Born Wicked - Jessica Spotswood

Title: Born Wicked

Author: Jessica Spotswood

Release Date: February 7th, 2012, Hardcover

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★

 

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

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Born Wicked was definitely not what I was expecting. I wish there would have been more spells and witchcraft involved. While there is some, I just wish there was more and a more backstory of the witches history. I am hoping that it is told more in the second book. The main character Cate was a lot of fun to read from, but I felt she was too boring and uptight. I understand that she was trying to help her sisters but I wish she would have been more fun. There is a small love triangle in this book but a lot of the romance is surrounded by Finn, who is their gardener. I, of course, was hoping for the other guy but that doesn't look like it is going to happen. For some reason that always happen to me. I tend to like the guy who doesn't have a chance.

The government is something I also couldn't understand. The book starts right out talking about the Brotherhood. Am I the only one who is very confused about this? What even is the Brotherhood? I know that it this group of men who fight against witches and taking them to asylums. I just wish there would have been more of a backstory on that also. I also have some problems with the Sisterhood, but I am more intrigued if anything. I can't wait for the next book to read more about them. It should be interesting!

There is a plot twist in this book that revolves around the three sisters and I just couldn't be happier about it! I really enjoyed that. I can't wait to see how it will play out in the next book. This was a good first start to the series, but I can tell as the series progresses with more books it will start to become better and more world building. I hope we find out more about her mother and her godmother. There is a big mystery revolving around them and I hope it we find out more information about it.

Overall, this book left me wanting more as you can tell. I enjoy the characters and the storylines but want more of a backstory told on the characters. I also hope there is more of a love triangle and have it not all focused on Finn. Maybe I will grow to like him the next book, but I honestly couldn't see the appeal. I'm just weird like that I guess.

 

Plot: ★★★★

Characters: ★★★★

Writing:★★★★

Ending: ★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: September 28th, 2012, Hardcover

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★★

 

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore. From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

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If you haven't read this book yet, you need to do so immediately. I haven't read anything like it before. It is just written beautifully and the characters are so wonderful. I can finally say that Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors; she ranks right up there with Suzanne Collins and Cassandra Clare in my opinion. I fell in love with the Wolves of Mercy Falls, then with the Scorpio Races, and finally with the Raven Boys. This story wasn't what I expected at all. From reading the summa...moreIf you haven't read this book yet, you need to do so immediately. I haven't read anything like it before. It is just written beautifully and the characters are so wonderful. I can finally say that Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors; she ranks right up there with Suzanne Collins and Cassandra Clare in my opinion. I fell in love with the Wolves of Mercy Falls, then with the Scorpio Races, and finally with the Raven Boys. This story wasn't what I expected at all. From reading the summary, I thought that it would be more of a love story but it isn't at all. Even though there is some romance it isn't a lot. It is mostly an adventure story about four friends: Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. Then there is Blue whose family is full of psychics. Each character has an own backstory and personality. The characters are the most important for me when it comes to a story, and these were the best. I enjoyed Gansey and Adam's friendship the most and it comes into play a lot during the end of the book. I just want them to hug it out so bad! I loved them! I will admit, when I first started this book I was slightly confused. I didn't really understand what was going on. I even had to reread the first couple chapters. Once I started to understand what this book was going to be about, I loved it. It is about Gansey on the search for the resting place of a Welsh King Glendower. The first to do so will be granted a favor. I was really confused about this during the first half of the book. I kept wondering why Gansey was so obsessed with this and why did he keep wanting to find it? What was the backstory behind this? It is finally revealed towards the middle of the book and then it all started to make sense. My only complaint is that I wish that we would have had that sooner. It would have helped me a lot during the first fifty pages or so. I really liked how the chapters had different POV's. It would switch from Blue, Gansey, and then to Adam. There were even some chapters told from the villain in this story. I am not sure how I feel about Blue and Gansey's relationship when I seem to love Adam and Blue so much more. I do like Gansey, but there is something about Adam that I like too. I feel so sorry for him with his family issues and everything. Overall, I highly recommend this book. It is one of my favorite reads in 2012 for sure. This is an excellent start for this new upcoming series. I just can't wait to get my hands on the sequel! I know that it will not disappoint!   Plot: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★ Writing:★★★★★ Ending: ★★★★★ Cover: ★★★★★

Beautiful Chaos - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Title: Beautiful Chaos

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Release Date: October 18th, 2011, Hardcover

Publisher: Little Brown and Compnay

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★

Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

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Beautiful Chaos continues the story of Ethan, Lena, Link, Ridley and the rest of the gang. I was really excited to start this book after reading the huge cliff-hanger ending in Beautiful Darkness. I feel like I have a love/hate relationship with these books. I just absolutely adored the first book in the series, but it seems like the rest of the books have just been okay. I will admit that Beautiful Chaos was better than Beautiful Darkness in my opinion.

