Review: Sever by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Sever
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Blurb:
With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.


Links:
Sever on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was dull and nonsensical. I liked the first book in this series, felt a little MEH about the second, but this one is just bad. The storyline meanders along, major revelations are mentioned and then forgotten about, and some "main" characters are compeletly missing.

MAJOR plot spoilers in this review!

The first half of this book is Rhine hanging out at Vaughn's brother Reed's house. She goes there to keep safe and keeps talking about finding her brother, but ends up just hanging out with Reed for page after page after page. Linden and Cecily come visit her, and it's pretty boring. We spend a LOT of time reading about mature Cecily is now (at age 14), how Linden still seems to love Rhine, but also bows to Cecily's every whim, how Rhine has to stay out of Cecily and Linden's marriage, how Linden doesn't believe Rhine that Vaughn is a crazy douchebag, blah blah. I DON'T CARE.

During Rhine's time at Reed's we get one of the most idiotic scenes EVER. For some reason they're all practicing shooting an empty gun. There is this whole scene where Reed is trying to get people's attention... so he fires an empty weapon and Rhine comments about how EVEN WITHOUT A BULLET the sound was still deafening - a loud crack. Ms. DeStefano, I understand you may not know how guns work, but I'd think you would have seen at least ONE movie where someone tries to fire an empty gun and it just clicks. Quietly.

Eventually, Rhine does decide to leave and look for her brother. Then, for some completely random reason, Linden decides to believe Cecily when she says Vaughn is a bad guy, so Linden and Cecily leave their baby with Reed and accompany Rhine. I don't really know WHY they do this, but they do. And they then proceed to go... to the stupid prostitute carnival from book 2. A bunch more boring stuff happens and eventually they move on...

And find Rowan. Because apparently everyone knows what building Rowan is going to bomb next and he even builds a huge podium to give a speech before he blows it up. Even with all that info, the government/police apparently can't stop him from blowing shit up. So Rhine easily finds Rowan, who is apparently BFF's with Vaughn. And Rhine is like, okay, let's go go Hawaii where we find out that apparently the "virus" doesn't exist in the rest of the world. This fact is just sort of said randomly and then NEVER TALKED ABOUT AGAIN.

Seriously?? This seems like a HUGE FUCKING DEAL.

But whatever, guess it doesn't matter.

I'm also curious why, if the government is trying to hide this fact from the citizens of the USA, people are allowed to fly around to Hawaii and visit.

Then Rhine and Rowan both agree to help Vaughn discover a cure, which he discovers, and some other dumb shit happens including Gabriel randomly reappearing at the tail end of the novel (oh yeah, he exists?) and Linden dying in a really random and silly way.

It was just bad. Really bad.

There's been a build up to Rowan for like two and a half books, we get there and he is basically Vaughn's lap dog. He doesn't seem to give a damn that Vaughn kidnapped his sister and forced her into marriage with his son. He doesn't care about anything other than blowing up labs (WHY are we blowing up labs? WHY does Vaughn care about blowing up other people's labs?) and sticking his nose all the way up Vaughn's butt.

We get a whole love story with Gabriel in book 2 that I found a little dull, but it was still a major part of the novel. Gabriel is absent for ALL of Sever except for the very end. He has a tiny handful of lines and I cared about him even less than I did in book 2.

In fact, I couldn't bring myself to care about ANY of the characters.

Rhine was a boring wuss. Linden had no reason to exist other than to cave to his wives' demands. He has absolutely no backbone of his own. Cecily is supposedly so mature this time around, but I just found her slightly less obnoxious than before and even more dull.

Completely awful final installment to the series. If I had known it was going to end this badly, I doubt I would have started it. Any magic from Wither is completely absent here.

  1 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/386918283

Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Blurb:

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.


Links:
Clockwork Princess on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I loved this book until the last part of the epilogue. Spoilers for that near the end.

Clockwork Princess was everything I wanted it to be and turned out to be the nearly perfect conclusion to this series - a series I love more than Clare's original Shadowhunter books (The Mortal Instruments). While there didn't seem to be as much Tessa as I expected in the first 60%, we got to spend a lot of time with other characters and I found that I didn't mind. I was curious to see where everything was headed and Clare did manage to surprise me a few times.

We start off Clockwork Princess a few months after Clockwork Prince has ended. Mortmain has been fairly silent, and the Shadowhunter team at the London Institute finds they have to deal with another (slightly) unexpected enemy while gaining a new (also slightly unexpected) ally.

The romance between Gideon and Sophie continues to grow, and I found it adorable. The scones!

We also get to know Will's sister, Cecily, who surprised us at the end of Clockwork Prince by showing up at the Institute to train to be a Shadowhunter. At first, I admit, I was a little bored of Cecily. I didn't think she added much to the story and I struggled not to skim through her parts. Eventually she grew on me and I was pleased to discover her part in the family tree.

