In theory I shouldn't have had a problem with this book. I like character studies, I hadn't gone in with expectations of another Harry Potter (though I liked the series less as it went on and absolutely hated the last two HP books, so maybe her writing is no longer for me), and in fact I had started this book with very few expectations at all. There were times where I almost did like [b:The Casual Vacancy|13497818|The Casual Vacancy|J.K. Rowling|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358266832s/13497818.jpg|19926990] but 1. it could have used a lot of editing because wow, so much was not necessary 2. the characters, minus a few exceptions, did not interest me much 3. JKR does not do subtle much and the small town politics were very in-your-face 4. it took half the book for me to get even somewhat interested in what was going on, and 5. WHAT WAS THAT ENDING. Seriously.
Sweet Evil
This was practically unreadable. The characters were bland and their romance boring. The writing was terrible, and wow, really hated the party scene at the beginning. That's when things officially started going downhill for me. The characters sound the same, and half the time I don't get their reasoning. Anna's first impression of Kaidan is that he's a beautiful jerk, yet the very next scene she's confiding in him a secret that she's kept hidden from everyone and breaking promises to her adoptive mother. At the very beginning of the book she goes to a party (even though she doesn't want anything to do with drugs or alcohol) and despite overhearing a suspicious conversation and supposedly being able to read auras, doesn't get suspicious at all when a guy hands her a drink that is supposedly alcohol free but actually contains some ecstasy in it that this guy uses to try to sleep with her. Which, by the way, is not taken very seriously for most of the book and only then as a way to make Anna all powerful and angry. Most of the time I didn't understand anyone's reasoning. I actually did manage to read the whole thing (though I do admit to some skimming), but only because it was for a challenge. How this managed to get nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award beats me.
I would have liked this book a lot more if it was only Echo's story and there was no relationship with Noah. I didn't like him at all and the only reason I kept reading was because I was interested in Echo's past and her relationship with her family and how things would turn out with them. Echo annoyed me and there were issues with her plot (also it took me like, half the book to even become vaguely interested in her. ESPECIALLY in the first part of the book, so much teenage angst) but it was way better than Noah's.
Very short novella, only 175 pages. What impresses me is the story he was able to tell in those 175 pages. The characters were a bit flat but I liked the world building and the story was really fascinating.
Wow, lots of creepy older guys hitting on someone who is fourteen. Which, by the way, there was no reason for her to be since they could have had the book take place later than it did.
Stolen (Women of the Otherworld, Book 2)
Years ago I had accidentally read Dime Store Magic, book #3, before reading any of the previous books of the series (at the time I hadn't known it was part of another series), so it was nice to be able to meet the characters I knew about already, though I did know some things I would have rather been surprised about. Not sure if that changed my enjoyment because I did like this but just a bit less than the first one. And it was nice to be introduced to other supernatural creatures! Bitten was entirely a werewolf story but in Stolen we were introduced to vampires, shamans, demons, witches, and more, and of course there's more exploration of the werewolf world as well.
I am worried that a lot of people might not enjoy this as there is not as much fantasy as people might think. Kelley Armstrong usually writes urban fantasy and while there was some here, they were just hints. Most likely the urban fantasy aspect will pop up more as the series develops and Olivia learns more. Instead, Omens is more of a detective novel.Olivia has just discovered that she was adopted, and that her biological parents are infamous serial killers. Before that she had a good life, with a wealthy family, a degree from a good college, and an engagement to a wealthy CEO. Now she is suddenly thrust into the spotlight as the daughter of two monsters, and runs away from her old life to try to find some answers, especially as her mother maintains her innocence. At first she goes to Chicago to find a job, but as she is told repeatedly about a small town nearby called Cainsville, she decides to move there. Once there, she meets her mother's former lawyer and they reluctantly (or, at least reluctantly on her part) team up to find out some answers about her biological parents, and if they really could have committed the awful murders that everyone says they did.I loved Olivia's relationship with Gabriel (the lawyer). There was no romance in this novel, but a good relationship was set up and mmmm, I can't wait to read more about it. Olivia took some time to grow on me, but I did like her more as the story went on. I also can't wait for her to discover the paranormal aspects of her life. Looking forward to the next installment!