The beginning of Beautiful Chaos was really good, it was when I got to the middle that I started to have some problems. It started to become a little boring for me. I had a really hard time getting into the story about his Great Aunts and when their house got destroyed. I just didn't seem to care about them, which is bad I know, but I was honestly way too interested in the Ridley and Link story. I wish we could have got more scenes with them together.

I love all the characters so much, but was disappointed that Liv wasn't in the first 100 pages. She happens to be my favorite character besides Ridley. However I feel like the story made up for it with Ridley being in it so much. It was just absolutely hilarious reading about her while she was High School. I also really liked how Lena wasn't so annoying in this book. I could actually tolerate her this time. I also really enjoyed how we got to have some flashbacks in this one! This time they are about Lena's parents: Sarafine and John. I feel really sorry for Sarafine in this book. We get to see her when she was a teen like Lena and how she got treated awful by her family. I thought John was sweet but there was no hope for Sarafine I feel.

I am going to mention a big spoiler next, so don't continue reading if you don't want to know. This has to be my most favorite thing that has ever happened in this series. John Breed and Liv hookup and became a thing. Yes, yes I know. Nobody could have saw this coming. John Breed is actually a good guy, and while Liv stays with him; he starts to fall for her. Just oh my gosh. I am praying that in Beautiful Redemption that there will be loads more of this. Please Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl; I am begging you. I know that since the book comes out next week that there isn't much you can do now, but maybe like an ebook or something in one of their point of views? I need more of them in my life.

So overall, I really enjoyed this but had some problems with it as the same time with the pacing and some of the storylines. I feel like it could have been a lot shorter. The ending of this book will leave you so confused and have you going like what????!!! I can't wait to purchase Beautiful Redemption next week! I'm glad that I waited to read this so the story can be fresh for the last book in the series. I am just so curious to see how this all will end.

 

Plot: ★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Writing:★★★★★

Ending: ★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Sweet Evil - Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Evil

Author: Wendy Higgins

Release Date: May 1st, 2012, Paperback

Publisher: HarperTeen

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★

 

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?

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Thank goodness I read Sweet Evil when I did. I was in a really bad reading slump at the time and didn't feel like reading at all since a lot of books that I have been reading hadn't amazed me. Then I decided to pick up Sweet Evil since it was on my 2012 debut author challenge. I had seen this book before but I hadn't heard a lot of buzzed around it. This book is so under hyped. I don't understand why this book isn't insanely popular. This isn't your typical young adult book about angels. Wendy Higgins creates this unique and interesting spin on the topic that I just couldn't stop reading about. Yes, this story is about angels but it is done in such a way that it doesn't seem like you have ever read about them before.

It has been a long time since I have loved a couple as much as I love Anna and Kaidan. They have so much chemistry with each other that it can be frustrating at times, but it's the good type of frustrating. The thing that makes this whole relationship crazy is that Kaidan is the son of the Duke of Lust which means that Kaidan's job is to take girls virginity. Anna is the daughter of the Duke of Addiction which also means that she has a pull towards drugs. They are completely unpredictable when they are together, which is one of the things that I loved so much about them. You had no idea what was going to happen and whether something huge was about to take place.

Anna is such a likable character to read from. That is the most important thing for me in a story, I have to like the main character or else I am just not going to like the book. Anna is half angel and half demon. It is like a good vs. evil going on right inside of you. I really hope that we get to learn more about her mother in the future books. Her father does seem like a good guy, but there is just something about him that I don't trust. I don't know if anybody else felt that way about him, but I feel like he isn't being completely honest. Anna goes through a lot of changes and self-discovery but she never forgets who she is and that was one of the things I liked about her so much.

