Janet Evanovich is back with the 18th book in her best-selling Stephanie Plum series and the famous female bounty hunter is up to her old tricks once again. Stephanie Plum's vacation to Hawaii didn't quite go as planned but she made it home to Trenton alive and that's more than the guy in the seat next to her can say. Soon Stephanie finds herself in the middle of an international murder investigation with some pretty shady people tracking her down. She would be nervous about it, but when Joyce Barnhardt moves into her apartment she knows she has bigger things to worry about.
Like all of the Stephanie Plum series, Explosive Eighteen is a fun, face-paced book that keeps you turning pages. The plot follows the same formula as all of the rest of the series (Stephanie trying to catch lame bad guys + real bad guys trying to catch Stephanie + explosions + car issues + pizza + beer + men), but Evanovich's characters make the story compelling. They are colorful and quirky and down right hilarious. These books cause me to laugh out loud...often. And I'll keep reading them as long as she keeps writing them. If you're looking for a laugh, you should definitely check these out.
American Gods is written by best selling author, Neil Gaiman. Clay read this book at the recommendation of his mom and since he really enjoyed it, I gave it a go as well. For three years, Shadow has been counting down the days until his release from prison. He's kept his head down, done his time and patiently awaited to return home to his wife, his friends, and his job. And just when the end is in sight, his world is flipped upside down.
Left to pick up the pieces of a shattered existence, Shadow is approached by Mr. Wednesday, a man who seems to know everything about him. Despite their strange encounters, or possibly because of them, Mr. Wednesday convinces Shadow to go work for him and their journey down the rabbit hole begins. The path they take leads Shadow far beyond the realm of his own imagination and soon he finds himself in the middle of a conflict where the lines between beliefs and truths are blurred. Shadow must discover the truth before it's too late and decide whose side he's on.
This book lands somewhere in the middle for me. The story is interesting enough. The characters are well written and Gaiman does a nice job of weaving together the mythology of several different religions to create some thought provoking moments. Unfortunately, I'm certain that my lack of mythological knowledge forced some of the book's coolness to be lost on me. Gaiman's pacing of the story was very even keeled and moved the plot along just fine, but there's wasn't a ton of action so nothing really ever felt emotionally charged. Upon reflection, I think the story could have been written so that it was more compelling but overall, I found American Gods to be good...just not great.
I can't tell you how excited I was when City of Lost Souls finally came in at my library the day before our trip to Michigan. I had put on my hold list way back in March after finishing City of Fallen Angels, so I had been eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Time is of the essence in the fifth book of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. When Jace and Sebastian are found missing, the search begins but as the days tick by without a trace of either boy a foreboding sense of loss settles over the shadowhunters. When the Clave turns its focus to more pressing matters, Clary and her friends take up the task of finding Jace and freeing him from the evil power that binds him. The journey is shadowed in darkness as the group is forced to bargain with the sinister Seelie Queen and consider help from demons, leaving them to question how far they would go for the love?
Cassandra Clare takes her series to a whole other level with this book. It is rich with detail and subplots that grow all of the characters instead of just Jace and Clary. Clare shows growth as a writer by devoting more time to developing the side stories of other characters that add more depth and complexity to the overall story, making everything feel more complete.
City of lost Souls may be my favorite book of the series so far. Clare's take on the dark side of love and importance of trust makes for an interesting read that I'm sure I'll come back to again. I have no idea how she's going to wrap everything up in one more book, but I'm excited to read it when it hits stores.
So, I completely forgot to take a photo of this book before I took it back to the library last week and now we're in Michigan. So, if you want to check out what the book looks like click here Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Sorry about that. Anyway... The main character of this book, Karou, is a seventeen year-old art student living in Prague. Her sketch books are filled with colorful images of monsters which her friends believe are a part of her very active imagination. But the monsters in her sketch books are real. They are her family. Grateful for her Chimaera family, Karou runs errands for Brimstone, the Wishmaker, bringing him mysterious items from all over the world. When one of the errands brings Karou face-to-face with an enemy from her past, she goes searching for answers to the mysteries of her life - who is she and where she comes from? I found Daughter of Smoke and Bone through the NoveList recommendations available on my library's web catalog. It is the third novel written by author Laini Taylor and was a joy to read. The story is beautifully written with obvious attention given to the details. The scenes and characters are well thought out and fully developed. I felt like I could be sitting with Karou in Prague, discussing art. Taylor also uses humor easily and to great effect without watering down her character's personality. And while the story is listed as Teen Fiction, Daugher of Smoke and Bone does not fall into the typical traps of the teen genre. There is no angst ridden love triangle in this book. It's very refreshing. Originally, I picked this book up thinking it was a stand alone novel. I was wrong. Apparently, it is the first book in a planned trilogy. The second installation, Days of Blood and Starlight, is hopefully due out sometime this fall, although nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
Pandemonium is written by best-selling author Lauren Oliver. It is the sequel to her book Delirium. Alex is gone. The words seem to echo through the weak, empty shell that is Lena's body when she awakens in the wild. She has been saved, but her desire for life is gone. Alex is gone.
