Book Review of Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 27th, 2008
Pages: 320
Genre: Young Adult-Contemporary
Source: I own a copy of this book.

Blurb from Goodreads: My name is Danielle. I'm eighteen. I've been stealing things for as long as I can remember.

Dani has been trained as a thief by the best--her mother. Together, they move from town to town, targeting wealthy homes and making a living by stealing antique silver. They never stay in one place long enough to make real connections, real friends--a real life.

In the beach town of Heaven, though, everything changes. For the first time, Dani starts to feel at home. She's making friends and has even met a guy. But these people can never know the real Dani--because of who she is. When it turns out that her new friend lives in the house they've targeted for their next job and the cute guy is a cop, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known--or the one she's always wanted.

Review: Well, this went better than the last Elizabeth Scott book I read.  I do think it's time I pack it in with this author though and call it a day. We just aren't meshing well together. Stealing Heaven wasn't a bad book if you are looking for something cutesy, corny, and over the top. It is all of those things and more. Sometimes I don't mind books like that. Anyone that watches romantic comedies knows what I mean. This book is exactly like that but WAYYYYY overboard. To the point it's almost hard to suspend disbelief. Why? Because of some of the dialogue between Dani and Greg--the love interest.

Dani is a thief and Greg is a cop. She meets him in line for donuts. No, I am not kidding. The way the author describes him at first, he does not seem attractive at all. He has wonky hair, crooked teeth, and he speaks in an incredibly cheesy manner.

So right from the very beginning I was not into this romance at all. Dani doesn't want anything to do with Greg because he is a cop and she knows her mother will kill her if she compromises their mission in this town. So this results in some incredibly ridiculous scenes in which Greg tries to find out her name and get her to go out with him etc. I mean the dialogue was utterly ridiculous. Nothing about this relationship was believable. They keep running into each other everywhere (because how often does that happen in real life?) until finally she realizes how charming and not ugly he is (I guess he never was but his descriptions are terrible) and agrees to go on a date with him. 

Before I ruin the entire book for you, you should know it is also loaded with tons of angst, mother-daughter conflict (the mother is batshit crazy--but she's supposed to be), and has a very unsatisfying and abrupt ending. At the same time, I don't know how else it could have ended so I will have to just let that go. 

So why did I give it three stars if it seems like I hated it so much? Well, I didn't hate it. Not exactly. I am fully able to realize when I am just nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking and that may be the case here. Simply put, this book was just not for me. It didn't have much of a plot, and what it did have was all about the romance and there is a reason why I don't usually read romance novels. They rarely work for me. The writing was decent and I thought the book was okay, so this results in a 3-star rating from me. I can't really justify it. I should be giving it a two, but it wasn't THAT bad. It was just incredibly corny. 

And there you have it. Meh.

3/5 Dragons

So I am not sure if I would recommend this one, but I'm putting Amazon links anyway because...the book is really CHEAP. So if you want to buy it from Amazon, click the following: Stealing Heaven. At the time of this writing, the Kindle edition was only 5.69 and you can get the hardcover for 6.99. If you like lighthearted cheese-fests, you might like it. 

Guest Review by Lyn: Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby

Publisher: Scholastic

Release Date: September 1st, 2011

Pages: 324

Genre: Middle-grade, Fantasy

Source: This is a guest review. 

Blurb: Far away from her homelands in an untold region of Viking-era Scandinavia, the royal siblings of a Norse king are trapped as the ice freezes over for the winter while their father battles a neighboring kingdom. The middle daughter, Solveig, yearns to find her place in her family, often seen as out of place with her stunning older sister and her younger brother, who will soon become king one day. At the same time, she and her family must uncover a conspiracy of murder and deception while trapped from any outside help from her father or her people. Solveig must learn to trust the people close to her, new to her, and above all else, herself. Norse mythology meets with a lovely story about coming of age in Matthew J. Kirby’s new novel about a girl who must learn how to create her own path in life – if she survives to discover the traitor in her household.

