Category: Young Adult Fiction

Cress by Marissa Meyer | Book Review

Posted January 2, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 39 Comments

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Fairest, Winter, Stars Above
Published by Feiwel and Friends on February 4, 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance, Steampunk
Pages: 560
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Mail)
Add to Goodreads
Buy on Amazon

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

When I think of Cress, I have a very hard time containing the love I have for it. And then I think, “HOLY CRAP. SO GOOD.” I loved Cinder, and I loved Scarlet. But Cress? Oh my. It’s in a league all its own. As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. Cress is the most creative Rapunzel retelling I have read in my entire life. Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite? What? And the book takes place in the Sahara Desert? Whoa. And Rapunzel is a hacker? YES. And THEN it’s all smashed together with Cinder’s and Scarlet’s stories? Yes please! I love that these three fairytale ladies are kicking butt, taking names, and reclaiming their world from the evil Queen Levana. Marissa Meyer is a genius.

2. I’ve said it once (actually, twice), and I’ll say it again. Thank you, Marissa, for giving us amazingly strong heroines. While Cress is more naive and awkward, as any Rapunzel should be, she is still brave and feisty and strong. I just loved her. Cinder is just as freakin’ amazing as ever, but MORE. We’re getting down to the wire. It’s wedding time, and she has to do something to stop Kai from marrying Queen Levana and ruining the world. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Cinder went crazy. She is discovering her lunar abilities even more, and really pushing herself beyond her limits. I am so proud of her. And Scarlet, wonderful Scarlet. It was so nice to see her again.

3. Don’t get me wrong. I love the ladies, but the MEN. Oh my. Thorne has swept me off my feet countless numbers of times, but he completely stole my heart in Cress. He’s full of so much snark and sarcasm. I just know his one-liners will be referenced forever. He gets knocked down a level of two in Cress, and experiences some weak moments. I loved seeing this new side of him, all vulnerable and caring. And Wolf, be still my heart. What a big teddy bear. He also struggles in this book, and I had ALL THE FEELS for him. Kai. *swoon* We are finally getting to know him better. He’s so charming and realistic. I love how concerned he is for Cinder, watching her pop up on the news as a wanted criminal and hoping she never gets found.

4. There is so much action and drama packed into Cress’s 560 pages that I could hardly handle myself. Bam, bam, bam. Something huge is either happening, or has just happened. The recovery time between jolts is so short that I felt like I was on this never-ending roller coaster of emotions and feelings. So much happens! And when something REALLY crazy happens and the group gets split up, not even knowing if everyone is alive, I tore through those pages like you wouldn’t believe. Cress is definitely the most action-packed novel of the three, and even though it’s so long I wanted more and more.

5. There are still so many mysteries we are left with. The plague. The state of the planet. What’s going to happen to everyone? Who can be trusted? I’m being really careful not to give anything away here, so forgive my vagueness.

6. Marissa’s writing is flawless. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of growth in her since Cinder, and I am so proud of her.

I have so much love for Cress, and can’t imagine Marissa Meyer topping this one. She has proven to us before, though, that she can and she will. The Lunar Chronicles series is my absolute favorite. I don’t know whether I should pine for Winter or dread it, because I never want to leave these characters and their amazing world.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally | Book Review + Giveaway

Posted December 5, 2013 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Review, Giveaway, Young Adult Fiction / 7 Comments

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally
Series: Hundred Oaks #4
Also in this series: Stealing Parker
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on December 3, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
Add to Goodreads
Buy on Amazon

They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…

This is the second book I’ve read in the Hundred Oaks series. I read Stealing Parker last year, and did not fall in love with it like I had hoped. I was really drawn to Racing Savannah, because of the horses. I’ve never been a horse person, but I loved the idea of a racetrack romance. After all, I’ve always had a thing for cowboys! I ended up liking Racing Savannah much more than Stealing Parker, and am glad I gave this series another shot! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. I really loved the setting of Racing Savannah. I loved the stables, the racetrack, the horses. The author did a great job painting a picture of the farm and the horse racing. I actually really liked the horse races. They were exciting! When I was little I always wanted to ride horses, so this aspect of the story made me really happy. The horse that Savannah spent most of her time with, Star, had a sweet personality and I loved the time she spent with him.

