Review: The Dark Divine

Book: The Dark Divine
Author: Bree Despain
Pages: 372
Published: December 22nd 2009 by EgmontUSA
Source: Bought

A prodigal son

A dangerous love

A deadly secret . . .

I stood back and watched his movements. Daniel had that way about him that could shut me down in an instant. . . . I kicked the gravel a couple of times and worked up my courage again. “Tell me . . . I mean . . . why did you come back? Why now, after all this time?”

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

I was so completely excited to read The Dark Divine, and to be honest, I was completely terrified when I started. I didn't know how this would turn out, and I had ridiculously high hopes for this book. I was definitely anything but disappointed.

Daniel intrigued me from the start and I was completely on his side through everything, and I knew I was going to take his side instead of Jude's, even though Jude is supposed to be the good son and all. I loved how Grace wasn't written like some kind of perfect teenager just because her dad was a preacher; she was normal and her narrative was inviting and identifiable. Daniel and Grace's romance was intense and completely absorbing -- I so completely loved their scenes together and even though their romance is somewhat fast-paced, I thought it was so wonderfully written that it really doesn't seem fast-paced at the time at all -- it seemed so completely right, because they really loved each other and you could tell.

So the religious aspect of this novel really made me uncomfortable at first. I wasn't sure how much the whole religion thing would factor into the book, and I really do get really uncomfortable when people start talking and preaching about their religion. Luckily, that was completely not an issue. The book drew me in immediately and kept a hold over me without ever letting me go! I loved how the book was so edgy and kind somehow kind of innocent at the same time. I loved how Despain weaved in this idea of a family curse gone wrong, and also incorporated several elements of myths and legends into her book. One thing I really would have liked would be that the Markham Street Monster be elaborated on a little earlier in the book. It confused me at first and really bugged me that I wasn't so sure what the monster was, but luckily Despain explained that whole element really well later on.

Despain used some really interesting words to describe mundane actions, and I really liked how her writing was so unique. She definitely has a talent for storytelling -- some parts completely broke my heart and she was so good at eliciting emotions and reactions from me! There were a couple times I had to stop because I was so scared at what would happen next, and I would just take a deep breath and go OMGOMGOMGOMGin my head.

Bree Despain has definitely made a fan out of me! The Dark Divine wrapped up really nicely in the end and I don't know how she's going to write a sequel for it, but I'm seriously just so excited that she's writing one at all!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Cover: I love this cover! It's so gorgeous, and I fell in love with this cover when I first saw it. I didn't really understand it when I began reading, but later on, nearer the climax I guess, I had an oh-moment, when I realized why the cover was the way it was, and that really made it more amazing, because it really does tie in to the story.

Review: All Unquiet Things

Book: All Unquiet Things
Author: Anna Jarzab
Pages: 337
Published: January 12th, 2010 by Delacorte
Source: Bought

Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.

Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.

Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.

As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.

I'd heard quite a few mixed reviews about this book, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it. I had nothing to worry about, though -- I enjoyed All Unquiet Things more than I expected to!

I liked the alternating narratives between Neily and Audrey. I could distinguish Neily's narrative from Audrey's, and I really liked that. I think too often authors don't know how to write from the point of view of the other gender, and the result is a boy whose mind sounds like a girl's, or a girl whose mind sounds like a boy's. I didn't particularly like either of them at first -- they seemed somewhat aloof, despite them supposedly being in mourning for Carly. But I eventually warmed up to them and I found the narrators increasingly intriguing characters. Jarzab wrote Carly in a way that made me love her and hate her at the same time, and even though she's already dead during the events of the novel, sometimes I felt like she was the most alive of all of them.

The mystery element of All Unquiet Things could have been executed better. I felt like not much happened in the first third or so of the book, like it was more introducing the characters and setting up the backdrop without really getting into the mystery aspect. It moved really slow at first, but luckily it quickly picked up and I really got into it. I loved how it switched between time periods -- before Carly's death and after. I felt like those served to make us sympathize with the characters and understand them a bit better, and I really liked that insight into their pasts.

I thought that probably the best thing about the book was the writing. This book was written excellently, and I'm jealous of the way Jarzab is able to string her sentences together in a way that makes her characters sound brilliant and still young at the same time, if you know what I mean. Her dialogue was realistic and entertaining, and I think Anna Jarzab is definitely an author to watch.

