Full (spoiler-free) review on Heir of Glitter.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

This book was a unique dystopian and fun to read, but lacked any real twists and the characters and romance were a bit too flawed for my tastes. I may or may not continue the series. It was slightly disappointing, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. :)

So Elle faked being tainted. I don't know if it's accurate or not but the ending gave me Shatter Me vibes... if that's the case in this series, how will she pull off being tainted when everyone else is practicing their abilities? Totally a theory and I might not even read the second book, but I was curious when I read the ending. Also, will Sebastian even want her there?

Find my in-depth review on my blog, Heir of Glitter.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. It was good, but mostly predictable and I didn't enjoy the love triangle. I also thought that the second half focused too much on emotions and not enough on mystery, which I feel should've been the main idea. I might continue with the series. :|

Review also on Heir of Glitter.

SPOILER-FREE.

3.5 stars

plot: 20/20
characters: 15/20
setting: 20/20
relationships: 12/20
twists: 12/20
79 out of 100

I adore JLA's Lux series, and I think that had my expectations set a bit too high for this book. It was good, don't get me wrong, but not as good as I'd hoped.

The plot was very unique. I've never heard of anything like it. Simplistically, it was a normal demon-hunting book, kind of like The Shadowhunter Chronicles. But with all of the details, it was very much its own story. The demon-hunters aren't half-angel, but gargoyles that can change between that and a human form. First off, let's just appreciate that GARGOYLES were incorporated into a YA story. I don't think there are any others with them. (But let me know if you know of any!) I applaud JLA for trying something new like this, and for doing it well. The demons were a fairly common element, but their classes and ulterior motives (because come on, they're demons after all) were something I'd never heard of. I'll stop rambling here, but basically, I really liked this story.

I have to say, though, the characters were one of the disappointments in this book. I liked them at times, but none of the main three were great enough for me to be permanently on their side.

Layla:
- humor like a mix of Katy's and Daemon's
- very unique ability (taking souls)
- whiny
- immature

Zayne:
- super sweet
- understanding
- immature
- compassionate for the wrong reasons

Roth:
- caring
- feminist
- inappropriate
- immature

I really liked that the story was set in D.C., because I've never read a book that took place there. It was described very well, and I could picture it easily even though I've barely seen any pictures of D.C., much less been there. I also thought it was cool that certain parts of the city were important to the story. :)

I wasn't really a fan of any of the relationships in this book. Layla's friendship with Stacey felt one-sided, and I think that was because Stacey focused more on boys than anything else. The Wardens felt more like, well, wardens than Layla's family, with how strict they were. The love triangle between Layla, Zayne, and Roth made me cringe just a little. All three had more than their share of immature moments (in my opinion) and I felt like neither guy really fit well with Layla, if that makes sense. Zayne came off as overly protective, and Roth as annoyingly inappropriate. I would prefer if Layla stayed alone, unless either one of those two improved or a third, better guy appeared. >.<

There were a few things I wasn't expecting, but nothing really caught me by surprise. Not even the ending did. A friend online told me that the ending would destroy me, and it honestly felt kind of anticlimactic. It was impressive and unexpected, yes, but it didn't flabbergast me or break my heart like I thought it would. :|

All in all, this book was good, but didn't live up to my personal expectations. I may or may not continue the trilogy, and may or may not read JLA's other books. But, regardless, it was a mostly fun read. :)

Find my in-depth review on Heir of Glitter.

* Actual rating is 3.5 stars. *

I enjoyed this book and the Celtic mythology within, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. The beginning half didn't feel very much like middle grade, as we followed a married couple and then their experience as new parents before magic comes in. The main character Jack isn't even of age to be the hero until halfway through. He didn't enter the magical world until 3/4 through, when there were about 60 pages left. However, I did enjoy the other world once it was introduced, and I loved that the story took place in Ireland prior to the world change. The ending was also intriguing, and I'll likely pick up the second book when it comes out so I can see where Jack's adventures take him next. ;)

I really enjoyed this book, but I had some issues with it.

- uneven pacing. There were several moments of action that had me hooked, but between them the story seemed to drag a little bit.
- the characters. While I did solidly like them by the halfway point, before that I was unsure. I thought Oliver was irritating and kind of a know-it-all. Normally I would comment on their naïve natures, but I can look past it because it's a middle grade story. But I did think it was strange how mature and intelligent they were at some points, because they were only twelve and thirteen, respectively.
- the ending. I liked how things were wrapped up, but I think it was somewhat abrupt. What happened to Alice? To her family? To Oliver? How did the second chance go? I have answers, but getting them gave me more questions.

