LiyanaLand

Starters by Lissa Price

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Title: Starters	Loved it	Graded
Author: Lissa Price
Genre: Science fiction
Publisher: Delacrote
Elements: Body-swapping
Series: Book 1 of the Starters series/duology

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined...

This is a negative review, and I'm starting off by saying that there's so many things I didn't like, or see fulfilled. Reviewing this book was actually a heartache. :/

STARTERS has a very promising premise. You take the one thing humans fear other than death: growing old and using science to figure out a way to not only lengthen their lives, but getting to enjoy their youth without going through the pains of being one. Ingenious.

Outside of the premise, everything starts to unravel. It's odd because the book feels cleanly cut, each with its own prologues and acts that didn't quite mesh together, and each with its pros and cons, unfortunately with more cons.

It starts off with a slightly disjointed tone, one that I was able and willing to ignore, 1) because it is plot driven, and 2) the narrator Callie doesn't stop to take a breath amidst whatever is happening. That in large part is the problem: that Callie just does things without thinking. It's not the intangible way that you notice a character is thoughtless and rushes into things, it's more than Callie has been programmed to act and react a certain way. There's no deliberation: it's just one action, do this, do that, consequences, move on.

It's not just Callie, but all of the characters in the book, which makes for emotionless reading.

Performing tasks. They keep losing their focus: heading somewhere with a specific mission, only to not execute it when they get there in the interest of moving the plot forward. So many threads left hanging, and starting in the middle of nowhere.

What I wrote about emotionless reading: It took me until nearly the end of the book before I found what bothered me so much. Basically, Callie does not sound like a teenager. I assume that even in a war torn country years later, teenagers will in part sounds like teenagers. Generally speaking, everything is life and death for teenagers. There's an exaggeration, an enhancement of feelings, to everything that happens, be it positive or negative. It's like increasing the contrast of a picture, slightly too stark.

You find a guy you like?
Exclamation marks.

You're going off into unknown territory not knowing if you'll come back alive, or come back at all?
Hug your only brother like you'll never see him again.

Callie does not sound like a teenager. Worse of all, Callie does not sound like an actual, living human being.There's no intonation in whatever any of the characters are saying, except for one notable character, which I might dismiss because her character is made to be lively and mysterious and thus has some nuances, but I'm not going to. I was so happy to read someone acting like an actual human being that I didn't mind that it's the token fairy godmother character.

There's not a lot of substance to be done with outside of the central idea, and I am disappointed at the lack of world-building, or agency of the characters.

Now, things that I would love to see in the sequel: More nuances in the characters please, and definitely some intonations when they are conversing, thinking.. living and being! I would love for each different act or event to have its emotional beat, where readers are able to process what has happened (or not, depending on the author's intent*) Some scenes to support and flesh out the basic premise. There's a lot of cool science that doesn't have any meaning and thus seems flashy.

What did you guys think?

*Some parts I can think of where readers are not given a chance to do so is Finnick's death in Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Extremely well done to show the effects of war.

Hunger Games: Singapore Short Story and Drawing Contests

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Hey you Hunger Games fans! WANT SOME HUNGER GAMES GOODIES?

Flex your fanfic skills in the HG Short Story Contest. Are you an artist? You might want to join the drawing contest. *points* Head on down to Central Library on the 17th to join other Hunger Games fans for the one and only Hunger Games event.

We'll be having loads of fun and games, and of course, prizes! Will you be coming down in your District costume?

Clicketh (and right click) to embiggen for more details.

Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:54:00 +0000

Title: Elemental	Loved it	Graded
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: K Teen
Elements: Elements, Superpowers
Series: Book 0.5 of the Elementals series

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they are more than you dream.

As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn’t have much power. That’s okay—she knows what happens to kids who do.

Like Michael Merrick. He’s an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy. Dangerous. And completely off limits. At least according to Emily’s family.

But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily’s family doesn’t just want her to stay away from him. They want him dead.

So when I first heard about the Elemental series, my first thought was 'meh.' Of course, I loved it later, but let me tell the 'before' part first! K, so, 'meh.' Storm is promoted as a paranormal book about four brothers, and one special~ girl--that's really nothing I haven't seen before. I've been burnt far too much, far too often. Of course, there's the part about the four brothers, which is two too many for a love triangle.

"What is the author going for?" I wondered. "A love ~~hexagon~~ pentagon? [ETA: Shapes fail!] Four brothers fighting over one girl, that is extremely disturbing."

I might have shuddered and made a face, but I read the prequel for the series. You know, as a sampler. To see if I liked it. And I loved Emily, and I loved Michael because Emily grew to like and trust him, but mostly because I've researched enough about the series to know that Michael would be the sole breadwinner for his unruly brothers. He gave up everything to support his family.

This review may not delve fully into the story, which is simple and straightforward. It's an explanation of why I read something that I thought I wouldn't like. What won me over was the small town setting, and the dynamics between the families with their burgeoning feud. What was it that made the feud grow to dangerous levels, such that normal, everyday people would want to kill them? Kemmerer gave us hints of the flimsy truce between the families, which showed off the hive-mind of the family opposing the Merricks.

I liked how Emily, who grew up with an anti-Merrick mindset, learnt to overcome that prejudice in the face of what Michael does for her. There's not a clearer case of actions speaking louder than words, or prejudice in this case. I loved Emily for wanting to make her own mind up despite potentially alienating her family members and the other families, who do not make an appearance here, but whose presence is palpable.

And Michael, who doesn't actively fight what people's perceptions of his family are, but doesn't discourage them from that either. All he cares about is laying low long enough to graduate, leaving the town and creating a new start elsewhere, which makes it ultimately heartbreaking that he's still in town for the rest of the series.

The other three brothers are still kids, so there goes the four boys going for one girl theory. They are adorable troublemakers, and little Chris is my favourite, if only because he's clearly Michael's favourite, Michael doting on him when the twins are busy doing their twinsy trouble things.

There are parents here, if you're worried. You should be worried, because they seem to be the creators of the truce that is unlikely to hold, and they don't seem to have a good grasp on keeping that truce. Brr.