[b:Legend|9275658|Legend (Legend, #1)|Marie Lu|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333909141s/9275658.jpg|14157512] is a dystopian novel that takes place in the United States, now known as the Republic and is fighting a war against the Colonies. Most of the conflicts in this book are class-based. There's the upper-class where people get to go to college, get assigned a fancy government job (mostly protecting the Republic), get regular vaccinations against sickness, and generally live a good life. Then there's the lower-class who, among many other problems, have to deal with a plague. There's only one real chance to chance to escape poverty and that happens when kids are ten and have to take what is known as the Trial, which determines someone's status in life. If you get a high score, you automatically get into high school and college and get assigned a good job. If you get a medium score, you get to go to high school. If you get a low score, you get assigned to some bad job. And if you fail, you get sent to labor camps. Unfortunately, the lower classes usually get worse scores.Day failed the test and escaped from the camp, and is now running around causing various mischief against the Republic, mostly in order to get some cures against the plague.Then there's June, who is the only person ever to get a perfect score on the Trial and is convinced that Day killed someone dear to her. She sets out to hunt him down and bring him to justice, but along the way learns some unhappy truths about the Republic and her past, and now has to decide where her loyalties lie.This book was fun and exciting with decent characters. The world-building so far isn't that great and there were some plot-holes (mostly regarding the plague and Day's trouble-making) that were noticeable to me. If you want a fun read where you don't have to think too hard, I'd definitely recommend this book.
I'd been hearing good things about [b:Angelfall|11500217|Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)|Susan Ee|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1319887835s/11500217.jpg|16435765] for so long that it made me hesitant to read it in case it wasn't worth the hype! Not the case here. [b:Angelfall|11500217|Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)|Susan Ee|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1319887835s/11500217.jpg|16435765] was exciting and fun with non-stop action.The book is told from Penryn's point-of-view. She grew up with a mother who could occasionally be dangerous (and even crippled Penryn's little sister at one point) so she is well-trained in martial arts and can defend herself. This comes in handy when angels take over the world, killing off many of its inhabitants. There are street gangs to worry about as well, and Penryn takes her duty to protect her family very seriously. Then one night, she and her family encounter a group of angels who are about to attack another angel. She and her family attempt to hide but Penryn's sister ends up being taken by angels. She ends up taking in the injured angel in order to get his help in finding her sister. Raffe, now wingless, refuses to help her at first but then changes his mind. Off they go on an adventure! One aspect of the book I really appreciated was Raffe and Penryn's relationship. Insta-love is one of my least favorite things and very common in YA novels, but there wasn't any here. I am very excited about reading the next book!
The Piper's Son
Tom is in a lot of emotional pain and has attempted to push away every person in his life, including his friends, various family members, and his one-and-a-half night stand who he actually really likes. He had attempted to hide from his pain by drinking and doing drugs and living with people who did the same.
Now he's living with his Aunt Georgie, who is dealing with her own difficulties due to the fact that she's pregnant and has a complicated relationship with the father-to-be. His mother and sister left home to live somewhere else and had offered Tom a place with them, but he refused in order to stay with his drunkard father who eventually left as well. On top of all that, his favorite uncle had recently died. Tom's friends are all mad at him for how he's treated him but are still around, and constantly give him a hard time.
He writes emails to his sister and Tara (the one-night stand mentioned above!), though the latter is also extremely angry with Tom and most of her letters back are somewhat scathing. This book was complicated and beautifully written. Tom isn't the most likable character in the world yet Marchetta managed to make me feel sympathetic towards him. Tom shares his PoV chapters with Georgie, who was also an interesting character to read about.