Other than that, I think this was a wonderful book. It was a quick read and I absolutely loved the world of Ferenwood and Furthermore. The colors, the magic, and general vibes were so fun and great, and Tahereh was able to explain some things while leaving others an enigma.

If this was a series, I'd continue it. But since it's not, I'll settle for loving the story as it is.

4.5 stars

This was on my radar for a while, and I finally picked it up after seeing how much Erika loved it toward the end of last year. I'm really glad I did! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

POSITIVES:
- Gigi. She was definitely my favorite character. She was so sweet, positive, and graceful, but had her flaws and her breakdowns. Very realistic.
- Alec. He was my other favorite character. He was sweet too, and seemed perfect, to be honest. He was always there and always understood.
- The other characters. While I really only liked Gigi and Alec, the others were still very well-written and fleshed out. Toward the end I started to strongly dislike about 3 characters, but I couldn't hate them because I liked their development. Hopefully that makes sense.
- The couple. I won't say who, but they're so CUTE.
- The diversity. Bette is a drug addict, June is half Korean and anorexic/bulimic, and Gigi is black. There were also a handful of gay guys, a clique of other Asian girls, and a bisexual (?) French guy, all at the conservatory. I need to read more books with such a diverse cast list, because I absolutely loved this aspect. It all felt real, and even though I can't speak personally about any of the rep, I think it was great.
- How unique it was. This is the only book I've read about ballet, ballerinas, or any sort of dance school. The closest I've come prior is reading about an MC that likes dancing, but nothing like this. I learned a lot about ballet, and it was interesting.
- Everyone's inner cutthroat nature. On one hand, everybody needs to relax and have a cupcake. On the other, I kind of really liked the brutality and the competitiveness.
- The ending. All I'll say is that it wasn't what I was expecting at ALL, and I'll definitely be reading the sequel.

NEGATIVES:
- There were times when it seemed slightly repetitive. The plot was a lot of the same, just with twists, and while it was very enjoyable I started to guess where things were going. I didn't guess the whole story, things did surprise me at times, but at others it was a tiny bit flat.

I need the sequel asap!!

» This comes out June 20th. «

3.5

I don't have much to say about this story. It was a quick, fun read, and what I needed after the emotional rollercoaster that was the Bloodlines series. I liked that it took place at a summer camp, because I haven't really read about that before.

The family dynamic was interesting. At first Phoenix and Harry's parents were very irritating to me, and I couldn't believe how oblivious they were. Toward the end of the story, as they developed, I started to like them somewhat.

However, I didn't like Phoenix or Callum. The former came off as whiny, hotheaded, and unwilling to try understand her parents' perspectives. The latter had mood swings and tended to jump to conclusions. Also, once they both admitted to it, their romance became very fast-paced, to the point of being unrealistic.

I would recommend this if you're looking for a simple contemporary, especially after a particularly emotional read. To me it was enjoyable, but overall an average, quick story.

* actually 4.75 stars

This was an awesome, unique sci-fi read. I'm really excited for the movie and I'll definitely look for [b:The Infinite Sea|16131484|The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave, #2)|Rick Yancey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395351812s/16131484.jpg|27237970] next time I go to the library. :D

I would've given this a full 5 stars, but I had a few small issues with it- Ben was a bit arrogant on occasion and I thought Cassie and Evan's romance was a bit instantaneous. Otherwise it was great! I thought the plot was really well-executed and the characters were great. I loved Cassie and Ringer and I want to give Sammy a hug. :D

* full review on my blog :)

3.5 stars. Thank you Penguin for the early copy.

I did enjoy this book. I liked the way books were included in the story, and that some YA was mentioned too, instead of only classics. This was a quick, fun read, and what I needed after finishing ACOL. But beyond that, I personally did have some issues with it.

I didn't really become attached to the story or any of the characters. I wasn't extremely interested in what happened next, to be quite honest. The characters seemed to be very extreme, either on one side or another, with no middle ground. Rachel was much ruder than was necessary. I understand she's grieving her brother, and I did feel sorry for her. But to me I think she just went overboard. As for Henry, I didn't really like him at all. He was desperately in love with a girl that loved him on and off, and many of his chapters were about how his heart was broken because she left him and his indecisiveness over his feelings for Rachel. He also seemed willing to do anything to get said girl back. It was slightly pathetic and seriously irritating.

