For Nano

This is all I have to say on the subject of NaNo [which is currently kicking my butt]:

On Settings

Two setting hints, I guess, for A Divinity So Tainted (my NaNo):

This gif actually inspired a scene in aDsT...it's so peaceful.

I'm guessing this is set in New York...but I'm going to make it Italy for my purposes, 'kay? 

List of [un]otherwordly settings:

1. Mexico

2. Italy

3. Germany

4. Egypt

5. Czech Republic

6. Paris

7. Togo

8. Somewhere in Asia [haven't decided this yet]

Liebster Award

I've been nominated by Chilled Ink, to whom I send my thanks.

R U L E S :

1. Thank and link back to the giver
2. Answer the award giver’s questions
3. Nominate 5 other blogs that have fewer than 200 followers
4. Ask questions for one’s nominees to answer.
5. Post the Liebster’s Award Picture on your post.

A N S W E R S :

1. If you like ice cream, what is your favorite flavor? Mint chocolate chip, definitely. Mint's my favorite flavor.
2. What has blogging done for you? Mostly made me feel guilty for not posting enough. >.< But I guess letting me rant about books and express my opinions and stuff without being held back. 
3. What is your favorite quote that you have written/read? Um...lots...? xD The one that comes to mind first is: H.O.P.E.: Hold On, Pain Ends
4. What book ending has surprised you the most? The Iron Queen, by Julie Kagawa. I most definitely was NOT expecting that, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.
5. What book has changed you the most? All of them, in their different ways. 

Q U E S T I O N S :

1. Favorite song lyrics?
2. What book have you read that defied your expectations for it the most?
3. What's one place you've always wanted to go?
4. Why did you start blogging in the first place?
5. Favorite mythical creature?

I    N O M I N A T E : 

1. Klearly Kristin
2. Delusions of Grandeur
3. Yours Truly
4. Literary Paths
5. Nonsensical Imaginations

On New Ideas

So yes. I have a new idea. And it's one I'm really, really excited about. I think this is the most excited I've been about a book idea since October 2011 and Delusion. Why? you may ask. Well, it includes:

- Victorian London
- Steampunk
- Greek mythology
- Magic
- Monsters
- Battles
- Romance

And this may sound a lot like LSC and DoF combined. The steampunk and Victorian London-ness from LSC, and the Greek mythology from DoF. It's a preqel to DoF - it uses the same mythology and stuff. But as to the LSC part - why am I so excited about this?

Well, I've had LSC as a plot bunny since summer 2011. It's changed drastically from then. Basically the only aspects of it that are still the same are the characters.

And I don't really know the characters all that well. I could list you all their favorites, but I don't know their personality, what makes them tick. Or I could tell you that Ellie's a focused girl who carefully strategizes everything and hides away from making attachments to people for her sake and theirs, or that Bran is a simple country boy who's driven by the fact that his powers cause havoc and chaos wherever he goes. I know what it looks like, but it's hard to write. It's only when I'm in a really specific mood that I can sit down at the keyboard and bash out another bit of LSC. But for these characters, the ones in SA, I do know their personalities, and it's easy to write.

Although the genres overlap, there actually isn't very much about LSC and SA that are the same. In SA, the steampunk part only really comes in from one brilliant inventor, and the gadgets are mostly small, inconspicuous things. In LSC, it's in the world around them. Daedala could not function without this technology, the automatons specifically, and London could.

Anyway, the pitch for SA:

Nothing is what it seems 

Lady Calista Gladstone has always known her fate as a Descendant of the Greek gods. After her younger sister, Isabel, becomes a Descendant, she’ll begin to show her how to use her powers and how to become a powerful goddess-witch. For now, she's content to stay at home, practicing her magic by day and dancing it all away by night. 

But it seems that Fate has other ideas. After a monster attack that leaves no one standing and a Descendant initiation ceremony that goes horribly wrong, Calista realizes the world she thought she once knew is an illusion. Everything is hidden under wraps and veils, and it will take powerful magic to unfold them all. 

As the monster attacks become more and more frequent and as the death toll for both Descendants and mortals alike rises, Calista has to figure out – does she even want to look beyond the shadows? And if she does, is she strong enough to handle what she’ll find?

I'll just leave you with this banner I made for the Labyrinth (that's what I'm calling it) series. I'm actually quite pleased with it:

On Beliefs

Cover made by inktwister.

It may sound obvious, but being a writer has made me think differently about things in life, particularly abstract concepts. Things like hope and love. Take writing Delusions of Fate, for example. Before, I'd never thought much about Fate or destiny or anything like that. It didn't matter all that much to me, and so I didn't bother thinking about it. But because Fate/Destiny is such a big part of DoF, I had to think about it, and in thinking through things from my character's perspectives, my own opinions become more varied, more differentiated.

