Tag Archives: Young Adult

Review: A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses #4) by Sarah J Maas

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Title: A Court of Silver Flames
Author:  Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year:  Bloomsbury USA 2/16/21
Length:  768 Pages
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Overview

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre’s Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta’s orbit. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other. 

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other’s arms.

My Thoughts

I’ll have to be a bit honest at first here and say that I had to wrack my brain to get caught up to where we left off since it’s been quite some time since we’ve last been in this world. The War with King Hybern left a jarring memory in my brain, and remembering what happened to Elain and Nesta at the end of it all made me wonder what the future could hold. Elain, the beautiful perfect and delicate sister was taken against her wishes, put into the couldron and Made into something immortal. Nesta followed after her and took everything that she could from the Coulderon as a way to get her revenge out. What happened after though, you’ll all remember is that Nesta couldn’t deal with her pain, with her guilt and with her hatred of herself and that took her down an awful spiral.

We’re now a year or so past the war and Nesta is no better off. She’s a shell of a person, empty and all she does is spend Feyre’s money on booze and men. She’s rude to everyone who makes an effort to be around her that they are forced to give an ultimatum. either fall in line and train with Cassian, get some structure and figure out how to harness her power, or go back to the human lands where she won’t be accepted. It’s really no choice, so she finds herself training with Cassian in the morning and working in the library for the rest of the day.

It’s interesting to see how long it takes to break Nesta down in this story – frankly, I don’t know that we ever really see her break down her walls, but we see her find some purpose in her life. Figure out what’s a bigger goal and to go there. She makes friends with a priestess in the library named Gwyn who starts to play a big role as well as another Illaryian named Emerie. The notion that she’s able to make ‘friends’ makes everyone have hope that she’s going to come around, but even that is a wish that may never come true.

The undertone throughout this 4th installment is that there’s still unrest in the world. While The King of Hybern is dead, the human queens are not united as they should be ever since one went into the Cauldron and lost her beauty to become eternally old. She’s hungry for the power to get her beauty back and that means that we’re about to see the world turned upside down.

Throughout this book, we learn about things older than anyone, Amren even has a hard time remembering the full history. We’re taught about the Dread Trove, a collection of items that were so dark and evil that they have wards to hide and protect them, they have the ability to raise the dead and make people do their bidding. In the wrong hands, that means that the world that they know will be completely destroyed. The queen who’s looking for her youth wants the Trove as she’s made a deal with one of the oldest evil immortals who has his own motivation as well to get released from his prison.

So, we watch the journey as the one human Queen gets a hold of the Crown which is able to control the minds of anyone who’s within reach. That leave a Mask which is able to raise the dead and a Harp which is able to open wards and pass through time. Nesta’s ability to scry which helped them find the Couldron in the last installment means that she’s ripe for the asking to find the Dread Trove. She’s of course not willing to help anyone, especially seeing how the past turned out when she tried to help and her loved ones died or changed form. She objects strongly, and that means that Elain offers herself to do it. That’s what finally gets Nesta to agree to go on the hunt. She trains to become a warrior, to strengthen her mind body and soul, and at the same time, with her friends, they bring back the Valkryies – a female warrior unit that was stronger than many men back thousands of years ago and died off in a war that was a set up.

In addition to that storyline, we have another where Feyre and Rhys are expecting their first child, just as the Bone Carver told them from his visions. The Challenge here is that she fell pregnant when she was in Illaryian form during the war when she was able to shift her shape (thank all the High Lords who gave her powers when she was about to die in book #1). It’s a blessing and everyone’s beyond happy that she’s pregnant and then they learn that because of the form that she was in, the baby is due to have wings. An exciting time for the Illaryian’s but Feyre is now in her Fae form and her body won’t survive a birth of a child with wings. They keep this from her of course, and we watch the journey throughout the story to see if they’re able to keep Feyre alive.

I’ll admit that the first few chapters were a bit draggy for me – it took me a few minutes to get back into it even though I LOVE this series. The characters all have their deep and interesting stories that lead us on so many crazy adventures that we don’t know necessarily what we’re going to get. Some are older than others, some have other forms that were taken from them in the last war. And some really don’t know what to do with the life that they have now.

Elain has found herself mated to someone that she’s got adverse feelings towards, and we see hints of something perhaps between her and Az. Azriel is one of the main characters that we’d do anything to see happy and when it seemed as though there was something more between them at Winter Solstice. Maybe that will come in the next book since we know that there’s a continuing story here.

