Gates of Paradise by Melissa De La Cruz

So, I have been reading this series since high school. I have never seen a more unique take on YA vampires. 2013 seems to be the year of YA endings. Reading the ending to this series was bittersweet. I was dying to see how everything would tie up; yet, I kept postponing finishing it because I did not want it to be over. I literally put the book down to get some exercise. I don’t usually do this…

 I was kind of expecting it be depressing. The last book ended with a sad goodbye for the “it” couple. Jack left Schuyler for a final battle to the death with Mimi, his twin. And Mimi kind of signed over her soul to save her new love, Kingsley. All of the soul mates were kind of broken at the end of the previous book. Some seriously bad deals were made with Lucifer. At least some old enemies had become good friends. Mimi had become way less awful and actually became sort of besties with Oliver, who thankfully found a way around his Schuyler obsession.

The book begins with Schuyler, Kingsley, and Oliver living it up in London. The boys are partying every night, dealing with what they are dealing with. Schuyler is in a perpetual state of worry. She doesn’t know if Jack is alive. And she’s scrounging for time to learn more about the gates she’s meant to protect. Jack and Mimi are alive and kicking it. They’re playing as double agents, double-crossing Lucifer and doing what they can for blue bloods as a whole. The rest of the blue blood community is in hiding from the terror of what Lucifer has in the works with the silver bloods. Bliss has recruited a pack of hell wolves and comes to realize she has been underground for one whole year, only to come back to NYC and realize everything has changed for the worse.

Mimi and Jack are assigned with some seriously bad missions for Lucifer. Eventually, they are both ordered to murder the ones they love most. There’s some seriously great wolf drama and mythology thrown in with the fallen angel and vampire story. Schuyler learns a lot about her family –particularly her human father and grandmother who didn’t know she existed. Oliver finally seems to be into someone else. And it all comes down to everyone needing to work together, and to Schuyler having to make the ultimate sacrifice.

There’s the sizzling romance you come to expect from this author, plenty of fight scenes (my favorites being between Mimi and Kingsley), a college party, more international travel, questions answered, one epic battle at the end, and one crazy/awesome ending! The book also had just the perfect amount of nostalgic flashbacks to the beginning of the series. Also, there were some serious flashback chapters that went way back in time, to ancient Rome. At first, I hated that these chapters kept interrupting the current stories, but eventually I became just as hooked on the history as I was on the present.

The amount of detail that goes into each of these books is spot-on! I love all the artwork mentioned, the notes about architecture, the fashion, and the humor! I have come to love all of these characters. Characters I hated in the beginning turned into some of my favorites. There is one character I am just so beyond happy for at the very end. I won’t spoil it. I just need to say that I shouted out loud: “YES!”

I love all the different mixings of mythology that this author throws together. I also love all of the points of view you get. This very well might be the only YA book that successfully switches to so many different points of view without screwing up the story at all.

There’s always a tiny part of these books that weirds me out. The whole twin thing still kind of gets to me. And in this one, there is blood paint…But whatever, I kind of come to expect some weirdness. I also come to expect a lot of surprises. And I guess I’m glad for both. As far as endings go, I was really impressed. This final book was cohesive with the rest in the series. Sometimes it read like a book 2 or 3 and not really like a final book, and it took a bit of time for me to realize if that was a good or bad thing. But, overall, I think this was good. It means that the author didn’t change things to make the ending come off a certain way. She kept to her characters, her writing style, and her humor without seeming to stress about the way her end sounded. And I’m grateful.

I give this book a 10/10, and as I say for my other book reviews for final books in a series, I feel like I’m rating/reviewing the series as a whole, and not just this last book. This was one scary, sizzling, unique, dramatastic, epic ride, and I’m so happy to have read these books. I look forward to whatever else this author has to write.

A Good Week in Books (50)

I have been having internet issues. AKA: my roommie and I got a new router, and have not quite managed to set it up correctly…So, I’m sitting in Panera Bread right now, about to post up about a week’s worth of blog entries (in advance), starting with this post that I meant to put up yesterday.

So, I finally gave in and became an Amazon Prime member…I have a book-buying problem. I am now officially a member of both Barnes and Noble and Amazon, on top of owning both a Kindle and a Nook…But, I did the math. It definitely makes sense for me to be a member. And well, I ordered a lot of books. In my defense, a ton of books recently came out.

