Book: The Night House by Rachel Tafoya

Expected Publication is December 9, 2014 by Month9Books|331 pages

Where I Got: I got an advanced copy directly from Month9Books, which hasn’t influenced my review in way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Paranormal- Vampires

You can find The Night House on goodreads & Rachel Tafoya on twitter and on tumblr

Goodreads Summary: 

Bianca St. Germain works at a Night House, a place where vampires like the aristocratic Jeremiah Archer, pay to feed on humans, and she doesn’t much care what others think of her. The money is good, and at least there, she’s safe. Bianca also doesn’t care that the Night House is killing her. All she cares about is: nauth, the highly addictive poison in vampire bites that brings a euphoria like no drug ever could.

But when Bianca meets James, a reclusive empath who feels everything she does, for the first time, she considers a life outside of the Night House and a someone worth living for. But Jeremiah has decided to keep Bianca for himself; he won’t allow her to walk away.

As she allows her feelings for James to grow, she struggles to contain nauth’s strong hold on her life. If they are to have a future, James must make her see what she’s worth, what she means to him, before Jeremiah and nauth claim her for good.

What I Thought:

I wasn’t sure about The Night House at first, but as I kept reading, I was pulled in Bianca’s world, and wanted to keep reading to figure out what her world was like and what was going on.

I thought the idea of Night Houses to be really interesting.  A place where vampires can feed, and yet they are places that most people don’t seem to be aware of…it’s different.  And nauth is also really different but in a good way.  Everything Tafoya does with vampires is really believable (at least, it is to me).

Also: there definitely seems to be a structure with the vampires- kings and monarchs and regular vampires, and they all have their own territories.

What’s odd is that The Night House is a stand-alone book, which seems really rare for a paranormal.  And yet, it works really well.  Bianca’s world felt so detailed, even though I still have quite a few questions.  Like, I feel like there’s so much more to the vampire social structure, and James, this empath.  There have to be other people with abilities, right?  I’m really curious to know if there are, and if there are other hidden worlds in this one.

Bianca’s world unravels as we keep reading, and we get enough of her world to know what’s going on. Normally, I like to know as much about a world as possible, especially with a paranormal world.  And yet, I liked learning more about this world.  It definitely felt like Tafoya knew so much more about Bianca’s world then what we get in the book.  At least, that’s what it felt like to me, because I really felt like I was in this world.

Initially, I wasn’t sure about The Night House, because I felt confused about what was going on.  Things didn’t really make sense to me, but I’m really glad I stuck with it, because it really is a unique take on vampires.

Let’s Rate It:

The Night House was such a pleasant surprise!  I really like this world, and it’s full of detail, even though we only get what we need to know.  The Night House gets 4 stars.

Book: Dead Jed 2: Dawn Of The Jed by Scott Craven

Expected Publication is in December 2014 by Month9Books|Expected Number Of Pages: 236

Where I Got It: I got an advanced copy directly from Month9Books, which hasn’t influenced my review in anyway.  Promise!

Series: Dead Jed #2

Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary with a hint of Zombie

You can find Dead Jed 2 on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

The first part of seventh grade was rough on Jed, but things are looking up now that Christmas is almost here. As with past Christmases, Jed asks for the one thing he’s always wanted–a dog–and again, his parents tell him they’re not ready. But fate has a different plan when Jed sees a dog get run over by a car. Then, it happens. Jed suddenly has a pet, Tread, a zombie dog bearing his namesake–a tire tread down his back. Jed may have gained a dog, but he loses his best friend Luke, who fears the way Jed created his undead pet.

When Jed returns to school, he finds a mysterious group called the No Zombies Now Network spreading rumors of the dangers the undead pose to normal people. Forced to disprove Hollywood stereotypes, Jed has his work cut out for him as stories of a zombie dog begin to circulate. Jed could be expelled if he can’t expose the NZN Network as a fraud. Jed needs help from his kind of girlfriend Anna, especially after he discovers Luke has joined the shadowy group.