We have the battles of good and evil in this forth book. We have the notion that everything is NOT what it seems and you never know who you can trust even if you make allies. We also see that there’s redemption for even the worst offenders. We see that there’s transition in life and when you’ve had some of your greatest horrors take away your very breath, there are people out there who care enough to lift you up, support you and never leave you behind. And there’s love. That’s likely the most important of all and perhaps the one thing that we see carry us through this vicious forth installment.

Now I don’t know about any other reader, but I know for myself that i’d love more than anything to get book five sooner rather than later. It’s been years since we had the last one and I think i’ll scream and wither away if we have to wait that long again. On that note – ENJOY!

Review: The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy #1) by Amy Engel

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Title: The Book of Ivy
Author:  Amy Engel
Publisher/Year:  Entangled Publishing 11/11/14
Length:  227 Pages
Series:  The Book of Ivy #1

Overview

What would you kill for?

After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.

This year, it is my turn.

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and return the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

My Thoughts

I’m a fan of this genre, looking into the future when we know that man kind will wipe out society as we know it, and when things return back to what it was like before technology, with different rules in place to keep peace, it makes you realize that maybe we’re all going to be lost and up a creek without a paddle if that day ever comes.

So we start this story in a point that’s roughly 10 years into the future from where we are now, which is kind of scary. Nuclear war has wiped out much of America, and there are so few people left that we know of because of what happened, and that means that there are only a few left to live in a town that was itself once divided.

There was war in this town to determine how it would be run, some were for democracy and some were for one ruler who was president and set the laws. That side one, and what it means is that there are families who draw a line in life. As a result of this divide, there’s a tradition that every year olds marry someone from the other side in the hopes that war will be avoided since it means that everyone would be warring with their loved ones, and there’s hope that marrying people off at a young age will allow for a higher chance to have more children who are healthy and can revive the country.

The president’s son has managed to delay his marriage because he’s the President’s son, but as such, he has to marry the daughter of the founder of the losing side. The irony here is that the Westfalls, the losing side, have a daughter that’s the same age as Bishop, but he delays his marriage to wed the younger daughter. As we all know, it’s always the younger daughter that’s been the spare in life, and that means that her value is unexpected, undervalued, and well, everyone thinks she’s less worthy. Everyone except for Bishop. We learn his motivation later in the story and it gives you hope.

Ivy is our leading lady, sixteen and forced to marry a man she doesn’t know, whom she hates because of who he is and what his family has done to hers, and at the same time, there are pieces of this tradition that give her freedom. That get her away from what her father and sister have been forcing her into, and gives her the opportunity to grow her own wings.

Bishop is the son of the President, a boy that everyone looks to as the future of society, and a boy who has different feelings on how things should be than his father, but he’s biding his time so that he’s able to make changes.

The development of their relationship is on par with what we see in other stories in this genre. Bishop isn’t what we expected and as such, he gives Ivy time to adjust, gives her a chance to get comfortable with him, to let some type of relationship grow and develop and hopefully make it into a marriage that’s more than in just name only.

The challenge here though is that Ivy’s family has revenge in their minds. They want to take power back from Bishop’s family and the only way to do that is for Ivy to kill Bishop and then for her father and sister to kill the President and take power over. The journey that we go on here is one where we hope there’s a way to change minds, or to avoid doing things that will go too far, but we also know that will never happen.

There are similarities of this story and several others though where there’s a fence that surrounds their community. The fence is the edge of civilization, and outside of that is deemed unsafe, uninhabitable and that’s where they put people out who break laws. From what we’ve seen in other stories, there’s far more out there than anyone knows, and it’s far more civilized, but that’s not for book 1 i don’t think.

What we worry about here though are the hopes and dreams that both Ivy and Bishop share. They both crave to know what’s out there, to see the ocean and to be free. That means that some how we know that they will go outside the fence but we don’t know the circumstances and if they will succeed, survive etc. What we do know though is that this story lets us off at the fence. One on one side and one on another, with limited hope of resolution or success. Too much is at stake for anyone to go against beliefs, but too much is at stake to sit and do nothing.

So on that note, i can’t wait to get into the second book here since i’m really curious how things will turn out. People are planting ideas, people are planting lies, and those who are in power are abusing it for their own worth. I can’t wait to see what’s next. Enjoy!

