Tempest by Julie Cross

Okay, so it's true. I can time-travel. But it's not as exciting as it sounds. I can't go back in time and kill Hitler. I can't go to the future and see who wins the World Series in 2038. So far, the most I've ever jumped is about six hours in the past. Some superhero, right?

I first heard about Tempest when I was preparing for LeakyCon 2012 and I was researching the different LeakyCon Lit panels I wanted to attend. Julie Cross was supposed to be a part of a discussion about how she was a female writer who chose to have her book told through the eyes of a male. (I could be wrong, but I'm about 99% sure that's what it was for.) I thought it sounded good then, but didn't get the chance to read it before I went. After that, I forgot about it until I spotted it on the library shelves a few weeks ago.

Jackson is a college sophomore who also happens to be a time-traveler. He can jump back in time, but not for very long or very far back, and nothing he does can change what has already happened. So far the power has proven useless except for gathering tidbits of information, until the day that armed men crash into his girlfriend's dorm room. It's on that day that he watches as his girlfriend takes a bullet to the chest and, involuntarily, he jumps back in time a full two years.

Unable to get back 2009, where Holly (his girlfriend) lays dying on her dorm room floor, Jackson feels like he is going to lose his mind. Not only is he wracked by guilt about leaving her behind, but he's also  managed to uncover certain information that points toward his father being a government agent. Unsure of who to trust or how to proceed, he seeks out the 2007 versions of his best friend and girlfriend, hoping they will somehow point him in the right direction.

However, as Jackson manages to uncover more information about who he is and who those men were that shot 2009 Holly, he realizes that he doesn't know who to trust. And worse, he learns he is putting everyone around him in grave danger simply by association. If he doesn't find a way to protect the people he loves, he could lose them all.

Time travel is a common theme in science fiction, but one that still manages to be difficult to pull off. Perhaps it's because the theme is so over-done that it can be hard to make it original. Perhaps it's because it has a tendency to err on the side of cheesy or un-realistic. However, Julie Cross somehow manages to pull off Jackson's version of time traveling with a level of originality and believability that definitely surprised me.

I would absolutely suggest this to science fiction fans who are looking for a new and complex take on a typically worn-out theme. And if you're not a sci-fi junkie? Well, there's still plenty of appeal in the rest of the story and Jackson is a wonderful protagonist that makes you want to learn more about who he is and how he manages to make it through all of the crazy that has somehow made its way into his life.

Rating:♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Holly fell to the ground and I wanted to shout, to drop down beside her, but the second the seeping red blood started to show through her robe, I jumped. This time I couldn't seem to control it. 
But right before everything turned black, I saw it. Her chest rose and then fell again. She was alive and I just left her there.

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

I would not stand by and let them be lost to the Mede or to Melenze or to an endless civil war where they would never be free of bloodshed until the whole country was stripped to the bare bones. If I couldn't be Eddis, I would be Attolia.

[Click here to see my review of book 1: The Thief, book 2: The Queen of Attolia, and book 3: The King of Attolia.]

Though finishing a series tends to be a tad bittersweet, one must admit that it brings a lovely feeling of accomplishment when you sit back, happily aware that you've read all there is to read when it comes to this particular storyline and these particular characters.

I deeply enjoyed the entire Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner and I finally brought myself around to reading the conclusion. For all my talk of the greatness of finishing a series, there's also a finality that makes me realize how much I'll miss these characters and these stories. I tend to put as much space between the second to last book and the final one as I can plausibly get away with.

When Sophos, heir to the throne of Sounis, and friend of both the queen of Eddis and the king of Attolia, is attacked in his own village and whisked away to an unknown destination, he manages to weasel his way out of the hands of his captors. However, he soon finds himself a slave on the lands of the very man who ordered his kidnapping. Rendered unrecognizable, he settles into this life, believing it would be best for him to leave the running of Sounis to his uncle. After all, Sophos had never been a very promising heir. He cared too much for his poetry and too little for strategy or battle.

Still, Sophos left much unfinished when he was taken from his home. His sisters and mother may have died in the attack, but there were others who held his heart and a rebellion rising that threatens to overthrow Sounis and leave it vulnerable to the Medes, a country that's been trying to get a foothold in Sounis (along with its neighboring countries) for a time now and is still licking its wounds from being so heartily deterred by Attolia.

When his father comes under attack in the very home that Sophos has been laboring under, Sophos brings himself out of obscurity to save his father and his men. But much has changed since the day that Sophos was taken and he is no longer heir to the throne, but is now king himself. It is his task to save his country and he's going to have to turn to an old friend if he will ever manage to accomplish it. But will the king of Attolia aid him in his quest to save his people, or will Gen prove to be more difficult than he's ever been before?

The most recent installment in what fans of the series are calling "The Queen's Thief" series, A Conspiracy of Kings was (as you can probably see from the summary) told from the perspective of Sophos. It's fun seeing the kid grow up and become and entity and a threat in his own right. Sophos is a fun character and one that the reader can really identify with. While Gen, the subject of the first three books, was always a joy to read, I loved how different Sophos was from him. He was much more afraid, less cunning, but just as clever. I really enjoyed getting to see Megan Whalen Turner write such a different character in this series while still making us love both of our main protagonists.

All of that said, I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I did the first three. Perhaps it was simply the way the tale played out. Most of this book was a sort of "leading up to" the main event, while in Gen's stories, they tended to be lots of little main events that led up to a big main event.

I greatly enjoyed the book, I just didn't enjoy it as much as its predecessors, I suppose. It's just not my favorite book in the series. I greatly look forward to the next book in this series. I want to know what happens to the dear friends we've been introduced to throughout these books. I have no doubts that Turner will blow us out of the water with the fifth installment (though we have no idea when it's coming out yet).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"He proved me wrong. Either because he can see what we can't or just because he demands the world conform to his own desires. I am never sure which it is that he does." 

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

Maybe you have to know about your past to look to your future, to make a decision about it.

