The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

 

Pages: 365

Publisher: Razorbill

Release Date: November 14, 2011

Rating: 5/5

Points Earned: 0/13 (Test not taken)

Review:

Daphne is the youngest daughter of Lilith and Lucifer. She isn't quite like her sisters, the Lilim. Daphne is more human than them. She doesn't want to feed off of men's pain and sorrow; she's never even left Pandemonium. That is, until her brother, Obie, says he's leaving, that he fell in love with a human girl.

Daphne sets after him when her mother sees a vision of blood, thinking that the Angel of Death, Azrael, and he's minion, Dark Dreadful, have found him.

But first, she must seek out Obie's human friend, Truman Flynn, because he was the last person to see Obie when he left.

Truman is in no shape of helping anyone, being a cutter and alcoholic. The only thing he wants is to drop dead. When Daphne find him at a party, comatose in the bathroom, she has to beg her cousin Moloch to spare his life.

His time on Earth was up, but Daphne needs him to find her brother.

It took me a couple days to get fully into this book, but when I did, I was hooked. This book had be laughing, crying, and just going "Awwww!"

This book goes from first to third person, in a way that is wonderfully done. The chapters in first are from Daphne's point-pf-view, and the third person follows Truman.

Once again, I think I enjoyed reading about Truman than I did Daphne. Truman's development throughout the book was just outstanding. By the end, he did fully understand that he isn't just some screwed up bastard, and that he is capable of accomplishing things in life.

Daphne was, in my opinion, just adorable. Her ignorance of just the simpliest "human" things, well, adorable! Her development throughout the book, while not as strong as Truman's, is just as great.

The romance was refreshing. Yes, this is in the span of about three days, so technically, they fall in-love pretty quick, but it was gradual throughout the book. In the beginning, all Daphne wanted from Truman was information about her brother's whereabouts. By the end, she wanted to save them both.

Another character I loved was Obie's daughter, Raymie. She was cute in a creepy sort of way. From what I understood, she wasn't even a year old, but could speak full sentences, and knew all about medical terms and stuff (Obie was a doctor while on Earth). I just wanted to hug her.

The writing was dark and beautiful. It had a way of drawing you in and not letting go until the very end.

Speaking of the end, it was both heart-wrenching and beautiful. It gave you just enough to be satisfied (you know, after I was tearing up from the sad part ;-;).

This was probably one of the best "demon" books I've read. Yovanoff didn't water the demons down. She didn't make them pleasant. Not to mention she didn't screw with Lilith's story. Props to her.

This is certainly one of my favorite books of 2012 so far

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

 

Pages: 235

Publisher: Razor Bill

Release: November 12, 2009

Rating: 1/5

Points Earned: 0/8 (Test not taken)

 

Review:

 

We all know how much I love Lauren Kate, right? I have pretty much no respect for her as an author, but I can't help but pick up all of her books. Perhaps I enjoy putting myself through literary torture.

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove is a modern retelling of Macbeth, and what an epic fail it is!

All Natalie wants for her senior year is to be crowned Palmetto Princess (prom queen, for all you normal people out there). He long-term boyfriend, Mike, is a lot less enthusiatic. At this rate, pretty-boy Justin Balmer is going to get crowned Prince. That is, until a prank the night of Rex's Mardi Gras party goes horribly wrong.

How on Earth is she going to get her crown, while at the same time covering up her tracks? And why is it she is still seeing Justin wherever she goes?

The first thing I have to say about this book: unrealistic. I mean, yes, this book does boarder on paranormal, but I mean on more of a high-school-level.

You know, like how you see on television. There is always that one girl who dreams of being crowned homecoming/prom queen. Times that by ten and you get Palmetto High.

Not everyone is set on being crowned, but they are all pretty into the whole thing. To the point where they have a day on just showing off their jessamines, rightly named Jessamine Day.

Now, I don't know about your schools, but at mine all the grade levels pretty much get along. I don't know any "Bambies" and none of my Junior friends are hippies. Maybe you do?

The way people talk in this book is just odd. Most people my age wouldn't use the word "polyamorous" (well, except my friend Alex) and little to none know what a "thespian" is (I'm just a freak like that), so using the phrase "polyamorous thespian" just doesn't work.

Then again, Kate is known to use big words in her books.

