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ARC Book Review: The Forgotten Ones

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The Forgotten Ones CoverBook: The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard

Published August 2013 by Indie Inked|Pages: 132

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

Series: The Danaan Trilogy #1

Genre: New Adult Paranormal

You can find The Forgotten Ones on goodreads & Laura Howard on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Allison O’Malley’s plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she’s been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison’s mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn’t trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother’s sanity.

If there’s something I love, it’s a story that centers on fairies.  And I was pleasantly surprised that The Forgotten Ones is not your typical fairy story.

I really liked how Allison’s dad became immortal because he spent too much time in fairie.  As far as I can tell, Allison is not a fairie, which is definitely different, but a different that I’m intrigued by.  And Allison’s mom?  I totally didn’t see a certain plot point coming.  At all.  Actually, I have random thought about her mom: for some reason, the portrayal of Allison’s mother as a schizophrenic who’s heavily sedated and can’t go anywhere without being sedated bothered me, and I have no idea why.

The Forgotten Ones is pretty short, but it moved at a pretty good pace, and I felt like things were wrapped up really well, while also leaving things open for the next book.  It’s because things get fairly resolved that I wasn’t annoyed by the length of the book.  It doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, which is also nice, but given that last line, and everything that happened in The Forgotten Ones…let’s just say that I really want to know what that means for the characters after finishing the book!

I’m feeling pretty neutral about the characters.  The fairies seem pretty interesting, and I wanted to know more about them!  At the same time, I liked what we did learn about them, and I’m sure there’s more to learn!  Other than that…no one really has made a lasting impression.  I will say that I think the length played a part in this, because I felt like I didn’t really get to know the characters, and maybe a book that was slightly longer would have helped in their development.  Hopefully, we’ll learn more of them in the next book.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked The Forgotten Ones, and how it’s a different take on fairies.  It’s pretty rooted in Celtic mythology, which seems pretty rare in fairie novels.  Still, I wish I knew the characters a little bit better, but I really am hoping to learn more about them.  The Forgotten Ones gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Manor Of Secrets

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Manor Of Secrets CoverBook: Manor Of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

Expected Publication is January 28, 2o13 by Scholastic|Expected Number Of Pages: 339

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my opinion.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

You can find Manor Of Secrets on goodreads and Katherine Longshore on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Lady Charlotte Edmonds: Beautiful, wealthy and sheltered, Charlotte feels suffocated by the strictures of upper-crust society. She longs to see the world beyond The Manor, to seek out high adventure—and most of all, romance.

Janie Seward: Fiery, hardworking, and clever, Janie knows she can be more than just a kitchen maid. But she isn’t sure she possesses the courage—or the means—to break free and follow her passions.

Both Charlotte and Janie are ready for change. As their paths overlap in the gilded hallways and dark corridors of The Manor, rules are broken and secrets are revealed. Secrets that will alter the course of their lives…forever.

In a lot of ways, Manor Of Secrets is a pretty typical story of a well-to-do girl who no longer wants to live the life that she’s accustomed to.  But it also surprised me, in a TOTALLY good way!

I really liked how Charlotte and Janie became friends and how they both managed to find some adventure and romance.  They definitely wanted to change their lives (especially Charlotte), and I liked seeing how they both had a better understanding of the world around them by the end of the book. They really came into their own by the end of the book, and I liked seeing that against the backdrop of a world that is changing while living in the bubble of a world that is resistant to change.

There’s definitely a Downtown Abbey feel to the book, so I would definitely recommend it to any Downtown Abbey fan.  There’s quite the cast of characters, and there is very much a divide between the staff and the family.  Everyone has their place, and those roles are challenged a little bit throughout the book.

It’s definitely a fun, quick read, and I’m kind of interested in the difference between upstairs servants and downstairs servants. That was definitely one of the more interesting parts of the book, because I don’t normally think about the hierarchy of servants.

I felt like Manor Of Secrets was predictable at times, especially with a big revelation coming towards the end of the book, but I found I didn’t mind, because Manor Of Secrets was so enjoyable.

Let’s Rate It:

Manor Of Secrets was a fun read.  I didn’t mind that it was predictable, and while I didn’t love it, it was still interesting and kept me entertained throughout the book.  It’s a must-read for Downtown Abbey fans!  Manor Of Secrets gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Forever

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Forever CoverBook: Forever by Karen Ann Hopkins

Expected Publication is January 28, 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 328

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com

Series: Temptation #3

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

You can find Forever on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: All I want is my happily-ever-after.