For example, in The Webs They Weave, there's a scene in which a character  (it would be a spoiler if I told you who :P) asks Jia what her view on soul mates is. Since one of my friends is a hopeless romantic and loves to talk about soul mates, my view was pretty much They don't exist, it's just twaddle and romantic crap, etc. But I had to think about this through Jia's eyes, not mine, and this is what I came up with: it doesn't matter if they exist or not. What matters is if you're happy with the person you love, even if you're not soul mates. I mean, it's really unrealistic to think that everyone who's been happy in love has ended up with their soul mate. There are so many people on this planet, and what are the odds of someone finding their 'other half'? It's an answer that I think is way more true to me, and it took looking through someone else's eyes to see it. 

So I guess you could say that, using these people I've made up, I've changed my views of the world. Which is basically saying that I've changed myself. That's one way to think about it, I guess, but it's more than that. Because when I get into a book idea, into a character, to the me, the character becomes a real person, not just a figment of my imagination.

And writing's also helped me discover beliefs that I never knew I had. Take, for example, love. In every single one of my stories so far, love's been portrayed as a curse, a poison, or something that drives you mad. I guess I'm a bit jaded. :P

Just think of it: the power of words. 

On Endings

Although it's inspirational and kind of true in real life, this quote doesn't work in fiction life at all. Some types of fiction life, anyways. Some types are perfectly all right with HEAs (happily ever afters). But some books, though, sacrifice everything for the HEA, and that isn't cool. Let me explain:

A week or so ago, I read the final book in a trilogy. Throughout the second book, ever since the main couple had gotten together, there was always the question of "How are we going to be together?" This was because one was the heir to a dukedom, and, for complicated reasons, if he wanted to be with the girl, he'd have to give up the land we was 'so drawn to.' (insert the eye roll here). The guy had accepted the fact that he'd give up the land to be with the girl.

Fine, whatever. Cheesy and corny and whatever, but fine.

But at the end of the third book, as the father lays on his deathbed, he decides that he won't disinherit his son if he marries the girl. Then he dies, and the book ends.

This was my reaction:

WTH?? WTF???? You have got to be kidding me. -books flies across the room-

Rule number #2467 of writing: don't break a major rule for the sake of a happy ending. (And yes, that's a totally random number.) In this case, what prevented the guy from getting his land and his girl was his father. Two pages from the end, the father can't suddenly change his mind, all so the guy can get the girl and his land. It's just creating drama for the sake of creating drama, but when the drama needs to go away, it conveniently does so.

I know this is fiction, but not everything in real life ends happily. Your book doesn't need to, either. And even if it is a HEA, not every aspect has to end happily. A few loose threads and such create a deeper ending. 

I think what happened with this book was the fact that the author was so in love with the characters that she wanted them to have everything they ever wanted without sacrifice. But to break a rule like this two pages from the end is just cheating the reader.

And so that ending dropped the book's rating from a 4.5 to a 2.25.

Ending are important.

On Finishing Books

The progression of covers that Delusions of Fate has had. This was the first inkpop cover, made by CL Dean. The second was made by RaeLee on inkpop. It was my Wattpad cover until the title changed. And the third was the official cover until the title change, made by me. The last, also made by me, is the official cover today.


So I've been writing since I was ten. And countless numbers of plot bunnies and started-then-scrapped beginnings later, I've completed just one book, Delusions of Fate.

At first, I couldn't really believe it. The night I finished it, it still had yet to sink in that I'd finished my first book ever, that I was truly done writing it. I'd started it in October, scrapped it in November, and wrote furiously all through December. I took January off, and finished the first 66k draft on Valentine's day. My dad was yelling at me to go to bed, I had school the next day, and when I finally jumped into bed that night, I couldn't believe it. As Truman Capote once said,

"Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it." 

He couldn't be more right.

Because yes, I had absolutely no idea where the plot was going and felt like tearing my hair out on several occasions because of it. And yeah, I had no idea what one of the central character's roles would be. And Delusion totally did start out as a ghost story that I promptly scrapped except for the characters when the plot got too boring. (True story: Girl who draws people and they die somehow turns into Girl finds out she has horrible destiny and wants to figure out how to stop it, yaddah yaddah yaddah.)

I could list all of the things that went wrong when writing this book, but then, I could also list all of the things that went right. Like the fact that Jia's voice was so natural to write in that even when things were tough, that's what kept me writing. I was just about to give up on it in December, when nothing but Jia was going right.  A month later, her voice wouldn't leave my head, telling me to just finish the darn thing. Like the fact that some of the characters surprised me in the roles they took. It wasn't me writing the characters and them obediently following, it was the them taking , and the fact that I love the world that I wrote this in. Like the fact that I got further on it than I ever have on a writing project, mostly because of my inkie supporters and the Word War thread. 

Anyways, to explain the quote: even though there's still so much revising to do, and even though there's still Books 2 and 3 to write, the writing of Book 1 is finished. And even though revising is way more fun than I expected it to be, I still prefer writing. It may sound obvious, but I'll never write Book 1 again, will never again discover this world and all its annoying-yet-wonderful characters again for the first time. And that makes me sad. 

