Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Title: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles, #2)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Raincoast (Feiwel & Friends)

Publication date: February 5th, 2013

Source: Publisher

Format: ARC

Pages: 464

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Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

 *may include minor spoilers if you have not read Cinder*

After reading Cinder, I immediately fell in love with The Lunar Chronicles, and I couldn't wait to find out what happens next. At first, I was scared that the second book was going to revolve around Scarlet, but it didn't!! I got to read many many parts where Cinder is included *yay!* This story is about Scarlet (Little red riding hood), and she lives in France with her grandmother! One day, her grandmother becomes missing, and Scarlet is determined that someone kidnapped her, and she goes out to find out who. Scarlet meets Wolf, a street fighter, and with his help, they both go together to look for Scarlet's grandmother. Scarlet's story aside, there's Cinder trying to escape from the cell that the kingdom prisoned her in, until Queen Levana get to execute her. 

I really don't want to spoil anything for anyone out there, so I'll just talk about how much I enjoyed the characters. Scarlet was an amazing protagonist, though I do have to say, she didn't strike me as unique, compared to the YA protagonists out there. Cinder was more of a unique character, and if I had to choose between the two, I'd definitely go with Cinder. Wolf was a great character to read about as well, but I'm sad to say that I wasn't able to connect with him. I didn't feel like I really know Wolf, and I don't think I've seen many different sides of  him either. Maybe because this book wasn't entirely concentrated on Scarlet and Wolf, like how Cinder and Kai got all the attention in the first book. I squealed whenever it was Kai's part in the book, because he is surely one of my favorite characters in this series. There wasn't that much romance, so the book was more towards the action, and the problems, war, etc. 

You  might think that I didn't enjoy Scarlet from my review, but I did! The book was full of awesome adventures, and we also get to learn many new secrets! I definitely cannot wait to meet Cress in the third book in the Lunar Chronicles!! (2014 cannot come any sooner, ugh!) If you haven't start this series yet, then I do not know what you are doing with your life. (SORRY)

Other books by Marissa Meyer:

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Review: Blaze by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Title: Blaze (Or Love in the Time of Supervillians)

Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton

Publisher: Raincoast (Sourcebooks Fire)

Publication date: February 1st, 2013
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Source: Publisher

Format: ARC

Pages: 309

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Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines, drawing comics and feeling invisible. She's desperate for soccer star Mark to notice her. And when her BFF texts Mark a photo of Blaze in sexy lingerie, it definitely gets his attention. After a hot date in the back of her minivan, Blaze is flying high, but suddenly Mark's feelings seem to have been blasted by a freeze-ray gun, and he dumps her. Blaze gets her revenge by posting a comic strip featuring uber-villain Mark the Shark. Mark then retaliates by posting her "sext" photo, and, overnight, Blaze goes from Super Virgin Girl to Super Slut. That life on the sidelines is looking pretty good right about now...

After reading the synopsis, I had to pick this book up. I absolutely love the cover, and a girl who draws comics? yay! I, myself, love drawing anime. (Which is very similar to comics, but it's just the japanese style), so I really wanted to see how this character would turn out to be. Blaze, the main protagonist, is a comic crazed fanatic. I think Blaze was a REALLY fun character to read about. She was a normal girl, who had the job of a soccer mom. She was always driving her little brother, and his pack of friends, to their soccer matches. While desperately waiting for them to finish, she draws, while drooling, their hot soccer coach, Mark. When Mark asks her for a drive, that's when their first interaction happens. Blaze is thrilled, and determined to make Mark her boyfriend, that she is willing to do whatever it takes.

I really didn't find Blaze annoying when all she kept obsessing about was Mark, but I found it rather fun. She was making up plans with her friends, and schemes, and all that hilarious girl crush stuff. That was all fun, until Mark pretends like he doesn't know her the next day. It hurt Blaze, and that's when she decided it was time for revenge. For me, I consider revenge books to be REAL fun! All the plotting, and the evil schemes, they're just so much fun to read about! *evil grin* What I really liked about this book were the characters. They were so much fun to read, and I loved how there was so much interaction with Blaze and her family. Family is so important, but I don't know how in some other books, they neglect to mention the family members at all! I also really liked her little brother's group of friends that she always drives around, or whom she likes to call her "Cretins". I really found it super cute.

All the fun stuff aside, there were still parts where you saw the other side of the characters. Fights happen, feelings are told, and we really get to have a clearer idea about who the characters really are. Overall, I think this was such a cute contemporary, and there was so much comic stuff happening, I was totally excited! If you're looking for a fun, funny, and cute contemporary, I would totally recommend Blaze to you!

Review: Flash Point by Nancy Kress

Title: Flash Point 

Author: Nancy Kress

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Publication date: November 8, 2012

Genre(s): Young Adult (Dystopian/Sci Fi)

Source: Publisher

Format: Physical ARC

Pages: 400

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Reality TV meets a chillingly realistic version of America—and the fame game is on!

