Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Divine by mistake by: P.C. Cast

Publication date: August 2009



Synopsis

The only excitement Shannon Parker expects while on summer vacation is a little shopping. But when an antique vase calls to her, she finds herself transported to Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess…
Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while there's an upside—what woman doesn't like lots of pampering?—it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she's her double.
Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind….

My thoughts: This book honestly shocked me. If you get under YA Series it really shouldn't contain some of the things it contains.....
I don't know what was more surprising that a human mates with a centaur or that the Fomorians are raping women and young girls....That part was just sick..really!!
I did however love the story between Shannon (Rhea) and her centaur mate ClanFintan. The love that exist between pure strangers is amazing.
In the real world shannon had no one but in Rhea's world she found herself in an arranged marriage.
I'm glad to see that through all the horrible things that went on they were able to cure small pox and help her friends find love.
I do hope however that the other books aren't this graphic about abuse.

My rating: 2 stars

Matched by: Ally Condie

Publication Date: November 2010



Synopsis

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My thoughts: Wow...so futuristic. this book really knew how to draw me in. It's different from al the book I have been reading which is what first made me want to read it.
Cassia is matched with her best friend Xavier..which that in itself would make me crazy..how do you expect a girl to go from friends to husband and wife with her best friend...especially when she's 17. Well then she watches her chip and discovers that if Ky Markham was eligible for MAtching he would be her mate....how do you let someone else's sins hold you back. If I was Ky I would be ticked off. everyone knows why he's not matched and it has to be embarrassing because everything was his dad's fault not his.
Ky has everything that Cassia has been hiding about herself...love for poetry and the outdoors. They use their time together doing forbidden things touching writing and more in the end Cassia must chose only one boy and if I were her and my families life were on the line I would chose Xavier let me take the sacrifice for them.
I wonder who she will end up with? This author left me hanging! What happens to Cassia and the boys? Will the officials get them if she choses wrong?
oh and the officials someone smack them from me...for choosing people mates...I mean come on that's like an arranged marriage. that went out with the Dinosaurs age.

My rating: 4 Stars

Friday, December 10, 2010

My Soul to Take by: Rachel Vincent

Publication Date:  August 1, 2009



Synopsis

She doesn't see dead people, but
She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next

 My Thoughts: This book is different then most that I've read, but when I saw it I decided to give it a chance. The thought of banshees (bean sidhes) is almost crazy......I mean really people who sing for souls. But this does explain the weirdos when people pass on....right?
Nash sounds kinda dreamy...not that is dreamy but his looks...lol. And i could be a little jealous of Kaylee if I lived in her world.
When Kaylee sees these shadows its almost like she's already seeing souls floating around, but she isn't they are reapers and yes it sounds just as creepy to me. And the reaper is taking souls....or should I say stealing them. Seeing as it really isn't there time to go. But when Kaylee sees the reaper she needs to scream...we soon realize it's not screaming she's doing she's actually singing for their souls. Which is her way of saving them. The only thing is that if she saves a soul another must replace it. And it turns out that Kaylee, her father, her uncle, and her new boyfriend Nash are all bean sidhes and Nash's brother, Tod is a reaper. 
Kaylee is devastated to learn that her mother gave up her life to save her when she was a child. Only after finding out she realizes that her cousin is the reapers, Marg, next victim. And she tries everything to save her. We find out that Kaylee's aunt Va is the one who hired the reaper to take the souls in order to stay young...in the end the evil witch gives up her life to save her daughter. 


My rating: 3 stars

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Captivate by: Carrie Jones

Publication Date: January 2010



Synopsis

Zara's pixies are locked away in the forest, but that doesn't mean the threat is gone. In captivity, the king's needs grow stronger and his power weakens. When a new king, Astley, arrives and tells Zara she's fated to be his queen, Zara discovers she's in deeper than she ever imagined.The last few weeks have been hard for Zara. She "kidnapped her dad...accidentally saved a pixie...car blew up...skin changed color...not to mention...a Spanish test and an art project due and...nothing to wear to the dance." Worse yet, the trapped pixies (Read the author's first book, Need, to learn about pixies and why Zara and her friends have trapped them in an isolated house.) have escaped and are wreaking havoc in the town. Nick, her boyfriend forever and a "were," who can transform into a wolf, has been grievously injured and taken by a Valkyrie to Valhalla. There he will become a warrior when Ragnarok (the final world-ending battle of Norse mythology) comes to pass. Will Zara allow the pixie king- in-waiting, to kiss her and irrevocably change her from half human/half pixie to fully pixie? In doing so, she might be able to rescue Nick, but possibly at the cost of losing her soul. Readers will enjoy the fast-moving plot, action scenes, and lots of Zara's inner dialogue as she tries to come to terms with what she must do if she is to save Nick, while staying true to her own self. 

My Thoughts: When I got this book I was so excited to read more about Zara and Nick. Unfortunately, it took me a while to actually get into this one.
Of course like a true fan I did. I enjoyed the relationship between Devyn and Issie. They know they should be together but are unsure about how to get together. Of course in the end amongst chaos they do end up together. 
Nick is taken after being attacked by an evil pixie king which would kill me to have to only sit back being mortal and there really isn't a lot Zara could do....but she did her best. He then gets taken because he is dying.....I don't know how Zara continued I would need a lot of grieving time...Seriously.
After Nick was taken the pixies started attacking Zara and her friends and family, Astley the good pixie king helps her escape...Zara then choses to be kissed by him...thank god she's only doing to save Nick...I just hope there is a way to be turned back. Astley sounds like Jared Leto or something...I mean when he's under his glamour of course...otherwise he's just this ugly fanged thing...Which the thought of kissing that would give me chills.
I do think Zara made the best choice for herself and for her family....even if Nick could end up hating her for it...she can save him better so he can protect her family from the rest of the pixies. And having AStley kiss her keeps her from becoming some evil pixies queen....and lets face it the evil pixies would order her to be evil.


My rating: 4 stars

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Beautiful Darkness By: Kami Garcia + more

Publication Date: October 12, 2010



Synopsis

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.
Sometimes life-ending.
Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

My thoughts: Summer has arrived for Ethan and his friends (wish it was here)...it's snowing where I'm sitting this morning.
They travel through space and time, actually the travel to different locations using the tunnels.
Link and Ethan try to save Lena from herself and John breed but, she really can't be bother by them. Which if I was Ethan I would of probably acted more hurt about it than he did.
Ridley, becomes human. Which I think is a fitting payback for all the mean things she has done to this group. And I really don't think that she would have turned good, even though Lena said she was trying to.
Macon is alive, which all I ca say is Thank God, Because I think he's the only one who could help save Lena. Only because she thought she had killed him, in order to save Ethan. He was trapped in a archlight that belonged to Ethan's mother, who was Macon's on true love. And the archlight helped guide Ethan to Lena, which is awesome.
Abraham is alive and is working with Hunting and Sarafine, who are causing the chaos with Lena and John.
Lena finally claims herself, not a side (Dark or Light). And when she does decided it changes her eyes to 1 gold and 1 green. Which can I say wold be cool to see and now is a little evil and a little good. Which is a healthy combo.
Link was bit by John Breed so it leaves us wondering what will become of him.


My rating: 4 stars