In the weeks after her escape, Lena must work hard to rebuild herself and carve out a place in her strange new world, making new friends and learning to trust once again. As a new Lena grows from the ashes of the old, she decides to help others find their way into a world filled with love and freedom. But the stakes are high when she returns to the world of walls and rules. Someone is always watching and Lena finds herself caught up in a tangled web of lies that threatens to turn her world upside down again.
Lauren Oliver is a beautiful writer. She easily weaves together a vivid world that makes her stories compelling. Her characters have good depth and perspective that make them easy to connect to as well as unique. And the themes that run through her books are thought provoking.
I have to say that I really enjoyed Pandemonium though it left me feeling a bit conflicted. I won't say why. You'll have to read the book to find out for yourself. But I'm very excited to see where Lauren Oliver takes the final book, Requiem, that is due out early next year. That story is going to make or break the series for me, so I'm hoping Oliver rises to the occasion and give us something spectacular. If she keeps in line with the first two books then the third will no doubt be amazing. I, for one, have got my fingers crossed.
I have finished off silence, the third book in the hush, hush series by best-selling author Becca Fitzpatrick. Nora Grey has awoken to a nightmare. She can't remember anything that has happened in the past six months. Her mother is dating Marcie Millar's dad and her best friend, Vee, is lying to her. In an attempt to move forward with her life, Nora goes back to school only to find herself haunted by a past she can't remember. Determined to fit together the fractured pieces of her memory, Nora agrees to help a friend. And when her search for answers turns dangerous she crosses path with a boy named Jev who stirs up something inside of her that even her amnesia can't forget.
Becca Fitzpatrick did a really nice job of moving the story forward in this book. It was fast paced and interesting and hard to put down. If I had to lodge one complaint, I find myself wishing there was a little bit more background lore included in her stories because sometimes it feels made up on the fly. A little more foreshadowing would make my day.
All-in-all, another enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to the final book, finale, which should be released sometime this fall.
I've finished off crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick. It's the second book in the hush, hush saga. Life has changed a lot for Nora Grey. After finding out that she's the descendent of a Nephilim, she barely escaped an attempt on her life. And her mysterious biology partner, Patch, is now her guardian angel....and boyfriend. Everything is fine until her mom tries to set her up with a friend from her childhood whose back in town and who is clearly more than he seems. Patch starts pulling away in favor of spending time with Marcie Millar, Nora's archenemy. And things start heating up between Vee and Patch's best friend, Rixon. When a ghost from Nora's past makes an appearance, Nora decides to go looking for answers whether her guardian angel is there for her or not.
In my opinion, Becca Fitzpatrick stepped it up a bit in this second book. Her plot-lines were well kept throughout the story and remained a mystery through most of the book. She continues her solid writing style, using detailed description to draw you into her characters and scenes. Reflecting back, I still think that a little more thought could have developed her ideas even better and made this story really unique. That being said, I can forgive her because I'm still really enjoying the books.
I've started on, silence, the third book of the series and I'm looking forward to the fall when the last book, finale, comes out!
After reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver, I decided that I couldn't wait for my library hold on the sequel, Pandemonium. I decided to buy it through amazon with a gift card I received for my birthday, so I ended up having to wait anyway. To pass the days until it got here, I picked up the book hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick which was recommended by a good friend of mine. It's the first book by Fitzpatrick and it made the best seller list, so I had high hopes going into it. For typical teenager Nora Grey it's just another day in biology class, until her teacher reconfigures the seating chart. Now, she's paired with a mysterious boy named Patch whose bad-boy nature is at once both alluring and scary. When Patch starts showing up wherever she goes, Nora begins searching for information that will shed some light on her mysterious new biology partner. As she delves deeper, she finds herself more drawn to Patch, but the truth waiting for her is far more unsettling than she could imagine. Thrust into a world far beyond her own mortality, Nora must decide who to trust and her decision could have fatal consequences.
To be perfectly honest, I see a lot of similarities between hush, hush and the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer- Teenage girl falls in love with a "bad" guy who originally wants to kill her, but then decides he's in love with her instead. They become inseparable. Then enters the real bad guy whose creepy and sadistic and hell-bent on killing the girl in order to hurt the "bad" guy she's in love with.
