Daisy's Thoughts About Reading The Mortal Instruments After the Hype (and watching the TV show)

I have an amazing book club and the last weekend of August we had a sleepover (which was AWESOME obviously) and one of the things we did was watch a lot of bad tv. Which is always better with friends who give snarky commentary for obvious reasons. So we watched the first 5 episodes of Shadowhunters and because I was like what the heck is going on??? (because there was a significant lack of explaining things in a manner that wasn't making my head hurt) I decided it was time to finally read the first book in the series.

And I ended up liking it, but I remember when this series had just come out and the obsession was of somewhat Harry Potter proportions. But I'm kinda liking reading this when not everyone and their great aunt it talking about it, because now I can just make my way through it (probably slowly with spaces of time in between) without all of the opinions hitting me in the face and influencing the experience. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes LOVE all the excitement that surround the release of books, especially if it's for a series that I'm loving and am also not behind on. But it creates all these expectations and then when the book actually DOESN'T live up to all the buzz, it's a disappointment that I feel more than when I hadn't been hearing all of those things before starting it.

It's fun though to think back to what was all over the blogosphere back then and all the swooning over Jace and other boys and how everyone was basically pining for the next book. Starting a series when it's already finished is also a whole different feeling than when you know you're going to have to wait a year in between reading them, even when they end on a cliffhanger. ESPECIALLY if they end on a cliffhanger.

***SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, CLICK TO READ***

I'm slightly underwhelmed at the twist at the end with the whole Jace is Clary's presumed dead brother and everything. I mean, I was kinda expecting it at some point before the whole reveal for some reason I'm not sure of and if this is a thing that will continue on in the other books without it being somehow disproved that the is in fact her brother, then this is gonna take on a level of creepiness that reminds me of Virginia Andrew's books (Flowers in the Attic anyone?) that I loved as a teen, but am now somewhat not so excited about seeing in a series.

So, am I the only one who hasn't read this yet or just the first book? What's holding you back or what is making you excited to finally start it? Are there any other books that you've read way after the initial release that had a LOT of hype?

Jamie Reviews A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court Of Thorns & Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Yes, book 1.
Published: May 2015
Rating: 4.5 stars
I received this book from the publisher for review consideration.

Oh man, I LOVE Sarah's Throne of Glass series and I made this the first book I read in 2015 because I had faith she would give me the kind of good reading omen for the rest of the year. And ACOTAR proved to do that. 

I've never been super into fae in my reading but I trusted Sarah and HALLELUJAH for once in my life I was into a fae storyline. I loved how Sarah was inspired by fairytales like Beauty & the Beast and others but it was SO it's own story that I would forget it was a retelling of sorts.

I loved Feyre, she was strong but not like in that typical badass way. More so in that "life has knocked me down but I keep going way." She was resourceful and observant and smart and I liked that. I've seen some people fault her for staying with her awful family but I actually understood it -- making a promise to someone has since passed away carries a lot of weight on you plus FAMILY. I speak from experience. 

I loved the characters so much -- especially all the guys -- Tamlin, Lucian and Rhys. Leave it to Sarah to create a harem of hot guys. But, hotness aside, Sarah just is so talented in bringing characters to life and I felt like a lot of these characters had so much depth to them. There are some great secondary characters and characters I can't wait to get more of.

It was definitely steamier than most of what you find in YA and to be honest I'm not sure I'd even classify it as YA (particularly because they are quite older if I remember correctly)? I loved how sexy it was personally. STEAAAAMY.

I loved learning more about the fae world and all the history and getting to know the characters and then I was unprepared for how action-packed it would get and how I'd be a woman obsessed trying to race through the book. The THINGS happening in the kingdom were so interesting and I just wanted to find out more and then OH MAN...by the end my heart was just RACING and thinking up ways to get my hands on book 2. It was a page-turner, that's for sure. TWISTS AND TURNS AND SO MUCH GOODNESS.

To sum it up: I LOVED this start of a new series. I didn't think I would be into the fae (wasn't ever much of a paranormal person) but this was totally gripping with interesting characters, a world I'm so intrigued by, romance and a lot of OMG moments.

Daisy Does an Early Spotlight on The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

Title/Author: The Mime Order (The Bone Season #2) by Samantha Shannon
Publisher/Date published: Bloomsbury, January 27th 2015
How I got this book: borrowed it from my friend Debby, as she was lucky enough to get an ARC!

