The Vicious Deep

You’ll have to forgive me for this review; it’s been almost 3 months since I’ve written my last review. Hopefully it’ll be like riding a bike….

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The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Córdova
Grade: 3.8 stars out of 5
Published: May 1st, 2012; harcover
Source: ARC from Sourcebooks for blog tour

You thought your family had secrets. For Tristan Hart, his family’s secret goes deep…deep into the ocean.

For 3 days, Tristan has been swept way in the sea by a crash. He was the only survivor. The big question on everyone’s mind is how? Someone has some explaining to do especially when a goldfish turned merperson comes popping out of the facet.

The first thing that was the most surprising was the fact that The Vicious Deep was written through a male’s POV via first person. Zoraida Cordova pulled it off well. Tristan Hart is one of those guys who is part jerk who knows that he’s hot and part sensitive guy that not many people know about. The first person POV helped immensely when drawing some the more subtle traits of Tristan: protective, loving, word-vomiting guy. But he’s still part jerk. There were moments in the book where I wanted to slap him upside the head, stomp on his toes hard, and say really mean things.

Tristan’s reactions to everything were realistic. The underwater kingdom that Cordova built was crafted amazingly. I enjoy the slight politics and balance between brutish and sophisticated lifestyle that the merfolk cultivated.

For me, I had trouble mostly with the pacing of the story and Layla, Tristan’s best friend and crush. I’m all for independent women, but I hated how she took every “no, don’t do it” as a challenge. There’s a difference between confident and reckless and Layla managed to cross that line for me many times. Tristan wasn’t the only thing I wanted to slap.

I loved the other characters. Love, love, love some of the secondary characters. Would a fifth “love” be excessive? No? Okay, I loovvveee some of them. The dad, mom, friends, and “cousins” brought so much to the book.

The second problem was that the pacing was rather slow for me. There were some scenes that I felt could have been cut out like the mall scene. The excess magical creatures, I hope would play a bigger role later on. Right now, it’s a little too heavy and too much of a wasted chapter. Perhaps I’m just impatient for the big showdown. (I’ve been told I’m quite impatient.)

In all, The Vicious Deep was a great adventure with its own great tale. I won’t look at mermaids/mermen the same way. With splashes of humor, action scenes that I can instantly visualize, and a great set of hero and heroines I look forward to the next installment.

did not like

Cover A

I prefer this cover a lot more. There's a greater appeal to the male readers than the older cover (which featured a girl on the cover), while still having appeal to the female readers. I absolutely love the eye-popping colors and how much it relates to the book. It's freaking awesome.

Bloggers of the Deep Tour with Zoraida: Sirens

My introduction to mermaids was Ariel, in Disney's The Little Mermaid. I idolized her, to the point where I tried to dye my hair red in high school (don't die your own hair at home). She could sing. She was beautiful. And unlike the other Disney chicks, she was proactive in getting her man!

Later in life, I started discovering the other side of mermaids. The side that lured you to the bottom of the sea. When they're not seen as pretty cartoons that sing off mediterranean rocks, mermaids are part animal. Mermaids were a warning tail to sailors.  They represented the dark and cruel mystery of the open sea.

If you had a chance of hanging out with Daryl Hannah from Splash or the girls from Pirates of the Carribean, which would you chose? I have a hard time deciding. I don't think people are purely bad or good. And since mermaids are half human, I'd like to think that they always have a choice in their actions. They are after all, carnivores, not to mention a higher life form.

In The Vicious Deep, you will meet my merpeeps. No two are the same, or have the same intentions.

Happy reading,
Zoraida

Visit Zoraida at: Blog / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

What's There to do Over Summer with Carrie Jones

Currently in the midst of relaxing after the terrible semester of Spring '11, I'm planning my adventures for the summer (before friends start their summer classes and I start applying for a different job/volunteer work)! Hoping for some new ideas, I asked Carrie Jones what she's planning on doing over the summer.

So, I would really like to lie and pretend that my summer plans are going to be major and I'm going to save manatees from boaters and guest star on GLEE or DOCTOR WHO or something like that, but the truth is that this summer I will probably do what I do most of the year which is:

1. Write every day
2. Worry every day that I am not writing enough
3. Obsess every day that what I am writing is not good enough
4. Collapse in a heap on bed
5. Walk the dogs

Writing and obsessing about writing is a major part of my existence. However, I do live in a super cool place - Bar Harbor, Maine. During most of the year, Bar Harbor is pretty quiet, but starting in May the tourists come, and the summer residents come, and the hikers come, and the cruise ships come. Bar Harbor used to be where all the old money people in the U.S. would summer. They'd build these massive mansions and call them 'cottages.' They'd have dozens of servants. It was all a bit DOWNTON ABBEY only if DOWNTON ABBEY was:

1. Colder
2. In the United States
3. Had people with last names like Rockefeller and Morgan and Pierpont in it
4. Eventually had all the houses burn down in a massive fire that wiped out a good third of the island that the houses were on.

So anyways, this summer I plan to explore the ruins of the houses. There are a ton of trails in Acadia National Park, which I live right near. In the park are a lot of the ruins, which are pretty cool. And I plan to avoid the tourists who always want to know where the ocean is (when they are looking at it), and if you can see Europe from here (you can't), and why the lobster boats spin around in circles in a synchronized manner (the tides). I will also kayak a lot and hike a lot and obsess a lot and try to live the biggest life that I can.