(I know, I know. I'm talking about a book character and a world that's just a figment of my imagination...I know I sound crazy. But it's true. The curse of being a writer, I guess.)

k

Anyways. 

And even though I'm done writing it, and pretty close to finishing the revising portion, Delusion/Delusions of Fate (whichever you want to call it) will always have a special place in my heart, no matter how many books I write. (Many, many more, I hope.) It was my first book, and I believe that it's what truly made me want to be a writer more than anything.

So for me, I guess, finishing my first book was bittersweet. And I think that's the way it is for most people. 

Delusions of Fate

(This post courtesy of Sam, who found my blog and demanded another post. xD)

That cover on the side over there is the new cover for my baby. Yep, DELUSION got a name change. Why? you may ask.

1. There's a book coming out this year called DELUSION. Completely different storyline, but I wanted my book to be different.

2. DELUSION didn't really have much of a unique spin on the book. DoF suits it way better.

3. I like it more. :P

4. To me, it sounds more intense. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I like it more.

RANDOM FACTOIDS:

• As of now, ALIGNED's title has been changed to THE WEBS THEY WEAVE. (Thanks to Rae for the awesome title! After I thought about it, it suits Book 2 much better than it suits Book 1.) INFINITE is still INFINITE, but I have no doubt that that'll change. (That is my favorite title of the original three. So maybe not. If it does, that word {or variants of it} will probably be worked in somehow.)

• Because of editing/revising, this book has gone from DELUSION (66k) to DELUSIONS OF FATE (79k). Me is very happy with the revised version (and yet, there is even more revising to do!)

• For Kris who wanted to find out who dies: 2 people die. (That are mentioned specifically. More people die who aren't mentioned specifically.)

It is useless to try and talk sense into the insane, Julianne. My sisters and I have made sure of that.

I wonder who says that. ;)

Also, the working first sentence of TWTW:

The first sign I know that life as I know it will never be the same again is the letter propped up on my front doorstep.

And I hope that the next time I post, there won't be this long in between.

Randomness

Thanks to Aqua Poppy Designs for my new background!

So it's been over a month since I've posted. I could give you all sorts of reasons - finals, Camp NaNoWriMo, swimming, homework, I'm leaving for a three-week trip tomorrow. But the thing it, I could have made time for blogging and reviewing book. The thing is, my heart just wasn't into it. Book blogging just isn't as fun anymore.

For those who care, I joined another book blog, Girls Who Fly, with a few other ex-inkies, where I'll be posting my reviews a couple of times a month. And I also have a goodreads account, where I'll be posting reviews.

This blog will be used for random bits and pieces, I guess. My writing tips, my projects, an occasional book review, random blog posts. I'm hoping that this will make blogging more fun.

Alex

A Temptation of Angels

Even angels make mistakes in this page-turning epic romance

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel.

Michelle Zink masterfully weaves historical fantasy with paranormal romance to create a gripping tale of love and betrayal. (from Goodreads)

This book is the perfect example of why third person is a tricky POV to use. This book wasn't bad, per say, but I felt detached from the story the whole time, like I was the narrator, not the MC. 

The book was extremely fast-paced. I read it in about two and a half hours, and this 435 book only took place over two or three days. 

Helen was an okay narrator. She didn't have much of a personality. I think the intent was to make her a shell of a person, so that the reader could slip into easily. Problem is, these kinds of narrators don't work for me. I'd rather read about a narrator that annoys the crap out of me than one who doesn't have any personality at all. Plus, she, like any other YA MC, had her TSTL moments. At least they weren't over a guy. 

For anyone who read my Goodreads status updates, you know that I was debating between Griffin being a douche or not. Well, I've decided. He's a douche. Near the ending of the book, he tells Helen that he needs her to tell him that she loves him, otherwise he'll go mad. Or die. Something like that. This is after he's known her for two or three days. (And no, when he says this, she hasn't decided between him and the other guy yet). This isn't a healthy relationship. In fact, it sounds eerily like the one portrayed in Stay by Deb Caletti. That book, too, features an unhealthy relationship, but it's supposed to be unhealthy. Not all of these 'true loves' found in paranormals lately.

The thing is, this book is also rather simple. The plot was pretty straightforward. The good guys are purely good, and the bad guys are purely bad. There's no mix of gray. There were a couple of kissing scenes, and the beginning of the book was pretty tense, but about a third of the way in, that tense-ness disappeared. I might even venture to say that this book goes into the middle-grade range.

There were a couple of info dumps that I skimmed, which meant that I didn't quite understand what half of the terms being thrown around were. 

In spite of my review being pretty negative, this book was okay. There wasn't anything to make it stand out, in either a good or a bad way. So it gets three stars. 

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WoW this week is...

