Author Archives: Alyssa

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Review: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

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BreadcrumbsTitle: Breadcrumbs

Author: Anne Ursu

Publishing Information:  September 27th 2011 by Walden Pond Press

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Adventure

Series information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 312 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers of all ages, as it will reach out to each reader in different and inspiring ways.

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn’t help it – Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn’t fit anywhere else.

And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it’s never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack’s heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it’s up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she’s read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn’t the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

Hazel and Jack did nearly everything together, they went together like two peas in a pod and Hazel thought that nothing could ever separate them. Then, Jack changes. After getting something in his eye he begins acting like a different person, he tells Hazel he doesn’t want to play her baby games and completely abandons her and the plans they had together. Hazel can’t understand why Jack is acting this way but everyone around her tells her that it is “normal” and just something that happens when you “grow up”. Soon after Jack’s change, he goes missing. When Hazel asks Jack’s mother where he has gone she explains that he left to help his elderly aunt Bernice. Hazel has never heard of an Aunt Bernice and as his best friend she believes this is information she ought to have known. Another of Jack’s friends finds Hazel and tells her that he saw Jack go into the woods with a tall, thin woman, dressed all in white. Hazel feels that something is terribly wrong with her best friend so she goes into the woods after Jack with a just a compass and her heart to guide her.

As Hazel ventures through the forest she comes upon different characters from numerous fables such as the little matchgirl and the Snow Queen. She also meets a woman who can turn into a swan and a couple who collects little girls to keep in their garden. Hazel moves forward through struggles that seem endless and never gives up hope that she will find Jack and bring him home. Finally, after many mishaps, Hazel finds Jack and makes a deal with the Snow Queen to get him back.

One of the best parts about this story was the fact that fantasy and reality were so intertwined. When Jack stops talking to Hazel it really is possible that it is due to the fact that he has just outgrown their friendship. I couldn’t help but think of the ending of The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy wakes up to find that her entire adventure was really a dream. That is how beautiful this book was; the lines were so blurred that it could be taken as real or imaginary. Additionally, the venture through the forest really helped Hazel discover who she really was, with or without Jack beside her. She felt alone in her world, as an adopted child living with her single mother and had a hard time fitting in with anyone but Jack. Throughout the story she questions herself constantly and finally, she becomes comfortable in her own skin and happy with who she is.

This story was brilliant and all things I had hoped it would be. The allusions to different myths and children’s fantasy provided a colorful backdrop for a notable coming of age tale. I recommend Breadcrumbs to readers of all ages, as it will reach out to each reader in different and inspiring ways. This story gives A Tale Dark and Grimm a run for its money as my favorite middle grade novel.

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Top Ten Tuesday! (4)

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Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish which I adore and therefore chose to adopt into my weekly blog posts!

 
I am not going for a specific group for these choices; some would be better fitted to a woman’s group, some young adult and so forth. Most of them are books we have done for my book clubs and I loved them!The Night Circus – This is a book I have already recommended to my book club at my library. The book is all kinds of wonderful, its lyrical, deep and has a heart wrenching love story.

The Help – I LOVED this book. I was one of those “I won’t be a band-wagoner” person but then I was gifted this from a dear friend and felt obligated to read it and I am so happy I did! It’s always nice to have a book that stands out on so many levels. Plus, it would be fun to watch the movie after reading the book!

Water for Elephants – This is another book that is fun because of the era in which the story takes place. The love story is divine, but the book was so much more than just a love triangle and Rosie takes the cake for my favorite character!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – How cool is this book? I am hoping to use it for my YA book club sometime soon and have the kids do a fun project relating to photographs.

The Hunger Games – It’s one of the most popular books out there, I think it would be interesting to read the story and determine why it is so popular as so many did when the Harry Potter phenomenon hit.

Eat, Pray, Love – This would be a fun summer read, we read it for part of our “Novel destinations” summer reading program last year.

Wicked – I love this whole series. In the back of Wicked, Gregory Maguire gives all kinds of “extras” including questions to be used at book club discussions. It would also be fun to compare it to the original story by L. Frank Baum and/or the movie. By the way, did you know that Maguire came up with the name Elphaba from the sound of L. Frank Baum’s initials? How cool!