[Click here to see my review of book 1: Sisters Red and book 2: Sweetly.]

After absolutely falling in love with the first two books in Jackson Pearce's Fairytale Retellings series, I was admittedly a little scared to read the third. What if I didn't like it? What if it didn't live up to the greatness of the first two? I had the utmost faith in the fact that she could make this one just as good as her first two, but what if she hadn't?

Well, my fears were totally unfounded. Fathomless turned out to be just as beautifully written and compelling as its counterparts. I'm already itching to get my hands on Cold Spell, the fourth book, which doesn't come out until November of this year. How will I ever manage to wait that long?

Celia, Anne, and Jane Reynolds are a set of triplets with surprising powers. Anne can see the future, Jane can see the present, and Celia sees only the past. The youngest in their family, they were sent off to boarding school after the death of their mother. Since then, they've really only had each other, having lost contact with each of their brothers and the father who no longer remembers them (due to his Alzheimer's). They've always known that they're stronger together, but lately Celia has been feeling more and more like she is the odd one out. It's Jane and Anne who are the identical ones. She's just the one that somehow got thrown into the mix to complete the set. She believes that her power is useless, that her siblings received the ones that they could do something with whiles she only gets memories, but that's before she meets Lo.

Lo is an ocean girl. She used to be human, but now she lives under the water with her sisters, other ocean girls who have forgotten their pasts and bide their time until the day the angels who brought them here pluck them out of the sea and take them away to be with them. When they first arrive, though, many of the girls just want to go back. They want to be human again. According to the legends of the old ones, there's only one way to do that: they must get a human to love them and then drown them, taking the human's soul for their own.

When Jude, a hapless musician falls into the ocean one night, Lo decides that she doesn't want him to drown. She has tried drowning a boy to restore her soul and knows it won't work. Instead, she fights her sisters to save him, bringing him back to the shore with Celia's help. Celia touches Lo and discovers her real name, the one she forgot. This awakens a longing within Lo to remember what she was before she was an ocean girl.

Celia agrees to help her recover her memories and suddenly feels like her power has a purpose--that it can finally help someone. But this tentative friendship she's made is fraught with dangers and Jude may not be the only one in danger of drowning now.

In Fathomless, Pearce once again proves that she has an imagination of gold. And she has certainly struck gold with this series of retellings. I cannot express enough how much I adore this beautiful series and everything in it. Filled to the brim with the same strong bonds I have admired in the beginning, as well as another great dose of the magical and mythical beings we've seen in the first two novels, these books are positively addicting and the kind you'll want to pester everyone you know to read so they can enjoy it just as much as you did.

What are you waiting for? Go get this book immediately! Get the whole series! And pray the Jackson Pearce never ever stops writing.

Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~

"Because there's nothing there. There's no future between you and the girl--the water girl. Naida. Whatever she is."
"We stop being friends-" 
"You're not listening," Anne snaps, and there's so much worry in her voice that I feel cold. "There's nothing there, Celia. There's no future because there's no 'you and her.' It's blank."
"What does that mean?" 
Anne sighs, shakes her head. "What have you gotten yourself into?" she mutters before looking me in the eye. "It means," she says, voice serious, "either she dies or you do." 

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

"Here's the deal," I say low and harsh as I grab his shirt and twist it up close to his throat. "You stop bringing up Maggie or jail or the accident. Got it? If you want to keep running your mouth off, that's fine, but next time you do it you'll find my fist in it. Guarunteed." 
"I was just kidding," Drew chokes out, a faint thread of hysteria in his voice. "Jeez, Caleb, lighten up."
I let go of his shirt, but give him one last warning. "Up until two weeks ago I was living with a bunch of gang members. Don't tell me to lighten up."

It's pretty rare that I find myself in between books for more than a few minutes. Usually the moment I finish one book, I write my review and grab the next one. However, work has decided to wedge itself so deeply into my life that my free time comes in weird spurts now, thus the reason I found myself at library yesterday whilst still in-between books.

I was wandering through the YA Lit section when I found this little beauty on one of those stands where it's the only one in the row facing outward. Being a bit of a tattoo fangirl, I immediately focused in on guy's tattoo and picked up the book. After reading the back, I was interested and decided to take it home with me, starting it as soon as I got in the house.

One year ago, a single action changed Maggie and Caleb's lives forever. That action caused Maggie to spend a good portion of the next twelve months in the hospital and battling through physical therapy. It sent Caleb to jail. Now he's out and coming back to the small town of Paradise. Not only that, but he's coming back to being Maggie's next door neighbor again.

Neither have been back to their school since the incident, but now senior year is starting and both must face the stares, the questions, the overall gawking of their fellow students. At the same time, they try to give each other a wide berth, but fate throws them together when Caleb's community service and her job force them unexpectedly together. It isn't long before the two find themselves unable to resist the other. They soon begin to grow closer to one another, even as the people around them try to force them apart. Can a real relationship be formed from the shattered pieces of their lives? And can either of them ever fully trust the other?

This book was surprisingly good. I was a little worried it would end up being awkward or forced, but everything came together seamlessly and left me wanting more. I was surprised and happy, though admittedly skeptical, when I realized there was a sequel. Definitely going to get my hands on that one in the near future.

There were quite a few scenes I went back and read after I finished the book because of how much I enjoyed them. Not to mention, I couldn't help admiring the way Elkeles found a plausible way to thrust the two protagonists together without making it entirely unrealistic.

All in all, I would suggest this book for a good, easy read. It's not anything award-winning, but it's a fun read that will keep the reader happily entertained for a few hours. More of a vacation read, but one I really enjoyed.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"I wasn't going to kiss you." 
"You weren't?" I look up at him. Well of course he wasn't, stupid. Why would he hook up with me when he can be with someone who actually knew what they were doing, someone who isn't responsible for sending him to jail, my brain tells me.
"Nope. The next time I kiss you, I'm gonna take my time, and you said your mom's coming home any minute."
I check the clock on my nightstand and nod.
He bites his bottom lip, deep in thought. "No, the next time I kiss you it'll last a long, long time. And when we're done you're gonna realize being turned on is not about experience."
While I'm still awestruck, Caleb heads out of the house.

Speechless by Hannah Harrington

I'm not crazy; I'm perceptive. What comes out of my mouth is the root of my problems, so the solution is for nothing to come out.

I picked up Speechless by Hannah Harrington while visiting my brother in Lubbock a few months ago (the same day I purchased Bitter End). The gorgeous pearl colored cover, with no other decoration other than the raised letters that make up the title. It's beautiful cover immediately had my attention and, once I read the synopsis, I was sold.

When sophomore Chelsea Knot in on two guys making out at her best friend's New Years Eve bash, she can't help but make it public almost as soon as she has the chance. After all, she's known for not being able to keep a secret and she isn't exactly sober at this point in the night. She assumes it's harmless, just a bit of juicy gossip, but then two boys from her class decide they're going to teach the two "a lesson" and leave the party, she realizes that it might not have been as harmless as she thought. The next day, she learns that Noah, one of the boys she had walked in on, is in the hospital in a coma caused by a beating he received the night before. Her best friend swears her to secrecy, but Chelsea's conscience compels her to speak and the two boys who left the party are arrested on assault charges.

Disgusted by the way her own mouth has caused so much pain and suffering, Chelsea decides to take a vow of silence. If what she's said has caused this much damage, she decides she won't say anything at all. Upon her return to school, not only is her vow tested by teachers who believe she's only finding a new way to slack off, but by the harassment of classmates. Not only has she been pegged as the girl who caused Noah's beating via her loose tongue, but she has also been outcasted and harassed by those who used to be her friends for turning in the attackers.

Refusing to back down in her decision, she keeps her mouth shut in the face of this, even as she begins fear for her own safety in the face of the growing harassment. It isn't long before she makes some unlikely friends in the face of all the drama and, slowly, Chelsea learns that sometimes it's better to speak up than to stay silent after all.

I really enjoyed this book. Each of the characters was well-rounded and believable; the pacing was perfect and the plot itself carried out impeccably. It's very important, when dealing with such important content as Speechless did, that everything be as realistic and believable as possible and I really think Harrington cleared that hurdle with flying colors.

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a good read with an interesting topic and characters that feel like they could walk right out of the pages. It's quite the page-turner and I honestly would have read the entire book in one sitting if sleep hadn't been absolutely necessary. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more of her works, because Hannah Harrington definitely knows what she's doing.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"I just think she could really use a friend right now."
"And you're volunteering for the position," he says skeptically.
"I don't think she has anyone else," she tells him. "Everyone is mad at her."
"I'm not saying we should be gathering the pitchforks or anything, but come on. Did it ever occur to you maybe she deserves it?"
"You don't know, Sam. It's not just about Noah . . . it's about her ratting out those basketball players."

Revived by Cat Patrick

"At some point, you have to admit that death is coming and be grateful for what you've had instead of pissed that it's going away."

I picked up Revived the other day while Christmas shopping after spotting it on the shelf and recognizing the author's name. I had read her debut novel, Forgotten, in late 2011 and really enjoyed it. I was excited to read her second novel and see if it was as good as the first. It was even better.

Daisy Appleby is stung by a bee, which she's deathly allergic to, and dies on the track field at her school in Michigan. She wakes up eight hours later as Daisy West and is forced to relocate to Omaha, Nebraska with her handlers. This is the fifth time Daisy has died.

After dying at the age in a school bus packed with children that swerved off a cliff, Daisy, along with most of the other children involved in the crash, was brought back to life by an experimental drug called "Revive."

Now fifteen and starting her sophomore year in high school, Daisy has officially died five times. Each time has resulted in she and her handlers being uprooted from whatever suburban area they had most recently made their home, changing their last names, and finding a new place in which they can start a new life. An orphan at the time of the crash, Daisy is taken care of by two agents in the system (called Disciples) and it's they who revive her, take care of her on a daily basis, and pose as her parents when in public.

Upon getting settled in, Daisy starts at a new school and soon finds that she's getting more attached than she's ever been before. Before now, she's always been isolated, fully aware that any friends she made would never truly know her, that she would never truly be able to confide in anyone the dark secrets that set her apart. Yet, here she finds herself not only making a best friend, but falling in love with a wonderful boy in her English class.

In the midst of this, she begins to discover that something's happening in the program that could put her and everyone she cares about in danger. Even Mason, her handler, is concerned. And when she discovers a new case, one outside of the group of test subjects that are meant to be the only ones receiving the drug, Daisy realizes that the creator of the drug is up to something and no one is safe.

I really enjoyed Cat Patrick's debut novel, but Revive absolutely topped it. The science fiction aspect of the novel was totally grounded and fascinating, but instead of focusing on that part of the story, most of it pivots on Daisy and how she grapples with life and the concept of death. Patrick found the perfect balance for her story, positioning it so that the reader bites their nails about what's going on in Daisy's secret world of agents and people who have been brought back from the dead as well as the world in which she deals with the terminal illness of a friend that can't be cured by the serum.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a pretty easy read, yet really interesting. Everything was brought around full circle and no loose strings were left dangling. It was perfectly fascinating and a great read for these winter months in which we're all tempted to stay indoors with our coffee cups and our fleece blankets.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

But I can't. I can't speak. And I can't take Matt's pain, because I have too much of my own, and I have no place to put his.

Little Red Riding Hood and Other Classic French Tales by Jack Zipes

"But, Mother," Lirette pursued, "why does this beautiful flower that pleases me so much have so many thorns?"
"To show you that we must distrust the greater part of those things that please our eyes, and that most pleasant objects hide snares that may be most deadly to us."

I picked up this lovely little book at Half Price Books a few weeks ago when I spotted it in the fairytale section. I'm a huge sucker for fairytales and even more so for books with covers as lovely as this one. I set it on my "to be read" shelf and waited a bit, since some others took priority, but figured it was necessary that I read it while I'm in Paris visiting my family, seeing as it's a collection of French fairytales.

Packed with lovely little stories filled with fairies, magic, forbidden loves, and little lessons to be gleaned from each tale, I was quite happy with this book upon finishing it. It not only told different versions of classic fairytales I had heard as a child, but bore plenty more that I thoroughly enjoyed as well.

Overall, this book was a lovely read and I'm glad to have acquired it. I know I'll be reading it to my children one day, filling their heads with visions of magical creatures and exciting adventures in the same way they filled my mind upon reading this.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Alas for those girls who've refused the truth:
The sweetest tongue has the sharpest tooth.

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

He let go of my neck and I crumpled to the floor, holding my face and sobbing. Too afraid to run. Too surprised to stand. Too hurt to be brave or indignant or anything other than broken.

I picked up Bitter End at the Barnes & Noble next to my brother's college, the one I always seem to find myself at when I go visit him, and knew I had to get it. It looked both interesting and heartbreaking and exactly the type of book I would want to read. The kind that would affect me. The kind that would make me think. One of the things I love most about reading is getting the chance to be someone else and see through their eyes for a while. And getting the chance to see how someone could fall into and stay in an abusive relationship was something I was very interested in understanding.

When Cole, a gorgeous transfer from a nearby school, makes his way into Alex Bedford's life, she immediately falls head over heels for his charming manner and his sweet ways. Cole is the perfect boyfriend, always ready to assure her of his love and affection, giving her that tenderness she's always wanted . . . until she makes him angry one day and he gives her the first bruise.

Apologizing profusely, Cole makes it up to her, promising to be a better person. He swears it will never happen again, but already Alex is cautious around him. If she can just keep herself from setting him off, everything will go back to normal. But even during this time of tentative peace, she is pulling away from the friends and family that once meant so much from her. Her friends' dislike of her new boyfriend isolates her from them and she quickly finds herself unable to speak and unsure if she even ought to.

Bitter End is a realistic look at the problem of abuse and how easy it is to find oneself in a place where there seems to be no way out. Love truly is blind and the heart is deceptive. It's easy to follow your heart in one direction even when your mind is screaming for you to run in the opposite direction.

Brown does a wonderful job in portraying the mindset of someone going through this very ordeal in a manner that is entirely realistic and heartbreaking. In particular, I love the way she creates the dynamic between Alex and her best friends slowly shift and decay even as they grow more and more concerned about her, creating the very distance between them that makes our protagonist feel even more alone and confused.

I really enjoyed this book and it is absolutely worth picking up next time you're in the bookstore. It is the perfect read for young adults who don't necessarily understand the complexities of abuse and anyone who wants to further comprehend what it's like to be on the receiving end of abuse and why they can't always "just get out of it."

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"Yeah. But he's going to kill somebody someday, and if I can stop it from happening to you, then maybe I didn't live through the most horrible time of my life for nothing."

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

We all want to feel something, we want to be someone to one another.

When I read Nina LaCour's debut novel, Hold Still, I immediately fell in love with her writing and her ability to capture the complex emotions that make up humanity. After hearing about the fact that her second novel was due out soon, I kept my eyes peeled and finally spotted The Disenchantments at my library.

The Disenchantments is told from the perspective of Colby, a newly graduated teenager in love with his best friend and overwhelmingly excited about the opportunity to go traveling around Europe with her in only a few weeks.

You see, Colby and Bev have had a plan prepared for years now. They made a pact that when they graduated, they would take that first year off and go traveling together in Europe. Graduation finally rolls around and now they're going to go on a quick tour with Bev's band, then set off for Paris.

But when Bev throws a wrench in Colby's plans on the first day of the tour by telling him she's changed her mind, he feels like everything has shattered. Apparently, Bev has been accepted to an art school on the east coast, which means she has been intending to bail on him for months now, but just now decided to tell him.

Because the band is on such a tight schedule and because one part of the trip is taking Meg (the bassist) to college, Colby can't back out of it, though he is incredibly angry and hurt by his best friend keeping this secret from him. Instead, he joins them on the tour through small towns where their gigs are set, the types of places that will book a band that's really not very good but has incredible stage presence and passion in spite of it.

The Disenchantments is, in its essence, a book about growing up and dealing with the heartbreaks and disappointments that come with that. It's about being disenchanted with life and realizing that sometimes it's okay if everything doesn't go as planned. And sometimes the hurt is worth the lesson you learn from it.

Written just as beautifully as her first book, LaCour does a fabulous job at creating memorable characters as well as a book that makes you feel like you can accomplish anything when you finish it. It's one of those stories that, when you walk away from it, you can still feel its encouragement and it brings back that excitement about life and what's in store for you in the future.

I would definitely suggest this one to any and all. It's a wonderful book and definitely a new favorite of mine. I will be shoving this into the hands of every one of my friends as soon as I have the funds to purchase it.

Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~
"It's incredible," she says, "how much damage everyone does to everybody else."
I don't really know where she's going with this, but then she says, "I didn't ever want to break anyone's heart."
I look away from her hands. I focus on keeping my own still.
"I don't ever want to be accountable to anyone for anything again," she says. "I will never make another pact and I will never get married and I will never let anyone think that I am theirs forever." 

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

She dared to glance back. 

Yellow, sick-looking eyes found hers. 

She turned forward and sped up, faster than the others, driven by the yellow eyes that overpowered the sharp aches in her chest, her legs begging for rest. There was light ahead, shapes that weren't trees. Their house, their house was close--the candy trail had worked. She couldn't feel her feet anymore, her lungs were bursting, eyes watering, cheeks scratched, but there was the house.

They burst from the woods onto their cool lawn. Get inside, get inside. Ansel flung the back door open and they stumbled in, slamming the door shut. Their father and mother ran down the stairs, saw their children sweaty and panting and quivering, and asked in panicky, perfect unison:

"Where's your sister?"

[Click here for my review of book 1: Sisters Red]

The sequel to Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, Sweetly is the story of Gretchen and Ansel,  a brother and sister duo who leave their home in Washington to find a new one where they no longer live under the shadow of the sister they lost, Gretchen's twin. Still feeling the ache of her disappearance and the deaths of their parents, they are driven out by their surviving stepmother and drive straight to North Carolina. Gretchen hopes to escape the fear of vanishing the way her sister did by going to live on the beach, far away from the trees and forests that have surrounded her since she was a child, a constant reminder of what she lost and how she lost her to the witch in the woods.

Before they can make it to the beach, though, their car breaks down  and they are forced to seek help in the the small town of Live Oak. They take refuge in the home of Sofia Kelly, a chocolatier living just outside town. The twins and Sofia hit it off immediately, but most people in Live Oak hate Sofia just as much as they hate strangers, if not more. Most are either convinced she's an angel or a devil in disguise. Immediately, Gretchen and Ansel stand beside Sofia's claim of innocence in the part of the girls who have gone missing in from the town, both knowing first-hand what it's like to be blamed for the disappearance of another. But when Gretchen meets Samuel, she begins to question Sofia's side of the story as well as the secrets that seem to surround her.

As she learns more about the town's past and the witch who took her sister, Gretchen learns that the witch is back . . . and this time, it's after her.

I didn't think it was possible for Pearce to make a book that was just as good as the first in the Fairytale Retellings series, but she has definitely managed to pull that off without a hitch. Sweetly is filled with just as memorable characters and strong bonds as the first book and a plot that keeps you guessing until the end. As I've mentioned before, I'm a major sucker for loyalty and relationships where every person would be willing to lay down their life fore the next at a moment's notice and this book had both of those; not to mention, incredible fight scenes. All that, and the more intense scenes still had me biting my nails and even actually yelling during one particularly frightening bit.

This series is looking like it will turn out to be an all-time favorite of mine and I can't wait to see where it goes next, as well as where it will culminate in the end. It's going to be an epic collection and you absolutely don't want to miss it. I suggest you get started reading it right away. In the meantime, I'll be scouring the internet for book three.

Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~

"Poor Sophia," Ansel says, shaking his head. I can hear it in his voice--he wants to save Sophia. That's how Ansel works. Someone is in pain, and he wants to save her--he ran back into the woods after our sister, he became my rock. He didn't give up on our father, even when Dad became someone Ansel and I barely knew--it wasn't long after Mom's death that he started drinking, and once he remarried it got worse. He couldn't escape the guilt--over my sister, over my mother. . . Guilt ate him through the mouth of the bottle. 

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Not only did he keep talking, but he crossed the space between us in two long strides and snatched up my arm in fingers that were so cold, they burned. He held me in a grip of iron, so that I couldn't even dart down the stairs the way I'd planned.
What were you trying to do anyway?" Marco asked, with a sneer. "Protect him?"

I was wandering through the YA section of the library a few days ago when I decided it was about time I read something penned by Meg Cabot. I had heard a lot about her and couldn't help admiring exactly how much space her books took up, so I figured tis revelation was a bit past due. Looking through them, Avalon High was the one that caught my eye. I remember having seen the movie adaptation on Disney a few years ago and enjoying it (myths and legends being a particular interest of mine), so I went ahead and checked it out.

Avalon High is told from the perspective of Ellie Harrison, a junior in high school who has just begun school at Avalon High after moving from Minnesota with her parents for their year-long professors' sabbatical. Upon arriving at the school, she immediately finds herself drawn to Will Wagner, an incredibly popular guy whom she seems to keep running into and who, for some reason she can't fathom, seems to really enjoy spending time with her. Ellie considers herself an incredibly practical person and is not generally the type to fall head over heels for someone she's only just met, but it seems her heart has a mind all its own and it doesn't intend to listen to her reasoning.

Then things start to become strange. Not only does she stumble upon the information that Will's girlfriend, Jennifer, is hooking up with his best friend, Lance; but she keeps butting heads with Marco, Wills step-brother, Marco, who seems to be doing everything in his power to hurt Will. Now her teacher, Mr. Morton, has begun acting strange, referring to her as the Lady of Shallot, the medieval woman for whom Ellie was named, and insisting that Will is in grave danger.

Even she can't help missing the parallels between each of them and those to whom their names seem to correlate, but if this is true, if Will is truly the incarnation of King Arthur, then things are about to get much worse . . . and there's not a very good chance that they'll get any better at all.

I really enjoyed reading Ellie's tale, especially considering all the rich bits of medieval facts and legends that were peppered throughout its pages. Meg Cabot writes believable characters and I particularly enjoyed the main character and her resoluteness throughout the book to protect and to do everything she could to keep Will safe. Protectiveness is a quality I very much admire in a person.

It was an interesting adventure and definitely a page turner. I can't say it's my absolute favorite, but it was worth reading and a fun journey. It's an easy read and definitely worth checking out, especially for those of you who, like me, always enjoy a good retelling of a well-loved legend.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

The reason there've been so many movies and books and poems and musicals about King Arthur--not to mention high schools like Avalon named after the mythical island he eventually went to die on--is that his story is a good illustration of the heroic theory of history: that an individual--not an army; not a god; not a superhero; just a regular Joe--can permanently alter the course of world events.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

The wolf opened his wide, long jaws, rows of teeth and bloodstained tongue stretching for her. A thought locked itself in Scarlett's mind, and she repeated it over and over until it became a chant, a prayer: I am the only one left to fight, so now I must kill you.

I picked up Sisters Red after hearing a pretty great review of it on another book reviewing blog. I bought it a few weeks ago and just now got around to reading it. My reaction? I love almost everything about this book.

