Monday, October 31, 2011

Sparkly Horns Are A Girl's Best Friend

Published: September 13th, 2011
Drink, Slay, Love
By: Sarah Beth Durst
Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN-13: 978-1442423732


Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire . . . fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil . . . until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.
Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don’t exist), and they’re shocked she survived. They’re even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl’s family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King’s feast—as the entrees.
The only problem? Pearl’s starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?



Review
  
  So, Pearl is just like any other teenager.  But unlike other teenagers it takes her being staked through the heart with a unicorn horn to realize that.  And oh yeah, she's also a vampire.  But after the mythical incident (which is ironic because she's kind of mythical too).  Pearl soon finds out that she is now able to be out in the sunshine.  This leads to encounters with Evan and Bethany, two very interesting humans who become her sort-of friends.  Pearl has a hard time fitting in with her family anymore now that she's so different.  Her parents decide that in lieu of the King coming for a 'feast and tribute', Pearl will be the means of luring the meal.  Which means she'll need to navigate the vicious waters of high school and not get to close to the happy meals with legs.  This book was so funny.  I laughed and smiled my way through it.  But that in no way diminished the emotional turmoil that Pearl goes through as she grows up over the course of the book.  I loved watching her learn how to have fun, relax, and make friends.  Also, seeing Pearl learn what home and family REALLY are was beautiful.  Her romances with Evan (a special 'human') and Jadrien (another vampire) are great in their own ways and they each reflect how much she changes by the end of the book.  A truly fun book that I would definitely recommend and it was a great Halloween read!

VERDICT: 4/5  Stars

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*


Friday, October 28, 2011

I'm Forever Yours, Fatefully

Published: September 13th, 2011
Fateful
By: Claudia Gray
HarperTeen
ISBN-13: 9780062006202


Eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, troubled family she serves. It’s 1912, and Tess has been trapped in the employ of the Lisles for years, amid painful memories and twisted secrets. But now the Lisle family is headed to America, with Tess in tow. Once the ship they’re sailing on—the RMS Titanic—reaches its destination, Tess plans to strike out and create a new life for herself.
Her single-minded focus shatters when she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets of his own. He’s in a hurry to leave Europe, and whispers aboard the ship say it’s because of the tragic end of his last affair with the French actress who died so gruesomely and so mysteriously. . . .
Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves exist and are stalking him—and now her, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.
In Fateful, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray delivers paranormal adventure, dark suspense, and alluring romance set against the opulent backdrop of the Titanic’s first—and last—voyage.


Review

   May I first say that the idea of this story is epic to start with.  Werewolves on the Titanic?  Sign me up pronto!!!  I did fall in love with Tess quite a bith throughout the novel.  As a heroine, she is determined, strong and knows her own mind.  She also values herself as a person enough to know that Lady Regina, her employer, is a complete and total bee-yotch; that she definitely shouldn't take her too seriously.  On the other hand, Lady Regina's daughter Irene is an absolute sweetheart.  Also, Tess has a friend in Ned, a young man who is servant to Irene's brother Layton (a complete and total sleazeball).  They are voyaging to America because the family is on the brink of financial ruin.  Lady Regina hopes to marry off Irene and Layton to wealthy notables in the States to improve their situation.  All poor Irene wants is to be left alone.  Tess is planning to quit service when they reach America, cause she has enough money finally saved up.  Tess and Alec cross paths, with him trying to protect her from Mikhail.  Both men are werewolves, but Mikhail is brutal, part of an organization called the Brotherhood.  He will stop at nothing to initiate Alec into their ranks and gain control over his mind and body.  If he can brutalize Tess along the way for his own pleasure, so much the better.  Truly a reprehensible, spine-chilling villain.  Tess and Alec are continuously drawn together by their mutual attraction and even as a wolf he can't harm her.  The only thing standing in their way is Mikhail and fate itself when the ship strikes an iceberg.  Tess' bunkmate Myriam, a Lebanese girl going to her brother in America, is a wonderfully drawn secondary character with a truly beautiful spirit.  Who lives and dies; will Tess and Alec live happily ever after?  Read to find out!  In a major way this book was epic but the relationship between Tess and Alec was majorly unrealistic for the times in the way it progressed. Kind of a turn off for me honestly speaking. But the whole idea of the book worked in a way I never thought possible and it truly surprised me multiple times with its happenings! I loved the setting, plus as the author says in the acknowledgements, she was respectful enough to only characterize her own fictional people. The real people who were on the Titanic were mentioned but not given personalities based on her opinion or story. In the age we live in where Monica Ali is writing fictional books about what Pricess Diana would've been like had she not died (tacky, disrespectful,capitalistc trash IMHO) that is highly refreshing. It was worth it to read this book even though it didn't gain favorite status.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars 

