Review: Love You to Death

Love You To Death (The Mediator #1) by Meg Cabot

 

Title: Love You To Death

Series: The Mediator, #1

Author: Meg Cabot

 

This was read as a part of "Love You to Death & High Stakes (The Mediator #1-2)"

 

 Description (from Goodreads):

 Being a mediator doesn't exactly make Susannah Simon your typical sixteen-year-old. Her job is to ease the path for the unhappy dead to their final resting place. Not all ghouls want to be guided, but Suze is inclined to kick some serious ghost butt if she has to.

Now she's moved to California with her new stepfamily and is starting out at a brand-new school. From her first day, her mediator skills are tested to the max when Suze finds herself the target of the murderous spirit of ex-class beauty, Heather. At least she's sharing her new bedroom with Jesse, who just happens to be "the" hottest ghost in history. Suze is totally warm for his form and is determined to win the heart of the sexiest spirit in town. But can this girl get her ghost?

My Thoughts:

4 stars

 I don't know what to think of Meg Cabot at the moment. Every series of her that I have read has been so completely different from each other ranging for utter hatred (The Princess Diaries) to mediocre enjoyment (Airhead) to this: amazing!
Love You to Death was funny, cute and fun. I loved both the characters and the plotline with all its ghostly adventures. It was a little ridiculous and cheesy and really just a chick-lit hiding in the paranormal genre but I didn't care in the slightest because I enjoyed every second.

Suze was kickass. I loved that she wasn't afraid of a fight, told everything straight but still managed to come across as caring and sensitive. Unlike Mia Thermopolis from Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries who is a whiny little princess (pun intended!), Suze didn't stop long enough to have time to whine, she was already out there exorcising some ghostly butts!

I was disappointed by the lack of Jesse-ness though. The description promises a hot guy haunting Suze's bedroom and while there is, he is seriously only in the book for about two seconds. This was not long enough! I really enjoyed his character and wanted to know more about him and how he became a ghost.

The ghost-busting was not quite up to scratch for a book that claims to be primarily ghost-busting-related but eh, it didn't really matter that much since the rest of the story kept me entertained.

Overall, while this book was a little too simplistic and ridiculous, I was surprised to find myself really enjoying it. I am eagerly going to be starting High Stakes now.

Review: Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant (Skulduggery Pleasant #1) by Derek Landy

 

Title: Skulduggery Pleasant

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, #1

Author: Derek Landy

 

Published: HarperCollins Publishers; 2007

371 pages, paperback

 

Source: Borrowed from the library

 

 Description (from Goodreads):

 Meet Skulduggery Pleasant. Sure, he may lose his head now and again (in fact, he won his current skull in a poker match), but he is much more than he appears to be—which is good, considering that he is, basically, a skeleton. Skulduggery may be long dead, but he is also a mage who dodged the grave so that he could save the world from an ancient evil. But to defeat it, he'll need the help of a new partner: a not so innocent twelve-year-old girl named Stephanie. That's right, they're the heroes.

Stephanie and Skulduggery are quickly caught up in a battle to stop evil forces from acquiring her recently deceased uncle's most prized possession—the Sceptre of the Ancients. The Ancients were the good guys, an extinct race of uber-magicians from the early days of the earth, and the scepter is their most dangerous weapon, one capable of killing anyone and destroying anything. Back in the day, they used it to banish the bad guys, the evil Faceless Ones. Unfortunately, in the way of bad guys everywhere, the Faceless Ones are staging a comeback and no one besides our two heroes believes in the Faceless Ones, or even that the Sceptre is real.

So Stephanie and Skulduggery set off to find the Sceptre, fend off the minions of the bad guys, beat down vampires and the undead, prove the existence of the Ancients and the Faceless Ones, all while trading snappy, snippy banter worthy of the best screwball comedies.

