Book Review: Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: January 17, 2012
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Format: eARC
Pages: 287
Source: Netgalley

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.

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I was not as enchanted by this book as I hoped to be. I hate to say it, but this book was far from spectacular.

There were a lot of parts where the book felt rushed. At first I thought that the author just wasn't including much detail in the story, but as I read on I realized that there was details that, as a reader, I really didn't care about. I think they were used to "set the mood", though it felt sort of like the author was just saying, "This happened, then this, and then that," and then describing what the clouds looked like and the precise color of the grass. But sometimes when something important happened, it would be wrapped up in a sentence and I'd have to go back and re-read the sentence just to realize what happened.

As a book about the Fae, I expected this to have a very vivid, very unique world that sucks me in and sweeps me away. The was not the case, unfortunately. I just couldn't see it all, couldn't picture it all. The world building got kind of confusing for me at times, and there was not enough depth for my liking, especially considering this is a standalone novel.

The characters were all right. I didn't really get to know them much. I understood their personalities, but they felt flat. The same goes for the romances. There was one case of extreme instaluv.And I mean extreme. She was ready to say "I love you" before she even learned his name. The other relationship was slower and slightly more believable, but I still didn't feel it. They didn't know anything about one another, really. They hardly even spoke. Thank the frackin heavens, though, there was no love triangle. I would have loved more of Devin, though. He was funny and nerdy, which, ya know, is awesomesauce. And Isadora. I loved her! She was fierce and sassy and only about 2 inches tall.

I didn't see the point in the alternating perspectives. Jo's part seemed all together unnecessary. I have a feeling I would have connected to this book much easier and even enjoyed it a lot more if we would have just stayed in Eloise's mind.

Obviously, I wasn't particularly impressed with this book, but it was definitely a quick read that was really fast-paced. The pacing was definitely what made this book so easy to read. Because even though I didn't exactly understand what was going on at times, it was still interesting and engaging, and fly-throughable. It was also very light. It's good if you are looking for a quick read that leaves you with no attachments to the characters or the world. I'd suggest it if you need something simple for a school assignment or for traveling. I'd say this is a book to get from the library.

Cover Gush!

Clicking on the titles will lead you to the book's Goodreads page :)

Gravity by Melissa West
Expected publication: October 2012
Entangled Publishing

I absolutely, 100% adore this cover. I think that the blue is a stunning color and it's so refreshing to see a cover without a gorgeous model on it. This is simple and clear and just beautiful!

Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Expected publication: October 2, 2012

Simon Pulse

I'm not sure what I think of this cover. At first I thought it was a little fairy laying on a leaf, but then I realized it...wasn't. I'm still not sure, though. When I see it, I see a girl that got dumped and is having trouble coping. I know that's not what the book is about, but that's just what it feels like to me.

Hidden by Sophie Jordan

Expected publication: September 11, 2012

HarperTEEN

I'm not sure how I feel about this cover, either. The first two in the series had a more elegant feel to them and this seems a little more fierce to me. And kind of bland. I feel like anybody could have photoshopped this.

Quicksilver by R.J. Anderson

Expected publication: 2013

Orchard Books

For some reason, I love this cover! It seems mysterious. But I don't like that we can't see the girl's face. I'm not sure what's really going on up there. Is her hair covering it? It kind of looks to me like her head is on backwards, but I highly doubt that. Besides that, though, I love the eerie color scheme and the simple swish of the "K" in the title.

Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

Expected publication: September 4, 2012

Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

I LOVE THIS. It looks so epic. Nuff said.

Revived by Cat Patrick

Expected Publication: May 8, 2012

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I like this cover. I love the bright color scheme and the girl's eye is gorgeous. I feel like she is looking at me. It's great.

What do you think of these covers?

Transcend Time Title Hunt!

*Initiate fanfare*

I am so happy to be part of the title hunt for the third novel in Michelle Madow's popular Transcend Time Saga!