Goodreads summary: Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London.

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city’s gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.

Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

Ok, first off: have you read The Bone Season? If not, why not? Cause you should. You should probably stop what you're doing right now, including reading this post and go read it. Just go. Go and be blown away by the awesomeness of Samantha Shannon's writing.

So now that we've got that established. Let's move onto me telling you exactly why you should be hovering around your mailbox on January 27th or stalking your bookstore or whatever method you decide on to get your hands on The Mime Order:

-While The Bone Season had a whole lot of info-dump in it (which I was ok with, because hello amazing worldbuilding!), The Mime Order doesn't and it just builds and expands on this knowledge we've gathered in The Bone Season and it was AWESOME. I love re-immersing myself in this world and the characters and just gloriously revelling in Samantha Shannon's beautiful words.

-Paige grows and grows as a character and she's just this strong, badass person who isn't afraid to make hard choices and fights for what she believes in and actually has a LOT of common sense and just, I love her ok?

-WARDEN! I can go all caps on him because he's AMAZING and just LOVE! We read The Bone Season with our book club and all three of us who were there to discuss the book just went *sigh* after someone mentioned him. He's very swoonworthy and he becomes even more so in The Mime Order. Also, the chemistry he and Paige have is just wow. It is SO good.

-THAT ENDING!!! Basically I have ALL THE FEELS and I had some serious book hangover after finishing this and even though I slightly saw it coming I was still like WHATTTT??

So go forth and covet this book. I'm DYING for the next one!

My rating: 5 stars

Paula Reviews The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro

Published 2009 by William Morrow & Company 

Got it from a Library Sale

4 Stars

So this book has been on my radar for a long time and I finally got my hands on it last fall at a library sale (for the longest time I could only find the 2nd & 3rd books in the series) and it was such a refresh to read a good book because I had been stuck on a really slow kinda boring book for the last month...

The Premise: A plane lands at JFK and goes dead on the tarmac. No lights. No engine. No radio signal. As a crew goes to check it out they realize that something evil has landed in New York... Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the CDC's Canary project (think a long the lines of the Canaries in Coal mines as an early warning system) gets put on the project of what is thought to be a bio-terrorism attack or the beginnings of a new epidemic. As Eph gets more involved- he realizes that things aren't adding up... and the dead passengers of the plane- have left the morgue? 

Without giving too much away- this is an awesome take on the idea of the Vampire. It presents the reader with a vampire epidemic. The vampires in this book can (kind of?) be based on a scientific idea- it's not just magic- it's creepy gross blood borne parasites. (Think of those parasites that attack ants and use them as zombie attack machines but then put them in a human body). Also these aren't your romanticized misunderstood lover vampires who just want a soul again. These are soulless hosts who return home to their "dear ones" just so they can infect them too. Also their jaws unhinge and they have stingers. And they are smart. Yikes! 

My Thoughts: I really really liked it. I'm happy that the whole trilogy is complete so I can go get the second two asap. Also I was excited to see that FX is picking it up as a TV show this summer. Hopefully it will be a good adaptation?

A possible negative (it didn't bother me but I had a friend who put the book down because of it) is the writing style- it's written by Guillermo Del Toro (aka director of Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim) so it reads very much like a movie. The chapters and scenes are short and choppy- just like a movie would be. I didn't mind it because I knew that Del Toro is a director before he's a novelist - so it felt like it fit his style. But my friend who put the book down found it too distracting. 

Other Thoughts: This is neither a positive or negative thing- but just an addition. I found the very similar to The Passage by Justin Cronin(a vampire apocalypse novel that is based on the idea of it spreading like a virus) I'm not sure which came first? But I will say that even though at first glance they may seem like mirror images- there are enough differences in the focus of the stories and the mythos of the vampires that they aren't. And they are both good books and you should check them both out is really what I'm trying to say here...

Elevator speech review: Creepy good vampire apocalypse horror novel. And the whole series is complete so you can binge read! (I haven't read the other two yet though so hopefully they are just as good?)