Outpost by Ann Aguire

Deuce’s whole world has changed. Now living topside in a community called Salvation, she has a whole new set of problems. Down below, she was considered an adult, and she contributed to the whole. Now, topside, the people of Salvation think she’s a brat in need of training. She hates school, and she doesn’t fit in with the other girls. They’ve spent their lives learning to cook and sew–suitable woman’s work. Deuce only knows how to fight. To make matters worse, Fade keeps her at a distance, and the band of four has broken into fragments.

Stalker presses for a closer relationship, but Deuce sees him as a training partner, and she’s busy trying to find her place in Salvation. She refuses to accept that she’s wrong for being who she is, but tensions rise as she struggles against the status quo. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

Once she’s free from school for the year, Deuce pursues a chance to serve in the summer patrols–those responsible for making sure the growers and planters can work the fields without danger of Freak attack. It should have been routine, little fighting, but things have been changing on surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks are smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it will take a girl like Deuce to turn the tide. (from Goodreads)

I loved the first book in this series. And this blurb sounds awesome. Plus, there's the cover. It's appropriately creepy (the black hand at the bottom scratching through the gate, anyone?) Hell yeah!

Crave

Savannah Colbert has never known why she's so hated by the kids of the Clann. Nor can she deny her instinct to get close to Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman. Especially when she recovers from a strange illness and the attraction becomes nearly irresistible. It's as if he's a magnet, pulling her gaze, her thoughts, even her dreams. Her family has warned her to have nothing to do with him, or any members of the Clann. But when Tristan is suddenly everywhere she goes, Savannah fears she's destined to fail.

For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back… different, and suddenly he can't stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences…. (from Goodreads)

To be honest, I don't even know why I picked up this book. Because, looking back and rereading the blurb, it sounds like the cheesiest, corniest, and most like-Twilight book there is out there. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad book, it's just not one that I'd usually pick up. 

For starters: THERE WAS NO PLOT. Seriously. Take out the paranormal bits and the last few chapters and voilá!, you have a contemporary romance with no real difference between the two plots. And then the plot/climax/resolution were all crammed into two chapters. 

Overall, Savannah was a pretty good narrator, although she definitely had her bitchy moments. Like the whole Greg-dance fiasco. Up until that point, I was actually starting to like her, and Greg was on his way to being one of my favorite characters. But then...

It was actually kind of funny, because in the Q&A in the back of the book, there's some question like "Anne [the friend]'s friendship throughout the book is such a support for Savannah throughout the book. Why did you choose to portray it this way?" Well, I laughed out loud at that, because, as is common in so many YA books today, their friendship has about 0.00001 screen time. In fact, Tristan talks to her more than Savannah does. And she's supposed to be Savannah's best friend. /fail

At least the Brat Twins, Crave's version of the popular bitch(es), didn't come up very much. I might have strangled the book from all the cliches if it had. 

It wasn't overly offensive or anything, but it wasn't exceptional. Just...average. 

Waiting on Wednesday (6)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WoW this week is...

The Torn Wing by Kiki Hamilton

Tiki’s greatest fear suddenly becomes all too real: the fey have returned to London seeking revenge. As war escalates in the Otherworld, Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold, is attacked. In order to protect her family and the ones she loves, she needs to know the meaning of an fáinne sí, the birthmark that winds around her wrist. But will Tiki be brave enough to face the truth?

A bloody escape, a deadly threat, a shocking revelation…

That cover is so pretty, much better than the last one. The purple glow formed into wing shapes, the purple dress, the sparkles on the girl's back, the font...gorgeous! Plus, I loved the first book. October can't come quickly enough.

The Iron Knight

To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought. 

Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive. 

With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side. 

To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale. 

And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice. (from Goodreads)

So I'm debating or not whether I'm glad to have read this. On the one hand, I really prefer The Iron Queen's ending to this one. But on the other hand, this book really improved my thoughts on the Iron Fey world and on Julie Kagawa's writing. I think, because of this, I'll read the spinoff trilogy starring Ethan Chase, Meghan's brother. I'll start off with the bad, then get to the good. 

I don't know if all fey (or half fey) except for Puck are like this, but Ash was really, really mopey in this book. Meghan turned on the waterworks in every chapter of the books she narrated, it seemed. And even though Ash never cried, he moped around and thought a lot about Ariella and Meghan and lost loves. I really think I would have enjoyed this book more if it had been from Puck's view, but maybe he'd have been moping around, too, lamenting the fact that Meghan wanted Ash, not him. 

The tests. I don't know what was so bad about them, but those were not 'impossible.' And just a head's up, Kagawa, making your MC live through all his worst mistakes is not a good way to get your readers to like him. Especially when one of those mistakes was making a girl fall in love with him just so he could break her heart.  (Highlight to view spoiler)

The best part of the book, of course, was Puck. He was the one that kept the book from being a mopefest. And when Ash was being particularly mopey and blaming Puck for Ariella's death, telling him that he'd never felt loss like Ash had, Puck put Ash in his place. As you can tell, I'm Team Puck.

