Mini Review: The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

Title: The Exiled Queen
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Release Date: September 28th, 2010
Source: Around The World ARC Tours
Synopsis from Goodreads:
*This is a SEQUEL! Synopsis contains SPOILERS for book one!*
You can't always run from danger...

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean danger isn’t far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery—but the bargain they make is one Han may regret.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden's Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.

The Exiled Queen is an epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.

If you're in the mood for pure fantasy, then you should definitely try these books! They're a lot different than a lot of the fantasies that I've read. I love how the point of view alternates between Han and Raisa, though they're not around each other much. I really enjoyed the setting of Oden's Ford, it was kind of like a boarding school, and I love boarding school books! The characters were definitely my favorite part! They're all very likeable, but not perfect by a long shot.

The drawbacks were that I was confused about the politics many times, and that sometimes there's too much time spent explaining things and my mind would wander. I think that I would have enjoyed it more of some things were cut out and it was about one hundred pages shorter, but I'm not the editor!

Basically: I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to the next one! 4 Stars!

Cover Comments: I really like this cover, it's mysterious. It fits well with the first one also.
 

You by Charles Benoit

Title: You
Author: Charles Benoit
Release Date: September 1st, 2010
Source: Around the World ARC Tours
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A note from the author:
It's easy to forget that we spend our early teens afraid. We're afraid of fitting in, standing out, or being ignored. We worry that we'll never get a date, never get into college, and never amount to anything. Just like everyone predicts.

It's also easy to discount these fears. Looking back, it seems impossible that we would have stayed awake all night worrying about what someone else thought of our clothes or that we ever doubted our abilities, our potential. But that's only because we know how the story ends.

I wanted to write a book that started with these fears as givens, bottling them in tight and capping them off with that artificial indifference genetically required of all teens. Kyle Chase is not a bad kid. He's not a good kid, either. He's a typical kid. He's any kid. And, at one point in your life, he was you. 

So, based on the ARC cover practically being swallowed by one line praise, and the first three pages inside being filled with paragraphs of praise, I had really, really high expectations for this book. Too bad it didn't meet them. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad book by any means, and I really liked it, just not nearly as much as I expected to.

I did love the narration. A lot. I've never read an entire book in second person, and I was surprised by how easily I got used to it. Kyle was pretty cool as the main character. He had some snarky humor that I enjoyed. His fatal flaw is anger issues, big time. Besides Zach, the antagonist (though it's not evident at first), and Kyle, most of the other characters fell pretty flat. I had a hard time picturing most of them.

I think that part of the reason that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would is because, despite what the author says, Kyle isn't me. In fact, slacker Kyle basically slams straight A honor roll kids, like me. There were a few times that Kyle did think things about his teachers and the school that I know I've thought before. I have to hand it to Charles Benoit, he really got the teenager mindset right. 

Basically, I really enjoyed this book, and devoured it trying to get to the end. Which is, well, you'll see. 

Characters: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
Originality: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Overall: 44/50 B+
Cover Comments: I love this cover, the shattered red glass is very striking and makes a point on the black backround.

In My Mailbox (29)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

From We Love YA! ARC Tours:

Rich and Mad by William Nicholson

From Around the World ARC Tours:

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

From BookSparks PR:

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

Bought:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

So that's what was in my mailbox this week! What was in yours? Link in the comments!

DNF: Rich and Mad by William Nicholson

Title: Rich and Mad
Author: William Nicholson
Release Date: September 14th 2010
Synopsis from Goodreads:
This is a compelling and beautifully written novel about first love, first sex, and everything in between. Maddy Fisher has decided to fall in love. And not just any sort of love: can't-eat can't-sleep crazy in love. Rich Ross is after the same thing. He's set his sights high, and he's going to make it happen. The problem is, in life's messy whirlwind of friends and lies and sex, the real thing can be hard to fine. But there's always a first time for everything...

I really, really wanted to like this book. I signed up for it through an ARC tour because I THOUGHT that I was going to like this book. I probably would have if it was in first person. Sadly, it's in third person and I had trouble connecting to it. It's also very British. Something that I've noticed about myself is that I have a hard time with British books. It goes way back to trying to get into Georgia Nicholson and failing. No offense to British people, I think that's just how I am. Anyway, there is definitely an audience for this book, I've seen some great reviews, but that audience does not include me!

Rating: DNF

Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Title: Cracked Up to Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Published: December 2008
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads:
When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?


Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.


Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.


Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

If I could describe this book in one word it would have to be strong. Strong characters, strong emotions, strong writing. This is one of those books that doesn't let you go, even if it's driving you crazy and you just want to put it down for a second. You can't. You have to keep going, to get one step closer to figuring out what happened to Parker that night a year ago.

Parker is one of the most unique characters I've ever come across. She's downright bitchy, not just in what she says to other people, but also in what she thinks about other people. This is not common. I loved it! Her snarky attitude was so much fun to read about, and I laughed at a lot of things she said/thought, even though it was mean. I did get annoyed with her sometimes, mostly for doing something self destructive, though she had her reasons.

My favorite part of the book was the relationship between Parker and Jake. Jake is just a nice guy, and Parker, well, is not so nice. Their interactions were always fun to read about, and the way their relationship developed was done really well. I loved the way that the night of the party was slowly revealed using flashbacks. I never got the whole story until the end, and it made want to keep reading. I guarantee it's not what you think.

I don't think that there's anything specific that I can say that I didn't like about this book. It was that good.

Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 49/50 A+
Cover Comments: Pretty fitting, but not attention grabbing. I think it makes the book look too nice.

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Title: Nevermore
Author: Kelly Creagh
Release Date: August 31st
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.

His life depends on it.

This was quite a book. It's a long book, and starts out a bit slow, but once you really get into it it's impossible to put down. Edgar Allen Poe and his poems play a large role in this book, but you don't need to know anything about him before you read, it's all explained throughout. I'd read a few of Poe's poems before this, but I found him much more interesting now. The mystery surrounding his death is especially fascinating.

I really liked how long this book was because it let you get to know the characters, primarily Isobel. Isobel is one of those cheerleaders. You know the ones, the mean girl, dating the football star, airheaded, self absorbed type. Except she's not. I was very surprised by Isobel throughout this entire book and got to really like her. Varen is...well, at first glance a creepy goth guy. But he's so much more, and he and Isobel go together more than you would think. The romance in this book isn't flashy but very subtle, which makes it all the more intriguing.


This plot is very, very original. I've never read anything even close to resembling it. At all. It was so, so great to read about something that I've never read about. The whole book is very mysterious and sometimes even frustrating. It's not until the end that we really understand everything. And the ending is something else, I have no idea what I would do if there wasn't going to be a sequel. 


One thing that I didn't like is that the end gets confusing, and even though the pacing is urgent a lot of time is spent on descriptions. All that I wanted was to keep going, to know what happens next, but I was hampered by all of the descriptions. I also felt that some things weren't explained as well as I would have liked. They may be explored more in the sequel though.


Basically I loved this book! It was very original, very addicting, and very romantic. Thank goodness there's a sequel, because after that ending I'm begging for it!


Characters: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Originality: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 47/50 A
Cover Comments: I love it! The couple on the cover fit the descriptions of Varen and Isobel perfectly, and I love the way that she's looking at him and he's looking toward us. The words going across is perfect also, and the title is extremely fitting.

Waiting on Wednesday (31)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dell

Release Date: March 22nd, 2010

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she’s not. She’s smart and creative and a little bit funky. She’s also an unwilling player in her parents’ modern-hippy, let’s-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (regretfully, instigated by a younger, much more enthusiastic Janie). This, to put it simply, is not helping Janie reach that “normal target.” She has to milk goats every day…and endure her mother’s pseudo celebrity in the homemade-life, crunchy mom blogosphere. Goodbye the days of frozen lasagna and suburban living, hello crazy long bus ride to high school and total isolation--and hovering embarrassments of all kinds. The fresh baked bread is good…the threat of homemade jeans, not so much. It would be nice to go back to that old suburban life…or some grown up, high school version of it, complete with nice, normal boyfriends who wear crew neck sweaters and like social studies. So, what’s wrong with normal?

Well, kind of everything. She knows that, of course, why else would she learn bass and join Jam Band, how else would she know to idolize infamous wild-child and high school senior Emma (her best friend Sarah’s older sister), why else would she get arrested while doing a school project on a local freedom school (jail was not part of the assignment). And, why else would she kind of be falling in "like" with a boy named Monster—yes, that is his real name. Janie was going for normal, but she missed her mark by about ten miles…and we mean that as a compliment. Frances O’Roark Dowell’s fierce humor and keen eye make her YA debut literary and wise. In the spirit of John Green and E. Lockhart, Dowell’s relatable, quirky characters and clever, fluid writing prove that growing up gets complicated…and normal is WAY overrated.

Doesn't it just sound so hilarious? And cute? If it really is anything like John Green or E. Lockhart books, then I'm sure to enjoy it!

What are you waiting on?