Tahleen reviews: "The Diviners" by Libba Bray

Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Rating: 5 stars

It's the Roaring Twenties, and Evie is positutely ready to trade her boring hometown in Ohio for the exciting New York City, even though she is in a sort of exile after revealing the less savory side of the town golden boy through a special gift she has. When she arrives at her uncle's Museum of Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, she's thrilled to be in a city of glamour and a swinging night life with her friend Mabel at her side and few new friends she meets along the way; but her uncle's profession ends up giving her more excitement than she bargained for. Soon she finds herself right in the middle of an investigation into a series of occult-based murders throughout the city. But when they get a bit too close to discovering the truth, Evie finds that she might be next.

Libba Bray has delivered with this one. It's a great period book, and the way she infuses the supernatural aspects are riveting. It's historical fiction steeped in American folklore and magic, leading to a thrilling chase of a dead killer around the city. It's told in third person, so we see various points of view, including the murder victims', though the story mainly revolves around Evie and another guy named Memphis, who lives in the heart of Harlem and deals with a special gift of his own (and the consequences of having it). Every character has his or her own history, clearly well thought out on Bray's part, though not everything is revealed in this volume. I'm eager to learn more about everyone and their pasts.

Bray dips into every part of New York City during Prohibition, into each group of people and many kinds of neighborhoods. We have African Americans in Harlem, immigrants in Hell's Kitchen, dancers who are stars, and pickpockets who are trying to just get by.

The plot itself will drive you to keep turning the pages until you know how it all ends, and even by the time you get to the end of the book you know there will be more. This book certainly has its own story arc, but throughout there is a setup for big things to come. I'm really looking forward to where it might be going.

Disclosure: Received from review via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

Jessi Reviews Soulless by Gail Carriger

Title/Author: Soulless by Gail Carriger
Publisher/Year: Orbit, 2009
Where I got it: It was the first book I downloaded onto my Nook :) 
Why I read it: It's been on my TBR list for a while, and I've heard great things about it 


Synopsis: Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. 

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire—and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. 

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart? 

SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Review: LORD MACCON--how I love thee, let me count the ways!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I will say that if this book is any indication of how my 2012 reading years is going to be--I'm going to have an awesome year.

There were so many things I loved about this book. First of all, Gail Carriger builds a phenomenally well-thought out supernatural world that parallels Victorian England. She really covers all her bases. This supernatural world has rules and structure--it puts other vampire/werewolf stories to shame. *ahem*

Her writing itself was a lot of fun to read, as well. Imagine Jane Austen with a bit of a modern twist. Gail's writing took a good story and gave it substance. This is, by no means, a serious book, but at no point did I feel like I was reading fluff. She really blended genres well, too. There was a little bit of everything here: historical fantasy, paranormal, steampunk, horror, suspense, romance. This being my first foray into the steampunk genre, I was pleasantly surprised, and I'll definitely be looking for more from the genre.

As if all that weren't enough, Soulless has an unforgettable cast of characters. Alexia, of course, is totally kickbutt. She is a beacon of Victorian propriety and decorum, but she is also completely independent and definitely not afraid to speak her mind. I loved that she would rather be alone and be considered a spinster than settle for someone with half her wit or someone who wouldn't view her as an equal. Lord Akeldama was another favorite character of mine--freakin' fabulous. Gotta give some props to Professor Lyall. I loved that at times it was like he was the only character acting with a level head. And Lord Maccon? Do I even need to go there? Totally hot. Totally Scottish. And totally perfect for Alexia. (And me, but that's besides the point). I'm telling you, I could see the steam rising from some of those pages! It probably didn't help that I was picturing him as  Jamie Dornan, aka Sheriff Graham from Once Upon a Time. Gail Carriger even does her villians well. I hated them all with a deep burning hatred, when it was Alexia's mom or the mysterious shadow man or the creepy wax man. That's when you know you have a good author on your hands.

If you want a book that will make you laugh, make you cry, tug on your heartstrings or make you fan yourself from all the steam, you will find it here in Gail Carriger's Soulless. I can't wait to start Changeless! 