**SPOILERS AFTER HERE - like MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR spoilers**



** DO NOT READ PAST HERE UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK!!!**



**MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS BELOW!!**


Will and Jem and Tessa are all still in love with each other (sorta). I admit, I've never been Team Jem. I don't find the sickly pale skeletal look to be attractive and he was always a little TOO sweet. I like a snarky bad boy, so I've always been firmly Team Will. However, I will give Clare credit in that she wrote an amazing love triangle.

That said, I was disappointed slightly with how she ended it. I thought she had some serious balls to kill off Jem a little over halfway through the book. I was shocked and surprised, but also a little happy. I didn't think she would do that. I thought Clare would cop out and I was happy she did something much more interesting than find a cure for Jem.

Then the whole "Jem's not dead, he's a Silent Brother" thing happened. Ok, I get it. I'm still ok with that, because he has to give up everything human about himself to become a Silent Brother. I didn't think it fit well with Jem's personality though. He was so adamantly against it and I was a little surprised he would choose to go that route, but I was still okay with it.

But then the last few pages of the epilogue happened. I went from bawling in happy sad tears to annoyed that Clare did cop out on the love triangle, just as I suspected (and worried) she would. The whole "Guess what? You had a long happy life with Will and he died an old man, now suddenly a few years later Jem is able to cure his illness and stop being a Silent Brother and now you can have a long happy life with him too" thing just ruined the whole feeling of the epilogue for me.

I may be in the minority there - I know there are a lot of people who love Jem - but I was LOVING the epilogue until that point. While I was crying and crying and crying while reading about Tessa's life with Will, and Will's death, and her having to leave their kids, and her going to Magnus, and them having a whole conversation about how much being immortal really does suck (dealing with outliving your children and loved ones)...

Then we get the annual bridge meetup between Jem and Tessa and it just ruined it for me. :(

The epilogue didn't ruin the entire thing for me, but it just felt like there was never a choice. Tessa just got to have both and like I said, it felt like a total cop out.

  4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/230274512

Georgetown Academy (Book 1) by Etting and Schwartz

Title: Georgetown Academy (Book 1)
Author: Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz
Blurb:

It’s the beginning of a new political administration. That might not mean much at most high schools, but at Georgetown Academy, Washington D.C.’s most elite prep school, January 20th means new alliances, new flings, and new places to party.

While freshmen—nicknamed “interns” for their willingness to jump into bed with anyone higher on the D.C. totem pole—navigate the not-so-friendly halls of GA searching for Algebra and Bio classes, the school’s lifers have other things on their minds.

For self-proclaimed D.C. royalty Brinley Madison (of those Madisons), the first day of school is all about establishing the social hierarchy and playing the part of perfect political wife to her boyfriend, the outgoing Vice President’s son. Too bad he has a wandering eye that puts Bill Clinton’s to shame. Can she keep him, and her own secret vice, in check?

Ellie Walker, Brinley’s best friend, floats through the halls on the arm of golden boy Hunter McKnight (the JFK of GA). But when her ex-boyfriend, Gabe, returns to town and her Senator mother’s political nemesis is reelected, Ellie’s life starts to snowball out of control.

Shy, quiet Evan Hartnett is more into books than beer, and her closet is full of t-shirts and jeans instead of Jason Wu and Jimmy Choo. No one’s ever really noticed her—but she’s been noticing them. When her star rises as an intern at D.C.’s most-watched political news show, she soon finds the two worlds colliding in ways that make her question what’s secret and what’s fair game.

New girl Taryn Reyes is all laid-back, California cool; with a father who’s in line to be the first Hispanic president, she’s ready to dive into the D.C. scene with an open mind. But when her fellow students turn out to be more interested in spreading rumors than making friends, she realizes that forging a drama-free path might be a lot harder than she thinks.

With so many new friends and former flames in the mix, things are bound to get a little heated. And while diplomatic immunity might keep the cops away, there’s not much it can do about the press.
In a town where one teenage misstep can turn into a national scandal, the students at Georgetown Academy will have to be on their best behavior—or, at least, they’ll have to make the world believe that they are.

Because there’s only one rule: whatever you do, don’t get caught.

What’s Cool from Coliloquy:
As the party scene at Georgetown Academy gets under way, authors Alyssa and Jessica let readers decide which of the main girls to follow. You’ll see scandalous behavior, unexpected liaisons, and secret betrayals…all giving you a different perspective as events unfold.


Links:
Georgetown Academy on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
* I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!*

Choose Your Own Adventure books work, in print. I don't think the technology is quite there for Kindle books though, and that was a huge detriment to this book. When we got to the "Choose which character to follow" I chose Ellie, and then I had the option afterwards to continue on with the story (which I chose) or go back and read everyone else's stories (which I didn't do), so by the time I finished the book I felt like I had missed out on a lot of the other characters' stories, but at that point, it was too annoying to backpage through my Kindle to try and go back to read their other stuff, so I didn't.

