Book Review: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (No Spoilers)

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Published September 23rd 2014 by Simon Pulse

Hardcover: 599 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads

Afterworlds follows a book within a book style, alternating every other chapter. The first story follows fresh out of high school Darcy, who recently signed with a literary agent and is awaiting the publication of her debut paranormal romance novel Afterworlds. The second book follows Lizzie, the protagonist of Darcy’s novel.

As a writer who someday hopes to publish my own books, of course this premise drew me in right away. The book followed Darcy through her publishing journey which was super interesting to read about. The structure of the novel was also partially what drew me in. I love when books have a unique timeline or setup.

And although I did really enjoy the book, I had three main issues with it.

First, the length.

Don’t get me wrong, usually I love big books. Most of the time, it’s the bigger the better. But for Afterworlds, it was essentially a 600 page contemporary novel, which felt really excessive. I flew through the first 100 pages or so, but as I reached the middle, I felt like the novel was dragging and running out of steam. It just didn’t feel like it needed to be that long.

The second issue I had was the book within the book—the one following Lizzie. I’m not sure if Westerfield intentionally tried to make this book sound like it was written by an 18-year-old girl or what, but I felt like these chapters were not as well-written as the rest of the book. In fact, I found some sections downright cheesy and it was all I could do not to roll my eyes. The romance was laughable and besides the gripping first chapter, I felt like the book lacked urgency and direction.

The third issue was the main character, Darcy. While I liked Darcy, I found myself frustrated with her more often than not. I know what Westerfeld was going for—an 18-year-old girl who makes mistakes and is trying to grow up—but that really doesn’t excuse the downright stupid things this girl does. She moves to New York city to write the sequel to her novel after getting her advance, and she has a clearly set out budget that will allow her to live in the city for two years.

She completely throws that budget out the window, buys the most expensive apartment she can find, blows her money on ridiculous spending sprees, and never even starts writing the second novel. Then, she proceeds to miss all of her deadlines—both for the book and for deferring college applications. I can forgive a few mistakes and lapses of judgement, but this girl just made stupid decision after stupid decision that made me want to crawl inside the pages and shake her by the shoulders.

Overall, however, I did enjoy the book. It was an interesting premise and despite dragging in the middle, I flew through this book pretty quickly. If you’re a patient reader, I think you’ll really enjoy this one, especially if you’re interested in the publishing industry.

Let me know if you’ve read Afterworlds or plan on picking it up!

 

Book Review: Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky (No Spoilers)

Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky

Published February 23rd 2016 by Point

Hardcover 320 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads

Kill the Boy Band follows four fangirl friends who stalk and accidentally kidnap their least favorite band member of their most favorite band.

The girls are obsessed with The Ruperts, the band that’s hilariously based off One Direction, and in an attempt to meet the band before a concert that they weren’t able to get tickets for, the girls book a room in the same hotel. From there everything just explodes into extreme chaos.

Guys, this book is funny. You have to go into it knowing this is complete satire and full of absolute ridiculousness. But it’s hysterical. The humor was very dark and odd, but I absolutely loved it.

I went into this book skeptical, wondering if it was going to be like all of those One Direction fan-fictions plastered across the internet, but rest assured, this is nothing like that.

Kill the Boy Band is self-aware and somehow manages to poke fun at fangirls while also defending them at the same time. And despite how ridiculous the majority of this book is, I think anyone who has ever been a fan of pretty much anything can relate to some parts of this book. And maybe that’s what I found so amusing. I was laughing at the book and at my past self.

Another thing I really appreciated about this book is the diversity with the weight and ethnicity of the characters. It’s feminist without being in your face, and laugh-out-loud funny at times.

Yes, the book is very silly and unrealistic, but if you take it for what it is, and go in just looking for a good time, I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Kill the Boy Band is Goldy Moldavsky’s debut novel, and I very much look forward to her future works.

Let me know if you’ve read Kill the Boy Band or if you plan on picking it up! (You totally should).

November 9 by Colleen Hoover Book Review (No Spoilers)

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Published November 10th 2015 by Atria Books

Paperback 310 pages

Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads

Over the past several years Colleen Hoover has become a breakout hit in the New Adult genre. She’s become known for her love stories with some kind of tragic element, and November 9 is no different.

But don’t let that deter you. Although this book does have some tragic moments, this book is funny. And I mean funny. Laugh-out-loud-and-try-to-cover-it-because-you’re-in-public funny.

