Book Title Book Tag

I found this awesome tag at Metaphors and Moonlight . You use book titles to answer the questions asked!

1) Title that's the story of your life

 Chasing Truth covers this one. Essentially my whole life I've been chasing truths: who am I? What is family? What's important in life? I want to know the true answers to all of these questions.

2) Title that describes your perfect weekend

 

Blood and Chocolate. By blood I mean watching great horror movies. And chocolate speaks for itself. 

3) Title of an adventure you'd like to go on

 

 The Killing Woods. What if a body was found in some woods years ago, and I go out into the woods and hold a seance? Now that would be fun. I don't like going on crazy adventures.... just some nice woods fairly close by for the night is an adventure enough for me.

4) Title you want to name your child

 Mercy would make a nice name.

5) Title of your ideal job

 

 

 Author, Author. Yep you guessed it.... an author! I wonder what gave it away?

6) Title of a place you'd like to visit

 

Vampire Academy. I'd love to visit a school of vampires!

7)  Title of your love life

Did I Mention I Love You? I'm always telling my boyfriend how much I love him.

8) Questions you ask yourself 

 

 M or F? As in, how do I dress today so that my genderfluid self might get gendered properly?

9) Title of a kingdom you want to rule or name

 

 Night World. If I rule the Night World, that would make me some sort of supernatural creature. Yes please! Can I be a vampire?

10) Title you'd name your band 

Oblivion. I just think that'd be a great name for some kind of rock band.

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Series: The Internment Chronicles
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Page Count: 356
Published: March 10th, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
  3.5 Stars ★★★

Morgan lives on Internment, a city in the sky. While some have tried jumping off the edge, hoping to fall down to earth, none succeed, and all return with any number of afflictions. She knows this all too well: her brother went blind after jumping off the edge. While she knows the dangers, Morgan just can't stop wondering about life on earth, and about what it would be like to approach the edge of her beloved city.

When a girl is murdered, the citizens of Internment are shocked. Supposedly killed by Judas, the boy she was set to marry, Daphne Leander's murder makes Morgan believe that things are changing, and not for the better. When she and Judas come face to face, Morgan is convinced that he is innocent, and this begins Morgan's quest for the truth about Internment. 

I picked this up as a fan of Lauren DeStefano's Chemical Garden Trilogy, intrigued by the concept of a city in the sky. As I've enjoyed the first two books of her dystopian trilogy so far, I decided I'd try another one of her books. I had high hopes, hopes which were not exactly fulfilled, unfortunately. 

So, I really liked the world of Internment. The world-building was amazing, with everything from religion to government to social norms covered in a way that didn't overwhelm me, nor bore me. Descriptions of Morgan's life, her hopes, her dreams, and her family brought the main character to life, and she seemed to become someone more than just a character written on a page in a book. 

However, the first half of this book was too slow for me. While it is interesting to read about daily life in some kind of fantasy, dystopian society, I can only read about it for so long before I become bored. Sure, interesting bits were added in every now and then for the first fifty percent of the novel, but I found myself speed-reading to get to the next exciting event. This was the main issue for me, and it was bad enough that it knocked a few stars off of my rating for this book. 

The second half of this book, however, was much, much better than the first. The plot sped up and Morgan found herself caught in between her home, Internment, and the truth. She had to make some difficult choices, and her relationships, including those with her best friend, her betrothed, and her family, change both for the better and for the worse, forever. There were some really sad moments, and the author did a great job of making me care about what was going on. There was a lot of anticipation for the ending, and I rushed through the second half. I needed to know how it would end. 

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be reading the rest of the series. While I was captivated by the world of Internment and Morgan's hopes and fears, the way that this book was paced really just made me hurry to finish reading it. I don't care enough about how the series is going to end to read through a few more books and possibly deal with another boring first half again. 

Overall, I liked the idea, but I think that the pacing, especially in the first half of the book, was too slow. This resulted in me wanting to hurry and finish this book, but I ended up not caring about the whole story itself to consider finishing the trilogy. 

If you like stories with a lot of pieces of everyday life, especially those in dystopian societies, you might like this book. If you're interested in a book about corrupt governments and questioning what one has been told, you might consider giving this book a try.

