The Heir By Kiera Cass

Twenty years ago America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon's heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn't expect her Selection to be anything like her parents' fairy-tale love story...but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

A new generation of swoon worthy characters and captivating romance awaits in the fourth book of the Selection series!

So this book just came out today and i bought it on audible in the morning and listened all day at work and finished it and I just have to say dang books and your stupid cliff hangers that suck me in!

A few months ago when I saw that this was coming out, I thought, OK, I liked the first ones. They were a fun easy read. Kind of a fluffy girly hunger games vs the bachelor type books. I enjoyed them enough to read this one as well.
At first I thought I was going to get the same story just different characters. It did have a few parts that were kind of the same but overall it took on its own story line.
It didn't waste a lot of time talking about the previous books either a few tidbits but not bad. Getting into the book I honestly thought I had it figured out and knew how it was going to end, and all though I still think I might know how it ends, it has a lot of twist how it might go.
The author does a really good job with character development. There were a lot of characters that you really liked and made it hard to choose which one to cheer for.
Even though she really bugged me, I really couldn't help but like Eadlyn. She is different then most main characters, she is spoiled rude and kind of manipulative. She dose a lot of growing up and its fun to read how different situations help her realize the type of person she is.
Overall I really enjoyed the book and if you read the others and liked them at all I would read this book, However I thought it was just going to be one book a fun little story of America's and Maxon's daughter, but no, it's another freaking series and the end of this has a huge cliff hanger. So of course it will be another year and two years to complete this series. Oh well I guess that's part of making a good book.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

 I have to start out by saying this book series has become one of my favorite of all times. It’s cheesy, and predictable but a lot of fun and a twist on your fairy tale stories. Most of the reviews are good and loved it but a few that I read that said the books were dumb and disappointing not convincing enough but keep in mind reading this book is about fun and being entertained not to give you a Pulitzer Prize deep literature book. It was written for teens so not much deep thinking is involved. So read the series for a good entertaining time.

Cinder

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl....

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

The first book takes on the story of Cinderella. In this case Cinder is a cyborg, basically an amputee with computerized mechanical parts. Because of this she is an outcast with little rights and is under the supervision of an owner.

Cinder is very talented at fixing items and works running the garage for the family she is living with. She is always dirty covered in dirt and grease smudges. This is how she meets prince Kai, when he brings in an android for her to fix.

The book is very enjoyable to read, being predictable in following the story of Cinderella you can pretty much guess everything that will happen. Although the author dose a good job of putting twist and unexpected things into the book keeping you guessing how certain parts will play out. I like that it doesn't really have it’s happily ever after either instead it opens it up for more books.

I’m going to keep this review short so that I don’t put any spoilers into it. All I can say is that I loved this book it will be one I read more than once and I recommend this one over many of the other books I have read. 

Scarlet

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the best-selling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison - even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life.

When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

            So another fun book in the series. This story takes on the fairy tale of red riding hood and the big bad wolf. This book made me laugh at the more of the cheesiness of the story then Cinder but still equally good and ties nicely into the first book leaves room for more books.

             You meet Scarlet and Wolf in this book, and learn more about the character Captain Thorne. Scarlet is someone with a, don’t mess with me attitude. People in her town try to give her a lot of crap but she refuses to take it and always has a feisty attitude fighting back. She is searching for her grandmother who disappeared when she runs into Wolf. He agrees to help her out. Along the way they have to learn to trust each other if they want to survive and find her grandmother with answers to many questions.

            Captain Throne’s character made me laugh, he is a fun character that bring a comic relief. Cinder escapes prison with his help and together they escape into Thorne’s ship and start making plans of what to do next.  

            The book goes back and for between Scarlet’s story, Cinder’s and Prince Kai’s and eventually Scarlet and Cinder’s path crosses and they need each other’s help.

            Like the first book this is another fun story and adds to the buildup of what is going to happen in the end. More trouble arises for Kai as he is searching for Cinder.

It doesn't leave on a bad cliff hanger but enough that you want to jump into the next book right away.  Another must read in my opinion.