Chosen at Nightfall by C.C. Hunter
This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting
Timepiece by Myra McEntire
Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington

How was your week in books?

Waiting on Wednesday (42)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week, I am waiting on Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (8/27/13):

Description on Goodreads:

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

So, I ate up book 1 in this series. I’ve been waiting on this sequel for what seems like forever! It sounds interesting. Not a lot is given away in the description, but I kind of like not knowing too much. The covers for these books have not been my favorite, but they’re not awful. I remember just being completely sucked into the story of the first book and I can’t wait for this to happen again.

What are you waiting on this week?

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

This is one of those books that I have had forever, but only now just go to. I have no idea what I was waiting for. Seriously, this was so much fun to read!

It’s about Emerson, a girl who has been through a lot in the past few yeas. She has survived the deaths of both her parents, guilt at survival, depression, and even being institutionalized and medicated into numbness. And just when things start to look up for her, and she moves in with her brother and sister-in-law, she starts seeing people from the past again. Before all the meds she started taking, Emerson was seeing people that no one else could see, people who disappeared when they were touched, people sometimes dressed in hoop-skirts or people riding horse drawn carriages.

She thinks of herself as crazy. She had been really depressed. And she did decide on her own to just stop her meds. Of course she would then start seeing these people again. She’s been doing a lot better. She’s back with her bestie from the past, working at a coffee house, and agreeing to meet with specialists her brother is hooking her up with.

And then she meets Michael, a consultant for the Hourglass. Not only does he believe that Emerson is not crazy, but he admits to seeing the same people she sees. He introduces Emerson to the crazy world of the supernatural. Emerson learns about the past, about the future, and about time travel. Michael and Emerson also have a crazy connection. They literally make lights go out when they touch. It has something to do with Michael’s ability to see people from the future and Emerson’s ability to see people of the past. Together, they make quite a pair.

Too bad for Emerson, Michael promised her brother that his relationship with Emerson would be purely professional. And Michael behaves as the perfect gentleman would. He sort of has a gentleman/hero’s complex. However, his best friend, Kaleb, has no gentleman’s complex whatsoever. There’s a bit of a love triangle. And while things get a little steamy, it’s always obvious which boy Emerson chooses. But, will her choice matter if the man of her dreams gets left behind in the past? And can Emerson actually pull off time traveling? And can she go back in time to save a friend’s father, simultaneously knowing that she can never do the same for own?

This book deals with mental illness, with loss, grief, and then of course with growing up and learning to deal with the bad along with the good. I’m not the biggest advocate for a main character deciding to go cold turkey on meds she’s prescribed…this can actually have fatal consequences…I do however like how strong Emerson is. She never forgets the pain she feels, but she also doesn’t let it stop her from living her life (at least by the time this book starts). I also like that the loss of her parents is with her all the time. Sometimes in YA books, characters survive such loss and then never think about it again. This is definitely more realistic.

I love the whole time-traveling group and all the elements that made time travel possible. I found the politics of the people with “gifts” to be fascinating. I loved that Emerson, while tiny, could kick serious butt. She was going for a black belt! I loved her best friend, her family, and just her overall sense of perseverance.

There was a bit too much insta-love going on with Michael. And their connection was uber cheesy. I actually think Emerson had more in common with the other part of the love triangle (Kaleb), but it is what it is. I still swooned along with her at all the appropriate moments.

I think my favorite thing about this book was the sense of humor. I loved the main character’s level of sass. She kept her slippers on when Michael came over. She dressed to make a point. And she didn’t let anyone get away with calling her small. I do wish she was a little more rebellious. I kind of wanted her to break more rules and try to save her parents anyway. But, there’s always book 2 and soon a book 3.

I give this one a 9/10. There wasn’t a ton of unique plot points. The romance was a tad bit on the cheesy side. But, the author writes the stereotypical YA stuff really, really well. She will have you hooked from the first page, swooning over the cheesiest of lines, and laughing out loud at some seriously great dialog. It’s the perfect book for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I already ordered book 2.

A Good Week in Books (49)

I had a decent book week! I found an excellent used bookstore near me that I definitely plan on going back to. I purchased two books there. I received two books for review. And I ended up using a Target gift card on a new book (plus some makeup).