Another problem: grammar. I can let commas and stuff slide, but "more softly" is just not acceptable. Perhaps this is to prove that Nat is uneducated? But, then again, she used the phrase "polyamorous thespian," so I don't know.

Really, wouldn't it just be easier to say "whore?"

Normally I can tell from the beginning whether or not this book with be enjoyable. The first paragraph was pretty good, and then the style just went juvenile.

Once upon a time, we knew nothing--like ohmigod! I sooo want those shoes

The ending was no better...until the last paragraph. I think we have a pattern!

*SPOILERS*

We all know that in the play, Lady Macbeth kills herself. Well, not in this story! Instead of killing herself, Natalie planned to run away to New York. Her plans went wrong (again) when she got into an argument with Mike in their "secret spot." It resulted in him pushing her off the edge of a cliff to her ultimate death.

This was obviously supposed to take you off-guard, make you sad. I say that she deserved it.

*END SPOILERS*

Natalie was just an unlikeable character: selfish and manipulative. She didn't even really have any character development. I suppose there was a small hint of remose in the end, but not really.

All-in-all, this is a standard Lauren Kate book: a gorgeous cover with terrible content.

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Pages: 341
Publisher: Simon&Schuster
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Rating: 4/5
Points Earned: N/A

Review:

I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've read Wither. It feels like it was just yesterday I was all like "Ohemgeee, Nicki! Read this book nao!"

It also feels like just yesterday when I saw this cover and nearly puked, but that's besides the point.

When Wither left off, Rhine and Gabriel escaped from Vaughn's mansion. What they come upon next is even more trouble. Figures.

I'm not going to go into full detail, because so much went on in this tiny book.

I think my main problem in this book was Gabriel. I was gaga over him in the first book, mainly because he was just...there. Now, he has an actual personality. A cliche personality, that is. The caring, yet easily angered love interest. Ooh la la--bleh.

I mean, there were still some cute parts between them, but their relationship felt a bit forced.

Just like in the former, I love DeStefano's writing. So dark and morbid. So different from her Facebook and Twitter updates, that's for sure.

The ending was pretty much the standard cliffhanger, but it set up perfectly for the next book. I am really curious to see how the trilogy will end, because I find it hard to believe that it'll have a happy ending.

It better not, because this plot so doesn't set up for one!

Life As We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Life As We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Pages: 337



The only thing I can really say about this book is wow. I mean we all joke about the apocolypse and the world ending, and all that crazy stuff, but this book really was a "wow, this could actually happen to us" kind of deal. No zombies, no wars, nothing cool, just death. But isn't that what the apocolypse is?

The main character Miranda, was a pretty cool main character. She was really strong.  Stronger than I would ever be in her position. Her brother Jonny is younger than her and also pretty sweet, but he whines a little to much.  Her older brother Matt is a very strong kind-hearted man and I'm happy that he lived through everything. The mom was whiny and needed to calm down about things that really weren't as big as she made them out to be.

This was an amazing book, I really liked it.  I'm gonig to be honest, at first I didn't want to read it because I thought that I knew everything about the apocolypse, but even though none of us knows what's going to happen or even if it is going to happen this was a very big eye opener. I definately recommend this book.

It got a little slow at points, but for the most part it kept at a steady pace and was usually always pretty interesting. :)

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden Tabitha Suzuma

 

Pages: 454

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: June 28, 2011

Rating: 4/5

Points Earned: 17/17

Review:

Incest is probably one of the most taboo subjects in the world, but also one of the most fascinating. I know that pretty much every time I explained the book to one of my friends, they would respond with "Ew! That's so gross! I want to read it!"

The Whitely family might look like a decent family from a distance, but in reality, they are as about as dysfunctional as a family can get. Their father left five years ago, their mother is an alcoholic and pays more attention to her boyfriend, Kit, the third oldest, is in a gang, and Maya and Lochan are left to take care of their three younger siblings, as well as hide their relationship from the world.

This book is the pure definition of sexual tension. Lochan and Maya long to go "all the way," but they know that if they do and get caught, the children will all be separated and put into foster care, and they will get thrown into prison.

Talk about suck-ish.

This book goes back and forth between Lochan's and Maya's points-of-view. Lochan was by-far the more interesting character. Now, let's face it, Lochan's a pansy. Lochan also has a deadly temper. One second he's having a panic attack in the middle of class, the next he is strangling his brother.