Cress

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her net screens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she's just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she'd ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

            This book brings in Cress, who is taking on the story of Rapunzel. She has been forced to live in a satellite for many years running the technology side for the Lunars. Since she has had many years living alone she has had a lot of time researching Cinder and Captain Thorne. She is a romantic dreamer always with a dream in her head about being rescued Thorne, who she feels like she knows through her research of him. When she makes contact to Cinder and they agree to come and save her getting her all excited to finally meet Thorne.

            The book continues with all the characters meeting up and helping each other out all trying to find the same outcome of saving earth from Queen Levana. It’s fun to read and see the characters develop more and find out more of the twist of the stories. I thought that this book was the finale in the series and was disappointed to learn that it was not and that the next book won’t even be out until later this year. It did answer a lot of the questions I had from the other books but there is much more that will happen that I’m hoping the next book will get too. I’m also hoping that the book will stay true to other books keeping it fun and fast paced to read.

            If you still haven’t started the series yet I would wait for the next book to get out so you can read the all at once. If you don’t want to wait at least have the first three to read since the third book isn't as bad a cliff hanger as the first two. 

Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver

Delirium

"Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't."

Lauren Oliver astonished readers with her stunning debut, Before I Fall. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it "raw, emotional, and, at times, beautiful. An end as brave as it is heartbreaking." Her much-awaited second novel fulfills her promise as an exceptionally talented and versatile writer.

After reading a previous book by Lauren Oliver that I didn't care for, I was a bit worried going into this series, but after getting into the book I realized there was nothing to worry about.

            Delirium starts out kind of strange but I think it’s more for the fact that it’s introducing a different story line then what most of YA dystopian novels are about. It still is along the same story line as all the other books, Hunger Games, Divergent, Matched etc., but I enjoyed this one for being slightly different.

            The book is set up 64 years after they have found a cure for love. They believe love to be a dangerous disease and that once someone turns 18 they are forced by the Government to get the cure.   You can probably guess where this is going, and you’re probably right. The main character, Lena wants nothing more than to be cured to live a normal safe predictable life. Weeks before her scheduled date she meets Alex who introduces her to what life without being cured can be.

            The book did a pretty good job of keeping me reading. It would get a little slow then the author was quick to throw in something that picked up the pace again. It really picked up at the end as I was finding myself hoping that everything worked out and just as it seems to, a twist is throne in and the book ends.

            So overall I enjoyed the book, one of my more favorite YA dystopian series. I did get sick of Lena at times. She was always so paranoid and complained and worried too much, but it also fits her character so it works out.

Pandemonium

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do. The old life is dead. But the old Lena is dead too. I buried her. I left her beyond a fence, behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times best seller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

I’m always going into the second books of a series expecting it to be not very good with a lot of wasted crap to build up the third and final books, however the way the first one ended I secretly hoped that this book would be different. For the most part it was. It actually had a story line and a plot. It brought out a new set of characters opened up more story lines and kept you guessing what was going to happen this time. I struggled at first with the jumping of time. One chapter would be in the past the next would be in the present but after a while it got easy to follow.

I liked that the author took Lena and developed her into a different person still a bit whinny at times, but stronger and more likeable. It shows how she grows from the struggles of learning to live and survive in the wilds, with loosing Alex, and going through different test from the Resistance building her up making her stronger.

I also liked how the book had more about the struggles of what the Resistance was fighting for not just to rebel against the government but fighting for the chance of freedom to live and love and good vs evil. It took each character and showed why it was important to them to fight and survive.

This book focused on building the resistance and had a lot more suspense and action then the first book. Like the first book, this book also ends on a major cliff hanger, so make sure to have the third book handy to read because you will want to jump right in.

Requiem

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight. After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.

As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana's points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

I feel this book touched more on the emotional side of things. The Lena Alex Julian love triangle begins. Lena and her relationship with her Mom. The determination of the characters struggling to survive and of course the loss of characters.  

