Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder, #2) by Kimberly Derting

Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder, #2) by Kimberly Derting
Hardcover, 368 pages

Published February 15th 2011 by HarperTeen

Violet can sense the echoes of those who’ve been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she’d turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike’s tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger. – Goodreads

My Opinion: This was a good continuation. Violet and Jay are together but are a little rocky and that surprised me because in the first book they were all lovey-dovy in the end of the book.  My favorite characters in this one though was Rafe. He was just quiet and observant and I think there will be a love triangle happening in the next book between Rafe, Violet and Jay.

 

The plot was pretty cool too, although it sort of reminded me a little too much of the first because of the scenes not to be spoilorish was that Violet feels like someone is watching her in the woods while she is running. I also thought that Megan was a little similar to someone else in the previous book.

 

Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Jane by April Lindner

Jane by April Lindner

Hardcover, 373 pages

Published October 11th 2010 by Poppy(first published September 23rd 2010)

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer, and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance. But there’s a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane’s much-envied relationship with Nico is tested by a torturous secret from his past.Part irresistible romance and part darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers. – Goodreads

My Opinion: I have never read Jane Eyre but, this book is making it so that it is moving up on my To-be-read list. I liked Jane, even though she was really old fashioned. I thought that even with all of her experiences with her family, she would at least listen to some type of modern music and not classical as she does, or at least not only classical.

 

I also really enjoyed the setting. I liked the idea of Thornfield Park. I even liked Bibi and all her craziness. My favorite character is Brenda though. Just because she is so mysterious and you don’t really find out who she is until the end.

 

I also enjoyed the complexity of Nico. He seemed like an interesting character.

Some of the plot did not make sense like how she agree to marry him after technically being “in a relationship” with him. It just surprised me because, it wasn’t realistic, and it just didn’t seem to fit the character of who Jane was. It fit Nico perfectly because that was how his marriage to Bibi was, but with Jane it was after one night. It was just surprising. I also really love the cover. Its just the simplicity of it is amazing.

 

After reading this, I can’t wait to read Jane Eyre and go see the movie.

Overall: 4 out of 5

Angelfire (Angelfire #1) by Courtney Allison Moulton

Angelfire (Angelfire #1) by Courtney Allison Moulton

Hardcover, 453 pages

Published February 15th 2011 by HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books

This debut, the first novel in a trilogy, is achingly romantic, terrifying, and filled with blistering action.When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers – monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell – she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul. A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie’s powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her – an assassin who has already killed her once.
While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie’s soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian’s most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives – including truths that may be too frightening to remember. – Goodreads

My Opinion: This was interesting. I don’t think that it was as interesting as it was made to seem. However, I enjoyed the plot and the characters were interesting. Will was interesting but I wanted him to answer all her questions. I think it would have made the bok shorter but the reactions that it would have casued, I think might have made the book more interesting.

 

Ellie was fun. I loved that even though she was having all these weird things happening to her and all the crazy stuff she has to deal with, she still tried to maintain her normal life to some extent. It sort of reminded of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except with angels. It was interesting if anything and added to the story. I also really liked the idea of the reapers and how they look. It just sounds like a great monster.

 

I also really liked that it was fast-paced and that made it easy to read.

 

Overall: 4 out of 5

Maze Runner

Grade 6–10—Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies from below. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in "the glade" for two years, trying to find a way to escape through a maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys. Thomas is a likable protagonist who uses the information available to him and his relationships (including his ties to the girl, Teresa) to lead the Gladers. Unfortunately, the question of whether the teens will escape the maze is answered 30 pages before the book ends, and the intervening chapter loses momentum. The epilogue, which would be deliciously creepy coming immediately after the plot resolves, fails to pack a punch as a result. That said, The Maze Runner has a great hook, and fans of dystopian literature, particularly older fans of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember (Random, 2003), will likely enjoy this title and ask for the inevitable sequel.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH END


I loved this book. It does have a pattern of Survival, Crazy Scientists and the End of the World like The Carbon Diaries, Maximum Ride, City of Ember or the series Gone.  It has crazy machine monsters that they have to battle with the confusion of a always changing maze with memory loss. They have slang that subs for swearwords. It's quite funny actually. There are no swear words... at all. It was all boys and a newbie or "Greenbean" would arrive every month. Then all these strange things start happening when a girl with a message in a coma arrives. The "doors" that close every night to protect them from the monsters or "Grievers" don't close. The Grievers take a boy every night now. Thomas and Teresa or the comatose girl have gifts. They find out things that they really didn't want to know.

