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Blood Red Road (Dustlands, Book 1)

Blood Red Road (Dust Lands, #1) - Moira Young I started this book with the same thoughts as everyone else - 'Jeez, this is nearly 500 pages!', 'The writing style is driving me bonkers!' and 'Why on earth are there crosses instead of numbers at the beginning of the chapters?' After a while though, I got used to everything and found that it read very quickly - I was able to read 20 pages in 5 minutes without any problems. I didn't really connect with Saba when I first met her. Even though she's supposed to be 18, she seemed younger than that. However I grew to understand her more as the story progressed and she became tougher from what her world was throwing at her. At times she reminded me quite strongly of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games because of her sheer determination and courage. Saba and Jack's relationship is quite easily one of my favourites. I loved that she showed no interest in him whatsoever, not wanting to admit to herself that she liked him and that she continued this throughout most of the book, rather than jumping his bones the second she got, like most YA heroines. I loved Saba's younger sister, Emmi. She doesn't get a mention on the blurb, which is a shame as she's one of the strongest characters. She chases after Saba, not wanting to be left behind and puts up with Saba's hostility, not to mention countless beatings (not from Saba). For a nine year old, she's pretty brave. I also just realised that the guy I've been picturing as the King is Freddie Mercury.

Fallen

Fallen - Lauren Kate I surprised myself with this book. I fully expected to hate it and find it shallow and stupid. It was shallow yes, but I really enjoyed reading it and I will be buying the sequel. I love stories like Kelley Armstrong's The Summoning where the main character is locked in a house, usually in a school situation. I have no idea why. The cover art. You have to admit, that is the best thing about the book. It's the most beautiful CA I have ever seen. Just beautiful, I'd love to wear that dress when I get married next year. Luce is like an annoying best friend - she's a really good friend, entertaining and loyal but she has the worst taste in men. Which girl would go for a guy that flips them off when they first meet them? Not many. Cam seems like a nice guy but Luce isn't really interested, after all there's nothing more alluring than a guy who seems to hate you...

The Goddess Test (Harlequin Teen)

The Goddess Test - Aimee Carter The first thing I should gush about is the cover. It's just beautiful! I want that outfit so badly. I think she looks a little like Angelina Jolie and a lot like Megan Fox. She could do with gaining some weight though. And the writing! Argh! Okay, so Greek Myths! I did find myself using Google quite a bit and there's probably some flaws along the way but all in all, I really enjoyed comparing the characters with their Greek Mythological counterparts. I'm not sure if this makes sense. Moving on... Cerberus! Is not three headed! I think so anyway, Kate didn't look at all surprised when she first saw him so I'll assume he's one-headed. I looked this up on Wiki and yes, he can have pretty much any amount of heads, but the most common is three. I think that could have been cool. The plot! Okay, so I wasn't surprised by the surprises along the way, having guessed them already but then again, I'm good at guessing and I still thoroughly enjoyed being right. It makes me feel special. I just spent three attempts trying to spell special. Turns out I was right the first try. Thank you Google Chrome's spell-check. This book did remind me of Wither because Kate was cooped up in the house a lot. She doesn't mind this though, she has friends around her and she gets to visit her mother at night-time. Plus, the God of the Underworld is pretty tasty...
It's book like these where I picture doing whatever I want. I'd be fine with living there, but I'd require internet access and unlimited spending on Amazon. And an empty library, just waiting for me to fill it with every book I love... =^.^= Reality! Snap out of it, this is meant to be a review! This is my longest review so far because I keep babbling. I loved this book, the characters are awesome, it has Greek myths and is probably going to be one of the big hits of 2011. You should stop reading this and go pre-order it. Or buy it, if it's out by the time you read this.

A Hero for WondLa (Search for Wondla)

A Hero for WondLa - Tony DiTerlizzi So, I've just finished this book. Thinking about this fact genuinely makes me want to cry. It was an amazing book and will be one of my all-time favourites for a very long time. The story was beautiful and moving and the illustrations were fascinating. As soon as I'm able to pre-order the next book, I will be doing. I want more! So to tag this book I'll call it a Dystopian Fantasy Fairy-Tale with some Mystery thrown in. Yeah, I think that sums it up. Eva Nine lives with Muthr underground and has never been above ground, until the day Besteel blasts his way into their home and everything changes. There's a few elements of German in this, I swear. You have Eva's Mother who's called Muthr, then the general dialect of the population above is generally German sounding. I could be mistaken but I do love German. Eva clothes are pretty amazing. If I could make clothes and braid my hair like that, I would totally cosplay as her. Muthr is fascinating too, I spent a lot of time pondering how she keeps her balance on one wheel. Dog lovers will love Otto, who is like a favourite (albeit giant) pet dog. The story is amazing, the illustrations are beautiful, the characters are engaging, what more do I need to do to convince to buy this piece of awesomeness?

