Book: Beautiful by Amy Reed

Published by Simon Pulse

Purchased for my Nook (240 pages)

Genre: YA: Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Amy Reed

Goodreads Summary: When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie’s chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who’s worth noticing.

Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined… one moment, one choice, changes everything.

Cassie’s new existence both thrills and terrifies her. Swept into a world of illicit parties and social landmines, she sheds her virginity, embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, and floats through it all, knowing that she is now called beautiful. She ignores the dangers of her fast-paced life… but she can’t sidestep the secrets and the cruelty.

Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral tinged with violence and abuse, and no one—not even the one person she thought she could trust—can help her now.

Beautiful is an interesting book.  I wasn’t expecting it to be about a good girl gone bad- which is what I get for not reading the summary- and the title doesn’t quite match the plot.  Not that titles and actual content need to match up.

For a lot of the book, I was reminded of the movie 13- the one with Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Wood.

It was a little hard to see Cassie’s descent into drugs and sex.  I don’t think it’s meant to be easy, and in all reality, there are a lot of girls like Cassie.  I definitely understand what it’s like to want to be not invisible.  And wanting to fit in.

The writing was interesting- not quite stream-of-consciousness but almost.  And that worked really well, because it felt like I was right there with Cassie.

The ending bothered me- she ends up moving away, and there is this weird gap where she’s no longer friends with Alex because of death threats and Cassie moving away.  You get a general idea of what happened, but given the fall she took, things seemed to wrap up a little too nicely.  Plus, her parents seemed to be utterly clueless as to what was going on.  It wasn’t a big surprise, from what we see of them.

I think I would have to give it a 3 out of 5.  It is an interesting book, but I don’t think Cassie fell hard enough.

Book: The Princesses Of Iowa by M. Molly Backes

Published by Candlewick Press

Purchased for my Nook (286 pages)

Genre: YA: Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~M. Molly Backes

Goodreads Summary: What does it mean to do wrong, when no one punishes you? A smart and unflinching look at friendship, the nature of entitlement, and growing up in the heartland.

Paige Sheridan has the perfect life. She’s pretty, rich, and popular, and her spot on the homecoming court is practically guaranteed. But when a night of partying ends in an it-could-have-been-so-much worse crash, everything changes. Her best friends start ignoring her, her boyfriend grows cold and distant, and her once-adoring younger sister now views her with contempt. The only bright spot is her creative writing class, led by a charismatic new teacher who encourages students to be true to themselves. But who is Paige, if not the homecoming princess everyone expects her to be? In this arresting and witty debut, a girl who was once high-school royalty must face a truth that money and status can’t fix, and choose between living the privileged life of a princess, or owning up to her mistakes and giving up everything she once held dear.

I really liked The Princesses Of Iowa.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but by the end, I really enjoyed it.

It’s about nothing and everything all at the same time.  You mostly see how much the accident impacted Paige, but you also see how much of an effect it had on Nikki and Lacey…on a much smaller scale.

It was hard to feel sorry for them, even Lacey, who still had to go to physical therapy months after the accident.  But I really felt for Paige as she dealt with what happened through her creative writing class.  If I could have guaranteed I would have a teacher like Mr. Tremont, I so would have taken creative writing. Actually, if I had the time, I probably would have taken it in college, but maybe it would have jumped to the top of the list if I knew the teacher would be cool.

I wanted Paige to do the right thing, and in the end, she did.  She did make some questionable choices, but who doesn’t?

There is a touch of romance, and honestly?  If it were cut from the book, I would have been fine.  It almost felt like an afterthought.

There’s a lot going on, issue wise…not just drunk driving and the consequences, but other things too.  It didn’t feel like there were that many, but looking back, she threw a lot in, and did it well.

I loved that the characters did a really stupid thing and actually faced consequences for those actions.  It’s a nice change from the characters who do stupid stuff and never have to face any consequences for their actions.

I also liked the focus on becoming homecoming queen, and how it was something Paige thought she wanted…until she realized she didn’t want it.  I loved seeing her grow over the course of the novel.

It gets a 4 out of 5.