That’s all I’ve wanted since meeting Noah Miller.

From the day we met, the world has tried to keep Noah and me from being together, but now that I’m carrying his child, no one will be able to tear us apart. Or so I hope. But Noah and I have made some mistakes along the way, and the consequences are impacting the people we love. Worse, there’s a storm on the horizon, and it’s sure to cause serious devastation.

If we can get through this, we’ll finally be Rose and Noah; a family, forever.

But first we have to survive the road ahead. And happily-ever-after is a long way off.

Forever wasn’t what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised with how the series ended!  There were definitely moments where I was irritated with quite a few characters, and there were also times when I thought everyone acted monumentally stupid, but given the choices everyone made, I suppose it’s to be expected.

So, Rose’s pregnancy.  We see Noah hoping Rose is pregnant at the end of the 2nd book, and at the beginning of this one, he’s hoping she isn’t, because of how difficult it will be for them if she is.  So there’s quite the change in attitude from Noah.  And not just in regards to Rose’s pregnancy!  Her dad doesn’t take it well, of course, and Rose puts off that particular conversation.  However, she does seem relieved that her older brother is the one who told their dad.

Rose’s dad is the character who frustrated me the most in this series.  I get his resistance to Rose becoming Amish, but he also didn’t seem to care about what Rose wanted.  For most of the series, he’s been so dead-set against Rose becoming Amish…I felt like his resistance may have made being with Noah even more appealing.  At the same time, Rose also didn’t seem to want to take her dad’s opinion into consideration.

Until Noah does something that I didn’t see coming…he actually decides to leave the Amish country behind.  Part of it is things that happened after he broke off his engagement to Constance, and part of it is him actually coming to the realization that it wasn’t fair for Rose to sacrifice so much and for him to not sacrifice anything.  I have two very different thoughts on this.  The first one being it’s about time, and the other one being that it still seems weird that he would finally change his mind.  I so very much wanted Rose to become Amish, and I’m finding that I’m slightly disappointed that it didn’t happen.  Noah leaving the Amish community, but still living nearby…it does seem to work for them, but…it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

Another slightly frustrating thing was how Rose’s dad became a bit more accepting of her pregnancy once Noah said he was leaving the Amish community behind.  I doubt her dad was completely okay with it, but it was irksome that it was more okay once it meant that Rose wasn’t going to be Amish. It’s one of those times when I wish we had a chapter or two narrated by her dad, because as frustrating as he was throughout the entire series, I still would have liked to see what he was really thinking.

Speaking of narration…we have Noah, Rose and Sam narrating, with the addition of Sarah as a narrator.  I’m not sure how I feel about Sarah as a narrator, but it was nice to see how Noah and Rose’s actions were affecting her, just as it affected Sam.  Because there are definitely consequences, and it’s not just Noah and Rose who have to deal with them…it’s also affecting those close to them.

Let’s Rate It:

Even though Forever is my least favorite in the series, I still really liked it!  There’s a lot of drama, and there is a lot going on, but I liked that Rose and Noah finally got their happily-ever-after.  Forever gets 4 stars.  

ARC Book Review: Heartbeat

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Heartbeat CoverBook: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Expected publication is January 28, 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 240

*I did receive Heartbeat from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way. Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Heartbeat on goodreads & Elizabeth Scott on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and her website

Goodreads Summary: Life. Death. And…Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can’t tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn’t have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

My Review:

When I saw what Hearbeat was about, I knew it was something I had to read, because it’s not a topic covered in fiction.  Well, it’s not something that I’ve seen.  Still, I liked that it’s so different than a lot of other books I’ve read in terms of plot.  You have Emma, who believes her mom wouldn’t want to stay alive just because of her younger brother, and that her step-dad Dan is a total monster for putting her brother before her mom.  And Dan is on the complete opposite side, believing it is what Emma’s mom would want.

I can’t even BEGIN to imagine what it would be like for both Emma and Dan to deal with what they’re dealing with.  I get why Emma blamed Dan (and her brother, to a certain extent), and I might have done the same thing if I were in her situation.  Still, I found it to be irritating by the end of the book, and while I wanted to feel sympathy for her, I really couldn’t.  I get her grief and that Dan maybe forgot about her and didn’t ask her about what she thought about her mom being on life support, but…actually, I’m finding that I’m more sympathetic towards Dan, for having to make that decision.  It was just really hard for me to like her, as weird as it may seem.  Her thought process (and Dan’s too, come to think of it) do make a little more sense towards the end of the novel, when they actually talk to each other.

