Catching Fire

Just like the order of the books go, Catching Fire is my second favorite in the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  The book starts off after Katniss one the first Hunger Games and is living in luxury.... for now.  The Captial hates her because she beat them at their own game.  She expects to be killed by them very soon, but she only hopes that they don't hurt her family.  What they end up doing throws her for a loop.  They hold the aniversary Hunger Games where past winners have to go in.  Katniss immediatly knows that her and Peeta must go in because there is no one left alive from District 12 who have won the hunger games.  Katniss goes into shock because she can't bear having to do this all over again.  Sure enough, she get thrown in with many past competitiors ranging from her age to eighty.  She immediatly make alliances with other players who actually want her to win.  I won't tell you what happens in the book, because it is amazing, but know this, it is not like the last Hunger Games, which keeps the fan wanting more.  I love the fact that this book is the perfect combination of action and romance.  Suzanne Collins does an excellent job and I would recommend any books by her.  To view more of the books by Suzzane Collins, vist her website! They are all great.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice, the sequel to Crave, by Melinda Metz was a little disappointing to me compared to the first one.  Don't get me wrong, this books is very good, but Crave was just so awesome that I had very high hopes for this book.  The book starts out with Shay being locked up at Gabrielle's family's house.  They have locked her up because they do not approve the relationship of a human and a vampire.  Gabrielle tries to convince his family that he does not care for her so that they will let their guard down, and he can release her.  This does not work, and many of his family members get killed over the struggle.  Shay leaves, but she will not live for long since she is half vampire and needs blood.  Gabrielle is punished for his betrayal by a draining ceremony which all the vampires feed off of him for three days straight until he dies.  Shay must then decide if she wants to go back and risk her life to save the one she loves or just die herself.  I think what was missing in this book for me was the love connection.  Since most of this book is action, it is much different than its previous, taking readers by surprise.  I think this book is still worth the read, just don't expect it to be the same theme as Crave.  For more reviews on this book and many others, you can visit one of my favorite sites, Goodreads.

City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is like many of Young Adult novels out on the market today, fantasy.  However, that is where the similarities end.  I find that this book to be very original and it brings a lot of new concepts to the table.  The book starts off through the point of view of a young woman named Clary.  Clary is at a club with her best friend when she sees a murder take place.  The weird thing is, is that nobody else could see it, not even her best friend.  She decides to approach the group of "murders" who seem very shocked that she could see them.  The promise her that the man they murdered was no man at all, but he was actually a demon.  One of the boys named Jace offers to show her the institute that he studies at and tell her about demons.  Clary goes and while she is there she gets a very disturbed phone call from her mother and when she rushes home she finds that the house is torn apart and her mother is missing.  She finds out that her mother is involved in this magical world from Jace, and that somebody must have kidnapped her.  Jace promises to help Clary get her mother back.  Throughout their mission, Clary meets many of Jace's magical friends.  This is book one of a three part series, and I will most definitely be reading the next two.  The book keeps you guess the whole way!  I would highly recommend you reading this.  It can be found at all major book sellers such as Barnes & Noble. 

Evermore

Evermore, and no we are not talking about Edgar Allen Poe, is a young adult novel written by Alyson Noel.  To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this book.  I will give you a summary and see what you think.  Ever, the main character, is a highschool girl living with her aunt.  In the past year she was in a car accident with her parents and her sister and she was the only one to live.  She remembers this car accident well because she had a choice to go on with her parents to the other side or stay here and live.  She chose life.  Since then, Ever has had startling abilities such as being able to read others thoughts.  She feels as though she is truly going nuts or that the car accident affected her.  Ever than meets a new boy at school named Damen.  He is the only person that she can't read their thoughts.  Not only that, but he never eats and is always carrying a red liquid with him.  I know what you're thinking, vampire right?  Well no, Damen is not a vampire, he is immortal and this red liquid is what keeps him alive (so kinda like a vampire I guess). Ever then goes on to date Damen and falls madly in love.  There is a lot more to this story, such as will they truly get to be together, but you get the idea.  I think this book has a lot of interesting things going on with it, but doesn't it remind you of another book that we all know and love so much (cough, cough Twilight)?  I just feel that the supernatural, brooding, can't be together love has been played out a bit.  I think authors need to take a break from it for five to seven years, come back and then us readers will be ready for more.  If this story line really appealed to you, it is available on Amazon.

