Early Reader Review: Exiled by J.R. Wagner

Exiled by J.R. Wagner
Available: NOW! May 5, 2012
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Background: James is accused of murdering his mentor and as a punishment is sent to The Never to live out the rest of his life. The Never is an alternate world, an island really, that has a mind of its own. James has never had a simple life. Ever since he can remember his family has been running in order to keep him safe, and now he is stuck in a different world. James is determined to make it back to prove his innocence and save his real world.

Review: This was a pretty quick read for me; I only wish I had had the time to read it in one sitting. The book is broken up nicely; we jump back and forth from what is happening to James now and things that occurred in the past -- to him, his mother, and his mentors. The most interesting are the chapters about James on the island, as he learns how it responds to the people that inhabit it. His determination to return home was the push that this story needed, it even made up for the slower chapters about him and his mother on the run. I loved the settings that were described, but I think that the character development has a ways to go; we learned a lot about James and a little about his mother, but his comrades on the island are a total mystery. I look forward to more in The Never Chronicles.

Exiled (The Never Chronicles #1)  Trailer:

View all my reviews

Still on my Mind #1

Still on my Mind is a meme created by YA-Aholic to feature a book that you read months or even YEARS ago that was so good (or so scary/unique/funny..etc) that it is 'Still on my (your) Mind!'

This week the book that is still on my mind is...

 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

 

Goodreads Synopysis: 

"Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.
Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.
Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention. But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything. Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning 21 st century faery tale."

Why this is still on my mind?

 I read Wicked Lovely in January of 2010...and I loved it. The characters were interesting and deep and the whole series kept me hooked because there were so many stories to tell. I really enjoy books about faeries and this is one of my absolute favorites, it captures so many of the intriguing personalities.The visuals of the Faery worlds which Aislinn can see but pretends not too are beautiful and kind of scary all at once. Great book!

What's still on your mind?!

 

Recent Reads: The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Background: The Clockwork Angel follows a teenage girl named Tessa Grey on her journey to meet her brother, Nathaniel, in London, only to be kidnapped and thrust into the world of the supernatural aka Downworld. She finds out that she herself is part of this evil world, and can transform herself into other people at will. Finally, Tessa learns that not everyone in this new world is evil when she is rescued by the Shadowhunters by a fluke.
Once safe from her impending doom of being kidnapped, Tessa begins to search for her brother, only to learn more interesting things about herself, her past, and her family that were never revealed. Sooner than she could have imagined, she has to help the Shadowhunters in their war to find out who was aiding her kidnappers and why.

Review: I loved this read, more so than the Mortal Instruments series. Clare portrays Victorian London perfectly, down to the lit city and the clothing. I found the characters in this series are more intriguing and Tessa is a strong female lead. While a long read, almost 500 pages, it was a very well told story. We learn about Tessa and her life, and about her situation and then move into action with the Shandowhunters as they try to solve the mystery of who is inventing automatons and why. It kept me on my toes and I was willing to learn more about the characters and their personalities, in my case, that is great!

View all my reviews

Early Reader Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Available: July 10, 2012
Publisher: Random House Children's Books


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Background: In the kingdom of Goredd, humans and dragons live together, however they are not necessarily the best of friends. For 40 years, they have lived together under a treaty of no war between the races.In this tale Seraphina Dombegh is unique; she has a secret which places her in both worlds, only she cannot let on to anyone, especially her employer in the castle. Through the story Seraphina comes to learn about herself and her past, as well as her mother’s past; all while trying to solve the mystery of who is out to murder the Dragon general and destroy the treaty and peace.

Review: This was a great read. Dragons and a mystery, really could anyone go wrong? I felt that the beginning of this story moved a little slowly but the redeeming factor was that the environments are wonderful to picture. Hartman paints a beautiful picture with her writing, the characters and towns are drawn up for you in a wonderful manner. Every detail is explained and there is even a list of characters for the lost in the back of the book (there were quite a few). Also, our heroine, Seraphina is a captivating character and I loved her every step of the way. I think that Hartman did a wonderful job combining mystery and fantasy with this tale, and that Seraphina is a very strong woman that others in literature should look up to. AND isn't this cover BEAUTIFUL!!!?

eARC provided by Random House Children's Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

Building the Book Pile #2

Welcome to Building the Book Pile! A Weekly meme inspired in part by In My Mailbox. Since there has been some drama over In My Mailbox I will now be hosting my own Building the Book Pile here at Cover2CoverBlog. Here is what I got this week.