That said, what I did read was decent. I'm not in to politics, but I found the whole private school full of politician's children to be somewhat interesting. The characters are all pretty well fleshed out and compelling, but I think the author's spread themselves too thin for such a short book. We follow I think 4 different "main" characters and don't really get into the meat of any story with any of them. This book just didn't feel like a complete novel. :(

I am curious enough about the characters that I will continue on with the series and see how it goes. This book ends on quite the cliffhanger for Ellie and I'm dying to know how that works out for her!

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/578123188

Review: Love on the Lifts by Rachel Hawthorne

Title: Love on the Lifts
Author: Rachel Hawthorne
Blurb:

Winter Break super-secret perfect cocoa recipe:
8 oz steamed whole milk
(no skim! doesn't work!)
2 tbsp. dark cocoa powder (big scoops)
1 tbsp. sugar (can't be too sweet)
4 dried, crushed mint leaves
(or 1 tbsp. mint syrup)
Stir thoroughly. Add mint swizzle stick. Combine with cute ski instructor, or brother's cute best friend, or cute guy you never noticed was so cute...Enjoy.


Links:
Love on the Lifts on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was sweet and cute and clean - basically a generic romance for teens. It just didn't have that WOW factor. The plot line is one that's overused and Hawthorne does nothing new with it here. Girl likes Douchebag guy. Sweet guy likes girl. Girl takes awhile, but eventually realizes Douchebag guy is a douchebag and falls for the sweet guy. Happily ever after.

Kate was one of the most oblivious and idiotic romantic heroines I've ever read. She met Brad (her brother's college roommate) once and "fell in love" with him. Right from the start she can't give any reasons why she's head over heels for him except that he's hot. She even says "What else is there?" when her Aunt asks her what other reasons she has for liking Brad.

The setting for this book is a ski resort where Kate and her two friends (all high school seniors) have to share a 3-bedroom condo with her brother Sam and his two friends (Brad and Joe). Brad is the roommate that Kate has a crush on.

As soon as Brad enters the picture it's made VERY obvious that he's a complete dirtbag. One of his first lines is about how his favorite things are "driving fast and kissing babes." He hooks up another girl on the very first night of their vacation and moves in to the other girl's house for the duration. His lines are all skeevy and douchebaggy, he moved in with another girl, and Kate still thinks he's the most amazing thing since sliced bread.

Enter Joe. The other friend of her brother's. It's made VERY obvious from the start that Joe has a thing for Kate. He's super sweet, super attentive, flirtatious with her, asks her on a date, kisses her, and is generally awesome. But she is wishy washy about it for the majority of the book (gotta get conflict SOMEWHERE I suppose).

It bugs me that authors don't realize the best characters are not 100% evil or 100% good. Making Brad a complete tool and making Joe Mr. Perfect makes them BOTH boring. There was never any 'love triangle' or any reason for the reader to ever believe that Kate wouldn't come to her senses and go for Joe instead of Brad.

I had two other issues with the book.

1) Were they or weren't they all having sex? It's kind of implied that they were. ALL of them. Kate's friend Allie sleeps in the same bed as Sam. Kate's other friend Leah moves in with a ski instructor for the duration of the vacation. Brad moves in with his new girlfriend. Kate sleeps in the same bed as Joe. While there isn't any explicit mention of sex, it's kind of implied that everyone is pretty much doing it like jackrabbits and that's something that annoys me in a YA novel - especially one that is otherwise packaged as a sweet and clean romance.

2) The "Kate-have-a-good-time fund" .... DROVE ME ABSOLUTELY NUTS. How many times did this saying need to be uttered? ZERO in my opinion, but instead it's brought up OVER AND OVER AND OVER. I know it's minor, but I admit I have occasional pet peeves and this is one of them.

Overall, the book was just mediocre. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it that much either.

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/557310689

Review: Breathless by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Breathless (an Elemental novella)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Blurb:
Too many secrets. Not enough time.

Nick Merrick is supposed to be the level-headed one. The peacemaker. Since it’s just him and his three hotheaded brothers against the world, that’s a survival tactic.

But now he’s got problems even his brothers can’t help him survive.

His so-called girlfriend, Quinn, is going quick as mercury from daring to crazy. Meanwhile, Quinn’s dancer friend Adam is throwing Nick off balance, forcing him to recognize a truth he’d rather shove back into the dark.

He can feel it—-the atmosphere is sizzling. Danger is on the way. But whatever happens next, Nick is starting to find out that sometimes nothing you do can keep the peace.

