Abandon (Abandon Trilogy #1) by Meg Cabot

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was an okay book that could have been so much better. Abandon is Cabot's take on the Persephone myth. I liked the appropriately dark and mysterious tones she took with John and I sympathized with the way Pierce cared about others, even if it was a bit much at times.

The real drawback was while I enjoyed the idea of Cabot's Underworld, I didn't like the baddies she decided used the conflict. I have to admit I haven't brushed up on my mythology lately, but Cabot's Furies were dare I say it, boring. That's worse than being bad, because my interest level zoomed to nil once I saw the direction the story was taking.

I thought she was heading in the right direction as Pierce and John began to know one another, but even in that respect the story faltered. The flashbacks weren't interesting and made the story seem disjointed at times. I was glad her young age was acknowledged, but other poignant developments in their relationship were lacking as she grew.

Disappointing, but I may give the second a try from the library if I can get over the boring antagonists.

Copy Source: Library

Tithe (The Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I first discovered books by Holly Black after reading White Cat, which I loved. So it made sense for me to try her others. Tithe's world-building is based on faeries, the Seelie and Unseelie. I've seen this genre time and time again being a fan of fantasy, but I have to say Black didn't do too bad this time around, either.
Kaye has always felt like an outsider. When she was little she remembers playing with faeries and that they were anything but imaginary. Her mom fronts various unsuccessful bands which means that her life is often turned upside down when she's moved around in hopes that her mom can find her big break. After a bad incident, Kaye and her mom go back to her grandmother's and odd things start happening again.
For the most part I liked Kaye. There were a few moments when her quirky emo-angst was a bit annoying, but toward the end she found a lot of her own inner strength. This was a quick read and the story kept me turning the pages because Black managed to find the right balance in making the faeries inhuman, but still accessible. Her human relationships could have used a bit of work, because there were a lot of loose threads in that department.

Copy Source: Library

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I didn't like this one. It's the first I've read by this author, who has quite a following, but I've heard plenty about her controversial books. I guess this one wasn't really controversial, but I could see why some might think that.
Pattyn was a sad girl and even though the author tries to show the reasons why her life was so terrible, I never identified or felt like she was a fully realized character. The same can be said for Ethan and Aunt J. It felt cliched and a bit tacky in it's PSA lessons and as if she was bunching so many incongruous big life messages together for more shock and awe. Even if I'm in the minority with this one it was not for me.

The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever read a book that you'd be hard pressed to describe to another person, but makes perfect sense within it's own pages? That'd be this book. Temple is only fifteen years-old and all she's ever known is a life filled with fighting, death and zombies. We join her in her travels and get intimate glances at what has happened to the world and the changes to what is left of humanity.
Temple fights a lot of her memories because nothing can be taken for granted. She hides herself and what she could have been because if she didn't she'd be zombie fodder. As people gather in clusters of form some semblance of a city or town she knows she'll never find a place among them. It was tough to read about her life and the snatches of memory she chooses to share. I wasn't a fan of the ending, but the interactions between her and another character had me shaking my head and hurriedly reading the next paragraph to see these two and their Old West-style showdown would unfold.
This was more than scary zombies and things that go bump in the night, but then again that's what all the good ones really accomplish.

Copy Source: Library

Venom (Elemental Assassin, #3) by Jennifer Estep

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***SLIGHTLY SPOILERISH FOR THE PREVIOUS 3 BOOKS***

Venom is the third installment in Estep's elemental series. I was very happy overall with the story for the most part, but others felt a little phoned in. Estep often uses the same phrases in each of her books to describe the same thing. A few things like eyes meeting gray on violet, or gray on green, or whatever colors. She always talks with the same phrasing Bria as her baby sister, not little sister or even just sister, even the other characters do this, maybe she's going for the dialect but stop repeating the same tired phrases again and again. She even rehashes the plot from the previous books in the same way and I've been reading the same similes and metaphors for three books now.
I like that Gin is becoming the reluctant crusader because it suits her. However it was really annoying when she blames someone else's stalker problems on herself. The blame is with the psycho-stalker, not with the person that inadvertently introduced them! Owen Grayson is also a welcome addition and a better replacement for the boring Donovan Cain. I'm looking forward to seeing her final confrontation with Mab Monroe, but I don't know how convinced I am that Estep can continue to make this a fresh, exciting story. I'll definitely continue with the series, but I hope some things get polished up a bit.

Copy Source: Ebook Own

Spider's Bite (Elemental Assassin, #1) by Jennifer Estep

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gin Blanco is an assassin. She's a good assassin and takes after her trade-name, the Spider. Before retiring she decides to take the 'one last gig' and ends up in a heap of trouble.
I'm really glad I started this series. Gin is the kind of UF-ballsy heroine that I like to read. She does her job and tries to stay one step ahead of her ugly past, which doesn't seem to want to let her go. I admired that for the most part she keeps things real and honest, even if it's uncomfortable. She keeps her own assassin's code: no children or people who are innocent of wrongdoing. I enjoyed following her on her high stakes investigation. Plus the worldbuilding is superb and I fell right into her world of dwarfs, giants, vampires and elementals- people with magical control over one element (air, ice, fire and stone). The fact that Gin doesn't rely on her own magic is a welcome respite from others in this genre who seem to have unbelievable feats of strength and power from the beginning. I'll definitely be continuing with this series.

Copy Source: Purchased e-book

Wither (Chemical Garden, #1 by Lauren DeStefano

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I was really excited to start this one since I was in the mood for some dystopian goodness. I don't know exactly what's between these pages, but after reading I wouldn't call it dystopian per se, but maybe that will change later in the series. I had to suspend quite a bit of disbelief to enjoy this one. The premise is that humanity is slowly dying after a failed utopian-type experiment to produce a generation of humans without disease. Every child born after the golden "first generation" is dying too early. Girls live only twenty years and boys only twenty-five. The first generation seems to be enjoying an unnaturally long lifespan, but cannot find the cure to stop the 'virus' that seems to be claiming the young.

As a kidnapped child-bride, Rhine is angry, scared and wants nothing but to return home to her brother. She places her efforts to escape in befriending her young husband only to find that most of her bitterness is directed at the wrong person because the one that holds the strings is Linden's father.

The plot of this story is very linear and the progression is a bit predictable. The strength of the story is the characters and the world DeStefano has created. Although I don't find many things plausible, like how an entire population would agree to in vitro fertility, or how anything would be accomplished when the next generation only lives to twenty-five at the most, or how the first generation expects anything to be done for them when it seems like everyone else is either cloistered in luxury or dying in poverty. Whenever these types of questions would come to mind I'd remind myself this is a story meant to entertain not a textbook I'll be quizzed on at the end. Otherwise I found myself immersed in Rhine's bubble of a world with the glimpses to the outside and what has become of it. I'll definitely read the next in the series to see if the author can pull off the grandiose ideas and stories she's put into play.

Copy Source: Library