Review: Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
Release Date: April 15, 2014
Pagecount: 384
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review
Buy It: Amazon | B&N

Description from Goodreads:
Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

We all know by now that I am a freaking HUGE fan of Jennifer L. Armentrout. The LUX series is one of my favorites, and she just writes some of the absolute best stuff to swoon over. Since I've been waiting what feels like forever and a half for this book to finally be released, I've had a lot of time to puzzle over what could be up with this book. It seems so different, but I surely expected it to hold that same JLA sparkle that is in everything she writes. 

Alas, this book told another fantastic story that I positively enjoyed the whole way through.

I liked the MC, Sam. Or, more accurately, I liked who the MC was in this book. I did not like who she used to be, but I like to think of them as two totally separate people because her change was so incredibly drastic. Sam was actually a pretty refreshing character. She was honest and open-minded. She did jump to some conclusions a time or two, but I can't really fault her for that. Not with the situation she was in, and especially not while I was doing the same exact thing. Sam handled everything very realistically and I truly liked her.

Carson was awesome. He was such a good guy, and not in an unrealistically perfect way. He was the kind of nice guy who could be anywhere. You know, if all the nice guys you knew were extraordinarily attractive. But seriously--Carson was realistic. And sweet. And so kind. He was patient and kind, and I loved how he was with Sam. He didn't pressure her into anything, and he gave her time to work through everything she needed to without being all kinds of demanding. He even offered to help. Such a sweetheart. 

The romance built up in the most perfect way. Since this is a JLA book, that's not very surprising, but I needed to say it nonetheless. Carson and Sam's relationship was a nice break from the mystery of everything, and it was always a good way to get some straight-up answers. They made a great couple, and it was sweet to see things working out for them in the midst of all the confusion.

The mystery is woven in such a way that I spent literally the whole book being suspicious of every character. Even the ones I adored, like Scott (who was a fantastic big brother) and Carson. I didn't figure it out until the person was revealed and then everything started clicking into place and I was like OHHHHH. But the suspicion this book caused...it was just the right amount. It was so close to being too much, because I had a hard time trusting people that I wanted to love--like Scott and Carson--but they ended up breaking through my barriers regardless and I was totally a fan. 

Overall, Jennifer L. Armentrout has written the most perfectly nerve-racking suspense that had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I loved the characters, I was taken away by the story, and I couldn't wait to unravel the mystery. Don't Look Back is very different from Jen's other books, but I loved it just as much as all her others. I really hope Jen writes more suspense, because I seriously enjoyed reading this one!

Review: The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die April Henry
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Format: ARC, 224 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Source: Author in exchange for an honest review

Description from Goodreads:

“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.
Going into this book, I was both excited and cautious. Cautious because this is a book with an MC with memory loss. That tends to be very hit or miss for me--things just get confusing and the characters tend to be weaker which annoy me, and things just don't go as well as they should. But I was also excited because I'd read Girl, Stolen by April Henry and really liked it. Plus, this book sounded so spectacular.

So then I got my ARC, sat down, and actually READ this book, and it was so enthralling! I really needn't have worried about this book being a miss for me, even with the memory loss thing. April Henry did a fabulous job of making this book into something that we would not be able to put down.

Character Rundown:
Cady: Even with no memory of her life or who she is at all, this girl still kept her wits about her. I love that so freaking much! She didn't do stupid things and make excuses, she thought things through and did SMART things. It wasn't a book full of "oh, poor me, I can remember not a single thing, wah wah wah." And THAT made me so happy.

Ty: Awww, he was such a sweetheart. There aren't many people in the world who would help a total stranger the way Ty helped Cady. That is bona fide KINDNESS right there. Also, Ty is not an idiot, either. Yay! <3

Plot. This story was paced amazingly well. I was kept on my toes the whole entire time wondering what was going to happen next and when we would find out MORE. More about Cady, more about what was going on, and anything that would give any clue whatsoever as to what was going to happen. There were a bunch of twists and turns in this book that pretty much popped out of nowhere and, again, kept me on my toes. It was so much fun to read this book, I swear.

Romance. This book was actually more of a suspenseful mystery, but there was a little cuteness in there. Especially with Ty being such a sweetheart. So there is more of a POSSIBILITY of a relationship in this book than a bunch of lovey-dovey-ness. However, this does make perfect sense, considering there were so many more important things going on like, um, FINDING OUT WHO CADY IS. ;)

The ending. Can I, like, hug Ty now? Because I like him a super lot.

