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Book Review : Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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  • Release Date : August 7th 2012
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury
  • Pages: 416

Synopsis: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

I was very excited to read Throne of Glass after learning the story originally gained a large following as Queen of Glass on fictionpress.com. I think it’s great when an author has a built-in fandom e.g. Amanda Hocking, Marissa Meyer and Cassandra Clare.  How could you go wrong with a  story and character that enthralled many before it had an official publication?

The first few pages of the novel throws readers into the salt mine prison of Endovier in the magic stripped land of Ardalan. Here Celaena Sardothien a.k.a Ardalan’s Assassin, the country’s most dangerous assassin, is being released into the custody of the crown prince to fight for her freedom in a competition to win the title of the King’s assassin.

The novel starts off strong, but overall the story feels watered down. It seemed like there was supposed to be this fierce competition but it was just really boring. I mean there was very little action involved  and  the other competitors where throwaway characters.

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When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

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“What if the greatest love story ever told was the wrong one?” 

― Rebecca Serle, When You Were Mine

  • Release Date: May 1st  2012
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Pages: 334
  • Publisher: Simon Pulse


Synopsis: What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: Everything.
Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy… and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance.

So, I love the concept of this novel. A modern re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, but from the perspective of Rosaline. I remember studying Romeo and Juliet in high school and when our teacher was talking about Rosaline I remember thinking, wait what ? There was a girl Romeo liked before Juliet ? Roalisne is an unseen  character in the play so Serle had a lot to play with in developing her.

The character of Rosaline Caplet in this book was a blurry character to me, she didn’t seem to have any shape. She just existed, there was nothing special about her and I couldn’t get a feel for her personality. She does gain some definition through the book with her relationship with the character Len, but I just could not connect with her.

There seems to be two schools of reviewers who have read this; those who loved Rose’s  friends and others who don’t. I found Charlie and Olivia to be annoying girls obsessed with boys and popularity. They are also kind of the mean girls I didn’t understand why they were friends with Rose, who seems nothing like them. It seems like in real life they would have drifted apart.

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : This Lullaby

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“Everything, in the end, comes down to timing. One second, one minute, one hour, could make all the difference. So much hanging on just these things, tiny increments that together build a life. Like words build a story, and what had Ted said? One word can change the entire world.”

― Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby

  • Release Date: March 27th 2002
  • Page Number: 345
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Publisher: Speak

Synopsis: When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn’t mess around. After all, she’s learned all there is to know from her mother, who’s currently working on husband number five. But there’s something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy’s rules. He certainly doesn’t seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can’t seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy’s starting to understand what those love songs are all about?

Remy Starr is  better, she swears. 

She doesn’t sleep around anymore, she doesn’t smoke nearly as much and , most importantly  her eyes are set on Stanford in the fall. The only thing standing in her way ?  The summer. This will be the summer the girl who thinks she knows everything gets a lesson in love, the Potato Opus and what one summer can do.

Unlike Dessen’s previous novels Remy is not a “good girl”. Remy is not a quiet introspective character. She isn’t best friends with the  screwed-up rebellious girl, she IS that girl. 

The love interest Dexter, provides a nice foil to the extremely “Type A” Remy. He is the spastic, hyper lead singer in the band, Truth Squad. When this group of essentially “lost boys” rolls into town with nothing but a white van and Dexter’s dog, Monkey, things on Remy’s side of town is never the same.
After reading Dessen’s novels in publication order, I think This Lullaby  is a turning point in Dessen’s novels. It combines the friendships, eccentric parents and quirky characters of her first three novels, with the summer time setting of Keeping The Moon. It also plays up romance and love much more than her previous novels…

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Book Review: Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

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  • Release Date: July 31st 2012
  • Genre: Contemporary/ Coming-of-Age
  • Pages: 384
  • Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Synopsis: No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Yay, my first Harlequin (okay, Harlequin Teen ) novel !

Echo Emerson is trying to honor her dead brother, as she recovers from a violent encounter with her bipolar mother that left her with plenty of scars, but no memory.

Noah Hutchins wants nothing more than to be a family again with the brothers he was separated from in the foster care system, but he just can’t seem to stop screwing up.

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Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Delirium #2)

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“In a world without love, this is what people are too each other: values, benefits, and liabilities, numbers, and data. We weigh, and the soul is ground to dust.” 

― Lauren Oliver, Pandemonium

 

  • Release Date: February 28th 2012
  • Genre: Dystopian
  • Publisher: Harper Teen
  • Pages: 375

Synopsis: I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex, pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, push, push, push, like Raven taught me to do.The old life is dead.But the old Lena is dead too.I buried her.I left her beyond a fence,behind a wall of smoke and flame.Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Sequel reviews are always hard for me but, here we go. It was a bit of a shock going from listening to the audio book of Delirium to reading the print copy of Pandemonium. I was finally seeing names and places on the page instead of just hearing them. I had to remind myself our protagonist was Lay-na and no Lean-a and there are In-val-ids not In-val-eds

That said, Pandemonium is pretty much nothing like Delirium, in fact, it feels like a different series entirely.

Pandemonium is erratic with a  faster paced and more passionate story than Delirium. Whereas Delirium is a discovery story, Pandemonium is one about a journey. This book embodies the kids in the woods phenomenon seen in a lot of post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction. This idea where it’s mostly the teens and young adults that leave civilization to fight the status quo.

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : Keeping The Moon

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“You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.” 

― Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

  • Release Date : September 1999
  • Publisher : Viking/Penguin
  • Genre : Contemporary
  • Pages : 240
  • School Library Edition : 228

Synopsis: Colie expects the worst when she’s sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast — first for being fat and then for being “easy” — Colie has no friends at home and doesn’t expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along.

Keeping The Moon is a short read that manages to hold its own and pull a at the heart strings. This was the first Sarah Dessen novel  I’d ever read almost ten years ago *cringe* when I was 14-years-old. I remember that as soon as I finished it I sat there for a minute and then started to read it again.

Now 45 pounds lighter, Colie Sparks is no longer the “fat” girl in school.While she could easily shed the pounds, losing her low self-esteem and self consciousnesses is going to take a summer of change.

With bullying a hot topic nowadays this novel is still relevant today. Fifteen year old Colie Sparks has been lled fat, she has been made fun of  and is even called a slut. She is so down in her self that she begins to expect these things even whens she spends the summer in a town where no one knows her.

In the beach town of Colby, NC Colie befriends  a pair of  20 something best friends; Morgan who is a sweet optimist and Isabel, the straight forward brash beauty.As we are introduced to the town of Colby and its residents you really get the feel that you are meeting and getting to know these people for the first time

I did find this novel off plotting wise. It seems as if two plots; the friendship between Colie’s and her aunt’s young border, Norman, and her friendships with Isabel and Morgan could have been worked together. Instead it felt like they were separated into different sections, as if they weren’t apart of the same story.

This isn’t your average light summer at the beach novel. This novel begins real turn in Dessen’s writing. Plot and message began to flow more evenly in her writing after this. This is one of Dessen’s first books about summer and I think she really finds her place there.

Connections

I didn’t pick up any connections to her previous three novels.

 

What is the Summer of Sarah Dessen ?