REVIEW: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

            I found myself whispering, “Do you think we’ll ever discover all the secrets of the universe?”

            I was surprised to hear Susie’s voice answering my question. “That would be a beautiful thing, wouldn’t it, Ari?”

            “Yeah,” I whispered. “Really beautiful.”

            “Do you think, Ari, that love has anything to do with the secrets of the universe?”

            Dante can swim. Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari’s features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

            But when Ari and Dante meet, the bond. They share books, thoughts, dreams, laughter. They teach each other new vocabularies and begin to redefine each other’s worlds. And they discover that the universe is a large and difficult place.

            This is the story about two boys, Ari and Dante, who must learn to believe in each other and the power of their friendship if they ever are to become men.

            For me, this was that book that I literally had to hug after I finished it. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book like I love this book. It shocks me how much emotion this little book evoked in me. I think I love coming-of-age stories. Not only that, I love homosexual ships that sail. This is a little-known fact about me.

            Aristotle, or rather Ari, was a great perspective to hear the story from. He was just a boy battling a war inside of him just like his parents were battling their own. He wasn’t a man yet, and he didn’t know when it would start. Ari’s voice was beautiful and the ending of the book had me crying from happiness.

            Then there’s his best friend, Dante. He’s charming and the kindest boy ever. He introduces Ari to a wealth of new things, and it’s amazing to see the beginning of their relationship. SPOILER: Ari saves Dante’s life and that’s where you see the cogs turning. The doctor asks why, when it could have killed Ari, and Ari responds that it was a reflex. Saving the love of your life should be a reflex. END SPOILER.

            The way AUTHOR wrote the book was also gorgeous. Every chapter ended on a sort of thinker from Ari. There were a lot of little moments like that throughout the book  where Ari was just trying to figure life out (his to be more specific), and I loved them all. I kept wanted to get to the end of the chapter because I loved them so much. But I also loved starting the next chapter. It was an endless cycle.

            The only thing I don’t think I liked were how Gina and Susie’s characters weren’t a constant or consistent thing throughout the book. They did their purpose, but I wish they’d been consistent. Granted, the only friend Ari ever needed was Dante.

            Did I mention the ending killed me? I have to go buy this book and read it again it was so good. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. Beautiful, beautiful book, and I really can’t say more lest I look like an obsessed maniac. Everyone needs to read this book!

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: We are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

Nell worships her older sister, Layla. They’re one unit, intertwined: Nellayla. As Nell and her best friend, Felix, start their freshman year in high school, on Layla’s turf, there’s so much Nell looks forward to: Joining Layla on the varsity soccer team. Parties. Boys. Adventures.

But the year takes a very different turn.

Layla is changing, withdrawing. She’s hiding something, and when Nell discovers what it is, and the consequences it might have, she struggles. She wants to support Layla, to be her confidante, to be the good sister she’s always been. But with so much at stake, what secrets should she keep? What lies should she tell?

This book was raw. That’s the best word I can come up with for it. Nell feels like her Layla are one and the same. They’re practically like twins, and they’re what I would call “sibling endgame”. Kind of like Dean and Sam Winchester. And yes, in the beginning I thought there might be some Nellayla-cest coming my way. I wasn’t okay with that, and luckily it never showed up.

It was an amazing book though. In the beginning, I wasn’t too sure how I liked the structure of the book or Nell’s character. It’s written similar to a diary or a letter to Layla without chapter heads. So it’s told in first person from Nell to Layla (you). It was weird and confusing after just reading Killer Instinct (another book that uses a second POV of sorts), but I really got into it. And the reason, I see now, I didn’t like Nell initially is because she wasn’t her own person. She was the second Layla—at least she certainly tried to be.

It was very raw to see Layla pull away from Nell and for Nell to have to find herself and become a singular when she’d always kind of been a plural. Layla was always the constant in Nell’s life, and then she stopped. Anyway, it was really great. The way it was written gave great insight into the situation and into Nell’s internal struggles against the person she’d always been.