I had high hopes for this book being that the first two books where really good. In ways the book didn't disappoint. It was very fast paced, didn't dwell too much on the love triangle but enough to have you picking a side and hoping in the end she will choose that person. I also liked how it took it back to Hana, Lena’s best friend from the first book, her point of view of what life was like after being cured the struggles she was dealing with and how eventually her and Lena’s paths crossed helping each other out.

The Author also put a lot of meaning into the book with a good moral of the story. She talks of taking down the walls being the point of the book. In a couple paragraphs she sums up what she was trying to get across and I like how it fits in today life style and not just the book. It states: “you do not know what will happen if you take down the walls; you cannot see through to the other side, don’t know whether it will bring freedom or ruin, resolution, or chaos. It might be paradise, or destruction. Take down the walls. Otherwise you must live closely in fear, building barricades against the unknown, saying prayers against the darkness, speaking verse of terror and tightness. Otherwise you may never know hell, but you will not find heaven either. You will not know fresh air and flying.” After reading that, the book gave me a whole different way perspective of the story.    

Now that being said I feel that despite giving a good moral of the story, the actual story wasn't finished. Just as resistance gets into the city and the fighting starts, the book ends. You don’t know what happened in the future, who won, was the struggling the loss, the fighting worth it in the end? What happened to some of the characters? It tells who Lena’s heart picks in the end, but did they find each other again? So many questions unanswered. Everything I can find says this is the final book in the series but secretly I’m hoping it’s not, even if just a short book explaining what happens comes out that would be nice. I guess I can take what was written and in my head decided what happens but that’s not fun. 

So overall a good series I really enjoyed. I listened to the first two books and read the third book, the listening was much better. The narrator did such a good job with the voices that it just wasn't the same when just reading it. 

The 5th Wave Series by Rick Yancey

Challenge:

A book with a number in it

A book set in the future

A trilogy 

The 5^th Wave

After the first wave, only darkness remains. After the second, only the lucky escape. And after the third, only the unlucky survive. After the fourth wave, only one rule applies: Trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the fifth wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother - or even saving herself.

I have had my eye on this book for a while now and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it, I really liked it. It was a book that kept my interest from the beginning to the end. It was a bit slow at times, especially the middle, but had enough going to make me want to keep reading. It also has a lot of flipping between characters points of view but not too bad where you can’t follow.  Some of the characters got a bit annoying like the main character Cassie. She got to be a little bit too whinny for me. Also Ringer. There is something about her that just bugs me almost like a person you meet but just can’t trust. Hopefully in the next book it will go more into her character to figure her out.

Overall it takes on a different story from the dystopian category giving you something different from the typical YA story line.  As soon as I can get the next book in the series I will be reading it.

The Infinite Sea

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.   

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others' ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven't seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

This book started out right where the first book ended which is always nice, however it never let you know who’s point of view the author was writing from, so it took a few pages in trying to figure out who it was. It did this the whole book, luckily I was able to catch on to who’s point of view faster.

            I didn't like this book as much. It was just another book in a trilogy where the 2^nd book is nothing but fluff trying to build up the third book. It had a lot of fighting between the characters, trying to decide what to do with nothing getting done. A lot of dialog with no action. It was nice getting to know a couple more characters and their story though.

Most of the book was dedicated to Ringer, she was the character I didn't care for and still don’t, Her whole story part of the book could have been summed up into two maybe three chapters, but like I said she was the whole middle over 200 pages of the book, hence the 2^nd book of fluff. It left a lot of questions of how everything is going to play out in the end.

 Hopefully the third book will be a lot better and answer a lot of questions of where the author was going. I hope he had an original plan and purpose of the book and not something he throws away the whole series in the end because he just rushed to get it done. I guess I will find out later this year when it comes out.

This book series is also going to be the next big movie from a book I think it’s coming out in 2016. It has the potential to be good but we all know what happens when a book  gets turned into a movie and it’s usually not good.

Matched

Crossed

Reached

 By Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

I went back and forth on this book if I should read it or not. It had mixed reviews and the few people I knew who read it didn’t care for it much so I was hesitant starting it. After reading it I’m still mixed about it. It was cute and fun kind of different from other books, but slow and dragged a lot. I do like that it wasn’t as dark and violent as the hunger games and divergent category but it was more on the romantic side like the selection and Delirium category.

