Blue Fire

by Janice Hardy

I've been very remiss in writing these blogs, and so I don't remember a lot of what I wanted to say about this book! My blog may be short.

Blue Fire is the sequel to The Shifter - the first book in The Healing Wars series. Nya lives in a world where some people can pull pain out of others and send it into a special kind of stone called pynvium. However, Nya has never been able to release the pain into the stone - she can only shift it to another person. In addition, the shifted pain grows in intensity within the person until they eventually die.

Due to the break-in Nya and her friends committed in the previous book to save the healers from the Duke, they are in hiding and on the run. They escape to Baseer, and are forced to rely on help from the people they don't really trust.

I like this story, but honestly, I had a really hard time remember what had happened in the first book when I read this one and the author didn't provide many clues to the reader. Now I'm finding now I'm having a hard time remembering what happened in this book! I really think all author's should put a one page recap at the beginnings of books that are part of series! Those of us who ready 50+ books a year have a hard time remembering them all!

Once a Witch

by Carolyn MacCullough

Tamsin was supposed to be the most powerful witch in her family - at least that's what her grandmother predicted on the day of her birth. However, while other children's talents in her large family manifested by the time they were eight, Tamsin's never came. Since then she's felt like an outsider among her relatives, and it glad to attend a boarding school in Manhattan to be away from it all.

However, Tamsin cannot resist agreeing to help a handsome professor one day when he mistakes her for her very Talented sister and asks for her help finding a lot family heirloom.

Soon however, Tamsin realizes the request is not a simple or a benign as she thought, and she must use all her wits to save herself, her sister and her family.

It's been a while since I've found a new young adult book that I really liked, so I was happy to finally get around to this one and enjoy it so much. Tamsin had loyal friends, and an adorable boy who loves her even though she doesn't know it (of course). The best part is, is that this book is the first of series, and yet has a satisfactory conclusion of it's own! I'm excited to read the second which, unfortunately, doesn't come out until August 2011.

Missing You

by Meg Cabot

It really bugs me that this book came out with new cover art that does not match the cover art on my other books.

However, I love the book itself. Jess annoys the heck out of me a couple times for being so dense about Rob, but I was very satisfied with the ending of the book and the series - this is a well-concluded series.

Missing You takes place a few years after the previous books. Jess has used her powers to find missing people in the war. She has found countless terrorists in her time overseas, before the trauma of it all caused Jess to lose her powers. Now Jess is back in the US, living in New York City with Ruth and going to Juilliard. She and Rob have falling apart and Jess is struggling with what she wants to do. So when Rob shows up at her door in NYC asking for her help to find his sister Hannah, she is upset with him. She can't find people anymore, she insists. But Rob begs her to try. So she does, and discovers that at some point her powers have returned. Jess goes back to Indiana with Rob, and while there she discovers more secrets than just where Hannah is hiding.

Sanctuary

by Meg Cabot

I have been blazing through these books so fast I can barely remember what I was going to write. Let's just say I loved it, and was glad that I am reading these years after they were published so I didn't have to wait 4 years before the 5th book came out. This book is great, but is not a satisfying ending to the series - it definitely needed one more.

In Sanctuary a new family moved in across from Jess's. However, shortly after the family's teenage soon turns up dead in a cornfield. There are rumors of gang activity, despite the family denying it. A few days later and young Jewish boy disappears, and a few days after that the Jewish synagogue is burned down. Jess and Rob discover that there is a white supremacist militia group living in the backwoods that is responsible for the recent events. Jess knows where to find the missing boy, but the problem is getting to him. Jess and Rob believe they can find a way to get in, but how will they get out with the boy and put this group to a stop?

Safe House

by Meg Cabot

Third book - darker and more mysterious than the first two. This time, Jess is searching for someone she knows.

Jess returns from her summer working at camp to learn that one of the cheerleaders has been found dead in the quarry. Not only that, but her classmates blame Jess for not finding the girl - even though Jess wasn't in town and knew nothing about it. When a second girl goes missing everyone turns to Jess to find her. How can she say no? But also, how can she keep the FBI away if she says yes?

This series is reminding me more and more of the Mediator series with the darker turn. I love the mystery and suspense and trying to figure out just who the culprit is. I was fooled. Love that even more.

