Book: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Published September 2013 by St. Martin’s Press|323 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Fangirl on goodreads & Rainbow Rowell on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

In Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words…And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

What I Thought:

Fangirl is one special book!  I can’t believe it took so long to read Rainbow Rowell, but I’m glad I finally did.  I connected so much with Cath and her love of Simon Snow.

I was so strongly reminded of my life as a Harry Potter fan, and the counting down to the next book and the midnight releases of books and movies, and time spent on sites like Mugglenet and the Leaky Cauldron and fanfiction.net, and I felt so nostalgic for that time in my life.  And the urgency to finish her own fanfic before the last book comes out, and her feelings about it all coming to an end…it’s a world that’s completely familiar to me, and Rowell got it so completely right!

I also LOVE Cath’s story and her journey through her freshman year of college.  She is a character I really love and there are pieces of her that remind me of myself.  She really came into herself by the end of the book, and I loved seeing how much she changed by the end of the book.  There is something so endearing about her, and I just wanted to give her a hug and then go write some fanfiction with her.

Another completely awesome thing about Fangirl are the excerpts from the Simon Snow series and Cath’s own fanfic’s- both the ones she wrote with her twin and on her own.  It really added something special to the book, and Fangirl would have been incomplete without it.  You see how important the Simon Snow series is to her and how it got her through so many different things and the power and impact that books can have on people, and Rowell did so amazing at showing that.

I loved her relationship with her sister and her dad, but her relationship with her roommate and roommate’s friend really stood out to me.  Cath definitely has a couple good friends in them, and I’m glad she found some awesome people who get her.

Back to Cath’s sister, Wren: they definitely have an interesting relationship, which really changed from beginning to end.  I did love their relationship and how they went in completely different directions but still had each other.  Wren definitely has her own issues to deal with, but at least she has Cath.

As much as the ending fit, there is a part of me that wanted to know a little bit more about Cath’s life after finishing Simon Snow and I kind of wanted to see a little bit of her summer.  But at the same time, the ending worked so well because it ends with the last Simon Snow book coming out.

Let’s Rate It:

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Fangirl!  It really is a special book about a girl trying to find her place in the world.  I related to so much of Fangirl, and it really did make me feel all nostalgic for when the Harry Potter books were coming out.  Fangirl gets 5+ stars.

Book: Sirensong by Jenna Black

Published July 2011 by St. Martin’s Press|254 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Fairiewalker #3

Genre: YA Paranormal (of the fairie variety)

You can find Sirensong on goodreads & Jenna Black on twitter & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

When Dana is invited to Faerie to be officially presented at the Seelie Court, it’s no easy decision. After all, everyone knows Titania, the Seelie Queen, wants her dead. But Titania claims not to be the one behind the death threats; and her son, Prince Henry, makes the decision a whole lot easier when he suggests Dana might be arrested for (supposedly) conspiring with her aunt Grace to usurp the Seelie throne. So she and her father better do as they’re told…

The journey through Faerie is long—and treacherous. Dana thought it would be a good idea to have friends along, but her sort-of-boyfriend, Ethan, and her bodyguard’s son, Keane, just can’t seem to get along, and Kimber’s crush on Keane isn’t making things any easier. When a violent attack separates Dana from their caravan, the sexy Erlking saves her just in the nick of time…and makes it clear that he hasn’t given up on making her his own.

Arriving at Titania’s beautiful palace should be a relief. But Dana is soon implicated in an assassination attempt against Titania’s granddaughter, and is suddenly a fugitive, forced to leave her father behind as she and her friends flee for their lives. Will she be able to prove her innocence before the forces of the Seelie Court—or, worse, the Erlking—catch up with her? And will she save her father before he pays the ultimate price in her stead?

What I Thought:

Sirensong is an interesting conclusion to this series!  We finally get to go to Fairie and meet Titania.  Who, as it turns out, is not the one behind all of the crazy stuff that’s been happening to Dana.

