Author: Jenny Han
Release Date: May 5th, 2009
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 276
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

I am on the fence with this book... As a whole, I really enjoyed it. I loved the concept, and the way Jenny wrote it. There were just a few things I didn't really care for, but I will get to that later in the review. This was a really light read though, so it was nice after some of the most recent books I've been reading.

The story was really great, I loved how Jenny jumped back and forth between all the different summers that these two families had spent at the beach house and seeing how Belly, Steven, Jeremiah, and Conrad grew up together and how close they were. Steven and Belly are brother and sisters, and Jeremiah and Conrad are their really close friends that they get to see every summer. Belly has always had a thing for Conrad, but there also ends up being feelings elsewhere. I ended up getting a little annoyed with some of the relationships though, I guess looking from the outside it's easier to see things from a larger perspective but I just wasn't to impressed.

The characters were somewhat of a disappointment for me. I really liked Belly, Jeremiah and Steven. But I didn't really care for Conrad of Cam. People will probably not like the fact that I didn't care for Conrad, I just didn't care for his character. I felt like Jeremiah was the better of the two. There isn't a huge complex plot to this story, so the characters were all very real and believable. Pretty much what you would expect in with this type of contemporary story.

Depending on which characters you like most will pretty much define if you enjoy the ending of this book or not. I felt like Belly could go either way with her choices, but she has to eventually figure out what she wants to do. She makes some big choices at the end. I thought it was a good ending though, I wasn't happy with all of the choices she made throughout the book but I think it will make for a good transition into book two.

This book is just a really light read, I enjoyed it but I didn't really have a huge connection to it. I will finish the series eventually, but I don't really see it as a story that I will remain memorable after that. If you're looking for just a light read for this summer, then I would suggest this one. It might not be one of the most memorable books I have ever read but it was still worth reading. Just wish I would of got a little more out of it than I did.

Author: Julie Kagawa
Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 485
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★★

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.


Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Where do I even begin? Julie Kagawa is an absolute genius, in my opinion she is one of the best Young Adult authors out there. I was somewhat skeptical of this book at first because of how much I loved Julie's Iron Fey series. I was so afraid this new series wouldn't live up to my thoughts of her previous books. But she has done it again with this new series, I am without a fraction of a doubt hooked on it. Unless you've read one of her books, it's extremely difficult to explain just how amazing her writing is. It's honestly one of those things you have to experience for yourself, to realize what people mean.

I've mentioned before how I don't really care for the way Vampires are being portrayed in some YA books, in fact I mentioned that in my last review which was also a book dealing with vampires. It's not that I dislike it, I just enjoy when vampires are portrayed in a darker way. The Immortal Rules give you dark, gritty and everything in between. It seems like Julie made sure to make her vampires something you would truly be terrified of if you ever had a run in with one. I was actually a little surprised just how gruesome some parts of this book were, but it really added the the atmosphere and the fact that it was much darker and grittier made it that much more addicting.

In my mind I kept thinking of the show Walking Dead while reading this book. Maybe it's just because of the Red Lung Virus but instead of people turning into zombies they turned into vampires. I just can't get over how epic this story is though. It's not your average vampire story by any means, Julie has put a very unique twist on things and it's beyond amazing what she has done. I would easily say that this is the best vampire story that I have ever read.

Julie has an amazing way of getting the story across to her readers. She is great at building up suspense, and keeping you reading with fast paced scenes full of action. The Immortal Rules has a mix of everything. I just can't stop thinking that the best choice Julie made with this book was to make it so dark, like I have mentioned before. It just made the book so much more interesting. I mean even Allison showed off a very dark side during several scenes in the book. I loved the idea of the different "Ranks" I guess you could say, of vampires. It was an interesting touch and I felt like it added for a lot more back story as to how things came to be as they were in the book. I still think there is a lot to learn as the series moves on though, there were a quite a few questions I had when the book was over.

I could go on and on about the story, it's such an epic experience. If you enjoy real vampires, you will want to read this story. I'm not going to go into anymore detail about the actual story, even though there is so much more I could talk about. I just feel like by doing so I would start getting into spoilers, and that is something I don't want to do. Because this book is so worth the experience of reading.

Julie has always had a way with her characters, and she didn't fail us with The Immortal Rules. There is an amazing cast of characters in this book. Allison is such an awesome character, same with Zeke. They couldn't be more different, but oddly enough they were so much alike. As of finishing the book, I feel like I am most intrigued by Kanin. I am extremely anxious to learn more about him, figure out what exactly happened and to see where things go in the next book in regards to him. Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see where things go for Allison to but there are just so many questions I have about Kanin.