Review: Sweet Nothing by Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert

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No-Brainer

Title:  Sweet Nothing
Author: Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert
Publisher/Year: Jamie McGuire 11/1/15
Length:  251 Pages

Overview

It is enough to break any man: watching what could have been my future slip away before it was ever in my grasp. The possibility of losing someone I loved before she was even mine is something I never would have imagined—certainly nothing I’d ever wish on anyone. I went to her every day and waited. Waited for the impossible, for a sign, for her to look at me … hoping sinners are granted miracles, too.

Just one glimpse of him was all it took. In the next lane, at a stop light, was the man I would fall in love with and marry. People talk about love that takes time—the kind you fall in to. We were more like a crash and burn. When our lives intertwined, I knew I would never be the same. He was the man I would cherish the rest of my life, who would father my children. In an instant our life together began, and in an instant it would end. The late nights; the excuses; the lies. And in the blink of an eye, it was like we never were.

For the first time, experience a heartfelt, jaw-dropping novel by New York Times bestsellers Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert.

When you think you know what’s happening, you’re only half way there.

My Thoughts

I’m a HUGE fan of Ms Mcguires so i was really excited that i was going to get another book from her mind.  What we have here though takes us to a place that is so unexpected and quite confusing.

We have our leads, Avery and Josh – who are both working in similar situations to one another and that’s what in essence brings them together.  Josh is a paramedic and Avery is an ER nurse so their paths cross, but they are so different that it’s inevitable that they are going to come together.

Josh has a bit of a reputation in the hospital that he’ll seduce and sleep with any nurse, and we know that Avery has been rather stand-offish.  with that in mind, you KNOW that when and if they get together, it’ll be explosive!

It takes an accident to bring them together, and it’s how the saying goes, you don’t know what you have until you lose it, and that’s really where our story takes shape.  it almost goes too smoothly throughout their romance, finding that they have their own haunted pasts that get them to where they are in life, and then coming together with such honesty and passion that it gets better and better.  Throw in a few issues w/ Trust from Avery and well, you get the typically lovely romance story.

It’s not until the last few chapters that you really get thrown for a loop.  Honestly, i had a lot of trouble really understanding what was happening, we see Avery waking up from an accident and we learn that there’s so much that she’s confused about which makes us even more confused.  Then there’s the whole issue with Josh and what his role is during these final chapters as well.

I had to check out a spoiler forum from one of the authors to really understand where the direction came from for this finale and i think that i get it now, but it wasn’t at all what i was expecting although i should have been.  The other sad bit is that i was hoping that this was an intro to a story since we learned so much about Deb and Quinn throughout but it doesn’t sound like that’s in the works.  I hope they change their minds.

On that note – it’s really a sweet story and one that really falls into place in Jamie McGuires library.  I’m def interested in seeing what else the other author has to read as well – Teresa Mummert is someone worth paying some attention to.  On that note, have a great rest of your sunday and GO JETS! (sorry – couldn’t help it!)

Review: Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tehereh Mafi

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Title: Ignite Me
Author:  Tehereh Mafi
Publisher/Year:  HarperCollins 2/4/14
Length: 416 Pages
Series: Shatter Me Trilogy #3

Overview

One day I might break
One day I might break free

Nothing will ever be the same.

The fate of Omega Point is unknown. Everyone Juliette has ever cared about could be dead. The war could be over before it ever really began.

Juliette is the only one standing in The Reestablishment’s way. She knows that if she’s going to survive, The Reestablishment cannot.

But to take down The Reestablishment and the man who very nearly killed her, Juliette will need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together to bring down their enemy, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew—about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam—was wrong.

One day I might break
One day I might break free

Nothing will ever be the same.

The fate of Omega Point is unknown. Everyone Juliette has ever cared about could be dead. The war could be over before it ever really began.

Juliette is the only one standing in The Reestablishment’s way. She knows that if she’s going to survive, The Reestablishment cannot.

But to take down The Reestablishment and the man who very nearly killed her, Juliette will need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together to bring down their enemy, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew—about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam—was wrong.

My Thoughts

I was sooo excited when this final installment in the trilogy finally became available in my library.  it’s like after all that we have gone through with these guys, discovering that there are people out there that have super powers, a complicated love triangle, assumptions of people’s deaths – i knew that we were going to get a great story out of Ms. Mafi.

We pick up right where Fracture Me leaves us off.  Omega Point has been destroyed, Juliette has been killed/kidnapped depending on who you are talking to, and there are very few survivors among the Omega Point folks.  It’s chaos, and destruction all around.

