Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 528
Rating: 8.5 out of 10 (I know we aren't supposed to do this half nonsense, sorry)

Summary (I use Goodreads all the time): Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, have known each other since Clare was 6 and Henry was 36, married when Clare 23 and Henry 31. Impossible but true. Because Henry unintentionally jumps in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity, past and future. His experiences can be harrowing or amusing.

What I Think: This story was as unique as it seems. Now, I watch Doctor Who, so I understood some of the issues with time travelling but this book still hurt my head at times. It made me think way too much about the concerns one would have if they were to time travel. Can the future be changed when you are in the past or has it already happened? Try not to think too hard about it or you will be mad at me. I spent the whole novel thinking about it and it was killing me.

I knew something big had to happen near the end to the story and, because the whole story was about time travel, if you pay attention, you are able to find little bits of foreshadowing throughout the whole book and sort of put it together. Of course, I wasn't able to figure out how sad it would make me. It hurt. It hurt a lot. I might have teared up a little bit...or a lot...I'll never admit it. Since we are on the subject, I have to admit to you that I was exceedingly surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel. That sounds rude but I read it, almost, because it seemed like some cultural thing I had to take part in or something. I don't know but I didn't want to read it. I'm so glad I did. What an emotional rollercoaster.

Honestly, the only problem that I had with this novel, which is not the novel's fault at all, is that I'm too young to get all the cultural references. During the majority of when this novel takes place, I wasn't alive. Yet, since the novel is modern still, the author didn't feel the need to really explain most references (they would have been out of place anyway). I understand that it was a lose-lose but I still didn't understand some of the jokes (I assume that some of the references were meant to be funny). If I was like fifteen years older this might not have been an issue for me. It wasn't enough to make the novel suck, as seen by my high rating, but it still made me a little bit sad to be missing out on something. 

Anyway, here is another movie that I have to see and another book that I will probably reread in the future. This novel made me laugh and almost made me cry and it was just great. I think that maybe 35+ readers will get more out of it but I quite enjoyed it nonetheless. It's a great romance story and the time travel thing is pretty cool. Just make sure you pay attention to when the time is changing. I caught myself flipping back in order to figure out where in the time line I was reading. It was work but worth it. It's a great love story (just ignore that he knew her as a child because it gets really weird if you consider that too long...).

Review: November 9

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Colleen Hoover
Format: ARC, paperback (Which Kristen stole back from me)
Pages: 310
Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Summary (Thank you, Goodreads): Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

My Thoughts: I almost feel the need to apologize to every Colleen Hoover book because after Maybe Someday they really don't stand a chance. I get so excited about CoHo books that they have to do a lot to make me happy. It's an accident, I swear. 

I thought that this was a very well executed book. I was concerned that the time gaps would make me judge the characters but I really didn't. The idea intrigued me. How would people changed if they only met on day a year. Would they stay close when they were together? This part of the book required a slight suspension of disbelief because I've had friends I could keep in contact move and we weren't able to stay friends. These two must have romanticized the idea of the other so much that they could overlook a lot. That's not to say they didn't have really struggles. The whole point of the story was to see how they overcame their problems (the main one being that they only saw each other once a year). I thought that the book did a great job covering this. 

The first time the two main characters met was pretty weird. It was too much for Kristen. For me, however, it could have been worse, I guess. I guess I overlooked the fast that this situation wouldn't have happened in real or, if it did, he would have met a great deal more resistance. Either way, I was able to look past it because it was a romance novel. You will probably be able to look past it too. 

The problems these two had to overcome fascinated me but the back and forth of "can we be friends?" "yes" "no" "yes" just isn't for me and bothers me in any novel.

Whatever, basically, what I'm saying is that I liked this novel but it still isn't my favourite. I still liked in more than Confess though if that helps you understand the train wreck that is this book review. If you have any specific questions, please ask away!

Note from Kristen: I didn't steal the ARC from Kelsey, it's my ARC okay

Review: Kalahari (Corpus #3)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Jessica Khoury
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Rating: 6 out of 10

Summary (Thanks, Goodreads): Deep in the Kalahari Desert, a Corpus lab protects a dangerous secret…
But what happens when that secret takes on a life of its own?
 