Heather reviews The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Book/Author: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #2)
Publisher/Year: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2010
Pages: 407 pages
Where I got this book: bought at Borders
Why I read this book: I read the first book and bought the second on a whim hoping it would get better
My rating: 3 stars 

Brief Summary (from Goodreads): Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

My thoughts: I must have the worst memory in the history of people under 60 who have not suffered some traumatic memory loss. I read the first book in Carrie Ryan's series, The Forest of Hands and Teeth just two years ago and I hardly remember a thing about it. The only thing I really remember is that I wasn't very crazy about the first book and most people thought it was really good. In her second novel, The Dead-Tossed Waves, the story of the undead continues as we learn that Mary has grown up and now has a teenage daughter who is the MC of this book. It's rare for me to enjoy the sequel far better than the first book but this was an example of that. Right from the beginning there is action as Gabry and her friends jump the barrier that separates their relatively safe town and the unknown area where the unconsecrated roam. Her friends are attacked and those who aren't infected end up imprisoned for crossing the barrier. So much action and conflict, I was hooked!

When Gabry meets a stranger across the barrier who looks at her as if he recognizes her, I was intrigued. It takes almost the whole book to find out the deal with that and it did a good job of keeping me engaged. I was trying to figure out what the big secret was, but I ended up being so far off with my guesses anyway. As for the characters in The Dead-Tossed Waves, I thought Gabry was much more tolerable than her mother had been. I couldn't stand Catcher from the start but was routing for her and Elias to get together.

I wasn't sure about this one after being let down by the first, but I'm glad that I read it because Ryan has redeemed herself. I will most likely read the third book because I'm interested to see how Gabry's story ends up. If you haven't read any of the series, I would honestly recommend skipping The Forest of Hands and Teeth and moving right on to The Dead-Tossed Waves. There isn't much pertinent info in the first book that sets up for the second. This could very well have been a stand alone novel, minus the cliffhanger. Speaking of the cliffhanger, eeeesh! I want to know what the heck happened to Gabry and Catcher, and if she will ever see her mother or Elias again. It's nothing groundbreaking or amazingly written, but I found it well worth the read, especially in October. The mudo (zombies) make for a creepy story!

Julia Reviews Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Title/Author:Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher/Year Published: August 2011 by St. Martin's Press
How I got this book: The publisher sent me a review copy
Why I read this book: Second chances... read on
Rating: 2 stars

Have you ever been really into a series and then slowly watch it collapse beneath you as you move into the 10th, 15th, 20th book in the series? This has been my experience with Sherrilyn
Kenyon's Dark-Hunters.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we? Back in 2005 I was a freshman in college. Down the hall in our small dorm was a girl who had brought two large clear-plastic crates full of books with her despite the extra-small space we had to live. My kind of girl right? If I recall correctly, they were mostly filled with romance novels, too. Even better.

She gave me the first of the Dark-Hunter series to read. I was new to the paranormal romance genre, and I was enchanted. I devoured the books in the series, loving the mixture of the Greek pantheon of gods combined with vampire myth and modern humanity.

It was unique for the time (this was at the beginning of the vampire resurgence), and I was a goner. I joined the online fan-board, planned with my friend to go to the convention in New Orleans, and dutifully bought every book upon its release day.

After a while though I started noticing a pattern. Every hero was a wounded Goth tough guy and then meets that one right woman who can break him of his curse. But first they must kill some threat to humanity. There was little to no variation. This would have been fine because the over arching plot was REALLY interesting, but the problem was it was never wrapping anything up. Every new book instead of working with what was already there piled on more and more until it was impossible to read a new book with a glossary of what was happening next to you. Taking that away from the mix allowed me to focus on the not super-strong writing and the repetitious plots per book.

Which brings me to Retribution.

When I saw the email asking for this book to be reviewed, I fell back into my rose-colored fan-girl past. It was Jess! One of my favorite cowboy secondary characters from earlier books getting a story of his own at last! How bad could it be?

And that’s the thing. It is not horrible; it’s just not what I wanted it to be. More of the same. I’ve missed a few books along the way (this is 20 in the series), and I wanted to see if it could be read and enjoyed by someone who has no exposure to the Dark-Hunters.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get past remembering what the stories used to be for me. Her earlier books were good. I could actually write a pretty positive review (5 stars, a rarity for me) on the 4th book in the series where Jess first appears, Dance with the Devil. I’ve read it multiple times, even without the rose colored fan-girl glasses and I think it still holds up well.

As for Retribution, it just didn’t do it for me. It was very formulaic, the writing clunky and at some times confusing. There is a lot of tell not show. Could someone jump in and read this book without knowing the rest of the Dark-Hunter mythos? Sure. In fact on my quick browse of Goodreads, I noticed that a lot of the higher ratings were the ones who were new to the series.

