Short Reviews - Hunger, Summer, and a Witch (9 - 11)

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

Hunger by Jackie Morse Keller
Series: Horsemen of the Apocalypse #1
Publisher: Graphia
Publication Date: 18 October 2010
Genre: YA fantasy/supernatural
My Copy: library - paperback

Review:
The premise caught my attention awhile back because it sounded interesting. Unfortunately, the book didn't really live up to my expectations. I found it very difficult to connect with the main character. I grew increasingly frustrated with her attitude towards her real best friend, her boyfriend and her parents as well as her near worship of a bulimic girl. Don't get me wrong, I understand why she had the attitude, but it seemed like she should have shown more change in character earlier in the book since that sort of was the point of the story. Instead, everything happened in the end of the book, but by that point I was already too annoyed with Lisabeth. Then there's the ending which felt like it didn't fit with the rest of the story, or really even with the premise. I'm not sure yet if I'll read Rage.






Review breakdown:
Plot: 3 hearts
Pacing: 3 hearts
Characters: 2 hearts
Character relationships: 1 heart
Recommend: No

Anna is dreading another tourist-filled summer on Dune Island that follows the same routine: beach, ice cream, friends, repeat. That is, until she locks eyes with Will, the gorgeous and sweet guy visiting from New York. Soon, her summer is filled with flirtatious fun as Anna falls head over heels in love.

But with every perfect afternoon, sweet kiss, and walk on the beach, Anna can’t ignore that the days are quickly growing shorter, and Will has to leave at the end of August. Anna’s never felt anything like this before, but when forever isn’t even a possibility, one summer doesn’t feel worth the promise of her heart breaking...

Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: 3 May 2011
Genre: YA contemporary
My Copy: received for review from publisher - e-book ARC

Review:
I loved this story! The relationship that builds over the course of the summer is so realistic. The book is surrounded in the bittersweet feeling of summer love. I loved Anna. She's very down-to-earth, and I instantly connected with her. Will is so swoon worthy. Plus, I would love to be a part of Anna's family (not to mention live on a beach). Anna's friends remained strong in the story line as well rather than dropping out of it when she meets Will which is an often heard complaint with YA novels. There are so many realistic aspects to this book that make it a perfect contemporary YA story. I laughed and cheered and then found myself crying my eyes out at the ending. This is a must read for your summer lists! Warning: This book will give you a sweet tooth! I'd recommend having ice cream nearby.






Rating breakdown:
Plot: 5 hearts
Pacing: 5 hearts
Characters: 5 hearts
Character relationships: 5 hearts
Recommend: Absolutely!

Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.

When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
Series: The Iron Witch #1
Publisher: Flux
Publication Date: 8 February 2011
Genre: YA fantasy/supernatural
My Copy: library - paperback

Review:
The book has a slow start, but definitely picks up the pace towards the end (which is why it only gets 4 hearts). Most of the action happens in the last few chapters. The slower parts are interesting though and gives the reader a chance to learn about the world created within the story. Donna is a dynamic character. In the beginning she seems afraid most of the time, but towards the end, she has much more confidence in herself. I was very intrigued by Xan. I want to know more about his history. I also want to know what the Wood Queen was talking about when she speaks with Donna. I will definitely be picking up the second book.






Rating breakdown:
Plot: 5 hearts
Pacing: 3 hearts
Characters: 5 hearts
Character relationships: 4 hearts
Recommend: Yes

*Links and images go to Goodreads*

Week in Review - May 8 to 13 (5)

This is a weekly feature on Fridays which wraps up my reading and reviews from the previous week. Enjoy!

Books read:
*Links in this section go to Goodreads*

• The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
• Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris
• The Guardian by Margaret Mallory
• A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens

Reviews to write:
Look for a short review post with several of these included. I've gotten behind with finals, so this is how I'm going to have to catch up. The others will have the usual full length reviews next week.

• Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
• Hunger by Jackie Kessler
• Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton
• The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
• Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris
• The Guardian by Margaret Mallory
• A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens

To be read this week:
*Images link to Goodreads*

A fallen angel haunted by her past. Yearning for her immortal beloved. Forever searching for answers. Who will show her Mercy?

Mercy has lost herself. She can’t count how many times she’s “woken up” in a new body, and assumed a new life, only to move on again and again. During the day she survives in the human world on instinct and at night her dreams are haunted by him. Mercy’s heart would know him anywhere. But her memory refuses to cooperate.