Review: I like to read about things I enjoy. Doesn’t any reader?  We all like a story that we can connect with, and sharing our interests and our dreams with a fictional character adds a certain extra touch.

But when it comes to subjects I love, I tend to steer clear. Like Norse mythology and Vikings.

I find that I am super protective of anything relating to Scandinavia, and to save the author from a poor review and myself of some rage, I just avoid the genre. However, when I saw this one at my local library, I was sorely tempted by the description, and by the outstanding cover (I know - deadly road to walk). I caved, and I checked it out, crossing my fingers that Icefall woud not fail to amaze me.

It did so much more than amaze me – it totally blew me away.

Soveig and her royal siblings struggle to solve a deadly mystery while waiting for winter to release the waters of the fjord and return them back to their kingdom. The plot was a tightly-woven suspenseful journey. However, it was the underlying messages that made this book shine.

Beauty comes from within
Yes, this message has been beat into our heads from the moment any child picks up a book, but Icefall points out HOW and WHY inner beauty is better. Solveig often envies her elder sister, Asa, for her natural Nordic beauty and inherited attraction, but her sister lacks integrity and a strong will. Asa flat out tells Solveig that the beauty of the mind, such as wisdom and courage, will not fade with age like external beauty. Personality qualities remain when youth disappears. The strength of one’s character plays a heavy hand in this tale. Kirby doesn’t shove the notion down your throat.  Instead, he sends flowers, sets out a nice dinner, and has a deep heart-to-heart with the audience about the vital qualities of a strong internal peace. Even the qualities of the Berserker men, such as Captain Hake, glorifies that your heart, not your face, is the real meaning of beautiful.

Love and character
Kirby shares a story centered around paternal and protective love instead of strictly relying on romantic love. Yes, I want to see love and passion in the books I read, but it becomes so commonplace that I find that I grow cynical at times. Icefall points out that love is so much more than just a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Love is so much more than heart-throbbing romance and vows to die together. We all need bonds that stand separate from flirtation and sweetheart promises; we need love of fellowship and family.
Icefall incorporates character into the novel as well. Doing what is expected or safe is not always the right thing to do. As Shakespeare states: "To thine own self be true." The sacrifices and discoveries made by all of the characters in the novel challenges the reader to think about the importance of their own morals, and what they are worth. Is it worth dying by remaining yourself? Is it better to live a lie and survive to see another day? What makes you who you are? 

Norse mythology and writing
The Vikings were not just savage humans who ransacked most of modern Europe. The Norse people were also lovers of words and stories, and Kirby just flat out did an outstanding job of using this forgotten tradition. The writing and the similes did not stand out as forced prose and flimsy comparisons. Kirby used a wonderful sense of language and imagery to drive his message home. Stories keep us hopeful and strong. Tales and songs can heal wounds. Solveig and her own journey to become something more than herself played up the idea that it is the audience, the listener, the reader and the dreamer that feed on the words and imagination of the storyteller.

Norse mythology and symbolism, thankfully, were well respected by the author, and he spoke to the reader as if they were already well versed in such knowledge. Side note: if you do not have a fairly basic understanding of Norse mythology, this story might seem a bit confusing.

I would highly recommend this book to all of my Viking lovers. The characters were great, the writing was sophisticated and properly accomplished, and the struggles of a girl looking for her own beauty struck a soft spot for any girl who dreams of beauty and self-worth. 

5/5 Dragons

To purchase this book from Amazon.com, click the following: Buy Icefall. You can get the paperback (at the time of this writing) for 6.99. I am an Amazon Associate and will earn a commission if you buy from me, so please do. It means more great giveaways for readers of this blog!

Thanks for the wonderful review, Lyn!!

