Book Review #4 - Faithful

Faithful by Janet Fox


Released: May 13th, 2010
Publisher: Speak
Age Group: Young Adult
***2010 Debut Author Challenge
Overall Rating: 3 stars


~~~16 year old Maggie Bennet's life is in tatters. Her mother has disappeared, her father has dragged Maggie away from their elegant Newport home, off on some made excursion to Yellowstone in Montana. Torn from the only life she's ever known, Maggie is furious and devastated by her father's betrayal. But when she arrives, she finds herself drawn to the frustratingly stubborn, handsome Tom Rowland, the son of a park geologist, and to the wild romantic beauty of Yellowstone itself. And as Tom and the promise of freedom capture her heart, Maggie is forced to choose between who she is and who she wants to be ~~~




Time for the Review
**Plot: Im a big fan of time period dramas in both books and movie so when I found out this was set in 1904 I was really excited. But when I started to read it I was disappointed. The plot was really kind of all over the place. The character kept changing her mind about what she wanted to do and I was kinda bored at some points.
**Pacing: The pacing was actually very good. The character growth was steady and realistic and the realization of what happened to her mother was realistic as well. Although her attraction to Tom and sudden change of heart from Edward was really sudden and I didn't really like that.
**Characters: I really did not like the main character but I think that was the point. She was a snob and really selfish and shallow but over time she slowly (very slowly) got better. Also, she switched back and forth rather dramatically between wanting to marry for love, wanting to marry a rich man, and wanting to find her mom. Tom was kind of annoying because he bounced back and forth really quickly between being nice and being a jerk and just being weird. He also had some selfish tendencies. The other characters were realistic and constant which i was happy about. The "bad guy" or the closest character to it was really nasty and i could visualize him well so there was a very realistic "bad guy".
**Writing: Description wise the writing was very good. She had some brilliant ways of describing the geysers and the landscape. Although, there were a couple things here and there that confused me. In the beginning Maggie was going back and forth between flashbacks and what was happening in the present and (for me at least) it was difficult to distinguish which was which until she stated a specific aspect about what was going on.
***Overall the reason why I didn't like this book was I couldn't relate to the character. She really bugged me in how selfish she was and sometimes I thought she was really stupid in what she would say. Also, there really wasn't much romance between Tom and her in my opinion. Plus she was really inconsistent and unrealistic in what she wanted and in the way she treated and thought of her mother. Even though I love time period dramas (i'm a big fan of Jane Austen) I was really disappointed in this book. The ending got better and more things began to happen and Maggie became a better character but up till then I had a really hard time getting through the book.




~~~~~Sorry it took me so long to put up this review. My internet has been down for the past week. But now that it's back I'll make up for it with a lot of reviews. :) ~~~~~~~~~~

Book Review #3 - The Iron King

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa


Released: February 1st 2010
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Age Group: Young Adult
***2010 Debut Author Challenge
Overall Rating: 5 stars


~~ Meghan Chase has a secret Destiny - one she could never have imagined...
     Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.
     When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
     But she could never have guessed the truth -- that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead then let her touch his icy heart. ~~


ONTO THE REVIEW!!! :)
**Plot: Great! So many twists, very unique. This book kept me wanting to read it for hours. Then when it ended I didn't want it to end. Tons of action and tons of crazy twists. This book definitely kept me on my toes.
**Pacing: Fast paced but well paced. A lot of stuff happens but it's not too crammed together. There are a couple good relaxing moments which give rise to some great character development. Meghan's relationship development is realistic (as realistic as you can be in a fantasy novel) and believable. They have some really great moments together which I loved.
**Characters: GREAT characters!! Julie Kagawa takes King Oberon, Queen Titania, and Robin Goodfellow aka Puck (My favorite character (: )  from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream but then adds her own great and personal touch to them. All three of those characters are part of what is called the Seelie or Summer court. Then for the Unseelie or Winter court Julie takes Queen Mab from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for it's queen. Also Grimalkin very much resembles the Chessir Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Then Julie Kagawa has her own original character who are just as dynamic and great as the others. Ash plays the part of the somewhat mysterious prince of the Unseelie court who slowly begins to warm to Meghan. I love the protagonist Meghan because she is strong and smart. Yes she makes a couple bad decisions but along the way she also has some really witty moments. So all the characters really add a lot of life to this story and seem so real and you connect to them easily.
**Writing: Very, Very good. Her descriptive powers were impeccable and the dialogue was crisp and realistic. She created a world that was sometimes terrifying, sometimes alluring, but always gorgeous. Julie Kagawa has some real talent.
***Overall, I LOVED this book! The sequel The Iron Daughter comes out in August and I can not wait! This author has some real talent and I can't wait to see what else she has in store. This novel was a true success. Funny at some moments terrifying at others. It made me want to laugh with the characters and cry with them. It is full of action, a world that is gorgeous and frightening, characters that are as varied as the stars in the sky, and a story that will stick in your mind and keep you guessing till the last page. I can NOT wait to see what else Julie Kagawa has in store for us.