Links:
Breathless on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I don't usually like novellas. They're just too short and always leave me wanting MORE MORE MORE. However, I'm addicted to Brigid Kemmerer's Elemental series and as soon as I read the blurb for this one I HAD to read it. I couldn't stand Quinn in Spark and I was curious about Nick, so getting a little insight in to their relationship and Nick's head was something I've really been looking forward to.

While it was short, this book REALLY makes me want a full length Nick book! I know the third book is a Hunter book, but I've heard rumors the next one is about Nick (please please please).

I don't think it's a big spoiler to say that Nick is having sexual identity issues - he's dating Quinn, but he finds himself attracted to her dance partner (a guy named Adam). I don't usually enjoy reading M/M (mostly because I like to imagine myself in the female part of a romance novel... who doesn't??), but reading about his inner conflict was quite fascinating. Usually gay characters in YA are already self confident and sure about their sexual preference and know what they want. Nick definitely has no idea what he wants and is scared about the reactions of his family and friends if they find out.

Gabriel's book was my favorite, so far, but I have a feeling I'm really going to like Nick's. Nick has this inner insecurity that I think we all feel, but he doesn't come across as a pathetic weakling. Can't wait to see more by Kemmerer!

**I received a free copy of this novella from Netgalley.com. Thank you!!!**


4 of 5 stars

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/563492473

WWW Wednesday!

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


What are you currently reading?

 Just recently discovered this series and so far, LOVE IT!  The third book just arrived at the library and I'm picking it up tomorrow.  Can't wait to finish it out - been hearing so many good things about it!


What did you recently finish reading?

I was a little disappointed by this book.  I've recently read a TON of road trip books (been on a kick) and music/rock star related books, so I was hoping I would love this one.  It ended up just being kind of meh for me.


What do you think you’ll read next?

Re-iterating what I said above, but this is most likely what I'll dig in to after Hallowed!  Just got notice today that it's waiting for me at the library - will pick it up tomorrow.

Review: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Title: Geek Girl
Author: Holly Smale
Blurb:
Harriet Manners knows a lot of things.

She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.

As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.

And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

Links:
Geek Girl on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
*I received a free copy of this book for review from NetGalley.com. Thank you!!*

I finished this a few days ago and I'm still not sure if I liked it much. The book definitely didn't grab me and I had to start and stop it several times, reading many other books in between. The main character (Harriet) is difficult to like. While I enjoyed the quirky, socially awkward side of her personality, her complete lack of honesty drove me nuts.

The premise of the story is that Harriet is a geek. When she gets nervous, she spouts off random facts and is generally clumsy and awkward. Her best friend is a fashionista with dreams of becoming a model who forces Harriet to attend some sort of fashion show thing. While there, a REALLY obnoxious scout sees Harriet and decides she MUST be a model. He takes some photos of her, and when her best friend finds out she is extremely jealous.

So when the scout calls later and offers Harriet a meeting with a top fashion designer, she accepts but doesn't tell her best friend (or her step mother). At this point, the book kind of veers off and teeters with being a romance, but not really, as Harriet goes to Russia to do a modelling assignment for some big name designer. She has to work with a cute male supermodel named Nick that I wish we saw a LOT more of.

The "mean girls" in this book are stereotypical and over the top. At one point, the mean girl gets in front of the classroom and asks the class who hates Harriet and gets every single person to raise their hand. I just don't see this happening in real life, but maybe kids have become even crueler since my high school days.

Actually, almost every side character in this book is an over the top stereotype. The modelling scout is overly flamboyant to the point of being annoying - especially with his extensive array of nicknames for Harriet. The fashion designer is overly rude, harsh, and mean. The other models are all bitchy and catty. While I know some stereotypes are derived from truth, I'm not a fan of books that constantly reinforce them in such an exaggerated way.

I do like that Harriet (and her father) have to take responsibility for their lies and bad decisions. They both spend the entire book twisting things around and lying in order to get their way without their loved ones finding out and I was happy to see real consequences for those decisions.

My biggest issue with the book was the love story. I LOVE LOVE STORIES! However, this one just skirted with it and ended with a kiss that seems to come out of nowhere. Harriet meets the love interest (Nick, no surprise there) only two or three times and I wouldn't even say their conversations are flirtatious. While she is swooning over his good looks, he does nothing overtly romantic to make the reader think he's even interested in her as anything other than a friend. I just felt like there was no build up to their love story and the book would have been better off with the romance part either cut out completely or fleshed out a LOT more.

The book was also poorly formatted in a way that was really jarring to read. There would be several paragraphs in a row, then suddenly a break of blank space that makes you think the scene is over, then more paragraphs of the same scene. Also, there are ENORMOUS pics of sunglasses that show up in completely random locations. I thought at first they were between chapters, but they're not - they show up mid scene and were so distracting I sometimes forgot what was going on. I didn't mark down for the formatting, because this is a galley, but I usually get much better.

I didn't find out this was a trilogy until I finished and started reading other reviews. The book definitely works as a stand alone and I'm curious now to see what else in in store for Harriet.