Follow Lyn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heartless_Lyn

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books for 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Most Anticipated Books for 2013. Easy topic. The last couple of weeks I have not been participating in this meme because I just had little to say about the topics that were given. I decided when that happened to pick up Waiting on Wednesday as my backup meme, and it worked out pretty well. I usually don't post on Wednesday anyway, so I just alternate between the two days when necessary.

A couple weeks ago I chose pretty much this same topic, so now I have to find ten MORE books I am anticipating for 2013. That shouldn't be too hard as I am anticipating a lot of them. 

                                                         

1. Jinx by Sage Blackwood

Blurb from Goodreads: In the Urwald, you don’t step off the path. Trolls, werewolves, and butter-churn riding witches lurk amid the clawing branches, eager to swoop up the unwary. Jinx has always feared leaving the path—then he meets the wizard Simon Magnus.

Jinx knows that wizards are evil. But Simon’s kitchen is cozy, and he seems cranky rather than wicked. Staying with him appears to be Jinx’s safest, and perhaps only, option. As Jinx’s curiosity about magic grows, he learns to listen to the trees as closely as he does to Simon’s unusual visitors. The more Jinx discovers, the more determined he becomes to explore beyond the security of well-trod paths. But in the Urwald, a little healthy fear is never out of place, for magic—and magicians—can be as dangerous as the forest, and soon Jinx must decide which is the greater threat.

Sage Blackwood introduces a daring new hero for an innovative new world as Jinx is joined by friends, battles enemies, and discovers life beyond—and even within—the forest is more complex than he can imagine, and that the Urwald itself needs him more than he could ever guess.

 Pre-order from Amazon

          2. My Chemical Mountain by Corina Vacco

Blurb from Goodreads: Rocked by his father's recent death and his mother's sudden compulsion to overeat, Jason lashes out by breaking into the abandoned mills and factories that plague his run-down town. Always by his side are his two best friends, Charlie, a fearless thrill junkie, and Cornpup, a geek inventor whose back is covered with cysts. The boys rage against the noxious pollution that suffocates their town and despise those responsible for it; at the same time, they embrace the danger of their industrial wasteland and boast about living on the edge.

Then on a night the boys vandalize one of the mills, Jason makes a costly mistake--and unwittingly becomes a catalyst for change. In a town like his, change should be a good thing. There's only one problem: change is what Jason fears most of all.

Pre-order from Amazon

3. The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Blurb from Goodreads: After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all. It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

And Grayson has gone missing.

No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead—she can feel it deep in her soul—but she knows he’s in grave danger. It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths. And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, they can never again be buried.

 Pre-order from Amazon

4. The Ward by Jordana Frankel

Blurb from Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Ren is a daredevil mobile racer who will risk everything to survive in the Ward, what remains of a water-logged Manhattan. To save her sister, who is suffering from a deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution, Ren accepts a secret mission from the government: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure.

However, she never expects that her search will lead to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist; a web of deceit and lies; and an earth-shattering mystery that’s lurking deep beneath the water’s rippling surface.

Jordana Frankel’s ambitious debut novel and the first in a two-book series, The Ward is arresting, cinematic, and thrilling—perfect for fans of Scott Westerfeld or Ann Aguirre.

 Pre-order from Amazon

5. Fuse (Pure #2) by Julianna Baggott

Blurb from Goodreads: When the world ended, those who dwelled within the Dome were safe. Inside their glass world the Pures live on unscarred, while those outside—the Wretches—struggle to survive amidst the smoke and ash.

Believing his mother was living among the Wretches, Partridge escaped from the Dome to find her. Determined to regain control over his son, Willux, the leader of the Pures, unleashes a violent new attack on the Wretches. It’s up to Pressia Belze, a young woman with her own mysterious past, to decode a set of cryptic clues from the past to set the Wretches free.

An epic quest that sweeps readers into a world of beautiful brutality, Fusecontinues the story of two people fighting to save their futures—and change the fate of the world.

Pre-order from Amazon

6. Starstruck by Rachel Shukert

Blurb from Goodreads: A golden age of glam . . .