Overall, The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die is a highly suspenseful mystery that will hold you captive from the first page to the last. Trust me, you will want to KNOW what is going on with this chick. Plus, you'll like Ty. I cannot get over how sweet he is!

♥Jessica(:

Review: Split Decisions by Carmen DeSousa

Split Decisions by Carmen DeSousa
Release Date: June 27, 2013
Format: eARC, 267 pages
Publisher: 5 Prince Publishing
Series: She Belongs to Me #2
Source: Author in exchange for an honest review
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes

Description from Amazon:
Sometimes you want something so badly you are willing to abandon everything you've ever known--including yourself.

Eighteen years ago, Jaynee Monroe married the man of her dreams, became the mother of four, and fulfilled her career goals. About to turn forty, she senses something is missing from her idyllic life. While Googling her name in an attempt to find herself, she unearths something so impossible, she contemplates her own sanity. Seeking answers, she embarks on a journey to discover the truth, only to end up abducted by a deranged stranger who insists on calling her Caycee. 

Caycee took the road less traveled. Rejecting a marriage proposal from the only decent man she ever knew, she ventures to California to become famous. Eighteen years later, success has left her alone and miserable. Attempting to locate her lost love on Facebook, she discovers his infatuation with her. Not only does his presumed-dead wife have Caycee's uncommon middle name, it appears he has photo-shopped her face over hers.

Never could Caycee and Jaynee have imagined decisions they made years earlier would threaten not only their lives but also their loved ones. Caycee must now reunite with the southern gent she dismissed eighteen years ago and convince him to accompany her to New York to locate his wife, the most important person in both their lives.

She Belongs to Me was the first book I read by Carmen DeSousa (it was also her debut, but still), so I was super excited to hear that there was going to be a sequel featuring the characters of hers that are nearest to my heart. There's just something about that first couple, you know? So when I got this book...well, I flailed a little. Then I made time to read it and got to it right away.

I did not read this book in one sitting, but I DID read it in less than 24 hours. Because...goodness, things were HAPPENING and I needed to know what was going to happen next and AHHHHHHHH. Needless to say, I was exceedingly happy with this sequel. (I've been on a roll with nice sequels lately. This makes me so happy!)

Character Rundown:
Jaynee: I've come to realize that I like adult female characters so much more than YA female characters. (NA's kind of split down the middle.) So, of course, I liked Jaynee. She was intelligent and strong, but still had enough vulnerability to not make me angry about being OVER confident. She's still the same character I met in She Belongs to Me and I still 100% enjoyed reading about her and how her mind works.

Caycee: Oh, yeah. She's a whole other character, y'all. I have to say, she had a little attitude that I really liked. It was fun to see how she differentiated from Jaynee, but also to see how she and Jaynee were the same.

Jordan: Still the gentleman he always was. This guy just makes me SMILE. He says the greatest things, and he's so protective and caring. I'm so, so glad Carmen wrote this sequel and we got to see him again. Never will I ever not be happy to see this guy. <3

Plot. Well I must say, I was a bit confused at first. Admittedly, this this is mostly because I had all these predictions as to what the what was going on for there to be both a Jaynee AND a Caycee. But then I started the book and all those guesses were clearly wrong, and I didn't know what was going to happen. Once I got over that and into the book, it flowed well and was paced well and was wonderful. Highly mysterious, that's for sure.

Romance. Come on, guys. JORDAN is in this book. Of course there was romance. He's so sweet. I'd think something was very wrong in the world if there was no romance in those pages. And...well....I wanted to say something about ANOTHER character that I really liked and want to high five, but I'm not going to spoil who that not-bad character is. So...yeah. NO SPOILING HERE....

The ending. I will give you one word here. Or, well, a name: Tyler. That's it. That is all I'm giving you.

Overall, Split Decisions was a highly compelling sequel to She Belongs to Me filled with mystery and romance. I was swooning one second and asking myself just what was going ON the next and I loved every moment of it. Another wonderful story by Carmen DeSousa! Now I shall go eagerly await her next one...

♥Jessica(:

The Last Academy by Anne Applegate Blog Tour (Review & Excerpt!)

The Last Academy by Anne Applegate
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Format: ARC, 320 pages
Publisher: Point
Source: Publisher
Buy It: Amazon

Description from Goodreads:
What is this prep school preparing them for?

Camden Fisher arrives at boarding school haunted by a falling-out with her best friend back home. But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam—and readers—stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.

