Review: Death Sworn (Death Sworn #1)

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Title: Leah Cypess

Author: Death Sworn

Series: Death Sworn, #1

Age Group: young adult

Format: hardback

Pages: 344

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Source: public library

ILENI IS LOSING HER MAGIC. And that means she's losing everything: Her status as the renegade sorcerers' most powerful rising star. Her purpose in life. The boy she loves. Her home.
Exiled to teach sorcery to the assassins deep within the mountains, she expected no one will ever hear from her again. The last two tutors died within weeks of each other. As Ileni unravels the mystery surrounding their deaths, she'll uncover secrets that have been kept for decades--and she'll find an unexpected ally and dangerous new love.
But even he may not be able to protect her. Not when she's willing to risk EVERYTHING.

As I was finishing up the last few pages in this book, I kept fervently wishing that the book would never end. This is probably the best book I've read so far this year. That may not be saying much, since I haven't been reading like I normally do, but still. It counts for something.

Ileni was so amazingly awesome. It was just so frustrating that she's losing all her powers. I kept wanting her to do some serious physical damage when she used her snarkiness on people. But that is a major plot point in this book, so I guess she couldn't go all badass sorceress on us, or there would be no story to her discovering herself without her powers. And, she didn't cling so much to her man, Sorin. She was at times weak, but she still held her firm ground and threw him to the side when she needed to assert herself.

The plot itself is really good! There's the whole big bad Empire, which I hope to see a lot more of in the next book. Hopefully, all's not as it seems, as I'm hoping. (Maybe the Empire isn't all bad? Psychological twist, perhaps?) I want to meet Tellis, Ileni's old beau, and Sorin's invisible competition! There should be a love duel. Sorcerer against assassin. I'm down for that. And then, of course, there's the whole magic/sorcerer(ess) and assassin thing going on. I'm all for the magic side of things, but it would be nice being able to kill someone with a spoon or something. Magic's still better, though.

Just go get the book, pretty pretty please. It's really amazing/fantastic/interesting/intriguing/etc...

 My Rating:

Review: Beautiful Lies

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This review is part of the Beautiful Lies Book Tour.

Title: Beautiful Lies

Author: Jessica Warman

Series: none

Age Group: young adult

Format: ebook

Pages: 422

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins-so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress. So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong-especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself?

A Netgalley ebook copy was provided by Walker Childrens for review.

Beautiful Lies was stunning! Now that I'm finished with the book, I'm going to go check out all of Jessica Warman's books. It was wonderful! Tragic with a hint of madness, that's how I would describe this book.

First off, this book is confusing at times. Like at the beginning, the twins, Rachel and Alice switch places for the fair. I was very confused. Also, at the end, but I won't say about then, lest I reveal too much.

But simply, wow! Alice was one messed up heroine, to say the least. For example, she smoked pot for awhile. That was disturbing for me, as drugs described in books usually bother me. In the end, I couldn't help but become attached to Alice, so the ending was really sad.

Kimber was another of my favorite characters. I would say that almost all of the characters in this book were damaged in one way or another. Kimber was no exception. Her father burned down her house...with both her mom and her in there. Kimber was burned gravely, and has the scars to prove it. This makes her be careful and in a way, like a perfectionist.

Overall, this isn't an easy book. Beautiful Lies is a book you read when you want something serious. Far from a light read, it's a tragic story with damaged characters. But don't let this throw you off, I recommend this book to you. It'll make you sad for awhile, but then you'll never regret reading it.

My Rating:

About the Author:

Jessica Warman is the author of Breathless, which received three starred reviews and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Where the Truth Lies. The idea for Between came from an incident in her 

childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (he was eventually found, alive).

Review: Juliet Immortal (Juliet Immortal #1)

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Title: Juliet Immortal

Author: Stacey Jay

Series: Juliet Immortal, #1

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardback

Pages: 306

Release Date: August 9, 2011

Publisher: Delacorte Press

ISBN: 978-0-385-90826-9

Source: Local Library

My Rating: * * (2 stars)

I'm not Ariel Dragland. My name is Juliet, and I've spent centuries jumping in and out of people's bodies, fighting for true love, trying to save soul mates from Romeo, the man who killed me. Yes, that Juliet. That Romeo. He's in Dylan's body. And I'm only borrowing Ariel's body for a short time.
Then I'll be gone, and the soul who really lives here will come take my place, and no matter what she remembers, she'll never love you the way I do. Never.

The Cover:
No matter what they say about "Don't judge a book by it's cover", I don't listen. Most of us do it. The more beautiful the cover, the more likely we are to pick up the book. This doesn't mean that I only pick up books with pretty covers, but they do catch my interest more. And...the cover for Juliet Immortal is just that. It's alluring, and that is what made me pick it up at the library. Cover Rating 4/5


Review:
Honestly, I have mixed feeling about this book. It's a good book, but maybe just not my type of book.


To say the least, Juliet Immortal was disturbing. I most definitely did not imagine Romeo the way Stacey Jay portrayed him. He was twisted and to me, completely evil. I couldn't stand him. Dylan's corpse(whom I also disliked) fit him perfectly. Two who occupied the same corpse. I would also group Gemma in this category. She was crazy at the best, and a maniac/psycho at the worst.


Out of all of them, I guess Juliet would be my favorite character. In the end I did not like any of them, but Juliet was the best. She was, troubled, because of Romeo's betrayal(who wouldn't be). But she seemed the most sane. I guess Ben would fit in with her.


I wasn't particularly interested about Juliet and Ben's love interest. It didn't appeal to me. Oh, but there is one surprise about Ben. I did figure it out since the beginning. If you want a clue, just think f the characters in Shakespeare's play and Ben's name.


Overall, the book was not that appealing to me, but I did receive a copy from Netgalley of Romeo Redeemed, which I will be reading. I want to see what happens with Romeo. Hopefully I'll like it better than Juliet Immortal. Stacey Jay also has the You Are So Undead to Me series. I may read these, but I'm also not a big zombie fan. We'll see. Based on my review, it's up to you if you want to read this book. I won't tell you not to, but I also won't encourage you.


The Author:

Stacey Jay is the author of the You Are So Undead to Me series and several other books for young adults. She lives in California with her husband, two sons, and a few friendly ghosts who say they don't care for pets.

The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1)

Author: Kady Cross
Series: Steampunk Chronicles, #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Hardback
Pages: 473
Published: 5/24/2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Local Library
My Rating: * * * *

In 1987 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one...except the "thing" inside her


When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And Wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch...


Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned dukes takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.


Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help--and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.


But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on--even if it seems no one believes her.

I just finished this book about ten minutes ago! That's a good thing, believe me. I felt so many conflicting emotions that I have never felt when reading any other book so far. I was frustrated, overjoyed, confused etc... I just didn't know what to do!


This is the first book in which I can't choose over the love interests. There's Griffin with his dominant character. At times, I wanted to hit him, but at other moments I wanted to hug him.


Jack Dandy. Dangerous. Gorgeous. Lethal. Pirate accent. Overall, just a hottie! A very different bad boy I would say. Here's one of his quotes that especially made me fall for him. "Don't cry, Treasure. You'll get me all wet and then I'll melt. I'm made of sugar, don't you know."(pg. 459) Isn't he amazing?!


Do you see where my turmoil comes from? I just couldn't hate one and love the other. Miss Kady Cross is a genius! Let's move on. The other love triangle was Emily, Jasper, and Sam. Emily was adorable! Smart, but unfortunately helpless. I actually preferred Jasper over Sam, but Emily seemed to disagree with me.


Lastly, the mystery in this book was very entertaining. Predictable, but fun. As always, I detested how Finley was portrayed as very strong, yet Griffin was stronger than her. It always bother me when the male is stronger. That's it! I will recommend this book. The Girl in the Steel Corset is an entertaining read, and I would have given it five stars, except that it wasn't perfect. Otherwise, it was a wonderful read. Maybe the next book, coming out in June 2012, The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, will receive five stars.


About the Author:

In her other life, Kady Cross is a USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty books. She is lucky enough to have a husband who shares her love for the slightly twisted and all things geek, and a houseful of cats with whom she shares her darkest secrets. When she's not listening to the characters in her head, she's either trying to formulate the perfect lip gloss or teaching herself to soldier. She has a weakness for all things girlie, sugar skulls and boots. Her love of books and makeup borders on addiction--of which she never, ever wants to be cured.

Where to Buy:

The Lying Game (The Lying Game #1)

Author: Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game, #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Challenge: None
Format: Hardback
Pages: 307
Published: December 7, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: School Library
My Rating: * * * * *

I HAD A LIFE ANYONE WOULD KILL FOR.


THEN SOMEONE DID.


The worst part of being dead is that there's nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It's enough to kill a girl all over again. But I'm about to get something no one else does--an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.


Now Emma's desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me--to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she's the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?


LET THE LYING GAME BEGIN.

I feel bad reading The Lying Game before Pretty Little Liars.  I loved the Pretty Little Liars show up to the point where I stopped watching it. Unfortunately, ABC Family was taken away from my cable, and I kept forgetting to watch it online. So...since I loved Pretty Little Liars, the show, I was expecting to begin those books first and love them. But, things did not turn out that way. I ended up reading The Lying Game first, which is not necessarily a bad thing, considering I loved it! It was amazing, enchanting, and a great mystery!


Emma is your average foster child. She has been moved from house to house. Sutton, on the other hand, is...not. She has had the privileged, spoiled life. So, it can rightly be said that Emma got the short end of the stick. Luckily, everything is about to turn upside down. Sutton dies. And Emma gets to live Sutton's life. Amazing, right? Wrong, because someone was out to kill Sutton...and Emma is next. The cherry on top of the sundae.


I love these types of mysteries, but at the same type, I become really frustrated. I just want to know who it is! Should I already know? Who knows? I am just going to wait until the author tells me, which probably won't be for awhile.


Oh, I wanted to talk about one more thing. The love interest. Garrett, obviously, is out of the picture for Emma. Sutton may have liked him, but Emma doesn't. Now Ethan, he is a hottie. "The brooding type," to be more specific. Just like how Emma likes them. But it appears that Sutton did something to him, just like she has done to many other guys. Will "that" tear them apart from each other? Read and find out.


About the Author:
Sara Shepard is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Pretty Little Liars. She graduated from New York University and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. Sara recently moved back to Philadelphia's Main Live from Arizona, where The Lying Game is set.

Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1)

Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Parasol Protectorate, #1
Age Group: Adult
Challenge: None
Format: Ebook
Pages: 258
Published: October 1, 2009
Publisher: Orbit
Source: Digital Library
My Rating: * * * *

Without a morsel of exaggeration, its publisher describes this debut novel as "a comedy of manners set in Victorian London full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking." At the center of Soulless's "parasol protectorate" is Miss Alexia Tarabotti, a young woman who lacks not only a suitor but also a soul. And those are not her only problems: When she accidentally kills a vampire, it begins a series of events that she must set out to resolve without the help of any proper authorities. A charming mass market original.

Opinions & Thoughts
I finally finished this book! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't like it, Soulless was hilarious and entertaining, but life just kept intervening. Recently, I found out that this book was Carringer's debut novel(as stated in the summary), but it was amazing, and you just could not tell. So...if you are into science fiction, comedy, and supernatural, then Soulless is the perfect book for you. It blends the three genres perfectly.


