Bookworm Extraordinaire

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

I really enjoyed this book, though I wasn't sure I was going to when I first saw it recommended on a site (can't remember where, but the name of the book had stuck with me when I went to the bookstore next so I picked up a copy to read). I liked the setting, I liked the characters (mostly, near the end I stopped liking one of them for a reason I can't give because of spoilers), and I really liked the plot. Anna did annoy me a little bit in the beginning, and Etienne seemed almost stereotypical at first, but it didn't take long for both of these things to change. Anna grew on me and Etienne, still a little stereotypical but not as bad, got better in my eyes.

There were a few other things that jumped out at me and make me want to cringe, but I never actually did. This book caught me and kept me in throughout the plot, though it was a somewhat typical plot, and it was a pretty easy read. Though there was a severe lack of surprises or twists to jump out at you, I was okay with that this time around.

If you're looking for a fairly quick read (don't let the size fool you) and don't want a ton of things throwing you through a loop (make that zero), read this. Just be ready for some romance-y things.

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa.

Thought the first one was good? Yeah, so did I. And it was good (so, so good), but Julie Kagawa has made an already great series even better by not even coming close to missing a beat and plowing on through with an addition to the series that does not disappoint.

In the beginning, I had a sinking feeling that it was going to be the exact opposite that it ended up being. Meghan seemed different, not as she was at the end of The Iron King, as if she had reverted back. I ended up disliking her quite a bit as the book went on, the way she was thinking and the way she handled the love triangle that she was the point of. I ended up being able to get over it and accept her, but I never liked the way she handled some of the things she did. But even though I didn't like her as much as I had that first time, she was still so fleshed out that I can't call her character bad. Maybe annoying, but not bad. And then the plot? Good lord that plot, If you liked the first book, if only for the plot, you'll like this one, too. A great addition to a great series. I can only hope it stays that way.

Anyway, sorry for the wait guys, I'm thrilled to see most of you stuck around through my dry spell. I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.

This was yet another series I was tripping over myself to purchase simply because I adored the covers. Little did I know it would end up being really good.

Though it was a little obvious from the beginning what Robbie really was, I wasn't expecting him to be who he was. I was expecting the presence of the Seelie court and the Unseelie court, and the fact that they weren't a part of the human side of the world, but for some reason the presence of Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream threw me through a total loop.

The storyline was also a tad predictable (not Kagawa's fault, I've read SO MANY books that have to do with the fey that it's easy to tell where a story could be going) but really well fleshed out. Though it was hinted at who Meghan, the main character, would fall for, it still seemed a little abrupt when it actually happened, and I was like, "Oh! Oh dear, where did that come from?" Again, not a bad thing. And the way the ended cut off? Though I hate when that happens, I had the entire series within my arsenal this time around and was ready for the next the moment the last one ended, and I ended up liking the way it went out. Not to mention the entire book.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.

THIS was such a good book. Reading the back gives you the idea of what the book is about, but there's really so much more to the story than just that.

The main character, Samantha, dies at the end of one day, and wakes up the next to find she's reliving the day she had just died on. At first, she doesn't realize that she's reliving it, but it doesn't take long for it to click, and then she's on the move trying to figure out what she has to fix to get herself out of the seemingly endless loop. Plus she does a few other things she would probably never do on normal circumstances along the way.

I really liked how everything played out. The way that Kent and Juliet played their parts and how Sam handled everything that was happening and taking control when she had found what she needed to do. She also didn't give up when the day had ended and she would wake again to find herself having to live it all over again.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who's looking for something to busy themselves with.

The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa.

Picked this up at the used bookstore solely because of the fact it's about an Asian girl. I'm such a fanatic about that stuff, it's not funny. I wasn't expecting it to be as sad as it ended up being.

If I had read the back before actually reading the book, I probably would have been better prepared, as it's said to be "a Chinese twist on Romeo and Juliet..." which was entirely true. You know how Romeo and Juliet goes, and this follows pretty closely to the concept. My only wish was for a little more interaction between the Romeo and the Juliet of this tale, but that's the romantic in me that refuses to keep her opinions to herself.

Nonetheless, it was pretty good. Not my favorite, but pretty good.

A Dream Undone by Jeremy Bronaugh.

This book was received from the author for review.

The first thing I must say is that this was incredibly well-written. Really, I'm hard to please when it comes to writing, and this blew me away. The second thing is that it is very, very dark. It covers multiple areas including suicide, self-mutilation, drug-use, you know the like.

The main character, Brody (points for the original naming, I don't think I've ever heard that one in a book before), is introduced to us right after his girlfriend died in a car accident, and he's convinced it was suicide because of him. Unfortunately, he has a good reason to believe so. From there, we follow Brody as he goes to college, goes through girls, and gets involved with drugs. This isn't light-hearted stuff, to be blunt, this is some real frighteningly real shit people. I was a little stunned by the time I had finished, I'm a tad of a wimp.

It was haunting how real his ordeal felt, and I account that to the, again, really excellent writing. I send out a warning to people who can't stomach this stuff, but to those of you who can, I would give this a shot, if only because of just how well it's written.

My rating: 4/5

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

I picked this up because it was yet another book (in a long list) that I have not read that people expect me to have already. Not my best sentence right there, but what can you do.

Anyway, there's a lot hiding between the pages of this little book, and I was fairly shocked at how many points it hit as I was reading through it. Lots and lots of things that high school kids have to go through even today (the book takes place in 1991/1992), and poor Charlie is stuck in the middle of it. And then you get to the very end and find out something fairly horrible about Charlie's childhood.

The characters are something I was torn on. I liked Patrick a lot, and Charlie's sister was okay for me; Mary Elizabeth got on my nerves and Brad was a jerk (though I can't really blame him after the indecent with his father); I both liked and hated Sam. I liked her one minute, hated her the next, and then went back to liking her. I was seriously in between whenever she came into the picture.

Anyway, it was a pretty good book and I'm glad to have read it.

Ascend by Amanda Hocking.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't like this third book as much as I had liked the first two. It was still written very well, the characters were still kept in character, and the plot was resolved with little to no loose ends, but something about this one, and I really, honestly can't put my finger on it, kept me from liking it.

So, when the book starts, we pretty much pick up where the last left off, with Wendy about to be married to Tove. No, they still don't love each other (by now you should know why Tove doesn't love Wendy), and yes, Wendy is still having her love battle, but that will finally be settled. I kind of saw it coming, but I was still a little surprised with who she picked. Nonetheless, she had her reasons for picking who she did, and I don't blame her.

We also finally get our resolve with Oren and the battles between the kingdoms. Hocking really did wrap everything up nicely, and that's always a big thing for me, so I really can't figure out why something, for me, just felt off when I was reading it. Nonetheless, read this one if you've already read the first two. I think something horrible of not finishing a series when you're so close to the end.

Torn by Amanda Hocking.

And the plot thickens! Like, holy crap it's seriously getting thick. Plus, Wendy's got some serious love issues with more than just Finn. Seriously, forget the love triangle, for a while there it was on a whole other shape level.

I'm loving how things are going, though. Even though Wendy is confused as hell, her commanding side is really starting to show through, and she's really growing into a queen. Many things are being revealed, one of them being a something about Tove, which complicates things. And Duncan! Poor Duncan!

Duncan is my favorite character, hands down. I adore him.

Switched by Amanda Hocking.

When I first started the book, I almost wanted to put it down immediately. I hate, hate, hate when kids act as bratty as Wendy did in the very beginning, but I kept going, mainly because I wanted to see what had her mom acting batshit crazy. I was not expecting her to be a Tyrell (okay, I was definitely expecting her to be a Tyrell, I'm not that dense, I just don't want to put the real word in because it's somewhat of a spoiler and I try to do spoiler-free reviews).

Once she started finding out, things in the story started to pick up a bit. Once a short scene with the Vittra was over, however, things started slowing down again. And then Elora showed up and things got bitchy. What I don't understand is, if you didn't want her to do it, Elora, why not tell her before she makes the mistake of doing it? But what can you do, I guess.

Nonetheless, a pretty interesting story, and, what with that ending, I'm really curious to see what's going to happen to Wendy now.

Received from the author for review.

You may have noticed I started reading this late this morning, it is now very early (2ish) in the morning of the next day. Why?

I HAD to stay up to see what happened! Plus, I just couldn't stop reading.

I'll start off with my favorite aspect of the entire novel: the characters. They were distinct, they were well fleshed-out, and, best of all, they werehilarious. I couldn't get enough of Ryan, especially when he discovered the wonders of human technology. His actions and reactions were just plain adorable. He also interacted so well with Hailey, the main character of the book, and Dolan, Ryan's best bud. And Aileen? Best accent ever.

Now, onto the storyline. Also really, really great. Each scene (I suppose you'd call them?) was very visual and entertaining. They had the action when action was called for, the humor where humor was called for, and the romance, oh the romance, where romance was called for. Just so, so well-written.

In all honesty, it was the humor that got to me the most. I cannot ever, and I mean ever, deny a novel with truly well-written humorous characters. Needless to say, when I get my grubby hands on that physical copy, it's going right up on my favorites shelf.

My rating: 5/5

Buy it on Amazon!

A Million Suns by Beth Revis.

I really like this series, I do, but I didn't like this second book as much as I liked the first. Not enough Amy/Elder loving going on!

Aside from that, it really was good. Phydus is finally out of the water and the people aboard the ship are thinking with clear minds for the first time in a long while. That's not necessarily a good thing, and now Elder's got a lot more on his plate than he already had. What's more is Orion, now frozen in cyro liquid, has left a trail of clues for Amy, so she can find out the biggest truth.

And, of course, cliffhanger at the end. ARG! I want to see!

If you liked the first, you'll like this one too.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

I think that this was one of the saddest books I have ever read, and I've read some pretty upsetting things. It was downright heart-breaking, absolutely brilliant, but heart-breaking.

I knew beforehand (from what other people had said about it) that the story wasn't exactly the happiest one, but I was not expecting to feel so down-trodden after finishing it. I didn't want that to happen to Charlie, and I didn't want him to have to know it was going to happen to him. In the beginning, right after Charlie's operation, you could slowly see small changes in his writing, and the same went for when the book was reaching it's close. The difference for me? In the beginning, those small changes brought on excitement, but near the end, the changes left me feeling anxious. Again, I did not want this to happen to him.

I don't want to make this too long, so I won't go into more detail, but this book really made me think. Charlie, both sides of him, and the way his family treated him, really made me think. A really, really great book.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Well, gotta say that was interesting. Yes, I read this in preparation for the movie (that comes out this Thursday!), because, frankly, that movie trailer was freaking AWESOME.

Now that I've read the book, I'm really curious as to how they're going to be making this a movie. The book reads a lot like non-fiction, and that can be sometimes hard to translate into a movie without making it seem like more of a documentary. Time will tell, I suppose.

Now, the fact that it read like non-fiction was both good and bad from my standpoint. Good because it made it seem more realistic that our (I'm American) sixteenth president was a badass vampire slayer in his youth. Bad because I am really, really not a huge fan of non-fiction. Blame school.

Nonetheless, if you're out to watch the movie, as always, give the book a shot too.