The Goddess Legacy is a fantastic prequel to the Goddess Test series. I'd always wonde...moreMore of my reviews can be found on my blog: Literary Exploration
The Goddess Legacy is a fantastic prequel to the Goddess Test series. I'd always wondered how the relationship between Persephone and Hades began, as well as why Calliope was so bitter. Goddess Legacy answers a lot of questions that fans of the Goddess Test series may have as well as opening our eyes to how the Gods and Goddesses have evolved (or not) over time. Although my feelings about the characters didn't change much, I definitely liked seeing them in a different light. After the cliffhanger ending that Goddess Interrupted provided, and after reading about the different relationships between the Greek Gods and Goddesses, I'm even more excited to see how this series will end!
I didn't care much for Calliope, Ava, or Persephone to begin with. They've always been hateful, shallow, and selfish women to me, but it was really great to see how they ended up that way. While Calliope is a murderous wench, I can understand her jealous nature and feelings of betrayal towards Henry/Hades. Her husband is a womanizer and a liar and the only man she ever truly loved has turned his back on her. It makes sense that something inside of her would break. Persephone is thrust into an unwanted marriage with a man she doesn't love (or like really), and the one man she does love is unattainable. My heart really felt for her, but I think it was quite unfair of her to go off galavanting with other men while her husband stayed at home. Even Ava is just a slutty, selfish girl who runs around with different men every day and trying to ruin people's lives. It's safe to say I didn't care for these women before, and I care for them even less now.
The writing is the same as the rest of the series, but the plot is simpler. We already know how these's people's lives end up so there isn't a lot of guess-work involved. Goddess Legacy simply serves to fill in the blanks about why Henry needs a new wife and why James is so ostracized. Although, that bit I really didn't understand. The different novellas all sort of play off of each other, while focusing on the individual God or Goddess. I think my favorite part had to be the beginning, when the original six are still all alone, right after they've defeated the Titans. It was great to see them as a cohesive family, if only for a little bit.
If you're a fan of the Goddess Test books then you definitely need to pick up Goddess Legacy. It will fill in a lot of blanks and answer a lot of questions you've been asking yourself. For once, Kate isn't the central focus and it's a refreshing story about the Gods and Goddesses and their backgrounds. Goddess Legacy starts at the beginning and takes us through the last two thousand years or so, finally ending with how Kate came to be Henry's betrothed. I definitely recommend picking this one up while you're eagerly awaiting the final book!(less)
Despite the fact that my Freshman year was nothing like Kelsey's, this book had me lau...moreYou can find more of my reviews on my blog: Literary Exploration
Despite the fact that my Freshman year was nothing like Kelsey's, this book had me laughing and reminiscing the entire time I was reading it. Kelsey and her friends definitely go through some dramatic times, but Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters is a great example of really going out of your comfort zone to find yourself in high school. It was a quick, enjoyable read and I can't wait to see what Zeitlin comes up with next!
Kelsey and her friends are all pretty hilarious, but Kelsey really takes the cake. She's witty, snarky, ballsy, and pretty confident for a high school Freshman. Despite the bullies, embarrassing pictures, bff drama, and Typical Adolescent behavior, she doesn't get too down on herself and she doesn't take herself too seriously. I absolutely loved reading from Kelsey's POV just because she had such a (dare I say it again) HILARIOUS idea of life. She spent so much time having fun and making fun of herself that I wanted to be her friend!! Her friends are all pretty great too, Typical Adolescents, and I almost wish I had a group of friends like that in high school.
Zeitlin really knows how to get in the mind of a teenager, that's for sure. Her writing style is fantastic, and she manages to convey the thoughts and feelings that high school teens have and show. While all of the characters have pretty selfish tendencies, it's understandable because they're teens! The girls fight, make up, break up with boyfriends, go to parties, and just have a good time their first year of high school, which I think all teens should do! I also really liked that Zeitlin incorporated Kelsey's parents into the story somewhat. I feel like a lot of YA nowadays sort of leaves the parents out of the mix while the kids just go crazy and have a good time, which is completely unrealistic.
Overall, I enjoyed every minute of this book. It's funny, imaginative, ballsy, and (although a little over the top) pretty accurate. I know that maybe I didn't have the same experiences Kelsey did in high school, but I know plenty of people who did! Honestly, I wish someone had handed me this book before I started my Freshman year, I think it would have helped me break out of my shell a lot sooner! I definitely recommend this one to anyone and everyone! It's cute, funny, witty, and a great read!(less)
I’ve always been a sucker for fairy-tale rewrites so I was really excited when I found...moreMore of my reviews can be found on my blog: Literary Exploration
I’ve always been a sucker for fairy-tale rewrites so I was really excited when I found out that Emily Casey was having a blog tour for her book, The Fairy Tale Trap. The fairy tale that Casey focuses on specifically is Beauty and the Beast (which is in theaters right now!!) and it is one of my favorites. The book is fairly short, just shy of 200 pages, but overall it was a quick enjoyable read.