Every week they arrive in Los Angeles--beautiful and talented young hopefuls who dream of becoming stars. It's all Margaret Frobisher has ever wanted—and when she's discovered by a powerful agent, she can barely believe her luck. She's more than ready to escape her snobby private school and conservative Pasadena family for a chance to light up the silver screen.

The competition is fierce at Olympus Studios and Margaret—now Margo—is chasing her Hollywood dreams alongside girls like Gabby Preston, who at 16 is already a grizzled show-biz veteran caught between the studio and the ravenous ambition of her ruthless mother, and sultry Amanda Farraday, who seems to have it all--ambition, glamour . . . and dirty secrets. Missing from the pack is Diana Chesterfield, the beautiful actress who mysteriously disappeared, and there are whispers that Diana's boyfriend—Margo's new co-star—may have had something to do with it. Margo quickly learns that fame comes with a price, and that nothing is what it seems.

Set in Old Hollywood, Starstruck follows the lives of three teen girls as they live, love, and claw their way to the top in a world where being a star is all that matters.

 Pre-order from Amazon

7. 17 and Gone by Nova Ren Suma

Blurb from Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.

With complexity and richness, Nova Ren Suma serves up a beautiful, visual, fresh interpretation of what it means to be lost.

 Pre-order from Amazon

8. Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Blurb from Goodreads: First came the storms.Then came the Fever. And the Wall.

After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct… but in reality, a new primitive society has been born.

Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-Positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader’s newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted. Fen meets Daniel, a scientist from the Outer States who has snuck into the Delta illegally. Brought together by chance, kept together by danger, Fen and Daniel navigate the wasteland of Orleans. In the end, they are each other’s last hope for survival.

Sherri L. Smith delivers an expertly crafted story about a fierce heroine whose powerful voice and firm determination will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

 Pre-order from Amazon

9. The Ruining by Anna Collomore

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

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

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

 Pre-order from Amazon

10. Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Blurb from Goodreads: When Mallory discovers that her boyfriend, Jeremy, is cheating on her with an online girlfriend, she swears off boys. She also swears off modern technology. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory decides to "go vintage" and return to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn't cheat on you online). She sets out to complete grandma's list: run for pep club secretary, host a dinner party, sew a homecoming dress, find a steady, do something dangerous. But the list is trickier than it looks. And obviously finding a steady is out . . . no matter how good Oliver (Jeremy's cousin) smells. But with the help of her sister, she'll get it done. Somehow.

Lindsey Leavitt perfectly pairs heartfelt family moments, laugh-out-loud humor, and a little bit of romance in this delightful contemporary novel.

 Pre-order from Amazon

And there you have it. Another ten books that I am anticipating for 2013. To be honest, I could probably do another thirty books at least. There are a lot that I want. Did any of my books make your list? Are any of these new to you? Leave me a comment and I will come visit your post! Until next week, happy reading!

Book Review of Scent of Magic (Healer #2) by Maria V. Snyder

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: December 18th, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 416
Series: Healer #2
Source: Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads: As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avery is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

Review: I've been frustrated with Maria V. Snyder lately. She's one of my favorite authors, and yet I am finding that I'm not loving her work as much as I used to. I enjoyed Outside In but not quite as much as I expected to, and now this one. First of all, I didn't love Touch of Power as much as most bloggers did. I still liked it, but I didn't feel it stood up to the standard of her previous work. I was hoping there would be an improvement with Scent of Magic. And in some ways there was, but mostly I was just disappointed. 

So I am going to talk about the good things first. This author excels at writing characters and that has not changed here. Avry is even more awesome than she was last time, and she is determined to fight and be a strong woman who takes care of herself. I usually love Snyder's female characters because of this. They truly CAN take care of themselves. I get so tired of ya heroines that have to be rescued by the men. But Avry rarely needs that. She is intelligent and has great instincts. Sometimes strong female characters end up being unlikable. But not Avry. The other characters are all strongly developed as well and can stand on their own as side characters with their own individual personalities. 