When an educational safari goes wrong, five teens find themselves stranded in the Kalahari Desert without a guide. It’s up to Sarah, the daughter of zoologists, to keep them alive and lead them to safety, calling on survival know-how from years of growing up in remote and exotic locales. Battling dehydration, starvation and the pangs of first love, she does her best to hold it together, even as their circumstances grow increasingly desperate.
 
But soon a terrifying encounter makes Sarah question everything she’s ever known about the natural world. A silver lion, as though made of mercury, makes a vicious, unprovoked attack on the group. After a narrow escape, they uncover the chilling truth behind the lion’s silver sheen: a highly contagious and deadly virus that threatens to ravage the entire area—and eliminate life as they know it.
 
In this breathtaking new novel by the acclaimed author of Origin and Vitro, Sarah and the others must not only outrun the virus, but its creators, who will stop at nothing to wipe every trace of it.

My Thoughts: Side note: this is the third in a series but the other novels only provide basic background information. They aren't actually important to this novel at all. New characters, new plot, new location. I'm assuming that eventually all the novels will tie together but it wasn't an issue here.

ANYWAY, this novel was full of twists and turns. Surprises were around every corner. The beginning worried me because I wasn't sure that I could get into a novel that was full of whiney teenagers (I didn't read the summary before I began, to be honest with you; I just like the author) but it turned out to be fine. The various characters ended up rounding out the novel very well. The cast was necessary for all the twists and turns, for the excitement. I thought that they oddly worked well together and they seemed like real people in many ways. Their priorities were a little messed up, even for spoiled rich kids, but it was fine, I suppose.

I was a little disappointed in the major "plot twist" that was built up to be much larger than it actually was. Even so, I wanted the kids to survive, to make it through. I thought that Sarah was a genius and was constantly impressed with the survival skills. Obviously she had to have some but I am a city kid and know nothing of surviving in the wilderness (not that I want to after reading this novel). I lived a unique life through the reading of this novel.

The bad guys were an interesting sort. It was further away from the corporation that the rest of the series was but that was okay. The bad guys were still bad enough and you didn't know enough about them to think you had everything figured out. I believed that they were horrible people that would do whatever it took. 

Basically, the survival skills taught you something and that plot was kept busy and moving at a fast pace with enough near misses and character development to keep everyone happy. I enjoyed this novel quite a lot. I almost wish that it was a little bit longer. Check it out.

Review: The Killing Woods

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Lucy Christopher
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads kills me): Ashlee Parker is dead, and Emily Shepherd's dad is accused of the crime. A former soldier suffering from PTSD, he emerges from the woods carrying the girl's broken body. "Gone," he says, then retreats into silence.

What really happened that wild night? Emily knows in her bones that her father is innocent -- isn't he? Before he's convicted, she's got to find out the truth. Does Damon Hilary, Ashlee's charismatic boyfriend, have the answers? Or is he only playing games with her -- the kinds of games that can kill?

My Thoughts: Look, it's a book with another beautiful cover. 

I read Stolen a very long time ago but I loved it. Nothing in it was quite how it seemed and it was impossible to guess what would happen next. This book was similar in that way. I found myself surprised frequently. How the characters were feeling was so believable (okay, the romance stuff was a little strange but when is it not, right?). They were having a melt down right in front of me. It was the kind of melt down that friends watch and don't know what to do to fix, that affects everyone around you. It was perfect because that's exactly what this novel needed for me to believe it. I could believe that horrible things happened in the woods and that people would avoid someone whose father probably committed a murder. It was the psychologist stuff that made this novel what it was. It was marvellous.

Of course, that said, teenagers are stupid sometimes. Yes, let's go wandering in the woods with people we barely know or worse, alone. Let's just run off on your own and do stupid things while you are clearly unstable. Let's antagonize people that clearly hate you. Sure, it all needed to happen to get to the end but a few times I felt like I was in the audience of a horror movie, yelling at the screen and blood girl #6 to stop going up the stairs while when the crazy neighbour keeps calling the house and hanging up. No, you shouldn't run into the garage with all the chainsaws. Yes, it's a fantastic idea to let your phone die on Friday the 13th, while you are home alone but supposed to be out of town in the middle of the storm of the century. What is wrong with you people? 