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/538706043

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Blurb:
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Links:
Lola and the Boy Next Door on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
It took awhile for me to get around to this book, mostly because while I wanted to read it when it came out, I wasn't willing to pay $11 for the ebook. Finally I got it from the library and...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

I might be in the minority who liked this one a LOT more than Anna and the French Kiss. While I liked Anna, I just didn't connect with Etienne at all.

NOT so here!

I LOVE Lola. And I LOVE Cricket (except for his name, ugh). I think I connect so well with Cricket because he's exactly the kind of guy I would go for in real life. Slightly nerdy, socially awkward, sweet as pie.

His blue eyes are bright. Sincere. Desperate. "Go out with me tonight. Tomorrow night, every ni-" The word cuts off in his throat as he sees something behind me.

Oh, Cricket. I don't know how any girl could not hand you her heart on a sleeve after that whole scene.

Lola is this crazy, quirky girl who is trying to figure herself out. I love her crazy outfits and overall weirdness. I thought the whole talking to the moon thing was over the top, but whatever. I just skimmed that part.

Max disappointed me. :( However, his reaction was probably pretty damn realistic. Considering how much I loved him at the start of the novel, I was so sad to see him turn in to such a douchebag. I knew things would go horribly wrong with him and Lola, but damn. Bad Max. Bad.

My only real issue was that I wished we got to delve in to Calliope a little more. I found her really interesting, despite her being the generic mean girl throughout most of the book.

I love Stephanie Perkins. I love how her characters are always so different, but so real. It's going to be hard to wait on a library copy of Isla, but I still refuse to pay that much for an e-book. :(

5 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/414310688

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Blurb:
Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Links:
Everneath on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
Everneath got a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews from reviewers I know and trust, but as I was reading I was wondering if we were reading the same book! It's not that I thought the book was bad - it was alright - but these same people are very stingy with the glowing reviews so I think I was expecting more!

I like the premise of the story - a retelling of Persephone/Hades in a modern day/high school environment. However, I think the execution was lacking. A lot.

MAJOR spoilers below!

The thing is, I feel like authors are too afraid to make their hero do anything truly bad. You CAN have a likable hero who isn't perfect (primo example - Dex in Karina Halle's Experiment in Terror series!).

Let me back track a bit before I get back to that.

The basic plot line is that Nikki was in a relationship with Jack. Something happened to make her "forfeit" willingly (aka pretty much kill herself / give herself to the underworld/hell/Everneath). However, she gets to come back to the real world for six months before she has to go back to the Everneath forever.

I'm not quite sure WHY she gets to come back. We're told a little of the mythology behind Persephone and Hades, but we never really see why Nikki is allowed the opportunity. It was a little confusing.

We are eventually told what happened to make Nikki "forfeit" herself and when we find out, WOW. All I could say was "That's it? For real?" I was expecting some kind of ultimate betrayal from Jack, but instead it's nothing like that.

Jack's ex girlfriend came out of his room. That's it. Nikki didn't catch them having sex. She didn't catch them kissing. She didn't catch them with their clothes in disarray. She just saw the ex walk out of his room.

...

Jack has been her friend for years and her boyfriend for months that she's completely in love with. He was the "player" who NEVER had a girlfriend until Nikki. While I understand her having some insecurity, was seeing something THAT simple and small enough to put her into a state of despair bad enough that she would be willing to basically go to HELL over it?

I was really disappointed that Ashton didn't have the balls to at least make Jack make a mistake big enough to send Nikki into a depression. Instead, Jack didn't even do anything wrong. The ex girlfriend was just there in his room when he got back, trying to seduce him, and he kicked her out right away.

I think my biggest issue with the book is that Jack is just too perfect. The guy has no flaws. He's ridiculously good looking, popular, football player, head over heels in love with Nikki, aka perfect in every way. I'm sorry, having dated a lot in the past, BEFORE Nikki, doesn't count as a flaw!

Perhaps I just prefer more realistic characters instead of the vanilla Bella Swans we see so often in YA Romance/Paranormal these days.

That said, the story wasn't bad. The writing was good, I really felt Ashton did a great job portraying Nikki's despair when she returns from the Everneath (after 100 years!). The plot moves along fairly quickly and it was an easy read.

I plan to finish the series. I just think it could have been a lot better!

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/532781033

In My Mailbox Part Deux

In My Mailbox (weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren)

I read extremely fast.  Like ridiculously fast.  Sometimes I wish I read a lot slower because I tend to fly through books so quickly that I just couldn't afford to buy them anymore at $10/each!  When I got a Kindle and discovered free and cheap self published books, it was like

But then I realized that a LOT of those free books were crap.  While I still love seeking out those diamonds in the rough when it comes to self published books, I really wanted to read all the stuff coming from the big name publishers too.  However, when you read 300+ books a year, those can be big $$.  Then, I discovered the library.