Find Perfect Ruin on Goodreads

50/50 Friday - Book You Enjoyed with the Most/Least Page Count

This meme is hosted at The Butterfly Reader and Blue Eye Books

This week's topic is book you enjoyed with the most / least page count

Most pages

 

The book I enjoyed with the most pages is Kingdom of the Wicked. It's at 607 pages, and its the 7th book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series

Least pages

The book I enjoyed with the least pages is probably The Wrong Turn by Annika Martin. I read it as an eBook so I'm not sure how many pages it was considered, but Goodreads puts it at 103 pages. (I'm not counting short stories here)

Firespell by Chloe Neill

Series: The Dark Elite
Author: Chloe Neill
Page Count: 246
Published: January 5th, 2010
Publisher: Signet
  4 Stars ★★★★

Lily's parents are going on a trip overseas, so they enroll her in St. Sophia's, a fancy, elite boarding school for girls. As she gets used to her new surroundings, including lots of rich, spoiled teens, she becomes friends with Scout, one of her suite-mates. 

Scout may not be petty and judgemental like the rest of her classmates, but she's keeping secrets. Lily wonders where Scout goes when she sneaks out at night, and when Lily is the victim of a prank and becomes trapped in the school's basement, she runs into Scout, who is running from something much worse than boarding school bullies. 

Lily is thrown into a world where magic is real and the corrupted Dark Elite maintain their powers at the expense of others. She's fascinated yet fearful at the thought of the real-life equivalent of wizards and warlocks walking among the streets of Chicago. After all, she's just a regular human....or is she?

I really liked this author's take on wizards or warlocks. While the idea of different factions of some paranormal group feuding might seem over-used, Chloe Neill makes it seem fresh and new again with the rivalries between Scout's group of magic-wielding teens protecting the city, and the corrupted Reapers. I will probably read the next book because I want to know more about the Reapers and the world they live in. While they're portrayed as evil, the concept of feeding off of others in some way to maintain power kept me hooked to this book and their world. It's somewhat creepy and definitely intriguing. 

I really liked the whole atmosphere of this book. It takes place in various locations, though the boarding school, St. Sophia's, is one of the primary settings. The descriptions of the school itself painted a vivid picture in my mind and really helped me to visualize what was going on. I really liked the descriptions given when Lily was in the basement or catacombs, especially when she gets lost. 

However, I feel like the characters in this book were not memorable at all. That really disappointed me! Everyone from Lily to Scout to the love interests seemed somewhat flat and lacking uniqueness. There wasn't really anything to distinguish them from other characters from other young adult urban fantasy novels, so I didn't feel much of a connection to any of them. I hope that in the next book, the characterization continues and they develop a lot more as people, because if this isn't the case, unless the situation with the rivalries between Scout's group and the Reapers becomes extremely interesting, I don't think that I will be compelled to continue on in the series. 

Overall I enjoyed this author's take on magic-users and paranormal rivalries. The descriptions of the settings helped me to see things as the characters saw them, but as for the characters themselves, this book falls short. 

I recommend this book to readers who like YA urban fantasy. 

Find Firespell on Goodreads

50/50 Friday - Bookish Gift You'd Most/Least Like to Receive

This meme is hosted at The Butterfly Reader and Blue Eye Books

This week's topic is bookish gift you'd most / least like to receive

Most

 

Besides actually books or gift cards to bookstores, I'd love to get some nice bookmarks. I've started a small bookmark collection and I'd love to add more! 

Least

I'd be thankful for any bookish gift, but I guess the bookish item I'd use the least would be a piece of jewelry related to books (i.e book fandom necklace, bracelet with a book charm, etc). I like jewelry but I often just forget to wear it.

Do you have any bookish jewelry? What's your favourite bookmark?

My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews

 Series: Audrina
Author: V.C. Andrews
Page Count: 403
Published: September 15th, 1990
Publisher: Pocket Books
  3 Stars ★★★

Audrina isn't the first Audrina. No, she's the second and worst Audrina. Her father wants her to be like the first and best Audrina, sitting in a rocking chair to capture her "gifts". Staying home with her mother and aunt, it seems that she can't remember before a certain point in her life. Time passes by quickly, and she has to deal with her mean cousin Vera, who gets to go to school.

The first Audrina is dead, and her family often visits the girl's grave. They warn the second Audrina never to go in the woods, because that's where their first daughter was attacked and murdered. As she's tormented by Vera, and as time passes by, it becomes obvious that there's something that she doesn't know, and whatever it is could change her life forever.

Ok, so this book was really, really, really weird. I have never read anything like it before in my life.

There were some great things, and some not so great things. First, the great things. The author did a good job of capturing a fairly creepy atmosphere throughout the book. Audrina's home is big and fancy, yet it seems to hold frightening secrets. Descriptions of everything from the windows to the wind chimes added to the unsettling feel of the novel.

Audrina's confusion was also well represented. I found myself just as confused as her at times, what with the strange rituals her family performed (teatime, anyone?), and the passing of time, and her memory issues. I think the author's intention was to clue the reader in that something was wrong with Audrina, and that definitely worked.

I also found the family extremely creepy and unlikeable. Now, this didn't take away from the book at all, rather it added to the distinctly disturbing atmosphere. The way that her family phrased things was at times inappropriate for the occasion and shocking, and her father was a frightening mix of loving yet abusive. Her aunt was also quite abusive and obviously had many unsolved personal issues, and her mother seemed off to me. Vera, her cousin, was a horrible bully, making life harder for poor Audrina.

Now, there are the things that I didn't like. The first half of the book was way too slow. I understand that the author wanted to build tension and convey the confusion that Audrina felt, but she didn't have to take two hundred pages to do that. Some scenes felt drawn out and unnecessary. This book could have done with a hundred less pages, and still been just as unsettling.

I also found the explanation behind what was going on to be anti-climactic. I had guessed it from near the beginning, but I was thinking that this couldn't be the case, it was too predictable and actually didn't even make much sense.....how would Audrina's family achieve this? The explanation was not very believable. That was disappointing.

Overall, this book had a very unsettling atmosphere and characters that thoroughly creeped me out. However, the conclusion fell short of my expectations, and the first half of the book dragged on for way too long.

I recommend this book to those looking for a creepy mystery. If you're interested in books with characters who clearly have issues, with plots that span over many years, and with an unsettling atmosphere, this book is for you.

Find My Sweet Audrina on Goodreads

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

 Series: Shades of London
Author: Maureen Johnson
Page Count: 372
Published: October 2nd, 2012
Publisher: Speak
  4.5 Stars ★★★★

 Rory is an American teenager who moves to London to attend a boarding school. On the day that she arrives, a brutal murder occurs, and it is oddly similar to a murder committed by the infamous Jack the Ripper from decades before. She soon learns, as she deals with meeting new people, crushing on a guy, and talking with a strange and mysterious man, that the horror has only begun, and that she has some amazing abilities of her own. 

As is the case with many of my books, I snagged this one from the bookstore while it was on sale. Drawn in by the cover and the idea of Jack the Ripper, I couldn't resist. While this book was not exactly what I expected, it was certainly enjoyable, with an ending that left me wanting to read more about Rory and what comes next for her. 

I really like the way that the author wrote the characters, especially Rory and her roommates, including one who comes along a bit later in the novel. They created friendships and relationships that to me well mimicked what I see in the real world, which brought the friends together in times of crisis or fear. However, I can't say the same for the romantic aspect. I didn't really understand why Rory found herself attracted to Jerome. While he didn't seem like a bad guy in any way, he didn't exactly seem too appealing either, he didn't feel as real as Rory and her friends did. 

A piece of the book that I really enjoyed included all of the various happenings with the mysterious and strange man that Rory comes across. She is actually the only one who can see him for a portion of the book, which lead to a great guessing game on my end. I won't spoil the explanation behind it all, but I was definitely satisfied with how the author explained what was going on. 

The ending was a cliffhanger and has me adding the second book in the series to my wishlist. I hope that some of my questions left over from this book will be answered in the next, and that I'll be able to read about the cast of characters again, and maybe learn more about them, in book two. 

I recommend this to people who like their murder mysteries with a side of paranormal intrigue, If you're interested in Jack the Ripper and ghosts, this is a great pick for you. 

Find The Name of the Star on Goodreads

Beautiful Book Cover of the Day

Heya there everyone! Today I wanted to share another beautiful book cover.

From Goodreads:


Claire Kincaid’s family has been in business for over fifty years.

The voodoo business.

Part of the International Guild of High Priests and Priestesses, a secret society that have practiced voodoo for generations, the Kincaids run an underground supply house for authentic voodoo supplies. Claire plays along, filling orders for powders, oils and other bizarre ingredients in the family store, but she has a secret.

She doesn’t believe.

Struggling to reconcile her modern sensibilities with a completely unscientific craft based on suspicion, Claire can’t wait to escape New Orleans – and voodoo – when she goes to college, a desire that creates almost constant conflict in her secret affair with Xander Toussaint, son of the Guild’s powerful founding family.

But when a mysterious customer places an order for a deadly ingredient, Claire begins to realize that there’s more to voodoo – and the families that make up the Guild – than meets the eye.

Including her own.

As she bands together with the other firstborns of the Guild, she comes face to face with a deadly enemy – and the disbelief that may very well kill her.

~~~~~~~

I want to read this book eventually. I think the book cover is so gorgeous and the synopsis is very intriguing. Have you read this? What did you think?