Showing posts with label won. Show all posts
Showing posts with label won. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Review: Scorched by Mari Mancusi

Scorched (Scorched, #1)Title: Scorched
Author: Mari Mancusi
Source/Format: Won, Hardback
More Details: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Fire, September 3, 2013

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Trinity...Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...

Connor...He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world.

Caleb...He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.

Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed...
 Dragons and time travel...

By the end of this novel I was firmly on Team Dragon, nuff said…

Scorched by Mari Mancusi clearly ended up being my kind of book. With the concept—which combined dragons, time travel, and the warning of an impending apocalypse—it definitely made for one heck of a novel! Going into Scorched I really had no expectations beyond looking for an entertaining read, and I did enjoy it. The pacing was handled well, and right from the start I was pretty much hooked by the opening chapters. I was really interested in the concept of dragons and their role in the events hinted at throughout the book, and needless to say I got my answers and then some. One thing worth noting was the villains in Scorched. Initially, it was difficult to tell who was who, which was great, because it added some suspense to the novel. Trinity was a pretty interesting character, and overall I liked her personality. She had her reasons for being the way she was and it was easy to understand why she was protective of what family she had left. Now, Connor, his personality seemed straight forward, but as the novel progressed he changed as more of his past was revealed and he got to know Trinity better. His twin brother Caleb—a dragon sympathizer—was an alright character who had his own motivations and a desire to prove his worth. The dynamics of the relationships throughout the novel was one of the highlights for me, and I really kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to the characters at the end. The dragons were another highlight, and I enjoyed Mancusi’s take on the subject.

So yeah, this is probably one of the best books I’ve read this year. And I would consider getting the rest of the trilogy simply because more dragons, and that’s always a good thing.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Review: The Body in the Woods by April Henry

The Body in the Woods (Point Last Seen, #1)Title:The Body in the Woods
Author: April Henry
Source/Format: Won, ARC 
More Details: Young Adult, Mystery
Publisher/Publication Date: Henry Holt and Co., June 17, 2014

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

In this new series told from multiple perspectives, teen members of a search and rescue team discover a dead body in the woods. Alexis, Nick, and Ruby have very different backgrounds: Alexis has spent her life covering for her mom’s mental illness, Nick’s bravado hides his fear of not being good enough, and Ruby just wants to pursue her eccentric interests in a world that doesn’t understand her. When the three teens join Portland County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, they are teamed up to search for a autistic man lost in the woods. What they find instead is a dead body. In a friendship that will be forged in danger, fear, and courage, the three team up to find the girl’s killer—before he can strike one of their own...
The Body in the Woods was an interesting mystery that had some faults, but offered an entertaining reading experience. The details about the search and rescue teams are what drew me into the story, which quickly set the stage for the conflict of the novel, and as the title suggests, there was a body in the woods. The stories primary focus was on the mystery, which was never lost underneath a pile of extraneous details. It was straight forward from start to finish. The characters were another thing worth noting since they came from varied backgrounds. Ruby with her interests that were often looked upon with disapproval by her parents, Nick with his need to prove that he can do something worthwhile, and Alexis with her struggles—financially and dealing with her mentally ill mother. The Body in the Woods was definitely a whodunit complete with amateur sleuths wrapped up in a complicated mystery. I actually liked it and would consider checking out another novel by April Henry if I’m ever in the mood for a mystery again.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Review: Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius

Love Fortunes and Other DisastersTitle:Love Fortunes and Other Disasters
Author: Kimberly Karalius
Source/Format: Won, Paperback
More Details: Young Adult
Publisher/Publication Date: Swoon Reads, May 12, 2015

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Love is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love. Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian. Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?
Literally as I was finishing my review for Save Me by Jenny Elliott, this book arrived in the mail. My last tango with a Swoon Reads novel left me a little disappointed; however, that wasn't the case this time. I read the prologue of this book and I was hooked. Thankfully, this time around it was better and I ended up loving Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius.

Karalius' book presented the idea of what could happen if fortunes proven to be 100% accurate about love and relationships started to go horribly awry. The story basically follows Fallon Dupree after she goes to the town of Grimbaud for school and an almost mandatory visit to Zita’s Lovely Love Charms shop to have her fortune told. It was a tradition that had worked for her family, but sadly for Fallon things didn’t turn out the way she thought they would. And I enjoyed seeing her try to fight her fortune rather than give up and accept the fate that everyone was convinced would happen. The secondary characters in the story were just fantastic, and I enjoyed how everything worked together—and how the seemingly miscellaneous details ultimately played a role in what happens to the characters.

