Book Review- Clockwork Angel

I just finished reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare for a Traveling ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.
 
I read The Mortal Instrument series a while ago and while I enjoyed them, I enjoyed this book more.  I'm not sure why.  I feel like the elements are all the same but for some reason I just got more into this book. 
 
All of the characters were exciting and interesting, especially Jem.  I have a soft little place in my heart for him.  And I want to know more about Will.  Why is he so moody and what happened to him when he was younger? 
 
And talk about a cliffhanger!  Man, do I want to read the next book in the series, NOW!
 
I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.

Clockwork Angel will be released on August 31, 2010
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 92
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 69
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 68
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Traveling ARC Tours.

Book Review- Birthmarked

Today on the plane I finished Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien for a Traveling ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.

Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.

Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, BIRTHMARKED explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.
 
This book's interest level came and went and then came back for me.  In the beginning, I was enthralled.  A teen who was a midwife who had to give up a certain number of children every month?  How intriguing!  Then in the middle-ish, I sort of got a little bit bored, but then towards the end I got very intersted again.
 
Gaia was a good character.  She was wholesome and seemed to stick to her morals.  And Leon had me guessing.  I am still wondering what part he is going to have Gaia's life.  The ending definitely left me hanging, and according to the author's blog, there is going to be a sequel, which I will be picking up because I want to know what happens next to Gaia, Maya, and Leon.
 
Overall, this was an interesting dystopian novel that has a new take on the way the world could be.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 87
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 65
2010 Debut Author Challenge: 26
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 64
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Traveling ARC Tours.

Book Review- Sleepless

I just finished reading Sleepless by Cyn Balog for a Traveling Arc Tour.

From Goodreads:

Eron De Marchelle isn't supposed to feel a connection. He is a Sandman, a supernatural being whose purpose is to seduce human charges to sleep. While he can communicate with his charges in their dreams, he isn't encouraged to--after all, getting too involved in one human's life would prevent him helping his other charges get their needed rest.

But he can't deny that he feels something for Julia. Julia, with her fiery red hair and her sad dreams. Just weeks ago, her boyfriend died in a car accident, and Eron can tell that she feels more alone than ever. Eron was human once too, many years ago, and he remembers how it felt to lose the one he loved. Eron has always felt protective of Julia . . . but now, when she seems to need him more than ever, he can't seem to reach her . . .

Sandmen are forbidden from communicating with humans outside their dreams. But will Eron be willing to risk everything for a chance to be with the person he loves?
 
The premise of this story is definitely new.  A Sandman?  I've definitely never read anything of the likes.  (And where is mine?  I always have a hard time falling asleep and wake up at least once an hour so my Sandman must not be doing his/her job :) )  Anyways, when I read what the story was about, I knew I had to read it.
 
The idea was good and the plot was well thought out, but I didn't really like the characters.  I definitely didn't like Griffin or Brett.  Sorry, but they just seemed like jerks to me.  Guys who laugh at anything, and Griffin and Julia never had serious conversations.  I dunno--just not very likeable guys.  And while I didn't dislike Julia, I didn't really care for her either, until the very end.  Then she seemed to get some of her own personality.  Eron was cute.  The way that he was so confused in the modern world was endearing.
 
 I liked how the story was told from alternating viewpoints between Julia and Eron.  And I liked the plot.  But I think the ending wrapped up a little too nicely and quickly.  I could easily have read more and would have liked there to be more at the end. 
 
Overall, a fun book on a new topic and I look forward to reading Cyn Balog's other book, Fairy Tale.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.
 
Sleepless will be released on July 13, 2010.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 78
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 58
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 56
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Traveling ARC Tours.

Book Review- Something Like Fate

I finished reading Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti for a Traveling ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Lani and Erin are bonded for life. One thing that connects them is their fascination of fate. Lani wonders how much of our lives has already been decided and how much we can actually influence. Since the Unknown can unexpectedly change our lives forever, how much can we really control?


From the minute Lani meets Jason, she can't deny the intense connection they share. It feels like she's known him forever. She's not sure if he feels it, too. But it doesn't matter. Because Jason is Erin's boyfriend. Lani is determined to ignore her feelings for Jason, no matter how powerful they are, rather than risk hurting her best friend.


How long can Lani keep running from the boy who might be her destiny?
 
This book was just okay for me.  I just thought the whole thing seemed a little immature and I didn't feel like there was a lot of depth to it, besides the character of Blake who was gay.  And he was my favorite character.  I know a lot of other readers loved Jason, but I don't feel that we really got that far into his personality and who he really was.  And while Erin seemed a little shallow, I don't blame her for being as mad as she was (not that I condone what she did) but I feel that Lani was wrong in how she behaved with Jason while Erin was at camp.

And for some reason, the way the characters spoke bothered me.  I'm sure its  just the way a teenager would speak, but I just didn't care for it. 

It was a quick read though, and I read it in one night.  I have a feeling that teenagers would appreciate this more than I did, so I'd say give it a shot.

I gave this book a rating of 3/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 66
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 48
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 47

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Traveling ARC Tours.

Book Review- Forgive My Fins

I just finished reading Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs for a Traveling ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.
 
This book is just absoultely adorable!  I loved everything about it!  No, the story premise is nothing new--it's basically just a teen love story.  But the details of that love story make it a fun and fascinating read.
 
The cover just immediately grabbed me.  It is absolutely beautiful!  The colors and the photograph just make it one of those books that you would pick up just by judging the color.
 
And the way the story is written is just so much fun.  The author has written in so many cute ocean puns and sea slang.  They would often make me giggle out loud.  And then the way that Thalassinia is described--it just sounds beautiful.  I could easily picture this world in my mind and it made me want to visit there!  (And I want beautiful fins and to have eyes that sparkle when I cry).
 
I flew through this book and before I knew it, I was at the end.  It's not the typical ending but it worked so well.  And the epilouge--talk about a cliff hanger!  There has got to be a sequel to this book (but I don't know for sure) and if there is, I want to read it now!

*ETA:  I talked with Tera Lynn Childs and there is a sequel coming out next summer called Fins Are Forever!
 
I gave this book a rating of 4.5/5.
 
Forgive My Fins will be released on June 1, 2010.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 54
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 40
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 38
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Traveling ARC Tours.

Book Review- Perchance to Dream

I finished reading Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev yesterday for a Traveling ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

The stuff that dreams are made on.

Act Two, Scene One

Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn’t know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world.

Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY

But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between—

Nate: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.

Ariel: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear.

When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Goddess, only Bertie can free him. She and her fairy sidekicks embark on a journey aboard the Thèâtre’s caravan, using Bertie’s word magic to guide them. Along the way, they collect a sneak-thief, who has in his possession something most valuable, and meet The Mysterious Stranger, Bertie’s father—and the creator of the scrimshaw medallion. Bertie’s dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it’s Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Goddess’s lair?

This was a neat sequel to Lisa Mantchev's first book, Eyes Like Stars.  I feel like this was slightly more of a love story and I enjoyed that.  The book is so creative.  The story and setting and action that this story brings into  your head is so full of imagination and fun.

My favorite characters from the first book, the fairies are back!  And they are just as funny.  I want my own little fairies to provide comic relief for me!

Perchance to Dream sets up the next book in the series nicely, and I can't wait to get to read it!

I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.

Perchance to Dream will be released on May 25, 2010

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 45
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 33
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 31

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Traveling ARC Tours.