Review: The Bane Chronicles

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Cassandra Jean
Format: Paperback ARC
**This book was given to us in exchange for an honest review.**
Pages: 528
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (via Goodreads): Ever wondered about the enigmatic, mysterious warlock Magnus Bane? The only character to appear in every Shadowhunter book, Magnus has a past even more shrouded in mystery than his present. I’ve teamed up with acclaimed YA writers Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan to create the Bane Chronicles, the back (and front) story of Magnus told in ten linked tales.

Look for short stories like Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale; The Rise and Fall of the Hotel Dumort; Saving Raphael Santiago and What To Buy The Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You’re Not Officially Dating Anyway). Each story will be available as an ebook on a monthly basis starting April 16 with the tale of What Happened In Peru.

Each story will be released monthly online for the next ten months — and then for those who don’t read e-books, the full print collection will be available in bookstores and wherever else books are sold after the Chronicles have been finished. 

My Ponderings: Magnus was my favourite character in the Mortal Instruments series from Cassandra Clare. He was funny and sassy and never said quite what you expected him to say. That was what made him great. There was also an air of mystery about him that was terribly intriguing. I constantly found myself wondering at things he was saying or making reference too. I wanted to know what he'd lived through. I wanted to hear all about his wild adventures. What led him to where he was when we first met him? Apparently it was a great many things. As it well should be since he was so old. He had multiple lifetimes full of experiences to draw on. Each story was unique, fascinating. 

I read this novel so quickly. Kristen and I spent too much time fighting over it. It was well worth the fight. We had both been highly anticipating this novel once we found out that it was coming out. The wait was almost too much until this novel showed up at our doorstep...literally. It was a super easy and interesting read. I got into the story right away. Don't have a lot of time to sit and read? That's fine, this novel is a series of short stories that jump around in time. After all, nobody has the time to read the entire length of Magnus' life, although I'd love to give it a try. I thought that short story form was perfect for this novel. Actually, I can't think of a better way for us to receive this. I wouldn't change that.

The comics were pretty great too. I thought they were funny and beautiful and a perfect way to break up the novel. I usually don't like this kind of thing because I'm 20 years old and 20 year olds probably shouldn't be reading picture books. In this case (which didn't make the novel a picture book but only added a much needed division between stories), I loved it.

Don't like one of the story lines? Don't worry. They're short stories and will be over soon enough. It should be noted that I didn't have this problem and Kristen didn't seem to either.

Miss another favourite character? Maybe they will make an appearance...

Basically: I loved this novel. I would read it again and again in a heart beat. I loved that it was funny and serious and you get to see many sides of Magnus. It was wonderful that you see him help so many people. It also provides wonderful back story for the other series by Cassandra Clare. It's like a bunch of well-written fanfictions that know the characters perfectly. I would recommend buying this novel. Today. Because it came out this morning. Do it. Some history with Cassandra Clare's novel necessary.

Review: Opposition (Lux #5)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 534
Rating: 6 out of 10 (oh that's so sad)

** SPOILER ALERT: This is number five in the Lux series. Check out Obsidian HERE **

Summary (Lookx at Goodreads (Lame, sorry)): Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.

My Thoughts: I'm still upset that this cover is different than that of the rest of the series and I don't even own the series, I borrowed it from Kristen. I promise that she is just as upset as I am, if not more upset. It's just so different and such a let down. 

But enough about unimportant things! In the beginning of this series, I loved it. I was 100% into the story line and the characters. By this novel, I was so bored. I don't know. Maybe it's that I think that most often trilogies are too long. Five books is nearly twice as long as that! It was just too much. I still cared a lot about the characters but so much about this series seemed like a useless filler. Get to the point. Don't add a million characters that aren't necessary or plot lines that don't matter to the main element of the story. I want to get right to it. I want to know that they will end up happy but I also want to be able to trust that the story will eventually end. This novel started to drag almost. Part of the problem may have been that I read the first four novels back to back and had to wait for this one to come out. I must have lost momentum. I usually love Jennifer Armentrout's novels. I'm starting to worry that she is pulling herself too thin.

I was content with the ending even though it was a bit of a pain to get there. Everything was wrapped up. I'm not really perfectly sure how they managed to wrap up the main plot point. Like, you just scared them away? Hey, whatever. Whatever works. I don't believe it 100% but that's fine. She's the author. She's the boss.

What I'm gathering from my slightly delayed review of this novel is that I liked the series as a whole but didn't really enjoy this novel on it's own.

This is a bad review, I am so sorry.

So: Don't let this review stop you from reading this series. This novel has informed my writing, if you would believe that. I also have an unnatural attachment to Jennifer Armentrout. This series was pretty wonderful in the beginning and I was excited to find out how the whole thing would end. I wasn't too let down by the ending.

Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Format: Paperback
Pages: 433
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Summary (hunted down on Goodreads): Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."

"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

What I Think: I picked this book up because it had a cool cover and a movie to match it. I didn't expect what it would turn out to be. I didn't have high expectations for it either. I went into it with an open mind. Perhaps, my mind was too open. The novel starts out by stating the "facts". Yes, I realize that this novel is fiction and nothing more but constantly during my time spent reading this novel, I caught myself questioning reality. The author did a wonderful job of making it seem real. It was unbelievable. 

I love that the novel goes back and forth between diary passages and the author's comments. The author puts himself in the story as the narrator. He's almost like a lawyer arguing his case. It's like he's trying to prove that it's real and the passages are his proof. It's fascinating. I've never read anything that presents the story in this manner. I enjoyed it a great deal. It does however make the pages seem longer or...something. The novel isn't as long as it seems because of this back and forth and formatting changes. It's not distracting however.

There is enough fact woven into the fiction to make you pay attention. It also makes you feel bad for Lincoln. He had a lot of heart break and pain in his life according to this novel. It's really amazing that the character of Lincoln (not the real one, this review is confusing me) survived all that he did. The sudden dreams really through you off so watch out for those; the author is sneaky. 

There were some annoyingly large time gaps. I understand that I don't really want to read about 50 years of a life, I just wish that the time gaps would have been stated clearly and more often than they were. There were also a lot of characters that the reader has to keep straight. I eventually gave up trying and just started hoping for the best but between the number of characters and the amount of death in this novel, it's not an easy feat.

This was a fairly easy and fast read for me. I'll go with it not being a waste of time. It's not exactly a young adult work though. It's definitely a real grown up novel. I still love my young adult fiction to have thrown myself fully into this story. I wish I could. Maybe when I'm older, it'll get a reread just to see if the rating goes up.

Basically: I enjoyed this novel and it was really good at trying to trick you into thinking this is really how history went down. I love the novel for that. I thought this was interesting. If you like vampire stuff (Twilight excepted) or action novels then I recommend you at least give this book a quick scan as you walk past it in the book store. I liked it.

Movie: I have yet to watch it though I have it here at my house. I'll get back to you on it. I have to credit with the movie for spiking my interest in this novel in the first place. Without the movie, I would never have heard anything about this novel nor would it have had the cool movie cover that made me pick it up (I do judge books by the cover). I hope the movie is good.

Shadow Falls Series

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: C. C. Hunter
Format: Paperback
Series Rating: 7 out of 10

I'm far too scared to review each of these novels. I don't want to spoil anything and I'm sure that if I review them individually, I will.

Summary for Born at Midnight (from Goodreads.com): Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams, Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

My Review for Born at Midnight

Thoughts for the series: I was a little wary of starting a new series but, luckily, all of these novels have been released so it went pretty fast. This is a series that you could read in a week. None of these books took me very long. There were no huge lost gaps of time that you had to account for because the novels only cover the span of a few months. The transitions were seamless between each novel. The only trouble I had with starting the new novels was that they recap literally everything that is happening. This is a good thing when it's been months since you read the last novel but reading them in the same week means rereading or reviewing most of the story every other day. I survived though.

I loved the characters. This is really a character driven novel, not a plot novel. We get to see how each character grows and changes. Five novels is a lot of time to spend with the same characters so you really grow to love and care for them. I found that I always had an opinion about what should happen in their lives. I found it both comforting and annoying at some points that everyone had someone. On that topic, why do all girls in novels have multiple guys fighting over her? oh well. I love that the characters may not get along but as soon as they need to, they are able to work together to get stuff done.

As I said above, this series is character driven. The series is about the characters and their relationships to one another. It's about their personal growth and struggles. Well...these were mostly about the relationships but still. The point I'm trying to make is that the supernatural plot wasn't the center of the story. It affected their interactions and choices but really didn't hold the story up on its own. This led what I thought to be the climax to move quickly. I felt that there were so many times that the author could have slowed down and given the reader a bit more of the character's emotions. There were points where I could have been terrified for Kylie but the time wasn't taken. The action went by so quickly. It was the most annoying part of these novels. That might be because I like the action with love on the side not the opposite like this novel was. In addition to this, there were parts of the novel, not the climax, that the author could have had me crying. The potential was there but was missed or ignored. I'm not sure which. I wish that the author would have slowed down those scenes and pulled the reader in a little bit more. Tell me exactly what she feels, go slow, don't smooth everything over when there is obviously something huge happening here.

The books weren't too complicated. I was figuring some stuff out before they were explained to the reader. It didn't bother me but I should mention it anyway.

The wrap up was sufficient but not much more than that. I thought that some stuff needed more explanation. I won't say that the author took the easy was out with some things but I wish there would have been a little bit more in the end. Maybe a longer chapter instead of just a little section. I want to be able to tell myself that I know exactly how her future and the futures of the other characters will play out. This was the kind of series that I thought would give me all that but it didn't. It wasn't a horrible ending though so I should be happy. I did, however, love the scene that it ended with. I thought it was perfect as was the thoughts about change that the series ended with. 

So: I would recommend this series to someone who wants an easy, cute, smooth flowing story that doesn't require a lot of thought. It would be good for a person that like their love stories with a bit of action on the side as well as self exploration. Careful though, Kylie is a bit dramatic and self-pitying at some points and you may want to strangle her.

Tidal (Watersong #3)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Amanda Hocking
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 342
Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Summary (couldn't live without Goodreads): The magical world of Watersong is about to change forever. The answers Gemma and her friends have been searching for are finally revealed - but evil is closing in and time is running out....

Gemma and Harper Fisher are facing the fight of their lives. Gemma has been cursed with extraordinary powers that have a terrifying dark side, but she's finally found what she needs - a way to break the curse and become human again. However, finding the means to do it will be her greatest challenge yet. And now Penn, Lexi, and Thea - the gorgeous but deadly creatures who cursed her - are determined to kill her before she has a chance. Making matters worse, Penn has her sights set on Daniel - the guy Harper loves - and Penn always gets what she wants.

As Gemma and Harper race to break the curse before it's too late, they're thrust deeper into a mythical world of immortal secrets. They must into their enemies' past to find the answers they need, even if it means being drawn deeper into their savagely beautiful world. But one of the girls is not what she seems...and Gemma finds an unlikely ally as she struggles to save herself. Will it be enough to break an ancient curse that no one has ever escaped from alive?

My Thoughts: Book three out of four? Oddly Eclipse was my favourite of the Twilight series. The same seems to be fitting so far with this series though, when I started this series, I had no idea it was going to be a saga  Four books is just so many. I wondered the whole time I was reading this novel why there was so much build up and not as much action. It wasn't until I got closer to the end that I realized it was setting up for another novel. The set up seems good although I have figured some things out about the next book, solutions to problems and plot twists. The author may have been too obvious about certain things and too cryptic about others. I'll live. The fourth comes out summer 2013; I can wait that long.

I mentioned above that there wasn't as much action as the other novels in this series. That's probably not true especially even the climax for this novel. The action was dispersed well throughout the entire book. 

I liked that this novel included flashbacks that were both easy to recognize as flashbacks and informative. They added to the story line instead of taking away from it. When flashbacks are useless they drive me up the wall. They can sometimes be an easy way out of some tough explaining but, in this case, they were the best way to explain a character and her life. I like a character more because of it.

Speaking of this character, she really grows on you. When I started reading this series I hated her but as it goes, she really helps Gemma. Yet, there is something about her that doesn't make her intentions clear. She is helping but I question whether or not it is for her own gain. Sometimes the nice characters can turn out to be the bad guys. We'll see in the conclusion of the series, I guess.

This book has a lot more about Daniel in it. I noticed in the last of this series that Harper was beginning to play a larger and larger role. The same is true for Daniel. I'm glad, I like him. He is a solid, good guy that makes choices he really shouldn't have to make yet he never complains about that, he just does what needs to be done. I would kill for a friend like him, not unlike Penn, it would seem.

The cover is beautiful! Just one question about it (trying to avoid spoilers): Who is the girl supposed to be. If the author is reading this, I'd love for her to e-mail me with the answer to that. It's killing me but I think I already know.

Conclusion: I'm excited for the fourth book in this series, not only because it means putting a series to rest but also because you grow attached to a story and characters. I really want to know how this story is going to end. This is a series worth reading if you enjoy easy, quick reads and mythology. The fantasy part of this novel is so huge, it's the whole story. It's more fun with an open mind.

Fun Quotes:

"Feigning human emotion was never your strong suit."

"All the logical [arguments] wouldn't really work because they were stuck in a totally illogical situation."

"I can't read it," Gemma said. "Of course you can't. It's in Romanian" Lydia said. "But vampires aren't your problem, are they?"

"I like to think that I walk the fine line between cheesy and sweet, and I always come out on top."

"I'm not jealous...I'd feel about the same right now if I saw you helping Hitler redecorate."
"I hope you'd be a little more freaked out if I was helping Hitler, because he'd be a zombie."

"Stalking is such a strong word."

"...I know a guy who does underage tattoos."
"How do you know a guy...do you have a tattoo?"
...It was Ursula from The Little Mermaid. ...
"You have a Disney character?" Gemma asked in shock.
"She's a sea witch, and she's badass, okay?"

Did I mention that the book was also quite funny?