Review: Ruby Red (Edelstein Trilogie #1), by Kerstin Gier

Ruby Red (Edelstein Trilogie #1)
By Kerstin Gier
Publication Date: In the US, May 10th, 2011 (Henry Holt and Co), originally published January 6th, 2009 (by some German Publishing House I can't find the name of)
Hardcover, 330 pages
Genre: Sci-Fi; Romance; Historical Fiction; Adventure; Fantasy; YA
Source: School Library! :)

DESCRIPTION:

Sixteen-year-old Gwen lives with her extended—and rather eccentric—family in an exclusive London neighborhood. In spite of her ancestors' peculiar history, she's had a relatively normal life so far. The time traveling gene that runs like a secret thread through the female half of the family is supposed to have skipped over Gwen, so she hasn't been introduced to "the mysteries," and can spend her time hanging out with her best friend, Lesley, watching movies and talking about boys. It comes as an unwelcome surprise then when she starts taking sudden, uncontrolled leaps into the past.

She's totally unprepared for time travel, not to mention all that comes with it: fancy clothes, archaic manners, a mysterious secret society, and Gideon, her time-traveling counter-part. He's obnoxious, a know-it-all, and possibly the best-looking guy she's seen in any century...

—from the book's dust jacket

REVIEW:

Every once and a while, it's refreshing to read something straightforward and without the extra wordage lots of writers like to put into their stories. That straightforward book was Ruby Red. Of course, the straightforwardness of the book could be because the author is German and the book was translated into English, so some meaning could be lost in translation, but I don't know. I mean, I believe Inkheart by Cornelia Funke was translated into English from German, and that book is incredibly wordy. So it could just be Kerstin Gier's style. But that's besides the point.

Gwen's best friend, Lesley, was my favorite character. The best-friend-characters tend to be more likable than the actual protagonist to me for some reason. My biggest problem with Gwen, however, was that she was completely useless. The type of useless comparable to Sleeping Beauty's uselessness. I didn't care for Charlotte, Gweneth's cousin, but I don't think the reader is suppose to feel too sympathetic towards her. Nor did I care for Gideon. He was the love interest of the story (not a spoiler due to the book description) and was characterized quite blandly, meaning that he was characterized as the sterotypical male love interest of most young adult lit.: arrogant with some hardcoming that hurts them so badly that somehow it turns their personality inside out and makes them some sensitive nice guy.

Bleck.

The way Gwen's family treated her reminded me of Harry Potter. Everyone overlooks her because she's simply ordinary. They don't think there's anything special about her. Then, when she learns that she carries the time travel gene, some people in her family treat her even worse. It's not exactly the same as Harry Potter's situtation, but it radiated vibes that reminded me of Harry Potter.

Being the first in a triology, this book was more of an exposition for the whole series. That said, there wasn't much action, not much of a climax at all. But it certainly has promise and I'm excited to read the next one.

RATING:

Review: Daddy-Long-Legs, by Jean Webster

Daddy-Long-Legs
By Jean Webster
Publication Date: (first published 1912) June 11th, 2011 (Puffin) (first published 1912)
Paperback, 208 pages
Genre: Classics; Romance; Childrens
Source: purchased at an indie bookstore

DESCRIPTION:

A trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month, and that she can never know who he is. Judy's life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties, and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much happening in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing to the mysterious "Daddy-Long-Legs"!

—from goodreads.com

REVIEW:

Daddy-Long-Legs was okay, pretty uneventful. It's an epistolary story, meaning that it is completely made up by letters. Judy is seventeen at the beginning of the book, and twenty-one/twenty-two by the end, but her vocabulary was that of a ten-year-old. The excuse that she's an orphan can't be used because her orphanage made sure they educated her well past the grade level they normally educated orphans. 

However, I was completely infatuated by two of the elements in the book:

1) The little snippets of the 1900s given to you through Daddy-Long-Legs are utterly charming. Apparently, as decreed by English grammar, a person can't feel nostalgic about something they never knew (it's used incorrectly very often). I beg to differ! I may not know that "pie-plant" is rhubarb, that "junket" is a pudding-like dessert, or that "paper chase" (also called "hare and hound") was an "outdoor game in which certain players, the hares, start off in advance on a long run, scattering small pieces of paper, called the scent, with the other players, the hounds, following the trail so marked in an effort to catch the hares before they reach a designated point" (definition from dictionary.com) (I'm totally rounding up some friends and playing). I may not know any of those things, but I can be nostalgic about it, can't I? 