Having said that, I have to admit that I liked the story overall. (That's shouldn't be too surprising to those of you who know I love the Twilight books.) Fitzpatrick does a nice job of writing suspenseful scenes that are creepy but not overly scary. And while I knew in the end nothing too horrible would happen, her style kept me turning pages late into the night. In my opinion, she could have spent a little more time flushing out some of her ideas. For example, I feel like she didn't really explain why Patch fell in love with Nora in the first place. I get the animal magnetism of it all, but if it's the real deal shouldn't there be some layering of emotion? Anyway, a little more thought could have made it more interesting and less predictable.
As a first time novel I think hush, hush was a pretty good start. I'm currently reading the second book in the series, Crescendo, and I've already noticed that she's stepped up her game. I'm hoping that Silence, book #3, will be continue the trend.
Teen fiction seems to be going through a prolifically long phase of dis-topian society books these days. And Delirium is no exception. As the second teen fiction novel written by best-selling author Lauren Oliver, it explores yet another way that society can go all wrong. Written from a first-person perspective we follow the thoughts of 17-year old Lena as she counts down the days until she is "cured" of amor deliria nervosa, otherwise known as love. Terrified of being infected, Lena prepares for the evaluation that will set her on the path she will travel for the rest of her life. She willed be given an occupation, a "fit" partner, and a guide for how many children she should have. Her life will be free from choice, but more importantly free from pain. And that is all that Lena has ever wanted, the pain of her past to be taken away.
However, fate steps in on the day of Lena's evaluation and her world changes forever. Stumbling through a world that used to make sense, Lena must decide what is truth and what is a lie before she is "cured" forever.
If you're reading this synopsis thinking that this book sounds a lot like the book Matched by Allie Condie, you would be right. There are definitely some similar themes going on in these books - love, choice, & rebellion. However, despite their similarities, I have to say that I enjoyed Delirium more.
For me, Lauren Oliver, does an amazing job creating a dis-topian society that is tangible. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin, so it's easy for me to imagine a place where they have removed all strong emotions to ensure obedience. From this mentality, Oliver explores the role that love plays in our lives - all that it can give and take away - and whether or not it's better to live life with it or without it.
Delirium lacks some of the typical teen fiction devices that often move the story along. There are no love triangles and the teenage angst is minimal. The characters deal with their problems in a direct way. There's no beating around the bush. I, for one, really appreciate the way Oliver develops her characters and the emotions they have. It doesn't feel contrived or silly.
I am greatly hoping that this continues in the sequel, Pandemonium, which is already available. So, if you loved The Hunger Games or Matched, be sure to check this out.
I've finally caught up on all of the Cassandra Clare books currently in print, having just finished City of Fallen Angels. It is the 4th book in her Mortal Instruments series. When we left off at the end of book 3, City of Glass, Valentine was dead. His army of demons was defeated and the world of the Nephilim was safe again. And to make things even better, it finally came out that Jace and Clary are not brother and sister.
All should be right for Clary and her friends...but as they say, "There's a storm a-brewing."
Despite being able to finally call Clary his girlfriend, Jace starts pushing her away. Simon's mom throws him out of house when she guesses he's a vampire, forcing Simon to make an unlikely friend that sets Maia on edge. Alex and Magnus are forced to deal with the growing pains of their blossoming relationship and Clary bites off more than she can chew when she looks into a cult that's knee-deep in demonic activity.
I have to admit that this book was easier to put down than the previous installments. I'm not sure if that's due to more self-restraint on my part, or the chance that it's just not as interesting as books 1-3.
Simon's story is front and center this time which is both good and bad. On the good side, making Simon a major part of this book allowed Cassandra Clare to expand the world she has created. She brings in more points of view, more details, etc. All things that add depth to the reading experience. And since I'm the kind of person that likes books to feel well-rounded, I really enjoyed seeing the story evolve beyond just the Jace and Clary plot line.
On the bad side, I've never been that attached to Simon. He reminds me a lot of a couple guys I ran around in with in high school which makes him relatable and endearing, but in the end he just doesn't really get my blood pumping. In fairness though, perhaps my lack of interest is simply due to the fact that Simon's story has never been in the lime-light until now.
All that being said, I like how the story has continued on past the end of Valentine and his war. Cassandra Clare has been intentional in her use of fore-shadowing and I'm excited to see how it continues to play out. I have a feeling dark times are coming for our shadowhunters friends and I for one will be waiting not-so-patiently for book 5, City of Lost Souls, to come out on May 8th.
I'm already on the waiting list at my local library. Are you?
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