Review: Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows

Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows

• Pub. Date: September 12, 2017
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
• Pages:496
• Series: Fallen Isles Trilogy #1
• Rating:3/5
• Goodreads/Amazon

Before

Mira Minkoba is the Hopebearer. Since the day she was born, she’s been told she’s special. Important. Perfect. She’s known across the Fallen Isles not just for her beauty, but for the Mira Treaty named after her, a peace agreement which united the seven islands against their enemies on the mainland.

But Mira has never felt as perfect as everyone says. She counts compulsively. She struggles with crippling anxiety. And she’s far too interested in dragons for a girl of her station.

After

Then Mira discovers an explosive secret that challenges everything she and the Treaty stand for. Betrayed by the very people she spent her life serving, Mira is sentenced to the Pit–the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles. There, a cruel guard would do anything to discover the secret she would die to protect.

No longer beholden to those who betrayed her, Mira must learn to survive on her own and unearth the dark truths about the Fallen Isles–and herself–before her very world begins to collapse.

Review:  Mira Minkoba had the fortunate or unfortunate fate (depending on how you look at it) by having a treaty named after her signed by all the islands, which makes her the face of the treaty and therefore she is deemed important by many as well as hated. Mira has a way with Dragons and that's all I'm saying because that's all I know. Clearly, she really is special but we get maybe a glimpse of what it could be in the entire novel.

I loved the dragons in the story, I just wish there was more time spent on them. There are various types of dragons and I really wanted to learn more about them but most of the story was spent with Mira in prison and when the chapters alternated to the past we got bits of dragons but not much. It wasn't till the end we saw more of them but still nothing to what I expected. I'm hoping the next book will focus more on the dragons because they are the reason I even picked up Before She Ignites.

Okay, so I'm pretty sure most of you can agree that a book about dragons if there is going to be romance in it, it better be epic because dragons are epic right? Well, the romance that is developing is lackluster and the guy is not someone I even cared for he was just mind-numbingly boring. Is it wrong to say that when I realized he was the guy Mira was going to fall for I was secretly wishing the author would kill him off (I know harsh, sorry) because I just didn't get it and I still don't. I never like to wish death upon characters except for the evil ones of course but even those I sometimes love and want them to be kept around anyways I don't see myself picking up the next book if he continues to stay the love interest because it kind of killed it for me in this first book already as it was.

Mira was the only real complex character in the novel. She suffers from severe anxiety and has OCD where she has to count everything due to an incident that occurred to her when she was younger. It was impossible not to like her I just wish there was more character development with her along the way. Throughout the whole book she is so focused on her appearance, how must everyone see her, she isn't pretty anymore etc. and I get that it had to do with her upbringing and how she was constantly reminded that it was her beauty which was most important but I wish she would have grown out of that mind set. I didn't understand how anyone could still be so worried about their looks in life and death situations. Mira also had the habit of putting herself down, that she wasn't smart enough or good enough and I really felt for her, I was really hoping she would eventually realize how amazing of a person she really is and how capable she is. I really hope she develops more in the next book I think it will be interesting to see her transformation throughout the series and how she deals with her anxiety.

Mira also had two best friends, Hristo who was also her bodyguard and a girl named Ilina. I can't say much about them though because of no real character development, they were in the "before" chapters and in present day when they do finally pop up we still don't get to know them. The only thing I really know is they are loyal to Mira. There was one other character who really caught my attention and that was Gerel, she was imprisoned in the Pit as well and has been there for quite some time, she is still a bit of a mystery but what I did learn about her I loved. Gerel was a total badass, I really hope to see more of her in the future books. Then there was the villain Altan, I expected more. Not sure how else to say it but he was supposed to be Mira's torturer in the Pit which is made to be this horrific underground prison but he never really physically put his hands on her, he did make her suffer once greatly when he wanted information but not in the way I would have thought. Now that I think about it, Altan I would say was another complex character. Still, don't know much about him or his motives but you can tell there is more to him.