Ivy Thorn (haha fae reference anyone?) is trapped by a devilish pixie in the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. I do feel like Ivy’s character is kind of rushed. Really, she’s only at home for about 10 pages before she’s whisked off into the mythical world of the fae. I felt like her character could have been developed a little more thoroughly before the evil pixie stole her. She’s definitely a kick ass heroine, trying to escape from her prison in the woods, while constantly fighting off a rabid beast. I wish there were more fae elements though, just because I love the fae so much!
The story itself is interesting enough. It’s very short, only about 180 pages, and most of it covers Ivy’s attempts to escape from the enchanted castle where she’s being kept. I felt like the story was a bit rushed, and that Casey could have gone more in depth into why the Pixie chose Ivy, and maybe covered some of Beauty’s back story. Also, some things didn’t make much sense to me. Some characters seemed to appear out of nowhere for no real reason.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed the story. It was quick, entertaining, and had enough action to keep me going. I do wish that some things were elaborated on, and I wish the characters were developed a little better. I’m definitely glad I got the chance to read this one. If you’re a lover of the fae, fairy tale retellings, and adventure than this one is for you!!(less)
Honestly, I'm having a really hard time starting this review. I didn't like this book. At al...moreMore reviews can be found at my blog, Literary Exploration
Honestly, I'm having a really hard time starting this review. I didn't like this book. At all. I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the plot, I didn't like the pace... the only thing I did like was Dane's writing style. She's a fantastic writer, everything is very elegant and descriptive, unfortunately nothing else stood out. On a Dark Wing was a serious let down in all sorts of ways.
The characters are cringe-worthy. Abbey is basically an obsessive psycho who dreams about her secret life with Nate Holden. I mean, I remember having secret crushes on hot guys at school, but I never imagined myself having a different live revolving around them, when I had never even talked to them before! What is that?! Her life basically revolves around what he does. Did I mention they've never even talked?! It was worse than some kind of insta-love. She's also a total jerk to her dad. She blames herself for her mother's death and then basically ignores her dad and yells at him all the time like he doesn't understand. He lost his wife. I think he understands. She's basically just an obsessive selfish over eater and I did not care for her at all. Nate is okay I guess, he's just a mountain climber who gets sucked into some crazy angel crap. Tanner was by far my favorite character. He's so down to earth and selfless, he goes above and beyond for Abbey (who so doesn't deserve it).
The story was so dull and slow I had a really hard time keeping up with it. I don't know why, but I just felt compelled to keep going. Nothing really happens, and some of the plot lines make no sense whatsoever, or are completely unnecessary. I have to admit, Dane's writing is fantastic! Everything is really well-written and the descriptions are really well done. I just wish more of that fantastic writing went into creating a better story! One that didn't bore me to tears!
Overall, I just wasn't a fan of this book. I've seen it around a lot, and I know it's gotten mixed reviews but I tried it out anyways. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I really enjoyed Dane's writing style, so I'm definitely interested in reading something else by her, however.(less)
I heard Cambria Hebert was hosting a blog tour for her book Masquerade and immediate...moreThis review was originally posted on my blog, Literary Exploration
I heard Cambria Hebert was hosting a blog tour for her book Masquerade and immediately sent her an email asking to join. This book sounded awesome when I first heard about it, and it was on my Goodreads TBR list for a few weeks, so I was stoked when she sent me an e-copy for review. I was not disappointed! This book had action, adventure, romance, and paranormal elements galore! The first half of the book kept me in total suspense, asking questions like, "Where did Heven get those scars?" "What is Sam?" "Why is Heven's mom so crazy?!" (she's a nutcase, but I won't dwell on it). I have to admit, some things had me a little annoyed. The insta-love between Sam and Heven was the worst of it. You all know how I feel about the insta-love. I was immediately transported back a few years to my time reading Twilight, so obviously lovers of that series will enjoy this one! Overall, it was a great book and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one!
The characters were pretty hard to relate too, but they did grow a lot during the story. At first Heven is pretty whiney and reminds me of a certain shiny vamp-lover. I actually wanted to reach into the book and punch her because she was so annoying sometimes. She does mature a lot, however, and by the end I actually enjoyed her a lot more. Sam isn't as swoon-worthy as I like them, but he's definitely an alpha. He tends to baby Heven a lot though, constantly saying, "That's my girl" when she does something even remotely positive. Like she's a dog and he's training her for a show or something. Their relationship drove me a little nuts, they were way too engrossed in each other and spent too much time fawning over each other's looks and ignoring other people. By the end of the story though, I felt like I liked them a lot more, and actually wanted to keep reading to find out where their relationship was headed. Kimber, Heven's best friend is literally the epitome of a frenemy. She's pretty much the worst kind of person. She's constantly belittling Heven, and is even jealous of her! She's jealous of a girl who has scars covering half her face!! If that's not the definition of selfish witch then I don't know what is. Yeah, I really hated her. But now I'm ranting...
