Book: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Book Info: Published by HarperTeen; 248 pages; read on my Nook

Goodreads Summary: For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn’t prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

Hallowed is the sequel to Unearthly, and I thought it was a really good sequel.  It’s so compelling, and it was hard to put down.  It broke my heart, and made me want to squee while jumping up and down.

The Tucker-Clara-Christian love triangle is certainly interesting, and it is surprisingly not boring.  I love Tucker and Clara, but Christian and Clara also make a lot of sense.  It didn’t annoy me, and it’s not perfect by any means.  But again, it didn’t annoy me, so I can’t really complain too much about it.

Clara’s mom was really irritating, with not wanting to tell Clara anything unless she had to.  Jeffrey was also irritating, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was up to.  It turns out he set one of the fires, because it was his purpose.  And in the end, he disappears without a trace.  While most of the plot points were resolved, there are a few things that are left untied.

As much as I loved the book (and series), I wonder what Clara’s purpose really is, and if it will ever be resolved.  I can see the series going on for a really long time if Clara keeps resisting her purpose, but hopefully the next book will have a lot more clues.

I give it a 5 out of 5.  Hand clearly put some thought into the series, and the imagery is beautiful.

Book: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Book Info: Published by Laurel-Leaf Books; 179 pages; read on my Nook

Goodreads Summary: In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community’s Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.

The Giver is set in a future society which is at first presented as a utopia and gradually appears more and more dystopic, so could therefore be considered anti-utopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. Jonas’ society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to “Sameness”, a plan which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of “Receiver of Memory,” the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed to aid in decisions that others lack the experience to make. As Jonas receives the memories from his predecessor—the “Giver”—he discovers how shallow his community’s life has become.

I finally finished my re-read of The Giver.  It’s been a long time since I’ve read it, and I’m glad I decided to read it again.

The world Lowry created is an interesting one.  Everything is very precise and very controlled- to the point that there is no color, and there are no choices.  Everything seems perfect, and then you start to realize that things are not as perfect as they seem.  One person with the burden of all the memories, in the history of ever?  I certainly wouldn’t want that.

When the previous receiver fails, and everyone receives the memories she received, they are unable to handle it.  That is really interesting, because you realize they’ve done everything everything they can to get rid of emotional pain.  They’re just not able to handle it, which is really interesting.

We seriously need to talk about release for a minute.  It went over my head when I read it as a kid.  It wasn’t until sometime in the last couple years or so that I realized what release really was.  It was the hardest scene to read this time around, knowing that it was the society’s way of letting people go.  I think this time around, I had a much better understanding of release.  So reading it as an adult was really weird but also really cool.

It’s a pretty simple and straightfoward story, and yet there’s a lot there.  I really like that the ending was ambiguous, because you get to think about how things might have turned out for Jonas and Gabe.

I give it a 4 out of 5.  It held up pretty well, and it’s a pretty good story.

Book: Glass House by Rachel Caine

Book Info: Published by NAL Jam; 239 pages; read on my Nook

Goodreads Summary: Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don’t stay out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero.

When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages, and finally got around to reading it!  I’m glad I did, because I really liked it.

I really liked the plot.  Vampires running the town, and needing their protection in order to do anything worthwhile in town?  Definitely interesting.  The plot moved along really well, and just when you think you have things figured out, something would come up that would make you wonder why you thought you had things figured out.

Ass for the characters, I really liked Claire.  She did feel a little young, but she was a freshman in college at 16, so that might be why she seemed so young.  But I wanted her to be okay, and protect her.  Plus, I could definitely relate to Claire in a lot of ways.  Eve was cool, Shane is interesting and I’m ambivalent towards Michael.  Maybe Michael will grow on me as I continue to read the rest of the series.  I hated Monica, and she needs to go away.

I could picture Morganville so well, and I thought Caine put a lot of thought into the characters, the plot, and the world.  I can’t believe I’m only reading this series now, but the other 11 books will be keeping me busy!

I give it a 4 out of 5.  It was fun and enjoyable.

Book: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Book Info: Published by HarperTeen; 335 pages; hardcover; from the library

Goodreads Summary: Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

I really liked Paranormalcy, and it’s definitely one of the more interesting paranormal books I’ve read.

I liked the idea of a paranormal containment agency, and making sure the different paranormal creatures follow the rules of the treaty and do what they’re supposed to.

I didn’t like Reth, but I did love Evie.  She’s so fun, and yet there were times I wanted to hug her.  She just wants to be normal, which I think is something we can all relate to.

Her guardian, Raquel, was strange in the sense that she didn’t seem to care about Evie and what Evie needed and wanted.  Plus, the IPCA didn’t seem to give Evie a lot of information about the different creatures, which probably would have made Evie’s job a lot easier.

It was cute, fun, and definitely different from a lot of other books I’ve read.  It’s certainly an interesting take on the paranormal genre, and I like that you see werewolves, hags, vampires and fairies all in one novel.  Instead of just one…or two who are at odds with each other.

I really want to know more about the Empty Ones, and all of the creatures who have to abide by the treaty.  I’m curious as to how the IPCA will re-group, whether Reth will keep appearing, and whether Evie will get the normal life she so wants.

It gets a 4 out of 5 for being a fun and refreshing read.

Book: Crossed by Ally Condie

Book Info: Published by Dutton Juvenile; 367 pages; hardcover; from the library

Goodreads Summary: Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky–taken by the Society to his sure death–only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices every thing to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Narrated from both Cassia’s and Ky’s point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever.

I didn’t like Crossed.  At all.

It was pretty disappointing, and it felt like the whole book was filler.  I was so bored reading it, and I kept waiting for something to happen.  Matched was so promising, and I was hoping that a lot of the questions I had at the end of it would be answered.  Sadly, they weren’t.  In fact, I have even more questions.  I highly doubt any questions I have will be answered in the next book…which I might (or might not) read.

The poetry was irritating, and I kept waiting for it to stop.  Did Condie want us to know she really likes poetry by throwing it in a lot?

Not only that, I just couldn’t care about anything.  Xander’s secret?  Don’t care that he has one and that it’s not Ky’s place to reveal it to Cassia.  Why bother mentioning it if no one’s going to tell Cassia or if Xander isn’t around to mention it?

The narration didn’t work for me- it’s told by Ky and Cassia, who sound exactly the same.

I have to give it a 1 out of 5.  It was really disappointing, and it felt like Condie didn’t care about what happened to her characters.

Book: Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Book Info: Published by HarperCollins; 259 pages; read on my nook

Goodreads Summary: “I don’t do patrols, I don’t go hunting, I just stick close to you. You live your life. I’ll keep you safe,” Tamani said, sweeping a lock of hair from her face. “Or die trying.”

Laurel hasn’t seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.

But just as life returns to normal, Laurel realizes that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.

Illusions is the 3rd book in the Wings series, and I’m glad I finished it in time to read Destined, the next book in the series.

I really liked it, and so far, it’s my favorite book in the series.  There’s the mysterious Yuki, and David and Tamani still hate each other.  I still find Laurel’s relationships with the both of them really irritating.  And Tamani provoking David so Laurel will get mad at David and go running to Tamani…I have no idea why it’s so irritating, but it is.

I loved the introduction of Yuki, who seems so clueless.  And yet you can’t help but wonder throughout the novel what she knows.  Is she a pawn in Klea’s game or not?  It turns out she’s a powerful Winter Faerie.  And the thing with Shar and Tamani with Yuki at the end?  I can’t wait to see the consequences of that event.

I liked that we learned more about Avalon, and how it was created.  The divide between Seelie and Unseelie, and how some of the Seelie Court became a part of the Unseelie Court was interesting, and hopefully we’ll get a few more tidbits about Avalon and it’s future.

It gets a 4 out of 5!  It was fast-paced and kept me guessing.

Book: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Book Info:Published by HarperTeen; 435 pages; hardcover; borrowed from the library

Goodreads Summary: In the beginning, there’s a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

I loved this book!  I thought it was an interesting take on angels, and it was so hard to put down!

I liked Hand’s angel mythology, which is slowly revealed over the course of the novel.  She didn’t take a particular side- it wasn’t preachy, and it wasn’t blasphemous.  I thought the Dark Wings were interesting, and I want to know more about them, and their role in the rest of the series.

A lot of things were left open, and while a lot of things were resolved, I can’t wait to read the next book.  I also liked that Clara’s purpose was slowly revealed, and that you’re not entirely sure if it’s been fulfilled properly and what the consequences will be.

I also liked the characters, but found that her mom was my least favorite.  Her insistence that Clara figure everything out herself got really annoying by the end.  But other than that, the characters were really interesting, and were developed really well.  I connected with Clara and thought her journey was interesting, and yet realistic as she figured things.

What’s so interesting about this book is that the angels weren’t just there.  They have a purpose, a reason for being there.  There’s nothing wrong with the paranormal-creature-0f the-month just being there, but it was refreshing to see angels with a purpose.

It gets a 5 out of 5.  The pacing, characters, and mythology were well-written.  The mythology was subtle and interesting.  And I loved the setting and imagery!  It was a great read.