...On another note, although I understood why it was important to the story, alternating points of view have to be done very carefully. At times, I thought that it was too heavy on one side of the story while the other was just being used to move forward. Yes, sometimes a character needs help figuring things out but would these characters have interacted as much as they did? I doubt it. I would have stayed the hell away from them, but that's me. I did enjoy watching them both fall apart and watching both of them ask questions, however.

So, I thought that this novel was really great. It's creepy and a good mystery. I enjoyed watching the characters fall to pieces but was mad at many of their decisions. This was a very easy to read story that had you rushing to figure out what happened. I needed to know how it would end. I was more than satisfied with how it ended. This novel was very well done.

Review: Dreamtreaders

Review: Kelsey
Author: Wayne Thomas Batson
Format: Paperback
Pages: 289
Rating: 5 out of 10

Summary (I dream of Goodreads): People are fascinated by dreams, and the Bible has a great deal to say about them. From Jacob s dream of the heavenly stairway in Genesis 28 to angels visiting Joseph during dreams in Matthew 1 to the Apostle John s waking dream from which he obtained the book of Revelation dreams have been powerful ingredients of God s plan as revealed through Scripture.

Fourteen-year-old Archer Keaton discovers he has the ability to enter and explore his dreams. He is adreamtreader, one of three selected from each generation. Their mission: to protect the waking world from the Nightmare Lord, who wreaks chaos in the Dream World. But as Archer s dreams become more dangerous and threatening, so too does his waking life.

Rigby Thames, the new kid from England, builds a suspicious rock star-like following at Dresden High School a little too quickly. Even Archer s best friend and confidant, Kara Windchil, seems taken in by the cool guy with the wild blond hair, which definitely rubs Archer the wrong way. Archer must face two foes in two worlds, but he cannot succeed alone. Archer sets off to find other dreamtreaders in a desperate attempt to defeat the enemy terrorizing his friends and family.

My Thoughts: First of all, the cover of this novel is totally magnificent. The colours are wonderful and the birds are reflected inside the book as well. The tagline is a little simple sounding but easily overlooked. It's great...except for this name because my brain has a hard time understanding the word "treader" and also I can't figure out if it's supposed to be one word or two (Thanks for nothing Goodreads...) but, alas, it is what it is.

From great cover to not so great dialogue. The dialogue in the novel seemed a little off. Nothing was said quite how it should have sounded coming from the characters that were speaking. The inflection was also a little strange. It just sounded not right. It couldn't have been spoken by a real person. This kind of thing bothers me because pretty much everybody speaks so people should understand how regular people sound, right? The language being off made the novel seem much more middle school than it could have been (not that there is anything wrong with middle school aged novels, they just really aren't my thing). It was just too young for me, I guess.

There was also very little explanation of things. The reader was thrown into a very interesting world. This novel had a fantastic and imaginative concept but it lacked follow through. The missing explanations made the story feel rushed and cramped. It could have been longer and the extra pages would have helped a lot. It would have seemed more realistic. It would have been much easier to follow. It would have pulled the reader in more. It would have built up more suspense. It would have made me care about the characters. It would have made me care about the issues the world was facing. It would have done so much but it wasn't there and I missed it a lot.

I mean, the characters were sufficient but could have been so much more. The world story could have been more.

Basically, it wasn't enough for me. It was too young and too fast (not in a good way). I expected and needed more to fully immerse myself in the story. With what I was given,  I just couldn't get into it. I won't be reading the next book but I think I will keep this pretty cover on my shelf.

Review: What If

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Rebecca Donovan
Format: ebook (Maybe)
Pages: 352
Rating: 6 out of 10

Summary (Thanks, Goodreads): What if you had a second chance to meet someone for the first time?