The ending of the book was absolutely insane. The last few chapters were packed with action and awesome moments. I felt like the story was wrapped up nicely. I was left with the biggest smile after reading the last two sentences of the book, it just shows how awesome of a character Allison is. I don't really feel like it ended on a cliffhanger, there are a lot of things I want to know but a majority of those questions came from the beginning and middle of the book, not the end.

I apologize for this review being so long, but there was just so much I wanted to say. I can't recommend this book enough. I strongly feel like The Immortal Rules will be sitting comfortably among the list of the best books in 2012. It's such an amazing book, that is so different from her other series. If you're a fan of Julie's writing, you don't want to miss out on this book.

Author: Beth Fantaskey
Release Date: February 1st, 2009
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 351
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Finished copy for review

Rating: ★★★★

The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

This book is a fine example of that I like to see in a Vampire book. I am not a huge fan of how some YA book portray Vampires, I much prefer the dark and sinister type. I am really pleased that Beth went that route with this book. It was nice to have the story and everything have a dark feel to it. While I feel like there are some little things that could of been done better, which really aren't worth going into.. I think Jessica's Guide really embodies everything I like to see in a well written Vampire story. Beth did a fantastic job.

The story was surprisingly complex. You have the relationship between Jessica and Lucius but I didn't feel like it was overpowering or anything, I felt like it was actually quite subtle compared to a lot of the other things going on through out the story. It does play an important role though in my opinion, so it was nice to see that it wasn't just some meaningless romance that was added in for flavor. I really enjoyed the whole idea behind the vampire war, and what could and couldn't be done to prevent it and how things eventually play out. A lot of choices have to be made, good or bad and you're still not positive of where things will go as you're nearing the end. I always enjoy books where you can't just figure things out really early, and you have to actually pick things up along the way to piece together the outcome. I was just really impressed by how dark and rich this story really was. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be.

I'm not going to linger to long on the characters. As I mentioned, Jessica's and Lucius's relationship was pretty subtle in my opinion which was enjoyable because it allowed me to focus more on other points in the story. I enjoy romance, but in a story like this I felt like it was much better the way it was written. The elders, and all of the other side characters were alright to.. some of them weren't very memorable, although I guess they aren't really meant to be. I just found that there was really only a small group of characters throughout the book that I was interested in.

The end just reinforced how much I like about this book being darker than a lot of your YA vampire books. I didn't expect some of the things that happened, but there were a few obvious moments. All in all I think Beth did a great job wrapping up the story though, I feel like there was a lot of little plot strings to try and tie into the ending of this book but it was done nicely.

If you're looking for a great vampire book that isn't extremely sappy and actually has a pretty dark undertone then this book is one you'd want to read. I wasn't as happy with it as I thought I would be, but I still found it really enjoyable especially since it was a lot darker and sinister than I had first expected. I know I have probably mentioned that a lot, but it was one of the best things about this book.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Author: Kirsten Hubbard
Release Date: March 13th, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 352
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rebecca Serle is a full-time writer, which means she gets to wear pajamas to work. She went to the University of Southern California, then got her MFA from the New School in NYC. (She likes New York much more than LA, but don’t tell anyone that.) Rebecca loves shiny hair, coffee, yoga, and pretending to be British. She, too, experienced heartbreak once. It worked out okay, though, because she turned the experience into this book. When You Were Mine is her first novel.

JBB: Can you tell us a little about yourself? When did you decide you wanted to become a writer? Who/what inspired you to chose that path?


Rebecca: I know it sounds cliche but I've been a writer since I could put words on a page---- forever, really. It's the only thing I ever wanted to do, or was ever any good at. It comes easily to me. It feels right. It's a huge, huge part of my life and who I am. I'm not sure I knew it was possible to support myself writing, though, or make a career out of it until recently--- maybe the last few years. It's pretty cool!


JBB: What was the writing process like for When You Were Mine?


Rebecca: Well, you know, I wrote this book on a hope and a whim and prayer. It came out of a conversation with a friend of mine--- "whatever happened to Rosaline?" I was heartbroken when I started--- totally devastated--- and I had to write my way out of that. I did it with Rosaline. We grew together. I just knew this was a story that needed to be told--- and I knew I was the one who needed to tell it. The rest was just blind determination.


JBB: Were you able to write When You Were Mine easily with the knowledge you had of Romeo and Juliet from all of the times you read it, or did you have to take a more in-depth look at the relationships in the story when writing your book?


Rebecca: It was important to me that the book paid tribute to the way people THINK about Romeo and Juliet--- when we think about the story, what comes to mind? So I began there, but then I went back to the play, the movie, etc. I did some research but most of it was running off of this idea--- the greatest love story ever told--- what does that mean? Is that true? In what way do we conceptualize that?