You'll often hear avid readers getting "book hangovers," meaning basically that after they've finished the book, they have trouble starting a new one or thinking about anything besides the book they have just finished because they're still in that world. As many good books as I read, I don't usually experience that as much anymore. I still often find my mind going back to a good story or book that I really enjoyed, but I don't often have trouble breaking away from thinking only about a particular story for a day or two after I've finished it. But I definitely experienced that with Sisters Red. Long after I'd finished it, I was still poring over the tale and everything that had happened within it.

Sisters Red is the shared story of Rosie and Scarlett March. When they were children a werewolf (or Fenris, as they're called by those who are familiar with them) attacked them, killing the grandmother who raised them as well as taking Scarlett's eye and leaving scars all over her body. To save herself and her sister, Scarlett killed the beast; and ever since, she has had an all-consuming passion to hunt Fenris so that no one else has to suffer the way she and her sister have.

When a good friend of the sisters and an excellent woodsman and Fenris hunter, Silas, returns from a long family visit in California, things start changing. Not only does Rosie suddenly find herself drawn to the woodsman, she also begins to guiltily dream of a life where she isn't constantly fighting Fenris. But, more immediately, something is changing about the Fenris. They're getting bolder and more numerous, drifting into territory they had long abandoned. As more and more lives come in contact with the murderous creatures, the three are going to have to come up with a plan to take them on and fast. Otherwise, they could lose a lot more than they already have.

A modern and incredibly well-done spin on the old Red Riding Hood tale, Sisters Red was a compelling read from the very start. Not once did I lose interest or feel the tale was moving either too slow or too fast. Pearce did a fantastic job at pacing her story just right, as well as creating characters that the reader can identify and empathize with.

In particular, the relationships Pearce portrays really struck a cord with me. The loyalty between Rosie, Scarlett, and Silas was beautiful and the fierce love that each portrayed for the others was absolutely stunning. Their love for each other was probably the thing I loved most about this book. No matter how much fighting there was or how high the tension got, you never once doubted that each would do anything to protect the others and I cannot say enough how beautiful that is to me.

I would definitely suggest this to everyone, particularly lovers of fairy tales. It was an all-around wonderful book and I will definitely be snatching up the next Jackson Pearce novel I see. I'm thinking her Hansel and Gretel retelling looks like just the right book to be the next addition to my bookshelf.

Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~

[Click here for my review of book 2: Sweetly]

The plan forms in my mind slowly, more like a tide coming in than a wave crashing over me. I am confident, I am capable, and I will not wait to be rescued by a woodsman or a hunter. I will escape.

My Secret: A Postsecret Book by Frank Warren

"Let me tread my own path. Don't worry, I will be fine." 


PostSecret started out as an online art project by Frank Warren. He asked people to send in their secrets on artfully made postcards anonymously and he posted many of them online for others. It wasn't long before he was receiving more postcards than he knew what to do with. He still receives hundreds of postcards a day!

Since this project started, Warren still runs his website, which is updated every Sunday with new secrets, and has published multiple books with these secrets as the content. I've been wanted to read one for a while and finally bought My Secret on Amazon.

Wow! This compilation of secrets was just as good as I expected. There's something inherently soothing about reading other peoples' secrets and being able to identify with some or wonder about others; just as its soothing to send in a secret anonymously and know that someone else knows your secret, you don't have to bear it alone--you aren't the only one who's been through that.

This book is addicting and it won't take you long to finish. You'll want to keep flipping through, reading each new secret, until you reach the end. I have no doubt that I'll still be flipping through these pages, reading particular ones over and over again in the future. And maybe I'll send in a secret of my own.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"I lied to fit in and now feel more alone than ever before."

Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman

Good deeds go unrewarded all the time, and despite what the song says, that dream that you dare to dream almost never comes true.
Maybe there's no such thing as an offer you can't refuse; maybe you would have had the strength to turn him away.
I didn't.

Hacking Harvard was written by Robin Wasserman, author of the Skinned trilogy (now known as the Cold Awakening trilogy, each book now bearing different titles than before). It quite an interesting story that handles the pressure of graduating high school and finding the right college with witty humor and even an adventure: the hack that the book is all about.

Max Kim's father went to Harvard, as did his mother and both of his sisters. Now he is expected, and even pressured, into attending his family's alma mater, but he has no desire to attend the Ivy League school. He has his own plans for his future, and they don't include the color crimson. He plays by his own rules and shoots for the greatest amount of profit every time.

Eric Roth's mother teaches at Harvard and would love it if her son also attended Harvard, but he already has a plan. He's going to go to MIT, the college whose students played one of the greatest hacks of all time, and he's going to devote his life to helping those who can't help themselves. He is all about fair play and the underdog.

Schwarz is a Harvard freshman, previously home schooled and the youngest of the group. He goes along with whatever Eric and Max put him up to, or anyone else for that matter. Let's just say he hasn't quite developed his "saying no" skills yet. Numbers are his greatest solace. Order is everything to him.

And finally, there's Lex, the one girl who can throw a wrench in all of their plans.

What is their plan exactly? They've made a bet that they can get the bum of their choice, an undeserving candidate, into Harvard, proving the admissions system is flawed and can be easily tampered with. The stakes are high and the hack is more than challenging. But if anyone can do it, these guys can.

Hacking Harvard was a well-written, witty detailing of the antics of four nerds whose lives are rapidly spinning out of their control and they just want to make a difference in it. Life is coming at them in a whirlwind of sights and smells and sometimes it's a little too much to handle. Wasserman managed to capture the emotion of teenagers staring down their futures with pinpoint accuracy and created some memorable characters along the way.

So why was it that I found myself disappointed? I'm not sure. Honestly, I think it was because I wanted it to be what the Cold Awakening trilogy was and this just didn't quite live up to its excellence. Wasserman still proves herself a great author and can create an interesting story, but this one just didn't interest me quite as much as her previous books captured me. Maybe it was the subject material that put me off (I'm not one to put too much stock in college). Maybe it was just my want for something as ground shattering as the series of hers I had already been exposed to.