2) There are pictures in this book! Hand-drawn by main character, Jerusha Abbot. Quelle adorable! For example, here's one of my favorite ones:

It's cute, no? I don't know. I really like it and found it entertaining. There was another hand-drawn picture of what Judy called a "fish," but was really a picture of a turtle. I laughed out-loud at that one, and a good friend of mine who was also reading quirked an eyebrow at me. I showed her the picture and she didn't find it even remotely entertaining. :( Guess my sense of humor is a little off.

RATING:

Review: East, by Edith Pattou

East
By Edith Pattou
Publication Date: September 1st, 203 (Harcourt Children's Books)
Hardcover, 498 pages
Genre: Fantasy; Fairy Tale; Retelling; Romance; Adventure; YA
Source: Library (Reed Memorial)

DESCRIPTION:

A magical epic of love, betrayal, and loss.

Rose is the youngest of seven children, meant to replace her dead sister.

Maybe because of that, she's never really fit in. She's always felt different, out of place, a restless wanderer in a family of homebodies. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with it —in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family—she readily agrees. 

Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart—and finds her purpose—and realizes her journey has only just begun.

As familiar and moving as Beauty and the Beast, yet as fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a bold retelling of the classic tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," a sweeping story of grand proportions.

—from the book's dust jacket

REVIEW:

If you don't read East, by Edith Pattou, you're not missing out on anything.

I knew I probably wouldn't like it by page 25, but I kept at it anyway. I even followed my Fiftieth-Page Rule, the one where "giving a book a fair chance" means reading fifty pages in, then deciding if I want to stop reading it. But I kept reading past the fiftieth page, so the book must be doing something right.

(By the way, here is a link to the original Norwegian fairy tale, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" if you want to read it.)

First, East is written in first-person, but the views alternate between Rose, Neddy (Rose's older brother), Father (Rose's father), Troll Queen, and White Bear. I don't have a point-of-view preference, so I didn't mind the alternating view points.

The main character, Rose, was so foolish the majority of the time, it made me want to pull my hair out. Her foolishness seemed to clash with her admirable intelligence, which I don't understand. I don't understand how in one instance a person can set a character up as having quick-wit, and then in the next, make the character foolish. I just don't get it.

The climax was anything but that. I'm itching to sarcastically tell you the climax, but I can't because you may want to read it.

East was too long. Worst yet, I feel like East had no substance. It's hard to describe, but I'll try. In it, the narrator tells you this happened, then this happened, then this happened. The end. No moral. No value. Nothing.  

And what the H is with all of these Stockholm Syndrome fairy tales? Beauty and the Beast, anyone? Stockholm Syndrome does NOT equal romantic.

RATING:

Review: Lips Touch: Three Times, by Laini Taylor

Lips Touch: Three Times
By Laini Taylor
Publication Date: October 1st, 2009 (Arthur A. Levine Books)
Hardcover, 266 pages
Genre: Fantasy; Short Stories; Romance; Paranormal; Supernatural; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Everyone dreams of getting the kiss of a lifetime—but what if that kiss carried some unexpected consequences?

A girl who's always been in the shadows finds herself pursued by the unbelievably attractive new boy at school, who may or may not be the death of her. Another girl grows up mute because of a curse placed on her by a vindictive spirit, and later must decide whether to utter her first words to the boy she loves and risks killing everyone who hears her if the curse is real. And a third girl discovers that the real reason for her transient life with her mother has to do with belonging—literally belonging—to another world entirely, whose queen keeps little girls as pets until they reach childbearing age.

From a writer of unparalleled imagination and emotional insight, three stories about the deliciousness of wanting and waiting for that moment when lips touch.

—from the book's dust jacket

REVIEW:

ME: It was very...ordinary.

YOU: How could you say that, Samantha? How can the great Laini Taylor, who is made out of creativity, be ordinary?!

ME: Let me explain...

Yes, Laini Taylor DOES have a wonderful imagination.

For example, there's an Ambassador to Hell, and a girl with a voice that can literally kill. There are salt shakers full of diamonds and, my personal favorite, demons who can smell color.

BUT the way she tells her stories just doesn't have the support the ideas need. 

I don't mean her writing is mundane, because her writing is utterly gorgeous. All of the descriptions and senses and whatnot. Gorgeous. I mean all of the stories are the same, as if she kept the same characters, changed little pieces of their appearances but keep the same personality, and gave them a new conflict to overcome. Each story was like reading the same thing over and over and over again.

