Unearthly: Book Review

I picked up this book because one of the books in the series was in Sarah's top ten books that she wants to read next year. So, I thought, hey, I oughta see what those books are all about.

Description from Goodreads:
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees...
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.


Review:
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the main character, which doesn't usually happen with YA books because YA authors seem to think main character girls need to be needy and weak and whiny and lame and dependent. But, the main character in this book, Clara, is strong and independent and interesting and actually likeable.

The idea of being part angel is not a new thing; I've read a few books that pose this idea. But, I liked the author's take on angels. Just like I read a lot of different vampire books even though I have read the concept before. One thing that I thought was interesting that I haven't seen before is the author had all the characters who have angel blood have wings. Every other demi angel book I have read, the character has supernatural powers, but no wings.

This author knows how to write romance. I loved how she described Clara's first kiss. She describes all the little things in the moment leading up to the kiss and all the emotions running through Clara so well that I feel like I'm there in the moment with her.

The author is just so good at describing things without getting too wordy that the book is a fast read. Which I love. I hate when a book drags and it takes me forever to finish just because I have reached a boring part in the book. This book didn't have any boring parts.

The only thing that I slightly didn't like was that the book was cliffhangery. Things were left unfinished. But, I suppose that just means that I need to read the next book. Which I definitely will. I love reading books that are easy to read and make me feel, but don't make me think too much.

Rating: 4 stars

Hana: Book Review

I read Hana as an eBook that I checked out from the library. Can I just say how much I love that I can check out eBooks? It is awesome. Hana is a companion chapter to the Delirium book; you know, that book that depicts love as a disease. I recommend reading Delirium before you read this one... or this one won't make any sense at all.

Hana by Lauren Oliver

Goodreads Description:
The summer before they're supposed to be cured of the ability to love, best friends Lena and Hana begin to drift apart. While Lena shies away from underground music and parties with boys, Hana jumps at her last chance to experience the forbidden. For her, the summer is full of wild music, dancing—and even her first kiss.

Review:  I thought that this was an interesting chapter in the Delirium story. Getting to see Hana's side of the story and figuring out a bit of her back story was satisfying. Originally, I wondered why Hana had that bit of rebellion in her and what motivated her to go to the secret parties in the first place. So, it was great to see her point of view.

It was an easy read, just as easy as Delirium. I would kinda like to see the end of Hana's story. Does she marry the mayor's son? Do Hana and Lena ever reunite? I hope that we see more of Hana in the final book in the series. If we don't... then what was the point of this book? 

Rating: 4 stars

Passion: Book Review

I read Lauren Kate's first book in this series, "Fallen," and I was not very impressed with it. The mystery of the fallen angels was annoying to me, not mysterious and the love story seemed rushed and completely awkward. I know that characters fall in love in books upon first meeting, inexplicably, but this book made the love seem childish and naive.

But, despite the fact that I wasn't in love with the first book, I got the second book on CD to listen to in my car on the way to work. I figured that even though I didn't want to give the book my spare time, I could give it time that I was already wasting driving around. And the second book was a lot better than the first book. The second book had the time to develop the characters a little more, give motive to the main character, Luce, and to actually make me like some of the fallen angels.

So, that brings us to the third book, Passion. I also listened to this book while in my car.

Passion by Lauren Kate

Description: Luce is lost in time as she travels to her past lives. Luce is determined to find out why she loves Daniel, and why Daniel loves her. So, she has traveled back in time to see their past lives together and see her untimely death again and again. Every time Luce gets close to Daniel, in any of her lives, she dies a fiery death. Luce wants to discover why she and Daniel are cursed to fall in love in every life and why she dies in every life. And she will continue to travel back in time to the very beginning, their first life together and the time when the angels first fell.

Review: Is it just me, or is Lauren Kate's writing getting better the more books that she writes? I didn't really like the first book in this series, kinda liked the second, and actually enjoyed the third. Either she is getting better at writing or the actor on the CD is getting better at reading it.

It is a strange addition to the series as it takes Luce back in time to visit her past lives all the way back to the fall of the angels. At first, I didn't think that this book was going to work as it contained like 10 different vignettes of Luce's past lives and I had to be introduced to a new life multiple times. Luce would travel to an old life, the past Luce was introduced, the past Daniel was introduced, then just when I get a handle on the past life, the past Luce dies and then it starts all over again. But, Kate really handled it quite well. She was able to describe each past life well enough that I cared about the characters before she killed them.

Additionally, this book answers a lot of the questions that have been looming for Luce, and for me the reader, through these last few books. I like a mystery as much as the next person, but it is a little tortuous to make a reader wade through 3 books to get answers.


Now, the book ends in kind of a cliff hanger so I suppose that I will just have to check out the next book and see if Lauren Kate keeps it going.

Rating: 3 stars

Grave Mercy: Book Review

I read this book because I thought it had a cool cover and a cool premise.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Description: Ismae is the result of an affair between her mother and Death. Ismae, despised by her mortal father, is put into an abusive arranged marriage, but then saved by a convent of nuns who are also daughters of Death. The nuns train her to be an assassin who serves the purposes of saint Mortain (Death). Now, she is a hand maiden of Death, killing those who threaten Death's plans for the throne.

Review: Sounds like a great thesis right? Handmaiden of death; awesome. Except, this book was hard to get through. The first part of the book seemed intriguing when Ismae got to the convent and I found out she was going to be trained to kill and poison. And then, the author skipped over what could have been one of the most interesting parts of the story, assassin school and jumped right to post training. Ismae has a conflicting personality and her motives are not always clear. She thinks one thing, but does another and it is confusing. Additionally, many of the characters that are presented are not fully developed so it was hard to care about any of the characters because they just don't get enough scene time. The whole thing seemed rushed, as if the author was trying to get this giant plot line into one book when it really should have been split into three books. It felt like I was cheated out of important scenes and character development because it was forced into one book. It was a good idea, but poorly executed.

Rating: 2 Stars