Best of the Bunch: October 2011

Best of the Bunch is a meme hosted by Lyrical of Lyrical Reviews, where we highlight our favorite read from the past month--our "hot pick, top read, must-put-it-on-your-reading-list-immediately book."

Ug, picking a favorite was so hard this month! But I think I'm going to go with "The Girl in the Steel Corset," by Kady Cross (read my review of it here). It was my first experience with steampunk, and I fell totally in love with the genre all from this one book. Plus the book has some really great characters (Griffin! Jack!) and awesome fight scenes. And it has descriptions of cool clothes, which never hurts a book, in my opinion. Another part of why I adored this book so much is that it doesn't rush the romance--it leaves plenty of room for development in the next books.

Runners up:
Lola and the Boy Next Door (my review)
Vampire Academy (my review)

Review: Frostbite

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2), by Richelle Mead. The GoodReads summary:

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…

It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians--including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

Considering not much happened in this book until the very end, I was surprisingly engrossed by it. Usually when I read an action-based book, I like it to be, well, action-y. But for this one, basically all that happens in the first three-fourths of the book is that the academy goes to a ski lodge for Christmas. And yet, I really couldn’t put this book down. I think the main reason for that is that Richelle Mead just knows how to tell a good story--her writing sucks you in, even when there’s not that much to be sucked into.

And Rose is continuing to grow on me. I could definitely tell that she’s maturing, so there was slightly less crazy impulsiveness to drive me crazy. Although her self-confidence in her appearance did still grate on me--I mean, she rates herself as a 10 out of 10 for looks. Who does that? But I do still admire her ability to face challenges head on and kick some major butt.

And of course, this book had me swooning over Dimitri again. Richelle Mead has the tension between Dimitri and Rose DOWN. Even though they were deliberately trying not to be interested in each other romantically, those two could probably start a fire with all the heated glances they had going on.

Although the book didn’t have much happening in the first three-fourths, the action in the last fourth basically makes up for it. I won’t spoil anything, but let me just say, it gets INTENSE.

So yes, read these books. I just finished this one and am so ready to jump into book three. They’re just so well-written and full of interesting characters. Plus they’ve got some awesome fight scenes.

Follow Friday (17)

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Q. If you could have dinner with your favorite book character, who would you eat with and what would you serve?

Okay, see, this is a legitimately tough question, because there are a ton of characters that I love, but either A) I wouldn't necessarily want to spend a whole dinner talking to them, or B) they'd be too cool and/or busy to accept my dinner invitation.

So I think for a female guest, I've settled on Juliet Ashton, from "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer. Juliet is down-to-earth and so witty, and if we ran out of things to talk about, she could regale me with stories about Kit and everyone else on the island. I'd probably serve pot roast or some suitably British food, and of course we'd have potato peel pie.

For a male guest, I would obvs want to invite Jonah Griggs, from "Jellicoe Road," but he would probably fall into the "too cool to accept my invite" category. So I'd invite Cricket, from "Lola and the Boy Next Door," because he's cute and quirky and, most of all, he'd just be so happy and nice. For him, I'd probably order out for pizza, because he's definitely the laid-back type.

Who would you invite?

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Review: Second Helpings

Second Helpings (Jessica Darling #2), by Megan McCafferty. The GoodReads summary:

Jessica Darling is up in arms again in this much-anticipated, hilarious sequel to Sloppy Firsts. This time, the hyperobservant, angst-ridden teenager is going through the social and emotional ordeal of her senior year at Pineville High. Not only does the mysterious and oh-so-compelling Marcus Flutie continue to distract Jessica, but her best friend, Hope, still lives in another state, and she can’t seem to escape the clutches of the Clueless Crew, her annoying so-called friends. To top it off, Jessica’s parents won’t get off her butt about choosing a college, and her sister Bethany’s pregnancy is causing a big stir in the Darling household.

With keen intelligence, sardonic wit, and ingenious comedic timing, Megan McCafferty again re-creates the tumultuous world of today’s fast-moving and sophisticated teens. Fans of Sloppy Firsts will be reunited with their favorite characters and also introduced to the fresh new faces that have entered Jess’s life, including the hot creative writing teacher at her summer college prep program and her feisty, tell-it-like-it-is grandmother Gladdie. But most of all, readers will finally have the answers to all of their burgeoning questions, and then some: Will Jessica crack under the pressure of senioritis? Will her unresolved feelings for Marcus wreak havoc on her love life? Will Hope ever come back to Pineville? Fall in love with saucy, irreverent Jessica all over again in this wonderful sequel to a book that critics and readers alike hailed as the best high school novel in years.