And I will look for ghosts. And dragons in the mountains. And hopefully find Bigfoot.
I am weird like that.

I hope you all have a brilliant summer with limited obsessing and maximum adventure! 

Thank you Carrie! Good luck on your quest to fine Bigfoot! And I hope you have a great summer for those who have summer now.

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Carrie Jones is a New York Times bestselling author and her latest book, ENDURE, just came out on the 8th! You can visit Carrie on twitter , website , and livejournal.

Alternate Views: 3 Mini-Reviews

Yan and I read some of the same books, but I didn’t want to do a complete review on the same books. It’d be a bit boring, right? But I like attention and I wanted to share my thoughts too! I picked three big ones that I would talk a little about, informally.

Legend by Marie Lu

Grade: 4.8 stars out of 5

I finished this in two days. I got it Sunday on the tour and I finished Monday night (early Tuesday morning) instead of doing DiffEq homework. I want to eat this book. Is that weird? It’s all black and gold and delicious; all mystery and suspense and romantic. I want Day. Where can I find a Day in real life?

“Screw June. Pick meeeeeee. I’m observant too! I got a perfect score [once] too!” It’s not fair. :(

Legend gives me hope for the state of YA fiction after the terribleness of Carrier of the Mark. GiveMeTheSecondOneNow. NAO!

Also, Marie Lu said she liked my name. WIN!

Psst... Yan's review here .

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Isle of Night (The Watcher's #1) by Veronica Wolff
Grade: 2 stars out of 5

If I was violent person, I would hunt down every one who said “Oh it’s like Vampire Academy” and smack them with my copy of VA#6.
There were like two similarities between this monstrosity and VA and it was a) vampire school of guardians and b) hot guy.

I love Rose to death, but do I care about Drew? No; I hope she dies. I don’t want to hear how SOOPER SMRT she is. I don’t want her going on about everyone else is hot and she’s not “boo-hoo”. Taking the vampire aside, how realistic is the idea of beautiful people all over the world who have nothing left and they all have some special talent and are just right to guard vampires? Why do these vampires even need Watchers? Wolff explained it, but I forgot it. I don’t care.

When I’m super bored and I need motivation to write my own novel, I’ll read the sequel. It’ll be like one of those anti-drug campaigns that say “Meth – Not even once” or whatever. Except it will be with Isle of Night and it’ll say “Generic Beautiful Smart Main Character and Generic Beautiful Love Interest – Not even once.”

Yan's review is here. [Comment by Yan: Ouch, tell us how you really feel. My review is much more positive if anyone is curious to read a different POV.]

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Grade: 4 stars out of 5


If you go back to my Carrier of the Mark review, I mention that in the middle of my rant to my friend Zach, a girl passes by and casually states “Everyone should read Hunger Gamers. It’s the best!” or something. I have a special smile for situations where I should keep my mouth shut, and here it made an appearance. Don’t get me wrong, I like Hunger Games. I was biting my nails all throughout the last half of the book. I like Katniss and Peeta and the other ones. I’m going to see the movie.

I understand why people are fanatical about this series, but I am not. I finished Hunger Games and went back to sleep. I didn’t HUNGER for the second book like I did with Legend. In fact, I started the second book on audio because I was bored, and I got as far as the second chapter before I just said “Meh, don’t care”. I’m not really Team Gale or Team Peeta; I don’t see the love triangle (though many say I should just finish the trilogy).

I think the book would have been so actually been "the best" if they all died. It would have been so much more powerful, a real “Screw you” to the dystopia, and I would have loved it and became a fan girl. But there’s no such thing as a standalone novel nowadays, and it’s better to have a seemingly happy ending and two more books, apparently.

[Comment by Yan: now I'm curious as to why you gave it 4 stars when you seem rather indifferent about the book.]

Poll Results and Questions (Please)

I closed the poll this morning and was pretty surprised with the results. Legend by Marie Lu was the clear favorite in the beginning, but over the past couple of days Born Wicked and A Million Suns started to catch up.

In the end, however, this is the result*:

What does that all mean?

It means that....

• Legend by Marie Lu won the poll at 41%
• Born Wicked came at 35%
• A Million Suns closely followed at 32%
• Across the Universe scored 9%
• Wolfsbane and Bloodrose tied for last at 3%
• Nightshade did not place with 0%

That translates to me buying a copy of Legend at the author event!

BUT!

Because Born Wicked and A Million Suns came so close, I'm going to have a separate giveaway from those.

The breakdown: giveaway for Legend, signed, will be open to US residents only. A Million Suns and Born Wicked will be opened to INTERNATIONAL entries. There will only be 2 winners: one for Legend and the other will have a choice between A Million Suns or Born Wicked. A Million Suns or Born Wicked will be purchased via Book Depository making it possible for international entries. They will not be signed, unfortunately. 

*I also factored in the votes when people didn't realize that the poll allowed for multiple choices. 

P.S. trying out multicolored fonts :)

Breathless Reads Giveaway Poll

As you may know I'm going to the Breathless Reads this Sunday at Dolyestown (say hi! if you're coming) and because I own all of the books already, I'm going to buy a book to give away!