Cal Logan is shocked to see Nicole Bentley sitting across from him at a coffee shop thousands of miles from their hometown. After all, no one has seen or heard from her since they graduated over a year ago.

Except this girl isn't Nicole.

She looks exactly like Cal's shy childhood crush, but her name is Nyelle Preston and she has no idea who he is. This girl is impulsive and daring, her passion for life infectious. The complete opposite of Nicole. Cal finds himself utterly fascinated-and falling hard. But Nyelle is also extremely secretive. And the closer he comes to finding out what she's hiding, the less he wants to know.

When the secrets from the past and present collide, one thing becomes clear: Nothing is what it seems.

My Thoughts: I won't lie to you all, I don't remember how this book ends (I need to review faster, I know). Let's talk about what I do remember. I remember that the language fit the characters and that I bought the main character as a male. You know how sometimes authors just can't write the other sex? Yeah, that wasn't a problem here. I remember that they sounded smart and young and wild. I remember the great writing.

I remember how out of control Nyelle was. I remember wishing that I could be as different as she was. I remember being jealous of her bravery (stupidity) and wishing that I was as free. I remember wondering what her story was and being unable to figure it out at all. I remember thinking that she was a fascinating character that I wanted to keep reading about, even if she was a little annoying at times because of how she acted towards Cal.

I also remember that the representation of college in this novel was pretty accurate. I didn't question it or judge it like I do with most novels with college in it. 

The only problem is that I can't remember how it ended. How memorable could it have been? Obviously, not very. Which worries me. Why can I remember the characters and setting looking back? Why can I remember a scene on a silo (or something of that nature, high up) and a scene in a boat and the rain and being in the truck but not the conclusion of the novel. Maybe I just need to review faster, okay, I know I do, but maybe it wasn't so good in the end. I think I will reread it so that should be a positive for the book, I guess. I'm not afraid to reread the novel. I remember liking it and the characters, that must count for something.

Review: An Ember in the Ashes

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 446
Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary: Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

My Ponderings: This novel was not what I expected. Laia does so many things that you would not think she could or would after first meeting her. 

[Moment of honesty for the day: I don't remember much about this novel. I promise that I really am working on getting better at reviewing right away. I am. I swear, everyone, I swear.]

Recap what I remember? Elias made some stupid choices when he could have done better at keeping himself secret. He should have just shut up and he would have been fine. Laia made as many stupid choices. Stupid risks all around. 

Can I cut to the chase? Okay, this was a very good book and I didn't see a lot of stuff coming. Looking back I thought their choices were stupid but in the moment I could see where they were coming from. Elias was a unique character and Laia's love of family was admirable. The world this was set in was interesting and different enough to be a change of pace. I liked this novel and would read it again. I think that it would be better the second time, actually. I think that you would understand a lot of foreshadowing and would be better able to understand the characters.

Basically: I think that if you like adventure or solider stories than this is a pretty good one for you. It's good, I swear (even if I mostly forget what happened in it...)

Review: Coraline

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Neil Gaiman
Format: eBook
Pages: 162
Rating: 6 out of 10

This review, upon review, may contain some spoilery info and is mostly a rant about it's creepiness.

Summary (Thanks Goodreads): Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.

Gaiman has delivered a wonderfully chilling novel, subtle yet intense on many levels. The line between pleasant and horrible is often blurred until what's what becomes suddenly clear, and like Coraline, we resist leaving this strange world until we're hooked. Unnerving drawings also cast a dark shadow over the book's eerie atmosphere, which is only heightened by simple, hair-raising text. Coraline is otherworldly storytelling at its best.

What I Think: This book is the creepiest thing ever. The movie? Just as creepy! Button eyes? This is a children's book? Coraline, why did you go through the door? Look what happens when you don't listen to your parents! This is what you get! Chased by a hand off a lady with button eyes! See. I bet you wish you didn't steal that key, don't you?

A lot of weird stuff happens in this novel that is kind of fantastic (Fan-tas-tic: /fan'tastik/: adj. 1.imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality). It was hard to follow at some points but I loath to admit that since it's a children's novel. Whatever. 