Once again navigating the treacherous waters of middle school, Jed does his best to stay in one piece. Only this time he’ll need even more duct tape and staples than usual.

What I Thought:

I really liked Dead Jed 2!

It’s such a fun, cool book about a kid who just happens to be a zombie.  I liked the first Dead Jed book, but I liked this one a lot more.  I think it’s because we already know Jed and what’s going on in his life.

I think one of my favorite things about this book was Tread!  Tread and Jed are a pretty good pair, especially since they’re both zombies.  Jed has a lot of challenges in this book with the NZN Network, and having some problems with Luke because of Tread.

I really liked the science fair, and how it went very, very wrong.  But I also liked that Jed, Anna and Luke wanted to prove the Tech Club wrong.  I’m glad that Luke and Jed are such good friends, and that he also has a good friend in Anna.  I really hope there’s a third book, because I really like this series and I can’t wait to see what else Jed has to deal with.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked Dead Jed 2.  I like that we went right into his world, and what he has to deal with on a daily basis. It’s something I think a lot of people can relate to, and I was definitely reminded of my middle school years and what it was like.  Dead Jed 2: Dawn Of The Jed gets 4 stars.

Book: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Expected Publication is November 4, 2014 by Disney-Hyperion|384 pages

Where I Got It: I got the ARC from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Naturals #1

Genre: YA Slightly Paranormal Mystery/Thriller

You can find Killer Instinct on goodreads and Jennifer Lynn Barnes on Twitter, tumblr, and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?

With her trademark wit, brilliant plotting, and twists that no one will see coming, Jennifer Lynn Barnes will keep readers on the edge of their seats (and looking over their shoulders) as they race through the pages of this thrilling novel.

What I Thought:

So, after listening to The Naturals earlier this year, I was looking forward to reading the next book, and I’m really glad I was able to read an advance copy of the book, because I really liked it!

I really liked seeing where the story picked up after the events of the last book, and I was quite surprised by all of the connections that somehow made the first book make sense in a way I didn’t realize was possible.  It’s actually a good thing, though, because there is so much more to this story than I realized.  This makes so much more curious about where the story is going, because Killer Instinct really threw me for a loop!

I liked that the kids continued to work together as a team, and I liked learning more about the kids, and the people they work with- namely Judd and Agent Briggs.

I am so curious about so many things that I don’t want to spoil, but there’s a lot of mystery that I wasn’t expecting, and I was definitely kept guessing throughout the entire book.  I actually think I like this story more than the one in The Naturals, partly because we get we’re past the introducing part of the series but mostly because so much more of this world is revealed to us.

It’s such a creepy book, and I’m actually looking forward to listening to the audio book, because I actually really liked the first book on audio, and I’m sure this one will just as good (if not better) as an audio book.  I like that each book has a different serial killer, because Barnes does a great job at exploring their motivations, but I also like the relationships between the kids and how they work together to solve the case.

There is a little bit of a love triangle, but the romance really takes a back seat to everything else going on.  Plus, Michael, Dean and Cassie all have their own issues that complicate things.  It’s such a small part of the book that I’ve found I don’t particularly care about the romance,  but with 5 kids in one house, it’s bound to happen.

It definitely seems like each book is going to focus on each kid, because The Naturals primarily focused on Cassie, while this one mostly focused on Dean.  And yet, the overall story story seems to be about Cassie and the death of her mother, so I’m wondering some things.  Like, is each book going to focus on a different kid?  And is each book going to bring us closer to learning what really happened?  I know we’ll have to wait and see, but I still want to know right now.

Let’s Rate It:

I’m definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series, because I have more questions than answers at this point. I really like where the story is going, and I love the relationships between the kids and adults they work with.  Killer Instinct gets 4 stars.

Book: Goebbels: A Biography by Petere Longerich, translated by Alan Bance, Jeremy Noakes & Lesley Sharpe

Expected Publication is October 14, 2014 by Random House: Expected Number Of Pages: 920

Where I Got It: netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: Adult Nonfiction- History/World War 2/Nazi Germany/Holocaust

You can find Goebbels: A Biography on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

From renowned German Holocaust historian Peter Longerich comes the definitive one-volume biography of Adolf Hitler’s malevolent minister of propaganda.

