Review: Shift (Shade, Book 2) by Jeri Smith-Ready

3.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aura’s life is anything but easy. Her boyfriend, Logan, died, and his slides between ghost and shade have left her reeling. Aura knows he needs her now more than ever. She loves Logan, but she can’t deny her connection with the totally supportive, totally gorgeous Zachary. And she’s not sure that she wants to. Logan and Zachary will fight to be the one by her side, but Aura needs them both to uncover the mystery of her past—the mystery of the Shift.
As Aura’s search uncovers new truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets…and her heart.

Review:

 

The first book in this series, I read around the time that it first came out, and I was expecting it to be a one-shot. I've done this several times it seems, but now I'm more wary and kind of assume that books are in some kind of series. Recently, most have been. And despite the huge cliffhanger ending, I really enjoyed the book. This one, I didn't enjoy as much. I still liked it, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be.

One thing that bothers me about this series, is Logan. For more reason than one, really. I really like him, actually. In the first one, I was really rooting for Zachary (not to say that I wasn't in this one), and I wanted Logan to pass on already. It bothered me that he was still around, because he wasn't going to be able to come back alive, and by staying around, he was just dragging out the heartbreak of everyone else. It was keeping everyone from trying to get over it and move on. Not to say that they were all supposed to forget him, but that they needed to move on from his death and onto the rest of their lives. It was just dragging out Aura's feelings, and keeping her from moving on. In this one, it felt like she was forcing herself to move on, which in a way she should do. And near the end of the book, it feels like she's trying to move forward, and that she's almost there, but that she still feels something for him. If she was supposed to have already moved on completely from him, then I do feel that that was too fast for her.

Another thing that bothers me about Logan, or rather upsets me about him, is that I like him. He's very much a character that I would swoon over, and that I did swoon over. I wouldn't let myself do it completely, because he has to move on eventually, he can't be around forever, because he's dead and it just wouldn't work.

Zachary is also a character that I would swoon over. And I did swoon over him, but I think I did more of it in the first book than the second. I remember liking him more than I did when reading the second book, and I kept trying to get myself to like him more. But I think I like Logan more, which upsets me because he has to move on, and so therefore isn't really a choice. I still liked Zachary, and there were certain parts where I liked him a lot, but the swoon-worthy scenes just didn't really get me as excited as I'd hoped they would.

Aura is alright. I like her enough. Her struggle with Logan and Zachary frustrated me some, because of how she kept going back and forth on them without really making a decision. And at certain parts, she seemed particularly full of herself. Like with Logan and the band, she kept mentioning how that would affect her. And how he could slip up and say something, since he can't lie. I understand why she would think these things, as they make perfect sense. And it would suck if something he, or someone else, did that would ruin things for her, but I felt like she was thinking that everything was about her, almost. Like, yea, Logan won't be there to deal with all of the repercussions, and yea he's a ghost and draws attention to himself, but he also deserves to move on how he wants, even if he should have done it a while ago. And, yea, the book is kind of about her, since she's the main character and everything is happening around and to her, but it seemed a bit too self-centered. I might think this, though, because it wasn't written out as well as it could have been, and because it was usually about Logan. And I like Logan more than I do Aura.

I like the band, a lot. Megan and Mickey, and Dylan, and Siobhan. I wouldn't have minded a little more of them. I would read a book just centered around them, I like them that much. 

The writing was pretty straight forward. It wasn't particularly pretty, and it was all in first person in Aura's mind. It didn't particularly keep me attached to the book, which might have been because of my feelings for Aura, but it didn't bother me or anything.

The story progresses pretty well. It's very mainly centered on Aura and Zachary and Logan, but there's some of the main plot line in there as well. We find some more things about Aura's parents, and the shift and shine thing, and get some more possible theories of why the shift happened. I am looking forward to finding out what happens with that plot in the next book.

The ending is a little open, but I have an idea of what will happen next. I'm hoping that I fall for Zachary again, and that I like Aura more. There was some major swoon-worthy events in the last half of the book with Aura and Zachary, which I didn't fall for completely but I that there's more of it in the next book, and that I like it more.

Review: Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater

3.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Flux

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

Review:

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I've read the first one, Lament, and thought it was pretty good. It was amazing, and I didn't particularly feel for the characters, but I liked them. I liked the characters a lot more in this book.

