The Summoning and The Awakening

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.  

Today I am reviewing another series, but this time I read the first book before the second book. This series is The Summoning and The Awakening, by Kelly Armstrong.

Book 1, The Summoning, introduces us to Chloe Saunders, a girl who quite suddenly begins to see ghosts. Of course she can't tell this to anyone because she's not exactly sure it's really happening. But when she attacks a teacher at school (not on purpose--she's trying to escape from a ghost), she's placed in a group home for troubled youth. The plan is to rehabilitate her and return her to society.

Or so she thinks. Turns out, the other kids in the group home have secret abilities too. Chloe realizes that not only is she really seeing ghosts, but she has the power to raise spirits back into their bodies. Along with this understanding comes the realization that she and the other teenagers are in deadly peril. Either they banish their powers, or they die.

This book is a real page turner. It had me riveted right to the end. And so I was thrilled when I was able to get book 2 from the library.

I give this book an A.

Book 2, The Awakening, follows Chloe and her friends as they make a run from the group home and those who are attempting to manipulate their powers. Kind of an in between book, it helps cement the characters' relationships and foreshadow the big reckoning that is likely to happen in book 3.

This book was just as dramatic and engaging as the first book. I am looking forward to the third, and this is a great addition to any collection.

I give this book an A.

A = Buy this book NOW
B = Buy this when you can
C = Check it out from the library
D = Don't bother reading it
F = Burn it

Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.   

Today's book is Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle.

This book is also a sequel, though I didn't know that when I checked it out. (I should pay more attention.) The first book is Bewitching Season, which I have not read. The sequel stood quite well on its own, giving me enough details to understand what had happened in the first one, but also leaving enough out to make me want to read the first one.

Set in the mid 1800s in Ireland, Betraying Season is full of historical references and interesting facts about courtship and propriety of the time. But it is also much more than that. It's about a young girl named Pen who is studying magic in the hopes of becoming a powerful (but good) witch. In the mean time, she meets a young man and falls madly in love with him--only to discover that his mother set them up so she could use Pen's power.

This book is extremely well written. It did include alternating POVs between Pen and Lover boy, and I think the book would have been more suspenseful if we hadn't had that inside look. There was one half of a chapter where I though our heroine acted incredibly stupidly, and I rolled my eyes and skipped several pages. But maybe that was just me. Overall, the book was romantic, suspenseful, and real. This is a good one for a teenage girl's shelf. Keep in mind that I haven't read the first one, but I assume it is just as good.

I give this book an A-.

A = Buy this book NOW
B = Buy this when you can
C = Check it out from the library
D = Don't bother reading it
F = Burn it

Fate by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.  

Today's book is Fate, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

This book is a sequel, but I didn't know it at the time I checked it out. I decided to read it anyway, and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it. The first book is called Tattoo, but Fate pretty much told me everything that happened in Tattoo, and thus I don't feel a need to read it. (That's the problem with reading the sequel first, I guess.)

As far as YA literature goes, it was refreshing and real. I could relate to the main character Bailey so much, everything from her skipping a shower to making fun of her small chest. Ha! Of course there was the element of magic and paranormalcy, which is all the rage right now and I'm on the bandwagon.

Without giving too much away, Bailey and her friends received magic powers a few years earlier when they put on washable tattoos. Bailey's powers have grown stronger, and now she is one of the Greek gods; one of the Fates, to be specific. Only the gods are having a problem with her being mortal and doing an immortal's job. In this book, they do everything short of kidnapping her to make her join them in immortality.

There is no swearing and no sex. What a shock! There is a sweet love interest. I thought the book wrapped up kind of fast, but it held my interest and I thought it very appropriate for a teenage girl. I enjoyed access to Bailey's inner thoughts, though sometimes I thought the author let them take over. Keep in mind that I haven't read Tattoo, but if you're still looking for Christmas presents, these books could be them. (As far as I know, there is not a third.)

I'm giving this book a B.

A = Buy this book NOW
B = Buy this when you can
C = Check it out from the library
D = Don't bother reading it
F = Burn it 

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library. 

Today's book is Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank.

By no means a new book, this is practically a classic. It came out in 1959, though I hadn't heard of it until someone recommended it to me a few weeks ago.

Granted, writing styles were different back then, and this one followed the normal style: The first few chapters were riddled with way too much back story for ever paragraph of dialogue. But finally the action started and the back story ended and the book was MOVING.

Quick plot summary: It's a 'what-if' sort of story. What if the Soviet Union had bombed us and we'd gone into a full out nuclear war? That's what happens. Most of the United States population is wiped out. The book is factually fascinating as it shows the break down of society, then how the survivors build it back up again.

Today we have lots of post-apocolyptal books out: Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Uglies, etc. So this book gave a great look into how exactly the world might come to an end.

If you're big into owning all the classics out there, you'll want to buy this book. I'm not, so I'm giving it a C.

A = Buy this book NOW
B = Buy this when you can
C = Check it out from the library
D = Don't bother reading it
F = Burn it 

Miracle Wimp by Erik P Kraft

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.

Today's book is Miracle Wimp by Erik P. Kraft.

Take a look at that cover. If you are thinking that this book looks perfect for a 13-year-old boy, you are right. I glanced through it, thought, "Cute," and stuck it in my bathroom.

And that was the perfect place for this book.

This book is hilarious. I did not anticipate liking it as much as I did. Each chapter is about a page long, and full of funny teenage thoughts. They're not vulgar, hateful, rude, or anything like that. Actually, the kid is thoughtful and funny. Very funny. The drawings cracked me up too.

There's not like a central plot, but it goes through this kid's school year, his junior year of high school, I believe. I thought this book would not appeal to me. I was wrong.

If you have a teenage boy who doesn't like to read, this book is perfect. And you can steal it when it's bathroom time, too.

I'm giving this book an A.

A = Buy this book NOW
B = Buy this when you can
C = Check it out from the library
D = Don't bother reading it
F = Burn it