One of the over-arching things that we get in this book is the sense of self that Juliette finally has.  She’s come to terms with what she is and finally realizes that she’s not weak and insignificant.  She comes into her own, and decides that she is going to take action since she’s the one with the most strength, (mental and physical) and she’s going to somehow get her friends to help her.  The decision is to overthrow the Re-Establishment which is no easy task.  Warner is on her side, but Adam, well, that’s an entirely different story.

This love triangle between them makes things so much more complicated.  J knows how she feels about Adam, which isn’t quite the same as he feels about her, and Warner has proclaimed his love for her, but J isn’t sure if that’s what she feels or if she’s in a place to be able to reciprocate.  That’s definitely one of the big themes of the story as well.

Kenji, Kenji, Kenji …..he brings a certain level of humor and levity to this story which is really needed at times since there’s so much despair that we get through this story.  I actually laughed out loud.  His sense of humor is so overt that it’s a welcome distraction. He also continues to be a certain strength that’s core to the story that I’m glad that the author decided to continue to focus on him.

So….what we really have is a final installment where there’s a coming of age of a sense, knew information coming to a head about family ties, secrets revealed, and a whole lot of stress about who’s going to survive, which side will win and what that means for the friends.

I really enjoyed where this story took us, but i do have to say that the ending left me a little wanting.  It felt kind of like it was open – based on the last few lines that were written.  I just wonder if it was done on purpose – so that we could get an additional novella or something, but the acknowledgements in the back didn’t imply such a thing.  There were also a few questions left out there for me, and a few things that were a bit too tidy.

1) how come James was always so safe and innocent?  Yes, he’s 10, but i feel like 10 year olds these days know a lot about what’s going on around them, and if this is in the future, 10 is like the new 16

2) who was that guy with Anderson on the ship?  why did J recognize him?

3) what’s going to happen next?  i feel like there’s a good story there

Anyway, i’m really happy that i took the journey with this story if for no other reason than to see J and Adam and Warner grow up.  There’s an added level of maturity in this installment since we see a relationship go to another level – in a PG-13 sort of way 🙂  I hope you guys enjoy it as much as i did!

Review: Between Boyfriends by Sarka-Jonae Miller

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Title:  Between Boyfriends
Author: Sarka-Jonae Miller
Publisher/Year:  Liberty Co 11/7/13
Length:  296 pages

Overview

At first glance, twenty-one-year-old Jan Weston has it all: a gorgeous boyfriend, fun friends, and wealthy parents who take care of all those pesky credit card bills. Then her boyfriend dumps her, her friendships fall apart, and her parents cut her off. Suddenly without money, without a man, and without a plan, it’s time for Jan to grow up. Determined to get her life back on track, Jan decides it’s time to make it on her own. Can she find her way as a single lady in San Diego? Can she fix her friendships, her job prospects, and her hair? And can she keep her vow that she’ll never date again, even after she meets a guy who just might be perfect for her?

My Thoughts

You get what you expect here, a coming of age/maturity journey of Jan an early 20 something who’s really coming to terms with who she is and what she’s made of her life so far.

This story starts off with Jan getting dumped by her boyfriend of 8 months and she falls into a bit of a depression.  What opens her eyes though is that while she’s wallowing, she goes into her bathroom to clean herself up and realizes that she’s got tons of reminders of exes of her past in her cabinets and drawers.  i.e. brushes, gels, shampoos, all sorts of things.  What this does for her is makes her realize that maybe she’s been with people for so long that she doesn’t know who she is or what value she has in life and decides that she’s going to remain single indefinitely.  Her ‘best friends’ think that it’s something that can’t be done and wage a little bet on it even.

One of the challenges here for Jan is that she’s really had quite an easy life.  Her father pampers her and gives her whatever she wants.  i.e. financial support since he’s not the emotional support kind of guy.  Where this becomes a problem though is when Jan’s mother finds out what Jan has really been up to – dropping out of state college and going to massage school and makes her pay the money back.  This layered on top of everything makes life really hard for her.

I think that throughout this story you want to root for a big change in Jan, and expect that it’ll happen but hope that it won’t be too easy so that she’ll learn a good life lesson.  She goes through stages where she starts to alienate friends and is even ok with it, but finds her way back to being healthy and smart.

I can’t say that this story was earth shattering and game changing, but it was a nice young adult read that shows you the challenges that a spoiled girl has in life when she wants to become something more…something better.