Dracula – We needed a classic on this list and this one has been re-done so many times in so many different formats that I thought it was a given. It would also be fun to follow up with one of the novels written from Mina’s point of view such as Dracula in Love.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe – This book would be fun for all ages. It is a good read when you are younger but looking back as an adult is surreal. It is SO weird to re-read a book from your childhood and see all of the underlying messages. It really makes you take a step back and think about what you are reading.

The Book Club Cookbook – I have used this book to help plan many book club events and it is SO fun to find cool recipes to go with books you are reading. My book club made Honey Cakes when we read The Secret Life of Bees!

 

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Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Publishing Information: March 27, 2011 by Simon & Schuster

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Romance

Series information: Book 1 in the Mara Dyer trilogy

Format: Hardcover, 452 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a mysterious novel with an unreliable narrator.

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was another majorly hyped book of 2011 that I was excited to read. I was somewhat wary after reading a review on one of my favorite book blogs that portrayed this book as another paranormal romance with no depth or intrigue. After reading it for myself I have to say that I completely disagree and that this book really did live up to the hype for me.

At the beginning of the book, Mara is involved in an accident, which kills three of her friends and leaves her in a very fragile mental state. Her family decides it would be best to move away from the town in which the scene of the crime happened so her life is upturned again and she is forced to start a new school while dealing with major mental anguish.

After starting at the new school it seems like this story will play by the same “new kid at the high school” plot line where Mara gets on the wrong side of the most popular girl in the school because the most popular (and good-looking) guy shows her some attention. Thankfully these scenes are short and necessary to show that Mara has much more that post traumatic stress to deal with. Unexplainable things begin happening to Mara and she starts imagining things that aren’t really happening, as well as seeing people who aren’t really there – like the friends who died in the accident.

I had a love-hate relationship with the characters. I really liked Mara and thought she was a strong character but there were some choices and some one-liners that really turned me off. Then there is Noah, the typical gorgeous, mysterious jerk who really is sweet on the inside. Parts of me HATED him and wanted to slap Mara for even bantering with him and parts of me melted into a puddle on the floor every time he talked. What can I say? I’m a complicated woman. I was also a little confused by his “powers” and some other strange occurrences, like how Noah basically dies when Mara kisses him. These things weren’t really explained in this book but the sequel is due out this fall and I assume the author will be delving deeper into these characters and their “special” abilities.

The entire time I was reading this book I kept trying to figure out what was going on and why these things were happening. Is it magic? Is she really just insane? Maybe she is dreaming? Things finally start coming together in the end, as in, the last page of the book was absolutely jaw dropping and made me want the sequel right now, please! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a paranormal romance with a little more depth to it.

The sequel is still untitled but Michelle Hodkin has given us a bit of a teaser on her website and oh my does it add to the intrigue!

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Coming Soon!!

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I have been stuck in the archives all day and just emerged to find that Laini Taylor has updated her blog with the title of the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone AND a teaser from the new book!! I AM SO EXCITED!! (So excited that when I squealed I scared my cat off of my lap and she is currently seething under the bed where she is safe from my shenanigans.)

So without further ado, the teaser for the sequel of Daughter of Smoke and Bone is…

 
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living—one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.
 
Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel—a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.
This was not that world.

I absolutely love this and I can. not. wait. for it to be release time!! Who else is excited?

(This blurb and title was taken with permission from Laini Taylor’s blog, courtesy of Little Brown.)

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Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

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Title: Anna Dressed in Blood

Author: Kendare Blake

Publishing Information: August 30, 2011 by Tor

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Supernatural, Horror

Series information: Book 1 in the Anna series

Format: Hardcover, 316 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers interested in horror novels that aren’t too horrific and romance novels that aren’t too romantic

“Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas’s life.”

Anna Dressed in Blood was one of the hyped debuts of 2011 and I was initially drawn to it when I saw its awesome cover. Plus I was on a horror kick after reading The Child Thief and I hoped this would live up to my expectations.

