Book: The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

Expected Publication For The S-Word is May 7, 2013 by Gallery Books|Pages: 322

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Goodreads|Chelsea Pitcher’s Website

A Note: The S-Word is an e-ARC from netgalley.com and it has not influenced my review in any way

Summary: First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie’s looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she’s caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie’s own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

I went into The S-Word thinking I’d really like it- as much as one could like a book about someone dealing with their best friend’s suicide.  I found that it was hard to get into The S-Word.

It didn’t feel like Angie and Lizzie were best friends during the time leading up to Lizzie’s betrayal.  It felt more like Angie and Lizzie were best friends in elementary/middle school and Angie regretted not being Lizzie’s friend in high school.  I know Angie saw her best friend and her boyfriend in bed together, but she didn’t seem upset about what she saw.  And she really didn’t seem to upset about Lizzie’s death.

It felt very much like a mystery as Angie tries to figure out who’s passing out pages from Lizzie’s diary.  However, it was Angie from the very beginning, because she didn’t want anyone to forget about what they did to Lizzie.  I can’t say I’m surprised by this turn of events, but I did find it refreshing that Angie made sure people didn’t forget about what they did to Lizzie.  Normally, with a book that is about someone who’s dealing with the suicide of a loved one, it’s them trying to move on and cope with what happened…so it’s nice to see a book where that doesn’t happen.  Angie’s “investigation” felt a little forced, and for me, it was a little too unbelievable.

As far as issues go, there was too much going on.  There’s bullying, slut-shaming (sort of), suicide, rape (mentioned), sexual assault (also mentioned) and sexuality…it was just too much, and I felt like there was supposed to be a overall message about…something.  I’m not quite sure what, because there was enough going on with “issues” that I wasn’t sure what message Pitcher was aiming for.  I felt like any message Pitcher was going for was overshadowed by Angie’s revenge.

Angie’s revenge didn’t work for me either.  She talks about how horrible people were to Lizzie before her death, and how people only seemed to care after Lizzie died…which also describes Angie, but unlike everyone else, Angie did have reason to not like Lizzie.  Of course, it’s no reason to treat someone the way they treated her, but sadly, it does happen.

Lizzie’s diary was a nice touch, because we see Lizzie through her own eyes, instead of through the eyes of everyone around her.  But even that diary didn’t completely work for me, because Lizzie came across as 13 of 14 instead of the 17 or 18 she was supposed to be.

However, I will say that the characters felt pretty realistic, and that some of the events in the book felt pretty realistic too.  I can imagine a lot of the characters/events actually happening.

Final Thoughts:

The S-Word didn’t work for me.  However, I did like how realistic the book felt.  I do like the cover, which goes really well with the book- and I like the simplicity of it.  The S-Word gets 1 star.

Book: Amity & Sorrow: A Novel by Peggy Riley

Published April 2013 by Little, Brown And Company|Pages: 249

Series: None

Genre: Adult Fiction

Goodreads|Peggy Riley’s Website

A Note: Amity & Sorrow is an e-galley from netgalley.com, which has not influenced my review in any way

Summary: A mother and her daughters drive for days without sleep until they crash their car in rural Oklahoma. The mother, Amaranth, is desperate to get away from someone she’s convinced will follow them wherever they go–her husband. The girls, Amity and Sorrow, can’t imagine what the world holds outside their father’s polygamous compound. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of Bradley, a farmer grieving the loss of his wife. At first unwelcoming to these strange, prayerful women, Bradley’s abiding tolerance gets the best of him, and they become a new kind of family. An unforgettable story of belief and redemption, AMITY & SORROW is about the influence of community and learning to stand on your own.

I was really intrigued by Amity & Sorrow, but it turned out to be an okay read.

I like the whole concept of the novel.  2 girls who grew up in a cult, and unable to imagine a life outside of that, and seeing them try to make sense of a world different than the one they grew up in…definitely intriguing, but it was also hard to get into this world.  I liked the traditional-ness of everything…but they world they left had just enough similarities to the one they found made it less interesting because there wasn’t enough of a contrast.

One thing I was trying to figure out was the timeline.  It felt like it was happening in present time…but something about the rural setting made it seem like it was happening in times past.

The narration didn’t work for me- it seemed like it alternated between Amity and Amaranth.  We see Sorrow through their eyes, although there were times when it felt like we just saw Sorrow.  It always took a couple pages to adjust to whoever was narrating, because there wasn’t anything to indicate that there were several narrators in terms of chapter headings.