The idea of this book was for society to make your choices for you to make life simple. Follow the rules and your life would be perfect and happy.

So the first book is all about setting up what life is like inside the society and what happens when you start questioning everything.

 The ending was left kind of unresolved and hinted at a lot of things but never really explained it so I will be reading the next two books in the series to see how it turns out.

The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy....

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

I had a harder time reading this book it seemed to be slower and was just a filler of things to build up the last book.

I did enjoy getting to know more about the characters and it brought in more characters that helped move to the story a bit.

What I didn’t care for was, it has some much poetry in it. They use it as kind of a way to communicate so I can see the importance of it but I felt it was a bit overused saying the same one in many chapters.

Overall it was ok, I can see how it fit into the first book and opened up for the third book but nothing too exciting with this one.

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising - and each other - Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.

In this gripping conclusion to the number-one New York Times-best-selling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.

So this got a little better than the 2^nd one, which I figured would. It still wasn’t good enough to be a great book I would recommend but good enough to finish the trilogy.

I liked how it moved a little bit faster and got right into the Rising taking over but that was even anti climatic. It happened fast, back fired on them then took the rest of the book to fix things.

I think it also focused way too much on the love part of it and less action of defeating the Society. That’s something else that bugged me the society never really fought back, and then in the end it was meant to happen that way that the Society and the rebellion was basically the same thing, different, but the same. Didn’t make sense. It was like the author couldn’t decide who the enemy should be.

It did clear up some of the confusion of the first book and tied some of it in, but overall it was a very disappointing series.

I listen to most of the books at work and the narration of Ky was awful he sounded like he was 5. Here he was supposed to be Mr. Big hero of the book and he turned out to be pretty whinny and pathetic only thought of how much he loved Cassia. Pretty hard to sell as a strong character when he sounded like he did. 

Under the Never Sky

Through the Ever Night

Into the Still Blue

 By Veronica Rossi

Challenge:

Trilogy

Set in the future

Female author

Magic

      Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse. Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

This was another book that has been sitting in my wish list for a while that I have been putting off and once again I’m glad I finally got around to reading this one. I was surprised with it and enjoyed reading it. It was a little slower and I did get a little board at times and kind of lost trying to keep up with it bouncing around but overall it was good. Once it set up the story line I was able to follow better. I liked the different way this book took on a post-apocalyptic YA story  with plenty of action, emotion, and adventure.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a YA Dystopian story, but be prepared for a cliff hanger that will make you want to jump right into the next book.

It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.

Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.

Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least at first. Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist?

Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder: Can their love survive through the ever night? In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure - and a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

This book jumped right into where it left off with plenty of action. I was worried that like every 2^nd book in a series this was just going to be a book of fluff building up to the 3^rd book. Thank goodness is wasn't. It had just as much action, some heartbreak which is bitter sweet. It’s always sad to lose a character especially of how it effects other characters, but at the same time it keeps the book more realistic of not having life be perfect. The book had some romance but not over the top and like the heartbreak, it was realistic. I also like how this book had a lot more character development with the main characters but also with some to of the other characters as.

I would also recommend this book as well. This series is becoming one of my favorites. If you read this book make sure to have the next book as well. As soon as I finished I immediately started reading the third book. It left on a bigger cliff hanger. I was glad I decided to pick up both the 2^nd and 3^rd book at the library so I could read them so close.

 The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do - and they are just as determined to stay together. Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival - he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final audiobook in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

This book was a great finish of a good book series. It was nice to have all three books be enjoyable and not be hurriedly written with a bad ending as it seems most books have gone to. I will say this series is in my top 10 of favorite YA book series to read. It kept a fast pace plenty of action and twist and turns. A bit predictable but most books are this one was at least fun.

If you haven’t read them yet I would highly recommend them. 