The story follows Cas, a sarcastic ghost hunter who follows a “tip” to the town in which Anna resides. Cas was a very unique character, he is following in his father’s footsteps and lives up to his father’s name by following tips around the country and hunting down ghosts to send them to wherever it is ghosts go after they are done hanging on the Earthly plane.

After some research, Cas meets Anna, who I immediately loved. This character was so twisted and layered that I felt all kinds of emotions toward her. The story was beautifully done as her history is revealed in a slow, mysterious way. She starts off as this terrifying character who is disemboweling anyone who ventures into her house and slowly, as her history is revealed, she mellows out in an almost tragic way.

Overall, this story wasn’t as horror filled as I like my novels but it was a good amount of gore for a young adult debut and definitely enough intrigue to keep me guessing and wanting more. As a side note **spoiler alert (kinda)** I HATED THE PART ABOUT THE CAT!! Out loud I literally screamed “Not the cat!!!” and it kind of made me angry because I did NOT think it was necessary! **end spoiler**

I am eagerly anticipating the second installment of this series; it is one of my most anticipated reads of 2012. I recommend this book to anyone who likes horror (that isn’t too horrifying) and a sweet love story (that isn’t too lovey).

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Top Ten Tuesday! (3)

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Top Ten Book to Movie Adaptations 

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish which I adore and therefore chose to adopt into my weekly blog posts!

This is our freebie week for our Top Ten topic so I chose to go with one that has been previously done over at the Broke and the Bookish so I can rave about some of my favorite movies!!

The Princess Bride – I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! It is probably my favorite movie EVER and I can quote every.single.line. Also? It’s better than the book! I know, it’s blasphemous to say, right? Tough cookies because if you don’t agree you are crazy and need to go watch it again right this minute… “Have fun storming the castle!” 
Harry Potter series – Who wouldn’t have this on their list? I have to admit that as I was watching each movie I was whispering with my sister about what exactly they did different between the book and movie. I mean honestly what were they thinking adding that shrunken Jamaican head hangin’ next to Ernie on The Knight Bus and what about S.P.E.W?! Huge differences and frankly, we were appalled. However these movies are still some of the best adaptations everrr and I love them a lot.

 
Pride and Prejudice – I love all of the film adaptations and I can’t believe I am saying this but I might actually like the newest version best. This is probably mostly because Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy was just jaw dropping. Every time I hear him say “I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on,” I just scream out loud and rewind over and over and over!!

Lord of the Rings Trilogy – Okay I will admit it, I only read the Hobbit and I know that movie isn’t out yet but if it is half as good as the trilogy then it will be epic…and long.

 
The 3 Musketeers – The Disney version with Chris O’Donnell? Yum. I definitely just bought it via my Disney Movie Club (yes, I am a member of Disney Movie Club) and I watch it every night as I am snuggled in my bed. I remember watching this movie with my brother when it was still ON Disney Channel. It has Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and TIM CURRY!! “Rochefort. Isn’t that a smelly kind of cheese?”

Dracula – I pretty much love all versions of this movie (even Dracula: Dead and Loving It) but I have to say that Bela Lugosi is THE man and he is the reason I became obsessed with all things Dracula when I was a wee tyke. 


Big Fish – This movie is just beautiful in so many ways. I just recently read the book by Daniel Wallace and it is just as colorful and imaginative.  
 
Game of Thrones – I only just started the first book but so far I am finding the two to be nearly exact and I like it. Though I do feel like I have to get through the first two books before season 2 of the show starts because I am finding myself a bit bored with the first book as I already know what is going to happen. Also: Jon Snow is love.

True Blood – The show is not so close to the book and I find myself not liking Sookie as much as I do in the novels but overall it is pretty awesome and I am highly anticipating the next season as the last season finale was jaw dropping.

Alice in Wonderland – Some people really didn’t like the remake of this film but I loved it. I don’t particularly like Mia Wasikowska but I think she portrayed Alice nicely. Tim Burton was genius as always and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were perfect.