James is awesome. He's very sarcastic and snarky, and also kind of adorable. I liked his conversations with everyone, all of his comebacks. I felt bad for him because of Dee, and how Dee treated him. I liked her in the first book, and I kept trying to like her still in this one, but I kind of sided with Nuala on how she felt about her. Mostly, I really felt all of the things that he did, and related to him quite well.

Nuala is a faerie, a Leanan Sidhe, who is a muse for humans and in return takes years from their life. And she only lives sixteen years before she burns up on Halloween and starts a new with no memory and looking mostly the same age, but her looks change to fit her current artist. She's very harsh and mean to most people. But I liked her a lot as well.

I liked the plot line, and the ending was very good. Much more satisfying than the ending of the first book. At least for James. I'm not totally sure what all happened to Dee. I have an idea of what went down, but I'm mostly confused on the Luke thing, like if it was really him or not. I did like how things worked out for Nuala, too. I don't want to spoil too much, but I think things worked out very well for them, and I'm glad the ending wasn't left too open.

I also really liked Sullivan, James' teacher. He was fun and sweet, and I'm a little upset at how things worked out for him, but I guess they kind of make sense. I feel like the last scene with all of them wasn't done as well as it could have been, as it seemed a little too cliché, but the outcome worked out well. And I liked Paul, James' roommate. And the school that they're all going to, a musical boarding school called Thornking-Ash, is fantastic. Even if some of the teachers are crazy and the school opened for a not so good reason or in a not so good place, I would still totally go there.

The writing was especially pretty in this book. I've talked about Stiefvater's writing before, with how lyrical and pretty it is and all that, but I think that it's especially so in this book. In her small faerie series, because of the music element, it adds to things for her to describe and make pretty. And she definitely accomplished it in this book. It was all so very gorgeous.

Review: Last Breath (Morganville Vampires, Book 11) by Rachel Caine

4.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: New American Library

Goodreads Synopsis:

With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town—a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville’s latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn’t merely human. But is he a vampire—or something else entirely?

Review:

I've been debating on how to review this series for a while now. (Or, you know, for as long as I've had this blog, which isn't all that long.) I've thought about doing it from the beginning, book by book. Or two or three books at a time. Or maybe just doing the last couple of books. I even started a review. Obviously, though, I decided to just start with the most recent book, since it just came out.

I started this series a couple years ago, when only a couple of the books were out. I almost immediately loved it. And my feelings for the series, and the characters, have only grown the more I've read.

The main story with the series, is that Claire starts college in Morganville at sixteen and gets bullied and moves into the Glass House with Eve, Shane, and Micheal. She finds out about the vampires that run the town, and finds her way quite close to the higher ranks. A lot of stuff happens within the other ten books, but I'm not going to talk about all of that, since there's a lot.

I like how mature this series seems. Claire is in college, so she's more mature, or just smarter, than most, plus she lives in a house with three people already out of high school. There aren't any parents around, and they all have jobs and all that. Mostly the fact that they're all out of high school and on their own, or only have each other, makes it seem more mature to me. Either way, though, I like this aspect to it.

I love Claire. She is my favorite character. I love how smart she is, and that she's in college at such a young age. And she's smart, while also being insecure. And I love Shane. He's so sweet to her, but he's still an actual boy. He has characteristics of an actual boy; he's emotional and violent and intense and sweet and confused by certain things. Their relationship has lots of swoon.

All of the characters are good, really, and different from each other, unique. Eve is emotional and dramatic but tough. Micheal is kind of complicated, and kind of the head of the house. Amelie is powerful and the Founder of Morganville, and untouchable. And Myrnin... Myrnin is Myrnin. He's crazy, not completely sane, dangerous, and quite random with all of the modern things he finds. I love his and Claire's relationship, with how they are mostly equals in how they feel for each other. And they love each other, but in a complicated way.

There are others, but I'm not going to list any more.

