Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

Page count: 416

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release date: August 7th, 2012

Book: Advanced copy - ebook (Thanks to Bloomsbury for the copy.)

Who I'd Recommend It To: Fans of high fantasy + heroines who kick major butt.

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

 ----

THIS. BOOK. I loved it, I adored it, I devoured it, and now I need the next book. Pronto. Also, I don't know how to pronounce half of the names in this book. So my mind kinda just read them as adasjdklsajdaslkjsd. But in all seriousness, can someone tell me how to pronounce Celaena? Or Chaol?  I pronounced Celaena as Selena. Chances are that I'm probably wrong though. . .

ANYWAY. ON TO THE REVIEW. (Warning: There will be major gushing and fangirl-y moments ahead)

I had high expectations for this book, as I know that many people enjoyed it when it was on FictionPress. It may also be one of the most anticipated debuts of this year. Plus, the synopsis made it sound fantastic and right up my alley.

So, did it meet my expectations? It exceeded them.

Right from the start, the story pulls you in and never lets you go. The writing is fantastic, the pacing is fast and there is a great amount of world building. The book transports you to Celaena's magical yet terrifying world and leaves you wanting more.  The book was seriously bad ass, but it also had a lot of depth to it.

Celaena is a very refreshing heroine. Unlike majority of the girls in YA fiction these days, she doesn't drone on and on about how unattractive she thinks she is. Celaena knows she's beautiful. She loves dressing up, she loves looking good. She also spends a lot of time thinking about food, which is sort of hilarious.

I know she's been compared to Katniss already in terms of her personality, but in a lot of ways she's entirely different. I really loved her personality. She's intelligent, funny, lethal, independant - she's a great character. Despite all her great qualities and her wit and attitude, she's layered and she's flawed, and beneath everything she's really just.. a girl, which makes her extremely easy to relate to. I loved the stuff we get to know about her past and how she became to be the assassin she is in the book, and I'm hoping the next book delves deeper into her past - especially her relationship with a boy called Sam, her time in the death camp and her parents.

Now to the other characters: There's princess Nehemia, who is a strong female character, just like Celaena. I loved her and Celaena's friendship. There's also the Crown Prince, Dorian, who is fun and a huge flirt and Captain Chaol Westfall, who is Celaenas trainer of sorts. He's more serious and stoic, yet there is a lot more depth to him. 

And yes, there is a love triangle in this book, though it is definitely not the centre of the story. Celaena has a lot on her mind other than boys in this book. Although, I do have to say - I loved both boys. And like the love triangle in The Hunger Games, I think the boys show two differents sides to the heroine. I'm really excited to see where this goes in the future books... And if I had to choose, I know whose team I would be on. CHAOL CHAOL CHAOL. Sorry Dorian I still love you . When the book comes out, there will be a lot of fangirling over these two boys, I'm sure of it.

The action in this book was really great, too, and there is a lot of it. The fight scenes involving swords were just really awesome to read about and you could really imagine them in your mind. Kind of got me wanting to learn how to sword fight. Or fence.  

Overall, this book is amazing. A+ for sure. A brilliant debut. I'm definitely buying this when it comes out, and am eagerly anticipating the next one!!

Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

 Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry.

Page count: 384

Publisher: Harlequin

Release date: July 31st, 2012

Book: Advanced Copy- ebook. (Thank you for the copy, Harlequin!"

Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of Simone Elkeles, Melina Marchetta or people who just enjoy great YA literature.

Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Synopsis from Goodreads: No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.  Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Review: 

 What a stunning debut! Right now, writing this, I've just finished the book. And I feel like anything I say right now won't do the book justice and will just be me being overly emotional. It is just so good.

In my opinion, with this type of book - it's usually a hit or miss. It's hard to do a book with these types of characters without making it over-dramatic and cheesy as hell. Pushing the Limits is neither cheesy or overly dramatic. Sure, it has drama - lots of it - but it's incredibly realistic. Even though it has drama and a lot of darker themes, the characters in the book are incredibly funny. The main characters have a lot of witty banter, which makes things a bit lighter.