Sense and Sensibility is about two sisters named Elinor and Marianne Dashwood who, along with their mother and other sister, have to move after their father dies and their former house becomes the property of their brother John and his family. Elinor is serious and reserved, Marianne shows all of her feelings clearly and is passionate and artistic. Before they left for their new cottage, Elinor met Edward Ferrars, the brother of John's wife. Elinor and Edward have a connection and Mrs. Dashwood is convinced of the fact that they will be engaged soon, though it turns out that things are more complicated than they seem.Once at the cottage (where they meet many lovely people and form more friendships than they originally thought), Marianne attracts the interest of two men. The first is serious Colonel Brandon, who is 35 to Marianne's 16 and she deems him far too old for her. The second is Willoughby, who is 25 and much more like Marianne. While reading about Willoughby, I often compared him to another Austen "villain", Wickham. Not only are their names somewhat similar, but they both have a lot of the same characteristics. Wickham and Willoughby both flirt with the heroine only to turn out to have a bad past with the person who also loves the heroine, regarding mistreating a woman in the other's family. They both also try to marry heiresses, though Willoughby is the only one to actually succeed in that. Marianne's relationship with Willoughby is also much more complicated than it originally appeared. I actually liked Mr. Ferrars more here than I have in any of the film versions of Sense and Sensibility that I have seen, which was a nice surprise. My favorite part, though, was definitely reading about Marianne and Elinor's relationship. Both are pretty different from each other yet it's obvious they have a deep bond and love each other.
I liked this one a bit better than the first, most likely because I got more used to [a:Gail Carriger|2891665|Gail Carriger|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1257289860p2/2891665.jpg]'s writing style and world. Even saying that, this won't be the most positive review. There's a curse that's making it so that the werewolves can't change (which causes various problems, including the fact that their special powers also go away) and whatever is causing that seems to be causing other problems in the supernatural world. Then Alexia's husband goes away without telling her where he's gone, leaving her to try to do her duties and solve the mystery of what's going on. Other elements of this book include a new parasol, several possible attempts on Alexia's life, the return of Ivy and one of Alexia's sisters, a trip to Scotland, a new parasol (and the mysterious Frenchwoman that designed it!), and more. That being said, the plot seemed kind of thin. There was a lot going on yet it felt like not much actually happened, if that makes any sense. Also, regarding the ending, Wow, took a long time for that pregnancy to be revealed. It's surprising that Madame LeFoux is the only one to say that as a preternatural, Alexia has a lot unknown about her. Plus, it's been acknowledged that she has an affect on Conall and touching him affects him. Her family annoys me so that's an element I'm not much looking forward to in the next book.
What amazes me about [b:How to Save a Life|10757806|How to Save a Life|Sara Zarr|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1337211222s/10757806.jpg|14982110] is that [a:Sara Zarr|19093|Sara Zarr|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1302718823p2/19093.jpg] somehow managed to write a book where pretty much every character is unlikeable yet somehow I ended up loving the book.Jill MacSweeney has never been what anyone would call nice. When her father was alive he would constantly tell her to "try a little tenderness." But she's gotten worse since her father has died and has managed to drive away all of her friends and her boyfriend. She also avoids talking to her mom about her feelings. Then her mother announces that she wants to adopt a baby. That would be bad enough, but the pregnant girl refuses to sign anything or have it be done officially. Jill is incredibly suspicious of this new girl.Mandy is 18 and pregnant, and is escaping her life in Omaha in order to live with Jill and her mom in Denver until the baby is born. She is happy with her new life and Jill's mom's much nicer way of living. But she is also suspicious that everything will be taken away from her if they know too much about her life or her unborn child's. She loves the mom but is scared of harsh Jill. Mandy is also constantly thinking about what matters to them is the baby, not her, and this life is not meant for her. Alternating between their point-of-views, this book is about the weeks before the birth of Mandy's child. The writing was great and I enjoyed watching the story unravel.