For example, the protagonists of each short story were essentially the same in personality. They're described as liking quirky things, and the majority of them have sweet faces, and are demure in nature. If I had to sum up Taylor's main character's personality's in one word, it would be INFP (which is a Myers-Briggs personality type).

(This has nothing to do with the book, but look "INFP" up. Then, if you so chose, take the personality type test. I don't know about you, but I love personality tests. I think it's just interesting to see what general group you're put in.)

While the plots of each story themselves are not really predictable, there is an intense feeling of familiarity, like you've read the story before and know the outcome. And you must definitely have read the story before if you've read any of Taylor's other books (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, perhaps?).

However, I truly enjoyed the romance (what can I say? I'm a big sap-sucker), even if it was nothing new and contained the essence of Taylor's other works. Most of it was sweet, innocent love. True courtship. Young men dancing with young women at garden galas in exotic lands. Fugitive sweet nothings whispered into one another's ear. Dates that consist of exchanging flowers, then walking hand-in-hand to the pond where the lovers feed the ducks.

Lips Touch: Three Times, a collection of three short stories by Laini Taylor, were clones of what an imaginative author usually does in all of her stories. The stories were nothing special, and were ordinary, which was a big surprise coming from an author who's imagination is extraordinary. Lips Touch: Three Times was okay (2 stars), but the ideas get another 0.5 stars.

RATING:

Review: Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1), by Maggie

Shiver
By Maggie Stiefvater
Publication Date: August 1st, 2009 (Scholastic Press)
Hardcover, 392 pages
Genre: Fantasy; Romance; Paranormal; Supernatural; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

Sam has lived to lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

—from goodreads.com

REVEIW:

Shiver started off slow, as most books to, but it was so painstakingly slow and so in depth detail-and-imagery-wise that I wanted to blow my brains out by page 35 and give up on reading it.  However, if you can get past page 50, you're in luck because it gets much better. :)

The main character's "friends," Olivia and Rachel were really annoying and didn't really have elements to their character. They were just hose friends-who-aren't-friends-percieved-as-the-typical-highschool-girl's-best-friends.

Grace, the main character, is obsessed with the wolves living in the woods behind her house after she is mauled by them (that's a little...strange. I guess we love the things that nearly kill us). I found Grace relatable at the beginning of the story. I don't know why. Perhaps because she's characterized as this introverted and strange outsider. I say I found her relatable at the beginning of the story because she changed after Sam, the love interest, came into her life, and after that I didn't like her.

All of the characters changed after Sam came into the book as a human. Grace's character became watered down, and she faded toward that Seventh Circle of Hell for unbelievable characters. It was like Hush, Hush, or Twilight, or Jace and Clary in The Mortal Instruments series: after the love interest of the main character is introduced, the characters lose personality and the book seems to SUPERFICIALLY circle more around the depth of the "relationship" rather than the way the two characters in that relationship change. How can you make a relationship deep without highlighting character personality changes and making other characteristics bolder? You can't. That said, the romance in the book was the typical cuddle-in-bed-together-steamy-make-out-sessions, without any real personality.

Sam's character was watered down also, but he never really seemed to have a solid personality anyway. A bit of his background is given, horrible things meant to make the reader pity him, and it works. I feel awful for him. Sam's background stories were groundbreaking-earth-shattering, whatever you wish to call it, and wholly satisfying, but his character was just flat somehow, which was really disappointing after reading his powerful life story. :(

Olivia and Rachel's characters improved, I'm proud to say. :) 

Isabel (another supporting character) improved also. Through the whole book Isabel was mean, but there were little nuggets in there where she could be sympathized with an even adored. If I had to choose my favorite character, it would be her. She's just so determined, resourceful, and intelligent even though her striking beauty would make you believe she's stupid.

The plot was fresh and captivating, and the ideas that made the plot up weren't overly imaginative. They were just right. :)

I just LOVE Maggie Stiefvater's writing style! It's so poetic and lyrical and descriptive, and although the style draws on the story and makes it slow in the beginning, her style adds to the middle and end.

The ending—it was cute. Truly. Well, actually the ending was suspenseful, then tense, then sad, then happy, the cute. A rainbow of emotions. However, not all of the characters get their way...