I think that the writing and vocabulary was great. It's a simple read and it's becoming one of those novels that people just read to be up on what's happening in the world. It won't take you too long should you choose to endure the super scary story.

Review: Me Before You

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Jojo Moyes
Format: Paperback
Pages: 369
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads before me): Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

My Thoughts: THIS BOOK IS THE WORST! IT'S SO MEAN! IT MADE ME CRY SO MUCH! I ugly cried people. Wept. Tears streaming down my face! It's so mean to its readers. 

I loved Lou and that she fought and that she fought for Will. I love how wonderful of a person she is. 

I hate that Will is so sad and that he gives up and that he needs Lou as much as he does.

Kristen says that I should tell you this book is fantastic and that you should read it and that you will never be the same for reading it. All that is true. So you should buy it, and a kleenex box and maybe some chocolate just to be safe.

The writing is great. The language is great. The idea (though heartbreaking) is wonderful. The whole thing is great and I wish I had more to say but I write long posts when I hate books and I loved this one even though it made me cry. I think that if you are ready for a cry than you should check this one out but don't say I didn't warn you.

IT'S JUST SO GREAT (and horrible. I hate crying. I'm so disgusting. Snot everywhere. It's awful.)

Review: The Fire Sermon

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Francesca Haig
Format: Hardcover (Given to us in exchange for a fair review)
Pages: 384
Rating: 5 out of 10

Summary (Via Goodreads): Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair one is an Alpha - physically perfect in every way - and the other an Omega burdened with deformity, small or large.

With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world's sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: Whenever one twin dies, so does the other. Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side by side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.

My Ponderings: Ah yes, a novel with a great division between people that must be overcome for the good of humanity lest they wipe each other out completely...where have I heard this one before. Okay, so the idea isn't alone, but it was actually still pretty good. I felt bad for Cass. I was mad that she was being forced to go through all that she was and that there was little she could do to help herself. I'm glad that once she was finally able to do something for herself, she also took the chance to help someone else along the way. That character trait was a huge plus for me. Zach, on the other hand, was just a lot of nasty words that I can't repeat in front of the children.

What else? Oh, like with The Hunger Games, I don't want to live in the world that Haig paints for us at all. A place where siblings hate each other just for existing. Siblings are (in my mind) always supposed to look out for one another, to love each other when nobody else does, to protect each other and Haig turns this idea on its head, pitting everyone against the person most like them in the world. It's a heartbreaking concept.

The whole world they live in is terrifying, especially when scientists get involved. Prisons? This novel was upsetting...

I loved Kip when he finally made an appearance. He was just an interesting mystery (that I figured out too soon and too late because I already loved him).

The ending of this book made me so angry. It wrapped up just enough for it to be an ending without a cliffhanger but not enough to satisfy me. It was just plain rude what happened. I understand why it happened and that it needed to be done but I am still not pleased and you can say nothing to make me feel better about it.

Basically: This was a good book. It wasn't as good as The Hunger Games but it was better than Divergent. It's suitable for teens but very dark. It fit very well into the YA category. This is not a happy story so don't say I didn't warn you.

Review: The Descent (The Taker #3)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Alma Katsu
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Rating: 5 out of 10

**Spoiler Alert: This is the third in a series. Check out The Taker or The Reckoning (The Taker #2) before reading this or its review**

Summary (From Goodreads): Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.

Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?

Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.

My thoughts on this book: First off, I'm mad that this book started where it did because I felt like I was just thrown into this book. Sure, I got it right when it came out but I didn't read it for a long time and I felt terribly disconnected from what I remembered happening at the end of the last novel. There was a huge time jump but, even now, I'm not a 100% certain how long it was or why it happened. It just felt kind of off.

I understand the character development that led her to return to Adair but that doesn't mean it isn't creepy and it sure doesn't make me think this was healthy. Actually, I'm very certain that this whole relationship is the least healthy thing in the world. (I still ship it, sadly.)

