It's a Love Story, Baby Just Say Yes

Expected Publication: October 9th, 2012

Mystic City (Mystic City # 1)

By: Theo Lawrence

Random House Children's Books

ISBN-13: 9780385741606

For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.

Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.  

Review

   Aria Rose is missing a major chunk of time.  So major, that she can't remember falling in love with Thomas Foster, the son of her family's multi-generational political  enemy or that they were engaged.  She also doesn't remember her supposed overdose on a mind altering substance created by the magic of mystics, called Stic.  Aria begins to question whether or not things really happened the way she's been told after she finds Thomas in a compromising position and it seems like her parents will do anything for her not to remember.  Then she meets Hunter, a rebel Mystic from the Depths of the city who wants to destroy the current political order, and Aria feels an inexplicable connection to him.  Things begin to unlock from her memories and send her down a dangerous path that might lead to the collapse of New York City - and her entire world with it.  Can Aria figure out the truth in time to know who to trust?  And who will live or die when it comes down to the biggest fight of them all?  I was intrigued by the concept of global warming trashing the world and causing a new class system to form.  The fact that natural magic was thrown into it caused me to request this from the publisher.  I was left with mixed feelings by the time the book ended, which are still mixed a half a month later.  Aria was semi-likeable, but I felt like she used her missing memories to act like a ceramic doll at some points and an atrocious brat at others (like when dealing with Hunter at first).  The whole dynamic between the Mystics, who are drained of the powers to keep them 'harmless', and the wealthy non-Mystics was very confusing.  If I had the powers to make people do what I wanted them to, would I voluntarily let myself be drained, treated like a second-class citizen and crushed into inescapable poverty?  HELL TO THE NO!!!  It didn't strike me as very realistic.  I liked Hunter and his complicated back-story and Thomas was delightfully morally ambiguous for a slightly villainous side character.  Aria's friends Bennie and Kiki were basically afterthoughts and despite the author's attempt to make Davida a major part of the story, I never saw any depth to the servant girl's relationship with Aria (which was supposedly really close).  I felt like it was a little to clearly drawn in terms of right and wrong, without enough in-between to be a truly satisfying and fleshed out story.  Aria as a heroine did annoy me at the constant obliviousness she displayed to what was really going on around her.  And there was some major inconsistency in the overall world-building that irks me.  Generally not a book I would recommend for anyone but tween girls, or young adult/adult readers looking for a bit of fluff.  I won't be going further with this series.

VERDICT:  3/5  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 October 9th, 2012.*

I'm A Fighter, Even Without You

Expected Publication: September 25th, 2012

Covet (The Clann # 2)

By: Melissa Darnell

Harlequin Teen

ISBN-13: 9780373210565

Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart.

Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she's becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake.

Tristan can't believe Sav won't even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don't expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for.

A reckoning is coming… and not everyone will survive.

Review

   Savannah thought that once they got Tristan back from the Council everything would go back to normal.  But then she was forced to promise that she would stop seeing him and she found out that the Clann had kidnapped her Grandma because of Tristan's disappearance.  But by the time she, her Dad and Tristan make it home it's too late for Sav's Grandma - she's died.  Now the bloodlust-dampening spell that she used to cast on Savannah has also died with her, which means that she has to live with her Dad now and her Mom is going on the road in an RV purchased from selling their house.  To add to Savannah's misery and guilt, it turns out that the spell her Grandma was casting for her bloodlust requires a sacrifice and damaged her heart severly - it's possibly what killed her.  Now to prevent a war between vampires and the Clann, Savannah must keep away from Tristan and not let anyone know that she's secretly teaching herself magic (which is against the rules).  But will it be enough when murders of Clann members seemingly caused by vampires come to light?  And what does Anne's ex-boyfriend Ron have to do with the Clann?  This began right where the first book left off and for that I was grateful.  It helped me remember what had been going on when it ended.  I loved that Savannah was strong enough to keep her promise and truly understood the danger of her and Tristan being together.  It gave me a lot of respect for her as a character that she understood the consequences of her actions and took responsibility for them.  Tristan on the other hand, acted like a spoiled brat for half of the book.  While Savannah was trying to deal with her growing bloodlust, friendship problems with balancing both Anne and Ron's time, dealing with her Grandma's death and losing her Mom to the road, she also has to deal with Tristan making things even harder for her.  He is constantly shoving thoughts into her head once he realizes she can read his mind (memories of them, mental images of him with other girls, etc.) constantly begging her and trying to tempt her into getting back together with him.  Plus he's stringing along another girl through almost the entire book and supposedly doesn't realize he's doing it...YEAH RIGHT.  What a douche!  He can't take no for an answer and even asks Sav's Dad to make him into a vamp, knowing it might cause a war.  I loved the development of Savannah's kick-ass BFF Anne and her unfairly dumped boyfriend Ron, who has a supernatural secret of his own (with all the hints that are dropped, it wasn't a shock AT ALL).  They really became characters in their own right in this book more so than the first one, especially once Savannah tells Anne her secret.  The ending of this book was kind of obvious to who the murderer was, plus the whole subplot with Tristan's sister was unnecessary and I couldn't believe how dense her family was to the reality of the situation.  I enjoyed seeing Mr. Colbert's interactions with his maker and Sav dealing with her vampire development.  But the way the book ended, and what happened to Tristan really made me mad.  It's the reason I deducted an extra half star from my rating.  I now quite hate him and wish he meets a horrible end.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  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 September 25th, 2012.*

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.*