READ IT!

Book Review #2 - Fallen

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Released: 2009

Published: Delacorte Press

Age Group: Young Adult

Overall Rating: 2 stars

Here's the summary from the front flap of the book.

~~ There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in Savannah. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are screwups, and security camera watch every move.

Except Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce -- he goes out of his way to make that very clear. But she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, Luce has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her ~~

(For a better summary look at my video review on Youtube)

Now time for my review!

**Plot: The plot for this novel was very slow for most of the story and ill-formed. The introduction to Sword & Cross is good but after that things begin to get very muddled. I felt like in the grand scheme of things not much was happening. There were a couple events here and there but till the last hundred pages there wasn't much going on. There were a couple twists at the end which I did like. It ended in a way I wasn't expecting so that kind of redeemed it for me.

**Pacing: Like I said it was very slow. I felt like for most of the book the author wasn't really quite sure what to write. There were a couple interesting things that would happen but between them there'd be kind of a jumble of random things. Also, Luce's reaction towards Daniel and another character and how her feelings grow and change don't make sense...but maybe that's the point...I don't know.

**Characters: The characters were probably the best part of the book. Luce meets a whole strange array of characters that really are the most interesting thing in the novel. I love a couple of her friends and they really seem to have their own personalities that bring the book to life. Luce her self I did not like because I felt like she was kind of whiny and not very smart. She was pining for Daniel when it didn't make sense and she was looking for a secret that for the longest time didn't seem like anything. She would get all bent out of shape about something tiny and that kind of bugged me. Daniel played his part as the aloof, mysterious, hot and cold love interest. He didn't really seem all that out standing to me all though I did like how he acted in his first "meeting" with Luce, that was something that was a little different.

**Writing: The writing at the beginning was good. The writing at the end was good. The writing in the middle was kind of disappointing. There were many inconsistencies during actions and the way she described things didn't exactly make sense. I kind of felt like the author was just putting words on a page and bidding her time till the end. I mean, there were some interesting and good parts but between them were gaps of stuff that really lacked.

****Overall, I didn't expect much from this novel and I didn't get much. There were good characters and there were a couple good twists but overall I wasn't very impressed. The ending, though, was good enough and ended in such a way that it made me want to read the next book which is called Torment and it will be coming out in September.

OKay so that's my 2nd review! Stay tuned for my next one which will be on The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Sincerely

~Cookie

Book Review #1 - (yay!!) The Body Finder

Okay! Ready for my first book review!? Lets get started!

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Released: March 16, 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Age Group: Young Adult
*2010 Debut Author Challenge
Overall Rating: 3 and 1/2 stars


Here's the summary from the front flap of the book:

~~Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies - or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in this world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer --- and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself. ~~

Okay! Now time for my review.

Plot: The plot was great! Honestly it seemed to me that it was a very unique idea and there were really some nice twists that kept you wanting more.

Pacing: Pacing is a very big deal for me. How the story plays out and how it effects the reader really depends on how well paced it is. If its too fast the reader doesn't really develop any emotional connection and the meaning is lost. If it's too slow the reader gets bored and can't concentrate. With The Body Finder overall I was very pleased with the pacing. In the hunt for the serial killer and the discovery of different bodies everything was very well spaced out so that it made sense and it still made an impact. My only little complaint was the pacing with Jay and Violet seemed a little hurried. Yes I understand they've been friends for years and now they're kinda starting to want more, but how suddenly it comes on, at least for Violet, kinda makes it a little unbelievable. The way it's described one minute Violet and Jay are just friends and the next she's madly in love with him. But later on as the dive deeper into their relationship things begin to move at a better pace.