I do give credit to the author for going out of the norm though, usually books in this genre you expect a kick-ass fear nothing type of heroine, instead of one who suffers from anxiety, has self-esteem issues and doesn't have a clue how to fight. So I can see some becoming a little frustrated with that and others admiring the deeply flawed character.

Overall Before She Ignites was a fast read for me, I had my issues with it and I am still conflicted on whether I will be continuing the series or not. If I do it will be for the dragons the mythical creature lover in me needs to know how things turn out for them.

Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

• Pub. Date: March 15, 2013
• Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
• Pages:375
• Series: Delirium #3
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

First Line: " I've started dreaming of Portland again "

Review:
I've fairly enjoyed this series and even though I can say that I did like Requiem I felt that things just weren't resolved to the extent that I would have wanted it. I feel there are still so many things that I need answers to. I just found the way it ended a little disappointing to where I wish I hadn't picked up this series at all if this is the conclusion that I was going to be left with.

Requiem was from both Lena and Hannah's perspective. At first I wondered why do we have Hannah's perspective but as the story progressed I found myself being more interested in Hannah's view and liked being able to see both sides as far as what was happening with the revolution. We learn that the procedure didn't fully work on Hannah so the old her was still in there and then there was the fact that she was engaged to Fred the mayor who had two sides to him,had me rooting for her to just say screw you to him and walk away from all the expectations people around her had made for her.

As far as Lena and the wilds go, I feel like Lena's character went backwards as far as her growth went. She went from something strong in Pandemonium to almost going back to the Lena we met in Delirium and I wasn't the biggest fan of her. As far as the wilds go we really get introduced to the extreme harsh realities of the place to the point where Lena even started questioning her choices.

Overall I liked Requiem but due to my high expectations which I didn't feel it met along with the frustrating conclusion I have to say if you haven't started this series... just don't unless your okay with a conclusion that doesn't give much closure.

Memorable Quotes:~ “This is the strange way of the world, that people who simply want to love are instead forced to become warriors.” 

Review: Enders by Lissa Price

Enders by Lissa Price

• Pub. Date: January 7, 2014
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
• Pages:288
• Series:Starters #2
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

With the Prime Destinations body bank destroyed, Callie no longer has to rent herself out to creepy Enders. But Enders can still get inside her mind and make her do things she doesn't want to do. Like hurt someone she loves. Having the chip removed could save Callie's life - but it could also silence the voice in her head that might belong to her father. Callie has flashes of her ex-renter Helena's memories, too ...and the Old Man is back, filling her with fear. Who is real and who is masquerading in a teen body? This is the thrilling sequel to "Starters".

First Line:  My hand went to the back of my head and I swore I could feel the chip underneath my skin.

Review: The book starts off where the first one left off, Callie can still hear the Old Man in her head and since taking the chip out is risking death she has no choice but to be stuck with him. At the same time she wants a better life for her and her brother and she knows as long as the Old Man has control over her there is no way that can happen so she sets off to find a way to stop him. 

I really liked Callie in Starters but in Enders I questioned her action quite a bit to where I just couldn't connect with her. I don't understand how she could possibly trust Hyden as fast as she did and didn't find some of his actions suspicious and I felt like she was just doing things going along with things a little too blindly. 

Another thing that was a little fickle to me was the romance we found out in the first book Blake wasn't really who we thought so that relationship tanked, then there is her friend Michael who is  pretty much just that a friend even in Enders and now in Enders we meet Hyden who you can say was interesting and a romance develops between Callie and him but I didn't find the emotions between them believable there just was no spark that had me rooting for the two. 

I did like the fact that all the questions I had about everything from the first book was answered in Enders. There was also enough twists and turns and shocking revelations that kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next and who can really be trusted.

Overall Enders didn't live up fully to my high expectations but it was still a good conclusion to the series.

Review: Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

• Pub. Date: September 24, 2013
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
• Pages:308
• Goodreads/Amazon/B&N

Stolen as a child from her large and loving family, and on the run with her mom for more than ten years, Callie has only the barest idea of what normal life might be like. She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility.

Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love, betrayal, and how not to lose your mind will resonate with readers who want their stories gritty and utterly true.

First Line: Yellow light slashes the darkness as Mom sneaks into the apartment again.

Review: I never read Trish Doller's Something Like Normal so I'm a complete newb when it came to her work and even though I didn't completely fall in love with Where the Stars Still Shine I did like it enough to where I am looking forward to reading more novels by her.

Okay so Where the Stars Still Shine is about Callie who was kidnapped by her mom at the young age of five years old. She never had a normal life they were always moving from place to place. Her mother suffers from a mental illness, she never went to school, or had friends  and she was a victim of sexual abuse, basically a stable home life was non-existent for her. So when she is  thrust back into the life she would of had had her mom not kidnapped her she has a lot of things to work through.

I could not get myself to like Callie. In the beginning of the book before she got reunited with her family I sympathized for her but after being reunited with her family her character became a little frustrating to me and I just couldn't connect with her. What really threw me off was how sexual she was. I didn't like how the insta-love thing happened between her and Alex and by the second meeting they were already having sex. Another thing about Callie that bugged me was how she treated Kat she was so mean to her  for the most part when all she was trying to do was be a good friend. Then there was her mom and I couldn't stand how she kept letting her mom back in even after realizing how toxic she was.

What I did enjoy were the parts that involved her family. She came from such a wonderful Greek family who really loved her and were thankful to have her back. We saw her dad struggling to connect with his daughter, her step-mom not fully trusting her with her step-brothers and working through her issues, then there was also her grandma who was there for her also throughout the whole ordeal.

Overall I did find this book to be predictable and true the main character was not someone I really cared for much but the book as whole was actually still a good read and I would recommend picking it up.

Memorable Quotes:

~ Most of my life is recorded in this book, starting when I first learned to write in crooked letters. Most. Because there are some secrets you don't even want to tell yourself.

Review: The Deepest Night by Shana Abe

The Deepest Night by Shana Abe

• Pub. Date: August 13, 2013
• Publisher: Bantam
• Pages:320
• Series:The Sweetest Dark #2
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities.

As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.

Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.

With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.

Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love

First Line: I'm not a ghost.

Review: I found The Deepest Night to suffer the same problem I had with The Darkest Night which is that it started off a little slow but once Armand and Lora went off on their mission across enemy lines to rescue Armand's brother Aubrey whom they just found out is alive and is another Drakon the pacing of the book picked up.

I was really hoping by some miraculous way Jesse would be brought back since he was some type of supernatural star guy but that was not the case. Instead the focus goes to Lora and Armand and the development of their relationship. Which don't get me wrong I really like Armand but what bugged me was how quickly Lora got over Jesse who she was so deeply in love with in the last book and by the end of this book she was in love with Armand. I guess I just expected a more slower healing and mourning process from her with the depth of love she had for Jesse.

I did like how all the characters were very well developed. Armand actually was a great male lead he has been going through a lot with his father ending up in a mental hospital, thinking his brother is dead ( which we discover is not the case ) and having to become the head of his household and in his community and he is dealing with all this while trying to master his Drakon abilities. Needless to say I think his character grew a lot and I saw him in a whole different light then what I had perceived of him in the first book. As for Lora besides my little gripe with her and the Jesse ordeal I still found my self rooting for her. She is such a strong girl who's been through hell and back in her young life so it's hard not to want her to succeed in everything she sets out to do.

I was hoping for some answers in this book but didn't really get much. For example we still don't know much about the Star people or why the Drakons and them are so connected and then there is Lora and her life before the orphanage, she still doesn't really remember anything so I'm hoping the next book explains all of that.

Overall even with the little issues I had I still enjoyed The Deepest Night and will be looking forward to the next in the series since I have found myself to be invested in the characters and I need to see what happens to them.

