The Dragon's Price

The Dragon's Price
by Bethany Wiggins

This book is a good choice for anyone out there who are fans of Julie Kagawa and her novels. This book starts off sounding like your typical, every-day "I don't want to be forced into marriage so I'm going to do whatever I can to save my individuality" quest-type story. The main character comes from royal blood (also a common book character trait) and has a long-standing peace treaty with another kingdom (again, as per usual). This, however, is where the similarities end. For one, this novel has DRAGONS. I love dragons (as I suspect some of you do as well). Dragons are something that has an allure to readers- if a book is about dragons, I will pick it up. If there is a dragon on the cover, I will pick it up. There is some kind of special draw to the magic of them, to their mystery and mythology. However, in The Dragon's Price, the first book in the new Transference trilogy, there is a bit of a twist. When you kill a dragon, you gain its treasure. Sure, normally this would mean gold or money. However, in this novel, "treasure" is shown to mean a whole lot more.

The Dragon's Price is a great read for fans like me of the dragon stories, but it also holds an appeal for multiple other genres of readers- romance is another biggie. If you like romance novels; doomed ones, prince/princess ones, and pretty much any other kind of romance, this is the book for you. Sorrow, the main character, goes into her unsure future trying to avoid a loveless (and disturbing) marriage arrangement. What she would least expect to do is fall in love, right? Well, gear up- this romance is one that will keep you enthralled in the characters and their story, and will keep you on your toes wondering and hoping about what will happen.


What? You say?
What will happen?
Well, I guess you'll just have to read it to find out! (Hint: the end had me surprised, slightly flabbergasted, and ready and eager for a sequel!)

If I have to give this book a traditional, "what would you rate it on a scale of 1-5" rating, I would probably give it somewhere between a 3 and a 4. The plot had DRAGONS (that is two automatic stars) and it had great twists- to the dragon mythology, to the character and her story, and to the romantic plot. However, it could use some improvement. It felt more like a trial-run for the author- like this was a test run at writing, but that she has a LOT of potential to improve. I look forwards to reading her work in the future!

This book is a lot like bread. If you eat (read) too much, it makes you feel kinda sick. On the other hand, there are so many kinds of bread that it appeals to so many people- some people like sourdough just as some people like romance. Some people like fantasies, just like some people like whole wheat. This book is like bread for that reason- it suits many people because it has many genres in it. Then, once you think that you've had so much and you've eaten all sorts of bread that it can never surprise you anymore, you discover a new type of bread that you love- and then you start eating breads all over again. This book is a lot like that- something happens that outrages you or annoys you and then makes you more invested in the story. Personally, I would say that this book is whole wheat- grainy with some rough patches that need smoothing out and with little bits of everything so that anyone can find something they like about it.

Enjoy reading, everyone! This one is a fun read, even if it is not quite a five-star novel, so give it a try! Chances are there is something you will like about it! If you are . interested in this author, you can check her out at http://bethanywiggins.com/.

    ~Lucy

Landry Park

Written by: Bethany Hagen 

This book is similar to a packet of oyster crackers: tasty but not quite the same as the whole clam chowder.

Set in futuristic America, this novel follows Madeline Landry; she is the heir to her family's vast fortune but she's not so sure she wants it yet. America is controlled by the gentry, and the people are broken up into classes. First, there is the Uprisen, a select group of wealthy gentry who control basically the entire country. The heirs are expected to marry early and produce children quickly; this task falls to Madeline, and she is reluctant until she meets the very suitable and handsome David Dana. The second class of citizens is the middle class, people allowed to work in trades and service to the gentry and upper class. Finally, there is the lowest of the low, the Rootless, who handle the radioactive materials that provide the gentry with their endless wealth and power. The Rootless are sick and poor, and they are constantly dying as a result of the massive amounts of radioactivity they receive each day. The gentry, however, give little thought to these dying people other than to ridicule and look down upon their insignificant existences. But when Cara Westoff, Madeline's childhood tormentor, says that she is attacked by the Rootless, Madeline doesn't immediately believe her, and she feels she must sort out the truth. She travels to the Rootless community with David Dana, where she witnesses countless injustices. Her view of her previously idyllic home is completely changed, and she must decide how to handle her newly found awareness of her society. She must ultimately choose between justice and comfort.

This novel is a pretty good read. The plot is interesting and the story is fairly original. If you like princess-y type books and futuristic novels, this book is certainly a blend of the two genres. There are several plot lines to consider while reading, which is always more interesting than just one, so that is certainly a plus. In general, the book was good.

There are a few qualms I had that I might point out for consideration, however. Generally, the characters are of the slow variety; they do not catch on to simple plot points until long after the reader has. Along the same lines, they do not address their seemingly most relevant and intriguing problems first, instead they ignore them until there is no avoiding them. This is frustrating, as the reader obviously doesn't want to wait while the protagonist floats around, unaware or uninterested in their most pressing problems. Finally, and most importantly, the book was a little boring in some parts. I was never seized with the urge stop everything and read until I was finished. It was in some places a little drab.