Amy had dreams of going to college, until the Collapse destroyed the economy and her future. Now she is desperate for any job that will help support her terminally ill grandmother and rebellious younger sister. When she finds herself in the running for a slot on a new reality TV show, she signs on the dotted line, despite her misgivings. And she’s right to have them. TLN’s Who Knows People, Baby—You? has an irresistible premise: correctly predict what the teenage cast will do in a crisis and win millions. But the network has pulled strings to make it work, using everything from 24/7 hidden cameras to life-threatening technology to flat-out rigging. Worse, every time the ratings slip, TLN ups the ante. Soon Amy is fighting for her life—on and off camera.

Oh wow, Flash Point was not what I expected. I tend to always check goodreads and read a couple of non spoiler reviews of books I am starting right now and what I found was that there barely was any reviews. However, what convinced me was the review written by Gabby from Chapter by Chapter (Review here). So while I was excited from reading Gabby's review, I was also a bit wary from the lack of reviews as well as the review copy being around 500 pages long. Even with that, I really liked the idea of the book and it being a reality tv show, Who Knows People, Baby—You?, gone horribly wrong during a time of the greatest economic depression. Writing this review, I can say that Flash Point wasn't just entertaining, but it was full of twists, shocking turns, and a great mix of dystopian and contemporary.

Amy, the main protagonist, is 16 years old and lives in a time after a disastrous economic and financial collapse that resulted in her scientist grandmother to lose her job, her life savings, and their house. Amy's parents are both dead so she lives, along with her 15 year old sister Kaylie, at a shabby sorry excuse of an apartment with her grandmother. From the beginning of the novel you instantly hate Kaylie. Kaylie is the ungrateful little sister that not only refuses to help out but also gets in tons of serious trouble that Amy ends up cleaning up after. I felt sorry for Amy, but at the same time I would have went ballistic on her, but Amy always made up excuses for her behavior. To put it bluntly, Kaylie was a jealous little kid that always resented Amy even though Amy was the person who brought in an income that kept them afloat, even if barely.

Moving on to the reality tv aspect of this book. Amy gets picked out of thousands of people for this show where she, and 6 other people, are put in scenarios that are all based on holograms (yes, this is set in the future), and then people vote by predicting what each contestant will behave or react, based on 5 choices given to the voters. At the beginning, the scenarios were pretty harmless but soon enough they began to spiral and turn more realistic and dangerous. This is when Amy starts to doubt her place in the show but because of her sick grandmother and the full medical insurance the TLN station provides, Amy has no other choice but to bear with it. I really appreciated how Amy was selfless and did everything she could for her grandmother and ungrateful sister. Some of those scenarios were dangerous but she stuck through with it. I really felt total sympathy towards her and admired her courage. 

There is one thing that Kress introduced to the novel but barely explored and it is the phantoms that Amy experienced that showed the true intentions behind a person's actions. I still don't get the real reason behind them or their place in the novel. Also, Kress barely gave any mention to when Amy's grandmother died and based on how much Amy did for and how much she loved her grandmother, it was very anti-climatic. The same could be said for the ending, but that could be overlooked.  

As for the other characters and contestants in this novel, I loved that each one was pegged off as something but at the end of the novel, you really get to find out who they really are. Some totally contradicted your initial judgement such as Cai, while others were exactly as you thought, like Kaylie. The Antagonist, the producer of TLN, definitely got what she deserved by the end of the novel and I loved that everything wrapped up nicely without any dramatics and rushed conclusions. Honestly, with this long review, I barely delved into all that I wanted to discuss, showing you guys how this novel had so much going on but at the same time everything was linked and tied in together. However I have to point out that there is a ton of swearing so this novel would be better suited for mature YA readers. Therefore, I definitely recommend this novel to fans of books similar to The Selection and lauren Conrad's L. A. Candy but with less romance. This is not like The Hunger Games in any way, contrary to what people think. I can't wait to read more books by Nancy Kress in the future!

Blog Tour: The Ruining by Anna Collomore

Hello lovely readers and welcome to today's blog tour stop at The Ruining Blog tour that is hosted by Razorbill Canada! The ruining is actually a stand-alone novel (yay)! As you might already know, I'm a HUGE fan of mystery books, so you can read more to find out what I loved about this book!

Title: The Ruining

Author: Anna Collomore

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication year: February 7th, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Mystery)

Source: Publisher

Format: ARC

Pages: 313

Annie Phillips is thrilled to leave her past behind and begin a shiny new life on Belvedere Island, as a nanny for the picture-perfect Cohen family. In no time at all, she falls in love with the Cohens, especially with Libby, the beautiful young matriarch of the family. Life is better than she ever imagined. She even finds romance with the boy next door.