JBB: What would you say the hardest part of writing When You Were Mine was? Easiest?
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Author: Alethea Kontis
Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 305
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review

Rating: ★★★★★

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

Enchanting is absolutely stunning. I am honestly having a hard time trying to figure out where to begin with this review. The first thing I thought when finishing this book, was how much it compared to all of those amazing Fairy Tales we have heard as young children. Stories full of magic and adventure. Stories full of sadness and happiness, people overcoming hardships to gain a better life for themselves. Enchanted has all of that, it's one of those magical stories that can really pull you in and allow you to escape for awhile. Alethea has a very unique voice, probably one of the most unique I have seen in the YA world. The way she writes, and the way she is able to capture readers imagination is amazing. Enchanted is one of those books that is fun to read no matter what age you are.

The story in Enchanted is different, at least in my opinion. Not in a negative way, it's just something that has a very unique vibe to it. You can tell that Alethea put a lot of thought into where she wanted the story to go. And you really see that in the progression of the story, be it how the relationship between Sunday and Rumbold plays out or how Sunday's families secrets effect the story. The idea of the "Forbidden Tale" was really intriguing, and it was interesting to find out what exactly that tale was and to see how much of an impact it had on the rest of this story. I've only highlighted on a few parts of this story, for the sake of time. But trust me when I say that this story is amazing.

I want to go into so much detail about the characters in Enchanted.. But I feel like these characters would be best experienced learning about them as you read the book. Alethea did a beautiful job creating these characters, and giving them their unique plot lines. I became attached to a lot of the characters, and I really think that is something that will happen to a lot of people that read this book. The naming of the characters were really different for the most part being named after the days or the week, etc. But I really feel like that added to this story. You just really have to experience the creative genius which is these characters that Alethea has created for yourself.

Enchanted has a very powerful ending, it's one of those endings that could go either way. I was really pleased with it though. When you're dealing with Fairy Tales you automatically think happy endings. There have been many with sad endings though. I am not going to go into detail as to what type of ending Enchanted has. All I will say that Alethea did a fantastic job wrapping this book up.

I can't recommend this book enough. This is one of those books that I would love to pass down to my children someday for them to read, it just has that amazing magical vibe that really brings you back to a lot of those epic Fairy Tales. I strongly feel like Enchanted could become a classic. It's just so beautifully written and a lot of fun to read. Alethea deserves so much praise for writing such an amazing story, and I really hope that everyone that gives this book a chance will feel the same.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Author: Karen Schreck
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 249
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review

Rating: ★★★★

"This is just something I have to do, okay?" I hear David say. "The right thing."
He cradles my face in his hands. He kisses me hard. Then he lets go of me. His eyes dart from me to whatever's next.

All she wants is for him to stay. She's been doing pretty well, pretending he doesn't have to go. But one day, after one last night to remember, she wakes up and there's no denying it anymore. He's gone.
When Penna Weaver's boyfriend goes off to Iraq, she's left facing life without him. As summer sets in, Penna tries to distract herself with work and her art, but the not knowing is slowly driving her crazy. Especially when David stops writing.
She knows in her heart he will come home. But will he be the same boy she fell in love with?

While He Was Away ended up being much more than I had first anticipated. I knew it was going to be a story about a couple being separated due to the guy going off to war. But I wasn't quite expecting the other things I found within this book. I was really impressed that Karen put a lot of effort into trying to figure out how people that are going through this with the Iraq war are impacted. I've never dealt with having a love one at war, nor can I imagine how it must feel. But from reading this book, I really felt like everything portrayed in it was believable.

The story is heart wrenching. It's sad enough seeing everything Penna goes through while David is away. There is so much to the story though. It's a story about the importance of family, and the things you can learn if you just take the time to ask. It's about how you can overcome loss and cherish the moments you have with the people you care about. It's just a beautiful story, while the main plot line revolves around Penna and David there is so much more that makes it even more powerful of a story than it would be just with that plot line.

I loved these characters. There is absolutely nothing about any of the characters in While He Was Away that I disliked. They are all extremely real and believable. With a story such as this, that is something you want to see. You really feel the sadness, happiness, and everything else that the characters feel while you're reading this book. Penna and David's relationship is put to a test, but you really find yourself pulling for them to make it through the things they're going through. And then you have Penna and David's friends that are there for her and try and do everything they can to keep her strong. Things get interesting once you learn more about Penna's family though, there are several characters I won't talk about but they have a huge impact on the story and really help make this story amazing.