The story itself was awesome, and I felt like a lot happened in only 300 pages. Basically Sam is some crazy paranormal creature, I won't ruin the surprise for you, but it's defintely not something you're going to be used to. I loved how long it took to find out what he is too, I kept turning pages thinking, "When am I going to find out what Sam is?!" And when I finally did it was like a, "SAY WHAT?!" moment. As for the romance, that's pretty annoying and I wish there was more sexy time *sigh* but Sam and Heven eventually grew on me, and I found them somewhat cute by the end. There are a lot of action and fighting scenes which were so fun to read, I actually found myself tuning everything out in order to hear about torn body parts and bloody limbs. YES! Finally a paranormal YA with bloody limbs!!! This was by far my favorite part of the whole book.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this one, but I had too many qualms with it to fully imerse myself in the story at one time. It took awhile to get through it, because I found myself either getting bored, annoyed, or frustrated from time to time. About half way through, I felt like things really started to pick up, and I was able to enjoy a lot more of what was happening, and I'm so glad I got to read this one. I'm definitely looking forward to what happens next, it's going to be AWESOME, I can already tell! If you're a fan of paranormal, romance, action, and bloody limbs you're going to love Masquerade!(less)
I didn't finish this one. I got about 125 pages in and I was still bored out of my mind. I didn't connect with any of the characters either. Not my th...moreI didn't finish this one. I got about 125 pages in and I was still bored out of my mind. I didn't connect with any of the characters either. Not my thing.(less)
I've been wanting to pick up a really good fantasy novel for awhile, but nothing has really com...moreMore of my reviews can be found at Literary Exploration
I've been wanting to pick up a really good fantasy novel for awhile, but nothing has really compared to Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore so when I started reading Touch of Power I knew I had struck fantastical gold. I really loved the direction this book took, despite Avry's ability to heal the sick and injured she is mostly ridiculed and blamed for the mysterious plague that has killed thousands, causing her to remain on the run. The story did get somewhat slow in places, having me glance through some passages, but it kept me entertained enough to continue reading.
Avry is a great female protagonist. She's extremely loyal, selfless, strong, and witty! She doesn't just go along with what other people want her to do and she resists Kerrick every step of the way which is just hilarious to read about! Her one vice, however, is sick children which tends to get her into a lot of trouble. Kerrick and is band of merry men (yes, I'm referencing Robin Hood!) are an extremely hilarious bunch! Belen reminded me of Andre the Giant, a huge guy who just protects those that are smaller than him. The other 3 are exactly how Kerrick describes them, monkeys! Kerrick himself is a tough guy on the outside, but when he lets his heart shine through he just makes me melt!!
Snyder really knows how to weave a fantastical story. The only issue I had was her use of the word "guys". For some reason I feel like "guys" should not be used in a fantasy story, but maybe that's just a minor pet peeve of mine? I really liked that the story takes place over the course of what seems like months and not just a few days/weeks. There is also some romance, but I'm not ruining it for you! I honestly didn't see it coming for a really long time! By the end of the book I was in tears! Happy tears, sad tears, all kinds of tears!
Overall I really loved this book and I'm glad I forced myself to request it from Netgalley! Touch of Power definitely has me on a fantasy kick now and I'm looking forward to reading more fantasy YA soon. I'm also really looking forward to reading more of Snyder's books which I've heard are amazing! If you're a fantasy lover, you definitely need to pick this one up. The writing is superb, the characters are fun, and the story is great! I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning but I had an easy time finishing it!(less)
Let me start off by saying I actually wrote a completely different review for this book befo...moreMore reviews can be found at my blog: Literary Exploration
Let me start off by saying I actually wrote a completely different review for this book before I even finished it. I know I know, I should wait to finish the book before writing a review. Whatever. I'm busy so I try to start reviews about half way through so I don't have to do much once I've finished the book. HOWEVER. This book completely surprised me!
In the beginning I wasn't enjoying it too much. I felt like it was almost too fast-paced, there wasn't a lot of character development, I didn't really enjoy the premise for the book. A lot of flaws were noted. Once I got about half way through, however, everything started to come together. In the beginning we're not really sure where preternatural creatures come from, we don't have an inkling about what Kali is, we're not sure why everyone knows about preternatural creatures, I didn't really connect to the characters, etc. etc. etc.
But then... everything is revealed! It's almost like plot twist overload. You literally find out the answers to all these questions in the span of about 25 pages. It was sort of like OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG all at once. I wish there were more OMG moments, because that's what keeps you reading. I didn't like that Barnes saved all the OMG moments for the end, when I was already weary and a little bored.
As for the characters, they're not really anything special. There isn't a lot of romance, the friendships are okay but not very solid. I wish there was more of a romantic aspect, but I guess since Kali's "romantic" interest is Zev, her nibbler's pair, and he's living inside her mind there can't be a lot of romance. There is one scene where Zev and Kali meet psychicly in some made up woods and have a sort of rendezvous in their minds, but that only lasts about a page. I wish there was more romance between them.
I honestly can't remember much about the book, other than it was a fast read and enjoyable enough. I just feel like it was lacking something, and I wanted more. I would probably recommend this book to paranormal lovers, but not anyone who has to have romance in their books. Characters are okay, the plot is quick, the read is short. For being 336 pages, I don't think much really happened.(less)
I have to admit, I've never been a big fan of zombie books, but Dearly, Departed has definitely changed my mind! At first I was a little weirded out by the idea of a romance between a human and a zombie, but Habel did a great job conveying the relationship between Bram and Nora, and after a while I forgot about Bram being a zombie at all! Habel's writing is elegant and descriptive, and the images she paints are just horrifying! I loved it!!! One of the larger issues I have is the fact that it's written between 5 alternating perspectives, which just seems like overkill to me. I would have liked to have only 2 or 3.
I absolutely loved Nora, she's such a strong female character, and she's always ready to jump into the thick of things. She's a total bad ass, and I love how accepting she is of all the zombies after she gets to know them. Her relationship with Bram is kind of strange, I mean... he's dead.. but they're just so cute I ended up forgetting about the weirdness. Nora's friend Pamela was incredibly annoying at first; all she seemed to care about was boys, status, and her wardrobe. I figured she was the typical, shallow and selfish YA bff, but once the zombies started attacking the city she completely changed! She was fighting and destroying the zombies as well as Nora would have!
The story itself is really original. The idea of zombies reanimating, only to be completely normal and not bloodthirsty monsters is incredible! The descriptions of some of the "nice" zombies were still pretty brutal. Missing limbs, torn jaws, burnt skin - it was pretty gruesome! I even remember reading some parts out to my friends at work, the images were so descriptive I could actually see them in my mind! Habel's writing is definitely amazing, and I would love to read anything by her!
Overall, this book was a kick-ass-romantic-zombie-horror story... yes, all of those things rolled into one! I definitely enjoyed the story, although the multiple perspectives got a little old, I think it would have been better if the story was just written between Nora and Bram, but I got over it. I recommend this one to anyone who loves a good romance, an apocalyptic zombie story, or an action packed adventure! Dearly, Departed did not disappoint!
* I received an e-copy of this book for review purposes. All ideas and opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.(less)
Ashfall had me hooked right from the beginning. When the synopsis says "nonstop acti...moreThis review was originally posted on my blog: Literary Exploration
Ashfall had me hooked right from the beginning. When the synopsis says "nonstop action" they don't lie. This is one of the most horrific and terrifying stories I've read in a long time. It's a lot like watching a train wreck, it's terrible and traumatizing, but you don't want to look away. I couldn't look away. The worst part about everything, is that this is one of those dystopian stories that can come true. The whole time I was reading Ashfall I was thinking, "Dear God, this is a real life situation, this is what people will be like, this could be how the world ends."
Mike Mullin does a fantastic job of painting such a vivid portrait of post disaster America. The setting is fantastically disastrous, with everything covered in ash, people fighting for food and water, and people turning on each other left and right. There's a lot of death, gore, and violence in this book, so if you're uncomfortable with that kind of thing, then you shouldn't pick this book up. A lot of really bad things happen to really good people.
The characters are fantastic! Alex is such a strong character, who's really smart and resourceful, using skis to travel across the ash. In the beginning he's a sort of nerdy kind who likes to spend all his time playing WOW, but he also takes taekwondoe so you know there's something deeper to him. He ends up changing and growing a lot throughout the novel. Darla is a great female character, she's strong, and smart, and sassy, everything you want a female protagonist to be.
In Mullin's novel, bad things happen in this story because that's the reality of our world. He doesn't sugar coat things for us as YA readers. He displays the reality of humanity in the wake of a disaster. He highlights the death and destruction that people bring about when they're desperate. He wrote one hell of a novel and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one! I really don't want to wait a year for the sequel, but I will, and I will wait impatiently. If you like dystopian, sci fi, adevture novels, this is one for you! I'd recommend it to any of my friends!(less)
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