Review: Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast

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

One minute, sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is a normal teenager dealing with everyday high school stress: her cute boyfriend Heath, the school’s star quarterback who suddenly seems more interested in partying than playing ball; her nosy frenemy Kayla, who’s way too concerned with how things are going with Heath; her uber-tough geometry test tomorrow. The next, she’s Marked as a fledgling vampyre, forcing her to leave her ordinary life behind and join the House of Night, a boarding 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 average 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 with Heath, who just doesn’t know how to take “no” for an answer. 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 vampyre friends.

From goodreads.com

 

I liked the idea of a school for vampires and it was interesting to read about that (what kinds of classes they take and stuff like that). I also liked how everyone knows that vampires exist.

I really did like the plot and this book could have been great, but I couldn't connect with the main character, Zoey. I could see how lots of people could really like this book- I just didn't like it as much as I had hoped. I did like Stevie Rae though. She really reminded me of a friend of mine.

I probably will read the next book though because I really liked the idea and the story and it could get better. If you're really into vampires you'll probably like this book more.

Overall, I thought it was okay but had potential. I give it 6/10.

Review: Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small Art Deco hotel in the heart of New York City.
When each of the Martins turns fifteen, they are expected to take over the care of a suite. For Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite and a permanent guest named Mrs. Amberson. Scarlett doesn’t quite know what to make of this C-list starlet and world traveler.
And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes a second unexpected turn.
Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery and romantic missteps. But in the city where anything can happen, she just might be able to pull it off.

From goodreads.com

I love Maureen Johnson's books (although I've only read three of them now) because something amazing happens to an ordinary girl. I liked Scarlett. She reminded me of myself almost. Well, of a more outgoing me of course. I felt like I could understand her really well. The only thing I didn't really like about Scarlett was that she had a hard time dealing with or solving her own problems. If anyone else had a problem though, she figured something out in a few minutes. This didn't distract me from the rest of the book too much though. I really loved Mrs. Amberson. Almost everything funny in the book came from Mrs. Amberson in one way or another (of course a lot of the things that happen are caused by Mrs. Amberson so this is kind of to be expected). Mrs. Amberson is definitely my favorite character in the book.

Suite Scarlett is unpredictable. I don't think I saw any of plot twists coming and my eyes were glued to the pages for hours. Overall, Suite Scarlett was a really fun read that I couldn't put down. I give it 8/10.

Review: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

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At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.

 

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.

 

Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

From goodreads.com

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the k

Sometimes I forget how much I like this kind of fantasy book. I don't think I'll be forgetting for awhile though. I absolutely loved Finnikin of the Rock.

One of my favorite things about this book is Evanjalin. I love how you can never truly tell (until towards the end) if she's trying to help Finnikin and Sir Topher or not. I loved how she kind of just took matters into her own hands to try and take Lumatere back and get back into Lumatere. She is definitely my favorite character.

Finnikin of the Rock is pretty fast paced and action packed. I never really could tell what was going to happen next (partially thanks to Evanjalin I'm sure). I couldn't put it down!

Overall, I thought it was amazing and had just the right amounts of action, romance, and mystery in it. I give it 9/10.

Review: 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison

No one else can see the evil fairies that rouse Tanya from her sleep, torturing her at the slightest mention of their existence, but they are as real to the 13-year-old as anything she's ever known. She cannot rid herself of them, nor can she ignore them. But it is her insistence on responding to them that has her banished to her grandmother's secluded countryside manor.

There is much to explore and even more to fear in the woods surrounding the estate. But, the forest isn't the only source of dark secrets, and Tanya soon finds herself entangled in a mystery that could trap her in the fairy realm forever.
From goodreads.com

For the most part, I liked Tanya. She seemed independent and had a sense of adventure. However, there were also times when I just wanted to slap her. There were times when it took her forever to figure things out. This didn't change how much I enjoyed the book by very much, but it did bother me sometimes.

Other than that I really enjoyed the book. Once I had gotten a couple of chapters in I couldn't put it down! I really liked the mystery of it and, of course, the fairies (I think I've developed an obsession with fairies). I really enjoyed reading this author's take on fairies. The book was also pretty fast paced and there were some plot twists that I didn't see coming.

Overall, 13 Treasures was a great book with mystery, fairies, and adventure. I give it 8/10.

I'm Still Alive!

Wow, I haven't posted anything in forever. I hate sounding like I'm giving excuses but if you want to hear my excuse then keep reading, or you can go find something better to do for now if you don't want to hear it. I will be posting a review later today. So here's what happened. One day in January my dad came home and said that he had gotten this job he had applied for. That job happened to be in a city about an hour and a half away from where I lived at that time (we've moved now). Anyway, my mom went crazy with fixing our house. We had to paint about half of the rooms, put a new roof on it, and clean out all of the rooms. I, of course, had to help a lot with watching my siblings and cleaning stuff our while dealing with all of the homework I had from taking a full schedule. Then spring came and tennis started. I had to do either tennis or early gym (early meaning before school starts in the morning), so I did tennis. My day was pretty much school, tennis practice/game, homework, and then bed. By the time tennis ended finals were coming and I had about ten different projects and papers to do in just a couple of weeks in addition to studying. Now for the past week I've been helping with unpacking and cleaning at the new house that we've just moved into. I'm sorry for not posting anything for a while but I hope that now that it's summer and we're starting to get settled in I will be posting a lot more.

Review: Matched 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.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

From goodreads.com

 

I LOVE a good dystopian novel. Matched had a good main character trying to fight against the imperfections of the society she lives in and that society was unique in its own way.

            Cassia and Ky made such a cute couple. They were just so cute together. At first I wasn’t so sure how I felt about Cassia though. She acted the way any normal girl would have in this story (which is totally realistic but normal teenage girls in this story are slightly annoying). But it was still good she was normal, it made the story more realistic. As the story progresses I start to like her more, especially when she starts to realize that the Society isn’t quite as perfect as she thought it was (I think I literally gasped in horror when I found out they only had 100 books and 100 poems-that’s it- no more than that- and that they were destroying any remnants of other books and poems. And only 100 songs-over and over and over again, it’s no wonder they’re not that into music.) Overall, though, I ended up liking Cassia.

            I can’t wait to find out what happens to Cassia next. I give this book 7/10.