I did like the flashbacks of Amaranth’s past, and I wish we saw more of her life in the cult and what drew her to it.  They all had intriguing stories, especially Sorrow and Amity.  Sorrow because of her role as Oracle, and Amity because things seem to be all about Sorrow.  As interesting as the characters seemed to be, nothing really stood out to me, and while interesting, they weren’t as interesting as they could have been.

Also, while it’s a fairly straightforward story, something about Amity & Sorrow seems jumbled and confusing.  I did want a little bit more about their lives before leaving because as it is, it was hard to care about their life after when I didn’t know much about their life before.  Being able to see how different their lives really were before and after would have made the novel a little more interesting for me.

Final Thoughts:

I don’t have much to say about Amity & Sorrow.  I liked the concept, and found that there’s a lot of potential for the characters.  For me, it was hard to connect with the characters, and I wanted them to be a little more developed.  Amity & Sorrow just wasn’t the book for me.  Amity & Sorrow gets 2 stars.

Book: My Soul To Steal by Rachel Vincent

Published January 2011 by Harlequin|Pages: 304

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: Soul Screamers #4

Genre: YA Paranormal

Goodreads|Rachel Vincent’s Website

Summary: Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

I really am glad I liked My Soul To Steal.  Things are certainly interesting for Kaylee and Nash because they’re not together and because of Sabine, who I really didn’t like.  I get that Kaylee is having trouble with the whole dragon’s breath thing, and I don’t blame her.  But…her not wanting Nash to be with Sabine and yet not wanting to let him go…it was frustrating to read.  She needs space and time, loves Nash while not being there when he needed her, and not wanting him to be with anyone else while she makes up her mind.

Kaylee definitely was not a goody-goody and she was all paranoid.  I totally get her paranoia and her struggle with trying to forgive Nash.  Part of me was frustrated (like I just said) but part of me wanted her to have the chance to work through it on her own with no distractions.  So, naturally, there are distractions- like Sabine, who Nash apparently never really broke up with, and Avari working with another hellion and them taking over the school to get to Kaylee and to Sabine, who is, literally, a Nightmare.  And it was rather smart of the hellions to set it up so that Kaylee blamed Sabine for everything.  I should have seen that one coming.

I don’t think Sabine is going anywhere, and it’s interesting that Kaylee is the only one who doesn’t like Sabine.  They don’t get along to the point that Nash refuses to talk to both of them because of how they were acting.  Sabine definitely has a lot of issues, so while I’m not her biggest fan, it’ll be interesting to see where her story goes in the rest of the series.  I didn’t like her methods, but I did understand where she was coming from.

We see Nash, but it’s not a lot of him, so while we hear Sabine’s side of what he’s going through. we don’t actually see it for ourselves.  We do see a lot of Tod, which was actually really nice.  I’m not sure if Vincent iss headed in the direction of a love triangle, but right now…if it were to happen…I think I’d be Team Tod.  As much as I like Nash, I’m kind of liking Kaylee and Tod.  Kaylee’s still trying to figure out the whole Nash thing, so something with Tod might not even happen.

What’s interesting is that Tod tells Kaylee to let Nash go, because he’s hurting and to let him be with Sabine.  I’m interested in seeing where this goes, and what Kaylee decides to do.  In all honesty, I get why Nash’s friendship with Sabine picks up where it left off several years earlier.  He needs a friend, and Sabine’s there for him to talk to, which is more than you can say for other characters.  And while I’m being slightly hard on Kaylee, I get that her feelings are being heightened by what’s going on at school with the hellions.

And Alec!  That was definitely an interesting part of the book, and I sort of liked having him around.  I can’t wait to see if he makes another appearance!

Final Thoughts:

I don’t have much to say about My Soul To Steal, but I did really enjoy it.  I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than My Soul To Keep, and overall, I can’t wait to see where things are headed.  My Soul To Steal gets 4 stars.

Book: The Last Echo by Kimberley Derting

Published April 2012 by HarperCollins|Pages: 368

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: The Body Finder #3

Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery

Goodreads|Kimberly Derting’s Website

Summary: In the end, all that’s left is an Echo.

Before, Violet’s morbid ability to sense the dead led her to uncover dark murders and long-buried secrets in her small town. Now that she’s working with a special investigative team, Violet hopes she can help even more people—whether by saving a life or catching a killer.