The Last Academy is more of a YA story than I've read in a while. Personally, I think that made my like the story a little more because it gave the book a different air than the others I've been reading. I've been very much into NA (goodness, have you read Real by Katy Evans yet? AH, fantastic!) and upper YA. So a more on-level YA was a nice change.

Another thing--this book wasn't very romantic. And we all know I'm ALL OVER the romance. But instead of romance, this book had loads of mystery. This was both a good and a bad thing. Good because I found the questions I constantly had to be super fun and actually realy cool. The bad side was that NOTHING was clickling. Nothing. At all. For a majority of this book, zero things were making sense or giving me answers. This went on so long that I started to wonder if this book was the first in a series, even though I hadn't heard anything from anyone indicating that it was.

Now that I've finished the book, I can say that, overall, it was a good read. The ending was my favorite part of the whole book. Everything came together then and made sense, and I really loved the answer to the mystery. I legit never guessed. Not once.

Also, this book is most definitely not the first in a series. Even if it was, I don't think I'd pick up the second. Not becauyse I didn't enjoy this one (because, when all was said and done, I truly DID), but because I see no way this could continue in a way that would interest me. The mystery was revealed in this one! Wrapped up nicely in a way that I adored. So I wouldn't want to mess with that.

But that rant was for literally nothing because I'm pretty sure this is a standalone. So yeah.

Overall, The Last Academy was a pretty quick mystery that was questionable in the beginning, but pulled through in the end. The main character has a backbone and is truly kind, and the supporting characters were fun to watch interactions with. This is one of those books where the ending is worth it all. Because, trust me, it was great.