But this time is different. When Mercy wakes up she meets Ryan, an eighteen year old reeling from the loss of his twin sister who was kidnapped two years ago. Everyone else has given up hope, but Ryan believes his sister is still alive. Using a power she doesn’t fully comprehend, Mercy realizes that Ryan is right. His sister is alive and together they can find her. For the first time since she can remember, Mercy has a purpose; she can help. So she doesn’t understand why the man in her dreams cautions her not to interfere. But as Ryan and Mercy come closer to solving the dark mystery of his sister’s disappearance, danger looms just one step behind.

Will Mercy be able to harness her true self and extraordinary power in time?

The first in a dazzling new series, Mercy masterfully weaves romance, mystery and the supernatural into a spell-binding tale.

The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Antiques-shop clerk Maggie O'Neill was a little weirded out when she discovered her new boss Felicity was a witch. But when Felicity becomes the suspect in a local murder, Maggie must enlist Felicity's wiccan friends for help--and discover her own spellbinding talent.

Second in line, first in love
A secret society of younger sons, sworn to aid and abet each other, no matter the scandal or cost.... Their fathers and brothers may rule the world, but they run it . . . and when it comes to passion, they refuse to accept second best.

Searching for hidden treasure,
finding forbidden fantasy.
London's most sensual former courtesan, Viola Whedon, is incapable of being seduced-she does the seducing. Until she meets Leonidas Vaughn. Her salacious memoirs have made her the target of half the lords in England, and Vaughn is the only man she can turn to. When he promises to protect her-and to make her beg for his touch-the alluring beauty finds both offers impossible to refuse.

Leonidas Vaughn secretly believes Viola possesses a fortune given to his family by the King of France. So the strong and sexy Vaughn charms his way into Viola's life . . . and her bed. But when their arrangement is consummated, he'll experience pleasure far beyond his wildest fantasies-and realize his heart may need the most protection of all.

A mysterious abductor . . . Someone is holding her brother prisoner in exchange for a gold-and-onyx box covered in mysterious runes, so Mary Hurst boldly sets out from the family vicarage to find the priceless artifact. But the man who possesses it, Angus Hay, the Earl of Erroll, is less than sympathetic to her plight.

A forbidding stranger . . . Himself a prisoner of his dark past, Angus refuses to yield the box—or allow Mary to leave! Suspicious of the alluring lass’s mission, he vows to wrest a confession from her, but unearths a fiery temper and a will as strong as his own.

An unbreakable curse . . . Passion flares between them, but now there is more at stake: an unknown enemy is hunting down the precious box, and will stop at nothing. Risking all for love, Angus must solve the mystery behind the runes . . . and trust the only woman who can awaken his forgotten heart.

A DESPERATE BEAUTY

Despite fame and countless admirers, actress Marcail Beauchamp has never forgotten William Hurst, the audacious seafarer she once loved . . . and lost. Now, forced by a mysterious blackmailer who threatens her family, she must steal an ancient onyx box from the one man she’s vowed never to see again.

A BOLD ADVENTURER

To save his brother from a ruthless abductor, William must deliver the artifact as ransom. He’s stunned when Marcail, more lovely than ever, suddenly appears on his ship. But when she drugs him and steals the box, his fury knows no bounds.

THE TREASURE EVERYONE WANTS

William pursues Marcail, but too late: she has already delivered the box. The estranged lovers realize they must work together—both to regain the artifact that could mean life or death to his family and to destroy the mysterious blackmailer’s power over her family. Thus begins a high-stakes quest through the reaches of Scotland, a quest that stirs up long-forgotten memories and an unquenchable passion. . . .

Playing Tag

I was tagged for this meme by Jennifer @ Little Shelf

1) If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?
It would probably be my trip to Washington D.C. I loved that experience.

2) If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?
I would have left home for my first year of college and stayed in a dorm.

3) What TV/movie character do you most resemble in personality?
Jeez, I don't know. Maybe Violet on Private Practice.

4) If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would it be?
There really isn't anyone that I have any desire to shove off a cliff.

5) Name one habit you would like to change in yourself?
I'd like to be less of a procrastinator and have more self-confidence

6) Describe yourself in one word?
Umm.... Serious

7) Describe the person who named you in this meme in one word?
Outgoing :)

8) Why do you blog? In one sentence.
I blog as a way to find out about books and share them because people in real life seem to think it's weird to like to read as much as I do, especially the YA novels.

I'm tagging Elizabeth, Michael, and ComaCalm.