Book reviews

Pushing the limits By Katie McGarry

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

I’m not sure what I think about this book. It was really different from what I was expecting it to be about. Overall as a story I liked it but as characters go they kind of bugged me. For instance, Echo’s father, the guy drove me crazy. I can understand that going through a traumatic experience can change a person, but to take away what Echo loved doing before and to control her life so that she can’t remember what happened, isn’t right and really bugged me. Also the fact that everyone in Echo’s family treated her scars like it’s the worst thing ever, well anyone who knows me knows I have little sympathy for that. A scar is just a scar and is part of life and makes you who you are no matter the cause of the scar.

            It was nice to see the main characters Echo and Noah not described as ‘perfect’ as many books do, they are flawed have issues and are not always mature in making the decisions they make. They do grow and help support each other out through their difficulties and family drama.

This book is defiantly an emotional drama and really touches just how bad uncontrolled mental illness can be. I would recommend this book to read because like I said overall it was a pretty good story. Katie McGarry has three other books two of them are about characters that were mentioned in this book, I will most likely pick them up and read them sometime.

Challenge:

Female author

Book set in High school

Before I fall By Lauren Oliver

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last. Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death - and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

*SPOLIERS IF YOU PLAIN ON READING THIS BOOK MY REVIEW WILL HAVE SPOILERS IN IT*

This book as awful to me. I hated it and didn’t know why I kept reading but a small part of me liked it. I did not love it that is for sure. It had a high reviews and said to be a very emotional touching book. Emotional, at times yes overall maybe just the emotion of anger. I can admit, the book does have a valid point in the end, life is short our actions can and will effect another person’s life.

To me this book is partly what is wrong with society it glorifies drinking, drugs, sex and bullying. It tells us that if you want to succeed at life and get to the top then you do what you have to do even if it means you hurt others. Sadly that thinking doesn’t end in high school either.

What bugged me about this book is the lowness these girls went to just to make sure they stayed popular. They had the whole school scared of even looking at them especially if they were only sophomores or juniors. They treated everyone badly including their own friends. The ringleader of this group was the worst of them all she decided that if she didn’t like someone then no one else should and make sure she did what needed to be done so no one would.

The part that pushed me over the edge of hating this book was that these girls pushed another girl into suicide. In the seven times Sam had to relive this day over it took her until the last time to realize that to save this girl she had to sacrifice herself.  

Overall I can sum this book up saying: mean popular girl dies in car accident wakes up reliving the day over and over trying to fix things that went wrong, finally fixes them , dies anyway after it all, and the books ends without knowing what became of the other characters. I would like to think they changed for the better but who knows.

I don’t recommend this book to read, however I have read others by the same author and they were much better.

Challenge:

Set in high school

Female author

NYPD Red by James Patterson and Marshall Karp

It's the start of Hollywood on Hudson, and New York City is swept up in the glamour. Every night, the red carpet rolls out for movie stars arriving at premieres in limos; the most exclusive restaurants close for private parties for wealthy producers and preeminent directors; and thousands of fans gather with the paparazzi, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous and beautiful faces in the world. With this many celebrities in town, special task force NYPD Red is on high alert - and they can't afford to make a single mistake.

Then a world-renowned producer fatally collapses at his power breakfast, and top NYPD Red Detective Zach Jordan is the first one on the scene. Zach works with his beautiful new partner, Detective Kylie MacDonald - who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend - to discover who the murderer might be. But this is only the beginning: the most brutal, public, and horrifyingly spectacular crimes they've ever encountered are about to send all of New York into chaos, putting NYPD Red on the ropes.

Zach and Kylie know there's no way of telling what a killer this deranged will do next. With the whole world watching, they have to find a way to stop a psychopath who has scripted his finale down to the last explosive detail.

I always enjoy a good action book and this book was pretty good and entertaining. Not much to say about it. It’s another cop and robber mystery book. What makes it different than most, is it tells you up front who the bad guy is and also tells a lot of the story through his point of view. Also it’s written almost as a movie script. The bad guy is writing out his script then going and living it trying to kill as many Hollywood A-listers as possible.

Pretty fast read and entertaining the whole time. If you’re a fan of mystery and cop books then this one will be a good one to read.