In this book, there's something wrong with the vampires. They keep disappearing, and Amelie decides to have them all pack up and move to some other place, because whatever is coming after them is serious. His name is Magnus, and he's not a vampire, he's a draug, which is a water thing. I understand how they works, but I don't really understand why they would be a big enemy to vampires. They're dangerous to them, yea, but the elemental thing didn't really make sense to me.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. Several books ago, when the Bishop story line ended, there have been more one-book story lines. Which is okay, only it doesn't add as much suspense. And it makes it seem like there are just books coming out for the sake of making more books because the series is popular enough. Not that I'm saying that's what's happening, because that's not how I look at it. And I love the series, so I'm perfectly happy that the series is continuing. And there have been serious plot points happening in each book, even if some of it is more character development things; that is perfectly okay.

Aside from the draug thing, there's a big thing that happens with Claire. Which I totally didn't see that coming. I was surprised and horrified. I don't know if I like it or not, but I am wondering if something big is going to come from that. I don't want to say to much and give it away, but I'm wondering if what happened is going to affect her later, and the house.

And something big also happens with Amelie at the end. Well, something happened with Amelie and Oliver, which everyone knew was a long time coming, but not that. I was kind of wondering if it was going to be her, but I was still surprised. I'm glad that she didn't go out being a coward, because she was fighting instead of running away. But I'm wondering if that's really going to be it for her, or if there's going to be some twist in the next book. I'm a bit upset at what happened, but it would be a little too cliché for something to save her in the next book.

In the last book, Caine added Shane's point of view, and she also added Micheal, Eve, and Amelie's point of view. I didn't mind theirs, but I like Claire and Shane's most. They were all done very well, and I'm glad that everyone has their own voices, but I personally enjoy Shane and Claire more. I find it odd, though, that Claire's chapters are done in third person, while everyone else's are in first. I'm assuming that it's because she started it in third, and when she wrote the other characters later put them in first. But I wonder if that's tricky, or if it just seems natural.

I am excitedly anticipating the next book. I always am, though, since I love the story and characters so much.

Manga Review: Tail of the Moon, Volume 1, by Rinko Ueda

3 of 5 Stars

Publisher: VIZ Media

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sometimes it seems like Usagi is hopeless. Sure, she's good with healing herbs, but she's the granddaughter of the leader of a prestigious ninja village and she's such a klutz that she's never made it out of the kiddie class. Finally frustrated with Usagi's lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry a local lord and have lots of ninja babies. But the lord has no interest in her or her child bearing potential! After years of goofing around, Usagi is finally determined to reach her goals--she's going to become a ninja and capture her true love's heart!

Review:

I've read Ueda's more recent series, Stepping on Roses, but I hadn't gotten around to read this series when it was first released. It sounded interesting, but not immensely so.

The series is about Usagi, the daughter of some big ninja family, who's quite hopeless when it comes to being a ninja. So far, I'm not a big fan of Usagi. Within the first chapter, she's going on about becoming a good ninja, only she skips practice. And then her grandpa tells her that she's not good at being ninja, to which she whines, and then he tells her that she's going to have to go and have a child with some man. She protests wildly, and then immediately leaves for him when told that he's handsome. Some of these things could be done for comedy, but they just bothered me. She has a very weak will, and she's not particularly smart. She got a little bit better near the end of the manga, but not enough for me to actually like her.  

The guy that she is supposed to marry, Hanzo, doesn't seem so bad. He's very against marriage, which is explained a little bit later in the book, but he obviously has a growing affection for Usagi. And we meet Yuri, who also intends to marry Hanzo. I don't really mind her, and hope we see more of her, as we probably will.

And we meet Hanzou, who is a flirt, but who loves Sara, who does not like his flirtatious ways. I like both of them, and hope that they make up soon. And that Hanzou grows up a bit from his flirtatious ways. And Hanzo is also in love with Sara, which is very obvious.

Usagi has a servant like person that follows her, Mamezo. He's a rookie ninja, and is adorable. He's just a little kid, and he gets a little piglet, who is also adorable. Yuri has a servant like person as well, who is around her age, if not older, who is also cute. In a different way. I hope that we see more of him, and that he gets an actual character, but I'm unsure on if I believe that we will or not.

Through out the book, Usagi goes and meets Hanzo, and instantly falls in love with him, to which he declines her proposal. And Yuri is in the same position as her, only she has known him longer. In the second and third chapters, Yuri makes an effort to poison Usagi, which doesn't work because Usagi takes a lot of medicine, that I guess cancel out the effects of it. And Yuri ends up poisoning herself and is sick for the rest of the book. 