RATING:

Review: I'll Be There, by Holly Goldberg Sloan

I'll Be There
By Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publication Date: May 3rd, 2011 (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Hardcover, 392 pages
Genre: Adventure; Coming of Age; Contemporary; Romance; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Sam Border wishes he could escape. Raised by an unstable father, he's spent his life moving form place to place. But he could never abandon his little brother, Riddle.

Riddle Border doesn't talk much. Instead, he draws pictures of the insides of things and waits for the day when the outsides of things will make sense. He worships his older brother. But how can they leave when there's nowhere to go? Then everything changes. Because Sam meets Emily.

Emily Bell believes in destiny. She sings for her church choir, though she doesn't have a particularly good voice. Nothing, she feels, is more coincidence. And she's singing at the moment she first sees Sam.

Everyone whose path you cross in life has the power to change you—sometimes in small ways, and sometimes in greater ways than you could have ever known. Beautifully written and emotionally profound, Holly Goldberg Sloan's debut novel deftly explores the idea of human connection.

—from goodreads.com
 

REVEIW:

OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH!

I'LL BE THERE WAS FLIPPIN' AMAZING! WHERE HAS THIS BOOK BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE? You'll be asking the same thing once you read it. :)

Sam Border, a kindhearted musical-protege, and his highly introverted brother, Riddle Border, live a nomadic life with their violence-prone, schizophrenic father, Clarence Border. Life with Clarence Border consists of Clarence driving his truck and kids (which are the last thought in his life) to a medium-sized town. Here, Clarence commits petty crimes, such as stealing, breaking-and-entering, and vandalism. When people start getting suspicious, Clarence packs the truck up and leaves, taking Sam and Riddle with him.

Because Clarence is a criminal, Sam and Riddle have to be invisible, leading into the fact that seventeen-year-old Sam hasn't been to school since second grade, and twelve-year-old Riddle has never been to school.

However, one day, Sam "randomly" picks a church service to go to not to be preached to, but to hear the music. At the service a girl named Emily Bell sings "I'll Be There" and Sam falls in love with her—convinced not by her awful singing voice, but by the fact that she seems to be singing to him, singing the powerful words sincerely—completely changing his life and his brother's life.

Until they have to pack up and leave again with their father, leaving the life and love they established behind...

Sam Border, Riddle Border, and Emily Bell, were characterized much, but it worked for the style of the book. There were at least eleven secondary characters who were essential to the plot as a whole. At the beginning, all of their plot lines seemed random, and I had no idea how things would play out, but in the end, the strands came together to resolve the story beautifully.

I'll Be There is written in third-person omniscient point-of-view, making the reader feel like a spectator, watching events unfold. If I remember correctly, Sam, Riddle, Emily, all eleven (if not more) secondary characters, and a bear (yes, a bear) were all highlighted at some point by the omniscient narrator.

Because the characters (even the main characters) weren't characterized into 3D existence, because the book is written in third-person omniscient, and because the writing style of the book is straightforward, each portion of the book that follows a different character feels like a snapshot of what (or who) the character really is.

In that way, I'll Be There, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, is very much like a delightful movie (and it should be made into a movie), and reads exactly what a movie would read like, offering the movie-goer a glimpse into many different lives, lives of both horrific shock and of unmistakable beauty.

RATING:

 

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (#1), by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (#1)
By Laini Taylor
Publication Date: September 27th, 2011 (Little, Brown & Company)
Hardcover, 417 pages
Genre: Fantasy; Urban Fantasy; Romance; Paranormal; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed lovers who's roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

—from the book's dust jacket

REVIEW:

Ooooh. Bloodchills (a word I've created myself meaning, my blood is freezing in my veins right now). This wins the metal for unlike anything I've ever read (or perhaps it was pieced together from classic literature, history, and mythology that I have never come across).

I can't get over the ideas in this. I wish I came up with them. For example, Karou's chimera father sells wishes to people in exchange for the payment of teeth, animal teeth of all kinds, and human teeth being worth the most. Karou is the errand girl who travels all over the world to get teeth from the low-life poachers who sell the teeth.

In my eyes, Daughter of Smoke and Bones seemed to ask The Hunchback of Notre Dame question, "Who is the monster and who is the man?" (And if you ever seen the Disney movie—one of my favorite Disney movies—you know that Quasimodo was never the monster people thought he was, and self-righteous Judge Claude Frollo was never the pious or generous man he thought he was.) It also seemed to challenge traditional appearance of good and evil.

At first when I started Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I was captured by the writing. I've never read anything so descriptive, with superior imagery, and truly poetic strings off words. But when I got father in I felt differently. Everything seemed overly descriptive. I was experiencing imagery overload, most repetitively when the author was describing how beautiful Madrial was or a particular environment. The poetic words seemed unnecessary. And I didn't know many of the words, words like "eidolon" (1. a phantom; apparition; 2. an ideal), "cagey" (cautious, wary, or shrewd), and "kolacky" (a sweet bun filled with jam or pulped fruit).

But a "kolacky" sure does sound good!

I adored Karou's best friend, Zuzana. Is it me or are the best friends of the protagonist more likable than the actual protagonist? She is short, but very fierce, and still she finds the capacity to be sensitive towards Karou and her boyfriend, Mik, the sweet violinist, who I also loved, but not more than Zuzana.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is basically the exposition, the set up for the next book, Days of Blood and Starlight, in a planned trilogy. There wasn't a big climax in this book—there wasn't really one at all.

Still, there was something very magnetic about Daughter of Smoke and Bone...

RATING:

Review: Deadly Little Secret (Touch #1), by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Deadly Little Secret (Touch #1)
By Laurie Faria Stolarz
Publication Date: December 16th, 2008 (Hyperion)
Hardcover, 252 pages
Genre: Paranormal; Mystery; Romance; Suspense; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Until three months ago, everything about sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at an art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes far from ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfirned's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help—but can he be trusted? She know he's hiding something...but he's not the only one with a secret.

—from goodreads.com

REVIEW:

Here is a tasty morsel of what is to happen between the pages of Deadly Little Secret:

You walk into you bedroom one day after school. You find the the window was up, only you didn't remember opening it before you went to school. You turn to your mirror...and scrawled on it is the word "bitch" in blood red lipstick...you know someone has been watching you...following you...but who?

And suspenseful tastes like the one above, dear reader, is what will keep you reading Deadly Little Secret, by Laurie Faria Stolarz. Deadly Little Secret is the first book in a series of five, known as "Touch Novels." I'm wishy-washy at the moment about whether I'm going to finish the series. Why? I didn't find the plot—especially the writing style—very interesting or engaging. 

While I didn't find the writing style or plot special (it was mediocre), a few redeeming points in the book sparkled. The dialogue between the characters rocked; it was humorous, especially when Camelia's friends Kimmie and Wes were talking, which was most of the book (yay). Speaking of Kimmie and Wes, you'll wish you had friends like them and you'll go head-over-heals for their personalities. Also, the mystery of who was stalking Camelia was a page-turning factor. 

It's safe to say, however, that I hated Camelia. She has to be one of the worst. Heroines. Ever. Seriously, she does nothing whatsoever except make some bowls at a local art studio.

Deadly Little Secret was basically Hush, Hush, by Becca Fitzpatrick—which is essentially like Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer—except Hush, Hush (especially) and Twilight (not so much) are a billion times better written. Even Camelia's best friend, Kimmie, reminded me of the Hush, Hush main character's best friend, Vee.

SO, if you liked Twilight or Hush, Hush (or if you're like me and love funny dialogue and lovable characters), you'd enjoy Deadly Little Secret, by Laurie Faria Stolarz.

RATING:

Review: Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily
By Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publication Date: July 3rd, 2012 (Harper Collins Children's Books)
Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Retelling; Fantasy; Romance; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair...

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seemed doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, and English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Peaches" comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

-from goodreads.com

REVIEW:

Positives:

• Pine Sap (male) and Moon Beam (female), Tiger Lily's friends, were likable because they were the opposite of Tiger Lily's hardness and indifference: they were compassionate, steadfast, trustworthy daydreamers. I found relating to them easier than relating to Tiger Lily. 
• Also, I like how the author, Jodi Lynn Anderson, characterizes Wendy a stupid, and clueless dodo bird. It almost makes sense when you think about it.

