lisaluvsliterature's Reviews (4.19k)

I did enjoy this book, it is another in what seems to be a growing list of dystopian novels that I'm reading lately. It had some of the same elements as several that I've read though. First it had what I would call a dome called a Protectosphere over this city, state, country, not sure from the book itself, and that made me think of the [b:Gone|2536134|Gone (Gone, #1)|Michael Grant|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266904868s/2536134.jpg|2543657]series by Michael Grant. Next there were issues with reproduction it seems, or not issues exactly, but the government was trying to control it, and that reminded me of several books: [b:Wither|8525590|Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1)|Lauren DeStefano|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311109085s/8525590.jpg|13392566], [b:XVI|6933141|XVI (XVI, #1)|Julia Karr|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277846885s/6933141.jpg|7164525], and a little bit of [b:Delirium|9462883|Delirium (Delirium #1)|Lauren Oliver|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lqHPwr31L._SL75_.jpg|10342808]. I liked the name of the book, although it seemed that the only mention of "dark parties" was at the very beginning of the book, and then we never really saw anything like that again. There were several things left unanswered, but as I assume from the way it ends that there will be a sequel, really has to be, hopefully those will be answered. I will read on as I said if there is another. And it is a good quick read if you like dystopian novels. I read this as an egalley from Hachette Brook Group that I got on Netgalley.com.

So I've been a fan of Maureen Johnson since I first began following her on Twitter. I even got her to reply to me one time, a long time ago though. I hadn't read her books yet, just knew her name from working in the children's department at the bookstore where I have a part time job. I immediately picked up her books once I saw how funny she was because I just knew anyone who could be so funny in 140 characters or less had to be an asesome writer. And she is really good. I've read her Scarlett series, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and Devilish. And now I've read The Name of the Star, which I hear is going to be the first in a series. And I'm very glad to hear that because I really enjoyed this book.
I have also been fascinated by the Jack the Ripper stories ever since reading the book by Patricia Cornwell: [b:Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper - Case Closed|6538|Portrait of a Killer Jack The Ripper - Case Closed|Patricia Cornwell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165603737s/6538.jpg|1100254] as well as the movie From Hell which starred Johnny Depp, and the guy who plays Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies.
In this book, our main character is Rory, who is from Louisiana, but is now attending a school in London because of her parents traveling for their own jobs. She is attending a boarding school that just happens to be right near the whole Ripper scene. And, just as she arrives, someone has begun to imitate the Ripper murders. Rory also has some other weird things happen. She keeps seeing people that no one else sees. She soon realizes that she has the ability to see ghosts, one of which may be responsible for the new Ripper like murders. She also discovers she's not alone in having this ability and that she may be able to use it to help out and save more people from dying.

Okay, so I have to agree that this starts out JUST like Twilight. The mysterious boy saves the girl from a car crash. This boy is hot and cold toward her. Yet his touch and something about him just mesmerizes her. The girl is Camelia, the boy is Ben. Well, Ben has a history, it is rumored he killed his girlfriend, but the police found him innocent, so he didn't get charged with it. But everyone at school believes the rumors, and gives him a hard time. Now, Ben is the new one at school. Turns out he wants to go back to a normal life, public school, as he's been homeschooled since his girlfriend died to deal with these same kind of issues. Camelia is intrigued as I said, but about this same time she also seems to have picked up a stalker of some sort. And she doesn't quite know who it is. It begins with a picture of her left in her mailbox. And it goes on to creepy phone calls, and more violent things such as someone breaking into her room and tearing things to shreds, like a gift this same stalker left at her windowsill. And to top it all off, Ben has a power, and it seems this power can help Camelia, but could also be what caused his girlfriend to die.
Getting past the part that was so identical to Twilight, I really got sucked in. There were so many people that could have been the stalker. The author set the clues and false clues up so well. I won't spoil it and tell you who it was, but I will list all the people I thought it could be as I read, Ben of course, her friend Wes, her ex-boyfriend Matt, the guy she worked for at the Pottery shop, the guy her best friend had a crush on, and even her best friend Kimmie, all stood out at times as possibly being the stalker. Was it one of them? Like I said, I won't spoil it for you, you need to read it yourself. It was really creepy trying to figure out who it was. I guess I'll now have to go on and read the other books in the series.