Code Name Cassandra

by Meg Cabot

I like the second book in the 1-800-Where-R-You series even better than the first. In this book, Jess and Ruth are working at a summer orchestra camp for kids. Jess has gotten the press and the FBI to leave her alone by telling them she no longer has her powers. However, she's still working secretly with Rosemary from the 1-800-Where-R-You call center to find missing kids who Rosemary researches and makes sure they really want to be found. Jess is looking forward to a summer of flute playing, and story-telling and hair-braiding with the little girls in her cabin. It's not long though before Jess gets moved to a boy's cabin because the camp is short on male counselors. Jess's campers include a big bully name Shane, who seems to make it his personal mission to make everyone miserable.

Things are pretty normal, if not exactly how she planned, until a man shows up at the camp begging Jess to help him find his lost little girl. Jess wants to help, but how can she do so without tipping off the world that she lied about her powers?

I love the parts of this book with the kids - particularly the many sides of Shane and how Jess interacts with him. And we can't forget the ever-obnoxious Karen Sue Hankey. Meg Cabot has a talent for characters.

When Lightning Strikes

by Meg Cabot

After buying the first books of this series nearly two years ago, I am finally getting around to reading them - and I'm glad I did.

I loved Meg Cabot's Mediator series, and the 1-800-Where-R-You books remind me a lot of it.

The main character is Jess, an ordinary, if somewhat anger-prone high school sophomore. Jess's best friend Ruth meets her after school and insists on walking home, despite the gathering clouds that suggest a storm is coming. Ruth and Jess don't get very far before the hail starts and they must take cover under the metal bleachers. As Jess leans against the bleachers, a bolt of lighting hits them, and runs right through her. Despite being knocked quite a distance away, Jess seems to suffer no problems after her brush with death.

However, the next morning Jess wakes up knowing exactly where to find the little boy whose face she saw on the milk carton yesterday. From then on Jess learns that she can find any person, so long as she sees a picture of them and then goes to sleep. Of course, Jess starts making calls to 1-800-Where-R-You to report where to find the missing kids, and that's how she gets a lot more attention than she bargained for. Soon the FBI is following her, wanting to know just how she knew where these kids were and when they learn of her powers, they want her to come work for them. Not long after, reports from all over are camping out in Jess's front yard, hoping to get a glimpse of "lightning girl".

And in case things weren't complicated enough, Jess learns that the first little boy she found, didn't really want to be found. Now Jess must get the press off her back, make things right with this boy, and try to keep the FBI from controlling her life.

It's a fun start to the series, and certainly leaves you wondering, "What's going to happen next?!" Onto book 2!

Sisters Red

by Jackson Pearce

Was this book well written? Definitely. Was it fun? Not really. And therein lies my main problem with Sisters Red. I read Pearce's previous book and enjoyed it's fun style. This book is almost it's exact opposite.

Sisters Red is the tale of two sisters, Scarlett and Rosie, who narrowly survive a werewolf attack that killed their beloved grandmother. Scarlett is severely scarred in her efforts to protect Rosie and from then on harbors a desire to hunt down these werewolves, Fenris as they are called in the book. Rosie feels indebted to her sister, and therefore fights along with her, even though she secretly wishes for something more. To complicate things more, Scarlett's hunting partner, and only friend Silas is back, and he's falling for Rosie.

This book is dark, and there's not much relief from that throughout the book. Hope is lacking. The Fenris are evil, lurking creatures who are a danger to everyone. Scarlett's pain over her grandmother's death, feeling of obligation to kill the wolves, and despair at her ruined face consume half of the narrative. The rest is taken up by Rosie's narration, and her desire over wanting to do something else but hunt warring with her sense of debt to her sister. Never mind that she finds herself having feelings for Silas and worrying about if she should acknowledge them.

Pearce is a talented author to make you feel so terrible about the sisters' predicament. However, there was very little resolution at the end. There are countless wolves, and despite the group's efforts, it all seems very futile. Did they even make a difference? Is there a hope for relief for these traumatized girls? At of the end of this book it doesn't seem like there's much. However, this does appear to be a series - perhaps hope will be more evident in the next entry.

Dark Life

by Kat Falls

I am shamefully slow with this update, but here it is finally: my review!

And now I am remembering why I try to be good about writing this right after I finish the book...because now I don't remember as many details!

I will say I enjoyed Dark Life a lot. The world (or rather, ocean) it takes place in is unlike any other book I've read. Kat Falls creates many new technologies to enable the characters of Dark Life to live beneath the surface of the ocean. Things such as "liquigen", bubble fences, and underwater jellyfish-style houses may seem fanciful at times, but are a unique solution to the problem of how exactly a group of humans would live and farm under the sea.