 

My Thoughts:

Reading this book was kind of a dare. My friend (love you, Alisha!) and a guy at school struck a deal: they had to read each other’s favourite book. The guy told my friend to read Skulduggery Pleasant, as it was his favourite series. Not too enthused, because let’s face it, a skeleton detective that can use magic sounds lame and childish, she began it a little grudgingly. But she enjoyed it. Surprised? I was too, so I decided that I had to give it a go. Boy was I shocked when I was unable to put...more Reading this book was kind of a dare. My friend (love you, Alisha!) and a guy at school struck a deal: they had to read each other’s favourite book. The guy told my friend to read Skulduggery Pleasant, as it was his favourite series. Not too enthused, because let’s face it, a skeleton detective that can use magic sounds lame and childish, she began it a little grudgingly. But she enjoyed it. Surprised? I was too, so I decided that I had to give it a go. Boy was I shocked when I was unable to put it down! I was captivated, utterly enthralled and enraptured. I was up to one in the morning pouring over its orange-tinted pages, incapable of stopping for even a second. The story of Skulduggery Pleasant follows the young Stephanie as she meets Skulduggery himself at her Uncle Gordon’s funeral and from there the real adventure begins, as she is thrown into a supernatural and magical world she never knew existed. She and Skulduggery band together to investigate her uncle’s death and along the way battle evil sorcerers, trolls and vampires, fight for revenge and, of course to save the world from a horrible end. They learn quickly the importance of friendship, who they can trust… and who will betray them all. Dramatic, right? You bet! Witty, charming and flat-out hilarious, Skulduggery is the first character that has actually made me chuckle, giggle and really, truly and literally fall off me bed with a bellyache from laughing so hard. Where to even begin expressing how funny this guy actually is… I have never, ever laughed so hard for a character, not ever! And when Skulduggery did have me chuckling like a lunatic, he had me on the very edge of my seat, nervously biting my nails, wondering, waiting, anticipating, screaming with the suspense of it… what is going to happen? In the rest of the book , I was absorbed with the new magical system introduced by Derek Landy , the new creatures and fresh versions of your typical clichéd ones, epic and totally kick-ass battles and the beautiful quotes that kept popping up… “The world is bigger than you know, and scarier than you might imagine. The only currency worth anything is being true to yourself, and the only goal worth seeking is finding out who you truly are.” “Every solution to every problem is simple. It's the distance between the two where the mystery lies.” Any negatives? Well, of course, no book is perfect… but this was close! There were two things that bugged me was a) Stephanie could have been more badass and she was a too little wise beyond her years, and b) the names having magical properties and not knowing your “true” name has been done plenty of times, so many it’s become rather clichéd. But, let’s not dwell on the negatives…. In case, you haven’t understood a single thing I have written I’ll end by saying that I loved this book. I didn’t expect to, but I did. If you’re looking for a light-hearted but suspenseful, quirky and gripping supernatural mystery that will leave you with a stomach-ache from all the laughing, what are you doing reading this review? Go out and get a copy now! You won’t regret it, I promise!

 

 

 

 

Review: Scarlet

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

 

Title: Scarlet

Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #2

Author: Marissa Meyer

 

Published: Penguin Books; 2013

452 pages, paperback

 

Source: Borrowed from the library

 

 Description (from Goodreads):

This is not the fairytale you remember. But it’s one you won’t forget.

Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other.

Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.

As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner . . .

My Thoughts:

 3.5 stars
This review may contain some unavoidable spoilers for Cinder

I was a little nervous about starting this since I wasn't that fond of Cinder, but I don't know why I was nervous because I ended up really enjoying this instalment in the Lunar Chronicles. It was faster-paced with more intriguing characters and mysteries.

In this book Cinder's story is continued on from her stint in prison, but this time we also get the story of Scarlet. Scarlet lives with her grandmother on a farm in France. Her granny has gone missing though and the police have given up the search saying that there doesn't appear to be any "foul play" involved. Scarlet is determined to find her despite what the authorities say and enlists the help of a street fighter named Wolf who has a rather mysterious past.

Cinder and Scarlet's lives are connected in a way that they would never have guessed... until now. They better be ready for the shock of their lives.

I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding this book even if it was all a bit obvious for my liking. The plot was well-paced and spread out with convenient clues dropped here and there that I wished could have been better disguised - I would have liked to be in the dark at the end and shocked by the revelations, rather than have been yawning and bored.

Scarlet and Wolf's story was far better than Cinder and Thorne's. Scarlet had a lot more action and intrigue while we were simply left wondering when Cinder would catch up to Scarlet during her parts. Also - and many of the girls that I read this with agree with me - the two parallel stories of Scarlet and Cinder were so distinctively separate that I felt that they were written by two completely different authors. During Scarlet's parts the writing took on a more poetic style that flowed easily and was far more detailed, while Cinder's part was written with a casual, laid-back style that lacked detail and suspense. This didn't work for me in the slightest. It made the overall fluidity of the book disintegrate and we were left with a jerky and disconnected story.

Overall, the book in its entirety was far better than Cinder. Scarlet's part of this worked very well and I enjoyed those bits a lot more. Cinder's parts were dull and boring, if the series had been about her the entire time I don't think I would want to move onto Cress.

Review: Tragic

Tragic (Rook and Ronin #1) by J.A. Huss

 

Title: Tragic

Series: Rook and Ronin, #1

Author: J.A. Huss

 

Published: Science Fiction Press; 2013

282 pages, kindle edition

 

Source: Amazon freebie

 

 Description (from Goodreads):

Rook Walsh is TRAGIC

Because life so far – just sucks. Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…

Rook got a second chance.

And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone – you grab it with both hands and run.

Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she’s got The Look. The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive TRAGIC media contract.

Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he’s everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn’t. Patient, gentle, happy, attentive, and sexy! He knows exactly what to do to make Rook blush for Antoine’s camera.

Rook’s luck changes in an instant and suddenly she’s the darling of the modeling world. It’s a dream job to go with a dream guy and all she has to do is look pretty and follow directions. But there’s always a price to pay – and Rook is about to get the bill.

My Thoughts:

 3.5 stars

My first new adult book wasn't to my disappointment. I enjoyed it a lot. The romance was sweet and hot. The plotline was eventful and enthralling. The characters were amazing.

Ever wonder how they get the racy photos for the front covers of books or CDS? Well, we are about to find out. Tragic is the story of Rook - a homeless and truly tragic girl of nineteen whose life has been anything but perfect. On the run and a little desperate, Rook is over the moon when a twist of fate presents her the opportunity for decent work, a home and just maybe, a second chance at love?

I loved the way that this was written. It pulled me under easily and took me on quite a ride. I was kept easily amused and interested for the entire book. The writing flowed fluidly so that I could flip through the pages with ease. At no point did I have to look for the plot - often the case in romance-heavy new adult books - it was always there, smiling at me, pulling me along.

The characters were emotional and had a depth that has always been absent in other books of this kind. I loved the tension between Rook and Ronin. The relationships between each of the characters is detailed and emotional... beautiful.

What didn't work for me in Tragic was Rook's backstory of abuse. Usually new adult books contain a main character with a story like this - in this case it was a ex-abusive and controlling boyfriend. Is it supposed to enhance the relationship of the couple in the book? I don't know, but it didn't work for me at all. Rook seemed to use it merely as an excuse. She says she is hurt and broken and tragic but she never really acted that way. Sure she shies away from Ronin's touch at first but she never struck me as the broken or ruined sort. The same was with Ronin. His supposed tragic past didn't seem to equal his personality in this. It could have worked if J.A. Huss had taken more time to delve deeper into these emotions and used them to her advantage to deepen the relationship between Rook and Ronin but she didn't. Maybe she will in Manic though.

Overall, this was pretty good. I enjoyed the story a lot and I loved the characters. I will definitely be continuing the series.

Review: Being Nikki

Being Nikki (Airhead #2) by Meg Cabot

 

 

Description:

 

I am Nikki Howard now.
Em Watts is dead ...  

Teen supermodel Nikki Howard has a secret. She's not the
gorgeous golden airhead she seems - on the inside she's someone else. Literally. Em Watts is stuck in the body of glamazon celebutante Nikki. And it's not easy. Especially when Nikki's past is about to catch up with her, her boss is spying on her, and Em's heart wants one thing but her lips keep kissing someone else...

My Thoughts:

3.5 stars



This review contains unavoidable spoilers for Airhead.

This was a rollercoaster for me. It had a lot of ups that had me on a high, loving the view of what I thought would come but then it also had a lot of sudden dives, some low plunges into a dull monotone of Emerson constantly bitching about the state of her love life or reminding us for the five-billionth time that she is in Nikki's body - we kind of know that Emerson, haven't we spent two entire books reading about that? - and it would be ruined.

Being Nikki picks up a little after the ending of Airhead with Nikki/Emerson at a modelling job with Brandon Stark at St John in the Virgin Islands. She is clinging to a cliff face in a white bikini smiling for the camera while contemplating how best to off herself and how much she hates Stark and her life and Nikki and hatin' on everything in general. Not a great start to be honest.

Ignoring Emerson though this was actually pretty good. Yes, I know, shocking isn't it? I really did enjoy the majority of this book though. We get to meet Nikki's brother, Stephen, who was actually a really decent character. He stood up for himself, he loved Nikki for who she was and he made an effort for Emerson - I really liked him.

We also got a decent storyline this time round. We delve into why Stark organised the whole-body transplant in the first place and we go on a quest to find Nikki's (not Emerson's, Nikki's) mother who has been missing since her "accident". There is a surprising amount of suspense and intrigue. It kept me eagerly flipping through the pages, trying to sort through all the puzzle pieces in my head.

What really ruins this book, this series, is Emerson. I really cannot stand her. She goes on and on and on some more about Nikki "making" her kiss Brandon and Gabriel and whoever else she kisses. She goes on about Whitney and Frida and FONs who are all supposedly lower than the Almighty Emerson because they care about what the look like and that they like to wear designer jeans and go to celebrity parties - doesn't she realise that she is one of "those girls" now anyway, so she is hardly one to judge? Besides what does it matter if they do like any of those things? It doesn't make them any less of a person.

Emerson's constant whining about every boy falling for her and the supposed string of guys Nikki (real Nikki) was leading on made me want to strangle myself. It was infuriating. Her obsession with it drove me mad. I wanted to jump through the pages and slap some sense into her or shake her or just something! Plus the fact that she was devastated by the fact that Christopher really did love her (Emerson) and that she was jealous of that, even though its herself that she is jealous of... its just infuriating! I cannot even begin to describe how much that angered me. I mean just ahhhhhh!

The ending is what completely ruined it for me though. There was a great climatic rise towards the end and everything looked like it was going to end well but then we took another random plunge downwards...



I didn't like it all. The very, very end I mean. I cannot say much without spoiling it but who she ended up with and why - that was the part that broke my heart and made me want to throw this book at a hard brick wall. It really ruined the very dramatic and awesome ending that it could have been. It was like my rollercoaster took me on a loop-de-loop - I ended up exactly where I started in Airhead an that wasn't what I was expecting at all.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. The intrigue kept me engaged and the mysteries were enthralling but the character of Emerson and the ending didn't work for me. I hope that the series continues to improve though. I am eager to read Runaway and see how everything turns out.
 

Review: Infinite Sky

Infinite Sky (Infinite Sky #1) by C.J. Flood

 

Title: Infinite Sky

Series: Infinite Sky, #1

Author: C.J. Flood

 

Published: Simon & Schuster UK; 2013

271 pages, hardcover

 

Source: Borrowed from the library

 

 Description (from Goodreads):

When Iris' mum leaves home, her brother, Sam, goes off the rails and her dad is left trying to hold it all together. So when a family of travellers sets up camp illegally in front of their farm, its the catalyst for a stand-off that can only end in disaster. But to Iris it's an adventure. She secretly strikes up a friendship with the gypsy boy, Trick, and discovers home can be something as simple as a carved out circle in a field of corn...

My Thoughts:

I have always been wary of the contemporary genre. I have previously tried to avoid it for I always thought of it as plain fiction, as in the boring, dull, nothing-interesting-happens sort of plain. This year though I am trying to delve into the genre a bit more and try and find something that suits me. I have found that I much prefer the light-hearted romance with funny characters - such as Anna and the French Kiss or This Is What Happy Looks Like - to the sad and purposefully emotional books such as If I Stay... and Infinite Sky.

This book is about a girl named Iris. She lives with her brother and father on a small country farm. Her mother left her and her family to travel and her sudden absence is tearing them apart. When a group of gypsies illegally move into one of their paddocks her father is furious but Iris doesn't mind. She likes watching the family, seeing the way that they live so very differently to her and she soon befriends one of the gypsy boys, Trick.

From the description I was expecting some sort of emotional drama focused heavily on the romance between Trick and Iris, and also the emotional state of her family now that their mother (or wife) had abandoned them. I wasn't expecting this to be what it was. I don't even know what it ended up being...
Infinite Sky is a mix between If I Stay and Graffiti Moon. It had the traumatically sad and raw emotion of If I Stay and the poetic, quirky, "artsy" writing of Graffiti Moon. Iris had that mysterious and often abstract way of looking at the world that reminded me strongly of Lucy from Graffiti Moon too. The problem that I had with this was that the first three quarters of the book were extremely dull, not much happened at all. It wasn't necessarily boringly uneventful, it just made me restless while reading it - I wanted something more exciting to happen.

