Review: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

Review: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

4 Stars

Read February 20-22, 2013; 260 pages

 

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares was a refreshing change of pace for me. It was light, sweet, and entertaining. Dash and Lily were wonderfully vibrant characters with their own sense of spunk and individuality. They’re not afraid to be themselves in all their strange/weird/charming ways.  Plus, the entire concept of the book was very original. What would you do if you found a notebook in a bookstore that read: “I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” Would you dare to answer the challenge?

 

I loved Dash’s wit and sarcasm and acerbic humor. His whole personal perspective and the mood he conveyed was highly entertaining in its quick intelligence. He often left me smiling and chuckling. Lily was sweet and awkward and pretty much the complete opposite of Dash. Yet her point of view was endearing and earnest. They’re such different characters that you’d think they would never get along, but their love of books and words brings them together in a fun and adventurous way. (I’m getting carried along with my adverbs)

 

The fact that these two characters are completely different people who have never met in person, connected by a single notebook, made the reading experience fun to follow. What were they going to say to each other next? Where’s the next place they are going to dare the other to visit? Are they ever going to meet one another? Is it going to go well? I also liked that through the dares they were learning something new, experiencing something they would never have done of their own volition. Seeing how their written interactions made the characters grow was inspiring. I kind of want to try this whole scenario out myself, just for the fun of it!

 

Overall, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is about first love in all its sweet, frightening, exciting, and awkward ways. Pick it up and enjoy its sweet sentimentality, fun adventure, and engaging original concept.

 

Favorite Quotes:

“Words failed me, insofar as I wasn’t sure I could find the words that wouldn’t fail her” (88)

“I was usually in the mood to look for nothing in particular when I went to the Strand. Some days, I would decide that the afternoon was sponsored by a particular letter, and would visit each and every section to check out the authors whose last names began with that letter. Other days, I would decide to tackle a single section, or would investigate the recently unloaded tomes, thrown in bins that never really conformed to alphabetization. Or maybe id only look at books with green covers, because it had been too long since I’d read a book with a green cover” (3).

“I was horribly bookish, to the point of coming right out and saying it, which I knew was not socially acceptable. I particularly loved the adjective bookish, which I found other people used about as often as ramrod or chum or teetotaler” (3).

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Review: Beautiful Chaos

Review: Beautiful Chaos (Beautiful Creatures #3) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

4 Stars

Read February 15-20, 2013; 518 pages

 

Book #3 – I really liked this one. As opposed to trends in the previous two books in the series, Beautiful Chaos was not just action after action. There was some depth and real story telling going on here. Things came together, and were torn apart in ways that left me aching.

 

Also, finally FINALLY I was not annoyed at any of the characters (i.e. my many urges to throw Beautiful Darkness across the room in fits of frustration at Lena). I finally liked her. Now, I have to relent that it might have been because she’s not a super huge part of the plot here in book #3. Sure, she was in it and because Ethan is in love with her she is integral to the story line, but her actions weren’t a significant factor. Less Lena = happier Caitlin. Our narrator and protagonist Ethan comes into his own here and his personality and character shine. My heart just bled for him (see final comment). In fact, most of the character came into their own. They solidified and yet changed – they grew.

 

To put the book in context of the series, things are really shifting and changing now. The actions carried out in previous books are coming to hard and difficult conclusions. Garcia and Stohl did a wonderful job addressing the issues they created. They didn’t write a happy go lucky turn out of events of brush by the potentially life-altering and world-changing consequences. By dealing with repercussions of books # 1 & 2 in this way, the Beautiful Chaos contains a certain amount of gravitas. Reality hits hard. The emotional twists that I as a reader went through excited me. It was a moody book in all the right ways, which suited me as I was reading it.

 

Oh, and the thing I loved loved loved about Beautiful Chaos was the angst. Epic, stunning, deep episodes of angst. Ah! SO MUCH GREAT ANGST!

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Review: Crash

Review: Crash (Visions #1) by Lisa McMann

 

4 Stars

Read February 4, 2013; 233 pages

 

I gobbled this one up in one evening. I haven’t read a book that fast in a while. Now, it was admittedly only 233 pages, but I read it in pretty much one setting. Started around 6pm and was only interrupted by dinner. I enjoyed getting so lost in this book.

 

Crash was fast paced but fully developed and well written. There was no vague language or a skippy plot line. Everything made sense and contributed to creating a well rounded story.

 

This was a Romeo and Juliet romance set within the context of warring family owned Italian pizzerias colored over with this strange paranormal occurrence. I loved the combination. It was unique, interesting, and maintained a good balance between serious and light-hearted. I was really pulling for Jules and her paranormal experiences, her visions, were related in a way that made her situation completely realistic.

 

And oh! The crazy story behind it all… Drama! Can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Review: Alice in Zombieland

Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

4 Stars

Read January 28-29, 2013; 408 pages

 Summary on Goodreads

You think you know zombies? You think you know how to fight zombie? You have an official “Zombie Plan” for the zombie apocalypse? Think again my friends. You have never read a zombie book like this. Alice in Zombieland is not your typical zombie tale. Instead of setting the book during/after an apocalypse, this book has zombies living among us, right now! And these zombies are NOT easy kills. Headshots and beheadings just aren’t going to work on these bad boys. This book was Fun. Yes, capital F Fun.