I was left a bit disappointed, but I still suggest reading her works. Who knows? You might like this book more than I did. Wasserman is a fantastic writer (and quite an interesting person), so don't let this review put her off of her works as a whole. Go pick up the Cold Awakening trilogy instead.

Either way, it was an alright book, but probably the kind you would only read once.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

"Everything works out, you know." 
"Is that some kind of law of nature, MIT boy?"
He grinned, and a little of the awkwardness faded away. "Sure. First law of thermodynamics: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Whatever happens, the universe maintains its equilibrium."
"Doesn't the second law say that entropy increases and the universe is just going to keep falling apart until there's nothing left?"

Tithe by Holly Black

"When you do magic, there are two stages: focus and surrender. Surrender is the part that so many do not understand.
"To do magic, you must focus on what it is you want to do, then let go of the energy and trust it to do your bidding."

Not only is the cover of Tithe deliciously creepy (I got quite a kick out of showing it to people just to see their reactions),  but the story is quite unlike anything I've read yet. This is probably more a result of the fact that faeries creep me out and I tend to avoid media about them. Still, the book is intriguing from start to finish.

Tithe is the story of sixteen-year-old Kaye. Kaye has always been considered strange, particularly for the fact that her best friends growing up were three faeries that visited her often and she was always eager to share about the things the four of them did together. When she moves away, the faeries stop visiting her and Kaye does her best to forget.

Then, after her mother is nearly stabbed by her boyfriend, the two move back to Kaye's childhood home. At first, everything seems normal. Perhaps she had imagined the otherworldly beings. When she is finally contacted by the faeries, things are different than her childhood years.

Kaye learns she is a pixie, a changeling exchanged for a human child when she was a baby, and now she has been asked to perform a task that could put her own life in danger, as well as everyone she has come to care about. As she is put to the test, she must discover what her strengths are and whether she's strong enough to save everyone.

Holly Black, author of the Spiderwick Chronicles (for which she is most well-known), has created a tale that draws the reader in and compels them to explore a world that is both terrible and beautiful, intriguing and revolting.

I found the story to be well-written and original. I found myself eagerly looking forward to finding out what happens next. I appreciate unpredictable plot lines that still manage to be entirely plausible and this was one of those stories.

I would recommend this to any lover of fantasy that wants a good series to start up. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens to Kaye next.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

You can break a thing, but you can't always guide it afterward into the shape you want.

Friend is Not a Verb by Daniel Ehrenhaft

"Remember: When you try to escape from reality, you're only escaping from yourself."


Written by another young adult author who will be attending LeakyCon Lit (along with John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Robin Wasserman among others), I picked up Friend is Not a Verb in order to get a taste of his writing.

Friend is Not a Verb is the story of Henry Birnbaum, a soon-to-be junior in high school whose sister disappeared a year ago without goodbye or explanation and the police on her tail. Now she's back and he has no more explanation than he had before, his girlfriend just broke up with him at the same time she kicked him out of her band, and his parents are (as usual) generally being crazy.

Henry (or Hen, as he is usually referred to) is slowly going crazy under all the stress and secrecy. It isn't until his sister convinces him to start taking bass lessons from her not-a-boyfriend/partner-in-crime, Gabriel, that he hatches a plan. He's going to find out for himself why his sister disappeared. He'll collect all the clues he can, run them over with his best friend, Emma, and solve the mystery himself . . . all while doing his best to chase his dream of becoming a rockstar.

Honestly, this book was only okay. I was initially pretty interested by the summary, but it all seemed to fall short for me. There never seemed to be a real climax in the story. Yes, there were little excitements and resolutions, but no real climax. It was a bit disappointing.

On the other hand, I have to admit that Ehrenhaft did manage to create some interesting characters. Each had their own quirks and passions, weird families and habits. I definitely appreciate that in a writer. His characters were three-dimensional, but there wasn't enough development for anyone other than Hen. That was another bit that was missing.

All in all, it wasn't a waste of time, but I don't see myself reading this book again any time soon. Go ahead and read it if you're interested, but don't get your hopes too high.


Rating: ♥ ♥


That's the wonderful thing about being so miserable: It allows you to see your faults with perfect clarity and still feel detached enough to be okay with them.

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

I think something is art when it is created with intention -- serious intention. Even crazy intention. And I think something is beautiful if it reveals something about what it means to be alive.


When Maureen Johnson wrote 13 Little Blue Envelopes, this book's predecessor, she hadn't intended to make a sequel. It was going to stand alone the way it was. But the outcry of the fans and Johonson's own creative imagination birthed something else: The Last Little Blue Envelope, its sequel.

The Last Little Blue Envelope starts off at the beginning of Ginny's winter break. She's busy worrying about her future, missing Keith, and reminiscing about her summer when she gets an email from a man named Oliver, who has managed to fine the last letter and all its contents.

Ginny soon finds herself back in Europe and things are as crazy as ever. The last letter has a new mission and another surprise at its end. As she seeks closure for herself in this last adventure, she finds herself battling heartbreak, discovering new loves, and generally dealing outside of her comfort zone. It's going to take a great deal of work to keep her from losing her head this time around. She'll have to work even harder if she wants to keep her heart too.

The conclusion to Ginny's tale was everything I had hoped it would be. I liked the first book, but without the sequel it lacked luster and, most especially, closure. The sequel was a great call for Johnson, because it tied up all the loose ends and everything fell neatly into place the way it should by the time it wrapped up. The first just can't quite stand on its own. The addition of a sequel made it a thousand times better.

Once again Johnson's witty humor emerges from the story with each page turned. She's quite a quirky person and has definitely found her voice when it comes to writing. She does a wonderful job at it. It is her, through and through. I couldn't get enough of this story or Johson's cleverness at molding the written word to be exactly what she demands of it.

I would definitely suggest this to anyone who has read the first and simply needs that closure. Even if you weren't sure how you felt about the first book, this one wraps it all up in a neat little package and commands that you enjoy it. So go ahead, go pick it up.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


"People always say they can't do things, that they're impossible. They just haven't been creative enough. This pool is a triumph of imagination. That's how you win at life, Gin. You have to imagine your way through. Never say something can't be done. There's always a solution, even if it's weird."