I wasn't convinced on the elements as superpowers aspect; it feels like it's been done in stories about witchcraft, or maybe I've read too many books in the House of Night series.

But Kemmerer convinced me, not just on that, but on reading the other books in the series too. I think it's pretty good, a solid set up for the rest of the series. If you like getting all personal with the characters, try it. You might like it too.

ilovebooks.com: Mediacorp's ebookstore

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:21:00 +0000

Interesting!

Singapore's Mediacorp, the leading media company now has an ebookstore, ilovebooks. Our local news outlet is basically dominated by Mediacorp's services: print, television and radio. Now apparently they're going into the ebook market, with the ebooks available for iPad and Android.

I haven't heard anything about it outside of a tweet. It has a pretty cute interface, with over 300,000 books, some of which are pretty recent. Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules (review) anyone? There are book clubs for those interested. And here's a trailer detailing their services.

There's free registration for AFCC's media mart & rights fair, and book illustrators gallery if you have a Mediacorp Access Email, which is basically your email for ilovebooks. I'm trying to register, but it's not getting through, so we'll see.

Personally, I'm not going to buy any ebooks there for now due to the lack of an ereader. The prices seem reasonable, and while I do love my HC and PB books, I can't deny the convenience of ebooks. Then again, you can buy ebooks from Amazon if you have a US mailing address and a Kindle.

What I'm really wondering is: will you be buying books from ilovebooks? If you don't have an ereader, will this spur you into getting one now that there's a local store for it?

Doctor Who Awesomeness: 6 years in 1620 frames

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:40:00 +0000

(via whorecouture)

LiyanaLand has a Facebook page! + Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Yep! I've finally created a Facebook page for this website in light of several recent developments. Developments that are leading to some absolutely fantastic events headed your way, so I hope you're excited! I'm glad to stay that I'll be working with several well known organisations in the local arts scene to promote reading, writing and just plain good fun with the written word.

Hey Singaporean and regional readers, are you out there? You might want to check the page, in addition to this website, because it's going to have some fun events coming up, both offline and online! Thee's one coming up very soon in relation to The Hunger Games. Are you excited yet?

International readers, don't fret! Every online event will definitely have something for you. Like now!

To celebrate the page, and the recent turn of events, here's a contest for you! Go on forth and like LiyanaLand's Facebook page, get it to 100 readers, and stand to win a book from Book Depository up to USD$20. Open internationally.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UnCONventional

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:23:00 +0000

Title: Here	Loved it	Graded
Author: Full list here
Genre: Paranormal, fantasy
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Elements: Fairies, vampires, weewolves, superheroes
Series: Stand alone

It's about to get weird... okay, weirder in here.

Alien ascensions in hotel ballrooms.
Mermaids on cruise ships.
Werewolves in dog shows.
Steampunk fairy time travelers.
A teenage superhero hitching a ride with a supervillain.
Comic books that absorb their readers.
Magical filk... and much more.

My take on short story collections is like this: if I like majority of the stories, the anthology gets an overall positive liking. I'm going to highlight the stories that wowed me, and those that I generally liked. For those that I didn't, I'll mention it, maybe state why and then move on. Because that's what I'll do when reading the book from then on, skip over that particular story and pretend it doesn't exist. Maybe one day I'll reread to see if my opinion's changed. If so, I'll address that in a Reread Retrospect post.

This is a good collection of short stories, I'm glad to say. They all deal with conventions (hence the CON in UnCONventional) which are usually mad and hassling without the supernatural elements. Divided into dealing with different types of supernatural creatures. This works out neatly, but at the same time, makes it easier for me to see which are the stronger stories.

It starts off with what was my favourite story in the collection, Family Ties by Keshia Swaim. I wouldn't mind more of this, because along came Myrtle by Melina Gunnett, which became my favourite story there. Serious favourites. Strong characterisation, deftly plotted, and of course, emotionally resonant. With what? I dunno, it made me feel, man.

There's the prerequisite hot boy, which I loved. It's like a staple in short stories, that hint of romance and promise of continuation. I'll be rereading both stories, and checking out future works of the authors.

There are also LGBT stories, such as 'Photo of a Mermaid by Trisha J. Woolridge.' I didn't like it, if only for the sole reason that there's too much dialogue overshadowing the plot, which is unfortunate, because it could have been something to watch out for.

The thing I absolute love about this anthology is that it spans a wide range of paranormal scenarios, though it's not just paranormal but has bits of steampunk, superheroes and scifi. You have your alternate realities, your feuding fae factions, and your hungry comic books. If you're a paranormal/fantasy fan, who like me, wants to broaden their reading spectrum within the same genre, this is the book for you. A catalogue, sorta.

A collection of LiyanaLand headers

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:41:00 +0000

Just a post chronicling the past headers this blog has had.

I was just browsing though the blog's album, and found quite a lot of them. I'm surprised. Didn't know my itchy designing fingers were that itchy. *scratches*

Some headers created for the Featured Weeks I hosted. Many thanks to the authors and publishers for obliging with the interviews, guest posts, giveaways etc.

I won an avatar giveaway from Parajunkee Design, if I'm not wrong. That avatar, along with the chaise lounge still remains one of my favourite things to be implemented in headers.

So short story: cute avatar + cute stack of books + blog name + exams = the following set of headers.

Because of the bounce. Really.

Same thought, but with books. Trying out a new thing in Photoshop.

I wanted to be more positive in my reviews. Unfortunately, I'm a very picky reader, so.

One of my favourite headers ever.

Was in an Ally Carter Gallagher Girls series mood, and thought a girl with rose-tinted glasses would be mysterious and apt.

Maths. Too much Maths.

Trying something new in GIMP. That damn row of dots was the hardest thing I had to do. (Apparently I could have just copied the • from this post. Thank you, poster. *bows*)

Current blog header, with black background.

Text changed to black due to light background. The black background was cramping my eyes.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Title: Shatter Me	Loved it	Graded
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTEEN
Elements: Superpowers, touch that kills
Series: Book 1 of the Shatter Me series

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Be both, Juliette. Be both a weapon and a warrior. Own yourself, darn it.

