Review: Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Ultraviolet is a book that I am indecisive about. The science behind it is very interesting, but (spoiler alert) I was not expecting an appearance from the cheesy aliens observing humans.
So basically, the main character gets into a fight with a girl from her school who just happens to disintegrate while they are fighting. The main character, Alison, then has a mental breakdown and is sent to a mental hospital believing she killed the girl with her mind.
 Mayhem insues and she discovers she has synesthesia. That is a real phenomenon where someone can hear colors, taste sounds, or sees or associates colors with letters, numbers, days of the week, or specific times.
Back to the story, Alison's psychiatrist turns out to be a fake and then lies to her about who he is so many times that I lost track. She miraculously falls in love with him and they become a couple (seriously people). Guess what! Plot twist (that I should have seen coming): he's an alien sent to observe experiments set up on Earth.
I won't give away the end, but you pretty much know it anyway (wink wink). If you don't want to read the book, but want to know how it ends just think of the most predictable ending ever and that's it. If you want to know specifically how it ends, just leave a comment and I will get back to you.
Stay literate America. Until next time!

An Almost Book Review: Blah Books

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, school started and I kind of just gave up on fun things so I wouldn't fail any classes (pause for exhausted sigh).

Anyway, I haven't read any fantastic books is a long time so here is a list of blah books that were sub-par.

1. All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

This book started out awesome, in the future, chocolate is illegal and smuggled by all of the crime lords in New York. Caffiene is also illegal. This would not be a good place for me, but I thought the plot was interesting. It is written from the point of view of the daughter of a notorious chocolate smuggler who is more interested in her boyfriend than the fact that she has been to prison twice and her brother smother cousin. This just drives me crazy, and made me ask: is this what teenagers really think? And so ends the blah book.

2. Lament by Maggie Steifvater

This is just an overall boring book, with an uninteresting plot about magical fairies. It has a happy ending and is just booooorrrrrrriiiiinnnnggggg.

Review: Haven by Kristi Cook

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this book. The characters all worked well together, but there was always something missing. To explain my plight, here's the plot.
Violet has always had visions of the future, but everything changes when she sees her dad's murder. Left alone to grieve, she goes to a boarding school called Winterhaven which is a school for kids with psychic gifts.
At this point in the book, I was slightly interested, but also mildly bored. Violet took way too much time to realize that she was at a school with people like her.
Then she meets Aidan who is very mysterious and always missing class (I have no idea what's mysterious about skipping class, but Violet thought it made him more interesting). They start hanging out and fall in love (shocker). Then Violet discovers Aidan's secret, he is a vampire.
This is the point where I thought, "really! She could have done anything to make this more interesting, but a vampire? Come on." As you can see I am not into vampire books. I decided to read the rest of the book to see if it got better.
In a twist of fate, violet turns out to be one of three reincarnated vampire hunters.
This was when the book turned around a little and I became slightly more interested. But I think those are enough spoilers for today, so if you want to know what happens next, you'll have to read it. If not, I honestly wouldn't blame you.

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Warning, this is a werewolf book so all of you vampire people can just stop reading here. I am not one that usually likes vampire and werewolf books, but I have read another of Maggie Stiefvater's books and decided to give it a try. Boy was I excited when I finished this books. Here's what Goodreads has to say about it:

"For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever."

I was mainly intrigued by this book because of the scientific aspect. The werewolves in Mercy Falls (pause for cheesy name) change human in the warm weather of spring and then back into werewolves for the winter. The kicker is that they only change a certain number of times before they are  wolves forever. 
Grace is also a very interesting character, her parents basically ignore her so she takes care of everything in the house, all of the shopping, while still going to school. Her life changes when she finds a boy on her deck with eyes the same color as her wolf. He also just happens to be shot, mayhem insues.
Overall, I really loved this book and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series (Wolves of Mercy Falls).