The villains are creepy, and certainly surprising, while the main characters are varied and interesting. I'm not sure if this book is a series, but I wouldn't mind reading more about this underwater world.

The Reckoning

by Kelley Armstrong

I've really enjoyed the unique story of this trilogy, but I have to say, the last book was a bit of a disappointment.

Chloe, Tori, Derek and Simon have just escaped the Edison Group again and are hiding out with the group fighting against the Edison Group. Once again, a large part of the beginning of this book is spend doing very little. The action comes all at once, at the end, and involves a lot of twists, turns, and constantly flipping allegiances (Are these people really on our side? No! Let's run away! Wait, maybe they are. Let's stick around. Wait! We have to run away!)

Mostly, this book did not feel like it should be the end. The ending is pretty ambiguous as far as endings go, and many, many aspects of the plot were left unexplained. Some things were brought up in the storyline of this book only to be dropped casually a few chapters later. If this series was slated to continue in additional books, I would assume these things would come up in the next book, but as this is the final book, it seemed like the plot wasn't as well thought-out as it should have been.

On the positive side, Armstrong does a pretty good job of subtly reminding the reader what has happened previously. I didn't remember many details from the previous books, but whenever I'd start to be confused, there were some helpful hints placed into the narrative that reminded me of what I was supposed to know. Still, this is the 3rd book, and doesn't stand alone. If you're gonna read the series, start with The Summoning.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

by Stephenie Meyer

I have mixed feelings for this book. It's sad, and I don't particularly like sad endings. However, the ending isn't exactly a surprise, so that helps. Likely, if you're reading this book you've already read Eclipse and know that Bree dies. And even if you didn't, the title is kind of a dead giveaway (no pun intended).

However, on the flip side, it was interesting to see Meyer tackle a story that does not end well. The Twilight series is notorious for its peachy-keen ending, and while I did enjoy that, I also like seeing a different side of Meyer's writing. Does she pull off the sad ending? Yes, I think so. And notably, despite knowing that this character was doomed for destruction, and trying specifically to not get attached to her, I found myself loving Bree anyway! Ah! All in less than 180 pages no less. How do you do that Stephenie Meyer? I always get so invested in your characters!

Now I just want to know more about Fred!

Spirit Bound

by Richelle Mead

Ok, last we left this series Rose had returned from her physically- and emotionally-draining trip to Russia to hunt down her former love Dimitri (who had turned from harmless dhampir to malevolent Strigoi) and kill him. Rose is relieved because she has freed Dimitri from his evil, undead state, just as he wished, only to soon receive a package in the mail - the stake she used to kill Dimitri, and a note from him - he's not dead after all, and now he vows to hunt her down and kill her.

In Spirit Bound, Lissa and Rose graduate from St. Vladamir's, and travel to court to receive their guardian assignments (Rose as the guardian and Lissa as the guarded). *Spoilers ahead* However, along the way they also stage a jail break, escape to Las Vegas, learn a possible method to restore Strigoi, dodge a mob of Strigoi attackers, and return to be punished. Lissa travels to her future college, gets attacked again by the Strigoi, and Rose assists the rescue operation. Lissa performs the nearly impossible feat of staking Dimitri herself with a spirit-charmed stake (was this really any surprise though?) and he remarkably becomes dhampir once more. They all return to court - the guardian assignments STILL looming...but no! More things must happen first! Rose attends a secret Moroi party with Adrian (of which they are none too happy about), Dimitri worships Lissa but pushes Rose away, the council changes the law to make guardians graduate at age 16, Rose had a swearing outburst at the queen, and right near the end we learn that Queen Tatiana herself has been murdered, and Rose is the prime suspect. *End spoilers*

In short, lots of twist and turns, which were interesting, but also made the book seem a little aimless at times. What is the point of this novel? Turning Dimitri back? Not quite. Guardian assignments? Not really that either. Graduation? Barely even mentioned. And all of a sudden, out from nowhere at the very end - a trial?! Sometimes it seemed like this book's purpose was to be a set up for the final book. However, I did enjoy it, despite Dimitri being annoying. Eager for book 5!

Oh, and the cover - only 1 star for that. Seriously, I took the blasted dust jacket off so I wouldn't look like I was walking around with a Harlequin novel! Sheesh. Less seductive looking next time, please!

The Books of Umber: Happenstance Found

by P. W. Catanese

By the time I got to the end of Happenstance Found, the first book in the Books of Umber trilogy, I liked it. However, the beginning of this book is a little slow and aimless.