13 Little Blue Envelopes

As mentioned in my previous blog, 13 Little Blue envelopes by Maureen Johnson is a great read.  The book starts out with a 17-year old named Ginny who starts recieving mysterious letters.  She soon finds out that these letter are from her favorite aunt Peg, who passed away a couple of years ago.  Ginny is very happy to find these letters for she feels that she is getting a piece of her aunt back.  Her aunt then gives her a mission.  She must take a trip to Europe and follow the rules that her aunt encloses, such as you cannot bring any lanuage books, you can't bring more money than required, you can only bring what fits into your backpack, and you can't bring any electronics.  Skeptical at first, Ginny decides to make this journey.  During her travels Ginny makes new friends, finds potential love, learns new customs, discovers herself, and learns more about her aunt than she could imagine.  The ending is a bit sad though, because she loses the last envelope that her aunt left for her, and she will never know what it said.... or will she? This book is a very light-hearted, easy read.  It keeps you wanting more as well as teaches you of foreign lands.  The part that I like the most about this book is that it doesn't focus on one aspect for too long before moving on, so you will never get bored!  Lucky for us though, a sequel was recently released titled The Last Little Blue Envelope, which I loved as well and will be posting about soon!

To Learn more about Maureen Johnson, go to her website or follow her on twitter!

All You Desire

All You Desire, the sequel to The Eternal Ones, by Kirsten Miller started off slow but got much better with each page turn.  The story starts off with Haven and Iain in hiding.  They must hide because the world thinks Iain is dead.  Haven then learns that her best friend Beau goes missing when arriving in New York to meet his soul mate.  Havens's first instinct is that Adam (the evil guy who tried to lock her in a room for the rest of her life) has something to do with it.  Despite all the danger, Haven decides to travel to New York to find her best friend.  When she gets there, she confronts Adam who promises that he is a changed man and had nothing to do with her friends disappearance.  He then tells Haven that he will stop at nothing to help her find her friend.  Along the way of finding Beau, Haven encounters a woman who tells her that she can find Beau if Haven helps her lock Adam up in a tomb for he is evil.  Haven agrees out of desperation.  She then starts to rethink her deicsion, because she truly believes that Adam may have been changed for the better.  This book is more of a mystery than its previous.  You are left guessing the whole way as to who took her friend and who is really on her side.  To read this book it is essential that you first read The Eternal Ones, or you will be lost the whole way.  If you are a Eternal Ones fan, I definitely suggest that you read this book.

To learn more about Kirsten Miller, visit her website!

6 Books to Read this Summer

Many people find themselves in need of a good summer read, because let's be honest, what's more relaxing than reading a good book next to the pool.  With that, I have come up with a list of excellent summer (or anytime, frankly) reading!

1. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen.  This laid-back book will get you in the perfect mood for summer.  It shows what young, high-school love can accomplish.  With just enough drama, it will keep those pages turning all summer long.

2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver.  Delirium will take you to new worlds, literally.  Set in a government controlling society, Delirium shows what people will do in desperate times.

3. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  Did you love the movie?  Well you will love the book more! This book gives great insight to the fabulous and terrifying world of the circus.

4. 14 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.  No time to travel this summer? No problem!  This book will take you on a trip all throughout Europe while also helping you discover the meaning of life.  It's a win-win!

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Relive those hilarious box-office moments through this book, and discover some more as well.  But beware, the book is even more emotional than the movie, if that's possible.

6. Divergent by Veronica Roth.  Similar to the Hunger Games, Divergent makes you want to jump into the book.  Being set in Chicago (best city ever!), this book takes you to a whole new world of action, drama, and romance.

For another list of what to read this summer, visit Goodreads!