As I'm so indecisive (plus I'm broke so I can't buy them all), I'm leaving this up to the majority. Readers, which book, that's signed, would you like for me to give away? Just fill out this nifty poll below and I'll buy whichever book that wins the poll:




Also whoever fills out the survey and leaves a comment letting me they did so (and let me know what country you're from*) will get 2 extra entries for the actual giveaway!


NOTE: you CANNOT see the poll on Google Reader (ewiorgjdfs STAB STAB STAB) so for now,  you have to visit my blog to vote. and hey, while you're here leave a comment for those 2 extra entries.


P.S. You can choose multiple answers so if you really really want to win Legend or Born Wicked, pick both. If there's a tie, I might buy both books (though chances of that might be rare...).

*currently unsure to which countries am I opening the giveaway for but if I can get enough interest from international groups, I'll open to them as well.

Carrier of the Mark

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Grade: 2 out of 5 stars

Megan Rosenberg has just moved to Ireland because of her father’s new job. Being the new girl in her school is something that she’s used to, but having hotandsexy Adam DeR¬¬ís’s attention is unusual. Megan can’t believe the rumors her new friend Caitlin says exist about the DeRíses, but Megan can’t ignore the weird events that happen whenever she’s around Adam or his twin sister Áine.

So it’s Saturday and I’m in the library, right? I’m skimming over novels in the teen section because I have time to waste before my train. I pick up books, inspect the cover, read the back, and read the author’s bio, when all of a sudden, like a freaking flood light, this book’s spine pops out at me. Lo and Behold, my first name! Cover is EXTREMELY pretty with a pretty girl in a dress (Yan’s rant on bookcovers). I read the back, and yeah it feels like it’s already been done but I don’t care, I’M EXCITED! I read the author’s bio, and as I suspected, she was raised in Ireland. I take the book home on the train and read it.

On Monday, I walk into my 9am class about 10 minutes early. My friend is already there, and I can no longer contain my rant. I slam the book on the desk and the following conversation takes place.

Fallon: “I hate this book.”

Zach: “Why?”

Fallon: “There’s this chick, and she goes to a new school for the first time and there’s this really hot guy and from across the room their eyes meet and BOOM they’re automatically in love. She doesn’t know him, but she already can’t get him out of her mind. And then he saves her life, and then share intimate moments, even though they’ve never really spoken before. Then it turns out he and his family have super powers, and so does she, because they’re loosely related or something, and then, even they’ve only been dating for about 2 weeks, they are already worried about having kids and people attacking and shit.”

At this point, many others have come into the room, and they want to know what it is I’m talking about, so I explain the pretty cover book with my name on it and how UPSET I am at how terrible it is. (Then some other girl mentions how The Hunger Games is such a good series and I should read it. That’s when I realized I was a book-hipster, as I was going to say “First chapter of Catching Fire sucked”. Good thing I didn’t.)
Anyway, I hate this book. I read a different review of how it’s exactly like Twilight, and I must agree. Lots of “Protect her despite what she thinks” and “I have to ask my boyfriend for permission to hang out with my friends”. Megan’s mother is not in the picture, she takes care of her father, Adam protects her from getting raped, his sister Áine likes her, his brother Rían doesn’t, they have special powers, etc. Then they brought in the elements and I’m like “Wow, so this is like Avatar the Last Airbender.” Then the author tried to explain it using genetics and I lost it, because then it was turning into something like Vampire Academy, especially going crazy when the use of the element of spirit was mentioned. And the entire time I was reading this, even at the end, I felt that it would be okay if they all died because I didn’t see how their powers made any impact on other humans. I WAS ACTUALLY WISHING THE CHARACTERS WOULD DIE.

Megan was bland, Adam was a tad bit too perfect, the Evil Organization was half-assed, and the ending was too unbelievable (Megan got snatched off a horse and kidnapped! LOLOLOL). It was so unrealistic, even for a paranormal romance, and not for the first time I’m wondering just how exactly how hard it should be to get published. I’ve written better lab reports than this.

I give it 2 stars because of the cover, the author’s last name*, the use of elements, the horses, and the fact that it takes place in Ireland. It’s almost too charitable. I’m glad I didn’t buy the book and I feel sorry for the person that reads it after me.

*Edited by Yan: Fallon and Fallon, heh :)

The Disenchantments

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
Grade: 4 stars out of 5
Published: February 16, 2012  Buy from Amazon
Source: won from LibraryThing ER

After reading the praise behind Hold Still I caved and read Hold Still. I liked it. I wasn’t jumping off my seat in love with the book. Then I gave the book to someone else because maybe that person will love the book like many people who encouraged me to pick it up.

Then I got The Disenchantments in the mail. My conscience is telling me to pass this book, but a part of my brain says “maybe this is the book that will make you fall in love with LaCour”. And you know what, it wasn’t, but it was on the right track. The Disenchantments is a roadtrip that will break your heart and find redemption.

Colby (which is a guy by the way because yay for unisexual names) and Bev go way back. They’ve been friends for a while time. They’ve made a pact: after graduation they’ll go travel Europe together. No college. So on tour for Bev’s all-girl band, The Disenchantments (who aren’t good at all), Colby expects things to go smoothly with fun before the band goes their separate ways. But when Bev announces that she’s going to college, Colby starts to wonder why and what else has Bev been keeping a secret?

The Disenchantments took me a little over a month to read. It’s been an on-and-off read where I managed to finish almost 10 books in-between the starting and ending point. I couldn't connect to the book; I couldn’t connect to Colby as a narrator. I couldn't understand why Colby liked Bev so much.

Once Bev admitted that she knew Colby liked her, I gave up. Bev was already distant to being with, but when she made the announcement I really had a hard time trying to figure out what made Bev the girl to Colby. She is selfish, she leads people on, she lies. She’s a borderline b’tch. And then have Colby mooning over her for god knows how much longer in the book, I wasn’t going to last. I had to put The Disenchantments down.

After several weeks enough was enough. I put on my big girl pants and dragged myself through the rest of the book. (I was only about a third way finished.) I don’t know where and when it happened, but I hit a spot in The Disenchantments where I really just started to like to.

The little towns where the band was stopping seemed to shape Colby into a much more interesting narrator. Bev started to flesh out as readers find out what secrets Bev has kept hidden. It’s more emotional than I ever expected from the same girl I once considered to be a b’tch. What started as an innocent road trip turns into self discovery, family struggles, and forgiveness. No one is perfect and The Disenchantments point to that, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

The Runaways: Hello Dad! Hello Mom!

I love the intermingling of art (especially finishing up Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley) especially the various forms of art: drawings, paintings, sculpting, music, acting, photography, tattooing, etc. Each of these forms bring in more characters to the novel, and while it normally would irritate me, I found that it worked quite well in The Disenchantments. The characters were different enough that I was able to keep track of them and saw that they had purpose to the novel.

The Disenchantments is a bold novel with bold characters. Bandmates Bev, Meg, and Alexa with tag-along Colby make this roadtrip an unforgettable one.

Cover A-/B+

I love the vibe I get from the cover and how well it translate from the book.

Waiting on Wednesday (56)

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Coming out: July 10th 2012 by MTV Books

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business--until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers--and the consequences could be deadly.

Such a Rush is Jennifer's debut hardcover novel! I'm super excited about this book! I've greatly enjoyed Jennifer's past novels and having just finished The One I Want I'm ready for whatever else Jennifer has in store.

WoW is hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine!

Would This Nerd Go Back to High School? ft. Jay Clark

Booty School Dropout: Would This Nerd Go Back to High School?

Flashback: I’m a freshman in high school, feeling lame because I’ve just taken the same girl-who’s-just-a-friend to the last two dances.  When it comes to making heads of chasing tail, my moves are nowhere near Jagger.  More in the vicinity of Groban. 


Meanwhile, a crazy person has just invaded my bedroom, and she’s trying to convince me I’m smack-dab in the midst of one of the best times of my life.  


“Mom!”  


“What?” she says innocently.  “It is!” 

moves like Groban

“Then here,” I say, handing her a pillow.  “Put this over my face and press.”  


Mom shakes her head, refusing to be an accessory to my death.  She’d much rather see me die from embarrassment.  


Then she agrees me some cinnamon rolls, and I’m over it. 

I’m not gonna lie, my high school experience wasn’t exactly a big bowl of reefer cherries.  I was boring beyond my years, a grandpa before his time, obsessed with tests and homework and whatever class election was coming up next.  Snooze.  I jokingly like to blame my sister for these problems, because that beautiful Homecoming Queen was way too popular for both our goods.  Queen Clark had star power to spare, so I had no choice but to step out from the shadows and disappoint her subjects with the fact that I wasn’t, you know, her.  Look out, here comes the little brother!  Dude, why is he reading a book during lunch?  That kind of thing.

But guess what?  I wouldn’t change my awkward four-year stint for the world.  Somewhere along the line, I learned how to be funny(ish?) as a way to compensate for my absence o’ social skills.  To this day some would even say overcompensate—thanks for the unpleasant reminder, grouchy Kirkus reviewer lady!  If I hadn’t learned how to make a majority of my critics laugh, though, then I wouldn’t be typing this blog post right now, trying to pimp a humorous book that’s loosely based on my life as a teen.  See, everything crappy happens for a reason.

yum...

Young or old, we all just want to be liked, and there’s no better (or worse) place to test our personalities-in-progress than high school.  Tough audience?  The toughest.   But arguably the most rewarding.  Hence why I still have teeth-grindingly bad dreams about it, and why I’m drawn to being a writer of the genre.  Does this mean I have to admit my mom had a point?  Never!  Maybe a little one, but I’d say it’s more about me being a glutton for punishment.  

Regardless, even if the book heads straight for the bargain bin, I know exactly where to get some cinnamon rolls to ease the rejection.

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Jay Baker is the debut author of The Edumacation of Jay Clark, coming out tomorrow!

Meet Jay Baker . . . or, as he is not-so-affectionately called by his opponent in the freshman-class presidential election--no comment.
A few random bullet points about Jay:

• He is stupidly in love with his best friend, cheerleading dynamo Cameo "Appearance" Parnell.

• He is also trying to score (points) with earthbound tennis-playing goddess Caroline Richardson.