I found the ending to be somewhat disappointing. This always tends to happen to me when I am really enjoying a story. I just really would of liked to have found out more of what happened with Penna, David and her family. There was closure, but I always feel like things could be explained a little better. I know that is a difficult thing to do with contemporary, especially since most of the times I run into this issue it's in a contemporary novel. I do think Karen did a good job wrapping things up. I think my disappointment simply comes from me trying to grasp for more, not that is was a bad ending.

While He Was Away is a great read. It has a powerful story that can really play with your emotions. Karen did an amazing job writing this novel, and as I mentioned above I love the fact that she went through so much effort to make this book feel real to readers. I really think she accomplished that, I know I felt it. I hope you all will check this book out whenever you get a chance. It's well worth it.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Elizabeth Norris briefly taught high school English and history before trading the southern California beaches and sunshine for Manhattan's recent snowpocalyptic winter.
She harbors dangerous addictions to guacamole, red velvet cupcakes, sushi, and Argo Tea, fortunately not all together.
Her first novel, UNRAVELING (Balzer+Bray, April 2012), is the story of one girl’s fight to save her family, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming.

JBB: How did you come up with the idea for Unraveling?

Author: Rebecca Serle
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 334
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review

Rating: ★★★★★

In this intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told, Romeo’s original intended—Juliet’s cousin Rosaline—tells her side of the tale. What’s in a name, Shakespeare? I’ll tell you: Everything. Rosaline knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. Rose has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her—and when he finally does, it’s perfect. But then Juliet moves back to town. Juliet, who used to be Rose’s best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn’t even stand a chance. Rose is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet’s instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rose starts to fear not only for Rob’s heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends…

When You Were Mine is an extremely compelling book. It's much more difficult to explain than just simply saying a modern recounting of Romeo and Juliet. In my opinion it was much deeper than a mere recounting of a story. I just can't think of the best way to describe what it's like, other than that. It's a complex and rich love story, filled with both grief and happy moments. Rebecca Serle has come out swinging with this beautiful debut novel.

Most of us know the story of Romeo and Juliet. It's common reading for pretty much anyone at some point during school. And if you've read the play, you know that Romeo's first love was Rosaline. And then of course he ended up with Juliet which is the part of the story we all know best. Earlier when I mentioned that this book is much harder to explain than just calling it a recounting is because of the story itself. I guess you could say it's a play on the story, which in some senses could be classified as a recounting.. It just didn't feel like that for me. Rebecca's story is told from Rosaline's perspective, but it's not what you might be thinking. Rose and Rob have always been close friends, and it's easy to tell that there could of been something between them. But then Juliet, which is Rose's cousin.. comes into play and takes Rob away from Rose. It's hard to try and explain everything, but if you've read Romeo and Juliet I really feel like you will pick up on the story really quickly.

There isn't really much to say about the characters in this book. I enjoyed them, and I thought they were written extremely well. But when you're dealing with a story such as this, that's trying to do what it's doing, you're going to have a lot of mixed views on the characters. Don't think you will be seeing the whole cast of Romeo and Juliet in this book though, since it's not a retelling by nay means. The only real similarities in this book are Rosaline, Juliet and the family names Caplet and Monteg which are obviously a play on the families from Romeo and Juliet which were the Capulets and the Montagues. You really just have to read the book to truly grasp how all of the characters play into the story.

The last sixty or seventy pages are where it starts to get really interesting. I don't really want to go into much detail, but there is a ton of depth added to the story towards the end. There is depth throughout the entire story, but towards the end you're hit with a huge dose of it. I can't really quote the book, since I have an ARC version of it and I don't know if anything that I want to talk about will be changed. One thing I do want to talk about it is something Rosaline talks about in the epilogue. And that's how stories never just have one ending. The ending is simply what the author, reader or person living the story chooses for them self. Even as readers we have the freedom to think about different outcomes other than the one the author wrote for the book. And of course the author goes though a lot of choices throughout their writing process to find an ending for their story that they are comfortable with. It's just intriguing how something such as that, which seems so simple to think about but in reality is extremely complex can play such a huge part in a story like this.

This book is amazing, and I would highly recommend it. It's a lot deeper than I ever could have imagined, I finished it and thought about it for quite awhile. I really wish I could of thought of a better way to explain exactly what I thought of this story, but the description just didn't do it justice in my opinion. It's well worth reading though if you think it's something you might enjoy. It's so much more than a simple contemporary romance novel.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

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



For Review: 


Purity by Jackson Pearce - Thanks to Little Brown (Already read, can see review here.)