All too soon cracks appear in Annie's seemingly perfect world. She's blamed for mistakes she doesn't remember making. Her bedroom door comes unhinged, and she feels like she's always being watched. Libby, who once felt like a big sister, is suddenly cold and unforgiving. As she struggles to keep up with the demands of her new life, Annie's fear gives way to frightening hallucinations. Is she tumbling into madness, or is something sinister at play?

The Ruining is a complex ride through first love, chilling manipulation, and the terrifying depths of insanity.

Goodreads / Amazon Canada / Barnes & Noble / Indigo

Born in Ohio, attended the University of Notre Dame, moved to NYC in 2006 for my MFA. Worked in the NYC publishing industry for approximately five years as a literary agent’s assistant and later a book editor. Lived in India for a year and a half and now live in Paris. Primary loves: writing, reading, exploring the world, and bonding with my dog. Secondary loves: wine, cheese, thrift stores, lattes, paper products, good conversation.

Follow Anna on her: Website || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter

The best part of starting a book with no expectations, is when you end up loving it. I started The Ruining without even knowing weather it was a contemporary or a paranormal. All I knew for sure was that I just LOVED the cover. The book starts off with the main protagonist, Annie, wanting to get away from the life she's living. Annie lives with a horrible stepdad, and an alcoholic mother. When she gets accepted to her dream university, and gets a job opportunity at the Cohens family, she doesn't blink to take it. First of all, I'm going to point out that this book was not revolved about us feeling sorry for Annie about her horrible parents (thank God), or else that would have been a typical storyline. That aside, it was very interesting to see how Annie would get accustomed living with the Cohens. There, we meet Libby. The gorgeous, young, wife and mother. Annie immediately feels connected to Libby, and I really liked how Libby made her feel welcome, and treated her good. Then we meet Zoe, the daughter. It was absolutely adorable reading about Zoe! I really loved that little girl!! Then there's Walker, the father, and lastly, the baby boy, Jackson (If im not mistaken). At first, Libby's family is a perfect portrait of how Annie would love hers to be.. That is until she figures out the truth behind it.

I feel like  I could blabber on and on about this book, but I have to control it. *breathes* okay, back to topic. Annie starts going to college, but then she finds it hard to start getting friends. Libby still tries to encourage her, but when Annie wants friends to come over, she disagrees. After a certain incident, Libby starts acting VERY strange. It literally drove me crazy!!! Though there was the cute boy next door who kept me sane. Owen. That's his name. I really liked how Annie got to meet him, and I was very curious to as why he was always hinting at Annie to not trust the Cohens family that much. I really felt connected to Annie, and Anna Collomore did a fantastic job on making all the characters feel completely realistic to me! Later on, Libby was seriously starting to get to Annie's head. Libby was always acting one way, then another. Also, her strong neglect to Zoe made me suspicious of her even more!! I really do love mystery books, but this one made me scratch all over for answers! 

Overall, I tried reading The Ruining whatever chance I got. It was shockingly addicting! I don't think there was any flaw in this book. I loved the characters, the writing style, and I just loved how the author was able to grab my attention at ALL times! This will definitely not be the last of what I read from Anna Collomore. I'm officially a huge fan of her. I think she did a tremendous job on her debut novel. Mystery lovers will eat this book up like a piece of chocolate cake. (If you love chocolate cakes)

Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Title: Girl of Nightmares (Anna, #2)

Author: Kendare Blake

Publisher: Raincoast (Torteen)

Publication date: August 7th, 2012

Source: Publisher

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 332

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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 live—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 now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

After reading Anna Dressed in Blood last year, I was very excited to find out what was going to happen next. Anna Dressed in Blood had a shocking ending, so I was glad the wait to find out is finally over. Girl of Nightmares starts off with Cas being overly upset about what happened to Anna. After a while, he starts seeing her ghost. That's when Cas makes it his mission to find out where Anna is, and how to "rescue" her. I found it kind of weird how Cas kind of started "obsessing" over the fact to get her back, even though he does love her. It was also fun to read about Thomas and Carmel again.

As I kept reading, there were many parts that I found that were a bit boring. Sometimes I found it to be a bit much detailed in the magic/spiritual stuff, but maybe because I always have a hard time understanding them. In this book, we got to learn more about Thomas and Carmel. I really hoped that Anna was more available throughout the book, because I really loved her in Anna Dressed in Blood. We did meet a new character in this book, but I hoped we got to meet her earlier in the book, and not towards the end.

Overall, there were many disappointments in this book. I did enjoy it, but I had higher expectations for it. There were many mixed reviews for this book, so if you liked Anna Dressed in Blood, I still recommend you to read it. I will be looking forward to Kendare Blake's future books!  

Other books by Kendare Blake: 

Anna Dressed in Blood