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

"Once Upon A Time" Episode 1 - Pilot



   So, this show started the other day...and incase you haven't already guessed, it's called "Once Upon A Time."  It airs on Channel 7 (ABC) on Sundays at 8pm.  Well, it was the Pilot episode last night and some serious shizz went down!  So grab on tight and buckle in people, it's gonna be a bumpy one!


Recap:

So, the first thing we get is these words rolling across the screen: Once upon a time...There was an enchanted forest filled with all of the characters we know and love.  Or think we know.  One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.  Our World.  This is how it happened...

Then we see a really hot guy riding a horse maniacally along a beautiful shoreline, trying to get somewhere in a rush.  Probably to a girl or a manicure, cause you know what they say.  All the hot ones are taken or gay.  Plus guys, this is some serious Lord of the Rings, New Zealandy type scenery.  They have a GREAT location for some enchantment.  Back to horse guy, looks like I was right.  It was Prince Charming, who is now standing next to a glass coffin holding guess-who?  Mother-effing Snow White!  And that has to be the best rendition of the glass coffin I've ever seen in a movie or t.v. show!
Am I the only one who wishes guys this hot got cast more often on cool shows like this?
Of course the seven dwarves are all around going "You're too late.  She's gone."  Bish pleaze!  As if, haven't they ever heard of CPR?  Or y'know, the healing power of hotness.  Cause how else do you explain it?  Maybe his hair is magical... So he leans over and kisses Snow White, who then gasps awake.  Her: "You found me."  Him: "You thought I wouldn't?" Her: "Truthfully? The glass coffin gave me pause."  ME:  "EPIC!"  They stand their gazing meaningfully and suddenly they're magically transported to the middle of a wedding ceremony (y'know, like how you just do that sometimes?).  The lovey dovey quotient reaches great heights and all of the sudden who shows up but the Evil Queen!  She blows guards out of her way with the power of her stupid looking headdress and everyone's all "Run! Save yourself"  Snow being a total badass draws her husband's saber and tells her she's going down.  But it turns out Prince Charming is a pansy who won't 'stoop to her level' or some psychobabble like that, and Evil Momma gets the last word which happens to be a curse.  A plague on both your houses!!!!!  Nope, just nah-nah, nah-nah, I'm gonna steal your happy endings cause that'll make ME happy.  And misery loves company.  The she poofs outta that chapel like nobody's business.  After p.c. Prince Pansy throws a dagger at her!  Good on you, maybe you're not a pansy after all!  Then they become illustrations in a book of fairy tales that a little boy on a bus headed to Boston is reading.  Hmmmmm.......