Let's move onto Alexia. She was my type of character. Headstrong, witty, stubborn. In Victorian times, a woman should be docile and easily bossed around. As you can probably see, which is why Alexia has remained a twenty-nine year old spinster(unmarried).


Lord Maccon was Alexia's love interest. Big, muscular,...and a werewolf. This, of course, clashes with Alexia's preternaturalness(her touch turns any supernatural being into a human, if she lets go, they return back to normal). Regardless, their odd love deepens. Hot, steamy, and lots of fights describe Lord Maccon and Alexia's amours.


Overall, this was a lovely read. It did have some moments where I was cringing, with the experiments and all. But anyways, I would definitely recommend this book.


About the Author
Ms. Carriger began writing in order to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small-town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in higher learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She now resides in the Colonies, surrounded by a harem of Armenian lovers, where she insists on tea imported directly from London and cats that pee into toilets. She is fond of teeny tiny hats and tropical fruit.
Click here to visit Gail Carriger's website.

The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride #1)

Author: James Patterson


Series: Maximum Ride, #1


Pages: 422


Published: April 11, 2005


My Rating: * * * * *


Click here for a look at the Maximum Ride series, and other books by James Patterson.








Summary
WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE.
Do not put this book down. I'm dead serious--your life could depend on it. I'm risking everything by telling you--but you need to know.
STRAP YOURSELF IN
for the thrill ride you'll want to take again and again! From Death Valley, California, to the bowels of the New York City subway system, you're about to take off on a heart-stopping adventure that will blow you away....
YOUR FAITHFUL COMPANIONS:
Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Six kids who are pretty normal in most ways--except that they're 98 percent human, 2 percent bird. They grew up in a lab, living like rats in cages, but now they're free.  Aside, of course, for Erasers--wicked, wolflike creatures with a taste for flying humans.
THE MISSIONS:
Rescue Angel from malicious mutants.  Infiltrate a secret facility to track down the flock's missing parents.  Scavenge for sustenance.  Get revenge on an evil traitor.  And save the world.  If there's time.
PREPARE FOR LAUNCH: THESE PAGES FLY.
Opinions & Thoughts
AMAZING! I loved these series. Although, when I began this series, I made a terrible mistake. I thought Max was a boy. Sorry, sorry, I know it was a ridiculous mistake, but think about it. Max IS a boy's name, and I was only on the first four chapters. So....I later found out that Max was a girl when Iggy kept calling Max a SHE. Bingo! My first reaction was to slap my forehead, then, I burst out laughing(which earned me strange looks from my parents). For some unknown reason, I found it hilarious. Maybe it was my way of hiding my embarrassment.  Wherever you are James Patterson, I'm very sorry for thinking Max was a boy.
Anyways, let's discuss the characters. Max- my kind of girl, kick butt, strong, smart(unlike Bella from Twilight, but that's another story). Fang- dark(not just moody, but he always wore black), mysterious, quiet, my type of guy. Iggy- one of the most amazing blind guys ever, I mean he could make a bomb! His humor just had me laughing my guts out. Nudge- didn't really like her, but she was tolerable. A total blabbermouth. Angel- the cutest sweetest girl, but I will say that she kind of creeped me out by the end of the book(won't say why, you have to read it to find out).  I still like her a lot, though.
When I was reading the first book, I kept thinking that maybe Patterson had meant to make The Angel Experiment into more than one book, because he was constantly reminding me of their mission, the characters, and the like. Just seemed like it was maybe two or three books blended into one.
Overall, one of my favorite books ever. Certainly something I would read again, and I will definitely continue reading the series, down to the last book. Max was someone I could relate to, she seemed down to earth, yet hardened by her experience, and not some weak helpless girl(it seems like every book I read lately, every girl is like this). I loved how they were all superstrong, and the whole flying concept, I was grinning from ear to ear.(a really cool idea) The characters go from California to New York, so there is a change of scene, and interesting new places. This book deserves its five stars.