Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

 

How do you defy destiny?

 
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
 
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart. (Goodreads)

From the beginning, I was engrossed with this book.  The Greek mythology, the 'starcrossed' lovers...I couldn't get enough.  The characters were interesting and intense.  The storyline itself was fascinating.  From the first time they met, Helen and Lucas hated each other so much that the urge to kill was stronger than anything else.  Helen tried to understand why she was feeling such an immediate hatred for someone she'd never set eyes on before, but it wasn't until Lucas explained to her that they are demigods, controlled by the Fates, that she really understood.  And even then she couldn't have guessed the role the Fates would play in their lives.  Helen and Lucas were destined to be together, but destined to be pulled apart.

Some reviewers on Goodreads have said that Starcrossed is too similar to Twilight.  I will admit to thinking that certain aspects of Starcrossed felt very similar to Twilight, but that in no way took away from what a spectacular story Starcrossed is.  I think my only issue with this book is the author's overuse of long, drawn-out descriptions of the characters' actions.  Sometimes less is more.

I really enjoyed Starcrossed, and I look forward to reading Dreamless when it's published.  I need to know how Lucas and Helen will cope with the knowledge they've gained as to who they are and what their futures hold.

4.5/5

Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith

I'd read such great reviews of this book that, when I saw it on the Coming Soon list on the library website, I immediately placed a hold on it.  I was so excited when it finally came in.

WHO ZAN IS: Blow-your-mind brilliant. Stop-your-heart gorgeous. Hold-your-breath clever.

WHO ZAN WAS: Joy’s boyfriend.
WHY JOY NEEDS HIM BACK: So she can breathe again.
WHAT THAT MEANS: An elaborate road trip involving a SAAB 900, Sprite, and Barry Manilow. Oh, and Noah, Zan’s irritating-but-almost-charming ex-best friend. Original and insightful, quirky and crushing, Joy’s story is told in surprising and artfully shifting flashbacks between her life then and her life now. (Goodreads)

In Back When You Were Easier to Love, Joy attempts to find closure after her boyfriend, Zan, leaves without telling her goodbye.  She'd thought things between her and Zan were perfect, but maybe Zan didn't feel the same way.  There were clues that he needed to get away, but Joy didn't pay attention to them until it was too late.  And now that Zan's gone, his best friend, Noah, is practically stalking Joy for reasons unknown to her.  Joy really just wants to be left alone, but maybe she can find a way to use Noah's interest to her advantage.  Maybe she and Noah can take his car on a roadtrip from sleepy Haven, Utah to California to find Zan.

I expected to love this book.  I didn't, but I thought it was cute.  Joy kind of drove me nuts because she was so hung-up on Zan, who I didn't even like.  I preferred Noah, hands down.  I'm glad that Joy grew to discover just what a jerk Zan is and what a great guy Noah is.  I love that their relationship developed slowly, and that they really grew to appreciate things about each other.

Joy and Noah, and just about everyone else in Haven, are Mormons, and their faith plays a role in the book.  I didn't know this going in, but being LDS myself, I could appreciate it.  Their religion wasn't in-your-face or anything, it was simply a part of them.  And I really liked that.

3/5

Die For Me by Amy Plum

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love? (blurb from inside cover)

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, or even what it was really about.  Sometimes I think it's best to go in not knowing too much, and I think that worked for me with Die For Me.  Having now read the summary on Goodreads, I'm glad I hadn't read it before reading the book...boy, is it spoilery!

I found that I was immediately pulled in by Kate's voice, which made the first quarter of the book really interesting.  As she met Vincent, though, I felt like things really started slowing down.  I'd hoped that upon discovery of what Vincent is, my interest would increase again, but I never really felt like that happened until close to the end of the book.

Amy Plum created a unique world with unique characters.  I can honestly say that I've never read a book with characters quite like Vincent and his family before, and I liked that.  I came to really enjoy Vincent and his friends.  Their banter with Kate was engaging and funny.  The Parisian setting was also something I enjoyed.  I loved reading about all the Parisian sites, and I felt like a tourist of sorts, just as I had while reading Anna and the French Kiss.  Overall, I found Die For Me to be a pretty good read.

3.5/5

Everlasting by Alyson Noël

Their darkest enemies now defeated, Damen and Ever are free to embark upon their final quest—to free Damen from the poison lingering in his body. If they can just find the antidote, they’ll finally be able to feel each other’s touch—and experience the passionate night they’ve been longing for. But their fight to be together will lead them into the most formidable terrain yet…into the dark heart of Summerland.

Here in a land of scorched earth and endless rain, Ever and Damen will discover their relationship’s hidden origins, expose a secret history they never imagined…and come face to face with the true reason fate keeps tearing them apart. Only then, when the final mystery is unraveled and the last secret revealed, Ever and Damen’s future will hinge on one ultimate decision that will put everything at stake….even eternity. (Goodreads)

This is the sixth book in The Immortals series, and am I glad this series is finally over!  Dragging a story out over six books just seems like too much to me, especially when most of the things that happened with these characters easily could have been condensed into three or four books at most.

In Everlasting, Damen and Ever are finally free to be together, but the curse that Roman placed on them, which doesn't allow them to ever physically touch, is still in place.  And Ever and Damen are still searching for the antidote.  While Ever wants to find the antidote, she feels that there's more expected of her, only she's not sure what that might be.  While in the dark part of Summerland, Ever and Damen come across an old woman named Lotus, who tells them that they need to journey back to where it all started, into a life that the two don't remember having ever lived.

Honestly, I thought the first part of this book was pretty good, but as the pages kept coming and coming I started to feel burned out.  Overall, the series was tied up nicely, and I enjoyed being able to see how the journey for other characters in the series ended.  It was a good read, but I'm glad it's done!