Although she’s relieved to finally be honest about what she can do, her instant connection with her mysterious partner, Rafe, is both confusing and unsettling, and their unique bond creates tension with her boyfriend, Jay. When she discovers the body of a college student murdered by “the collector,” Violet refuses to give up on the case. With her own relationship on the line, Violet doesn’t realize that the serial killer is looking to add to his collection and that she may have caught his eye. Will the life Violet has to save be her own?

I am totally liking this series!  We finally see Violet working for Sara’s team, and there’s certainly an assortment of characters she has to work with.

The thing I thought was interesting was the group that they work for- they are a very mysterious group of people that we never meet but know exist.  Violet gets kidnapped by a serial killer, and needs a break from working with the team…and is told by her therapist that she needs to work with the team, because the people they work for want her to.  And naturally, if she doesn’t, she’ll be risking the lives of her friends and family.  Like, on the one hand, I’m not surprised, and I kind of feel like they’re up to something.  There’s definitely something shady going on there.

Violet’s connection to Rafe was interesting, and I totally get the tension that it causes.  But, like, Violet has finally found some people who can do what she does, and even though she doesn’t seem to completely fit in, she finally has a group of people who know what it’s like to have a special ability.

I love how there’s so much mystery in this series, and in The Last Echo, we have a serial killer who takes a liking to Violet!  Naturally, he kidnaps her (as previously mentioned) and naturally, she gets away…with an imprint of her own, because she kills him in self-defense.  So, it’s no wonder she wants a break, and she has no idea how to explain it to her parents.  Because what I didn’t mention was that she has a meeting with her therapist, who tells her to stay with the tell or else, even though Sara said to take all the time she needed.  So…yeah…there’s something shady going on, especially since we see Violet take some pills to help her sleep and how they make her ability to find dead people less effective.

And Jay and Violet are absolutely adorable together, and I so want them to stay together!  I’m hoping that there isn’t a love triangle because of how long it took for Jay and Violet to get together.

Final Thoughts:

I love the mystery and how there’s a different villain in each book.  I didn’t love it, and I think a little bit of it might be because of her therapist telling her to come back or else.  There’s so much I really like about this series, and The Last Echo is a great addition to the series.  I’m definitely looking forward to the last book to see how everything resolves itself.

Book: Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

Published March 2011 by HarlequinTeen|Pages: 304

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: Insiders #2

Genre: YA Science-Fiction/Dystopic

Goodreads|Maria V. Snyder

Summary: Me?

A leader?

Okay, I did prove that there’s more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion—between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we’re free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again—while still touching base with Riley, of course. He’s the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there’s outside and then there is Outside. 

And something from Outside wants In.

So, like, every single time I read a Maria V Snyder book, I’m always impressed with how much I like her stuff!  Outside In is the 2nd book in the Inside series, and even though it’s been months since I’ve read Inside Out, I jumped back into this world with no problems.

While we don’t get a lot of history in Outside In, I liked seeing how the characters dealt with Outsiders taking control of their ship.  The Controllers do exist, and we see how they may have ended up Outside.  It wasn’t until I started writing this review that (and looking over my review for Inside Out) that I realized we never learn how they ended up Inside, or why they’re on the spaceship floating along, or how they got to be so self-sustaining.  I was wrapped up with Trella’s story and if they’d be able to get control of their ship back that I didn’t really pay much attention to anything else!

Things weren’t what they seemed, with people who acted suspicious but weren’t involved with the controllers, and people who we didn’t suspect being involved with the whole thing.  I liked how Trella didn’t want to be part of the Committee, and how she didn’t trust herself or her voice until the end, when she realized how horrible the Outsiders were and what they were up to, and managed to organize everyone into saving Inside.

Another great thing is how there’s still the divide between the Uppers and the Lowers, and how there was rebellion amongst the lowers because of old habits dying hard.  I was quite glad to see Trella convince them that they are all Insiders, and not just an upper or a lower, and that they need to unite and work together if they want to save Inside.

The characters are great, and I love that they all have their own personalities.  I didn’t like Trella in this as much as I liked her in the first one, but she’s still a great character.  She was a little bit harder to like in this one, but overall, I still liked her.  Logan and Riley and all of the others were also unique characters that I liked reading about.

While there wasn’t as much exploring in Outside In, I still like that they’re on this ship floating through outer space.  I like that we actually meet the Outsiders and get some of their story and how we’re not sure which story to believe.  I like the little details of Inside  and Outside and the mystery of why they’re Inside and how they got to be Inside.

Final Thoughts:

A lot of my questions from Inside Out weren’t answered, and I have even more questions about the world of Inside!  I really like the world of Inside and how it’s full of different and interesting characters.  While I didn’t love Outside In, I still think it’s a book full of awesome!  Outside In gets 4 stars.