Blood Moon by Teri Harman (ARC for review and part of blog tour – 6/22/13)
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
Furious by Jill Wolfson (Thank you, Macmillan!)
The Demon’s Covenant by Sarah Reese Brennan
The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Reese Brennan

How was your week in books?

Impostor by Jill Hathaway

This is my first non picture book that I have checked out from my new library! (I’m a youth services librarian…we read a lot of picture books). I remember super enjoying Hathaway’s first book in the series. I got to meet her last year too, and was also impressed by how awesome she was.

If I remember correctly, I have now read both of her books in one sitting (separately). Granted, they are sort of short for today’s YA crowd. But still, I was really hooked in Vee’s story. The first book was about Vee recovering from her losses and simultaneously figuring out who was murdering teens at her school. There’s no long line of murders in this one, but in some regards its even scarier than the first book. Vee, who can slide into other people by touching objects that they once touched, is coming to realize that someone must be sliding into her now.

Probably the only thing scarier than an unknown murderer is an unknown person with the same strange, supernatural ability as Vee, using Vee’s body to do bad things (like crash cars and ruin revenge schemes). So, Vee never really seems to have it easy. Between loosing her mother, her first love, and then having this weird ability and few friends, she doesn’t have much going for her, besides her best friend, Rollins. Rollins saved her from a really terrible situation in the first book and he’s the only one who knows Vee’s secret.

Unfortunately, just when Vee is starting to realize she might return her best friend’s feelings, in enters a new girl in Rollins’ life. Thankfully, though some friends from Vee’s past kind of redeem themselves and watching the girls plot a revenge mission against the scum of the earth character from the first book was pretty epic. And Vee had a lot of things to distract her from the new girl in Rollins’ life. But of course lots of things get in the way of the revenge mission. And just when I thought there would be no more murders, I found out I was wrong. There’s more teen murder, more supernatural mystery, more family drama (with a long lost aunt), more romance, and more growing up.

Plenty of questions get answered in this one. It was interesting to hear more about Vee’s mother. And it was fun getting to see how much more in control Vee was of her powers. She specifically aimed to slide into people in this one to get some answers. And this made her stronger.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, trying to guess who the other slider was! I was hoping for Vee and her bestie to hook up since the last book! I love that she kind of addresses her hyperactive caffeine addictions. And I super loved the jerkface who took advantage of Vee and other various other females kind of getting what was coming to him.

It was fun watching Vee hang out with her old friend. I felt her pain when she was given a makeover. And I understood her mistrust of her long lost aunt. Vee has a lot of flaws, but who wouldn’t after going through what she did? At least she still has hope for a better understanding of her unique abilities.

I still kind of find her dad a little unbelievable. Like why has he not noticed his daughter’s caffeine intake? Does he not know about the final deaths that happened in the last book? I kind of wanted him to be more worried about his daughters. Though, I was super impressed by how Vee’s sister has developed into a decent character.

I also kind of liked that Rollins wasn’t perfect. The other girl complicated things for Vee, but also kind of just made Rollins seem more believable. Sometime the guy interests in these books can seem too perfect. And Rollins, while still the best listener, and hero of distressed Vee, is now more human.

I was really impressed by how Hathaway continued the story. I still have some questions. I hope she still continues the story. I want to know more about possible other sliders. I want to see where things go with Rollins. Overall, this one gets a 9/10 from me. I had so much fun reading this!

Waiting on Wednesday (41)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week, I am waiting on The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen (6/4/13):

Description on Goodreads:

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

So, I have been reading this author since I was 13. And yes, she can be a bit formulaic. And yes, I always kind of know how her books will end, but I love these books. I love YA contemporaries that take place in summer. I love how much growing her characters all do in such short periods of times. And I love how relatable all these characters and their problems are. Also, I’m a sucker for the romance. This one comes out at the perfect time. I’m loving the cover. Her covers (old and new) always attracted me to them like magnets. I’m excited to see what more Dessen has to say.

What are you waiting on this week?

