Waiting on Wednesday #3

This segment is for books that haven't been released yet that I'm excited for... maybe you'll love the sound of them too!

Details

Title: The Savage Song

Author: Victoria Schwab

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Release: June 2016

Language: English

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance

Goodreads Rating: 4.2/5

Continuation: First book in Monsters of Verity series

Pages: 464

Summary

The city of Verity has been overrun with monsters, born from the worst of human evil. In North Verity, the Corsai and the Malchai run free. Under the rule of Callum Harker, the monsters kill any human who has not paid for protection. In the South, Henry Flynn hunts the monsters who cross the border into his territory, aided by the most dangerous and darkest monsters of them all—the Sunai, dark creatures who use music to steal their victim’s souls. 

As one of only three Sunai in existence, August Flynn has always wanted to play a bigger role in the war between the north and the south. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate Harker, daughter of the leader of North Verity, August jumps on it. When Kate discovers August’s secret, the pair find themselves running for their lives and battling monsters from both sides of the wall. As the city dissolves into chaos, it’s up to them to foster a peace between monsters and humans. 

A unique, fast-paced adventure that looks at the monsters we face every day—including the monster within.

Beautiful Creatures

Details

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Author: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Publication Year: 2011

Language: English

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Magic

Rating: 7/10

Continuation: It is the first book in the "Caster Chronicles" series.

Pages: 563

Review

Beautiful Creatures follows two protagonists, Lena Duchannes and Ethan Lawson Wate. The story narrated mostly by Ethan, until Lena takes over in the last chapter of the novel. Ethan lives a simple, even boring life in the small town of Gaitlin. He starts having mysterious and realistic dreams all linking back to one girl. 

Lena is the niece of the town's shut-in. She is shunned by her school, as the small-minded community refuses to get over their problem with her uncle, Macon Ravenwood. But Lena's problems go deeper than that. She is about to be Claimed on the night of the Sixteenth Moon of the Sixteenth Year and there is nothing she can do about it.

Ethan and Lena are bound by a deep and powerful love and it is only that love which will protect Lena until her fate is decided on her sixteenth birthday. 

This novel is quite twisted and shocking. The fantastical element is the drive of the story and there is a build-up of suspense from the very beginning. As the book progresses, shocking secrets and elements of the plot are revealed. As the novel comes to an end, the reader has a complete picture. In my opinion, this makes for a satisfying reading experience.

The romance between Ethan and Lena is not too aggressive but is still portrayed as powerful. The author develops their relationship and strengthens it through simple emotional gestures, rather that physical ones. I find that the author's technique to develop the emotion in their relationship is commendable.  This said, I also find that they never really fell in love. Ethan saw her in her dreams, thought she was hot and they start declaring their deep and devoted love for each other? This strikes me as quite unrealistic, but then, perhaps it's just my mind over-analyzing the novel. 

This book is built deeply on relationships, not only between Lena and Ethan, but between them and their families. The main plot of the story is the Casters and the Claiming. I have never seen this outlook on magic been explored before, and therefore, I find it remarkably innovative. The author painstakingly provides every detail of the magic, down to the eye color of different Casters. This may seem like a bore, but the author has a knack for making every description interesting and intriguing, keeping the reader riveted to most sections of the novel.

There were a few inconsistencies in the novel, which I feel should be mentioned. Firstly, Ethan Wate is meant to be a guy. No guy ever, especially a teenage boy, will be able to distinguish the smell of lemon and rosemary. He will not go into meticulous detail about the different types of dresses girls wear to dances and he most certainly will not over-analyze every detail of the girl he likes. This just makes the whole thing seem unrealistic. 

Next, Ethan has mud in his bed and all he does it think about it for five minutes? If I wake up from a mysterious dream and find mud in my bed, I would sure as hell be freaking out. 

Lastly, the authors tended to stretch certain elements of the novel out. For example, Lena is losing control of her power and weird stuff is going on everywhere, yet the reader sits through five pages of a high school dance that wasn't a smart idea in the first place. Lena is about to get taken by the Darkest Caster Ever, yet she would like to go to a high school dance or to a party on her Claiming day. If she doesn't care about her destiny, why should I? Time's running out and instead of sitting around, Ethan and Lena should be panicking and trying to stop the inevitable. 

All in all, the book was interesting, but unless you really enjoy fantasy novels, I would suggest you don't waste your time with all 563 pages of it. 

Bad Taste in Boys

Details

Title: Bad Taste in Boys

Author: Carrie Harris

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Year: 2011

Language: English

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Humor, Adventure

Rating: 7/10

Continuation: It is the first book in the "Katie Grable" series.