ARC Review: Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger by Beth Harbison

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Title:  Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger
Author: Beth Harbison
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press 7/9/13
Length:  247 pages

Overview

Ten years ago, Quinn Barton was on her way to the altar to marry Burke Morrison, her high school sweetheart, when something derailed her. Rather, someone derailed her—the Best Man who at the last minute begged her to reconsider the marriage. He told her that Burke had been cheating on her. For a long time. Quinn, stunned, hurt, and confused, struggled with the obligation of fulfilling her guests’ expectations—providing a wedding—and running for her life.

She chose running. With the Best Man. Who happened to be Burke’s brother, Frank.

That relationship didn’t work either. How could it, when Quinn had been engaged to, in love with, Frank’s brother? Quinn opted for neither, and, instead, spends the next seventeen years working in her family’s Middleburg, Virginia, bridal shop, Talk of the Gown, where she subconsciously does penance for the disservice she did to marriage.

But when the two men return to town for another wedding, old anger, hurt, and passion resurface. Just because you’ve traded the good guy for the bad guy for no guy doesn’t mean you have to stay away from love for the rest of your life, does it? Told with Beth Harbison’s flair for humor and heart, Chose the Wrong Guy will keep you guessing and make you believe in the possibilities of love.

My Thoughts

Beth Harbison has  become one of my favorite Contemporary or Young Adult authors because the stories are simple enough to follow and digest, even believe, but there’s a sense of romanticism to them and you just want to root for what seems to be the underdog.

In this story, we are taken through Quinn’s journey both past and present.  we’re given flashbacks of her life with Burke pre-wedding disaster, and then we get to see what her life has become through the decade that’s passed.

What i really enjoyed here is that we see that she’s a strong independent woman, but she hasn’t been able to really get past what happened to her.  She’s constantly reminded of Burke because she lives in the same town and sees his family (grandmother at least) who she adores, and that’s a constant thorn in her side.

Of course there’s the sexy hot older brother that played a key role in the disaster of her wedding day, and it’s always curious to see what will come of it.  What i also enjoyed here was that there was a great story to bring everyone back together.  Romance, another wedding, and the fear that something less than transparent was happening.

All throughout this story, we get the hilarious gay best friend Glenn who has made it his life’s goal to shake some sense into Quinn and gets her to do a different task a day for a month in the hopes that it’ll bring her to reality.  Does it?  that’s a VERY good question.  All i can say is that things don’t always go as planned – and it’s quite entertaining.

So my questions

1) What happens with Quinn and her jadedness?

2) Should we be worried about Dottie and Lyle?

3) who do you like more for Quinn:  Burke or Frank?

4) Is Glenn really happy?

so, nothing too deep, but rather entertaining to say the least.

Review: Requiem (Delirium book 3) by Lauren Oliver

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Title:  Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher/Year: Harper Collins Publishers 3/5/13
Length:  267 pages
Series: Delirium #3

Overview

This exciting finale to Lauren Oliver’s New York Times bestselling Delirium trilogy is a riveting blend of nonstop action and forbidden romance in a dystopian United States.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway inPandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.

As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana’s points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

With lyrical writing, Lauren Oliver seamlessly interweaves the peril that Lena faces with the inner tumult she experiences after the reappearance of her first love, Alex, the boy she thought was dead. Sophisticated and wide-ranging, Requiem brings the Delirium trilogy to a thrilling conclusion.

My Thoughts

You guys can only imagine how long i was waiting for this book to come out – i was sitting on the edge of my seat to get it and trying to get through my re-reads of books 1 and 2 so that i was fully up to speed with what was going on.  finally – 2 days ago i started reading Requiem and i’m not quite sure what i think about it.

So at the end of Pandemonium (book 2), Lena and Julian find out that they were pawns for Raven/Tack and the resistance.  it was known that they would be captured by the Scavengers who were working for the DFA (how backwards). ….so lena wasn’t very happy with the situation all around.  Amidst all this though, she found that she had growing feelings for Julian and started to develop their relationship a bit.  The challenge being that Alex still holds her heart and Julian was basically giving his to her.  Teenage Angst right?

So, at the beginning of Requiem, we’re at the camp where Alex is now part of the group, and there’s all sorts of uncomfortable ness going on.  Alex is hurt that he held on to the thought that Lena was waiting for him and when he walks in and sees that it’s not the case, he’s bitter.  Mind you Lena WAS holding on to the hope that Alex was some how ok yet she assumed he was dead since she saw him get shot and captured at the end of Delirium.  All that being said, lots of confusion and no one is happy.