Paper Towns by John Green

So, I have officially now read all of this guys’ books! Technically, there’s still one more book that he co-wrote with two other authors and it’s about Christmas, and it’s sitting in my TBR pile, but still.  I already decided a few books ago, that I need to bow down to the awesomeness of this author. I feel like one of the things that keeps getting discussed by his fans is which of his wonders is the best. I’m pretty sure my order for his best works is as close to the order of which he has written them as can be possible (backwards). This is my order (so far, missing the Christmas book): 1) The Fault in our Stars, 2) Will Grayson, Will Grayson, 3) Paper Towns, 4) An Abundance of Katherines, and 5) Looking for Alaska. A lot of fans super love my least favorite of the five. But, I kind of felt like it was missing the super awesome juice of the other four.

Any way, having read all of these, I can see a lot common traits in Green’s writing. For starters, he loves road trips. He loves writing about girl characters who are way more than just pretty. He writes a lot about how the main character has to realize that his perception of said girl or even of the world isn’t necessarily how the girl or world is. He also likes to write about at least one character who doesn’t seem to care about what everyone else thinks. His main character always has a love of literature. There’s usually some kind of literary reference(s). He likes to write about the underdog. And he loves to write about the under dog, not necessarily succeeding, but at least learning.

And John Green always manages to do these things all exceptionally well. He gets how the teenage world works. He gets what is life-changing and amazing about it, and he gets what completely sucks more than anything else in the world about it. So when you combine his common traits with a general understanding of the teen psyche that most YA authors wish they had, and you mix it with one of my all time favorite book starts of all time, you get Paper Towns.

Seriously, the book starts with the main character’s long-lasting childhood crush breaking into his bedroom and recruiting him for an ultimate adventure. They drive around their hometown (Orlando, Florida), and do things like break into SeaWorld, after hours. There are snakebites and top of skyscraper views. And best of all there are the missions of revenge. Margo (the crush) gets revenge on the boyfriend who was cheating on her and the friends she thought she could trust. And the main character (Q), gets revenge on a bully. And it’s epic! What teenager wouldn’t want this adventure?

But then the night ends and Margo disappears. And Q realizes that Margo, as she does every time she runs away, has left behind some clues. This time the clues aren’t for her family, but for him. There’s clues left behind in her record collection, in an old paperback Whitman book, and in all sorts of places. So, while, Q’s best friends all get ready for prom, Q works on the mystery left behind for him by the one person he would drop everything for. There’s abandoned buildings, lots of poetry, some lying to the parents, plenty of video game playing, an epic road trip to end all road trips, some milestones, some amazing humor and dialog between Q and his besties, and one amazing coming of age adventure.

I loved that I wasn’t sure how it would end. For a while Q thought Margo might have killed herself, and so did I…I loved how her clues made him think. They made him think not just about where she might be, but where he was in the grander scheme of things. Margo was like this uber crush/celebrity obsession for Q, and it was so much fun watching him learn that she was actually a real person.

I loved Q’s friends. I loved that no one was perfect, but they all genuinely cared for each other. Their differences were not just believable, but they made the whole story work. My favorite part, aside from the revenge mission, would have to be the road trip. There were so many crazy, random details about things like 212 beers and special games of I Spy. Really, this book is full of completely random, yet also just appropriate details, like going naked under graduation robes, and being obsessed with certain websites.

And under all the sarcastic hilarity, there’s this kind of deep, philosophical outlook about life and death that actually kind of reminded me of some of the deeper moments of The Fault in our Stars. I loved reading all the interpretations of grass, and doors, and life and death, and even paper and plastic. And there’s this one conversation between Q and Margo, that while reading, physically gave me goosebumps. It’s short and fast, but what they were saying about things they both realized about the world just sunk in deep with me.

I kind of feel like if I keep talking, I will inadvertently spoil too much of this books’s goodness, and half of its wonder is in its random surprise. Just know that there are moments that will have you laughing out loud, there are moments that will give you goosebumps, and there are moments that will have you on the edge of your seat dying to figure out the clues. I give this one a 10/10. And as I said I’m already above and beyond the point where I will purchase any book with this author’s name on it. I just really hope he never stops writing.

Waiting on Wednesday (40)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week, I am waiting on Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins (9/7/13):

Description on Goodreads:

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

I absolutely love this author. She has got to be one of my all time favorite YA contemporary authors today! The story of this book sounds a little different, possibly less romantic. And I’m more than okay with this! I’m also more than okay with old characters coming back! I loved when this happened in her second book. It was unexpected and wonderful. I’m not sure how I feel about the new book covers. But at this point I will safely buy anything with this author’s name on it, good cover or bad. Is it September yet?