On that note, there were two love triangles in this book. I don't mind love triangles as long as they're well done. I think two in one story is a little bit much, and honestly I didn't really like either one. I know what that must say, since I always say I'm a hopeless romantic. I thought the end results were cute, but not the time and events leading to them.

Also, I want to say that a prank was pulled and YouTube was involved. Personally, I thought this was kind of extreme and completely unnecessary. I can sort of see why it was done, but I think the story would've been fine without it. To me it was just an unneeded complication.

I know I was critical, but I promise I did like it. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but it was still a good, albeit simple, story. If you like books about books and fun, easy stories, I definitely recommend this to you when it releases on June 6th.

One last thing. I really liked that this took place in Australia. I've read books by Aussie authors, but I don't think I've read any actually in Australia. I don't know much about the land or the culture or anything else, but it seemed authentic. There was no stereotypical slang or anything cringe-worthy, as far as I could tell.

And I think my favorite part of this was the letters and snippets from the Letter Library scattered throughout the actual story.

** Trigger warning: self harm. It only happens once, but the effect is mentioned throughout the remainder of the book. **

I really, really enjoyed this book. Much more than I expected I would.

When I got this in the mail about a week ago, I was only mildly intrigued. I hadn't heard much about it, and I assumed it would be an average story. I'm happy to say I was very wrong.

Let's get the issues I had out of the way first.

I thought the story was a bit too romance-driven. I knew there would be a romance, because it's in the synopsis. Flora and Drake kissed in the first couple of chapters, and after that it was almost all Flora thought about. I can understand that she was excited, and that's to be expected. Kissing Drake is the only memory she's remembered from the last seven years of her life. That's a huge thing. But she practically lived by her laptop to wait for emails from him, and planned a secret trip to Norway just to see him, in hopes of getting more memories back. I admired her determination and her ability to actually pull it all off, but to me the situation was a bit of a stretch.

The last 75 or so pages seemed kind of rushed. Flora returns home, and then a lot of stuff goes down. I really liked the direction the story took, but I do think it went by a little quickly. It was a good excuse to fly through the end of the book, but I think pacing could've been improved.

And on that note, the ending was a bit abrupt. The stuff that went down was resolved, and plans were made… then it was over. I still have questions. What happens to Flora? To her parents, and to Paige? Does the help they sought work? Did they stay in Penzance? I liked how it ended, but I would've appreciated an epilogue.

Now on to what I liked, which is a much longer list.

This is the first book I've read that features a character with anterograde amnesia, and I think it was done brilliantly. The knowledge I have of it essentially came entirely from this book. It was interesting to learn about, and see how it affected Flora's and her parents' lives. She wrote almost everything down, either in a notebook or on her arm. When she would forget, she could glean key details from notes on her arm or read her exact diagnosis in a passage her mom wrote. The writing was a nice touch to the story on top of being informative.

Flora's brother, Jacob, was never physically present in the story, only through childhood memories, texts, and emails, but he was still great. It was clear he cared so much for Flora, and that he would do anything he could to help her. It was really sweet.

On that note, I liked Flora's parents too. I don't agree with their choices and I definitely think they were overly protective, but I liked their presence. One thing that YA needs more of is present, caring parents, or at least a parent. There are too many dysfunctional families in YA, and while this one did have flaws, it was nice to read about parents that acknowledge their children's existence.

Early on in the story I posted a status update about how Paige was such a horrible friend, and that was true. However, even with her absence in the middle chunk, she realized her mistakes and came back to fix them. Her development was great, especially for a secondary character, and in the end I thought her friendship with Flora was wonderful. She was devoted to helping Flora, and like Jacob, encouraged Flora to live her life how she wanted.

I don't know how big Penzance, England really is, but in this story it felt to me like a sweet, smaller town. And Svalbard, similarly, had a lovely cozy vibe to it. It was a small, snowy town in the mountains and forest where polar bears lived, and I loved it. It felt so homey.

The last thing I'll say is that I like the recurring message in this book. Flora's mantra is "be brave," and it's written on her arm throughout the entire story. She manages to do exactly that, and to me that was a way of saying anyone can do anything, no matter what sort of obstacles they face. I mean, a girl with amnesia planned and went through with a trip from England to Norway entirely on her own, without telling anyone and using only her notebook as her guide. It might not have been logical, but it was really empowering and admirable.

So yes, this book had its faults, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It comes out May 2, and I definitely recommend giving it a try when it comes out.