What I didn’t expect was all of the stuff that happened at Seelie Court!  All of the stuff with Henry and who was really behind the assassination attempt (because we all know it’s not Dana).  Like, there’s another fairiewalker out there, which wasn’t expected at all, because I didn’t think there would be two of them!

Dana’s been such an interesting character, and after spending so much time trying to save everyone, I think she’s finally coming to the realization that she can’t save everybody…most of all, her mom.  Dana has so many issues trusting people- which is totally understandable- but I also feel like she’s headed in the right direction and starting to work them out.  I also love her friendship with Kimber and how her relationship with her dad changed over the course of the series.  Especially in Sirensong, where he finally started to be a little more open with his daughter.

As for the romance…I’m still not sure about Ethan and Dana as a couple.  All the stuff with Erlking that we saw in Shadowspell…well, that threw some obstacles in their way, but Dana manages to get out of the deal with the Erlking, which means he’s a non-issue.  As is Keane, who ends up with Kimber.  I don’t know that I was necessarily thinking of romance in this series, but the deal with the Erlking and his interest in Dana was definitely interesting.

Let’s Rate It:

Sirensong really did end the series so well!  While I didn’t love it, I still really enjoyed it and Dana’s story. Sirensong gets 4 stars.

Book: Tempest Revealed by Tracy Deebs

Published July 2013 by Bloomsbury|270 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store/e-book

Series: Tempest #3

Genre: YA Paranormal- Mermaids

You can find Tempest Revealed on goodreads & Tracy Deebs on her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Half-mermaid Tempest Maguire is trying to have it all: fulfilling her duties as second-in-line to the merQueen Hailana while periodically returning home to the California coastline to be with her family and longtime boyfriend, Mark.

Living under the sea and rebuilding Coral Straits is grueling work, while being back home reminds her of everyone she loves and misses. But when her old flame Kona arrives bearing news that Hailana has died and Tempest is now officially merQueen, she returns permanently to Coral Straits, even though it devastates her family and rips her apart from Mark.

Once there, she discovers that an old enemy has resurfaced, hell-bent on taking over her throne… with or without her. As Tempest prepares for her final showdown against Tiamat and anyone who stands with her, she must decide what – and who – is really important to her. Because there will be few survivors in the ultimate sea battle that is brewing – and Tempest isn’t sure she will be one of them.

What I Thought:

I have mixed feelings about Tempest Revealed.  I mean, I liked it and all, and I’ve really liked the entire series, but I also didn’t enjoy as much as I did the previous books in the series.

So, I’m going to start with the big battle between Tempest and Tiamat.  I wanted more of a big battle and more conflict between them then what we got in Tempest Revealed.  After reading it?  My reaction was “that’s it?  where’s the big battle?” I really was hoping for something more.

I’m not super-happy with Mark and Tempest as a couple, but I don’t think I’d be happy with her and Kona either.  The romance just got more irritating (to me) as the series went on.  I know that Mark and Kona represent her life as a mermaid and her life as a human, but I just grew really tired of the competitiveness between them.  I think I just feel like they bring out one side of Tempest, and that they’ll never truly understand the other part of who Tempest really is.

So, Hailana dying, which leaves Tempest as merQueen…naturally, it happens when Tempest goes to visit her family, and I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if she were with her (mermaid) people.  I don’t know that I particularly liked that she was with her family when Hailana died, mostly because I feel like she should have been taking care of the Tiamat stuff.  Still, I liked that she tried to balance both the mermaid side and the human side.

Still, I did like Tempest Revealed, and that all of the loose ends were tied up.  There is something about Tempest Revealed that kept me reading, and I couldn’t wait to see how things turned out…even though I wasn’t completely thrilled with how some things worked out.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked Tempest Revealed, and was glad that all of the loose ends were tied up.  While I generally felt underwhelmed with Tempest Revealed, I liked that she did try to balance two very different worlds, and there’s definitely something addicting about this series.  Tempest Revealed gets 3 stars.