I did like that Emma gave Caleb a chance, and that there’s a reason for why he acts the way he does. And of all of the characters in the book, he’s also the one that understands what Emma is going through the most.  So it’s good that they have each other to work through everything that’s happened in their lives, you know?

Back to Dan wanting to keep Emma’s mom on life support in order to give his unborn son a chance at survival.  You can’t help but wonder what you’d do in that situation, and there’s definitely the ethics of it to think about.  It really does give you a lot to think about.  The difference in opinion Dan and Emma have does make for an interesting conflict, because you get both sides of the issue.  And even when they’re both being a little unfair to the other…they also make sense at the same time.  There are no easy answers for Dan and Emma.

Let’s Rate It:

I know it would seem like I didn’t like Heartbeat, but I actually did like it.  It’s definitely because of the decisions that Dan had to make, and it’s definitely something to think about, whether or not you agree with what he decided.  It was hard for me to care about Emma,  but I also understand why she acted the way she did.  Heartbeat gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Where You’ll Find Me

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Where You'll Find Me CoverBook: Where You’ll Find Me by Erin Fletcher

Expected Publication is January 7, 2014 by Entangled Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 190

Where I Got It: from Entangled Teen, which hasn’t influenced my review.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Where You’ll Find Me on goodreads & Erin Fletcher on Twitter

Goodreads Summary: When Hanley Helton discovers a boy living in her garage, she knows she should kick him out. But Nate is too charming to be dangerous. He just needs a place to get away, which Hanley understands. Her own escape methods (vodka, black hair dye, and pretending the past didn’t happen) are more traditional, but who is she to judge?

Nate doesn’t tell her why he’s in her garage, and she doesn’t tell him what she’s running from. Soon, Hanley’s trading her late-night escapades for all-night conversations and stolen kisses. But when Nate’s recognized as the missing teen from the news, Hanley isn’t sure which is worse: that she’s harboring a fugitive, or that she’s in love with one.

Where You’ll Find Me is such an interesting book!  I liked it, and I liked Hanley’s story.  By the way, I love the name Hanley- it really seems to fit her!

Initially, I wasn’t sure about Where You’ll Find Me.  It was very obvious that something big was the reason why Hanley acted the way she did, and in the end, we learn why she’s acted the way she did. Including acting like things were fine, even though they weren’t fine.  And Nate’s story!  It wasn’t what I was expecting at all, but I liked that they found a friend in each other- someone who understands what the other was going through.  I felt for both Hanley and Nate, but it was Nate who I really felt for.

I think a big reason why I wasn’t sure about Where You’ll Find Me is that the beginning is a bit on the cliché side.  But it was how the story unraveled that made me really like this book, especially the last few chapters.  Once you learn more about Hanley, you understand why she’s doing what she’s doing.

I would have liked to see more of Hanley’s relationship with her sister and her parents.  I did like how her relationship with her sister changed by the end of the book, and how her parents came through for her at the end of the book, but I think I would have liked to see a few glimpses of what her relationship with them was like before everything happened.  Seeing what her life was like before everything happened would have been a nice contrast to how things are for now.  At least for me.

Final Thoughts:

I did like Where You’ll Find Me, and I’m looking forward to reading more books by Erin Fletcher!  I liked that Hanley came to accept that things weren’t fine and that she started to accept what happened.  I liked that she and Nate have this really strong bond, and that they had someone they could talk to. Where You’ll Find Me gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Salt

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Salt CoverBook: Salt by Danielle Ellison

Expected Publication Date is January 7, 2014 by Entangled Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 266

Where I Got It: I received a digital copy from the publisher, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Salt #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Salt on goodreads & Danielle Ellison on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: Penelope is a witch, part of a secret society protecting humans from demon attacks. But when she was a child, a demon killed her parents—and stole her magic. Since then, she’s been pretending to be something she’s not, using her sister’s magic to hide her own loss, to prevent being sent away.

When she’s finally given the chance to join the elite demon-hunting force, Penelope thinks that will finally change. With her sister’s help, she can squeeze through the tests and get access to the information she needs to find “her” demon. To take back what was stolen.

Then she meets Carter. He’s cute, smart, and she can borrow his magic, too. He knows her secret—but he also has one of his own. 