Plus, there’s Felix. Oh my did I adore everything about Felix. He and Nell are my one of my favorite ships. I don’t know if it will ever sail, but it did in my heart. I’m not sure if that’s a spoiler or not…. But it’s definitely a book to read. All the characters’ struggles really tore at my heartstrings. Even Layla was a great character to read. She was horrible to her sister in a lot of ways, but I know it made Nell a stronger person by the end of the book. Everyone in this book had growing up to do, and it was amazing to read.

As for what I didn’t particularly like, well, that’s hard to pinpoint. The setting was great, the writing was beautiful, the characters soared. It was all really awesome. Some things I would have liked to see would have been the reason behind the story’s style. Was it a letter to Layla? Was Nell an avid diary writer? The way it was written worked incredibly well but I wish I knew why it had been done that way. I also wish there’d been a little more familial conflict for the Goldens in that the parents are divorced and the father is remarried so there should have been a little bit of tension between those two.

These are really small things though. I didn’t think I was going to end up liking this book, but I really did and I hope everyone reads it just so I can talk about it to people.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: The Devouring by Simon Holt

 

The Vours: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice.

This isn’t how the horror ended for us—this is how it began.

When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it’s clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman’s imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life.

To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her?

This is definitely in my list of favorite books. It’s not a super imaginative and new sort of way to present a horror story, but the monster Simon Holt creates is quite terrifying. Creatures from another dimension that possess the bodies of the alone and fearful, and then live out their lives while the original owner of the body is forced into a world where all their fears reside and torture them for the rest of their lives.

It’s an awful thought, and I love that Holt set such a story to a well-known sort of plot-backdrop. Reggie and her best friend love the macabre and all things horror. Reggie likes to read her little brother bedtime nightmares. Reggie and her best friend go all Bloody Mary on this Vours legend and Reggie’s little brother gets possessed.

Even though it’s a simple story, it packs a punch. There are a lot of twists and turns that made me question whether I could ever be as strong as Reggie and defeat my own fears. It’s a great book to read when you’re alone, at night. NOT.

Holt did a great job, though. He packed in just enough description of all the fears being brought to life, that I could really see and feel the terror. I’ve got to say, I wouldn’t have survived a day in the “fearscape” of Reggie’s little brother, Henry. But I didn’t survive the book, and look forward to reading the other two in the series!

Of course, despite there being so many things I enjoyed, there are always things that could have been done better. While I think Holt used a good amount of imagery, I’m still sad he didn’t use more. I didn’t just want to see the horrors, I wanted to smell, taste, and feel them. I’m a horror buff, so I love this genre. I also wish I’d gotten to see a little more of Henry before he was possessed. Granted, I could tell that he was not Henry once he was possessed, but I still wish I’d had a little more of the original to go off of.

Not a lot of the mechanics are described in this book. They attack your brain and push your soul to another dimension? I’m just going to assume that more will be revealed on this in the next two books. Along with that, I thought Reggie’s best friend, Aaron, was too much of a wimp for my liking. It played a great importance in the book, but I think it was a little too much. That being said, I wish Reggie had more fears than just spiders. The Vours say she’ll be an easy target because of this, and that’s fun and all, but she needed more.

Oh and the father is a total bust. He’s awful. I know Henry’s only a little boy, but little to what your daughter has to say, okay? Jeez. I’m sure this awful dynamic is only going to played on more in the next book. What an horrible parent. Well, parents if you count that “mother of the year”. Anyway, I’m done I promise. It’s a great book if you want a quick and scary read. It’s action-packed and there’s some great plot twists in there too.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

None of us had normal childhoods. If we had, we wouldn’t be Naturals.

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she, Dean, Lia, Michael, and Sloane can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father. Dean wants nothing to do with his father or the case, but the FBI needs his insight. As much as his friends want to help him, Cassie isn’t sure how they can, especially when her feelings for Dean are almost as complicated as the case itself. And on top of all that, the crew has to contend with a supervisor who wants to shut down the Naturals program, the drama that comes with five very different teens living under one roof, and a slew of cold cases that need their attention.