The Clearing by Heather Davis

"If I could go back in time, Amy, I'd give that gift to you-- and I'd remind you that you're special every time I could. Not just when I showed up with a jar of jam with a bow on top."


When Amy moved out to the country to live with her Aunt Mae, it was an escape. She had needed a change. She had needed to get away from her abusive ex-boyfriend and the mental and physical bruising he had given her. She wanted a new start, something different.

The last thing she could have expected to find was Henry. Though she had all but sworn off boys in an attempt to recover herself and the spirit she thought she had lost, Henry somehow manages to sneak past her defenses. He is everything she needs and so much more than she could have imagined.

But Henry has his own pain. He too is running, running from what the future has in store. In 1944, he prayed that things would go back to the way it had been before everything in his life started deteriorating. And by some miracle, it had worked. His farmhouse, his mother, his grandfather, and Henry are all still in 1944.

When Amy stumbles upon Henry and his home, though, everything starts to change. Amy is a breath of fresh air he could never have imagined. Henry is her safe place. And the two begin to heal each other in ways they never could have anticipated. But things can't always go on the way they have before, sometimes healing means letting go of the hurts that once shackled you and stepping out of your comfort zone.

The Clearing by Heather Davis is a story of healing and dealing with your past. Our first reaction, when something bad happens, is to retreat inside yourself. But that never helps resolve issues. Davis does a wonderful job in portraying how facing your fears can be the best action you could possibly take and that true love can change your life forever.

I found this story both compelling and touching. I was nearly brought to tears on more than one occasion. Davis does a great job at hooking the reader with her tale of fear and love, drawing you in to the point where you must turn the page, you have to know what comes next.

I found Davis's writing technique quite interesting, as well. I don't think I have ever seen an author mix first and third person narrative the way she did and, I might add, she pulled it off quite nicely. The chapters alternate from Amy's first person perspective to Henry's third person perspective and it creates an intriguing dynamic.

This book was well-written and executed wonderfully. I definitely enjoyed the journey and would suggest it to anyone who wants a good and touching story about love and how its healing can transcend even the boundaries of time.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


"All of us live in pain, Henry. That's the human condition. Some pain you can see from the outside, and some is buried deep on the inside. We all have our crosses to bear." 

Freefall by Mindi Scott

"I've never liked moving or having to make all new friends. But I'm noticing that people who go from elementary school to middle school to high school with the same kids never get a chance to start over. Like, maybe a certain guy will always be seen as a troublemaker, while some new girl can move to town and be accepted because no one knows her."


Seth McCoy is a sixteen year-old boy with debilitating stage fright who happens to be a musician and is dealing with the recent death of his best friend, Isaac. After finding Isaac dead in his front lawn after a night of partying, Seth blames himself.

Then he meets Rosetta. Rosetta is somewhat new in school and she throws him for a loop. It's not long before he's stumbling head over heels for her. But Rosetta has her own fears and regrets, secrets that haunt her in very much the same way as Seth's do.

The two of them falling in love sounds crazy. It would come with so many challenges, so many issues they would have to push through. But maybe it's worth it. And maybe the other is exactly the push they need to deal with the problems they've bottled up for so long.

Freefall by Mindi Scott sounded good when I saw the cover and read the summary, but it exceeded my expectations by a long shot. Freefall is more than a teenage love story. It's about choosing who you want to be, learning from your past, and overcoming your fears. Scott's writing is well-done and her characters are so believable that I could see them walking off the page and commencing life as planned. Each character, as in real life, has their own set of problems and issues that they need to work through. Not all do, but some are able to come through this sequence of events for the better.

The pacing was perfect and the situations written exactly how they ought to be. Nothing was rushed or confusing. Overall, it was a lovely journey that I enjoyed getting the chance to join. I definitely suggest picking this one up for a good read.

Oh, and a fun detail I didn't notice until after I finished the book and was flipping through pages: the page numbers on the side start at the top of the page and slowly move downward as if they're free falling throughout the story. I love it when there are little gems like that in the design of a book. Very cool.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


"That's why bungee jumping is such a rush," she said, seeming not to notice what she was doing to me here. "Because you know the jump should kill you. They say the people with the most fear of jumping are the ones who end up loving it the most. So I went for it."

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

"Just because something isn't practical doesn't mean it's not worth creating. Sometimes beauty and real-life magic are enough."


A somewhat sequel to Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door delivers another witty and well-done romantic tale of a girl who's just trying to find her way in life.

Lola loves her life. She gets along with her dads, has an awesome best friend, and a boyfriend she's head over heels for. The only hitch in the gears is that the boyfriend doesn't get along well with either of the first three. It's not that big of a deal, though, in her mind, and she's content . . . until the Bell twins move back in next door.

The Bell twins were once Lola's best friends. Being next-door neighbors when they were children, it was only natural. But Calliope and Cricket Bell hurt her when they got older and she has never really forgiven them for it.

Cricket has especially earned her distrust, but he seems intent on winning it back now. The feelings she used to have for him start to resurface and Lola has to ask herself whether Max, her current boyfriend, really is the one or whether it's the boy next door.

Written and crafted with witty dialogue and masterful description, Lola and the Boy Next Door lives up to all the expectations I had for it after reading (and loving) its predecessor. Perkins' writing has not only remained up to par, but has improved immensely. There is more than one paragraph that I reread more than once simply because the beauty of the words she used and the emotion it evoked.

I read this entire book in basically one sitting. I started yesterday afternoon and couldn't put it down or sleep until I finished it. This, of course, resulted in my finishing the book at four in the morning, but it was worth it. Perkins has outdone herself and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


"You have a gift, and you're doubting it." I shake my head to clear my thoughts. "You can't let that kind of shame dictate who you are. You aren't your name. Your decisions are your own."