The book is in switched POV's, so in one chapter we get to see everything through Echo, then we get to see everything through Noah. I really liked both POV's immensely.  What I really loved about Noah's was that it was really realistic and believable. I believed that this was a guy narrating. 

The writing was fantastic. It was raw and real and emotional, and it always flowed really nicely. (But if you do not like swearing, I'm warning you now: There is a lot of it. I really don't mind swearing much though, and the character that used it a lot... It fit his character So yeah.)

 Anyways, the characters. The characters. I love them all to bits. I love their flaws, their flare, their complexity. They just seemed so damn real to me. Even the majority of minor characters were multidimensional and had back stories. I especially loved Miss Collins. I adored the main characters, Echo and Noah. I just can't get over how realistic yet heartbreaking both of their situations were. The characters are both broken and have to deal with so much in this book. And I loved their relationship so much - they brought out the best in each other, they constantly saved each other. They were each others heroes. Both characters grew throughout the book, as did the minor characters.

In short: With writing that is raw and emotional, complex characters, Pushing the Limits is a fantastic, heartbreaking novel that keeps you turning the pages. You will cry, you will laugh, you will smile, then you'll cry a bit more. One of the best YA books of the year so far.

(Oh and the author also wrote a book on Beth? OH MY GOD YES SO EXCITED.)

Mini Reviews: Gallagher Girls 1-3 by Ally Carter

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter.

Page count: 284

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: April 25th, 2006

Book: Paperback

Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of spies/fans of the Hex Hall series/people who want to read a light, hilarious book.

Rate: ★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads: Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

Before you say anything, yes, I know--I'm super late reading these. It's been, what, 6 years since this book came out? To be perfectly honest, I'd heard a lot of good things about this series, but I kept putting it off. It just didn't seem like my type of thing. But when I finally got around to reading it, I adored it.

Is it so fantastic that I find myself fangirling over it? No. Did it enjoy reading it so much that I wanted to read the next book in the series? Yes.

This book has fantastic characters (I love Cammie, Bex, Liz and Macey!) , has great witty dialogue (both internal and external) and is just a whole lot of fun. The prose is quite simplistic, but still good nonetheless. You definitely don't have a hard time keeping up. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a break from all the deep books and wants something lighthearted, funny and extremely entertaining!

... And if you're satisfied with this one, as I know some people are not, this is definitely the lightest of the series. It gradually gets darker with loads more action and twists and turns later on! 

Page count: 236

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: October 2nd, 2007

Book: Paperback

Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of spies/fans of the Hex Hall series/people who liked the previous book.

Rate: ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads: Cammie Morgan is back, and it's clear that her life hasn't calmed down since the events of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. At first, giddy anticipation is in the air. Gallagher Academy, Cammie's elite spy school, is hosting a visit from a covert training center for boys. Soon after the boys' arrival, though, everything goes dangerously awry when a series of security breaches are discovered at the academy. Worse yet, teenage agent-in-training Cammie is being blamed for the penetration. With the school's top-secret status at risk, the Gallagher Girls have to work quickly to save their beloved school.

Unlike the first book, this book made me go AHHHHH! GIVE ME THE THIRD BOOK. NOW.

 This book introduces some new characters, as well as bringing back the beloved old ones. I can't even tell you how much I adore Cammie, Bex, Liz and Macey. Their friendship is really a change from the ones you see in YA fiction these days. 

In this one, the girls find out there's a school exactly like theirs--but for boys. That's where Zach Goode comes in, and wow, may I just say: What an improvement from that Jimmy guy! Oh, wait.. I mean, Josh. 

 The plot in this book is so much better as well. A lot more happens and there are many things I didn't see coming. 

Page count: 263

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: June 9th, 2009

Book: Paperback

Who I'd Recommend It To: Fans of the previous Gallagher Girls books, of course!

Rate: ★★★★

Synopsis: When Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers' plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

As her junior year begins, Cammie can't shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn't feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion's corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can the Gallagher Girls keep her safe?

Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey's private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth.

