Review: The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz

Synopsis: With the stunning revelation surrounding Bliss's true identity comes the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods. Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods now find themselves in an epic battle for survival. Not to worry, love is still in the air for the young vampires of the Upper East Side. Or is it? Jack and Schuyler are over. Oliver's brokenhearted. And only the cunning Mimi seems to be happily engaged.

Specs: YA fiction, paranormal, published October 2009, 369 pages, Blue Bloods #4.

I wasn't impressed with this series to begin with, and The Van Alen Legacy hasn't changed my mind. They're still good enough to keep reading, though. It's sort of like sitting at a doctor's office and seeing a whole bunch of celeb gossip magazines. You can't help but pick it up and devour it, even though there's not much substance to the stories. And once you finish one, you have to read the next.

So, while I'm not praising Cruz for her storytelling abilities, I will commend her for hooking me in. I was confused sometimes while reading, and part of that was because I read Revelations last April and I had to familiarize myself with what was going on. For example, I totally didn't remember that Bliss was possessed by her father, I thought Bliss and Schuyler already knew they were sisters, and I don't remember anything that happened at Rio de Janiero.

Also, it seems like this series will never end. I just wish Cruz would wrap it up already.

I won't be reading Keys to the Repository, because honestly I'm not that interested in it. It doesn't have much to do with the series' story. It's just a bunch of the Blue Bloods' history, which I don't care about unless it has to with the storyline. But Misguided Angel, Blue Bloods #5 comes out in 27 days, so...yay!

Review: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Synopsis: This darkly satiric indictment of the social ills of Victorian London tells the story of a young orphan who becomes involved with a gang of criminals.

Specs: Adult fiction, published in 1837, 380 pages.

I'm a little wary of reviewing Oliver Twist since it's a timeless and classic book...but I will anyway. It was entertaining, and even very humorous at times (which surprised me). But Dickens tends to ramble on in quite a few paragraphs. And since it's such an old book, there were many words I didn't recognize and sentences were worded differently.

There were a lot of different characters from opposite ends of the spectrum, which I liked. Reading about people who all have almost the same personality gets boring. In Oliver Twist, there was the truly evil (Sikes and the Jew), the not-so-evil-but-still-pretty-bad (Artful Dodger), the ones who want to be good but in the wrong situation (Nancy, Charles Bates), and the good (Oliver, Mrs. Maylie and Rose, Mr. Brownlow). Oliver good have gotten in league with any of these people, but thankfully he chose the right crowd, which unfortunately doesn't happen very often in reality.

Oliver Twist is a devastating story of an orphan who wonders the streets, has no family, and to which catastrophes always seem to happen. But Oliver somehow manages to stay optimistic in his trial-filled life, and everything turns out well in the end, with Oliver finally living a normal life with family around him.

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Synopsis: "My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead."

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost.

Specs: YA fiction, dystopia, published August 2010, 390 pages, The Hunger Games #3.

When Mockingjay FINALLY got to me at the library, I was so excited!! The last book of the Hunger Games trilogy! What will happen next?? Who will Katniss end up with?? How will they defeat the Capitol?? I couldn't wait to delve into the world of Panem, no matter how depressing it is.

I can't saw I LOVED it. In my opinion, the first two were definitely better. I don't know if it was just me, but Mockingjay moves a bit slower than the others (except for the last hundred pages, when there's some strong action). There's still surprises and twists that I could never expect to happen, but it just didn't reach the magnitude I thought it was going to be.

I didn't like the ending...*SPOILER* What happened to Gale? Why doesn't Collins tell us the whole story. I actually wanted her to end up with Gale, and I don't really know why she didn't. I guess their strong connection since childhood and all the time they spent together is no match for what Katniss only thinks might have happened (that Gale blew up her sister). *END OF SPOILER* The way it ended, there could be another book(s) after, but I kind of doubt the author will write more.

And I couldn't be more excited about the movie that's coming out based on the books (or is it just based on the first one?). Suzanne Collins is writing the screenplay, so it shouldn't be totally botched. I think it'll make a great movie though, because there's so much physical action and visual stuff that's going on. It would be awesome to see it on the big screen!

Review: Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Synopsis: On the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.

Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.

Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, BIRTHMARKED explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.

Specs: YA fiction, dystopia, published March 2010, 362 pages, 5/5 stars.

Wow. I can't think of anything this book is missing or anything the author could've written to make it better. Birthmarked has everything from the first page: excitement, intrigue and mystery, and a little romance. I loved the main character, Gaia, and following her adventures: getting past the wall, trying to find and rescue her parents, finding out that not everyone finds her face hideous, and learning to be independent and make her own choices.

One thing I've found through reviewing book after book on The Door to Wonderland is that if the author doesn't write great characters, the book is pretty much doomed from the start. Even if the plot is beyond awesome, I still don't get a connected sense to the book, and so I rate it down. But Birthmarked not only has evolving and self-aware characters, O'Brien wraps them up in an engaging world, which is most definitely oppressive, but yet the characters manage to find the good in their dismal situation.

*SPOILER* I didn't like the ending. Yes, it's probably more realistic, but hey, what's the good in a fictional book if you can't have a happy ending? What happened to Leon?? Is there really a Dead Forest or is it a myth? Is Gaia's grandmother alive, and if not why did her mother tell her to go to her in the note? I want to know Caragh O'Brien! There better be a sequel, that's all I'm saying. Birthmarked clearly ended at a point where there could be more to the book, so I'm DEMANDING a second one! *END OF SPOILER*

Review: Lies by Michael Grant

Synopsis: It happens in one night: a girl who died now walks among the living, Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach, and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most - Drake. But Sam and Caine defeated him along with the Darkness - or so they thought. As Perdido Beach burns, battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake. And the prophetess Orsay and her companion, Nerezza, are preaching that death will set them all free. As life in the FAYZ becomes more desperate, no one knows who they can trust.

Specs: YA fiction, dystopia, published May 2010, 447 pages, Gone #3, 3.5/5 stars.

The series has gotten a bit stale for me. I'm not sure what it is that makes Lies this way, but all I can say is that the series isn't holding me in an iron grip and put-the-book-done-and-you-die captivation like the first Gone book. It's still good, don't get me wrong, but not in the TOTALLY-AWESOME-guys-you-HAVE-to-read-this way. (And now I'll stop talking in hyphens...)


Drake with his tentacle arm was getting annoying. He kept coming back and coming back and just when you think he's FINALLY gone (hallelujah!)...he comes back.

Even though this series has it's down points, I'll still be waiting for the next book (which I found out from Goodreads that there will be a next book), Plague, coming out on April 5th, 2011.

It's finally Fall!!

It's definitely Fall weather here in my part of MN, and I love it! I love cold weather, and this summer has been very hot and long and I'm so glad it's over! Here are a few pictures I found on Deviant Art that are beautiful and will help to get you into the Fall mood:





Winter's just around the corner, and so is my favorite holiday: CHRISTMAS!!! :D

Dystopian Challenge is now over...and so are my hysterics in trying to finish on time

I have read 20 dystopian novels from March to August! Unfortunately, I didn't win Mockingjay, the reason why I participated....*slow, sad violin music plays* But it was fun while it lasted, and these are definitely not the last dystopian books I'll read! There are plenty more where they came from, and if anyone reads a good one, let me know!

Here's a list of what I read:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. The Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
3. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
4. Epitaph Road by David Patneaude
5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
7. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
8. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
9. Veracity by Laura Bynum
10. Genesis by Bernard Beckett
11. The Sky Inside by Clare B. Dunkle
12. Animal Farm by George Orwell
13. Gone by Michael Grant
14. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
15. I am Legend by Richard Matheson
16. The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
17. The Children of Men by P.D. James
18. Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
19. Hunger by Michael Grant
20. The Walls Have Eyes by Clare B. Dunkle

Some books I enjoyed very very much (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Gone), and some books I drudged through (The Children of Men, Animal Farm). But it was all worth it because the challenge opened my eyes to a genre I hadn't paid much attention to before. Sure, I read some random dystopian books in the past, but not as many as I read through Parajunkee's Dystopian Challenge. And look at the cool badge I got!:

Halo book trailer

I was asked by Macmillan publishing to review Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, and I hurried and replied Yes!! I've been looking forward to this book (part of the reason is the cover!) for months.

Synopsis:

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Trailer: