Ruby Red

Title: Ruby Red

Author: Kerstin Gier

Rating: 4   3/4 stars


Summary: Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!
Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Review: I absolutely loved this book! I just wish it was a bit longer; it was over much too quickly. I've read time traveling books before, but never where the time traveling was intentional and there was a gene that was passed through the generations of two different families. But another time traveler book had an important character named Gideon, and took place in England. The second and third book have already been published for a while, but in German, so I have to wait for a translation. :( I don't know how long I can wait.

Awake at Dawn

Title: Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls 2)

Author: C.C. Hunter

Rating: 2 3/4 stars

Summary:  Now that she’s settled in at Shadow Falls Camp, Kylie Galen’s determined to discover the extent of her supernatural abilities.  But with a ghost insisting someone Kylie loves is about die, a rogue vampire on a murdering rampage, and her sixth sense telling her someone is watching her, Kylie’s quest for answers is quickly put on hold. 
To make matters worse, just when she’s about to give her heart to Derek, a half-fairy, he starts pulling away.  When Lucas, a werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past, returns, Kylie’s feels more conflicted than ever. Her weekend with her mom should have been the just the break Kylie needs, but it turns out to be her breaking point.  Someone from the dark side of the supernatural world has plans for Kylie--and it'll take all her resources to get back to Shadow Falls alive...


Review: We have our answer: this series stays semi-okay. Nothing really changed from the first book except for even more boy problems. About half of this book was about Kylie trying to decide between Lucas and Derek. Ugh. Super-short summary of this book: Kylie can't decide between Lucas and Derek, but she's leaning toward Derek. Half-way through the book, Derek dumps her. For about five pages, Kylie is close to getting forcibly engaged to a vampire. Lucas is there for the entire book. I am thoroughly annoyed.

Born at Midnight

Title: Born at Midnight

Author: C.C. Hunter

Rating: 3 stars

Summary:
One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.
Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fairy who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.
Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

Review: Another eh book. Also another Texas book. I wonder if there's a connection...? The amazing book streak has finally come to an end; it is now the era of okay books. Kylie is trying to decide between two guys, one of whom is a werewolf. Time for... Twilight reference. There's this Twilight parody called Literal Twilight Eclipse Trailer. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJK7n_wcSsM) Every time Kylie mentioned Lucas and/or Derek, I was reminded of this part of the video:

Okay, that was fun.

I was glad Hunter included witches and faeries in the camp, and that we don't know what Kylie is, but she's definitely not a vamp or werewolf. Time for another different-book reference: Kylie sees ghosts, she's not a fairy, vamp, werewolf, or witch, one of the guys is named Derek, and one is a werewolf.

It's The Summoning!!!

Which makes Kylie Chloe the necromancer. I loved the Darkest Powers series.

Near the end this book turned into a kind-of supernatural Nancy Drew, what with the mystery of the dead animals and all the who-dunnit. I'm currently reading the second book, so we'll see if this series stays okay, becomes better, or plummets to horrible-ness.

Alien Invasion and Other Inconviences

Title: Alien Invasion and Other Inconviences

Author: Brian Yansky

Rating: 3 stars

Summary: A polite race of telepathic killer aliens, a ten-second world conquest, and one teenage boy collide in this wry, gutsy adventure.

Jesse is in history class when a formidable, efficient race of aliens quietly takes over the earth in less time than it takes him to brush his teeth. Most humans simply fall asleep and never wake up. In moments, everyone Jesse knows and loves is gone, and he finds that he is now a slave to an inept alien leader. On the bright side, Jesse discovers he’s developing telepathic powers, and he’s not the only one. Soon he’s forging new friendships and feeling unexpectedly hopeful. When a mysterious girl appears in his dreams, talking about escaping, Jesse begins to think the aliens may not be invincible after all. But if Jesse and his friends succeed, is there anywhere left to go?

