The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress + GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)

Published December 6, 2012 by Dial
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
An action-packed tale of gowns, guys, guns–and the heroines who use them all.

Set in turn of the century London, The Friday Society follows the stories of three very intelligent and talented young women, all of whom are assistants to powerful men: Cora, lab assistant; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant; and Nellie, magician's assistant. The three young women's lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man.

It's up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder–and the crimes they believe may be connected to it–without calling too much attention to themselves.

Set in the past but with a modern irreverent flare, this Steampunk whodunit introduces three unforgettable and very ladylike–well, relatively ladylike–heroines poised for more dangerous adventures.

Review:  The Friday Society is simply a fun read.  What I loved the most about The Friday Society was the girl power vibe.  Cora, Michiko, and Nellie were all smart, independent, and resourceful but still had different shortcomings they had to overcome with a little help from their friends. 

The three main characters were the best part of this novel.  It is incredibly refreshing to read a YA that has girls working together to solve a problem, not fighting or swooning over some boy.  I think The Friday Society has just the right balance of boy angst in that it's there, but it's not the main focus of the novel.  This kind of relationship between girls, friends helping other friends, is really important in YA and sadly very lacking.  I also loved how the three girls start off as assistants, but throughout the course of the book they find their own agency and really take control of their lives. 

The actual story is cute.  It's not anything wildly substantial, but it's entertaining and exciting and would make a super fun teen movie.  I wouldn't have minded some of the science to be more fleshed out, but I'm really picky about science and understanding how things work in a novel.  I did find some of the technology in The Friday Society to be a bit convenient so I really had to stop questioning it and just let it happen.  There's a lot of just silliness in the book (they dress up in super hero costumes at the end to go fight the bad guys) but I just kind of had to be like Michiko and go along with it, even as I rolled my eyes.

The biggest negative was that the book was written with a very modern voice despite the historical setting.  However as I continued to read the novel I enjoyed it more and more.  Sure the book is set in Edwardian England, but I could completely related to these girls and was really cheering them on. 

The Friday Society is a cute and silly novel that I think would work well as an introduction to steampunk and alternative history.  I think it's a perfect book for a middle school aged reader and has a great message of team work, friendship, and a healthy dose of girl power.

Congratulations to the winner of the giveaway, BookYAReview!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater + Giveaway (CLOSED)

Published October 18, 2011 by Scholastic Press - ARC
5 Stars

Goodreads Review
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Review:  This review is very hard for me to write.  There are so many aspects that I love.  The Scorpio Races is an amazing book that really shines with the world building and setting.  It really stands out with the mythology of the water horses and the subtle story telling.  The writing is absolutely beautiful and the ending completely took my breath away.

One of the best parts of the book was the setting and the capall usice (pronounced CAPple ISHka) mythology.  I absolutely fell in love with the island and the beautiful and deadly water horses.   The island is described so well I actually thought the island of Thisby and the Scorpio Sea were real places.  I even googled them because I was so convinced that island was real and I wanted to know exactly where it was.  I think that alone is testament to the amazing writing and world set up.

I really liked the relationship that developed between the two main characters.  The two protagonists really drive the story, but I found myself liking Sean a little more.  They both had to overcome hardships and both really need to win the races, but I really enjoyed Sean and I could relate a lot to his desire to be an independent person in charge of his own destiny but not having the means to make it happen.  I also think that this story was more than just about the romance between the two viewpoint characters.  I loved the family relationships between Puck and her brothers and how not having parents changed the family dynamic. 

My favorite relationship though was between Sean and Corr, his capall usice.  They had a sort of tenuous relationship where neither could fully trust the other, but they loved each other so much they were willing to make sacrifices for the safety of the other. The ending with Sean and Corr had me welling up with tears, it was so touching and so real. 

Overall The Scorpio Races is a novel unlike anything I've read before.  It covers a whole spectrum of topics from fairness to poverty to fear to respect to love and it does it seamlessly and flawlessly. 

Congratulations to the winner HeroinexcorexVanessa!  Check out my youtube for more giveaways!

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon + ARC Giveaway (CLOSED)

#1 in the Carrier series
Published October 4, 2011 by HarperTeen - ARC
3 Stars
DAC 2011

Goodreads Review

Their love was meant to be.

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRís.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.

Review:  I'm sad to say I came away from this book pretty disappointed.  There was a lot of hype around this book so when I received an ARC I thought I was in for an interesting and unique read.  Instead I found myself reading yet another unoriginal paranormal romance info dump.  