Challenge:

Title with a color in it

Mystery

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs

When a casino robbery in Atlantic City goes horribly awry, the man who orchestrated it is obliged to call in a favor from someone who's occasionally called Jack. While it's doubtful that anyone knows his actual name or anything at all about his true identity, or even if he's still alive, he's in his mid-30s and lives completely off the grid, a criminal's criminal who does entirely as he pleases and is almost impossible to get in touch with. But within hours a private jet is flying this exceptionally experienced fixer and cleaner-upper from Seattle to New Jersey and right into a spectacular mess: one heister dead in the parking lot, another winged but on the run, the shooter a complete mystery, the $1.2 million in freshly printed bills god knows where and the FBI already waiting for Jack at the airport, to be joined shortly by other extremely interested and elusive parties. He has only 48 hours until the twice-stolen cash literally explodes, taking with it the wider, byzantine ambitions behind the theft. To contend with all this will require every gram of his skill, ingenuity and self-protective instincts, especially when offense and defense soon become meaningless terms. And as he maneuvers these exceedingly slippery slopes, he relives the botched bank robbery in Kuala Lumpur five years earlier that has now landed him this unwanted new assignment.

From its riveting opening, Ghostman effortlessly pulls the listener into Jack's refined and peculiar world - and the sophisticated shadowboxing grows ever more intense as he moves, hour by hour, toward a constantly reimprovised solution. With a quicksilver plot, gripping prose and masterly expertise, Roger Hobbs has given us a novel that will immediately place him in the company of our most esteemed crime writers.

            This book took a different turn then I thought it would. I enjoyed reading it. Kind of reminded me of the movie Oceans 11, but instead of thieves vs hotel owners it was drug lord vs drug lord.  It did take a little while to really get into it, but once I did I wanted to keep reading until I finished it. At first I kept getting confused because he kept switching from chapter to chapter about which time period he was in and that would be my only complaint for this book. He had two stories going on at once. I think if he would have taken the past story about how Jack became a Ghostman it would have made for a pretty good book on its own. The way the book ended it was set up to have more books written and I would probably read them and see if they were as good as this one.

Challenge:

Book written by someone under 30

First book reviews

Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson

Lieutenant Brent Miller arrived in the Middle East with one objective--get seven hostages out of a hostile country. The plan almost worked. But now he has been left behind--with one of the hostages. It's up to Brent to get Amy Whitmore, a US Senator's daughter, across miles of desert to safety. What he doesn't know is that to survive, he needs her as much as she needs him.

This is a book that I have had for many years and just never got around to reading it, and now there are 7 books in the series. Needless to say I decide it’s about time I start reading them and picked up Freefall as my first book to read for the challenge.

This was book one of seven about a squad of Navy Seals called the Saint squad.  Amy is working in the Diplomatic Corps and was in Abolstan when a group of terrorist bombed her hotel room and took her and six others hostage.

LT Miller and his team where the ones sent in to rescue her and the others. During the rescue getting everyone onto the helicopter the helicopter had been hit and had the door blown off causing Amy to slide out. Lt Miller grabbed her arm just in time and held on to her while dangling out of the helicopter. They never where able to get her back in so Lt Miller made the decision to have Amy and himself stay behind and work their way out of the city by foot.

So it started out with enough action to grab my attention and kept a pretty reasonable amount in the book the whole time. It’s not a book that has a big mystery to it trying to get you guessing the whole time, but has enough in it to keep your attention, and not too much of a love story. It is a bit predictable and a little ‘too perfect’ having everything working out with not many complications.  But over all I enjoyed the book that I will be reading the other books in the series to find out about the other team member’s stories.

Challenge:

Book owned but never read

Book by Female author

Love Author never read

Marked by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast

Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampires have always existed.

Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change - and not all of those who are Marked do.

It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no ordinary fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny - with a little help from her new vampire friends.