Welcome to the Transcend Time Saga Title Hunt! The title hunt is the reveal of the title for the final novel in the Transcend Time Saga. Each of the bloggers participating in the hunt have been given a letter. Hop around to the blogs participating to hunt for the letters. (And remember that two of the letters are used twice, so the title is eight letters long.) 

Once you've unscrambled the title, go to Michelle Madow's blog and use the title name to enter the giveaway for a voucher for an advanced e-copy of the final Transcend Time novel! (She is giving away a voucher because the novel is planned to be released at the end of the year, and she hasn't finished writing it yet! This voucher will ensure that you will receive an advance e-copy once they are available).

You can now buy an e-copy of Remembrance for only 99 cents! But you better hurry, because this awesome offer only lasts until Michelle's USA tour ends in April.

MY LETTER: I

I really enjoyed the first book, Remembrance, but I have not actualhad the opportunity to read Vengeance yet, though I hope to buy it soon! So, I have no idea what I hope to happen in the third installment. But I do hope everyone gets their happy endings :)

Quote Impressions

Quote Impressions is a feature where I highlight different quotes from different books that resonated with me and made a huge impression. The kind of quotes that made me pause in my reading and go, "Wow!" Now, without further ado...the quotes:

“I'd rather die on my own terms than live on theirs. I'd rather die loving Alex than live without him.” - Delirium by Lauren Oliver

“Our nights were filled with passion and long soft gazes and sweet words. We weren't behaving ourselves, and we didn't for one moment feel guilty about that.” - Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble

“The only thing better than imagining Dimitri carrying me in his arms was imagining him shirtless while carrying me in his arms.” - Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

“I never once cheated on you. I never even looked at another girl when we were together.” - We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

I just started with quotes from some of my favorite books. Have you read any of these books? If you haven't, do these quotes make these books seem like something you would enjoy?

Book Review: Partials by Dan Wells

Series: Partials #1
Genre: YA Dystopian
Publication Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: HarperTEEN
Format: eARC
Pages: 340
Source: NetGalley


The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials--engineered organic beings identical to humans--has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.
 
Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them--connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.
 
Dan Wells, acclaimed author of "I Am Not a Serial Killer," takes readers on a pulsepounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question--one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival. (goodreads.com)

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That tagline is honestly what drew me to this book. I could just tell that this book was going to be full of tension, and then I read the summary and I was like, "Robots! Disease! Mandatory pregnancy!?" I knew I needed to read this book--and I was absolutely correct! Not only does it have the aforementioned epicness, but this book also includes guns, treachery, suspicion, and a crapton of explosions. You'd think with the drastic spike in dystopian books the concepts would just fall flat now, but if you enjoy dystopians, this is not a book to be missed.

I simultaneously loved and hated the plot. It was so messed up, yet so frackin interesting. There's this disease that prevents any baby from living longer than a few days, and the Senate thinks that the only way to eradicate this problem is to force women by law to get pregnant over and over again until a baby survives. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened for over a decade, and the Senate continues to lower the pregnancy age.

Kira, the protagonist, works in the maternity ward of the hospital and she watches multiple babies die each week. I felt so bad for her because I could tell that it killed her. She witnesses all these mothers, sometimes only a couple years older than her, losing their children and their hope, and in turn she begins to lose her hope--until she realizes that there is something she can do to turn this madness around. I loved that everyone wasn't all gung ho for her idea. It was reckless, dangerous, and stupid, and everyone told her that. They let her know that there have been scientists and medics studying this disease for a decades and that she was only 16. What I loved even more was that she didn' give a flying monkey's donk what they had to say. She was willing to die for her idea because obviously something needed to change, and just maybe great sacrifices have to e made for a great cause. I loved her unwavering dedication to the cause. She was willing to break laws, associate with the enemy, destroy her reputation, and even die, if that's what it came to.

The one thing that stopped me from being totally and one hundred percent wowed by this book was the biology- and medical-talk. I mean, she's trying to cure a disease. Obviously she's not just going to be like, "Oh! You mix thing1 with thing2 and then, viola! CURED." There's going to be a lot of thought and science and smartstuff that goes into finding a cure people have been searching for for over a decade. And you know, that's fine. I admire how much thought obviously went into all of it. It seemed as if Wells really knew what he was doing. But here's the thing guys: I barely passed biology. Throughout all of the science stuff, I got the gist of what was going on, but the majority of the time I was just like,

The world created in this book is creepy and sad and the best kind of horrible. I did, however, feel like there was something missing from the history. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I felt like maybe it needed more depth, because I wasn't completely convinced. The writing was great. And I loved the ending. Things were actually resolved and we weren't left with some infuriating cliff-hanger.

This book was fabulous, though, filled to the brim with intensity, gripping action, high stakes, and a tight time limit. Honestly, it might even make you look at your life differently and appreciate the world we live in. I'd say this is definitely geared more towards older YA and those that love science/biology/medicine. I cannot wait for the sequel.

It's Monday! What are you reading? (7)

This weekly meme is hosted by Book Journey.

FINISHED:

~ Patials by Dan Wells (Review coming soon)

Okay, I only read one book this week. I didn't even read a single word of Between, but that's okay.

TO READ THIS WEEK:

~ Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen (ebook)
~ Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey (ebook)

WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS WEEK?

Bookly gabbing: LGBT in literature

Bookly gabbing is just a feature here where I ramble about book-related subjects. And sometimes other-related subjects :)

LGBT in literature

Here's a confession: I'm straight. I know it's not exactly an earth shattering declaration, but it is a fact about me. That fact, however, doesn't define me. Just like the word "gay" or "lesbian" doesn't define a person who happens to like members of the same sex. Or books that happen to have LGBT factors in them. I'm not claiming to be an expert or anything. As far as I can remember I have only read 2 books with male/male romance, but you know what? I ADORED both of them. They were both 5 star books for me (HUSHED by Kelley York and DON'T LET ME GO by J.H. Trumble). I read DON'T LET ME GO first, and before delving in, I'll admit I was filled with trepidation. I wasn't, like, crossing myself and screaming, "OHMYGARSH THERE ARE BOYS KISSING!!!" It was more like I wasn't sure if I'd be able to connect to the characters or really feel the romance. But you know what? I did. I laughed with these characters and cried for them. I got lost in the romances and the stories. I devoured the gorgeous writing.

There's more to LGBT books than LGBT, and more people need to realize that.

A lot of people claim that LGBT in literature make them "uncomfortable." First of all, how does two males or females kissing make you uncomfortable? You know what makes me uncomfortable? Detailed descriptions of murder. Because murder is wrong and it's disgusting and it's horrible! But why would LGBT factors in a book make a person uncomfortable? It's not wrong, it's not disgusting, and it certainly is not horrible! You're not kissing a person of the same sex. Your simply reading about something that happens in the world. I've heard people say that they are not gay so they really don't enjoy reading about gay people.

You know what? I'm not a damn vampire. I don't talk to ghosts. I'm not on drugs. I'm not in love with a werewolf. But I still read about it. I don't want any of those things, but I still read about it. I mentioned earlier that I was uncertain if I would be able to relate to the characters and the best way I can think to sum this up is a quote from DON'T LET ME GO:

"The only difference between you and me is what makes our dicks hard."

I don't know if that is the exact quote but it is along those lines. Of course, I don't have a penis, but the point is that gay people are still people. They feel things, they deal with things, they love people, they have families and hobbies. Maybe they like to sing or write or read or play baseball or watch Spongebob. Maybe you don't even realize a person is gay unless they tell you and all of a sudden respect = lost. My point is that they are regular people and therefore just as easy to connect with as a straight main character.

I don't know if this makes sense to anyone besides me or if it was just incoherent rambling, but what I'm trying to say is nobody should immediately knock a book just because it has LGBT factors in it. A book consists of a plot, writing, characters, and so much more. The LGBT is only a part, and even if it plays a large role in a book, it is not everything.

These are just my thoughts. You don't need to agree. I don't care if you do or not. But if you leave your thoughts, I'll read them. Thanks for reading! :)