The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Calling (Book two)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Pages: 326
Level: Young Adult
Published: April 10, 2012

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is -a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

Review: 


I was beyond excited for this book to be published. After waiting, god knows how patiently after that awful cliff-hanger, I nearly peed my pants when I saw The Calling sitting all lonely like on a shelf at the library. It nearly called my name.... Get it? Cuz you know its called The Calling and you know whatever, that was really bad....


Anyways, I started reading it and I just wasn't pulled into the story like I was with the first book. Or called into the story... Okay, I really need to stop but I just can't help myself. 


The Calling was just too predictable. I wasn't on the edge of my seat like I usually am with Armstrong's books. 


On the bright side, Kelley is blending her two young adult series with the third book of the trilogy. Now that I'm excited for. 

Cover: 3/5

Character Rating 3/5

Style: 4/5

Development: 3/5

Overall:

***.5

(Just cuz I'm nice ^.^)

Clockwork Prince By: Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 498
Level: Young Adult
Published: December 6, 2011




In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.


Review:


I had been dreading reading this book because it had been so long since I had read Clockwork Angel and I couldn't remember anything. I really regret putting it off, this book was extremely good.


The plot development was not slow, I never found myself bored, seeing as to when a certain part was going to be over.


Every time I set this book down, I felt the need to pick it back up and continue on. I liked all the characters, I did feel that Tessa was annoying at some moments, but most main characters are.


Near the end of the book, I'm not going to spoil anything, but my heart broke. I am so upset with Cassandra Clare and her lame decisions. Otherwise the book was great. If you read the book, and want to talk feel free to comment. :)

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 4/5

Style: 4/5

Development: 5/5

Overall: ****

Abandon By: Meg Cabot

Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 304
Level: Young Adult
Published: April 26, 2011




She knows what it's like to die. Now Death wants her back.
Seventeen-year-old Pierce knows what happens to us when we die.
That's how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who's made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible.
Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her.
What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows... just like she knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven. But she can't stay away from him, either, especially since he's always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.
But if she lets herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears the most.
And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her:
The Underworld.


Review:


To be honest, I really can't find anything wrong with this book except maybe how short it is. I fell in love with John instantly, and I'm not over exaggerating either.


Pierce may have annoyed me at first, but I grew to like her. 


Actually, there was one more thing that I didn't like about this book. I know that this was a re-make of the classic myth, Hades and Persephone, but there were a lot of details that were singular to this book. I found it very confusing because Pierce would talk about something that had happened in the past and not until after you were left confused, was it ever explained. This was the case for every single event that happened in the past.


Overall though, this book was super good, it left me wanting more, which is exactly what books are supposed to do. I can't wait to go and pick up the second installment Underworld.

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 4/5

Style: 3/5

Development: 3/5

Overall: ****

Sweet Venom By: Tera Lynn Childs

Title: Sweet Venom
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Pages: 352
Level: Young Adult
Published: September 6, 2011


Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.
Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.
Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.
Gretchen, Greer, and Grace, three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Review:

My grandma originally brought this book home for me and one of my biggest pet peeves is when she picks books out for me because she doesn't know what I like.

I think I put off reading this book for 5 months. When I first started I was annoyed, but it was only because I hadn't given it a chance yet. The book really wasn't that bad.

I found the overall plot line not so existent. Not until maybe two hundred pages in was there any form of plot line, but even then it wasn't clear.

The characters also pissed me off. I found Grace to be way too energetic and annoying. I didn't like Gretchen because she seemed like a rude....person. Greer (what kind of name is that) was also annoying because she was such a brat.

BUT, for some reason I kept reading and found myself enjoying the book.

I finished the book and was completely in shock. Not because there was a cliff hanger, because there wasn't.  There was absolutely no solving to anything. No questions were answered. I felt as if the entire book should have been the first hundred pages of the book. I guess she really wants her readers to pick up the second installment to find out the answers.

Cover: 3/5

Character Rating: 2/5

Style: 3/5

Development: 1/5

Overall: *** 1/2  

Pathfinder By: Orson Scott Card

Title: Pathfinder
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 672
Level: Young Adult
Published: November 23, 2010


From the internationally bestselling author who brought us Ender’s Game , a brand-new series that instantly draws readers into the world of Rigg, a teenager who possesses a secret talent that allows him to see the paths of people’s pasts. Rigg’s only confidant is his father, whose sudden death leaves Rigg completely alone, aside from a sister he’s never met. But a chance encounter with Umbo, another teen with a special talent, reveals a startling new aspect to Rigg’s abilities, compelling him to reevaluate everything he’s ever known. Rigg and Umbo join forces and embark on a quest to find Rigg’s sister and discover the true depth and significance of their powers. Because although the pair can change the past, the future is anything but certain….


Review: 


Oh, where to start. When I picked up this book, I thought it sounded interesting and even though it isn't something I would normally go for, I decided  I would try it out anyways. Before I even continue, I'm going to be honest when saying I didn't finish it. I had about a hundred pages left, but it was too much to continue on.


From the first page I was confused. I think that was a major turn off for me and it left me not wanting to continue on, but I managed to defy all odds and continue reading. 


Another thing that I didn't like was the time period, I have a hard time reading anything that isn't in this time period, it's normally really boring (any books that I've read anyways.) I don't want to bash everything though. The characters were really interesting, I didn't have any problems with any of them and they were all fairly likable. 


Another turn-off, probably the biggest, was at the beginning of every chapter there was another story going on. I didn't mind that so much, but the fact that there was so much physics going on. ugh. Not just the stories at the beginning of the chapter but the entire book. I had no idea what they were even talking about and am surprised I even made it through most of the book. 


For example, they had 19 jems, but they had to hide them. So when they went back to retrieve the jems they realized there were only 18. And they just knew that their future selves had went back into the past to steal one, so they had to go back in the past to hide it. I don't even know, but somehow in the end they ended up with 19 again.


I guess if you like weird, confusing, old time books, then you'll have a great time reading this. Personally, and obviously, I did NOT.

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 4/5

Style: 1/5

Development: 3/5

Overall:  **