But this novel was too short. Everything happened all at once and then there was nothing and then suddenly something was happening and it was over. It wasn't balanced at all. It really bothered me because it made some parts of it drag. On top of that, there were plot pieces that didn't seem to fit and the ending was rushed. I think there could have been another hundred or so pages to better tie up parts of the plot and finish developing the characters. The ending needed more for it to get a better rating. There could have been SO MUCH MORE but the audience was left with only small bits of it. Then the book was over. After all the build up in the last novels (which I loved, especially the first) it was a really big disappointment. 

Don't let this review stop you from reading the series. I thought that The Taker was a great novel (horrible inappropriate for a younger audience, full of triggers, and with unhealthy relationships galore but that might just be the Tumblr side of me talking, if you know what I mean). I even recall enjoying The Reckoning, not that I didn't enjoy this one at all. I wish this novel had been more like the rest of the series. I wish that it had been more. I wish that it ended better. 

HOWEVER, the plot twist was a surprise. I mean, I knew something was going on with Adair but I didn't really see what was happening. 

I would read more from this author in a heartbeat. Check out The Taker, if you are reading this and still haven't read the book.

Review: Paper Towns

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: John Green
Format: Paperback
Pages: 305
Rating: 4 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads...I don't have a witty comment for Paper Towns but you're swell): 

Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

Thoughts: What's colour does a Smurf become when it's chocking? Oh...you didn't want that kind of thoughts, did you? Want a thought about this book? THIS WAS THE WORST BOOK I'D EVER READ. Na, I'm just kidding. Well, I'm kind of kidding. I didn't like this book at all. Okay, that's a lie. Wow, this post is one heck of a train wreck. 

I didn't like Margo. I liked that she helped to bring Quentin out of his shell and that he was able to do wild and crazy things and grow as a human being and that he became more interesting for having spent time with Margo. I still hated her though. I thought she was self-centred and only cared about herself and that she was plain rude. Yeah, that was probably the point of her, I know.

In general, I enjoyed the sense of adventure and craziness that this book focused on. I absolutely loved the road trip scenes (the rest of the cast of characters were great). It was funny and scary and always a surprise. The rest of the novel, not so much after the opening Margo experiences. 

I still like John Green. This book just wasn't my favourite and it's getting a lot of hype lately. I wouldn't say that it was a waste of time. It had its highlights and exciting moments. Other characters in it had redeeming qualities. I just don't think that this novel is worth the hype. 

You know what though? I am glad that this novel was this novel. I'm glad that I was able to read something aside from the gooey romances or dystopian nightmares or fantasy weirdness or mythical character mayhem. I'm glad that I choose to read something easy and still thought provoking yet not at all like everything else there is to read out there, in the world of YA right now. It's no The Fault in Our Stars (Sorry John Green that people will forever compare your books to that; it's not fair) but it was still a half-decent book. Just don't believe all the hype.

Review: Vitro

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Jessica Khoury
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Rating: 6 out of 10

This is the sequel to Origin (Click here to view) but I don't think there are any spoilers.

Summary (Nothing is equal to Goodreads): On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.

Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. She enlists hunky charter pilot Jim Julien to take her there. But once on the island, Sophie and Jim encounter more than they bargained for, including a charming, brilliant Vitro named Nicholas and an innocent, newly awoken one named Lux.

In a race for their lives, Sophie and Jim are about to discover what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach. 

My Thoughts: I don't think that this novel was quite as wonderful as Origin was. Mostly, I think that the characters in this novel were much stupider than they were in Origin. Really, you see a scary island that everyone says horrible things about but you think that it's a fantastic idea to try to waltz right onto it? WHAT PART OF THIS TRIP WAS A GOOD IDEA? Who are you? Ditzy girl #5 in a horror movie? You just gotta run back up the stairs. You know what? Here's a concept. LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE TELL YOU AND DON'T GO THERE. Your mother is a grown adult and can take care of herself since she sure as shootin' wasn't taking care of you all these years...stupid head.

The island sounded pretty? You know, except for all the horrible things happening there...

Jim was just as stupid as Sophie. Maybe more so because he knew all the stories and had been there this whole time. 

Plus, I mean, the plot twists weren't major plot twists that you wouldn't see coming. 