So I realized that I never reviewed the first book in this series, but that’s because I read it before I started this blog. Therefore I’m declaring myself exempt from feeling guilty about posting about the second book in a series without having written anything about the first.

I was a little hesitant going into this one because, while I generally liked the first one, Jessica’s constant angst, pessimism, and brutal sarcasm got to be a little too much for me. But in the second book, it didn’t bother me as much. For one, I think there was slightly less of it, but mostly I think I could handle it because of a very good point Jessica makes: her life isn’t really as horrible as she makes it seem, but because it’s her journal, she’s only writing about the things that frustrate and stress her. Which makes sense. If any one read my journal they would probably think I was super angsty too.

So after I understood her angst and pessimism, I really got into the book. Jessica is snarky and funny, and although she’s completely frustrating at times, ultimately she’s hilarious and pretty likeable.

And Marcus Flutie . . . I think I was more in love with him in this book than I was in the first. His motives are annoying unclear at times, but he’s still such an awesome guy. Basically, I <3 Marcus 4evah.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book—I ended up liking it even better than the first in the series, and I’m definitely going to keep on reading the rest of the books. So if you like your heroines angsty but hilariously sarcastic, check out the first book, “Sloppy Firsts,” and this one, “Second Helpings” (although honestly, you could probably start with the second book without being confused for very long).

Waiting on Wednesday: Flirting with Italian Boys

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight books we can't wait for.

Flirting with Italian Boys, by Lauren Henderson

272 pages

12 June 2012

The GoodReads summary:
Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!

The summary doesn't give me much to go by, but that's okay because the title pretty much had me at hello. After all, flirting with Italian boys is something I would very much like to accomplish in my life. Preferably as soon as possible. Also I adore the shoe/sock combo the cover model's got going on. Although I would never be brave enough to wear a skirt that short on a moped. But maybe if I was in Italy, I would magically transform into the kind of girl who could wear that length of skirt without showing everyone things they'd rather not see. Anyway, it's a long wait for this one (June), but I'm totally psyched.

Don't forget to enter my 200 Follower Giveaway! Open until October 31.

My Literary BFFs

As a result of a combination of circumstances (which I won't bore you with), I started thinking who my literary BFFs are. You know, the characters I not only love to spend time reading about, but the ones I think I would be friends with if they for some bizarre reason turned out to be real. Here's my list, in no particular order:

-Elizabeth Bennet, from "Pride and Prejudice," by Jane Austin
-Jenny Greenley, from "Teen Idol," by Meg Cabot
-India Opal Buloni, from "Because of Winn-Dixie," by Kate DiCamillo
-Penelope Bridgerton, from "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton," by Julia Quinn
-Cimorene, from "Dealing with Dragons," by Patricia Wrede
-Sophie, from "Howl's Moving Castle," by Diana Wynn Jones
-Emily Benedict, from "The Girl Who Chased the Moon," by Sarah Addison Allen
-Evie, from "Paranormalcy," by Kiersten White
-Juliet Ashton, from "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
-Frankie Landau-Banks, from "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks," by E. Lockhart
-Kat, from "Heist Society," by Ally Carter

I could go on and on about why they're my literary BFFs, but I don't think I'm going to. You should read the books yourself and find out if these girls are your BFFs too. And then we can all be BFFs together.

So who are your literary BFFs?

(Did I use "BFF" enough times to make you gag? No? Lemme say it again: BFF.)

Review: Between the Land and the Sea

Between the Land and the Sea, by Derrolyn Anderson. The GoodReads summary:

Something extraordinary is lurking in the deep ocean waters off the coast of Aptos, California. Just a few weeks after moving to the beach town, sixteen year-old Marina has nearly drowned twice, enchanted the hottest guy in high school, and discovered a supernatural creature. If she can manage to survive her increasingly dangerous encounters with unpredictable mermaids, she might just be able to unlock the mystery of her past and learn how to appease the mysterious forces that seem to want something from her... and maybe even find true love along the way.

I think my basic opinion of this book is that it was good overall but that it lacked a little in execution--like, the plot and idea were intriguing, but there were enough things that grated on my nerves to keep me from loving the book wholeheartedly.