The other great part was the worldbuilding. Seriously. The River of Dreams reminded me a lot of the River Styx. The Phaed, where creatures forgot who they were and their existence. Those parts were significantly creepy to distract me from the mopefest that was the narrator. 

Really a 3.5. 

Hourglass

One hour to rewrite the past . . . 

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

Where should I begin? With the crappy romance? With the really high stakes that Emerson faced? With the horrible romantic interest? With the MC herself? 

It seems that all paranormal romance today is a hot guy, an instant connection, obsession, and electricity. Yeah, you read that right, electricity. And this book was no exception. Every time, every single time they touched, Emerson went on and on about how sparks flew and all that. And that was only the touching. I'm betting if/when they have sex, a bomb or something's going to go off, they create so much electricity. Or lightning will strike and kill someone. And then there was the whole stalking/obsession thing that every paranormal has. It's getting so old.

Michael was the stupidest character you can imagine. He also ranked quite high on the possessive boyfriend list and the crappy romantic interest list. For reasons I can't remember (and I read the book yesterday), Michael didn't want Emerson to know about the Hourglass. But then he leaves business cards with the address on them in his room. Emerson goes stalking (because, you know, it hurts so much to be away from him for even a second) and finds them. And because he never told her why it was so dangerous, she goes.

One of the biggest complaints that I have about this book is that the stakes that Emerson faces just aren't that high. If she decided to walk away, there wouldn't be any plot. There wasn't anything - besides her unfailing goodness, of course - that kept her in and made her try to prevent the death. 

Which brings me to Emerson herself. She was obsessed with Michael to the point where she snuck into his room and lay on his bed, just so she could get his scent. This is disturbing, to say the very least. The number of times that she mentioned a part of some guy (abs, muscles, lips, whatever) was astounding. The first time is fine. When you're breaking up a fight, it's not. Seriously, the book would be a chapter or two shorter if all that was taken out. And this is backed up by the fact that there is no diversity WHATSOEVER. Lily was the most diverse, being Hispanic. But there wasn't an ugly or even average-looking person in sight. They were all super gorgeous and SPESHUL. 

But on the upside, Dru was a pleasant surprise. I expected her character to be bitchy and Emerson-hating, almost like an evil stepmom, but it wasn't. She played the mom role far better than many real mothers in YA today. 

The whole time-travel thing was so complicated that I don't even want to get into it. My brain's still spinning from all of the information. My two main questions: 1) Why did Emerson stop seeing rips after Michael came? 2) How is the ability to control water something to do with time? I thought the Hourglass people all had abilities just relating to time. 

One star for Dru, and another for Kaleb and Lily. 

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one. 

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will. 

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do. (from Goodreads)

This book was amazing. It was a historical fiction/fantasy, which you don't see a lot of in YA, and it was one that was well done. Really well done. It's the kind of well done that makes me give the whole paranormal contingent the stink eye. 

All YA paranormal writers of today should read this book and take a lesson from it. And I'm being serious. Because she got the one thing that so many writers today forget. As Gail Carson Levine put it, 'it takes a mean author to write a good book.'  And Rae Carson understands that. She has enough confidence in her MC and in her plot to make bad things happen. Laugh at me all you want for ranting about this, but it's true. The Hunger Games wouldn't be so popular if all that happened was Katniss sitting around, watching Prim die in the arena and hunting with Gale in the woods. I'll say it again: bad things make a good plot. That aside, there were so many other great aspects of this book.

Elisa herself was probably my favorite part of this book. First off, kudos to Carson for going a non-cliche route - she has dark skin in a kingdom of mostly fair-skinned people, and she's fat. Not your usual I'm-going-to-say-I'm-not-pretty-even-though-I-am-just-to-make-me-seem-humble main character. It's clear here that Carson has enough confidence in herself and her writing to get away from cliches and all that. It's also clear that I'm going to read her future books.

The whole Godstone mythology was pretty interesting, and even though it dragged down the plot at times, I liked it. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was the fact that Elisa wondered how her enemies could worship the same god she did, as though they were too unclean and savage for that. Most religions, at least the ones of today, want more people to worship with them, not the other way around.

The secondary characters were just as developed as Elisa herself, but very few fell into stereotypes. There were characters that turned around and surprised me, characters that grabbed my heart instantly, and characters that made me ache for them to turn around and undo their mistakes. There was such a diverse cast of characters, and I think that's what sets this book apart from its counterparts.

Will I be reading The Crown of Embers? OH HELL YEAH. 

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WoW this week is...

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny. 

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy. (from Goodreads)

I just finished The Girl of Fire and Thorns, which is a great book. Epic. And this blurb looks tantalizing and the cover is beautiful, so...why does September have to be so far away?

The Gathering Storm

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart? (From Goodreads)

This book was really, really good. There were so many different aspects that I loved about it, and I'm definitely going to read the second book in the trilogy. 