Man, it was so great.

~~~

EXCERPT

 

Then I was at Nora's door. There was no one milling about in the hallway this time. In fact, it seemed even more dark and deserted than usual. I knocked.

 

"Come in!" Nora yelled. She was sitting out on the patio. Already, Jessie's stuff had a dusty, pharaoh's tomb look to it. I hurried through the room and out to the patio.

 

"What really happened to Jessie?" I asked. "Did she . . ."

 

Nora said in a loud voice, "I don't know. When I woke up, she was gone."

 

"People were talking about an ambulance. They said she killed herself."

 

"Look, I don't know anything about that." Nora enunciated every word. I wanted to shake her or something. Jessie had been my friend, too.

 

"But what about all her stuff?" I demanded. "Are you telling me she just got up in the middle of the night and walked out of your room and . . . disaooeared?"

 

♥Jessica(:

All the King's Men Blog Tour: Review of The Kings of Charleston by Kat H. Clayton!

Welcome to my stop on the All The King's Men blog tour! To see a full schedule for this tour, either click on the banner above OR (because links tend to, you know, NOT work for me), click HERE. :)

The Kings of Charleston by Kat H. Clayton

Release Date: July 10, 2012

Format: Paperback, 348 pages

Series: The Kings of Charleston #1

Source: Author for review

Buy It: Amazon | B&N | Createspace | IndieBound

Description from Goodreads:

Casper Whitley is forced to move to Charleston, South Carolina where she’ll be the new kid her senior year of high school. Casper’s upset about the move until she meets the Roman family’s gorgeous son, Cal, but there’s a problem. A mystery surrounds him which can be summed up in one word…Kythera. Never heard of it? Neither has Casper until she finds the word tattooed on cars, paintings and all her new friends.

After Casper’s life is threatened, someone is forced to tell the truth about her parents, the Romans and Kythera’s motives for her being in Charleston. Once the truth is revealed, she must decide whether to protect her family and Kythera’s secrets or walk away from everything she has ever known.

The Kings of Charleston has a really intresting premise. That was what drew me in in the first place. It seemed mysterious and cool and I thought I'd have fun reading it. Add to that the fact that there was--OHMYGOSH--some romance in here? I OBVIOUSLY needed to read this book.

Now that I've read it, I know I was right to look forward to the mystery. It was interesting, riveting, and kept me on my toes. The romance, however, wasn't really much to write home about. It wasn't BAD. It was not. But it didn't really take my breath away, either. It was just kind of THERE. I'm not going to lie, though--there were a couple romantic moments I swooned for. Just not as many as I expected.

Character Rundown:
Casper: Her name is kind of awesome. Just saying. But anyway, Casper was...all right, I suppose. Her character didn't blow me away or anything, but there were things about her that I liked. She was pretty confident, for one. And she could actually be strong, in some situations, and I liked that. So Casper does not go on my MC hate list, but I don't really loooove her, either.

Cal: So, he's my boy (for now), obviously. But he didn't seem all that original. He was super mysterious, but other than that, he was pretty...normal. What we usually see from guys in YA. I must admit, he was a TOTAL sweetheart, though. I swoon, y'all.

Plot. There are SECRETS. The kind that you will guess and guess, but never get quite right. I personally did not guess anything EXACTLY right until the author wanted us to. The mystery portion of this book really held its own. Big time. It was so enjoyable.

Romance. I just was not feeling it a majority of the time. There were moments where I was TOTALLY into it and swooning my drool off (um, HORSES, anyone?), but more often than I would have liked, the romance just did not seem very special to me. It was not bad, it was just commonplace. The kind we see all the time in YA. Expected. You know?

The ending. Well, I'm definitely going to be reading the next book! I was happy with the ending, and what Casper decided to do. And then what Cal decided to do. If they were real people, we'd be high-fiving right now. BOOM.

Overall, The Kings of Charleston was a great mystery that held me captive from the time the mystery began to the very last page. However, the romance didn't live up to my expectations. So, if you're reading this for the romance, prepare yourself. If you're reading this for the mystery, I salute you. You'll have so much fun!! Kat Clayton has written a rather wonderful mystery novel here. You'll want book 2, guys. You really will. :)

♥Jessica(:

Review: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Series: Hemlock #1
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac's life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac's hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy's killer:

A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome--also known as the werewolf virus--is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy's boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock's thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

My hopes and expectations for this book were super high. Like, seriously. The kind of hope that is really only setting me up for disappointment. Most of the time, at least. But not this time. Kathleen Peacock has given us a nice, intriguing werewolf story that is anything but disappointing.

The way that Kathleen aproaches the idea of werewolves is nice. It has nothing to do with full moons, but is a disease instead. It's not a big secret from the world, but is pretty much an epidemic no one wants to admit they have when they get it. I find all the werewolf information in this story absolutely interesting.

Next, I must discuss the plot. First of all, I really liked that the plot is mostly focused around Mac trying to figure out what happened to Amy, as opposed to being built around the fact that there is a werewolf love interest, and an anti-werewolf love interest and whatnot. These things are still part of the story, but the central piece is figuring out just WHAT exactly happened to their best friend.

Character Rundown:
Mac: I liked her. I didn't get the awkward feeling reading through her point of view that I get a lot of the time in this book. She's a solid character, and I'm looking forward to reading more from her eyes.