Yeah, I know.  I probably should have discovered it long ago, but what can I say?  I like to own books and re-read them.  I still buy a lot, especially the ones by authors I know I will want to re-read, but DAMN the library is awesome!  I usually go once every 7-10 days and pick up a bunch of books.  Here's my current haul, which I'm extremely excited about!  I've already read four of them!

Hope everyone else is having a great week!  Happy reading!

The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt

Title: The Thing About the Truth
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Blurb:
In this humorous love story from the author of "Two-Way Street", an unlikely romance is the best sort of surprise—but the wrong secret can ruin everything. Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High.

Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change.

When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before. But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.

Links:
The Thing About the Truth on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was disappointing. I read Two Way Street this past week and thought it was alright, so I was hoping another book by Lauren Barnholdt would be just as good, if not better. Perhaps some of her other stuff is, but this one isn't.

I have two big issues with this book. First, the entire plot of the book is a past/future retelling of a ginormous event that happened because of a lie. We start off in the "Aftermath" where Isaac and Kelsey are about to get expelled. Isaac hates her for a lie she told and Kelsey hates herself.

Here's the issue... the lie (in my opinion) was so minor. It came about at the tail end and even when she does it, it seems like such a small thing. The majority of the "Before" part of the book is the build up of Isaac and Kelsey's relationship. I thought this was reasonably well done. Then the reveal of the "lie" and what happened to get them expelled happens and it's so underwhelming.

Then in the last two pages at the end they kiss and make up and it's all good now.

I mean, I knew there was going to be a happy ending (it's YA romance after all), but ALL this build up to this supposed HUGE event and they have an obscenely short and fast reconciliation.

My other major issue with the book is the cardboard secondary characters. None have real personalities. Marina is the slutty crazy girl. We never really learn anything about why she behaves this way, she's just the stereotypical 'mean girl' villain. Rielle is the shit best friend. We don't really get to learn much about her either, other than that she's a terrible best friend but for some reason Kelsey keeps being best friends with her.

I know the main focus on the story was the relationship between Kelsey and Isaac, but I would have loved to see more fleshing out of the secondary characters.

Goodreads says two stars means "It was okay" and that's pretty much exactly how I felt about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It was just "okay."
 
2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/529012839

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

There's way too many books I'm looking forward to!  My to-read list on Goodreads keeps growing and growing and despite reading over 300 books a year I can't seem to make a dent in it!

The book I'm looking forward to most this YEAR is probably Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare.  One more month to go!

GOODREADS BLURB:

Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy

In My Mailbox

  

In My Mailbox (weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren)

I'm not a big time book blogger (wish I had more time for it!) but I do love to read and write reviews and interact with other people who love books as much as I do!  I am fortunate enough to get some ARCs, but I usually buy my books.  I'm so excited because this has been a great week for me on NetGalley!  This week I plan on reading Geek Girl and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, both of which are recent approvals from NetGalley.  I also am completely addicted to the Karina Halle's Experiment in Terror series and I start book four, Lying Season, tonight!  Marie Lu's Prodigy is the sequel to her bestselling (and AMAZING) book Legend.  I just got it as well and can't wait to get started!  So many great books, so little time!

Happy reading all!

The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

Title: The S-Word
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Blurb:
First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

Links:
The S-Word on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
*I received a free copy of this book via netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review - thank you!*

I've made it halfway through and I just can't continue. This book is bad. Really bad.

Teenage suicide is a big deal. It's a huge problem in the United States that doesn't get the attention it deserves. There are some REALLY good books out there that address the issue (Saving June!) and there are some really bad ones (THIS BOOK).

The S-Word is supposed to be about two best friends, Angie and Lizzie. Angie catches Lizzie having sex with her boyfriend and the two have a falling out (for obvious reasons). Lizzie also becomes somewhat of a social pariah in the school because of sleeping with Angie's boyfriend. Shortly after, Lizzie commits suicide.

After Lizzie's death, someone writes "Suicide Slut" on a locker in Lizzie's handwriting and starts passing out Lizzie's journal pages.

The novel could have been about Angie trying to figure out what went wrong in her friendship, what happened to make Lizzie destroy it, and what went so terribly bad that Lizzie had to kill herself.

But it isn't.

Instead, it tries to be funny and amusing as Angie plays "detective" in the most bizarre ways, interviewing classmates in her quest to find out who wrote "Suicide Slut" on the locker. Angie suddenly turns in to an awful parody of Joe Friday from Dragnet and the book just went completely down hill.