Ebooks For Review

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrell From Netgalley and Random House Children's Books

Behind the Bookcase by Mark Steensland and Kelly Murphy From Netgalley and Random House Children's Books

Dragon Age Volume 1, The Silent Grove by David Gaider and Alexander Freeman From Netgalley and Dark Horse Comics

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Tim Conrad From Netgalley and Dark Horse Comics

Bought

You also may have seen my earlier post this week of BtBP with titles I bought this week.
Here they are again:

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter,  

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong, 

Forgiven by Jana Oliver,

and

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Recent Reads: Misguided Angel, Blue Bloods #5 by Melissa de la Cruz

Misguided Angel, Blue Bloods #5 by Melissa de la Cruz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Background: In this issue of the Blue Bloods series, Schuyler and Jack fled to Florence to follow the path left by Lawrence about the gates that protect the world from Lucifer. Mimi has been named Regent of the New York Coven and has a murder and conspiracy on her hands which threatens to expose the vampires to the public, and Bliss is nowhere to be found. Instead of Bliss, we are introduced to Deming, the Angel of Mercy, who is brought on to help solve the mystery of the murder for Mimi and the Coven. All hell is breaking loose and Mimi, Schuyler and Jack all have things they need to resolve.

Review: The last few books in this series have been a little anti-climactic; this one however, was a quick read. I liked that Bliss wasn’t around, not that I don’t enjoy her character, but for too long have there been 3 point of views which got disruptive. In Misguided Angel, we start with only chapters of Schuyler and Jack and then a batch of only Mimi, which some historical snippets along the way… we aren’t pulled to the 3rd character until Deming comes to New York to help Mimi and she isn’t overbearing nor annoying to ‘listen’ to.
I was a little upset that again all of the story lines are kind of left hanging, but there was a good tale that did end and had a great twist at the end. All of the pieces are slowly coming together and I have the next one from the library already, going to start reading soon.

View all my reviews

Building the Book Pile #1

Welcome to Building the Book Pile! Occasionally I do go to the bookstore and hoard books, this monthly post will be dedicated to those awesome finds.

This Month, I have already taken my trip (It was a very bad day and I needed retail therapy...only I buy books not shoes and clothes) and brought home some great ones:

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter,  

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong, 

and  

Forgiven by Jana Oliver

I also grabbed a copy of Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins, who by chance is a local author and signed a few...one of which I got with an awesome matching bookmark!

Early Reader Review: The Guild, Volume 2 by Felicia Day

The Guild, Volume 2 by Felicia Day, Jeff Lewis, Sean Becker, Kim Evey, Sandeep Parikh
Available: July 4, 2012
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Background: The Guild Volume 2 showcases the lives of the Knights of Good before season 1 of the show. It includes the one-shots of Vork, Tink, Bladezz, Clara, and Zaboo as we are lead up to the Season one start with Zaboo meeting Codex. We learn about their family members, home lives, and how/why some of them play the game.

Review: Loved, Loved, Loved this. I was super excited to get a chance to read Volume two as a collection of the one-shots. I love The Guild and have watched all the episodes, but had not read the comics or graphic novels yet. The way we learn about the characters in the show is super funny and it is the same here on a page. Vork is just as ridiculous, but now we see where he gets if from; Tink lies about everything; Bladezz is his same annoying mouthy self, and Clara and Zaboo are as eccentric as ever. I think everything about this collection is wonderful. I also liked the variations of the characters, the illustrators did them justice in comic form.
If you like comics, gaming, nerd things, or just like to laugh at the expense of some nerdy individuals, you should read this.

View all my reviews

In My Mailbox #7

In my mailbox is a weekly meme

hosted by Story Siren

Ebooks for Review 

Rapture by Lauren Kate, From Netgalley and Random House Children's Books
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennon, from Netgalley and Random House Children's Books
The Guild Volume 2 by Felicia Day, Jeff Lewis, Sean Becker, Kim Evey, Sandeep Parikh from Netgalley and Dark Horse Comics

Books Won

Rotters by Daniel Kraus, from Random House Children's Books and Random Buzzers

From the Library

 Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz

Early Reader Review: FLCL Omnibus by Gainax

FLCL Omnibus by Hajime Ueda
Available: May 16th, 2012
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Background: From the Publisher “The complete FLCL manga adaptation--now with bonus color illustrations and remastered story pages! In this surreal sci-fi romp, a sullen Japanese boy finds himself in the middle of an interstellar conspiracy. As his home life unravels, a sexy space assassin becomes his family maid, and his own head becomes a portal for armed robots. Life as he knows it is quickly falling apart, and Ueda doesn’t know who’s friend or foe! One thing’s for certain--he has to grow up quick and save his hometown, whether he wants to or not!”

Review: I absolutely LOVE FLCL (Fooly Cooly)! I watched the Anime/ Adult Swim versions, and this complete set of the manga series with illustrations and color pictures is amazing. The story line is so funny, a random girl on a Vespa runs over a kid (Naota), then becomes his family maid and all hell breaks loose around him. Not to mention Mamimi, who is a pyromaniac and animal collector who is obsessed with Naota’s brother and never leave Naota alone. The armed robots plot line is great just because it is so random and funny. If you haven’t read these or seen the show…please do it!

View all my reviews