The story in this book is also one I very much enjoyed. I think I even liked the plot of this one more than I did the first book. I just felt more INTO the storyline. It connected with me better and pulled me into its pages. I did not want to put this book down. The plot is very much a continuation of the first book, and it's weird because sometimes it feels like nothing is happening and yet it's still suspenseful. And if I think about it, not all that much happened in this book. And yet I could not stop reading it. Isn't that strange? In some ways this book was just a bridge to the next one. But it did help the characters quite a bit, I think. I didn't care much one way or another about the characters in the first book, and now I do. So that's something. I'm not going to summarize the plot. I think the blurb covers it pretty well, actually.

So where did I run into problems? It was the writing this time. Too much infodumping and summarizing in the beginning kept the story from connecting with me the way it could have. I just felt it was handled in a very obvious and amateurish way. The infodumping was IN your face. Like no effort was made whatsoever to hide it. I actually prefer when the author leaves this out and lets me figure things out on my own. If I want a summary of the last book, I will just reread the last book! I don't mind as much when it is sprinkled throughout the book in bits and pieces, but it''s not like that here. That would have been a huge improvement if it had been. And then the ending. It was abrupt, happened too fast, there was little resolution, and I felt the cliffhanger was cheaply handled. Of course I cannot talk about that without there being spoilers, but you should know that I am okay with most cliffhangers. This one just made me roll my eyes and say, "Okay then." It pissed me off.

So will I read the next one? You betcha. Overall, I still really liked this one. And I love Avry, Kerrick, Belen, and everyone else. There are some new revelations in this one that will have you biting your fingernails until the next book is released. It may not be Snyder's strongest effort, but it's definitely still enjoyable. 

3/5 Dragons

To purchase a copy of Scent of Magic from Amazon.com, click the following: Scent of Magic.

Stacking the Shelves #18

Welcome to Stacking the Shelves. Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. This is where we showcase books we have received or bought during the week.

Well, it was a bit of a slow week for me. I almost wasn't going to do one of these posts this week, but I decided to go for it since I am really trying to stick with this meme.

With all the Black Friday deals going on this week, you think I would have caved and bought something (especially on Amazon), but nothing really caught my fancy, AND I have used up all my book allowance for the month, so I stuck with the one review book I got this week. I know...sad. 

I got one book for review this week. 

For Review:

How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Why: First of all, it was awfully brave of the author to not change her name. I am sure her editor tried to get her to change it, and I can only assume how that conversation went. I'm actually happy to see someone keep their real name because it is so unusual. Especially when they sound like that. 

But as to why I requested it? I am always looking for the next great contemporary, and I loved the blurb and the cover on this one. It sounds like a lot of fun. Rosie sounds kind of awesome. Thanks for this one go to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss.

And that's it for me this week. What books did you add to your shelves? Leave me a comment and I will come visit your posts!

Book Review of The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Release Date: December 18th, 2012
Pages: 496
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
Source: I received a physical arc from another blogger.

Blurb: When Ruby wakes up on her tenth birthday, something about her has changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her--East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Review: Before we get started, you should know I thought The Darkest Minds was a standalone. It is not. So if you are not wanting to start another series yet, do not start this book. Because once you start, you will not be able to stop. This is one hell of a suspenseful novel. It's a page turner. Even when nothing major is happening, I always felt very uncomfortable, like that next second action was right around the corner. I was always waiting for the next shoe to drop. It's a very unsettling feeling, but one that works incredibly well in dystopian novels. When the suspense is believable, when you truly feel the characters plight and the tension, that is when you know a book is successful. This is one of the many reasons why I totally recommend this novel. But first, you should know what it is about.