Hopefully I gave this book a decent review and made you want to pick it up. I recommend it so much. Just be prepared to have your heart break with the relationship of Anna and Kiadan and one of the biggest cliff-hanger endings ever.

 

Plot: ★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Writing:★★★★★

Ending: ★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Bittersweet - Sarah Ockler

Title: Bittersweet

Author: Sarah Ockler

Release Date: January 3rd, 2012, Hardcover

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★★

 

Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life... and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last...

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I haven't written a review for a while so I'm sort of rusty. I just know that I won't be able to give this book the justice it deserves. I can't even tell you how wonderful and just down right awesome it is. This is what I wish all young adult contemporary was like. I also forgot how much I love Sarah Ockler's writing. It has been awhile since I read one of her books and it is just so unique and real.

Bittersweet tells the story of Hudson Avery. She is an ex-figure skater and the current Cupcake Queen of Watonka. She works at her mother’s diner Hurley's and tries to stay under the radar after her parent's divorce. One day she gets a letter in the mail about an Ice Skating competition for the prize of a scholarship. She starts to begin to dream about ice skating again and a way out of Watonka but with things getting in the way and her mother and friends depending on her she has to decide what is worth more.

Can I just say that this book made me wish that it was winter time. I started reading this just when it started to get cold where I live and it just made the reading experience much more great. I also was hungry for cupcakes, more specifically Hudson's cupcakes. Also there is a lot of ice skating in this book. For example: Hudson ice skates on a frozen Lake Erie. How awesome is that?! Sarah Ockler's writing was just so descriptive and so real. I felt like I was out on the lake with Hudson and Josh.

Let me now introduce you to Josh Blackthron. He is everything a love interest should be and the relationship between him and Hudson didn't seem rush or unrealistic but very real. That is how I felt about all the characters in this book. I feel like if I went to up-state New York and found a small town named Watonka then I would see Hudson and Josh at Hurley's. Anyways, Josh is the co-caption of the High school’s hockey team. He was just a great character and the relationship he had with Hudson was just fantastic. I really can't tell you why I like it so much but beside the fact that I just said; it seems real.

Hudson is such a funny and likable character to read from. Right from the first chapter I knew that Hudson would be someone that I would want to be friends with in real life. Even though she isn't the best friend to her friends. She is sort of a backstabber by accident. She never wants to treat her friends badly she just does without realizing it but at the end she does own up to her mistakes which makes her such a real and likable character to me! There is this one scene that made me laugh out loud that I just want to talk about because I still remember even though I finished the book a couple of days ago. Hudson is talking to Will about the hockey team and as Will is starting out the story, Hudson says, "Why does this seem like an episode of Friday Night Lights?" LOL. And that is just one of the many jokes that Hudson says during the book.

Overall, I loved, loved, loved Bittersweet. It has been a long time since I loved a contemporary book and I am happy that it was this one. This book is just special and wonderful to read. I highly recommend it. I just can't stop thinking about it and I couldn't stop reading it. I didn't want it to end. I remember when I got to the last chapter I felt sad. I wanted to erase the book from my mind so I could back and read the book again for the first time and experience all the feelings over again. This is definitely one of my favorite books of 2012 and of all time. Oh and by the way, don't read this book hungry and make sure you have come cupcakes near by. You will want them, trust me!

 

Plot: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Writing:★★★★★

Ending: ★★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Social Suicide - Gemma Halliday

Title: Social Suicide

Author: Gemma Halliday

Release Date: April 24th, 2012, Paperback

Publisher: HarperTeen

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★

 

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the "Herbert Hoover High Homepage" would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper's brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went . . . a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the homecoming queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH's resident body finder, I'm stuck trying to prove that Sydney's death wasn't suicide.

I'm starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos...

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Reading Social Suicide is like eating your favorite dessert. You just can't stop. I was so addicted to this book while reading it. I kept thinking about the characters and what I thought really happened with the murder that Hadley was investigating. The only thing that comes to mind when I think of these books is how fun they are. Sometimes it is nice to step away from the depressing deep books that just make you have so many feelings, which happens to me from time to time because I tend to become attached to characters. I did become attach to these characters but it is a different relationship. I feel so happy and there is the biggest smile on my face whenever I think about the gang in Social Suicide.