That's what I wanted to tell Juliette pretty much the whole time in the latter half.

She's been shunned by people her whole life, killed an innocent, locked up and when released, made to use her power as a weapon by a slightly unhinged, budding evil mastermind. Just the first event itself can cause someone serious trauma, so I felt that she needed time to find herself, deal with society and learn how to survive.

The eccentricities were mostly a nice touch to behold, cultivated over years of solitary confinement and verbal abused. There were disjointed sentences, extreme attention to numbers and minute details. The most obvious, and my favourite, was the striked out conversations and phrases which I'm confused about, wondering if 1) they happened and Juliette did not want to acknowledge them, or 2) they didn't happen, and Juliette was just imagining the things that she wanted to be said at that moment. The frequency decreased as the book went on, which was a positive sign as Juliette slowly learnt not to deny herself of simple things like words or thoughts, though they cropped up when she was under pressure.

Another tic of hers was to have long, weirdly literal seeming descriptions of things happening. They were extremely weird, and I'm going to label this as an eccentricity of Juliette's because they were utterly ridiculous. How bad were they? Very, they jolted me out of the story.

Example:

I meet him across the room, touch the designs on his skin. Nod. "I understand."
He almost laughs, nearly smiles. Shakes his head just a millimeter.
"What?" I jerk my hand away.
"Nothing." He grins. Slips his arms around my waist.
"It just keeps hitting me. You'r really here. In my house."
Heat rushes up my neck and I fall off a ladder holding a paintbrush dipped in red.

What are you talking about, my dear broken Juliette? What paintbrush- oh, it's an exaggeration. Juliette was referring to herself blushing. Now I feel a bit silly.

Juliette acts totally lovestruck when she meets Adam, which I would sigh at in most books due to the over-abundance of such scenes detracting from the main plotline, but here, I felt they were justified given she'd sent her whole life thinking she was unable to touch anyone without causing them massive pain, and so she'd relish any touch that didn't do so, delighted gasps included. There's an emotional connection that comes with getting to touch someone, something alive, and I didn't want to begrudge her that.

The plot was one that I enjoyed, though by the latter half, I was getting quite tired of SHATTER ME. I took about a month's break before I picked it back up, which never bodes well. It has the qualities I love, and great explanations as to why the qualities that I didn't love were happening. What wasn't explained was given an explanation why it wasn't. I should have loved it, but I felt sapped once we got to the scene excerpted above.

The only reason I found, and I've racked my brains about this, is that the over-exaggerations were just tiring me out.

I was tired of wondering if what Juliette described was literally happening in the scene, tired of flipping back and forth to see if I missed anything, just tired of going "What...?" every time it happened.

SHATTER ME's ending was pretty kickass. Even my distanced self will admit that. I love where it's leading to, and hopefully the nonsensical descriptions won't happen as often in UNRAVEL ME, because I'm not sure that I won't just drop it and leave it.

Brief Hiatus and Book Recommendations

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:51:00 +0000

"What, again?!"

Yes, again.

Hello everyone! It's time for the annual Liyana-takes-another-hiatus-due-to-exams season!

I'll be away for somewhere from a couple of weeks to a month, where my focus will be on the ever beloved Statistics and Mathematics. I won't be around to reply to comments or comment frequently on your blog posts during that period, though I'll lurk on Twitter to check out what's happening. Please pray for me! :D

Review requests and emails (from 30 March)
I received them! Sorry for the wait, all emails from 30 March will be replied after this period. If you have emailed me for a review request, that might take longer depending on how long it takes for me to finish the current TBR pile.

Books received (before 30 March)
Will be reviewed during this period. Any acceptance of review copies will happen after that TBR pile is read and reviewed.

So I've recently been thinking about reading Aussie and NZ YA, which brings me to think that there are definitely some great books out there from places I've never heard of. Got a recommendation? They can be anything: YA, MG, adult; fantasy, contemporary, horror etc. Hit me up with some great reads!

I'll be off for some quality time with my past year papers. See you all soon!

Celebrating the YA Book Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:33:00 +0000

There have been a couple of posts going around detailing what's not working on YA covers. They're worth a read.

Let's talk about several covers that caught my attention and does what a cover does best: make me want to find out more about the book. Let's go celebrate some amazing covers!

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

The stark red just jumps out at you. I love that shade of red, where it's a mixture of red and deep rose pink. The girl is poised with her back foot raised to go inside the slightly ajar gates show that it's a mystery. She's going somewhere she's clearly not supposed to. The tilt of her back foot and her left hand suggests that it'll be a humourous book, though one with dark undertones. The title reinforces that fact, with its light pastel gold and the flourishes in the font.

Just like all of Sarah Rees Brennan's stories.

Guardian of The Dead by Karen Healey

The tilt of the mask seems to suggest the posture of the dead as they lay down to rest. It begs the question: who is the guardian of the dead, and why is he or she masked? Or is he/she masking the dead?

The Théâtre Illuminata trilogy by Lisa Mantchev
(review of ELS)

Image from http://worldofcovers.wordpress.com/

How can I go about doing a book cover post without once mentioning Lisa Mantchev's The Théâtre Illuminata trilogy?!

The covers so capture the whimsical feel of the books. Everything from the font, the gorgeous art and font bring to mind insane fun, with lots of dark humour. ELS shows the girl hiding behind the stage curtains, preparing to go forth and make her debut. Now to PtD where she's caught in an adventure (love triangle included, one doomed suitor upsize!) and SSB where she's clearly front and center, pretty princess dress and helpful fairies optional. The fairies flitting about here are one constant feature of the cover, which if you have read the novels, are one of the best parts of the series.

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

The first row of covers focuses more on the adventures of Percy Jackson, whereas the second row focuses more on Percy Jackson the boy, than his adventure. The former set doesn't tell us who the books are about, just that the adventures taking place in the books revolve around the title.

The latter set has an image for the whole series, with the top half of the cover denoting 'Half Boy, Half God, All Hero' and the focus on Percy Jackson.