So, throughout Requiem, we have the cooling off of the Lena/Julian relationship, the avoidance of Alex/Lena, and then a new girl comes along that steals Alex’s attention which pisses Lena off so then we have Alex/Coral.  Lena is quite jealous and that’s something that manifests itself throughout the story as well.

What i liked about this story though is that we go back and forth not between ‘now and then’ like we did in book 2 but between Lena and Hana since their stories are going on at the same time.  Hana’s been ‘cured’ and she’s slated to marry Fred Hargrove who is the new mayor of the town (his father was the old mayor but was killed in the Incidents).  In any event, Hana’s life isn’t as glorious as it once was…yes compared to material things it’s just as grand, but the cure didn’t work as it should and she’s not happy in her situation.  she’s also finding out things about her life and her match that are unsettling and cause her to re-evaluate just about everything.

As we go back and forth between the stories, i keep wondering if they will intercept.  i assume they will but the stories go on completely different journeys.  you learn things about each person that you didn;t expect and you get to see a bit more background of other characters which is nice.

While we’re watching things unfold in both worlds, we see that Portland is the meeting point.  The Resistance are planning an attack to breach the city that Lena grew up in and met Alex in, and Hana is still living there and is planning her wedding.  Things go down in Portland – that’s for sure.

To sum it up though, i’m a bit upset about how the ending netted out, and i’m wondering if there will be a book 4 since i think that the ending fell quite a bit short.

BEWARE OF POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN MY QUESTIONS BELOW 

1) What happens with Lena/Alex?

2) What happens with Julian?

3) What’s next for Hana?

4) What about Grace/Bee?

5) what happens to Fred?  did he stay home like Hana asked?

6) really – what happens with Portland and the cities?  and what role will the resistance play in the future

Review: Uglies (Uglies Series Book 1) by Scott Westerfeld

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We all clearly know by now that i’m a HUGE fan of all things dystopian and while i’m waiting for January 22nd to roll around so i can read the follow up to Legend by Marie Lu (book 2 being Prodigy), i stumbled across Uglies which is in fact quite a good book 1 of the series.

Tally Youngblood is our lead female and we meet her when she’s on the cusp of her 16th birthday – the turning point for EVERYONE in civilization because that’s the birthday when you are turned from being an ‘ugly’ to being a ‘pretty’.  The mindset here is that one of the key drivers to the downfall of past civilization (namely ours at present) is that people didn’t look the same and therefore there was a lot of jealousy and things weren’t fair.  see….we know this to an extent, yet in Uglies – they actually take a step towards making everyone the same.

So…Tally is one of the last in her class to turn 16 so she’s quite lonely in ‘Uglytown’.  Her best friend Peris (a guy actually) has already turned and she’s constantly wondering if he’s going to care about her, if e misses her and if there’s a future for them…as friends or whatever.  So as she used to do quite often and as she does a bit now still, she sneaks across the river to ‘New Pretty town” – the part of the city that they have set aside for folks that have JUST been turned pretty – aka.  ‘new pretties’ and tries to see if she can find him.  What she finds is that yes, Peris does recognize her, and she him, and he ‘says’ that he can’t wait for her to turn, but that he doesn’t want her coming back to the city until she’s pretty.  This leaves Tally feeling even more rejected.  So – to make her escape back to Ugly town (because it’s a HUGE CRIME to be in Pretty Town when you’re an ugly) she has to pull a trick, causes alarms to sound, and rushes back to her home.  On her trip, she encounters Shay, another girl who’s the exact same age as her, and is in the same habit of sneaking across the river to see how things are.

Shay is our next main character.  Shay has this idea in her head from many of her friends that there’s an alternative to turning pretty and that in fact it’s a really bad thing to become pretty.  She’s heard from friends and seen for herself that there’s a group of people who’ve runaway and gone to live in the Smoke.  she herself hasn’t actually been to the Smoke ,but she’s met people who are from there and even knows their ‘leader’ David.  She tries to convince Tally that it’s much better to go to the Smoke and teaches Tally all she can so that Tally will come with her.

Alas, this is all for naught since Tally actually WANTS to be pretty and wants to join her friends in New Pretty Town.  Shay decides to runaway any way and from that point on, no one’s life is the same.  Shay leaves directions for Tally in case she has a change of heart and kind of prays that it’s the case since they’ve grown close in such a short time.

See….Special Circumstances has been watching the situation with Shay and her friends – noticing that there were bunches of runaways and hearing about The Smoke.  They in a sense FORCE Tally to work with them to find the Smoke and tell her that they won’t turn her pretty unless she helps them find the Smoke.  So…she agrees….and that’s when things get exciting for Tally.

So here are the questions on where the story goes:

1) What happens for Tally?  Does she make it to the smoke?  Does she help out Special Circumstances? Does she turn Pretty?

2) Now that we’ve met Shay, David and Peris, what is their story and how does it unfold?

3) What’s the deal with the Pretties?  Are they all Happy all the time?

so…now my only sadness is that Pretties (book 2) and Specials (book 3) aren’t available in Nook book ebook from Barnes and Nobles so i have to figure out a way to get my hands on the next installments cause i REALLY want to know how things unfold.  It’s definitely going to be interesting based on how the last few chapters of Uglies unfurled.  There were many twists and turns that i was expecting, yet that didn’t take away from the anxiety.

Review: Gabriel’s Inferno (Gabriel’s Inferno #1) by Sylvain Reynard

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Title:  Gabriel’s Inferno
Author: Sylvain Reynard
Publisher/Year:  Penguin Group (USA) 9/4/12
Length:  560 pages
Series: Gabriel’s Inferno #1

Overview

From national bestselling author Sylvain Reynard comes the haunting, unforgettable tale of one man’s salvation and one woman’s sensual awakening . . .

Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well-respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.

When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.

An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel’s Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man’s escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible—forgiveness and love.

My Thoughts

alas i’ve found myself back into a ‘romance’ inspired series, but i have to say that i left these 2 books significantly more intelligent than i went in.  with Book 1’s title Gabriel’s Inferno, i had visions of Dante’s inferno, and i was completely on target with that one. it’s really nice to read a story that has as much passion and depth as a dante inspiration.  i also love that we’re immediately introduced to the characters as the modern Dante and Beatrice.

so here’s how it shakes down:

Gabriel – he is our brooding male lead, also known as ‘Professor’.  he’s young, handsome, powerful, smart, and well of course very very troubled.  He’s got a past that we don’t actually get the entire picture of even through both Gabriel’s Inferno or Gabriel’s Rapture.  we get a glimpse, but not the whole story.  he’s adopted, troubled, and tries to turn his life around – question is – does he succeed?  that’s why you must read.

Julia is our female lead – and the girl that we always want to root for in these types of stories.  she’s very innocent of course, and even a virgin (big surprise there right?) but she comes into her own skin as these stories progress.  We know that her life wasn’t the easiest as she was growing up either, and that’s kind of what shapes her whole story.

interesting fun facts that we find out in book 1:

1) Gabriel and Julia met when she was 17…..because her best friend is Gabriel’s brother.  but….Gabriel has no idea who she is when she turns up in his graduate level seminar.  reason?  (you must read to find out)

2) Gabriel has a tattoo over his heart with initials or a name…what’s the story there…and how does that relate to the ‘bursary’ that he bestows on Julia when he tries to help her out financially?

Gabriel’s Inferno brings these characters together through a bit of a round about way.  she enrolls in his class, and he doesn’t know who she is at first…and of course she won’t tell him.  it takes his sister/her best friend visiting to uncover some of that….yet – it’s still not that easy.  we know that Julia is in love with him, and has been for years, but does that ever get resolved?

Gabriel’s Rapture – book 2 takes us on a continuation of their tale, picking up at a really juicy spot actually.  and i’m not saying juicy from a sexual aspect.  there’s a lot going on that book 2 does a really good job talking about.

**potential spoiler alert**

so we know from the first book that there’s an issue with professor/student relationships and we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop all book 1.  we find that to some extend the shoe drops in book 2 – but how and how does that effect each of the characters?

what i lOVED about Gabriel’s Rapture is that it took you in a direction that you expect, but the story there is so unexpected.  i’m used to things being tied up in a nice little bow right off the bat and in this case, you’re really forced to keep from skipping to the end of the book to find the resolution since there’s so much greatness going on with both Gabriel and Julia separately.

anyway – i read that there may be a book 3 in the works and if that’s true then i’m thrilled.  Professor and the Student really were great at drawing me in, and i can’t wait to hear more of their tale