A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

TL;DR Twilight, but with kidnapping

not on TBR

finished 11/14/16

I downloaded the 2015 extended edition via Prime Reading.

I borrowed this book on a whim because it was free for me. It was easy enough to power through in about a day (even if it was too awkward to try and read in class). The narration is agreeable, but the structure of a lot of the sentences felt awkward. I've googled a whole bunch of grammar terms to define it (to no avail) so I'll share an example instead:

Hoping to relieve some of the tension, I reached for a tissue and stood up. Cautiously, I placed a hand on his broad shoulder. He looked up at me and took the tissue, wiping his mouth. There was a small area that he missed, so I pulled out another tissue. (page 196 / 70%)

It feels kind of ... clunky? I think a lot of the sentences could be rearranged to get rid of the commas, like "I cautiously placed a hand on his broad shoulder". This particular example feels boring in how it outlines what's going on. I don't think there needed to be this much detail to cleaning blood off Derek's mouth.

(Ironically, I'm pretty sure this is the same kind of sentence structure I use the most ...)

Sofia was a little uninteresting as a main character, but at least she had some bravery to her. She adapted to her situation better than I expected. (Stockholm Syndrome, maybe?) The vampires were also uninteresting, and I'm not sure if they're really supposed to be the villains of the story. They're definitely not as evil as I was expecting based on the Amazon blurb.

(Maybe my expectations were just wrong overall?)

There's very little action and a lot of just sitting around. Like, at least Sofia is smart enough to not risk an escape she knows won't get her anywhere, but a good part of the book is her sitting around the treehouse and hanging out with the other girls that were kidnapped. It's not very dynamic.

I do feel the need to point out that there was a murder that was probably just for the shock factor (which was ineffective, since I wasn't attached to the character) and a reveal towards the end that wasn't as shocking as it probably should have been. I was wondering more about the implications of the reveal outside the realm of the story than how it necessarily related to Sofia's immediate story.

The setup for a love triangle is also awful and I hope it doesn't actually happen. I don't particularly like either of the boys, or the third boy that's only a stakes to the plot than an option. He's only there to scare Sofia and cause drama with Derek.

Amazon recommended me a bunch of similar books and I decided to look it up on Goodreads -- there are thirty-four books in this series. The first seven are of Sofia and Derek. That's a little too many. Like, they're not that long, but I have no idea how you can find seven books' worth of drama to include, let alone extending this world and lore across thirty-four more books.

Although I will admit that I'll probably read more if I can get my hands on them for free. Just out of curiosity. I really do want to see how such a long series is attempted.

I'm going to admit that I haven't made a successful re-read of Twilight since I finished it the first time back in 2009, but it's impossible to deny that they have the same kind of vibe. Derek has the same "silent brooding type that the heroine somehow finds endearing" thing going on, and for as brave as Sofia is, I don't think she's much smarter than Bella. The remainder of the vampires in A Shade of Vampire are exactly like the Twilight ones to me. I will admit that I enjoyed A Shade of Vampire more. (But I also hated Twilight, so the validity of my statement is a toss-up.)

TL;DR It was easier to read through than Twilight, and the characters do have some of their own traits, but it's also pretty standard for a post-Twilight vampire book. I don't think there's much to stand out from all the others except for how freaking massive this series is.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

TL;DR high fantasy assassin girl

TBR #223, added Mar 1, 2013

library ebook hold placed 8/16/16; #59 in queue; received 10/3, #3

finished 10/17/16

I decided to give Throne of Glass a chance since I've enjoyed the ACOTAR series so far. I put it off since high fantasy doesn't seem to be my thing, but since I liked ACOTAR, I figured it didn't hurt to at least attempt reading it.

Throne of Glass definitely isn't something I'd normally read. I wouldn't have made it all the way through without having first read ACOTAR and ACOMAF and having the faith in Maas that she would make it worthwhile.

I do think it was a worthwhile read, but I don't know at what speed I'm going to get through this series. I'm willing to continue on with it but I'm much more invested in ACOTAR at this point ... I think just because of the fairy tale-ness of it. ToG has its own strengths and is nicely different (rather than having the same aesthetic). The main character was more than I expected -- I haven't had much success with similar high fantasy books before, I guess -- and I liked the prince, too. And his guard guy. I can't remember any of their names :( I'm hoping to see more of the girl's past as the series progresses.