• He is fighting a losing battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

• He rocks a touché array of pop-culture references, jokes, and puns.

• His family life cookie is about to crumble.

Root for Jay as he exchanges ego-blows with his mortal enemy, gets awkward around his dream girl(s), loses his marbles in a Bermudian love triangle, watches his parents' relationship implode, and, finally, learns to keep it real and be himself(ish).

Does The Edumacation of Jay Baker interest you? Do you have a thing for Groban? Do you like cinnamon rolls or awkwardly funny guys? Well I have ONE (1) ARC of The Edumacation of Jay Baker to give to you lovely readers!

Fill out this FORM to enter!

In the words of the genius author, here is all his "shiz" links:

• Twitter: @jaypatrickclark
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jayclark.author
• Amazon: http://amzn.to/jpclark

STALK HIM! :)

Breathless (Reads) Blog Tour! Will I See You There?

Hi all!

Many of you probably know that the Breathless Reads authors will be going on a national tour this February. The Breathless authors are Marie Lu (author of Legend), Beth Revis (author of Across the Universe and A Million Sun), Andrea Cremer (author of the Nightshade series) and Jessica Spotswood (author of Born Wicked).

The stops:
Feb 15 - Naperville, IL
Feb 16 - Bethesda, MD
Feb 17 - New York, NY
Feb 18 - Collegville, PA
Feb 19 - Dolyestown, PA*
Feb 21 - Decatur, GA
Feb 22 - Houston, TX
Feb 23 - Frisco, TX
Feb 24 - Montrose, CA
Feb 25 - Long Beach, CA

I will be attending the Doylestown, PA stop! (Really hope I can make it.) It's on a Sunday afternoon/night. I have a 9 AM class the next day. I have two exams that week; I should probably spend that day studying, but this is an authors' event I can't pass up.

I know a couple of other PA/Philly area bloggers will be there so if you're coming, say hi! I don't bite! (I'm too sleep deprived for that lol). I'll be the girl studying from flashcards and powerpoint slides printouts.

Bittersweet

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler
Grade: 3.5 stars out of 5
Published: January 3, 2012 Buy from Amazon
Source: unsolicited ARC from Simon Pulse

I freaking love cupcakes. I’m one of those cupcake eaters that eat the cake first then make my way to the top because I save the best for last—the frosting. Hudson Avery is the Queen of Cupcakes; she’s a gal that I’ll love to be an assistant to. Just pay me in cupcakes and I’ll be happy.

But Hudson’s life right now isn’t so great. Her skating dreams are over; her mom’s dream of owning a diner will tank unless a new review will put Hurley’s Homestyle Diner back on the map; her dad is living a new life that doesn’t include his daughter or son; and Hudson is trapped in little Watonka, New York.

Until, that is, Hudson gets the chance to compete in a skating competition for a $50,000 scholarship.

I’ve been following Sarah Ockler ever since her debut novel, Twenty Boy Summer, and I eagerly wait for what she has for the readers. Bittersweet, formally titled the language of impossible dreams, is what you would expect from Sarah Ockler: good read with characters you wouldn’t expect and a storyline that touches the heart. Yet, for me, there’s always something missing about her books that don’t make me hold the book to my chest, carry it around and shove it in other people’s faces yelling “Read this!”

Maybe it was the characters that I liked, but thought could have been stronger. It’s easy to be empathic to Hudson, but it’s harder to like her. Maybe it’s because you can see a lot of yourself in her and that stuff isn’t so good. Hudson would a difficult friend to have; she locks herself in and is prone to live her own little world. Bittersweet is Hudson’s journey to finding her happiness in life and that journey isn’t smooth.

Will and Josh, co-captains to the Watonka hockey team, are more likeable than Hudson. But Josh, the boy that the reader will definitely pine for is less developed than Will. Since Josh is the main love interest I was disappointed seeing him fade to the back whenever Will comes to the scene. Will is much more dynamic than Josh with a stronger background story and a multifaceted personality.

Then I wished the readers knew more about Dani and Kara. They seemed interesting, but I knew them as Hudon’s friend and former best friend than Dani and Kara.

But I absolutely adore—love!—Bug (Hudson’s baby brother). He’s part mad-scientist, part explorer, part adorable brother who helps around the house, part son-whose-never-really-known-his-father. Bug is the comic relief to Bittersweet and yet he’s fragile enough that you want to protect him from everything that’s bad.

Bittersweet is topsy turvy: I like parts of it so much and other parts I wished were stronger. One thing that I did forget to mention was the cupcake concoctions underneath each chapter heading. Brilliant and delicious.

Bittersweet is just that, bittersweet. The sweetest of the cupcakes and the tingly feelings from young love versus the bitterness of divorce and its crumbling effects.

Cover C+

I much prefer the old cover to the new one because a) Hudson bakes cupcakes, not cookies and b) hot chocolate is part of the story. Well there's also c) that doesn't look like a really good cookie I would eat.

Manga Monday: Houou Gakuen Misoragumi

Alternative Title: The Beautiful Skies of Houou High
Genre: Comedy, Shoujo, School Life

Art: 4.5 stars
Characters: 3 stars
Plot: 2.5 stars

Rating: Teen
Released By: DMP

Houou High is a famous and incredibly prestigious all-boys school. It's also the stomping grounds for the sons of the most well-renowned families from all walks of life, which gives rise to rumors that it holds a monopoly on money and power. Our protagonist, Kei Saeba, ends up enrolling in this veritable garden of blooming amateurs due to her mother's guile. Now she must pretend she's a boy for three years or she "will be erased"!

