Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Illusions is the third book in the Wings series.  I realized, as I searched for my reviews of the other two books (Wings and Spells), that I hadn't reviewed them.  So I guess I'll just do a quick little overview of what these books are about.

The main character, Laurel, discovers, in Wings, that she's a faerie when a flower blooms on her back.  She's introduced to Tamani, a faerie who also happens to be Laurel's guard.  Tamani has been in love with Laurel for the longest time, but Laurel has a boyfriend, David.  In Spells, Laurel spends a summer in Avalon, the faerie realm, learning her spells and faerie lore.  She grows closer to Tamani, but denies that her feelings are more than friendly.  As she learns more about what it means to be a faerie, she also discovers that deadly trolls are out to get her.  She comes to depend on both David and Tamani to keep her safe, but finally begs Tamani to let her go.

In Illusions, the trolls are still causing problems for Laurel and Avalon, and new student, Yuki, seems shifty.  Laurel wonders almost instantly if Yuki is a faerie, and is she is, what court does she belong to?  And does she even know that she's a faerie?  Things seem fishy, especially since mysterious Klea introduced Yuki to Laurel.  Laurel isn't sure about Klea's motives, but she knows not to completely trust her.

This third installment found Laurel even more torn between Tamani and David.  Honestly, it was grating on my nerves.  Just pick someone already, Laurel!  Quit leading both boys on.  It's obvious to me that Tamani is Laurel's guy, and Laurel might finally be realizing that.  Or not.  She just can't make up her mind.

Illusions had some boring, drawn-out parts (every time Laurel talked about using her faerie magic to find out what kind of faerie Yuki is, I wanted to pluck my eyes out), but overall it was an okay read.  The discovery as to what Yuki and Klea are wasn't all that shocking, but it made a good stopping point.  I definitely think these books could have been condensed...I mean, is a fourth book really necessary?  Regardless, I'll read the final book so that I know how the story wraps up.  I won't be waiting on pins and needles, but I'll read it.

2.5/5

One final thing...what's up with the Illusions cover?  It seems so different than the other covers, especially the title font.  Not so sure I like it.  The reflection of the flower in the water is cool, but the font looks horrible.  Just my opinion.

Other ratings:

Wings: 4/5

Spells: 3/5

Afterlife by Claudia Gray

So, Hourglass left off with star-crossed lovers Bianca and Lucas facing very different futures than they'd originally thought.  Bianca turned into a wraith and Lucas became a vampire.  Honestly, I don't remember the exact details that brought us to that point, but that doesn't really matter.  Since Lucas is now one of the vampires he used to kill as a member of Black Cross, he seeks refuge at Evernight Academy after a battle with his own mother.  Bianca hides out at Evernight with Lucas, and since no one can see her unless she becomes solid and allows them to, she's free to do as she wants.  Mostly, she wants to help free Lucas from the horrible nightmares of Charity that have been plaguing him.  And she wants to know why Mrs. Bethany is hiding wraith traps all over the school.  What is Mrs. Bethany planning, and does Bianca have anything to fear from her former headmistress?

I had planned on reading this book because I read the three previous books, but when I went to pick it up I discovered that I just didn't care.  I wanted to skip it, but I gave in to my sister's request that I read it.  I can't say that I enjoyed it.  I thought it was okay, but I can't give it higher praise than that.  Honestly, I was pretty bored most of the time I was reading.

I discovered some things about Mrs. Bethany's past life that should have been interesting, but really just did nothing for me.  The fate of Bianca and Lucas was somewhat interesting, but by the time that all came about at the very end of the book I just didn't care.

There's a book about Balthazar in the works, but I am so done with this series and these characters.  I won't be reading it.

2/5

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

Though Haven Moore has lived in Snope City, Tennessee her entire life, she continues to have visions of a former life in New York City, when she was known as Constance Whitman.  She recalls being desperately in love with a young man named Ethan Evans, and relives dying in a fire over and over again.  Her visions have led her grandmother to believe that Haven is possessed by a demon, and Haven is virtually held prisoner in her grandmother's home.  When Haven sees footage of playboy Iain Morrow on TV, she suspects that he may be the Ethan of her dreams.  She flees to New York and runs into the infamous Iain.  She feels an instant connection to him.  Being with Iain again is amazing, but Haven can't help but wonder if the rumors about him murdering a rock star are true.  And if Iain really did murder a rock star, could he have murdered her in their previous life, back when he was Ethan and she was Constance?  She hopes the Ouroboros Society, a mysterious group dedicated to helping people discover their former lives, can help her before it's too late and her life cycle begins all over again.

I think the premise of The Eternal Ones is fascinating (I love the tagline What if love refused to die?) but I found myself bored for a lot of the book.  The story of Ethan/Iain and Constance/Haven was much too drawn out, and by the time I got to the meat of the story I found that I just didn't care anymore.  The characters themselves were interesting - especially Iain, and Haven's best friend, Beau (the resident homosexual character) - but it took too long for anything to happen.  Some of the characters - namely Haven's grandmother and the priest, Dr. Tidmore - were just plain sinister, and I don't believe that anyone would act the way they did towards Haven and her visions.  The mysterious 'gray men' who followed Haven around were creepy, too.  Mostly, though, Haven drove me crazy.  She was entirely too naive and gullible, believing just about everything she was told; she loved Iain one moment, only to turn around and distrust him the next moment.  Ugh.  As much as I wanted to love this book, I just didn't.

