Review or Rant: Origins: The Fire by Debra Driza

Origins: The Fire (Mila 2.0 #0.5)
By Debra Driza
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 

Published: January 8, 2013
eBook, 15 pages

Heart-stopping and electric, MILA 2.0: Origins: The Fire contains a short prequel story and an excerpt to MILA 2.0, the first book in a riveting Bourne Identity–style trilogy by Debra Driza.

Mila can't remember anything before the fire that took her father's life. It's normal to have some memory loss after traumatic events, but Mila doesn't remember if she's ever learned to ride a bike, or if she's ever been in love. Nothing.

What she doesn't know is that she isn't supposed to remember—that she was built in a computer science lab and programmed to forget. Because if she remembers, she might discover her true identity.

The question is: If she relived the fire, what would she see? --Goodreads

2.5 Stars (My experience of reading it)

Review or Rant

Basically, if you were paying attention, this is a "review or rant." Basically, I am  "reviewing" this 15 page novella, but am also going to spend most of the time droning on and on about certain aspects of it. WARNING: Half of it is improbably irrelevant to the entire novella (it's only 15 pages, what did you expect!?!)

This is not to say that Origins: The Fire wasn't enjoyable. It was a quick, fast-paced excited adventure about a fire (no duh!!). Still, only 15 pages of excitement isn't enough for the reader to gain a full or partial understanding of the world of Mila 2.0, which is what most novellas strive to achieve. Apparently, when I finished the novella, another 84% of the "book" was still left to be finished, and what was it: an excerpt of Mila 2.0. Of course I loved the excerpt, but then that leads to what was the point of this?

Let's just say I have nothing against novellas. I love the idea of getting a sneak preview of the amazing new YA series coming out, but then most of them are at least 50-100 pages. So basically, the 15 pages of this novella are sort of out of place in the norms of the publishing world. Harper Collins (Katherine Tegen is an imprint, if you didn't know) is totally experienced with the world of publishing, especially YA book publishing, but really, what were you publicists thinking? At least the novella is free, right? WRONG! What is the frikkin' point of releasing a novella that could easily be the prologue of Mila 2.0, rather than a "prequel" novella. This seems more of a publicity stunt to draw crowds, than to genuinely draw the YA audience's attention to this series with a gorgeous cover, which probably did a better job of drawing the crowds anyway.

Overall, Origins: The Fire was an extremely disappointing novella. There was nothing wrong with anything, but its length. The length of it, in fact is the reason why it's near impossible to review. Nothing happens in the entire novella besides a fire burning down a building with people in it. Not much room for growth or characterization. Unless you are seriously dying for all of the juicy bits of Mila 2.0 before it comes out, this is a waste of time to read. Still, there's much to look forward to with Mila 2.0. With the book coming out this March 12th, and ABC planning to adapt it as a series with the producers of Grey's Anatomy, there's much to look forward to in the coming year or so. 

Purchase Origins: The Fire: Amazon (Kindle)/ B&N (Nook)

Review: Reaper by L.S. Murphy

Reaper by L.S. Murphy

Expected Publication: January 7, 2012

Publisher: J. Taylor Publishing

E-ARC courtesy of J.Taylor Publishing

There's no way sixteen year old Quincy Amarante will become the fifth grim reaper. None. Not over her shiny blue Mustang. Her Jimmy Choos. Or her dead body.

She’s supposed to enjoy her sophomore year, not learn about some freaky future Destiny says she has no choice but to fulfill.

It doesn't take long for Quincy to realize the only way out of the game is to play along especially since Death can find her anyway, anywhere, anytime. And does.

Like when she’s reassuring her friends she wants nothing to do with former best friend Ben Moorland, who’s returned from god-knows-where, and fails. Miserably.

Instead of maintaining her coveted popularity status, Quincy’s goes down like the Titanic.

Maybe ... just maybe ... that’s okay.

It seems, perhaps, becoming a grim reaper isn't just about the dead but more about a much needed shift in Quincy’s priorities—from who she thinks she wants to be to who she really is. --Goodreads

2.5 Stars

Review

After many successful grim reaper YA books out there, I had ridiculously high expectations for Reaper. OK, maybe there aren't that many, and I've only read Soul Screamers and Croak, but both of those series were able to effortlessly captivate its readers with sarcasm and ironic situations poking fun at the seriousness of grim reapers. Unlike its predecessors in this sort of morbid environment, Reaper takes the scythe quite seriously, while still managing to be cute, but in a chick lit way.

With all of the hullabaloo about Quincy being annoyed by her destiny/fate (?) to become the fifth grim reaper of her family's long ancestry after she dies, one would expect a story about her learning all of the kinks and secrets of the job, considering that the book advertises this. Instead, there's more of a focus on Quincy's life as the most popular girl in her school, her trying to keep her popularity, and her mooning over several guys. Not to say that it wasn't cute, but seriously I feel cheated. Rather than giving out the morbid scythe that I've been dying to utilize on people, a cute little bunny is offered up on a platter (NOT TO SAY THAT I EAT BUNNIES, ESPECIALLY CUTE BUNNIES ON PLATTERS!!!). The whole reaper business only really came into the picture when it would be an awkward situation (not that funny), and as a resolution for the ending.

There was also the issue of Quincy. Let's just say that very few characters as capable as she is to make me go insane, while rooting for her. Not only was she extremely unrelatable, there wasn't any substance for her character. Her character was impossible to comprehend because she makes all of these selfish decisions, but then randomly does one good thing. The one good deed is something major, of course, but it feels illogical when you compare the Quincy from a chapter earlier to the Quincy at that moment. It feels as if the author is trying to redeem Quincy to make people want to root for her. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work out that way, and instead just adds questions to never-ending question pile I collected while reading this book.

The main problem with this book though is how disjointed it is. After spending nearly 90% of the book focusing on Quincy and her fellow human mates, random mystical beings come in that screw up everything. The build up for the contemporary story that it should have been suddenly goes haywire and dives into the paranormal stereotypes. It was a letdown, considering that I just warmed up to the chick lit style, but was then dragged into another drug den of sacrifice, cheesiness, and anti-climatic moments. It's worthy to point out that I was laughing during the climatic scene due to its sort of awkwardness and randomness of it all.

With all of these complaints I'm piling on about this book, you'd expect me to say that I hated it. Reaper was one of the biggest disappointment I've had in a while, but it was definitely one of those nice relaxing reads that aren't meant to really stand out. There were some swoon-worthy moments with Quincy and *beep* (obviously I can't say!) and the ending was one that brought smiles and a sense of fulfillment (it was still clichéd). This wasn't the read I was hoping it would be, but it's a read for when you something that will not be aggravating to finish.

Purchase this book here: Amazon/ B&N

Review: Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles #1)

By: Lenore Appelhans

Expected Publication Date: January 15, 2013

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Hardcover, 288 pages

In this gripping exploration of a futuristic afterlife, a teen discovers that death is just the beginning.

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind. -Goodreads

2 and a Half Stars

Review

There are some writers who are perfectly capable of writing well in the present tense. These writers are incredibly gifted and are rare to come by. The vast majority of authors cannot do it and so they wisely choose not to and write in the past instead. Not the author of this book. She chose to write in the present tense anyways and as a result the novel reads like a creative writing piece written by an overly zealous high school student.

As far as the plot goes, it's not bad. Maybe the book tries too hard to be different, but the idea behind it all was pretty solid. The main character, Felicia, is stuck in a stage of the afterlife called Level 2, where she is kept in a pod and isn't allowed to do anything besides watch memories. Some are her own (she mostly watches those of her and her boyfriend, Neil) and others belong to the other girls in the same pod. Eventually, she is broken out of Level 2 by Julian, someone she knew when she was still alive and who promises her that she can see Neil again if he helps her overthrow the evil angels who are keeping them there. There were a few too many plot twists to keep track of, but the plot moved fast.

The writing was the real drawback to the book. I have no doubt that Lenore Appelhans could have made this work had she written it in the past tense and lost the laughable amount of clichés she managed to include. The writing gave the impression that the author was trying too hard, and it dragged the book along, making a potentially interesting story into a boring one.

Pre-order this book at: Amazon/ Barnes&Nobles/ The Book Depository

Review: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Sweet Venom (Medusa Girls #1) by Tera Lynn Childs

Published: September 6th 2011 

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Hardcover, 345 pages

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the Minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters. 

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight. --GoodReads

2 and a Half Stars

Review

Okay, so this isn't exactly the latest and greatest book out there, so don't expect some knocking-off-of-the-socks-time. I really decided to do a review on Sweet Venom because we had a Freebie Alert and gave away a few free copies of the book a while back, which is probably over by now, so don't get your hopes up! Well, what the hey, right? The more reviews, the better, I say!! 

From what I remember, this book wasn't really outstanding, nor was it horrible. Which, by the way, was why I decided to give this guy 50%. I remember really liking the idea of this story that 3 totally different girls, although identical, could relate and connect to each other not by the fact that they're family, but because of monsters! Plus, who doesn't like a little bit of Greek Mythology in their life? I take a good dose every few weeks -- it's healthy for ya. 

As for the quality of the mythology, I thought Childs really explained and covered the story behind Medusa quite well. Seeing as this is the first book I've read where the heroine(s) is/are part snake-ish-medusa-ey, I really liked it. These days, most mythology YA Books are about heroes sharing the blood of one of the 12 original gods (i.e. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephastaes, Artemis, Apollo....the list goes on and on...)

What was very interesting and different for me in this book was the fact that it was narrated by each of the sisters. We, the readers, weren't limited to only one girls' perspective; we could experience the feelings, thoughts, ideas of each of them. I liked that; if I got pissed at one of them for doing something unbearably idiotic, the next chapter could be someone I liked! 

Personally, I enjoyed reading about Gretchen -- she knew what she wanted, and, not to mention, she knew how to kick some major monster butt! Readers can easily sympathize with the kind hearted, urban girl Grace, as she strives to turn her life around for the better. Greer, on the other hand, was a little hard to connect with, being the rich snobby know-it-all-only-child that she is, but soon becomes lovable in the end. With all three so different, it's almost impossible to not like at least one of them.

A turn-off for me in this book was the progression, and speed of the book. True, Childs needed quite a lot of time to introduce each character successfully without giving anything away, but how much quicker can you make an ending like that. No offense, but it was terrible. The climax happened so quickly and so fast, I had to flip back a few times over to see that it had really resolved! I swear, it happened in the last 50 or 60 pages or so -- out of 350!! That's like 14% of the book being spent to resolve the issue. Granted, as Sweet Venom is labeled as (Medusa Girls #1), and since I seriously doubt Childs wouldn't write a sequel, there'll probably more of a resolution and explanation as to why the first book ended the way it did.

I think that although Sweet Venom was a great book, it just didn't seem to have the right qualities for me that to make an AMAZING book.  

Also, I won't get into this much, but the whole idea of saving the world from evil as we are the only ones capable because we are half snake plot was so used and done before that it just wasn't special. If you're looking for a nice, relaxing book, Sweet Venom is the book for you.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Pre-order Sweet Venom at: Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ The Book Depository

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I just found out the sequel just came out a month ago! Here's a link! 

Sweet Shadows (Medusa Girls #2) by Tera Lynn Childs