The person with the purple hair? That's Kei and she's a girl. She's scared of guys and earns the nickname "Barfing Prince" because she throws up when she's around too many.

Rant: FanFiction

I'm first and foremost a reader.

Sometimes I'm a blogger (who writes poorly constructive sentences).

But never an author. Unless it's a 2-20 page essay on some random topic that teachers have assigned, my "creative" writing skills stops there.

So when my favorite show, book, movie, anime, or manga ends and I desperately want more, I turn to FanFiction (Unleash Your Imagination!!). Or I turn to FF when I love the characters or plot, but am not a big fan of what the original creators did with it. The MC dies in the end or the love interest goes away? Pffft. Not in FF land. In FF land anything goes...and goes and goes to places where they should not have gone.

I admit that I wrote a fanfic or two. It was horrible; I took it down like 2 days later.

Now FF is a dangerous landfill. You mostly have to sort through a lot of okay, blah, and what-the-hell reads. Basically a lot of shitty reads. I'm not being mean. Frankly the stuff I find there boggles my mind.

I'm not discouraging anyone from writing. If you're passionate and really enjoy writing, then be my guess. Just don't expect me to fall in love with your works. I commend the people who take the effort and publicly post their works. There are just some FFs that I question if they are serious and if I should take them seriously.

I hate trollers and I hate people who just bash, but if the writers don't care, then why should I?

Some fics are TYP3D LKE DIS and the characters go like OMG WTF HRYFBFASDINA!!!!!111! LOLMAFO. Please, please for the sake of the English language, stop writing like you're texting. Even then, if I can't read it there's no point in texting/writing. They need serious editing. Just like how novels need editors to catch the small mistake or point out some better ideas, FF writers need beta readers who can proofread. Your and you're are two different words. OMG WTF AFSAIFNASKDAD!!!11!! is not English.

Some fics blatantly plagiarize other works of fictions: FFs or published novels. For example I read a Twilight FF that copied from Thirteen Reasons Why: exact storyline and from what I've heard, exact passages from the book too.

Some fics, the writers take to the extreme. There are regular pairings like for example Edward and Bella from Twilight. Then there are "crack" pairings like Jane and Seth that doesn't even make sense. And I can't tell if the writer is trying to be different and new and challenging themselves or if they just don't realize how much of their fanfic doesn't work. At that point, it's no longer a fanfiction, but your own work with the same appearance and name.

Some fics are abandoned. Suddenly and without warning. It could be a fanfic that you actually really enjoyed and looked forward to its updates. But the writers have a life outside of FF and FF doesn't pay the bills. I get sad.

So once you cleaned away from the muck, there are a couple of gems in there. They're far and few, but they make the search so worth it. Great writing that immediately pulls you in, a set of characters that you love, and a fantastic storyline that is utterly thrilling and makes the heart race. These great FF gems are better than some of the published novels I read based on character development, storyline, and ending. Then I wonder why aren't they published.

And you know what? Some do publish their works. The great feedback from the readers can give a boost of confidence for the writer to consider publishing their work: indie pub, self-pub, or seek traditional pub.

Cassandra Clare, author of the Moral Instrument series and the Infernal Devices series, did fanfiction. Of course there's some scandel there. There's also RJ Anderson, author of Faery Rebel series and Ultraviolet who still has an active FF account. There's probably some more hidden YA and FF writers out there ;)

Before starting your adventure in fanfiction, here's a nice glossary with the terminology in the FF world to help along. There's enough abbreviations to make a whole new language.

The Thorn and the Blossom

The Thorn and the Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story by Theodora Goss
Grade: 3.8 stars out of 5
Published: January 17, 2012 Buy from Amazon
Source: Quirk Books

When Evelyn Morgan walked into the village bookstore, she didn’t know she would meet the love of her life. When Brendan Thorne handed her a medieval romance, he didn’t know it would change the course of his future. It was almost as if they were the cursed lovers in the old book itself . . .

The Thorn and the Blossom is a very short love story so my review won’t be as long as it normally would be (close to 600 words).

The first thing you’ll notice about The Thorn and the Blossom is the way the book is printed. Like an accordion. Like a really cool accordion that doesn’t make music, but rather gives you a nice story to read. I freaked out a bit when I first got it and played with the book for 5 minutes or so. Warning: don’t read book while moving or in a moving vehicle. The book kept falling out my books and the pages were falling everywhere unless I had a death grip connecting the ends together.

taken from author's blog

With the story itself I was a bit let down. It was a bit rushed for my liking and the ending felt…unfinished. If Goss had shown us rather than told us the emotions that went through Evelyn and Brendan, I could have connected better to The Thorn and the Blossom. Then again I wonder how the increase in size will impact the binding of the story. Who knows, it might just collapse or fall apart when the reader opens the first page.

