Review | Forsaken (Daughters of the Sea #1) by Kristen Day

Author: Kristen Day
Published: January 27, 2015 (2012)
Publisher: Mark My Words Book Publicity
Format: PDF ebook ARC
Pages: 242
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Mythology, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…

Abandoned by her parents as an infant; seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until being adopted by the Whitmans three years ago. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah…or the strange events that plague her. Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and a dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity. Sent to live at The House of Lorelei on Bald Head Island, NC for ‘kids like her’, Hannah quickly realizes things are not what they seem. Her fellow ‘disturbed’ teens are actually the descendants of mythical Sea Gods and Goddesses. And so is she. But when Finn, the ghost from her dreams, appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love. She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesized to be a part of. The fate of all the descendants will forever depend upon it. (from NetGalley)

Review
I received this book in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

Forsaken turned out to be fantastic. Way better than I was expecting. I am surprised more people do not know about this series especially with how popular the Percy Jackson series has become. The cover caught my attention immediately and after reading the summary, I thought it would be something I would like to give a try. I love mythology especially when incorporated in a contemporary fashion. That it is a mermaid-esque story also intrigued me. I've never really read a lot of mermaid novels, and the ones I have read really didn't thrill me, however this one definitely exceeded my expectations, and I will be reading the second book.

Plot
The idea behind the story was pretty original. It is somewhat similar to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but other than these two series, I cannot think of a series or novel that takes this kind of take on ancient Greek mythology. In both series, the main characters do not know the legacy left for them, they go to a meeting place of people similar to them, and they face difficulties because of who they are and grow because of it. However, what I like about Daughters of the Sea is that it is from a girl's point of view. Just having that makes this story entirely different from Percy Jackson. Many stories like this seem male dominated. It is great to have these two stories from different perspectives.

Review | Alienated (Alienated #1) by Melissa Landers

Author: Melissa Landers
Published: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

[Show Synopsis] Synopsis
Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

Review
This book was better than I expected! I've been looking forward to it's release. I tried getting the galley, but was denied. :(

I don't usually read/watch too much media about aliens, but recently there have been quite a few books/shows grabbing my attention--My Love From Another Star (kdrama), Star Crossed (TV), this book. This year seems to be the year of aliens. Is everyone finally over vampires?

Review | Beastly by Alex Flinn

Author: Alex Flinn
Narrator: Chris Patton
Published: June 30, 2010
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Pages: 6 hrs 41 mins
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
I am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright--a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever--ruined--unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

Review
My first thought when I finished this book was, "I'm so glad they made the movie the way they did rather than completely following the book," especially on the ending. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't as realistic as the movie was. Though realistic is kind of relative since Kendra isn't exactly human and since she used magic to change Kyle.

Sunshine

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Thought I'd try this out since so many people seemed to have liked it. I have discovered that I am now not one of those people.

The beginning was pretty good if a bit wordy, but not even a fifth of the way through the book and the main excitement of the beginning had already finished. I was left thinking, "OK, I hope there is more exciting stuff to come." Well there was, kinda.

The author is very wordy and likes to go on a lot of tangents. I found myself speed reading some sections to get through it. The tangents were ofter fluff, boring, or could have been better placed to evolve the story line. The main character would often have something happen to her and think a ton of stuff before reacting when it's obviously a situation where she only hesitated a second or two. I know that you think faster than you talk since most of it isn't in words, but would she really be able to think almost 5 pages of stuff in less than 2 seconds? 

There were also a lot of questions that were left unanswered or vaguely answered. Where did Constantine originally come from? How old is he? (This was kind of answered, but not really.) If Con and Bo are the same age, then why are their abilities so different? (Again, kind of answered, but the answer gave another question: What are the two different "types" of vampires? Is there more than two?)

The Elite (The Selection #2)

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I finished the book and thought, so what development was there that actually happened? I think it's just because I read it so fast that it seemed that way though. The more I think, the more I realized, "Oh yeah, that happened."

One of the girls was punished, the numbers dwindled a little, and the king's pissed off. Mostly it seemed like a lot of fighting and bickering and you learn a couple dirty little secrets. The most important thing we learn is the actual history of the start of Illea and some of the goals of the raids.

The twist at the end of book one didn't play out like I'd hoped. I kept yelling, "America! So stupid!" in my head every time Aspen came around. I know her feeling are all messed up, but there's no reason to chance getting killed for a guy that you're not sure you want to be with. Not like that anyways.

The Selection (The Selection #1)

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★☆

My sister has been on me for about a year now to read this. I kept putting it off thinking it was going to be some childish story, and it was a bit, but it was pretty good.

This is basically a Cinderella tale. There is a caste system where Ones are relations of the royal family and Eights are the homeless. America's family is in caste Five: Artists. Entered in a drawing, her name is one of 35 drawn to join the Selection and becomes a potential bride to the prince.

I love and hate the twist that comes at the very end. I was kind of expecting it but dreaded that it would actually happen. I can't wait to see how it plays out in book two.

There were two things that I didn't like about the book. (1) There was no world map. Some of the places you would figure out since the author used places we are familiar with or just meshed names together, but there were some that made me wonder and some that would have been nice to see where the boundaries were. (2) I didn't like the name choice for America. I don't like it when people name their kids after countries or states or certain inanimate objects. Just gets on my nerves.

The book was written decently well for a children's/young adult book--simple enough for children but not too childish for adults. I kind of laughed when America picked on the prince for using the word "shall." I don't really think it's that uncommon of a word and hear it used regularly all the time.