The writing was very beautiful though. It was addictive and enthralling, it made you want to keep reading despite the lack of plotline. I loved that it made me look at the world from a completely different view point for a change. What didn't work for me was the extreme use of local lingo in the dialogue. I think this is set in England (they said bleedy a lot) but wherever this is set it doesn't matter because I still had no idea what they were saying. I struggled through each conversation, having to check an online "slang" dictionary on numerous occasions just to try and figure out what they were saying. Even after that I remained confused for the most part.

I enjoyed the richness of the various characters though. They were deeply written and the darker emotions that they felt weren't spared so we got the full effect of every character and their real reactions.

The ending was shocking. I expected something to happen to a different character but I most certainly didn't see that ending coming at all. I loved it though. Yes, it was awfully sad but the way that it was written was done with the exact right mix of raw emotion and beautiful imagery so that it was heart-melting and soul-wrenching and enlightening and moving all at once.

Overall, Infinite Sky wasn't too bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting, or hoping for really. It did make me cry but I needed something a little more as well. The first half was just too dull for my liking. I will most definitely be picking up the second book though. I cannot wait for it to come out. Thanks to Stephen for his recommendation - much appreciated!

Review: This is What Happy Looks Like

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

 

Title: This is What Happy Looks Like

Series: none

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

 

Published: Headline; 2013

404 pages, paperback

 

Source: Borrowed from the library

 

 Description (from Goodreads):

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

It's June - seventeen-year-old Ellie O'Neill's least favourite time of year. Her tiny hometown is annually invaded by tourists, and this year there's added inconvenience of a film crew. Even the arrival of Hollywood heart-throb Graham Larkin can't lift her mood.

But there is something making Ellie very happy. Ever since an email was accidently sent to her a few months ago, she's been corresponding with a mysterious stranger, the two of them sharing their hopes and fears. Their developing relationship is not without its secrets though - there's the truth about Ellie's past... and her pen pal's real identity. When they finally meet in person, things are destined to get much more complicated. Can two people, worlds apart but bought together by chance, make it against all the odds?

My Thoughts:

 

This Is What Happy Looks Like is a sweet and light-hearted contemporary read about small-town girl, Ellie, and her accidental pen pal and teen superstar, Graham. It starts when Graham accidentally emails Ellie about his pet pig, Wilbur. They don't know who each other is but they connect instantly, they enjoy the anonymity of it all, and soon it blooms into a regular correspondence. They exchange random messages about everything and nothing, but soon begin to confide in each other, their fears an...more This Is What Happy Looks Like is a sweet and light-hearted contemporary read about small-town girl, Ellie, and her accidental pen pal and teen superstar, Graham. It starts when Graham accidentally emails Ellie about his pet pig, Wilbur. They don't know who each other is but they connect instantly, they enjoy the anonymity of it all, and soon it blooms into a regular correspondence. They exchange random messages about everything and nothing, but soon begin to confide in each other, their fears and hopes. It takes a while but soon Graham realises he is falling for her, this girl halfway across the county that he has never met, whose name he doesn't even know. But Graham isn't going to let it stay that way for long. His next movie needs a small-town real-life set - and he knows just the place... What happens next is a funny, witty and highly-amusing story that will knock your socks off. I loved every aspect of this. I don't know what I was expecting, something a little cheesier I guess. I mean superstar falls for the "nobody" girl? A little clichéd, eh? But it isn't anything like that. Its was also a story of a ordinary boy trying to discover who he really is while simultaneously trying to dodge the paparazzi and film a highly anticipated movie. His family is slowly falling apart, his manager is forcing him in directions that he isn't comfortable taking and he doesn't know what he wants anymore. This Is What Happy Looks Like is partly a tale of his journey. Figuring out what he wants, who he wants in his life. The other half is a moving tale about the discovery of love and all its possibilities. Ellie and Graham aren't a perfect couple, they have a few kinks to work out but I love the journey they travel to discover what they want. Ellie is feisty and stubborn and not afraid to say what she is thinking. Graham is funny and loyal and sweet. Together they have something beautiful... I really, really enjoyed this book. It was light-hearted but had a serious undertone that approached some deeper subjects that I were touchingly written. I loved the characters and how they made me laugh and laugh. Overall, this was one hell of a contemporary novel that I would highly recommend to fans of Anna and the French Kiss and everyone else really. I am definitely going to be checking out more of Jennifer E Smith's work. This was amazing.