Book: Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout

Published by Spencer Hill Press

Purchased for my Nook (242 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal- Mythology

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Jennifer Armentrout

Goodreads Summary: The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi—pure-bloods—have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals—well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem–staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

The whole time I was reading Half-Blood, I was reminded of Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.  It’s Vampire Academy, but with a Greek mythology twist.

I loved the idea of Half-Blood.  The Hematoi, and pures and halfs…I love how the society is structured.  And I loved the idea of the Apollyon…and the rare occurrence of 2 Apollyons.  Of course, Alex happens to be the 2nd Apollyon.

Half-Blood just didn’t work for me though, and I think it’s because I couldn’t stop comparing it to Vampire Academy.  The 2 books are similar enough that I couldn’t really enjoy Half- Blood.

The characters were just okay.  Alex just annoyed me, with her need to take care of things, even when told not to…and even thought she needed a lot more training.  The only character that really stood out was Seth, who’s the first Apollyon.  His abilities are definitely mysterious, but also interesting.

Armentrout does keep you interested, and the novel moves along pretty well.  I wasn’t bored while reading it, which is always a plus.  I liked the references to Greek mythology.

Overall, I have to give it a 2 out of 5.  It was okay, and while I liked the concept, I was too reminded of VA to really enjoy it.

Book: Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Published by Scholastic, Inc

Purchased for my Nook (288 pages)

Genre: YA: Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Elizabeth Eulberg

Goodreads Summary: From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it’s been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn’t sure how to admit that he’d rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.

I loved, loved, loved Take A Bow!  This is such a cute book, and I love that it takes place at a performing arts school.

I loved the cast of characters- you have a former child star, a girl who prefers to be behind the scenes but is super-talented, a guy who gives in to his dark side, and a girl who is desperate to be in the spotlight.  Are they a little cliche?  Of course.  But it was good snapshot of different students who might attend a performing arts high school.

Can I just say how much I love Emme?  Because I just love her!  I’m also not a fan of Sophie.  I couldn’t stand her, but I think she’s supposed to be rather unlikeable.  Carter and Ethan, I’m neutral about.

I loved seeing a performing arts school, especially the focus on music.  I totally want to be a singer now!

I thought the multiple narrators worked really well, and each chapter really did feel like they were narrated by someone different.  It was good to see the year through the eyes of 4 very different people, and how their stories connected.

I was surprised at how well the performing arts translated to the page.  The performances were described really well, and I really wanted to see them in person.  Everything was so full of life that I couldn’t help love the characters, the classes, the auditions and the performances.  I also loved the prologue, when they all auditioned, and the epilogue, which is their graduation.  It really added to the story, to see where they started and where they going.

It gets a 5 out of 5.

Book: Bound by Kira Saito

Published by Smashwords

Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Paranormal- Romance

Find out more: Goodreads~Kira Saito

Goodreads Summary: Sixteen year old Arelia LaRue lives in New Orleans where the music is loud, voodoo queens inhabit every street corner, and the ghosts are alive and well. Despite her surroundings, all she wants is to help her Grand-mere Bea pay the rent and save up for college. 

When her best friend Sabrina convinces her to take a well-paying summer job at the infamous Darkwood plantation, owned by the wealthy LaPlante family, Arelia agrees. 

However, at Darkwood strange things start to happen, and gorgeous Lucus LaPlante insists that he needs her help. Soon, the powers that Arelia has been denying all her life, come out to play and she discovers mysteries about herself that she could have never imagined.

I really liked Bound.  One, it takes place on a plantation in New Orleans, and two, Arelia finds out she’s a voodoo queen.  I thought that was a really interesting twist on the paranormal, because how often do you see voodoo in a novel?

I loved the setting, and while you didn’t see New Orleans, I loved how Saito described the plantation.  It has the right combination of beauty, history and creepiness.  I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much of New Orleans in the rest of the series but you could definitely tell they were in New Orleans (and not just because of the focus on voodoo).