Kyle: He's the wolf. That's not a spolier, because it's not really all that surprising. Kyle's okay. If I were to know him in real life, I admit that I'd probably think he was incredibly sweet, but reading about him just irritated me a bit. He's one of those white-knight, I-have-to-leave-to-protect-you kind of guys. Which is SOMETIMES okay. Only sometimes. Most of the time, it just ticks me off. Kyle is an example of this, though I do feel for him a teeny, tiny bit.
Jason: He's my boy. I'm currently Team Jason. He is the anti-werewolf friend. Which makes perfect sense, considering his girlfriend was killed by one. Even more than that, though, I just felt like Jason was the most real character in this story. He was doing what he thought was right, and he tried so, so hard. I do admit that I disagree wholeheartedly with his drinking, but from the looks of it, that little habbit should be going bye-bye, or at least toning down a bit. And you know what? He reminds me of Adrian from Vampire Academy/Bloodlines. Am I the only onw who thinks this?

Sweetness. So much. There's a lot of protectiveness in this book, which I always love to see. In this book, however, the whole one-couple-romance thing took the backseat for me, overshadowed by the friendship. This used to be a group of four really good friends, and one of them just died. This is the story of what happens after she's gone. I'm not saying there's not romance, I'm just saying that to me, this story was made by the friendship. There were loads of AWWWW moments, though, so do not worry.

The ending. The ending reinforces the friendship thing I was just saying, but it also implies that there is totally going to be some love-triangle tension in the near future. I was left wanting the next book. This would be classified as a cliffhanger, but not one worth ranting about, so a good job done by Kathleen Peacock.

Overall, this was a good one to be excited about. It was mysterious and exciting, sweet and intriguing. If you're looking for a fun werewolf read, Hemlock is definitely the book for you.

♥Jessica(:

Review: Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis
Release Date: April 17, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
When Marshall King and Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the answers that could restore their missing memories. As they piece together clues about their lives, they discover that they're in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls. Everyone seems happy there, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town's perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything--not the death of Marshall's mom, not the hidden violence in Elyse's family, not even the day-to-day anguish of being a high schooler.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marshall and Elyse fall into an intense relationship founded on their mutual quest for truth. But the secrets they're trying to uncover could be the death of this budding love affair--and of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

I picked this book up from the library because it was gorgeous in everyway. The cover, the description, all thay jazz. My hopes were actually super high for this book. So now I'm sad to say that this book let me down.

This book began really well. It's seriously intriguing. Honestly, what could be better than two people waking up naked in a bed together with no recollection as to who they are or how they got there? Their brains are completely blank--they don't even know their own names. So there was a good, strong start.

But as the story goes on, my interest was lost. What was once strength in this story became boring. Their amnesia got sadly irritating as the story went on. I felt almost like I did when I was reading As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott, but with a smidge less confusion. I'm not a fan of mysteries that are tried to be solved when both of the main characters have no clue whatsoever as to what is going on. It just confuses me and slows down my progress in the story. Before I knew it, I was skimming and flipping ahead to see where I might possibly find a more interesting event in the story.

Character Rundown: Marshall. He was a nice guy. I have to give him credit for that. But I feel like he wasn't as interesting as he was intended to be. Especially with the amnesia. For a good chunk of the story he's only there to "make certain that Elyse is safe." I'm a sucker for that kind of thing, but I like more depth to go with it. His character did get a little better once we learned more about him, though by that point I was already bored. Elyse. Oh, I did not like her at all. She was so whiny. So, so whiny. I am very critical on female characters, I know, but this critiscism is well deserved. She dwelled much too much on her past. I understand that bad things happened, and she should most definitely acknowlege this, but she should move on, too. She had Marshall right there to help. Still, I must admit that I liked her honesty.

The romance. Insta-love. That's all I have to say for it. I'm not the type of person who dislikes books or fictional relationnships simply because of insta-love, but it just didn't work for me in this book. They had amnesia--I would have liked to see more of feelings emerging as they got to know each other again than a big WHAM of "ooo, I like him."

The ending. Cheeeeeeesy. Again, I'm not one to dislike a whole book for this small reason, but since I hadn't really been enjoying this book to begin with, the ending just disappointed me even more.

All in all, this book just was not my cup of tea. I'm not saying other people won't like it. It has a really great premise, and is a stand alone. Which is so sadly rare these days. Still, I didn't much enjoy it, so I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. Feel free to give it a shot, though. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!

♥Jessica(:

Review: As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott
Release Date: September 15, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 269 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.

I checked this book out from the library because I really like Elizabeth Scott's books. I've read a few, and they were great. This said, I expected As I Wake to be good, too. I was soooo wrong. To be perfectly honest, this book gave me a headache.

