Hexed by Michelle Krys

 Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1)

Author: Michelle Krys
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 384
Reading Level: Young Adult
My Rating: 5 stars

"If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid."

MY THOUGHTS:

I don't even know where to begin. I ADORED this book. This review is without a doubt going to be a rave review. I'm also trying to do my reviews immediately after finishing the books (or as close as possible) so that I can have all the information extra fresh in my mind. I think that's going to make things a little bit easier on me. But, with Hexed I wanted to write my review immediately because I'm still just so excited about what I just read. Hexed was described as "Bring It On meets The Craft" and I could not agree more. It also helps that those are two of my all-time favorite movies. It was basically a given that I would enjoy this book, but boy did it go above and beyond my expectations. 

The story follows Indigo Blackwood, a junior in high school with a mostly perfect life. She's a cheer leader, best friends with the head cheer leader, dating the star football-player and getting through her high school career rather unscathed. Indie's main struggles in life revolve around her off-kilter, wicca-practicing mother who owns an occult shop and avoiding her nerdy, childhood best friend and neighbor, Paige. Her life seems pretty typical until one day she sees a guy literally die right in front of her-- we're talking blood, unconsciousness, the whole shebang. Indie's life is turned upside down when she's suddenly thrust head-first into the world of witches and sorcerers.

The odd thing is that I never really considered myself to be all that big on "witch books." You may have heard of BenjaminofThomes from BookTube who's known for loving all things witches. Although, I enjoy occult style books, I never thought I would fall in love with a book about a war between witches and sorcerers, but here we are. Where do I even begin to start analyzing this book? Right from the get-go, I was enthralled in this story. It was one of those books that constantly holds your attention. There wasn't a chapter went by where something exciting didn't happen. I'm the kind of reader who needs to be sucked in right away or else I get bored. In other words, books with slow starts are particularly hard for me to get through. This book, however, was perfect for me.

The majority of the book takes place in Los Angeles, California. I must admit that I was initially a bit skeptical when I found that out. There are some settings that are super popular in writing (with good reason), but over-done nonetheless. In Hexed, however, I felt like Michelle Krys did a FANTASTIC job incorporating landmarks and significant places that the reader would recognize to make the setting refreshing and awakened. There's a very important scene in the novel that takes place at Grauman's Chinese Theater. You may not know this about me, but I worked at Disney's Hollywood Studios last year for seven months. The attraction I worked at was none other than The Great Movie Ride. Now, if your Disney trivia isn't all that great, I'll help you out. The Great Movie Ride is an exact replica of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The Disney version is so exact, in fact, that when the read Chinese Theater renovated, they used Disney's blueprints as a guide. Now I'm rambling, but the moral of this paragraph is that I LOVED the incorporation of things I knew a lot about. I know not everyone knows what The Chinese Theater looks like, but for me specifically that whole section of the book was crystal clear.

Most of the characters in this book were quirky and well-rounded in a realistic and creative way. I feel like some readers could potentially find fault in certain one-dimensional characters, but for the most part I saw no problems in that department. Something else I really loved was how in tune Michelle Krys' voice was. Indie is meant to be a junior in high school and the writing of the book matched that perfectly. I really enjoyed the sarcastic side of her personality. Those traits that made Indie so unique definitely shined through in the writing. 

I'm not going to get in depth about other characters for the sake of spoilers, but I just want to say I really loved Bishop. I plan on doing a book talk with spoilers and all that on my BookTube channel in the coming weeks to give more details on what I thought about certain characters because.. yes, I have a lot of fangirling to do. But, in a nutshell, I thought this book was AMAZING. I rated it 5/5 stars easily. Michelle Krys is signed on for a sequel to Hexed, so I can't wait until that comes out. I can only imagine how phenomenal that book will be considering that this one was a total homerun. But until then, I suppose I'll just be sitting here day-dreaming about hunky warlocks.

MY VIDEO REVIEW AND BOOK TALK:

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic

Author: Lauren Oliver
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 408
Reading Level: Young Adult

"Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most."

MY THOUGHTS:

Finally, I'm getting this review written. I've been putting this off for a little while now and I'm not sure exactly why. I've been going through a bit of a reading/blogging slump lately so that could contribute to my hesitation. Plus, my feelings are rather mixed on this book, so I think I was a little unsure how to approach writing this in the first place. Regardless, I'm excited to finally share this review with all of you because I was initially really excited to pick up this novel and I feel like reading reviews for a book like this has the ability to be incredibly helpful in deciding whether or not it's a book you're interested in, even more so than with other books. So, without further ado, let's just jump into the actual review.