Happenstance is a young boy who wakes up wet and blindfolded in a cave. Soon a man named Umber and his two companions come across him and take him on their journey.

For most of the book Happenstance and his new friends (as well as the reader) are unsure as to who or what Hap is. Is he from this world? Is he magical? What happened to him in his past and why can't he remember anything? Thankfully, this mystery intrigued me, or I likely would have quit reading before the end. Not much happens in the first half of the novel besides wondering.

Thankfully, things finally start to pick up and Hap and Umber learn more about Hap's origins. By the end of the book we've also learned more about Umber's past and the book takes a turn slightly in genre. It is no longer a straight-forward fantasy - a twist I was eager for! I'm interested to see how the next book goes, since it will hopefully not have the problem of vagueness and the complete mystery of Hap that this book did.

Gone

by Lisa McMann

I still don't understand why this is the final book to the Dream Catcher series. The story seems far from over, and this book didn't exactly leave you feeling satisfied.

The story is interesting, but I don't think it is worthy of a book to itself. The story of Janie discovering her dad, learning about him and about her gift, and deciding what she's going to do should have been a story running parallel to something with a little more suspense. The last book was chock-full of it! Janie puts herself in great danger to nail a sexual predator at her high school. This book? Janie goes to a tiny house in the woods and to the hospital a lot. Oh, and she talks to her alcoholic mom some more. It just lacked punch.

It didn't do it for me. There needed to be more meat to this book and there wasn't, which I think adds to my feeling that this story should not be finished so soon.

Fade

by Lisa McMann

The sequel to Wake, this book is much darker than it's predecessor. In Fade Janie and Cabel start working a new case - one involving a possible sexual predator at their high school. And guess who's acting as bait?

I liked this book. It's was interesting and engrossing, however it was just a bit too creepy/disturbing for me to love it.

There were a few instances where McMann's sentence fragment style of writing or her intentional vagueness was annoying, but most of the time you don't even notice. Once you get used to it, it reads much the same way our brains think. "Vanessa's at her computer. Typing. Her blog. Running out of things to say." - It's a lot like that. And it makes the book read really fast.

A few complaints:

- I realize Janie's mom is so pitiful to suit the story and to make it easier for Janie to basically do anything, but really? She doesn't even come to the graduation?

- Lots of drugs mentioned in the case. A few more descriptions might have been beneficial. We learn that Janie has researched them, but what exactly has she learned? (There's that intentional vagueness!)

- *spoiler* Why oh why wasn't Janie bugged with a camera or a mic when she was undercover at the party? They could have gotten their evidence a LOT sooner, Janie would have been in less danger and perhaps some of the other students could have been rescued sooner as well. The one "panic button" tool they did give her was too risky. It very nearly wasn't helpful at all! Why in the world would they put her in such a dangerous situation with out extra precautions? Heck, even Drew Barrymore has better undercover tools in "Never Been Kissed" and she wasn't ever in danger! *end spoilers*

So, in summary: It's an interesting book. For mature readers. The ending is mostly satisfying despite some odd turns throughout the story. And I'm still planning on reading part three.

Wake

by Lisa McMann

Wake is the beginning of a series about a girl named Janie who finds herself pulled into other peoples' dreams. She can't help it. If someone in the same room as her falls asleep Janie is along for the ride. This makes life increasingly difficult for Janie as she can't control or predicted when she'll be pulled into a dream, she can't pull herself out of the dreams, and she loses control of her body during them.

I enjoyed the premise of this book a lot. The characters were ok and the story moved quickly with some interesting twists. The things I didn't like were the drinking and drug use by teens that's not always portrayed as bad, as well as a bit too much swearing for my tastes. But I liked the story enough to make me want to continue the series.

Betraying Season

by Marissa Doyle

I'm really struggling with what to rate this book. I gave it's predecessor 4 stars, and I feel like I liked this one about equally, but I don't know if it quite falls under the "I really liked it" category. I'm torn, but sticking with 3. If I did halves, perhaps I'd go for 3 and a half.

Betraying Season is the sequel to Bewitching Season, which I read last year about this time (maybe I'm just not remembering it well!) The first book focused on twins Penelope and Persephone Leland, although the story mostly revolved around Persy. This time around, Pen gets to be the focus of the novel. Persy is newly married in England, so Pen decides to live in Ireland for a while with her former governess and her new husband. While she's there she's studying magic and hoping to become as skilled as her sister. However, things get a little more complicated when the handsome and dashing Niall Keating comes into her life. What she doesn't know is that Niall's mother is a powerful witch too, and she wishes to use Pen in her plot to kill the Queen.