One example - Lizzie was apparently in to acting. She had recently gotten the lead part in a play. Angie believes that the drama queen goddess Shelby McQueen who got ousted from her position when Lizzie got the part, might be behind it. She she goes to interview her. Apparently this girl is 'in character' and Angie decides to get 'in character' to talk to her too. Here's an excerpt (all typos, formatting errors, and mangled capitalization straight from the book):

so i think, but shelby's in rare form today, smoking an imaginary cigarette and lounging on the piana like she's preparing for her solo. (...) shelby greets me with a husky "hello, sugar. What's your poison?"

"reality," i quip, and climb onto the piano beside her. "that's what they all say." shelby bats her pretty brown eyes. so she wants to play hide Behind the Character. so what?

Drama class is a veritable free-for-all at the end of the year and i've got nothing but time. she can play the dame. i'll play the old-timey detective. Whatever gets the canary to sing.

"Nice to see ya, sweet cheeks," i say, tipping an imaginary hat. shelby's smile spreads across her face. she's wearing a purple
1950's style cocktail dress. the hem dances just past her knees, all propriety. But her attitude says floor-length, slit-up-the-thigh red satin.

"What can i do for ya, daddy-o?" she asks.

It continues from there in the awful Dragnet-wannabe style as Angie interviews more kids and pretends to be a hardcore detective.

Later on Angie and DRAKE (the boyfriend that Lizzie slept with), go to Lizzie's house to help pack up belongings. Angie is mildly upset, but mostly because of wondering "Did he use those eyes on Lizzie? Did he use that voice?". Drake, who apparently doesn't give a lick that he's in the bedroom of a girl he just banged who is now dead, uses the time to try and snuggle up on Angie and make out. I'll give Angie credit, she kicks him out, but still. Would this happen in real life?

The thing that annoys me most is that from what I've read so far, this isn't about Angie coming to terms with her best friend's suicide. In fact, Angie barely seems affected. It's about Angie playing Joe Friday to find out who is writing things on the wall in Lizzie's handwriting.

WHO CARES?

Seriously. It's not like Lizzie was murdered (unless there's a twist at the end where she was, but I'll never know).

There's also some rambling journal entries of Lizzie's where she gets emo about being called a slut and how no one really knows the meaning of the word slut and blah blah blah.

For the record: Slut or slattern is a term applied to an individual who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous.

A girl who betrayed her best friend by sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend could definitely meet the criteria of having "loose sexual morals." I don't think the definition of slut is really in question here.

If this book was trying to show us the difference between men and women, and how a woman who has sex can be labeled a slut while a man is a stud.... IT FAILED. Lizzie had sex with her best friend's boyfriend. In general, when you do that, you'll earn the slut label.

Perhaps this author's style just wasn't for me. Actually, I'm positive this author's style wasn't for me. I don't like the lackadaisical approach to suicide that it took. It could have gotten better towards the end, but if it takes me over a week to struggle through the first half, I'm not going to continue in hopes that it will get better. Because to be honest, I can't think of one example where it has.

I also hate to harp on formatting issues in a galley because I know they are not completely edited yet, but this galley was the absolute worst I've ever seen. The majority of the sentences are not capitalized. The majority of the names are not capitalized. There are constant cases of words in the middle of sentences that have random capitalization mid word. While the formatting wasn't the reason for the 1-star rating (that's all the terrible writing and plot), it did make it jarring and even more awkward to read.
 
1 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/510117024

Me & My Invisible Guy by Sarah Jeffrey

Title: Me & My Invisible Guy
Author: Sarah Jeffrey
Blurb:
The cheerleader who has everything . . . ? Mallory Dane has a great family (at least on the surface), is popular at school (as long as she doesn’t make waves), and dates an amazing boyfriend, Todd (who happens to be completely made up). Boys—and sex—are something Mallory just can’t deal with, so she created her “invisible guy” to avoid it all. But when Liam Crawford comes along—a real guy, flesh and bones and strumming his guitar—Mallory starts questioning her fictional relationship. Is she really willing to give up Todd for Liam? And can she make amends for the lies she’s told—even to her best friend, Tess? What if your biggest, most embarrassing secret was broadcast to the whole world? Letting go of her secret will be easier said than done, and Mallory will risk everything—her family, Tess, cheerleading, her reputation, and most of all, her heart.

Links:
Me & My Invisible Guy on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
*I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!*

I don't usually dislike 'issue' books (ie: books that bring up a buzz worthy issue, like pre-marital sex, homosexuality, underage drinking, suicide, etc), but I REALLY dislike when books get preachy with me and this book got very preachy. I am also not a fan of faith-based books and this book came across very much like a faith-based book that's been toned down somewhat to try and appeal to the mainstream.

Me & My Invisible Guy is about a popular cheerleader named Mallory. All of her friends have had sex with their boyfriends at some point and Mallory is too embarrassed to admit she is a virgin and doesn't want to have sex, so she created a fake boyfriend (Todd) and has told all of her friends that she and Todd have had sex.