The book in the end was not bad though, just a little slow. I would consider it for a quick read if you have the time. By the final couple chapters, it was definitely more interesting, and the pace did pick up.

3/5 stars!

Allies and Assassins

by Justin Somper


When Anders dies, his younger brother, Jared, who is only sixteen, must take his place as Prince of All Archenfield.  Most of the plot is focused on catching Anders’s assassin, and Jared befriends Asta, the physician’s niece and apprentice, as they attempt to crack the case together.  Jared doesn’t know where to begin, inexperienced as he is, and he is unsure which members of his council he can trust.
Despite his constant self-doubt as well as other characters pointing out his youth, I found most of the other characters to be much more naive than Jared.  The Twelve, along with the heir to the throne, make up Jared’s council, and they are heads of various jobs including the palace cook, the guard, the beekeeper, and the executioner.  They swallowed false leads with surprising gusto and seemed perfectly content to sit by as people were murdered around them.  Most of them were barely fleshed out, and there were minor character inconsistencies.  The beekeeper, for instance, is introduced as using few words, speaking only when she has something important to say, but later, another character rebukes her by saying that the beekeeper likes listening to her own voice too much.  There were a few characters, such as Jared’s younger brother, that fell by the wayside and half the time I forgot they existed.
Jared also had some character flaws.  He was inconsistent about his feelings toward Axel, the head of the guard, sometimes thinking about how close they were and feeling comfortable in his presence and at other times sure that Axel was going to kill him.  His behavior, as well as Asta’s, can only be described as bumbling at times.  His mistakes would work out half the time, as the plot required, and it got a bit tiresome when his rudimentary tactics brought out convenient answers.
That said, there were parts of the book I enjoyed.  There were some really nice passages, and the plot was, for the most part, fairly engaging.  There were a couple scenes that I think would be better to be left out - they were a little too revealing.  I think the next one in the series might be better because a lot of this book was set-up.
Overall, this is a 3.  There were solid parts but also a lot of parts that made me want to give up on the story and the characters.  It was like a cinnamon raisin bagel.  I love cinnamon and bagels are pretty great (though not as exciting as doughnuts), and this is a genre I enjoy, but some of the plot pieces and characters need to be picked out like raisins or they add an unwanted squish to the taste.

A Girl Called Fearless

Extra Points for a cool cover :)

Written by: Catherine Linka

Eat some granola bars on the go while you read about Avie's fast paced escape!

Avie Reveare lives in a Paternalist society, where her every move is controlled by the men that surround her. She must adhere to the strict rules that govern her and all the women, and she never has a moment of privacy (really, never). When Avie's father arranges her marriage to a vile Paternalist billionaire, Avie realizes that maybe it's time for her to run away to Canada, where women are free and treated equally. With the help of her long-time love interest Ronan, and a network of friends, she is spirited away in the night. On her way to freedom though, she slowly realizes just how oppressive the Paternalists are. She deals with romance, betrayal, and lots of action.

I liked this book! The plot/setting was really original and definitely was an interesting commentary on the society we live in today. A lot of books that I read these days just seem like a repeat of the same plot over and over again (vampires and werewolves anybody?), so I appreciate the originals! The book was written well, and the sequence of events was interesting. All the supporting characters are dynamic, and their personal stories really add to the book as a whole. I liked this especially because the story wasn't 100% focused on one single character.

Ok, now for the not so fun part. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with Avie herself. Several times I found myself thinking that she was unrealistically thick. It took her chapters for her to figure out what I already had, and she made mistakes that nobody in their right mind would think of doing. She was just a little unrealistically lacking in forward thinking.

On the whole, the book was a success, and there were a few moments where I was very impressed. I would give this book a thumbs up, but maybe not recommend for your first choice.

3/5 stars

Extraction

By: Stephanie Diaz

The set up for this book was very good.  The idea was excellent.  It was similar to a lot of dystopian novels with hints of science fiction and romance which made for a very interesting mix.  The setting was on a different planet, Kiel.  The main character, Clementine, is from the surface.  Everyone from the surface goes to school and until they are 16.  When they turn 16 they take a test to find out what their "promise score" is.  If they are in the top ten then they are "extracted" and get to live in the core.  If they are not selected they are either replaced or they are simply killed once they turn 20.  Everyone alive on the 20th

birthday dies.  The moon spews acid which can kill someone in 10 minutes.  The core set up a force field  to protect against the acid but sometimes it leaks.  As always in books, the main character is selected to live in the core.  Her only problem is that leaving the surface means leaving Logan, a 17 year old.  When she leaves Logan she plans to get an audience with the leader of the planet, Commander Charlie, and convince him to bring Logan to the core.  There are other sections of the earth, the mantel and lower among them.  Extractions come from those sectors as well and they are trained together.  It was a very interesting idea and was executed fairly well.

I didn't think all of the characters were explained well enough.  I think that all of the characters had potential to be very interesting but in the end, some lacked complexity.  I don't think this is true for all the characters but I think it is especially true Sam, Ariadne, and Logan.  Sam was a bully in the Core who had a high ranking.  Ariadne was another girl from the surface who was roommates with Clementine in the core. Logan wasn't in the book that much so it is understandable but I think a greater connection between Logan and Clementine could have been established before Clementine is selected.  Being in the moment when they are together would have been more powerful than just the thoughts that Clementine has in the Core.  Ariadne definitely wasn't explored enough.  She was kind to Clementine but was easily overcome in the core and could have been a very interesting character if she had had a bigger role.  After a certain point in the book we never hear about Ariadne again.  I think Sam was the most one dimensional character.  He didn't seem to have any emotion other than anger and lust.  I don't quite understand his fixation with Clementine.  Sam was very competitive and Clementine threatened his authority so it made sense that Sam hated her but it was odd how much he hated her and how much he pursued her even when she wasn't doing anything. 

Overall this book was pretty good.  I was just like, well, a clementine.  Juicy and sweet.  Although, sometimes peeling the clementine can be a little frustrating.  Overall this book was a 3.

The Clockwork Scarab

By: Coleen Gleason

Two girls are dead and one has gone missing in 1889 London.  The only clues are an Egyptian Scarabs that were found at both the murder scenes. Well, not exactly murder, both deaths were made out to look like suicides.  Mina Holmes, as in Sherlock Holmes's niece, and Evaline Stoker, sister of Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), are called to a secret meeting at the British Museum by Irene Adler.  Stoker and Holmes are called to investigate these series of murders by the Princess of Wales.  Along the way Holmes makes friends with Dylan Eckhert.  Dylan was at the museum looking at the statue of Sekhmet,  and Egyptian  Goddess, when he touched a scarab on the statue.  Next thing he knew, he woke up in 1889 London.  His problems come from the fact that he's from 2016 London.  Miss Holmes also has a rivalry with Lieutenant Grayling, of Scotland Yard.  Miss Stoker runs into a mysterious pick-pocket, Pix (meaning Pixie), a couple times too many to  be a coincidence.

This book had a rather interesting plot but the characters were almost unbearable.  Miss Adler was aptly named after Alfred Adler, a psychologist who studied how an inferiority complex affected development, because both Miss Stoker and Miss Holmes have the most obvious inferiority complexes.  Them having an inferiority complex wasn't exactly the problem.  The problem was that neither of them got over it and they were both competing incessantly.  I doubt there was an entire page from Miss Holme's point of view that didn't say something about her superior powers of deduction.  By the end I was sick of it.  In fact, by the end of the first chapter I was was sick of it and I was pretty sure I would like Miss Stoker better than Miss  Holmes.  Miss Homes's inability to accept the fact that she had to have a partner just got tiresome by the end.  By the end Miss Homes says something about how Miss Stoker had become Evaline, no longer just an acquaintance.  While I was glad that this was true, it would have been better if it hadn't been stated.

Miss Holmes wasn't the only one with problems.  Miss Stoker has a fear of blood, which was one of the reasons for her inferiority complex.  She is supposed to be a vampire hunter but freezes at the sight of blood.  This was established in one of the earlier chapters but continued to be reinforced throughout the entire book.  In one of the final scenes, surprise surprise, Miss Stoker froze at the sight of blood.  At the beginning, I saw this as a way to develop Miss Stoker's character.  By the end I just saw it as an annoying handicap.  At the beginning I expected Miss Stoker to learn to overcome it somehow.  It could have been used as a way of connecting Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker or just a personal victory for Miss Stoker.  Because nothing was done about this problem I don't see how it was used.  Maybe this problem will be resolved in the next book.

Another frustrating problem with the book was how they played out gender roles.  The book did and exceptional job painting how gender roles were at this time period.  My problem was how focused Miss Stoker and Miss Holmes were on them.  I understand that they were trying to prove the stereotypes wrong, but, at some point, I felt like their focused should have shifted a little more towards actually solving the mystery since that was what was actually needed solving.  Despite this, I did enjoy how Miss Stoker and Pix played out.  It was extraordinarily predictable, but still funny.

Although I found many of the characters quite annoying I thoroughly enjoyed Dylan Echert's character.  Although, my fear is that I enjoyed his character because you don't find out that much about his character.  He was one of the only ones that didn't really show that he pitied himself.  Naturally, he wanted to get back to his own time, yet he still tried to help Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker.  He seemed to be the only one to grow in this book.  He started out wallowing in the basement where he transported back in time and in the end he turned out to be quite clever.  I also enjoyed his iPhone.  His everyday, our 21st century, problems were interesting given that in the book electricity is illegal.  Another good thing about Dylan was how excited he got.  He was one of the few, if not the only, character who showed emotion. He gets especially excited when he finds out who Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker are.  Like anyone would today, he recognized their names.

I also enjoyed Pix's and Lieutenant Grayling's characters.  They were a little more complex than either Miss Stoker or Miss Holmes.  The book needed to get to know Pix, Grayling, and Dylan better because they were the only characters with any depth.