I did feel that the regency elements and the magical elements blended together better in this story than in the previous book. One thing that annoyed me though was that they used the word "horripilatious" way too much.

This book is written in third person with an omniscient narrator. Sometimes the narrative is about Pen and sometimes about Niall. And since you're told what they are thinking and feeling there's really no suspense as to whether Niall is legit or not. I kind of think I would have liked it all to be from Pen's perspective so you were wondering what Lady Keating was up to and if Niall was telling the truth or not. Would have added some suspense that the book was lacking.

The Shifter

by Janice Hardy

I admit it. I picked this book because it's pretty - the cover grabbed my attention in the book store and I picked it up. Read the front flap, and was interested by the story. Book goes on Christmas list, and viola! I now have the shiny new thing in my hands.

The Shifter is the story of a fifteen-year-old orphan named Nya. Years ago all of Nya's family was killed in a takeover of their country and a resulting war, all except her younger sister Tali. Thankfully, Tali is an apprentice Healer - someone who can take injuries and pain away from and individual and then release it into a special stone called pynvium. She has a place to stay, food to eat and a future ahead of her. Things are a little more difficult for Nya. She can also take injuries and pain from others, but she can't release it into the pynvium. Nya must either hold the pain herself, or shift it to another person - a skill that is very dangerous to have. Nya knows that if the rulers found out out her talent, she could be taken to be used as a weapon. However, Nya soon finds it difficult to hide her secret ability. She's out of money, she's been kicked out of her room at the boarding house, and she can't find work anywhere. To top it off, strange things are happening at the League where her sister is training, and some apprentices are going missing. Nya will soon have to decide if it is better to hide her power, or use it, and if she does use it - is it right?

I loved the uniqueness of this book. It was completely different from anything I'd ever read. The characters are likable, and Nya's moral dilemmas are intriguing to mull over. The ending was mostly satisfying while also leaving it open for the sequel. A couple confusing sequences, and a rushed explanation of the political and social battles going on in the background cause me to give it four stars rather than five.

Betrayals

by Lili St. Crow

This book is the sequel to Strange Angels, a book whose story I enjoyed but I had some reservations over the method of telling.

I have largely the same complaints for the sequel.

Again, Lili St. Crow seems to have a small vocabulary when it comes to words to expresses anger or shock. The only ones she can think of would get bleeped out on cable television. This is frustrating because these aren't words I enjoy hearing - even in my own head, and also because I think it shows a real lack of creativity. Seriously, not EVERYONE in the world uses those words in every sentence. It's crude, and sounds uneducated. I realize these are teenage characters, but I have a hard time believing that all teenagers have such a foul mouth as Dru and Graves do.

Second - the smells! Ms. St. Crow focuses way too much on the way things smell and not enough on other senses. Many sequences are hard to understand and picture in your head because the only information you have is what things smell like. (And yes, Christophe STILL smells like apple pie!) Oh, and by the way, it's mentioned quite a few times that Graves smells like cigarette smoke, as if this is supposed to be a nice thing - um, ew!

Unfortunately, I'm giving this book one less star than it's predecessor. I just didn't find the story as interesting, and it was often confusing! There were a few chapters that I wasn't really sure what was going on and it felt like the author was being intentionally vague.

Will I read the third installment? Probably only if Dani assures me that it's better than this one!

Ballad

by Maggie Stiefvater


Despite this book being a sequel to Lament, it really reads more like a stand-alone novel. The main character and narrator of this book is James, a secondary character in the first novel. The setting has changed, as has all but one of the remaining characters. Dee is still in it, but she definitely takes a back seat in this one. In fact, most of what we know that's going on with her is from "text messages" dispersed throughout the book. And the few times she does appear, she's kind of annoying.

And even though James' narration is funnier than Dee's, the story of Ballad just didn't excite me as much as Lament did. The faeries as a collective group are not a big part of the story until the very end. Many of the newer elements to the faerie myths are not fully explained. Stiefvater has based a lot of her story on actual Celtic myth, so I was able to look some of it up, but I still think she should have included more. I'm teetering on the edge of a 3 or a 4 star rating, but settled on a 3. Not jumping for joy over it, but not regretting taking the time to read it - a solid 3 I'd say.