First off, the setting. RUSSIA. I think this was the first book I've read that's set in Russia. And what was even better was the fact that the setting actually had something to do with the plot; Bridges weaved in stories about the tsar. So there were the balls and parties and stuff, but there were also the creepy parts in the woods and stuff. And I liked the fact that Russia's need for alliances with different countries like Montenegro also played a role in the plot. This book nailed the setting.

There was surprisingly little romance. But that was okay, because the romance that it did have also related to the plot. It also shaped Katerina and helped her change for the better, which is what any good romance does. Even though she had to do horrible things, it was all in the name of something good. And even though the blurb suggests a love triangle, it wasn't really one. Yes, there was the whole two-guys-one-girl thing going on, but she never really tried to decide between the two. 

Katerina was a kickass girl who wasn't afraid of taking matters into her own hands. The plot was her actually doing things, not her sitting around watching other people do things for her. She was a little naive at parts, but not so naive (like Emily from Elizabeth Miles' Fury) that she made me want to strangle her. All in all, one of my favorite MC's that I've read about in a while. And her power was appropriately creepy, too. My only complaint is that it would have been nice to read about it a bit more - where it came from, what it felt like as she was using it, that sort of thing. But hopefully that will be explained in book two.

Most YA books tend to leave out characters as the book progresses, most often the parents. But in The Gathering Storm, the parents weren't forgotten. In fact, they actually played a large role in this book, and especially because Katerina did several things in the name of protecting them and her brother. 

My only real problem with this book was that it got a tad confusing at times, especially with the different types of supernatural creatures and the people. Lots of people and creatures were introduced in a short time, and many of the names sounded similar. At some points, it was hard keeping track of who was who and what was what. But other than that, this book was awesome. 

This book was great. It had everything a YA paranormal should have, and it had more. A definite recommend to everyone. 

 

Wings of the Wicked

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.

Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.

Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.

Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay. (from Goodreads)

This book was actually far better than I was expecting. Sure, it was a bit long and the plot dragged a bit at some points, but it's lack of cliches in some parts made up for this. And once the plot actually started, it didn't stop.

For the first thing, in this book compared to the first, Ellie is way less whiny and Mary Sue-ish. Sure, she has her moments, but as the book goes on, she becomes more and more like a real person, not some cardboard stereotype. She grieves when she needs to, tries to balance her paranormal and regular lives, and doesn't let all this stuff about being Heaven's warrior get to her head. In other words, she was a narrator whose head I didn't mind being inside. She was also still as kickass as in the first book, maybe even more so in this one, and it was nice to see a narrator that didn't sit back and let everyone else do all the work. 

I also liked the fact that Ellie and Will's relationship went beyond chaste kissing. In fact, nothing about their relationship really annoyed me (except for, of course, the fact that he's about a thousand years older than she is). He got a bit possessive at times, but backed off quickly. If you ignore the age difference, it could seem like a relationship that normal teenagers today have. 

Kate was a pretty cardboard character, but the fact that Ellie didn't totally forget about her in favor of Will was really nice. So many 'best friends' are lost after page 20 when the main character meets her 'soulmate/love/significant other/whatever'. 

So, the love triangle. I suppose it is one, according to today's standards, but for once, Ellie actually picked the guy that she's known longer over the guy she's just met. Even though I don't really like either love interest, it was still gratifying to see that. 

In fact, there was only one real problem I had - the ending. It's not the fact that the ending was a cliffhanger, or the fact that it was sad. It was the fact that, even though there's supposed to be a sense of urgency in it, I didn't really feel any of it. 

Except for the ending, I actually enjoyed this book, much more than I originally thought I would. 

Waiting on Wednesday (4)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My fourth WoW is...

Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb

Meg Lytton has always known of her dark and powerful gift. Raised a student of the old magick by her Aunt Jane, casting the circle to see visions of the future and concocting spells from herbs and bones has always been as natural to Meg as breathing. But there has never been a more dangerous time to practise the craft, for it is 1554, and the sentence for any woman branded a witch is hanging, or burning at the stake.

Sent to the ruined, isolated palace of Woodstock to serve the disgraced Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and half-sister of Queen Mary, Meg discovers her skills are of interest to the outcast princess, who is desperate to know if she will ever claim the throne. But Meg's existence becomes more dangerous every day, with the constant threat of exposure by the ruthless witchfinder Marcus Dent, and the arrival of a young Spanish priest, Alejandro de Castillo, to whom Meg is irresistibly drawn - despite their very different attitudes to her secret.

Thrilling and fast-paced, this is the first unputdownable story in a bewitching new series.

This book looks epic. Pretty cover, magic, pre-Elizabethan England, Princess Elizabeth herself, the list goes it. It looks epic, and I can't wait until July. 

Lovetorn

When Shalini’s father gets a new job in L.A., she is torn away from her life in India and the boy to whom she’s been betrothed since she was three. L.A. is so different, and Shalini dresses and talks all wrong. She isn’t sure she’ll survive high school in America without her fiancé, Vikram, and now she has to cope with her mom’s homesickness and depression. A new friend, chill and confident Renuka, helps Shalini find her way and get up the courage to join the Food4Life club at school. But she gets more than just a friend when she meets Toby—she gets a major crush. Shalini thinks she loves Vikram, but he never made her feel like this.

