Spellcastser - Cara Lynn Schultz

 I cannot wait for tomorrow, in the meantime I'll be reading Eden by Jamie McGuire, it is the final book in the Providence series and I will admit Jared Ryel may have come off as stalker-ish in beginning but he is swoon worthy.  :)  Here goes...

Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Finally finished this book, I started it over a month ago and have read several books in between... here's my review of Spellcaster:



I bought this book automatically knowing I enjoyed the 1st one and I was reading something else at the time.  I held this one off for awhile.  Then I remembered, in Spellbound Emma and Brendan got their happily ever after.  They broke the curse.  So I was thinking, why a sequel?  Why did I buy this?



Okay, so I would rate this a 3.5, it's a good follow up, it shows Emma and Brendan had more trouble ahead.  I don't see a need for the book but it's a fun read.  The first 4-5 chapters are slow and then the story picks up.  I read those over weeks in between other books and then read from Chapter 6 on in one day. 



The storyline is good, Kristen is back and mean as ever.  There's a surprise as to who the villain is.  Also some surprises with Emma.  The humor is easily just as good for an adult as a young adult.  I found myself laughing a lot at the conversations between Emma and Cisco, Jenn, Brendan, Kristen, and Angelique.  There's also a lot of funny commentary.  It ends with a good epilogue and I would think that this would and should be the last book in the series.  Let's just let Brendan and Emma be happy.



Cara Lyn Schultz is an excellent author and I'll be excited to see what she brings to the table next with new characters.



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Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver

Holy crap wow that was a good one!  Now what to read?  Tuesday I have Insurgent by Veronica Roth and Black Dawn by Rachel Caine on my to-read list...  I just need to find something short and appeasing to last me until Tuesday after which I will be out of sight until done with both books!!!


Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I thought this book was much better than Delirium (which I rated a 4), it had me from the beginning and was engaging, a real page turner...  Wow!!!



So wow, I pretty much knew from all of the other reviews how this book would end and still... wow.  I liked Delirium but Pandemonium was even better.  In fact, amazing.  I was instantly drawn to Julian as was Lena.



Lena gets answers on many things, including her mother.  The book goes back and forth from when she was rescued to now.  Each chapter goes back and forth titled Now, and Then...  It is easy to follow and necessary in order to understand who Lena has become now that she is an Invalid.



Lena spends a lot of time trying to forget Alex, and Hana.  Julian is an amazing add in character and so are all of the people in the Wilds.  I found this to be my favorite read so far this year.



There are twists, shocks, deliria, and more...  Plenty of action.  I am in love with this author, this book way oversteps the last and hopefully the third will be even more amazing if possible.



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Delirium - Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I cringed, I laughed, I swooned, and I cried.

This is a dystopian but it doesn't seem TOO far into the future. I agree with other reviewers, if you are expecting Hunger Games don't read this. If you want to read a love story about a place in the future where love is considered a disease that kills you, READ THIS. :D

The writing seemed somewhat current, they have cell phones and text, go to college, eat fish sticks, typical stuff. So I think it was written as near future. There writing flowed well and was written in a beautiful style. I'd compare the writing style to that of Lauren Kate.

The story is of Lena who is going to be cured from love on her 18th birthday and then paired with a mate. She has a best friend who was a great add in character named Hana and of course, finds a love interest in the handsome Alex. Whenever I hear the word Autumn I will think of him.

The ending was bittersweet and sad but in the kindle version you get a long free sample of the next book which starts off amazing so I'm really excited to start on it. I'd rate this between 3.5-4 Stars. Well executed, the action was good, I cringed, I laughed, I swooned, and I cried.



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Divergent - Veronica Roth

So this book was amazing, good thing the sequel comes out in just a couple of weeks!  I am thinking of reading Shadows from the Lux series.  :D  I want to read about Dawson!  Not sure what else is in my queue.  I think over 90 books! This book was not in my queue I was just starting to get tired of the paranormal and needed something different and refreshing.  Which Veronica Roth brought in Divergent!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


So I wasn't sure what to expect when picking up this book, I typically read YA Paranormals but have been kind of looking for something new.  I decided after reading Hunger Games to try another dystopian book.  This one had really good reviews so here is mine:

I really liked Beatrice "Tris" our protagonist.  The heroine of the story.  She is 16 and must choose one of 5 factions to live in.  She is from Abnegation which is the "selfless" faction.  Each faction stands for something different. 

The story is told so well and vividly.  For being over 500 pages I read it in about a day and a half, I couldn't stop reading.  It was beautiful and easy to follow.  The writing was done so well, I winced with pain when I read certain parts as if it were actually happening to me.  I couldn't stand some of the characters, in fact the characters were all written so well.  I felt that I knew the looks Beatrice's mother, father, and brother gave her because of the descriptions.  Her friends were fantastically written too.  I can picture all of them and there were even some characters I wanted to punch in the face. 

My favorite characters were Christina, Tris' mom, and Four. 

Speaking of Four...  he is swoon worthy.  There is a love story in this book but it doesn't distract from the main points and it doesn't take over the story.  There is a fantastic plot line and I am so excited to read the sequel in May.



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Taken At Dusk - CC Hunter - Shadow Falls

I really am debating why I rated the book so high.  I'm just completely disappointed in parts of it when I'd been looking forward to it for SO long...

