The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour {Review}

Publisher: Dutton Children's Books

Publish Date: February 16, 2012

Source: Library

Goodreads

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans -- and Colby -- to start college n the fall.
But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing n small towns and dingy venues, while roadie-Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Maybe there’s something wrong with me, because while reading The Disenchantments I never wanted Colby to forgive Bev. This might come from the fact that I’m a terrible grudge holder, but part of it’s also due to the fact that Bev treated him horribly.

I’ve been through my fair share of best friend fights and at least one or two was due to the fact that they were starting to keep things from me and grow apart so I can definitely feel for Colby in that aspect. I felt so sorry for him when Bev started pulling away. She did thing after thing that hurt him and I just wanted to tell her off.

Which brings me to Bev. Quite honestly, I didn’t like her and I never ended up liking her despite the ending. Maybe I’m alone in this or maybe that’s the way LaCour wanted it, but it’s definitely how I felt.

I loved the how the road trip was not only a literal journey, but an emotional journey for all the characters too. It wasn’t just our main character, Colby, who went through changes, but all of them which I thought was really neat. Side characters can usually be done with or without. Sometimes they’re just there for advice, sometimes for comic relief, and sometimes for no other reason than the main character needs friends, but that’s not the case with The Disenchantments. Meg, Alexa, and Bev all make their own personal journeys.

The Nutshell: If you love road trips, great side characters, literal and emotional journeys, small towns, and watching one boy go through a multitude of emotions for one girl then The Disenchantments is definitely a book for you.

Pages: 307

Series: No

Rating: Hit

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel {Review}

Publisher: Del Ray

Publish Date: September 25, 2012

Source: Netgalley for honest review

Goodreads

Can the living coexist with the living dead?
That's the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as "The Laz" hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites.
Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man...of the dead variety.
Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro-and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, ad The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren't the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder's cross hairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target.
As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora's scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of "The Laz" and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus -- and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.

Dearly, Beloved started out a little slow for me, but that’s quite possibly because I was reading it on my Nook. Whatever it was, though, I ended up enjoying it in the end.

The unrest between the humans and the zombies didn’t quite get me the way it did in Dearly, Departed. The problem was still there and pretty much as bad as ever, but it didn’t have quite the same urgency as before. However, I did like all the characters and their individual stories. This time around we get more background on the ever jerktastic Michael and the oh so “lovely” Vespertine. Plus, there’s lots of relationship goings on and deep life thinking.

Plus, that ending? Totally swoontastic!

The Nutshell: Overall, Dearly, Beloved is a great sequel. It was a bit slow, story-wise for me, but I enjoyed all the characters and their growth. Well, I didn’t exactly enjoy Michael, but he was still an important character :P Definitely one to be read if you enjoyed the first in the series :]

Pages: 496? (Everything online says 496, but my e-galley only had 396.)

Series: Gone With the Respiration #2
Rating: Hit

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake {Review}

Publisher: Tor Teen
Publish Date: August 7, 2012
Source: ARC/Own
Goodreads

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could lie -- not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with. Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her right now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

It’s a pretty well-known fact that the sequel can never be as good as the first, but every once in a while, a book or movie comes along that defies all logic and does just that. Girl of Nightmares was one of those books for me. I liked Anna Dressed in Blood well enough, but it didn’t turn out to be a favorite. Girl of Nightmares, on the other hand, was utterly fantastic.

I found Anna to be scary in the “oh, I’m glad I live in the city instead of the middle of nowhere” kind of way whereas Girl of Nightmares had some parts that were more like “pardon me while I turn on every light in the house.” For those who’ve read it, are you with me on the forest part? I read it in the middle of the night and it gave me a serious case of the willies!

Cas is still Cas, for sure. He’s all about “I’ll do what I want, when I want, how I want” but he also cares deeply for his friends and family. He may not be my favorite character of all time, but I can definitely respect that.

I still quite liked Thomas as well. He’s usually scared out of his pants by the things they deal with, but he still manages to keep his head and help out Carmel and Cas.

Carmel’s the character that throws me through a loop. I can be thinking “that’s it; I do not like this girl” one minute and the next she completely changes my mind by doing something awesome like beating up ghosts with a  stick or telling Mr. High and Mighty to shove it.

I liked the story a whole lot better in Girl of Nightmares as well. It was just kind of meh like the first one for me until about halfway through. I was enjoying it, but it wasn’t anything to make shout to the rooftops about, but then it started getting really good and I was completely invested, flipping pages to find out what would happen to Cas and Anna. 