The Thorn and the Blossom packs quite a lot in very little. I read Brendan’s story first followed by Evelyn.  I have to admit that the experience, which I feared would be tiring and redundant, was quite charming, new, and fascinating the second time you read it from a different POV. Those subtle nuances that were dismissed earlier or assumed to be something else, becomes more important than you first believed.

The tale of Green Knight (or Man) and the Queen was hinted just enough for the reader to keep it in the back of their thoughts while still letting the characters be themselves. Rather than Brendan being the Green Knight, Brendan is Brendan. The comparison between the two cursed lovers was laced throughout the rest the novel almost seamlessly.

Evelyn’s story is magical (mixed with an odd psychoanalysis/mental illness explanation) while Brendan’s story is saddening (he has really back luck with girls and people close to him). Together it’s a beautiful haunting tragedy that just may have that happily ever after in the end. The two characters show how to move past a love if it doesn’t work out, but there’s still the possibility of coming back.

Cover B+

P.S. Apparently if you remove the sticker/book synopsis from the back of the slip, there's a picture of the Green Man. So I carefully removed the sticker and it was not worth it. It's just his face and it's about the size of my thumb nail.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer Giveaway!

Marissa Meyer's first book in the The Lunar Chronicles, Cinder, just came out and word on the street is that it's really good.

"Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future."

And thanks to Zeitghost Media I have 1 copy to give away to you lovely readers! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below with the appropriate information.

Also the "leave a comment" entry asks (just in case the form is being wonky) "What's your favorite fairy tale or retelling of a fairy tale."

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Manga Monday: Trigun

Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi, Shounen, Comedy
Art: 5 stars for the anime / 4 stars for the manga
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Rated: Teens+ or 15+ for violence and alcohol

Vash the Stampede is a wanted man with the habit of turning entire towns into rubble. The price on his head is a fortune, and his path of destruction reaches across the arid wastelands of a desert planet. Unfortunately, most encounters with the spiky-haired gunslinger don't end well for the bounty hunters who catch up with him; someone always gets hurt - and it's never Vash. Oddly enough, for such an infamous fugitive, there's no proof that he's ever taken a life. In fact, he's a pacifist with a doughnut obsession who's more doofus than desperado. There's a whole lot more to him than his reputation lets on - Vash the Stampede definitely ain't your typical outlaw.

Trigun discusses religion, morality, pacifism. It's full of irony. And please please watch the subbed version, not dubbed, if planning to watch the anime.

Rant: Paranormal Teen Books

My favorite genre was paranormal fantasies. Now I'm not so sure. Do you know why?

First I'm going to point to this review on GoodReads. And yes, I do know about the drama and the hoopla surrounding the review and the author. I do have the book, got it before the drama, and am I tempted to the read the book even now? Yes because the review is hilarious and no because I'm not a huge fan of the author.

Now that you read the review, let me ask you this question. Has the last PNR book you've read or saw reminded you of another PNR book? Because it happens to me all the time. All the freaking time.

So I'm going to tell a short little story that sparked this post.

A few days ago, some friends and I went to Barnes and Noble because we were near the general area and they know about my love for books. A friend wanted to know my opinion about this book so I asked for more details since she couldn't remember the title:

"What was it about?"
"Something to do with the paranormal."
"What did the cover look like?" (because I'm addicted to covers.)
"It had a girl on it. She was wearing a dress."
"Anything else?"
"I know it's by a female author and the book is a series*. Trilogy maybe?"
"That about narrows it down to every paranormal teen book I can think of."

And because I love book covers (hence the name of my blog), I ALWAYS judge a book by its cover. It's what initially draws me to the book. I know my YA book covers (at least the ones published after 2009) so I thought if my friend could tell me about the cover, I'd get it immediately. Nowadays, 90%** of the PNR covers are the same. Pretty girl in really pretty dress***:

What do they have to do with the actual book? 95%** of the time, NOTHING. Out of the 9 books, I read 3: After Obsession, Fury, and Always a Witch. The cover for Fury relates to the actual novel. But After Obsession and Always a Witch? If you squint really hard and tilt your head a bit and skim through the book, you might find a connection.

In Everneath, does the girl wear a frilly red dress while walking on smoke? In Endlessly, does she wear a purple dress and is in a scene where she overlooks a sea of purple flowers? In A Beautiful Dark...I don't even know what she's doing. Sacrificing herself? Chances are the answers to the questions are no. Are they gorgeous covers? Definitely, but they're irreverent to the story so why is it even there.

Without reading the synopsis I would have no clue what the book is about. Before the onslaught of pretty girls in pretty dress covers, I would have stopped and picked the book up. Now, I don't have the urge.

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez


Grade: 3.5 out of 5

Carmen Bianchi is a 17 year old accomplished violinist who’s dream is to win the Guarneri competition. There are only two main obstacles in her way—her nerves and her male British counterpart Jeremy King. The first obstacle is easily taken care since she takes Inderal to calm herself before performances. But Jeremy is an entirely different story. He’s just as competitive as Carmen, and extremely attractive. When he starts to flirt with her, Carmen is entirely caught off guard. In this novel of teenage rebellion, Carmen begins to question her own skills, her potential love’s motives, and even her mother’s intentions in an attempt to make sense of what it means to love music.

