YA Book Review: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Release Date: 7 September 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Bought (Amazon Bargain Books!)

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Goodreads description:

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.
Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

My Thoughts...

You know when you finally pick up and read a book that you bought a long time ago and can't stop wondering WHY it took you so long to read the darn thing? That's exactly how I felt when I was reading this book! Seriously, I think this was probably the best Amazon "Bargain Book" that I've ever picked up on a whim and I finally understand why people were so excited for the sequel.

Jacinda is just a normal teenage girl trying to break free of the constraints of her society and live a little--well, except that she's a draki.  When Jacinda risks the exposure of the entire pride by flying during the day, she must flee the pride with her mom and sister.  Her mom takes them to a desert--somewhere Jacinda's draki cannot thrive and ultimately, cannot survive.  Jacinda tries to make it through school, all the while attempting to find a way to keep her struggling draki alive. Then she meets Will--and he makes her draki thrive. But he's the enemy...

Jacinda was a really great main character to follower.  She struck me as strong and independent--torn between her family and her pride.  Throughout the story, you watch her struggle to hold on to her draki while also considering what she should do for her mom and sister.  That choice creates a lot of inner tension for Jacinda...and then add that she's falling for a hunter.

Will is a really interesting character.  When you first meet him, he's with a hunting party and for some reason he lets Jacinda go.  When she meets him at school later, you have no idea what's going to happen.  I think he feels torn between her and his family.  Only at the very end do you find out the secret that he's been keeping...

This book is definitely one that I would recommend! It was a fast-paced, unique read with well-developed, complex characters.  I can't wait to read the sequel when it comes out this fall!

This is a "HarperTeen July" post! (5 of 5)

YA Book Review: Immortal by Gillian Shields

Release Date: 1 August 2009
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: HarperTeen "Browse Inside"

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Goodreads description:

Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies, housed in a Gothic mansion on the bleak northern moors, is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn away from her home by the sea to become the newest scholarship student, she is more isolated than she could have dreamed. Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a rebellious, mocking, dangerously attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian grow with each secret meeting, she starts to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie, she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. And as the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.

My Thoughts...

While Immortal isn't the kind of book that surprise and blew me away, it was a pleasant, fast-paced read.  Shields' writing is well-crafted and her gothic abbey boarding school setting, complete with ruins, was well-put-together and vividly imagined.

Evie is sent to boarding school when her grandmother becomes too ill to take care of her.  From the beginning, Evie has a very "poor me," self-deprecating attitude.  I found myself quite a bit annoyed with her at the beginning because I felt like she didn't really even attempt to make herself at home at the school.  Her "whiny" nature made it difficult for me to connect with her as a reader/friend/acquaintance. 

Evie's instant and immensely strong bond with Sebastian also through me for a bit of a loop.  Where Evie is whiny, Sebastian is the epitome of teenage boy angst. The two of them together made sense only in so much as they could wallow together.  The reader sees very little in the way of relationship development and a solid reason for the strong connection between the two.  (And I say these things as a reader who generally accepts the whole "insta-love" thing pretty darn well.)  I just couldn't figure out why Evie was so determined to be with Sebastian.

Overall, the redeeming quality in this book truly is the pacing.  The story moves along at a quick pace and keeps the reader engaged.  It was easy to read the book via HarperTeen's "Browse Inside" feature during work breaks and such.   I liked the magical element to the story and the way that it wove together the past and present.  Agnus' journal entries were also a welcome addition to weave together the past and present and help the reader begin to piece things together. I did like this one enough that I've checked out the second book from the library in hopes that Evie steps up a bit!

This is my second "HarperTeen July" post! (4 of 5)

YA Book Review: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Release Date: 15 February 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Won from Bewitched Bookworms

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Goodreads description:

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul. A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

My Thoughts...

I have been looking forward to reading this book for a long time...since February when it came out.  When I won a signed copy from The Bewitched Bookworms, I was in heaven.  The ideas in this book seemed so unique/original and I was really looking forward to it. (Do you see where this is going?)  I am really good at over-looking "angsty teen" syndrome and even insta-love, but this drove me crazy in this book: the "whiny rich girl" syndrome.

When the book starts out, Ellis seems like a normal teenager: good group of friends (incl. a BFF), some family issues at home, trouble in school, etc. I thought everything was just fine...until the whiny-rich-girl syndrome started to kick in full force. I almost couldn't get past it.  When Ellie has her 17th birthday party, all I could think about is that terrible reality television show, "My Sweet 16."  Ellie and her bestie do little besides drive around in expensive cars, go shopping at high end designer stores (with mommy and daddy's credit cards), and party.  At one point, Ellie decides she needs to change her clothes and when Will asks her why, she says this: "Because I don't like wearing the same outfit all day." I had to put the book down for a few minutes after that line.

Okay, I'm done ranting. I swear.  Because despite that ^, I really did like this book.  Actually, once you get into the fighting and more adventurous plot in the book, Ellie's whiny attitude fades into the background quite a bit. The concept of reapers was really unique and interesting.  I found them quite fascinating and well-developed.  The different types and their powers were interesting to learn about as the story unfolded.  It is also really interesting to watch Ellie slowly come into her memories and powers.  I liked her relationship with Will a lot.  While there is definitely the instant attraction there,  I thought that the time that it took to establish any kind of relationship was well-done.

Despite the above ranting, I am actually looking forward to the sequel, set to come out in February 2012.  I think that remembering her past lives is/will help Ellie to tone down her attitude and learn to take more responsibility.  There is also some wicked foreshadowing with some people in this book that left me knowing I must find out what happens.  I also can't wait to see how (if?) Will and Ellie's relationship will develop further and what new, dangerous adversaries they will encounter along the way.

This is my second "HarperTeen July" post! (3 of 5)

YA Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: 1 February 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Bought

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Goodreads description:

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once the deliria blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy...

My Thoughts...

What if you lived in a world where love was considered a disease--one to be eradicated completely? Would you stay? Would you go along with it? Would it even bother you?  This is the world that Lauren Oliver has beautifully crafted--where love is removed from your brain so that you can live a safe, happy life.

Lena Holoway has grown up impatiently waiting for the day that she can be "cured"--never to risk falling into the madness that took away her mother so many years ago.  And she's almost there.  But then, she meets Alex and everything changes.  She's not sure what she believes or what she wants anymore.  Can the feelings that she have really be such a bad thing?

Lena is an interesting character that felt easy to connect with.  I could imagine being her friend, riding bikes to the beach, and hanging out after school.  Her strong belief in the government program to eradicate the deliria is complete and makes the world convincing--makes it scary to think that the government could become so powerful as to do something so completely invasive and take away something so personal. I loved watching her discover so much about herself and start to really think about the way her mother raised her and her sister.

I really liked Alex a lot, too.  He really challenged Lena to think and feel...and love. It was incredibly easy to get attached to him and I think, for me, it was him that made their relationship feel real and solid.

I truly can't believe that it took me SO LONG to get around to reading this book! Lauren Oliver writes like a pro--you would never guess that this is only her second published YA book.  I highly recommend it for fans of dystopia--although I will admit that is has a bit less "action" than many others (until the end--oh, the ending).  This book will leave you on the edge of your seat impatiently waiting for the second book! 

This is my second "HarperTeen July" post! (2 of 5)

YA Book Review: Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

Release Date: 15 February 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Won from Bewitched Bookworms

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Goodreads description:

What if your worst enemy turned out to be the best friend you ever had?

Meet Brooke: Popular, powerful and hating every minute of it, she’s the “It” girl at Douglas High in Lake Champion, Minnesota. Her real ambition? Using her operatic mezzo as a ticket back to NYC, where her family lived before her dad ran off with an up and coming male movie star.

Now meet Kathryn: An overachieving soprano with an underachieving savings account, she’s been a leper ever since Brooke punched her at a party junior year. For Kath, music is the key to a much-needed college scholarship.

The stage is set for a high-stakes duet between the two seniors as they prepare for the prestigious Blackmore competition. Brooke and Kathryn work toward the Blackmore with eyes not just on first prize but on one another, each still stinging from a past that started with friendship and ended in betrayal.

My Thoughts...

As far as teen books go, this contemporary read kept me well-engaged and really was a breath of fresh air among many books that I've read or am reading.  The musical rivalry was a fresh concept that was woven well into a story of personal conflict and misunderstandings.

Kathryn and Brooke could be the best of friends, and for a little while, they were.  Then a series of misunderstandings and conflicts split them apart, turning Kathryn into a social leper.  As the girls' senior year progresses, each faces her own challenges.  Kathryn worries about how she will pay for college. Brooke struggles with her out-of-the-picture Dad.  In the end, will music bring them back together?

This book read, for me, as a very realistic relationship between high school girls. Their motives and uncertainties made them relateable.  I had relationships like that in high school, so it's quite possible that's the reason that I found it relateable.  There is definitely a little of that "mean girls" feel to the situation as well that possibly makes the animosity seem over the top. However, I thought that Brooke and Kathryn were both complex characters with a lot going on in their lives that contributes to their actions. Each has some belief about the other that is wrong in some way, but they are unwilling to attempt to resolve their differences.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable summer read.  It was really a breath of fresh air to read--a book that isn't all about falling in love with a boy! These girls have their high school crushes, etc., but the focus here is on their relationship and their music.

This is my first "HarperTeen July" post! (1 of 5)

HarperTeen July!

So, when I saw Chelsey @ Starry Sky Books' post about doing a "Harper Teen July" event, I took a gander at bookshelves and realized that I totally had to participate! I mean, seriously, I have more than a couple of books from Harper's YA imprints. So, here, at the last minute, I've decided to participate in her event! At this point, I think I'm going to commit to the "Medium Level: 5-8 books."  Taking a close look at my bookshelves, here's a list of Harper titles that I own and have yet to read! I will draw from this list for my fun reading books between review books.

• Evernight series by Claudia Gray (own 1-4)
• Spells & Illusions by Aprilynne Pike
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer
• Entwined by Heather Dixon (audio)
• Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
• The Body Finder & Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting
• Firelight by Sophie Jordan
• Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber

As you can see, I should have plenty of choices for completing the challenge! (And I'm not sure that's everything because I'm not home right now!) If I can't pick up and read at least 5 of these, well, that would just be sad!

Do you own or want to read a bunch of HarperCollins' YA titles? Join in the fun @ Starry Sky Books!!