Honorable Mentions:

Wuthering Heights – This movie isn’t even that good, in fact I remember going to the special “Hollywood at the Bijou” showing with my aunt and literally LOLing at numerous parts throughout because it was so ridiculous. Still love it though!

Stardust – I didn’t read the book (shame on me) but the movie was quite awesome and I am frequently irritated that I can’t get it through Netflix instant stream.

 

 
 
 
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Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

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Title: Sweetly

Author: Jackson Pearce

Publishing Information: August 23, 2011 for Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Paranormal

Series information: Book 2 in the Fairy Tale Retellings

Format: Hardcover, 310 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Fans of fairytale retellings and those looking to delve deeper into the mystery surrounding the family introduced to us in Sisters Red.

Sweetly is a companion (not a sequel) to the book Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. Due to the fact that it isn’t a sequel it is not necessary that you read Sisters Red prior to reading Sweetly but there are some small things you may appreciate a little more if you do.

Sweetly is a retelling of the fable, Hansel and Gretel. Gretchen and Ansel are siblings who lose their sister to a “witch” in the forest behind their home. Years pass and both parents succumb to the grief of losing their daughter, leaving Ansel and Gretchen alone in the world. They decide to drive cross country to start over in North Carolina. Their jeep breaks down on the way and they have no choice but to stay in the town for the time being. After some poking around town, Ansel finds a job as a handyman at Sophia Kelley’s candy shop.

Sophia is a young and gorgeous woman who has taken over the chocolate shop after her father is killed by wild animals. People in town are either captivated by her or believe her to be a witch. Those that believe her to be a witch also believe that she has something to do with the eight girls who have gone missing over the years, as they always go missing on the eve of her chocolate festival. Ansel and Gretchen are captivated by Sophia, for Gretchen, she is healing the wound that their missing sister left in her heart and Ansel falls in love with her almost immediately. However, after a time, Gretchen begins to suspect something is different about Sophia and she soon finds evidence that doesn’t paint Sophia in the most perfect light.

Gretchen meets Samuel, the town crazy and convinces him to teach her how to hunt Fenris, the werewolves that those of you who read Sisters Red will find familiar. The two vow to uncover the mystery as well as keep the rest of the girls in the town safe from the Fenris. Secrets are uncovered and Gretchen is forced to come to terms with who Sophia really is.

“There is always some madness in love,

and always some reason in madness.”

I have to say that I enjoyed this story a lot more than Pearce’s Sisters Red. I found myself more connected to the characters in this story which really helped me enjoy the novel on a much deeper level. Pearce also wrote this story in such a wonderful way that I really found myself craving the chocolate and candies that were showcased in Sophia’s shop.

Overall, this book exceeded my expectations, I had hoped to enjoy it more than Sisters Red and I did. Additionally, Jackson Pearce has a third companion novel coming out titled Fathomless that is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. I am curious to see if Pearce brings the characters together from the first two novels as they all have the same goals and since Fathomless will focus on the sister of both Silas, from Sisters Red and Samuel from Sweetly.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good retelling and wants their mouth watering at the thought of chocolate truffles and fruit flavored candies.

 

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Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

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Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Publishing Information: September 27, 2011 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Series information: Book 1 in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series

Format: Hardcover, 424 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a beautiful novel of love and redemption.

 

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well.

I have been struggling with this review for days. Not because it wasn’t awesome, it totally was, but because I fear that by raving about the sheer amazingness of this book I will spoil some extremely important and mysterious plot lines. I have decided to provide the summary from Goodreads so you can get the gist of what the novel is about and then I will do my best to explain just why this book was SO SO SO good without any spoilers.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

How good does that sound? Let me just tell you, that summary? NOT EVEN CLOSE TO HOW AWESOMELY LAYERED THIS BOOK IS!! The book starts off and you’re thinking okay so this is some supernatural love story about a “devil” and an “angel” who fall in love. Ohh if only…let’s delve right in.