Let me take this opportunity to mention that I’ve been playing piano for 15 years. The first ten or so, I played classical music almost exclusively, and I did a couple concerts. I also played for my high school’s talent show one year. But there’s a reason why I play in public so little; I get incredibly nervous. Even with one person in the room with me, my fingers and rhythm fall apart. So I believe I understand PERFECTLY how Carmen feels when she plays for audiences without Inderal.

Carmen is a brilliant violinist but it’s rather hard to hear the music Carmen plays in the novel, and because music should be a big part of her life, she’s hard to understand. But I did appreciate the growing that Carmen did that shows she is more than just a violinist:

• She decided not to take pills even though her mother insisted.
• She made her own choices instead of just listening to her mother.
• She snuck out with her pseudo-boyfriend.
• She made quasi-educated conclusions about God and religion.

It justifies the ending, so even though I didn’t exactly like the ending, it wasn’t completely out of the blue.

However, her fights with her mother were hard to believe; she never fought with her mother before, and then when her mother says something reasonable that Carmen doesn’t like, Carmen takes that opportunity to start ignoring her mother for the first time in 17 years. Distrust almost overnight? It just feels too sudden.

I also didn’t like the romantic plot. This homeschooled, romantically-naïve girl meets Jeremy King for the first time, he’s rude to her, and then she agrees to go out to dinner with him. Does that make sense? Does anyone else stay out until 1am with a foreigner without telling anyone where your whereabouts? It sounds dangerous to me, but maybe it’s because I’ve never been the adventurous type. Jeremy’s just a tad bit too perfect too. He’s tall, blonde, blue eyed, etc. He’s one of those love interests that automatically falls in love with the main character and when his true side comes out he says standard lines like “I didn’t say anything I didn’t feel.” I wanted a bit more aggression instead of this sappy apologetic guy. It was incredibly human of him to want to win the competition for his disabled brother, and I didn’t want him to almost immediately renege on it. It was one of those statements that blur the lines between right and wrong. It was an exciting complication, but then it just dissolves. *sadface*

I was wavering between 3 and 4 stars, so I just decided to give it 3 and a half. The writing style didn’t make me cringe and it’s a quick read (took me 2 days and I’m a turtle), but the novel is missing something, and it has something to do with the characters personalities.

The cover is gorgeous, even though it’s missing a violin. Heheh

Don't Expect Magic

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McMullough
Grade: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publication: November 8,  2011 Buy from Amazon
Source: unsolicited review copy from Delacorte Press
Follow Kathy of Twitter @kathymccullough

According the law of conversation of mass, matter cannot be created or destroyed. So how would you transform your ratty PJs for a slinky red dress? Through physics and chemistry…and you know, a handy fairy godmother to make it all happen. What if you don’t what to be a fairy godmother? Tough cookies, you really have no choice.

That’s where Delany is right now. Apparently her no-good dad, Dr. Hank, is a fairy godmother (who ever said f.g. has to girls?) and the gene is hereditary. 

Delany is far from what you would expect from stereotypical fairy godmothers. First off, she’s not really a people person. Her homemade kick-ass boot garners praise, but her attitude isn’t the most inviting. A bit rude, a little pretentious and definitely not bubblegum pink nice, Delany has trouble fitting in to her new school and her life ever since her mom passed away and she’s shipped off to her dad. She’s not well liked by her peers, teachers, and me, the reader. Her actions and personality gives off a bad vibe like she’s better than everybody. If a person is genuinely nice to you on the first day of class and she’s pretty popular, be on your toes because that person is obviously ought to get you. Should my hair stand up and the claws start jutting out if someone smiles at me or says hi?

Since Don’t Expect Magic incorporates some science facts to help explain the supernatural, which by the way was a very nice touch and was well-thought out and something I definitely appreciate in a fantasy book, I’m going to bring in Darwin—survival of the fittest yadda yadda yadda. If I was Delany’s guardian spirit, I’d slap her and tell her to adapt and deal with it. Why make an enemy out of everyone? Assess the new environment, adapt to the new environment, and survive in the new environment. Or else you’re going to die. Or fail high school.

Things are touch and go for most of the book. I admit that it was hard to read through it, but once Delany’s personality approved, Don’t Expect Magic became a lot better for me. We start to get more of the fairy godmother business (again, something that I really appreciate in this type of story), further development of the father-daughter relationship, more humor and fun, and a stronger multidimensional main character.

The character of Dr. Hank, I felt, was ironic. Here was a man doing motivational books and speeches telling people how they should live their lives when he could barely live his own life. I quite enjoyed his character because of the way it changes throughout the whole book. He’s much nicer than Delany and you can feel the charisma from the pages making him more approachable.  The connection he has with Delany as a parent was a great emotional aspect to the book.

While the romantic interest in the novel seems more like a good friend, I could see potential. I wished, however, I knew more about him and that Delany and he had more dynamic conversations. I’m not entirely comfortable with where they came from and how they end up, but I can see it happening.

Don’t Expect Magic has a good moral: to never hide yourself in fear of what others think. It’s a debut that definitely shows promise of what Kathy McCullough is capable. Don’t Expect Magic has a unique story plot, a solid foundation, and a budding group of characters that just needs a few tweaks.

Cover B

I wished we could see more of the boots. The beach, while it may seem strange on the cover, does play a role in the story.

P.S. I now have threaded comments! :D