While I really enjoyed this book, I’m not sure I enjoyed it nearly as much as the first one. The first book made the killer personal to Cassie whereas this one was personal to Dean, who happens to be very personal to Cassie. Somehow, this one just wasn’t as bang as the last one. I still really enjoyed it. I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ writing. It’s easy like a Sunday morning to read, and always amazing.

First off, I wanna say that the way the killer was revealed in this one was very ingenious! Such plot twists. Much wow. And I really felt like the gang came together as more of a team in the one. It just sucked because Cassie had that sort of epiphany moment at the end just a little late. It rang a little sour in my mouth. Cassie’s supposed to be this amazingly gifted profiler, yet she doesn’t follow through on her instincts all the time. Granted, there was a character, Agent Sterling, who was trying her hardest to make sure Cassie didn’t follow her instincts.

I loved all the reveals in the book, but I wish there’d been a little more about Cassie’s mom. It was such a driving force in the first one that I wish there’d been just a little more. Granted, I loved the nuance similarity made between Cassie’s and Dean’s backgrounds with familial killers. That all worked perfectly.

Aside from that, Briggs got really mean in this book, and that startled me. I know the case was getting to him, but it might have been too much. There were also secondary characters that did not get nearly enough book time. Sloane and Judd. Their stories started unraveling, and then I was given nothing! I adore Sloane so much and she was not integral enough in the story. Then Judd’s reveal, and there’s no real evidence that any of that has an effect on him when it should! I just think Judd wasn’t fleshed out enough.

Overall it was a great book though. Daniel Redding reminds me of Joe Carroll from The Following, and that was very cool. I really enjoyed seeing Dean’s father and hearing his background, I just wish there’d been more in the other storylines instead of focusing so heavily just on that one. Bring me more Sloane in the third book!

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

A modern tale of star-crossed lovers with a fresh urban twist.

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago, everyone knows that south-siders mixing with north-siders can be explosive. So when Brittany Ellis and Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, this human experiment leads to unexpected revelations—that Brittany’s flawless reputation is a cover for her troubled home life, that Alex’s bad-boy persona hides his desire to break free from gang ties, and that when they’re together, life somehow makes more sense.

Breaking through the stereotypes and expectations that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart, Perfect Chemistry takes readers to both sides of the tracks in a passionate love story about looking beneath the surface.

I had heard a lot of hype about this book for a long time, and I’ve actually owned the book just as long. It was only recently that I finally took the chance to read the book, and I have to say that the hype is completely true. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Brittany in the beginning because of how “perfect” she was and made herself appear to be. I’m not saying Brittany was ever my favorite character, but I understood her home troubles and why she was the way she was.

Alex, however, was one of my favorite characters. He was the bad boy, with a good heart and those characters make me swoon. He felt tied and unable to escape the gang due to his father’s mistakes and the mistakes he is trying to prevent his younger brothers from making. All in all, the characters and their flaws were portrayed amazingly, and the north-side, south-side dynamic was on point and perfectly executed.

I did have a few issues with the book though, the first being the ending. While I loved seeing the year’s later epilogue, I felt that it was an outdated and easy-out sort of ending. I know that there are a couple of sequels to this book, told through Alex’s brother’s points of view, and I would have loved to see the ending of Alex’s and Brittany’s stories through the brother’s eyes instead of the way in which Simone Elkeles did it. I understand that sometimes sequels aren’t a guarantee and you want your readers to know how everything ended happily ever after, but that’s the joy of YA. Your characters are teens and we read the stories to see them grow up and have their whole lives ahead of them. YA books are open-ended most times because of that. Sure, the guy and girl get together but we will never know if they stay together or the trial and the tribulations of their relationship because they’re no longer young adults.