Mini Review: Epic Fail by Claire LeZebnik

Epic Fail by Claire LeZebnik

• Pub. Date: August 2, 2011
• Publisher:Harper Teen
• Pages:295
• Goodreads/Amazon/

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

- As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school--not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
- As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn't exactly on everyone's must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise's beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince's best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

First Line: The front office wasn't as crazy as you'd expect on the first day of school, which seemed to confirm Coral Tree Prep's reputation as "a well-oiled machine."

Review: Epic Fail was a fun light quick read, I read this in a matter of hours and found it to be a great "in between" book, you know the kind you read to take a break from all the serious stuff.

Elise is witty and intelligent, I liked how she had a realistic family although her mom was just a little over the top too annoying at times. As for the romance between Derek and Elise it was cute I don't really know how else to describe it.

What I didn't care for was how abruptly things ended and I guess I was just hoping for a little more complex characters. Also I found it to be pretty predictable but I'm not going to really complain much about that since I was looking for a light read and from my reading experience most light fluff books are predictable but still fun to read.

Review: Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen

• Pub. Date: February 26, 2013
• Publisher: Harlequin Teen
• Pages:448
• Series: Nightwatchers #2
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

MY KISS CAN KILL. 

I used to be ordinary Samantha Day, but that's changed. Now, after one dark kiss from a dangerous boy, I can steal someone's soul...or their life. If I give in to the constant hunger inside me, I hurt anyone I kiss. If I don't...I hurt myself. 

Bishop is the one whose kiss I crave most, but if I kiss him, I'll kill him. Then there's another boy, one I can't hurt. One whose kiss seems to miraculously quell my hunger. They're both part of a team of angels and demons that's joined forces in my city to fight a mysterious rising darkness, an evil that threatens everyone I know and love. I just wonder if I'll be able to help Bishop-or if I'm just another part of the darkness he's sworn to destroy.... 

NIGHTWATCHERS 

When angels and demons must work together, something beyond evil is rising...

First Line: Crave used to be a prime hangout for dangerous monsters, but tonight I seemed to be the only one here.

Review: So Wicked Kiss starts right up where Dark Kiss left off. Samantha is still in search of her soul and Bishop is still slowly losing his mind. The Gray's are still increasing in numbers and some are becoming quite strong.  There are a few new characters introduced and a couple of characters from the previous book with bigger roles for instance Cassandra, an Angel sent down from heaven who has secrets of her own and a mission that is separate from the others, and then there is Jordan, she was in the last book as the mean girl but she ends up having a bigger role in this book and I have to admit I'm starting to like her character and the slowly building friendship that her and Samantha are developing.

One word that I can use to describe Samantha in this book would be "determined". Her hunger was growing to where she was having a hard time controlling it and she didn't let anyone stop her from finding her soul. She took matters in her own hands which I loved. She is also discovering more of her powers and what it means to be a nexus and I loved the moments she learned about Bishop's past , there was a lot of bad things in his past so it was interesting to see how she dealt with it while still feeling the way she did about Bishop. 

There was a ton of twists and turns in this book at times it felt like too much was going on but it still held my interest. Also safe to say there is no love triangle. 
I really thought with the way things were going with Kraven in book one there would be one developing but nope...nothing. Although at the same time I do like Kraven more so I guess secretly I was hoping she would go for Kraven since he makes things more entertaining.

Overall I enjoyed the book and the series to where I would pick up the next book...if there is a next book, I'm not sure since everything was wrapped up in a pretty little bow in Wicked Kiss. Although I'm hoping there is since even though things were wrapped up there seems to be a lot the author can work with to write another book. And I'm curious to see what happens next with not just the main characters but also with Jordan and Carly.

Review: Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

• Pub. Date: April 17, 2012
• Publisher: Balzer+Bray
• Pages:352
• Goodreads/Amazon/The Book Depository

When Marshall King and Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the answers that could restore their missing memories. As they piece together clues about their lives, they discover that they're in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls. Everyone seems happy there, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town's perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything--not the death of Marshall's mom, not the hidden violence in Elyse's family, not even the day-to-day anguish of being a high schooler.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marshall and Elyse fall into an intense relationship founded on their mutual quest for truth. But the secrets they're trying to uncover could be the death of this budding love affair--and of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

First Sentence: I come to life with a gasp in the darkness.


