Review: Paper Valentine

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Publication date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

I had a little romance with Yovanoff's second novel THE SPACE BETWEEN and was so excited about reading PAPER VALENTINE. Now, I didn't connect with it the way I connected with Space Between, but I still enjoyed this uber creepy read.

I've decided that Yovanoff must be one of those rare authors that is still able to find ideas that no one has thought of before. Or else, she's just really good at masking overdone plots and making them her own. PAPER VALENTINE is a serial killer mystery that could have bordered on the cliche, but Yovanoff makes what I'm going to now coin a "Yovanoff."

A Yovanoff: when an author adds new elements to an old plot

She writes characters with heart and flaws, and the characters in this story are no exception. Hannah has a nice arc and her relationships with the other characters are complex and natural. I also liked that the romance took a background role and wasn't at the forefront, as it's not what the book is about. It was also super sweet!

Now on to the mystery, it isn't the most unpredictable mystery EVAR, but there are some nice twists in there to throw the reader off. You think you've got it all figured out and then something new is added to the mix. The whole thing had me on the edge of my seat from the beginning all the way through.

Once again, Brenna Yovanoff has yet to disappoint me! Though I do still need to read THE REPLACEMENT...

Taste Book Trailer and Excerpt Reveal

Hey guys! I'm so excited to have the opportunity to reveal the book trailer and give you an excerpt from Taste by Kate Evangelista. I haven't read the book yet, but after reading the excerpt I am very excited to get my hands on it! I do love me some paranormal romance. And look at the pretty cover! LOOK AT IT!

Taste by Kate Evangelista
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Publication date: May 1, 2012

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

About the author:

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

Author Website: www.kateevangelista.com
Twitter: @KateEvangelista
Follow Kate on Facebook
Find Taste on Goodreads
Crescent Moon Press page for Taste

Review: Unraveling Isobel

Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook
Publication date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother. But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

First, I don't think that the cover matches the feel of the book. The cover, to me, says "Hi! I'm a happy and quirky book!" No, Unraveling Isobel, you are not a happy, quirky book. You are a psychological thriller (of sorts) meets contemporary meets mystery meets horror with a slightly depressing story line. I mean, Isobel, the main character is pretty darn snarky and pretty darn hilarious, but I don't think this should encompass the whole book. Anyway...

From the first page, I was immediately drawn into Isobel's world. I felt her pain when she experienced a huge life change: her mom marries a man she met online and has only known for three months. Isobel is forced to leave behind her old school and friends and move to a small island with an even smaller population. Plus, she has to deal with her new creepy step-father "Dick" and a step-brother who apparently doesn't want Isobel there either. I didn't have a problem with the romance of Nate and Isobel even though they are step-siblings. This is probably because they didn't grow up together, so it's not like their love is too taboo. If they had grown up together and then started to fall in love that is when I would have probably thrown up in my mouth a bit, but since they didn't, I found them to be adorable together. Unraveling Isobel can bring the  creepy and there were a couple of times I got goosebumps while reading certain scenes. I also enjoyed the book's view on mental illness. Mental illness isn't something discussed much in YA fiction (though a lot of this year's book releases look to change that, I've noticed) and I think the book sheds some light on a topic not normally dealt with in teen literature.

Now onto what I didn't like. There's a point in the book where Isobel's mom and Dick believe that they need to send Isobel away for treatment of schizophrenia. 1) She has yet to be diagnosed with it and 2) I don't think Isobel ever does anything bad enough to warrant this. It actually takes a lot to be put into 24 hour psychiatric care. This decision (and a supposed doctor's agreement with never having met her) seems too easy for me. The pacing is a bit here and there and I feel like there is a lot of build up to a so-so ending. Actually, it ended exactly how I thought it was going to, BUT there's a nice little bow that wraps it all up if you've been reading too many books with open/cliffhanger endings, like me.

All in all, it was an okay read for me. It's not a story that will stay with me, but I enjoyed it while I was reading it. Ultimately, I think Unraveling Isobel is more of a paperback buy.

Review: Hourglass

Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Publication Date: June 14, 2011
Publisher: Egmont US

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past. Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Before entering this book, you may want to wipe your feet at the door just in case there's any bit of feminism on your shoe. You won't be needing that inside.