Review: Eh. It started out too quick; in the middle of the first page the invasion happened. I would have liked to learn more about that main character guy, whatever his name was. Also, if Lindsey was a smoker, aren't there side-effects to quitting cold-turkey? She seemed totally fine. But I have to give it points for taking place in Austin, Texas. There were some good jokes, too. Overall, it was an okay book for one about aliens.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Title: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Rating: 4 stars

Summary:  Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Review: AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!! This book was amazing right up until the last twenty pages, then I got bored. Not with the book itself, mind you, but the last twenty pages. And then, of course, came the cliff-hanger ending. No one likes cliff-hanger endings unless the next book has already been published and one can go get said book. Sadly, the second book doesn't come out until September of this year, and that is only an estimate! Sadness has taken over. *sniffle*

Drink, Slay, Love

Title: Drink, Slay, Love

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her Family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Review: I don't usually go for vamp books, but there are a few exceptions. This one, for instance. I liked how Pearl didn't start out with a conscience; it wasn't about her deciding all of a sudden that drinking blood was wrong. Also, that there was a reason for not killing the humans they (Pearl's Family) drank from that wasn't the Family was merciful because they felt bad about what they were doing. It didn't hurt that this book had a pretty cool cover, too. *Tiny Spoiler Alert* Oh, and were-unicorns? Truth be told, the name is pretty silly, but come on! Wouldn't it be awesome if you could turn into a unicorn and had a giant unicorn horn for use as a sword that you could make come out of your wrist? Yes. Yes it would be. ;)

Gimme a Call

Title: Gimme a Call

Author: Sarah Mlynowski

Rating: 4 stars

Summary:  Devi's life isn't turning out at all like she wanted. She wasted the past three years going out with Bryan—cute, adorable, break-your-heart Bryan. Devi let her friendships fade, blew off studying, didn't join any clubs . . . and now that Bryan has broken up with her, she has nothing left.

Not even her stupid cell phone—she dropped it in the mall fountain. Now it only calls one number . . . hers. At age fourteen, three years ago!

Once Devi gets over the shock—and convinces her younger self that she isn't some wacko—she realizes that she's been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do . . . because she's already done all the wrong ones! Who better to take advice from than your future self?

Except . . .what if getting what you think you want changes everything? 

Review: I really liked this book! A quick guilty pleasure I indulge in every so often. Of course, when 17 year old Devi tries to change her past, it doesn't work out exactly how she planned. Everyone saw that coming. Still, I was hooked; I stayed up really late reading it. 14 year old Devi and 17 year old Devi switch off every chapter, and near the end the chapters got shorter and shorter, all suspenseful and such. The last page was kind of weird, but overall a satisfying ending. :)

Guardian of the Dead

Title: Guardian of the Dead

Author: Karen Healey

Rating: 1 star

Summary: Set in New Zealand, Ellie's main concerns at her boarding school are hanging out with her best friend Kevin, her crush on the mysterious Mark, and her paper deadline. That is, until a mysterious older woman seems to set her sights on Kevin, who is Maori, and has more than just romantic plans for him. In an effort to save him, Ellie is thrown into the world of Maori lore, and eventually finds herself in an all-out war with mist dwelling Maori fairy people called the patupaiarehe who need human lives to gain immortality.

Review: Ugh. I was seriously dissapointed by this book. The summary intriuged me, so I checked it out of the library (obviously). In the middle there was about twenty pages where I was totally confused and had no idea what was going on. Also in the very middle was this major fight scene that should have happened near the end of  the book. Then I had to suffer through another one hundred-fifty pages all the while thinking to myself, "Why hasn't this book ended yet?" Ellie didn't really do anything; she just followed other people around and complained. Mark annoyed me; he was always saying, "I love you, but I can never touch you or be near you. I am a monster and I hate myself." Seriously, Mark? Get over yourself.

2012 Reading Challenge

See the box on the right that has "2012 Reading Challenge" on it? Well, this year my goal is to read 150 books. In 2011 I read 139 books, and I want to break my record. How many books are you going to read this year?