I would give this book a 3 because it had an interesting plot and a couple interesting characters.  There wasn't that much to this book but it was still very interesting.  This book was like chocolate covered cranberries.  They're pretty good and the cranberries have a good flavor, but the chocolate is cheap and rather than melting in your mouth it crumbles in your mouth.  Even though they're not great you decide to keep eating them.  The more you eat the better they taste.  You can't wait for the next cranberry -- despite the book's downfalls, I'm looking forward to the next one.

Conjured

by Sarah Beth Durst

Eve is a girl placed in a special witness protection program that concentrates on people like her who can do magic.  They protect her and other strong magic-weilders from a mysterious serial killer who has been targeting people like them.  However, Eve cannot use her magic without blacking out and having visions of the Magician and the Storyteller, and she has no memory of her life before the witness protection, except for a few flashes here and there.  Often, when she blacks out, she'll lose days, weeks, or even months of her memories.  All she knows is that she is very important to the people trying to catch the serial killer, and they need her to remember her past.
The plot developed slowly, but not in a bad way.  It took a while to figure out what was going on, but figuring it out was interesting.  The memory loss was done pretty well, and the characters were consistent and distinct.  Three of the characters - Aiden, Topher, and Victoria - struck me as superfluous.  Their main purpose was to push Eve on to discover things, but she could very well have discovered them on her own.  There's also some slight backstory, but it is barely explored, and it is not important enough to merit being mentioned.  If the book had more scope, which I would have liked, then the backstories could have been very interesting and I would have liked these characters a lot more.
The end was extremely rushed.  It happened suddenly, and everything was handed to Eve.  She spent the whole book trying to figure out what was going on, and in the end, it was simply explained to her.  The end scenes were short and happened one after another.  Expanding the end would have made the book more enjoyable and it would have made it possible to expand the scope and include the other characters a little more.  The pacing for most of the book was a slow build-up, and for the end to happen at the rate it did was disappointing.
This book is a 3.  Decent writing, decent plot, decent characters.  It is bread; it is not great, but not bad. It isn't the fresh-out-of-the-oven, homemade, soft-in-the-middle bread - which I think it could have been if it had been written differently - but it is also not the limp, tasteless bread that is better off left uneaten.

The Golden Day

By: Ursula Dubosarsky

I have to start by saying that this cover is beautiful.  The golden, orange, and brown tones of the cover melt together and form a watercolor that fits the book perfectly.  While the cover is a rather simple scene -- a path leading to two people off in the distance, the overall picture is beautiful.  The way the leaves border the top make it seem as if we are peering into one single moment shared by the two people off in the distance.  This is exactly what the book is like.  It is a short book with about 150 pages.  It is a glimpse into the life of eleven school girls in Australia during the Vietnam War.  The writing style matches the beauty of the cover.  Ursula Dubosarsky writes from the eyes of the school girls, Cubby in particular.  Cubby seems to be a little scared and confused.  Although it never states her confusion or her fear clearly the writing brought it out so that I felt it rather than saw it in Cubby.  The book starts with a teacher, Miss Renshaw, saying that they are going to a nearby garden to think about death because of a man that was hanged.  In the garden they meet up with someone the often see there, Morgan.  Although, on this particular day, they go further than the garden.  They go to a cave near the beach.  A lot of the girls are scared when they go in the cave and after a few minutes they run out.  They leave Miss Renshaw and Morgan in the cave.  After some time they return to the school without Miss Renshaw.  For most of the book after this the school children have to decide whether or not to tell people where they went because Miss Renshaw had told them to never tell anyone about Morgan.  The entire book takes place in just over a week until the last few pages which is at the end of the girls education.  Four of the original eleven finish their last exam but are still confused about what happened to Miss Renshaw.  One thought of Cubby's shows what the book is about and how it is written.

"That afternoon, they felt no astonishment at any of it.  Perhaps a butterfly, too, is unimpressed by its transformation from those wormlike beginnings.  Why shouldn't it crawl out from the darkness, spread its tiny wings, and fly off into the windy mystery of the trees? The grub lies quietly in its soft cocoon, silent, thinking.  It knows everything."

I would give this book a 3.  It is a beautifully written and interesting because of the writing.  Although I did find it interesting, I had no problem putting it down and walking away.  It held my attention but did not grab at it.  I think that not grabbing at my attention worked well with the writing style and was neither a good thing nor a bad thing.  It was good but not amazing.  It was like a bite of an apple.  The apple is juicy and full of flavor which tastes really sweet.  Once the bite is over there is no pull to take another but that is only because the first was sastisfying.  Like the cover the bite was a simple glimpse of a larger whole.

Where the Stars Still Shine

by Trish Doller. Available September 2013

       I picked up this book feeling wary, because I previously read Room by Emma Donoghue. I found Room to be a masterful, realistic, and respectful way of portraying a kidnapping from the victim's perspective. After reading that book, I didn't know if Where the Stars Still Shine would rise to the challenge and give a unique look at a kidnapping case or if it would disappoint me. More on this later.
       When Callie was just in kindergarten, she was kidnapped by her loving yet domineering and slightly off-kilter mother. She's now 17, reunited with the father who she barely remembers, and must transition to her new family and life. She learns independence, new responsibilities, learns to make decisions for herself, and faces the issues from her past. She especially learns what a respectful, loving relationship is all about... By getting hooked up with a boyfriend and having lots and lots of sex.