Well here it is for all my fans of Shadow Falls:

Taken at Dusk by C.C. Hunter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I rated this high because I like the series it deserves about a 3.5.  This book entertained me.  I read it quickly like all of the others.  I've even read the Novella.  I loved the relationship between Holiday and Kylie in this book.  The love triangle got more intense.  I don't even know who I'm rooting for anymore.  Both Derek and Lucas are so different and CC Hunter writes one up in one book and then the other in the next.  You just don't know who to love.

Miranda and Perry are finally working it out in this one which made me happy.  There's a new character named Ellie.  There isn't much more to add, Lucas and Derek, Holiday, Burnett, even Red and Mario make appearances.  There was a few twists with the "bad guys" and I liked that.

Here's what I didn't like, I mean really hated, I almost rated it a 3...  The ending.  Here it is, I had no idea this wasn't the last book.  I'm thrilled that it's not I love the kids at Shadow Falls but seriously, the ending was like Deja Vu to the ending of the last book in this series.  That really had me disappointed, I would've liked an original ending. 

Yes Kylie got some answers, but the ending still, besides that, is an exact replica of the ending of the last book.  Meeting her grandparents, questioning her identity, etc... 



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Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games Trilogy

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm not sure why the reviews are so low.  I found this to be a very realistic ending to the trilogy.  The revolution happened, the rebels fought the capitol.  That's the story of this book.  We have our Mockingjay... 

I loved this story, it's just as sad and brutal as the others but with a happy ending in my opinion.  That's my entire review because I don't want to give anything away and here's something I never do, but I am retaliating against complaints I've been reading in reviews:

Spoilers... the bad reviews have a couple of major complaints... Gale's maybe being involved in making the bomb that killed the children and Prim, and Katniss ending unhappily married to Peeta. 

My ideas on those two issues, Gale and Katniss worked it out in her own way of acceptance and Gale chose the "fancy job" in district 2.  He chose not to go back to 12.  Peeta chose to go back to 12 and wanted to be with Katniss, and there's acceptance there too.  She admitted to knowing all along he was what she needed, they went through their own therapy, had children and coped the best they could.  Nothing in there said she was a zombie or unhappy, she loved her kids and knowing they wouldn't compete in any Hunger Games.  It said, she wasn't sure how she felt until she held her child.  As a mother, I get that. 



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Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games Trilogy #2

I'm finishing Mockingjay today I hope because tomorrow Taken At Dusk book 3 in the Shadow Falls series by CC Hunter comes out!!!  

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Action, Killing, Plot Twists, Addictive Read, what more do you want in a sequel? Sequels tend to fall short of their predecessors but I found this one to be a compelling quick read.  Yes you don't get to know all the tributes that well but we didn't know all of them in the first Hunger Games.  The ones you do get to know are easily remembered.  There's plenty of action and plot twists to really keep you flipping pages.  I was so shocked by the ending that I had to buy three and start it the same night.  It was a fantastic read with lots of surprises.  People who expect happiness and roses should not have read this trilogy to begin with.  The complaints seem to be the same about this book and yet I find the majority of people rate it 3-5.  This is not a series for people who want a happy ending which I admit I typically do, until reading these, I've grown to expect sadness and death.  These things are typical of dystopian novels. 



Excellent addition to the series.  I read this faster than either of the other books.  It was fast paced and entertaining.



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The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Well I'm always one to read what has become a "social phenomenon" so here it is (also I think they stayed true to the book in the movie and I think many complaints come from people who haven't read it as recently as I, the girl I saw it with said she read it when it came out):
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this after the movie came out...



I tried to read this book once before...  and I didn't like it, I wasn't interested in dystopian novels and I didn't like that all the characters had such bizarre names.  So I closed the book and let it go.  When the movie came out and was a huge success I decided I wanted to read it and see the movie, I read about 6 chapters before going to the movie and the writing was really good, after seeing the movie I went home to finish the book.  It did not disappoint.  In fact it had me buying book 2 immediately after and now I'm halfway through it.



There isn't much to add to other reviews because everything has been said.  Reading the book at the same time as watching the movie I think they did an excellent adaptation of the story and Suzanne Collins has a beautiful style of writing even when it's something as sad and serious as The Hunger Games. What a creative idea.  This book is just so full of imagination and you can tell she put so much into writing it.  Definitely a 5 star and it's no wonder she's the next big thing in book and media headlines!



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Untouched - Novella - Jus Accardo

This review will be short and sweet just like the Novella, I'm currently reading Spellcaster the sequel to Spellbound and The Hunger Games... I started The Hunger Games when I knew I was going to the movie but the movie was really good and so is the writing so I am taking a break from Spellcaster to finish The Hunger Games just because, Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz had a happy ending and I wasn't sure why they even made a sequel...
:
Untouched by Jus Accardo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What can I say, I'm a sucker for Kale!



As other reviewers pointed out, this is a short Novella.  This happens between book 1 & 2 and comes from Kale's POV (point of view).  Kale has always intrigued me and having a Novella written from his point of view was fantastic.  It's cute to see how innocent he really is to all things that normal people are accustomed to.  In this Novella Kale and Dez are in search of Sixes to warn them of Denazen and help them to sanctuary.  They find a girl named Kiernan and go to an amusement park to get to know her as she's nervous of running away with them.  At the amusement park Kale has to face his biggest fear, the "nightmare man" or in other words, the man who made Kale the way he is.  The man who really helped mold him into a killer.  And Samsen's skill is extremely unique and can make Kale weak. 



I wont give it away.  This was well written and I'm anxiously waiting for Toxic!!!  :D  I loved how Kale's love for Dez was so apparent and when he thinks of his "favorite thing" to do with Dez, it was so innocent that I blushed.  Jus Accardo is an amazing author.



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