This book begins in a huge state of confusion. Which makes sense, right, because that's the story. I thought if I kept reading things would make more sense and I'd understand better. NOPE. Everything was so scrambled and made very little sense. I barely had any clue what was happening for a good portion of this book.

It WAS nice to guess a little what would happen and why. For a bit it was all good and fine with me, but then I kept reading and nothing continued to make sense. We would be given a little information, but very little is ever really explained. I'm usually good with figuring things out, but when I'm not given enough info to figure it out, I'm not a happy camper.

Character Rundown: Ava. I know very little about Ava, therefore don't really have an opinion on her. As far as I can tell, she seems all right. Focused. Shy. Then there's Morgan. I liiiiiked him. We don't know all that much about him either, other than that he honestly and truly loves Ava. Which makes him awesome in my book. Yeah, that's the way I am. Ah, Morgan.

The ending. Have you ever seen Shutter Island? The ending of this book made me feel like I did when I finshed watching that movie. And before you ask--no, she's not just crazy amd imagining things. I'm comparing the FEELING I had, not the actual events I saw. This said, the ending gave me even more of a headache.

Overall, I didn't really like this book. I didn't feel very connected to he book except for when Morgan was around, and that situation frustrated me even more. If you really like books that are completely puzzling, I guess you could try this book. You may like it. I did not, though.

Thank y'all for reading my review!

Have a wonderful day, Friends!
♥Jessica(:

Crazy Dangerous Blog Tour: Review + GIVEAWAY!

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Format: PDF, 330 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Source: NetGalley / YA Bound Blog Tours

Description from Goodreads:

"You probably want to hear about Jennifer and the demons and how I played chicken with a freight train and—oh yeah—the weird murder and how I found out about it—you're definitely going to want to hear about that. But first, I have to tell you about the stupidest thing I ever did . . ."

Sam Hopkins is bored with his status as a preacher's kid. So when a group of guys notorious for being in trouble offers him friendship, he accepts. Before long, he has several new skills—including hot-wiring cars.

At school, there's an eccentric loner named Jennifer. When Sam defends her from being bullied, she begins to seek him out as her only friend. Her ramblings often seem illogical . . . but then start to contain grains of truth. One leads Sam to discover that one of his new friends has been killed. And then she tells him, "I'm looking for the devil." Sam doesn't know what that means, but he knows it's a matter of life and death that he figure it out.

Everyone else thinks Jennifer is suffering from schizophrenia. But Sam is starting to wonder if there could be something prophetic in her words. Discovering the truth is going to be both crazy and dangerous.

This book was really good. Completely thrilling and interesting from the very beginning of the book all the way through to the end. I had no idea what to expect when I started reading the book, but now that I have I can say that this book is certainly one that keeps us on our toes.

One thing I really enjoyed about reading this book was the writing style. It is as if the main character is actually telling us a story, recounting the events for us as if we're old friends. This is a great way for a reader (me) to feel connected to the story instead of feeling like an outsider looking in.

This book was poitively interesting. The way everything is pretty much a chain reaction of other things that had happened, and the way all of these little things connect, is truly enthralling. I loved reading more and more and finding a bit more to the pice of the big puzzle of this story.

Crazy Dangerous was absolutely thrilling. In this way, it certainly lives up to its name--many dangerous things happen, and they're so much fun to read about. Big BOOMs happen all over the place, sometimes literally.

Character Rundown: Sam, Sam, Sam Hopkins! Sam is such a wonderful protaganist. He is both strong and weak at the same time, but never ever really doubts himself. He is exceedingly kind in the very best way--not a pushover, but not cruel either. Plus, he's funny. Sarcasm can never be bad for a character to have, in my opinion. Jennifer Sales. Now, she's pretty much the "crazy girl," but she's not REALLY crazy. She was a nice character to learn about, piece by piece as the story develops. I also think it was the sweetest thing how Sam was her "magical friend."

I think this is my favorite quote from a book in a long while (this was before I read Obsidian): "There's magic in a friend's name." Think about it--this is SO true.

One more little aspect I must comment on in this book: there is a mystery. Yeah, a mystery. One that twists your mind for a little bit, until we find out the answer and then everything makes sense. It's not an obvious answer, though the mystery is not impossible to solve. It was exciting trying tto predict things and then changing them again and again until finally--FINALLY--I got it right.

The ending. A very good ending. It wraps up everything in the book, but still leaves us thinking. And though we're s thinking, it's not in a I-need-more way, but in more of a create-your-own-interpretation way. And I like that.

Overall, this book was a seriously fun read and I enjoed the whole thing. If you're looking for a book that will keep you on your toes, I suggest this one. :)

All right, it's giveaway time.

GIVEAWAY:

We're giving away ONE ecopy of Crazy Dangerous!

For all the rules of this giveaway, click HERE to see my giveaway policy. This giveaway is international and ends on June 20.

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Thank y'all for stopping by!

Have a wonderful day, Friends!

♥Jessica(:

To live again . . . and again and again

Transcendence by C.J. Omololu
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Walker & Company
Format: ARC, 336 pages
Source: Won in a giveaway!

Description from Goodreads:
When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider.