Beauty by Lisa Daily - Thanks to Penguin

The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland - Thanks to Penguin


Bought:


Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen


I also got some awesome signed Unraveling bookmarks in the mail from Elizabeth Norris, but I forgot to include those in the picture. I will be hosting a giveaway in a few days for Unraveling which will be included in a post, one of the signed bookmarks will be included in that so keep an eye out for it if you're interested.

What did you get in you get this week?

Author: Cynthia Hand
Release Date: January 4th, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 435
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

I've had Unearthly recommended to me for quite awhile now. I wasn't quite sure what I would think, I had heard a lot of great things about it and I really enjoyed the sound of it based on the description .I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Not in any major way, as you can tell by the fact that I feel that Unearthly is still worth four stars. I guess it's just one of those time that you have such high hopes for something and then little things throughout the book can bring that down a little.

I've talked about it before in another review, but I feel like the Angel sub genre is becoming one of the better YA genres. Unearthly has a really interesting premise, I really enjoyed the idea of the "Purpose" I knew it was going to play an important part in the story, since it's basically the main focal point but I was impressed by how it all played out. Once Clara learns more about her purpose and everything it actually entails is when the book really starts to get good. There are several big plot twists thrown at you, especially towards the end that you don't really see coming. Is Clara's purpose really what it seems to be? What if everything she thought might not be wrong, but simply misunderstood?

Clara was great, I really liked her personality and everything throughout the book. Maybe it's a little cliche to say the main character is your favorite, but I really became attached to Clara and wanted to see where her story went. I was disappointed with some of the other characters though. Clara's mom had to be my second favorite. Christian and Tucker play huge parts in the book, they aren't bad characters by any means I really enjoyed the roles they played in the story I just couldn't really become attached to them as characters. Wendy, Angela and all of the other characters were really great though. There were very few characters in this book that didn't really bring anything major to the story, which I really liked. It's nice when you have a lot of great characters that all bring something important to the story, and not just a lot of fillers that you won't ever remember once you close the book.

The ending was slightly confusing at first. Everything in the story leads up to Clara's "Purpose" but it's not what you might think. Some things do play out the way you would expect them to, but there are a few huge twists that take place in the last few chapters. You're introduced to a new character, and you learn some very interesting information about characters you already know. It's just really interesting to see how things play out, I can honestly admit I had no idea it would end the way it did, so I would really be shocked to see if people could figure out the true meaning behind the Purpose and everything else before the end.

All in all Unearthly is a wonderful book, while I was a little disappointed with some of the characters I can't really complain to much. Everything else in the book made up for those small issues. I could easily recommend this book to people that enjoy the Angel sub genre. It's also another great entry book to the Angel sub genre, it has everything you would want to see in my opinion and it's written very well which makes make it even better. Cynthia is a talented writer, and I will definitely be reading Hallowed soon.

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release Date: December 6th, 2011
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pages: 268
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★★

Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don’t kill him first, that is.

If there is one thing I have learned about Jennifer's books by now, it's that they are so much fun to read. Her writing is always fantastic. Obsidian is no exception to this, I am finding it hard to come up with words to express just how great of a writer Jennifer is to write such awesome books as this. I love how she likes to add in a lot of subtle references to different things in her books too, I picked up on quite a few throughout Obsidian. Jennifer truly is a master when it comes to writing books that will pull you in from the start, and make it enjoyable the entire way through.

The plot in Obsidian was great, it was a little different than I was expecting. But the whole Alien thing was actually pretty cool in my opinion, I didn't feel like it was done in a cheesy way or anything. You had the romance between Katy and Daemon which was enjoyable, although it took me awhile to come to terms with Daemon. One of the things I enjoyed most about the book was how independent Katy was. I loved that she didn't rely on Daemon for everything, once she found out about him and his sister. It was great seeing how she wanted to everything she could to help out when the Arum showed up. It's always nice to see a strong female protagonist in a book, especially when including a male protagonist such as Daemon. The humor throughout the story is also really enjoyable, Jennifer does a fantastic job with all of that.

Katy is such an awesome character, I loved how she was a Book Blogger and throughout the book you see her talking about her blog bet it about different meme's or getting books in the mail. It was just a fun touch, which as a Book Blogger I really enjoyed and thought it was really awesome of Jennifer to incorporate that into the book. As I mentioned before, Daemon had to grow on me a little. I really disliked him at first, but as time went on you start to learn exactly why he is the way he is. My favorite character had to be Dee which is Daemon's sister. She brought so much humor to the book, I always found myself smiling during the scenes she showed up in throughout the book.