Bitterroot Crossing

Bitterroot Crossing - Tess Oliver This is the weirdest love story I have ever read. It's also one of the most hilarious. Some of the scenes that occur are just plain silly, but in a good way. I was nearly on the floor after reading about Jessie falling over and Zedekiah and Nick arguing about who had caught her. 'Zedekiah squinted at Nick. 'Where'd you learn a move like that, boy?' 'Apparently it's a trait I inherited from my great-great grandpa, which would be you, you dolt.' Jessie: 'Excuse me, but pudding is dripping onto my boot.'' Admittedly when I learnt that the whole town was being haunted by a gang of outlaw ghosts I was a bit like... okay then... would this work? But it does! Nick and Jessie's relationship blossoms more due to the situations they are put into by the gang and that helps move the story along. Tess' writing is as awesome as before (when I read Camille) and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. There was one of two mushy bits that were a bit blaa for me and I don't think the Author owns a cat - contrary to popular belief, never give a cat or kitten milk. They'll get diarrhoea. Also confused about the pricing - Camille is 70p, Safe Landing is 71p but this book is £2.14. Not complaining, still super cheap and I'd pay a lot more!

Awaken

Awaken - Katie Kacvinsky Awaken is a very interesting idea, one that could very easily become true. The idea that humans could cut themselves off from the world completely isn't that difficult to fathom - after all, we've been doing it for years, slowly but surely. Madeline is a very interesting character, you see her rebellious side a lot but fear of her Father stops her from doing anything he might dislike - he doesn't trust her due to something she did in the past. Justin was my favourite character as his history was rather complex. Justin encourages Madeline to fend for herself and fight for what she believes in, so he's a crucial part of the book. For me, I didn't like how it ended. I was expecting/hoping for an Uglies style cliff-hanger but what I got was a pretty ending tied up with a pretty pink bow. Otherwise, this book was perfect.

Revolution

Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly The story started a little slow and finished with a killer ending. Of all the endings I could have guessed, I wasn't expecting one quite like that. At over 400 pages long this story isn't a quick afternoon read but a really riveting story that I didn't want to put down - or finish! With two strong female lead characters with equally fascinating and mysterious stories, this book should be a hit with Young Adults. I didn't really enjoy A Gathering Light, I found it quite dull, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. Thankfully it's written better and with a much better storyline. The two lead characters that I mentioned are both very different and very similar. Andi is a talented, rich Goth girl with a heavy passion for music and lost her brother a year ago. Alex however is poor but smart - she's gained a reputation and all of the newspapers are calling for 'The Green Man' - as Alex sets off Fireworks every night for her lost friend, Louis - the Prince that is locked in a tower. After taking a little while to really get going, Andi finds herself in Paris and so do you as the life in France is richly described. I felt almost claustrophobic when Andi went down into the Catacombs. I hadn't learnt much about the French Revolution before this book, I found it to be both brutal and shocking. This book has so many strong emotions and feelings - love, hate, passion, life, death and pain. An outstanding novel.

The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner Trilogy)

The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2) - James Dashner Review coming soon!

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 1)

The Maze Runner - James Dashner I picked this book up not knowing quite what to expect, all I knew of it was that a boy with no memory finds himself in a maze. What I wasn't expecting was a story quite as amazing as this one. Everything is vividly described, from the camp to the Grievers themselves, I found myself almost believing I was there. Thomas is a brilliant character to follow as he tries to remember why he feels like he's been there before. The Grievers, quite frankly, sound utterly disgusting and terrifying, naturally there's a lot of action and oh-my-god moments in this. It's not a pretty storyline at times, I'd recommend a readers aged fifteen plus read this but not lower. Younger reader's wouldn't understand it. An amazing, thought provoking storyline that fans of books such as Louis Sachar's Holes or Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games will enjoy.

The Lipstick Laws

The Lipstick Laws - Amy Holder I absolutely loved the Lipstick Laws, I even stayed up late into the night to read as much as possible of it. It's hilarious! If you've seen Mean Girls, read this. It's much better. The nick-name 'Hottie-Body-Brentwood cracked me up, it was so cheesy! Oh and the cross-dressing scene.... I found myself reading various snippets to my equally amused OH. This book is definitely worth the read for the random scenes of bra stuffing, clothes rack hiding, water disasters and Britney's secret... There wasn't any part of this book that I could give a bad rating to and I'm hoping desperately for a sequel... and a movie!

