Huntress by Malinda Lo + Crossed by Ally Condie

Series:N/A

 Author: Malinda Lo
Page Count: 371
Published: December 11th, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  2.5 Stars ★★

Huntress is about powerful sage Taisin and mundane Kaede, who live in a world where crops are failing, people are starving, and their home is in danger. The girls are selected to travel to Tanlili, where they are to speak with the Fairy Queen. But the journey to Tanlili possesses dangers, and some may not make it out alive. Not to mention the girls' hearts, which may be falling for each other.


I really enjoyed Ash, a Cinderella retelling by Malinda Lo. As a result I was hoping to enjoy Huntress, but unfortunately, I didn't. It wasn't the worst book ever, but I'd rather have skipped it had I known it would be like this.


My main issue is with the pacing. It made it very boring. After about 25% of the book, I was just skimming large parts, entire chapters. There was wayyyyy too much description! It kind of feels like the author was just spouting off description to fill the book up! This book could have been better....were it about 100 pages thinner.


I did like the sort of tense, almost resistant romance the two girls developed. Taisin, as a sage, would end up celibate for her whole life, so she was really uncertain concerning starting a romance with Kaede. I thought that added some romantic suspense to the book because I was wondering if she'd choose Kaede, or if she'd abandon her. I also liked the fantasy elements, like the fact that sages even exist as a valid occupation or title in this society, along with the fairies!


Overall, I can't say I truly enjoyed this, however it wasn't entirely horrible. While there was way too much description for my tastes, I did like the romance and the fairies!


Find Huntress on Goodreads

Series: Matched

 Author: Ally Condie 
Page Count: 367
Published: March 12th, 2013
Publisher: Speak
  4 Stars ★★★★

Life forever changed for Cassia in Matched when she dared to question the Society. Now in Crossed, her journey continues as she sneaks away during a camp transfer, and finds herself in the Outer Provinces. She wants to look for the Rebellion and for Ky, who was sent away after the events of Matched, and who she loves.


But attacks and gunfire are common in the Outer Provinces, and she must travel far to reach the Rebellion. She's not sure if she will even find Ky.....will she survive?


This was a good follow-up to Matched, and I like that this book focused on the journey through the Outer Provinces, along with Cassia's hopes and fears. This story was told through both Ky and Cassia's viewpoints, which I also enjoyed because it gave me a peek into what both of them were dealing with, particularly since they were often not together.


I continued to hope that Cassia and Ky would succeed in their mission! But I have to say that I'm not sure if I want Cassia to end up with Ky or Xander. I really like them both! I can't wait to read the next book to see how the trilogy ends.


Find Crossed on Goodreads

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher + Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Series: N/A
Author: Lucy Christopher
Page Count: 369
Published: October 3rd, 2013
Publisher: Chicken House
  3.5 Stars ★★★

Emily's father is accused of killing a teenage girl when he comes home with her dead body one night. Emily's "friends" turn on her, and Damon, the boyfriend of the girl who was killed, is angry at Emily and Emily's father for what happened.

A war veteran with PTSD, her father's lawyers say that he might have had a flashback, killing the girl not on purpose, but in a horrible accident. But Emily is determined to find out the truth, which takes her into the woods where the girl died.

I enjoyed Stolen by Lucy Christopher, so I was excited to see that she wrote a thriller! This book really was nothing like Stolen, but enjoyable in it's own way. However, I was slightly disappointed.

I liked the way that the issue of Emily's father suffering from PTSD was added into the narrative. It made me wonder if he truly was innocent, or if he had killed the girl, either by accident or not. It added to the mystery! I suspected many different people throughout the book, but I must say that the big reveal was truly surprising for me.

I loved the woods. The descriptions of the woods throughout the book made them sound beautiful and creepy and menacing and mysterious all at once! I found myself wanting to visit these woods. Emily's father's bunker in the woods was another interesting location, with a bit of mystery and a possibility of sinister happenings. The setting was truly the strong point of the book, in my opinion.

I feel like sometimes the characters did not act realistically. For example, Emily's "friends" turning on her after her father is suspected of the murder. It's not like she was going around defending murder! She was just hopeful that her father was innocent...wouldn't anyone be? Yet those she trusted became nasty towards her. It seemed very out of place, like an extreme reaction, especially since I'd consider a friend in that predicament as a friends in need of love more than ever. Maybe I'm just too nice or naive.... but that's how I interpreted the characters' actions. Unrealistic.

I also wish that this book had a bit more creepiness in it. There definitely was some, especially with the setting of the woods. But there should have been more clues adding to the mystery. I would have liked more big reveals! More twists and turns!

This was an enjoyable book. However, something was missing.... the characters seemed a bit off, and I wish the author had added a big more creepiness to the story. However, the setting was marvelous.

Find The Killing Woods on Goodreads

~~~~~

Series: Low Red Moon
Author: Ivy Devlin
Page Count: 244
Published: September 14th, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
  2.5 Stars ★★

Avery's parents were murdered. She doesn't remember much about that fateful night, except that she was covered in their blood, and she saw a flash of silver. Leaving her house in the woods to go live with her grandmother, she is haunted by her parents' deaths. 

Ben is a new boy at school. Despite her being called "cursed" due to the blood-red pieces that appeared in her hair, he is drawn to her, and her to him. Soon, Avery learns that the legends of wolves, who are more than merely wolves, are true, and that something evil is after her. 

So this book had a few good things. First off, the mystery of who murdered Avery's parents. Really, that's the main thing that kept me reading. I also felt some empathy towards Avery's character as she struggled through the difficult time after their deaths, trying to untangle her memories and remember her childhood home in a more positive light. 

The rest of the book wasn't all that great. Ben was just a pretty face. Literally. I had no clue who he was as a person besides pretty and caring about Avery. He needed wayyyyyyy more character development. 

Then there's the romance between Avery and Ben. While their attraction is more of a paranormal or supernatural nature, it still bothered me how Avery literally falls for Ben after her parents are barely dead. And it's not a slow, building attraction. No, and a slight spoiler alert here, but she kisses him after visiting her childhood home in the middle of the night! And he's there with no explanation! I feel like the traumatic memories of her dead parents would probably overshadow her crush on this pretty boy but I guess not....

This book had a lot of potential. If it had been longer, it may have been a lot better. The author needed to develop the character a lot more, and the romance needed more development as well. Not to mention, the ending....very unsatisfying, in my opinion. 

I'd also like to mention that the sequel, Moonrise, doesn't appear to be available anywhere so...if you wanted to read the sequel, you've run out of luck. 

Overall, disappointing. I liked the murder mystery and Avery's struggles with coping with her parents' deaths, but the book was too short and the romance was not at all believable.

Find Low Red Moon on Goodreads

A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

Series: Winter Trilogy
Author: Ruth Warburton
Page Count: 346
Published: January 5th, 2012
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
  2.5 Stars ★★

Anna and her father have just moved to Wicker House in a town called Winter. The house is old and needs work, but things become interesting when Anna finds a spell book. She invites her new friends over for the night and they cast a love spell from the book, not expecting anything to happen. Soon after, Seth, a boy at school, dumps his girlfriend....for Anna. 

The spell has actually worked, and Anna isn't sure what to do next. Little does she know that she is actually a true witch herself, and that she has broken rules and over-stepped the bounds that many other witches, both in and out of the little community of Winter, have agreed upon. A love spell may be the least of her worries. 

Unfortunately, I have to say that I am disappointed with this book. I was excited to read it, (as I am usually excited to read most books) but the cover had drawn me in and the synopsis made it sound like this book would either be some kind of paranormal, romantic comedy, or maybe on the creepier side of things. This was neither.

Instead, I got an unbelievable romance with an impulsive heroine. Sure, impulsive characters can be interesting and even likeable, but I didn't really like Anna, so her impulsiveness just seemed annoying. I feel like she was actually really foolish, and again, not in a funny, or a likeable, way. She never seemed to think things through. Overall, she wasn't really a person I would ever hang out with, if she were real. 

Then there was Seth. I think he wasn't a bad character, but he was way too flat. Just calling him a bad boy and saying that he got into a fight or two doesn't tell me enough about his character. I feel like I didn't know him well enough by the end of the book to care about him, or his romance with Anna, for that matter. 

I really didn't care about Anna and Seth's relationship. While Seth was initially enchanted by Anna, even when he is supposedly free of the charm, he is still head over heels for her, and the author tries to pass this off as true love. While there are certainly ways to convince a reader of this, the author failed miserably and I spent the rest of the book hoping that Seth would snap out of it and run away from Anna. Honestly, he ended up in way too much danger for a girl he just met, and who manipulated him through magic, of all things, to have feelings for her! I could understand an attraction, but the author tried painting it as actual love, and after the ridiculous circumstances it just doesn't fit. 

Fortunately, this book did have an interesting concept. The idea of love spells, trying to fix one's mistake, and possibly inciting the wrath of other witches is one that could make a really, really great story! The author's writing style was pleasant, it flowed very well and I could read for long periods of time without getting tired from overly-wordy sections and unnecessary descriptions, as I have with other authors. Unfortunately, the execution of the plot and the characters nearly made this a did-not-finish for me, and I won't be reading the next book in the series. 

If you like books with lots of romance and magic, this is a book you may enjoy. YA readers who like paranormal stories might want to try this one out, if the concept intrigues you.

Find A Witch in Winter on Goodreads

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

 

 Series: Dust Lands
Author: Moira Young
Page Count: 459
Published: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
  2.5 Stars ★★

Saba lives with her father, her brother Lugh, and her sister Emmi. Their home is in Silverlake, where they live alone beside a drying-out lake and face sandstorms regularly. When Lugh is taken by strange men on horseback, Saba vows to rescue him and she starts on a journey to get him back.

But her journey is anything but smooth, and she must face harsh weather, dangerous creatures and people with evil intentions. With the help of some friends along the way, she's hopeful to get Lugh back before anything happens to him. But what if she doesn't make it in time?

I feel a bit conflicted over this book. There were some things that I liked, but the things that I didn't like are quite significant and affected my reading experience greatly. I hate giving books a low rating, but I can't find any way to justify rating this over a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

So the best thing about this book was the story. I loved the concept of a dystopian wasteland and the thing that really kept me reading was the events and struggles that Saba faced, and the hope that she would find her brother. I had trouble putting this book down because I wanted to hurry up and read it to find out what happened to Lugh, I wanted to see if she would save him. 

Saba's journey was an interesting one, filled with fights and scheming and making new friends. However, while I enjoyed the story, I can't say that I enjoyed the book itself.

The big issue for me was the writing style. The author decided not to use punctuation such as quotation marks when someone was talking, so that made for some confusion when there was a conversation between several people. I'd have to go back and read the page over to make sure I knew who was saying what. Sometimes I couldn't tell if something was being said out loud, or only in Saba's head. 

To add to the confusion was the deliberate misspelling of words to convey an accent or style of speaking. I understand wanting the reader to know what Saba sounds like, but this along with the lack of proper punctuation just added more confusion. I get that the author was probably trying to make her book unique, trying to make Saba seem more real and genuine, however it didn't work for me. 

I felt a bit distanced from the events that took place. In many books I feel like I'm actually there with the characters, and I find that makes a story all the better. But I felt more like just a spectator in this one, and I found that disappointing. If not for my interest in the ending, I probably wouldn't have continued reading past the first one hundred pages. 

Overall, a unique read with a great concept, but the writing style didn't work for me. 

Fans of futuristic and dystopian novels may like this. If you like action-packed stories and the writing style doesn't seem like it would bother you, I think it would be worth a try. 

Find Blood Red Road on Goodreads