I loved Emerson. I really did. I liked her sassy, strong, and kinda angry all the time attitude. All was well and good with me, but then she meets a boy named Michael and he becomes her only world. Her personality does a complete one-eighty and every choice, every decision she makes relies on what will make him happy. I get that love can be intense, especially a new one (and in Emerson's case, first one), but it shouldn't make a person codependent. All of her thoughts consisted of Michael, Michael, Michael's lips, Michael, Michael's muscles, Michael's muscle's muscles, Kaleb, Kaleb's abs, then back to Michael. Emerson basically becomes obsessed and a stalker. I mention a boy named Kaleb. He is the third guy in the love triangle because as we all know, a young adult book wouldn't be complete without one.

All of this aside, I still had fun reading the book. Emerson's mind may always be on Michael, but at least she's funny. I found most of the book to be witty and I caught myself smiling a lot. Also, before starting HOURGLASS I had no idea that it involves time travel and I really enjoyed that part of it. I wish McEntire played around with it more, but there's a second one (which I look forward to reading) so I guess I'll see how much further the author explores it. Despite the problems I had with HOURGLASS, I found it to be well-written. I think it's worth a read, but just beware the brain of Emerson.

Review: Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1)

Unleashed (Wolf Springs Chronicles #1) by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié
Publication Date: November 22, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press / Random House

Katelyn McBride’s life changed in an instant when her mother died. Uprooted from her California home, Katelyn was shipped to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, to her only living relative, her grandfather. And now she has to start over in Wolf Springs, a tiny village in the Ozark Mountains. Like any small town, Wolf Springs has secrets. But the secrets hidden here are more sinister than Katelyn could ever imagine. It’s a town with a history that reaches back centuries, spans continents, and conceals terrifying truths. And Katelyn McBride is about to change everything.

Broken families, ageless grudges, forced alliances, and love that blooms in the darkest night—welcome to Wolf Springs.

If I took away one thing from Unleashed, it's that Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié must have a thing for men in tight jeans and form fitting shirts (preferably black). I don't think any guy in this book wore a loose piece of clothing.

I became excited when I got this book because I hadn't read anything by Nancy Holder since my "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" days when she wrote novel tie-ins (I briefly mention her here, as well) which I devoured like a madwoman. It's nice to know she hasn't lost her gift at sharp dialogue or writing strong female characters. Being the first book I have read with Holder and Viguié as a writing team, I was pleased.

I don't think I've ever read a YA book with so many dead or nonentity parents. This is a thing usually reserved for the middle reader genre. Katelyn's parents are dead, Justin's and Jesse's parents are dead, Caroline's mother is dead, Trick's parents are mentioned once...the list goes on. It was kind of weird. BUT, I love werewolves so I was excited to read something just involving them and nothing else. I love the setting of the story and the isolated feel of the environment. I love Katelyn and her budding relationship with her grandfather. I also love Trick, though he obviously has a huge secret that has yet to be divulged. He was freaking adorable. Speaking of Trick, a storm's a brewin' and I see fans quickly taking sides and forming Team Trick and Team Justin. P.S. Trick is better.

Unleashed would have been at least a 4 or 5 star book for me if I hadn't been disappointed by a few certain things. One, no questions are answered and nothing is solved. Like, at all. We get one and that's at the very end of the book with a cliffhanger that leaves you like "what?" Two, the story is slow to get moving. With the book's own title and synopsis and all of the hints being dropped on every page, it screams werewolf, but unfortunately it takes forever for someone to even mention the word. But once we reach that mark, the book picks up speed and gets moving. This is the point at which I couldn't put it down.

With the story now begun and the action set, I see the second book in the series being a thrilly angst-ridden journey if it keeps up the pace at which it ended. Unleashed may have been "just good" for me, but I am very excited about the next one! 

Review: The Vespertine

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Publication Date: March 7, 2011
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books

It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

Before I start with the review, how gorgeous is this cover? LOVE.

I didn't know what I was getting into when I read The Vespertine. I knew it was a paranormal/historical fiction book, but that was it. When I got into work one day it was sitting on the counter with my name on it and I don't ask questions when a book has my name on it, so I picked it up. I was pleasantly surprised!

Remember back in the 1800s when the word "dash" was a bad word? Only me? Am I the only immortal blogger on the internet? Or maybe I just felt like I was there. I can't tell the difference anymore, because Saundra Mitchell did such a great job of setting the scene for a Baltimore in 1889. While reading The Vespertine I could visually see and hear everything that was happening. LOVE (again). Another great aspect of the book is the narrator and main character, Amelia. She is witty and smart, but is also still very much a true Victorian young woman of the time. Does that make sense? I also enjoyed her interactions with her cousin Zora and Nathaniel. Amelia and Zora develop a really strong friendship and Nathaniel...oh, Nathaniel, how do I compare thee...? You remain a mystery but yet I still want your body *cough cough*, I mean, I want to know more about you.