Book: War Child by Emmanuel Jal

Book Info: Published by St. Martin’s Press; 272 pages; hardcover; borrowed from the library

Goodreads Summary: In the mid-1980s, Emmanuel Jal was a seven year old Sudanese boy, living in a small village with his parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. But as Sudan’s civil war moved closer—with the Islamic government seizing tribal lands for water, oil, and other resources—Jal’s family moved again and again, seeking peace. Then, on one terrible day, Jal was separated from his mother, and later learned she had been killed; his father Simon rose to become a powerful commander in the Christian Sudanese Liberation Army, fighting for the freedom of Sudan. Soon, Jal was conscripted into that army, one of 10,000 child soldiers, and fought through two separate civil wars over nearly a decade. 
 
But, remarkably, Jal survived, and his life began to change when he was adopted by a British aid worker. He began the journey that would lead him to change his name and to music: recording and releasing his own album, which produced the number one hip-hop single in Kenya, and from there went on to perform with Moby, Bono, Peter Gabriel, and other international music stars. 
 
Shocking, inspiring, and finally hopeful, War Child is a memoir by a unique young man, who is determined to tell his story and in so doing bring peace to his homeland.

This was interesting.  I’ve heard of the Lost Boys, but other than hearing the name, I didn’t know anything about them.

I liked seeing what things were like for him, and how his life was changed because of what he’s been through.  I can’t even begin to imagine what things were like for him…betrayal, being forced to fight, and starvation don’t seem to cover half of what being a child soldier entailed.  It was inspiring to see him go from child soldier to being a successful singer.

I’m glad I read it, because you see that while it’s possible to move on, one can never truly recover from something so horrific.

I liked it, but it’s more about what his own experience was like.  You don’t get an overview of what happened or anything, but I would like to learn more about what lead to the civil wars in Sudan.  While it’s a linear story, it felt a little disjointed.  It was linear, but it didn’t feel linear- if that makes any sense.

I give it a 3 out of 5.  It’s interesting, but I felt a little disconnected from the story.

Book: Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Book Info: Published by St. Martin’s Press; 385 pages; hardcover; from the library

Goodreads Summary: For a mother, life comes down to a series of choices.
To hold on…
To let go..
To forget…
To forgive…
Which road will you take? 

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. 

Jude does everything to keep her kids safe and on track for college. It has always been easy– until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them. 

On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.

NIGHT ROAD is vivid, emotionally complex novel that raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

If you love Lifetime movies, this is the book for you!  I personally didn’t like it, because pretty much every character was irritating.  Not a surprise, given it reads like a Lifetime movie.

I found Jude and Mia to be the most irritating.  Jude, because she’s the typical helicopter parent who tries to be cool and supportive but has a tantrum and freaks out because her kids do something she doesn’t like.  She really needs to get a life…and after Mia dies, she gets worse.  I got so tired of hearing about how horrible Lexi was and how it was all her fault.  Mia was equally as annoying, because she was super clingy and insecure.

Which brings me to her twin brother Zach and her best friend Lexi.  Zach has to choose between Lexi and Mia, because apparently Mia can’t go to USC all by herself.  Why does he have to choose?  Lexi, while annoying, was one of the less annoying characters.  But if I heard one more time that Zach and Mia had chances she didn’t, I would’ve thrown the book at the wall.  Or, because it’s a library book and throwing it at a wall might be bad, punch something soft so as not to hurt myself.

The ending didn’t fit with the rest of the book, and everything was wrapped up with a nice little bow.  Seriously?  It’s like she realized she had to end the book at some point, and decided that she needed to have a super happy ending where everything works out perfectly.

I have to give it a 1 out of 5.  The characters were too superficial, and it screamed Lifetime movie.

Book: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Book Info: Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 337; Hardcover; from the library

Goodreads Summary: Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all–hope–in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

I really, really liked Life As We Knew It.  I felt like it really could happen, and it was pretty realistic.

Miranda was pretty spoiled at the beginning of the book, but by the end, she really matured.  It was interesting to see how Miranda, her brothers, and her mom survived an asteroid hitting the moon and knocking it closeer to the earth.

It wa a little weird reading it, because I felt like I needed to go out and stock up on food, water and other supplies.  It makes you think about what you would do, and if you’d be willing to sacrifice yourself in order to let someone else you love survive.  I’m not sure if I could, or if I’d want to…because the world was pretty bleak in the book.  Not enough food or water, ash everywhere, ridiculous weather and natural disasters…

I also like that it’s told in journal entries.  Miranda’s keeping track of what happens, and I thought that made the story a lot more interesting.

It gets a 4 out of 5.  It makes you think, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.