       That's right, this galley focused a lot more on romance than psychological trauma from kidnapping. I'd have to say that I'm disappointed overall. I was ready to read a book about a slow transformation into modern life, but really I read about a girl who gets nervous around her mom and gets hot and steamy with a hot greek guy rumored to be a bad boy. (I guess I should have picked up on that foot-flipping-I'm-kissing-someone-right-now-action on the front cover).
       Much of the story is about meandering dates. It's not wrong to have a couple chic-lit books out there with the focus on kissing and sex (oh, lots and lots of sex), but I think here the romance overrides the kidnapping part of the story. To prove my point, Callie didn't have any issues transitioning into the life of a regular teenager. The story glazes over how she studies for her GED and didn't even tell me if she passes. She recognizes an astounding amount of pop culture from movies to music, and she has no problems making friends (or boyfriends for that matter), getting a job, or meeting family. Generally, all the fitting in she has to do (which isn't much) is solved pretty quickly.

       To be honest, I am totally sick of any romance whatsoever. Unless it's great and necessary, I don't want to read it. Scoring a boyfriend or girlfriend by the end of a novel doesn't always enrich it. It's now, in my eyes, a cliche.
       If you like chic lit, romance, or summer escapades, you'll like this book. For you people, this book is a solid 3. However, my patience for romance had been reduced. It was merely okay; closer to a 2. It was like eating a store-made cake. Is the frosting made with real buttercream frosting, or is it the stuff from a can? It turned out to canned, but at least the cake wasn't stale.

The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die

Here's another book by April Henry. You can see my brief review on her other book Girl, Stolen here.

I can't mention the character's name and the plot changes direction every chapter, so I can't say much without giving away at least half the book. Maybe I can describe the first four pages: She (the main character) wakes up, dazed and confused. A disembodied voice above says "Take her out back and finish her off." That's where this story starts. She wakes up with no idea what's happening to her or how she got there. She has amnesia, and someone is trying to kill her. Dun, dun, duuuuuunnnnnnn.

If I were to describe this book as a whole, I would call it an action movie. Unfortunately, this is a problem. The book is interesting, but the whole thing isn't... realistic. In all seriousness, if this book were an action movie it would be pretty good if not run-of-the-mill. We'd see martial-arts style fighting, secret agents, guns, a corporation looking for power, an explosion or two, convenient happenstances, and even cheap romance. A character with a mysterious past and unknown skills and people trying snub her out? It all fits on the silver screen. So does her family and all other characters she interacts with, with one or two exceptions; they're wax dolls in the book. You don't really see them and their actions are just a bit too cookie-cutter. I wish I could write a better review about this book, but this is the hard truth of it. I even feel sorry for writing this. I don't want to make it sound bad because it isn't a bad book; I could feel the same emotion and tension as the main character as she learned more about herself and her situation. There's still writing to be commended here. Hmm, I guess I'm saying that it should be edited a bit.

I'll have to give this book three stars. Many people will probably enjoy it without second thought, but in my eyes is has potential to be better.
If this book were a food, it would be spaghetti and orange juice. They're both good separately, but together they're not at their best.

A Long Long Sleep

By Anna Sheehan

In this book, the main and well-to-do character Rosealinda Fitzroy goes into a suspended animation for sixty years. After being woken, the book follows her journey of living in the radically transformed future and its perils, discovering things that shaped her past and present. Unfortunately, the discovering part only happens at the end of the book. I mostly read about Rose dimly stuttering through a difficult curriculum at school and other situations. Some parts made me think that she may have been a ditz. On the other hand, it was equaled by signs of intelligence like her proficiency in art and a relationship with a special character, so I don't really know what to think of her.

Her actions seems shallow and poorly based, which reflected on a story arc that seems a little flimsy and without real cause; it could have been greatly changed with just a few tiny (and seemingly completely unthought of) actions... but there wouldn't be much of a story left if it went the way I would like it, would there? However, there were other interesting things that helped the story along a bit. But not much. It was boring to read on and on with no changes in Rose's situation or emotional status; she and the story arc just drifted along chapter after chapter. It was interesting in the very beginning yet dragged soon afterwards. Thankfully, it picked up towards the end and tied everything together into a solid finish and overall a good story. I just wish this solidness existed throughout the entire book.