Book: Belonging by Karen Ann Hopkins

*Expected publication is April 30, 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 414

*Belonging is an e-ARC from netgalley.com*

Series: Temptation #2

Genre: YA Contemporary

Find out more on Goodreads

Summary: I left everything I knew behind. 

But it was worth it. He was worth it. 

No one thought an ordinary girl like me would last two minutes living with the Amish, not even me. There are a lot more rules and a lot less freedom, and I miss my family and the life I once had. Worst of all, Noah and I aren’t even allowed to see each other. Not until I’ve proven myself.

If I can find a way to make it work, we’ll be NOAH & ROSE 

together forever. 

But not everybody believes this is where I belong.

For pretty much the entire book, I found myself rooting for Noah and Rose…while being so freaking irritated with her family, particularly her dad and her older brother!

Rose lasted several months longer in the Amish community than anyone ever expected, and while it was a hard adjustment for her, she did make the effort to try to fit in.  She finds some new friends- Miranda, Suzanne and Summer, and I like her friendship with the three girls, as well as the relationships she forms with her foster family.

I loved seeing Noah and Rose narrate the novel, which still works so well, because you see their interactions with those around them and their thoughts on what’s going on.  You really see how different their beliefs are, much more than in Temptation.  We also have a new narrator in the form of Sam, Rose’s older brother.  For a good chunk of the book, I wasn’t sure about Sam as a narrator, but by the end I warmed up to it.  He does add the perspective of what it was like for him to have his younger sister gone and what he thought about it.

So.  The irritation with her family.  It was really well-done, and while I totally wanted to punch them in the face or something, I get why they acted the way they did.  I HATED how they went about it.  They assume that Rose won’t go with them if they show up at the house where she’s living, so they come up with this plan that involves getting Rose to Wal-Mart, where they plan to…surprise her with their presence, and having a police officer on hand, and drag her home.  Then they have her younger brother write a letter to Noah (because Justin’s hand-writing is similar to Rose’s) and when Noah arrives at Rose’s house, he gets a letter from Rose saying she doesn’t want to see him again.

I get that they thought she’d be home sooner, and I get they want her to make sure that she wants to be Amish, and to live in the English world a little longer.  But the entire time, they’re totally dismissive of what Rose wants.  They don’t like this particular Amish community because her dad and Sam think they’re backwards and they think the entire thing is stupid and ridiculous.  They tell her she can do whatever she wants when she’s 18, but in the meantime, she’s cut-off from the Amish world.  I feel like they do everything in their power to make sure she NEVER joins the Amish community.  I don’t want to speculate on whether that’s intentional on Hopkins’ part, but that’s the vibe I got from her family.  You see her and Noah move on- Noah even becomes engaged to a girl who is the polar opposite of Rose, and Sam’s reaction is so frustrating!  He’s all annoyed that Noah moved on, but what does Sam expect when he broke up Noah and Rose?  You don’t get to break them up and be all happy when Rose moves on but all mad when Noah also moves on.  He did think that Rose broke up with him, after all.  In the end, he feels bad, and tells Noah he had Justin write the break-up letter- and all because of Summer being upset with what they did.

In my review for Temptation, I mentioned that her family’s reaction to her decision was one reason why the novel worked so well, and I wasn’t quite sure why.  But in Belonging, I realized that it’s BECAUSE her family thinks it’s stupid and are totally dismissive of the whole thing.  The whole time, I definitely understood their concern with Rose making such a huge decision at the age of 17, because she hasn’t experienced a lot of life.  It’s just…as much as their reaction irritated me, I could see it.

Something that I didn’t mention in my review of Temptation was when Noah suggested that Rose pretend to be pregnant so that they’ll have to get married.  Initially, she balks, because her dad’s a doctor, and she feels like she wouldn’t be able to fool him.  It becomes irrelevent in Temptation because of the accident Noah has…so imagine my surprise when Noah and Rose sleep together and she gets pregnant!  We have yet to see her dad’s reaction, or what Rose thinks, but we see that Noah hopes she’s pregnant, because it will ensure that he will marry her…I mean, there are rules to follow in the Amish community.

Final Thoughts:

I know this review is mostly me talking about things that happen as opposed to my really scattered thoughts, but those events are huge in terms of why I like the book.  I really enjoyed Belonging, and I LOVE the contrast between Rose and Noah.  Rose’s family was definitely irritating, and while I disagree with how they went about things, I can also understand.  Their reaction to the Amish way of life makes the novel work, because you see how much they don’t want that life for Rose.  Belonging gets 4 stars.