The book opens with a bang. Ruby is in a camp for kids and the White Noise goes off. The reader has no idea what this is, and all we know is that Ruby is hurt. The novel jumps back and forth a little as we learn just exactly what is going on in this post-apocalyptic world. But never too much. The major answers always remain just out of reach. Kids are dying. But not all the kids. And she is sent to a camp with the other survivors. At the high security camps, the kids are treated like criminals. They are called rehabilitation camps but there is no rehabilitating going on. Because what these kids are dealing with cannot be cured. Eventually Ruby breaks out of Thurmond, and then, as her questions begin to be answered one by one, she finds herself on the run with other kids like herself. And they all have powers that are very different.

Okay, so this is where I tell you that I did not like Ruby very much. She had zero confidence and I got truly tired of hearing her talk about being a monster, having a big secret, and wondering how everyone would judge her if they really knew the truth. And the secret that she was hiding was not all that big, to be honest. I don't know what her issue was. She was always making it out to be worse than it really was and she kept REPEATING it over and OVER and I just got tired of hearing about it. When her secret finally came out, no one gave a shit so it was all for nothing. I said in my updates if this happened I would be pissed off. And I was pissed off because it was stupid and ridiculous. Not only that, but she had a tendency to be helpless and she made a few bad decisions. I got very angry at her a couple of times and I can't talk about that because spoilers, but let me just say I was not a huge fan of Ruby.

But...I was a fan of Suzume and Chubs. So it was all worth it. These two kids were Ruby's travel buddies. There was also Liam, the love interest, but I thought he was really flat and kind of blah. But trust me when I say Suzume and Chubs were awesome. It was easy to root for those kids and be terrified when something bad happened to them. Could the characters have been more strongly written? Yeah, I think so. If there was a weakness in this book, it was in the characters. Not in the writing, in the story, or in the world-building. All those things I very much enjoyed.

But the ending. Oh. My. God. It was probably one of the worst cliffhangers I have ever read. If you are not a fan of these, if reading cliffhangers will make you rate books lower, then there is a chance you will be doing that with this book. Because it was brutal. I sobbed, got really mad, and almost threw the book at the wall. So I just want to prepare anyone going into this one. I think if you are prepared for the inevitable, it might not make it as ugly when you get to it. Especially if you think this is a standalone and then crap! I would be so pissed.

Other than that though, this was a wonderful book and even though it is almost 500 pages, to me it never felt like it. The book is easy to read, flows well, and if you are a fast reader, you can easily do this book in one day. Not everyone can do that, but even so, it is still a very fast paced book that I would highly recommend. Keep in mind that book two is not due out until the fall of 2013. With the cliffhanger and that date, you might want to wait if you are going to get upset. I think I may have done that myself if I did not have an arc.

4/5 Dragons

To purchase a copy of The Darkest Minds from Amazon.com, click here: The Darkest Minds.

Waiting on Wednesday #7

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This is where we post upcoming releases we are looking forward to.

Another week, another Top Ten Tuesday topic I don't care for. So for one more week, I will be participating in Waiting on Wednesday. Then it's back to TTT for awhile. 

So what did I pick THIS week? Actually, this was the book I was looking for last week but I couldn't remember what it was called!

For the teens at The Haven, the outside world, just beyond the towering stone wall that surrounds the premises, is a dangerous unknown. It has always been this way, ever since the hospital was established in the year 2020. But The Haven is more than just a hospital; it is their home. It is all they know. Everything is strictly monitored: education, exercise, food, and rest. The rules must be followed to keep the children healthy, to help control the Disease that has cast them as Terminals, the Disease that claims limbs and lungs—and memories.

But Shiloh is different; she remembers everything. Gideon is different, too. He dreams of a cure, of rebellion against the status quo. What if everything they’ve been told is a lie? What if The Haven is not the safe place it claims to be? And what will happen if Shiloh starts asking dangerous questions?

Yeah, yeah. It's another dystopia. I don't care! I want it!! What do you think? Is this one on your list? Leave me a comment and I will come visit your WOW posts! Until next time I participate in this meme, happy reading!