READ THIS BOOK! I give it 5 stars and I can't wait to read the next one.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Mass Market Paperback, 342 pages

Published July 1st 2003 by Washington Square Press(first published 1603)

“Hamlet” is the story of the Prince of Denmark who learns of the death of his father at the hands of his uncle, Claudius. Claudius murders Hamlet’s father, his own brother, to take the throne of Denmark and to marry Hamlet’s widowed mother. Hamlet is sunk into a state of great despair as a result of discovering the murder of his father and the infidelity of his mother. Hamlet is torn between his great sadness and his desire for the revenge of his father’s murder. – Goodreads

My Opinion: I have to say that out of all the Shakespeare plays that I have read, I enjoyed this one the most. This is only the second Shakespeare play that I have read by the way, Macbeth, being the first. I liked Hamlet, I don’t like the way he acted, but I did like sort of what he stood for. He wants honesty and honor. I think that that’s something that everyone should stand for. I didn’t like his method of revenge though, and some of the methods that Shakespeare used in the writing of the play sort of bugged. I like details and the way that Hamlet died, was not very detaily, at least correctly detailed. Hamlet is hit with the poison first and lives longer, yet Leartes, who is hit second dies, faster… that just doesn’t make sense to me. But whatever… I get that Shakespeare was making this a tragedy about Hamlet and not Leartes, but details like that bug me. I think its just me though.

 

Anyways, I liked the setting, there were some interesting themes that were portrayed in the play. Revenge, Betrayal, Love, the whole internal life vs. the external life in the castle. My favorite character had to be Young Fortinbras. He is just cool. I enjoyed reading the last lines of the play and I think that the end worked really well, so cudos to Shakespeare. My second character has to be Horatio. He sort of reminds me of me. I am not afraid to say that I tend to be a little naive around people because I like to believe in the good of people, Horatio was a little more naive than little, I think, but he was a powerful character that shows the difference in the people that live in the castle and those that don’t.

 

Overall: 4.25 out of 5

 

If you want to watch the movie version of the book, watch this version. It follows the script of the play to the word however the only difference is that it takes a more modern setting.

The Gathering (Darkness Rising, #1) by Kelly Armstrong

The Gathering (Darkness Rising, #1) by Kelly Armstrong

Hardcover, 359 pages

Published April 12th 2011 by Harper (HarperCollins), New York

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn’t know much about her background – the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip – but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.Until now. Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town – from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend’s hidden talent for “feeling” out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya’s biological parents and it’s easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet. – Goodreads

My Opinion: Hmm this is a difficult review to write because, technically and literally nothing happened in the book other than in the last 30 or so pages. That just bugged me, I kept reading the book because I was expecting something to actually happen and nothing kept happening. The whole book was pretty much Maya learning about herself and what/who she is. There was nothing else for 320 pages and I was just summarizing this story for a friend and I told her main part of the story in 5 sentences. It was just a lot of words.

 

Now for the setting. The setting was interesting. I mean Kelly Armstrong could have done a little more with it. Especially with some of the theories that Maya and Daniel were coming up with about the stories that Reporter would be willing to write. A medical research town owned by a medical engineering company has many possibilities. I HOPE that Armstrong uses that more in the continuing of the series.

 

Characters were overly developed and under developed. We know a lot about Maya. A lot. But almost nothing on Rafe, Annie, Daniel, Sam, and Nicole. It would have been so much better if we didn’t only get a dose of Maya. I would also love to learn more about Serena. My favorite character was Annie, she was warm and nice and not afraid to say what she wanted to say.

 

Overall: 3 out of 5

Teeth: Vampire Tales by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Teeth: Vampire Tales by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published April 5th 2011 by HarperCollins

Sink your teeth into these bite-sized tales exploring the intersections among the living, dead, and undead. The vampires in these stories range from romantic to chilling to gleeful—and touch on nearly every emotion in between. The one thing they have in common? Their desire for blood…. – Goodreads

My Opinion: Some of these stories were amazing and it was great to see the take of some authors  have on vampires especially some well known authors like Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, Garth Nix and more. Some of the stories were fun and interesting.
I really enjoyed the poem by Neil Gaiman. There were some stories that weren’t as great as the others but they still rocked.

Plus the cover is gorgeous.

Overall: 3.75 out 5