Wow, I really don't have much to say OTL. I didn't retain all that much about my read. School has been kind of killing me lately, and I've been doing NaNo, so I've deleted a lot of info out of my head ... I really need it to be winter break already.

TL;DR it was worth the time (and the wait) but I'm more biased towards ACOTAR. I'll give the second book a try but I don't know when I'll get around to getting my hands on it.

Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol

TL;DR orphan turns out to be important alien

TBR #1373, added Aug 2, 2015

finished 11/13/16

I distinctly remember reading Cuddlebuggery's review of Under Different Stars when they first published it. However, I was at a family function recently and discovered Prime Reading, and Under Different Stars was one of the books I could get for free. (Once I got home I discovered it was on my TBR already, anyway, since I rarely ever delete books off of it.)

I was actually surprised by the fact I was willing to sit down and read the entire book. I was more than willing to give it a chance -- curiosity stemming from Steph Sinclair's review more than anything -- but as I got further and further in I realized I wasn't going to DNF it.

That's not to say that the book was necessarily great. The characters kept changing their stances on things and the drama of the second half of the book felt drawn out for the sake of suspense. And the romance wasn't good no matter how you looked at it, from Kricket's choices in men to their opinions of her to the age differences between all of them.

Kricket herself, aside from the romance stuff, wasn't too bad as a main character. She kept her chin up and did everything she could to survive in the situations she was thrown into. And I think she was doing pretty well until all the romance was thrown into the mix and made her decision-making take a nosedive.

The world was interesting enough to become the main reason I kept reading, but it wasn't anything that stood out from the rest of similar YA books. I was curious about some of the logistics of their world, specifically how their societies worked in relation to their geography. (I'm a nerd.) The whole patriarchal sexism present in apparently all of their cultures was a pretty big drawback to all of that.

I will admit that I'm willing to continue with the series if I can find the other books for free, solely from curiosity I still have. Reviews of the other two books on Goodreads aren't convincing me that I would want to pay for them, unfortunately.

TL;DR I ended up liking this more than I expected, but it's still got some flaws to it.

CWs: implied / mentions of abuse, sexual harassment, injuries / death. The abuse and sexual harassment seem to be a trend in the series overall, not just this book. I'd be careful on who I would recommend this to.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

TL;DR The Selection aesthetic but with actual stakes

TBR #934, added Sept 2, 2014

library ebook hold placed on 8/17/16; #60 in queue; received 10/8/16, #4

finished 10/12/16

Yet another review I waited a month to write.

I downloaded a sample of Red Queen from Google Play at some point, and it was interesting enough that I was willing to let it take up one of my ebook request spots for two months. (I can only place holds on six ebooks at a time.)

I think Red Queen was such a good read for me because Mare didn't dig in her heels and make stupid decisions at every move. She realized the position she was in, and more often than not she played the part that the Silvers were forcing her to. She didn't do stupid rebellions like America did in The Selection.

Red Queen definitely had a similar aesthetic to The Selection, but the setup of the world was more interesting. Probably because the Silvers had powers. That's always a plus to the story in my mind. I also got the sense that their world was supposed to be set in a version of ours, so far after a dystopian event that it was obviously nowhere near being anything American anymore.

(Note: there's a map in the cover of King's Cage, book 3 of the series. I saw it on the publisher's twitter. I don't know if it's necessarily a spoiler to the second book.)

Honestly, if nothing else, I want more people to read Red Queen so I can discuss the ending of the book. Holy cow. I think there was one point where I picked up on foreshadowing, but I actually dismissed it. The ending surprised me so much and it was so good. Red Queen was definitely an improvement on The Selection aesthetic in that the stakes were actually legitimate, and not empty threats to create drama. Stuff actually happens.

TL;DR I enjoyed this a lot and I'm definitely going to continue with the series, hopefully sooner than later.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

TL;DR libraries are actually evil

TBR #1100, added Nov 4, 2014

library hold placed 10/1/16, #18 in queue; received 10/10/16, #13

finished 10/20/16

I was completely amazed by Ink and Bone. Like, jaw-dropping amazed. This was such a good read for me.

I think what sold it the most for me was the characters -- it was so easy to sympathize and connect with them. I ended up rooting for them so much, even for the ones I initially thought I wouldn't like. All of the characters had many facets and it was so easy to feel for them.