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

Cover: I LOVE this cover! It looks so sophisticated but so very attention-grabbing. At first I thought the girl on the cover was posing, but then I was like, oh…she's not lying on the grass, posing dramatically; she's dead. I thought that using that kind of surprise was extremely clever of the publishers!

Review: Meridian

Book: Meridian
Author: Amber Kizer
Pages: 320
Published: August 11th 2009 by Delacorte
Source: Bought

Half-human, half-angel, Meridian Sozu has a dark responsibility.

Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate’s tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home—and Meridian’s body explodes in pain.

Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she’s a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt’s house in Revelation, Colorado. It’s there that she learns that she is a Fenestra—the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos.

I really liked this book! I'd heard mixed things about it, so I was a little worried starting this one, but luckily I thoroughly enjoyed it. The premise of Meridian was really what interested me at first, but I was doubtful of whether the book would live up to the standard that the summary set for it. It did.

Meridian (besides having an awesome name) was an interesting character. I liked how she developed from a slight immature teenager to a young adult. She was kind of forced to grow up, with all the weird crap that happened to her. My favorite scenes were the ones with her and Tens, who was extremely swoony. He was always trying to do the right thing and kept Meridian's best interests in mind -- their conversations struck me as humorous and sarcastic. Their relationship had a certain dynamic to it that I really enjoyed reading about.

The plot was fairly quick and filled with adventure. Amber Kizer presents a new type of supernatural power: the Fenestras and their evil counterpart, the Aternocti. It was extremely original and I loved Kizer's idea. The only complaint I have about the book is the fact that some things seemed too coincidental, too unrealistic. Things just seemed to happen just in time way too often, though that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I was really impressed with Meridian and I will definitely be reading the sequel, which as of now is titled Wildcat Fireflies, to be released by Delacorte Press/Random House in fall 2011.

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Cover: I like this cover! The girl on it looks absolutely nothing like Meridian in the book (um, hello, publishers? You got the hair wrong.) but I liked the expression she has on her face and the pattern around the sides. Very interesting and this would definitely catch my eye in a bookstore.

Review: Beautiful Creatures

Book: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia + Margaret Stohl
Pages: 563
Published: December 1st 2009 by Little, Brown

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

I thought there was no way this book could live up to my expectations. Every review I've read about BC was rule of raving comments and adoration, and so I set immeasurably high standards for this book. I was completely shocked when BC surpassed all of them.

I loved how easily I could connect with every single one of BC's characters. I didn't even have to try, and how often does that happen, right? Ethan and Lena's relationship was beautiful and sad, wonderful and turbulent, all at the same time. They both seemed like such genuine and seriously cool characters, and I kind of wished they were real. It was effortless for me to feel everything they felt and imagine everything they saw and did, and I loved that element of the story.

I read all 562 pages of this book in a day. I devoured it, I seriously just couldn't turn the pages fast enough! I wanted moremoremore and I even read at the dinner table (which is something I never do, so a book is freaking amazing if it's invited to dinner)! Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl detailed everything, and by that I do mean everything. They don't leave anything out. I will admit, at the beginning, adding in all that background and introductory stuff, I was starting to doubt the book a little, but later on the details provided in the beginning are so helpful and I wouldn't have understood a lot of things if those hadn't been there.

So…umm. If you haven't picked up/read/bought/borrowed from your library/borrowed from your friends/done everything you could to get your hands on this book, you're kinda dumb. Cos I loved. Loved. LOVED. This book. (Yeah, yeah, my grammar there is terrible, WHATEVER.)

Needless to say, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have made a crazy swimfan out of me and I can't wait for Beautiful Darkness, the sequel!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Cover: I have loved this cover insanely much since it was revealed. It is so gorgeous, and you don't even know how amazing it is until you see it in person. I love the lettering used and the trees in the background…absolutely gorgeous.

Review: Shade

Book: Shade
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Pages: 309
Published: May 4th, 2010 by Simon Pulse
Source: Pulse It

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a crucial gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be trhe most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.
Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.
Well, sort of.
Like everyone who was born after the Shift, Aura can see and talk to ghosts. This mysterious ability had always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued ghost hanging around. Because Dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help how Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding -- and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.
As Aura's relationship with the dead and the living grows ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Um. Um. Um. Um. I'm having trouble forming coherent sentences. Cos I just loved Shade that much. I literally just finished it and now it's just a string of OMG's running through my mind…

I absolutely, completely freaking loved this book! Words do not even go far enough to describe how immensely I loved it! I want to marry this book! I want to have its awesome ghost-seeing babies! (Okay, so maybe not that last one…but I think you get my point, hmm?) Shade was such an amazing and unbelievable start to what I can already tell will be a fantastic series. I am completely in shock and awe of Shade.

