Review: The Eternal Ones

Title: The Eternal Ones
Author: Kirsten Miller
Publisher: Razorbill
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 416 
Release Date: August 2010
Series: n/a
Source: ARC
Challenge: Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge 
Quick Rating: 4/5
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Haven Moore has always lived in the tiny town of Snope City, Tennessee. But for as long as she can remember, Haven has experienced visions of a past life as a girl named Constance, whose love for a boy called Ethan ended in a fiery tragedy.

One day, the sight of notorious playboy Iain Morrow on television brings Haven to her knees. Haven flees to New York City to find Iain and there, she is swept up in an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Is Iain her beloved Ethan? Or is he her murderer in a past life? Haven asks the members of the powerful and mysterious Ouroboros Society to help her unlock the mysteries of reincarnation and discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves, before all is lost and the cycle begins again. But what is the Ouroboros Society? And how can Haven know who to trust?

I had initially read some iffy reviews of The Eternal Ones, so I went into it a little cautiously. I shouldn’t have. If I could have stayed up all night to finish this in one sitting, I would have. It shocked me how absorbed I was, and I cannot wait for the second one - though I really thought this could have been an awesome standalone.

What really made this book for me was the characters. I liked Haven, I did, even though I wanted to ring her neck occasionally for not catching on quick enough, or for changing her opinion so rapidly. I loved her sassiness with her grandmother, I loved that she was suspicious of everything, and I loved her determination to figure out the truth. I also read all her dialogue with a delightful Southern accent in my head - I have a weakness for proper Southern accents! And even though I kind of hated her, I also loved Imogene. She had a lot of complex layers to her, and I kind of hope we see more of her in the future. Her snarkiness was just way too funny.

As for the boys, Beau was wonderful! You do not know how much overly girly gay boys bother me. Beau likes to sew dresses, but he also likes to play football, and he still acts like a boy. I like my gay men to still be men, so thank you Kirsten Miller. Thank you so much, because I love Beau like crazy. Iain/Ethan was also very appealing - I liked that he gave off the bad boy vibe without really being one. He’s a fabulous actor, and I was totally questioning his motives the whole time. I also appreciated that it was like a love story in progress already. We didn’t have to wade through any awkward beginning stages of love - they already knew each other completely. As for Adam? CREEPY! But I did kind of like him until the end, I’ll admit. And, really, I mean the names in this are awesome. Maybe I’m biased because Iain and Ethan are my two favoritest boy names EVER, but I totally love the name Haven as well.

Truly, though, I was left guessing the entire time. I felt my opinion changing almost just as many times as Haven’s, and I was constantly questioning who I was supposed to trust and like. The “Gray Men” were really creepy - they reminded me of agents from The Matrix or something. They just pop out of no where and follow you!

I only wish there had been more memories of Ethan and Constance, or maybe a glimpse back into even more past lives. The whole idea of reincarnation was well-executed in my opinion, especially the idea of certain “talents” sticking with your throughout your lives. I really hope in the next installment we’re going to see more of this, and delve deeper into the whole complex, mysterious relationship that is Iain and Haven. I’m really excited to see what comes from the Ouroboros Society, specifically Adam.

I really though that The Eternal Ones was a very well-written, strong book, though it could have been maybe a smidge shorter. I look forward to Haven being a little more steady in her opinions, and a little less flip-floppy.

The Final Word: A fabulous story of reincarnation and eternal love. Even though a few sections were slow and a little annoying, I definitely had trouble putting it down. With elements of romance, mystery, and thriller, it’s totally worth a read!

Overall:
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Concept:
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Cover Thoughts: A little simplistic for my tastes, but it still has a certain elegance to it that I appreciate. It definitely does not scream ‘young adult’, and that’s not a bad thing.

Tea: Pour yourself a big ole glass of sweet tea and get lost in Haven’s southern drawl! Add lemon for a little twist (or a shot or two of Firefly if you’re like me)!