A bit of a rant there, sorry. Other than that, the rest of the cons I had are just the other side of the coin of my pros for the book. While I thought the characters were great, I didn’t love them. Paco and Isabel were the only characters I completely loved. They were true to themselves and to their friends. Brittany and Alex just got so caught up in themselves, and everyone else in the book did too and that was annoying. One relationship cannot be the end of the world.

My final con was the whole part where Alex ran away. I hated that he did that and didn’t just deal with his issues. His family was in danger, which I believed, but it was so weak of him. Sure, he fixed all his problems in the end, but that just made me frown.

Anyway, that’s all I have for that book. Do read it, because it was really good! I know it seems like it wasn’t, but I did love it overall. I even loved the epilogue even though I hated that it was there. Does that make sense?

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: All Fall Down by Ally Carter

 

Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She is not crazy.

2. Her mother was murdered.

3. Some day she is going to find the killer and make him pay.

As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her—so there’s no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door, who is keep his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understand.

Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile, blocking out all her unpretty thoughts. But they can’t control Grace—no more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do. Her past has come back to hunt her…and if she doesn’t stop it, Grace isn’t the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.

That was really unexpected. You know, I thought I understood Ally Carter’s writing. She likes to write serial series’ that don’t delve into too much graphic content. She does it so well. I love her writing. I expected this book to be kind of like it. My first thought was that I was so glad the Scooby Gang got together so soon in this one, and then BANG! Carter went and changed everything with this book! It’s so much darker and twistier than what she’s written up till now. And I loved it!

From the start, I knew that Grace was gonna be a great protagonist. She’s a strong, independent woman who don’t need no man and has seen some stuff. She’s a dark character with a dark past, similar to Rachel Vincent’s protagonist in her Soul Screamers series. More than that, she has flaws for days. She knows she’ll never be one of the guys, and she hates it. She knows her whole family doesn’t love her like they used to before her mother was killed, and she knows everyone she’s her as the crazy, broken little girl.

It was kind of annoying how much the adults refused to little to Grace, but it also kind of made sense in the end. I just wish Grace had quit talking to them. We get it in the end, but the scenes got a little old. I also can’t say there were a lot of twists throughout the book, just simply the huge waterfall of them at the very end. I wish there’d been a little more throughout, but it was still a great book. I wasn’t hooked on the first couple chapters but after that I was flying through the book. (Spoiler alert) She leaped off a cliff and I leaped into the book. The book was dark and deep, and a great read. I can’t wait for the next one!

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Everything is going to change….

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is empty.

But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as anyone can remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, for just as long, they’re closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the Maze after dark.

The Gladers were expecting Thomas’s arrival. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might find their way home…wherever that may be. But it’s looking more and more as if the Maze is unsolvable.

And something about the girl’s arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers—if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind.

I don’t tend to read YA books written by male authors, something about their synopses just never catches my eye. Odd considering the fact that the first book to make me fall in love with reading was a Sci Fi written by a male author (he later became my first favorite author). So I wasn’t originally set on reading this book until I heard about the film adaptation and that the love of my life, Dylan O’Brien, would be starring as Thomas. So I decided to read the book. Have I no shame? None.

I have to say that I am so glad I picked up this book. Not only did it re-spark my respect for YA male authors, but it kick-started my fast-dying love of dystopian books. This book kind of had a little bit of everything I love in it. It was kind of like Lord of the Flies meets The 100. It had all the new civilization dynamics of both, but with no background knowledge. All these boys and the one girl end up in the Glade with no knowledge of their pasts, and yet they still form a working and stable civilization with rules and everything.

James Dashner did a great job in creating this first book. There was so much intrigue and mystery surrounding the lift, WICKED, the girl, the Maze, and Thomas. All the characters were really well developed and the book didn’t end up as a giant info-dump-lopedia, as a lot tend to when there’s a character in a brand new place. The character has to ask questions to figure out what’s going on, and it wasn’t overdone in this book.

Another thing I love about the book was the mix of animal with machine, as most of the creatures in the Maze were. They were gruesome and downright terrifying even though they weren’t nearly as large as they were portrayed in the film. The film’s Maze creatures were so stupid, honestly.

Also, the way to figure out the Maze was genius. I would not have been able to figure is out, which is why I wouldn’t have been alive to get put in the Glade in the first place (plus I’m not Theresa). Sure, there were a few loose ends left untied, but what book one doesn’t have that. It’s definitely one I would recommend. It’s a quick read and a lot of things happen, and tons of secrets are revealed that make for a brilliant read.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI comes knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

Creepy times 10 billion, and brilliant to boot. When I picked up The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, I knew I was going to love it. I mean, how many times does one get to read a police procedural type YA? I can count on one finger how many times, thank you very much. I can honestly say that I believe this to be one of Barnes’ best books so far. Her use of second person for the small chapters in the killer’s perspective was not only absolutely terrifying, but also absolutely fantastic. And even with these killer POV chapters, this book still read at a level acceptable for middle grade as well as young adult. A feat, I tell you.

            The book cover is beautiful and the writing style is very succinct and to the point as a police procedural should be. The characters were good, though they could have been more dynamic. Lia did not seem like an important enough character and was not in the story enough for her to have had to be there. As for the rest of the characters, they were really well done and their Naturals ability truly shone through and developed their characters further. Dean wasn’t as developed as I wanted, though he was supposed to me tall, dark and mystery and thus I did not give a damn! The plot was great, though rushed and a bit clique at the very end. I was reading the big twist at the end about a paragraph before it actually occurred. That was disappointing. The writing wasn’t necessarily poetic or deep but it worked for the story written. With an analytical story such as this, where the characters are all Naturals at what they do, having that stylized critical sort of writing worked amazingly. I mean, all Sloane did was give statistics throughout the book, no other sort of dialogue really, and I feel like I know that character like the back of my hand.

            Overall, I loved the book. I thought the writing was great and made for a really quick read, which I like. I loved the characters, Sloane and Michael being my favorites, and little plot twists throughout (which I won’t mention because spoilers kill baby animals) were well thought out and cunningly brilliant. I really enjoyed the found family trope in this, as well as the tension between Cassie, Michael and Dead. It was a great love triangle of sorts and I honestly have no idea who she’ll choose, much less who I actually want her with. It’s a mental struggle I’m going through, I swear. Also the tension between how Dean used I when profiling and Cassie used You really helped separate and unify the character together despite them both being Natural profilers. It worked incredibly well and helped define their unique backgrounds and how they’ve shaped them.

            I can honestly say that I have not seen a book quite like this one in YA, and rightly so. Who in their right mind thinks, “I’m going to turn Criminal Minds into a YA novel”? Nobody sane is who. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is amazing, and her psychology background really pushed this book to a whole other level. It was an awesome read and I honestly feel like I could recommend it to anyone. What’s next for this author? The YA Grey’s Anatomy? I would actually keel over if that ever happened. I actually tried to think of a way to do it and I have absolutely nothing and so I’m now determined to figure out a way. I may never write it because I didn’t even get past high school biology (I’m graduating with my undergrad in December) in terms of non-social sciences and so I would fail miserably. Anyway, read this book if you haven’t already. It’s great. Sloane is to The Naturals as Abby is to NCIS. If that doesn’t peak your interest then I just don’t know what will.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

I have to say that I know this book was going to be good. And yet I still had no idea. The word “hfedosanvdjksnvjdfiuh” comes to mind for how I feel. This is exactly the kind of book I love to read. Dark, beautiful, fantasy. The places that Laini Taylor paints in this book are astounding. Prague is nitty, gritty and yet charming in a macabre way. I adore that.

I love that the title played such a role in the story, as well as the little breaks, which let to the next part of the story. Everything tied together. What was great was that Karou knew almost nothing about her family’s world, but it didn’t feel like that. She didn’t ask unnecessary questions, she just figured it all out through time. It kind of helped that she’d probably asked all those annoying questions before we entered the story since she lived there. Either way, it worked.

The characters were amazing. I loved everyone. Brimstone was greatly depicted in that he was a complete mystery, but it was clear that he cared very deeply for Karou. Kaz was a fun ex-boyfriend character, and I kind of wish he’d caused more mischief or just been there a little bit more. Zuzana was my favorite with her quick repertoire of hilarious remarks to cause total embarrassment for her best friend at all times.

The one character I wasn’t total in love with was Akiva. I don’t know if it was because of his part in the story, or if he just wasn’t as vivid a character, but he just didn’t pop like everyone else. Sure, he was gorgeous, but I’m more of a “what’s on the inside” kind of gal. His point in this book was to assist Karou in figuring out who and/or what she is. He did well in that aspect, and he was enticed and fell in love with Karou as all books should go. Yet still, something just wasn’t perfect.

Oh yeah! The ending. He keeps a huge secret from Karou until the very end of the book (like the last chapter before the epilogue), and I’m not talking about her identity. He should have told her the repercussions of his action from the very beginning. She’s talking about change, but he neglected to tell her that change has already come. It really made me angry, and I really just wanted her to slap him (in the face, and without a glove on). But it all piqued my interest and I’m going to get the next book and read it up before the final installment is released.

All in all, I definitely recommend this book. It’s incredibly beautiful to read and it offers up a new idea of what “heaven and hell” are like. That was great to read. I love new ideas, and this book had it all. It was beautiful and captivating, and I had no idea what to expect.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

            Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.

            So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.

            I’m not kidding, he says.

            You should be, she says, we’re 16.

            What about Romeo and Juliet?

            Shallow, confused, then dead.

            I love you, Park says.

            Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.

            I’m not kidding, he says.

            You should be.

            Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

            Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. This was the only way I could think to start this review other than a slew of disgruntled and unorganized keystrokes of no discernable pattern. Now, first things first, I did like this book. I just did not like the ending. This book was promoted by John Green himself and is often given to readers who really enjoy his works. I, however, do not believe the hype. I know, you’re all like ‘NO’! And I’m like, ‘I know right?’ how could I ever not adore Eleanor and Park wholeheartedly?  It’s not quite that simple, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

            The cover is so cute, I just have to mention that, and the setting is perfect. Hello, ‘80s. I think the meat and bones of this book were great. The love story was beautifully developed and the families were diverse and the character voices were pristinely unique. This book seemingly had it all, except a good ending. The ending was clique and a total shift from what could have been. The ending has been done before, almost exactly, and the characters were incredibly wishy-washy at the end. Like I said, writing and development were great. I really believed the characters, but I did not believe the ending.

            Now, my problem with the ending was not even Eleanor’s split with her family or the final three words business, it was the fact that it was predictable and nothing happened conflict-wise. There was no confrontation, and I was not okay with that. Granted, it was all very realistic and I get that, but I don’t think the ending was what it should have been. It felt very cut-and-paste like she didn’t really have anything better so here’s a placeholder and I’ll figure it out later (and then she didn’t figure it out, but rather just left it). And the character! The bullies just flopped over and turned into entirely different characters altogether. I was all; they’re secretly helping her and will betray her! They didn’t. Gosh, that ending was just so womp! It fell completely flat to me! I just loved that book until then, and because of that ending I can’t give this book a very good rating and that makes me sad. Eleanor and Park were totally relatable and I loved them so much, but when I look at the book I don’t see their love story. I see that horrible ending.

            That ending has been done over and over again in much better ways. The love story was very original, especially the way it wasn’t love at first sight. I was so beautiful, but the ending is what brought it down. I think Park’s family was a little stereotypical (Eleanor’s too actually, but at least hers had additions of originality to it).  I just don’t know what else to say. This book was heart wrenching and beautiful. I loved it and I hated it and then I just overall really loved it. I simply believe that there are some things that could have elevated the book that much more.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong

            They hear the spirits.

The must obey.

In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire’s worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashlyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned.

Only this year, the souls will not be quieted.

Ambushed and separated by an ancient evil, the sisters must journey to find each other, sending them far from the only home they’ve ever known. Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor. But a terrible secret awaits them at court—one that will alter the balance of their world forever.

            My mind says yes, but my body asks why? I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked up Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong, but I honestly had no idea and I did not realize how invested I was going to get. I think I know exactly how this book was pitched: Game of Thrones meets The Walking Dead. Sounds fabulous right? It really was. Fantasy meets horror, hello genre of my dreams. Maybe it’s just me on this, but I picked up a hint of Avatar: The Last Airbender (I know, more reasons why I loved it) but that, again is probably just me. Perhaps manga is a better example, because Avatar is way too cheesy for what this book was.

Anyway, The book was lashed with Japanese elements and it was amazingly done. The book can probably only be read at a young adult level and not middle school since there was a lot of death and deception but you know what? Kelley Armstrong originally writes for adults, and the fact that she is even gracing the YA world with her creativity and beauty is good enough for me. I just cannot even describe how much I enjoyed this book and the characters. Ugh the characters!

The title. NO. I do not feel that the title conveyed the book premise, story, or tone to the level which I would have liked. It makes sense once you read the book, but it did not capture my interest enough. As for the beginning, there were a few barriers to entry. The prologue was weird and felt unnecessary even though I knew Ronan was a central character and it was important to capture the whole exiled to the Forest of the Dead bit. Didn’t work well enough and I wasn’t keen on it. The book was a little difficult to get into but once the action started it STARTED (and believe me it started quick). And then, once the boys were there I was completely hooked.

The characters were great! Each one had their own voices, insecurities, relationships and secrets. Plus, even Tova and Daigo (a giant dog and wildcat, I’m sorry, Hounds of the Immortals) had their own voices without saying a word a lot. How is that even possible?  When they were all in the Forest of the Dead I was like, this place is horrible it can’t get much worse than this, but then every place after that was even worse! Inconceivable! And then the plot twist at the end. Well, I’ll leave it at that. Of course, there were dull points when there wasn’t danger and they were just walking, but I got over it because oh God the relationships between Ashyn and Ronan, and Moria and Gavriel. ‘Nuff said. So Dead. Oh and Kelley Armstrong was mean and did split POV that only changed on odd chapters until the end. I’m the kind of person who wants to end on a new POV but also wants to end on an even chapter. A dilemma, and thus I couldn’t put the book down. (One of many reasons)

I did not expect as much fantasy. I was expecting more horror. The horror lived up to my expectations and I ended up loving how fantastical it was.  Now, first things first. The characters. I love love loved all four of the main characters, and I didn’t know who I loved more. OF course, with the plot twist at the end I threw one of those characters along with the book out the window (I then I picked them up and cuddled them under my covers as I cried). But no, this book! I laughed, I cried, I threw it on the ground. The ending was horrible, in a brilliant plot twist way and I am so shattered inside. Favorite character by far: Ronan, hands down. Anyway, I just loved this book. I loved that the stories Moria told the little kids came to life and it was terrifying and I couldn’t look away.

I feel like there are books in the ballpark of the tone of this book (The Forest of Hands and Teeth being one of them), but I think the mix of Japanese elements with horror and fantasy was really original. I know I said Game of Thrones meets The Walking Dead meets Avatar: The Last Airbender and I do not rescind that statement. It’s a bit different than that but I think it strikes the same chords. Plus the voices of the characters were really original. They all had that medieval court tone but they were all unique and it was just great.  Now excuse while I go into a dark corner and go mad waiting for the next book in the series.

And please, read this book if you love fantasy and horror. Then gush with me in a dark corner until the sequel is released.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Heist Society by Ally Carter

            When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind.

            Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, the gorgeous Hale, appears, pulling her back into the world she has only just escaped. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster’s priceless art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Now. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

            Kat’s solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and, hopefully, just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history. And, with any luck, she just might be able to steal her life back along the way.