He gets off the bus and hails a cab, with a credit card.  Damn to be ten years old again if it meant that I'd have a unexplained credit card!  Then we are in a restaurant when a hot blond walks in presumably on a date.  Then she tells the guy that its her birthday and he shouldn't have jumped bail on his wife or been a sleazeball enough to go on what he thought was a date.  She is badass and turns the tables on him, leaving him for the cops I would suppose.  She goes home to be alone and make a birthday wish on a one-candle cupcake.  The knock on her door turns out to be the bus boy!  His name is Henry and he's THE SON SHE GAVE UP TEN YEARS AGO!  HOLY SHIZZ! 
She says that she doesn't believe him.  Henry threatens to call the cops and say she kidnapped him, but Emma calls his bluff and says she can ALWAYS tell when someone is lying.  He wants her to come home with him, so Emma agrees to take him home.  Then, all of a sudden we're in fairy tale land again.  Snow White is very obviously pregnant and she is arguing with Prince Charming about the Evil Queen.  He says to let it go, but she just can't. 
Even with sleepless nights she's pretty.  That just ain't fair!
The Prince caves in to Snow and agrees to go to the dungeons to talk to HIM.  Rumplestiltskin himself who can evidently see the future.  She just wants to know the baby is going to be okay.  We're back to Emma and Henry.  She asks about the book and he hesitates.  But then he tells her that the fairy tales in the book are all true.  Henry tells her she's in the book and that she's going to fix all of his problems.  Back to PC and Snow, who are on their way into the dungeon disguised.  Rumpy sees through it right away and calls them out.  He is curious about what they want from him.  Rumpy wants the name of the baby in exchange for what he knows.  Snow agrees and he tells them that the Queen's threat will come to pass and there's nothing they can do to stop it, they'll be trapped someplace time will stop and they'll suffer for all eternity.  But the baby is everyone's only hope.   Rumpy says to get the baby to safety and that in 28 years she'll come back to find them and the final battle will begin.  They start to leave and he yells for 'her' name, Snow gives it to him.  She says that it's Emma.  Now we're getting to the good stuff!
One ugly mothercusser for certain sure!
Back to Emma and Henry, they get out of the car.  Henry's shrink happens along and reveals that he is the Mayor's son and tells Emma where his house is.  He tells Henry not to lie.  Henry tells Emma after the shrink leaves that nobody remembers that they were fairy tale characters and that guy was Jiminy Cricket.  Then we see that the F.T.s are having a conference.  PC wants to fight (surprise, surprise).  The blue fairy shows up with a magic tree.  Apparently if they make it into a 'vessel' it can save the baby.  But it can only save one person from the curse.  Henry and Emma are walking towards a really big-ass house.  Henry says not to give him back to his Mother because she's evil.  The door opens and the 'evil' mother walks out.  Seems like she was really worried.  Emma exchanges plesantries and has drinks with Evil Mayor; then she leaves.  She is driving along, la, la, la, la, la, with Henry's book that he left in the car on purpose, when she all of the sudden has to swerve to avoid a wolf in the middle of the road and crashes!!!  Gepetto and Pinocchio are building the cabinet from magic tree back in FT world.  Snow and the Prince are standing around talking about how she doesn't want to leave him to go into the magic cabinet.  This turns out to be a moot point because Snow goes into labor!  And the curse is headed for the castle!!!!!  Emma wakes up in a jail cell.  Turns out when the Sheriff found her unconcious in the crashed car, he figured she was drunk.  She's trying to talk him into letting her out when Evil Mayor shows up.  What is Emma still doing there?  Turns out Henry ran away again.  Emma offers to track him down if they let her out.  She goes through his computer and they find out that Henry used his teacher Mary Margaret's credit card on whosyourmomma.org to find Emma. 