Arelia was pretty gullible, but it wasn’t too annoying.  I just don’t get why she was friends with Sabrina.  Arelia’s just a good person, and wants to help…and Sabrina is pretty opposite of that.  Opposites attract, I suppose.  I am a little distrustful of Lucas, especially because of how he acted at the end of the book.  Ivan, on the other hand, is really mysterious and cryptic, and I wonder what role he’ll play in the rest of the series.

I’m not a big fan of the ending- it was definitely a cliffhanger, but it ended pretty abruptly.  Like Saito forgot to write the ending of a novel, and not just the ending to a chapter.  But now I really want to read the next book, so it’s not all that bad.

Plus, the cover is so pretty!  It fits so well with the book, and sometimes they don’t.

I thought the whole concept of being the one to help Lucas not be trapped at Darkwood was really interesting.

It gets a 4 out of 5 for being entertaining and interesting.

Update: Sorry about accidentally publishing it before it was ready!

Book: Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Published by HarperTeen

Purchased for my Nook (352 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal- Fairies

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Lesley Livingston

Goodreads Summary: Since the dawn of time, the Faerie have taken. . . .

Seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow always thought faeries were just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery. He’s a changeling—a mortal taken as an infant and raised among Faerie—and within short order he’s turned Kelley’s heart inside out and her life upside down.

For Kelley’s beloved Central Park isn’t just a park—it’s a gateway between her ordinary city and the Faerie’s dangerous, bewitching Otherworld. Now Kelley’s eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her, but to the heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny both wondrous and strange.

I didn’t like Wondrous Strange at first.  But by the end of the book, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

There’s a lot of setting up in Wondrous Strange, and it isn’t until the end that things really pick up.  I’m glad I gave it a chance, because it is interesting.  I like the idea of four different courts, and the Janus, who protect the gate that Oberon closed (except for one day a year).  There’s some interesting fairy mythology in this book.

Now that I think about it, there were quite a few clues in the book that I didn’t pick up on.  I really liked the theater aspect of the novel.  And how fairies popped up everywhere.

Wondrous Strange is narrated by Kelly and Sonny.  I thought their stories were interesting together, and I think it worked better with the two of them as narrators than either of them on their own.

Kelley did handle things a little too well.  You find out you’re the daughter of a fairie, and you act like it’s perfectly normal?  It was a little weird for her at first, I think, but overall, she was a tad bit okay with the family secret.  Of course, I’m totally basing her reaction on what I’d do if I found I was the daughter of 2 fairies…which would be freaking out.  Kelley did crack me up, I have to admit.

As for the other characters, they were just okay.  None really stood out, except for Sonny, but there’s something off about him.  It was hard to care about most of them in this book, but maybe in the next book…

I give Wondrous Strange a 3 out of 5.  I enjoyed it, especially towards the end, but it took a little too long to get going.

Book: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Published by HarperCollins

Purchased for my Nook (352 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Sophie Jordan

Goodreads Summary: A hidden truth. 

Mortal enemies. 

Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will’s dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She’ll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

The main reason I wanted to read this book is because it’s about dragons.  How often do you see a book focusing solely on dragons?  Not very often.

I wasn’t sure about this book at first, but I ended up really liking it.  I thought the characters were interesting, even the ones I didn’t like.  Jacinda’s mom and her sister Tamra were really irritating.

I just loved Jacinda, and how much being a dragon (or draki) means to her.  There’s an element of needing to stay hidden because they’re being hunted, and it’s even worse for Jacinda because she had to flee to the mortal world.  If she doesn’t stay in touch with her inner draki, she’ll become human, just like her mother did.  And since her twin (Tamra) never showed an ability to shape-shift into a draki, her mom let her inner draki die.  It was so hard to see them tell Jacinda it would be better once she was no longer a dragon and how desperate Jacinda was to stay one.

I love how the color of each draki indicates what their talent is.  That is such a great idea!  I really love what Jordan did with dragons.  Seriously, these are not your typical dragons.  Okay, so Jacinda is a fire-breathing dragon- which is really rare- and that she’s set to marry Cassian, the future alpha.  It was still an interesting story, and very unique.

It gets a 4 out 0f 5.