In Lovetorn, Shalini discovers that your heart ultimately makes its own choices, even when it seems as if your destiny has already been chosen.

Author Kavita Daswani has always been fascinated by child marriages and betrothals, and this story of a traditional girl from India, who is exposed to so many more freedoms and experiences after being dropped in a completely alien culture, is a fresh and contemporary look at the subject. (from Goodreads)

I was really, really looking forward to this book. And it didn't disappoint. 

In some ways, this book was like a lot of other general fiction/romances: new school, mean girls, little sister that makes friends easily, culture shock, etc., but there were also a lot of things not seen very much: her mother's depression, the Food4Life club, and most of all, Vikram's attitude. 

Most books that I've read that have a love triangle like this made the character that Vikram represented an asshole, or someone that never played a huge part. But in Lovetorn, even though he was in India and Shalini in L.A., he was constantly on her thoughts. And from his emails and his talking on the phone, he seemed to really care about her.

Shalini wasn't a cardboard cutout character. She was her own person with flaws and everything, not just an empty shell of a person for the reader to slip into. 

In fact, there was only one slight problem I had with the book - the climax and the resolution were too quick, too rushed. I felt that there could have been more conflict and more of an ending if everything had been drawn out and explained a bit more. 

Except for the ending, I loved this book. 

The Merchant's Daughter

An unthinkable danger. An unexpected choice. 

Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity of Lord Ranulf's bailiff---a revolting man who has made unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past. Believing that life in a nunnery is the best way to escape the escalation of the bailiff's vile behavior and to preserve the faith that sustains her, Annabel is surprised to discover a sense of security and joy in her encounters with Lord Ranulf. As Annabel struggles to confront her feelings, she is involved in a situation that could place Ranulf in grave danger. Ranulf's future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart. (from Goodreads)

I really don't think that I'm the person for Dickerson's writing. This is the second book of hers that I've read, and although it was better than the first, there were still too many character flaws, plot holes, and such. 

Annabel was a Mary Sue in ever sense the word. Not a page went by when someone didn't remark how beautiful she was, she knew how to read (Latin included), her family members were so mean to her, and she had at least three men lusting after her. Maybe even more. This almost felt like a retelling of both 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Cinderella,' because in the original Beauty myth, Belle was an only child with no mother but had a very close relationship with her father. And her brothers felt like the evil stepsisters and her mother like the evil stepmother. She had everything: kindness, beauty, smarts, perfection, perseverance, etc. Everything but flaws, that is. 

I couldn't decide if this was supposed to be set in medieval England or in a fairy tale setting. It seemed to be medieval England, but there were some inaccuracies that led me to believe otherwise. Take Annabel's ability to read, and in Latin, too. It's highly, highly, 99.9% unlikely that any girl, even a rich merchant's daughter, would know how to read. And it's also highly unlikely that a lord like Ranulf would get close to a servant like he does with Annabel. 

I also found it odd that Annabel compared Gilbert to Tom. They were nothing alike, and even though Annabel didn't want to marry Gilbert, I would have liked it more if she had said something other than that he made her feel 'sickening.'

The way the book ended was just too perfect, and what Annabel does is just too easy to be believable.

The last thing about this book was that I found the slamming of the Catholic church to be ridiculous. I'm not at all religious, but this bothered me for two reasons. 1) It basically said that all Catholics were female-hating old guys who could barely read the Bible, which isn't at all true. 2) What other sect of Christianity would they practice? Henry the Eighth didn't break with the Catholic Church until the sixteenth century, and Catholicism was the main English religion up until then. 

One star for the attempt at a historical retelling, and another for Stephen, who was a funny character. 

Past Perfect

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new. 

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it…(from Goodreads)

I don't quite know what the cover has to do with anything. It never rains in the book, and most of the summer is spent in the Essex colonial village, wearing a colonial gown. I think something relating more to that would have been better, but whatever. I'm not reviewing this based on its cover. 

My favorite part of this book was the setting. Yeah, I know it sounds dumb, but the whole colonial-village-reenactment was pretty cool. Especially the whole war between the colonials and the Civil War-ers. That was really fun, and added a whole element of forbidden love.

The ending was slightly letdown-ish. I mean, I knew exactly what was going to happen and all that, but this book was one really that, with a different ending, could have been a lot stronger. I still liked the book because of characters and such, but a less cliche basic plotline would have been nice. 

Chelsea was okay. She wasn't an amazing character that sticks with you long after you've closed the book (say, Anna and the French Kiss), but she wasn't a huge bitch who I hated from page one. She was simply there, just your average MC. 

Fiona was funny, and she really added a lot to the story. When Chelsea started to forget her and her friendship, she didn't put up with that. It was easy to see that she cared about Chelsea and their friendship, but she wasn't going to put up with much blowing off. She has a small subplot which was pretty cliche, but it still worked. 