What are you waiting on this week?

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

So, it was beyond difficult for me not to run into Barnes and Noble the day this beauty came out. It came out after I had all my books packed and I kept telling myself it made no sense to pack yet another book when I could just get it once I moved. Of course, I had to find a bookstore as soon as I moved. And well, I got this one on my first weekend. I read the whole thing today, on my day off. I may have read over 500 pages in a matter of hours. That’s how hooked I was to this story.

I have loved Cassandra Clare’s books since I was a teenager. And I already decided two books ago that The Infernal Devices series is way better than her other series. What can be bad about shadowhunters, warlocks, love triangles, werewolves, automatons possessed by demons, steam punk, and Victorian England?

Clare keeps writing these action-packed stories with such loveable, believable characters! I’m so involved in the characters’ stories that I sometimes actually moan in annoyance when a fight scene interrupts things! The fight scenes were rather far between in this one though. It was definitely more about conclusions, acceptances, and answers. The same big bad is after Tessa, and yes, in ultimate creepy fashion still is interested in forcing her marriage to him. However, there are more pressing concerns for the shadowhunters.

There’s the upcoming wedding. There’s the discovering of a certain character having demon pox and turning into a giant worm…And then there’s the whole time thing. Jem is running low on time. He’s been taking more of his “medicine” to seem less sick for Tessa. And unfortunately, his “medicine” is getting harder and harder to come by. Someone is buying it all before Will can get to it.

Will and Tessa clearly both still having feelings for each other, but Will can barely look at Tessa straight on any more. Will’s sister takes more of a starring role, by joining the ranks of the shadowhunters, and learning to love to fight and train. There’s a lot of political drama with a shady consul. There’s new inventions (like portals!), more Magnus Bane, more sizzling romance, and more creepy automatons.

Tessa does have a nasty habit of getting kidnapped. And the longer the book goes on the more it becomes painfully clear that Jem is running out of time. There’s an epic Clave/automaton battle. There’s a full out attack on the clave. There’s spying. There’s love with the help. There’s bar brawls and wedding dresses. And there are a lot more answers. I was actually surprised by a twist at the end! I genuinely went, “What now??” out loud at one point!

Everything ends after a big surprise twist and a huge battle scene! And I loved the ending. It worked. Was the epilogue a little corny? Are they ever not? I enjoyed it though. I seriously enjoyed this author’s take on the classic love triangle. Clare seems to genuinely believe that a girl can love more than one guy in her whole life! Possibly even at the same time. What a crazy notion!

Again, Clare writes such amazing characters that you not only feel like you know, but that you just want to rip them from the pages and give colossal hugs to sometimes. I loved getting to know characters from the previous series even better in this one! What’s not to love about Magnus? I super loved seeing Will’s interactions with his sister. It provided a whole new side to him.

I also loved seeing the Silent Brothers in action! They are just so interesting to me. And I loved getting to know a little more about them. Tessa has become so much more than the ignorant American damsel in distress that she was in the beginning! She runs into battle, weapon or not. She fights with the boys. She stands up for what is right. And she truly becomes a force to be reckoned with.

And again, the book is loaded with Victorian London snippets of literature! There’s Dickens quotes thrown around all over the place. And each chapter starts with a piece of something or other. I find it interesting to see how similar the shadowhunters are in the past to the ones of the present. And even more interesting is how different they are. The ones of the past seem a little less conservative actually. The characters actually have lives, somewhat, beyond the demons they are fighting and it’s so interesting to see this difference.

The setting is wonderful. Some of this one actually takes place in Wales, which was a lot of fun! I also just kind of feel that with each book she writes, Clare becomes a stronger writer. I’ve never seen so much character development, so much world building, so much well written grief and sadness, and actually beautifully written romance from her ever! I loved the romance. There’s a scene in Wales that so had my eyes glued to the page!

The epilogue was a little cheesy, but I’m so glad it was there. It really tied up all the loose ends. It was romantic, eloquent, and just plain right for the ending. I give this one a 10/10. And if you haven’t gotten to this series yet, what are you waiting for?