My rating: 2.5/5

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Three angels--Bethany; her brother, the archangel Gabriel; and sister, Ivy--are sent to earth to fight the dark forces that are taking over.  Their mission is an important one, and keeping their secret proves too difficult for Bethany, who falls in love with human Xavier Woods and discloses everything.  Gabriel and Ivy fear Xavier will be unable to keep their divinity quiet, but Xavier proves his value when the Agents of Darkness invade their little town.

I really, really wanted to love this book.  And I actually did love the first half, but the second half left me with such feelings of disappointment and dissatisfaction that any good feelings I had about the first half were overpowered.

Bethany drove me crazy.  A lot of reviews I've read have compared her to Bella Swan from Twilight, only worse.  Bella has never bothered me, actually, but Bethany's helplessness and feebleness really rubbed me the wrong way.  It seemed that all she was capable of was worshipping and swooning over Xavier.  Pages and pages were spent with Bethany remarking on how perfect and handsome Xavier was, and how she knew she'd be safe with him around.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Bethany an ANGEL?  And wouldn't she'd be more than capable of defending herself should the need arise?  Apparently not.

Okay, I have to get something off my chest.  Stupid as it is, I can't even tell you how much it bothered me when everyone started referring to Bethany as "Beth."  Honestly, I don't know why it bothered me, and in the scope of things, it doesn't really matter that her name was shortened.  But every time I read it, a little shudder escaped me.  Thanks for letting me get that out.

So, where was I?  Oh, yes.  Let me move on to religion.  The religious overtones in Halo bothered me somewhat.  It is clearly evident that the angels are Catholic, which I'm not.  I wish the author had tried harder to keep the religious themes more impartial.  She's free to express her opinions (it is her book, after all), but I just felt uncomfortable at times.

I was also disturbed by Bethany's human shortcomings.  I know she's a relatively 'young' angel, but partying and lying naked in bed with a boyfriend don't seem like very heavenly/angelic things to be doing.  I felt like she should have tried harder to stay true to who she was.  I think too much time was spent on the love story.  I also thought the villain was introduced much too late in the story.

I did love the lushly-detailed world that Adornetto described.  The first half of the book was so well-written, so rich in description.  And the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Halo started out as a promising read, but it left me disappointed.

My rating: 2.5/5

Linger

Linger is the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater.  (FYI, I read on Maggie's blog that Stiefvater is pronounced "Steve-otter."  In case you were wondering.)  While I wasn't all that impressed with the first book, Shiver, I thought Linger was even worse.

Linger picks up where Shiver left off, with Sam no longer a wolf because of the bacterial meningitis that gave him a horribly high fever.  Sam continues to worry that this "cure" won't be permanent, that the cold Minnesota air will turn him back into a wolf.  That isn't his only concern, though.  Something is very wrong with his girlfriend, Grace, and while Sam thinks he knows what it is, he doesn't want to believe it because it would mean that Grace could no longer be with him.

I really had a hard time caring about anything that happened in this second book.  It felt more like it was written simply to be a bridge between the first and third books.  Things moved very slowly, and I wasn't at all interested in what was occurring until the last 40 pages of the book.  Also, Linger was written from four different points of view, and with multiple characters narrating the same chapter at times, it was difficult to keep the narrator straight.  I got confused so many times that I had to look back to remind myself who was narrating the section I was reading.

The only things I really liked about Linger were the cover (I love the bright green, with the girl walking into the woods and the wolf watching her) and the green ink the book was printed in.  I'm so disenchanted with this book that I don't know if I want to read the final book when it's released.  I will most likely skim it, but only to have some kind of closure.

2.25/5

Little Women ~ Louisa May Alcott

I know there are many people out there who adore this story of the four March sisters. I'm not one of them.

"I think books shouldn't be one word longer than they need to be (a judgement, I realize, that is horrifically subjective in execution). I like nice, tight stories." - Shannon Hale (from her blog)

I think Shannon Hale is right on the money. Books should only be as long as they need to be to tell the story. Little Women is 472 pages long; if it had been cut in half it would have been a much better story! The book was too long, too wordy, too boring, with much too much detail. Entire chapters could have been removed, and the resulting book would have been so much better. Yes, that's how I feel...

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are the sisters in the book. Honestly, I don't think I had a favorite of the four. They all annoyed me at times. My favorite character was actually Laurie. I'm sad that Jo didn't love him as more than a friend. I'm glad he found his happily ever after, even though it wasn't with Jo.

After days and days spent reading this book (I even took a break from reading Little Women to read Change of Heart because LW bored me too much), when I finally finished it, the first words out of my mouth were "Hallelujah, it's over!" I couldn't wait for the book to end. Sure, there were some good parts that actually held my interest, but they were very few and far between. Sorry to all you Little Women lovers. I cannot count myself among your number.

2.5/5 (and the 18th crossed off the list of the 100 Greatest Novels)