The Nutshell: Girl of Nightmares is a fantastic sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood. I actually enjoyed it more than the first book. If you want to find out what happens to Anna and Cas next, then you should definitely read this one. If you want to be scared out of your wits then this is definitely your book ;]

Pages: 336
Series: Anna #2 (Sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood)
Rating: Direct Hit

7 Clues To Winning You by Kristin Walker {Review}

Publisher: Razorbill

Publish Date: April 26, 2012
Source: Library
Goodreads

When a humiliating picture of Blythe goes viral, she's instantly the target of ridicule at her new school. To salvage her reputation, Blythe teams up with Luke to win the Senior Scramble scavenger hunt. But Luke is an unlikely ally and potentially can't be trusted.
Perhaps it's his Shakespearean witticisms that reel Blythe in despite her better judgement...or maybe she just craves the thrill of the game. But as the hunt progresses, their relationship heats up. Soon their madcap mischief spirals out of control. Blythe is faced with arrest and expulsion, among other catastrophes -- until Luke shows her what the Scramble (and love) is really about.

7 Clues To Winning You was a really cute book but I found myself volleying back and forth between “awww” and “ugh” for almost the entirety of the story.

The main problem for me was probably Blythe. In the beginning (and then sporadically throughout) she was selfish and snobby and thought she was above everyone else. It drove me absolutely insane how she pretty much thought the whole world revolved around her. She does end up growing beyond that, but something about her self-hating, self(and everyone else around)-destructive mindset in the process of the growth really rubbed me the wrong way. Plus, the way she needed to be smacked over the head with a sign for everything drove me batty. I figured out half the stuff, especially scavenger hunt clues, before she’d manage to come around to the conclusion herself.

Oh, and that “humiliating” picture is of her picking her nose and she acts like it’s the end of the entire world. I mean, really?

Whew. Until I wrote it all down I didn’t realize I disliked her character that much :P But, I’ve said many times before that characters don’t really make or break a story for me.

The plot, however, does, and 7 Clues To Winning You sadly wasn’t my favorite :[ I’d really been hoping to like this one so it truly does make me all sadface. It just seemed a little like there was too much going on. Let’s go through the main and side stories:

1) The family is selling the house. This side story goes really in-depth into the process of selling a house. I found it kind of interesting since I love to just sit and watch House Hunters on HGTV for hours, but it didn’t seem to contribute a lot to the story, especially since it’s told from Blythe’s point of view (as opposed to third person or whatnot) and the house selling process doesn’t really concern her.

2) The mother dealing with some feelings. I can kind of see where this could mean something to why Blythe is the way she is, but it still doesn’t seem incredibly pertinent. This is Blythe’s story, not her mother’s.

3) The scavenger hunt. Nothing to complain about here except for the fact that I wish there’d been a little more focus on it.

4) Luke & Blythe. Nothing to complain about here either.

5) Blythe drifting from old friends. This would certainly be an important and defining moment in Blythe’s life, but the way it was added into the story felt more like an easy way to move the plot along to me.

6) Blythe’s relationship with a pair of old ladies at the nursing home. This side story I completely and utterly approve of but I’ll get to that later.

7) Blythe’s relationship with her dad. I actually found this plot point pretty interesting even if it did get a tad tedious at times (partly because it’s easier to see the adult point of view when you’re older :P)

There’s probably more that I’m forgetting but basically what I’m saying here is that the storyline felt really cluttered sometimes.

Okay, those old ladies I mentioned? They are a RIOT! I freaking loved them to pieces. For once, a side story relationship trumps all the main plot points for me. I mean, these ladies scheme pop can heists and buy porno mags with Blythe. Seriously, that scene with the nudie magazine at the gas station is one of the best things ever. I was reading in bed at about 3 in the morning laughing so much I woke Husband up :P

The Nuthsell: Whewie did that review get long! Chances are you looked at how long it was and just skipped right down here to get to the main point and I don’t blame you! To sum it up, if you just want a contemp read that’ll provide you with a few laughs then 7 Clues To Winning You is definitely for you, but be prepared for large amounts of side plots.

Pages: 317
Series: No

Rating: Near Miss

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand {Review}

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publish Date: January 17, 2012
Source: Contest/Own

Goodreads

For months, part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation the her purpose -- the task she was put on earth to accomplish -- is not as straightforward as she thought.
Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian, and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

So I’m feeling pretty darn conflicted after finishing Hallowed. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but all the hype gave me too high of expectations. Plus, I’m just feeling generally conflicted about the characters themselves since everything I thought I knew from Unearthly kind of got flipped on its head.

The story itself was great. There was just enough recap to help the reader remember the important stuff from the previous book, but not so much that it bogged the story down. I liked that we followed Clara through her last year of high school all the way to graduation and I’m desperately hoping we actually get to see her in college in the next book. That’s something I so very rarely get to see in YA.