So this is a romance about an undead vampire-like cowboy and the girl who inadvertently started an Apocalypse. If that sounds like it may be your cup of tea, give this book a try. But get it at the library*.

*I’d say buy it but it has a deckle edge, and I think those just look sloppy. Wait for the paperback. The cover, however, is gorgeous!

Jessi Reviews "Beautiful Darkness"

Title/Author: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher/Year: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010
How I Got This: Interlibrary loan
Why I Read It: I've been dying to read it since I read Beautiful Creatures and with the upcoming release of Beautiful Chaos
Rating: 4 Stars 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Review: 


Wow. Again, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have blown me away, and now I'm really counting down the days until Beautiful Chaos.

I had been waiting to read this since I finished Beautiful Creatures and I'm glad I finally got around to it. This time around, we get a deeper look into our favorite characters making this a more emotional read all around. Ethan and Lena have hit a bump in the road, so much of the time spent in this installment involves examining their relationship and what each of them are willing to do for each other. As someone who adores character development, I loved reading this one, and now I especially feel like I've known these characters forever.

I also really enjoyed how Kami and Margaret don't leave their readers hanging. It has been quite a while since I read Beautiful Creatures, so I was a little worried that this book would just jump into things and leave me behind in the dust. Never fear though--I never had that problem. At the same time, they did this so skillfully that I don't think it would be annoying to read this right after the first book. Sometimes, the beginnings of sequels are so mundane and repetitive that it takes like 50 pages to get into the actual story. Not in this case.

Above all, though, the writing is what takes the cake for me with this series. A lot of times, YA can come across as fluffy because of the writing style. Here we have a complex plot and stunning writing. Honestly, it reminds me of how everyone suggests the Harry Potter series for a well-written YA series. I adore the Gothic style. It's beautiful. Really, there's no other word for it.

And that ending?! Uh, hello, I need Beautiful Chaos like NOW!

Tahleen reviews: "Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol

Title: Anya's Ghost
Author: Vera Brosgol
Publisher: First Second, 2011

Rating: 5 stars

Anya, daughter of a Russian immigrant, insecure in her body, and just trying to fit in at her private school, ends up finding a friend in the most unlikely of places. After falling down a well, Anya discovers a skeleton... and its ghost that's been hanging out down there for about 90 years.

At first, Anya is obviously freaked. But she escapes from the well, with help from Emily (the ghost). Who ends up following her out. Emily turns out to be a great friend, helping her with school and boys, but Anya soon figures out that Emily is here to stay... whether she likes it or not.

This graphic novel is beyond awesome. The illustrations are outstanding, all in black, white, gray and muted purple. The pacing of the story is excellent too—we jump into the story right away with Anya's fall, discovery of the skeleton, and subsequent befriending of Emily Reilly, who died 90 years ago after she fell down the well herself.

This is also a mystery. Anya promises to search for Emily's murderer, who she says killed her parents and then chased her through the woods the night of her fall. But Emily seems strangely uninterested and not very eager for Anya to start her search. She's much more interested in finding Anya a way into the heart of her crush, basketball star Sean. Even when Anya isn't interested anymore. Slowly we begin to see Emily's true personality and psychosis, and Anya tries to uncover Emily's history.

I had to keep going back after finishing this to just look at the illustrations and relive parts of the story. There is true terror within the pages, but a more subtle terror than you might expect in a ghost story.

There's also a lot in here about acceptance of yourself and your culture, with Anya's denial of her background and attempts to keep her family out of the line of sight of her schoolmates. She avoids another Russian student at her school because he acts too "fobby," without giving him a chance at any sort of friendship because of his social status. Throughout the plot, she has to come to terms with all of this.

Whether you read graphic novels or not, this is one you should go out and read immediately. The story and illustrations are in perfect harmony to make for one scary and mysterious ride.

Disclosure: I got this from my local library.