"YES THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT PERCY JACKSON. WHO IS HE? ONLY HALF BOY, HALF GOD, ALL HERO."

Both sets have an eyecatching background which comes to your attention later than the titles, and is more of an enhancement to the covers, enticing you to take a second look and enjoy the cover art.

The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

Image from the http://thebookfae.wordpress.com/

The first row is what I grew up with. Simple title text showing us the main focus, with the background lending some ambience as to what's in the series. Second row's all about Artemis going through/running from/thrown out of a portal. Brings to mind the two dimensions, human and fairy, that the books are all about. Last set's my least favourite. They've lost the iconic title font, and replaced it with the initials of the series. Still brings to find some fantasy, though erm, that girl on the cover? NOT HOLLY.

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell

It's a superhero book! But title states that he's a renegade, so perhaps not a lawful one. Though which superheroes are? The graphics are reminiscent of graphic novels. All around brilliantly capturing the feel of the book.

Harper Madigan: Junior High Private Eye by Chelsea M. Campbell

The title text, subtitle and author name's are most likely going to be placed the same on subsequent sequels if there are any. It's that small tag that shows us the case title, and the stamped font of the case that brings to mind film noir ala Veronica Mars.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

(review)

Ominous island?

Check.

Ominous title text trailing off into the deep, dark depths of the unknown?

Check.

Ominous subtitle?

Check.

Prophecy of The Days by Christy Raedeke

First thing that comes to mind: the Mayan calender that supposed to end in 2012. The logo is one that calls to mind the Indiana Jones series: lots of mayhem, cobwebs, creepy crawlies and adventure.

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

(review of THG)

Helloooooo Mockingjay. Breaking free, I see.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

(review)

It's about a horse race! Specifically, about a girl in the horse race. Scorpio has always been a beautiful name. Scorpions, horoscope: some danger, perhaps with the race happening at night? The shiny font makes me want to read it.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

(review)

Cinder brings to mind ashes, though this clearly refers to Cinderella with the prominent heels. Metallic bones showing underneath will lead me to finding out what the deal is with this book because hey. What the heck does Cinderella's bones have to do with the Cinderella tale?

The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter

(reviews of books 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

Boarding school girl accompanied by title set in ransom letter font. Mysterious~ Also, isn't that skirt extremely short? What kind of school do you go to?! A school for spies? "All the better to kick asses with?"

Oh. Okay.

The Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

(reviews of Daimon, Half-Blood and Pure)

So simple: just a flower with tendrils of mist around it, surrounded by title text and author name all in the same shade of the cover. Magic~ Pretty flowers.

The Agency series by Y.S. Lee

It's about an Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese or Korean) lady working for an agency set in Victorian England! Right? About mysteries occuring in the dark of night, with that lady, not one of status if we look at her outfit, solving them. It's not everyday I read a story about a non-Caucasian in Victorian England.

ANNA and LOLA by Stephanie Perkins

(reviews of ANNA and LOLA)

We seriously need a series title for this. Can't call it 'the-four-letters-named-girl' series by Stephanie Perkins.

Best. Contemporary. Covers. Ever. They're cute, sweet, and bring to mind 1) epic romance set on the streets on Paris, and 2) romance occurring in good old suburbia. It's just fresh when you compare it to other contemporary covers. There's the curlique font and the focus on the girl rather than the guy. This is a set of covers where the guy is the accompanying piece, though to call Perkins' love interests 'pieces' are an insult to them.

The Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth

(Divergent review)

Iconic image: the circle of destruction in Divergent, the circle of regrowth in Insurgent, all set over a bleak city landscape. The city seems to be fine and functioning. Futuristic, science fictiony. The landscape looks good too, like an actual city landscape photograph and not the recreation of one.

Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby

(review)

Totally a bad day for fairies to be about, especially if the girl with the sword has anything to say about it. Cute. Though the fairy looks more like a butterfly...

Legend by Marie Lu

(review)

Another iconic circle! Shiny, militaristic stamped gold logo on a silver sheen. It's about a legend in the making!

I can just keep going and going and going...

From this collection, I can gather that the my favourite covers are those with 1) simple, iconic images "(Legend, the Divergent series) and 2) a graphical representation of the events in the novels, with an emphasis on tone (e.g. The Percy Jackson series, The Rise of Renegade X, Theatre Illuminata series).

Which covers work for you?

Slide by Jill Hathaway

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Title: Slide	Loved it	Graded
Author: Jill Hathaway
Genre: Mystery, paranormal
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Elements: Mystery, hidden powers, contemporary
Series: Book 1 of the Slide series

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

Aw, I'm such a sucker for books where the protagonist finds him or herself solving a mystery through their special innate powers that they've hidden from everyone. Check The Body Finder and Desires of The Dead as a couple that I've reviewed here.

I enjoy how they finally have a use for their powers, using it for the good of the people, and the problems that comes with that. The same goes for SLIDE. It reminds me of the Lisa McMann's Wake series. The scenes where Vee saw the murder was thrilling and upped the stakes in situation where before, Vee only saw the normal everyday secrets of the people around her.

This lends action in a novel where, when you consider how she accesses other people, it's in a state of sleep. Therefore there's really little action. The abundance of scenes wherein she plops herself to sleep is at times unintentionally humourous, and she wakes up to continue the search actively.

The emotional moments felt a bit rushed, along with the resolution, which didn't leave a lot of time for me to reconcile what happened with what had been built up in the chapters before. It's the opposite of the first few chapters, where things felt too drawn out. The frequency and speed of scene transitions left me somewhat disoriented as I found myself going along with the plot without absorbing much of it.

One thing that gave me pause was that the events do not actively happen to her or the people close to her. The scenes that created the tension and suspicion were all in Vee's sliding dreams, and so for one, it felt distant to me as a reader. Then you add the one thing that matters: that the murders all occur to her sister Mattie's group of friends. Aka her old crowd, some of whom still have ties with her, but none that I felt was still lingering enough for Vee to devote so much attention to it other than just being a good citizen, albeit one who saw the crime.