 

Alice in Zombieland has a unique feel to it, a mix of classic Victorian gothic and punk. There’s some great suspense and the plot moves fast and hard so watch out. I love Alice (Ali) – she’s spunky and has an edge to her that I like. She stands up for herself and doesn’t let herself get bullied, but at the same time there’s this vulnerability and sweetness about her. Oh, and her questioning nature totally reflected mine. I wanted my answers, NOW! Haha.

 

If there was one major negative criticism about Alice in Zombieland is that I was a bit concerned about the immediately intense and strong physical draw towards Cole. I mean, she’s only just 16. They’re so young! Usually there’s some kind of emotional balance to the physical but here it was more physical with a sprinkling of emotions. I feel like the whole book would have been more appropriate in college level than young high school. Then realized Showalter writes adult romance series and I went “Ah ha!” now it makes sense.

 

I was a little disappointed at the big battle scene at the end (you knew it was coming so I don’t consider this any kind of spoiler). It contained a lot of vague language and description. Timing was smooth through the book but then felt jumpy and scattered at the end. It felt like things happened and disappeared at an instant. Admirably chaotic in its experience, but not something that compelled me as a reader.

 

Overall, Alice in Zombieland is a well written original book that mixed genres and concepts in a believable and fluent way. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of The White Rabbit Chronicles as the books are released. Oh, and check out www.wrchronicles.com for a fun, interactive peek into the series.

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Review: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Review: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

4 Stars

Read January 8-11, 2013; 216 pages

Summary on Goodreads

 

I am surprised at myself that I have not read this book before now. As a lover of Sci-Fi and British humor, how is it that I’ve missed this classic?  For shame! Oh, and I AM counting this as the 1^st of 12 classics I hope to read this year. Yes, I consider this book a classic – at least it’s a genre classic if nothing more. If you want to get into a heated debate about the difference between classics and genre books and how genre books cannot be considered classics, too bad. It will all fall on deaf ears because I’ve heard it all before. Pretentiousness, that’s all it is.

Well, back to the book. After all that IS why I’m writing this. Ahem. I quite enjoyed the wit and humor in this book especially when contrasted with the often too-seriousness of the Sci-Fi genre. Arthur Dent is such an endearingly genuine normal character. I’m quite certain that if I was thrust into outer space after the earth was suddenly destroyed and my best friend turned out to be a hitchhiking alien, I’d react just like Arthur. My favorite parts of the book involve Marvin the depressed robot and the voice of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Their banter is just so amusing. Yet all the characters are easily likable – even the villains.

If you’re looking for a fun, quick, and trippy ride this is a great book to satisfy that craving. You’ll come away with a smile and a chuckle. Oh, and the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.  🙂

However, I think my reading of the book might have been tainted by my love of the movie. Yes, I saw (and bought) a movie before I read the book. Le gasp! And while I love the movie and liked how close it remained to the text, unfortunately I believe that it “spoiled” my experience reading the book because I knew exactly what was going to happen. So while my experience reading the book was about a 3, I rated it a 4 and I feel that it is justified as it expresses my enjoyment of both the book and the movie since they are so similar.

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Review: Demon Slave and Demon Retribution

Review: Demon Slave and Demon Retribution by Kiersten Fay

2 stars and 4 stars

Read January 1-3, 2013; 320 and 387 pages

 

Since these books are #2 and #3 in the Shadow Quest series and I read them back to back, I thought I’d combine my reviews into one. Here I go.

 

Demon Slave: 2 stars

Summary on Goodreads

I was excited to read book 2 of the Shadow Quest series by Kiersten Fay since I so greatly enjoyed book 1, Demon Possession, when I read it last year. However, I was disappointed with the scope and character development here. Demon Slave did a good job of continuing the major plot line established in book 1 but lacked the depth that I so loved.

Marik, who I liked as a supporting character in Demon Possession, often annoyed me as the hero in this book. His actions and thoughts, along with Nadua’s (his love interest/counterpart), were irritating. They were so stubborn and distrusting. I could concede some understanding on Marik’s part based on the history established in book 1, but Nadua’s constant mistrust, anger, and temper-tantrums seemed to come out of nowhere. She had lived a relatively easy life especially in comparison to her sister Anya.

Overall, the story was just too short, vague, and unfinished. It read like a pointless filler episode of a long running TV series where you just go, “Why the heck did they have to include this?” It was a sad let down after my excited reception of the beginning of the series. At least I wasn’t deterred from finishing the series based on this book because Demon Retribution more than made up for what was lacking here.

 

*****

 

Demon Retribution: 4 stars

Summary on Goodreads

This book was such a relief to read after trudging my way through Demon Slave. Fully developed and interesting characters, fantastic and suspenseful plot development, and a compelling love story between two star-crossed characters. Thank you Kiersten Fay for bringing back the fire to this series.

What I enjoyed in Demon Possession I found again here, with added bonuses. Demon Retribution brings with it the epic feeling that a proper sci-fi series should contain, along with all the bells and whistles: a hostile alien war, great space fights, vivid world description, culture development, and a moral lesson done subtly well. Oh, and throw in a seriously steamy yet tragic love story and I was well pleased. Cale and Kyra are strong characters whose story is both tragic and wonderful.

Again, I was glad that Kiersten Fay didn’t just make this series a hollow sci-fi romance, but instead weaved it into a genre I know and love. It’s been like reading a solid sci-fi series with the added bonus of these engaging fantasy-type love stories that slide seamlessly into the parameters of the genre.

I wait anxiously to finish(?) the series off with Demon Untamed, which comes out some time this year!

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