The ending was great, there was quite a bit of action towards the end which was exciting to read. And I felt like everything was wrapped up nicely. It would be a lie if I said I am not wanting to start reading Onyx as soon as I finish this review, but I was pleased with the way everything was brought to a close in Obsidian so it will be well worth the wait to see what is in store for Katy, Daemon and Dee in Onyx.


If you've read any of Jennifer's books and enjoyed them, you really need to pick this one up if you haven't. You honestly can't go wrong with her book. If you've not read any of her books yet, then you are really missing out on some amazing books written by an extremely talented author. Obsidian is well worth reading whenever you get the chance to, it's a lot of fun and has everything you'd expect to see in a great book.

Author: Jackson Pearce
Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher: Little Brown
Pages: 224
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Finished copy for review

Rating: ★★★★★

A novel about love, loss, and sex -- but not necessarily in that order.
Before her mother died, Shelby promised three things: to listen to her father, to love as much as possible, and to live without restraint. Those Promises become harder to keep when Shelby's father joins the planning committee for the Princess Ball, an annual dance that ends with a ceremonial vow to live pure lives -- in other words, no "bad behavior," no breaking the rules, and definitely no sex.
Torn between Promises One and Three, Shelby makes a decision -- to exploit a loophole and lose her virginity before taking the vow. But somewhere between failed hookup attempts and helping her dad plan the ball, Shelby starts to understand what her mother really meant, what her father really needs, and who really has the right to her purity.

Purity ended up being much more than I thought it would be. I thought it sounded amazing just based on the description, but that doesn't even begin to describe just how beautiful this book is. It's a really sad book in ways, but it also has some very happy moments where it really shines. This is the first of Jackson's books that I have read, but I have heard a lot of people talk about how amazing her writing is. And I can see why now. I've read a lot of great Contemporary books, but Purity is really something special.

The story in Purity is a lot more complex than I thought it would be. And I love how in the Authors note Jackson talked about how she had originally planned for this book to be a lighthearted, funny story about a girl losing her virginity. While there is a focus on that throughout the story, I didn't really feel like it was a huge focus and I thought all of the sex related context was very subtle and nicely done. I was glad to see that it didn't hold such a huge grasp on the story, because I became a lot more attached to other parts of the story that were much more important in my opinion. I was moved by the part of the story dealing with the loss of Shelby's mom, and the three promises she had made to her. I really liked that she tried her best to keep those three promises, no matter what. Then you have the relationship between Shelby and her dad. This was by far my favorite part of the story, seeing how their relationship grew throughout the story after the tragic loss and how they slowly learn to truly be there for each other.

I'm a little conflicted when it comes to the characters. I loved Shelby, Shelby's Dad, Jonas, Ruby and several of the other more prominent characters. They were all extremely well written, and I really enjoyed their respective relationships in the story. They all shared something special, which all had a huge impact on the story as a whole. With that said, I didn't really care for a lot of the minor characters. While it's probably not very important, since most of them only show up for maybe 3-4 scenes throughout the book I just dreaded the scenes that they were in.

The ending really got to me. Everything built up to it, but I just wasn't sure how well it would actually turn out. And I mean that in the sense of Shelby's relationship for her dad, you really want them to be able to become close and be there for each other. But you just don't know how exactly all of that will play out. I really liked how the Questions they each had to answer as part of the Princess Ball played such a important role throughout the story, and the ending.

I would highly recommend this book. It's a sad book, yes. But there are plenty of moments that will having you laughing, and happy. I am almost positive that this book will cause some readers to cry during certain parts, but that's not really a bad thing. It's a beautifully written book, with an extremely powerful story on many different levels. This is one of those books you should give a chance. I know not everyone will have the same opinion as me when they read it, but I truly think you will enjoy this book if it even sounds remotely interesting to you.

Thanks to Little Brown for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Author: Joe Schreiber
Release Date: October 25th, 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 192
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Finished copy for review

Rating: ★★★★

Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior– he is busy applying to college and rehearsing with his band –until he agrees to go to the prom with the Lithuanian exchange student who is staying with his family. It turns out that Gobi Zaksauskas is not the mousy teenager that she seems but rather an attractive, confident trained assassin. Instead of going to the prom, Perry finds himself on a wild ride through the streets of New York City as Gobi commandeers the Jaguar his father lent him for the prom in order to take out her targets. Perry learns a lot about himself – and ends up with some amazing material for his college application essays.

Wow, what a ride. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in quite awhile. That book is crazy, I don't even know the best way to describe it. It really reminded me of the TV show Chuck for some reason, but with a different type of twist. It's just an extremely entertaining book.


