Book: Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Published by Scholastic, Inc

Purchased for my Nook (288 pages)

Genre: YA: Contemporary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It gets a 5 out of 5.

Book: Bound by Kira Saito

Published by Smashwords

Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Paranormal- Romance

Find out more: Goodreads~Kira Saito

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Book: Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Published by HarperTeen

Purchased for my Nook (352 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal- Fairies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Book: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Published by HarperCollins

Purchased for my Nook (352 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal

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

Goodreads Summary: A hidden truth. 

Mortal enemies. 

Doomed love.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It gets a 4 out 0f 5.

Book: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine

Published by Penguin Group

Purchased for my Nook (256 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Rachel Caine

Goodreads Summary: Claire Danvers has her share of challenges—like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm, and above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with vampires. On the up side, she has a great roommate (who tends to disappear at sunup) and a new boyfriend named Shane, whose vampire-hunting dad has called in backup: cycle punks who like the idea of killing just about anything.

Now a fraternity is throwing its annual Dead Girls’ Dance and—surprise!—Claire and her equally outcast best friend, Eve, have been invited. When they find out why, all hell is going to break loose. Because this time both the living and the dead are coming out—and everybody’s hungry for blood.

I just love this series, even thought I’ve only read the first couple books.  It picks up where Glass Houses left off.

I just love the characters but they were all over the place.  Like the thing Michael did at the end?  Not what I expected.  Monica didn’t seem like her usual  crazy, threatening self either.

I really enjoyed the race to save Shane from being burned alive.  Definitely a lot of mystery- even though it was pretty obvious Shane would be saved at the end.  Things between Shane and Claire seem rushed, especially at the end, but overall, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  I didn’t like Shane as much in this novel but hopefully he’ll be more like the Shane we met in Glass Houses.  Eve was just okay, and Michael is really interesting.  He’s still him, and I’m really curious as to what Caine does with him in the rest of the series.

I really love the town of Morganville and how I can picture everything so clearly.  Plus, I love the way the town is set up and structured and how they deal with things.  And Shane’s relationship with his dad (who is slightly crazy but still interesting) is also interesting.  Plus, learning about his sister and his mother and how they died was interesting.  Learning about characters is good, and so far, Caine seems pretty good about pacing the little tidbits we get.

Morganville is a crazy town, but I love that about it.  And I love that things aren’t progressing slowly- Claire and her friends seem to get more and more involved with the craziness.

It gets a 5 out of 5.  It was fun, and I just love the vampires in this series.

Book: My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

Published by Harlequin Teen

Purchased for my Nook (279 pages)

Genre: YA: Paranormal

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Rachel Vincent

Goodreads summary: She doesn’t see dead people, but she senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next…

I thoroughly enjoyed My Soul To Take.  It’s about banshees (or Bean Sidhe)!  It’s a nice change from reading about ghosts (which I haven’t read a lot of) or vampires or fairies.

I love how Kaylee has to fight the urge to start screaming when she senses that someone is going to die.  What I loved most was the addition of male bean sidhe, who work with females in order to bring someone back to life.  That was a really good move on Vincent’s part, because it’s not something I’d associate with them.

I don’t blame Kaylee for thinking she was crazy- I’d think I was crazy too.  Her dad was irritating, the way he just bailed on her, but I totally get why he did.  I wasn’t expecting her aunt to make a deal with a reaper in exchange for youth, but at the same time, it wasn’t a big surprise.

I really liked the reapers and how one is going rogue.  I can’t wait to see how this resolves itself.  That, combined with the bean sidhe made this book really interesting.

It did take a little bit to get into it, but once you did, it was hard to put down.  I just loved reading about a different legend, because banshees aren’t something you read about in the world that is YA paranormal.  There was a lot of world-building, but it was so interesting that I didn’t really care.

I really want to know more about Aiden and Brendan.  And Tod and Nash.  Both sets of brothers and the relationships they have with each other intrigue me.

My Soul To Take gets a 4 out of 5.  It is different, which is good, and it was really mysterious and fun.

Book: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Published by Harper Collins (352 pages)

Purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Paranormal

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Kimberly Derting

Goodreads Summary: Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

I really liked The Body Finder.  I thought Violet’s ability to sense the dead and imprints that their killers leave behind was an interesting one.  I wasn’t too surprised to see that there was a serial killer taking and killing girls and that Violet used her abilities to figure out where the girls were buried and who was behind it.

I wish we saw more of her ability and what she can do with it.  It was interesting enough, with different people having different echoes, and a serial killer absorbing the echoes of all of the people they’ve killed.  I really liked how she could see or hear them.

As for the romance…really obvious.  At least Jay and Violet were best friends first, which is a nice change from the love at first sight romances.  And no love triangles, which is also nice.

Violet, other than her creepy ability to sense the dead, actually seemed relatively normal.

Something I just loved was seeing the serial killer in action.  It made everything much more creepy.  Plus, it felt a lot more real, as opposed to just being there.  Creepy ability + getting into the serial killer’s head = a suspenseful book!

I give it a 4 out of 5.  It started off a little slow but picked up.