So, this book had its ups and downs. It's story overall has complexity and is something to think about once you know the whole of it, yet the process of getting to that point isn't as fascinating as it should be. Save this one for a rainy day to kill some time. It was like a vegetable soup, under salted. Its tomatoes and onions are tasty, however they are few and far between with its watery broth. It's filling, but not hearty. Rated as a 3.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Josh and Sophie Newman are twins currently living in San Francisco. Josh works at a bookshop and Sophie works at a coffee shop across the street. Some weird guys go into the bookshop, blow things up, and kind of scare Sophie and Josh. They kidnap the bookshop owner's wife Perry and run away with a book. The bookshop owner, Nick, takes Sophie and Josh and runs away to safety where he explains that he has been living for about 700 years and that the book that was just stolen, the Codex, can destroy the world. He is Nicholas Flamel, and his wife is Perenelle Flamel, and they would be immortal if that book hadn't been stolen. They can live one month without the book.

The Elders once ruled the world, and some of them, referred to as the Dark Elders, have decided that it is time to reclaim the world and reduce the human race to slaves, or, in some cases, food. Josh and Sophie are most likely the set of twins mentioned in the Codex. They have pure gold and silver auras, one can destroy the world, and one can save it.

It was a 3. Like a lemon tart, it was tangy, but not the best thing in the world. However, it was still enjoyable and fun.

The Marbury Lens

By Andrew Smith
Unlike many books I have read, the cover is not at all deceiving. Yes, this book does indeed involve a pair of purplish glasses. And a boy. And a place called Marbury. But no, steampunk fanatics, the glasses in the book aren't actually that cool looking. Give or take.
But, anyway, onto the point of this review. Jack is a boy, perhaps 18, who very early in the book experiences a life-changing encounter with a kidnapper who on the surface appears to be a helpful and experienced doctor. Later on, he is thrust into the mysterious, violent, and desert-like world of Marbury where he has a few violent adventures that are too tedious to describe in my sleep-deprived state.
After the kidnapper, the book seems to become quite depressing. As Jack becomes more enraptured with Marbury rather than his real life, he reminds me of a hopeless drug addict spinning towards even worse things, if there were even any worse things.
After I read my last book that had a few depressing things in it, I got this book which was just filled with even more depressing things. I need a break from it now. It's even hard for me to think of how the resolution of this book could be positive at all. Perhaps it is, or perhaps not. Maybe it's neutral. This book gave me quite a bit to figure out- that can be both a good and bad thing. Good, because it has depth, meaning, and other 'deep' stuff. Bad, because it's damn confusing sometimes (and I haven't figured out that much yet; there's not much else to say here).
However, this does not mean the story wasn't put together well. The concept of Marbury, the plot, and Jack's character has obvious development and while it did not make me feel like the happiest person in the world, it was nonetheless a story worth reading. It's not meant for the faint of heart; it has some heavy topics meant for older teens. I can imagine some people disliking this book. Others, I can imagine enjoying and respecting it. Like I already mentioned, this book has some very violent scenes, some sex, some emotion, some gore, some death, some salt and sugar, a cup of milk... Not tons of violence, but a bunch. Personally, I enjoyed this book- but if you're to read it, try to keep an open mind. This book is not about pain and death; it is about a boy and a snippet of his life.
To sum it all up, it was interesting, saddening, and a bit confusing, but I liked it anyway. If you liked the apocalyptic and dystopian style of the Hunger Games and are willing to combine it with a slightly emo guy named Jack, I think you may enjoy this book. As a food, it would be a lemonade or a sharp lemon tart. It's tasty, but lemons are fickle. You may enjoy the flavor and some sweetness, but the bitterness still resides. I proclaim this book to be rated as a 3.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

This is the second book in the Mortal Instrument trilogy (apparently trilogies have four books in them now, and more books are coming). Like the last one, the biggest thing that bothered me was the messed up romance. If you take the messed up romance, the book was fairly good. Magnus Bane plays a bigger role in this book than in the last, and he's cool, in that I am a powerful 300 year old warlock who charges money for everything and likes to wear lots of glitter kind of way. Jace is pretty annoying; he keeps switching personalities. Sometimes he's a hero, sometimes he's the original sarcastic jerk (though the sarcasm does bring up some good lines), and sometimes he's in love. Simon is... interesting, Clary is Clary, and she takes her part in the messed up romance, and I don't even know what to think about Isabelle. Luke and Valentine are the same. Max, the youngest Lightwood, comes into the story, and he's fun. There's the basic character overview. This one was a continuation of the last one, and it wasn't significantly different, except the romance was a little more messed up. One thing that did differ was that everyone seemed to hate everyone else a little more.

City of Ashes is a little worse than City of Bones; it's a 3. It was just about what I was expecting, except there was too much internal conflict within the characters. Please stop the messed up romances. It was like a spaghetti dish with good sauce, but awful spaghetti. Spaghetti is hard enough to eat because of its habit of being long and thin, but when it tastes bad, it's just really annoying. You eat so you can eat the sauce. The sauce tastes good, like the good characters and basic plot.