In life, and in the grisly manner of his death, Joseph Goebbels was one of Adolf Hitler’s most loyal acolytes. By the end, no one in the Berlin bunker was closer to the Führer than his devoted Reich minister for public enlightenment and propaganda. But how did this clubfooted son of a factory worker rise from obscurity to become Hitler’s most trusted lieutenant and personally anointed successor?

In this ground-breaking biography, Peter Longerich sifts through the historical record—and thirty thousand pages of Goebbels’s own diary entries—to provide the answer to that question. Longerich, the first historian to make use of the Goebbels diaries in a biographical work, engages and challenges the self-serving portrait the propaganda chief left behind. Spanning thirty years, the diaries paint a chilling picture of a man driven by a narcissistic desire for recognition who found the personal affirmation he craved within the virulently racist National Socialist movement. Delving into the mind of his subject, Longerich reveals how Goebbels’s lifelong search for a charismatic father figure inexorably led him to Hitler, to whom he ascribed almost godlike powers.

This comprehensive biography documents Goebbels’s ascent through the ranks of the Nazi Party, where he became a member of the Führer’s inner circle and launched a brutal campaign of anti-Semitic propaganda. Though endowed with near-dictatorial control of the media—film, radio, press, and the fine arts—Longerich’s Goebbels is a man dogged by insecurities and beset by bureaucratic infighting. He feuds with his bitter rivals Hermann Göring and Alfred Rosenberg, unsuccessfully advocates for a more radical line of “total war,” and is thwarted in his attempt to pursue a separate peace with the Allies during the waning days of World War II. This book also reveals, as never before, Goebbels’s twisted personal life—his mawkish sentimentality, manipulative nature, and voracious sexual appetite.

A harrowing look at the life of one of history’s greatest monsters, Goebbels delivers fresh insight into how the Nazi message of hate was conceived, nurtured, and disseminated. This complete portrait of the man behind that message is sure to become a standard for historians and students of the Holocaust for decades to come.

What I Thought:

I’m definitely fascinated with World War 2, especially with Nazi Germany, so when I was intrigued by this biography of Goebbels when I saw it on netgalley.  I know the name and that he was charge of propaganda, but other than that, I didn’t know anything, so I definitely wanted to learn more about him.

This biography is definitely daunting and very, very detailed- it’s an astounding  900+ pages, and it was definitely a marathon of a book.  Nothing really jumped out at me as particularly interesting, other than Goebbels studied philosophy and that he was loyal to Hitler, to the point of murdering his children before taking his own life.  I feel like, at the end of the book, I knew as much about him as I did before I started the book.

It’s definitely dense (and on the dry side) and I had to fight the urge to skim the book (which I maybe did at certain points throughout the book).  I don’t know that it’s the best book for someone who doesn’t know much about Goebbels, and since it leans more to the scholarly end of things, it might be better suited for people who are really into World World 2 and Nazi Germany (especially those close to Hitler).

This biography really goes into depth about Goebbels and why he did the things he did, and what made him tick.  It’s also a really good look at some of what was going on during that time, because of his journals.  It’s also why it’s a slow read, because it’s very meticulous.

 Let’s Rate It:

This biography is definitely not a book for everyone, but still worth checking out for historians and students or for anyone studying the Holocaust or the Nazi’s (or World War 2).  Goebbels: A Biography gets 2 stars.

Book: Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

Expected Publication is October 14, 2014 by Disney-Hyperion|Expected Number Of Pages: 338

Where I Got It: netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None (as far as I can tell)

Genre: YA Re-telling/Fairy Tales/Science Fiction

You can find Stitching Snow on goodreads & R.C. Lewis on Twitter, Facebook & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

What I Thought:

So…I liked Stitching Snow, but not as much as I was expecting.  I felt like the story described in the summary is a different story than the story that unfolded.  And yet, there was much more to the story than I ever realized.