Social Suicide takes place right were Deadly Cool left off at. We have Hartley working for the school newspaper. There is a lot more funny jokes and intense scenes with Hadley and Chase. I just want them together so much! There is also her best friend Sam that comes up with a new slang word in this book: "Twittercide - the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting." I can't even tell you how many times I laughed out loud when Sam and Hartley would you the term twittercide. It is just so funny and clever.

Overall, if you haven't read these books yet I highly recommend. They are light and fun and will for sure make you laugh. I also love the titles to these books, "Deadly Cool" "Social Suicide". I can't help but wonder if there is going to be another book. Social Suicide did leave off on a minor cliff-hanger sort of. I would love for there to be another book!

 

Plot: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Writing:★★★★

Ending: ★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Unraveling - Elizabeth Norris

Title: Unraveling

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Release Date: April 24th, 2012, Hardcover

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★

 

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed--as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows--with every fiber of her being--that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something--but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened--the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life--points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets--and keep from falling in love with him in the process.
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I don't really know where to start with this review. I had a lot of problems while reading this. I can tell you right now that this book just wasn't for me. I don't know if it was the writing that the author used or just the way the characters developed or what. However the only thing that I loved about the book was the plot. I am being really lenient with a three star rating. I should probably give it two stars, but I thought that the book had a really interesting plot so I bumped it up to three.

Unraveling tells the story of a high school girl named Janelle. Her father is in the FBI, her mother has a really bad case of bipolar, and she has a little brother Jared. One night Janelle gets hit by a pick-up truck and she dies but when she opens her eyes she sees the school's stoner Ben leaning over her.

After reading this book I have come to the realization what the most important element of a story is for me: the characters. If a story doesn't have likable or relatable characters then I probably won't like the book that much. That was my problem with Unraveling. I just couldn't stand Janelle at all. She was rude, stereotypical, and just so cliché at times. She was so stereotypical about Ben and Elijah. She assumes that since these boys dress in all black and keep to themselves than they are supposedly stoners. I got sick and tired of hearing that. I don't know about other people, but at my high school it wasn't like that ever. I remember this girl who would wear Hollister or Victoria Secret and she would smoke pot every day.

Janelle would also be really rude and just mean to people. I really don't know how her best friend, Alex, would put up with her. Alex has an overbearing mother in the book and she won't let him do certain things. Of course Alex is embarrassed by it but Janelle just laughs and makes fun of it and his mother. Is that really anyway to treat your best friend? There is another scene I remember where they are at this party and she tells Alex that the reason why she brought him is because she couldn't let him graduate high school without going to at least one party. Janelle would probably throw a pity party for me because I didn't attend one popular party while I was in high school. I was mostly by myself and didn't have too many friends. I would have interest that nobody else liked; for example reading.

She was also so cliché with her boyfriend Nick. When they break up she tells him that she isn't like most girls. You want to know the type of girls that usually say that? Most girls. I just couldn't get over by how much I disliked Janelle. I don't mean to go on a rant about her but I never disliked such a main character in all my life. Although she did start to become likable towards the end. I tend to like her when she was around Ben, but I did feel like they just fell in love with each other out of nowhere.

I also wasn't a big fan of Elizabeth Norris writing style. It seemed like whenever a huge event would happen, the next chapter would be some sort of flashback that turned out to irrelevant. I guess she did that to let us know Janelle more but I just found it annoying after it happened for the third time. I also didn't really feel any emotion with the characters. There is a big catastrophe that Janelle experiences with her Dad and I just didn't feel anything at all. I felt like I didn't even know her Dad to be sad about it. There needed to be something else done to make us feel sad about her Dad. There was one thing that I did like about the story and that was the plot. There is a countdown to the end of the world and disasters start happening to the earth like hurricanes and earthquakes. The last hundred pages of the book were great! Why couldn't the whole story be like that?

Overall I liked how this book turned out to be science fiction but I just had so many problems with it that I just feel frustrated whenever I think of this book. Honestly, this book was a major disappointment. It was really not my cup of tea, but it might be yours. I feel like I am the only one who hasn't liked it. I just wouldn't recommend it. I still haven't made up my mind if I am going to read the next book or not.

 

Plot: ★★★

Characters: ★

Writing:★★

Ending: ★★

Cover: ★★★