This book is fast-paced, it's fun, it's charming, it's hilarious--just like the previous Gallagher Girls books. The characterization was fantastic, as usual, the writing was great and I loved loved loved the plot. I personally think this book is on another level compared to the other books (even though I adored the others). Compared to this one, the books seem very extremely fluffy and light. This book, from the get-go is action packed, fulled of twists and turns and things you definitely do not see coming. You can tell this series is going to get darker as it goes along. Cammie and her friends have really matured since the other books! And Zach.. wow, what is going on with you, dude? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? This was definitely a great read and I'm super excited to read the next book!

New Mortal Instruments News! Jemima West cast as Izzy Lightwood.

So, if you're a Mortal Instruments fan who has been living under a rock these past few days or you're simply not a Mortal Instruments fan at all (which is totally unaccaptable .. Just joking), you might not know that our Isabelle was cast the other day! I was at school when I found out and I may or may not have started sobbing in class. Don't judge me. I've been seriously excited for this movie for years now, but things have really moved slowly in terms of the production for the movie. Lily Collins was cast as Clary late 2010 and Jamie Campbell Bower was cast as Jace mid-2011. We are truly The Fandom Who Waited.

Anyways, back on to who the cast as the bad ass Isabelle Lightwood... Let me just tell you, although I was rooting for Phoebe Tonkin aka Faye from the Secret Circle, I totally approve of this girl! She's gorgeous!

Introducing, Jemima West:

I haven't seen her acting, but from what I've heard, she's an amazing actress. If you're looking to check her out, here's her imdb page, listing all the stuff she's been in. By the way, she's french-english, so a lot of the stuff is French.

Here's what Cassandra Clare had to say about her:

"Jemima West. She’s beautiful (like whoa) and really talented. You can see her as Vittoria on The Borgias right now. And before anyone freaks out that she is blonde, she’ll be dying her hair for the role. She had a lot of Izzy’s toughness and directness in her audition. I like her."

So.. wow! Good to hear some casting news finally! Clare said she was also going to post who was casted as Alec as she made that announcement, but then had to hold off because of scheduling issues or something. She did, however, say that the person they cast is British and has dark hair. He is also someone we might know. She has confirmed the people not playing him are Ben Barnes, Chris Riggi, Nicholas Hoult, Douglas Booth, Aaron Johnson and Freddie Highmore.

 She also said that Simon should be announced sometime in July, as apparently he is a hard person cast. (And I'm all cool with that, because frankly, Simon needs to be perfect.)

... And here's a look at our really good-looking  and talented cast so far!

Regan’s Rant of the Day: LADIES OF YA FICTION.

 Whether it be Juliette from Shatter Me or Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games or even Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson, I constantly see hate on the ladies of YA fiction. I get it--people aren’t going to like every protagonist they come across. I know I dislike a whole lot of them, but the thing is, I understand why they do the things they do, even though they infuriate the hell outta me. Sometimes I want to reach inside the book and slap a little sense into them, but they always have their reasons behind their actions, even though maybe I wouldn't do the same if I was put in the same situation. What irks me, though, is that lately all I've been seeing is people trying to tear these characters down. Some even call them “Mary Sues” which, in my opinion, is a term used so often these days that I think people forget what it actually means.

A “Mary Sue” or, if it’s a guy, “Gary Sue” is a character that has little to no flaws. Majority of the time when people call a character a Mary Sue, they are wrong. They do exist in things such as fanfiction and maybe even those terrible romance books. . . What are they called again? Mills and Boon novels?  If you're going to call someone a Mary Sue, please look into what it means first. Some people have smaller flaws than others. I think I’ve even seen someone call Clary from The Mortal Instruments books a Mary Sue.. I can’t even.

And then we’ve got the people who complain because of the flaws. See, I just don’t get that. Every person has flaws. Everyone. So why shouldn’t literary characters? 

Take my main gurl Katniss Everdeen for example. She’s strong, brave, selfless, caring but she can also be manipulative, cold and rude. Basically, she has no people skills. To me, that is exactly what makes her likeable. Her flaws and her good traits are what make her such a great heroine for people to look up to.

