skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Break-ups are hard enough. Filled with cliches, hurt feelings, and resentment, they never turn out well. Now imagine your break-up becoming the source of a world-wide musical phenomenon where everyone knows what happens... from your ex-boyfriend's point of view- Ouch! That is exactly what happens to Audrey in Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway.
Audrey is your average girl. She had a crush, dated a guy who was all wrong for her (but was a musician, so it is forgivable), and broke up with him when it was clear it wasn't going to work. He was a nice enough guy, and she liked his band, but he just wasn't the right guy for her. What she didn't expect was that he would write a song about their break-up and that single song would get the band discovered. Almost overnight, the song was all over the radio and the internet and the band was leaving town to tour. In one brief moment, Audrey went from being a normal girl to being in the spotlight of a global musical sensation. It wasn't pretty.
It also didn't help that she was secretly video-taped making out with another musician from a different band backstage at their concert. Audrey was swept up in the fun of being backstage and being the focus of a pretty well-known music star, but she didn't expect his manager to photograph her from the bushes and sell the tape. Next thing she knows, paparazzi are following her to school and taking pictures of her sleeping in class, her principal keeps her in the main office "for her protection", and the ice cream shop where she works is flooded with people who want her autograph and pictures with the Audrey they listen about on the radio. All Audrey really wants to do, though, is go on a normal date with the guy she works with at the ice cream shop who is very different from any musician she has ever met. But it isn't easy when her past follows her everywhere she goes, in the form of screaming fans and crazy photographers!
It is hard to peg an age group for this book because while the dialogue was sometimes really "pre-teen" and hokey, it also was full of choice language and many sexual references. I think many high school students might think the book corny, but it might be too mature for the age group who the actual plot would appeal the most to. I suppose it would be best for those older girls who just want a fun, easy read, or that girl who is just a little too immature for her age.
The story does have some mature material, but it is actually a fun story. At times I wanted to strangle the main character because she just sounded too ridiculous (like straight off of one of those teen movies trying too hard to be more than a teen movie) and I couldn't imagine teenagers really talking like that or being that witty (and I am around a lot of teenagers, trust me!). But on the other hand, I thought her wittiness and spunk was pretty funny. The book left me unsure on a number of realms, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. I thought it was a lot of fun, actually, and even though some of it is pretty campy, it still has a place in your reading list if you are like me and sometimes just need a little camp and cheese!
A world filled with Nephilim and warlocks and vampires and werewolves and demons may be old hat by now, but one filled with creepy clockwork armies certainly isn't. Cassandra Clare continues her Infernal Devices series, a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments series with the second book, Clockwork Prince.
Tessa knows she has lost her brother to the dark side, but she still doesn't know who she is. As the London Clave Institute fights Mortmain, a mundane with ties to black magic, she finds herself constantly confronted with the fact that she truly has no idea who she is- Shadowhunter? Mundane? Downworlder? Tessa is intent upon helping Henry and Charlotte remain in control of the Institute, as they are the only family she has left with her blood family all dead or gone. In their fight to keep the institute, they continue to investigate Mortmain. It leads them to find Will's family being held in one of Mortmain's home. While he knows Clave law prevents him from contacting them, he can't help but worry himself to death about them. It also forces him to acknowledge the curse he is burdened with that foretells everyone he grows to love dying a horrible death.
But there is a deeper problem in the London Institute. They have a mole. Someone has been funneling information to Mortmain about the investigation and where they are searching, which gives him the jump on them each and every time. When they find out who has been giving him the information, it is a betrayal like they can't believe. The only thing that may repair their damaged family is that Jem, dying from an addiction to a demonic drug that was forced upon him, finally finds the love he never let himself hope for.
Oh. This book ended and I didn't know whether to cry or jump for joy. Talk about bittersweet! It was a typical Clare book full of action and cryptic back story that leaves you satisfied yet still wanting more, but somehow, the way she ended this was just too much! There is this heartbreaking love triangle between Jem, Tessa, and Will that will wrench your heart straight from your chest! It makes you unsure who you want Tessa to finally be with, kind, dying Jem or scampish, brooding Will. I love them both so much! I still can't decide! But the beautiful thing about this story is that the supporting characters are just as lovely as the main characters. You will find yourself loving everyone in the London Institute- even some warlocks and werewolves!
This is a very interesting series, but the books are long and dense. I often save them for a holiday when I have the time to sit down and just read the books with no interruptions. I think there are students out there who would love these books, but they look a little intimidating. I wonder how they would be as audiobooks. I imagine the story is even more magical, and that might be the key to sucking a struggling reader into the large but fantastic series.
Imagine surviving a horrible accident that left your boyfriend, his sister, and your best friend dead? Now what if you woke up with no memory of what happened? The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin isn't just a beautifully haunting cover, it is a beautifully haunting book as well.
Mara wakes up in the hospital and can't remember what happened to her. After she recovers from the accident that crushed the asylum they were in, killing her boyfriend and two friends, she can't seem to move on from what happened. In fact, she can't stop seeing them even though they are dead. Even seeing a therapist hasn't helped, but when her family talks of committing her, she begs to relocate the family and start fresh. They move to Florida for a new start, but what Mara finds is those that haunt her have no problem relocating too.
In the new school, Mara manages to make one friend, Jamie, who warns her to stay away from the one guy in school who can break a girl with just a withering look- Noah. He is notorious for using and discarding girls with no conscience about what happens to those girls later. The problem? Mara feels drawn to Noah. When strange things start happening, like an abusive dog owner dies the exact same way Mara imagined him dying, and her Spanish teacher dies choking at the very moment Mara loses her temper and wishes she would choke to death, Mara becomes scared not only of her past, but also of what she seems to have the power to do. Noah is persistent, and when it becomes clear he has a secret he is hiding too, they find they are somehow linked by the special abilities they never understood until now. but can they figure these abilities out before Mara kills someone else?
I always try to write reviews without giving too much of the story away. I want you to be intrigued, but I don't want to ruin the experience of reading the story for you. In writing this review, I realized, with a little chuckle, that I honestly couldn't give you any spoilers because I am still not terribly sure what the book was about! I can tell you what happened, how it happened, but I still have no idea what is going on with mara and Noah, what these mysterious abilities are, and how on earth this story is going to play out in the next book.
This book was designed very similarly to both Fallen and Hush, Hush. You had a lot of background, some strange scenes you couldn't make heads or tails of, and then in the last 50 pages, the author tried to wrap it up. The only difference is that at the end of those books you actually learned the whole secret, but at the end of this book, you really don't understand the whole dynamic between the characters still. I assume the next book will delve more into the secrets and the abilities, but who knows?! Still, I can't say I disliked this book. It was really interesting, haunting, and really quote beautifully written. I am incredibly confused, but I am not sure I am bothered by it. I know that doesn't make sense, but I think the author's writing was so funny and haunting at the same time it kept my rapt attention. So I would say this is a good book for anyone who has enjoyed Becca Fitzpatrick or Lauren Kate, but that the abundance of loose ends at the end of the book would drive any struggling reader (and many strong readers) bonkers. Therefore, save this book for yourself or someone you know can get through a story with many loose ends and lots of confusing twists and turns. Honestly, it will make you laugh as much as it creeps you out!
A utopia is always hiding a dystopia. Beneath all that perfect living and niceness is corruption and evil like you have never known before. Sadly, a utopia is just a pipe dream. In the Matched trilogy, Ally Condie started with a Giver-esque utopia that gave way to the dystopia hiding beneath. Now, with Crossed, you see what was really going on behind the scenes in the Society's utopia.
Cassia was matched to Xander, but she fell in love with Ky. Sent to a work camp in the edge of the provinces, she could only think of escaping to find Ky. As an Aberration, an outcast of the Society, Ky was sent to act as a decoy for the enemy in one of the outermost villages. That way the Enemy only killed outcasts, not real citizens of the Society. When Ky gets the chance to run, he takes a young boy and the only friend he has made at the village and heads for the canyons. When Cassia sees an opportunity to get out of the camp where she is held, she takes it and ends up at one of the outer villages used as decoys. Once there, she and Indie, another girl from the camp, pick up and head the direction of the canyons where they assume Ky will be.
Along the way through the canyon, both groups make a lot of mistakes and realizations. It is clear there are things even their cynicism wouldn't lead them to have believed the Society was capable of. When Cassia, poisoned by the tablet the Society makes as a "lifesaver", refuses to stop moving, her determination not only saves her life from the poison, but also leads her straight to Ky. What she doesn't expect when she finds him is for the two of them to have hugely different paths to take for the future. Cassia is drawn to the resistance, in the hopes of stopping the Society, but Ky knows how damaging the resistance can be for those who are involved in it. They have finally found each other, but will they be able to stay together?
This was not your average sequel because the story has taken such an enormous turn from the original novel. While the original novel was much more a fallen utopia, the dystopia in this book rings loud and clear. It is hard to miss, actually! The Society is such an evil, oppressive society and all you want is to see them taken down. In fact, while I can see Ky's side of things, I have to agree with Indie and Cassia- I would totally want to join the resistance. Although this sequel was a complete turn-around from the original novel, it still felt like a set-up for the final story. The action isn't enthralling, but it is certainly interesting. I think the final novel in the trilogy will be the best story yet.
This is a great story for anyone who liked the Giver or any other young adult dystopia. It isn't too graphic or harsh, as are frequently the complaints about dystopias and post-apocalyptic stories in the YA genre. Instead, Condie prefers to let the grim future speak for itself and the oppressive government's actions leave much to the imagination. This is a great trilogy, but I am anxious to see how it ends now. The drastic switch in direction will surely make you feel the same way!
How far will the world go to save humanity? Will the financial crisis make us go where we have never gone before? Beth Revis's Across the Universe explores just how far our world, in all its messes and disasters, is willing to go to ensure humanity has a second chance at life.
Godspeed is the ship designed to take humanity to the outer reaches of the universe. It will take 300 years for the ship to reach its destination- the new Earth. In order to ensure people with special abilities make it to the new planet, they are frozen cryogenically and another crew of people lives and survives on the ship. It is big enough to be like a speeding city in the sky, but over the course of centuries, a lot can go wrong. When Amy is woken up on the ship before she is supposed to be, her awakening becomes the catalyst that exposes everything wrong with life on the Godspeed.
Amy was awakened accidentally, or so Eldest and Elder and Doc thought. Eldest is the leader of the ship and Elder, 17 years old, is his replacement. Elder learns everything Eldest teaches him, but he knows there are things the old man is keeping from him. As Amy, a girl who remembers her time on Earth so many centuries ago, starts to question the strange, zombie like people that live on the ship. As she becomes the insight of discord, she finds herself on the wrong side of Eldest. But her questioning leads Elder to find out just what it is Eldest has kept from him. As more bodies are thawed from the cryogenic freeze, and a few are murdered, they all suspect Eldest. However, the problems with the ship and the people living on it go deeper than any of them could have imagined.
I know this book has been out for a while, but I just never picked it up until now, despite the recommendation from multiple trustworthy sources. There it sat on my "to be read" shelf, staring at me for months. I wanted to read it at a time when I could sit down and really plow through the story in one fell swoop. What I didn't expect was a gripping story I would finish in essentially one sitting! It was SO exciting and interesting. I could NOT put it down! The idea of being frozen for over 300 years and waking up to a whole new social dynamic is both terrifying and exciting! And the way Eldest and the Eldests that came before him twisted Earth's history to appease the masses and control them was masterful. They actually twisted Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address to illustrate Lincoln's support of separating the races to eliminate the races (difference was the first cause of discord) and send anyone of African heritage back to the African Continent. Amy was the catalyst that blew the top off all their lies and deceit, and boy did it get ugly!
This is a great Science Fiction/Dystopia cross-over that gave the space junkies enough to sink their spaceship teeth into but still enough corruption to make the dystopia addicts happy. It was a great balance of the two and could interest any type of student. The language is fairly simple, and most of the scenes are scary, but pretty mild. There is one near rape scene that was scary, but not particularly graphic. I would suggest this series for a wide range of students, and the great news? The sequel is out in a couple of weeks! Yeah!
Dragons are real, but they aren't the same dragons of medieval times. They are Draki. Draki are dragons who can manifest and demanifest- turn into dragons or turn into their human forms. Jacinda has always been happy being a draki, but when her mother and sister took her away from the pride to the desert where her inner dragon started to wither, she fell in love with the one person she shouldn't have- a hunter. In Vanish, by Sophie Jordan, we see how that love led Jacinda down a path she never thought she'd find herself.
Jacinda committed the worst crime a draki could commit- she manifested into a dragon in front of a pack of hunters. Now they know the secret of the draki- that they can disguise themselves as humans. Jacinda's twin sister saves them though. Tamra had never manifested as a dragon, but when her family was in trouble she finally found her inner dragon- a shader no less. There is only one more important dragon than a fire-breather like Jacinda, and that is the shader. Shaders have the ability to confuse people and make them forget they saw a dragon. Now that the danger is temporarily over, Jacinda, Tamra and their mother must return to the pride where they are likely to be in a lot of trouble.
When they return to the pride, Tamra becomes the focus of everyone's positive attention. Jacinda and her mother become the focus of everyone's negative attention. They are being punished for running away and almost exposing the draki's secret. But Jacinda still can't forget her hunter, Will. When he stumbles into the pride's land, Jacinda decides to run away with him where she can finally be free of the pride's control. What she doesn't expect is for Will's family, a family of hunters, to be waiting for her. Can she escape the hunters? Or will Jacinda become an experiment like so many butchered draki before her?
This was a fun follow up to the first book and definitely took the story in a good direction. You saw more of the pride and the dragons, which was an interesting addition. The social situation in the pride is very feudal and is interesting to learn more about. I was also happy to see Tamra finally manifest and find her inner dragon. She was so sad in the first book that it was nice to finally see her come into her own! I think this is a good middle reader/YA series for any student who is breaking out of the middle reader books that are still rather immature but hasn't completely moved onto the more mature young adult novels. The language is simple and clean, but the story is fun and exciting.
Maggie Stiefvater is the author who gave us the Shiver trilogy. You often wonder how an author will follow up a bestselling story, and hopefully it will live up to the reason you liked them in the first place. Since I had a tumultuous relationship with Shiver, I was anxious to read something else she had written. I needed to know if my love and dislike for the series was just that series, or something about the way Stiefvater writes. So, with a little skepticism rolling around, I picked up The Scorpio Races, unsure of how I was going to like it.
Puck grew up on Thisby, an island where no one really lives, people just survive. Thisby is special, though. Once a year, the mythical, murderous creatures called water horses climb out of the sea. While everyone should and is scared of the water horses, which live off blood and fresh meat, the entire island becomes alive with excitement when they bound from the sea because of the Scorpio Races. Each year, the island men capture and train water horses for two weeks before riding them in the most exciting and dangerous race anyone has ever seen. The tourism for this event is the only thing keeping Thisby alive at this point. When Puck's brother threatens to move to the mainland and Puck and her other brother will be left on Thisby with no house and no way to support themselves, Puck does the only thing she can to keep her older brother on the island just a little longer- she announces she is going to enter in the races.
Sean Kendrick is a gentle soul who loves and fears the water horses. He has won the race four years in a row, but since his beloved water horse, Corr, is owned by his boss, most of the winnings aren't his to keep. He is the only man who can control the water horses, but his only reason for staying at the horse farm and competing in the races is to stay closer to Corr. When Puck enters her regular pony, not a water horse, into the race, Sean is sure she is going to get herself and her pony killed. He reluctantly agrees to help train her, mostly because he can't stop thinking about her. As the race grows nearer, it becomes clear that both Puck and Sean need to win this race- Puck in order to live and have a roof over her head, and Sean in order to be able to buy Corr from the owner of the stables. Both want the other to win, but neither can imagine losing. The Scorpio Races this year on Thisby are not only groundbreaking because it is the first time a girl or a regular pony has ridden, but because of how much everyone has riding on the outcome.
So my skepticism aside, I have to say this was a really beautiful book. Stiefvater has a poetic, magical way of describing the world she has created that keeps you turning the pages. However, I remember feeling the same way when I finished Shiver. The problem only came about with her second and third books where there wasn't enough story to keep the trilogy going and the beautiful language wasn't enough to hold it all together. I hope she will leave this book as a stand-alone story, because it really is quite nice and quite beautiful. Any additional books would only ruin the effect of this story.
Because the language isn't terribly direct or always very clear, I would suggest this book for an older, stronger reader, or a student who has read and like Stiefvater's books already. It would clearly bog down a less skilled reader and might frustrate them into putting the book down. It is a beautiful story for any adult who enjoys mythology, especially repurposed mythology. These aren't your typical water horses, sometimes called kelpie, but they are beautiful versions of the old myths. I have to say I loved this story, and it made for a beautiful magical read, but let's just hope Stiefvater leaves this to its own devices and moves on to another project. I would hate to feel about the Scorpio Races like I eventually felt about Shiver.