I also really appreciated that the broad storyline was carried over from Unearthly but Hallowed focused mostly on its own story arc and believe it or not, things actually get wrapped up. I know, that seems like a completely impossible thing to ask of a sequel, but Hallowed does it with style.

Then we have the characters. I’m not even sure how I feel about anyone anymore. Let’s start with Tucker. I was totally Team Tucker before starting Hallowed, but I kind of missed snarky Tucker from the debut. I haven’t transferred allegiance to Team Christian or anything, but Tucker didn’t hold quite the same appeal for me this time.

Then there’s Jeffrey. He’s definitely one of my favorite characters and by the end I was feeling so sorry for him :[

The Nusthell: Though hype led Hallowed to be a bit of a letdown for me, I still enjoyed it. It’s a solid sequel that could actually do a good job of standing on its own. If you loved Unearthly then you’re likely to love Hallowed as well.

Pages: 403

Series: Unearthly #2

Rating: Hit

Fever by Lauren DeStefano {Review}

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Publish Date: February 21, 2012
Source: Library

Goodreads

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago -- surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.
The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine's twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous -- and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can't seem to elude Rhine's father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

Now, I love a good series, but I’m also not a fan of change, so sometimes the books following the first can be difficult since there’s always something different whether it be a character, the setting, etc. That being said, once I overcame my fear of change I really enjoyed Fever.

Once Rhine managed to escape we were left with a big What Now and boy do we get answers in Fever. There’s quite a lot of adventure to be had outside the mansion walls, but none of it is really the good kind. We do meet some nice people along the way, but Gabriel and Rhine mostly face gobs of horrid people and situations. But we wouldn’t have a story if it was all sunshine and happy endings, now would we?

Once again, DeStefano weaves together a story that is beautiful in all its heartbreaking glory. Everything flows together so well that I found myself completely pulled into the story. I loved meeting all the characters from the terrible Madame to the warm and gentle Claire. Rhine spends a lot of the story in some state of haze, but it’s not at all boring.

We get a few more answers, but not many. I’m hoping the last book in the trilogy answers everything.

Also, I really love the cover. As you read you can identify things from the story on the cover which I didn’t quite get with Wither.

The Nutshell: Fever is almost an entirely different story than Wither, but not in a bad way. It’s full of adventure and new people. DeStefano’s writing is a gorgeous as ever, but despite the haze that Rhine often finds herself in it doesn’t have the same languid feel of Wither. I think that’s due to the fact that we’re following Rhine and Gabriel as they escape up the coast, though. If you loved Wither then you’re sure to be satisfied by Fever.

Pages: 341

Series: The Chemical Garden #2

Rating: Direct Hit

Sophomore Challenge 2012

Shanyn at Chick Loves Lit is hosting a new challenge this year: The Sophomore Challenge. Think of it as kind of an extension of the Debut Author Challenge. Remember all those debuts you loved from last year? All those first-in-a-series books and authors you fell in love with have another chance to shine this year through this challenge.

I kind of have two to-read lists for this challenge one is a list of books I for sure want to read and the other is a list of sequels which belong to 2011 debuts I desperately want to read but haven't gotten to yet. So kind of a to-read and a hope-to-(want)-to-read. There are currently 60 books on the goodreads list which you can find here: Sophomore Book List. The minimum goal is 10 books, but with that many (and more being added) I'm sure you can find plenty for a decent list! I definitely found a good amount of sophomores:

To Read:
1. Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
2. Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand
3. Fever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #2) by Lauren DeSetefano
4. Truth (XVI #2) by Julia Karr
5. The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen
6. Envy (Fury Trilogy #2) by Elizabeth Miles
7. Revived by Cat Patrick
8. Black is the Color by Alexandra Bracken
9. Seven Clues to Winning You by Kristin Walker
10. The Right and Real by Joelle Anthony

(more) Tentative To Read:
1. A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis
2. Mara Dyer #2 by Michelle Hodkin
3. Perception (Clarity #2) by Kim Harrington
4. A Fractured Light (A Beautiful Dark #2) by Jocelyn Davies
5. Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake
6. Timepiece (Hourglass #2) by Myra McCentire
7. Dearly, Beloved (Gone with the Respiration #2) by Lia Habel
8. The Lies That Bind (The Liar Society #2) by Lisa Roecker
9. Ashen Winter (Ashfall #2) by Mike Mullin
10. Bad Hair Day (Kate Grable #2) by Carrie Harris

P.S. Notice all those sequels in there? Does anyone know about any series challenges? Because I have about a million other books in a series planned to read, but they aren't sophomores and I was hoping they'd count towards something.