City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library. 

Today's book is City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare.

Clary thinks she is an ordinary girl until one night she witnesses a murder. The next thing she knows, her mother has been kidnapped, her adopted 'father' tells her never to speak to him again, and her house destroyed. The group of people who take her in to protect her are the very ones who did the murdering.

And it gets worse. Clary finds out that she isn't ordinary after all. She is gifted, like those protecting her, with the power to fight demons.

With that gift, any pretense at normality is destroyed.

This is an excellent book. Clare pulled me, had me rooting for certain characters, and definitely swayed any conventional views by throwing a horrible twist into the love story. She took some liberties with the POV, which I found unnecessary: almost the entire book was told from Clary's POV, but we had about two pages (one page each) told from someone else's POV, one being a person who died two seconds later. Obviously, she's a bestseller and published books afterwards, so she's allowed to get away with it. Still, it felt contrived to me.

Secondly, she's huge on description. Great for world-building, but a bit boring. No problems. I skipped most of it, jumping to the next strand of dialogue, and read the book faster than most.

I give this book an 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

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.    

Today's book is How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier.

This book is written for a younger YA audience, probably 13-14 year olds. It's based in a fictitious place where most people are born with a fairy. The fairy is supposed to be helpful, but in Charlie's case, her fairy is causing problems. She was born with a parking fairy, and it seems she only has friends because they can drive her around and get good parking spots.

So Charlie sets out to get rid of her fairy. It's a lot harder than she thinks. She learns a lot of life's lessons about friendship, family, and boys along the way.

This book is hilarious. I read it quite quickly and enjoyed it very much. It's light reading, and many younger girls will enjoy it. I am excited to read more mature books by this author.

I give this book an 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

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.   

Today's book is Fallen by Lauren Kate.

On the whole, I was disappointed in this book. I was very excited for it. I saw the trailer on barnesandnoble.com, and it made me want to read the book. So I requested it from the library.

It starts off interestingly enough. We realize quickly in the beginning that the girl, Luce, is either being reincarnated or is unknowingly some kind of immortal. This was the third book in six months that I've read that takes place in a group home/reform school. The reasons for Luce being in the home are very mysterious. She kissed a boy and he caught fire. Whoa. Crazy. Unfortunately, this mystery, which pretty much fueled the entire book, wasn't resolved by the end of it. Which meant I felt pretty much unresolved.

It's difficult to critique this without giving away spoilers, but by the end of the book we find out that the group home is not a real group home (hmm...sound like any other book I've reviewed?), but some sort of respite for...special types. And the way it plays out is totally unbelievable (for paranormal suspense, mind you).

Still, it was a good read, and I'll be interested in reading the sequel. So overall, I give this book an 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

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.  

Today's book is The Maze Runner, by James Dashner.

This book was another 'end of the world' sort of book (funny how these things tend to go in phases). It was also incredibly good. The only thing I wish I'd known going into it was that this book is part of a series. You finish it, but you don't! And it just leaves you with more questions burning.

Thomas wakes up inside a stone maze with no memory of who he was before. He adapts to his surroundings, finding a niche as a maze runner, the people who travel the maze by day looking for a way out. And it must be done during the day, because at night horrible monsters, part slug and part machine, come out and kill any person they find.

But then Thomas gets a few memories back. What he remembers is that he helped build the maze--and it has no way out.

This book gripped me from the beginning. I loved it. I was confused a bit in the ending because I wanted answers, and it left me with more questions. But alas, I'll just have to wait for the sequel.

This is a must have.
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

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzgerald

Disclaimer: I get all my books from the library.   

Today's book is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzgerald.

I kind of cringe inside doing this review, because I've already seen other people's reviews. People love this book, but I did not. I didn't hate it, but it frustrated me. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

Patch is a fallen angel with a self-promoting agenda. He's sinister, cocky, arrogant, dangerous and sadistic. In spite of this, Nora Grey, our weak-minded MC, is attracted to him.

Hold on. What? She's attracted to him?

That's right. Because he's got a nice body and black eyes.

I couldn't get over this. There was nothing likeable about Patch. What an awful message. If a guy is terrible, but cute, go ahead and explore the relationship?

And there was a very Twilight-ish moment when Nora hops on the internet and googles fallen angels, then realizes what Patch is. Only Patch wasn't endearing, protective, romantic, or anything like our favorite vampire counterpart (Edward, in case you're wondering) that might redeem him in my eyes. He's mysterious and creepy up until the very end. The VERY END.

In the last chapter, he suddenly acts like a nice guy that you might want to have as a boyfriend. Whoa. Personality change.

The book held my attention, but it also annoyed me. There were also two other creeps who followed Nora around, beating people up and getting in her mind. It was one of those books that I kept reading because I thought, "Everyone likes this. It has to get good somewhere."

Uh, no. Sorry, all you fans out there.


I give this book an D.

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