The first third of the book was Twilight in Ireland.  New girl at school who makes instant friends and then fall head over heels in love with a guy who treats her like smelly garbage.  The middle of the book is insta-love and a massive info dump.  Seriously page after page of "oh you must be confused, here's tons of information about our secret powers.  Come back tomorrow for more and more pages of information".  I didn't think it was well written at all, and there was a lot of potential for Megan to discover this information in much more interesting ways, not just being told in one big conversation.  And then because this magical family decides they can trust Megan, the boy who was treating her like disgusting trash for the first 100 pages is suddenly madly in love with her.  That doesn't make any sense!  

The final third of the book we read about all of this drama about why Megan and Adam can'tbe together and how their love may not even be real, but just their powers being drawn together.  I actually really liked that idea and I hoped the book would explore this more, but pretty much the characters went "Nope, we're actually in love" and that was the end of it.  The whole mythology behind their powers was very weird too. It wasn't explained well and had an awkward incestual tone lurking around it which I just couldn't get over.


There were some good parts though.  I really enjoyed the descriptions of Ireland.  I've never been there so it was fun to read about the towns and the marina.  The setting was very well described and very interesting to read.  I also thought there were some cute moments between Adam and Megan.  I liked the small moments when they weren't acting like their love was this magical destiny and were just joking around.  The book only got bad when it started to take itself too seriously.


Overall Carrier of the Mark had an interesting premise, but fell far short of my expectations.  It seemed like a weak mashup of Twilight and any book series with elemental powers such as House of Night or Vampire Academy.  

Congratulations to angelface0911 on youtube, the winner of the giveaway!

Dead Rules by Randy Russell + Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Published June 21, 2011 by HarperTeen - ARC
2 Stars
DAC 2011

Goodreads Review
Till death
Jana Webster and Michael Haynes were in love. They were destined to be together forever.
Do
But Jana's destiny was fatally flawed. And now she's in Dead School, where Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch.
Us
Michael and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars in Jana's life—or death—story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to her side soon.
Part
But things aren't going according to Jana's plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true—no matter what rules she has to break.

Review:  Dead rules is an interesting take on life after death for teenagers, but instead of focusing on the interesting setting and rules of being dead, Dead Rules gets stuck on a love triangle that borders (ok lands squarely) on obsession. 

I have mixed feelings about this book.  I really liked the setting and the interesting spin on the afterlife.  It has Christian undertones but nothing specific so it can be appreciated by people of different faiths.  I liked the set up for the school and the mystery surrounding it, but we never really learned the truth behind the mystery, nor do we ever really learn the rules of the different classes of students.  We learn what makes a person in one class verses another, but none of the real rules associated with them.  The whole mystery of the book is not explained enough for my liking. 

The best part of the book was Mars and Waytt.  They were the only characters that experienced any growth and with which I felt any connection even though they were the stereotypical paranormal romance "sexy bad boy" and "misunderstood bff".  I loved their history that was revealed and how they learned from each other.  I think the fact that Mars was physically perfect while Wyatt was seriously disfigured added an interesting dynamic to their relationship.  True bromance. 

The biggest problem for me were all of the other characters, and the female characters in particular.  While some characters have interesting development, most are one dimensional fillers.  The side girl characters only had one aspect to their personality which mostly depended on the state of their bodies after their death.  The main character was just scary, and not in a good way.  This part might get a tiny bit spoilery, but not too much.  Jana is in love with her boyfriend who is still alive and on earth.  And by love, I mean obsessed.  Jana is crazy and seems very selfish.  She says that Michael "completes her" and "makes her a better version of herself."  WHAT!?  That is not love, that is obsession, and it is not healthy as a human or a ghost.  She has such an obsessive "love" for Michael that she wants to kill him so they can be together.  Again I say that is NOT love.  I'm sorry, but if I was dead KILLING MY BOYFRIEND would NOT be the solution to my problems.  If Jana had learned that she wanted Michael to live a long and happy life and THAT was true love, then I would have been ok with it, but THAT NEVER HAPPENS.  She just jumps to the next guy.  Seriously, messed up. 

Overall Dead Rules is a paranormal romance that had a lot of potential to be a very exciting mystery but fell short because it was stuck on the love triangle aspect of the story.  Completely ineffective satire.

The giveaway is now closed, congratulations to MrRobirabbit!