One of the major things was that Marina was like a 40-year-old in a 16-year-old’s body or something: she constantly used words like “musn’t” and “nonsense” and just generally didn’t sound anything like an actual teenager. She was also a little too aware of her own virtues and didn’t have any of the insecurities teenagers have, which kinda ended up making her seem full of herself.

The other main hang up I had was that everyone in the book was a genius at something: Marina is brilliant at art, Cruz is a gifted designer, Megan is a talented singer, Evie is a former model, and Marina’s dad wins the Nobel Prize. I just thought it got a little ridiculous. I mean, where are the normal people?

But guess what? This book doesn’t have a love triangle!!! I can’t even begin to express how happy that makes me. The romance is straight forward, and Ethan is completely likable.

Like I said before, I did like the plot--Marina’s involvement with the mermaids is pretty cool. The only other mermaid book I’ve read is “Forgive My Fins”--which is a completely different kind of mermaid story--so I was totally sucked into the world of mermaids that this author created. I also liked Marina’s friends and family. They seemed like fairly awesome people, and I wouldn’t mind hanging out with any of them.

Overall, it’s an interesting book with a good plot, but some of the minor details in the book’s writing got on my nerves after a while--not enough to turn me off the book but enough to stop me from really liking it.

Received for review

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Follow Friday (16)

Follow My Book Blog Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Q.What superhero is your alter-ego?

I really don't know very many superheroes. I guess I admire Batman, because he actually had to work for his skills rather than just being a freak of nature. But I can't think of any superheroes who I would consider my alter-ego. Unless there's one I don't know about, like Comma Girl, or something--mild-mannered copy editor by day, defender of defenseless proper punctuation by night.

Don't forget to enter my 200 Follower Giveaway! Open until October 31.

Mini-Review: The Body Finder

Mini-reviews are where I write about books that I want to mention but am too lazy or too busy to write a full-length review for. I say what I thought about the book in 5 sentences then share a quote I liked from the book.

The Body Finder, by Kimberly Derting. The GoodReads summary:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies--or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer--and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

So on the one hand, I liked this book because it was a mystery/suspense, and that’s a YA genre that there isn’t nearly enough of, in my opinion. I also liked that the two lovebirds, Violet and Jay, have known each other their whole lives before deciding they’re madly in love--it’s definitely not insta-love, and I really appreciate that. However, I’ll admit that I never got around to liking Violet; she just annoyed me for large chunks of the book--like, “Oh, there’s a killer attacking teenage girls. Yep, it’s definitely a good idea to go off places by myself.” I also think the writing style was kinda over the top; I just felt like the author took three times as long as she needed to say anything. Overall, it was fun to get to read a YA thriller, but neither the characters nor the writing style sucked me in enough for me to really be in love with the book.

The quote

Violet stood up on the watercraft as she came to a stop. Multihued light seemed to be radiating up from beneath the water, centered among the reeds, and then diffusing outward as it reached the surface. Violet had never seen anything like it, and she knew that the spectrum of light was defying its very nature by behaving that way.

It could only be one thing.

There was something dead down there.

Waiting on Wednesday: Getting Over Garrett Delaney

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight books we can't wait for.

Getting Over Garrett Delaney

by Abby McDonald

336 pages

24 January 2012

From GoodReads:
Seventeen-year-old Sadie is in love: epic, heartfelt, and utterly one-sided. The object of her obsession — ahem, affection — is her best friend,Garrett Delaney, who has been oblivious to Sadie’s feelings ever since he sauntered into her life and wowed her with his passion for Proust (not to mention his deep blue eyes).

For two long, painful years, Sadie has been Garrett’s constant companion, sharing his taste in everything from tragic Russian literature to art films to ’80s indie rock — all to no avail. But when Garrett leaves for a summer literary retreat, Sadie is sure that the absence will make his heart grow fonder — until he calls to say he’s fallen in love. With some other girl! A heartbroken Sadie realizes that she’s finally had enough. It’s time for a total Garrett detox!

Aided by a barista job, an eclectic crew of new friends (including the hunky chef, Josh), and a customized self-help guide, Sadie embarks on a summer of personal reinvention full of laughter, mortifying meltdowns, and a double shot of love.

I really, really want to read this book! I love that the girl on the cover has a book over her face, and I totally read in that same position sometimes. Plus the summary sounds fantastic--sign me up for any book with a "hunky chef" and "mortifying meltdowns."

Don't forget to enter my 200 Follower Giveaway! Open until October 31.