Suddenly, Penelope’s impossible quest becomes far more complicated. Because Carter’s not telling her everything, and it’s starting to seem like the demons have their own agenda…and they’re far too interested in her.

Initially, when I started reading Salt, I wasn’t sure about it.  But as I kept reading, I got wrapped up in the story!  It’s really different than a lot of paranormal/witch-y books I’ve read, because Penelope can draw her magic from her family.  It’s really different, mainly because she’s lost her own magic due to a demon stealing it…and the reason why she can draw power from her family, and from Carter, her Enforcer partner, is very plausible in this world.

Speaking of the world…I really like it!  It’s definitely intriguing, and I wish we got to learn more about it, because a world where there’s a society of witches that co-exists with our world is a pretty cool idea. And Carter and Penelope working together was entertaining at times, but also something I liked seeing, because of everything going on in the book!  Still, I’m hoping we learn more about the world Penelope lives in, because I felt like I didn’t get a good feel for this world.

I really liked how everything came together, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Penelope and Carter.  Especially because of Penelope’s secret and Carter’s connections…I’m curious as to whether those two things will collide, because I feel like Penelope’s secret is going to come out at some point.

There’s quite the assortment of characters, and I really like Penelope!  I don’t blame her for wanting her magic back, and for doing everything she can to do so.  I really do like that she can draw magic from her family and from Carter, and I like that her grandma’s so protective and worried about what could happen to Penelope.  I’m not sure how I feel about Penelope’s sister or her best friend, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of them.  I also think Carter is sort of intriguing, but I’m not sure how I feel about Carter and Penelope as a couple.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Salt!  It’s definitely different (in a good way) than a lot of other paranormal books I’ve read, and I can’t wait to read the next book.  Salt gets 4 stars.

ARC Book Review: Drawn

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Drawn CoverBook: Drawn by Cecilia Gray

Expected Publication is December 15, 2013 by Gray Life, LLC|Expected Number Of Pages is 151

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

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary with a dash of paranormal

You can find Drawn on Goodreads & You can find Cecilia Gray on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Take a journey into the gritty world of political espionage through the eyes – and lies – of one extraordinary girl. A wholly original tale of friendship and betrayal from the author of The Jane Austen Academy series….

Sasha has a secret – that she can make you spill your secret with nothing more than a question. Her strange gift makes her a burden to her foster family and a total freak of nature. Not that Sasha cares. Why should she when no one cares about her?

Then the CIA knocks on her door. They want to give Sasha a new identity and drop her into a foreign country to infiltrate a ring of zealous graffiti terrorists. They want to give Sasha something to care about.

To survive a world where no one is who they seem, Sasha needs to make people trust her. But when that trust blossoms into love, Sasha is forced to decide between duty and friendship, between her mind and her heart, and whether to tell the truth or keep her secrets.

Drawn…what to say about Drawn?  I really like the idea of a girl who has a voice that can make you spill your secrets.  It’s one interesting ability, and it’s a really interesting take on that ability.

She really is the perfect person to work for the FBI or the CIA.  I’ll admit that the FBI Sasha helping out the FBI since she was 12 to be a bit unbelievable…but at the same time, I was totally willing to overlook that, since it’s the set-up for the rest of the book.

I like the graphic novel part of the book and how each chapter was introduced by a panel from a graphic novel.  Given that Sasha likes to draw and is into comics, I thought it made Drawn interesting, even though there wasn’t a lot of emphasis on Sasha’s love of drawing.

I was expecting more mystery and espionage, and I was expecting a little more action than what we got in the book.  Still, I liked that she did make a friend or two.  I was also expecting something longer, and I think more time on her assignment with the CIA would have been nice, because there were times when I felt like the book was just going from one point to the next.

Sasha was an interesting character- mostly because of her ability, but also because her interest in art. I get why she’s not close to anyone, because her voice- understandably- makes people uncomfortable. But for the most part, I felt like I really didn’t get to know who Sasha is.  And there were times when I felt like I didn’t really care about Sasha.  I think part of that is that Drawn felt like the beginning of her story, and I’d be interested to see if there’s a sequel, just because Sasha’s story seemed unfinished.

Still, I really like that she’s pretty much a human lie detector and travels to Belgium for her assignment with the CIA.  Belgium isn’t a country you tend to see in YA, so it was a nice change.  And as much as I loved Belgium as a setting, it didn’t leave me with a memorable impression of the country.

