Book: Ghost Town by Rachel Caine

Published October 2010|Published by Penguin Group|236 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Part of a series? Yes, Morganville Vampires #9

Genre: YA/Paranormal- Vampires

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

Goodreads.com Summary: 

While developing a new system to maintain the town’s defenses, genius student Claire Danvers discovers a way to use the vampires’ powers to keep outsiders from spreading news of Morganville’s “unique” situation. 

But when people in town start forgetting who they are-including the vampires-Claire has to figure out how to pull the plug on her experiment before she forgets how to save herself…and Morganville.

My Review:

This is definitely an interesting book in the Morganville Vampire series.  Claire fixes the machine that keeps Morganville going…but everyone loses their memories in the process.  Well, most everyone- Claire and Oliver seem to be the only ones immune to the strange memory loss, which isn’t really surprising.  I’m not at all surprised that Claire came up with something that had serious (but temporary) consequences- but I was surprised that people didn’t remember the last three years.

And Shane knowing that he was still into Claire, even when he didn’t remember her?  It was such a sweet moment in the book!  Myrnin was his usual crazy self, and Shane’s dad totally did something unexpected.  Amelie and Oliver really do have an interesting relationship, and you really see that during the brief time Oliver took control over the town.  I really can’t wait to see how that relationship continues to develop.

Ghost Town certainly adds to the series, especially with that cliffhanger ending!  I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve had one, and I was wondering when Caine would bust one out.  Again, the characters are pretty consistent, except for when they’re not…and there is usually a reason for them acting weird.

Final thoughts:

I really liked it, and while it’s a fun and interesting read, it’s not one of my favorites.  Still, it’s pretty consistent, and each book keeps building on the last one, so it gets 4 stars.

Book:  A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Published September 2010|Published by Llewellyn Worldwide|200 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Part of a series? No

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Holly Schindler

Goodreads.com Summary: Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

My Review:

The plot: The connection between creativity and mental illness is one that’s pretty interesting.  There were times when things were predictable- like when Aura’s boss at her part-time job turned out to be her grandmother.  Or her mom getting help and acting perfectly fine after what seems like a month of treatment.  That, to, me didn’t seem too realistic. However, I liked that her mom was schizophrenic and not depressed, which is what I’d expect.  Also predictable?  Aura being okay with her interest in art in the end.

The characters: I didn’t really care for Aura’s mom, grandma or dad.  But I did like Aura.  I liked seeing Aura struggle with her own creativity because of her mom.  Aura’s artistic talents seemed similar to her mom’s, in that they both drew and painted and whatnot.  I like that there’s that connection between them, but it was also irritating because I would have liked Aura to be creative in a different way than her mom.

Other Thoughts: I didn’t really like how no one seemed to notice or care that Aura was the one taking care of her mom.  Like, she gets called into the counselor’s office, who didn’t even ask if anything was going on at home.  Granted, they do call her home quite a few times, it’s almost like there was no effort to call her dad.  I get why Aura didn’t tell anyone, and I’m not sure she would have told her counselor, even if she had been asked about her home life.  Is this reality for some kids out there?  Sure.  I could relate to Aura in some ways, and overall, she was pretty likeable.

Final Thoughts and Rating:

I liked A Blue So Dark, but not as much as I thought.  It was a little predictable at times, and some things just didn’t fit.  But the connection between mental illness and creativity is a pretty interesting idea, and I did like the parallels between Aura’s creativity and how creative her mom and grandma are.  It gets 3 stars.

Book: Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Published November 2012|Published by Random House Children’s Books|304 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Series or Stand-alone? It’s a stand-alone!

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Lauren Morrill’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 

It’s one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she’s queen of following rules and being prepared. That’s why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that’s also why she’s chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB (“meant to be”).

But this spring break, Julia’s rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she’s partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

The Review:

I was really excited about Meant To Be, because it just sounds so fun and cute!  It was fun and cute, and I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would.

I loved that it took place in London on a school trip.  And I LOVED that Julia’s idea of her MTB changed.  I wasn’t a big fan of Julia, and thought she was kind of annoying.  She’s really determined to follow the rules, to the point that she’d rather look through her many guidebooks instead of visiting the places in said guidebooks.  It was clear early on that she and Jason would end up together, and I honestly don’t get why she was so interested in Mark.  Maybe to show how you can put someone on a pedestal or something?  Jason was all over the place- sweet and fun one minute, and ignoring Julia the next.  And I don’t completely get their attraction to each other.  There’s the obvious opposites attract thing going on, but their relationship could have been a little more developed.  Overall, the romance was pretty predictable.