As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet—an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both.
Full of danger, romance, and intrigue, Transcendence breathes new life into a perpetually fascinating question: What would you do with another life to live?

Transcendence was so much better than I expected it to be. I had been putting off reading it for a really long while now, so I decided I should read it. Now I'm so glad I did. I read this book in something like 24 hours. I started it Saturday night and finished it Sunday night -- Mothers Day! It was intriguing and sweet and just something I couldn't help but keep reading. It was practically glued to my hands throughout the duration of last weekend.

At first glance, this book seems to be just one of those books where people keep reincarnating and finding their true love and fighting to be together and fighting against the evil of the galaxy and everything else and blah blah blah. A run-on sentence-worthy story. But that is NOT -- not not not -- what this book is. I have to say, it certainly puts a different spin on the whole angle of reincarnation (which was nice because I always enjoy a good reincarnation story). The aspects of the story that were involved in being born again and again were interesting. I didn't feel like a bunch of information was randomly being thrown at me to store in my brain for a later event in the book. Instead, the facts came gradually and in a natural way that was truly enjoyable to read and learn about. There are also some things that are not fully described, but I could figure out myself, which was great becasue I like getting explanations, but not to the point where I am treated like an imbecile. I DO have a grain up there that I try to use on a regular basis. So score for C.J. on that front.

Character rundown time! First we have Cole. The astounding cellist. The shy girl. The female lead with OCD tendencies who also possesses a few nerd-ish qualities. But then there's the strength in her that is beneath the surface throughout everything. And the determination that pops out when it needs to. Cinfidence in herself which is always a trait I admire in anyone. So, I liked Cole. Honestly and truly, the character of Cole made me happy. Nexr we have Griffon. OH GRIFFON. Attractive, attractive boy. While he IS most attractive, he also has brains. More brains than any average boy nowadays could possibly attain, to be honest. (I am not insulting the male race with that, just stating a fact -- read the book if you really want to understand!) I love Griffon's special little abilities. Some made me last and others just amazed me. Throw this all together, and we have a strong, wonderful character that I ADORE.

I have to comment on SWEETNESS yet again. This book was stock-full of sweetness! From the moment Cole and Griffon met to the very last page, great things were happening in some form or another. Plus, they made a cute couple that was not hard to believe in. They did some ordinary things--mixed in with WHOA things, of course--and that added a realistic quality to them in the midst of a whole bunch of paranormal-reincarnating things. Another good thing was how Cole and Griffon met. It wasn't overplayed or unbelievable. It was something that could actually happen to any of us, anywhere. I liked not having to go along with some big, extravagant meeting scene between the love interests for a change.

The ending. There is going to be a sequel, so of course there's some wanting left over. BUT the main plot in this particular book was played out in full, so that appeased me. The ending did not make me unhappy in any way, nor did it leave me with my jaw hanging open. It left me smiling. And now I am immensely eager to read the sequel! Which I am surely going to have to wait forever and a day for. *sigh* Oh well. Until them, I'll drool over what we got of Griffon so far in this book. :)

I recommend this book to anyone who likes the paranormal romance thing. Especially where the romance is prominent, but not necessarily instant. All in all, this book was a great read and I feel lucky to have gotten to read Transcendence! Good books never fail to make me happy.

Thank y'all for reading my review and thank you to C.J. for sending me Transcendence for winning the giveaway! I loved this book!

Until next post, Friends!

♥Jessica(:

Immortal City

I finished Immortal City by Scott Speer! All in all, my ideas about this book are very intermixed. I loved some things, and other things were kind of meh. All in all, I liked it. I'm so happy I got to read it. I was so excited to read this when I got the book. I really liked the idea of Angels saving for money instead of because they were divine and perfect. There's nothing WRONG with that, exactly, it's just something we see everywhere these days. It was nice to see a different variation of an angel story.

While there were different aspects in this story, there was also the big, main romance aspect that we see in every angel story - angel falls in love with human, superiors get upset, and BOOM - trouble. Despite this cliche, this book held my attention, so I don't hold much against this book. Plus, there was a nice little mystery intermixed within the normal love story that livened things up a bit. Throughout the story, we are making assumptions as to just who the killer - yep, there's a killer - could be. And I think we are all wrong in our guesses. I know I was. I love when that happens; it adds suspense.

Character rundown! We have Maddy and Jacks. Maddy is the poor (like, literally poor) human girl who is positively boring until she meets a certain angel boy whom we will all know and love very soon. I loved Maddy. As we all know, the girl leads are usually hard sells for me, because. . . well, I'm not even sure why. But I really liked Maddy. I think it's because I can identify with her. She smart, determined, and shy to certain situations, but stands her ground when she's utterly serious. She's not just some love-struck girl doing stupid things for a guy. She does what she thinks is best, and I respect that. As for Jacks. . . OH JACKS. Jacks is the Angel guy every girl wants but can't have. Strong. Gorgeous. History in the making. And then he meets our girl Maddy and just can't stop thinking about her. Of course he can't. That's the way it goes with these things. But that's a point for later. Right now the point is that I loved Jacks, too. The guy characters usually win me over twenty time faster. I can't help it. There is always at least one guy in a book that I adamantly root for. Well, this would be Jacks.