Characters: Overall the Characters played their part very well. Yes I thought Violet was making some stupid choices and different parts but thats to be expected since she is 16. Dimension-wise of course the most dimensional characters where Jay and Violet, and I'd even venture to say the killer was as well. But I kinda wanted more from the friends and family. They didn't really stick as much as I would've liked. For example I felt like Jay and Violet were the only 3D models and the rest were kinda just cardboard cut outs. Besides that though all the characters seemed pretty enjoyable. Oh, and I loved Jay, but I always love the protective guy.

Writing: The writing was pretty good for a first novel. I especially loved the chapters that looked through the killers POV. I actually think those were some of my favorite parts (besides the sweet Jay and Violet moments) because they're were really interesting. Also they added depth to the story and made some parts really creepy. The writing wasn't the best writing I've ever read but it served it's purpose in telling a very exciting story and it really wasn't lacking.

**Overall I think this was a pretty darn good book. The plot was exciting and kept me wanting to find out what would happen next. I could relate pretty well to the characters, and the writing was pretty good. Like many first novels I can see a lot of potential from this and I can't wait to see what Kimberly Derting is going to write next.

Read this! If you want some excitement mixed with a little romance and a good bit of suspense then this is for you!

Introduction

Hey Guys, Cookie here.

In this blog i will be doing a book review. I am an avid reader and I love to talk about what I am reading so I'm using this blog as an outlet for that. Also, I find the book review blogs are extremely helpful to find out about new books to read and information like that. I have never done a blog before so it may take me a while to get the hang of things, but don't worry I learn fast.

To get me started I'm going to be participating in the 2010 Debut Author Challenge that is hosted by The Story Siren. I have chosen several books that have been out for a while for that challenge and several ones that should becoming out soon. I know I'm a little late in starting the Challenge but my goal for the summer is to get caught up. I'm SO excited to be doing this and I can't wait to see how far this will take me and I hope I'll be able to keep this up for a while.

Aside from books for the Challenge I will also review classic books of literature. For example the Jane Austen books and the Bronte books a long with a couple other classics that I've picked up. This way you guys can have a fresh look at those books through the eyes of a modern day teenager instead of a college professor or high school teacher.

Besides that YA books will be my main focus. I can't wait to get started! I'm so excited! You can also see my videos on Youtube under CookieReadingCorner. I wont have as many reviews there as I hope to have here but you still might want to check it out.

Okay. Let's Get Started!

My next post will be a list of the Books that I am going to read for the Challenge and hopefully in a couple days I will have my first official review up. :) Okay. Until then.

~Sincerely,

Cookie

My 2010 Debut Author Challenge List

Okay Guys. Here is my list of all the books I shall (hopefully) read and review for the 2010 Debut Author Challenge. Tell me what ya think and if you have any suggestions.

1) The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
2) The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
3) The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
4) Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn
5) Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis
6) Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
7) Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
8) Mistwood by Leah Cypess
9) Faithful by Janet Fox
10) Everlasting by Angie Frazier
11) The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry
12) Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia
13) The Mark by Jen Nadol
14) Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
15) The Tension of Opposites by Kristina Mcbride
16) Salvaged by Stefne Miller

These are only the books that are already out that I want to read. Books that are soon to come out that I would like to read for the Challenge are
13 to Life: A Werewolf's tale by Shannon Delany
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Other by karn Kincy
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
Banished by Sophie Littlefield
Tyger Tyer by Kersten Hamilton
Firelight by Sophie Jordan

So. Those are the books that I hope to read for this awesome Challenge. It is subject to change according to how much money I am able to spend to purchase these books and what my local Borders and Library has in stock. Luckily I have already bought several of the books for this Challange so Im making some head way.

My first review will be on Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder. That should be up in a few days.

Until then if you'd like more information about the 2010 Debut Author Challenge you can find out about it here: http://www.thestorysiren.com/2009/11/2010-debut-author-challenge-information.html

Okay! Until My next post.
~Sincerely
Cookie