There are reasons why Mallory doesn't want to have sex and I don't really want to get in to them because it will spoil parts of this novel for those who plan to read it. I'll just say that I understand and respect her reasons.

When a new guy, Liam, moves to the area, Mallory is instantly attracted to him and ends up having to dump her fake boyfriend so that she can have a 'real' relationship. This happens early on and Mallory spills the beans about her fake boyfriend to Liam pretty early on, so I don't think it's much of a spoiler to mention that.

Liam is a very religious guy who is also a virgin and doesn't believe in sex before marriage.

One of the girls at his church, Lexi, who is also a classmate of Liam/Mallory, has a crush on him and doesn't approve of Mallory dating him. Mallory is a cheerleader and supposedly had sex with Todd, so she is one of "those" girls that Liam shouldn't be dating. Lexi constantly inserts herself in Mallory and Liam's new relationship and causes problems for them. She keeps trying to steal Liam and even goes so far as to tell Liam how slutty Mallory is so that he won't date her. She also makes snotty comments to Mallory and vaguely threatens her.

Eventually, once Mallory's secret comes out, Lexi apologizes.... but the big issue I had with this is that she apologizes for midjudging Mallory, not for treating her badly to begin with. Basically, what Lexi said is that because Mallory is a virgin, it's okay for them to be friends now. And that Mallory isn't one of "those" girls, so Lexi can be nice to her. I'm fairly certain the Bible talks about not judging others and how that's God's job - so I really would have preferred Lexi actually feel bad for mistreating and judging ANYONE, but instead she just feels bad for mistreating Mallory because Mallory wasn't the slut she originally thought.

As for the faith stuff... it was a bit much. I don't know how to describe it other than it just felt like I was reading something that belongs on a Christian Books for Teens list. While those books often have a purpose of the main character 'finding God' and changing his/her life, which wasn't 100% the case here, we do have a LOT of Christian preachiness going on here which was overwhelming. While I'm not anti-religion, I don't like it this hardcore in my novels.

Another main problem with this book is that I feel it tried to tackle too many issues at once. We have abstinence, bullying, STDs, suicide, abusive alcoholic parents, and overbearing military parents (who disown their kids if they don't follow the chosen path of armed forces). Not to mention tackling the family issues that arose in the aftermath of the suicide thing. While I feel like the author handled these topics respectfully (which is always appreciated), it seemed too much.

Overall though, the book wasn't bad. I liked Mallory a lot. She came across like a very real teenager - something rare in YA these days! I probably will not read anything by this author in the future, mostly because of the religious stuff, but she has some talent and if reading faith-based stuff is your thing you'll probably like her book.
 
3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/514672093

Confessions of an Angry Girl

Title: Confessions of an Angry Girl
Author: Louise Rozett
Blurb:
Pretty in Pink meets Anna and the French Kiss in this charming romantic comedy

Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make…

1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.)

Links:
Confessions of an Angry Girl on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
*I was provided a free copy of this book from Netgalley.com (thank you!!) in exchange for an honest review*

This is another I have mixed feelings on. I think my hesitation on liking it is based on the fact that when I got to the end, it didn't feel like a complete story. At the end, I felt unsatisfied. :(

The author did a lot of telling instead of showing. A main example, which drove me nuts, is that Rose is constantly telling us how she uses big words all the time in dialogue. I can't even think of one example where Rose used big words in dialogue. Most of Rose's dialogue consists of "um" and stammering.

Jamie was another odd character. I couldn't like him, and I tried. I kept hoping that he would redeem himself. That the whole relationship between him and the mean girl was a fallacy. But it kind of wasn't. He pretty much was dating her and leading Rose on on the side. While the mean girl was stereotypically mean and probably deserved all the bad stuff, but what does it say about his character when he's playing two girls like that?

I did appreciate that Rose was willing to stand up to the mean kids and do the right thing, especially like at the party where the girl was passed out, possibly not breathing, and she called 911, knowing that she would be ostracized for it later.

I couldn't stand Rose's best friend. She was an awful person who treated Rose terribly all for the sake of being popular. I could see this happening in real life, though, so I can't really mark down for it. I just thought she was a horrible person and I wanted Rose to kick her to the curb and find a real friend. I did like that Rose tried her best, despite risking her own reputation, to help her friend do the right thing (which she never really did).

MINOR SPOILERS AFTER THIS

The ending was what really left a bad taste in my mouth. Jamie 'kind of' redeems himself by telling off the mean girl, but does that excuse his behavior the rest of the book? I don't think so.

I don't want to spoil the end for anyone who plans on reading this, but the end is just... unsatisfying. I can't think of another way to say it. There's no resolution to the Jamie/Rose storyline at all. I guess there are going to be more books, but I feel like even books in a series should feel complete.

I'm not sure I will continue reading this series. It wasn't the most awful book ever, but it just wasn't that good either.
 
3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/510685759