Final Thoughts:

I did like Drawn, especially Sasha’s ability and the fact that it was set in Belgium, a country you don’t tend to see in YA books. unfortunately, it was hard to care about Sasha at times, and I was expecting more mystery and espionage than what we got in the book.  Drawn gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Elizabeth Of York

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Elizabeth Of York CoverBook: Elizabeth Of York by Alison Weir

Expected Publication Is December 3, 2013 by Ballantine Books|Expected Number Of Pages: 536

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

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction- History- Tudor England

You can find Elizabeth Of York on goodreads|You can find Alison Weir at her website

Goodreads Summary: Many are familiar with the story of the much-married King Henry VIII of England and the celebrated reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I. But it is often forgotten that the life of the first Tudor queen, Elizabeth of York, Henry’s mother and Elizabeth’s grandmother, spanned one of England’s most dramatic and perilous periods. Now New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir presents the first modern biography of this extraordinary woman, whose very existence united the realm and ensured the survival of the Plantagenet bloodline.

Her birth was greeted with as much pomp and ceremony as that of a male heir. The first child of King Edward IV, Elizabeth enjoyed all the glittering trappings of royalty. But after the death of her father; the disappearance and probable murder of her brothers—the Princes in the Tower; and the usurpation of the throne by her calculating uncle Richard III, Elizabeth found her world turned upside-down: She and her siblings were declared bastards.

As Richard’s wife, Anne Neville, was dying, there were murmurs that the king sought to marry his niece Elizabeth, knowing that most people believed her to be England’s rightful queen. Weir addresses Elizabeth’s possible role in this and her covert support for Henry Tudor, the exiled pretender who defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and was crowned Henry VII, first sovereign of the House of Tudor. Elizabeth’s subsequent marriage to Henry united the houses of York and Lancaster and signaled the end of the Wars of the Roses. For centuries historians have asserted that, as queen, she was kept under Henry’s firm grasp, but Weir shows that Elizabeth proved to be a model consort—pious and generous—who enjoyed the confidence of her husband, exerted a tangible and beneficial influence, and was revered by her son, the future King Henry VIII. 

Drawing from a rich trove of historical records, Weir gives a long overdue and much-deserved look at this unforgettable princess whose line descends to today’s British monarch—a woman who overcame tragedy and danger to become one of England’s most beloved consorts.

I’m super-fascinated by the Tudors, and I’m also a huge fan of Alison Weir, so I knew I had to read Elizabeth Of York.  I don’t know much about her, or the Wars Of The Roses, since I tend to read about Henry VIII and his wives and children.  It was great reading about Elizabeth, since I didn’t know a lot about her.

The first few chapters…they were a little hard to go through, mostly because I found it hard to keep up with all of the people and events Weir writes about.  It’s fairly easy to understand, but it’s a lot to take in, and I think I need to read the book a few more times with pen and paper to have a better grasp of everything.  It’s very readable, but my head swam with names and such.

One thing I thought was interesting was how Henry VII kind of needed her to make his role as king legitimate.  It’s not surprising, given there was a war over who should be king, but it’s still interesting that marrying someone like Elizabeth neutralized some claims to the throne.  Not completely, of course, and some of them must have taken their toll on her.

Another interesting thing was the possibility that Henry VIII named his daughter Elizabeth after his mother.  I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but it does make sense.  I also thought that Henry would want to have a relationship like the one his parents had to be interesting.  It seems like Elizabeth and Henry VII had a really good relationship and marriage, so Henry had a relationship to look up to.  I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does.  Of course, trying to find someone like his mother wasn’t conclusive or anything, since having heirs was really important.

While I found the first chapters confusing, they were also really interesting.  I liked reading about her childhood, and you could easily focus in on that part of her life.  Having to live somewhere really secure because of living in uncertainty, and losing her 2 brothers and not knowing if they were dead or alive, and holding out hope…I do have a lot of sympathy for her.

A lot of the book, especially those early years, focus on what was going on around Elizabeth, since there isn’t a lot we know of that time in her life.  So I don’t mind that part of the book is more about the people around her, because it shows how she became the person she did, and why things went the way they did.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Elizabeth Of York was very readable, and I liked learning more about her.  It was hard to keep track of what was going on at the beginning, but in the end, I learned a lot!  Elizabeth Of York gets 4 stars.

ARC Book Review: Pawn

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Pawn CoverBook: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Expected Publication is November 26, 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 356

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

Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1

Genre: YA Dystopic

You can find Pawn on Goodreads|You can find Aimee Carter on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING. 