The Fault in Our Stars

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Genres/Themes: Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was a beautiful tear-jerker of a book. Why do I always seem to pick these types of books when I'm just about to start my period? I've had this on my to read list for a while now because it didn't seem like the type of book that I'd like. I eventually decided to read it because of how many people keep bringing it up. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. I probably would have read it in one day if it wasn't for the fact that I was so tired that I fell asleep mid-sentence half way through the book.

I loved the in-your-face honestly writing style. It made very serious topics hilariously funny. Especially the exchanges between Hazel and Augustus.

Hazel was an amazing character. Her parents viewed her as being depressed because of the disease or prospect of dying and sent her to a support group. I liked Hazel's reasons for her behavior. “I’m like a grenade, Mom. I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?...I’m a grenade. I just want to stay away from people and read books and think and be with you guys because there’s nothing I can do about hurting you; you’re too invested, so just please let me do that, okay? I’m not depressed. I don’t need to get out more. And I can’t be a regular teenager, because I’m a grenade.”

Augustus was my favorite character. The author gave him the wonderful ability of being able to get others to see the good. Like maybe a grenade isn't necessarily a bad thing or that being blind isn't the end: "You are going to live a good and long life filled with great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet!"

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Retelling, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Wow. This was both an awesome and frustrating book. The world that Marissa Meyer made for this story was amazing, though there was one thing that really bothered me about it, and unfortunately it is one of the biggest rules of Meyer's world. Cyborgs aren't human.

Cinder is treated as crap not just because she was "adopted" by her stepfather and then left to her stepmother when he died, but because she was a cyborg. Being a cyborg means she isn't human anymore. She's property. A slave. Infuriatingly WRONG!

Why does a person's position in the world change because they gain a few metal parts? So if the emperor were to get into an accident, lose half his body, and become a cyborg, is he removed from being emperor and become a common slave? This is just messed up. And the fact that her "legal guardian" was able to sell her for scientific experimentation when I'm assuming human trafficking is illegal was just wrong. If human trafficking is illegal, how can cyborg trafficking be okay?

The line stating that cyborgs owe themselves because of the miracle scientists were able to perform was just immoral. I'm assuming that many of these cyborgs were in accidents and had to pay for surgery to save their lives. They paid for the surgery, why are they supposed to keep on paying. If a patient has a brain hemorrhage, and the doctor saves their life, how are they different from the cyborgs. Both would have died; both were saved by medical miracle.

Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire #1)

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Genres: Fantasy
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I was seeing this book a lot all over the internet and heard a lot of people talking about it, so I thought I'd pick it up and give it a try. It was ok. I rate the beginning a 4 and the end a 2. 

I loved how it starts. The main character is pure evil. It's not often that you find a book from the "villain's" perspective. And the fact that he's a prince just made it better. Then the story started to fall apart. The second half of the book didn't seem as well written as the first. Like it was rushed. The inside cover of the book equates this story to Game of Thrones. At the beginning I could see it, but the further you read, the more different they were.

I was especially upset when I found out that this is actually a futuristic story rather than an alternate, medieval, fantasy universe. The references to Robin Hood, Plato, and Shakespeare were odd. I think I would have liked it better if it hadn't been futuristic.

The more I read about the prince, the more he drove me nuts too. He never had a plan. He always just winged it. And no matter how many died, it seemed to turn out for him in the end. It reminded me of a drunk, egotistic, jerk, frat guy that always manages to get out of trouble no matter what he does or how wrong he is

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1)

Find Anne of Green Gables on Goodreads 
Genres/Themes: Classics, Historical Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★

I've seen the movie for this book, but until now hadn't read it. I loved the movie very much and hopped the book would be half as good. It was much much better.

Anne is a very lovable and cute character. You just can't help wanting to read on to find out what kind of trouble she's going to end up in next.

It was very interesting to see how Anne learned from her mistakes and matured. By the end of the book, she was a young lady. Almost sad really. She was no longer the clumsy trouble making girl she was at the beginning to of the story.

It was also interesting to see how Matthew and Merila changed and evolved throughout the story. Merila was much different from the seemingly hard woman at the beginning who wanted to adopt a boy. And although still shy of women and quiet, it was interesting to see how Matthew opened to Anne and to see the little things he did for her at the objection of Merila.

Altogether, it was a fun read. I can't wait to read the next book.

The Hobbit

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Classics, Fantasy 
My Rating: ★★★★☆

This book wasn’t as good as I remembered. Maybe it’s because I’m also reading Game of Thrones which is very action packed, but the story of The Hobbit just kind of…went. It was kind of like: “This happened, then this, oh and this also happened, and that happened, but that’s another story.” It was like a monotonous journal or a documentary. I wasn’t drawn into the story, I was able to recognize the words. Normally when I’m reading a good book, I don’t even realize that I’m reading.

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1)

Find Howl's Moving Castle on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

I was kind of worried about reading this since I'd already seen the movie. I didn't even realize there was a book until I just happened upon it, and then I had to laugh when I saw it was written by Diana Wynne Jones. I've found more of her books because I happened across them, read them, liked them, and then put two and two together.

Anyways, even though I've seen the movie, I really enjoyed the book. It was just different enough and had enough extra details that weren't in the movie to keep me reading. It was fun to see what details were used and how they were used in the book versus the movie. Often I find that the writing style of books-turned-into-movies isn't as gripping as the movie. Not so here! Now I can't wait to read Castle in the Air and compare it to Castle in the Sky!

All-in-all, I thought this was the best book-turned-movie that I'd read after seeing the movie first. I'm glad I did it that way. I don't think I'd have enjoyed the movie as much as I do if I had read the book first.