Book: The Sea Of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Published November 2012 by Atria Books|Pages: 450

*The Sea Of Tranquility is an e-book from netgalley.com*

Series: None

Genre: YA

Goodreads|Katja Millay On Twitter

Summary: I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

All Josh Bennett wants is to be left alone, and everyone allows it because they all know his story: each person he loved was taken from his life until at seventeen years old there was no one left. When your name is synonymous with death, people tend to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, a new girl in town who won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of a mystery she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

I initially picked up The Sea Of Tranquility because I’ve heard really good things about it.

I liked The Sea Of Tranquility, but it didn’t grab my attention the way I thought it would.  I found myself not caring about Josh’s story or Nastya’s story for most of the book, and I found that I couldn’t connect with the book for a good chunk of it.  300 pages in, I found myself starting to get interested in what was going on.  There’s also the fact that I found myself bored and wanting to skim parts of the book.

I will say that the last 50 pages were so beautiful, and turned an okay book into a book I liked.  Initially, I decided to read those last 50 pages at home, because I had the feeling I would start crying.  And yet, I found myself finishing The Sea Of Tranquility when I was on break, trying not to start sobbing like an idiot…for the most part, I managed to not sob like an idiot, but I might have cried the teensiest bit.

So…there were certain things about Nastya that were interesting.  Like, her not talking when she remembered what happened.  And her changing her name to Nastya and going to a school where no one knew her was also interesting…particularly the name change.  I remember being confused about who Emilia was a couple times, and it wasn’t until the end that a lot of the book made sense.

So.  The ending.  I spent so much of the book not caring that when I started to care 300 pages in…it was a case of too little too late.  Was the ending heartbreaking and beautiful and made me FEEL ALL OF THE THE FEELINGS?  Yes, but at the same time, I wondered where this beauty was several hundred pages ago.

Overall, the characters were great, and they were really well-round characters.  They all had their own problems and I liked seeing how they all connected with each other, and how things resolved themselves.  I especially liked how Josh and Nastya formed an unlikely friendship that turned into romance.  In general, I really liked the random friendships that we saw throughout the book.

There is something about the way The Sea Of Tranquility was written, and overall, I suppose it was all very beautiful.

It’s just…the ending is the main reason why I like The Sea Of Tranquility.  I think this is a case of me going in with really high expectations and the book not matching up with those expectations.  It really is me and it’s just not my cup of tea.

Final Thoughts:

I liked The Sea Of Tranquility, but I didn’t connect with it the way everyone else seems to be connecting with it.  The ending was absolutely beautiful, but this isn’t the book for me.  The Sea Of Tranquility gets 3 stars.

Book: A Shimmer Of Angels by Lisa M. Basso

Published January 2013 by Month9Books|Pages: 263

Source: A Shimmer Of Angels is an e-book from netgalley.com

Series: Angel Sight #1

Genre: YA Paranormal- Angels

Goodreads|Lisa Basso’s Website

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it’s more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can’t admit to seeing?

I have to say, I love the title of this book!  I can totally see a group of angels being called a shimmer- it really does fit, so it’s unfortunate that they are not known as a shimmer.

A Shimmer Of Angels is really different from a lot of the other paranormal Angel books I’ve read.  Sure, you have the good angels and the bad angels, and Rayna is caught in the middle, and has a set of gray wings.  But the fact that she is the only person who can see angels makes it really interesting, and we’re most certainly gearing up for both sides wanting her for themselves.  You add in the fact that she’s spent a lot of time in and out of therapy and institutions because people think she’s crazy…and you have the story of a girl who realizes that she hasn’t been hallucinating and that what she’s been seeing has been real this entire time.

I liked seeing Rayna and how she’s trying to hold onto her sanity when life keeps getting in the way.  She’s definitely focused on trying to stay out of therapy, especially when she learns that she hasn’t been hallucinating, and that there’s a connection between her ability to see angel when no one else can and with several mysterious deaths.

One of the more interesting aspects of the novel is that seeing angels isn’t normal, which is really different than a lot of the paranormal books out there, where the paranormal does exist, and seeing paranormal beings is considered a normal part of life.

What I didn’t think about until now was how there wasn’t much in the way of angel mythology, and I didn’t mind that we don’t know a lot about the world of angels in this book.  I really am okay with that because A Shimmer Of Angels was more about Rayna’s ability and the mystery surrounding several suicides.