The Lucky One..... Not so Lucky

Like many girls my age, I LOVE a good love story!  With that comes Nicholas Sparks.  I am a huge fan of his books and of the movies that have been made based on his stories.  It was because of my love of his books that I decided to read The Lucky One, also a Nicholas Sparks book.  The books started off pretty good, focusing on a main character named Logan.  Travis just came home from war serving as a marine.  Because of the superstitions of a friend, he truly believes that it was the picture of a girl that kept him alive while overseas.  He feels the need to at least meet this girl, if not thank her, so he is traveling with his dog on foot to find her.  The girl's name is Elizabeth, who is a divorced, single mom.  Logan and Elizabeth finally met and fall in crazy love.  There is definitely more to this story, however I won't spoil it for all the Nicholas Sparks fan.  Overall I think the book had good potential and a good story line, but it was the small details that really ruined it for me.  I didn't like that as soon as Logan and Elizabeth kissed, they shared their undying love for one another and promised to never hurt one another.  That's just not really realistic to me and kinda ruins the story them having met.  I put myself in Elizabeth's shoes and think of what I would say if a new man in my life suddenly told me he loved me.  I would surely show him to the door with 911 on speed dial.  I think that this book means well, but it just needs to tone down in the romance department.

For more information on Nicholas Sparks books, visit his website.

True Blood.... More than a Show

Many young adults (hopefully not too young) are big fans of the show called True Blood.  I, like many others, started watching the first season and fell in love with it.  Then someone told me that the show was based off of books.  How did I not know this?!?!  I immediately bought the first three books in hopes that I would love them as much as the show.  After reading book one titled Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris I knew that all my hopes had come true.  The thing that I loved so much about this book, was it was exactly like the show, but I could actually know the characters thoughts.  After the first novel, the books seem to no longer follow the show, but I love them still the same.  The book begins with a girl named Sookie who lives in a small town in Louisiana.  One interesting aspect of Sookie is that she can read the minds of others whether or not she wants to.  What makes these books so different from other vampire books is the fact that vampires are common knowledge to everyone.  Many years back vampires stepped out of the dark abyss and let the world know that they were there.  Instead of freaking out (which I'm sure many did as well) the world accepted them with a few stipulations, they could not kill, or bite without ones permission.  You may be wondering how they stay alive if they cannot bite others?  True blood was created.  True blood is a synthetic blood beverage that gives vampires the strength that they need to stay alive without having to bite anyone.  Pretty cool!!  The rest of the story follows Sookie through her small town live and the many adventures that she has with vampires (and believe me, there are a lot).  Later on in the series, the mystery behind Sookie's crazy talent is finally revealed.  I would buy these books right away for vampire and non-vampire lovers alike!
To learn more information about these books, visit the authors website!

Dragons and All That

I will start this post off by saying that despite how much I liked this book, if you do not like books such as The Lord of the Rings, you will not like this book, so don't even try reading it.  I on the other hand love The Lord of the Rings, so I loved this book as well.  Eragon by Christopher Paolini lived up to all of its hype for me (though it didn't do so hot in the box office, but more on that later).  I loved the descriptive action and how it made you feel like you were right there as well as the story line.  The story starts out with a boy named Eragon who lived on his uncle's farm.  It was when Eragon was playing in the Spine (think really dangerous, enchanted forest) that he stumbles upon what he thinks is a really cool looking rock.  Since the whole village is really poor, everyone tries to make money when they can, so Eragon takes off to try to sell this rock.  When no one will buy it from him, he takes it home.  Later on that week, this strange rock starts moving and out hatches a dragon.  This is very dangerous to Eragon because dragons are supposed to be extinct except for the one owned by the evil king, Galbatorix.  If the king found out about the dragon and Eragon, he would stop at nothing to kill them both.  The story then goes on to show how Eragon escapes, learns to be a dragon rider and use magic, and lastly his vow to kill the king.  This book is the first of the trilogy and personally my favorite. 

Later on this book was also made into a movie, however it bombed and the movie did not near do the book justice.  I think the reasoning behind this was the casting and the fact that they tried to jam this 800 page book into a single film, you just can't do that with all the important action and drama.  Also I think they casted Eragon a little young.  It is true that Eragon was young in the book, but he was wise beyond his years.  The boy who played Eragon just didn't convice me.  Nevertheless, if you like fantasy, I strongly encourage you to read this book for it was excellent!!

To learn more about Christopher Paolini, visit his website.

For more information on Dragons: Click Here!

The Hunger Games

That's right, The Hunger Games.  I know you all were waiting for me to review this megahit, whether you are a fan or not.  Well I can tell you right now that I am fan, but since everyone knows what this books is about (I'm sure if you haven't read it then you've seen the movie) I will spare you the details.  What I want to focus this blog on is which is better, the book or the movie?  I personally side with the book, but both have pros and cons.  When it comes to the book, I always feel more emotionally attached to this form because you can know what the characters are thinking, which allows you to form a relationship with them.  However, this book was very action packed making the movie truly amazing when it comes to the special effects.  Watching these crazy seens happen before your eyes on a megascreen cannot be described.  It was just excellent!  On the other hand,  it was hard for me to see one of my favorite books changed in a way to please fans.  There were several parts of the book that I was looking forward to seeing, but the movie just left them out!  What's that all about?  It is also hard to have a well known actor play a part that I feel is so unique, especially when that's not how you had the character pictured.  In conclusion, I side with the book!  What do you think? I would love to read your thoughts below.

Pretty Little Liars

The series Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard is one of my favorites!  I really enjoy the mystery aspect behind this book and how it is told through the point of view of 4 different people so that you never get bored.  The book starts off by talking about 5 girls who were all together for a sleepover.  It is during the sleepover that Alison, who many think of a the lead girl, goes missing.  Two years pass by and no one has heard from her until one day when her body is discovered buried in Spencer's (another one of the friends) yard.  The whole town goes crazy and the girls are put under investigation.  During this time, many secrets come out about all of the girls, including Alison.  It then begins to look like either one of Alison's friends killed her or they are being framed.  Throughout the whole mystery of this book, the different lives of all four girls are being discussed as well keeping things interesting.  This book is great for people who are a big fan of mysteries!  It is not, however, a good choice for those who don't like series since there are a lot of books (going on 10!).  Also I cannot say how important it is that these books are read in order or else it gets crazy confusing.  I would not suggest watching the TV series Pretty Little Liars while reading these books because they are very different but they will confuse you! I do love the show, but I would say that the books are much better!

Learn more about the book series and the TV series!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I feel like the book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, had a lot of great potential, however it was very disappointing in the end.  The book starts off through the eyes of Jacob Portman, a 16 year old, who goes to visit his grandfather to find him dying outside of his home.  His grandfather, who all of Jacob's family thinks is nuts, claims that mystical creatures are trying kill him and that they would be after Jacob soon.  In effort to learn more of his grandfather's past and discover the truth, Jacob travels to Wales and is shocked by what he finds.  He learns that in this town is a house, and in this house time has stopped during the year 1940.  Along with a world with no time, he discovers the people who live her also have unusual talents such as crazy strength, controlling fire, and ability to bring people back from the dead.  With this new information, Jacob must decide with to believe in what he sees or run away screaming.

The one thing that I really liked about this book was the fact that there were pictures in every chapter.  It has been a long time since I read a picture book so it was refreshing to see some images in the book.  On the other hand, some of the pictures were very difficult to see on my e-reader.  I would definitely suggest getting a paper version of this book, for some valuable plot information is in the pictures, and at times they were very hard to read.  I was also disappointed in the last half of the book.  I felt like the author was just getting tired of writing and wrapped the book up too quickly.  He also left a lot of questions unanswered which was very annoying to me, especially since there are no talks of a sequel.  It wasn't the worst book I have ever read, but there are better out there for sure.