I admire Aura. I really do. She has to deal with some crazy stuff, being the First and having to choose between two amazing guys…and to top it all off, she was empathetic and totally brave. What she did, in the end, I know I would never have the guts to do in a million years. I wish I could be that confident and have that amount of courage. I felt like she was such a genuine character, and she felt so incredibly real and that was really impressive and made me like the book a hell of a lot more (not that I didn't already love it beyond belief). Plus, I'm always a fan of love triangles and in Shade, it's addicting.

I really didn't see a lot of stuff coming. I was OMG-ing more times than I could count. The author built up the suspense in a number of ways and had me peering closer at the words until my nose nearly touched them. I swear, Shade was such a captivating read, it's one of those books that you can't flip the pages fast enough!

Shade was a brilliant start to a new series and I am so mad that I have to wait for a year until its sequel, Shift, comes out in 2011! I want it now! In my hands! Open! I want to read it! Right now! At this very moment!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars (NO FREAKING DUH!!!!!!)

Cover: I love this cover (like everything else about it) I thought the ribbon was a nice touch, and I love the colors used. Violet is such a prominent and significant color in the book, I'm really pleased they used it as the main color on the cover.

Review: White Cat

Book: White Cat
Author: Holly Black
Pages: 310
Published: May 4th, 2010 by Margaret K McElderry
Source: Pulse It

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

General Overview: I was really impressed by the originality of White Cat. I had set a lot of really high expectations for it, and even though the book didn't meet all of them, it met most. I loved the concept of the entire book and I had a lot of fun reading it.

Characters: I identified with Cassel really easily. Everyone knows what it feels like to be an outsider and I think that's what makes him very easy to connect with. I hated some of the things he was forced to do and I was as eager to find out the mystery of his life as he was. I loved his big mouth and sarcasm; the way he spoke and acted completely fit the Cassel I'd created in my mind before reading the book. Most of the characters in this book are antagonists and Holly Black succeeded in making me hate their guts.

Plot: There are a lot of unbelievable things that happen to Cassel, but they seem realistic in a way because of who he is (well, more who his family is). The beginning starts off a bit slow but the story quickly picks up and captures its reader. I really liked the world that Black created, one where everyone knows about workers and how to defend themselves from bad workers. I thought the whole idea of workers was extremely unique and I can't think of another book I could compare to it.

Writing: Most YA books are written from third person or from the point of view of a girl. White Cat is narrated by Cassel Sharpe, and it was a refreshing change, reading from a guy's perspective instead. I think Holly Black definitely knows how to write from the guy's POV as well as she can write from a girl's, which is a huge shift but which Black does with certainty.

Cover: I like how this cover is one that will appeal to both boys and girls. I love the black, white and red color scheme of the novel, I love how the red is used to catch someone's eye -- it really works! The model doesn't really look like how I imagined Cassel, but he looks dangerous and intelligent and con-ny (yeah, yeah, not a word. Whatever) and overall it fits the mood and the story.

Overall: Erm…I'm struggling with this. It's either a 4.5 or a 4, but I don't like to give half-star ratings…Okay, I'm going to go with 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Season

Book: The Season
Author: Sarah MacLean
Pages: 352
Published: March 1st, 2009 by Orchard Books

Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued -- in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own. Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.
When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year's season begins!

General Overview: The Season is a fun, romantic debut by Sarah MacLean! I am a huge historical fiction fan and The Season sounded pretty good when I read the synopsis, so I went in with high hopes. This book met every single one of them!

Characters: Alex was such a cool character for her era! I loved how independent she was and how willing to follow her own paths and choices -- most women at the time were pretty submissive, but Alex was definitely not one of them. Her friends, Vivi and Eleanor, were both just as courageous and adventurous and I had so much fun reading about them! And Gavin…he's the dark, brooding, mysterious loner dude from that time. Heehee (:

Plot: So, the book didn't really catch my attention at first. But that was just the first few pages. After that, I became thoroughly absorbed in Alex's story and the mystery she's trying to solve. The mystery was well thought out and not overdone at all, like I read on another review of this book. Even if a little predictable at times, the reader hardly notices and instead keeps flipping the pages to find out more!