Stitching Snow very much reminded me of Cinder, so there may or may not be quite a few comparisons throughout my review.  Essie very much reminded me of Cinder, and Dimwit really reminded me of Iko, and Dane reminded me of Captain Thorne.  And her step-mom reminded me of Queen Lavana.

Basically, I’d describe the book as Cinder in space but with Snow White instead of Cinderella.

It’s not a horrible book- I did like it, and I like the idea of Essie fleeing to a different planet as a child, and surviving on a very different planet than the one she grew up on.  I like that she did what she needed to do to stop a huge war and take control of the crown.

It just wasn’t as compelling as I thought or hoped it would be.

Mostly, because this book seems to be a stand-alone and so the world-building and character development seemed minimal and glossed over.  We got bits and pieces of this world, but not to a level I would have liked. I think it’s because I went in expecting Stitching Snow to be a series- because, honestly, these kinds of stories usually are- so I was disappointed to see that the story was pretty much resolved by the end of the book.

I felt like nothing was really explained, and there were a few things about this world (Exiles and Transitioning, mostly) that were really confusing and made no sense whatsoever.  There are all of these different planets and the people that live on them have this history with each other, and yet, I could not tell you a single them about them.  And it’s the same with the characters, who didn’t really stand out to me.

It really is a shame, because I felt like some of the relationships could have had a lot more to them.  Like, Essie and her step-mom or Essie and her dad, and even her step-mom’s issues with her mom.

Everything felt really rushed to me, and I really do feel like Stitching Snow could have benefited from being a series, just to let everything develop over a slower pace.

Still, I like the overall story, and I’d definitely recommend to die-hard fairy tale fans and to people who haven’t read the Lunar Chronicles yet.  And if you have read the Lunar Chronicles, you may like it too, but maybe not as much.

What I Thought:

I liked Stitching Snow and the overall story, but I also wish that things didn’t feel as rushed, because I felt like the book had so much potential.  Stitching Snow gets 3 stars.

Book: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Expected Publication is September 30, 2014 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 376

Where I Got It: I got a digital advanced copy from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction- Civils Rights/GLBT

You can find Lies We Tell Ourselves on goodreads & Robin Talley on Twitter, Facebook, and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.”

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

What I Thought:

Lies We Tells Ourselves is such a great book!  I definitely recommend, and I’m so glad I read it!

It’s so realistic, and even though the book is fiction, it’s something I can picture happening.  I really liked the changes that Linda had to deal with, and I liked that she did change her mind as she spent more time with Sarah, and after a few events that she witnessed since her school had to integrate. As for Sarah, I felt like her story and personal growth didn’t happen to the degree that it happened with Linda, and that she didn’t really seem to get why integration was so hard for her classmates.

I love that both girls narrated the story, because you got to see both sides of the story, and that it’s not focused on side. Anytime I read a book that focuses on desegregating schools, I’m really struck by the fact that it really wasn’t that long ago that it happened- and that it’s a story that’s still relevant today.  There’s no doubt that some schools still get so much less than others, and that there is still a lot of tension in terms of race.  We’ve come a long way since than, but we still have a ways to go.

It really was hard to read at times, knowing that the things that happened in the book were things that happened, and it made me so angry at people.  But I also found myself rooting for Sarah and Linda because I wanted Sarah to be who she was.  It’s the same with Linda, and I was glad to see her change her mind.  It really is a good reminder that things were bad, and that they were a lot worse in some parts of the country.

I also liked seeing Linda and Sarah deal with their feelings for each other.  It worked so well with everything else going on, and it made the story much more interesting.  It’s not something I normally think of when it comes to integrating schools, but it did add something that I can’t place my finger on or even begin to describe.  Still, I think one of the big reasons why it worked so well is that you really see how far we’ve come on for so many things.