The intent is for us to see the parallels between now and then, and feel the emotional impact of what has been done to Vee vs what Vee is doing for them. But the relationship between Vee and everyone else felt distant and practically nonexistent. For example, she is haunted by memories of good times with a certain group of friends, but they frankly seemed to have moved on.

Since there's no connection or concern by them for her, I didn't feel any pain for her, or nostalgia for their old times, which I usually would have in similar scenes. On an intellectual level, I get what Hathaway is getting at. On the emotional level, not at all. This serves to make Vee seem like a busybody, especially when her sister just mopes around and doesn't seem to care as much as Vee does, even going so far to hide everything from her when it's Mattie's group of friends in danger.

In fact, she avoids her best friend, Rollins throughout the majority of the story. His involvement seems to be little more than brief appearances to remind us readers that there's one character outside of her family who truly cares about her.

Perplexing character and motivations.

There were two things that were extremely effective in their purpose: 1) Vee and Mattie's father. Even though he is distant, he continually makes an effort at keeping their family together. The scenes where he cooked for his children from their mom's cookbook were easily the best in the whole book. So bittersweet, and cemented the whole non-working trust they had. 2) Zane and Vee's relationship. There was a mutual attraction and they had some lovely scenes getting to know each other. This was done spectacularly well, and was one bright spot in a novel where the murder mystery sorely lacks any punch.

A page turner this is, but one that only made sense in the last few pages. Too late to draw me back in.

The Immortal Rules - Trailer and Website Sneak Peek!

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:13:00 +0000

The Official Trailer & bloodofeden.com website for THE IMMORTAL RULES By Julie Kagawa will be released on Monday April 16th at 11am on Harlequin Teen Facebook!

Pay close attention to The Immortal Rules Trailer! It contains the code you need to unlock exclusive content on http://www.bloodofeden.com/.

Get ready to count the number of Blood of Eden symbols…

There will also be an awesome Immortal Rules Twitter Contest starting at 11am on Monday April 16th to celebrate the cool new website and trailer! Follow @harlequinteen for details!

P.S. - Check out my review of THE IMMORTAL RULES if you haven't!

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Title: The Immortal Rules	Loved it	Graded
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Elements: Vampires, post-apocalypse
Series: Book 1 of The Immortal Rules series

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

THE IMMORTAL RULES has travel, adventure, the search for a purpose, self-discovery, and of course some deaths along the way.

We're introduced to the novel at the scene of a public human hanging. Memorable, and it drives the point that the vampires have a tight, controlled system in place where any slight transgression by humans is not forgiven, and harshly punished. There are humans who are favoured, labelled 'pets'. Best case scenario, they're everyday humans working in the Inner City. Worst case scenario, they actively turn in their fellow species to be slaughtered for better favours by the vampires.

That's my assumption. We're not told specifically that this happens; there are hints of these actions happening. I love that we get to make our own assumptions about these, that Kagawa doesn't have to tell us the possibilities.

Our narrator, Allie is so guarded, but I preferred that for her because of one reason: Stick, who in many characters words is the definition of 'pathetic'.

As a person, he is despicable, not pulling his weight in scavenging, which is a big deal because they're on the brink of starvation and every scrap of food counts. It's a parallel to The Hunger Games and Katniss hunting for food, except the law is more enforced here. He guilt trips Allie into continuously providing for him, which she already meant to, but the whininess and pitifulness masking the hint of threats is worse.

As a character, he's absolutely wonderful, because he pushes Allie to become a better person, letting her prize humanity above hunger, which helps when she becomes a vampire. He helps her become resilient while not losing any compassion, and her attachment to him is the one last thread holding her back to her human past, and thus holding her back from becoming an all out monster.

The events that happened between then and Allie meeting Zeke and his group war with the events that occur after to be one of my favourite parts. There's a nice parallel between Allie and Zeke's leadership styles which shows off their personality perfectly. Zeke is the type to leave no man behind, whereas Allie focuses more on self-survival. He teaches her to value every member of the team for virtues other than their scavenging and hunting skills. Allie grew a lot then, and I loved reading every bit of it. I was a bit indifferent to Zeke and Allie's romance, because I thought the interactions between the group were much more interesting. Some scandal there, and also a bit of a breather before things start moving along wildly.

TIR is pretty balanced out in terms of exposition and action. The exposition happens mainly in the former part of the book, which is also when Allie is around the city boundaries. While it had some action then, it's nothing compared to the latter half, where the plot moves forward continuously, and other parts of the new world outside the city is revealed to Allie, and to us as readers.

TIR is a great read. I rooted for Allie as she strived to make a place for herself in societies that didn't accept her as she was. She never gave up, and was continuously resilient. The flashy katana and the subsequent fights didn't hurt either.

I'll recommend this to people who are looking for books in the vein of I AM LEGEND and ZOMBIELAND. Even those who loved DAYBREAK and the RESIDENT EVIL series. It's not too violent, and it has a lot of nice character-building amongst the nitty-gritty giving in to the vampire hunger moments. A little darker than you'd expect, and a fun ride through the streets of old US.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:21:00 +0000

Title: Ten	Loved it	Graded
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Genre: Horror, thriller
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Elements: Serial killer
Series: Stand alone

And their doom comes swiftly.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

The tagline could potentially be written as such:

Ten teens.
Three days.
One killer.

TEN is like a B list scary movie on steroids. It's reminiscent of Harper's Island, only less violent and menacing, and more malicious and salacious.

I know. I like it too. It sounds absolutely delicious.

It has a fast-moving plot, with characters that decide on actions faster than I can process them. There's a killer who doesn't pause in its efforts to unnerve and set the house inhabitants against each other before killing them off. There there are the ten teens in the house, set on partying their weekend away from prying parental eyes or knowledge, not knowing that they're in for more trouble than they wanted.

Our three main protagonists are Meg, Minnie and TJ. If I had to illustrate a mind map of their relationship and motives, oh boy, that's a tangled mess right there, with both girls having a thing for TJ. Meg's our main character, and I'm not sure which is more dangerous, the teens working together to catch the killer, or just Meg, Minnie and TJ in a house together, alone.

