Review: Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell

Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell.
Release Date: October 31st, 2012
Page count: 336 pages
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Format: E-book - advanced copy. (Big thanks to St. Martins Press!!!)
Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of sci-fi & people who like the show, Falling Skies.
Rating: ★★★★


Synopsis from Goodreads: 
In a post-apocalyptic world controlled by alien invaders, two teens and a young girl with mysterious powers embark on a dangerous journey. What they find will change everything...

Earth has been conquered. An extraterrestrial race known as The Assembly has abducted the adult population, leaving the planet's youth to fend for themselves. In this treacherous landscape, Holt, a bounty hunter, is transporting his prisoner Mira when they discover Zoey, a young girl with powerful abilities who could be the key to stopping The Assembly. As they make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, the trio must contend with freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and perhaps most perilous of all: Holt and Mira's growing attraction to each other.

Midnight City is the breathtaking first novel in the Conquered Earth series, and a stunning work of imagination from debut author J. Barton Mitchell


                                                                                                                       


Review: 


As soon as I saw the words "post-apocalyptic" and "aliens" together, I was in! Midnight City is a refreshing young adult novel. It was nothing like I had ever read before. And it was awesome. The world that the author has created is seriously frightening. The gang (Mira, Holt and Zoey) are faced with new danger everywhere they go. The world is just chaos! It only took me a short time to really get into the story and I was sucked into this horrific world completely. It was thrilling, action-packed and full of surprises!


As I said before, I really liked the world the author had set up. It was pretty complex, with all the different factions people were in, and all the different aliens and the artifacts but I eventually got my head around it all. The prose, pacing and plot were all really great. The writing flowed really well, the plot was fast-paced and barely ever slowed down and the plot was just really exciting.


Although it was very much a plot driven novel, the characters were a delight to read about. All were seriously bad ass in their own way. I really liked Holt, Mira and Zoey. Holt and Mira were both strong characters, yet very broken. There was a lot of fantastic character development with these characters and I loved how their relationships slowly grew as well. Zoey was completely adorable and the way she called Holt's Dog Max "the Max" -- so cute! I'm totally excited to see more about her powers in the next book. Still kind of confused about what she can and can't do though. The characters we met along the way were really interesting to read about, as well! I'm really excited to see if some of the supporting characters come back in the next book.


My only gripes would be that sometimes it felt like too much was going on and at first I had trouble picturing everything (maybe that's just my lack of imagination, though..). 


In short: Midnight City is an action packed adventure that sucks you right in. With fantastic characterization, a fast-paced plot and great world building, this book is a real page turner. Awesome on so many levels. Sci-fi fan or not, this book has a little something for everyone!

Review: Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill.
Page count: 256 pages
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Releaste Date: November 13th, 2012
Book: E-book ARC. (Thanks for the copy, Random House.)
Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of Sarah Dessen and Stephanie Perkins.
Rating: ★★★ 1/2



From Goodreads:
Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 
It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").
But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.
Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

                                                                                             

Review:

Let's just take a look at the cover for a second, shall we? How pretty is it?! I'd frame it and put it on my wall, for sure!


What a fantastic debut from Lauren Morrill! Such a lovely, cute book. It's set in London, and Morrill describes the city so well and vividly that you feel as if you're really there (and anyone who knows me in real life knows how much I drone on about wanting to go to London, so I definitely loved that). The writing is fantastic, descriptive and flows really well. The plot is a little predictable, but there are twists and turns, and somethings I didn't see coming -- especially near the end. 


I loved the characters! I predict that some people won't like Julia or Jason, because they're not made to be exactly likable, in my opinion. They're very real characters with surprising depth. I know that some people have found they could not connect to Julia, but for me at least,Julia is extremely easy to relate to. She follows the rules, gets straight A's, over-thinks things constantly and at times (even though she probably wouldn't admit it) she thought she was better than everyone else, smarter than everyone else. She also has the urge to correct people when they get something wrong. Sometimes, I swear she was me. Jason, on the other hand, is that rude, obnoxious guy that you loathe who is always vying for attention, but all of a sudden he says something sweet and you can't help but like him. I adored how their relationship developed throughout this book and how much they developed as characters as well. They brought out the best (and sometimes the worst) in each other. The supporting characters don't really appear much in the book, so you don't really care for them at all.


Meant To Be has a lot of witty banter, which is always a good thing. It also has a lot of references to The Beatles and Shakespeare, which I'm sure people will like. But with all that said, it didn't wow me as much as Anna and the French Kiss did, but I did enjoy reading it, and I'm excited to see what Lauren Morrill writes next.


Overall, Meant To Be is a light and fun romantic read, with lots of witty banter and hilarious moments. Definitely one to put on your "To-Read" list.

Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett.
Page count: 304
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN (Thanks for the copy, guys!)
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Book: E-BOOK (arc version)
Who I'd Recommend It To: People who like to read realistic fiction set in high school and don't mind such a young MC.
Rating: ★★★


Synopsis from Goodreads: 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.)


Review:


The best thing about this book, is without a doubt, the protagonist -Rose Zarelli. Although I wanted to reach inside the book and slap her in the face occasionally and sometimes I felt so much secondhand embarrassment from her awkwardness, I couldn't help but really like this character and find her extremely easy to relate to. She was really funny, snarky and incredibly sarcastic.The way she viewed high school and the people in it reminds me a lot of myself. Rose is flawed and layered character, and I love that. But sometimes the way she was so naive and they way she treated people (Poor Robert!) really annoyed me to no end, but it was realistic, I guess. 


The other characters, for me, didn't really stand out. They were undeveloped, as were some of the relationships in this novel. Jamie, the love interest, well. . . I didn't really understand what kind of character he was supposed to be. I didn't really feel the connection between them that I gather I was supposed to. I really seemed to like Robert, though. And a guy called Angelo (I think that was his name. . .) Tracy was also an interesting character. I really liked the relationship between Rose and her mum - it was incredibly realistic and moving. And I might have cried once or twice in a couple of their scenes.


It didn't take me long to read it whatsoever. It's pretty fast-paced as well. The writing was great. 


Overall, I thought the book was alright and has got me interested enough to read the sequel. I'm really excited to see how everything develops.

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.)

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!