Each chapter started off with a lie, and I thought that brought everything together so well, because you got such a good picture of the different challenges that the characters faced throughout the book.  I also liked that Ruth, Sarah’s younger sister, narrated a chapter at the end of the book.  It would have been interesting to see her narrate part of the book, but I liked that she narrated a chapter because you really get the sense that it’s all going to be worth it in the end, and that everything they went through that year meant something.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked Lies We Tell Ourselves!  It was predictable but I didn’t mind because the characters are memorable, and a lot of what happened was so horrifying because it’s so recent and vivid.  I didn’t fall in love with it, but it’s such an important read. Lies We Tell Ourselves gets 4 stars.

Book: Queen Of Hearts, Volume Two: The Wonder by Colleen Oakes

Expected Publication is September 23, 2014 by Sparkpress|Expected Number Of Pages: 238

Where I Got It: read on the kindle app, via netgalley.com.  This hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Queen Of Hearts Saga #2

Genre: YA Fantasy/Alice In Wonderland Re-telling

You can find Queen Of Hearts, Volume 2 on goodreads & Colleen Oakes on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

An Exiled Princess.
An Ancient Tribe.
A Dangerous Stranger with Unknown Loyalties. 

Dinah, the former Princess of Wonderland Palace, has been chased into the wilds of Wonderland after the brutal murder of her brother and the ruin of her impending crown. Now, as her half-sister Vittiore sits on the throne beside her Father, the brutal King of Hearts, Dinah finds herself alone in the forbidding Twisted Wood with only Morte, a homicidal beast, for company. 

Hunted by the King and his army of Cards, Dinah struggles to evade those who long for her head, including Cheshire, the King’s clever advisor, who is slowly tightening his grasp around her. Spurred on by her rising terror, the former Princess finds herself at the center of a web of conspiracy reaching far beyond the Palace and deep into the mysterious Yurkei mountain tribes.

Even with the balance of an entire Kingdom at stake, Dinah knows something that her allies and enemies do not: that the most dangerous conflict of all has already begun as she battles the enticing rage that beckons her ever closer as love slips further from her grasp.

The second book in the bestselling and award-winning Queen of Hearts Saga, The Wonder takes readers back to the most wondrous and curious places in Wonderland, and continues this darkly addictive tale featuring one of the most infamous villains of all time.

But be warned…not every fairy tale has a happy ending.

This is the story of a princess who became a villain.

What I Thought:

I am such a fan of this series!  I love seeing Dinah and her journey to becoming Queen Of Hearts.  This is such a dark book, but I loved seeing a different part of Wonderland in this book.  It really is a vivid, dark place than you’d ever think possible, and I like that we’re getting the story of a villain and their path to become the villain we all know from the book.

There are quite a few things we learn in this book, and everything started making so much more sense- things definitely start falling into place, and this book is where Dinah goes from scared girl we see in the first book to the young women determined to take back the throne we see in this one.  She’s really changed, and her journey is far from over.

Some of my suspicions from The Crown were revealed in this one, and there’s so much more I want to know…like, I’m pretty sure that some of what we learn will have a huge impact on Dinah in the next book, but what we have yet to find out are the details.  I just don’t know how to talk about things while not giving anything away, so I’ll have to settle for being vague for the moment.

I really do feel for Dinah, and she’s such a sympathetic character.  And Morte!  He’s really taken me by surprise, and he’s a great character.  And the Yurkei and the Spades…there are so many characters I really feel for, and I don’t blame them for acting the way they do.  I’d feel the same way if I were them.  I really do feel like I understand the characters a lot better- even the ones I still don’t like!

I’m really excited for the next book, and I can’t for it to come out!

Let’s Rate It:

I really do like this series!  It’s such a different take on Alice In Wonderland, and Oakes does such a great job at making you root for some characters and hate other characters.  I love how dark it is and how you can see so easily how a character becomes a villain.  The Wonder gets 4 stars.