Maximum Ride

When I first started reading the book Maximum Ride, I sincerely thought that authors were running out of things to write about because this book is very bizarre.  The book is told from the point of view of a girl named Max who happens to be 2% bird.  That's right, 2% bird.  Despite my scepticism, this book is crazy good.  It is the perfect mix of action, drama, love and much much more.  Max has 4 other siblings who are also 2% bird.  If you haven't figured this out by now, that means they can fly! Way cool!  The reasoning behind their bird-like features have a great story as well.  When they were younger, all of the children were either given up for adoption or donated to science (as they are not actually blood related).  The government then started messing with their DNA as infants, to potentially use them as weapons, by mixing their DNA with that of a bird.  Out of all the experiments that they had done, the 5 siblings were the only ones that survived.  They are now homeless and on the run from this awful agency who wants to kill them so that they don't release to the public the terrible things that were committed against them.  Also to make matters more tricky, the agency came up with another experiment that actually worked.  They combined a human, bird, and wolf all in one with the sole purpose to kill Max and her siblings.  Scary combination!  Even though this book sounds a bit silly and out there, I cannot repeat enough how much I loved it!  Author James Patterson sure knows what he's doing!  I beg all of you go out there and read it!!

The Running Dream

This book is crazy good!! It is titled The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.  The story starts out talking about a girl named Jessica who runs track.  Her track team is her whole life, for she feels that it is the one thing that she excels at.  On the way to her latest track meet, the bus gets into an accident.  She wakes up in the hospital to find that she has had her right leg amputated up to her knee.  She she has always been an independent person, she finds it very hard to rely on others for help.  She also has to console her parents who, at times, seem to grieve the loss of her leg more than she does.  I cannot imagine how hard that must be!  This book talks about not only how she overcomes the devastation of losing her leg, but also discusses how she overcomes the emotional aspects, such as how people now treat her.  Later on in the book, Jessica receives a fake leg and learns that she can continue running track.  It also shows how she newly treats people who are handicapped now that she knows what they are going through.  I really enjoyed this part of the book for I have a brother with special needs.  It makes me feel really good that a writer showed someone going through a hard time like this, but also how she changed herself for the better.  I would put this book in the must read section! I loved it!

The Eternal Ones

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller was a good read.  The one thing that I really enjoyed about this book was that it was fantasy, but not once did it mention a vampire or a werewolf.  The book is told from the point of view of Haven Moore is a recent high school graduate, living in Tennessee.  Haven starts having very vivid dreams about a boy named Ethan and a girl named Constance and their tragic love story.  It is when Haven is watching TV that she sees Ethan on the news for committing a murder in New York.  She decides that she needs answers, so she travels to New York to talk to this Ethan, who is now known a Iain.  Once she gets there Haven realizes that she wasn't have dreams at all, but visions of her past life and that Iain is getting set up.  She also meets another man named Adam who claims to have known her in her past life, and is telling her that not only is Iain a lier, but that he is the one that has killed Haven in each of her past lives.  Through all of this new information, Haven needs to decide who she can trust and if Iain is in fact innocent. 

I really liked the mystery aspect to this book.  It wasn't the usual love story because Haven had to decide who her true love really is and who is betraying her.  I would recommend reading this book.  It wasn't my all-time favorite, but it was a fun, light read.  Also the sequel to this book just came out titled All You Desire by Kirsten Miller, which takes Haven's story even further.

Another Vampire Book...

I promise that not everything that I read is about vampires, however, this next book is worth a mention.  One of the latest books that I've read is titled Crave by Melinda Metz and Laura J. Burns.  This is not a normal vampire book where vampire meets girl and they fall in love.  This book is far from that.  The main character, Shay, is a girl with a rare blood disease.  So rare that none of her doctors actually know what it is.  She is given only months longer to live by her live-in doctor, who also happens to be her stepfather.  Her stepfather then begins giving her new blood transplants that give her much more energy as well as hope.  With this energy, she finds herself going to her step-fathers office late at night and finds a man chained up on a chair with blood being drained from him.  She immediately releases him, only to find that he is in fact a vampire and is going to take her hostage.  During the time being held hostage, the vampire, Gabrielle, learns that Shay is a good person and begins to fall for her.  They also learn that Shay is half vampire and that is the reason she has this rare blood disease.  I won't tell you how it ends with Shay and her evil stepfather because this book is truly AMAZING!!!  Metz and Burns have done an excellent job with this book and making different from the other books out on the market.  I would truly consider reading anything that these authors have to offer!

