Coming Out of My Cage, I've Been Doing Just Fine

Expected Publication: February 26th, 2013
Wicked Kiss (Nightwatchers # 2)
By: Michelle Rowen
Harlequin Teen
ISBN-13: 9780373210640

MY KISS CAN KILL.

I used to be ordinary Samantha Day, but that's changed. Now, after one dark kiss from a dangerous boy, I can steal someone's soul...or their life. If I give in to the constant hunger inside me, I hurt anyone I kiss. If I don't...I hurt myself.

Bishop is the one whose kiss I crave most, but if I kiss him, I'll kill him. Then there's another boy, one I can't hurt. One whose kiss seems to miraculously quell my hunger. They're both part of a team of angels and demons that's joined forces in my city to fight a mysterious rising darkness, an evil that threatens everyone I know and love. I just wonder if I'll be able to help Bishop-or if I'm just another part of the darkness he's sworn to destroy....

Review

 

     Samantha Day was an ordinary girl just a week ago, wanting nothing as much as to be kissed by the boy she'd been crushing on for a long time.  She didn't expect him to steal her soul when it finally happened.  Oh yeah, and Sam is also half angel and half demon, which makes things even more complicated.  Now with a constant hunger, Sam must fight and retrieve her soul before it's too late and she's gone for good.  With the help of a team of Angels and Demons assembled to keep the balance in the universe, (including fallen angel Bishop who Sam shares an attraction with and Kraven a demon, and Bishop's brother) Sam needs to find a way to get rid of the 'Grays' before the city is destroyed.  But when the dust settles who will still be alive?  I was kind of on the fence about the first book and am not really into the angels/demons YA trend that's still kind of floating around.  But this book ended up being kind of 'meh' for me like the first one.  The reason it gets as much accolade as it does from me, is mostly due to the supporting characters and not the leads.  For instance, mean girl Jordan grows and changes so much in this book, but manages to stay snarky and interesting even after becoming Sam's friend (a.k.a getting mixed up with the supernaturak shit in her life).  I also enjoyed the addition of Cassandra, the female angel sent down on a secret mission which might be at cross purposes with the rest of the group's aims.  The dynamic between Cass and the rest of the group was interesting, even if her self-righteous attitude did grate on my nerves somewhat.  The jealousy on the part of Sam got really annoying though and made me want to smack her.  As a reader I enjoyed the backstory given about Bishop and Kraven's tumultuous history and thought it was very well executed.  But the rest of the plot felt like it dragged, making me want to skip large chunks out of pure boredom.  There were a couple of plot twists that caught me off guard, which always impresses me.  I like it when an author's writing is good enough to keep me guessing.  Too bad that momentum didn't exist through the whole book.  Especially with the scene where Sam "died" and was no longer a Grey afterwards; it was so cheesy and predictable, with no real substance.  I'm glad I stuck with it and read this book, because it turns out this is the last one and it WON'T be a trilogy.  In a way that sucks, because the ending was extremely loose and even though the action plot got resolved, the romantic one definitely did not.  Overall, an unsatisfying book but a decent read.

VERDICT:  2.75/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is February 26th, 2013.*

Let's Level Up Already!

Expected Publication:  January 15th, 2013

Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles # 1)

By: Lenore Appelhans

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13:  9781442441859

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

Review

     Felicia Ward died in a car crash two days before her eighteenth birthday, with no chance to say goodbye to the love of her life.  Now she is trapped in Level 2 of the afterlife, reliving her memories with the original intent of focusing on the ones that will teach her what she needs to learn before moving on.  But the keepers of Level 2, the Morati, have since made adjustments to the procedure and keep Felicia and a host of others locked inside their memories indefinitely so they can siphon their energy in hopes of breaking through to Heaven eventually.  The one of the girls in a chamber beside her own dies and Felicia is the only one her remembers she even existed.  Then Julian, someone from Felicia's mysterious past, finds her and offers to help her find Neil if she helps overthrow the Morati so everyone can move on.  Can she help prevent a Heavenly war or will the Morati triumph in their sinister endeavors?  I went into this very excited because I am a follower of Lenore's blog and the book's premise sounded interesting and not overused like so many other YA novels.  Unfortunately (and I hate saying this) I was left feeling very underwhelmed at the end.  I liked Felicia, but felt no real connection to her.  Learning about her life before Level 2 (a.k.a. Purgatory) was a good buildup for the novel, but at the same time a lot of the writing felt stilted and the characters felt fake.  At times it was like when I was reading Twilight in the sense that Felicia felt like a Bella - a cardboard cutout, easily replaceable.  The idea of the Morati being the lukewarm angels of the rebellion versus the ones who actively participated was a good one.  It was something that made sense - eternal waiting room for the indecisive/"bad" followers of God.  The romance with Neil was unappealing for me, because I personally have never met anyone who is that good, without any visible flaws.  It made him very boring, even as a retroactive love interest.  The whole situation with Autumn and Julian didn't make Felicia sympathetic to me and it just made Julian look like a selfish prick.  Plus the way he manipulates Felicia in Level 2 made me mad.  It felt like Felicia was just there to move the action along by making stupid/good decisions.  At the end when she finally got what she'd wanted for the entire book, I just felt very ambivalent about it.  Overall, an interesting book with lackluster characters and so-so plot resolution (which I will concede was probably in part due to being book 1 in a series).  I probably won't be reading the next one.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on January 15th, 2013.*

Turn Around, Bright Eyes

Published: February 2nd, 2012

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

By: Jess Rothenberg

Penguin Young Readers Group

ISBN-13: 9780803737204

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever.

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

Review

   Brie Egan is in love, has a happy family and three perfect best friends.  She is excitedly counting down the days before she turns sixteen.  Her life is perfect - until her boyfriend Jacob tells her he doesn't love her.  He breaks her heart in half - literally and Brie dies of a broken heart.   Brie is still around though and in her own version of the afterlife - a recreation of her family's favorite pizza place.  There Brie meets Patrick, a boy who is dressed like Tom Cruise in Top Gun.  He becomes her best friend, guide through the afterlife and protector against those who would harm her.   Brie is forced to confront the fact that her life wasn't as perfect as she imagined and face the aftermath of her death on the people she left behind.  Working her way through the five stages of grief, she must learn the rules as she goes along.  Or Brie will pay an extremely  devastating price - one that will cost her the only thing she has left, her soul.  Can Brie forgive Jacob and let go of her family and her old life.  Or will she be stuck in the past for eternity?  I LOVED this book!  The characters were wonderful, especially Patrick, Brie's brother Jack, Brie and her dog Hamloaf.  I didn't know what to expect going into this book, because the premise was unlike anything I'd ever read before.  Brie Egan didn't really get me pulled into her predicament at first.  When she began her journey in the afterlife and truly started to question the supposed perfection of her old life, I got hooked in completely.  I didn't like how  2-dimensional Jacob's personality was, but the surprise twist of why he dumped Brie truly DID shock me.  I really did not see it coming.  Patrick was dreamy.  He was not perfect, but that was what made him so endearing.  I also liked the ideas of reincarnation and the afterlife that the author put forward.  They had a twist that was new to me.  By the end of the book, things had taken a darker turn but it still had a fairly light-hearted finale.  I truly loved this book and really geeked out over the song-titled chapters.  The playlist that Rothenberg has on her website is truly awesome.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something out of the norm, sweet, and with a beautiful story to it.

VERDICT:  4.75/5  Stars

*I got a copy of this book with the help of a truly awesome friend! :) (Thanks Stacia!)  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.*