Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin
Hardcover, 452 pages
Published September 27th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong. -Goodreads
My Opinion: I really enjoyed this book. Mara was a really cool character and what she was able to do, I haven’t read a book about a character being able to do that before. It was really interesting. The concept f her power and the guys were not bad. Noah and Jamie were awesome. How they both stuck up for her.

I loved how Michelle Hodkin did the amnesia aspect so that as she was discovering what really happened the night her two friends and boyfriend died, the readers were discovering it along with her. I really liked that and wish there were more books out there like that. I was amazed at how much people were led in their emotions, especially Anna. Jealously leading to the point of cruelty. Jamie was a really cool character, I think he was one of my favorite characters. I loved how much he cared about Mara and how he protected her.

This was a really good debut novel. I would definitely recommend this for readers looking for a good romance/paranormal/mystery novel to read.
Overall: 5 out of 5

Wildefire (Wildefire #1) by Karsten Knight

Wildefire (Wildefire #1) by Karsten Knight
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published July 26th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Every flame begins with a spark.
Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm. - Goodreads
My Opinion: I really enjoyed reading this novel. There were many things that I really enjoyed about ti. One thing was the mystery of who she was. I also really liked the supporting characters, who also happened to be Gods like her. I was really surprised about her love life and at the beginning I really liked her sister for some reason. It might have had something to do with her take no prisoners persona in a way and that was something that I really liked about her. I also liked that she wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind and did not really care about the consequences, (which is something that I think every single one of us, think about on a daily bases). Ash however, even though it appears as though she has a tough exterior and doesn't care about people and consequences, she definitely cares.

The plot was interesting. I really liked how they find out who they are and that they have these missions that they have to complete. What I didn't like was that although there was some resistance as to who they were, because they had experienced all of these things previously, they trusted their "prophet" for all intents and purposes really quickly and gave her credit.

Overall, the characters were interesting and the plot keeps you guessing as to who is who (Godwise and other things (don't want to give it away!))

Overall: 4.5 out of 5
If you want to read an excerpt of Wildefire, here is the first Chapter CLICK HERE!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Fins are Forever




 Fins Are Forever:

               Are mermaids real to you? They are to Lily; in fact she’s a walking one. She takes long hot…saltwater baths. She’s in love with this really hot guy named Brody. They’re perfect together; he’s hot, buff, and a swim team captain. She totally wants to go out with him, except she’s got to get over of the fear to talk to him. It’s her time to act when he and his long-time cheerleader girlfriend break up. She finally gets to courage to ask him to the dance when her annoying neighbor Quince tells her that he’s going stag for the dance. Lily doesn’t believe him and think it’s just a stupid prank to keep her alone forever. But it’s true; Brody was going to the dance alone. So Quince comes up with a quick plan for Brody and Lily to meet up… and this is where all the action plus romance starts.

I loved this book. I finished it in a day. This book is amazing in both cliffhanging and romance. I love the sequel also. It’s almost impossible to not love world of Lily and her love.

Speak

Speak
By:
Laurie Halse Anderson
               Speak is about a fifteen year old girl that is nearly mute, depressive, and alone. High school still dances around her taunting her. She’s doesn’t really care, even though she doesn’t say much on the outside she has a lot of thoughts on the inside. Melinda is now known as the girl that doesn’t speak nor has friends; she pulls a disappearing act sometimes. She is known as the “Girl that called the cops at that last great party”.  What people don’t know is why and why is she so depressed? Last year, people knew Melinda had a friends, she talked quite a lot even if she didn’t have a say in everything. Something happened that pushed Melinda over the edge, but… what? Melinda won’t Speak.

I read a lot of books but never like this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved it. I read it more than a couple times. I am now reading it for a small group assignment. I thought that I would be completely bored with it reading it, but it was like I just read it for the first time.
This is a great book to read at school.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Perfect By Ellen Hopkins



I thought that this new book was just as great as all of her other books. My number one was identical but I think perfect is a close second.

Don't you just love the cover?

Goodreads
"Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.
Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never have understood.
Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?
A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves."


I thought that the book had all the right character and plot along with a perfectly patterned and tied together ending.... Makes you wonder... What would you do to be perfect...?

There's a perfect bookvid on the right http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9917945-perfect