Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Green Adventures

It is no secret that John Green is a heavy hitter in the YA book community. You can log into Goodreads, search any book of his and instantly be hit with an astonishing amount of 5 star reviews. Somehow I went my whole young adult life without ever reading a book by him and decided to give it a try. I ended up reading two of his books and I wasn't impressed by either.

The first John Green book I read was The Fault in Our Stars.


Synopsis: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumors in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind

Average Rating: 4.57 out of 5 stars

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Don't get me wrong, I did like this book, I just didn't love it. I found Green's writing to be a little hard to swallow sometimes, almost obnoxious and I found the possibly devastating subject matter to be... not very devastating at all. What I did find devastating however, was the fact that I couldn't love this book as much as I wanted to, as much as everyone else did. I enjoyed the story, I just think if Green had gone more for quality and less for quirk, it would've been a much more successful read.

The second book I read by John Green was Looking For Alaska.


Synopsis: Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

Average Rating: 4.27 out of 5 stars.

My Rating: 1 star.

I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was for me to finish this book. (I have a feeling a nerd fighter is going to jump out from behind me and kill me, but...yolo and stuff). I didn't find this book to be insightful or relatable. I frankly found the characters to be annoying, and I just wanted to punch Alaska. I think a lot of my distaste for this book stems from the fact that I am past the teenage angst stage and as a 22 year-old, I don't understand the angst as I would have when I was say, 16. With that said, I'm sure if I read this at a different time, I would've liked it a lot more. Still, I'm not a fan of Green's writing. HOWEVER, I do admire him. The way he captures the YA audience leaves me breathless. Kudos Green, but it's not you; it's me. 



Friday, August 24, 2012

On September 6th I am hosting a Guest Post for the Forsaken Blog Tour!!


Friday, August 10, 2012

Soul Screamers: Volume One by Rachel Vincent


Soul Screamers is a YA Paranormal Romance series written by Rachel Vincent. So far there are 6 books in the series, but this particular copy I read was a bind up of the first two, with a prequel novella included. This series centers around a 16 year old girl named Kaylee, who lives with her Aunt and Uncle due to her mom dying when she was 3 years old. Kaylee is basically your normal teenage girl except for one big difference; she has awful panic attacks that cause her to scream her pretty little head off and have death premonitions when someone around her is about to die. Kaylee meets a very cute boy named Nash who helps her uncover the secret of who she really is. 

I loved this book! What Vincent did here is incredible. It is painfully obvious that paranormal romance is one of the biggest sub-genres in the YA community, so it can be hard to find a top within those lines that is original. Vincent went above and beyond that, providing a very unique idea and having lesser-known mythical creatures come to life before our very eyes. 

One of my favorite things about this series (well, what of it I have read so far) is how witty the writing is. I found myself laughing out loud at parts. There were even some parts that were gruesome and I found myself cringing at the thought. I really liked the character of Kaylee...until book two. In the novella and the first book, Kaylee was a well-rounded and like able character. In the second book, however, she was annoying. She always wanted to throw herself into trouble at any cost. One character that I really appreciate is Kaylee's best friend, Emma. It's not very often that a female character in a YA novel has such a strong relationship with her friend. Usually there's betrayal and heartache, but here Emma was just solid. High five, Emma!

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa


The Iron Daughter is the second book in a 4 book series by Julie Kagawa. The series centers around a girl named Meghan Chase who just found out she has a surprising connection to the faery world. In The Iron Daughter, Meghan is just returning to the unseelie court (the court of the winter fey) as per her promise to Ash, the Winter Prince. Over the course of the first novel, Meghan finds herself falling in love with Ash even though their families are sworn enemies. Romeo and Juliet, anyone? 

The Romeo and Juliet reference brings up and important point to me. The Seelie Court (spring fey) are based on characters from A Midsummer's Night Dream, also by Shakespeare. I guess it's safe to say that Kagawa is a Shakespeare fan. :) Now back to the review:

I had such a love/hate relationship with this book. The first part of this book was so mundane to me. Meghan just whined about her love for Ash, and when she wasn't whining it was all mush. The second half, however, was amazing. The adventure really kicks in and we learn many surprising things about the history of the world of the fey and we see the return of my personal favorite character.

As always, Kagawa's writing was on point. She has such wonderfully vivid languag that I honestly felt like I was stepping into a different world every time I turned on my nook. I love the Iron Fey series and I am very excited to read the next two!

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Monday, August 6, 2012

There's something really wrong with my blog, so please bare with me :( Every time I try and publish a post, it posts it 5 or 6 times and my pictures aren't showing up right. I'm trying to get this fixed as quickly as possible!

And welcome to my two new followers!

Review Copy Cleanup!




After doing a hardcore clean up of my email inbox I realized just how overwhelmed with review copies I am. Because of this, I have decided to participate in the August Review Copy Cleanup. This was started by booksbiscuitsandtea and it's a wonderful idea! During the cleanup I'll be only reading review copies that I have unfortunately abandoned.

The books I'll be reading are:
Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins

Two and Twenty Dark Tales by Various Authors

Heaven Should Fall by Rebecca Coleman

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa



Will any of you be participating? If so, what will you be reading? I would love to hear from you :)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Winter's Passage


Winter's Passage is a novella written by Julie Kagawa, as part of the Iron Fey series. I usually don't read the series novellas. Ever. However, I loved the first book so much that I figured I had to read the novella.

Winter's Passage takes place right where The Iron King ended. Meghan is on her way back to Tir Na Nog with Ash, the winter prince, and they soon find themselves in trouble.

I honestly thought this was a waste of about an hour of my time. (The novella is about 46 pages). I am wholeheartedly not team Ash so reading 46 pages of Meghan's mush over Ash was obnoxious. However, this didn't stop me from reading the next book in the series which I will review next :)

My rating: 1 out of 5 stars.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

One of my absolute favorite book blogs is hosting a pretty awesome giveaway!

Soumi at http://thoughtsandroses.blogspot.in is hosting a giveaway that I think all of you would really enjoy.

Go look and then comment below saying what you would like to see in future giveaways from me :)

XO