(I'm thinking that Ueda has a think for marriages, and problems with them. Because the main problem for the main character in this story is that she has to and wants to marry Hanzo, only he doesn't want to, and she has several competitors. And in Stepping on Roses, the main character gets kind of forced into a marriage. I don't know if this bothers me or not...)

Throughout most of the book, Usagi is practicing her ninja skills, and she doesn't seem to be making a lot of progress. Hanzo finds out that Usagi can make medicine, and a lot of townspeople want some, so she stays up late making some because of some stupid promise she made. Because she gets sick a lot, which I think is kind of psychological, because apparently she fakes it before starting to actually feel it, it makes sense for her to be able to make medicine for herself. And at least she's good at something.

We meet Hanzou and Sara, and they get into a fight, and Sara stays with Usagi and Hanzo, and Usagi discovers that Hanzo loves Sara. And in the last chapter, Hanzo and Usagi have a fight and he kicks her out, and she stays outside the village for a little bit but it starts raining and so she heads back to her hometown village. Where she sees Goemon with some woman, where he's giving lessons, I guess, to the younger girls. Maybe they actually did things like this, but I have a hard time believing that. Or I just don't want to.

She kicks them out of her room because she's tired, and then Goemon makes a move on her and the book ends. I'm a little curious to find out what happens next, but not anxious for it. I don't particularly like Usagi, which is probably the main reason for this, but I will pick up the next book when I'm able to.

Manga Review: Black Butler, Volume 6, by Yana Toboso

3.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Yen Press

Goodreads Synopsis:

Just a stone's throw from London lies the manor house of the illustrious Phantomhive earldom, its master one Ciel Phantomhive. Earl Phantomhive is a giant in the world of commerce, Queen Victoria's faithful servant...and a slip of a twelve-year old boy. Fortunately, his loyal butler, Sebastian, is ever at his side, ready to carry out the young master's wishes. And whether Sebastian is called to save a dinner party gone awry or probe the dark secrets of London's underbelly, there is practically nothing Sebastian cannot do. In fact, one might even say Sebastian is too good to be true...or at least, he is too good to be human...

Review:

I haven't been totally loving this series yet; it's mostly been entertaining at some point, and I've been hoping for it to get better. This volume was much better than the previous ones, and I found it kind of hilarious.

The whole volume mostly focuses on the circus. They have a case pertaining to missing children, and think that the circus has something to do with it. They visit the Undertaker in the first chapter, and he hasn't seen any of them, which means that it's not underground type of stuff doing it. I like the Undertaker. He's interesting, and odd, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of him. After visiting him, they go to the circus, to which Sebastion gets called up, and they end up joining it undercover. They try investigating, only they aren't allowed past a certain point because they're rookies. And we see 'Suit' (I can't remember his name from the previous volume he was in...), who's a grim reaper, and Sebastion's roommate, and they don't get along very well. Ciel also has a different roommate, 'Freckle Face', who I don't believe we actually learn his name, but who is quite adorable.

During a performance in the last chapter, Ciel starts sneaking around, and at the end he appears to have been found by one of the circus members. I'm not anxious to find out what happens next, but I am eager to read more.

There's a lot of small, funny moments throughout the book. Like Ciel has to do something for the Undertaker to make him laugh, and when they visit the circus, Sebastion gets bitten by a tiger, only he likes cats but Ciel is allergic to them. And there's a lot of them after they join the circus, with Sebastion being very impressive with all he can do, and Ciel not being very useful since he's a Phantomhive, and doesn't know how to do any tricks or housework. And they call Ciel 'Smiles', which is funny all on it's own. I'm really glad that I found this to be as funny as I did, because it hadn't been as fun before, and I hope that the next volumes are just as good as this one.

Despite the funny, though, I do feel a little bad for Ciel at one point. Just cause he's having such a hard time, and he's so cute...

Also, the circus members. It appears that there's something not right going on with them, or at least a few of them, but I hope that not all of them have to do with the missing children. Because I really like them, actually. They cause a lot of entertainment, especially with Ciel, but also with each other.