There wasn't a lot of physical romance, as is often the case with these sorts of books. Most of it was Chelsea thinking about it, and learning from the past. That was fine, as she really got over her breakup with Ezra and into this new relationship.

If this book had had a less cliche ending, this would probably be five stars. The plot itself was pretty cliche, but the secondary characters and setting made up for it. 

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My third WoW is...

Auracle by Gina Rosati

16 year old Anna Rogan has a secret she's only shared with her best friend, Rei; she can astrally project out of her body, allowing her spirit to explore the world and the far reaches of the universe. 

When there's a fatal accident and her classmate Taylor takes over Anna's body, what was an exhilarating distraction from her repressive home life threatens to become a permanent state. Faced with a future trapped in another dimension, Anna turns to Rei for help. Now the two of them must find a way to get Anna back into her body and stop Taylor from accusing an innocent friend of murder. Together Anna and Rei form a plan but it doesn't take into account the deeper feelings that are beginning to grow between them. 

Astral projection? Murder? More dimensions? This book looks really good, more than your average paranormal. 

Incarnate

New soul

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

So I didn't really know what to think about this book. It got a ton of hype, had a pretty cover, and a blurb, that intrigued me and confused me at the same time. 

One of my biggest problems with this book, at least early on, was the world building, or the lack of it. I felt as though I was reading a sequel - the world had already been introduced, and the reader was expected to know all about it. Like, what the heck are newsouls and nosouls? Why are trolls only mentioned, never actually show up?

But the part that bothered me the most was the whole reincarnation bit. It's not the reincarnation in and of itself bothers me - it was just the way it was portrayed in Incarnate. Like the fact that Ana wore clothes that Sam wore when he was female in a past life. That two souls, supposedly 'in love' with each other in every lifetime, had killed each other when they were in bodies of the same gender. Like the fact that no one knows why Ana's soul was born, yet there's this whole 'Soul Council' (not the exact name) that regulates souls. If these things had been explained a bit more, the book would have been much stronger. 

The romance was also a bit iffy. For the most part, Sam seemed like a fine character, and Ana didn't annoy the crap out of me, but there was just no chemistry. It was obvious the author was trying to make some, but there just wasn't anything really natural about the relationship. After one awkward 'almost kiss' (which Ana talks about for the next 200 pages) practically nothing happens between the two of them besides piano playing. I swear, 75% of this book was music, Sam/Ana awkwardness, and the butterfly metaphor. Gah, the butterfly metaphor.

This is the second book I've read in 2012 that has the MC referring to herself as some sort of winged creature. (Shatter Me with the bird metaphor was the other). And the metaphor once or twice is okay, but when it comes in every chapter two or three times, it gets a bit excessive. And, like in Shatter Me, the butterfly metaphor in this book got to be a little too much. I mean, the cover is gorgeous. It's what got me to read the book in the first place. The first time Ana mentions that she's like a butterfly, I was all 'okay, whatever.' But by the time she was getting ready to make her dress, I knew exactly what she was going to be. 

This book had the potential to be great, but it fell flat. It wasn't flat; it was just something weak that left me with more questions than when I started it. (And not in a good way).

And so the pretty cover strikes again.  

Playing Hurt

Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college--and everyone's admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea's dad springs for a three-week summer "boot camp" program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she's immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who's haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain--or finally heal their heartbreak? (from Goodreads)

This book was totally not what I was expecting. I was expecting your typical summer romance novel with a bunch of cliches thrown in. But this was definitely, ah, steamier than the cover and summary imply. It was also told in two POVs, which was a bit odd, considering that the summary focuses on Chelsea only. But, overall, I liked the book.

Chelsea - and Clint's - characters both grew extensively over the course of the book. Much of this was because of the romance. It's one of the things that I liked most about the book. They both saw the flaws in each other and the obstacles in the way. Both helped the other person overcome these obstacles. To put it simply, they brought out the best in each other. There was no love at first sight (although there was a bit of 'lust at first sight'). I could imagine that this would happen in real life, as opposed to 99% of the romances in paranormal today. The romance developed at a good pace. It was easy to understand what they saw in each other besides looks. 

Gabe was just - ugh. I know that Chelsea depended on his a lot after her accident, but if I were her, he would have been long gone. He was possessive and really clingy. When they're apart, he calls, texts, and emails constantly. Chelsea kept going on about how sweet he was, but I just never really saw it, not enough to make up for the clinginess. When Chelsea pulls into the driveway, back from Minnesota, he's already sitting there, waiting for her. Stalkerish, anyone?

Maybe it was the way it was portrayed, but Chelsea's cheating on Gabe didn't really bother me. Normally, it does, but this time it didn't. Maybe it was because Gabe wasn't a really important character and barely came in at all. 

PLAYING HURT was much more than your average summer chick-lit romance novel.