Review: I had to read this book when it came out, of course being the book junkie that I am even though I purchased it sometime last year I didn't get to reading it until just recently. Anyways this book was not all that i had hoped it would be, I believe it took me five days to finish it and not because life got in the way etc etc nope, mainly because it was  a book that I found interesting but it was easy to step away from it and not be in a rush to see what happens next.

The concept is intriguing. Marshall and Elyse wake up naked in bed together and have no recollection of how they got there or even who they are or where they are, and you basically follow them around the entire book while they are trying to put things together. Oh yea and there are ghosts, heat naps ( where if things get too frustrating or bad the person falls asleep where they are and wake up happy and completely forget about what they were angry, sad etc about) which brings me to my next thing zombie like people...not real zombies but they might as well have been.

I really did enjoy the history behind Summer Falls and how the people there ended up the way they are but at times things just got a little too complicated and confusing because it seemed like there was at times just too much going on all at once. 

As for the two main characters I didn't connect with them as much as I wanted in the beginning because we don't really know anything about them for majority of the book but when they start piecing their lives together we find out a lot about the two and how damaged they both are which helped me like them more especially Elyse and seeing how she handles herself after she learns what she has been enduring for most of her life with her supposed father.

Overall I liked it as a whole but there were parts that were just okay and others that felt rushed. I would say check out some of the other reviews and see if this is something you would like to read since Glimmer has a lot of mixed reviews so obviously it's a hit or miss type book.

Review: Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon

Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon

• Pub. Date: December 11, 2012
• Publisher:Cedar Fort, Inc.
• Pages:288
• Amazon/Goodreads/Book Depository

Stuck in her family's apple orchards, Kat's got plenty of work to do and only pesky Jeremy to help. But when Jeremy convinces her to run away, Kat will discover that nothing---and no one---in her life is quite what it seems. Wonderfully re-imagined  this is the magical tale of Snow White as you've never read it before!

First Line: This is a story about a princess, and, unfortunately  it is also about a queen.


Review: I love reading fairytale retellings so of course I jumped at the chance to review Lemon's take on Snow White. 

In this spin the evil queen is actually Kat's (Snow White) mother, not the step mother and she still of course wants her dead but in this retelling she tries to kill her while she is still just a baby. The king runs off with her and takes her to the safety of Uncle Barney  who lives in an apple orchard in the next kingdom over. The queen thought her to be dead since she did send an executioner after them and the executioner came upon the kings ripped up dead body which happened due to thieves murdering him and then animals finishing the rest of him off, and the executioner just assumed the princess was killed as well and reported back to the queen.

Anyways the story really started up when Kat became older and her uncle who was for so long such a wonderful man taking care of her all of a sudden lost his sight and turned to alcohol and then started mistreating Kat. It was a little hard to adjust to his personality changing up like that since I got so used to him being a caring uncle who really took Kat under his wings and then next thing you know he is putting his hands on her and emotionally abusing her as well. 

What I didn't expect going in but it was a nice surprise that really worked was that the Magic Mirror was the narrator. At first I was skeptical but as I kept reading I really grew to like the man who was trapped in the mirror by the queen. And what I liked more was how in this one the man in the mirror had a huge role in the overall plot, and he was able to tell the queen partial truths and get away with it with the queen never finding out until it was too late.

I really liked the characters, Kat even though at times she felt to be a little clueless ( I mean who can blame her, she had no idea who she really was and was told to never leave the apple orchard ) was a character who when times called for it was very strong and determined. I loved Jeremy Simkins  and the dwarf's especially Pokole, the friendship that grew between him and Kat was very sweet.

I did like some of the twists and shocking revealings of certain characters, it put a nice spin on things. The one thing that I didn't really like was how rushed the ending felt. I was just sitting there like "Wow that was it." The fall of the queen fell flat in my opinion. Overall this was a creative spin on Snow White and I enjoyed it for the most part.