If you aren't aware, Panic is a standalone YA, contemporary novel written by Lauren Oliver. Oliver is also the author of the popular Delirium series. I'm really glad this book is a standalone because as a series I feel like this plot and the idea surrounding this story would get old really fast. The story revolves around a small town called Carp where nothing exciting really ever happens. Each Summer, the graduating high school seniors hold an event called Panic which is essentially a Fear Factor-esque series of challenges throughout the season. The winner receives the giant pot of money collected throughout the year, so clearly there's tons of incentive to participate since everyone wants to leave Carp after graduation. The story follows a girl named Heather, a boy named Dodge and Heather's best friends; Nat and Bishop.

The book is told from the points of view of Heather and Dodge. To be honest, I found Heather to be a little irritating at times. I found myself thinking she was a bit whiny and also kind of.. stupid, for lack of a better word. Sometimes I felt like she was really irrational and didn't think even remotely logically about her decisions. Perhaps that was the direction Lauren Oliver was attempting to take Heather's character, but whatever the reason, it still just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Dodge was a bit more likable in my opinion, however again I didn't like him all that much either. Again, he was a bit irrational as well and his motives seemed to shift in an unbelievable way. There were moments in this book that kind of brought me out of the story and made me go "What...?" while scratching my head. And, not in a good way. The only character that I really enjoyed was Bishop, and he's not in the action of the book nearly as much as some of the other characters. At the same time, I want to mention that I'm being a bit harsh on these characters. As irritating as some of them were to me, they were still bearable and I think that's what it really comes down to.

The plot of Panic is definitely story-driven, but.. not really? It's almost hard to explain. This book is really quite odd in that it all felt a bit disconnected for me. I did enjoy the suspenseful parts of the book and there were many things that kept me intrigued throughout the story. There was never a time where I felt like I wanted to put it down, but I didn't really want to pick it up either. Like I mentioned in the last paragraph, there were moments in the story that kind of brought me out of the book and got me scratching my head. In addition, there were a lot of little, almost irrelevant plot lines that I felt just sort of disintegrated once they were brought up. It was like occasionally something unrelated to Panic would happen and then once that scene was over it was barely like it even happened.

I read this book as part of the Booksplosion read-a-long for March and, although I watched their liveshow discussion video, all of these thoughts have been my own and things that had already occurred to me before hearing their opinions. However, something that they brought up really resonated with me and I can totally understand why they said this. They said that Panic would translate much more appropriately as a movie than a book. I couldn't agree more. The action packed scenes that take place during the Panic challenges would translate amazingly to screen and I feel like the parts of the book that felt a bit more slow paced would be quickened up and more entertaining to watch than to read. Typically, you hear people say that the books are always better than the movie versions. But, in the case of Panic I think it would definitely be the other way around.

Now, despite how harsh this review turned out being, I did enjoy reading Panic overall. In hindsight, it wasn't a bad book by any means. I'm not the biggest contemporary reader and, although it wasn't he mushy gushy jam-packed-with-love type of contemporary, it was still a contemporary book nonetheless and therefore not exactly my cup of tea. When I review and rate a book I've read, I sometimes like the take myself out of the situation and think of it from someone else's point of view. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of this novel, I don't by any means think it wasn't worth reading and nor do I think it deserves a low rating. This is why I ended up rating Panic a 4/5 stars. Although it wasn't for me, if the synopsis above and this review haven't deterred you from reading this novel I definitely think you should pick it up.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

The Here and Now

Author: Ann Brashares
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 288
Reading Level: Young Adult
My Rating: 3.25 stars

"An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. 

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. 

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. 

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year."

MY THOUGHTS:

I recieved an e-copy ARC of this book from NetGalley.
All my thoughts are honest and unbiased.

I'm a little unsure how to even begin this review. The Here and Now is written buy Ann Brashares who also wrote The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series -- a series I've read and loved. This book features themes of dystopia, mystery, forbidden love, and the infamous time travel. Now, I know a lot of readers have strong feelings on time travel in books. It's complicated to read about and sometimes a bit messy to try and understand. I found while reading this that I definitely agree with those statements. Having not read a time travel book before, this was my first time really experiencing the sub-genre. It was interesting, yes. But, now I can see why many readers try to stay away from it all together.

Prenna James is the main character, a girl who comes from the future back to the year 2010 with many other members of her community to escape a mosquito-carried plague that is threatening their safety. Now attempting to live normally, this future community lives by a strict set of rules to keep all sorts of catastrophic events from occurring. One of these rules is that they are not allowed to be intimate with a time native.The book takes place 4 years later and begins with Prenna living as normal a life as possible. However, everything is thrown to chaos when she begins to have feelings for Ethan Jarves.