She looks evil with that stupid expression.  And what's with the ugly clothes?
Evil Mayor and Emma go to see Teacher MM.  Turns out she looks suspiciously like Snow White.  Also, Henry stole her credit card, which she finds out when EM gets on her like the fury of Hell.  Snow/MM tells Emma and the Evil Mayor that she gave Henry the book of fairy tales!  Because he's smart. but LONELY.  Ooohhh, BURN Evil Mayor!  Then EM storms out, nastily telling Emma to have a nice trip to Boston.  They talk , Snow/MM telling her that stories help because they give us a way to deal with the world.  She kind of says that Henry is struggling with why he was given away.  The book was to give him hope.  Snow/MM tells Emma to check his 'castle.'  Meanwhile, Snow White in FT world is having the baby while Evil Queen rides toward the castle.  The baby is born, Snow tells PC to take the baby to the wardrobe and put her into it.  They say goodbye, then PC fights his way through guards and puts his daughter in the cabinet.  He is seemingly mortally wounded.  The guard breaks open the cabinet, but baby Emma is gone!  Back in Storybrooke Emma finds Henry at his castle and gives him the book back.
You can kind of see the resemblance in the broody expressions...
She tells him that none of the book stuff is real and he needs to stop.  Henry tells her that he knows she only gave him away to give him his best chance.  It's apparently the same reason Snow White gave her away!  She tells him she's not in a book and is NOT the savior.  Emma says she has to give him back.  Henry asks her to stay for just a week, and tells her his life sucks.  Emma reveals she was left by the side of the highway and grew up in foster homes.  She says that his Mom is trying her best.  Henry tells her when she went into the wardrobe she came out into the street.  Snow drags herself downstairs and finds what appears to be PC's corpse.  The EQ shows up to gloat about stealing their happy endings, but gets mad when she finds out the baby escaped.  Snow tells EQ that she's going to lose and good will always win.
Good will always win as long as evil wears a bird nest on its head.
The curse breaks through the palace and sweeps them all away.  Snow: "Where are we going?"  EQ: "Somewhere horrible!  Absolutely horrible, a place where the only happy ending will be mine."  I'll definitely agree with that.  I mean, here or FT world?  Which is better in YOUR opinion?  Emma takes Henry home once AGAIN.  Only this time she admits that she's kind of grateful that he showed up on her birthday so she didn't have to be alone.  Evil Mayor goes psycho and bitches Emma out, telling her that the closed adoption stands and Henry is her son.  That she will destroy Emma unless she gets in her car and leaves.  Emma asks her if she loves Henry.  Evil Mayor, is all 'Excuse me?'  Then, of course she loves him.  She goes in the house with the book, all panicked.
Remind you of anything?  Anything at all?
Snow/MM is volunteering at the hospital and she takes flowers in to a comatose man who looks suspiciously like PC.  Holy crap.  Then we see Henry watching the clock in town square that doesn't tell time and is still frozen.  Emma drives to the bed and breakfast run by what looks to be Granny and Little Red Riding Hood!  Granny hilariously bitches out Red for being such a slut.  Then Emma tells them she would like to rent a room for the week.  Guess Evil Mayor set off Emma's famous lie detector.  Hmmmmm.....wonder why?  A man come in asking for money Granny owes.  Turns out he owns the entire town.  His name is Mr. Gold and he kind of looks surprised when he hears Emma's name.  Could it be because he's really Rumpy?  Maybe.  Henry is still watching the clock.  Well, it pays off because the clock is no longer frozen!!!  And that is the end of this episode, so welcome to Storybrooke town of weird y'all. 