The artwork is very pretty. It's kind of eccentric, but that might be partly because of the time period the series is set in. But I love all of the clothing; the costumes are so pretty. Especially with the circus chapters, because they have such flamboyant outfits, and they are done so very well.

Manga Review: Grand Guignol Orchestra, Volume 1, by Kaori Yuki

3 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Viz Media

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lucille and his orchestra encounter a town overrun with the worst kind of audience: the Living Dead! Well, not really. They’re people who have been turned into doll-like zombies. And they are definitely not a crowd to take lightly. Can a group of roving musicians use their skills to calm the beasts? Or is this curtains for the Royal Orchestra?!

Review:

[Contains Spoilers]

I've put off reading this for a while now, mostly because I haven't been in the mood for this type of manga. I've read Kaori Yuki's other stuff, aside from Angel Sanctuary, and liked it. She tends to write complicated stories and they can get to be confusing, but I still like them. Her art as well, seems a little complicated, but it's very pretty, and almost delicate and harsh... Which doesn't make a lot of sense, but still...

The book is about a grand royal orchestra that is kind of fighting guignol, which are zombies that are also kind of dolls. I'm not big on zombies, so I was reluctant to start it for this reason as well, but it is very interesting. The orchestra has three members at the start, Lucille, Kohaku, and Gwindel. We don't get a lot, or any, background for them, but it's obvious that something is going on with them. Lucille is kind of charming, and the one that takes charge in the group. He also gets taken for a girl a lot, because of his long hair. Kohaku is harsh, rough, but I quite like him, and hope to find out more about him. And then Gwindel, who owns a hedgehog, and who we don't see a whole lot of . He's in a lot of scenes, but we don't get a lot of him in this volume. I'm hoping, and assuming, that we get more later. And that we find out what's going on, what happened with them before the start.

In the first two chapters, we meet Eles, and what is going on is his town and his background. Including that he is actually his twin sister, Celes, who supposedly died when actually it was Eles who did. Because she can play the piano beautifully and so they were attacked by the guignol and everyone was turned/died in result. This isn't as confusing, and is explained much better in the book. At the end of the second chapter, Eles (as I've decided to call her until she decides to go by Celes,) decides to join the orchestra and they are on their way.

In the third and fourth chapter, their car crashes and they stay at this guys house. He has a bunch of maids who he has infected with a different version of the zombie curse, and who are like slaves, and he is obsessed with women. And he thinks that Lucille is a woman This problems is solved at the end of the fourth chapter, but we get to meet Spinel, who is an old classmate of Lucille and who we will probably see in later chapters. She is very tough, and I'm a little intrigued by her.

This wasn't an amazing first book, but I liked it, and I am interested and will be reading more of it.

Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare

~3 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Goodreads Synopsis:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know.

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Review:

Now, this is a very tentative 3 stars. Tentative as in it could be lower. I'm in a book club, and this was our book for the last few weeks. I was interested, and it sounded pretty good. I'd heard about it before, seen it before, and had almost read it before. I hadn't read it because of the length, (about 485 pages,) and I've found that in longer books, there's a bigger chance of the story being dragged on. And in this case, that's kind of true.

I'm going to start with what I actually liked about the book, which is the characters. I don't mind Clary, and I like Jace and Alec and Isabelle, among the others. They're all done very well, and I have a pretty good idea of who they are. And they've got my interest, almost enough to read the next book on my own. I would like to know what happens to them next.

And the plot is interesting. The world that it's set in is very interesting, and somewhat different from what I've read before, with the Shadowhunters and how all the other things work. Most of them, at least. There were a couple of twists, mainly the one near the end, that surprised me. And makes me wonder, a lot. I did like this quite a bit.

Now, with that out of the way, the writing. It's very simple, in a way that bothers me. And I didn't like how the plot played out. It's not that I think the information was given too quickly, but that there was always a problem, something going wrong. I understand that stuff has to happen in order for a book to be interesting, and one thing that bothers me with how she did it, is that I can't really think of how she would have done it differently. Something always went wrong, but they all had a point, and were foreshadowing to something. But it seemed kind of Disney-like, with the almost exaggerated writing and problems occurring one after another. This is the main reason that I had such a hard time reading this book. It bothered and annoyed me so much.