Possess by Gretchen McNeil + Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Published August 23, 2011 by Baizer + Bray - ARC
5 Stars
DAC 2011

Goodreads Review
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

Review:  Possess is one of those rare books that has it all: a likable heroine, a thrilling story, lots of great humor, and some very steamy romance.  The plot is a perfect balance of charming banter and creepy demonic possession.  Possess is always interesting, covering all of the plot points well with clear description and interesting writing style that will have readers jumping to read the next page.

First I have a lot of cover love for Possess.  It's what initially drew me to this story.  The cover art and title font fit the book perfectly and really add to the experience of reading Possess.

The best part about possess is the writing style.  It's conversational and even though it's in third person there were a lot of interjections that really added to the story and the overall tone of the book.  Also, the make out scenes in the book were spicy and hot and I loved them.  Possess is constructed well with a plot that moves along and is well supported by the characters.  There is also a clear beginning, middle, and end which a lot of authors seem to neglect.  There wasn't a cliff hanger ending, it felt complete and whole.  However, the ending did leave some room for a sequel if McNeil ever feels like dipping back into Bridget's world, which I sincerely hope she does. 

Bridget is a great character who is well rounded and realistic.  She makes mistakes but learns from them.  Her voice is clear and it is sassy, sarcastic, and full of awesome.  Bridget and her gay BFF Hector would differently be my friends in real life.  I also really liked the love interest Matt Quinn.  He was so sweet and gentle with Bridget  and he never gave up on her.  I also really liked their teenage romance scenes.  That was some HOT making out and I was into it.

This book isn't all fun and games though.  There are some majorly creepy events taking place.  I have always been fascinated by demonic mythology and exorcisms.  The journey Bridget goes on as she tries to find out about her dead father's past and control her special powers is exciting and dangerous.  I thought the descriptions of the possessions and the battles with the demons were very well done and quite scary.  I also loved the explanation of why the demons were there, their objective, and how to defeat them.  The mythology was well explained and very interesting.  I was really invested in this story and could not put the book down because I had to know what was next.

Overall Possess is a creepy mystery that has a funny and intriguing voice and is a complete book that will appeal to many different readers.  Possess appeals with a mysterious plot, snappy dialogue,  and freaky ass possessed dolls.

The giveaway is closed, congratulations to DevvourBookReviews!

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs + Giveaway! (CLOSED)

 #1 in Medusa Girls Series
Published September 6 2011  by Katherine Tegen Books - ARC
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Review:  Sweet Venom is an adorable tale about sisters finding each other and and finding the courage to follow their destiny.  It's about different personalities coming together and learning how to coexist while they fight to protect their world.  Mythological creatures are running amok and it's up to this trio of sisters to stop them, but are there even greater forces are work?  How will these newly reunited sisters deal with their mythological legacy while still maintaining a social life?

First let me just say that I have a LOT of cover love for this book.  For a modern retelling of the Medusa myth, there couldn't be more perfectly crafted cover art.  The title of this book is also perfect, reflecting both the joys and troubles of three very different lives coming together as well as the sweet venom that sends the monsters back to their world. 

The strongest part of this book were the characters.  Even though Gretchen, Grace, and Greer are identical triplets, they live very different lives.  Each chapter is told from a different girls perspective, so we as readers learn about their individual experiences and opinions which gives depth to the characters.  Grace is definitely the most developed of the sisters and is more or less the main character though Gretchen and Greer are both given time to shine.  I hope to read more of their stories in future novels. 

However there were some weak point in this novel.  First I think the cover, while being totally awesome, is a bit misleading.  I thought this book was going to be a lot darker than it really was, and even though it wasn't poorly written, I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed at the lightness and simplistic nature of the novel.  Secondly as the reader I was expected to know a lot of mythological creatures.  They were named (Chimera, Minotaur, Saytr, Dracaena ect) but not described well.  There were a couple of times where I had to go look up some pictures of the monsters so I would have a clearer image in my head.  I thought the action was well described but the creatures themselves were lacking in imagery. 

The ending is both good and annoying at the same time.  The ending introduced a greater story arc that seemed like a much meatier plot than what was presented in Sweet Venom.  Also, and I'm not sure if this is because I was reading an ARC (advanced readers copy), but the ending seemed very rushed and the final battles weren't explained well.  There is buildup to an attack, but we never actually see the action nor how the heroine escapes which is very frustrating as a reader.  I plan on buying a real copy of the book and I'm hoping the ending will be fleshed out more. 

Overall Sweet Venom is a light hearted introduction to three very different sisters and their joined destiny.  While it fell short as a stand alone novel, Sweet Venom is a great introduction to a larger story arc that had me totally invested.

Now Closed, Congratulations to AutumnRainFaery!