I see her constantly getting hate on social media websites, though. People say she’s “the most annoying character ever” or “she’s so selfish”, but put yourself in her shoes. If you were forced into a strange place, where people were betting on the odds of you dying would you be the most cheerful, bubbly person? No. If you lived in a harsh, poor district, had to look after your younger sister and mentally ill mother, starving, would you be the least bit cold and unfriendly? Her flaws are what make her realistic.

Or take Juliette from Shatter Me for example. She was all alone, locked up for I don’t know how about years, her parents thought she was a freak, she was constantly bullied at school . . . And yet she gets all this crap because she isn’t a strong, capable heroine because like Katniss Everdeen? She doesn't kick butt like Rose from Vampire Academy? The girl was practically clinging on to her sanity before everything started to happen in the book. Of course she's not going to have mad skills in jujitsu or be able to really hold her own in a fight. But, despite everything, she still fights back and manages to stay as strong as she can through the whole process.

So, overall, what I’m saying is: It’s alright to dislike characters and it's alright if you feel like screaming at them sometimes, but before you call them a Mary Sue or simply just rant about how much you hate them, put yourself in their shoes. Characters are going to have flaws, they’re going to have annoying traits and that is what makes them human. It's what makes them realistic. It's what helps us identify with the character.

/End rant.

Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Page count: 303
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Release date: June 12th, 2012
Book: Advanced copy- ebook.
Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of the fantasy/romance genre. Fans of Twilight and Shiver, in particular.
Rating: ★★★1/2

Synopsis on goodreads:

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.



Review:

(Warning: May contain slight spoilers!)

When I think mermaids, the first thing that comes to mind is Disney's Ariel. The mermaids in this book, however, were the total opposite of that--to say the least. Boy, are these mermaids evil.

This is the first mermaid novel I've read ever so I was pretty excited to start it. It was interesting to see another side of mermaids--the kind that have deadly intentions and kill people for the energy that comes from human emotions.  So.. let's get started with this review, shall we?

What I liked about this novel:

• It was unique! As I said, I've never read anything like it. You could tell the author hadn't recycled her ideas off of other books.
• The writing style! It was descriptive and definitely made me feel like I was there. It was also written in a male's POV, which I was definitely not expecting. And unlike a lot of other YA books with male protagonists, this one was actually believable. I believed that this was a guy narrating. I've read too many books where the male POV still sounds like a girls'.
• The relationship between Calder and his sisters. I loved it. The sisters all had distinct personalities and I loved the conflict between them all. I especially loved the contrast between Calder and his sisters. The sisters (except maybe one of them) had absolutely no values, no regard for human life, no remorse, while Calder was human, in a way.
• The darkness of the book. It was disturbing, and it was terrifying.
• Calder was weird and creepy (even though he really didn't know he was being weird and creepy most of the time) and Lily was pretty much all like: "Dude, I know you saved my life and all but you're totally creepy and stalkerish so I'm just going to go now." YAY FOR CHARACTERS WITH BRAINS!

What I didn't like:

• Sometimes the dialogue seemed a bit unrealistic.
• Majority of the secondary characters were bland and had no real personalities whatsoever.
• Lily wasn't the least bit freaked out when Calder was all: "I'm a merman!" I mean, dude, come on.

Also, I have no idea why but half of the time I imagined Calder's sisters to look like this while they were underwater?

 

I don't know about you guys, but this just screams Maris to me. Ugh, most be my Post Potter Depression playing up again.

Anyways, overall this book was fantastic, though it had it's faults. It was beautiful and dark, the prose was fantastic and I loved the main characters and their love story! I'll definitely be reading the next installment in the series and I hope to see more of the sisters!

Random Review Time!

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. 5th book in the Mortal Instruments series.
Page count: 540
Publisher: Walker Books
Release date: May 8th, 2012
Book: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Who I Would Recommend it To: Everyone who has read and loved the previous Mortal Instruments books!

Synopsis from goodreads:
The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?


Review:

I went into read ingthis book with mixed feelings. I adored the first the books, pretty much read them all in a week, but the fourth book just wasn't as good. Was this as good as the first three? No. But only by a little bit. I still enjoyed it immensely.