What do you think about the show so far?  Will Henry get to go back with Emma?  Will the Evil Mayor destroy Emma's life like she promised?  Will everyone begin to remember who they are?  Does Rumpy know who he is already and if so, did he have a deal with the Evil Queen?  Maybe we'll find out on the next episode.  I know I'll be watching with some ice cream and anticipation!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Blood and Tears, My Sacrifice...

Published: September 20th, 2011
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
By: Rae Carson
Greenwillow Books
ISBN-13: 9780062026484



Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who needs her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.



Review

   This book is all about Elisa's journey from a fat, lazy, self-loathing young princess to a brave and strong young woman.  At the beginning of the novel we meet Elisa on her sixteenth birthday - also to be her wedding day to a man she has never met, King Alejandro.  She is to replace the wife he lost in childbirth years before and give power to his kingdom against the Inviernos, a warring race that is attacking his kingdom through the Godstone in her navel.  Elisa was blessed as a baby to be the one person in her century who carries the godstone, who is destined to do great things.  Most of the carriers die very young with nothing accomplished.  As with fantasy novels, things do not go according to plan quite so smoothly.  Elisa is introduced as a guest and told to keep their marriage a 'secret' for now.  Their traveling party is attacked on the way into the kingdom, forcing she and her maidservant to each kill a man.  Political machinations and court intrigue surround her.  She feels completely out of her element.  Then she is kidnapped by people from a village in the desert of the kingdom who are desperate for the 'power and blessing' the godstone is said to bring.  Elisa must become a warrior of mind and body if she is to survive and save her people from the Inviernos and the evil Animagus sorcerers.  I loved this book in so many ways!  It reminded me greatly of Tamora Pierce, but I lived inside this book in a way I've never been able to in hers.  Probably because Elisa was flawed and deeply human, so very relatable it astonished me at times.  Sometimes the ungainliness of the religious rules/codes, names of the peoples/kingdoms were distracting, but when a whole new world and its mythology are being created, that is bound to happen at times.  This book ended with some resolution but also lingering questions.  I cannot wait to see what Rae Carson has in store for the readers in the next book of the series.  Elisa definitely has more adventures left in her!

VERDICT: 4/5  Stars

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Glowing With Some Serious Craziness

Published: September 13, 2011
Glow
By: Amy Kathleen Ryan
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-13: 9780312590567




What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.



Review


   First thoughts: Haven't I read this before?  This book sounded very interesting and the concept was definitely new, although dystopia has arguably become the new vampire (genre-wise).  It grabbed me in from the first page and it read sort of like a cross between Across the Universe and Wither.  Waverley was an engrossing protagonist and her friend Samantha (who before the incident she wasn't all that close to) was very sharply intelligent.  Also, 'Pastor' Anne Mather of the 'New Horizon' ship is a fairly complex and chilling villain.  Now that the positives are out of the way I'll get to the negatives.  After the first third of the book I became bored.  I started skipping the parts with Kieran, Seth and the other boys who were left behind to an odd Lord of the Flies type existence on the 'Empyrean.'  You know why?  Because I just didn't CARE.  Which brings me to the downside of the third-person narrative: I was majorly disconnected from the characters and because the action happened so quickly, I had no time to really understand or even like Kieran.  To be honest, I'm surprised I even cared about Waverley at all.   The story was so drily written that it just felt like cardboard to me.  It was mainly exposition (badly done mind you) for the rest of the series, which I will not be reading.  It felt contrived and just like a waste of time.  I didn't hate it and it deserves some credit for keeping my interest for as long as it did.  But that's about it.


VERDICT: 1.5/5  Stars

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*

Friday, October 14, 2011

It's In the Way You Shift

Published: October 19th, 2010
Nightshade
By: Andrea Cremer
Philomel
ISBN-13: 9780399254826



Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice? (synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.com)


Review

   Calla Tor has always know that her future holds arranged marriage, guiding a new pack as the female alpha and a life guided by the laws of her kind.  But when she is leading a patrol of the land she saves Shay Doran from a grizzly bear and defies everything she's ever been taught.  This starts a downward spiral of broken trusts, rules and secrets that get revealed.  Turns out that maybe the Keeper's laws aren't quite as sacred as they claim...
  So this book was non-stop action!  So much was happening from the very first page onwards that you never quite know where the story is going. Calla was a very strong heroine and she makes it easy to root for her happiness.  You as a reader never quite know whether to be Team Ren (arranged match) or Team Shay (human boy...at least for awhile).  To complicate things further, Calla and Ren are supposed to unite two packs of shifters into one and makes their subordinates/friends get along.  Calla is in charge of the Nightshade pack and Ren is in charge of the Banes.  Both packs have Keeper overseers who use magic and control all wolves as a race in general.  Supposedly for the greater good.  When have those words EVER meant smooth sailing.  While trying to integrate the two packs with Ren, our heroine is feeling attracted to Shay and torn between fighting for her independence and submitting to the rules she thinks are right.  This book was really fun to read and moves quickly.  My only complaint was that while I understand Calla's confusion, she seems to jerk Shay and Ren around unnecessarily.  I loved Ansel (C's brother), Bryn, Fey, Sabine, Xander, and Nev as supporting characters.  All of the Keepers have major creepiness quotient and I never quite knew what to feel about the Searchers.  The ending was a huge cliffhanger and I'm definitely reading the next one!