            I was incredibly excited to read Heist Society by Ally Carter, and I’m very happy that I did. I really enjoyed the book and found it to be a quick and excited read that left a lot for the imagination to fill in, in a good way of course. I can see how the series can be read in a serial fashion, and left just enough loose ends at the end of the first book to make me really, really want another, but not need one necessarily. Which is really good. Ally Carter did a brilliant job with this fun, light-hearted, and exciting novel and I cannot wait to read the first book in her Gallagher Girls series, at least until I can get my hands on Uncommon Criminals that is.

            Now, despite the serious issue of World War II stolen art and the tragic background to all of the pieces that were pertinent to this novel, the book did ring a little chick-lit. This was fine, of course, because any other way and I wouldn’t believe that Kat was going to rescue art instead of fulfill the greedy thief stereotype I have in my mind. Kat is truly a hero even despite being part of a sort of mob family of brilliant thieves. The barrier to entry on this book was very low, great for readers of all ages and levels of knowledge about thievery (like my total lack thereof). Also, there was no blood, gore, or cursing. Shocking for a book about criminals, right? But Ally Carter did a good job avoiding all of those issues so as to have a final product that is completely PG and completely suitable for readers of all levels.

            I love the cover and title of this book; I’m just going to put that out there. Succinct and beautiful, just like the book. I love the premise of this book too, the fact that Kat is trying to escape the family business of stealing but is swept back in kicking and screaming to save her father. It’s great, and the characters are splendid. I’d tell you my favorites, but the list would literally have everybody’s names on it. Each character just worked off of each other perfectly. Hamish and Angus had that whole Weasley brother vibe to them, and Simon and Gabrielle each played their roles amazingly. Then Kat and Hale were so perfect for each other! I even loved Nick and Taccone. Aside from the characters, the plot worked really well. The book was divided into a sort of countdown system and it also told where all the characters travelled. Sadly, it was a little hard to believe (even with a private jet courtesy the W.W. Hale family) the characters could just fly around to all these different places under the time crunch. Then there’s the plot and conflict with Kat figuring out how to steal from the Henley all while Taccone threatens her. Sadly, that is all that happens conflict wise. Sure, it’s easy to be concerned whether or not they’ll pull off the heist or whether or not Taccone will do something, but nothing truly happens. Taccone never carries out his threats, and they complete the heist without a hiccup (well, there were some minor ones of course).

I know Ally Carter tried her hardest to keep the book PG, but there wasn’t enough meat to Taccone’s threats. There were the subtle hints, like the guard with the burned hand, but it just wasn’t enough for me to fully believe in Taccone as a villain. I wish he had done more instead of just sending various threats Kat’s way. Then there’s the heist, which went incredibly well considering all their fears. Sure, there was Nick, but even that was resolved rather hiccup free. All I’m saying, is the conflict was very minor for a gang of criminals. There should have been more! Of course, don’t get me wrong, I did love the book, but these are just a few of the things that could have been done better. Also, the book was written in third person. This wasn’t a problem, but the POV would randomly be somewhere and then it would lead back to Kat’s POV and her introduction with the character. While I liked it and it was very unique to read, it got old after a while and sort of stole some thunder from the fast-paced heist going throughout. It made it easy for me to put down the book and for my excitement level to go from ‘100’ to ‘huh?’ and that makes me sad. The book was a quick, exciting read still, but sometimes those other POV beginning were weird. The book was hilarious, though, and it needs to be said that Ally Carter’s voice is amazing.

            In the end, the book was very original even though the topic of young thieves is one that has been done a few times over. The mob family is a common trope in YA and the characters in the gang were all the stereotypical members needed for a heist of any sort: the genius, the leader, the billionaire, the flirt, and the explosion techies. Despite this, Ally Carter brought a fresh take to this story with the unique third person technique, the witty and hilarious dialogue, the easy barrier to entry, and of course the backstory to the art being stolen and then re-stolen. It was a great, fresh story and very entertaining.

XOXO Tia