Vampire Diaries

Being a big fan of the show Vampire Diaries, I was very excited to start reading the series.  Book one, titled The Awakening by L.J. Smith, was very much disappointing.  I knew coming into the book series that it was nothing like the show, but I had no idea how bad it was really going to be.  For starters, the main character, Elena, in the show was very kind and giving and would do anything for her friends.  The Elena character in the book was nothing like that.  She was a brat, put in nicer terms, and expected her friends to do all her bidding and never did anything for them.

Another aspect that was disappointing was the love story.  In the show, Elena has this epic romance with a vampire named Stephen.  She is very wary of him at first though, for he is a vampire and she doesn't want to get hurt.  It is the complete opposite in the book.  She names Stephen as her prize trophy right when he moves to her school and stops at nothing to get her way.  She is very whinny and needy to him and expects him to do things for her before they are even friends.  She also confesses her undying love for him after their first date and basically says that she would die for him.  I understand that this is a vampire book, therefore it is not realistic in the least bit, but the fact that she told him that she loved him right after meeting him makes me want to throw up.  The author should really give Elena some self-respect so that she can show girls that you don't need a man in your life to be happy (or at least teach them to play hard to get a little bit).  I have been told that the other books in the series are much better, however it would really take some convincing for me to pick up another Vampire Diaries book.  I would advise those interested not to read this book, for I did not like it at all! 

Divergent

I have just finished the book Divergent by Veronica Roth, and I can tell you right now that I loved it!! I am normally a pretty fast reader, but I could not put this book down.  As said in my previous post, this book takes place in Chicago and is a dystopian society.  The main character, Tris, is a very strong female lead, so this book would be great for Hunger Game fans.  Coming from a family that always thought of her as weak, she finds herself to be and physically and mentally strong through all the challenges that she has to face when choosing the clan she is to be in for the rest of her life.
This book is also somewhat fantasy since it takes place in the future and talks about technology that does not exist yet for us.  When giving the students their aptitude tests, the leaders make them swallow a pill that makes their worst fear come true in their head.  It is then their job to defeat their fear in a suitable amount of time or they will fail the test.
Along with the fantasy, it also has a love plot in it (my favorite part!!!!).  Tris finds herself having feelings for her instructor named Four (I know, it's a really weird name, but believe me, he's a dreamboat!!).  Since he is her instructor, they are not supposed to have a relationship, making their love very Romeo-and-Juliet-like.  As can be predicted, their love for one another becomes public, and the aftermath is disastrous.  I won't spoil it for everyone and say what happens, but be assured, it is epic.  And the best part of all of this is that the sequel, Insurgent, just came out!  I will be reading this book right away!!


For Another Great Fantasy Book:
Click Here!

Books For Everyone

I have found during my time spent as a teenager and a young adult, that books are being viewed more and more as a hassle and no longer a source of entertainment.  This is sad for me in so many ways, because books can be so fun.  They can make you relax, laugh, and put you in a new world if only for a couple minutes.  It is because of this that I will devote my blog to books targeted towards young adults.  It is my hope that through this blog, my readers will find a book that sounds interesting to them and hopefully read it and begin to enjoy reading as much as I do.
My favorite types of books in the young adult section are fantasy (and no I'm not talking all about vampires and werewolves, though I do like those too), romance, and mystery.  Throughout this blog, I will read, rate, and review books.  I find that reading book reviews in a blog give a much more unbiased opinion as opposed to the reviews on the author's website.  I am also open to taking requests as to which book to read next. 
I am currently reading a book called Divergent by Veronica Ross.  It takes place in a futuristic Chicago where everyone is controlled by the government.  It also seems to show that there is some type of caste system, where certain groups cannot speak to others.  So far so good, but I will give more details in my next blog!