Wow! Where do I start? I probably should have read the back more carefully. THIS BOOK WAS AWFUL. It might just be able to list why:

1.      First of all if you are going to write a book about vampires, learn how to spell the word vampire. If you notice in the description of the book vampire is spelled vampyre and that is how it is printed on the back of the library audio book box, and also on goodreads. I’m curious to know if the paperback is also like that. Who knows maybe it’s a new type of creature.

2.      Even though this isn’t based off a movie I couldn’t decide what movie it was like, Mean Girls, Harry Potter, Twilight and even a little of Sydney White.

·         Mean girls- New girl comes to school popular girls ex-boyfriend likes new girl mean girls plot and plan evil ways to get rid of new girl

·         Harry Potter- A group of friends that has the really smart one, the reluctant chosen one, and the funny guy. Also Dividing into different classes depending on who you are, with a vampire, oh sorry, a vampyre Goddess over each class the struggle with choosing good or evil

·         Twilight- Imprinting, but at least it wasn’t an adult imprinting on a child this time.

·         Sydney White- New girl goes up against leader of the Dark Daughters in school and rallies up the ‘dorks and misfits’ of the fledglings to help her out

3.      When writing about vampires I understand some want to make them all cute and nice but to have them have nothing that resembles a vampire shouldn’t be allowed to be a vampire book.

·         So instead of being bitten and becoming a vampire, it is a scientific mutation that are in some peoples genes and as they get more hormones they can change, but they only start changing once they have been makred, which all for that is some vampire comes points to you and pretty much tells you to become a vampire, you then become really sick and will get worse until you get to the house of night and can be around others, and a tattoo of a blue moon appears on your forehead.

·         They don’t even have fangs

·         They eat normal food

·         Most of what they did reminded me of witches not vampires.

Maybe I was too harsh with this book but it was so hard to get through and if I want to know what happens I have to read the next book, and there are 15 books in the series. I guess the author was 16 when she wrote it, but she also had the help from her mom which I would like to think that would have helped it some but like I said there were just too many ideas, too many different movie stories put together and just badly written. It was hard to get through. Also it never really had a point or a buildup of something big coming just a bunch of everyday life teenage drama of girls being mean and plotting to get even. Even when it got to the point where you think something big might happen and actually make all the reading worth it, it just doesn't happen. I will have to be pretty desperate to read any more of this series.  And I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. One more thing that bugged me this claims to be a young adult book, well with the drinking, sexual innuendo, and drug usage I don't think I would want my 10-18 year reading it. But that's just me

Book Challenge:

Book with a one word title

Book about magic

Book set in High school

Book published by someone under 30

Book with a love triangle

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

I really reading this book, it was fun fast paced and had a good message. When starting this book I knew it was about cancer and would probably get emotional at times and I even knew how it ended. But I still really liked it. You always hear stories and see movies of cancer patients but I feel that this book really gave you an entire different outlook on how you may see cancer. I love how he developed the characters and how he kept humor in it the whole time. It was described as raw and emotional, I can see how those words fit. I don’t want to say much and spoil it for anyone who wants to read and hasn't yet, but I do recommend it. It will make you smile, make you mad make you laugh and if you are an emotional person you probably will cry and if not at least get emotional. I didn't end up crying myself but I did get a little choked up with it. Despite the ending, the last paragraph in the book will have you laughing and crying at the same time. After reading the book, it makes me want to go out and watch the movie, but I almost don't want to since a good portion of the books made into movies always end up making the movie bad.

Challenge:

Made you cry (almost did but not quite)

Book turned into a movie

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.
Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. PulitzerPrize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.

This book was a good entertaining mystery book to read. If you have ever seen the TV show Castle, then you would be familiar with this book. Because of seeing the show, it helped me picture the characters better when reading which I think made it a bit more fun.

The story is pretty much just like a short TV show, a crime happens, detectives investigate throw some twist and turns, keep you guessing who did it and solves it by the end. I’m always up for a good mystery and this did keep me guessing. I also love the banter between Heat and Rook. It made the story and kept it from being too serious. I believe there are 6 books in a this series and I would read more of them. I would recommend this book if you just need a quick read without a lot of thinking, Just like a an hour long TV episode in writing.

Challenge:

Book based off a TV show