Speaking of mystery, the only problem I had with the book is that it leaves the reader with a lot of questions, a lot of what and why. Where do these powers come from? Who exactly is Nathaniel? I don't necessarily feel that the paranormal aspect of the book should have been front and center, but I would have liked some more explanation(s). I'm hoping that this is because these questions will be answered in the third book, which does not have a synopsis or title yet (it comes out in 2013), so I have put together a title for Mitchell just in case she doesn't have one. The plot, obviously, comes with it:

Everything You Wanted to Know About Nathaniel (and Amelia Too, I Guess...) (Vespertine #3)

I've seen some reviewers talking about how all the characters seemed so accepting of Amelia's ability, but it didn't bother me at all. Victorian America was an era of mystics, spiritualists, and magic. Everyone was curious about it, so if it turns out that they have a friend who can see the future, awesome! And for free? Even more awesome! Or that's how I, at least, read it.

On a final note, The Vespertine isn't a book of action and it's not fast-paced. In fact, I would say the first two-thirds of the book is mainly set-up and not a lot happens until the end. I didn't care, though, because the author's dialogue and description were enough to keep me entertained until the final "BAM" moment.

Review: Fracture

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature—or something much more frightening?

I call this year the Year of Debut Authors (granted this book comes out in 2012, but I'll include it anyway). I feel like there have been more and more new authors this year than most. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just noticing this more since starting a book review blog. Anyway, most of the debut books I've read have been, surprisingly, pretty good (maybe I've been lucky?) and Fracture by Megan Miranda is no exception. In fact, I would put Fracture above most. It does not read like a first time novel and I would never have guessed that Miranda didn't go to school for writing but for biology (you mean she didn't just get her MFA in creative writing?? Blasphemy!)

Even with the paranormal aspect, the world felt realistic. Delaney's new ability just...fit. I loved being inside Delaney's head as she struggled through her thoughts and her mixed emotions about coming back from death. This book would not have had the same effect if it had been told in the third person. I had to put Fracture down a few times and not because it was bad but because it was breaking my heart. See, I have this thing, I think it's called anxiety, where for example, I can become anxious when two people I like argue and it's not resolved right away. I felt like that while reading. That's how attached I became to Delaney and her friend Dekker and the other characters. Miranda's characters were true and the story kept me through until the end.

It's hard for me to put more thoughts into words, but I really loved this book. It was heart-breaking, tragic, and beautiful. And look at that cover! Fits the story wonderfully, so kudos to its creator and publishing team.

I look forward to what Megan Miranda writes next. And she'd better write something next!

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before.

If you look at the starred reviews for Anna Dressed in Blood, you'll see people are crazy about this book. I, on the other hand, am daring to go against the grain and wish to express my disappointment. This book didn't scare me at all and I'm a gal who can get scared pretty easily. Examples:

• The film posters for The Last Exorcism that came out last year terrified me and those were just pictures.
• You know those moments in movies when things get tense and quiet and, as an audience member, you know that something "scary" is going to happen? Something that the movie makers are hoping will make you jump? Yeah, even when I know something is going to pop out at me, I jump. Every. Time.

This book is more like a slasher movie than a paranormal one. I found myself muttering "gross" more than actually being scared. If you like splatter films, then this book may have more appeal. Even though the scare factor wasn't there for me, I think the ghost story in Anna Dressed in Blood is fabulous. I found Anna, herself, to be immensely fascinating and she quickly became my favorite character. As for the other characters, mainly the minor ones, I found them to be stereotypes. I always knew who was going to die because Kendare Blake didn't give them their own personality.

Another thing that bothered me was the romance between Cas and Anna. I didn't feel it at all. In fact, it made me feel weird and squishy inside. It's a hard thing to write - love between a living human being and a dead person. Blake didn't quite achieve it for me.

I really hated writing this opinion. I wanted to love this book, I really did. I also wasn't aware it was going to be a series until I reached the end. This would have made for a great single book, I know it would have, but with it being a series things were left out and I found it to be lacking. I finished it, so I didn't dislike it and it obviously it kept me reading, but the book didn't achieve the 4 or 5 stars I was hoping to give it. Anna Dressed in Blood is more like a 3 for me, and this gives me a sad face.