3/5

Summer's Crossing review, and The Iron Knight cover

Title: Summer's Crossing (#3.5 in the Iron Fey series)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Source: Kindle e-book (currently FREE on Amazon)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summer's Crossing takes place after The Iron Queen, and follows Puck and Ash on an adventure into the Summer Court.  Leanansidhe, the Exile Queen, has come to collect on a favor that Ash owes her.  She asks Ash to bring her back the violin Queen Titania has stolen from her.  What follows is an ingenious, hilarious story told from Puck the Prankster's point-of-view.

In a nutshell, I loved it.  Puck was his usual sarcastic self, and Ash was the brooding ice prince.  It's a novella, so it's short, but I don't feel like I was missing out on anything, in spite of the length.  I love that we were given a glimpse into Puck's thoughts, though I firmly remain in Ash's corner.  My thirst for The Iron Knight has been reawakened, and I can't wait to get my hands on it when it's released!

Speaking of The Iron Knight...

This is the full cover for The Iron Knight, with Ash on the front and Puck on the back.  What do you think?  I love the blue, but I don't love the guys.  Sorry.  I think I actually prefer the guy that's supposed to be Puck (the smirk really fits him!), though neither of them really strikes my fancy.

Between the Lines by Tammara Webber

Reid Alexander is hot, hot, hot in Hollywood.  He signs up to play the role of Will Darcy in a modernized  high school version of Pride & Prejudice, and it is during auditions to find 'Lizbeth' that he meets Emma Pierce.  The chemistry between Reid and Emma is almost as hot as Reid himself, and Emma gets the part.  This is Emma's first major role; she's done plenty of commercials, but has never landed a leading role in an actual Hollywood adaptation.

During filming, Emma meets Graham Douglas, who plays bumbling Will Collins.  Graham and Emma begin running together each morning, and they develop a special camaraderie.  Where Reid will be happy acting for the rest of his life, Emma wants more out of life, and Graham encourages her to seek bigger and brighter opportunities.

Emma falls for both boys, but all three of them have major issues and problems to resolve.

My husband gave me a Kindle for my birthday, and I've mostly downloaded free books onto it (though I have bought a few of the cheaper YA books, like the Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking).  After reading some reviews of this book, I decided to spend the 99 cents to buy it.  And, I enjoyed it.  The story and characters were engaging, and I liked the alternating points-of-view between Reid and Emma

I guess I should really say that I enjoyed most of the characters.  Reid was an exception.  I started out really liking him and thinking that perhaps he wasn't such a bad boy, but by the end of the book I was completely disgusted with him.  Graham, on the other hand, was adorable and I found myself wishing the book had been told from his point-of-view alongside Emma's.

I never once felt like I didn't want to be reading this book.  It was cute, engaging, and well-written.  My real main problem (besides Reid, but my aversion to him shows that Ms. Webber did a fantastic job writing his character) was with the large amounts of underage drinking and the foul language which was so prevalent throughout the book.  Plus, Reid kept pressuring Emma to be intimate with him.

A cute story, but there was just too much questionable behavior for my tastes.  Still, there is a sequel coming out later this year, and I'm pretty sure I'll read it.  I'd like more of Graham's story.

3.5/5

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. (Goodreads)

What can I say about this book?  It was absolutely amazing.  Heartbreaking and very hard to read at times because of all the detail about the torture Louie and the other POWs experienced, but amazing.  Louie's plane goes down, and he and his pilot, Phil, are stranded on a life raft for 47 days.  It's incredible enough that they survived for 47 days out on the ocean, but that's not where the story ends.  Louie and Phil wash up on an island which happens to be occupied by the Japanese.  The next almost two years finds them enduring immense cruelty and hardship at the hands of the Japanese.

I know I wouldn't have been able to survive what Louie and Phil did.  I would have wanted to die.  In the book, Louie himself said: "If I knew I had to go through those experiences again, I'd kill myself."  But his strength of will and determination to see his family again pulled him through the hell the Japanese put him through.

5/5

Source: Borrowed from the library

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

Passion by Lauren Kate

Publication date: June 14, 2011

"Every single lifetime, I'll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever."

Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . .

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.  (Goodreads)

 

First off, I love this cover!  The splash of red and the clouds behind Luce are very eye-catching.  I've read the first two books in this series, Fallen and Torment, and while I haven't exactly loved them, I've liked them enough to want to continue.  Honestly, I think this series is much too drawn-out (and there's a fourth book due out next year!), but I'd like to see what happens with Luce and Daniel.  The cliffhanger endings never fail to leave me wanting more.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, to spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Cover reveal - The Iron Knight

Well, hello, Ash!

What do you think?  I'm not so sure.  The guy on the cover doesn't really 'look' like Ash to me.  Of course, I built Ash up so much in my mind that his gorgeousness could never possibly be replicated on a book cover. ;)

Still, it's exciting to see what the cover looks like!  Can't wait to read it!

Waiting on Wednesday (1)

I think I'll jump on the 'Waiting on Wednesday' bandwagon this week, though I won't link my post to the actual host blog, Breaking the Spine.

This week, I'm anticipating the release of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead.  I LOVED her Vampire Academy series...the final book left me ecstatic for one guy, but heartbroken for the other.  Well, the guy left behind by Rose Hathaway is the love interest of Sydney the Alchemist in this new series.

BLOOD DOESN'T LIE

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding.

To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning.  (Goodreads)

The cover doesn't really do much for me, but I guess I'll just try not to look at it too much. ;)  Bloodlines will be released on August 23rd.