Fire Study (Study, Book 3)

Fire Study - Maria V. Snyder Review coming soon!

Magic Study

Magic Study (Study #2) - Maria V. Snyder Review coming soon!

Poison Study

Poison Study  - Maria V. Snyder You know those books that you see for ages and ages and ages and then one day you just go, 'I'm sick of seeing you! I'm going to buy you!' Well this was one of those books for me. I bought it quite cheap and wasn't expecting much from it but I was pleasantly surprised - I loved it! Yelena is a character that is impossible not to love. She gets herself in some pretty awful situations yet never asks for help, just gets on with it and fights or gets the hell out of there. She can look after herself, basically. Valek is one of those characters that is easy to fall in love with, yet you don't really expect him and Yelena to end up together at first. When they did I felt like cheering, it was perfectly written. All of this story is beautifully written though. The story completely sucked me in and I didn't want to stop reading it. When I did I immediately downloaded the sequel as a Kindle version just so I could read it quicker! I wouldn't recommend this to the younger end of YA readers, probably 16+ as there are scenes on this which are quite adult.

Camille

Camille - Tess Oliver After reading this, Tess Oliver pretty much became my favourite Author. Her writing is beautiful and compels you to read more of Camille's story and for once, I even enjoyed the romance! Camille, isn't your typical 19th century heroine, I mean, she fights werewolves for a living! She's not really used to men, just Dr Bennet, so when she meets a strange boy who needs her help and finds herself attracted to him, she is understandably confused. Nathaniel, the boy in question, is a bit of a flirt. Okay, a lot of a flirt. He reminds me of The Artful Dodger in Oliver, only older and wiser. Naturally he's not used to romance either and hasn't had feelings for a girl the way he feels for Camille, so watching them slowly try and figure out their feelings and emotions as they fall in love. When you get to the end of this story, you will be wanting a sequel. I know I was when I first read it and said so in my review. Well, due to the amount of requests she's had (mine being the first *happy dance*) she is working on one! I'm really looking forward to it.

Passion (Fallen)

Passion  - Lauren Kate I was pretty excited about this book when I got to the end of Torment (which is appropriately named). To be able to go back to Luce's past and visit her old incarnations! The possibilities are endless! I eagerly ordered it near the date and very happily received it two days ahead of the release day. Did it live up to my expectations? Yes, yes it did! This is easily the best in the series so far and so much more than I was hoping for. Once you get past the prologue which bored me to death, anyway. When you first meet Luce she's just left the garden and has been thrown right into Moscow, in 1941. I loved how unusual the locations were. There were some usual ones butthe majority were really different, from Tibet to Mesoamerica. All the settings were described brilliantly and I loved wandering around various scenes in history. A new addition to the book: instead of bonus chapters of Daniel's thoughts, he frequently gets a voice in many different chapters, which was really needed for this story. It was fun seeing where he was and comparing it to where Luce was. Poor thing, he kept turning up too late. I enjoyed watching Luce's past incarnations, seeing how different (and how similar) they were to Luce. There were a couple that where I couldn't understand why Daniel fell in love with her again but that's soulmates for you. I hope this isn't a spoiler (stop reading if you want to avoid it) but I was really curious about the peonies that keep popping up in the storyline. I wonder if they're important. I'm probably just grabbing at straws.

Violet Midnight (The Enchanters)

Violet Midnight  - Allie Burke The way this story is told is quite bizarre and it took me a few chapters to get used to it - it jumps quite a lot and a few things are confusing. I didn't mind this though as I find the bizarre-ness of Jane's world quite entertaining. The writing is very, very good but I think the pacing needs a little work. The jumping from past to future was slightly confusing, having a date on them would be a really good idea. Despite that though, I really enjoyed this book. I read many YA books, where the heroine has just discovered their powers and are going through all the emotions of it and discovering what they can do - I like that with this book, Jane (who's much oler than a teen, I think she's in her 30's. I forget.) has had her powers for quite a long time and she's pretty comfortable with them. I found Elias and Jane's relationship quite amusing but I did think they got together a bit too quickly. They're perfect for each other and the sexual tension between them just makes certain scenes funnier (like when Elias had a problem with his pants. In public. I should mention there is sex in this, which I why I rated it 16+ (see tags). It's descriptive but not too descriptive and to be honest, it's expected!

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