What's Behind Door Number Three?

Expected Publication:  February 12th, 2013
Pivot Point (Pivot Point # 1) 
By: Kasie West
HarperTeen
ISBN-13:  9780062117373

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

Review

     Addie has a serious decision to make - whether or not to leave the Compound she's lived in her entire life to live with her Dad or to stay there with her Mom.  On the outside things would be completely different with the Norms, people without special abilities like Addie, her friends and family have at their fingertips.  So Addie does what she always has, she uses her ability to search both potential outcomes to decide what to choose.   But when things get dangerous and it looks like Addie's only choice is what way she prefers to be unhappy, what will she choose?  And can her choice mean the difference between life or death, hate or love?  This was an extremely interesting book.  I loved the fact that Addie could search into the future and DECIDE which choice to make based on the outcomes.  Usually in fiction, if a characters has a time travel/alternate dimension related ability, they can't use it to make their future different in any way.  Addie is able to bypass that stifling rule and do things her own way.  The relationships she has with her parents and best friend, Laila,  are very well developed and highly realistic. I loved the snarky comments and the rebel hair-streaking in the reality where she chooses her Mom.  The romances with Duke and Trevor, respectively, were both carried off perfectly.  Only at the end do you realize that one of them has been playing Addie  and using her for their own purposes.  There is also a side story with the paranormally inclined teens using their powers to hurt other athletes, striking out competition.  Honestly, I didn't find it completely necessary but it did help tie the two realities together nicely and bring things full circle.  The ending was something that disappointed me but also made me happy.  Addie did what was right and missed out on her happy ending.  But it seemed like she might find her way back to it at the end.  Overall, a fun and well-written mystery/romance that I would recommend to fans of time travel and alternate realities.  I will definitely be reading the next one in the series! :)

VERDICT:  4/5  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 February 12th, 2013.*

Josie Griffin Is More Kickass Than A Vampire...But Not By Much

Published:  September 13th, 2012
Josie Griffin Is Not A Vampire
By: Heather Swain
Speak
ISBN-13:  9780142421000

A hilarious take on the paranormal trend--Twilight meets The Breakfast Club!

When former good girl turned rebel Josie Griffin gets busted for what was in her mind perfectly acceptable revenge on her cheating dog of a boyfriend, she lands herself in anger management therapy. It could be worse: it could be juvvie, or she could be a zombie cheerleader like the rest of her former friends. But there's something strange about therapy--these are not normal kids. There's the wannabe ladies man with a weird accent, Johann; the blindingly gorgeous Helios; Avis with his wild dreads; and Tarren, the sprite of a girl with a wicked temper. And all of them keep talking about "powers." Josie knows that has to be impossible, but strange things start happening, and nothing weird ever happens in Indiana. After all, there're no such things as vampires, werewolves, Greek gods, or fairies . . . right?

Review

 

     Josie Griffin had the perfect boyfriend, great best friends and was living the teenage dream as a popular high school cheerleader.  Than she found her boyfriend kissing one of her BFFs - and found out the other supposed best friend knew and didn't say anything.  So you can't really blame a girl for busting out his windshield...right?  Except now she's court ordered to attend anger management therapy and do community service.  Not so bad, except when she lands in a group where everyone believes they're a mythological creature.  There's a vampire, a shapeshifter, a fairy, and what might be a Greek God.  Then girls from the shelter that Josie is working off her community service at begin to disappear.  It's up to Josie and her new friends to figure out what's going on, before it's too late for the girls that are still left.  But can Josie fit in with these kids, even though she's just a human?  This book started off very promising and I was laughing during the first few chapters, at Josie's fun personality and cheering for her continued strength.  It didn't last.  Josie stays consistently okay as a lead character, but is very shallow for the entirety of the book.  She never undergoes any real character development and neither do any of the others, especially her love interest Helios.  I felt like the more interesting characters in this were Tarren (the fairy) and Kayla (one of the girls from the shelter).  It was very predictable, in a Saturday night B-movie kind of way.  I smiled a few times, but overall I really did not connect with this one at all.  The resolution to the mystery was very obvious throughout the whole book and it made me groan at the cliche of it all.  A cute read, but nothing deeper below the surface. 