I think this is one of those books that’s best read blind, meaning you should just pick it up and start reading without knowing anything about it, however, I’ll give you a quick idea of what it’s about.

November 9 follows the point of view of both sides of the love story as they meet once a year, every year, on November 9.

And that’s all I’m really going to tell you about the plot because trust me, you’re better off not knowing anything more than that.

I loved November 9—and this is coming from someone who isn’t a huge fan of the New Adult craze. I’ve found most of New Adult to just be love stories (usually with a very alpha-male type guy and passive female) with a lot of sex. But I find Colleen Hoover’s books to be different. Her books have so much more going on in them than just the romance. Her characters are so well developed, and you really dive into their lives and families outside of the romance, which I find really refreshing. And one of my favorite aspects of November 9 was how self-aware it was. I found myself laughing along with the characters as they poked fun at the various tropes seen in New Adult books.

Also, the romance wasn’t cringe-worthy. Dare I say it may have even been a little swoon-worthy if you’re into that kind of thing.

I love how the romance doesn’t just focus on love conquers all or we’ll do anything to be together. It focuses on what it means to be in a healthy relationship and how important it is to love yourself and know who you are before you make that commitment to another person. I found it realistic, smart, and overall just very enjoyable.

This is definitely a fast read. I finished it in less than 24 hours.

If you’re looking for a quick, fun, addictive read, this one’s for you.

Let me know if you’ve read November 9 or if you plan on picking it up!

Anna Dressed in Blood Book Review (No Spoilers)

Anna Dressed in Blood By Kendare Blake

Published October 17th 2011 by Tor Teen

Hardcover 320 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads

Just your average boy-meets-girl, boy-must-kill-girl, boy-actually-likes-girl, oh and girl-is-a-ghost story.

Anna Dressed in Blood follows Cas, bad-ass ghost hunter, who sets out to kill Anna, a murderous ghost more dangerous than any he’s ever seen. Things get complicated, however, when Cas realizes that maybe all of the killings aren’t Anna’s fault,  and there might be something greater at play.

I’ve wanted to read Anna Dressed in Blood for years. Literally years. And yet, for years it’s just been sitting on my shelves.

Why, you ask? I couldn’t tell you.

But finally I decided to pick it up and I’m so glad that I did.

I’m not going to lie, it took me awhile to get into the book. It’s not that the opening chapters aren’t interesting. In fact, they’re super engaging and well-written and raise a lot of questions. I guess it just took me awhile to feel any sort of connection to the characters. And whether that has to do with the book itself or just the mood I was in while reading it is anybody’s guess.

But overall, I really enjoyed the book. The humor, the romance, the violence, the twists. Yeah, all good.

But if one thing surprised me, it was the violence.

And I know what you’re thinking. “Katie. The book’s title is Anna Dressed in Blood” for crying out loud. Of course it was violent!”

But you have no idea. This book was dark and gritty and just flat-out brutal. But in the best possible way. (Needless to say, if you don’t like super graphic descriptions and lots of blood in your stories, this one might not be for you. But if that stuff doesn’t bother you, by all means, jump on in!)

Another really pleasant surprise was how involved Cas’s mom was in the story. Usually YA parents are kind of cast off into no-man’s-land for the purposes of plot, but having Cas’s mom as an equally important main character was really refreshing.

The romance was probably my least favorite part. It wasn’t super well developed and I felt like it was just thrown in there because it’s hard not to have romance in a YA novel now-a-days. It wasn’t bad, but the book could have been perfectly fine without it.

The romance aside, I would definitely recommend this book. It’s a super-fast read with lots of action, laughs, and excitement. Overall, I’d give Anna Dressed in Blood 4 stars, and highly recommend for fans of horror or anything dark and creepy. The book definitely isn’t scary, but it’s very atmospheric and dark.

Let me know if you’ve read Anna Dressed in Blood or if you plan on picking it up!

June Wrap Up!

Since June was such a good reading month for me, I thought I’d do something a little different today and tell you what I read and whether each book is a ‘MUST READ’ ‘GOOD’ ‘EH’ or ‘PASS’. Let’s get straight into the books, shall we?

1. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare – This is the last book in the series, so that alone makes it a MUST READ for me. But it is also now my new favorite book in the series if that tells you anything.
2. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – I’m not a huge fan of the contemporary genre to begin with, so I may not be the best person to ask. This book was just GOOD for me. It was cute and fun, but not spectacular.
3. Split Second by Kasie West – This is the sequel to Pivot Point (which I loved). This was GOOD and worth reading if you liked the first one.
4. On Writing by Stephen King – This book is part memoir part writing craft and was overall okay for me. Somewhere in between GOOD and EH. There wasn’t anything groundbreaking in the book, but I did enjoy reading it and marked a few pages with sticky notes.
5. Rebel by Amy Tintera – This is the (only) sequel to Reboot, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Even more than the first book, I think. MUST READ.
6. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab – This is the sequel to The Archived and is absolutely, positively a MUST. READ.
7. Left Drowning by Jessica Park – Not my cup of tea. PASS.
8. Altered by Jennifer Rush – This is a solid GOOD but nowhere near a must read. Entertaining, but nothing special. I probably won’t read the second book anytime soon.
9. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout – Oh my gosh this book. Definitely a fast, light read. Lots of fun and it’s a MUST READ for me just because of how much it made me laugh.
10. Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres – I listened to the audiobook version, and would recommend doing the same if you’re considering picking it up. I don’t imagine it would be as enjoyable otherwise. It was entertaining enough, but honestly, it’s just a really good EH for me.
11. Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout – (Sequel to Obsidian, see above) These books are like crack cocaine. MUST READ.
12. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – So. Good. I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would. MUST READ.
13. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins – Do not be fooled by the cover. This is not just a girl book. I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh as much as this one did. MUST READ. MUST READ. MUST READ.

So those are the books I read in June. Let me know what books you read last month and if you’ve read any of these. And happy July reading! 🙂

Book Review: World After by Susan Ee

Published: November 19^th 2013 by Skyscape

Pages: 314

Book 2 in the Penryn and the End of Days series

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads: World After

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what’s left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn’s sister Paige, thinking she’s a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels’ secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can’t rejoin the angels, can’t take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

“It is painful to see that people prefer a bad guy who looks like an angel to a good guy who looks like a demon.”

WARNING: This review may contain extreme amounts of fangirling and or raving.

Have I mentioned how much I love this series?

World After picks up right where Angelfall left off, and there is no easing into this story. World After hits the ground running, and you’re immediately immersed into this world. I picked this book up late the other night, planning to read a few chapters before I went to sleep.

*2 ½ hours later*

I. Can’t. Put. The. Book. Down.

I love Susan Ee’s writing style. It’s vivid and fast paced and I was never bored. Every chapter, every page, every sentence had me dying to know what happens next. And since the majority of the chapters are short, even though I had been reading for hours, I just kept thinking: “Well, the next chapter’s only three pages. I’ll just read one more chapter.” “Well, the next chapter is only four pages. I can read one more chapter.” “Well the next chapter is only two pages. I can’t stop reading now.”

I was completely satisfied with this sequel. It was action-packed, well paced, clever, answered previously posed questions, and it was funny. At one point, I was honestly sitting in a corner, reading, cackling to myself because the scene was so funny.

Before picking up this book, I was concerned it would be entirely focused on the romance between Penryn and Raffe—to my surprise, that was barely in the story at all! Sure, it was mentioned and acted as the backbone, but World After really fleshed out the world, gave insight into the Angel’s plans, and had such a larger scope than just a forbidden romance (thank god).

I still love Penryn as the heroine. She’s strong and brave but realistic because she’s not invincible, and she isn’t perfect. She tries her best, but more often than not, she gets caught and then has to figure another way out. This book really fleshed out the relationships between the other characters, and I enjoyed getting to know previously introduced faces more, and meeting new ones.

I will definitely be picking up the third installment (which does not have an expected release date yet).

World After is available as an ebook or paperback.

Have you read Angelfall or World After? If not, do you think you’ll give it a shot? Share your thoughts in the comments; I’d love to know what you think!

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Book Review

Title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke

Published: August 15th 2013 by Dial

Page Count: 360

Rating: 4 stars

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard.

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery… who makes you want to kiss back.

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

This book sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed the first third of the book. The setting was fresh, the characters were interesting, the mystery was alluring, and the plot screamed potential. I loved Violet as a character. I loved the relationship she had with her grandmother and the complications with her parents and I hated her brother right along with her. I loved that for a gothic paranormal romance, this book was extremely unique. I was dying to know what was really happening, and so relieved that it had nothing to do with vampires or werewolves or zombies or demons. It was completely and utterly new.

Then the second third came along and I hated everything. The characters were getting on my nerves, the plot did a complete 180 degree turn, and suddenly I had no idea what was going on anymore.

Then we get to final pages of the book and Tucholke ties everything in a messy, bloody bow and its wonderful and creepy and disturbing and heart pounding but at least it all makes sense now. And as frustrated as I was the 100 pages before this, I loved the ending so much that it made me forget about all that and love the book as a whole. It made sense and I was able to forgive the characters of their insufferable stupidity.

I loved the mystery surrounding River. It was unexpected and different from anything I’ve ever read, and the uniqueness was so refreshing. This book wasn’t predictable or clichéd, and a nice change in the ho-hum YA chain of books that have been published in the past few years.

Another plus was the secondary characters. They were wonderfully well rounded and interesting. From the kids hunting the devil in the graveyard to the town drunk to the woman who worked at the coffee shop, they were all fun to read. They added more to the story and painted a vivid picture of what life was like to make Violet and her twin who they were.

Along with that, I loved the setting. Maybe I just don’t read enough gothic fiction, but I adored the town Echo; I would never live there, mind you, but it was an interesting and fun setting for this story. This was a great read to get me in the mood for Halloween.

I will definitely be picking up the sequel Between the Spark and the Burn when it comes out August 14, 2014, and suggest you hop on the bandwagon as well ;).

Let me know if you’ve read Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea or if you think you’ll give it a shot.

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Book Review: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: 4 1/2 Stars.

Born into a family of slaves, Frederick Douglass educated himself through sheer determination. His unconquered will to triumph over his circumstances makes his one of America’s best and most unlikely success stories. Douglass’ own account of his journey from slave to one of America’s great statesmen, writers, and orators is as fascinating as it is inspiring.

The book follows Douglass from his early years as a slave child, raised away from the brutality and ugly politics of Southern slavery, to his own encounters with sadistic masters, and his eventual escape to freedom. Although I was well aware of this facet of history, (I can’t count how many times I learned about the Civil War and Abolition in my high school history classes) this was still as horrifying and eye-opening as if I were completely ignorant to that time in America’s history. As disturbing and downright depressing as Douglass’ situation is at times, I still found myself empowered. Douglass exhibits such courage and intelligence despite his situation. It really makes you look at your own life and the things we take for granted.

One of the best aspects of this book, in my opinion, is that he wrote it himself. Despite the original controversy surrounding its publication back in 1845, today there is no doubt that Douglass not only taught himself to read and write in secret after his master forbid it, but he managed to write an extremely well-written book.

It’s fair to say this book kind of changed my life.

Have you read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass? Let me know what you thought or if you think you’ll pick this one up.

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Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

Parallel by Lauren Miller: 3 ½ stars

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby’s senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby’s never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn’t choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that’s finally within reach.

I went into Parallel thinking there would be high supernatural elements, the main focus on Parallel Abby and how that worked. Though we do get some great scenes with Dr. Mann explaining cosmic entanglement and the concept of shared reality (which turned out to be extremely interesting. Honestly, I’m glad I read the book just to learn more about this.) But after that, the book turns into a very high school esque cliché.

I understand the romance is supposed to be sweet and the reader is supposed to feel sympathetic for Abby’s confusion and panic over her life constantly flip-flopping so randomly, but I wasn’t impressed with the execution of such an interesting story.

The beginning was interesting enough to keep me hooked, but around page 80 I started slogging, reading a few pages, and setting the book down for days at a time. After you hit the half-point, the pace picks up and it’s interesting until the end, but those hundred pages or so before that were pretty difficult to get through.

I did like Abby as our narrator. I think she was reasonably smart, interesting, and relatable. She wasn’t nearly as frustrating as many YA protagonists I’ve come across lately. The secondary characters are also entertaining, though Miller sort of side steps them so she can focus on Abby’s relationships in both the real world and the parallel one.

The book was extremely interesting, and the ending was satisfying. If you’re a patient reader, definitely give this one a try.

Parallel is available in hardcover, ebook, and paperback (UK only for paperback). Parallel is Lauren Miller’s debut novel, a standalone, and was published June 6^th 2013 by Scholastic.

If you’ve read Parallel, share your thoughts in the comments, or let me know if you’re thinking about picking it up!

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