January Wrap up & February TBR

My January Wrap up and my to-be-read pile for February.  

So for January I have completed (in order of completion):

1. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
2. Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber
3. The Sight by David Clement-Davies
4. Fell by David Clement-Davies
5. The Pact by Jodi Picoult
6. Iron King by Julie Kagawa
7. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
8. Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne (PulseIt)
9. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting (PulseIt)
10. Need by Carrie Jones
11. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

According to Goodreads, this puts me 14% ahead of schedule.  I am trying to keep ahead of the game because when summer hits, and the kennel gets busy, I am not sure I will be able to read much.  I hope I can, but that is why I started out slow with only a 50-book challenge.

On my To-Be-Read pile, I have:

1. Frostbite by Richelle Mead
2. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers
4. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garci and Margaret Stohl
6. Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst
7. Secrets of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst
8. Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler (PulseIt)
9. The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams (PulseIt)
10. Love Struck by Melissa Marr

This only includes books I have at my fingertips.  My boyfriend and I are planning another trip to Half Price Bookstore after my payday, and I plan on lengthening this list by a couple more books.  I am also looking into getting rid of a couple of adult novels that I probably will never read to make room on my shelves for books I actual want.  I am a huge fan of Half Price Books, because books I no longer want (my trash) may be exactly what another is looking for (their treasure).

REMEMBER:  Donate or sell the books you no longer want, have attachment to, or will never reread!

Book Review: Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne

Title: Still Waters

Author: Emma Carlson Berne

Synopsis: Hannah can't wait to sneak off for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Colin. He's leaving for college soon, and Hannah wants their trip to the lake house to be one they'll never forget. 

But once Hannah and Colin get there, things start to seem a bit...off. They can't find the town on any map. The house they are staying in looks as if someone's been living there, even though it's been deserted for years. And Colin doesn't seem quite himself. As he grows more unstable, Hannah worries about Colin's dark side, and her own safety. 

Nothing is as perfect as it seems, and what lies beneath may haunt her forever.

Review:

a.) Characters: 2/5 score.  Hannah was pretty bad.  We are led to believe she is a good girlfriend, a good sister, and a good daughter.  Then in a matter of two or three chapters she steals from her boyfriend, makes her brother stay with the creepy neighbor, and lies to her mother (all in the beginning of the book!).  Colin seems more real than Hannah, and he is definitely an easier character to believe.  

b.) Plot: 2/5 score.  The whole point of this trip- you learn right in the beginning of the book- is to get alone so Hannah can say “I love you” to Colin.  She wants to say this to him before he leaves for college, so she surprises him with a spur-of-the-moment get-away (which is so not like Hannah).  Everything that takes place at Pine Lake was decent.  I didn’t like the quick-fix, the simple ending, or the fact that he was still going to college after all that.  

c.) Writing style: 3/5 score.  Not bad, but nothing extraordinary.  I actually enjoy the author’s descriptions of the forest, the lake, the thunderstorms.  It was engulfing in scenery, but then the characters kind of fell flat in comparison.  It was an interesting read.  

Rating: 7/15 total

I also have problems with the cover.  It is misleading, and I don't see how it fits with the story.  I feel the cover should be a snapshot of the novel, carrying a thousand words yet revealing little to the course of the plot.  I know, it is a lot to ask.  How very rude of me to judge a book by its cover, but get real people.  If you honestly think your book's cover will go unnoticed because your story sounds so alluring, then maybe you should consider what makes a person pick up a book to read it in the first place.  THE COVER!!!

Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Synopsis: Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined. Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home. When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.
Review:

a.) Characters: 5/5 score.  The growth of Meghan is my favorite part of the story.  She starts as a whiny sixteen year old and evolves into a mature accepting young adult.  With every page, the progress shows how she grows throughout her travels.  Puck, Ash and Grim were absolutely amazing, and the story would not have been the same without them.  From Puck’s pranks to Ash’s chilling demeanor, and Grim’s sarcasm, these characters come alive enough to walk right off the pages.

b.) Plot: 5/5 score.  Through the whole plot Meghan NEVER lost sight of saving her brother.  She embarks on this journey and, though her bravery wavers, she still moves forward, refusing to give up.  She didn’t fall helplessly in love with either love interest, though you can feel her attractions and emotions grow throughout the story.  Despite her growing feelings, Meghan never gave up on finding Ethan.  The entire world- from the human’s realm to the Summer Court to the Winter Court and the Iron Court- is believable.  

c.) Writing style: 3/5 score.  Julie Kagawa really made the story of these Fey a reality, and it was impossible to not feel their pain, excitement, confusion, fear, etc. through the whole tale.  It was hard to take a break between chapters with the leads she puts to keep pulling you deeper into their world.  Despite all this, the ending did feel a little weak to me because of the “we’ve failed, we’re dead” points.  

Rating: 13/15 total

Can I get an 'OMG' on the top on your lungs?  Wow- I was thrilled by this.  It left me wanting more from Meghan, more from the storyline, more from Ash and Puck.  I can't believe I didn't start reading this when it first came out.  Of course, lucky me, I get to run out and get the rest of the series unlike those who had to wait.  I cannot wait to see where Kagawa takes this.  From what I understand, the next two, The Iron Daughter and The Iron Queen, are from Meghan's POV while the last one, The Iron Knight, is from Ash's POV.  What I will have to wait for is the spin-off trilogy, which is Ethan's tale years later.  Totally worth it!

Book Review: The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Title: The Pact

Author: Jodi Picoult

Synopsis: For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty-- they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born.

So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet-- a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.

Review:

a.) Characters: 4/5 score.  When you first meet the family, they are a group of four (Augusta and James Harte (mother and father of Christopher); and Melanie and Michael Gold (mother and father of Emily)) that have been friends since their children were born eighteen years ago.  Emily and Christopher are three months apart in age and have spent their whole lives with each other.  You witness many scenes through their years, progressing forward to the present time.  Secondary characters are added in as the story grows, but from the first paragraph until the final line, the story revolves around Em and Chris’s relationship.  

b.) Plot: 2/5 score. In the beginning you are gripped with the loss of Emily and with the mystery of what happened.  As more is revealed, things become clear.  Eventually you are either with or against Chris by the time his truth comes out.  It has “adult” scenes and is not recommended for a younger audience.  It was, in all, a good read.  I myself didn’t care for the courtroom drama.

c.) Writing style: 4/5 score.  It is set in third person, jumping from each character’s point of view.  You really get inside the head of Em and Chris.  You do experience others, seeing the two main characters through their eyes.  It is an adult novel, a strong and compelling story showing both sides of suicide- the never-ending depression of before and the aftermath of leaving.  

Rating: 10/15 total

I actually really enjoyed this book.  I guess I wasn't expecting to since it isn't normally what I reach for, and it was a nice surprise when I was gripped by the story's plot.  The courtroom drama is what brought the score down so low.  Other than that it was an enticing tale of depression and the aftermath of suicide.  I read a couple of reviews on goodreads that had stated Emily needed to "get over herself" and to "grow a pair and get help".  And while I agree that suicide isn't the way to go, I know depression, and I know the darkness that comes down on you.  It doesn't even feel like the world will ever be right again. 

Book Review: Fell by David Clement-Davies

Title: Fell

Author: David Clement-Davis

Synopsis: In this dark, thrilling fairy tale, it is the wolf who saves the girl. Fell, the dark-furred twin brother of Larka, the heroine of The Sight, must face life without his sister or the rest of his loving pack. He’s a lone wolf now, a “kerl,” an outcast from his kind who shares his sister’s fatal gift for seeing the future and the thoughts of others. This gift leads him to befriend a young girl, also an outcast from her people. They have a shared destiny: to free the land from a tyrannical ruler who would enslave man and animal alike.

Review:

a.) Characters: 2/5 points. Five years after The Sight, we are wallowing in self-pity from Fell after losing his sister Larka and trying to figure out Alina’s true past.  I like the idea that Alina was disguised as a boy named Alin.  Adding the human in however was, in my opinion, not the greatest of ideas.  In The Sight, the goals were always to the next step progressing the storyline.  This one wasn’t as upbeat or clean-cut in travel or target.

b.) Plot: 2/5 points.  Mostly focused on Fell and Alina.  Not normally a bad thing, but after reading The Sight and having so many more characters, this felt empty without more.  Adding the human made the story weak in my opinion.  Fell’s purpose seemed lost as he helped Alina.  It centered more on humans than the wolves, and after The Sight, it felt awkward.

c.) Writing style: 3/5 points.  At times the writing seduced you into the story like a passionate lover- and then there were other times when it felt like the story was dragging on as if he was trying to create a long novel.  The same terms carried over, so you still felt the world that Fell lives in.

Rating: 5/15 total

I gave this book 2 stars for a reason.  I had such a hard time reading it.  And I feel terrible for this review, but Fell was nothing compared to The Sight.  I don't know if Davis did this second book just to or if there was actually something wrapped up in it.  It focused a lot more around the humans that the previous book did.  I think that he had a good idea, toyed with it for a little, and then just did whatever to spit out another book.  It doesn't feel like (at least, to me) that he put much effort into this.