I will be reading the next book, because we are reading it in book club. But I will probably not enjoyed it any or much more than I did this one. I hope that I do, but I doubt it.

Review: Where She Went (If I Stay, Book 2) by Gayle Forman

4 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Dutton

Goodreads Synopsis:

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

Review:

I don't know what I was expecting when I started this book. Because there was a sequel, I know that there wasn't a happy ending and I was afraid that it was just going to get worse. So I was happy to find that I liked this book even more than the first one.

I didn't feel a big connection to Mia in the first book, but I felt more for Adam in this one. He's still upset over her and depressed, and I didn't think it was too much. I mean, sure, the part of me that's all for self-love and all that, thinks that he should have moved on a little bit, dealt with it better, but it mostly fits and it was done very well. He didn't seem whiny or anything to me. He was a bit depressing, but I liked it. I like those kinds of characters, though.

When I heard about this book, I imagined something more along the lines of Adam and Mia stumbling upon each other in a subway or something and having one night to try to work out their problems, and I imagined that they would fight and talk and all those things, but I was unsure if it would have a happy ending or not. I was really happy to find that this wasn't the case.

Instead, Mia is successfully being a musician and Adam is not successfully being in the band anymore because of how depressed he's been. It's sad how badly losing Mia hurt him. And Adam finds out that Mia is playing near him, and despite his promise, he goes to watch her play. I hadn't realized that his promise at the end of the first book was going to be taken seriously. To me it didn't seem like either one of them should take it seriously, that either of them would want to fulfill it, so that bothered me. But I see why it was important, and things played out like they did partly because of it. Then there are some awkward moments and painful moments as they try to talk and find themselves unsure how to do it.

Their relationship, as they start talking and start moving on from it, is so sweet. They're much more mature in this book, and they need t move on from some things and they do. They're so very sweet to each other and cute together. They belong together, and they know it. I loved seeing them together in the present in this book. There should be more couples like this in books.

The writing was pretty much the same from before. It flows easily and it keeps me compelled to read more.

The ending is very fitting to the story. It's showing that they are going to work things out and are going to stay together no matter what happens. And Adam does a bit of growing, as well. I liked that he went to go talk to his band with Mia, and that it shows us that he did work that out, instead of leaving it open to our interpretation.

This book was fantastic. It was definitely better than the first one.

Review: If I Die (Soul Screamers Book 5) by Rachel Vincent

4 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Harlequin

Goodreads Synopsis:

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life. 

Anything.

Review:

[Contains some spoilers]

I've read all the other books in this series and loved them. They just keep getting better. I was expecting some things from this book because of what Vincent has said on her blog, and so I wasn't surprised by what happened in the book. As I read farther on, I could kind of tell that certain things were going to happen, and I was kind of glad when they did.

In this book, there's a new teacher at their school who is something not human, and they have to deal with that. Oh, and Kaylee's name is on the reaper list so her time is almost up. I wasn't particularly bothered with the teacher throughout most of the book, probably because I didn't think much of it. It's obvious, now, what part in the book he had, besides just an evil presence, and to take Kaylee's mind from her impending death. And I wondered throughout most of it how they were going to solve that problem. I'd guessed the solution at one point, but didn't fully consider it until later on in the book. Although I was a little off, I got the over all solution correct. Kaylee's coming demise did take up most of the book, which is understandable, and I liked, no matter how sad it was, how everyone dealt with it and reacted.

What happened with Kaylee and Tod, I was very much expecting. Mostly because of the hints that Vincent gave, and I was excited for this. I like Tod, probably more than Nash, but I was unsure how I would feel about him and Kaylee together. I'm still a little unsure. I think I didn't believe their connection or something, even though there is full reason to. It made sense for it to happen, and everything about how it happened and everything after made sense, but it just felt a little flat or something. Part of it is probably also that I'm unsure how I feel about Nash, and so I'm unsure how I feel about Kaylee moving on from him, although I'm warming to the idea that they shouldn't be together. I'm hoping that in the next book it feels better to me, because I really want to like Kaylee and Tod together.