Let me start by talking about the characters of this story. Prenna and Ethan are the two main characters and, initially, I liked them both. However, Prenna becomes more and more hard to understand as the book progresses. I found myself from time to time asking what she could possibly be thinking when she did certain things that made no logical sense to me. In addition to her odd choices, Prenna occasionally would seem a bit distant. It were as if I couldn't quite keep tabs on the character because she was in and out of herself based on the personality that was initially laid down. I really enjoyed Ethan, though. I found him to be realistic and charismatic. He was by far my favorite character in the entire book.

About halfway through the novel, the action really starts to pick up and pull you in. Up until this point, I felt a bit disconnected from the story. When more elements of the mystery became revealed, I found myself wanting to keep reading to find out what would happen. However, in hindsight, I found that I was a bit unsatisfied with the whole thing. There were definitely plot holes and things that were left out or not tied up well enough for my liking. I didn't feel like the story ended how I wanted it to, although I suppose these sort of feelings aren't uncommon with time travel books. Or, rather, that's what I've heard.

Finally, I want to talk about the world building. This was one of those books that kind of jumped around. There were a lot of little settings and I sort of found that I was making them up myself as they weren't described all that well. Now, don't get me wrong, I am being a little harsh of this book. Considering the fact that I requested a galley of it based on reading the synopsis once, an author I knew I liked, and a really cool looking cover, I can't really complain. Despite the imperfections throughout the book, it did hold my interest in the end there and I did enjoy it on a base level. All that being said, I gave The Here and Now by Ann Brashares a 3.25/4. I rounded it to 3 to make things easier, but the .25 is simply just because as many problems as I found with this book, I still ended up enjoying it just the same.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived

Author: Victoria Schwab
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 328
Reading Level: Young Adult

"Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption."

MY THOUGHTS:

This book was way more enjoyable than I had anticipated. Not that I thought it would be a bad read, I just wasn't quite sure what to expect going into it. To be honest, the first 50-100 pages were a little slow to me. However, I really don't think that it would be like that for everyone. I must have been distracted or not paying enough attention. My problem was just that I couldn't make sense of everything. It was sort of like the mentality people have about high fantasy novels. (Not that this book is fantasy, because it's not.) She was laying down the groundwork and information you needed to know to understand the story and my brain was just totally not having it.

Move on from that, around page 75-100 I started to really get into the story. Once it hit all that excitement and action, it never stopped. I was so enthralled to see what would happen next. I would definitely consider this book not only a paranormal-ish style book, but first and foremost a mystery. Each page kept me guessing and eager to know how things would pan out. After that point, I really couldn't put it down.

I'm not sure how to accurately describe the story without spoiling little things, but I'm going to try to avoid it. Essentially, the main character is Mackenzie Bishop. She's a teenager who's family moves into this new apartment building because her mother's going to refurbish the coffee shop on the base floor. But, Mackenzie isn't a normal teenage girl because she's a keeper who returns Histories to where they've come from. In the new apartment building, she meets a boy named Wesley and the story evolves from there.

I think that this is definitely a plot driven book, but that's not to say the characters didn't have depth. They were well-thought-out and definitely intriguing. But, to me the novel was as I mentioned a mystery story which really kept the action moving. I enjoyed the settings extremely much. The apartment building and the archive/narrows were detailed enough that my mind could form them perfectly and at the same time feeling like I was adding my own touches.

What I'm trying to say is that all around and in every aspect I felt like this book was perfect. I would highly, highly recommend this book to other readers. I own the sequel, The Unbound, and I can't wait to read it because the story didn't really have a cliffhanger as far as I'm concerned. I'm excited to see what adventures Victoria Schwab takes us on next. I rated this book a 4.5/5 stars only because of the slow start. Despite the fact that I didn't rate it a 5/5, this was definitely one of my favorite books and probably the best book I read in March.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)

Author: Marissa Meyer
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 454
Reading Level: Young Adult

"Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner."

MY THOUGHTS:

I know a ton of people here in the book blogging community are completely obsessed mega-fangirls of The Lunar Chronicles. I am proud to admit that I am one of those people. This series just has everything I could ever want in a book series. The fairy tale retellings are done flawlessly. The characters pop and have a ton of depth. The books have been particularly quick, fast-paced reads. The sci-fi elements push me out of my comfort zone and introduce me to themes that I didn't even know I loved to read about. I could honestly go on forever. There are so many fabulous things about this series that really make it what it is.

In Scarlet, the plot already laid out in the first book, Cinder, picks up right where it left off. We follow Cinder and Kai's story while also meeting a few new characters and adding them into the mix. I try not to spoil anything in my reviews, so I'm just going to say that I think I might have liked this book a little bit more. I don't know if it was the action taking place or the new characters that were introduced, but something really sucked me in. It might have been the fact that I somehow felt a bit more connected to Scarlet than I had with Cinder. I think I understood her a bit better.