Romance was a big part of this novel and I have to say that it was cute. I liked the way Karalius handled the relationships in the novel, and developed the characters in a way that it felt natural instead of forced despite the circumstances that brought them together.

Another aspect of this novel that I enjoyed was the writing. There was never a moment that I felt like I couldn’t grasp what was happening, and there was a good flow to the story that kept me engaged. The concept was handled nicely—it seemed like a complete idea, and stuck to the point of the story rather than unraveling. The setting was more or less fitting and there was enough detail so I could easily picture where the characters were going and what was happening around them. I actually really enjoyed how whimsical the novel was.

I had plenty of questions regarding the town and why Zita’s fortunes and charms had such a hold over them. And despite the sunshine and rainbows that constantly hovered over the town of Grimbaud like a fluffy sparkly cloud, I always had that lingering feeling that there was something not right with the pristine, love obsessed town. And as the events gradually unfolded the details became clearer, and I liked the gradual build up to the end.

Basically I was pleasantly surprised by Love Fortunes and Other Disasters. This book is one of my new favorites, and I am looking forward to what Karalius writes next.

**Check back next week for my interview with Kimberly Karalius**

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Review: The Tapper Twins Go to War by Geoff Rodkey

22875089Title: The Tapper Twins Go to War
Author: Geoff Rodkey
Source/Format: Won, Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade
Publisher/Publication Date: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, April 7, 2015

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Claudia and Reese, who couldn't be more different...except in their determination to come out on top in a vicious prank war! But when the competition escalates into an all-out battle that's fought from the cafeteria of their New York City private school all the way to the fictional universe of an online video game, the twins have to decide if their efforts to destroy each other are worth the price. Told as a colorful "oral history" by the twins and their friends, and including photos, screenshots, chat logs, online gaming digital art, and text messages between their clueless parents, The Tapper Twins is a hilariously authentic showcase of what it's like to be in middle school in our digitally-saturated world...
My initial thoughts based on the first few pages of the Tapper Twins Go To War (With Each Other) by Geoff Rodkey was that it was going to be a cute, humorous story. But there were a few character comparisons to historical figures left me scratching my head, or just outright frowning. The book wasn’t all bad. Some parts were humorous as the twins Reese and Claudia Tapper continued their dispute with one another over an incident at the beginning. By the end of the book there was an important lesson that the twins had to learn. Another thing that I liked was the way that the book was written. It was in an oral history kind of style with different characters sharing their perspective of “the war”—it was paired with text messages between the parents—so I like how it came together to tell the story. Overall, I liked this book, it had its funny moments, but it also had some details that bothered me. Still, I would consider picking up other novels by Geoff Rodkey.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Review: Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

Landry ParkTitle: Landry Park 
Author: Bethany Hagen
Source/Format: won, paperback
More Details: YA, Dystopian
Publisher/Publication Date: Speak, February 4, 2014

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Summary from Goodreads...

Sixteen-year-old Madeline Landry is practically Gentry royalty. Her ancestor developed the nuclear energy that has replaced electricity, and her parents exemplify the glamour of the upper class. As for Madeline, she would much rather read a book than attend yet another debutante ball. But when she learns about the devastating impact the Gentry lifestyle—her lifestyle—is having on those less fortunate, her whole world is turned upside down. As Madeline begins to question everything she has been told, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana, who seems to be hiding secrets of his own. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty—her family and the estate she loves dearly—and desire...
I went into Landry Park by Bethany Hagen without reading the synopsis first. My first impression of the book was that it was a historical novel, the first few pages certainly read like one. However, Landry Park is set in a very different, futuristic/dystopian version of America that seemed to get some of its ideas straight from the Victorian Era.

To be fair, I gave this book more of a chance than I usually do for others that don’t immediately get my attention. I read on past the first one hundred pages—I even finished it. Madeline Landry’s story was one that I couldn’t get into. I wasn’t interested in all of the parties that happened in the first part of the book. There were small hints of a plot, but the whole conflict in Landry Park was almost…typical. And it wasn’t just Madeline either I hardly cared about any of the characters or their part in the story.

The ending was just alright, but there’s nothing much that I can say on it. The writing style was ok, it had a nice flow to it and I could visualize the setting. However, that didn’t overshadow my disappointment. Landry Park was a dissatisfying read that left me wanting so much more, and I don’t think I’ll be reading anything else by this author unless it’s available at the library.
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