You don’t really get when Jason started to like Julia…and while you see the moment she realized she liked Jason, it felt really random.

I think my favorite part was the descriptions of London- it just makes me want to visit London even more than I already do.  It just felt like Julia was going through the motions when she was visiting.  I was kind of reminded of Anna And The French Kiss, in the sense that they’re both about teens exploring a foreign country while falling in love.  If you liked Anna, you might want to check this one out.

 Final thoughts:

It was a cute, quick read.  I didn’t like it as much as a I thought I would, but I still enjoyed it.  And the cover is just beautiful!  Meant To Be gets 3 stars.

Book: Every Day by David Levithan

Published August 2012|Published by Knopf Books For Young Readers|219 pages|e-book via the library

Part of a series? No

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|David Levithan’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: A has no friends. No parents. No family. No possessions. No home, even. Because every day, A wakes up in the body of a different person. Every morning, a different bed. A different room. A different house. A different life. A is able to access each person’s memory, enough to be able to get through the day without parents, friends, and teachers realizing this is not their child, not their friend, not their student. Because it isn’t. It’s A. Inhabiting each person’s body. Seeing the world through their eyes. Thinking with their brain. Speaking with their voice.

It’s a lonely existence–until, one day, it isn’t. A meets a girl named Rhiannon. And, in an instant, A falls for her, after a perfect day together. But when night falls, it’s over. Because A can never be the same person twice. But yet, A can’t stop thinking about her. She becomes A’s reason for existing. So each day, in different bodies–of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, walks of life–A tries to get back to her. And convince her of their love. But can their love transcend such an obstacle?

I really wanted to like Every Day.  It’s such an intriguing concept, but I have quite a few issues with the book that I just couldn’t get past, no matter how hard I tried.

Like, I like the idea that A is in a different body every day and that everyday, he is still in love with Rhiannon, no matter who he is inhabiting.  But I felt like a lot of those characters were really superficial and like he relied very much on stereotypes.  You have the suicidal girl with no friends, the boy who’s home-schooled and has a crazy mom, and a person who’s over 300 pounds and gets a lot of looks of disgust.  A lot of the characters felt like the token fill-in-the-blank group.  Interestingly enough, the only characters that didn’t feel like the token whatever were the GLBT characters.  They were easily the most believable characters, but even with being more believable than the other characters…they too felt superficial.

Every Day just felt one-sided and kind of preachy.  I think having a couple scenes (or maybe even a chapter or two) from Rhiannon’s perspective would have made it interesting.  You don’t really get what Rhiannon’s really feeling or thinking, and you don’t see her trying to deal with loving someone who’s in a different body every day.  And the book being kind of preachy?  It really felt like Levithan wanted the reader to know that race, gender, appearance and sexual orientation don’t matter, but it got so irritating by the end of the book that I just didn’t care about how much they loved each other.  The whole thing- the romance, the clichéd characters, the gender-neutral A who switched bodies- felt really forced.

You do think about accepting people for who they are but it really felt like A wanted Rhiannon to love him no matter what, even when she didn’t seem completely into A.  I just don’t get why they’re attracted to each other, and I think that’s something that should have been explored a little more.

And we do have to talk about the body-switching.  We just know it happens every day, but we don’t learn about why or how it happens.  We just know that it does happen.  And it isn’t until the end that we get hints that it happens to other people too.  It seems like there might be a geographic limit, but I’m not completely convinced of that, because A is never more than 4 hours away from Rhiannon.  It seemed more convenient than any other reason.

Final thoughts:

I get why people love Every Day, and why it has so many rave reviews.  The concept is intriguing and A having no gender is really unique.  The characters and plot were really superficial and it just didn’t work for me.  Every Day gets 1 star.

Book: Kiss Of Death by Rachel Caine

Published April 2010|Published by Penguin Group|194 Pages|Purchased For My Nook

Part Of A Series: Yes, Morganville Vampires #8

Genre: YA/Paranormal- Vampires

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Rachel Caine’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Claire Danvers has a few things on her mind. First of all there is the laundry, which is now an unfortunate shade of pink. Then there is her boyfriend, Shane, who is never too far from her thoughts. Finally there is her best friend Eve’s relationship problems. As if life as a student wasn’t complicated enough, Claire just happens to be studying in Morganville. A town run by vampires.