Pages: 201

Review

Katie, a high-school students finds out that the football coach has been pumping his students with steroids. Worse, the steroids contain an unexpected virus, which is turning the players into mindless, flesh-eating zombies. Kate's on a mission to find an antidote before the zombies turn the whole population of the high school with their bites. Everyone she knows is in danger - including her brother, Jonah and her crush, Aaron. Kate helps solve the zombie problem with the help of Aaron and her best girlfriend, Rocky.

This novel had an exciting plot, full of mayhem and adventure. I find the fact that they add a scientific spin to the paranormal element of zombies quite interesting. Harris makes the transformation and outbreak seem quite rational and logical, while most zombie books give absolutely no explanation, as to the reason behind the creation or transformation of zombies.

The book is quite riveting and definitely a page-turner. I can easily say it is one of the best zombie books I've read. It avoids the general zombie stereotypes and Harris is very creative with her description and behavior of the zombies and their transformation.

The book also contains an element of humor, though it is not very major. There are small quips and jokes throughout the book, preventing it from becoming too heavy or depressing. There is also a prominent element of romance, which I suppose will appeal to most female readers.Personally, I find the romance between Aaron and Kate quite cute. Harris manages to make the romance a major part of the book, without letting it take-over the main plot or over-doing the romantic action.

This book also has a negative aspect. When the book ends, there are several loose ends and unanswered questions, which I, quite honestly, find exasperating and frustrating. While I expect the author will explain further in the sequel of the book, I find such writing quite annoying.

This book was an adventure and if you, as the reader, are willing to commit to the series, I will definitely recommend it. 

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

Details

Title: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

Author: Rachel Harris

Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Year: 2012

Language: English

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure

Rating: 10/10

Continuation: It is the first book in the "My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century".

Pages: 328

Review

Cat Crawford is a simple teen and the last thing she wants is a grand gala thrown by her bubbly step-mother and well-meaning father for her sixteenth birthday. She is taken to Florence, Italy as a peace offering and she sets out to explore the wonderful city. Her curiosity leads her into a gypsy tent and when she exits, she's in the Renaissance.

Carrying only a bagpack stuffed with items from the future, she meets her sweet ancestors, Cipriano and Alessandra. Soon, she falls in love with the gorgeous Lorenzo, an aspiring artist. But when the much-older, Niccolo, starts sniffing around for her hand, she realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to a creepy, unwanted suitor. She must find herself into modern times, before she gets stuck in the Renaissance Firenze forever.

This novel  was positively wonderful. The plot was fresh and funny, compared to other historical fiction novels. I found that the protagonist, Cat Crawford, was quite charming and very endearing to the reader. 

The plot, coupled with the remarkable structure and language in this novel, keeps the reader captivated till the very end. While the story has a fantastical theme, the details given make the adventure seem realistic and quite interesting. 

Cat's romance with Lorenzo will leave teenage girls with fluttering hearts. Their romance is full of fiery passion and Harris does a wonderful job describing it. Whenever the couple has a romantic moment, the author provided fantastic imagery and makes it simple for the reader to feel what Cat does. "Lorenzo places his hands on either side of my face, lowering his head to stare directly into my eyes. His voice is barely above a whisper as he says, "you are my dream now." This very extract from the novel displays the dreaminess factor of Lorenzo, better than anything I could say would.

The overall adventure element of the novel was developed quite well. The story contains tons of action and high adrenaline moments. Her journey, even after she comes back to the the modern age, continues to provide surprises to the reader. Harris has a way of placing the reader into the middle of the action with her use of language and art of description.

The author's style of writing is quite impressive, so I would definitely recommend this book. I will also recommend having a look at other books she has written. 

Twenties Girl

Details

Title: Twenties Girl

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: The Dial Press
Publication Year: 2009

Language: English

Genre: Romance, Chick Lit, Humor, Fantasy

Rating: 9/10

Continuation: No continuation yet.

Pages: 435

Review

Lara Lington's great Aunt Sadie - a young, feisty girl with strong ideas about love, fashion and dancing - appears to her in spirit, she has a request to make: Lara must find her aunt's drangonfly necklace, as she cannot rest without it. 

Lara and Sadie make an interesting duo and their mission to find the missing necklace brings Lara love and intrigue. At first they seem to have nothing in common, but their adventure brings them to learn surprising truths about each other.

Twenties Girl is an outstanding novel. The whole story was narrated by Lara and when Sadie comes into the picture, the novel truly hits the funny bone. Lara is left wondering whether she has gone completely mental, while dealing with Sadie, who is upbeat and prone to teenage strops. The book starts off like a dull ghost story, but soon transforms into a heartfelt and humorous story about the friendship of Lara and Sadie.