Review: The Replacment

Title: The Replacement
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 343
Release Date: September 2010
Series: none
Source: ARC edition
Challenge: Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge 
Quick Rating: 3/5

Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement - left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl called Tate. But when Tate’s baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, know as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

Edward Scissorhands meets Catcher in the Rye in this wildly imaginative and frighteningly beautiful novel about an unusual boy and his search for a place to belong.

Based on the synopsis on the back of the book, I went into The Replacement expecting a cool, almost reverse Labyrinth. But alas, there was no magical David Bowie, and no dance numbers. All I found was the same problem I’ve been having with a lot of paranormal books lately. I end up liking the world, and a lot of the secondary characters, more than the main plotline and characters.

For me, the world that existed below the ground was beautiful, horrifying, and absolutely fascinating. I could picture the House of Mayhem, and the Morrigan, and the living dead girls in such vivid detail, I found myself sorry to return with Mackie to the normal human world. I wanted so much more of this mysterious world. The Morrigan especially! She was so cute and childlike, yet adult and sinister all at once. Her snuggly closeness quickly made her, without competition, my favorite character in the whole book.

As for the human world? Well, it was just a whole village full of scared people in denial. Nothing really appealing about it. The best advice you can give your kid is to not be unique, but blend in. However, for everyone so seemingly steeped in denial, it struck me as really strange when some of the characters didn’t bat an eyelash at some of the weird stuff going on. Little zombie girl? I’d freak. Doors popping out of garbage heaps? I’d run the other way. A freaky queen who likes to eat babies? I’d check myself into an institution. But no one seems to question the strangeness of it all. Maybe the teens in Gentry are immune to the denial? Or, at least a select few.

One thing I really did appreciate, however, was the realism of the way the teens spoke. I liked that there was a bunch of swearing, because it felt so much more real that way. In a lot of YA, it seems the intent is to be a “clean” read - no cussing, no physical contact beyond kissing. Well, The Replacement got it right. The kids swear when they’re mad or confused, and there’s quite a bit of inappropriate touching and staring. Most books from a boy’s perspective (especially those written by women) tend to skim over some details about where their minds are. But no, the author just flat out lets you know Mackie isn’t really paying attention to the teacher, he’s staring at some girl’s boobs. I laughed. And it made me feel like the characters were a little more real.

As for the characters themselves? The secondary cast stole the show to me, especially “Them”, the underground folk. Mackie annoyed me occasionally - he came off a bit whiny, weak, and pathetic in some scenes. I really found myself just honestly wishing he’d grow a spine and do something. Tate was likable enough, though I felt no chemistry between her and Mackie. She felt like a convenient plot point. No interest in her until her sister vanishes, then suddenly, it’s all about her. Something just didn’t click with that relationship to me. Roswell was an awesome best friend, though his lack of asking questions and demanding answers about all the weird stuff going on was a little strange. I would have actually liked a little more detail about him and his family, though.

*Spoiler* I was also totally confused by the end. The Cutter gets hit by a crowbar (and by the way, where did she pull that from? Did she really hide a crowbar in her boot?) a couple of times and backs out? What kind of villain is he? I was expecting epic fight to the death - not a quick surrender from the man who apparently loved pain! And what a bunch of lame servants the Lady has. No one defended her at all! The ending to me felt really rushed, and sort of anti-climactic. It just didn’t flow right. *Spoiler*

The Final Word: All in all, a pretty good supernatural read. The prose is elegant and haunting, and the world is beautifully creepy. I appreciate that this is a standalone novel, but I think I could have stood it to be a little longer. Some parts ended up feeling rushed. Mackie is a bit of a wimp, but a strong minor character cast make up for it.

Overall:
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Concept:
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Tea: There is a local shop in my town that makes their own teabags, and I would definitely pick their Jasmine Green Tea to go with this. It’s a very earthy, rich tea that makes me think of rainy days and dark corners. Perfect for such a creepy book about magical underground societies. 