 

VERDICT:  2.75/5  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 became available for purchase or at your local library on September 13th, 2012.*



You Disappeared Into the Shadows...

Expected Publication: September 11th, 2012
Shadowfell (Shadowfell # 1)
By: Juliet Marillier
Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780375869549

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill--a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk--Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

Review

   Neryn has been on the run with her Father for the last few years, after the King's men burned her village to the ground and the rest of her family died.  Now they are wanderers, with almost nothing to their names except each other - until her Father tries to gamble Neryn away on a Riverboat for a bet.  She's saved by a strange man named Flint, who doesn't harm her like she expects him to.  Instead he helps her to realize that the only place she'll ever truly be safe is one that might not even exist except in her brother's stories...Shadowfell.  It's a place where Neryn might be able to live without being afraid of dying because she is gifted.  Neryn has the ability to see the Good Folk (fae and other magical creatures) whether or not they want to be seen and to communicate with them.  In order to become the person she needs to be, Neryn has to pass tests laid out by the Good Folk, to prove her worth to them.  It is said that only a certain type of person can overthrow King Keldec's evil rule.  Could that person be Neryn?  Will she be able to find the strength and courage within herself to make it happen?  There was a lot of build-up in this book.  It's understandable considering it's the first in a new series.  At the beginning Neryn sort of annoyed me.  She acted really wimpy and frightened all the time, going with Flint after he won her in a game of chance.  I will say that she wasn't entirely unquestioning, but she didn't fight for herself as hard as a normal person would.  There is a lot of interaction with the Good Folk, who aren't exactly fond of humans due to Keldec's reign of terror (totally plausible) and are skeptical of Neryn from the start.  Some want to help her and manage to aid her in times of trouble but others want nothing more than for her to fail.  I am not normally fond of books involving Fae, but this one was more into other versions of little folk than just solely Fae.  The mythology of the land wasn't touched upon much, but what came across interested me a lot.  Flint was definitely not what I expected personality-wise, although the revelations about his identity weren't totally unwarranted.   One thing that bugged me was the lack of anything that actually had to do with Shadowfell, the place, until almost the end of the book.  I did enjoy the battle scene though and liked the overall plot and resolution to the first book.  I already liked Marillier's writing and this book was no exception, although not perfect.  I am excited to see Neryn's new adventures in the next novel.

VERDICT:  4/5  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 11th, 2012.*

Be Gone From My Sight

Published: September 6th, 2011
Vanish
By: Sophie Jordan
HarperTeen
ISBN-13: 9780061935107


An impossible romance.
Bitter rivalries.
Deadly choices.

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

Review

   At the end of Firelight, Jacinda and her family were headed home to stand judgement for leaving the pride.  Cassian had found them and separated Jacinda from Will, a boy she had come to love unknowing of the fact that he was a hunter.  By being with him she betrayed all of her kind in the worst way.  Upon arrival back home, Tamra finally manifests as a full blown Draki and Jacinda is greeted with hostility by everyone she used to love.  Will she choose to stay and be with Cassian like he's always wanted or run away with Will when he comes looking for her?  And what will the cost be when she makes her decision?  Jacinda truly annoyed me in this book.  It was like reading Twilight with dragons and hunters, instead of vampires and werewolves (which actually, they were shapeshifters STEPHANIE MEYER!!!).  I also really had no sympathy for her Mother, who was kind of useless in the first book and completely useless in this one.  I would have liked to read more about Tamra's unexpected changes and how she felt about finally belonging in a world that had rejected her for so long.  That would have been an interesting book.....but NO, I got to read about Jacinda and how she couldn't make up her mind which boy she wanted.  So she just tortured them both for the entire book!  I am truly sick and tired of love triangles as they are horrible and neither boy ever comes out looking like a winner, because they're both wasting time on a stupid girl who takes them both for granted.  The plot in this book was mostly filler, as it had to set the stage for the final book in the trilogy.  Which, by the way, I will not be reading!!!  I do not recommend this book if you value your time in any way whatsoever.

VERDICT:  1/5  Stars

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