Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me is one of my first forays into the futuristic writing world. I have really been trying to avoid picking up a future society book because they really don’t interest me. However, I am very glad I picked this one up on the Vine. Here’s the description from Amazon:

"You can't touch me," I whisper.

I'm lying, is what I don't tell him.

He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him.

But things happen when people touch me.

Strange things.

Bad things.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans of her own.

Wow! This book was amazing. While the description is very vague it really was an incredible read. The book starts out with Juliette being locked away for what her touch has done to another. We see crazed interaction with herself and her cell mate. Then suddenly she is pulled from that life into a political pawn role with the new government. From there the plot thickens as Juliette fights to be true to herself.

Juliette was an amazing character. I loved how passionate and compassionate she was without ever really being able to experience love and affection. I also loved some of the surprises that were thrown our way with her love interest and the villain. I really can’t say much because it will spoil the book but there were several curveballs that were thrown in the plot.

The writing was very fast paced and I truly enjoyed the author’s style. She managed to use small things in her writing to give some clues as to what was going on without the reader being able to figure out where the book was headed. I particularly enjoyed being able to think back to the beginning and follow the “crumbs” to what happened in the end. I am still very curious about how her touch works and it isn’t as clear cut as it seems.

I give this book a 5/5 and highly recommend it to people even if you are skeptical about futuristic books. 

Explanations

So in case you haven't noticed I typically post more during the school year as I tend to be in one place and have more time with my kids in school. I have been pretty bad so far this year with posting regular reviews and have a HUGE backlog of things I want to write a review for.

However I can FINALLY talk about the reason why. I have mentioned in the past my son has been taking acting classes and went to a national competition in Los Angeles this summer. Well what I couldn't talk about was the fact that he got 18 call backs and that we were traveling back out there to meet with them over a longer period of time. We went back out a few weeks ago and as of yesterday we officially signed with Clear Talent Group Los Angeles. It has been a long few months as we have been evaluating what is best for my son and which agency to ultimately go with. Not to mention he has a crazy swim schedule. I am so proud of my little man and hopefully now that we have chosen an agency things will slow down a little until I head back out to LA for him to work. I am going to start working on that backup of reviews that I have to get done :)

Reckoning by Lilith St. Crow

I must say that I am very saddened to see the end of the Strange Angels series. I really love Lilith St. Crow’s YA work and like the world that she has created. Here’s the summary of the fifth and last installment from Amazon:

Nobody expected Dru Anderson to survive this long. Not Graves. Not Christophe. Not even Dru. She's battled killer zombies, jealous djamphirs, and bloodthirsty suckers straight out of her worst nightmares. But now that Dru has bloomed into a full-fledged svetocha - rare, beautiful, and toxic to all vampires - the worst is yet to come.

Because getting out alive is going to cost more than she's ever imagined. And in the end, is survival really worth the sacrifice?

I had to actually hunt this book down. I thought it would be released on Kindle however it was only in paperback. Thus, had to hunt a copy down at the local bookstore or risk having to wait to read it. I read it in a few hours. The books in this series are always packed with action and this one this one is no exception.

In the latest installment Dru fully grows into her character. Throughout the series she is strong and independent to a fault. In this book she finally starts to learn to trust others and seek help when she needs it. She does get a lot more emotional in this book as well which might get annoying at times.

There is too much spoiler information in this installment so I will talk vaguely about what I liked in the story. I liked the way that the action is continuous in this book. It is definitely not a book to read if you have other things going on in your life. You will not want to put this book down. There is a lot going on all at once.

I also liked the simplicity of the book. For most of the book it is just Dru, Graves and Christophe. This lets us really see the dynamics between them. There also isn’t five other plot lines going on in the story. Several of the books I have read lately have too many subplots going on. Lilith’s writing is beautiful in its simplicity.

I also liked the flashbacks that happened in the book. Some things that I didn’t get before were finally explained and some plot holes were finally filled in.

 I did not care for the ending of the book. Up until the end of the book I loved it. In the last few pages. I didn’t care for the ending. It would be a good ending for a book but as the end of the series I didn’t like it. I felt it was left very unresolved as far as Dru’s story. I realize what the author was trying to do and it is very innovative, however, I didn’t like it. I am sure there are others that will but for me it was too open.

Overall I give the book a 4/5. I loved it up until the last few pages. While I understand why the ending was done that way, I still didn’t like it. 

Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegan

It seems the market continues to be saturated with paranormal fiction. I know that the demand is still very high but at times I feel like I am reading exact rewrites of already done stories. There are simply only so many ways to write stories or to alter myths. I applaud Trinity Faegan for her incredible originality with the book the Mephisto Covenant. It was truly an amazing read and extremely refreshing with the bad luck streak I have had lately in fiction. Here is the summary from Amazon:

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—she is an Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx always looming, Jax knows he has to keep Sasha safe and win her over.  But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?

I read this 400+ page book in the space of a few hours. It was a definite page turner and had a new mythology. Sasha is a great leading character. There is a certain peace about her. I wouldn’t say she is a stong leading character in the sense that she is take charge, however, she has strong beliefs and practices them. She is not constantly influenced by teenage politics and doesn’t instantly fall in love with the leading male.

Another plus in this book is the lack of a love triangle. I am over love triangles. So many books have had them lately and I just want to see a really great love story with some paranormal thrown in. I LOVED that this book fit that bill. The story between Sasha and Jax grows over time and isn’t split with anyone else in the book.

Lastly, the dialogue was extremely well done for a YA book. I have found myself very annoyed with the past few books that I have read (I haven’t reviewed them on here) because the dialogue is choppy or not how a teenager would speak. I thought this book was beautifully done.

Overall, I give this book a 5/5 and can’t wait to see what happens next! On a side note look at how beautiful this cover is!

If I Die by Rachel Vincent

The latest addition to the Soul Screamers world came out a few weeks ago and I had the pleasure of reading it on release day. It has however taken me awhile to figure out what to say about it since so much went on and ALL of it was spoilery. Here’s the description from Amazon:

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

My first reaction after reading this book was “huh?” followed by “what!?” then followed by “wow!?” This is in my opinion the best book in the series. So much happened in the book with all the characters it was as if your head was spinning. Furthermore, you never knew what was going to happen next.

I don’t want to give much away about the book but since this is in the summary on Amazon I will talk about it a little: the fact that Kaylee might be dying soon is cause for insanity as a reader. I could not stop reading because you have no idea what is going to happen with that plot. I think that some readers may have to “settle down” after realizing the plot of the book but it is by far one of the best that Rachel Vincent has written. I am anticipating mixed feelings about this book from reviewers because there is change. Any time there is change in a series some people shut down and stop liking the series. I am not one of those people.

If you are looking to read a really good book then this is the one for you. The writing and plot are amazing in this one and we really get to see some things from different perspectives. I give this one a 5/5 and if it was possible I would give it more since I was obsessive about finishing the book!

Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

This book was definitely worth the wait. I stayed up until midnight last night so that I could finish the book because I couldn’t put it down for a minute. So fair warning if you pick this book up it is liable to be one you can’t put down. Here’s the description from Amazon:

In this companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, two teens discover that true love may be closer than they think

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn't believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit - more sparkly, more fun, more wild - the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket - a gifted inventor - steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

I didn’t think it was possible to read a book better than Anna and the French Kiss but somehow Stephanie managed. It was extremely refreshing to see a “sophomore” book that exceeds the first book. The relationship between Lola and Cricket is even sweeter than the one that developed between Anna and Etienne in the first book. They have a lot more history that comes into the book together and you can’t help but push for them to be together.

I also loved that see a lot of glimpses of Anna and Etienne in this book. While I would love to read a whole series about them I recognize that it would not be a good thing. It’s like when chocolate cake sounds good despite being full. You eat it and then regret it. Thus, I think another book with solely Anna and Etienne would be much the same. I must say though it was nice to see them again in this book because I always wonder what characters would be doing later on after the bulk of their story is over.

This is such a great book that I don’t want to give anything in the storyline away. So I am going to leave out my own summary of the book. I give Lola and The Boy Next Door a 5/5. It is definitely one of my favorite books of 2011 and probably my absolute favorite YA romance of 2011. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this genre

Reminder!!

One of the best books I read last year was Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. It was one of the best books that I have read in a very long time. I even rank it above my closet Sarah Dessen obsession. I wanted to remind everyone out there that tomorrow her companion novel Lola and the Boy Next Door comes out!!!

This is the beautiful cover to the novel. While I tried really hard to get my hands on an arc of this book I was unable to. However, I did get a sneak peak of the first chapter on her Austrailian publisher's site and it looks to be just as promising as the first book. So take a chance tomorrow and check out Stephanie Perkins latest book. If you want to see my review of the first book click here. I will be staying up most of the night to finish If I Die so I can start this one tomm. Review of If I Die is coming up soon so stay tuned to the blog for Rachel Vincent's latest YA.