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country. 

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter. 

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning to understand.

I have mixed feelings about Pawn.

So: I loved the idea.  The hierarchy really reminded me of The Selection, and there is something very familiar about Pawn. Something about Pawn felt very familiar- almost like I had read it before.  Or at least, something about it is really similar to other books I’ve read.  There were quite a few things that were predictable in a way that made it hard to stay interested in what was going on. Sometimes, I don’t care if a book is on the predictable side, but Pawn, unfortunately, is not one of those books.

Back to the idea: a test that determines your future is pretty interesting, and Kitty’s transformation into Lila Hart is also interesting. The idea that someone can be transformed into someone else so that people don’t know you’re a replacement/double…definitely interesting.  Like, how well would that work in our society?  I feel like it would be really easy to realize that someone is not who thy say they are.

I’m not the biggest fan of Kitty, and I found it was hard to care about her.  She was definitely naive, and that was a bit irritating at times.  I think I would have expected her to be a little less naive than she really is, and it’s because of how she grew up in a group home.  Although, her struggle with reading was slightly interesting, and I wish we saw a bit more of that, because it is the most interesting thing about her.

Overall, I really like the idea of a rebellion against such an important test.  I suppose you could draw some sort of parallels to the SAT’s, and it’s not all that hard to imagine a world where one test determines your entire future.  And Prime Minister being handed off to the next generation is an interesting idea, especially in the U.S.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I liked Pawn, and thought there were some really interesting ideas in Pawn.  I just couldn’t connect with Kitty, and there’s something very familiar about Pawn.  Pawn gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Cursed

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Cursed CoverBook: Cursed by Lizzie Ford

Expected Publication is November 17, 2013 by Evatopia|Expected Number Of Pages: 246

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

Series: Voodoo Nights #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Cursed on Goodreads|You can find Lizzie Ford on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: The Red Man is coming…

Five years after her sister disappeared, seventeen-year-old Adrienne finds the strength to return to her father’s home in New Orleans. But soon after she arrives, the mark of a curse appears on her, leaving her worried. Will she be the next victim of a four-hundred-year old family curse…the next to be claimed by a serial killer roaming the back alleys of the city?

The day before his senior year begins, Jayden is given a skeleton key passed down through his family for generations — a gruesome reminder of how his ancestors betrayed their own people and sold them into slavery. He doesn’t believe in the curse the key allegedly bears and puts it away with the intention of forgetting about its message. Until he meets Adrienne, a girl he’s compelled to for more reasons than her beauty. 

He’s not the only one who notices her. A man in a skeleton mask and a voodoo gang member are also drawn to Adrienne. One is determined to protect her. The other intends to mislead her. Haunted by the mythical Red Man, all are connected to the ancient curse.

Can they overcome their misgivings about one another and prevent the dark prophecy looming over them? Or will they be lured away from each other by evil’s siren song?

I definitely liked Cursed, and I liked the idea of a curse that hovers over two different families because of things that happened hundreds of years earlier.  I also really liked the role that voodoo played, especially because it’s something I haven’t seen a lot of in paranormal books.

I liked the connections between Adrienne’s family and Jayden’s family, and how connected they are, and how things could be very different because of trying to break the curse.  So, the origin story for curse was interesting, but it seemed more complicated than it could have been.  I’m not sure if it’s something I need to go back and read again, or if it wasn’t explained as well as it could have been.

I also liked how there were a variety of people who did and did not believe in voodoo.  It definitely makes it interesting to see how things are going to work out when one person is very much believing that the curse doesn’t really exist.  There is a lot going on, in terms of voodoo and what we learn about it.  It is quite a bit of info to take in, but Ford also does do a great job at not overwhelming you with the particulars of how voodoo works in this particular world.  I also liked how the prophecy was worked in, and I can’t wait to see how everything will all play out, given how things went in Cursed.

I’m a little bit iffy about the ending.  It feels a little incomplete to me, and while I get that it’s the first book in the series, it was also a little too abrupt for my liking.  Still, I’m definitely interested in where things are going, and if the curse will broken, and all sorts of other things that I don’t want to spoil for anyone.

Final Thoughts:

I liked Cursed, and the idea of a 400-year-old curse is a really interesting one!  While the ending was a little too abrupt for me, I’m still interested in where things are headed.  Cursed gets 3 stars.