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

I was so excited for this book to come out! I absolutely loved Ashton’s first book. And I was expecting to love this one too. Unfortunately, it just didn’t grab me as much as the first one. It took me over a week to read! That is a long time for me. Granted, It’s the book I’ve been reading while settling into my new home, job, and life. But still, the book I read after it was more than 200 pages longer and I finished that one in a matter of hours…

To the story! It’s kind of a reversal of the previous book, which was about Nikki coming back to the real world (for six months) after her lengthy stay in the Everneath. This book (the sequel) is about Jack’s stay in the Everneath. It’s Nikki’s turn to see Jack every night in her dreams, and to keep him remembering her.

Nikki learns to take more action in this one. Yes, she is kind of eternally depressed. She never has what she wants: Jack. Her father has her seeing a therapist. Her old friends still aren’t really her current friends. And the whole town (with Jack’s mother at the top of the list) blames Nikki for star football player, Jack’s sudden disappearance. She doesn’t really have a lot going for her. That is until she decides to track Cole back down (even though she already told him to leave her alone) because she knows there’s more to the Everneath than what he is telling her.

Tracking Cole and his band is easier than she thought. Convincing Cole to take her into the Everneath to find her much-loved boyfriend is somewhat harder. However, she manages to convince him. Nikki, Cole, and a couple of new friends venture through the epic, mythological maze of the Everneath, following Nikki’s literal tether to Jack. She thinks of memories of Jack and there is a visible tether that points her in his direction…Too bad all the bad people can also see the tether and are drawn to Nikki’s energy.

There’s mazes, mythological lakes, mind boggling wind, narrow escapes, evil queens, plenty of more background of the Everneath, tons of questions answered, and lots more romance in this one! I liked getting to know Cole better. I loved learning more about the evil queen.  Getting to see the Everneath was fascinating. Ashton definitely knows her mythology. She somehow manages to intertwine a classic backdrop with new, believable characteristics –and this gives the whole world of the Everneath so many more layers. I also super enjoyed all of Nikki’s flashbacks. It allowed me to get to see how she and Jack started.

I was hoping for a stronger Nikki. She was too broken after loosing Jack. And she was a little too wiling to leave her family behind again. I was hoping for less cheesy romance. She had a physical tether connecting her to Jack…I sort of let the cheesy seeing-each other-in-their-dreams stuff go in the last book because the plot and world more than made up for it. But this was just a little too much for me in this one. It reminded me a little too much of Noel’s The Immortal series, and not in a good way.

But more than the overdone romance, I guess I just wasn’t as involved with the plot. I kind of expected everything that happened. I enjoyed the ending even though I called it. It’s just I guess this one followed all of the classic fantasy adventure plot lines and what I liked most about the first book was that it didn’t. It was a take on a classic myth, but told in a completely new way. And don’t get me wrong, sometimes all I want is a classic adventure story (with all the tough obstacles, mazes, and fight scenes that come with it). I just wasn’t expecting to get this here.

I still love the concept. I love the way it all ends with me wanting more still. I loved getting to know Cole. And I loved getting a lot of questions answered. I will definitely read the next one. I just hope the author can re-create another more book 1-type unique storyline for it. I give this one a 7/10.

Waiting on Wednesday (39)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week, I am waiting on The Elementals by Saundra Mitchell (6/4/13):

Description on Goodreads:

Kate Witherspoon has lived a bohemian life with her artist parents. In 1917, the new art form of the motion picture is changing entertainment—and Kate is determined to become a director.

Meanwhile, midwestern farm boy Julian Birch has inherited the wanderlust that fueled his parents’ adventures. A childhood bout with polio has left him crippled, but he refuses to let his disability define him.

Strangers driven by a shared vision, Kate and Julian set out separately for Los Angeles, the city of dreams. There, they each struggle to find their independence. When they finally meet, the teenage runaways realize their true magical legacy: the ability to triumph over death, and over time. But as their powerful parents before them learned, all magic comes with a price.

So, I have loved all of Saundra Mitchell’s books! I got to meet her once and this only made me love her books even more. I love that all her books are connected with this light inkling of magic, but that overall they can each work as complete standalone piece. The characters in this one sound so different and so interesting. And I cannot wait to get my hands on this. Also, it’s a slightly different (less girly) cover than I’m used to seeing by this author. And I love it.

What are you waiting on this week?