Lochan has a hard time with talking to people outside his family. This worries the people at school because he refuses to participate in class. He never raises his hand, and he always has an excuse not to present a project. He definately has an extreme case of Disappearing Parent Syndrome.

Maya, on the other hand, was just there. I didn't really get a connection with her like I did Lochan.

Another thing was that their voices were quite similar. Somtimes I'd get confused with who's chapter it is. In the book, Lochan is described as a straight A student, and has a wide vocabulary. Maya, on the other hand, was an average student. I don't believe her voice should have been as intelligent as his was.

I really enjoyed the children in the story: Kit, Tiffin, and Willa. They all had such distinct personalities and they were all so adorable (Yes, even you Kit).

The ending was very sad. It brought me to tears. I did, however, see it coming. I'm not going to spoil anything, but it is pretty obvious if you put two-and-two together.

All in all. This was a great book. I do believe it isn't for everyone. No, it's not going to make you look at your sibling and want to do the nasty, but I do believe you have to be mature enough to take the whole thing seriously. As rare as it is, this does happen. It's nothing to joke about.

Soul Thief (Forbidden) by Jana Oliver

Soul Thief (Forbidden) by Jana Oliver

 

 

Pages: 324

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: August 30, 2011

Rating: 4.5/5

Riley is back, and has more problems than ever: her deal with Heaven, boys...Oh, and her father was ilegally reanimated by an unknown necro.

When we left off in The Demon Trapper's Daughter, Simon was gravely hurt, and Riley made a deal with Heaven so he will survive. Of course, this comes with a price.

Simon has changed, and not for the better. Who was once the kind, religeous <strike>freak</strike> boy, is now the self-righteous ass. He has it in his head that Riley and her father are in-line with Hell.

Even Harper thinks he's nuts.

Now, I wasn't a fan of Simon, even in the first book, so I'm happy this happened. Actually, his change made him more interesting to read about, and I was looking foward to his and Riley's encounters.

What I did't like was the new addition: Ori. Now, in the end, he is essential to the plot, but before then, I just found him to be just an add-on. A filler, if you will, until Riley ends up with who she's supposed to be with.

Ori was supposed to be drop-dead gorgeous, but I didn't see it. To me, he was just a stalker. Wherever Riley was, he'd show up. I dreaded every chapter with Ori.

We all know Beck is my favorite in this series. This may be because we get to get inside his head, like we do Riley.

In the first book, he was kick-ass. In the second, well, he's still kick-ass, but we also get to see some of his imperfections. Those imperfections make him even more charming and likeable (Did I just call Backwoods Boy charming?...Huh).

Again, my main problem with this was the font. It's tiny. I had no will to read it because of this. If it were bigger, I'd be more willing to fly through it.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

Pages: 313

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Release Date: January 10, 2012

Rating: 5/5

 

Review:

 

"I couldn't be mad at him for even a moment,and only now that I loved a grenade did I understand the foolishness of trying to save others from my own impending fragmentation: I couldn't unlove Augustus Waters. And I didn't want to."

To give a summary of The Fault In Our Stars would be nearly impossible without spoiling the entire thing. So, I simply gave you a touching quote from the novel.

I think what I love the most about John Green is that he doesn't insult his readers' intelligence. He doesn't dumb the story down. He gives you a well thought-out, beautifully written story about the tragedies of life.

He does this by sending you on a winding trail of laughter and tears (and let me tell you, I was tearing up in my Spanish class while reading this).

The two main characters in this story are Hazel and Augustus. They come together by the one thing that brought them together--cancer.

Hazel was diagnosed with stage IV thyroid cancer, and must live with it for the rest of her life. She is on medication for it, and must walk around with an oxygen machine.

She fully accepts that one day she will die.

Augustus, on the other hand, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. He now has a prosthetic leg, but hey, the cancer seems to be out of his body.

To him, he is on a rollercoaster that "only goes up."

They both seem to have an obsession with Peter Van Housten's An Imperial Affliction. They want to know what happens to everyone else after Anna, the main character in the novel, dies.

They do get a chance to find out.

Another character that stood out to me was Augustus' best friend, Isaac.

Like Hazel and Augustus, Isaac is a cancer survivor. He is now blind because of it.

Like most of Green's characters, Isaac is also very witty.

This book will have you thinking about it for well after you've read it. Green has a good way of making you think about your own life and how you live it. For some people, that's a good thing. For others, not so much, but this is a book worth at least trying.