Negatives:

• The book was incredibly, painstakingly slow. When I had about 100 pages left, I almost quit reading it because I was so bored.
• The book was written from Tinker Bell's perspective, the mute fairy, and while virtually telling the story from the point of view of a bystander was a novel (Ha ha. A pun) idea, it didn't work. The point of view was irritating, and added to the slow pace.
• I was a fan of the main character, Tiger Lily, at first. She was fierce and brave, but then, as the book slowly (and I mean really, really slowly) continued, I found that Tiger Lily didn't show any emotions whatsoever. I wanted her to be a bit more dynamic, especially in the aspects of showing compassion and other benevolent emotions. Heck, I wished she showed any emotion at all! A rock probably has more feelings than Tiger Lily, and after I figured this out, I could care less whether she died, or sat around and did nothing.
• I refuse whole-heartedly to acknowledge that thing in the book as Peter Pan, because of a whole bunch of things Tiger Lily got wrong (these are not spoilers and are safe for the eyes of readers who have not read the book and plan on reading it):

1. PETER PAN DOES NOT, NOR WILL HE EVER, HAVE A GIRLFRIEND! (well, he gets one in Tiger Lily)
2. PETER PAN DOES NOT "MAKE OUT" WITH ANYONE UNDER ANY CIRCUMATANCES! (he does this a few times in Tiger Lily)
3. PETER PAN IS NOT/WILL NOT BE FIFTEEN/SIXTEEN/SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD! EVER! (Peter Pan is somewhere around this age in Tiger Lily)
4. PETER PAN CAN FLY AND IS MAGICAL! (there was nothing—NOTHING—magical about Peter Pan or his Lost Boys)

And that's not all. I could tell you a whole bunch of other unjust things, but they're spoilers and I don't want to ruin it. :)

I'm sure my unhealthy love of everything Peter Pan blinded me when I was writing this review, and perhaps someone who's not a hard-core Pan Fan would enjoy this book, but I'm a Peter Pan fangirl (being honest) and I have to say...

Why, cruel, cruel world, would you do this to Peter Pan?! 

ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY FLY INTO NEVERLAND AND TREAT PETER PAN THIS WAY!

NON-PETER PAN CRAZED FAN RATING (Who am I kidding? I'm biased):

PETER PAN HYPER-FAN (SUCH AS MYSELF) RATING:

Review: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Triology #1), by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1)
By Leigh Bardugo
Publication Date: June 5th, 2012 (Henry Holt and Co.)
Hardcover, 358 pages
Genre: Fantasy; Romance; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Alina Starkov doesn't expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, the one thing she could rely on was her best friend and fellow refugee, Mal. And lately not even that seems certain. Drafted into the army of their war-torn homeland, they're sent on a dangerous mission into the Fold, a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.

When their convoy is attacked, all seems lost until Alina reveals a dormant power that not even she knew existed. Ripped from everything she knows, she is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member to the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. He believes she is the answer the people have been waiting for: the one person with the power to destroy the Fold.

Swept up in a world of luxury and illusion, envied as the Darkling's favorite, Alina struggles to fit into her new life without Mal by her side. But as the threat to the kingdom mounts, Alina uncovers a secret that sets her on a collision course with the most powerful forces in the kingdom. Now only her past can save her...and only she can save the future.

—from the book's dust jacket

REVIEW:

Hmm, difficult. VERY difficult. Plenty of courage, laced throughout your pages, I see. Not a bad plot, either. There's talent, oh yes. And a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you, Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo. Better be...

FIVE STARS!

*furious applause from all of the other books*

(Sorry, but I couldn't resist that Harry Potter reference.)

Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo. Shadow and Bone was AMAZING! What a rush, man. What a rush.

How do I start praising this book?

There's never a dull moment in Shadow and Bone. It's a no-brainer that getting attacked by Volca (these bird-like monsters with gray arms, leathery wings, and think talons) is heart-racing. But what's really spectacular is that the author, Leigh Bardugo, can keep moments like Alina being pampered and literally worshipped lively by adding conflict and A LOT of underlying tension (including romantic tension) that gently prods at the reader' scommon sense and makes them think think twice. Just when the reader would think the clouds are finally clearing for Alina...BAM! Something the reader doesn't anticipate smacks them right in the face!

And oh my goodness. The characters are swoon-worthy. Alina is the Harry Potter of Ravka (Ravka being the kingdom where the book takes place): she's a pure-hearted orphan from humble beginnings that has undiscovered powers, powers she's so convinced she doesn't have. Mal, Alina's handsome and charismatic childhood best friend, is completely oblivious of Alina. Other characters include Genya, the Tailor; Baghra, the Grisha trainer; Botkin Yul-Erdene, the combat trainer; "friends" of Alina, Marie and Nadia; and Zoya, the mean-girl, green with envy. Then of course there's the mysterious, powerful, seductive, and beautiful Darkling.

The only problem you might have is getting into it. I've heard some readers say the beginning was confusing, but this is only because the author is talented enough not to spew information at the reader. Information about the Grisha, the Shadow Fold, and the world of Ravka is gradually picked up by the reader. Also, the kingdom of Ravka is like Russia in it's customs and language. Some people, such as myself, feel the urge to look up every single unfamiliar word: What is "kvass," a "troika," and a "samovar"? I had to stop to translate. There's a bit of Mongolia also, but I didn't know that until Leigh Bardugo thanked a man who translated things into Mongolia for him in her Acknowledgements.

But I'd say the safe-zone is around chapters 3 and 4. Past those chapters and Shadow and Bone is a guaranteed hook.


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, SO READ IT.

RATING:

Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles #1), by Mary E. Pearson

The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles #1)
By Mary E. Pearson
Publication Date: April 29th, 2008 (Henry Holt and Co.)
Hardcover, 266 pages
Genre: Sci-Fi; Dystopia; Mystery; Romance; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

-from goodreads.com

REVIEW: 

I really enjoyed Jenna as a character. She was quite fiery in her own way. She didn't need a sword to run people through with or blackmail she could hold people to—just her stinging wit, curiosity, and super intelligence. I never really pitied her for certain things, and maybe I should have, but I wasn't feeling it. However, I did feel sympathetic towards Jenna when her sour relationship with her grandmother, Lily, the person she loved best, was highlighted through many part in the book.

In The Adoration of Jenna Fox, things are described as if Jenna is observing them for the first time, and it's written in a vaguely dream-like and reflective style, which I found I liked a lot.

The plot chugged along slowly, but the questions Jenna asked and the things she said provoked deep thought and reflection on the reader's part. The Adoration of Jenna Fox questions medical ethics most openly, but there are other undertones of themes in there. Also, the mystery of not only who Jenna Fox is, but what she is snags any reluctant reader and keeps them reading until the last page.

RATING:

Review: Dark Water, by Laura McNeal

Dark Water
By Laura McNeal
Publication Date: September 10th, 2010 (Alfred A. Knopf)
Hardcover, 287 pages
Genre: Contemporary; Romance; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Fifteen-year old Pearl DeWitt and her mother live in Fallbrook, California, where it's sunny 340 days of the year , and where her uncle owns a grove of 900 avocado trees. Uncle Hoyt hires migrant workers regularly, but Pearl doesn't pay much attention to them...until Amiel. From the moment she sees him, Pearl is drawn to this boy who keeps to himself, fears being caught by la migra, and is mysteriously unable to talk. And after coming across Amiel's makeshift hut near Agua Prieta Creek, Pearl falls into a precarious friendship—and a forbidden romance.

Then the wildfires strike. Fallbrook—the town of marigolds and palms, blood oranges and sweet limes—is threatened by the Agua Prieta fire, and a mandatory evacuation order is issued. But Pearl knows that Amiel is right in the path of the fire, with no one to wan him, no way to get out. Slipping away from the safety and her family, Pearl moves towards the creek, where the smoke has become air, the air smoke.

-from goodreads.com

REVIEW: 

When I read the synopsis, I expected a story about the undying, star-crossed love of an illegal migrant worker, Amiel, and his employer's niece, Pearl. I anticipated a bunch of things to happen based on this but none of them came true because what started off as star-crossed love was twisted by the author, Laura McNeal, resulting a in a unique and offbeat (in a good way) story.

Even though Dark Water wasn't what I was expecting, I was pleasantly surprised when the book turned out to be so much more than a romance—in fact, it was mostly a story about family.

Still, I feel like the book description is a essentially a synopsis of Dark Water; not much more than what the book description says happened, besides a few fillers and a bitter ending. When I think about the way the description gives the whole story away, it makes me wonder if the story is even suppose to be about Pearl and Amiel...

Pearl's personality was unique and reflected the decisions she made when conflict arose, but I don't feel like she changed any. I liked Amiel best though, mostly because his character was different from the YA romance fiction I've read where the male love interest is (in short) a sensitive jerk (which makes no sense to me). Amiel was quiet, broken, and compassionate, which equals lovable in my calculations.

If you read this, don't expect a big soap opera where Amiel is almost deported, but Pearl marries him to keep him in The United States, and they live happily ever after, because this isn't that story. 

Dark Water is, more than anything, about the price of foolishness.

RATING: