Review: The One by Kiera Cass

   The One (The Selection #3)
By Kiera Cass
Released: May 6, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
eBook, 323 pages 

The highly anticipated conclusion to Kiera Cass's #1 New York Timesbestselling Selection series, The One will captivate readers who love dystopian YA fiction and fairy tales. The One is the perfect finale for fans who have followed America's whirlwind romance since it began--and a swoon-worthy read for teens who have devoured Veronica Roth'sDivergent, Ally Condie's Matched, or Lauren Oliver's Delirium.

The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen--and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series! --Goodreads

 

3 Stars

Review

After sludging through the soap operas called The Selection and The Elite, I could not believe that I had the audacity to read the conclusion to the mess. Unfortunately, Kiera Cass has some magical powers that forced me to read this book. How awful, right?

In all honesty, this series taught me to never take anyone or anything seriously. If you do, you end up more miserable than otherwise. As long as you go with the flow and just take things with a grain of salt, anything remotely similar to The Selection series (ahem The Bachelor or dating shows) can be palatable. 

So we are down to 4 girls squabbling over Maxon. Normally, this would be the moment where America and the other girls would start doing the most outlandish things to win. Actually, America does continue with her irrational antics as usual. Getting shot, sneaking rebels into the castle, and sleeping with men, America is truly a migraine-inducing protagonist. Yet somehow, the four finalists actually bond together and form some strong relationships. How this happens is beyond me.... The only possible answer is puberty.... probably. Anyway, it's really adorable to read about.

There are many of these incredible moments that seem so unbelievable. Not only do America, Celeste, Kriss, and Elise seem to interact somewhat amiably, but many characters seem to swap personalities. We see Celeste treating people nicely and Elise whining like a toddler. Celeste's personality switch seems to be very popular among the YA community, but honestly it was very inorganic because it was so sudden and instantaneous. Also, America manages to sneak a rebel into the castle as a guest and the king never bothered double checking the rebel's identity? I thought the king had brains, but apparently not. Oh well, remember to just accept it all as logical.

In spite of these bewilderingly confusing moments, The One does serve as a wonderful conclusion to The Selection series. Kiera Cass has succeeded where many authors have failed when it comes to properly ending a love triangle. I was so relieved to see the end of this miserable love triangle. America continues to hurt both Aspen and Maxon, who follow her like little puppies. Seeing these puppies kicked around is painful, but America has shown tremendous growth in that she actually admits that she made at least one mistake toward both of these men. That is such a grand accomplishment, especially for America, so let's give her a little slack. 

Even now, I still do not understand how this series became so popular. There are so many flaws, including America as a protagonist and the randomly rushed details included in The One's last pages. I guess there is some magic in cat fights and finding a true love within a dystopian world. 

Purchase The One here: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles | The Book Depository

Review: Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Indelible (The Twixt #1)

By Dawn Metcalf

Publisher: Harlequin TEEN

Released: July 30, 2013

Paperback, 384 pages

Source: NetGalley 

Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies…

THE TWIXT -- Goodreads

Purchase Indelible here: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles | The Book Depository 

 3 Stars

Review:

Paranormal has almost become a washed out genre within the YA world due to the inundation of them post-Twilight years. Now, it is probably impossible to find one in the midst of the new dystopian-fantasy rage. However, in spite of all of these drawbacks, Indelible has reminded us of the fun in paranormals: the budding cross-species love (this sounds so inappropriate >_<), the ever adorable family of paranormal creatures, and the adorkable mishaps.

Indelible follows the adventures of Joy and Ink, who are brought together by the most unfortunate of circumstances. When Ink discovers Joy has the power to see him and his sister, he idiotically decides the "best" method of dealing with Joy: blinding her with his knife. In a somewhat cynical happening of events, Joy and Ink end up faking boyfriend and girlfriend to prevent Ink from being punished for inadvertently marking Joy with his little signature when he assaulted her.

Honestly, these events are hard to decipher. On one hand, I found this book hilarious because of the ridiculousness of it all. Faking girlfriend and boyfriend? Almost killing someone, but ending up having her follow you everywhere? Ha. Too bad, this book seemed to take itself incredibly seriously, to the point where it was difficult to be sure whether this was a comedy or a grand scale adventure. In reality, Indelible is most likely one of those more serious novels out there.

The only major problem that was aggravating was the flow of the novel. For some reason, Indelible never followed an explicit plot. Rather than a cumulation of events, Indelible was more of a series of events that felt disjointed when put together. There are villains and battles throughout the story, but the book does not truly follow the blurb given to us. The book claims that the main focus is Joy helping Ink out while faking being in love with him, but the book mainly consisted of Ink teleporting Joy around the world. Only until the last fifty pages does the book begin seriously focusing on the main villain, causing the climax and ending to feel rushed and rather incomplete. 

The characters of Indelible are undeniably the most entertaining of all paranormals. From the snarky protector Ink to the flamboyant party-goer Inq, there is always a character that will please the crowd. Joy was a strong female heroine, but did not have any extraordinary characteristics. Yet this fact let her stand out among the crazy magical creatures of Indelible. If only more paranormals had this many fun characters to hang out with...

Indelible was probably one of only a handful paranormals released for good reason. With a unique concept of tattoos marking you, the world was intriguing and fascinating to visit. There could have been some more world-developing because some details are still a little fuzzy. Regardless, Indelible is a cute read if you want to revisit the old paranormal days.

Twisted Tales Blog Tour: With a Kiss by Stephanie Fowers

With a Kiss (Twisted Tales #1) 

By Stephanie Fowers 

Released: March 15, 2013 

Publisher: Triad Media and Entertainment 

eBook, 282 pages 

Faerytales. They're real . . . they just haven't happened yet. Halley Starr finds this out when she loses her heart to a terrible curse. Now she has to get it back from that dirty faery who stole it from her. But first she must fight against the seven rules of the faery kingdom that mortals must never break:

1. No trespassing sacred faery territory

2. Don't ever say thank you

3. Using a faery’s given name is a no-no

4. Resist all faery music

5. Never break a promise to a faery

6. Reject all faery food

7. And never, never fall in love with a faery

But if Halley wants her heart back again, she can’t worry about the rules.

"With a Kiss" is the first book in the Twisted Tales Series.

3 Stars

Review:

With a Kiss by Stephanie Fowers is a cute, fun fairy tale retelling that is similar to Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series, but has more heart and teenage angst to draw readers in. Although this was far from being perfect, there is so much packed into the book that makes it enjoyable to read.

We are introduced to Halley Starr, a girl born with literally no heart. By no heart, she doesn't love anyone, even though everyone loves her. When she is forced to bring a baby back to her mother with a fairy gang, she learns to love and discovers who she truly is. Despite the straight forward summary, this book seems to ramble off on several points. It makes it extremely difficult to follow certain events and to gain a full understanding of the plot. At several points, I was a little confused on where the author was trying to lead the reader to in the beginning. Once the action begins in the Sidhe world, the action and humor picks up a bit. Still, the slow beginning was rather trying at times.

Even with the awkward beginning pages, With a Kiss manages to pull of the journey to giving the baby, called Babs, back to her mother. With the help of Hob, a mysterious stranger and a silent, but snarky leprechaun, Halley faces the strange, eerie Sidhe world. The problem was that there were so many unexplained plot devices that kept on adding on to my mental list. While a few of these questions were partially answered, there was still a bulk of the questions that I am still trying to answer by sorting out the book. For example, I am still wondering exactly why Halley is sent off by the mother to return Babs to her mother. Hello! Babs' mom sent Babs to Halley herself, so why does she just ship Babs something off, expecting someone else to return her to her. It is somewhat unpractical, even with the answer offered at the end. Also, why is Halley have a crown stuck to her head that tells her things? These were just the tip of the many puzzling problems that I came across.

Although I was confused for a majority of the book, the reading experience I had with this book was spectacular. Halley and her gang's conversations were cute and witty, and could draw the reader in easily. The romance in this book was pleasantly sweet, even if I didn't like the people in the couple in general. Halley was somewhat flat in characterization. She begins as an "ice queen" and immediately after being kissed, feels the emotion love for the first time. However, she does not really ever reveal it to anyone else besides Babs, making it hard to be empathetic with her. Hobs was so mysterious, annnoyingly so. If there was one character I could shoot first in the world, it would be him. I am telling you dude now that your secrets are not furthering your cause or saving the world. Go join the CIA if you wanna become in charge of classified information.

Regardless of its several faults, With a Kiss excels in painting the picture of a journey to the unknown. Unfortunately, the details of the journey are somewhat muddled, which makes it difficult to root for. Initially, we are told that Halley needs to return Babs to her mother, or else she will die, but then the objective seems to shift somewhere else. The three stars I give as a rating is what I believe that With a Kiss deserves, but my enjoyment of this book surpasses five stars because it was a new twist on the fairy tale retellings that are typically offered. 

Purchase With a Kiss here: Amazon (Kindle)

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Fractured Soul Blog Tour: Fractured Light Review and Giveaway

Fractured Light (Fractured Light #1) 

By Rachel McClellan 

Released: Feburary 8, 2012 

Publisher: Sweetwater Books 

Hardcover, 304 pages 

I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

With all of the paranormals out ready to be judged by reviewers and readers, it is extremely difficult to create an original masterpiece that readers can enjoy. When I first decided to try Fractured Light, I honestly didn't have high hopes for it. It seemed to be like every other paranormal that hit the market, but there was something that was intriguing about the the whole light manipulation. It's true that the whole superpower thing was more of the reason I wanted to try this book out, rather than its content.

From the very start, we are whisked off to the stereotypical land of a girl who is abnormal and the creepy stalker guy who seems to know everything about her. Hm... Where have we not seen this before? This is a rhetorical question, so I let me answer this for you: every frikkin' paranormal. This was probably the part of the book that was the rockiest in terms of unoriginal content and somewhat oddball character introductions. Christian, the creepy stalker guy, has one of the more dashing entrances in the novel, yet it tops the list of awkward moments in history probably.

However, as things gradually move along, Fractured Light is able to keep the reader engaged with its somewhat formulaic paranormal plot with girl having powers learning how to control them. Meanwhile, a sinister enemy enters the midst ready to destroy everything the girl, Llona, is fighting for. Along with some chummy friends who are clueless and an enemy who can disguise himself as anyone, Llona and Christian have a lot of butt kicking to work on to receive the happy ending they deserve. The work and effort that they put in was cute and it made the romance seem more natural and appealing because the insta-love thing that paranormal books obsess over should really be executed in disgrace.

The strongest aspect of this book would have to be all of the characters. Of course they are all generic, but each of their quirks and idiosyncrasies are what make them stand out among the whole light shebang and the romance tagging along. Characters that one would normally find dislikable turned out to be the ones I rooted for, such as Christian's grumpy father and Llona's irresponsible uncle, Jake. My only complaint was the image that Llona portrayed of them was so negative. All she could say about any one person was something wrong with them in appearance or personality. Annoyance with a person's personality is understandable, but being nitpicky over how a person looks is just downright irritating. Yes, I understand he is not as hot as this guy, but that does not make him less cool. The characterization of pretty people being the more focal people in the book made it seem as if only pretty people deserved attention at some points.

In spite of its predictability, Fractured Light was a promising start to a series literally bombarding the light channels (ha ha, I know... it's so bad). The most important thing to pull off for a book is to keep the reader engaged and excited to read the book. Fractured Light excels at this task, making it one of those fun pleasure reads, rather than book that a reader seriously plans to delve and completely immerse one's self in. Regardless of the number of faults that I am being a little aggressive on, I cannot deny that this book was beast when it came to the flashy (this is my last light joke) action and adorably sweet romance.

Purchase Fractured Light here: Amazon/ B&N

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Talisman of El by Alecia Stone Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway

Talisman of El (Talisman of El #1)
By Alecia Stone 

Released: May 20, 2012
Publisher: Centrinian Publishing Ltd
Hardcover, 364 pages 

WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE?

One Planet.

Two Worlds.

Population: Human ... 7 billion.

Others ... unknown.

When 14-year-old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again. This time he witnesses a brutal murder. He's afraid to tell any one. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.

Charlie doesn't know why this is happening. He would give any thing to have an ordinary life. The problem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home. He belongs with the others. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

Talisman of El is one of those middle grade fantasies that has basically everything to make an action-packed thriller for a male targeted audience. The plot is extremely well thought out, there are extremely brief moments of romance for the guys who can just never get the girl, and characters that are enjoyable to read about. Unfortunately though, the book relies on dry plot devices and humor to pave the way into the action for a dreadfully turtle-paced read. Let's just say that there are more positive attributes for this book than negative, but the negative are so painfully obvious.

We begin with Charlie, a kid whose been bouncing from foster home to foster home for most of his life. Then he finally gets the perfect foster parent that all children dream of, right? Sadly, it is not to be when his foster father turns out to be a criminal and is basically destroying his already crummy life that is plagued with nightmares. Life's swell for our poor guy Charlie. The storyline of this book is stuck in this plot hole for a while, taking its own sweet time to finally move along with the action. Even though there is an extremely long waiting period for the answer to all of the questions that are asked, nothing happens. Charlie and his buds meet and greet a whole ton of characters that take forever to lead us to the realization of the two worlds. Notice: I am not spoiling anything. Read the blurb if you think I've done something wrong!

While one reads, it may come to his or her attention that there are a heap of characters in this book. That was one of the problems I had: all of the characters felt the same, so I had a hard time distinguishing one from another. It was as if they were all androids programmed with the same personality that just forced the reader onto a dreary slope up to a climatic realization that will fall flat because the characters have already drived the reader to the point of insanity. I felt absolutely nothing for any of them. Not Charlie, not one of his friends, nor the old guy whose actually young (long story). 

Like many books, this book has excelled with a fascinating and intriguing world development. The problem lies with the execution of the premise with shoddy character development, anticlimatic plot and somewhat weak writing. Surely the writing will improve over the course of the series, but there's a need for improvement soon. Even with so many faults, I found Talisman of El a cute read that stands out among the typical middle grade reads about kids going through puberty and an adventure of a lifetime because of their crummy destiny. 

Purchase Talisman of El here: Amazon/ B&N/ Book Depository

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Daynight Blog Tour Review: Daynight by Megan Thomason

Daynight by Megan Thomason 

Published: November 26, 2012 

Paperback, 324 pages

“Sure to win over YA readers looking for a dangerous, dystopian adventure story” —Kirkus Reviews

“Gripping young adult dystopian novel; compelling conflicts; high stakes; powerful narrative; surprises keep coming; strong writing; page-turner; engaging characters; Readers will be hungry for the sequels.”—BlueInk Review (starred review)

Meet The Second Chance Institute (SCI): Earth’s benevolent non-profit by day, Thera’s totalitarian regime by night. Their motto: Because Everyone Deserves a Second Chance™. Reality: the SCI subjects Second Chancers to strict controls and politically motivated science experiments like Cleaving—forced lifetime union between two people who have sex.

Meet Kira Donovan. Fiercely loyal, overly optimistic, and ensnared by the promise of a full-ride college scholarship, Kira signs the SCI Recruit contract to escape memories of a tragedy that left her boyfriend and friends dead.

Meet Blake Sundry. Bitter about being raised in Exile and his mother’s death, Blake’s been trained to infiltrate and destroy the SCI. Current barrier to success? His Recruit partner—Miss Goody Two Shoes Kira Donovan.

Meet Ethan Darcton. Born with a defective heart and resulting inferiority complex, Ethan’s forced to do his SCI elite family’s bidding. Cleave-worthy Kira Donovan catches his eye, but the presiding powers give defect-free Blake Sundry first dibs.

Full of competing agendas, romantic entanglements, humor, twists and turns, daynight is Megan Thomason’s debut young adult dystopian novel and first in the daynight series. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

When I first started daynight, I had no idea where it was leading to. The plot and writing was going all over the place, with the confusing alternating points of views, the tension between the characters that didn't seem to have a reason, my inability to comprehend the actions of any character, basically nearly everything. I wasn't even sure that this was the right book that I picked up. For a second, I thought that I was confusing this book with another. daynight seemed to be going in the horrid direction of a book who has no idea where it planned to go.

Luckily for the readers, but maybe not for 75% of the characters, they all die! The giant bomb that kills off Kira's friends sort of leads us to a point where we can all nod and have somewhat lukewarm understanding of what's going on. Then again, nothing really happens for the remainder of the book. It's a giant mess with Kira and Blake having a 'I am not interested in you, but then again....' kind of relationship. This book had the deepest love triangle I have ever been through. By deepest, I mean the most likely to have all of the characters commit suicide through sheer stupidity. Kira and Ethan have some telepathic love relationship where they love each other, despite only communicating for like 5 minutes before the bomb goes off (the bomb is very important). Basically, Kira and Ethan moon over each other throughout the entire book, making it hilariously awkward when it turns out that a love triangle comes around between Kira, Ethan, and Blake. Meanwhile, poor Blake has some secret mission to succeed in, but his "feelings" or nagging thought to touch Kira keeps bothering him.

If I could give these characters a word to follow by, it would be HORMONES. In other words, if you are not willing to follow your heart nor your brain, follow your hormones. Then again, the pathetic-ness of the love triangle makes this book even funnier than it already it. Kira has a cute narration that pokes fun of the seriousness of the new world she is staying in that has these confusing customs like "cleaving"", aka sex, and being stuck with your cleaver (?) for life. The humor of this book is truly the most memorable aspect that left the most positive impression for me. 

Writing wise, Megan Thomason is already wonderful at it. Her descriptions and dialogue are sweet and snappy, in other words, not choppy, but not too dragged out. At many points, I was able to feel the pain, anger, and happiness of all the characters. That is not to say that I thought they were realistic, but there were these heart-wrenching moments that could divert my attention from some of the nonsensical moments of the book.

Overall, daynight is the beginning of a exciting dystopian trilogy. There could definitely be some major improvements in the plot and pacing, but otherwise I enjoyed the guilty pleasure sort of feel it had. The ending of the book was a somewhat cliff-hanger, so I shall eagerly anticipate for the next book in this trilogy, while praying for a love triangle focused on either the heart, brain, or hormones.

Purchase daynight here: Amazon (Kindle)

Review: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Scarlet

By A.C. Gaughen

Released: February 14, 2012

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Hardcover, 292 pages

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. 

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.  --GoodReads

Three Stars!

Review

Ah, yes. Yet another fairy tale retelling of an old, OLD classic. Passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth, no one really knows the original, but rather the "renditions" of previous stories. A whisper down the lane game, if you will. Robin Hood is the story of a fearless, as-honest-as-you-can-get thief, that steals from the pompous rich and gives without fail to the poor. Based upon a well known story known throughout the world, A.C. Gaughen pulls off a gender-blending story centered on the Hood's female partner-in-crime. 

Now, truth to be told, when someone mentions the name,"Robin Hood" to me out of the blue, I would never ever suspect a girl. 

I think this counts as a traditional Robin. Doncha think?

Sorry. Doesn't come to mind...

However, this is (almost) exactly what Gaughen thought of. At first, I was really excited. I mean, a girl creaming a guy in the art of thievery? Heck yeah! Count me in! Scarlet even specifies at one point that she has to teach all of the guys in her troop how to thieve properly (err, if there's actually a way to break the laws properly...)

YEAH! Love the fist.

Scarlet, the main protagonist, narrates the story in such a great way. She's crude, rude, and fits in with all the other guys in her "band" of lads. This band is made up of her, Robin Hood, Little John, and Much. Not to mention that she's one bad-ass with the knives. But, somehow, even with her foul mouth, she attracts the attention of two worthy-to-be-mentioned guys, the Hood and John. This is why I have a love/hate YA novels. No matter how insecure, rude, crude, sassy, silly, or introverted the main gal POV is, there's always 2 guys that fall head over heels in love. While I love the fact that the 2 coolest guys in the story fall in love with Scarlet, I also loathe the fact that it's so unrealistic and sometimes a bit cheesy. 

Anyway.... back to the main point. I mean, I love Scarlet's potty mouth, but she's so over emotional about her past. I don't know. It's the one chink in her armor. Oh, yeah, and expressing her feelings without blowing up as red as a tomato. 

Like a tomato. Seriously.

But well... I suppose that's what makes her  a believable character. If you don't mind reading about some head strong girl fighting a guy 30 times stronger than her but is as shy as a lily when it comes to talking about love...well, have fun! Cause I didn't. Not really. 

Another thing: this has to do with Robin and John. Remember how I said that both boys are seriously infatuated with this poor girl? Well, Scarlet leaves them hanging for quite a some time and as you know, boys  with raging lusty hormones fighting over a girl that "just doesn't know who to pick because she loooooooves them both" doesn't end very well. Scarlet's indecisiveness really irked me. You can't have both Scarlet! You may have a six-pack (well, probably. She goes so long without eating and works out as a career, why not throw in a couple of abs. She more than deserves it.)

Just image this on Scarlet. I dare you to.

Oh. Don't get me started on her eating habits! They were really bad, even for an anorexic girl. Scarlet calmly states throughout the book that she's not eaten for weeks and days on end. Not to mention the fact that she's the type of person that fills others' stomachs before one's own. John and Robin nag her constantly to eat (I don't blame them. Curves are way better than bones for a teenage boy...*cough*) and Scarlet takes it as an offense. She says she can barely choke down two bites, and hates to accept charity when THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE'S DOING TO FEED THE VILLAGERS. I BET THEY DON'T LIKE IT TOO BUT THEY ACCEPT IT ANYWAY BECAUSE WHO DOESN'T LIKE FREE STUFF THEY'RE STARVING. So in reality, I believe that Scarlet ends up looking something like this:

Bbnieoanfidasj!!!!! TOO SKINNY!

Sooooo, back on to the overall analysis. 

Plot: It was interesting at first but doesn't give you the feeling of "I CANNOT PUT THIS DOWN UNTIL I FINISH IT" sort of reads. It was a bit flimsy and it mainly focused on Scarlet's, John's, Robin's interactions and daily routines.

Style: Robin Hood does take place in England, so some of the slang is a bit hard to understand at first, but you get used to it. It's rough and some  a LOT of the grammar is incorrect (so if you're a perfectionist or have OCD, this may be a problem for you.) Here. Let me give you a few sentences as examples.

 "[The bar] were heaving with bodies, laughs, and mugs slinging 'bout," (Gaughen 1).

"He were the youngest of us, too, bare sixteen, which didn't help none but Rob knew what Much were capable of in true." (Gaughen 2)

There's a lot of lads', lasses', and were's. The were's were the worst. They drove me insane...

Overall, if you're looking for a medium-quick read (depending how fast you read), a fairy tale retelling, cheesy love triangle and foreign slang doesn't bog you down while reading, go check out Scarlet. All I can say is that it's not half bad. (Although I am a bit disappointed with the lack of a sturdy, interesting, edge of the seat story. I loved the book because of the concept of a female side kick to the famous Robin Hood). Just don't get your hopes up too high for this one.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Order online at: Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ The Book Depository

Blog Tour Reviews: How to Date an Alien AND How to Break Up with an Alien by Magan Vernon Plus Giveaway

Double Reviews= Double the Fun!

How to Date an Alien (My Alien Romance #1) 

by Magan Vernon

Published: November 28th 2011 

Publisher: Calta Press

Kindle Edition, 234 pages

High school senior Alex Bianchi's estranged father gets her an internship at Circe Operations Center to pad her college applications. 

But Circe isn't your typical military base. 

It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawn to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink of intergalactic war?

--Goodreads

4 Stars!

(Mini) Review: 

While the rest of the world of teens is stuck on vampires and werewolves, I'm stuck on aliens. This book was definitely interesting! I don't know whether it was because I'm new to the whole alien scene or because of the plot or something else. Most likely a mix of both! :)

Ahhh I was rooting for Alex and Ace! I really found Ace's species and home planet intriguing, hopefully in the second book it'll talk more about it! I love how Alex was rational about things, but was impulsive at the right times. At times the novel got a little slow, but not for long. There was always crazy things happening in the book sooner rather than later. 

Purchase this novel at: Amazon / B&N / TBD

How to Break Up with an Alien (My Alien Romance #2)
by Magan Vernon
Published: May 15th 2012
Publisher: Calta Press
Paperback, 272 Pages

Face it, long distance relationships in high school are hard, especially when the other one in the relationship is an alien.

Alex Bianchi may have survived an intergalactic battle, but that still doesn’t excuse her from her senior year of high school, or qualify her for any sort of scholarship. To make up for college tuition costs, she takes a job at a local coffee shop. 

If only coffee could solve all of her problems. As Alex’s senior year progresses, everything changes and she can’t figure out if it is interstellar or if it is just time to break up with an alien.--Goodreads

3 Stars

(Mini) Review:

I like this book, but not as much as I liked the first novel.

At times I found Alex and Ace to be very annoying. Alex also became a tad bit clingy. What was really annoying was the fact that Alex wasn't really standing up for herself! In the first novel she stood up for herself sometimes, but not always...so in the second book it seems like she is going backwards on standing up for herself. 

Although I have some issues with the characters, I still liked the plot, and the alien and human dynamic.

Purchase this novel at: Amazon / B&N / TBD

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WinterHaven Sleigh Tour Review: Decked with Holly by Marni Bates

Today, YA Novelties is excited to join the WinterHaven Sleigh Tour hosted byWinterHaven Books. This week, we are posting our choice of a Winter Book Review. To see who else is on the sleigh, go to WinterHaven Sleigh Tour for a list of participating blogs.

As part of the festivities, WinterHaven Books is hosting an international giveaway that will include a copy of Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Signed by Levithan and Cohn) and a copy of Let it Snow to four lucky winners. Good luck and happy holidays!

Decked with Holly
By Marni Bates

Published: September 25, 2012

Publisher: Kensington Teen

Paperback, 272 pages

                                        

Holly Dayton is about to go way out of her comfort zone. . .

Spending Christmas vacation on a cruise with her two cousins from hell isn't Holly's idea of a good time. And when in a moment of seasick-fueled desperation she lurches into an open suite--she's greeted with an eyeful of pepper spray. The culprit? A gorgeous guy calling himself Nick. But when Holly goes to make her exit, she gets the shock of her life: a corridor crammed with screaming teenage fans. Because Nick just happens to be Dominic Wyatt, drummer for ReadySet--one of the hottest bands in America.

Suddenly rumors are swirling, and Holly's face is captured on countless phones and plastered all over the Internet. But the band can't risk a scandal destroying their family-friendly image, so Dominic convinces Holly to be his fake girlfriend--just for two weeks. How bad could it be to be fauxmantically involved with one of the cutest rockstars on the planet? Holly's about to find out. . . --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

This kind of stuff was never my kind of thing. The whole "fauxmance," celebrity falling in love with average girl, and the Christmas timing didn't really seem to be possible to spin together a decent paragraph, let alone a contemporary novel. To my surprise, Decked with Holly succeeds in being a cohesive novel with tons of laughs, snark, and cheers. However, this doesn't mean I really enjoyed reading this book.

Decked with Holly is basically a pity party for poor Holly, a girl who is suffering under circumstances that aren't really explained, except for the fact that her aunt and two girl cousins enjoy bullying her. Yeah, I hope that I'm not the only one who is wondering why. Don't bother wasting your energy on that, it's never explained. Just letting the story flow was the key to me being able to finish this, but not fully enjoy this book as so many others have. When Holly and Dominic meet, nothing really sparks between them, except maybe pepper spray, vomit, and heated words. The story really starts going from there, as Holly is forced to have a fake relationship with Nick with the typical hijinks that occur with jealousy, paparazzi, and pride.

There, however, was some character growth for the main protagonists that really drew me in. We see poor little Holly, "the Mess," with the tendency to always find herself in the most ridiculous of situations, grow up to becomes a somewhat confident girl who doesn't feel hurt as much by her bullying cousins. Note: there wasn't much character development for any character due to the ridiculously short amount of time fleshing out the characters, but what we've seen with Holly is good enough for this book. Nick, meanwhile, is the one who I really enjoyed reading about. He begins as a sort of bully, with his high and mighty tails of greatness following him everywhere. Holly is able to put Nick down without much effort multiple times, which allows Nick to become a more relatable and sweet character.


This book is a cute and fluffy read Nothing really made this stand out compared to the other thousands of contemporaries with rock stars and fauxmances. We have the ever-arguing twosome that are way too arrogant to ever admit that they're falling in love. Then there's this clique of blondies with their ability to destroy everything, but actually just make everything ten times more ridiculous (and hilarious). Their over-the-top antics to hook up with Nick are just some of the more cliched routes that this book chooses to go. Basically, this book was a nice pile of fluffy cliche all rolled into one punny title. I won't say that I found it yucky, but this book is definitely one of the thousands of books that come and go with the same plot that are fun, enjoyable reads to pass the time.

Purchase this book here: Amazon/ B&N/ TBD

Don't forget to check out WinterHaven Sleigh Tour's Giveaway of Dash & Lily's Book of Dares and Let is Snow here!

Review: Sam Cruz's Infallible Guide to Getting Girls by Tellulah Darling

Sam Cruz's Infallible Guide to Getting Girls 

by Tellulah Darling

Published: October 17th 2012 

Publisher: Te Da Media

Paperback, 244 pages

Why the hell can’t chicks be more like guys?

That question plagues high school senior Sam Cruz. Sam is perfectly happy being a player. He just wishes girls wouldn’t change the game from sex to relationships. It makes him look like an asshole. But when Sam’s best friend, Ally Klinger, gets dumped, she begs him to transform her into someone who can screw around then screw off. No risk of heartbreak that way. It’s Sam’s chance to create the perfect female AND cheer up his best friend. Armed with Sam’s Three Step Guide to Backseat Success, Ally gets the game better than Sam thought she would and before long, Sam has his wish: the female version of himself. Too bad it’s driving him nuts. Told from Sam’s and Ally's alternating POVs, Sam Cruz’s Infallible Guide to Getting Girls is a fast-paced romantic comedy that follows these teens as they navigate the minefield of sex, love, and friendship. 

This book contains strong language, drinking, euphemisms, and lots of “bow chicka wow wow.”--Goodreads

3 Stars

Review:

This book, although it is young-adult, should probably only be read by mature teens or an older audience. 

I really liked Ally in the beginning before her transformation. I kind of thought that she was already a kick-butt heroine but...

After her transformation, I did not quite like Ally. She became that girl in high school. Maybe it was my own personal views that made me not like this book, but the book did have some redeeming qualities to it. The dialogue (well some of it) was funny and there was a bunch of (vulgar) humor, which I found funny at first, but then it was kind of overwhelmingly vulgar that it just wasn't that funny. But the penguin that poops chocolate was pretty funny :) (FYI:The penguin was a toy penguin!)

The ending was pretty much what saved the whole book for me, since I'm a huge sucker for happy endings. But overall, the plot was pretty predictable; nothing in the book was a surprise to the reader. :/

ARC courtesy of Te Da Media via NetGalley. Thank you Te Da Media and NetGalley! 

Purchase this book at: Amazon / B&N / TBD

Avenge Blog Tour: Awaken by Sarah M. Ross and Giveaway

Awaken (Patronus #1)

By Sarah M. Ross

eBook, 206 pages

Lucy Donovan was supposed to have a weekend of fun in the sun, celebrating her upcoming graduation from college. In a split second, everything changed. A drunk driver ended Lucy’s mortal life.

Lucy opens her eyes to a world she never imagined possible and a new destiny: as a Patronus, a guardian of spirits. Adjusting to her new role and abilities while negotiating this confusing realm will test her limits and push her further than she ever dreamed she would go. From wayward spirits who don’t want her help to soul stealing vampires, and even a stuck-up British royal, Lucy must brave them all to save one spirit she can’t bear to lose.

Further complicating her life is an inexplicable yet growing connection she feels to a member of her team, Max, whose mysterious behavior leaves her both confused and intrigued.

Waking up dead was just the beginning of her problems. Lucy’s death is about to become the greatest adventure of her life. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

If there is something about this book that struck out at me the most, it would probably be its similarity to Croak by Gina Damico. Many of the details of the world build in Awaken are either identical or very similar to the hilariously snarky Croak. Although I love Croak with a burning passion and can't dream of a single book about reapers comparing to its gory grim reaper glory, Awaken has its own quirks and charm that made it a fun read.

Awaken begins right off the bat with Lucy dead. Yup, no lag time between car accident and resurrection as angel, it's a smooth entrance to allow the story instantly grab attention, and it works. As I was reading Awaken, the fast-paced, exciting pace of this book instantly hooked me and left me dangling while I was away. It's just one of those reads that keeps a person pacing back and forth for what decisions and revelations will come out to add to the already daring plot. 

Unfortunately, what also struck at me was the ridiculous love story between Lucy and Max. By now, as a YA reader, I'm used to insta-love. But this was too much! The lovebirds go on a "should we admit that we like each other" by page 40. My feeling was like, "what in the world did I miss in the past 10 minutes?" The extreme insta-love was too much for me, causing me to kind of roll my eyes over all of the so-called romantic moments and Lucy's mooning over Max. 

When compared to Croak, this book isn't as satisfactory of a read. The romance is rushed at such a fast pace, the characters felt a bit unreal and unrelatable, and the book, overall, felt a tad bit immature for a book with a college student protagonist and many characters well above the 500 year old line. Perhaps if the book was longer than 206 pages, then it would be able to gradually build up intensity and emotions better. Despite my complaints, I cannot deny that I really enjoyed reading Awaken to my surprise.

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