P.S.  This is book one is a trilogy.  Book Two is already available and Book Three is released in January 2012.

VERDICT: 4/5  Stars

*No money was exhanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*

Monday, October 10, 2011

Grave Times Call For Desperate Measures

Published: 03/16/2010
The Body Finder
By: Kimberly Derting
HarperTeen
ISBN-13: 9780061779817



Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.




Review


   Violet Ambrose found the dead body of a murdered girl when she was eight years old.  But since then it's been a string of animal corpses that she buries in a makeshift graveyard.  She's mostly concerned with being a teenager and dealing with emerging feelings that are more than just friendly towards her best friend Jay, who has grown up A LOT this summer.  School has started and Violet is just living her life.  Until girls start going missing and she begins finding the bodies.  The romance aspect of this book was extremely well-done and Violet's ability, while creepy, was refreshingly different from the average paranormal bent to a YA book.  I am not so far from being a teenager myself that I can't recognize just how realistic the author's portrayls of Violet, Jay, Lissie, Chelsea, Jules and Claire are (even Claire's extreme cluelessness).  I appreciated that the parents were an integral part of the kids' lives and that they were well-drawn out and also realistic as people.  Everything about this book was pretty wonderful except for the fact that it did feel like some of the will-they, won't they between Jay and Violet was unnecessary and forced.  Other than that this was a great, quick read that you won't want to put down. 

VERDICT: 4.5/5  Stars

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available online and in stores.*


Saturday, October 8, 2011

A Girl Needs Her Beauty Rest

Published: 08/09/2011
A Long, Long Sleep
By: Anna Sheehan
Candlewick Press
ISBN-13: 978-0763652609


It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone— and her future full of peril.
Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose— hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire— is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes— or be left without any future at all (synopsis courtesy of Goodreads).


Review

       The world has been to Hell and back again.  War, plagues, you name it - all of it destroyed our world.  But we put it back together.  Rosalinda Samantha Fitzroy was asleep, in stasis for over sixty years and missed it all.  She is found by chance in the basement of the complex she lived in before being put into the stasis tube.  Bren kisses her and she wakes up into a stranger world and a life that is no longer really hers.  The company that was previously owned and run by her parents, UniCorp, is now her legal guardian and she is sent to live in her old apartment once she's released from the hospital with employees as stand-in parents.  That is when things really start to get strange.  A Plastine (robot assassin) is trying to kill her, she becomes friends with blue alien Otto who was bred by her company, and tries to figure out who she is and where she belongs without Xavier, the boy she loved who is now beyond her reach.  All of this while grappling with her budding feelings for Bren and dealing with the emotional abuse her parents inflicted on her by using stasis as a punishment, and trying to regain her artistic balance.  I have to say that I LOVED this book!  Rose was an extremely interesting character who always had something going on inside of her head and her heart.  Also, the descriptive language was wonderful.  This book truly has some surprising twists and turns, with a truly shocking ending that leaves you wanting more.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys light science-fiction, mixed with romance and a hint of dystopia.  I did not want to put this book down and neither will you!

VERDICT: 5/5  Stars

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*

Friday, October 7, 2011

So.....Epic FAIL. BIG TIME.

So, anything I say is going to be completely lame.  But I'll try anyways.  I started this blog with the
intention of updating it at LEAST two or three times per week.  All good intentions aside, I had blocked out just what it means to have a job, be a full-time college student and not disappear into my room permanently (i.e. actually leave the house sometimes).  But I've decided to renew my committment to this blog because I really do want to make this work.  Therefore I will be updating at least twice a week barring any family or other emergencies and 'Once Upon a Time' on ABC will be recapped/reviewed on here every week once it starts Sunday October 23rd, 8/7 central.  Feel free to take away all my books and blind me Oedipus style if I break this promise...with that as an incentive I definitely will NOT break this promise.  And with that in mind, I am off to revise a couple of reviews to post on this blog ASAP.  I love you all, thank you for your patience and please bear with me! :)