Review: Nightshade

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Penguin Group
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 528 
Release Date: October 2010
Series: none
Source: ARC
Challenge: 2011 A-Z Challenge & Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge 
Quick Rating: 3/5

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she’ll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters’ laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything - including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

 I really, really wanted to fall in love with this book. I wanted a passionate, epic romance between me and this series, and all I got was…well...a pretty average one night stand. Don’t get me wrong, though, Nightshade had it’s really awesome moments, but as a whole, the book just fell a little flat for me.

I almost felt like this book was a little longer than it should have been, which is weird for me to say, since my usual policy is the longer the better. But I just felt like there was a lot of stuff that could have been removed or just skimmed over, and some details about more important stuff put in. I didn’t feel like there were necessarily any huge plot holes or anything, but I did feel like a few basic holes were left wide open - conversations that should have happened, details that should have been explained, etc. I also felt like it took way, way, way too long to actually get an explanation of anything in their world. Over 100 pages in, and nothing was explained! I don’t always just liked being tossed into a story and left to try and figure things out for myself until the characters feel up to doing some ‘splainin’.

I really liked that the author seemed to have wolf behavior down perfectly! The descriptions of their interactions while in wolf form were wonderful, and felt so real. That being said, I wish that the alpha females of the packs had been given a little more power. I’m no wolf expert, but I would assume the alpha female of one pack wouldn’t let just any other alpha male lay his paws all over her. I wanted more fight, and less subservience out of a certain character *cough*Naomi*cough*. Her character peeved me to no end.

Follow the jump for more!

Breathless Reads Tour Photos

This past Friday, I had the luck to make it to the Raleigh, N.C. stop of the Breathless Reads Tour, and oh my god, was it worth it! I'm really actually wishing I'd written this up the next day, because I've kind of lost some of the details since the haze of fangirlism has worn off. But honestly, all the ladies there were amazing, and their answers to questions were both funny and insightful. This was my first author event, so I was super, super nervous - not to mention I'm incredibly (almost painfully) shy, so I didn't socialize as much as I wanted to originally. I still had an amazing time, though, and came away with some amazing books that are now pretty much priceless to me. I took a few pictures while I was there (and so did the boyfriend). They're a little blurry, and by no means top quality, but I did at least want to share a couple!

From left to right, Ally Condie (author of Matched); Andrea Cremer (author of Nightshade); Rosemary (Bookstore employee); Kristin Miller (author of The Eternal Ones); Questionnaire moderators (Sorry, I can't for the life of me remember their names!); Beth Revis (author of Across the Universe); and Brenna Yovanoff (author of The Replacement). 

So let me start off by saying Ally Condie is a hot mama. I'm totally jealous of her runner's body. All the authors were incredibly nice, but Ally just struck me as really sweet. Andrea Cremer is a total vivacious red head - I want her hair! She was witty and adorable and I honestly think hearing her talk made me like Nightshade even more! Kristin Miller was one of the main talkers of the bunch, and she definitely knows her stuff. I actually really, really want to read her Kiki Strike books now - I've never picked one up.

This is, honestly, the least blurry picture I managed to get of Beth Revis during the questionnaire! I think she must move constantly, lol! But really, she seemed so cool, and so bouncy (especially when talking about explosions), and I just loved her. I would have loved to have been one of her students. And Brenna Yovanoff at the end was so sweet and soft-spoken. I also hearted her armwarmers hardcore. I love me some unique accessories. ;D

Follow the jump for more!

Review: Across the Universe

Title: Across the Universe   
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Penguin Group
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 416 
Release Date: January 2011
Series: none
Source: Bought
Challenge: 2011 DAC, Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge
Quick Rating: 5/5

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed. She has left her boyfriend, friends - and planet - behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship.

Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed’s scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.

Someone tried to murder her.

