On the Fence Review

Title: On the Fence
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 1st 2014
Source: eARC for Review
Rating: 3/5

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Review:

After hearing many great things about Kasie West's sci-fi series and her previous contemporary novel I was excited to give her a shot. I was very intrigued by the concept of On the Fence, a tom boy who is interested in her best friend who also happens to be her neighbour and so close she considers him a fourth brother. Ultimately the plot of On the Fence is what I loved them most.

I read through On the Fence in only a matter of days (quick for a university student such as myself) because it was very addicting and drew me in. Kasie West is also a very good writer who draws you in through the power of her words. While I enjoyed the book and loved the plot I had a few minor issues:

1) I don't see how a tom boy, such as Charlie, would ever get a job a clothing store. I just doesn't seem realistic.

2) I didn't really like Charlie as a character. I like and admire her getting down and dirty being one of the boys. What I didn't enjoy was her tendency to lie and alienate herself by saying constantly that she is not a "normal" girl as is there was a definition to what a normal girl is. By the end of the book Charlie does become somewhat of a different person and I did appreciate that.

3) Charlie and Braden's relationship. For the majority of the book you could she that there was a romantic relationship forming, but it just took way to long to develop. It isn't until about 90% of the book that Charlie realizes that she is in love, and from there the last 10% try to jam in everything that should have happened between them earlier.

Overall On the Fence was an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to conptempory fans who are interested in reading a story through a tom boys perspective. I did have some issues with it, but I don't think it will be an issue for everyone. It would make  a great summer read!!

The Chaos of Stars Review

Title: The Chaos of Stars
Author: Kiersten White
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: ARC for Review
Rating: 3/5

Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up.

Of course, as the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that pretty much comes with the territory. She’s also stuck with parents who barely notice her, and a house full of relatives who can’t be bothered to remember her name. After all, they are going to be around forever—and she’s a mere mortal.

Isadora’s sick of living a life where she’s only worthy of a passing glance, and when she has the chance to move to San Diego with her brother, she jumps on it. But Isadora’s quickly finding that a “normal” life comes with plenty of its own epic complications—and that there’s no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family. Much as she wants to leave her past behind, she can’t shake the ominous dreams that foretell destruction for her entire family. When it turns out there may be truth in her nightmares, Isadora has to decide whether she can abandon her divine heritage after all.

Review:

 

I've been a fan of Kiersten White for years, ever since Paranormalcy came out. So when I heard that see had an Egyptian mythology book coming out I was really happy since Egyptian mythology is my favourite type and I had yet to read a good book on the topic. While I did enjoy alot of things about The Chaos of Stars, somethings just didn't work for me.

 

My favourite thing about the novel is the concept, a mortal girl with immortal Egyptian Gods as parents. While that is very interesting White failed to explain how immortals could give birth to mortal children. The main character, Isodora, Kiersten's classic witty humour which I really enjoyed. I also really enjoyed how at the beginning of each chapter there was excerpts of Egyptian myths that related to the story told in The Chaos of Stars.

 

While The Chaos of Stars is a mythology book, I would say it's more of a contemporary book. The book follows Isodora who feels she was only born to worship her parents so that they wouldn't disappear because they were forgotten. Because of this she has trouble to the concept of love, she feels that humans are disposable and love only causes pain and heartache. The plot pretty much consists of Isodora dealing with these issues with Egyptian mythology tied into it. Just a heads up there is also some greek mythology.

 

Overall The Chaos of Stars is not my favourite Kiersten book to date, but I did enjoy it for the most part. I wish it wasn't a standalone, I would like to see what happens to Isodora and her friends next.

All Our Yesterdays Review

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terrill
Release Date: September 3rd 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Source: ARC for review
Rating: 3/5

"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. 

Review:

After everyone and their mother was raving about All Our Yesterday's I was excited to read it to say the least. I think the main reason I didn't absoleutly love this book to be honest is because of all the amazing things being said about it, because of this I set my standards a little too high. But I still found All Our Yesterday's to be an enjoyable read with a less confusing and more dynamic take on time travel.

I think this aspects of All Our Yesterday's that I enjoyed the most is the more scientific take on time travel, it really makes you believe that is could be possible some day, and how Cristin Terrill gave readers an insight into how that what the main character became and who she was in the past. Both aspects were really well written and backed up and made for an enjoyable read.

I can't really pin point why I didn't love All Our Yesterday's more than I did, everything from the writing to the character development was extremely well done so I have nothing negative to say about it. Mostly again I would say its because all the hype surrounding it and I was let down a bit and I didn't absolutely love the plot of the story.