A Crack in the Sky by Mark Peter Hughes

Eli Papadopoulos is the grandson of The Grandfather, the man who founded InfiniCorp and invented the dome cities. InfiniCorp is the only company; it sells everything and runs everything. It is thanks to InfiniCorp and the dome cities that the human race still exists, now that the world is uninhabitable because of global warming. Eli had always assumed that his life was set, and while her wasn't sure he wanted it, it was always a given. He would be given a high position in the company and have a good life. However, Eli is not like everyone else in his family. He doesn't enjoy his studies, despite their necessity in his life, and would rather spend his time reading the old paper books. He is also obsessed with the fact that there is something wrong with the sky. He is sure that he has seen bits of it fall to the ground, and other times he sees images in it that should not be there. When he brings his family's attention to them, he is ignored; nobody else seems to care. Which is why Eli decides to meet with an undercover organization, the Foggers, devoted to destroying what his grandfather had created when they promise him answers. Then, naturally, his life spirals out of control and Eli is stuck in a situation he can't get out of. His family questions his loyalty and the Foggers won't leave him alone.

My favorite characters are Marilyn the incredible mongoose (of course) and Spider, Eli's eldest cousin, who will be the future CEO, but is currently in charge of the Department of Loyalty.

Overall, the book was a 3. It wasn't particularly exciting, and it didn't draw me in as really brilliant books do, but it was good and solid. And it had a cool mongoose. It was like chicken; it had that everything-tastes-like-this feel, in that there was nothing spectacular about it (except the mongoose, so maybe it can have a pinch of spice on it), but still enjoyable.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Amy's mother is a genetic scientist and her father is a high ranking military officer. They have been chosen to board Godspeed, a ship that is headed to a new planet, where they will be needed to set up the government and possibly terraform the planet. Amy is offered a spot on the ship as well, at her parents request, so they can stay as a family. The ship is scheduled to arrive in 300 years, so Amy, her family, and everyone else needed on the new planet will be deep frozen and awakened on the new planet.

Elder is the leader-to-be 250 years later. The current leader of the ship is Eldest, and Elder will take that title when he becomes leader. There is no one else on the ship who is Elder's age; every twenty years, the "season" arrives, and that's when people have babies. The descriptions in the book of the season are somewhat disturbing. Elder was born between the seasons, as every Eldest was, so that he is older than the people he leads. He does not know who his parents are.

The story of Amy and Elder come together when someone unplugs Amy so she wakes up 50 years early. Amy, naturally, is horrified because by the time her parents wake up, she'll be older than they are. Elder is fascinated by Amy; the ship has become monoethnic, so everyone has olive skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. Amy is pale, red haired, and green eyed. Things turn more sinister as, for some unknown reason, more people are unplugged. Some of them don't survive and drown in their little deep freezer chambers. Other are noticed in time, and they are returned to their frozen state before they wake up. Amy is the only one who gets out and lives. Amy and Elder grow closer as they work to figure out why people are getting unplugged, and as the story progresses, deep secrets are uncovered (cue dramatic music). The ending, however, was a disappointment. Amy and Ender achieve their goal and BAM! everything's better. Elder doesn't have to work at all to fix things, and people just accept his shocking truths. Given what the people had been through, I'm surprised they can think at all.

The book was a 3. I did not like the beginning when Amy first got into her chamber, and it wasn't very compelling. And I sat there wanting to bang my head against the wall while the characters remained blind to the obvious and kept suspecting the wrong people for a while. It was like bread. Bland and goodish, but leaves you wishing for something a little more.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

This book is set in a town where everyone is kind of superstitious. They know that there is something wrong with their town; every seven years, a child is taken and a replacement is left where the baby sleeps. In order to protect their kids, parents hang iron things over their babies, such as horseshoes and knives, because the replacement monsters do not like iron. I'm not sure I would hang any sort of blade over my baby if I were a mother, but they do. Mackie is a replacement. At birth, he was traded for the real Mackie, and he struggles to act like a normal human. His struggling is mostly due to his allergy to iron. I'm not sure how he gets around the world, or what he's made of, but he manages, barely. Most other replacements die within a couple of days after they replace a human, but Mackie lasts. He has his sister to thank for that; without her care and protection, he would not have made it.

I give it a 3. This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't stellar either, though it was on the better side. There was nothing that really struck me about it. The writing style and the plot were fine. For food, I guess it's like twizzlers. There's a certain fondness because of the fact that it's candy, and it tastes good because of the sugar, but it isn't extraordinary.

'Angel' by James Patterson

I think I'll start with a quote again. A little melodramatic or cheesy, I know, but I think it gives a good feel of the book.

"I had to give him props, but how annoying of him to be a hero when I was trying so hard to dislike him. It was downright selfish." (Patterson)

There it is. Angel by James Patterson, mostly summarized in one line.

Angel is only one of - what, 7 books? - in the Maximum Ride series. I have to give Patterson credit - he took a somewhat overused idea - angels being people, human-animal hybrids - and made it into an action, romance packed series. I loved it in the beginning. If I could say one thing to Mr. Patterson, though, it would be to tell him that he is falling into the deep, dark pits of the cliche and melodramatic. The series was lovely in the beginning - but, really. Someone actually says "I've survived ten years of catholic school, and I will cut you off at your knees without a blink. Do you understand?" (Patterson). It makes a nice plunge into the character's personality; you couldn't have done it more obviously.

Onto the plot. This Maximum Ride book, like all the others, can be read in about an hour. A definite speed read, where you can zip past everything, and have a good idea of what happened. Or, you could read deeply, and come out feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the drama after drama, angst after teenage angst.

There is yet another secret organization trying to do something amazing and awesome - no, this time it isn't taking over the world. Maximum Ride needs to save everyone once again - but this time, it isn't really her who does it. (Argh! Can't give away anything!) There are also scientists trying to convince her to proliferate for the sake of the world. She is caught between her old boyfriend and new one (ANGST) and needs to be a good leader for her flock.

If this book were a food, it would probably be a bag of chips, just the original Lays kind. You eat it out of habit, but once you get into it and eat too much, you feel sick. Not healthy nor amazingly yummy - just filler food. Fried and a not-too-original taste, but familiar and quick to eat.

The Silver Sea by Julia Golding

The Silver Sea takes place in Norway in the year 880 AD. The story switches between a girl named Freydis and her brother Toki, the two children of Ohthere, a wealthy jarl. One day, while their father is away, their home is raided by a pirate who has a longstanding feud with Ohthere. Toki is taken prisoner along with the rest of the village and Freydis is left hiding, the only one left alive. Not long after, her father returns and she is given Enno, an African slave, as a bodyguard. Enno, however, is a proud being, and despite years of being sold and bought, remains in stubborn denial of his slave status, and he and Freydis become companions rather than slave and mistress. The story was interesting and nice for a quick read. I enjoyed reading it, and it was a good story. That said, a couple things bothered me. It was extremely difficult to tell how much time had passed. They sail around, but it never gives a number of days. The whole book, I think, was about a month. This I could tell only because one of the characters had to be somewhere in about a month and got there a day late at the end of the book. But I had no idea how much more time he had, or how much time they spent on a boat and with these people and in all the little bits. The emotions were also horribly done. There was absolutely no development, and it seemed as though all the characters changed emotions within a couple sentences. There was one scene that described Enno and how he hated all the Vikings and he was going to get home someday and all that, then he was rushing to save Freydis's life, even though he had never met her, or even seen her before. He immediately cares for her and wants to help her. Then the next page describes his hatred for all Vikings. Ah, yes, that wonderful internal conflict. Horribly developed; if the author wanted to add complex emotions, she should have done it more complex way. Then there is Toki. Toki wanders away and meets a family of a supposedly unfriendly tribe. The father ends up trusting him, but his two children hate him. He and the daughter, Aino, end up alone in the house. Aino is pretty much ready to bite Toki's head off. Then, suddenly, Toki confesses that he likes her. Yes, he has known her for all of three pages, no more than an hour, and Toki thinks that he would very much like her as a wife. Aino seems to maintain some sense for another page before completely falling for Toki. It was quite obvious when they met that they would end up liking each other, but four pages and an hour is a little rushed. There was no lead up, just them insulting each other, then there he was, asking Aino if she was promised to anyone and saying, "I think I like you, Aino Pekkasdottir." The shallowness of it all made me really hate some of the characters and I couldn't like any of them. This made the end of the book extremely satisfying. It was probably supposed to be dramatic, but it didn't work out like that for me; it just made me laugh at the characters. Go read the book if you feel like it.

The book is a nice story, mostly well laid-out. The combination of terrible emotions and timeline, yet satisfying ending that gives those silly characters what they deserve add up to give the book a 3. Imagine a funny tasting candy that's nice to just crunch down on and finish.

Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Faerie Wars takes place in both a world parallel to our own and our own world. It begins with Henry Atherton in our world. He works for a man called Mr. Fogarty doing odd jobs and stuff around his house that Mr. Fogarty can no longer do because of his age. In the realm of faerie, the prince Pyrgus Malvae is up to being his not-so-obedient-son type. He gets into trouble with a man who enjoys summoning demons and almost gets sacrificed to a demon prince. He gets sent to this world for his safety, and finds, to his horror, that he has been turned into a mini thing with wings, our common image of fairies. What I really liked about this book were the demons. They were just cool. They were sneaky, devious, and evil. Just what demons are supposed to be. For a few short, glorious pages, I even managed to convince myself that the demons would manage to kill Pyrgus. No such luck; I still have yet to find the book that gives a really satisfying villain win. Oh well.

The great downfall of this book was Henry's personal life. Really, I don't care that Henry's mom is having an affair with his dad's female secretary. It has way too much emphasis in the book, and adds absolutely nothing to the story. It would be much more fun to read if Henry could have his adventure with Pyrgus and Mr. Fogarty without being called back home for a family meeting about his parent's problems. It's not much fun to be reading about Pyrgus and his mishaps, then be pulled back to Henry and his confusion with his mom.

Overall, the book gets a 3. Fun, easy, and quick to read. The plot was fairly simple, but engaging. It had all the basic good guys and bad guys and magic stuff. It could be compared to a fortune cookie; it's small and pretty good. But when you just want a cookie, there is that little message in the middle that is impossible to ignore.