All that said, it wasn't a terrible novel. It was written well enough and was easy to read and follow. The characters had redeeming qualities and it openly led into the next novel (which I have waiting for me at home, by the way). I concept for this series is just terrifying enough to keep you reading while worrying about the future of the world and wondering what scientists are really doing out there (Conspiracy theories ftw). 

So that's my rant.

Basically, check our Origin first. If you like that than read this one. Maybe the next one will be better.  If you are concerned about whether or not you will like this novel, I should tell you that I didn't really put it down just because I wanted to see how badly everything would end up. It wasn't not worth it.

Review: The Cure For Dreaming

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Cat Winters
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary (Dreaming about goodreads): Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Winters breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.

My Thoughts: This book was different. Even the cover was different. My copy has this weird ridged spiral (see the above pictures) over the whole cover that intrigued me. So, I judged a book by its cover...sue me (but actually don't because I don't have any money). It turned out to be a good thing that I picked up this book. 

I've been getting more into these historical fiction books. They show you a world that you don't get to experience every day. Modern novels are great but why not use books to really experience something new? I felt the same about the Diviners. 

Anyway, the characters. Well, I kind of hated Henri. I mean, really? You had to let this girl suffer? There was absolutely nothing that you could do? I call BS. If I were Olivia, I wouldn't have helped him. I don't think that I would have liked him very much. She seemed upset but oddly fine with the whole thing. That bothered me quite a bit. As for Olivia? I felt so bad for her. Even I was getting frustrated. Her life just wasn't fair and she couldn't even do anything about it. I thought that it was fantastic that she tried to follow the women's rights movement even though she had so little freedom and it caused her so much trouble. 

This is the first book I've read with a hypnotist and a dentist in it. It was a strange combination. This is one of those bizarre book things that makes me wonder what the writer was doing or thinking about while writing this book. Winters, if you read this, I'm curious how you feel about your dentist.

However, I think that I wanted more. I want more interaction between Olivia and Henri and I want to get a better conclusion. It was a good ending but it left me with too many questions about everyone's future. 

So: I thought this book was great. I enjoyed the uniqueness and the struggle that Olivia was facing. I've never read books about the women's rights movement or dentists or hypnotists and I haven't read much that takes place in the 1900's. All of these things together made for a special experience. Winters spins a wonderful tale with A+ writing and attention to detail. I would read this book again in a second. 

I think I will keep an eye out for Winters' other novels.

Review: Frostfire

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Amanda Hocking
Format: Paperback
Pages: 321
Rating: 5 out of 10

Summary (Thanks, Goodreads.com): Bryn Aven is an outcast among the Kanin, the most powerful of the troll tribes.

Set apart by her heritage and her past, Bryn is a tracker who's determined to become a respected part of her world. She has just one goal: become a member of the elite King’s Guard to protect the royal family. She's not going to let anything stand in her way, not even a forbidden romance with her boss Ridley Dresden.

But all her plans for the future are put on hold when Konstantin– a fallen hero she once loved – begins kidnapping changelings. Bryn is sent in to help stop him, but will she lose her heart in the process?

My Thoughts: So, this novel made me a little bit sad. Perhaps it was that it has been quite some time since I had read any novels by Amanda Hocking but I seem to recall her novels being so much better than this one.

Sure, there was some adventure and some romance aspect...it all felt forced though. I had to struggle to believe this novel and the fact that the characters weren't human was almost the easiest thing to accept! Everything went too quickly. This novel seemed to skip over a lot of important stuff, taking for granted that people had already read Hocking's Trylle series. This meant that the world wasn't explained as well as it could be. It also means that important action was lost. Fights were resolved too fast, emotional issues were skipped over, and family drama was all but ignored. This novel could have been so much more. Granted, this is part of a series, so there is room for it to get better but I wish this novel had done more to help with that. 

I loved that the main character didn't find any insta-love and that she was strong. She wanted to do things on her own and for herself. She never discounted her ability to do something and believed in herself. It's too bad that novels are more than just the characters that can be found in them.