Trouble seems to follow Claire and her friends like a shadow and tonight is no exception to the rule. They must find the most difficult documents for a vampire to acquire; people passes that will allow “bad ass” Morley and his friends to leave Morganville. But it’s proving incredibly difficult, and with the odds seemingly stacked against them, the biggest question of all is…

Will they survive?

I liked Kiss Of Death, but I think it’s my least favorite book in the series.  Claire and her roommates get to leave Morganville for a few days, so Michael can record a demo, and even though they talk about never going back to Morganville, such a plan would never work, so in the end, they have to go back.

Since we are talking about Michael, Shane, Claire and Eve, they don’t have any ordinary trip, and they run into trouble along the way.  They make a couple stops, because Bishop passed through a couple towns before going to Morganville, turned almost an entire town into vampires, and also (somehow) gave them that god-awful vampire illness.

I do think it was good to see life outside Morganville, and that Bishop created more vampires…the idea that there are vampires not in Morganville, potentially leaving chaos in their wake is a bit weird.  But it really shows that life exists outside Morganville, and that it really does seem like a pretty safe place to live.  Plus, you really see how sheltered they are in Morganville, especially Eve and Michael, and you see how used they are to vampires just walking around that they’re not quite sure what to do when they’re not in Morgvanille.  It will be interesting to see how they adjust to Morganville after leaving for a few days.

One thing I love about this series is how consistent the characters are.  They’ve all changed in some way- though Claire seems to be the most different out of the entire group- yet they still manage to be themselves and don’t have drastic personality changes.  Like, in Glass Houses, I NEVER would have predicted that Claire would stake a vampire with A NUMBER TWO PENCIL!  And Caine totally builds on each book, so things we see in each book carry us through the next couple.

Final thoughts:

I liked Kiss Of Death, and while it’s definitely my least favorite book in the series, it’s nice to see the gang out of the confines of Morganville.  It just didn’t get my attention the way the other ones have.  I can’t wait to see how some things in Kiss Of Death play out in the next couple books.  It gets 3 stars.

Book: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Published May 2012|Published by HarperTeen|303 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Part of a series? Yes, The Sweet Trilogy #1

Genre: YA/Paranormal- Angels

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Wendy Higgins’ Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

I like this whole Nephilim trend, and Sweet Evil was great.  I like that she has a lot of good in her, but also has a dark side as the daughter of Belial.  It’s a really interesting take on angels and demons, and I like that she has a little bit of both in her.  I really loved the hierarchy and the mythology of angels.  There’s definitely a structure as far as demons of hell go, and I loved reading the world the Higgins built.  Especially because the whole hierarchy was based on the seven deadly sins (plus a few others).

I thought the characters were pretty typical for the story Higgins wrote.  I didn’t mind, though, because everything else in Sweet Evil was good.  In a way, I was reminded of A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies, and I think it’s because Anna has both good and evil in her.  I can see Anna needing to choose between two different sides, much like Skye had to do in A Beautiful Dark.

Anna is pretty innocent, which was a little annoying at times, because she’s such a good person.  But at the same time, it was quite nice to see a character who’s still pretty innocent.  In some way, it’s a little hard to believe that she could be so innocent, but I think it works really well.  I have a feeling that it may become important later on in the series.

The romance was great- Kaiden and Anna make an interesting couple in so many ways.  There a lot of obstacles to overcome…if they ever figure out how they can be together.  There is a hint of a love triangle, and it’ll be interesting to see if Kapono and Anna ever have a thing, and to see how Kaiden feels about that.

And as much as I enjoyed Sweet Evil, it kind of felt like something was missing.  You get a good idea of how things are, and who the characters are, but it felt a few things could have been explained a little more.  Like, not a lot was mentioned about Anna’s mom, and I’m curious about her angelic side will play out, and if it’ll have a bigger role in the other 2 books.

Final thoughts:

I really liked Sweet Evil.  Higgins definitely created an interesting world in Sweet Evil, and I love the hierarchy of the demons.  There are a few things that need more of an explanation, but overall, Sweet Evil was a fun read.  It gets 4 stars.

Book: Mary Boleyn: The Mistress Of Kings by Alison Weir

Published September 2012|Published by Ballantine Books|416 pages|Own the paperback

Part of a series? No

Genre: Non-fiction: History- Tudor England/Biography

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Alison Weir’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: New York Times bestselling author and noted British historian Alison Weir gives us the first full-scale, in-depth biography of Mary Boleyn, sister to Queen Anne as well as mistress to Anne’s husband, Henry VIII—and one of the most misunderstood figures of the Tudor age. Making use of extensive original research, Weir shares revelations on the ambitious Boleyn family and the likely nature of the relationship between the Boleyn sisters. Unraveling the truth about Mary’s much-vaunted notoriety at the French court and her relations with King François I, Weir also explores Mary’s role at the English court and how she became Henry VIII’s lover. She tracks the probable course of their affair and investigates the truth behind Mary’s notorious reputation. With new and compelling evidence, Weir presents the most conclusive answer to date on the paternity of Mary’s children, long speculated to have been Henry VIII’s progeny. Alison Weir pieces together a life steeped in mystery and misfortune, debunking centuries-old myths to give us the truth about Mary Boleyn, the so-called “great and infamous whore.”

Tudor England is one of my favorite periods in history, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to get it.

It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.  The thing with Mary is that very little is known about her, so it was of Weir trying to dispel all the myths surrounding her.  It was more along the lines of what we know and think we know about her and why they’re correct (or not correct).  We learn a lot about her family and how she didn’t seem to have a huge impact in a time that had a lot going on.  It really was more about what we don’t know than what we do know.

Mary, as a person, was pretty unremarkable, especially with how little information there is about her, but Weir did the best she could.  Learning more about her 2 husbands was really interesting, but she spent a little too much time on possible birth dates for both Anne and Mary.  It really seemed like their ages were going to be important- only for it to not be as important as I expected.

I did like this book, but it was just too much of a stretch.  There just isn’t enough to fill pages upon pages.  I found myself getting slightly frustrated with how pop culture gets history wrong.  It has to be frustrating to see t.v. shows and movies take liberties with history, but at the same time, it was frustrating to see her take it so seriously.  She is very readable, and she has an eye for detail, but I really felt like she lost something with this one.

I think the part about how she wasn’t this great and infamous whore was the most interesting part of the book.  Weir goes into quite a bit of detail, and the idea that if she had such a reputation, there would probably be more in terms of records.

Final thoughts: I liked it, but it was more speculation and debunking of myths than anything else.  I think it would have worked slightly better as a biography of the Boleyn family as a whole.  It gets 3 stars.

Book: Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine

Published August 2004|Published by ROC|215 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Series: Yes, Weather Wardens #2

Genre: Adult/Paranormal

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Rachel Caine’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Mistaken for a murderer, Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin is hunted down and killed by her colleagues. Reborn as a Djinn, she senses something sinister entering earth’s atmosphere-something that makes tomorrow’s forecast look deadly.

I’m finding the Weather Warden series so intriguing!  We learn more about the Dijin, and that having a successful transition from human to dijin is very rare.  So rare, that it’s only happened once.  Not only that, she doesn’t realize what David has done in order to keep Joanne around in some way.  I liked seeing her adjust to life as a Dijin, and her struggles with leaving her human life behind.

I really love the concept of the Weather Wardens, and we see more of what they can and cannot do.  I also loved seeing the Dijin and the extent of their abilities…but mostly I loved learning about how they were created.  There was one part of their creation story that I found really interesting, but I think it’s because I’ve read Outcast Season, and I’m curious as to how that will play out in this series.

The characters have developed a little, but they’re mostly the same characters we see in Ill Wind.  I love that her characters are pretty consistent from book to book, while still growing at a natural pace.  I love that Joanne’s bad-ass but loves clothes!  I like that combination.  As for Lewis, I don’t completely get why people seem to be so threatened by him.  Yeah, he’s super-powerful, but he’s been rescued a few times between Ill Wind and Heat Stroke.  But…maybe we’ll see more of why he’s seen as a threat.

I really love how Caine describes the weather, and I admire the research she must have done to make sure everything’s right.  You get a great sense of how powerful and awe-inpsiring weather is, and you really don’t think of weather in the same way.  One of my (very few) complaints is the length of each chapter.  There were around 3 or 4, so each chapter was super long.  I get not wanting to break things up, but shorter chapters…also good.

We also meet a lot of new characters, and we haven’t seen the last of Kevin, Jonathan, and Ashan.  I can’t wait to see what Caine has in store for them, and all of the other characters.

Final thoughts: Heat Stroke was definitely fun to read, and while I really like this series so far, I’m not completely in love with it.  I love the world that Caine has created, and there are some really interesting characters.  It gets 4 stars!