First, the plot of the story was near perfect. I absolutely gave up sleep to read this book because I had actual need to find out what happened next. As I said before, it is nearly impossible for me to say what I loved about the plot without giving away too much. Just know it had politics (the good kind), hate, jealousy, rage and all forms of love. As the story progresses you see how the past and present come together and my heart was literally breaking at more than one point. I had to read the last few pages multiple times because I could feel the overwhelming feelings Karou must be feeling as she discovered the truth. At first I had a hard time with the love between the two characters because it was so instant and “I have to know her” on Akiva’s part that it paralleled so many other paranormal romance novels out there. However, as the plot unfolds you realize there are serious reasons as to why this love is so instant, and so overwhelming.

Second, the characters are so great and so layered with their pasts that intertwine and they make you love every flaw, scar and tear. Karou was this strong female character who starts off as a (somewhat) typical teenager attending art school and going on frequent errands for her adopted family who just happen to be of a secret race of Chimera. Her world is suddenly torn apart and instead of acting like an immature teenager saying boo hoo how do I handle this she takes her problems head on and finds ways to act and move toward her goal. Then there is Akiva, the Seraphim who is of course, unbelievably gorgeous while also brooding and overly dramatic. In time the reader finds out why he is so brooding and I can understand his reasoning so I can’t blame him for being that way and I still kinda love him a lot. I loved Brimstone, and the rest of Karou’s “family” and Madrigal, who I can’t say too much about, was also a very strong and near perfect character.

Finally, the brilliance in Laini Taylor’s writing is found in how lyrical her words are…

Karou right after she sees Akiva for the first time:

“Into kohl-rimmed eyes in a sun-bronzed face. Fire-colored eyes with a charge like sparks that seared a path through the air and kindles it. It gave Karou a jolt – no mere startle but a chain reaction that lashed through her body with a rush of adrenaline. Her limbs came into the lightness and power of sudden awakening, fight or flight, chemical and wild.

Who? She thought, her mind racing to catch up to the fervor in her body.

And: What?”

Chapter 44:

“Snap.
Rushing, like wind through a door, and Karou was the door, and the wind was coming home, and she was also the wind.
She was all: wind and home and door.
She rushed into herself and was filled.
She let herself in and was full.
She closed again. The wind settles. It was as simple as that.

She was whole.”

Ahhhh how is it that this author can write the simplest sentence and still make me want to scream and laugh and cry?! This book was just pure awesome, I am literally recommending it to everyone that comes into my library. When they ask: “Do you have it here?” I say “Yes, but it’s checked out. Go buy it, seriously.” That is how good this book is. I hugged it when I finished, I went back and re-read random parts. I obsessed over Laini Taylor’s website and I NEED it to be time for the sequel now please!

In a nutshell: Go read this book right now, and you’re welcome.

Once upon a time, there were two moons, who were sisters.
Nitid was the goddess of tears and life, and the sky was hers.
No one worshipped Ellai but secret lovers.
 
 
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Top Ten Tuesday! (2)

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Top Ten Books I’d Recommend To Someone Who Doesn’t Read YA
 
 
 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish which I adore and therefore chose to adopt into my weekly blog posts!

The following books aren’t all my favorite YA books but I tried to choose a few books from different genres so that the person reading them would see the diversity in YA literature.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – This book is wonderful, it is filled with so much raw emotion I couldn’t help but love it, and feel torn apart by it at the same time.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – I just finished this one and it was ahhhhmazing (review is forthcoming) I want to recommend it to random strangers on the street so its no question that it is one of my top recommendations for anyone who doesn’t usually read YA – or any other type of book, for that matter.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier – Juliet Marillier is my all time favorite author yet most of the books I have read by her are all adult novels. This is the first book I read by Marillier that is specified to be a “young adult” novel and I loved it just as much as the others.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I’ll be honest, I JUST started this one but so far it is awesome and the premise sounds pretty intriguing.

Fables by Bill Willingham– These graphic novels are my favorite and I think it is a great introduction into both graphic novels and young adult literature.

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum – My favorite book from my childhood. I realize that this is on the younger scale of the young adult spectrum but its still one of the best, and the first in the series!

Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles) by Patricia C. Wrede – I love Patricia C. Wrede and these are some of the first books I read that would be specified as young adult. They are funny and interesting and I still read them 10 years later!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – This book was awesome and will give the reader a glimpse into how different YA literature can be. The photos compliment the story and make the reader delve even deeper into the plot.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – Oh, my heart. This book made me laugh and cry and all things in between. It is just a beautiful story that will pluck the heartstrings and show the reader that YA literature isn’t all supernatural romance.

 
 
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Review: Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

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Title: Juliet Immortal

Author: Stacey Jay

Publishing Information: August 9, 2011 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance Retelling

Series information: Book 1 in the Juliet Immortal series

Format: Hardcover, 307 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Fans of Shakespeare looking for a stronger heroine than Juliet Capulet

“She will fight for light, and he for dark, 
Battling through the ages for love’s sweet spark. 
Wherever two souls adore truly, you will find them, lo, 
The brave Juliet and the wicked Romeo.” 
             – Medieval Italian ballad, author unknown
 
Juliet Capulet didn’t take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, who made the sacrifice to ensure his own immortality. But Romeo didn’t anticipate that Juliet would be granted eternal life as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For seven hundred years, Juliet has struggled to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent, while Romeo has fought for the dark side, seeking to destroy the human heart. Until now.

Now Juliet has found her own forbidden love, and Romeo, O Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy their happiness.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am madly in love with both William Shakespeare and strong female characters. Shakespeare writes many strong female characters into his works but in my opinion Juliet Capulet is not one of them. Many of you are thinking of the way in which she defies her family to be with her one true love and when she finds him dead she takes her own life, defiant = strong, right? Wrong! Eek, Willie you had me up until that point…though I can imagine the grief and utter loss Juliet felt at seeing Romeo dead I can’t help but want to slap her in the face with some reason! You are on the brink of womanhood! There are other fish in the sea! “There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours.” (Princess Bride, anyone?) But alas, I was not there to slap some sense into young Juliet so she falls dead by her own hand…or does she?!

Juliet Immortal is a completely warped and amazing tale of Romeo and Juliet in which Juliet does not die but is killed by Romeo to ensure immortality and entrance into the Mercenary ranks as an emissary of darkness. Romeo’s plan is thwarted however when Juliet is also granted an immortal life in which she spends eternity as Romeo’s enemy. Their assignments puts them into the bodies of two mortals on earth, Romeo’s job is to convince lovers into killing one another, while Juliet is there to ensure that they remain in love and eventually reach the point of “true” love. This assignment is different from the moment Juliet, trapped in the teenage girl Ariel’s body, meets Ben. Juliet fights her nearly overpowering feelings for Ben because she soon finds out that the two lovers she is meant to save are Ariel’s best friend Gemma and her new boyfriend, Ben. Meanwhile, Romeo is going out of his way to try and woo Juliet and it seems that he really does love her despite his crazy. He senses something is different about this trip as well and does his best to warn Juliet of impending danger. She attempts to stick to her mission until her feelings for Ben take over and she has no choice but to let true love take over. This eventually leads to a pretty awesome ending that I kind of saw coming, but loved anyway.

The author totally rewrites the Juliet character into a character that I LOVE, she is strong and sees that her love for Romeo 700 years prior was just teenage fantasy. In short, I want to high five this Juliet and not slap her! I also really loved Romeo, he was totally the semi-crazy bad guy that was also secretly sweet and just yum. It was also so cool how Stacey Jay alluded to Mr. Willie Shakes and his part in the original story..

“That horrible play. That contemptible, lying play he helped Shakespeare pen all those hundreds of years ago when he first twisted our story to fit his agenda. It worked far too well. Shakespeare’s enduring tragedy did its part to further the goals of the Mercenaries – glamorizing death, making dying for love seem the most noble act of all, though nothing could be further from the truth. Taking an innocent life – in a misguided attempt to prove love or for any other reason – is a useless waste.”

When I first read this I thought that it was a standalone novel but after perusing through Stacey Jay’s website it looks like a sequel titled Romeo Redeemed will be coming out this year! I am pretty intrigued to see where Jay takes Romeo and I am excited to see him in a softer light.