Writing: Sarah MacLean writes effortlessly. This was an impressive debut and I loved it! Her writing style seemed to very much fit this time period, and it might've been difficult for some others to get the speech and mannerisms right (I would've struggled!) but MacLean executes it perfectly.

Cover: The girl who I think is Alex doesn't really look like how I imagined Alex in my head…but I loved the dresses they were wearing! And her expression is very fitting and the font totally fits the time period too!

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Review: Nothing But Ghosts

Book: Nothing But Ghosts
Author: Beth Kephart
Pages: 288
Published: June 23rd, 2009 by HarperTeen
Source: Bought copy

Ever since her mother passed away, Katie's been alone in her too-big house with her genius dad, who restores old paintings for a living. Katie takes a summer job at a garden estate, where, with the help of two brothers and a glamorous librarian, she soon becomes embroiled in decoding a mystery. There are secrets and shadows at the heart of Nothing but Ghosts: symbols hidden in a time-darkened painting, and surprises behind a locked bedroom door. But most of all, this is a love story—the story of a girl who learns about love while also learning to live with her own ghosts.

General Overview: I loved the idea of this painting holding the key to the mystery. I found that so cool! When I was younger, my dad always used to take me to museums and I'd imagine hidden codes and secret passageways hidden within paintings. The whole mystery of this woman having disappeared for so long was intriguing, and I thought Beth Kephart executed it very well.

Characters: Katie was an interesting, complex character. You get this sense of grief around her, because of her mother, and yet there are these little moments when you almost feel like everything is going to be normal again. She wasn't a particularly brave or adventurous heroine, but I thought that she was extremely intelligent and mature for her age. I liked that she wasn't obsessed with boys or make up or clothes like so many other teenagers in books are -- that was refreshing for a change. I thought she could've been a little more developed -- there were times when her mother became more alive than she was, which you see through Katie's flashbacks.

Plot: So, this is a mystery. And you definitely get that element. Some parts do tend to drag a bit, those few parts where they're just digging, but other than that I thought that the plot was always kept alive by this whole missing-persons mystery. I thought the mystery element, while still pretty good, could have been executed better. Usually, when the hero/heroine solves the case, I get this feeling of satisfaction like "YES! OMG! I KNEW IT!" or "OMG I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!", but for NBG, I felt like the mystery wasn't very well developed. I didn't get that satisfied feeling. I couldn't understand how she suddenly solved it, and it took me a while to figure that out.

Writing: Beth Kephart writes in a way that absorbs the reader and leaves some things to the imagination instead of just telling you everything. A lot of books are like that, but NBG was absolutely not. I especially loved the flashback scenes; those were gorgeously described and written flawlessly.

Cover: This cover isn't really what interested me at first. I don't really get what significance the window and the curtain has to the story, but I thought it was a nice cover all the same -- it just didn't contain that WOW factor that really makes you stop and walk back to take a second look.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Review: Incarceron

Book: Incarceron
Author: Catherine Fisher
Pages: 464
Published: May 3rd, 2007

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

General Overview: This was an incredibly original book! Catherine Fisher definitely has some sort of twisted/brilliant imagination to create the world in which Incarceron takes place.

Characters: I thought Finn was the best character of all. The chapters from his point of view were the ones I enjoyed the most. His struggle and his courage were both commendable qualities, and I don't think I would've been able to hope like he did after living in Incarceron. I think I'd probably just break down and cry…Claudia, I didn't like her as much I would've hoped. I found her to be just a little too haughty and selfish, and I didn't care much for her. The Warden was an interesting character to read about, what with his twisted history and all, and Keiro and Attia were both interesting as well.

Plot: The adventure keeps you on the edge of your seat! I couldn't flip the pages fast enough. Even though this book is about 450 pages of text, I finished it in one day (see what I mean about reading fast?) because the stories of both the Inside and the Outside kept me enthralled and wanting more. The ending left much to the imagination, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel.

Writing: Catherine Fisher is extremely descriptive in her scenes. The world of Incarceron is described with careful detail that lets you imagine Incarceron as it is in your mind. Fisher drew me in from the first chapter with her actions scenes and smart dialogue.

Cover: The key on the cover isn't really how I imagined the Keys. I thought they'd be more…Swarovski-crystal-like, if you know what I mean. However, I do think the cover is an intriguing one and I hope that Sapphique, the sequel to Incarceron, will have just as great a cover.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars