Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Published August 10th 2005 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
277 pages
Source: Borrowed

There are stories that make you think afterwards. You sit there and just stare at the book (or in my case, the Kindle) in your hands. It is a profound feeling, this period of after-book contemplation. It does not strike me often, and I cherish it when it does.

I enjoyed the premise Elsewhere sets up, but thought the execution was lacking. The relationship between Liz and Owen was, to be blunt, almost tacky in my opinion. Most of the novel was dull for me. Yes yes, this happened, whoopee. I would then proceed to click on the next page button, feeling just a tiny bit annoyed at the lack of development.

But the ending. Oh the ending... I was expecting it. There wasn't some huge twist that left me speechless. But the way Gabrielle Zevin phrased it, the simple writing style and the descriptions of Liz and Owen—they were heartbreaking.

I was trying to decide between a 2-star rating for most of the book and a 4-star for the ending. However, most of the book is obviously, umm, the majority of the novel, so I have gone with 2 stars.

Rating: 2

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The Cellar by A.J. Whitten

Published May 2nd 2011 by Graphia
276 pages
Source: ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

The creepy-looking cover of this novel proudly boasts the words: Romeo and Juliet meet the living dead in The Cellar.

Ughhh…
(The above was an exclamation of annoyance, not an attempt to copy the moans of the undead.)

I shall preface this review by saying that yes, I am a huge zombie fan. Zombies are quite possibly the most genius fantastical creatures ever thought up by the human imagination. And despite my grumbling, I really did enjoy Romeo and Juliet. With this uncanny combination of interests, The Cellar must surely be the perfect book for me, right?

Wrong.

Imagine this. You have a dash of zombies are friends with hyenas and a pinch of oh look the lovey-dovey teenagers are off being idiotic again. Stir in the characters’ basically nonexistent personalities, and you’ve got an awkward mix of brown goo that looks and smells suspiciously like a paper copy of Twilight in liquefied form.

Is the plot at least slightly interesting? Well...

First, Boy meets Girl. Both fall in love. But wait, Boy is dangerous, and everyone tells Girl to be careful. Hey, Girl doesn’t care, because love overcomes all obstacles. Yay. And then tons of people die.

Hopefully further elaboration is not needed.

Although The Cellar does not suit my tastes, YA PNR lovers will adore the abundance of true love floating around in this novel. Those particular scenes actually succeeded in making me snort out loud. Twice. I sounded like an irritated bull, and I think I felt rather like one, too.

Rating: 2

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The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Published May 24th 2011 by Harlequin Teen
473 pages
Series: Steampunk Chronicles #1
Source: ARC from Harlequin via NetGalley

After reading a whole slew of horrible reviews of The Girl in the Steel Corset, I had mentally prepared myself for a train wreck. Well, I confess: the novel didn't turn out that badly for me. It wasn't exceptional, but it didn't enduce fits of hair-tearing frustration, mostly. Perhaps I've been desensitized by the unhealthy amount of mediocre YA I've been reading lately.

The characters here are pretty much your standard set of YA heroes, although Finley managed to annoy me quite a bit more than the average heroine. That girl, for the life of her, just doesn't seem to be able to make up her mind about anything. Oooh, Griffin is so handsome. But wait, Jack is hot, too. I'll just blame my attraction on the two warring parts of my personality! No. Just no. And guess what? In case one love triangle isn't enough, we've got two! Aren't you excited? Ugh, at least the two triangles don't overlap. Imagine what a mess that would make. A love hexagon?

The background of the novel comes across as completely random. There are beasties that have cool powers and are apparently harvested from the center of the earth and machines that do your chores or suddenly turn evil and just attack people. Add the Aether, a spiritual plane inhabited by the dead, to all that, and you've got an overload of fantastical elements that don't really coexist nicely with each other.

The Girl in the Steel Corset does not succeed in distinguishing itself from typical YA despite its steampunk flare and gorgeous cover. However, it is still a notch above a lot of YA out there simply because it presents the stereotype in a slightly altered package.

Rating: 2.5

between oh so unremarkable and fairly intriguing

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Published July 26th 2011 by Kensington Publishing
350 pages
Series: Mythos Academy #1
Source: ARC via Flamingnet Teen Book Reviews

Gwen Frost is being forced to attend Mythos Academy, an elite school set apart to train kids who just so happen to be descendants of various mythical warriors. Of course, Gwen doesn’t believe in any of the supernatural skills her classmates supposedly possess. The only type of magic she actually accepts is her own and that of her own family. When the school’s most popular girl, the icy Valkyrie princess Jasmine, is murdered right in the library next to a stolen mythical artifact called the Bowl of Tears, Gwen is determined to get to the bottom of the entire situation. It’s never a good idea to poke your head into other people’s business, though. So the results? Who else is to blame but yourself?

Touch of Frost belongs to the new batch of paranormal stories that all seem exactly the same, only with different character names and fantastical elements. This novel’s back story is a mishmash of tons of various warriors -- from Norse gods to ninjas. While that is certainly a nice idea, it’s never really delved into. Except for a few key warrior gods, all the others felt extraneous and were barely mentioned at all.

The characters aren’t especially mind-blowing, either. You have the blonde mean girl clique, the quirky and unpopular heroine, and the hot bad boy who falls in love with the heroine anyways; just the same formula used over and over and over again. The character with an actual personality was Vic, the ancient magical sword, who has a grand total of about five lines in the entire novel. That is just sad. A sword beats out all those other full-fledged human characters? Sad, sad, sad.

Touch of Frost is quite a cliché, but lovers of stereotypical teen paranormal stories (I know there are a lot of you out there) will devour it with glee.

Rating: 2

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Edda by Conor Kostick

Expected publication: August 4th 2011 by Viking Childrens Books
400 pages
Series: Epic #3
Source: ARC via VOYA

Penelope has known no world beside the video game universe Edda her entire life. Living as the only human avatar in a land of electronic beings, she bears the title Princess and scripts weapons into digital existence for Lord Scanthax as aid for his expanding empire. As a young girl, she was eager to please the cold Lord father figure. But as Penelope matures and discovers her lack of freedom and the reality behind her emaciated human body, fed through tubes and always plugged up to a game console to access Edda, she decides to exact revenge on the beings who have taken advantage of her trust and innocence. While Edda readies for battle for yet another conquest, another band of travels led by Cindella and Ghost from the universe Saga are gathering forces. Nothing is resolved until peace is achieved.

Edda was quite a unique book. I am not an avid gamer myself (aside from the odd Pokemon game here and there), but the novel still managed to capture my attention at the very beginning. Well, to tell you the truth, the interest began to wan as I continued through Edda, and by the end, I was glad to finally read the last word and close up the book.

The novel was definitely written quite well, something I hadn’t originally expected, given the subject and setting of Edda. However, even the hard-core fantasy fan in me had trouble getting into the storyline. The viewpoint jumps from Penelope’s struggles in Lord Santhax’s castle to Cindella and the others’ journey through the electronic realms. What bothered me to no end was the lack of tension, I suppose. Penelope spends the entire novel plotting, and Cindella spends the entire novel traveling and killing things that got in their way. The resolution was short and took up only about 30 pages out of the 440 page book.

Although the novel was not my cup of tea, Edda will appeal to fantasy and sci-fi fans alike, and of course, gamers will enjoy the references to gaming spread throughout.

Rating: 2

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Origins by L.J. Smith

Published November 2nd 2010 by HarperTeen
237 pages
Series: Stefan's Diaries #1
Source: Review Copy via TeensReadToo

Animals are showing up dead in the woods with their throats ripped out and the rest of their bodies untouched, and the residents of the little town of Mystic Falls are freaking out as they attribute the attacks to demonic activity. Through all this mayhem, there is Stefan, who's led a relatively simple life; until now, that is. The boy suddenly finds himself faced with an unexpected arranged marriage and an equally unexpected visitor -- alluring and orphaned Katherine Pierce. Needless to say, it is attraction at first sight, and when Stefan's brother Damon returns from the army and appears to be quite taken with the young Katherine as well, trouble begins to brew. Two brothers and a girl: there has to be a winner, and there has to be a loser.

Based off of the hit CW TV show Vampire Diaries, Origins describes Stefan, Damon, and Katherine’s mysterious back-story. There are countless differences between this book -- co-written by the two TV show producers instead of L.J. Smith -- and the original Vampire Diaries series. While both are enjoyable, I found Origins to be slightly superior plot-wise, and L.J. Smith’s original story to be better written and characterized.

One little quirk: we never really discover who the villain is because of the abrupt ending. A nice conclusion or revelation of some sort would have been cleaned the plot up nicely. Overall, the book was still appealing -- the latter half especially, as the story finally picks up pace.

Origins would be a great read for all die-hard fans of the Vampire Diaries series and TV show, as it presents an alternative view of the Vampire Diaries world and sheds light on the murkiness of Stefan and Damon’s past.