Minnie depends on Meg like she's her caregiver, and Meg recognises that fact, neither encouraging nor discouraging Minnie's behaviour. Which of course, puts a wrench in any form of relationship Meg hopes to have with TJ. Sometimes I'm not sure whether Minnie is aware of that fact, and exploits it, or whether that's how she naturally is. Signs also point to the fact that she's suffering from a mental illness that might be exacerbating her naturally possessive behaviour.

At times, I'm not sure whether it's directed to TJ, to Meg, or against Meg.

Talking about the teens working together to catch the killer, I love that they actively form an uneasy alliance when it's far easier to turn on one another. Hey, people have done that for far less. Humans, when placed together in a confined space, will naturally have conflicts. Just look at the reality shows based solely on that fact. And that's before adding a killer into the mix.

There are a couple of motives being explored as the mystery goes on. All equally possible, each getting more and more convoluted. There's hint of supernatural events that gave me goosebumps, though that could be just me reading too much into it and looking for connections with McNeil's POSSESS. If you've read POSSESS, you know you're in for a good scare.

TEN gets pretty predictable after a while, but it's entertaining and a page turner. Best of all? It sates the part of me that's been waiting for such a book.

In My Mailbox

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 03:54:00 +0000

IMM is a meme created by The Story Siren.

So Close to You by Rachel Carter

Lydia Bentley has heard stories about the Montauk Project all her life: stories about the experiments that took place at the abandoned military base near her home and the people who’ve disappeared over the years. When she stumbles into a vessel that transports her to a dangerous and strange new reality, Lydia realizes that all the stories she’s ever heard about the Montauk Project are true—and that she’s in the middle of one of the most dangerous experiments in history.

Alongside Wes, a darkly mysterious boy whom she is wary to trust, Lydia begins to unravel the secrets surrounding the project. But the truths behind these secrets force her to question all her choices. And if Lydia chooses wrong, she might not save her family but destroy them...and herself.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

I reviewed SO CLOSE TO ME, and it's an interesting look into the workings of a small American town during World War 2. SHATTER ME has been one of my to-read books for a while--must be all the numbers. Have you read it? What did you think?

Designing books is no laughing matter.

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Linked on Twitter, an inspiring talk by a book designer.

So Close to You by Rachel Carter

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Title: So Close to You	Loved it	Graded
Author: Rachel Carter
Genre: Alternate universe, Science fiction
Publisher: HarperTeen
Elements: Time travel, World War 2
Series: Book 1 of The Montauk Project series

Lydia Bentley has heard stories about the Montauk Project all her life: stories about the experiments that took place at the abandoned military base near her home and the people who’ve disappeared over the years. When she stumbles into a vessel that transports her to a dangerous and strange new reality, Lydia realizes that all the stories she’s ever heard about the Montauk Project are true—and that she’s in the middle of one of the most dangerous experiments in history.

Alongside Wes, a darkly mysterious boy whom she is wary to trust, Lydia begins to unravel the secrets surrounding the project. But the truths behind these secrets force her to question all her choices. And if Lydia chooses wrong, she might not save her family but destroy them...and herself.

This review contains spoilers.

So this is a story about time travelling where time travel happens through a scientific contraption that is not explained, but sounds exciting and extremely high tech. I imagine it as a tinier, more colourful version of the Large Hadron Collider, with particles flying around and where magic~ happens.

Long story short: Lydia's been told stories about the Montauk Project which she dismisses until she's sent back into time. After the time travel, Lydia finds herself back in the midst of World War 2. I'm not that informed on the US's side of WW2, and the fashion, behavious and mannerisms at that time, so I cannot vouch for its feel of authenticity. The descriptions resemble what I remember of the Grease movie, which happened in 1960s, only more conservative, so that's how I imagined it.

Lydia in 2012 is a senior in high school and an aspiring journalist, who's now deciding the next big step in her life: which college and internship to go to. She's thoughtful, inquisitive, intelligent and demure, and these traits helped her assimilate into the 1940s society.

I'm not going to make excuses: luck plays a huge part in this story, but not to the extent whereby the character's actions and motives are bumblingly hindered or enhanced. Now, at times I did question Lydia's intelligence. There's this quality called 'noble idiocy' that happens a lot in Korean dramas, which I am very much addicted to. It's whereby a character sacrifices his or her happiness 'for the good of the other character' even if it comes at the other person's unwillingness. This is the excess of self-sacrifice, where it crosses from sweet to being unnecessarily tragic. For example, breaking up with your One Twoo Love™ and faking your own death to save him from being rid of his inheritance, which he was willing to give up for you.

Despite numerous warnings of the effects her action will have on the future, Lydia is single-mindedly determined to attain her goal. It's actually admirable. And then Lydia's noble idiocy trait reared its head.

It's a pretty slow story, and there was quite a bit of exposition and explanation about WW2 around that part, which fell more into infodumping at times. For example, Lydia's adoptive family in the 1940s went on this huge exposition of the characters and current political situation, which the history buff in me loved. In the end, it did not play any meaningful part in the story. A short explanation of the war and its players, and the current situation was enough. The extra details were just that: details.

So, as the blurb has mentioned a one mysterious boy that Lydia has met, I shall do so in this review too. I like how their romance played out. It's full on attraction, though I read it mostly as curiousity on Lydia's part. You know what it does to cats.

Here comes one of the best lines in the book. "Theirs was an impossible love." It's tragic, but I loved it and I rooted for them. I'd love for their love to challenge the odds and win, only because as of this time, I cannot possibly think of any way for them to be together.

It's a sweet story. The finale left me hanging when I thought I got a pretty good conclusion, and you know what? I think I'll try the next book in the series when it's out.

In My Mailbox

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 03:11:00 +0000

IMM is a meme created by The Story Siren.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

And their doom comes swiftly.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.

As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.

In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series.

Starters by Lissa Price

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

Received some great books in the mail this week, and I can't decide which I'm more excited for. There's TEN, which looks to be a fun thriller which I am not going to read at night. Have you read POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil? The scary parts were chill inducing. Brrr.