Kelly's Review of "Elixir" by Hilary Duff

Title: Elixir

Author: Hilary Duff

Published: Simon & Schuster, 2010

Rating: ★★★★

Okay, I'll admit it. When I initially heard that Hilary Duff was writing a YA book, I laughed in scorn. Why does every celebrity feel the need to put out a perfume, write a book, have their own reality TV show, or worse, a combination of all three? I dismissed the book from all consideration until earlier this summer when paroozing the library, I came across a pretty book with a nice purple flower on it and an interesting premise to boot. It wasn't until I turned the book over and saw Hilary's big old mug that I realized what I was doing and mentally gave myself a kick. The book went home with me anyways and was read in one day (at the beach!).

So here's what went down. Clea (I giggled at this name several times, I don't know why) is the privileged daughter of a politician and a surgeon. Even though she is only a teenager, Clea works as a photojournalist, and in the book, notably travels to Rio de Janeiro to photograph the Carnival (ummm, jealous much?). It isn't until her father mysteriously disappears that she begins to notice a strange man in the background of all of her photographs. Is he a ghost? An angel? Clea sets out to find this man.

Reincarnation is a heavy theme in this book, something that I absolutely LOVE to read about. The plot is very interesting and well woven together; I was very impressed with Hilary Duff's writing and ability to develop characters. Truthfully, I almost put the book down a few pages in, since all we get are descriptions of Clea's fabulous lifestyle while she parties in Paris. Pushing past the rich-girl stuff was definitely worth it. I'm not a big reader of either YA, paranormal, or romance books, but it seems to me that the plot could be somewhat predictable and recycled, but I still enjoyed it. Props to Lizzie McGuire!

Heather reviews Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Book: Bad Girls Don't Die
Author: Katie Alender
Publisher/Published: Hyperion, 2009
How I got this book: bought a copy at Borders
Why I read this book: I read some good reviews and thought it looked interesting
Rating: 4 stars

Brief Summary (from Goodreads): When Alexis's little sister Kasey becomes obsessed with an antique doll, Alexis thinks nothing of it. Kasey is a weird kid. Period. Alexis is considered weird, too, by the kids in her high school, by her parents, even by her own Goth friends. Things get weirder, though, when the old house they live in starts changing. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Kasey is changing, too. Her blue eyes go green and she speaks in old-fashioned language, then forgets chunks of time.
Most disturbing of all is the dangerous new chip on Kasey's shoulder. The formerly gentle, doll-loving child is gone, and the new Kasey is angry. Alexis is the only one who can stop her sister — but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

My thoughts: Bad Girls Don't Die was one of those completely unputdownable books. It has the appeal of a classic ghost story with plenty of twists and turns in the plot. Our protagonist, Alexis, is somewhat of a self-proclaimed outcast at school and is notorious for causing trouble. Her parents don't pay much attention to her and her younger sister has been acting stranger everyday. When weird, unexplainable things start happening in their big, haunted looking house, Alexis begins to suspect the paranormal.

I've always loved scaring myself with ghost stories but it's been awhile since I've read one that really got me spooked. There is almost nothing creepier to me than a doll that comes to life or a child that is possessed. A child possessed by an evil spirit living in a tattered doll hidden somewhere in a creepy old house? It's like Alender looked into my worst nightmares. Needless to say I read Bad Girls Don't Die with the lights on and was spooked by every little noise I heard. I kept thinking about the old American Girl doll I have back at home in my closet and how I was really glad it wasn't at my apartment with me because I would probably have to throw it in the trash!


The characters also had more depth than a lot of the paranormal books I've read. Alexis hung out with the goth kids at school but didn't really fit in anywhere. It was refreshing to read about such a smart main character. I also felt a connection to her because of her interest in photography. It's always nice to read a book about such a likable character. Megan, the popular cheerleader, also turned out to be so much more than just a ditzy teenager and the friendship that develops between the two of them is really interesting. Kasey seemed like a realistic 13 year old girl struggling to hold onto her childhood. Despite her sister's odd behavior, Alexis is still very protective of her, even when she discovers Kasey is not really Kasey anymore. I loved that even though they weren't the picture perfect family, there was still such a sense of family values. Alexis is one of the most level headed characters I've read about.

Bad Girls Don't Die also stood out from other paranormal young adult books because there wasn't an overwhelming amount of sex. There was the flirtatious relationship between Alexis and Carter but it felt more realistic to the way high school romances often play out. It took some time for them to get to know each other and they had their share of setbacks. I love that Alender used a minimal amount of romance and was able to focus on the paranormal aspect of the story.