Now, Amy is caught inside a tiny world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed’s 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader. And Elder, Eldest’s rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside she ship’s cold metal walls? All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

There are very few books I devour in one sitting. Across the Universe was one of them. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews about it, and I’m beginning to feel this may be one of those books where you either love it, or you didn’t really like it at all - no middle ground.

From the very beginning, I found Across the Universe haunting, horrifying, and beautiful all at the same time. I loved the prose, and not because it was overly complex or anything, but because it was simple. The simplicity and ease of the book was what made me gobble it up - because it was so easily edible! Even though I wasn’t overloaded with descriptions, I could picture everything clearly and perfectly. It felt cinematic. Like I was reading a movie. Even without the handy reversible cover blueprint of the Godspeed, I felt like I knew exactly where everything was, and how it was laid out. I loved all the made up slang words, and just the whole concept of everything was amazing.

Follow the jump for more!

Review: Matched

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 369
Release Date: November 2010
Series: n/a
Source: Library
Challenge: 2011 A-Z Challenge & Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge  
Quick Rating: 4/5

In the Society, Officials decide.

Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one…until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s know and a path no one else has ever dared follow - between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and story-telling with the resonance of a classic.

Dystopian fiction is taking over the world, and really, I think I’m okay with that. However, my only problem is that a lot of dystopia books are being insanely hyped, and I go in to it expected fireworks, and all I get are sparklers (and, ok, maybe a mortar and Roman candle or two). Which are still really fun, and keep me entertained for hours, but I’m just not as initially dazzled as I expected to be.

Matched was that way for me. It was a fast read, and when I finished, I found myself dangling the book upside down and wondering where the rest of it was. Initially, I was disappointed. But now, with a little time to think and go over my notes, I’m actually impressed.

The whole concept is, hands down, amazing. The Society had an element of the Nazi party to me (you know - kill off the old, keep only the healthiest), and it was absolutely horrifying to me. My disgust with the Officials and Society grew deeper and deeper right along with Cassia, and by the end, I wanted to punch that snarky Officer right in the face for all her meddling. And only living with 100 songs, or 100 poems, or 100 paintings? My mind can’t even wrap around that. Still, though, I felt everything was a little underdeveloped. For being a decent sized book, I was kind of surprised at the lack of real detail. Like more of an explanation between an “Aberration” and an “Anomaly”. Is there any form of religion? What is this whole war thing going on that keeps getting mentioned? What’s beyond the Outer Provinces? How was Society formed? What happened to the world as it was before? I was left with a million questions by the end, and while mildly frustrating, it left me really, really eager for the next installment.

Follow the jump for more!

Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge

Matched;Across the Universe;Nightshade;The Replacement;The Eternal Ones

On February 25th, the Breathless Reads Tour is making a stop in Raleigh, N.C. With it being only about an hour and a half away, and on a Friday, there is no way I'm not going! The only problem is, I've been an absolute complete slacker, and have not read any of these fantastic books yet, though all of them were on my 2011 tbr list. I can't in good conscience go to a book signing (and my very first one at that!) and not have read the books by all the attending authors, thus my "mini-challenge" was born.

My goal is to read all five books by all five attending authors by February 24th. This should theoretically give me about two and a half days per book. I'm confident I can get this done, and maybe even have time to spare! I'm going to use this little challenge to also have some stocked up book reviews to post, in case I'm running a little low. And, lucky me, a couple of these fill other challenges I've signed up for. I'll be reading them in this order (decided at random):

• Matched by Ally Condie (started 2/11/11; finished 2/13/11)
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis (started 2/13/11; finished 2/14/11)
• Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (started 2/14/11; finished 2/16/11)
• The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (started 2/17/11; finished 2/20/11)
• The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller (started 2/20/11; finished 2/24/11)

I'll be posting links to reviews on this post once they're written, as well as start and finish dates. Wish me luck!

Visit the Breathless Reads site at http://breathlessreads.com/.