2. The characters were fun, but I particularly liked one of the secondary characters, Rory. He also works on the farm, and is Savannah’s wacky friend. He writes questionable screenplays, and has the hots for Vanessa. I love these two. Vanessa is sweet and such a good friend to Savannah. I actually liked their romance more than Savannah and Jack’s, just because there was much less drama. I liked Savannah ok, but she was nothing special. I liked that, despite her family’s lack of money, her time on the farm inspired her to make more out of her life. I liked watching her fight for her future. I did get annoyed at her judgmental attitude. I liked Jack, but did not really like him in the role of owner of the farm. He’s just a little too young to be running things, and making such big decisions. And really, could Jack have been more perfect? I was constantly questioning him, because I could not find one thing wrong with him (except that he was a bit too scared of his parents). I liked both his and Savannah’s families, but I think Savannah’s dad was my favorite. I liked how much he cared about her, and what a sweet father-daughter relationship they have.

3. I’ve never been a fan of the clash between classes kind of storyline. I felt like there was too much emphasis placed on rich people vs. poor people. Savannah’s dad was worried he would lose his job if Savannah dated Jack. Cindy, Savannah’s dad’s pregnant girlfriend, was scared to ask for time off because she would be fired for being sick. Jack was worried his parents would be mad if he dated Savannah. She was referred to as not being girlfriend material. Savannah had a really bad attitude towards rich people, figuring that they were all heartless people who only cared about getting more money. It just frustrated me. Is this still a valid concern in this day and age? I know this was a problem in the olden days, but I thought it had mostly died out. I don’t understand why money makes a difference.

All in all, I enjoyed Racing Savannah and am happy I read it! The horses made the story unique and enjoyable, and the romances were sweet. Even though I liked Vanessa and Rory’s story a bit more, I did like reading about Savannah’s life-changing decisions and her romance with Jack. There were some pretty sexy scenes, so I would not really recommend this for younger young adults, but it’s a fun new contemporary romance that I’m sure many readers will love. I have not read all of the Hundred Oaks series, but I could tell from some of the names dropped that characters in the previous books check in and let you know what’s going on with them now. I always love it when authors do this, so I’m sure fans of the series will be happy to see them.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to see the boots? Here’s the link! I think they are adorable.

Thanks for visiting my stop along the Racing Savannah tour, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours!
If you are interested in following the tour, you can find the schedule here.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner | Book Review

Posted November 18, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 9 Comments

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Series: Starbound #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on December 10, 2013
Genres: Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
Add to Goodreads
Buy on Amazon

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

I’ve always been a little iffy on outer space books and usually pass on them, but These Broken Stars sounded too amazing to pass up. It ended up being everything I could have hoped for! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. What a unique idea! A ship of vacationing passengers flying through space, only to be knocked out of orbit and crash land on a mysterious planet. These Broken Stars is a combination of Titanic and LOST.

2. I mention LOST, because this planet is wacky. There are whispers and visions and crazy animals and signs of former habitation. And this is all happening for some unknown reason. Are these characters crazy? Are they going insane? Is the planet haunted? Is someone these playing a trick on them? Are they being tested? What s going on!?!

3. These characters are amazing. Since the book really only includes two of them, the authors had to make them interesting or readers would get bored very quickly. I loved Tarver. He is a war hero who is trained in surviving situations like this one. He also comes from a tough life, and has a lot of depth. I loved his strength and his power of motivating Lilac to push on through the pain of hiking in heels and a fancy dress. He has a weak moments in the story, though, which made him more down to earth. His tenderness and dedication are quite endearing. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe, and she is completely thrown out of her comfort zone when she has to take a risk and save herself and Tarver from dying in the crash. She’s not as pretentious as I had expected, which was nice. She quickly adapted to this new life, and grew in maturity. She’s strong, confident, and capable of much more than she realized. 4. The story is told in dual points of view, which I really liked. I find that this is commonly done in survival books, and I always enjoy reading what’s going on in each character’s head.

5. What I did not like were the snippets of Tarver’s post-rescue interrogation at the beginning of every chapter. Because this was done, I knew immediately that they would be rescued. I did not like having the ending spoiled for me, and would have enjoyed the book much more if I had not known this ahead of time.

6. I liked the slow burning romance between Lilac and Tarver. They met on the ship, and while they were both intrigued by one another, they were from two different worlds. Lilac really shot him down and bruised his ego. When they ended up crashing together and being the only two survivors, they were forced to work together or die. They really hated each other for a while, but that began to change and they really cared for each other before they fell in love.

7. There is this mind blowing plot twist that happens, and OH MY THE FEELS. I won’t go into this anymore, but OH MY. I did not know what to do with myself.

8. Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner did an amazing job team writing These Broken Stars. I did not even know this book was written by two authors until I started gathering information to write my review. I’m so impressed that I could not tell! The writing was absolutely lovely.

I can’t wait for the next book! These Broken Stars really surprised me, and was a wonderful way to introduce myself to outer space. I’m so proud of these 2013 debut authors, and hope they continue to write lots together.

Revelations by J.A. Souders | Book Review + Giveaway

Posted November 1, 2013 by Jana in Blog Tour, Book Review, Giveaway, Young Adult Fiction / 6 Comments

Revelations by J.A. Souders
Series: Elysium Chronicles #2
Also in this series: Renegade, Rebellion
Published by Tor Teen on November 5, 2013
Genres: Dystopia, Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Mail)
Add to Goodreads
Buy on Amazon

Six weeks after her arrival on the Surface, Evelyn Winters is no closer to unlocking the memories lost in her subconscious than she was when she first came. Isolated in a strange new society, Evie has only Gavin Hunter to remind her of who she once was.

But even with a clean slate, it’s easy to see that Evie doesn’t fit in on the Surface. And as her differences make her feel more and more alone, she can’t help but yearn for that place she doesn’t remember: the isolated city hidden in the depths of the ocean. Elysium. Home.

But she can’t exactly tell Gavin what she’s feeling. Not when he’s the one who helped her escape Elysium in the first place, and has the scars to prove it. Though the doctors say otherwise, Gavin believes that Evie just needs time. And if her memories don’t come back, well, maybe she’s better off not remembering her past.

But the decision may be out of their hands when Evie’s ever-elusive memories begin to collide with reality. People and images from her past appear in the most unlikely places, haunting her, provoking her…and making her seem not only strange but dangerous.

Evie and Gavin can’t wait around for her memories to return. They’ll have to journey across the Outlands of the Surface to find help, and in the end, their search may just lead them back to the place it all started…

Welcome to my stop along the Revelations blog tour, hosted by Rockstar Book Tours! I’m sure you remember how much I LOVED the first book in this series, Renegade, so I was absolutely delighted to be put on this blog tour! By the way, seeing as how this is book #2 in a series, there will most likely be spoilers for book #1. You’ve been warned! Revelations was amazing! I really loved it. As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. Revelations is written in dual perspectives from both Gavin and Evelyn. I really liked getting to know Gavin better by reading his thoughts, and thought this way a great way to add another exciting element to the story.

2. The book started off a little slow for me, but once things picked up I loved being in this crazy world again! This time we start out in Gavin’s village, with a self-destructing Evie who has no memory of her former life. This lack of memory is seriously dangerous, because she does crazy things and also yearns for returning to the most dangerous place she’s ever been to: Elysium. In the hopes of restoring her memory, Gavin decides he must take her across the dangerous Outlands to the big city for medical attention. Visas are required, though, which will only happen in Gavin’s former best friend goes with them. So, the three set out across the desert to find the city, all the while dodging man-eating vulture-hawks, acid lakes, and coyotes.

3. I really, really like Asher. A lot. I’m having a hard time deciding whether I like him or Gavin better, actually. He’s very suave and he cares a lot about Evie. We get to see a lot of him during the journey through the Outlands, and I love his story and his mysterious nature.

4. Just as J.A. built the awesome world of Elysium, she built a wonderful one in The Outlands. It’s a crazy, crazy, creepy place! I love her creativity.

5. The writing is still absolutely lovely.

6. We learn so many things! Secrets are revealed, and I was just in awe.

I don’t want to spoil anything by giving more away, so I will end my review here. Revelations is full of exciting moments, crazy twists and turns, and wonderful characters. I loved getting more glimpses into the lives of these people, I loved learning more about these worlds, and I loved the sweet relationships that have developed and grown more since Renegade. I can’t WAIT for the next book!

About the Author: J.A. Souders

J.A. SOUDERS is the author of the Elysium Chronicles and lives in the land of sunshine and palm trees with her husband and two children where she spends her time writing about the monsters under the bed, day dreaming about living in an underwater colony, and failing miserably at playing video games.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Magical Urban Fantasy Reads– Guest Post
Katie’s Book Blog– Interview
The Book Life– Review
Curling Up With A Good Book– Guest Post
That Artsy Reader Girl– Review
Bookish– Interview
Two Chicks on Books– Guest Post
Supernatural Snark– Interview
Book Haven Extraordinaire– Review
Jenna Does Books– Review

Six Months Later by Natalie Richards | Book Review

Posted October 21, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 4 Comments

Six Months Later by Natalie Richards
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on October 1, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 326
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
Add to Goodreads
Buy on Amazon

Chloe didn't think about it much when she nodded off in study hall on that sleepy summer day. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now, she's on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her.

What happened to her?
And why can't she remember?

I’m loving these new mystery thrillers Sourcebooks keeps publishing! Mysteries have always been one of my favorite genres, and I’m very excited that they are starting to trend in the young adult book world! Six Months Later is an awesome story from a talented debut author! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. The cool thing about this story is that we know no more than Chloe does. She has completely forgotten six months of her life, and has no idea why. Her best friend won’t talk to her, her parents thinks she is crazy, and she’s got this boyfriend who didn’t even know she existed six months ago. Nothing feels comfortable to her. I wasn’t comfortable either! I was squirming, trying to figure out what was going on. I was also intrigued by the bad boy with the bedroom eyes…

2. I liked all the characters for the most part, yet the story took my attention away from them. Chloe is your typical confused heroine. I appreciated the fact that nobody could convince her she was insane. I also liked that even though her memory is gone, she has this innate sense of distrust in people even though she does not know why. She blindly trusts her intuition, which is the sign of a strong character. I adored her best friend, Maggie, even though she played a small part for most of the book. She’s just so sweet, and seemed like a wonderful friend. Clearly, Chloe did something to ruin their friendship, and I kept rooting for them to mend fences and figure everything out. Blake is creeeeepy. He made my skin crawl. Adam is swoony and kind of scary and dangerous. He kept me guessing. My biggest issue with the characters is Chloe’s parents. They are terrible! They don’t like anything about their daughter except for the fake parts, and they don’t trust her either.

3. The mystery aspect was interesting. Why can’t Chloe remember? Why is this new life of hers completely unrecognizable? Who are we supposed to trust? The climax was pretty exciting, and the mystery was finely woven into an exciting plot line. I was able to predict the ending, which was a little disappointing. The author left too many hints, in my opinion. There were some extra details I had not thought of, though, so that was a nice surprise.

I feel like this is a super short review, but at the same time my mystery reviews usually are. My focus is always on the plot. Who did it? Everything else takes a back seat. There was no world building in Six Months Later, and not a much character development because we were not allowed to know much about the characters for the sake of the mystery. I enjoyed it, though! It was a fun, quick, entertaining mystery and I would recommend it to those of you who are looking for just that!