There is a sequel to Bad Girls Don't Die that will be released later this year. I'm interested to see the direction Alender takes the second novel and will definitely be running out to grab it right away. If you enjoy a well written ghost story, I highly recommend this!

Jamie's Review of Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Title/Author: Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting (sequel to The Body Finder)
Publisher/Year: HarperTeen - February 15 2011
How I Got This Book: It was sent to me for review from the publisher.

Violet, outwardly your average high school girl, has a secret that only a few close to her know. She has the ability to hear the echos of the dead whose lives were wrongly cut short at the hands of others. Their killers, unbeknownst to them, carry their own unique imprint that matches that of their victims that are also sensed by Violet. These bodies seek her out so that they can be uncovered and be at peace. Her unique sense has remained relatively secret as she's used it to help the dead before but an echo of a four year old boy threatens to make her secret known to others outside of her family and her boyfriend Jay and somebody else's secret threatens Violet's life.

Desires of the Dead, the mysterious and thrilling sequel to The Body Finder, is the perfect book to read curled up next to your fire with the wind howling and the fog settling outside your window. I couldn't have asked Mother Nature for a better setting in which to read this book--although I really could have done without the freezing rain.

As someone who is just delving into the supernatural/paranormal world in my reading, this series is an excellent start for me. These books are more of a mystery/thriller book with an underlying dash of the supernatural. This series is especially good for those who are reluctant to read anything out of the realistic YA genre. This series has reminded me of why I loved reading both Nancy Drew and anything by RL Stine or Christopher Pike as a young teen. I liked the suspense and feeling like I just couldn't read fast enough to figure out the mystery and I liked being creeped out. Ok, I lie. I slept with the light on most nights.

The first book ends with all the loose ends tied up so there aren't any lingering questions nagging at you when you begin this book and it was kind of nice to start fresh and get to see how Violet and Jay were doing since all the events of the first book. I was anxious to see what sort of shenanigans Violet would find herself in during this book and Derting didn't disappoint. She, again, had some alternating chapters written from the perspective of the "bad guy" but I honestly didn't find it as effective and as chilling as I did in the first book and that was something I really found to add to the creepy factor of the first book. Overall, I thought the first book was a little bit creepier and a little bit more action packed as it practically gave me a blister from flipping the pages all day. There were some parts in the middle that I just kept dying for something to happen that would shock me but luckily I was so interested in the FBI plot-line that I kept moving along.

I don't know if it was just me, because I am notorious for figuring out the mysteries in movies or who the killer is in shows like CSI, but I figured out everything pretty quickly in this book. I'd love to know if it was just me or if it was a little predictable. I also was getting a little irked with Violet for finding herself in bad situations and not telling anybody where she was going. It was like watching a scary movie and you are just screaming, "DON'T GO UP THE STAIRS!" or "DON'T GO OUT THERE ALONE!" I don't think many girls her age would keep wandering off and putting herself in compromising positions although I wonder if it could be attributed to the pull of these bodies that makes her do these things.

I am beyond thrilled to see what Derting does with the rest of this series. The ending of this book leaves some really interesting possibilities for Violet that I think could make for a really great series. I think it will be interesting to see how Violet progresses with using her "talent' to help people. I hope to see more of Rafe as he was a really intriguing addition to this book and I want to know more about him. I thought Derting added some really interesting and compelling characters to this book and I thought she integrated them very well so I'm hoping that some of them reappear in subsequent books. I'll be really interested to see how Derting continues on and, as always, wanting to find out how Violet and Jay hold up.


My final thought: While I think I personally enjoyed The Body Finder a bit more than this one, I'd highly recommend this series if you are looking for a good YA mystery with some supernatural elements that will be thrilling, a little creepy at times and has a good romantic plot. If you enjoy shows like The Ghost Whisperer or Medium, this would be an excellent series to get into. The series is fresh and unique and Desires of the Dead is an intriguing sequel that explored Violet's gift and made her question how she should continue to use it in the future as well as added a new dimension to the old characters and fascinating new characters. Needless to say, I'd like to hijack Derting's brain so I can know RIGHT NOW what she is creating for Violet. I know it's going to amp up the mystery and the chill factor---and not to mention the romance factor as she already did in Desires of the Dead.