Rating: 2.5

between oh so unremarkable and fairly intriguing

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Published April 19th 2011 by Harlequin
293 pages
Series: Goddess Test #1
Source: ARC from Harlequin via NetGalley

Kate enters the town of Eden with a mother who is on the brink of death and a hope for a better future that is fading bit by bit with the passage of time. As she drags herself through the motions of daily life, weird begin to occur around her. Her new frenemy is raised from the dead after an accident that definitely involved a large quantity of blood, and the only explanation Kate gets from the incident involves a certain dark-haired boy -- Henry, who later claims to be Hades, the infamous god of the Underworld. Kate soon finds herself participating in seven unknown tests to save her mother and help determine the future of the Underworld. A lot of responsibility for an eighteen-year-old, eh?

First off, gorgeous cover. The model’s white dress creates a nice contrast with the dark green fronds and plants in the background. Although that model looks like she’s 25 instead of Kate’s 18, that’s totally beside the point, right?

So here we go: Kate, Kate, Kate. If you existed in real life, you would be receiving death threats from readers of The Goddess Test. It’s one thing to be self-sacrificing and slightly clueless, but dearie, your lack of comprehension of life in general makes me want to go strangle some cute fluffy squirrel in the woods. I know you have a brain. Please use it.

And as various other reviewers have mentioned, the Greek mythology implemented in the plot was stretched just a wee bit too much. None, and I repeat, none of the Greek gods were virgins and/or particularly saint-like in any way. They cheated and murdered and raped and committed incest. Need I go on?

The Goddess Test presents modern twist of the myth of Hades and Persephone that strays a bit too far from the original. Combined with annoying characters and background inaccuracies, the novel was somewhat of a chore to get through. Although I suggest that you read the novel yourself and formulate your own opinion. Who knows? You might just end up joining the legions of reviewers who adored the book to death.

Rating: 2

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City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Published April 5th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
424 pages
Series: The Mortal Instruments #4
Source: Borrowed

To say that I started this book on the wrong footing would be an understatement.

1) For some peculiar reason (curiosity?), I decided to read the status updates of this review before I started. Very bad idea. -.-
2) I've also always been under the assumption that City of Glass would be the end of The Mortal Instruments, but well, you know, I guess not...
3) I read the last TMI book in 8th grade, which wasn't that long ago. It is, however, long enough for me to have read a ton of other books and realize that maybe this series wasn't that amazing after all.

My experience in a nutshell: It felt like Ms. Clare was grasping at straws in this book. I liked the first 3 books well enough, but City of Fallen Angels had a messy plot and a too convenient resolution. I will be gritting my teeth and finishing the entire series (which has now been extended to 6 books) since I always feel inclined to finish series that I've gotten into... Overall, enjoyable read.

Rating: 2

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Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Published March 1st 2011 by New American Library
324 pages
Series: Falling Under #1
Source: Borrowed

A shy girl living a seemingly normal life? Check.
A hot and mysterious guy appearing out of nowhere? Check.
Instant, unexplainable, and inevitable attraction blossoming as the two gaze at each other fatefully through a pane of glass? Check.

Haden/Mr. Dangerous-and-Brooding: Stay away from me, lamb.* I’m dangerous.
Theia/Ms. Radiant-Sunshine: But I don’t want to. I think I’m in love with you!
Check.

Does this sound just a teensy bit familiar yet…? Ugh, the first two-thirds of the book was a complete rehash of Twilight, albeit a better-written one. A solid 2 stars -- not horrible, and yet not horribly original. I had to roll my eyes a few times here and there. A couple of facepalms appeared, too.

What bumped the rating up to 2.5 stars was the last third of Falling Under. Told in the perspective of Haden instead of Theia, this portion of the book, titled Up is Down, is infinitely more interesting plot-wise and such a joy to read after the coughTwilightcough review we got before. If only the entire book was like the last part. Alas, it was not to be.

Overall, this book is worth it if you’re willing to wade through some clichés and overdone plot lines first. Falling Under’s invigorating ending certainly left me in need of the sequel.