Book: Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel And The Pulse Of History by Rhonda Garelick

Expected Publication is September 30, 2014 by Random House|Expected Number Of Pages: 608

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-fiction/Biography/Fashion

You can find Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel And The Pulse Of History on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Certain lives are at once so exceptional, and yet so in step with their historical moments, that they illuminate cultural forces far beyond the scope of a single person. Such is the case with Coco Chanel, whose life offers one of the most fascinating tales of the twentieth century—throwing into dramatic relief an era of war, fashion, ardent nationalism, and earth-shaking change—here brilliantly treated, for the first time, with wide-ranging and incisive historical scrutiny.

Coco Chanel transformed forever the way women dressed. Her influence remains so pervasive that to this day we can see her afterimage a dozen times while just walking down a single street: in all the little black dresses, flat shoes, costume jewelry, cardigan sweaters, and tortoiseshell eyeglasses on women of every age and background. A bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume is sold every three seconds. Arguably, no other individual has had a deeper impact on the visual aesthetic of the world. But how did a poor orphan become a global icon of both luxury and everyday style? How did she develop such vast, undying influence? And what does our ongoing love of all things Chanel tell us about ourselves? These are the mysteries that Rhonda K. Garelick unravels in Mademoiselle.

Raised in rural poverty and orphaned early, the young Chanel supported herself as best she could. Then, as an uneducated nineteen-year-old café singer, she attracted the attention of a wealthy and powerful admirer and parlayed his support into her own hat design business. For the rest of Chanel’s life, the professional, personal, and political were interwoven; her lovers included diplomat Boy Capel; composer Igor Stravinsky; Romanov heir Grand Duke Dmitri; Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster; poet Pierre Reverdy; a Nazi officer; and several women as well. For all that, she was profoundly alone, her romantic life relentlessly plagued by abandonment and tragedy.

Chanel’s ambitions and accomplishments were unparalleled. Her hat shop evolved into a clothing empire. She became a noted theatrical and film costume designer, collaborating with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Luchino Visconti. The genius of Coco Chanel, Garelick shows, lay in the way she absorbed the zeitgeist, reflecting it back to the world in her designs and in what Garelick calls “wearable personality”—the irresistible and contagious style infused with both world history and Chanel’s nearly unbelievable life saga. By age forty, Chanel had become a multimillionaire and a household name, and her Chanel Corporation is still the highest-earning privately owned luxury goods manufacturer in the world.

In Mademoiselle, Garelick delivers the most probing, well-researched, and insightful biography to date on this seemingly familiar but endlessly surprising figure—a work that is truly both a heady intellectual study and a literary page-turner.

What I Thought:

When I saw this biography on netgalley, I was intrigued because I know the name, but not the person behind the name. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Mademoiselle as much as I thought.

It was very interesting to how she got into fashion, and what her early life was like.  It did get very repetitive at times- it was tiring to read that Chanel wanted to re-write her own life over and over and over.  Mademoiselle was very detailed and had a lot of information- too much information for me.  There were times when I skimmed the book (mostly at the end of the book), just because I couldn’t take in any more details.  For me, there was so much detail that nothing really stood out to me. Sometimes it felt like names and events were thrown at me.  And it felt much more like we got all of the different people and events that had an influence on Chanel personally and professionally, and not a lot about Chanel.  I know that they all had a big impact on her life, but I wish I walked away with a better sense of Chanel.

I did like that there were photos and quotes from Chanel herself scattered throughout the book.  It made Chanel much more real to see her own words throughout the book.  It also seemed like a very objective look at Chanel’s life, but as a result, it seemed a little dry, and I would have liked the little something extra that seemed missing.  I do think anyone who’s curious about Chanel and anyone who’s into fashion will like this book.

Let’s Rate It:

Mademoiselle got a little too detailed and was a little too repetitive at times, which made it okay for me.  It’s still an interesting look at the person who started this huge and iconic company.  Mademoiselle gets 2 stars.

Book: Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

Expected Publication is September 2, 2014 by Feiwel & Friends|Expected Number Of Pages: 270

Where I Got It: I got e-ARC from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Worldwalker Trilogy #1

Genre: YA Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Alternate Universe

You can find Trial By Fire on goodreads & Josephine Angelini on Twitter, Facebook, & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian…Lily’s other self in this alternate universe.