The thing I liked about these last two books--City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls--is that they're darker. Creepier. This series kind of reminds me of the Harry Potter films and books--they started off almost childish and light, and then gradually became darker and more serious as it went along. The first three books in the series seem tame in that department compared to this.

This book definitely has its faults though, as all books do. There were way to many make out scenes and so much sexual frustration in this book. I mean I'm all for teen angst and romance and some of the couples were adorable - Simon and Izzy, anyone? - but after a while, it just became too much. At a couple points, it just switched from couple to couple and their makeout scenes. Seriously, what is up with these characters? You don't have to play a game of tonsil hockey every time you see each other, people!

Besides that, I loved the characters, as I always do in Clare's novels. Her characters always have layers and faults and insecurities, which I love. And her characters always have the best witty banter. The whole gang is back in this book--Simon, Clary, Jace, Alec, Magnus, etc. Someone who was not present in the last book is back from the dead now, too--the wonderfully creepy Sebastian. Oh, wow. What a strange character he is. One minute you find yourself sympathetic towards him and the next minute you're like "Ew, that's totally strange and disgusting. Please leave." It's not his fault he had a psychopath for a dad who put demon blood in him.

There wasn't much of a plot like in the first three. There was a lot more talking and drama between the characters, but it still kept my interest. The last half or so of the book is when the action started to happen. Like ever other Mortal Instruments book, it is a roller coaster ride of emotions. Sort of like this:

First you're like:

But then:

And then:

 But overall it's just like this:

So, in short, this book was fantastic but not so amazing that I feel like I could talk about it nonstop if you asked me to. The writing style is great as always, the characters are fantastic, ithas many twist and turns and leaves you seriously emotionally attached to the characters.

And I'm definitely eagerly anticipating the last installment of the series!




~A slighly shorter and more fangirl-y review on this book can be found here.

Review: Hex Hall trilogy by Rachel Hawkins

Seeing as school has been hectic as always, I have been seriously neglecting this site, but I am back again! (I've probably said that like 3790732094732 times, but still.) So let's get reviewing~

Just a heads up: I'll be reviewing the WHOLE series, so that means Hex Hall, Demonglass and Spellbound! If I had to choose one word to describe this series it would be this: FUN. The series is not full of teen angst and deep and meaningful things, it's a hilarious ride full of witty jokes and sarcastic comments. One thing I adored about this book is that it didn't take itself so seriously. It made fun of itself and other books in its genre. It was fantastic.

The author has a simple writing style yet is able to suck you in and really makes you feel like you're there with the characters. I really loved all the characters in these books, and their dynamics and they way they reacted to each other was a really awesome thing to see. I loved the main character, Sophie, who is a super relate-able and a totally likeable heroine. She cracks jokes at the most inappropriate times and is completely hilarious, but also has many layers. Like her, a lot of the characters are really fleshed out and have interesting back stories. There's her best friend, a vampire, who is equally as fun as Sophie. And then, of course, there's the love interest, sarcastic and sometimes romantic, Archer. He was definitely a favorite character of mine in the series.

In the second book (and if you have not read it yet, you might not want to read this), there is the dreaded love triangle. That was mainly my biggest gripe about the series. I mean, I love it to bits, but the whole love triangle in YA fiction is seriously started to get on my nerves. Cal, the other love interest, was interesting enough, but do I think the love triangle was really necessary? No, not really. Did it add to the story? I guess. But only a little bit. In some series, the love triangle works. For instance, I loved The Hunger Games love triangle. In my point of view, Gale and Peeta showed two differents sides of Katniss and showed two different roads she could take after all the chaos happened. It complimented the series. With this one? Not so much.

The last book was definitely not a let down, even though I've read a couple reviews saying it was. The event everything was leading up to in the book did seem a little short and a bit too easy, but overall, it was as fantastic as the others. It was also more emotional and deeper than the previous books. You found out a lot about the characters and their back stories and it also answered many questions. Overall, it was a great conclusion to a fantastic series.

So, in short, it is a marvelous series. If you want something light and you want to take a break from some of the more serious stuff, this is definitely for you. To me, it's kind of like Sabrina and Gallagher Girls--just put together.

My overall rating:

4/5 STARS!