*Seriously? Haden has to refer to Theia as his lamb, too? Please… -.-

Rating: 2.5

between oh so unremarkable and fairly intriguing

The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

Published April 4th 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
240 pages
Source: ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

April Bowers is Miss Invisible. Well, Miss Invisible with an oddly incurable bra stuffing addiction. She dreads starting sophomore year without her best -- and only -- friend Haley by her side. However, after a surprising incident that involves a cute skirt and some borrowed lip gloss, April finds herself invited to enter the exclusive clique of popular Britney Taylor. The thing is: no one gets to be that popular without a couple of haters. And April, desperate to attract the attention of the new boy she nicknames Mr. Hottie-Body Brentwood, is willing to try anything to improve her abysmal social ranking. But does that anything include tolerating the controlling Britney?

This book made me chuckle, at least at first. I was charmed by April’s snarky narrative and attitude. She was endearing in a younger sibling sort of way -- weird, considering the fact that she and I are both high school sophomores. As I got deeper into the book, I ended up getting more and more annoyed at April. She felt so artificial, along with all the other characters in the story. April’s friend Haley seemed especially fake. I would physically wince each time the two girls conversed on the phone. Their stilted conversations remind me of the script of some badly-written teenybopper TV drama.

The plot also lacked development. I know it’s impossible to fit every little detail into 200+ pages, but I felt that the humongous time skips in the story weren’t incorporated well enough. It was like walking down a flight of stairs and suddenly stepping through a missing step. Whoosh. Quite an uncomfortable feeling, you know?

Overall, The Lipstick Laws is a cute and slightly fluffy story about facing the mean girls of high school and accepting yourself for who you are.

Rating: 2

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Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Published March 29th 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin
416 pages
Series: Shadow Falls #1
Source: Review Copy via Flamingnet Teen Book Reviews

Kylie’s life is breaking down around her: her parents consider divorce, her boyfriend dumps her and immediately starts going out with another girl, and a stalker has been introduced into her life. It isn’t until Kylie gets caught at a party -- with under-aged drinking and drugs galore -- that her life gets turned completely upside down. Her Ice Queen mom decides to send her to Shadow Falls Camp, a psychologist-recommended institution for troubled teens. And soon, Kylie discovers herself stranded in the midst of brainwave-reading paranormal creatures that couldn’t and shouldn’t exist. Confused but feeling an undeniably weird sense of belonging, Kylie begins to realize just how special she really is. Kylie’s stalker also starts to make sense -- a startling relief after all the anxiety. But then trouble invades the camp, and the paranormals are pointing fingers at each other. Beware, happy little campers, someone has an agenda of their own, and they are quite the determined bunch.

C.C. Hunter’s debut, Born at Midnight, was attention-grabbing and hard to put down. However, the plot started out incredibly slowly. It is slightly understandable, as the author has to first describe the characters and the setting of this new series. But the predicament, which should be central to every novel, was brief and felt like an after-thought. Imagine this: pages after pages of descriptions and little action, a few chapters devoted to the build-up of tension, the short resolution, and then the end of the novel, which ends up feeling like accidentally running smack into a brick wall and maybe losing a few teeth in the process.

And onto the apparently mandatory element of a YA PNR book: the love triangle. The one that exists in this book felt pretty much superfluous. There was no reason for its creation in the first place, and Kylie’s indecision and fluctuating feelings becomes a bore to read about after a while. Girl, it is not right to be lusting after three guys (her ex-boyfriend included) at once, especially if you alternate between thinking about kissing one boy to thinking about the hotness of another a second later.

Born at Midnight is a nice read, not entirely original, but interesting nonetheless. The second installment of the series, Awake at Dawn, will be released in October 2011.

Rating: 2

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Radiance by Alyson Noel

Published August 31st 2010 by Square Fish
183 pages
Series: Riley Bloom #1
Source: Borrowed

Having read a bit of Alyson Noel’s paranormal series The Immortals before, I started Radiance with expectations. The beautiful pastel blue cover and the rolling field of blue flowers were undoubtedly attracting factors. However, Radiance proved to be less gorgeous than its cover -- far less. After the first few pages, it became just another one of those mediocre what-life-is-like-after-you-die YA stories. For me, this type of plot is either a hit or a miss. Radiance was a miss.

A round of applause goes to the protagonist, Riley Bloom, for securing a spot on my characters-I-would-like-to-maim list. Seriously, has there ever been a more annoying 12-year-old girl in the history of YA lit? Since the story is in first person, the reader gets treated to 24/7 updates on Riley’s feelings as she complains and worries and complains and worries some more. The puppy love set up in here was also totally unnecessary. If the romance doesn’t aid the plot or spice it up for the reader, why bother putting it there? The entire book read like a novella, with barely any build-up of tension and a climax that was not climatic at all.