Romance. The romance in this book is oh so clearly THERE. It is a very common story of love, though. They meet. Can't stop thinking about each other after some moment of undeniable connection. See each other against the wishes of superiors. Etc, etc. We can all pretty much guess how the love story in this book goes, but it is definitely not worth NOT reading this book for. We should all still read it because there ARE the super sweet moments in here that just make you go "awwwww!" Plus, the plot is very, very good. The love story is predictable, but everything else is certainly NOT.

One aspect of this book that I especially liked was how . . . Angel-fied this book was. The world in this book was like our own, but instead of people obsessing over celebrities, they obsessed over Angels. This doesn't sound like much, but some of it was funny. For example, instead of "YouTube" there was "SaveTube." When I saw that one, I laughed for a bit. It was funny! If you don't understand why it's called "SaveTube," then I suggest you go on and read this book. Can't be wondering about this question forever, right? ;)

The ending. Okay, so when I was getting close to the ending of this book, I was getting supremely disppointed. But then my hopes lifted. And then they were crushed again, but not as much as they would have been the first time. But then I was like "YAY!" So my point here is: Do not give up on this book. Don't read ahead, either. It will ruin the sweetness of certain moments. Anyways, don't give up on this book around the end. Just keep your hopes up and finish the book in sequence. You will not regret this. The very end of the book was absolutley perfect for setting us up for a sequel. Now I just have to wait for it.      *head desk*

My note to anyone who reads this: This story is the same, but different. Which is a good thing. So read the book! I liked it. I really did. And now I get to keep it! *happiness*

Thank y'all for reading my review!

♥Jessica(:

SLIDE into the mystery!

Slide by Jill Hathaway. I just finished this book a couple days ago, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. This was one of those books that was sitting on my TBR shelf for a bit after I recieved it, and usually the longer some books sit there, the less appealing they become. My excitement evens out. Not always, but some of the time. And that was what happened with this book. But then I started reading it. And I grew connected to it so fast! Like, seriously, within the first 60 pages I felt something for this book.

This is Jill's debut, and it is a great way to kick off. There is mystery, suspense (because the two of those alway go hand-in-hand), love, fear, and a bunch of other emotions all rolled up into one pretty package. When beginning this book, it seems to be just another one of those stories where you can guess everything that happens, where you can guess all the answers. But I was glad to see that in this book, you really CAN'T. Jill just throws in a whole bunch of variables that all mix with each other and twist around any theories you may make. Certain aspects were predicable (I'll get to this later) but that was okay, because everything can't just fly out of the sky, we have to be able to grasp onto something as we red to keep our sanity. So, my point here is that this book was a plesant surprise in a gergillion ways. Ways that you have to read the book to understand. ;)

Character rundown! I'm going to give you three characters today because if I leave one out, you may guess what happens to them. . . And we all knwo that I don't spoil! Vee. Actually, her name is Sylvia, but Vee is her nickname, what she is most commonly known as. I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't really love Vee, but she was tolerable. There's nothing really specific I DON'T like about her, but there's nothing specific I like about her either. So she's okay, I guess. She can slide into other people's minds when she passes out, which I think is super cool. If only I could do that. . . Next, her best friend Rollins. I DID like Rollins. OH, ROLLINS. He's the best friend, the secret-keeping guy, and the protective guy. I always love the protective ones. Last, there's Zane. OH ZANE. I liked, Zane, too. He was the new kid, who had a bunch of secrets of his own, things he wasn't very forthcoming to share. He's the guy who Vee goes out with after meeting him in the nurses office. Hot spot, apparently. Anyways, as far as Rollins and Zane go, I like them both. One more than the other, but. . . um, I'll tell y'all more about that later. . .

The ending. Apparently there's supposed to be a sequel sometime? Well, I can totally see that by looking at the ending. It was kind of bothersome, actually, how you see Rollins say "Choose," but then I never find out what I'm choosing from. Then again, I'm probably getting distracted by the wrong thing here. The choosing thing was not the point of that epilogue. Still, what was I choosing?! Hehe. But in all seriousness, the ending was all right. Not insanely cliff-hanger-ish like some other books I've read, such as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer or Shatter Me. (For the record: these are two of my favorite books I've read so far this year - like, top ten - so I don't mean anything BAD about this, I'm just stating fact.) While it doesn't have an insane cliff-hanger, Slide does, however, leave a bunch of room for a sequel. So that was good.

MY RATING: 4/5 stars. I'm glad I read this book, and I really liked it. I recommend it to anyone looking for a nice new mystery who thinks they can guess everything. I don't they they can. ;)

**WARNING: This is the last review where I will rate the book. I've decided this because the rating is what stresses me out the post. So from now on, I'll just rate on Goodreads. If you want to see my ratings, friend me there. Thanks!**

I want to say thank you to Jill Hathaway for sending me this book! (I won it in a Twitter contest!)

Thank you for reading my review! Be sure to keep checking out my blog for. . .OTHER things. . . ;)

Until next post, Friends!

♥Jessica(:

OH. and if you're still reading this, kudos to you! I'm TEAM ROLLINS! ;)