Series Showcase: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This is one of my favorite series I have read. It is about an assassin named Celeana Sardothien who has been a slave in the salt mines until one day the king asks her to be in a competition with the best assassins in the realm. The prize, she isn't sent back to the salt mines and becomes the king's personal killer. It really gets exciting when the other contestants die in ways that can only be explained by magic which has been outlawed. Celeana also has to grapple with her feelings for the prince who brought her to the castle, and the captain of the guard who trains her. Can she solve the mysterious murders before the killer finds her?
That's just what the first book is about because I wouldn't want to spoil the ending. I thought it was very interesting that there were so manny plot lines that contributed to the same story. I loved the way Celeana's troubled past is slowly revealed. The characters are also intriguing because the most innocent and soft spoken person has the biggest secrets.
This series also has five novellas that I have read that show how Celeana ends up at the salt mines and the betrayal that drives her to win the king's competition. I read the novellas after reading the first  two books because it explains some of the things that happen in the first two books, but if you are a fan of dramatic irony you could read them first. The book containing the novellas is called "The Assassin's Blade".
I recommend these books to anyone who likes fantasy, and mystery books.

Review: Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

First I would like to clarify something, the girl on the cover is not holding a human heart, it is in fact a ginormous ruby that can help channel her magical singing power. Now that I have thoroughly confused you let's see what Goodreads had to say:
"“Sing, and the darkness will find you.”

This warning has haunted fifteen-year-old Lucy ever since she was eight and shipwrecked on a lonely island. Lucy’s guardian, Norrie, has lots of rules, but the most important is that Lucy must never sing. Not ever. Now it is 1667, Lucy is fifteen, and on All Hallows’ Eve, Lucy hears a tantalizing melody on the wind. She can’t help but sing—and she is swept into darkness.

When she awakes in England, Lucy hears powerful men discussing Chantresses—women who can sing magic into the world. They are hunting her, but she escapes and finds sanctuary with the Invisible College, an organization plotting to overthrow the nefarious Lord Protector. The only person powerful enough to bring about his downfall is a Chantress. And Lucy is the last one in England.

Lucy struggles to master the song-spells and harness her power, but the Lord Protector is moving quickly. And her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion…

Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is 
atmospheric and lyrical, dangerous and romantic."

I really enjoyed this book and especially loved the way the setting was described. It was very interesting how The Lord Protector (pause for the pretentious title to sink in) uses freaky ravens to hunt down law breakers and Chantresses. The evilness of the birds pales I comparison to the disgustingly terrifying Chantress hunter who wears the power stones of  Chantresses he has killed. 
Overall the way the characters react to the setting and dangers of an England I hope to never see makes for a very compelling plot. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an attention-grabbing-fantasy-adventure book.

Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

Scent of Magic is the sequel to Touch of Power. I really liked the sequel despite the horrendous title. The story story started where the last book left off which is good because one of my pet peeves is when the sequel skips over what happened after the end of the first book and then explains it later. I want to know now! Here's what Goodreads had to say about it:
"Hunted, Killed—Survived?
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again."

So not only is the land rife with death lilies whose poison gives a select few magical powers, The Skeleton King has an army of reanimated people and animals. So in simple terms this book was magicians vs. zombies. Coolest. Plot. Ever.
A little heads up to those planning of reading this book, the ending ripped my heart out. I won't spoil it because I have been informed that the character who rips out hearts of readers does in fact make an appearance in the third book. 
I recommend this book for any Maria V. Snyder fans and someone who likes fantasy adventure stories, but when you finish the book and are in the depths of despair, don't say I didn't warn you. 

Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

This was the first book I read by Maria V. Snyder and it is very impressive. Goodreads said:

"Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear..." 
This book was so good and I really liked the way the characters interacted with each other. The way that Yelena reacts to being in the castle is also very interesting and the way her backstory is introduced is very clever. 
The only thing I could have done without in this book is the descriptions of abuse that she suffered at an orphanage before she eventually killed her abuser. This information is crucial to the plot of the book, but is more graphic than it needs to be. 
Overall, I really liked this book and would like to thank Karlie once again for recommending it to me.  I encourage you to read this book and the others in the Study series. 

Review: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

I recently finished this book and once again found that Maria V. Snyder did an excellent job of making complicated plots that were very well illustrated. I have read one of her books before, and loved the different worlds she created.
Touch of Power is about a group of magicians called healers who can take illnesses and injuries from others onto themselves and can heal faster than anyone else. Avry is the last healer alive, after a plague ravaged the fifteen realms the kings needed healers, but that is the one thing the healers can not cure. They are hunted and accused of creating the plague. After healing a dying girl, she is captured and sentenced to death. She is  then broken out of prison to heal the one person she hates more than anyone else.
The dynamics between the characters is very well written and the villains are startlingly realistic to rulers in today's era. This book was awesome and I will have to read the rest of the series. Special shoutout to Karlie who recommended this series to me. The other series written by Maria V. Snyder is called, Poison Study. I recommend both of these series to anyone who enjoys magic and adventure.

Review: Dark Star by Bethany Frenette

 I was super excited when I heard about this book. Not only is the main character's mother a superhero, but a superhero who fights paranormal beings. Here's what Goodreads had to say about it:   "Audrey Whitticomb has nothing to fear. Her mother is the superhero Morning Star, the most deadly crime-fighter in the Twin Cities, so it's hard for Audrey not to feel safe. That is, until she's lured into the sweet night air by something human and not human--something with talons and teeth, and a wide, scarlet smile. 

Now Audrey knows the truth: her mom doesn't fight crime at night. She fights Harrowers--livid, merciless beings who were trapped Beneath eons ago. Yet some have managed to escape. And they want Audrey dead, just because of who she is: one of the Kin. 

To survive, Audrey will need to sharpen the powers she has always had. When she gets close to someone, dark corners of the person's memories become her own, and she sometimes even glimpses the future. If Audrey could only get close to Patrick Tigue, a powerful Harrower masquerading as human, she could use her Knowing to discover the Harrowers' next move. But Leon, her mother's bossy, infuriatingly attractive sidekick, has other ideas. Lately, he won't let Audrey out of his sight. 

When an unthinkable betrayal puts Minneapolis in terrible danger, Audrey discovers a wild, untamed power within herself. It may be the key to saving her herself, her family, and her city. Or it may be the force that destroys everything--and everyone--she loves."

That is so awesome right! I read this book and can't wait to read the next one! I confess that one of the reasons it read this book is because I wanted to be a superhero when I was younger (I still kind of do). But who doesn't want to be a superhero? I was also intrigued by the fact that they are fighting paranormal bad guys instead of the human kind. 

The only thing I don't understand is why her mom's sidekick is so strange. He is always following around Audrey and if he wasn't her mom's sidekick, it would be borderline stalker. But overall, this book exceeded my expectations and was really fun to read.

Review: Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Instead of trying to explain the plot of this book myself, I'm just gonna give you what Goodreads told me this book was about.

"The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwod.

But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty—because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew."

Sounds cool right? That's what I thought too. It was pretty cool, except that Isabel is unable to shift into anything other than her human form and the main reason I wanted to read this book was to see some awesome shapeshifting action! That didn't happen. The ending was also slightly disappointing because it was openended and when I checked on a sequel, I saw that it isn't even related to the first book! What is happening?! The whole plot was also pretty slow moving and seemed to create a circular pattern and by the end of the book, I knew what was going to happen.

This was not a book I would highly recommend, but if you want to try it, go ahead.  I won't judge. 

Some of My Favorite Series

In this post, I will showcase four of my all-time-favorite series (hence the strange title).

1. Virals by Kathy Reichs and Brendon Reichs
I saw the first book in the Virals series and knew I was meant to read it.  The first book is about a secret lab where a new strain of parvovirus is invented and unbeknownst to the scientists can be transmitted to humans. Four teenagers, who happen to be children of scientists on the island, sneak in and free the dog that they were testing the parvovirus on. They then contract the disease and their genetic code is rewritten. They all have heightened abilities thanks to their "super-dog" DNA. They spend the first book learning how to control
their new abilities and hiding them from the son of the man funding the secret lab. There is more to the plot, but if you want to know you have to read it yourself. The main character (Victoria Brennan) is the niece of Temperance Brennan, a main character in one of Kathy Reichs other series.
The other books in the series involve the teenagers using their new abilities to solve crimes and even find pirate treasure! If that doesn't sound awesome, I don't know what does.

2. Mythos Academy by Jennifer Estep
I was a little hesitant to begin yet another mythology related series, but was pleasantly surprised when I read the Mythos Academy books. In the books, there are Spartans, Valkyries, Gypsies, and lots of other awesome magical people with different powers. There are also the reapers of chaos who are under the command of Loki (not Tom Hiddleston). There is a school called Mythos Academy where the mythological kids go to train and defeat the reapers of chaos who want to bring Loki back into power after he lost the first Chaos war. Gwen Frost, a gypsy, uses touch magic to find lost things for people and through a series of events is thrust into a crazy battle for an artifact that can change the fate of the world. It doesn't help that she meets a Spartan (Logan Quinn) and develops a huge crush on him. As you can guess, mayhem in-sues. The series has five books in it so far, and I recommend all of them.

3. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
I was very excited when i read about this series. It is about a girl (Violet Ambrose) who can hear "echoes" of things that have died, more specifically, things that have been murdered. She can also feel the imprint left by the killer. As she discovers human remains, she stumbles upon the murderer and mayhem in-sues. One of the most interesting parts of this series are the imprints left on the bodies, they can be a smell a specific color, a sound, or even a feeling. Her friends and family are very supportive and she slowly falls in love with her long time best friend, Jay, (whose last name I
cant remember). This series is great for someone who enjoys paranormal mysteries.

4. Secrets of the Eternal Rose by Fiona Paul
I read the first book in this series, Venom, thinking it would be like any other book set in Venice, but I was soo wrong. This series is about Cassandra Caravello, one of the young nobility in Venice. She discovers that one of her friends has died and goes to visit the tomb only to discover that the body is not her friend's and has an "X" slashed over her heart. when she flees the cemetery, She runs into a young artist (Falco) who agrees to help her look for the killer and the body of her friend. The two end up being caught in the middle of a secret society called, The Order of the Eternal Rose who are trying to find the key to immortality. Falco and Cass soon fall in love but there is only one problem, Cass is engaged to a boy she grew up with (Luca). Just like the other three series, mayhem in-sues.
In the other books in the series, Casss, Falco, and Luca try to uncover the secrets of the Order and unravel the mysterious deaths of Cassandra's parents while grappling with their growing love interests! This series is awesome and each book ends with an unexpected twist, dun, dun, dun. There are three books in this series.

Review: The Night Circus

I recently finished this book for the second time and I have to say that this book gets better the more you read it. It is written by Erin Morgenstern and is quite impressive considering it is the first book she has written.
It is set in the late 1800s and continues into the early 1900s. To avoid any spoilers, I will just give you the jist of the book. Two magicians challenge each other to a duel by proxy (kind of). Prospero the Enchanter uses his recently discovered daughter who has an affinity for magic, and the other magician, Mr. A H-, finds a boy at an orphanage that he trains.
 The "game" as it is referred to takes place in a magical circus that travels the world and only appears at night and vanishes in a few days only to pop back up halfway across the world.
Enough about the circus though, soon the two "duelers" meet and fall in love even though they know that only one of them will win the game. What they don't know is that the game is only won when your opponent can no longer continue! AHHH!
 The Night Circus appeals to many different age groups and genre preferences and paints an amazing picture of a world seen in black, white, and red.