I couldn’t quite connect with Rayna, which is surprising because I usually connect with characters like her really well.  I still find her an interesting character, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her in the next book.  Cam and Kade are also interesting characters, and they both represent two very different sides.  I did get a love triangle vibe, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.  I can’t wait to see more of them and learn more about them as angels.  I also found her dad and her sister particularly interesting, and I think it’s because of Rayna’s issues.  It can’t be easy for them to see her slowly lose touch with reality, and it’s understandable that they’d be concerned when she starts seeing angels again.

I’m looking forward to the next book, because I’m really curious as to what Rayna’s ability means for herself, those around her, and for the angels.  Things really could go in any direction.

Final Thoughts:

I’m pretty impressed with A Shimmer Of Angels.  I didn’t connect with Rayna as much as I expected but I still found the book to be an interesting twist on angels.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!  A Shimmer Of Angels gets 4 stars.

Book: Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins

Published June 2012 by Harlequin Teen|Pages: 304

Source: E-book|Nook Store

Series: Temptation #1

Genre: YA Contemporary

Learn More Over At Goodreads

Summary: Your heart misleads you. That’s what my friends and family say. 

But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other’s arms. It should be ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. 

But it won’t be.

Because he’s Amish. And I’m not.

I liked Temptation, and the more I think about this book, the more I like it.  There are some things that are really refreshing about this book.  Like, it’s refreshing to see an Amish boy and an English girl fall in love, instead of it being the other way around.  Noah and Rose take turns narrating Temptation, and it works so well because you see how very different the two are.  There’s a lot of conflict, which is highlighted so well throughout the entire book.  You have Rose, who loves to dance, and you also have Noah, who’s from this really strict Amish community.

We’re talking no Rumpsringa, courtship pretty much ends in marriage, there’s no kissing or hand-holding during courtship and men and women very much have traditional gender roles.

So…Noah expects Rose to give up her entire life- school, career, her love of dance- at the age of 16, pointing out that there are some cultures where she’d be married and (at the very least) pregnant.  He briefly entertains the idea of leaving behind his family and everything he’s known, but…it’s never really an option for him.  When Rose says she’s going to marry 18-year-old Noah, her family doesn’t take it well.  Her dad doesn’t like how anti-feminist this Amish community is (his words, not mine, for anyone who might be wondering), and he most certainly is not happy that she wants to join this cult.  We even see Rose being bothered by the divide between men and women, because the women in that community should know how hard the fight for equality was.  Her dad does let her be a part of the Amish community because he seems to think she won’t last very long with all of the rules, and will come running home when she realizes how hard it will be.

I’m hesitant to mention this, but I think it is important to note that if you dislike women in literature giving up everything to be with someone, particularly if it’s a 16-year-old girl in a book written for teens, this book probably isn’t the book for you.  I think this is a book that people are going to love or hate, and I think it’ll be because of how Noah’s community is structured and because of Rose, who’s willing to not go to college or have a career in order to be with Noah.

I actually think Rose wanting to become Amish and Noah being from this really strict Amish community is brilliant.  The differences between the two…it’s really well done and Hopkins does a great job with showing where both characters are coming from and how their own lives and beliefs are at odds with each other.  Rose is definitely the one who’s more willing to give everything up, and I honestly think there’s more of an impact with Rose making the decision.  For me, I don’t think it would have worked nearly as well if it were Noah giving up his entire world.

It’s interesting when you think about it too, because with Noah leaving his Amish life behind, there’s no turning back, while Rose always has the option of going back home if she realizes it isn’t what she wants.  Plus, if it were Noah, I don’t think I would have found as believable.  As much as he cares for Rose, I don’t think it would have worked as well if Noah left his Amish life behind.

And honestly?  I think how Rose’s dad reacted is another reason why Rose’s decision works.  I mean, Noah’s parents, while not happy, are also pretty straightforward with what they expect of Noah.  I’m not quite sure I can explain why her dad’s reaction makes her decision work…it just does.

Final Thoughts:

Temptation was a hard book to review, mostly because I was being hard on myself for liking Rose making the decision she did and for going to a community that is so completely different than her own.  I really felt like I should have issues with it, to the point that I tried to make myself have issues with it and majorly failed.

I really enjoyed it, and there was so much about this novel that worked.  I liked the assortment of characters and how different Noah and Rose were.  I didn’t love it, but it was still refreshing in a lot of ways.  Temptation gets 4 stars.