As I said, I'm having mixed feeling about Nash. Because I want to like him and I liked him when he was with Kaylee in the earlier books, but then (SPOILER!) he started using frost, and then did it again in this book, and I do not like that. But I am warming to the idea of Nash and Sabine being together. They'll probably be good together. Now I just need to warm more to the idea of Tod and Kaylee, and I really hope that I feel better about them later. Because I like them so much separately, together they should be fantastic.

I do like Kaylee. She might not always make the best decisions, (not to say that she makes bad one,) but she's usually pretty smart with what she's doing, and she can think on her feet. In this book, she had to deal a little bit with the mental hospital she's stayed at for a little bit, and that was interesting. Mental hospitals are just interesting, though, in my opinion.

Now, the ending. The scene with the teacher was bad (in an intense, thrilling way), probably as bad as it was supposed to be, but I feel that the last bit, (SPOILER!) where she stabs him, could have been done better. It just seemed sudden and felt a little flat to me. The rest of the book, though, was pretty amazing. I was kind of hoping through most of the book that something like this would happen, so I'm glad that it did. I'm looking forward to seeing her in the next book in the new position she's in, as well as seeing more of her and Tod.

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

4.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater
In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Review:

The prologue of this book was misleading. It's in Shelby's point of view and it made me think that she was adding even more character chapters. I was confused at first, but glad when I realized that this isn't true. After that chapter, it's Grace's point of view. And we find out that she's been a wolf for a while, and Stiefvater is practically teasing us as we wait for her and Sam to get to see each other. And then in Isabel's chapter how long it's been since the end of the last book, and that apparently she hasn't been talking to Cole either. And we find out that Cole has been leaving her messages that are funny and sad. And Sam has been dealing with Cole and with trying to find out how to fix and find Grace while missing her.

I love all of these characters even more now. They are all so different from each other, with their own voices and problems.

Isabel is harsh at nature, and she's trying to resist Cole and deal with her family. We see her get closer to her family some, mostly her mother, while staying away from her father until she decides to stick up for the wolves. And I love seeing her fall for Cole, and get emotional over him as she tries not to. I like also that she doesn't put up some huge wall between them or do some big denial thing, she just tries to stay away from him and reverts to being harsh.

Cole is still dealing with Victor's death and his family, and slowly finding that he doesn't want to lose himself completely. It's nice seeing him become not so self-destructive as he finds that he prefers being Cole to being Wolf. And his attraction to Isabel is nice. He doesn't seem to think about it a lot, and instead we get all the scenes in her point of view, but it's obvious how he feels by what he does around her, and he's always the first one to make a move.

Sam is such a sweetheart. He has to deal with Beck and how he might not know him as well as he thought, and with Grace. We get most of the romantic moments in his point of view, which is just so cute. He thinks about her so much, missing her and wanting her, and it's so obvious how much he loves her. And he gets so embarrassed around her, it is so cute.

Grace is dealing with her parents and friends and being a wolf. I like that her parents take a role in the series, because parents don't as much as they should sometimes, but they are just so unreasonable sometimes. Mostly her dad. It's good that she's standing up for herself, it's nice to see how she's grown up from running away from them.

I just love the romantic aspect of the book. It's obvious how much Sam and Grace love each other, and it's so sweet and true. There isn't a lot of actual kissing, at least, not enough of it for me, but with how Sam and Grace are affected by each other and how much they think of each other, definitely ups the swoon for me. They're just so cute together.

There's some swoon between Isabel and Cole, but they're kind of a side story to Sam and Grace. There's still definitely an attraction, and obviously something growing between them even more than the last book. There's also a bit of kissing, which is cute, and also not enough to sate me. There's seemed more of a relationship still growing, whereas Sam and Grace's was already there and obvious.

I'm a little skeptical to how the scientific parts were explained, and how the supposed mostly-cure works, but I'll live with it. And the ending is a little open. It doesn't give as much closure to everything as I'd have liked. I'm going to forever believe that it worked for Grace and her and Sam live happily ever after, or at least mostly. And that Cole followed Isabel, if maybe after a while as they talk long distance, because I don't want them to separate and believe they wouldn't be for too long. I do believe, though, that the relocation would have worked.

Despite it being open, I do think it's a pretty good ending and I rather enjoyed the book. Even if I'd have liked some more kissing scenes, or just more scenes between them all later. Because I love the characters so much.