The world was interesting, definitely in concept, and also in how it diverges from our world. Obviously the Great Library's restrictions altered how their history conspired compared to ours -- and yet they still had a lot of technological innovations. I mean, I guess it's possible that all of them came from librarians (capital Librarians?). There were some times that I doubted they really would've had innovations like steampunk bullet trains and yet not planes. Maybe there was a purpose in that. I know very little about steampunk, so I don't think I could've identified any influences or aesthetics of it if they were present.

The plot felt very high-stakes, and yet not overdone. I felt that the danger was totally believable, based on how their world had been set up through the narration, and it did keep me intrigued and coming back to read more.

I probably had more to say, but yet again I didn't write my review fast enough to remember those points. Sorry. One day I'm gonna get better at this.

TL;DR I really enjoyed this and I'm definitely going to continue with the series.

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau [DNF review]

TL;DR Generic Dystopian YA Book

TBR #326, added Apr 7, 2013

library ebook hold placed 9/25, #2 in queue; received 9/28 #1

I'm going to admit, after the first few pages I was expecting to DNF this.

The narration at the beginning is just so dull. It's like The Hunger Games or Twilight was for me; it wasn't interesting or compelling at all, and the lack of personality in the first-person narration was killing me.

Cia in general wasn't an interesting main character to me. It didn't feel like she had any real personality -- like the seemingly-utopian setup of her world had just leeched that out of her. Or never let it develop in the first place. At the point that I stopped reading, she still was too bland for me to care about. The rest of the characters all felt the same way.

I made it through at least the first cull in the Tests before I stopped reading. I procrastinated so much on reading The Testing because of the dull narration, and it got to the point where my claim to the library book was about to expire. I decided to let it expire and focus on other books instead of force myself to get further in.

There was no explanation or even any hint to why the testing was so brutal to the kids or so exclusive. At least The Hunger Games used the concept of the Games as a means of complacency. It's hard for me to believe that their world would restrict higher education so much when they obviously need people good with STEM to recover from whatever ecological disaster they had. The disaster is never explained, either, or why people are split up into colonies that are awfully like the districts of Panem.

I initially marked this as 'maybe later' on Goodreads when my copy expired, but in writing this review, I realized I have no interest in finishing this book or the rest of the series. (The Goodreads descriptions of the following books don't sound like they'd be worth the hassle.)

TL;DR The first 20% or so of the book felt like a generic version of The Hunger Games trend and didn't have anything spectacularly unique about it that made it worth reading.

Paper Towns by John Green

TL;DR Quentin gives up the last two weeks of high school for Margo

TBR #1782, added Sept 17, 2016

library ebook hold placed 10/15, #2 in queue; received 10/17

finished 10/28/16

This is going to be a short review for right now! I've been too busy to sit down and write my reviews recently. Hopefully I can improve this post once I get home tonight!

~

I read this specifically so I could make a map of it lol. My cartography class had a "literary map" project, and I couldn't think of any books I owned that I wanted to do, so I checked out a Paper Towns ebook.

I didn't connect with any of the characters, and Quentin got on my nerves from how much he focused on Margo. I didn't like Margo as a love interest and the focus of the remainder of the book, but I can appreciate her own motivations outside of Quentin.

The book had a lot less action outside of the one night of shenanigans, but there was some nice character reflection and growth.

All in all I don't regret reading it, but it definitely wasn't as hypable as pop culture made it seem. So far I haven't absolutely loved John Green's writing--but I can understand why some people enjoy it.

NaNo Progress: Days 1 - 8

I have four book reviews I still need to write and post ... but have this post instead.

I did actually try to write the reviews, but I wasn't making any headway on them. I'm writing this post the night of the 8th, and the election results are really stressing me out. (But really, who aren't they stressing?) I did manage to channel this anxiety into my most productive daily word count so far this NaNo. 2,788 words! I specifically wanted to beat the 2.7k I had on the 8th last year.

So far I've been doing well at beating the daily average NaNo tells me I have. I've been lucky enough to exceed 1,667 words every day, and on the 7th I even reached that goal in under an hour. I'm doing my very best to pad my word counts in case my month starts going downhill.