Book: Altered by Gennifer Albin

Published October 2013 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux|295 pages

Where I Got It: nook store/e-book

Series: Crewel World #2

Genre: YA Dystopic, Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy

You can find Altered on goodreads & Gennifer Albin on twitter, facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Deadly Secrets

Tangled Lies

Woven truths

Life. Possibility. Choice. All taken from Adelice by the Guild—until she took them back.

But amid the splendid ruins of Earth, Adelice discovers how dangerous freedom can be. Hunted by soulless Remnants sent by Cormac Patton and the Guild, Adelice finds a world that’s far from deserted. Although allies are easy to find on Earth, knowing who to trust isn’t. Because everyone has secrets, especially those Adelice loves most. Secrets they would kill to protect. Secrets that will redefine each of them. Torn between two brothers and two worlds, Adelice must choose what to fight for.

Altered is Gennifer Albin’s thrilling sequel to Crewel. Adelice is about to learn how tangled up her past and future really are. Her parents ran to protect her, but nothing can save her from her destiny, and once she uncovers the truth, it will change everything.

What I Thought:

I really liked Crewel when I read it over a year ago, and I was really looking forward to reading Altered…which I liked, but not as much as Crewel.  I really liked seeing the ruins of Earth, and how different it is from the world of Arras.

There really is so much more to this world than I ever could have imagined, and there were some things I didn’t see coming at all.  The remnants are definitely interesting, and I kind of wish we saw more of them. Especially one we happened to see for part of the book…

I really like the parallel between earth and Arras, and the connection to World War 2 and Einstein and how/why the looms were created.  Those connections were fascinating to me, and it worked really well.  It’s also one of those things I didn’t see coming.

But while there were things I really liked and elements that were really interesting, there was also something about Altered that I didn’t find as captivating.  It’s an interesting world, but…I just wasn’t as interested in the book as I thought I would be.  I’m feeling pretty “meh” about the characters, and I’m not sure why.  I don’t know if it’s because they left Arras and found themselves on Earth or something else I don’t feel like trying to identify, or even something I can’t identify.  I just know that things got really interesting in Altered and I liked it, but I didn’t love it like I thought.

I will say that Adelice’s abilities as Creweler got really interesting, because of the people she meets and the things she learns along the way.  I am curious about how she’ll use her abilities and how everything will turn out for both Arras and Earth, given everything that comes up.

Let’s Rate It: 

I liked Altered, and I really liked a lot of the revelations and elements that come up in Altered, but there’s also something about it that wasn’t as captivating as Crewel.  Altered gets 3 stars.

Book: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Published January 2014 by HarperCollins|229 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store (e-book)

Series: For now, it’s a stand-alone, but there may be other books and novellas set in this universe

Genre: YA Fantasy with a Greek Mythology and Beauty And The Beast twist

You can find Cruel Beauty on goodreads and Rosamund Hodge on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary:

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl’s journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

What I Thought:

When I first saw the summary for Cruel Beauty, I was really excited!  It seems like such a different take on re-tellings, and I love that it’s a blend of Greek mythology and Beauty And The Beast.  So when I started reading, I wasn’t sure about it, but by the end I was enjoying it a lot more than I was at the beginning.

So, here’s why I wasn’t sure about it at first.  There is this very alternate history feel to the book. which is awesome, but it also made me feel like there was some piece of history that I was missing, and wasn’t being explained.  It very much felt like I needed to have some special knowledge to know what was going on, and it was driving me crazy that I didn’t know what it was.  It definitely takes a few chapters before you learn what’s going on.

Despite me feeling like I was missing some key knowledge at the beginning, I came to really like Cruel Beauty.  Nyx is an interesting character, and it’s interesting how drawn she is to Ignifex.  Ignifex is also an interesting guy, and I really like their relationship, which really changes throughout the book.

I really liked Ignifex’s castle, which was described really well,  It’s creepy but very vivid, and I could picture it so well!  Much better than the world that the castle resided in, because that world…there’s something about it that doesn’t seem completely explained.  Then again, most of the book focuses on Ignifex and Nyx, so perhaps that part of things doesn’t need to completely be there.

