February Challenges Wrap Up

 

I only read and reviewed one book for this challenge this month...

Being Sloane Jacobs (review posted) 

 

Adding this one to the others that means that I have read and reviewed 3/15 2014 YA Contemporary's for my goal.

 

 

 

For the "Real" Book Challenge this month I did good. But not as well as January.

 

February:

17. The Offering
18. Vitro
19. Juliet's Moon
20. The Impossible Knife Of Memory
21. Dairy Queen
22. The Off Season
 23. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
24. Unremembered
25. Annie Between the States
26. You Be the Jury 

 27. Front and Center
28. Tuck Everlasting
29. Resistance
30. Forget You

Characterize It (8)

 

Welcome to Characterize It, a meme held every Thursday and hosted by http://theyabookbutterfly.blogspot.com/

As usual for memes, link the meme back to the host page so that other can join in!

If you want to know more about Characterize It, go to this page.

Recently, Characterize It was added to the Book Blog Meme Directory. It is a great way to find new memes........Check it out here:http://bookshelffantasies.com/book-blog-meme-directory/

 

 

Wild Card - Any character! From any book! Just come up with a favorite!

Today I picked Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.

 

I read the Chronicles of Narnia years ago, but I can still remember enjoying reading about the adventures that they found in Narnia.

 

Great books for all ages.

Waiting On Wednesday (15) (Don't You) Forget About Me

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is-

(Don't You) Forget About Me

Expected publication: June 10th 2014 by HarperTeen

 

 

 

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except...
There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

 

 

I was not the biggest fan of Another Little Piece (review here) , but this one looks like it is more my thing.

Into the Still Blue (Book Review)

Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)
Veronica Rossi
Published January 28th 2014 by HarperCollins

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.
Review:

Going into this story, I made the mistake of not re-reading Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night. And even though this did confuse me a little, I soon got into the story all over again.
One of my very favorite things when I started this series was Aria. And I had high hopes going into Into the Still Blue that she would continue to be the same strong character that I had gotten to know and love throughout Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night.

Veronica Rossi didn't disappoint me at all. She delivered a strong female lead......Someone that you can connect with, and someone that you can cheer for.
I had hoped for more scenes between Aria and Perry, and although there were a few.....I didn't get as many as I would have liked. I can understand why there weren't though. With everything else going on, it would have been hard to include more Aria-Perry scenes.
I liked reading Perry's point of view, I found it refreshing to find myself immersed in his mind (as weird as that sounds).

The plot was exciting, with lots of action.....But enough conversation to keep it interesting also. There is definitely a bigger sci-fi element than Through the Ever Night. Which I wasn't a huge fan of.....But it was still enjoyable, even for me.

If you have read Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night, reading Into the Still Blue should be a no-brainer. But if you haven't, then I would definitely recommend this series.
Great ending Veronica Rossi. Thank-you for not disappointing me.

Onyx (Lux #2) (Book Review)

Onyx (Lux #2)
Jennifer L Armentrout

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies...

Review:

I liked Obsidian. And starting this one I had high expectations.
It almost met them.

In the second book of the Lux series Daemon and Katy continue with their relationship and I found myself liking Daemon a lot more in this one than in Obsidian.

He was a gentleman:
"You ready?" Daemon called, holding the passenger door.

He was turning into a much nicer guy around Katy:
Daemon was changing. I was used to the sarcastic and rude Daemon. In an odd way, that version was easier to deal with. We could trade insults all day. But this Daemon... This one who wouldn't give up was kind and gentle.

But I did have some problems with Katy in this one that were non existent in Obsidian. Katy didn't seem as strong in this one. She seemed to be much more dependent on Daemon than she was in Obsidian which was one of my favorite traits of hers.
The other characters continue to be good.

For the first 1/3 or so of the plot it was purely Daemon and Katy's relationship....Which bugged me a little. But the last 2/3 of the book were fast paced and enjoyable.

Altogether I wish that this had more action and less Daemon and Katy swooning over one another. As much as I enjoy the romance and as much as I like Daemon I wish that this book had something more. Still enjoyed it though! And I would still recommend it for a romance, just not necessarily an alien story.

Do you like Jennifer L Armentrout? Did you think that this was a good sequel?

Characterize It (7)

Welcome to Characterize It, a meme held every Thursday and hosted by http://theyabookbutterfly.blogspot.com/

As usual for memes, link the meme back to the host page so that other can join in!

If you want to know more about Characterize It, go to this page.

 

The Mr. Darcy - Guy Character that acts standoffish at first....but is sincerely attracted to the girl.

 

 

 Other than the actual wonderful Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, I think that Isaiah from Crash Into You fits the bill for this one. If you haven't read this series yet, you can either start with Crash Into You or you can start from the beginning with Pushing the Limits.

 

 

Can you think of some guy characters that are like this? Let me know in the comments below!

 

(P.S. I don't have a linky this time, so if you wrote up a Characterize It post please leave me the link in the comments!)

Splintered (Book Review)

Splintered
A. G. Howard

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.





Review:

After reading dozens of rave reviews about this book, I absolutely had to try it out myself.
Splintered is a twisted take on the classic Alice in Wonderland. I haven't read Alice in Wonderland, but reading this sort of made me want to!

Characters.........
4/5 for deep characters.
3/5 for relatable characters.

The heroine/main character of the book Alyssa is a descendant of Alice Liddell the one who "supposedly" gave Lewis Carroll his story of Alice in Wonderland. Alice's women descendants have unique ability's.
Ever since she was a little girl, Alyssa has been visiting her mother in a psych ward.
Alyssa is a unique main character. But in my case, I wish that I had connected more with her. She was a great MC. I just never felt connected. Other than that, I loved Alyssa! She was sweet, her love for her Mom endured through all of their troubles.
Jeb the guy of the book was a great character, but not one of my favorites. I never felt that he loved Alyssa as much as she deserved. But I do have faith in him getting better in Unhinged. I still loved his character......
All of the other characters were so unique and fun to read about!

Plot...........
5/5 for UNIQUNESS!
4/5 for easiness of following.

The plot in this was absolutely UNIQUE! I loved it!
Other than the fact that this is a sort of "retelling" there was so much uniqueness to the plot of this book!
The plot was fast paced.....but always took the time to explain things. I never felt confused of frustrated with the plot.......
The story line is a bit darker than your typical YA book, but not to the point of becoming depressing.

Loved the uniqueness of this book.....I wasn't absolutely crazy about Jeb, but I still liked him. And I liked Alyssa.
The plot of this book is fast paced and exciting (I read it in one sitting).
If you like retellings (or even if you normally don't) I would pick this one up!
4/5

Do you like retellings? Have you read this one yet? What did you think? Have you read Alice In Wonderland?