Luckily, I've got most of my school deadlines out of the way for right now, so I'm feeling pretty confident so far. My only worry is my outline -- while I did make one this year, and put a lot more detail in than normal, I'm going through it faster than I expected. I'm worried that I'll get to the middle of the month and have no more ideas because I've written everything I had in my outline.

Of course, last year was completely BSing any direction I had, so I'm not too worried about what will happen if I do reach the end of my outline before I expected. I can also always go through and make sure I fill in scenes that I skipped. I was doing really well at writing chronologically the first couple of days, but I'm starting to skip around again.

At this point I'm confident that I can put together at least the first few chapters and have something that can be read by someone that's not me. My ultimate goal for NaNo is to get the entire book that way, but I'm happy that I made at least a start on that.

I've been posting daily screenshots of my writing on twitter. I might compile them at the end of the month in my review blog post (or at least the ones I like the most). I'll probably make another update post in about a week since I've hit a blogging lull recently ...

Firstlife by Gena Showalter [DNF review]

TL;DR mary sue-like MC and nothing else interesting

TBR #1699, added Jul 1, 2016

library ebook hold placed 9/28/16, #47 in queue; received 10/1, #46

DNFed 10/15/16, ~20%

This is the first book that I've specifically DNFed in a while, and I figured I had enough to warrant thoughts to warrant giving Firstlife its own blog post. This is still going to be pretty short since I didn't make it too too far into the story.

The main character wasn't interesting or compelling. She kind of annoyed me from the very beginning, which was not a good sign whatsoever. The introduction at the beginning - before the story even started - introduced the two agents in a way that removed any kind of subtlety they were probably supposed to have. The agents' roles in the story were heavy-handed and pretty obnoxious to read.

The only other saving grace would've been the setting and worldbuilding, which we completely missed out on, because she's in prison. All we get is descriptions of their universe through narrations and flashback, which wasn't nearly enough for what I was hoping for. The concept was unique enough that I was willing to try it out - despite the possibility of cliches - and I was really disappointed.

All in all, almost nothing happened up through the 20% mark, and I decided I would rather check out my reserved books that were then available than try to suffer through Firstlife. 

TL;DR I didn't like the main characters and we had very little plot or setting / worldbuilding up until the point I quit reading.

I would love to have a second opinion on this book, whether you actually did enjoy it or just made it further than I did. I highly doubt I'm going to give Firstlife a second try but I would like to discuss it more if I had the chance.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

TL;DR Sydney finds her own shadow to cast

TBR #1211, added May 1, 2015

library hold placed 9/18/16, #10; received 10/1, #8

finished 10/11/16

I've had such a long streak of fantasy books that I definitely needed Saint Anything. The last contemporary book I'd read before it was All the Feels back at the end of July. Which is actually a pretty solid streak for me, to go for so long without getting anything relatively fluffy to lighten things up.

And I was a little scared going into it, because with my past experience of Sarah Dessen books (and ones like hers), they're never quite as fluffy as I want. There's always something that goes wrong and gives the books a somber tone -- which isn't bad, theoretically, but it tends to be predictable and definitely keeps the book from being truly fluffy.

I was actually wrong about Saint Anything in that regard. I was waiting so much for everything to come crashing down, and it never really did. There were roadblocks and setbacks but they were never earth-shattering; they felt normal. They felt like everyday things and not "my world is ending". It was nice and just what I wanted out of the story.

I liked the characters and their growth over the story, and I think it was realistic that they didn't really change all that much. It wasn't a very long period of time but we got to see the changes in Sydney's family and her own branching out into her own identity. She ends up with such a good group of friends and they're not always in agreement with each other. They fight and try to head in opposite directions sometimes and that felt lifelike to me.

The subplot regarding Ames wasn't resolved as well as I was hoping but I think it's also fairly realistic in how it just dropped off -- both because it would drag the plot out longer and because, unfortunately, those kinds of subplots in real life tend to get swept under the rug. Which is very disappointing. But, because it wasn't quite the main plot of the book, I'm willing to let it be left unresolved for the most part.

TL;DR I think the ending in general was a little lackluster, but overall I really enjoyed reading Saint Anything and I'm glad that Sydney had an overall happy ending. I think I'm most likely to recommend this one out of all the Sarah Dessen books I've read. (Which, to be honest, I think it's been a while since the last one I read.)