I really, really loved the concept of this book. As you're reading the book, it's like you're reading all these answers to different college application questions being answered by Perry. And that concept actually reminded me a lot of the movie "21" and I just really enjoy how it helps the story play out. It was really interesting to see how things played out between Perry and Gobi, and figuring out why she came to live with their family as a foreign exchange student. I did feel like things were a little to fast paced though, which I guess I can understand since it is a shorter book. Just think there were a few things throughout the book that could of been explained a little better. I can't really complain to much though, because as a whole it's a very good story.


Talk about some crazy characters. I am finding it hard to describe them. I've already talked about how entertaining of a story this was, but the characters turned this book into a gem. The chemistry between Perry and Gobi is amazing, while it might not be so much on the romantic side it is a great relationship. When he finds out about her, and is stuck in the middle of everything he really buckles down and does what he has to do to make certain situations have the best possible outcome. Joe does an epic job of explaining everything about the characters in a short amount of time.


The ending was a toss up for me. While I liked how part of it played out, I was really left wanting a little more. Maybe it's just because I enjoyed the book so much, but I was really hoping for more of a closure when it came to the ending. Don't get me wrong, things are wrapped up. It's just the way certain things play out that leaves you really wanting to know what happens next for everyone.


I was really impressed with this book as a whole. Only real issue I had was the ending, I just really enjoyed the story and wanted to see a little more of an ending then what we got. It left me with a feeling that it could possibly turn out to be a series, but I can't find any information to support that. I would really love it was to be a series though, it would be a blast to follow along with these characters again. I really hope you all will check out this book though, it's truly awesome. As I have said, I am probably being a little critical with my rating and ideas about the ending, but it's only because I enjoyed the story so much. It's well worth picking up if you're looking for a short and extremely enjoyable read.


Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Author: P.G. Kain
Release Date: March 6th, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 320
Age Group: Middle Grade
Source: Finished copy for review

Rating: ★★★★★

Brittany Rush is the face of Gotta Have It candy bars, the hands of Write On pencils, the hair of Knot Me Not detangle spray and the voice of Mom, It’s Delicious! soups. Brittany has been appearing in commercials and print ads since her backside was the official derriere of Simply Dry Diapers. When Brittany showed up at a callback some girls would actually just get up and go home since they knew it was almost impossible to compete with her. However, a month after her twelfth birthday, Brittany’s mother tells her that the entire family is moving to Hong Kong for a year. Brittany is forced to take a brief but agonizing break from her commercial career. After a year of being just an anonymous kid in a foreign country, Brittany is more than ready to return stateside to her steady diet of go-see’s, auditions, callbacks and bookings in NYC. Within 48 hours of landing at JFK Brittany’s agent Judith Lister of the A Lister’s Agency has three go-see’s for Brittany. When she shows up to the first go-see, she expects the spotlight to start shining on her again but instead she finds that, in the year that she has been gone, she has changed from being the cute kid to watch out for to just one of the many pretty girls waiting her turn. Will Brittany be able to steal back her spotlight? Or will she discover there's more to life than being a commercial success?

Famous for Thirty Seconds is a prime example of why it's good not to judge a book by it's cover. Or it's genre for that matter. The cover didn't really appeal to me, and I don't normally read much Middle Grade. None of that really matters though. It's all about what the author puts between the cover. Doesn't matter if it's YA or MG if a book is written well it can still be very enjoyable. With all of that said, I was really impressed by this book. It was cute, and a really light read.

There isn't a whole lot of depth to the story in my opinion. But I don't really see that as a bad thing in this case. You can tell that P.G Kain is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to all of the Commercial related things. I knew nothing about the process that goes into creating a short Commercial, but after reading this book I came away with a pretty good idea of how hectic it must me. I really liked that this story felt real, it was believable in many ways and was just really enjoyable to read.

All of the characters also seemed extremely real. I have read several reviews talking about how impressive it is that P.G. Kain was able to portray these young girls so well through his writings. And I have to agree with them, the things Brittany and a lot of the other characters do and say are what I would imagine kids of that age saying and doing under the circumstances in the book. It's just a completely different mindset, you got to realize how old these characters are, especially if you're older because if you don't realize that it can be a little annoying at time. But once you change your mindset, and don't try to use your wits to pick at things the kids say or do throughout the book it turns out to be really enjoyable to follow their stories.

The ending was good, I don't really feel like it was a closure or anything. It felt like more of a fun ending, if that makes sense. There is a flow to the book, but it also had a pretty loose plot line in my opinion which I actually found to be really nice. Of course there is a outcome to everything that happens, it just felt like the plot was a lot more open than I am use to. I will be checking out the rest of this series for sure. It really make for a fun read.