Then there's UNTIL I DIE. I loved DIE FOR ME, which will be reviewed soon, so I'm pacing myself before reading this. STARTERS looks like it'll have some existential dilemma discussion going on, and that's always something I'm up for.

Any books here you're excited for? Leave your IMM link with your comment so I can check out what you got!

Catalyst by Marc Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Title: Catalyst	Loved it	Graded
Author: Marc Johnson
Genre: High fantasy
Publisher: -
Elements: Wizards, dragons, elves
Series: Book 1 of The Passage of Hellsfire

For centuries, the kingdom of Alexandria has protected Northern Shala from the monstrous creatures lurking in the Wastelands. Now, a dark force threatens that fragile peace.

Far from home, Alexandria’s princess is abducted. When a young villager named Hellsfire stumbles upon her and her captors, he rushes in to rescue her, alone and unarmed. His fear and fury unleash an uncontrollable magical force that grants him the power to save the princess—and change the world.

Hellsfire has never craved nor dreamed of power. But such magic as he now possesses has not been seen in Northern Shala for a thousand years, since the devastation of the War of the Wizards and the creation of the Wastelands.

Now Hellsfire must leave all he’s ever known, and make a dangerous journey to learn to master this wild, ferocious power—power he knows he is not ready to wield. More difficult still, he needs to master his emotions. If he can’t, the power will consume him, Alexandria will fall, and darkness will eclipse the land, destroying everyone he loves.

In the dead of cold, the spark shall burn...

This is the story of a boy named Hellsfire.

I know, I know. Even though there's a reason for it, it's absolutely cringe-worthy. You'd think he'd have a nickname to fall back upon, but no. I liked that he had spunk and was a genuinely good kid, trying to put the negative connotation of his name away, having suffered torment because of it.

CATALYST has a lot of elements that either separately, or together, are some of my favourite. Political intrigue (yes! my absolute favourite phrase!), love that grows across time and space, aka years and a heck lot of journeying.

And yet I wasn't as emotionally invested as I could be. I could see the actions, but there's not a lot of introspection on Hellsfire part. It's one scene after another, which mostly works. There's a constant tone throughout the book, which has its pros in terms of the writing going fluidly, but its cons when it comes to heightening the suspense and tension of a certain scene. Thus, while it strives to be serious--and the events and character's reactions are portrayed as such--at times it comes off as cheesy.

There's a lot of action to make up for it and the plot moved fast. I'd say that the events that occur here is about as much as a whole YA series. There is a lot going on, but it doesn't lose its narrative focus. As a character, Hellsfire comes off as almost too perfect as the story went on. It didn't bother me too much. This is a familiar occurrence in the urban and high fantasy series that I read, with the powers coming on fast and furious at the start, after which the coping and downfall start to occur (and the rising up after the fall part).

Certain parts reminded me of Legend of The Seeker and LoTR, which is neither good nor bad, just a small recognition. For me, I liked it because it's been a while since I read high fantasy.

For readers, this is more in the vein of those good old school high fantasy series ala Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth, of which the Legend of the Seeker television series was made of. It's an entertaining story. There's a lot of travelling across a vast land, magical creatures working together in tandem and kingdoms and lands in fraught danger. If you like those types of books, try this.

In My Mailbox

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:23:00 +0000

IMM is a meme created by The Story Siren.

I haven't done these in a while!

A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future.

Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility.

Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.

Harper Madigan: Junior High Private Eye by Chelsea M. Campbell

7th grade detective Harper Madigan works alone. He doesn't need the vice principal assigning him a new partner to keep him in line, especially a stuffed-shirt wannabe-journalist who totally cramps his style.

And he especially doesn’t need his troublemaker ex-girlfriend showing up out the blue and asking for his help. She’s accused of attacking the star of the school musical, and with her less-than-sparkling track record, she’s only one suspension away from getting expelled.

Only Harper believes she’s innocent, and now it’s up to him to prove it, even if it means making an enemy of the PTA mafia, risking his agency, and confronting the mistakes of his own dark past. But when his new partner insists on doing everything by the book, and his old nemesis–the one bully he can’t catch–starts harassing his clients, it’s going to take more than just detective work to solve the case.

These are a couple of books that I got recently, and they look pretty good, don't they? I'm about fifty pages in, and A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS is getting intriguing. There are secret passages, and the supporting characters relationships are really fun to read about.

HARPER MADIGAN is a Middle Grade book, and I'm going to try this based on the strength of THE RISE OF RENEGADE X. (It has a sequel coming out!)

What did you get this week? Any books for me to stare all puppy-eyed at?

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Title: Hallow	Loved it	Graded
Author: Cynthia Hand
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Elements: Angels
Series: Book 2 of the Unearthly series

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

This review contains spoilers.

HALLOWED brought the Unearthly series to another level, and solidifies its status as one of my favourite series, only two books in.

It speaks a lot about the state of YA books nowadays that I'm surprised when rules that come with a mythology are upheld. The actions are dealt with without relying on any loopholes or 'twists' to explain it away. In HALLOWED, Clara and her family are dealing with the aftermath of the events in UNEARTHLY--or the lack thereof.

The main storyline here--and what I absolutely love-- is that it focuses on Clara and her mom's relationship. It made me tear up. It's not as an aside to the main love story and adventure, as a way to round the book up and give more depths to the characters, but the actual plot. Clara's mom is a huge influence on her life, and that knowledge is everywhere in the book. from Clara's actions to her lifestyle. It's rare to see a YA book that actually focuses on another important part of YA: the parental influence.

As for Clara and her boy troubles. I'll be upfront: I'm a Clara and Christian fan. With how the mythology is laid out and Clara's purpose, I was under the impression that Clara would be with Christian in the end. Then again, my favouritism has been blinding me to the fact that they're both part angels, and that would mean that somewhere in the lineage, humans came into the mix, so a Clara Tucker pairing would be perfectly plausible too.