There was one line in Radiance that really got me, and not exactly in a positive way, either. So Riley, who just so happens to be complaining about the lack of fashion sense of a particular guy, remarks: “Just close your eyes and ask -- What would Joe Jonas wear?

OK, mentioning the Jonas Brothers (who I just so happen to dislike immensely) is called failure. Failure failure failure… Alyson Noel also mentions good ol’ Robert Pattinson, to which I responded with headKindle -- banging my head frustratingly on my Kindle to relieve stress.

I always prefer to end reviews on a positive note, so here it is: Radiance used the word “discombobulated” twice. I think this is the first time I’ve seen that delightful word in a published book!

Will I be picking up the sequel Shimmer? No. But I do feel that this book was geared toward younger teens. Maybe kids below the age of 13 would gobble this stuff up like pie...

Rating: 2

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Pegasus by Robin McKinley

Published November 2nd 2010 by Putnam Juvenile
404 pages
Series: Pegasus #1
Source: Borrowed

There is a horse-drawn carriage rolling through a scenic meadow. The sun is shining; there are delightful fragrances in the air. The only catch is the you are the sweaty and straining horse, and the carriage you were pulling happened to be occupied by three rather large sombrero-wearing rainbow-colored elephants.

I admit, the sombreros and colors were unnecessary, but you have a vivid mental image now, yes...?

OK, so you're struggling to haul three elephants behind you. But you keep going, because there might just be something satisfying greeting you at the end of the path. maybe some water, a nice cool shade, or a huge pile of oats and other delectable munchies. Instead, what greets you is the edge of a cliff. Apparently, the scenic route has suddenly decided to stop existing. Poof. Gone, just like that.

Thus was my experience while flipping through the pages of Pegasus. Robin McKinley is undeniably one of the best fantasy world-builders I have ever had the honor to read; but the pacing -- it was horrendously slow. I could not read more than two chapters without feeling the urge to bang my head against something hard.* This had to be stomached in small doses, which is why it took me a staggering total of 15 days to read. I had to stop periodically and read other, more frivolous books before plunging back into the story of a princess and her pegasus. This book is truly a test of patience.

Pegasus does redeem itself and earn an extra star for its setting and background history, and the writing style fits nicely with the type of story it is describing. The novel would be a great source for artists trying to paint a fantasy scene. But for readers who are looking for a plot? Not so much...

The ending makes the sequel (exp. publication date: 2012) almost mandatory. There was a slight build-up, and then the book just ended. The expression on my face would probably have scared a few children if I were reading this in public.

Tidbit of random: I want to taste some fwhfwhfwha, too.

*We were working on a rather annoying Chem lab when my dear friend -- always oh so helpful -- offered to print out the Stress Reduction kit for me. Seriously, what have I done to deserve such amazing friends like this? Sarcasm is the spice of life.

Rating: 2

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Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Published August 10th 2005 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
277 pages
Source: Borrowed

There are stories that make you think afterwards. You sit there and just stare at the book (or in my case, the Kindle) in your hands. It is a profound feeling, this period of after-book contemplation. It does not strike me often, and I cherish it when it does.

I enjoyed the premise Elsewhere sets up, but thought the execution was lacking. The relationship between Liz and Owen was, to be blunt, almost tacky in my opinion. Most of the novel was dull for me. Yes yes, this happened, whoopee. I would then proceed to click on the next page button, feeling just a tiny bit annoyed at the lack of development.

But the ending. Oh the ending... I was expecting it. There wasn't some huge twist that left me speechless. But the way Gabrielle Zevin phrased it, the simple writing style and the descriptions of Liz and Owen—they were heartbreaking.

I was trying to decide between a 2-star rating for most of the book and a 4-star for the ending. However, most of the book is obviously, umm, the majority of the novel, so I have gone with 2 stars.

Rating: 2

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The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff

Published September 1st 2010 by Carolrhoda
264 pages
Source: Borrowed

The story follows three troubled teens -- Lily, Noah, and Simon -- through their tumultuous sophomore years, as family and peer pressure, both good and bad, overwhelm the confused trio. Relationships change as the three seek to find out who they truly are.

When I saw the title of this book, the math nerd inside me couldn't resist, and I just had to read it. Although the author's application of the concept of the "absolute value" was very fitting to the plot at hand, I thought it could be developed and integrated more into the story. That said, the three main characters contained a lot of depth, and their struggles and voices seemed authentic. The different POV's provided enough insight into each character without being too direct. Overall, an angsty, but enjoyable book.

Rating: 2

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