I would still strongly recommend this book to everyone, it is a fantastic novel that I'm sure will appeal to many. It's definitely a book with very few flaws, All Our Yesterday's is an all around great book.

 

 

 

Born of Illusion Review

Title: Born of Illusion
Author: Teri Brown
Release Date: June 11th 2013
Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Source: ARC for Review
Rating: 3

Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?

Review:

 

When I discovered that Born of Illusion took place in the roaring 20's I was immediately intrigued. The 1920's is one of my most favourite eras in history. Unfortunately Born of Illusion didn't end up being as amazing as I had hoped, it was still enjoyable though.

 

Overall Born of Illusion had a great concept surrounding a main character, Anna, who is said to be the bastard daughter of Houdini, who herself practises in magic. In her case it's not all trickery, Anna does have some surprising magical powers that she can't explain. I felt like Born of Illusion ended up being your typical physic power paranormal YA novel with the exception of taking place in the 1920's. In sort it lacked creativity a bit.

That being said I did very much enjoy Teri Brown's writing, it was very well done with just the write amount of detail. I loved Anna as a main character, she's a very physically and mentally strong female character who get into weird situations caused by her occupation and mother. There is a bit of a love triangle, usually I don't enjoy love triangles very much but this one was great since you have no clue who she will pick up until the very end. Both guys are very hot as well which helps.

Born of Illusion is a setting dependent novel this gives the illusion (see what I did there) of being in the 1920's emphasised through the speech. Although it didn't live up to my expectations I would still recommend it if your looking for a historical paranormal novel.

When We Wake Review

Title: When We Wake
Author: Karen Healey
Publisher: Little Brown
Release Date: March 5th 2013
Source: ARC for Review
Rating: 3

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027--she's happiest when playing the guitar, she's falling in love for the first time, and she's joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan's life, she dies--and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first government guinea pig to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity--even though all she wants to do is try to rebuild some semblance of a normal life. But the future isn't all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future?

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

Review:

Going into When We Wake I was very intrigued based on the concept of the book which is 16 year old girl named Teagan dying and waking up 100 years into the future. Right from the get go I picked up on what some of the major themes of the book would be; environmental issues and religion. The environment issues I found to be interesting, the religion... not so much.

The thing that I enjoyed the most about When We Wake is the not so hard to believe futuristic setting. The setting that Karen Healey created seems like a very plausible one that is plagued by issues caused by mans carelessness for our environment.

Fans of The Beatles will surely appreiciate this book as the chapters are named after their songs and their are countless mentions of them throughout the book, COUNTLESS. Maybe a bit too much for those (like me) who don't care for them that much.

I found myself really enjoying the characters, Teagan was an excellent voice to read the story from. The side characters were also very well written and long with the book itself. My only major complaint about the book is that I found there not to be a plot to the story until after 100 pages, which is almost half of the book. Once the plot did come into play is was full of fun things like conspiracies that will appeal to many.

Overall I did enjoy When We Wake, but it was not my all time favourite read. I do look forward to seeing where the story leads in the next book though.

Team Human Review

Title: Team HumanAuthors: Justine Larbiester & Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: Library
Rating: 3

Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!

On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.

Review:

 

Having heard great reviews on Team Human and hearing that it was quite humorous I had high expectations when starting the book. While I did enjoy the book I didn't absolutely fall in love with it, it was just an okay read for me.

 

All the raving about how funny Team Human was is what ultimately made me want to pick it up. After reading I don't know why others found this book to be funny, I didn't laugh at all while reading unfortunately and I tend to laugh at things that aren't all that funny.

 

I did quite enjoy how the authors poked funny of the typical insta-vampire love, and wanting to be with each other for eternity. All though while picking on it, it actually had to happen falling in with the cliche vampire love.

 

I really enjoyed Mel as a main character. She was easy going and very easy to like and genuinely cares about her friends. She has a investigating side to her which led to my favourite aspect of the book, the mystery that Mel was trying to solve. Throughout the book you keep guessing what happened and who the bad guy is.

 

The other best thing about Team Human is Kit. Kit is a character who was raised by vampires, and doesn't completely understand how humans live. Things do get a little humorous with him around. It also doesn't hurt that he's a hottie and Mel's love interest.

 

Team Human isn't a fantastic read, but it is a short and sweet one that pokes funny of the classic YA vampire stories. Definitely pick it up if you're looking for a quick, fun and enjoyable read.