In the end, I would consider this to be a great book for people that read mainly Young Adult. Granted it's considered to be Middle Grade, which I assume is because of the character age.. It read much more like a light Young Adult novel. I didn't really find myself getting bored, I enjoyed the humor and pretty much everything else the book. So I would say it's well worth checking out, especially if you're looking for something light to read.

Thanks to P.G. Kain and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Author: Garth Nix
Release Date: May 15th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 337
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review

Rating: ★★★★★

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


For Review:


Girl Out Loud by Emily Gale - Thanks to Scholastic

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey - Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber - Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Bought:


Switched by Amanda Hocking


I also got some swag in the mail from Wendy Higgins. One of the bookmarks will be included in my Sweet Evil giveaway which is currently going. They are all signed by her, and then one of them is signed to me.


What did you get this week?

Author: Kathleen Peacock
Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 400
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: ARC for review

Rating: ★★★★★

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.

Umm, wow. Hemlock really ended up surprising me. I was really afraid that it would try to make light of werewolves as I have seen in other YA books dealing with them. But I was way off, Hemlock has an extremely dark side when it comes to the way the werewolves are portrayed. I felt like that made the story much more enjoyable, I feel like they are meant to be harsh and scary. Kathleen has story a book with a ton of suspense, while also adding in a dash of comedy throughout the story.

As I mentioned, I love the fact that werewolves are shown as vicious creatures in this book. For the most part anyway, I mean there always has to be a small twist to keep things interesting right? I found the story a little confusing at first, because Mackenzie has these dreams throughout the story where the talks to Amy about things, so that took a little while for me to get use to. But once I found out what was going on, everything really started to make sense. I found it extremely difficult to piece everything together, when it came to who had killed Amy and why. Kathleen does a really good job of stringing you along several different routes, until she is ready for you to be able to put everything together along with Mackenzie. I think it's great when authors do that though, if you figure something out early on you will get bored and have a hard time finishing a book. Makes things much more enjoyable when you're actually figuring things out as the characters do, and don't really get any huge clues that could allow you to figure it out before they do.

Mackenzie... I want to talk about her for awhile. I can't get over how awesome of a character she is. She is a prime example of a strong willed independent female character. Which is quite refreshing, it was awesome during some of the scenes throughout the book when she told off the guys for thinking they always had to come to her rescue. I'm really interested to see how her character grows in the next book, but I think she is easily one of my favorite female characters. Kyle and Jason are also really awesome characters, although they are both much different than they ever could have imagined. It was really interesting to see how things turned out between them as their long time friendship was tested throughout the book. I think it's safe to say that Derby really bothered me, he was easily my most disliked character.. I won't go into much detail, but I just didn't care for him at all. There are quite a few other awesome and not so awesome characters in the book, but a lot of them come with some pretty big spoilers, so I will leave them for you to find out about when you read the book. I will admit that I did get a little annoyed at some of the lies between the characters, but in the long run it really felt like it was better for the story as a whole.

Going into the epilogue, I was pretty pleased with how the book ending. I had in my mind what might happen in the next book, considering the last few major scenes of Hemlock. Then Kathleen had to throw a curveball at the end of the epilogue which just pilled on so many more questions. It's going to drive me crazy trying to figure out what was being talked about in those last couple sentences. I am sure it will be something crazy once we actually find out, but right now it's just torture. Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting book two now.. It's just going to be interesting to see what comes of that last dream, and any others in future books. I find it awesome that Amy can play such a huge role in the story through Mac's dreams.

Hemlock is a fantastic book. If you're looking for something darker, with a ton of suspense then you will want to check this book out once it's released. It has an amazing story with a lot of action and craziness, topped with some really great characters. I really don't think you could ask for much more. I am just really glad that Kathleen did show werewolves in a darker light, and wrote such a strong female character. Those two things really made this book epic for me.

Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

After earning a bachelors in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until becoming a mommy. Writing Young Adult (YA) stories gives her the opportunity to delve into the ambiguities of those pivotal, daunting, and exciting years before adulthood.
She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son. Sweet Evil is her debut novel.

JBB: How did you come up with the idea for Sweet Evil? It seems so different than a lot of the Angel/Demon books out there.

Wendy: This is a hard question for me, because I really don’t know. Parts of it just came to me, disconnected, and I had to piece ideas together and fill in blanks with some figuring out. For example, I had to ask myself, “If an angel or demon soul inhabited a human body, what effect would it have on the body?” And that’s when I began thinking of heightened senses and abilities to see emotional auras (which are not unique concepts to the YA paranormal world). I guess the uniqueness comes with the hierarchy of the demons on earth and how their children would be used. I suppose I just have a warped mind, lol.


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