I’m not sure how I feel about the romance.  Maybe it’s because of Nyx’s mission, or something else I can’t identify, but I wasn’t completely into the romance.

Let’s Rate It:

Initially, I felt slightly confused by what was going on, and I felt like I was missing something, but as the book went on, I got really into Cruel Beauty.  It’s a very detailed world, and there’s something very intricate and vivid and imaginative about this world.  It’s definitely a great read for fans of fairy tales and Greek mythology.  Cruel Beauty gets 4 stars.

Book: Bimbos & Zombies: Bimbos Of The Death Sun & Zombies Of The Gene Pool by Sharyn McCrumb

Bimbos Of The Death Sun was first published in 1986 by TSR Books and Zombies Of The Gene Pool was first published in 1992 by Simon & Schuster|Bimbos & Zombies is a combined 310 pages for both books

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from my friend Heather

Series: The Jay Omega Series #1 & #2

Be sure to check out the series on goodreads (the link will take you to the series page) and you can find Sharyn McCrumb on her website

First up, we have Bimbos Of The Death Sun!

For one fateful weekend, the annual science fiction and fantasy convention, Rubicon, has all but taken over a usually ordinary hotel. Now the halls are alive with Trekkies, tech nerds, and fantasy gamers in their Viking finery, all of them eager to hail their hero, bestselling fantasy author Appin Dungannon: a diminutive despot whose towering ego more than compensates for his 5′ 1″ height…and whose gleeful disdain for his fawning fans is legendary.

Hurling insults and furniture with equal abandon, the terrible, tiny author proceeds to alienate ersatz aliens and make-believe warriors at warp speed. But somewhere between the costume contest and the exhibition Dungeons & Dragons game, Dungannon gets done in. While die-hard fans of Dungannon’s seemingly endless sword-and-sorcery series wonder how they’ll go on and hucksters wonder how much they can get for the dead man’s autograph, a hapless cop wonders, Who would want to kill Appin Dungannon? But the real question, as the harried convention organizers know, is Who wouldn’t?

I thought Bimbos Of The Death Sun was an amusing but okay book.  It’s a really amusing look at one particular fandom, and the characters really felt like real people.  I could definitely people like them, and they were really believable.  I can definitely appreciate this particular fandom and how much a fan they are of their particular thing.  However…I’ve never been to a sci-fi/fantasy convention or comic convention or any other sort of fan convention, and I feel like I could have related to it a little bit more if I had some convention-going experiences.  I also think that I would have appreciated it a little more if I were a convention person.  I definitely appreciate the fan experience, but not as much as I could have.  Still, it was an entertaining read.

And now, Zombies Of The Gene Pool!

In the 1950s, eight young men, dreaming of literary immortality, buried a time capsule with their science fiction stories and cultural relics from the time. Now the capsule is being dredged up because a few of those men have in fact become very famous. As a result, the excavation turns into a multimedia event. Everything goes off without a hitch until a surprise guest makes an appearance—a writer who was supposed to have died thirty years ago. Still cynical and angry, he is threatening to expose secrets the famous and the obscure have kept from the world all these years. When murder suddenly materializes to throw the agenda into chaos, one man must separate science fact from fiction—and unearth a killer with a story of his own to tell… 

Zombies Of The Gene Pool is also an entertaining but okay read.  It’s an amusing look at a different side of fandom and authors as fans of the genre they’re a part of.  Like Bimbos Of The Death Sun, I can see the events of the book happening and I felt like everyone could very easily be a real person.  I think I liked it a little bit more than Bimbos Of The Death Sun, but not by much.  Something about it was slightly more relateable than Bimbos, and it was a little bit easier to get into than Bimbos, but there is something about Zombies that isn’t as entertaining or amusing as Bimbos.

Overall, Bimbos & Zombies was amusing but okay.  The mystery that gets introduced in each book seemed to pop up late and is solved relatively quickly.  My rating for each book individually would be 2 stars, since they were both okay.  For the collection (since that’s what this is), I’d give it 2 stars.