I love the depths that and goes to, and it's admirable--and quite brave-- how this is a YA book where the main focus is on a parent child relationship. I love the themes displayed, mortality, free will and so on. I'll be waiting for for book three. It's set in Stanford!

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:03:00 +0000

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time	Loved it	Graded
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Mysteries, thrillers
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Elements: Boarding School, espionage
Series: Book 5 in the Gallagher Girls series

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.

Finally, finally, book five is here.

I have been waiting for this book for a long, long time, and darn, did all the waiting pay off.

The book really starts off with a shock. Readers were left with Cammie right before she went on her mision, and now we find out that she's lost all memories of the mission, whether she has even completed it. I'd say that it's a cruel thing to do to us, but cruel in the spy sense does not have the same connotation here.

There's a darker tone here, as Cammie navigates the now unfamiliar walls of Gallagher Academy. Relationships have evolved without her, and as Cammie feels that she could trust no one. Not her friends, Zach, nor her mom. During these parts, I couldn't help but to feel Cammie's frustration and underlying exhaustion and suspicion. It felt like the bubbly part of her had been effectively killed. This change in tone brings some brevity to the situation. I can no longer now believe that they are still playing dress up and having adventures, as I did before. Now the situations are real. The threats are ultimately real, and my favourite part? The betrayals and infiltrations have begun.

This is a small part, but when she returns, Cammie's just only a senior in GA. To be an active spy, having been hunted down in the past few years without having graduated makes her eventual graduation ceremony feel more of a ceremonial procedure than an introduction into the spy world.

There's a psychological factor in play that is absolutely creepy and heartbreaking to read. OSOT had me tearing up in parts, and Carter delivers on whatever hints and mysteries have been introduced in the current book without leaving any cliffhangers. As a writer, it shows that Carter has a strong, solid grasp on the world that she has built and the characters to know when to let a conflict be resolved, and to trust that new conflicts will appear without forcing repeated mentions or scenes regarding it.

The ending was utterly satisfying, and it makes me so excited for book six. If we follow the pattern, it'll take place right after Cammie and her friends graduate, so we'll be able to see more action outside of GA's walls, which is what book four attempted, and OSOT went further, just in time too. While I enjoyed the scenes taking out of doors, GA had started to feel a bit stifling. There's only so much action that can happen in Cammie's favourite hidden passageways.

Reminds me of when the Harry Potter series were still being written. I just might go through another re-read or two of the whole series.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Title: Unearthly	Loved it	Graded
Author: Cynthia Hand
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Elements: Angels
Series: Book 1 of the Unearthly series

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . . Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

I didn't have high hopes for UNEARTHLY, but then again, I don't have high hopes for a lot of books nowadays. :/ UNEARTHLY plays with the themes of free will vs destiny, or to look at it another way, love vs the job. It's not an uncommon theme in YA. What Hand does that makes it unusual is that it has the main protagonist accepting her destiny resolutely, and she finds ways to work around it rather than fight it outrightly.

Clara has a clear understanding of her role to play--after all, she's there because her purpose is to save Christian from the fire. She is guided by her mother, someone who has been through what she's been through, and accompanied by her as-yet-without-a-purpose brother.

As guardian angels, they have the means to move to any place where the purpose might occur. The setting feels luxurious, with a forest as a backdrop, a ski resort. Sometimes it comes off more as hidden school for VIPs rather than a normal school away from the hustle bustle of the city. It feels like such a holiday to me!

The relationships between Clara and her family is adorable. Tucker grated on my nerves, because he grated on Clara's nerves. This is one time I'm fully on the seemingly perfect guy's side. I found Tucker's sister/Clara's friend to welcoming and friendly, but she annoyed me sometimes.

Clara's attraction to Tucker was unexpected to her and put a cinch in her perfect plans. The ending was not entirely unexpected, but it left me conflicted.

This book was published sometime when angel mythology was all the rage in YA. It almost slipped through my notice, and while the synopsis does not do the book justice, UNEARTHLY is better than I expected. It was halfway through that I realised that the book is gold.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Black

noreply@blogger.com (Liyana) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:54:00 +0000

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood	Loved it	Graded
Author: Kendare Black
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Tor Teen
Elements: Humour
Series: Book 1 of the Anna series

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

This review contains spoilers.

There's this thing I'm doing where I pick a book based purely on the recommendations of trusted readers, regardless of whether it's something that I would have picked up on my own. ANNA is a book that I've been debating about reading for a while. The cover, synopsis and title labelled it as a non-Liyana book, but so many people have been raving about it, and now here I am.

The first time we're introduced to Anna is when she tears someone in half. That kind of thing tends to stick in your mind, and further reinforced the characterisation of Anna's ghost as a bloodthirsty, remorseless killer who spared no one.

It was horrifying and scary, and huddled under my blanket, a tiny part of me was thrilled. I read on, and looked forward to experiencing some much lauded humourous horror scenes. There were a few briliant scenes where Anna goes head to head with Cas, with some creeptastic fight scenes and atmospheres. The basement scene is one of my favourites. It showed me what is possibly the scariest part of horror stories: after the kill.

Meanwhile, things were starting to get a little bit monotonous. While the battles were fun to read about, it seemed like a one off ghost vs hunter story.

Then Anna and Cas fell in love.

Anna mellowed and while I adored quasi-human Anna, I missed scary, badass Anna. The focus shifted more onto revealing Anna's history, and the current day events were quickly explained away.

The disappearance of a few teenagers were quickly explained away, if any. The mystery of Cas's father's death. There was no explanation as to why Anna spared Cas the first time, nor the many times after, and it detracted from the story and the tension. Even if it was the curse breaking down, the start of the romance felt jarring and out of place. On Cas's side, it seemed as if he was fascinated with Anna to the point of obsession, calling it love.

I don't know, it's a relationship between a ghost and a ghost hunter. It's bound to be weird. Let them call it whatever they want.

Alone, Cas and Anna were formidable opponents. Together, they were actually a pretty cute, normal everyday couple. While I can't begrudge them that little happiness after all the shiz in their lives, it did come at the expense of the better parts and resolution of the story.