow, and I could fill in the gaps (sort of) but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had started reading the other series first.  It would certainly be easier to understand how Ariana got to the point where she ended up in jail.

I have to give it a 3 out of 5.  I liked it, but felt like I was missing the details of Ariana’s life.  It also felt a little like a soap opera.

Book: Matched by Allie Condie

Publishing Info: Published by Dutton Juvenile; 366 pages in hardcover

Goodreads summary: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate… until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. 

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Matched was a really interesting book.  I was struck by how much it reminded me of The Giver.  A society that has 100 poems, 100 songs, and 100 history lessons so that people don’t get overwhelmed?  A society that matches your spouse for you?  Dying at the age of 80 because that’s a good age to die?  Definitely a society that reminds me of The Giver.

I was really intrigued with her idea, though.  The idea that the Society controls every aspect of your life, and having no input whatsoever, is scary.  For Cassia and everyone around her, it’s completely normal to have everything decided for them.  No one questions it or goes against it.  But Cassia slowly starts to see that there could more than one path for her.

I’m getting a little tired of love triangles, and unfortunately, it looks like they’ll be hanging around for a while.  Condie clearly wants us to want Cassia and Ky to be together, but I can’t really like him.  Sure, he’s interesting, mysterious and off-limits to Cassia, but she’s ignoring her childhood best friend and match, Xander.  Cassia doesn’t seem all that happy she was matched with Xander, especially when Ky appeared on her screen for a couple seconds.  Poor Xander- not only is he not as developed as Ky, but he doesn’t really stand a chance.

I like that Cassia slowly starts to see that things could be different, but I HATE that she starts to question things because of a boy.  At least there wasn’t much romance in the book.  However, her focusing on Ky was annoying given that she kept reminding herself that Xander was her match.

It moved pretty slow, so it’s probably laying the groundwork for the next book.  I wish Condie had mentioned how the Society was formed and how they got to the point that they had to control everyone’s move.  Perhaps it is mentioned in the next book?

Still, I found the book really interesting.  I can’t imagine have to narrow things down to just 100, or having to match people.  I thought the world was really interesting, even though it wasn’t mentioned how they got that way.  Everything was very orderly, and there was a place for everything.  I wouldn’t want to live in such a regimented society, but who knows what I’d actually do if I had to live in such a world?

It gets a 4 out of 5.  It’s well-written and things are not as perfect as they seem.