The paranormal element at first seems obnoxious and hard to believe, but I soon find myself wanting Sadie as a companion. Her role in Lara and Ed's relationship make her seem like an interesting voice to have. Sadie's character is ditzy, but not so much to the point of annoying, and she makes the novel implausible and interesting at the same time, leaving the reader questioning his own sanity!

While Lara struggles with her relationship and career to portray the helpless heroine, Sadie saves the book from transforming into a tragedy and instead spins it into a tale of inspiration. The romance between Lara and Ed was very cute and engaging. I found Ed Harrison quite likable as a male character. 

The elements of humor, fantasy and romance, combined with the elements of 1920s, such as the Charleston and flapper dresses, makes this book a far-fetched, but enjoyable light summer read. I will recommend it, mainly for female readers.

Almost Everything

Details

Title: Almost Everything

Author: Tate Hallaway 

Publisher: National American Library Trade

Publication Year: 2012

Language: English

Genre: Young Adults, Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic

Rating: 8/10

Continuation: This novel is the third book in the "Vampire Princess of St. Paul" series.

Pages: 320

Review

Half-vampire, half witch Ana Parker has boy trouble. Her musician ex, Nikolai is trying to heat things up again and high school hockey star wants her to get with him. Her sort-of boyfriend Elias is her vampire knight - living in her basement.

Ever since Ana and Elias are banished from the court of the Northern vampires, Ana has been trying to live a normal life. When a Prince from the Southern region informs her of a brewing war, she accidentally offers Elias for marriage to the Prince's captain.

Vampires in the Nothern region haven't hunted for decades and they're getting hungry. They can only survive on witches' blood and it is up to Ana to get out of this situation, without letting any of her loved ones get harmed.

This novel was positively wonderful. It had a great combination of romance, action and fantasy. The novel has a complex plot, which appears to be confusing, but can barely be noticed in the story itself. The plot flows smoothly. The change in scenes are all quite clear and the ending ties up ALMOST EVERYTHING! I find the sub-plot of Ana's romance throughout the novel quite exciting. The reader will be intrigued and curious as to which of her three suitors Ana picks. This makes the story interesting.

Action in the book is written quite well. The direness of the situation is always described without too much gore or violence. The author's take on vampires is also an innovative one. The story moves fast without any dull moments and the tone of the book is lightened by the small sections of humor the author has placed strategically.

Magic and fantasy are major elements in this novel. I find that the descriptions given o the fantasy world are not overdone. Enough information is given to understand the events but some information is also withheld. This information is left to be completed by the reader's imagination and adds to the story's charm and mystery.Tat sometimes painted in a negative light to make Ana seem more sensitive and deep in contrast. I find this quite unfair to Bea's character, because Ana may be the the heroine of the book, but she is not as mature or sophisticated as she sometimes made to seem.

The author has a knack for story telling. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough, just to sate my curiosity. This novel kept me mesmerized till the end and I will recommend it. 

Cloaked

Details

Title: Cloaked

Author: Alex Flinn

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Year: 2011

Language: English

Genre: Young Adults, Fantasy, Adventure

Rating: 6.5/10

Continuation: No continuation yet.

Pages: 341

Review

Cloaked is the story of seventeen-year old Johnny, who aspires to be a shoe designer. He works hard to help out with the family business, since he and his mother are having a hard time making ends meet. Johnny's father has been missing for years. As fate would have it, a princess comes into town with enough money to solve all his financial problems. the only catch is that she believes her brother has been turned into a frog and Johnny is the right person to rescue him. What ensues as Johnny tries to manage this, is a whirlwind of danger and adventure. 

This story is a retelling of the fairy tale 'The Frog and the Princess'. I find that this twist on a classic fairy tale is quite intriguing and enjoyable. The novel contains a perfect mix of action, magic and romance. I, personally, appreciated the magical elements and found they boosted the plot significantly. 

The relationship between Johnny and his best friend Megan plays out as the sub-plot of the book. What I personally found quite disappointing was the fact that the ending was cliché. Alix Flinn has a knack for surprising the reader with a shocking ending, but this time, what came was quite expected. 

I also felt that Flinn had tried to push too much into one book. There were too many storylines to follow and the whole book was spent jumping from crisis to crisis. I found that the mash up of fractured fairy tales was too large a load for the reader to handle, making some parts of the book quite frustrating. 

While this book has a interesting outlook, I would recommend it only for readers with an interest in fantasy novels.