On the topic of characters, we meet three new, prominent characters in this book; Scarlet being the most significant. Scarlet is a bit more feisty than Cinder and she is a lot less insecure. I really liked Scarlet's confidence and the way she would stop at nothing to get things done throughout the story. I won't say much about Wolf, other than the fact that I really enjoyed his personality. I think Wolf is one of the more dynamic character's that's been introduced in the series and there is definitely a lot of depth to him as a person. Finally, we have Captain Thorne who I adore. From what I've heard, Thorne is very significant in the next book, Cress, so that's one of the many reasons that I cannot wait to jump into book number three.

Cinder took place entirely in New Bejing, whereas Scarlet is a bit more scattered and loose when it comes to settings. I really enjoyed getting to see this future world through the eyes of other countries. I loved all the scenes in France and, again, I think that adds to the reasons why I loved Scarlet as a character. I like France in life, it's one of my favorite countries. So, getting to see scenes in this book take place in a country that I love and find extremely interesting was super exciting for me.

All in all, Scarlet was an action-packed, well-fleshed-out, exciting, fantastic second installment to this series. I loved the movement of the plot, the multifaceted characters, and the intriguing settings. As with Cinder, I really can't find anything bad to say about these books. They're so engaging and suspenseful and I cannot wait to continue the story in Cress. I gave Scarlet a 5/5 stars, obviously. If you're someone who likes sci-fi or fairy tales but isn't sure about the other, I would definitely recommend this series. It's opened the door for me when it comes to trying out genres that I don't know much about. In addition to that, if you've read Cinder and have yet to read Scarlet, I would tell you to read it right now because if you're anything like me you'll totally love it.

Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: He Belongs With Me by Sarah Darlington

He Belongs With Me

Author: Sarah Darlington

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Reading Level: Adult (17+)

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

"Identical twins, Maggie and Clara Ryder, both grew up with Leo Maddox, billionaire playboy, apparent alcoholic, and heir to his grandfather's world-famous Maddox hotel empire. Their roles were cemented long ago: Maggie, as his best friend and Clara as his childhood nemesis.

But when a simple twist of fate changes everything and both girls start to fall for the lean, mean, ridiculously sexy and seemingly spoiled Leo... which girl will win his heart?

Throw in a little mischief, drama, and one smoking-hot bartender and lines are sure to blur. But one thing's for certain, neither good-girl Maggie nor rebellious Clara will be satisfied until they each figure out where they belong. 

*NEW ADULT ROMANCE. Recommended for 17+ due to sexual situations and adult language.*"

MY THOUGHTS:

I received an e-copy ARC of this book from the author.

All my thoughts are honest and unbiased.

Guh! This book just gave me all of the feels, okay? Let me start off by saying I'm someone who doesn't read a ton of contemporary. I don't usually go for new adult, nor do I even own a lot of books focusing on romance and relationships as the main, driving forces. All that being said, I REALLY enjoyed He Belongs With Me. This book had me feeling all the emotions as if I were right there with the characters and I found myself wanting to read it as much as possible as I couldn't get them out of my head. I needed to know what was going to happen next!

When reading this novel, I found myself comparing it to an ABC Family drama like Pretty Little Liars or Twisted. I suppose that's something to expect from a new adult, contemporary romance, but Sarah Darlington pulled it off phenomenally. My mind even drifted to thoughts of High School Musical 2, but I think that's probably because much of the story takes place at a country club just as that movie does. Speaking of settings, I really enjoyed that this book took place mostly in Virginia and New York. I could picture the country club and where everything was located very well and the "world building", if you will, was spot on.

I would say this is quite a character driven book, but that's not to say it's a bad thing. The characters are well-developed and, as far as I could tell, easily relate-able. I found myself siding with one of the twins more than the other which is something that tells me this was a good book. Why? Because I cared enough about the characters to get defensive for them and care about how they were going to end up. In addition to that, there's the typical fangirl notion of picking a guy you like the best. In this book, I had trouble choosing! Although, I obviously settled on Leo. I mean, come on.

Overall, I feel like He Belongs With Me ended up being right up my alley! I laughed at times, totally relating to the twins and the feelings they were dealing with. I also cried towards the end there. I do cry pretty easily, but still.. The clover! GUH. Looking back, I feel like this book was well-rounded and definitely entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to start reading more new adult books as it was definitely a gateway book for me. I'm sure I'll read more new adult in the near future. In the end, I gave He Belongs With Me a sold 4/5 stars. This book was absolutely peaches. (Is that how you use that word?)

GIVEAWAY:

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sarah Darlington lives in the DC metro area, is married to her high school sweetheart, and currently spends her time chasing around a very active toddler. As a former flight attendant, she misses the days of pantyhose, galley gossip with good friends, and traveling to new places. In the future she'd like to return to that career, but, just as flying gets into your bones, so does writing. Whenever she gets a free moment these days, she writes.

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