Overall, the novel could have gone deeper. Show me deeper into the protagonists thoughts and emotions. Show me more about the world in which these people live, their city, their customs, their family arrangements, their politics, their daily lives. Show me more of the main characters and their motivations. Show me more about the big bad guys. Show me more about the fight scenes and how the characters manage to get out of these sticky situations. Show me something more! I needed more of just about everything. It needed more work, which is sad because I thought that grammar, vocabulary, and structure were great.

Basically: This novel was much worse than I expected. It was an easy read but is very clearly young adult in nature. I wish that it had slowed down. I'm not sure what this would have meant for other novels in this series but I don't care. It needed to be done. I'll likely finish the rest of the series but I am in no rush at all. This one was a disappointment. Check out Hocking's other works first, please!

Review: Saint Anything

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Sarah Dessen
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 432
Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads is a saint): Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans. 

My Thoughts: I always forget how much I love Sarah Dessen until I read one of her novels again. This novel was a long time coming, which meant that I've been reading so called "grown up" novels for some time now. I was really worried about getting back to Sarah Dessen...that is, I was worried until I started reading it. These novels are so fantastic because you can always connect to them in some way. You understand what the main character is going through. They aren't just horny teenagers that want to run around getting drunk every weekend at the latest parties. These novels actually talk about something. That's important.

I also find myself struggling to keep my emotions in check. I get so angry when something bad happens to the main character and it's not their fault. This happened to me a great deal while reading Saint Anything. I couldn't get over how the protagonist was being treated. I was mad that her life wasn't fair, even though I am well aware that life isn't fair. I just felt so bad for her.

Even though I was aware of the general direction the novel was taking, I still managed to find myself interested and wanting to keep reading. I didn't put it down. I think my grandfather (who was camping with me while I was reading this novel) thought that I had lost my marbles because I hardly spoke while reading it. It was just that good! And being good enough to make me shut up is a really big feat...

I like that this novel was unique in the characters, the jobs they had, the main issue of the story, that it brought up serious issues including an illness that I know relatively little about, and that there were incredible places for the characters to hang around in. Most of what I experienced in this novel was new to me which is a big deal. That doesn't usually happen. I found myself getting caught up in it all because of this. I definitely want to reread this novel some time in the future and enjoy it all over again.

I hated waiting for Dessen's next novel but I think it was well worth the wait and much different (better, much better and more grown up) than her previous novels. This one is one of my favourite novels by her for sure! I think that if you enjoy young adult and romance and just generally good books, you might want to check this one out.

Review: Afterworlds

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Format: Paperback
Pages: 599
Rating: 6 out of 10

Summary (via Goodreads): Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… 

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

My Thoughts on the Subject: Ironically, this review is coming to you on it's 4 month release birthday. 

I enjoyed this book...some. I thought that, as someone who wants to be a writer when they are "all grown up", the story line was fascinating. I liked the characters, thought the world was generally interesting, and have never read anything quite like this book...

But it was so long. It was long and some parts were super boring. There was also not a lot of correlation between the two stories. Yes, one was being written by the other, but was it just shown to us to make a unique story. It would have been interesting to see how the changes made by the author affected the secondary story (which I thought was more interesting). We were already reading what Darcy had written, as she spoke of edits, we had already read the edits so I found myself not caring. I don't know. The idea was interesting but it made for a complicated, two books at once scenario, when it really didn't have to. It's not that I couldn't follow along, I all too frequently read multiple books at once. It's a problem I have. I'm not exactly sure how this problem could be fixed though..

It was just too much, all at once. It was a fantasy and a realistic novel at once. It was half drama and half romance/mystery/crime/I-don't-even-know-what. It was a lot. I mean, it gave the reader a lot to think about and focus on and wonder about. It also gave basically every genre known to man but it was a lot. Having so much made it drag. 600 pages is a long time commitment that I wasn't ready to take when I started to read this novel. 

So: I liked it but it took a long time. It was overwhelming to have two stories at once and not have them interact with each other. I would consider reading it again but not for a long time. Only those with a long attention span, who can read to novels at once should look into reading this novel.