First let me say that I need to take a cue from something I saw The Story Siren say, that she doesn't read other reviews. Because in the case of this book, I wonder how much of my dissatisfaction is because I read other reviews of people that were not completely pleased with this book. I also wonder how much is because it is the "sophomore" book in the series, which often aren't as good as the first. Let me be clear, it wasn't bad, it was a good story, but it just didn't live up to how much I loved the first book in the series,[b:Matched|7735333|Matched (Matched, #1)|Ally Condie|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311704885s/7735333.jpg|9631645]. After thinking about it, here is why I think that is. I liked the whole society part of the first book, the 100 books, movies, songs, etc. I liked being a part of all that. This book took our characters out of that society and put them out in the wilderness basically. And while I do enjoy books like that, it just didn't keep up with where the first story went. It reminds me of my displeasure with [b:Mockingjay|7260188|Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1294615552s/7260188.jpg|8812783], the 3rd in the Hunger Games trilogy. I think I didn't enjoy the 3rd book because there was no "hunger games" in it. It sounds as if the 3rd book in the Matched series may get back to the setting that pulled me in to the series in the first place. And I did like learning more about Ky, as well as about the people who weren't in the society, and why things became the society like that. All in all I believe it furthered the story, told us what we needed to know, but I'm ready to read on and hopefully get back into the society.

I got to read the first book in this series, Unearthly as an ARC a few months before it came out the beginning of this year. So I'm glad I was able to get this egalley from Netgalley and HarperTeen. It means the amount of time between reading them is the same for people who wait for each book to come out, and I like that. This was probably the 2nd angel series I read, I gave it a try after I liked [b:Hush, Hush|6339664|Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)|Becca Fitzpatrick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311064637s/6339664.jpg|6525609]and I enjoyed it as well. In this book we jump in about where we left off. Clara is with Tucker, the boy she decided to save in the book before, even though her purpose seemed to be directing her to save Christian, who it turned out was also an angel-blood. Tucker knows the basics about Clara being an angel. In this book though, Clara gets a new vision, and since she's sure she failed her purpose, she thinks that it will be someone she loves who dies. She soon finds out that it will be, but not who she first imagines. And when she finds this out, it leads to all sorts of changes in her life. But the Black Wing from the first book is back. But her father also comes back. And she learns all sorts of things about herself, as well as angels in general. And her brother is hiding something, we do find out what, but still unsure quite why he is acting the way he is, we are left wondering at the end.
Once I got back into the book and remembered all from the first book, I got sucked back in and it was a book I had trouble putting down. So I'm sure people who enjoyed the first one will be glad to pick this one up. It actually left me ready to read the next in the series, which I'm sure there will have to be.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins, first off let me say I LOVED this book. I like the new take on the afterlife. This was a different paranormal romance, no vampires, werewolves, angels, fairies. There are immortal beings, and in a way, they are kind of like vampires. These immortal beings though live on the feelings or emotions of mortals. They can take it during events like concerts, like the band that Cole is in. Or they can take you to the Everneath where you will be right next to them for 100 years while they get the sustenance they need to last another 100 years. Now, this 100 years in the Everneath is much longer than how much time actually passes on the surface. And normally, after you've been here, you age too. But for some reason, Nikki, our main character, doesn't age after this 100 years with Cole. And she wants to go back, back to a face, a boy she knew. She went with Cole because she was sad, her mother had died, things with her social life were not at the greatest, and so she let him take the pain away. But by going back, instead of staying with Cole and doing what he wants her to do, to stay with him forever and maybe take over the Everneath, she now owes the shades, the creatures that connected them, and after a short time back, about 6 months or so, they will pull her back into the Tunnels, a horrible dark place she is told. But Nikki wants a chance to actually tell her family and friends goodbye this time. She needs to see the guy whose face she saw the whole time, Jack, at least one more time. Cole is there the whole time trying to win her back.
This story was so good. I had to know what would happen. I loved the mythology in it, as well as the way those myths could be re-interpreted to fit this story. I'm so glad to see on Goodreads that there is a sequel, because I need to go on with this story. I'm not ready for it to end. And you won't be either.