Across the Universe

#31: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Top 10 Reasons I HATED This Book:

10. I was not emotionally invested in any of the characters. All of them were either assholes or absurdly annoying.

9. Even though the characters speak perfectly normal English, they have the dumbest made up swear word called "frex". I understand that the 'F Word' may be frowned upon in YA lit, but there's a simply solution to that. DON'T SWEAR AT ALL. I wanted to chuck the book against the wall every time I read the fake word.

8. The beginning was deceiving. The first few chapters of this book were actually really good and got me super excited to read this! Then the rest was a huge disappointment.

7. The main boy in the story (Elder) was such a CREEP. His "love at first sight" theory made me almost as sick as his description of Amy's naked breasts. Grade A pedo.

6. It's going to be a trilogy.... REALLY?! That's just torture.

5. Here is a summary of the whole book: "oh, we're on a spaceship! ....still on a spaceship....... aaaand we're almost off the spaceship!..... just kidding, we're still on the spaceship." Nothing really happens.

4. "The Season": CREEPIEST SHIT OF MY LIFE. I just can't see how the work "fuck" can't be put in the book, but rape scenes can. Sorry for the spoiler, but really I'm just saving you time that would have otherwise been wasted on this awful story.

3. The "huge shock" at the end was completely obvious and easily predictable.

2. The author is a crappy writer. Here is a paragraph that my friend Traci and I got a good laugh out of:

"After Elder abandons me in the recorder hall, I stand there, alone in the dark. I'm not sure why Elder went with Eldest-- I trust Elder, but not Eldest, and I thought Elder agreed with me about Eldest." (318)

REALLY?! Did this lady not take Creative Writing 101?

I was also annoyed that she did not put nearly enough description into the ship. I mean, this thing is obviously huge to sustain life for hundreds of years and to supply inhabitants with all the crap they have. Why don;t we get detailed descriptions of these things?

1.Most people on Goodreads not only like but LOVE this crap. I have temporarily lost my faith in you guys and it may take awhile for that faith to be regained. I am disappointed as well as pissed off that you guys made me believe that this book would be worth my time in the slightest.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

#30: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Synopsis via Goodreads:

With his first foray into teen literature, acclaimed author Sherman Alexie packs a punch in this absorbing novel about a Native American boy searching for a brighter future. At once humorous and stirring, Alexie's novel follows Junior, a resident of the Spokane reservation who transfers out of the reservation's school -- and into a nearby rich, all-white farm school -- in order to nurture his desire to become a cartoonist. Junior encounters resistance there, a backlash at home, and numerous family problems -- all the while relaying his thoughts and feelings via amusing descriptions and drawings. Having already garnered a National Book Award for Young Adult Literature, this moving look at race and growing up is definitely one to pick up.

I really had no expectations for this book because I just sort of got it one day for no real reason. Good move! This book was funny, but real. I particularly liked the theme of leaving your comfort zone (in this case, an indian reservation) and seeking something greater. This is a subject that I visit often. You see, I plan to run away to Texas someday. We'll see how that turns out for me.

I apologize that this review is so short, but I actually read this like two weeks ago and have forgotten parts that I wanted to comment on. Oops! Just trust me when I say that it was a good read.

The Three Musketeers

#29: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Synopsis via Goodreads

D'Artagnan comes to Paris to join the King's Musketeers and soon finds himself caught up in high adventure and intrigue at the Royal Court.

The description isn't very descriptive, I know. :p I have really been wanting to read The Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas because 1) his book The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favorites and 2) I love the movie version and have been wanting to read the text. Anyway, The Man in the Iron Mask is kind of like a sequel to The Three Musketeers, so I figured I'd better read this one first. Because of this, I didn't really have any expectations for this book at all.

It's pretty good! I was actually really surprised by how taken I was with the story. I thought that it was going to be lame and aimed more toward a male audience, but I was happy to find some romance and a bad ass female villain! d'Artagnan annoyed me at first, but grew on me more and more as I read. I am definitely an even bigger Dumas fan now :)

Unearthly

#28: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Synopsis via Goodreads

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Okay, okay, I know that I'm supposed to be reading a "classic" novel for every fourth book and that this is a fourth book, but I've heard so many good things about Unearthly that I just couldn't wait. The next four books that I read will go classic, new, new, classic to make up for this. Anyway, on to more important issues.

THIS BOOK IS SO FN GOOD!!!!! I'm not sure if it's the whole angel mythology, the teen romance parts, or both (probably), but I flipped through this book fairly quickly wanting to know what happens next?! what happens next?! I was nervous that I wasn;t going to like the story at all because I'm such a huge fan of Cassandra Clare's angel series. Thankfully, this book stepped up!

I really loved everything about this book, but my favorite feature has to be the surprises. YA books are usually pretty predictable. I figured out some aspects of the storyline pretty quickly, but was pleased to find myself shouting out loud, "NO WAY! SHUT UP!" a couple of times. That's how you know it's good! Toward the end (as expected) some big action goes down and I was so emotionally involved that I felt sick to my stomach and even teared up a bit. This does not happen to me often!

Of course, since it's the first book in a series, I'm angry at the moment because I want to know what happens next but will probably have to wait about another year to find out. UUUUGH. Sometimes I wish that I could wait until the whole series is out before I start it. Anyway, this book is super good and you should read it. I don't even want to start another book right away because I just know that Unearthly will be the only thing on my mind!

Blue Bloods

#27: Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Synopsis via Goodreads:

When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires.The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated blue bloods of American society. 

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a popular girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think, but she wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger? 

I have been sooooo over vampires for a while now, but they aaaalways have pretty much every book in the series at Half Price Books and I haven't read a series in a while so I thought... what the heck?

The bad news is that the first half of this book royally sucked. All it was was an excruciatingly detailed description of the setting and how filthy stinkin rich all of the main characters are. I watch Gossip Girl. I don't need to hear this. They didn't even mention vampires until half way through the dang book.

The good news is that the second half of the book was great! Once they FINALLY started talking about vampires, I was sucked in. De la Cruz does a great job in giving the over-done mythology some exciting new twists, so now I'm actually looking forward to reading book #2!

The worst news is that I went back to Half Price Books to get me Masquerade and even though they ALWAYS have it... they don't. The one time I need it. Figures. I'm not too sad about it because I'm not dying to know what happens next, but I still plan on reading it so I'm a little bummed! I just don't want to forget what happened in the first book by the time I get to the second.

Anna and the French Kiss

#26: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

After reading the ending of Sea, I was feeling super girly. Fortunately, my friend Traci had been wanting me to read Anna and the French Kiss for a few weeks-- just what I needed! This book is cute and fun. It's complete with cool main girl character, loyal friends, bitchy arch nemesis girl, and dream boy with an English accent (drool).

I feel like I should maybe give this one 5 stars because it made me so very happy, but I just can't bring myself to rate it so highly for some reason that I can't quite put my paw on. I'm putting 4 bones down here, but it's really more like 4.5.

Wisconsin Blizzard of 2011

This is completely unrelated to books, but we had an absurd blizzard last night complete with unrelenting snow, ruthless winds, and even a thunderstorm! Here are some pictures of my doggies from the morning after (today).

Lilli! She likes to dunk her head in snowbanks. Don't judge.

Inside the kennel. Yeeeeah we can't even get the door closed.

Timber. The snow gets higher than Lilli every year, but I've never seen it higher than him!

I will definitely be spending the day inside curled up with my dogs and my books :)

Nikki

Sea

#25: Sea by Heidi R. Kling

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Still haunted by nightmares of her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Sienna Jones reluctantly travels to Indonesia with her father's relief team to help tsunami orphans with their post traumatic stress disorder—something Sienna knows a lot about. Since her mother's plane went missing over the Indian Ocean three years before, Sienna doesn't do anything if it involves the ocean or planes, so this trip is a big step forward.

But the last thing she expects is to fall for Deni, a brooding Indonesian boy who lives at the orphanage, and just so happens to be HOT. When Deni hears a rumor that his father may be alive, Sienna doesn't think twice about running away with him to the epicenter of the disaster. Unfortunately, what they find there could break both their hearts.

What better way to escape from the epic Wisconsin blizzard of February 2011 than to curl up with a summer romance set in sticky, sweaty, hot Indonesia? I was excited about this book because I heard a lot of hype about it, but I didn't really know much about it until I actually started reading. Not gonna lie, I thought that it would be about mermaids or something like that. Not even close.

I'm typically not a big fan of romances, but this book wasn't strictly so. I loved getting a glimpse into Indonesian culture (assuming Kling's facts are straight since this is a work of fiction and all) and I loved how the author showed how a disaster (the death of a loved one and also a natural disaster-- a tsunami) could leave people scarred for years after its occurrence. I was lovinglovingloving the book until one part toward the very end. In the book description above where it says "Unfortunately, what they find there could break both their hearts." yeeeeah what they find there had me saying "WTF? SERIOUSLY?" and ready to stop reading altogether. Buuuut I was so close to finishing the book that I didn't see any sense in stopping... and boy am I glad that I didn't. 


I thought that that part was ruining the story, but the final chapter of the book was so lovely it had me saying "AW" out loud (this never happens). My mood went from disappointment to pure joy and girlyness (not sure that that's a real emotion). It was wonderful and made me forgive the little speed bump that had upset me so much. Definitely a good read.