In Josephine Angelini’s Trial by Fire, what makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can’t hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

What I Thought:

I have so many thoughts about Trial On Fire!  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it’s definitely interesting!

I wasn’t sure what to think at first, with Lily and all of her allergies I wasn’t sure where it was going, and when she went to alternate Salem, I really wasn’t sure what to expect!  It was hard to get into, because you’re thrown into a different Salem where science is outlawed, and magic rules.  For some reason, I wasn’t expecting it to go where it did.

Still, I liked the idea of alternate worlds and how what you do in one can have consequences for the other worlds.  I liked seeing Lily learn magic and trying to figure out this different Salem she found herself in.

For me, there was something really weird about this world- people seem scared of Lilian, and I really wish we got more of her, as she’s a big part of why Lily ended up in alternate Salem, and why people don’t seem to trust Lily.  There’s just so much going on that nothing really gets explored really well, and this alternate world didn’t seem as vivid as it could have because of that.  And yet, because of everything going on, I could tell that there was so much more to this world.  And it makes me wish we got so much more of Lilian, who was pretty non-existent for someone who’s the villain- and also the villain who brought Lily into this world.

I will say the ending was a bit abrupt- and also a cliffhanger!  I actually don’t mind the cliffhanger, but for those who aren’t fans of cliffhangers, keep that in mind when reading Trial by Fire.  I just wish it didn’t end so abruptly!  Because when I got to the end, I wanted a little more, because I felt like it ended on too much of a random note.

Let’s Rate It:

I couldn’t completely get into Trial By Fire  because I felt a little overwhelmed by everything going on.  Still, I liked the different elements, because there is something very vivid and different about this world.  I do like it enough to read the 2nd book, though.  Trial By Fire gets 3 stars.

Book: Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Expected Publication is September 2, 2014 by Disney-Hyperion|Expected Number Of Pages: 256

Where I Got It: I received the e-book review copy from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Jess Tennant #1

Genre: YA Horror/Paranormal Ghost Story

You can find The Summoning on goodreads & Hillary Monahan on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her. 

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them–Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna–must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go. 

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: “Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY.” A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror. 

Once is not enough, though–at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary’s wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.

A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary–and Jess–before it’s too late?

What I Thought:

I haven’t been super-impressed with the few paranormal books dealing with ghosts out there, but I did like Mary: The Summoning!

I actually love that it’s based on summoning Bloody Mary Worth (not to be confused with Queen Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII) and I am curious about Bloody Mary as inspiration for the book.

There are definitely some creepy moments throughout the book, and I really liked what actually summoning Mary meant for anyone who did manage to “successfully” summon her.  It was definitely different.  What was also interesting was the interest Jess had in summoning Mary, especially when you learn more about Mary.  However, the random tidbits Jess dropped throughout the book did get annoying and frustrating, because she definitely knew more than she was letting on, and it was very much like she didn’t want anyone to know her real interest in Mary.  And it also very much felt like they were going to know what she wanted them to know.

I did like the relationship between the girls, which is what is standing out as far as the characters go.  I did feel like they didn’t particularly stand out as individual people. and I found like it was a little bit hard to care about them.  I did find that I found some of the things that Jess did to be completely horrible, and she seemed like a horrible friend- to the point where I was wondering why the girls were friends with her in the first place.

Jess is a big reason why I didn’t love Mary, and as someone who just knows that saying Bloody Mary 3 times in front of a mirror is supposed to summon her…I liked what Monahan did with the story, and how it connected with the present, and even the letters that we have from Mary, but part of me wishes Monahan had gone more into Mary’s story.  But this is also the first book in the series, so it would make sense that we don’t get the whole story just yet.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked Mary: The Summoning, but I found that my feelings toward Jess resulted in me not liking the book as much as I would have liked.  Mary: The Summoning gets 3 stars.