Angelfall

Angelfall
by Susan Ee


It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again. - Back o' the Book

I had heard a lot of hype about this book and it seemed to be on a lot of best sellers lists so I decided to give it a try. The blurb on the back was interesting enough. Although I did like the story line and the concept was awesome, there seemed to be something wrong with how it was executed. I think what turned me off was the last of detail in the surroundings and in transitions between places. It seemed like the story was moving forward with a white background and only dialogue and inner thought to give you a sense of where you are. I felt lost while I was reading it. 

I'm not saying it was a bad book. I did enjoy the intrigue and the slight romance but then again, the characters seemed very flat to me. The main character, Penryn (which is an awkward name to say aloud) din't seem to grow at all during the whole book. I knew exactly what she would do from start to finish and she seemed too much like a fiction character. The main guy, Raffe, was also flat to me. He didn't have much to say and his actions seemed bored and apathetic most of the time, like a hollow shell of the cliche "YA bad boy" persona. Even other characters in the book that came by only for a scene or two seemed very fake and empty.

I feel a little bad for being so critical but I wasn't as insanely impressed as I thought I would be and I could tell by page 1. However, I don't regret reading it. It was quick to get through and kept me interested the whole way through. I can say it was never boring. I know that the author is planning another few books in the same series and I'm willing to get the next one and see if she develops her characters more. Not super great but not a bad read either. Just my opinion anyway. 

Shadows

Shadows
by Ilsa J. Bick

Out of the ashes, a new world emerges
A world stalked by the flesh-eating Changed – young, armed and hungry
A world ruled by the Elders, willing to kill to survive
A world in which no one is safe, and humans might be the worst of monsters
Alex and Tom, un-Changed, face unthinkable horror in their desperate struggle to find each other.
But the biggest terror of all is the monster within. Because no-one yet knows which young people Change, or why.
And no-one knows who will be next …-Back o' the Book

So I've been waiting so very (im)patiently for the second book of the Ashes Trilogy to come out and I nabbed it as soon as I could pre-order it. The first one was fantastic and the second was even better! It's fast paced the whole way through, I never felt any drag. The author does an amazing job of leaving you hanging at the end of every single chapter.

My only minor complain, or warning, would be the characters names are hard to keep track of if you read the last one a while ago like I did. I had to look up a quick summary to refresh my mind on all the names of the characters.

I can say I really don't want  to wait for the third book to come out (probably another year) but I am so very excited! I love this series!

-Recommended (Warning for graphic description/gore)

Insurgent

Insurgent
by Veronica Roth


One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. -Back o' the Book

This is book 2 (and I believe it's the last of the series) for the novel Divergent. I really enjoyed the first book but was kind of unimpressed by the main character although I did see much room for personal growth. In Insurgent, I was not disappointed. The stakes were much higher, the plot deeper, and the characters more complex, especially Tris, our heroine. I enjoyed watching her develop a personality and how bad things seemed to pile up on her. Her rise to the call of bravery was also invigorating to watch. 

I thought the ending left a lot of questions but gave you enough to satisfy (if this really is the end). I think anyone who likes dystopian novels would appreciate this series as much as I did. It even has a tad bit of romance in it although it's not riddled with it.

-Recommended

Crack Up To Be

Cracked Up To Be
by Courtney Summers

Perfect Parker Fadley isn't so perfect anymore.  She’s quit the cheerleading squad, she’s dumped her perfect boyfriend, and she’s failing school.  Her parents are on a constant suicide watch and her counselors think she’s playing games…but what they don’t know, the real reason for this whole mess, isn't something she can say out loud.  It isn't even something she can say to herself.  A horrible thing has happened and it just might be her fault.  If she can just remove herself from everybody--be totally alone--then everything will be okay...The problem is, nobody will let her. -Back o' the Book

I was initially drawn to this story because I never liked the cheerleading, popular in school thing (I was a band/drama/art nerd) and I wanted to see why she left her in crowd. I was also curious as to what her big secret was. I had a hard time grasping onto her personality during the first chapter or so because what she was doing was kind of opposite of what she was thinking. After I got a hold of her, I really enjoyed her sarcasm but got frustrated when she continually pushed people further and further away.

The book was riddled with language, but then again, so was High School. It was a quick and engrossing read that had me curious the whole way through because the author did a great job giving you little tid bits of information that you slowly piece together until the final puzzle is revealed.

Hunting Lila

Hunting Lila
by Sarah Alderson

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she’s prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever.

After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust – her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them. In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone – there are others out there just like her – people with special powers -and her mother’s killer is one of them…-Back o' the Book

I found this book that was recommend on a blog site I follow and I think overall it was pretty good. To be honest I thought the beginning of the book went by rather slow, but it did pick up towards the end where I didn't really want to stop reading till I found out what happened.

The main character was a little young for me and a little boy crazy, but I'm hoping she will develop and mature in the next book because with her powers, she has a lot of potential to be a strong character. I would say this is a good book for teens to young adults who like some of the sci-fi mixed in (like I do) and I think I'm going to give the sequel of this book a chance and see if it delivers. It has tons of potential to do so.

The Green Mile

The Green Mile
by Stephen King

Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk the Green Mile, keeping a date with "Old Sparky," Cold Mountain's electric chair. Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities in his years working the Mile. But he's never seen anyone like John Coffey, a man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child, condemned for a crime terrifying in its violence and shocking in its depravity. In this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecombe is about to discover the terrible, wondrous truth about Coffey, a truth that will challenge his most cherished beliefs...and yours. - Back o' the Book

I had heard about this book many times over the years and even saw a small portion of the movie. I recently found it for a dollar so I decided to give it a go and boy, was I sucked in! From the very start this book was completely engrossing. The characters were all so diverse and developed, it was like a movie playing in my head. I never wanted to put this book down.

It does have quite a bit of language and some more adult scenes, but I really really enjoyed it. I loved the way King created the language and set the time period so well. I also was very in love with the ending of the book. There are few novels out there that I can say I was completely satisfied with the ending, but this was sure one of them. A must read!
-Recommended (for adults)

Eona

Eona
by Alison Goodman

Eon has been revealed as Eona, the first female Dragoneye in hundreds of years. Along with fellow rebels Ryko and Lady Dela, she is on the run from High Lord Sethon's army. The renegades are on a quest for the black folio, stolen by the drug-riddled Dillon; they must also find Kygo, the young Pearl Emperor, who needs Eona's power and the black folio if he is to wrest back his throne from the selfstyled "Emperor" Sethon. Through it all, Eona must come to terms with her new Dragoneye identity and power—and learn to bear the anguish of the ten dragons whose Dragoneyes were murdered. As they focus their power through her, she becomes a dangerous conduit for their plans... -Back o' the Book

So this is the sequel to Eon, the book I posted about previously. I really liked the first one but I liked the second even better. It kept building and building till the last few pages when it all came together. Like I mentioned before, I liked the way the author created the setting as well as the diverse characters. I loved the way the characters changed over the course of one book, it was very fun to read about their transformation.

Most books I can guess what's going to happen but this one held me in the dark most of the time, which is kind of refreshing, in a frustrating way. If you enjoy fantasy and strong characters, this is the book for you! (But please start with the first book.)

-Recommended