Review: Finale (Hush, Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Will love conquer all?  Nora and Patch thought their troubles were behind them. Hank is gone and they should be able to put his ugly vendetta to rest. But in Hank's absence, Nora has become the unwitting head of the Nephilim and must finish what Hank began. Which ultimately means destroying the fallen angels - destroying Patch. Nora will never let that happen, so she and Patch make a plan: lead everyone to believe they have broken up, and work the system from the inside. Nora will convince the Nephilim that they are making a mistake in fighting the fallen angels, and Patch will find out everything he can from the opposing side. They will end this war before it can even begin. But the best-laid plans often go awry. Nora is put through the paces in her new role and finds herself drawn to an addictive power she never anticipated. As the battle lines are drawn, Nora and Patch must confront the differences that have always been between them and either choose to ignore them or let them destroy the love they have always fought for.

My Thoughts:

Hush, Hush is one of those books that I normally wouldn't give the time of day nowadays. And if you're not a teenager or someone who read and loved the first book when it first came out, then this might not be for you. 

What I love about this series is that it is fast-paced, filled with suspense and compared with other fallen angel stories that came out when Hush, Hush first started, this stood out as dark, gritty and one hell of an Archangel roller coaster ride.

Much of what I don't like about the series is the heroine herself Nora. It is really frustrating when the least character you like is the one narrating the whole story. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have been able to push through if she didn't have any redeeming qualities. I like that she's strong and takes initiative. I just can't stand it when most of the time she just comes across as (in Patch's words) "irrational, jealous and willful"! She is annoying and has made me put the book down so many times throughout this whole series. Can I say that she has redeemed herself towards the end? In some ways she has, a tiny little bit.

There is also another character that has readers divided into two opposing teams. Those who think that Patch is a psycho and those who think that he's one of those dark, hot and sexy book boyfriends. And I'm not ashamed to say that I side with the latter. Aside from wanting to know how the story would end, he has been the main reason I've kept up with this series. While I love how he's been loyal, supportive and patient regarding Nora, it's sad to see his bad-ass side diminish in the second half of this series. 

The ending was nice but sort of anticlimactic. There were a few loose ends about the main Nephilim and fallen angel plot I would like to have been explained yet was left for the reader to make their own conclusions and assumptions. The biggest lamentation would be that we weren't given enough of Patch, the snarky comebacks and sexy brooding.

Review: Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson

Publication Date: October 9th 2012  Publisher: HarperTeen  Nothing ever happens in Norway. But at least Ellie knows what to expect when she visits her grandmother: a tranquil fishing village and long, slow summer days. And maybe she’ll finally get out from under the shadow of her way-too-perfect big brother, Graham, while she’s there. What Ellie doesn’t anticipate is Graham’s infuriating best friend, Tuck, tagging along for the trip. Nor did she imagine boys going missing amid rumors of impossible kidnappings. Least of all does she expect something powerful and ancient to awaken in her and that strange whispers would urge Ellie to claim her place among mythological warriors. Instead of peace and quiet, there’s suddenly a lot for a girl from L.A. to handle on a summer sojourn in Norway! And when Graham vanishes, it’s up to Ellie—and the ever-sarcastic, if undeniably alluring Tuck—to uncover the truth about all the disappearances and thwart the nefarious plan behind them. Deadly legends, hidden identities, and tentative romance swirl together in one girl’s unexpectedly epic coming-of-age.

My Thoughts

Greek gods and Roman gods are commonly adapted into works of fiction but it is more rare to see Norse mythology at play in a young adult novel, at least from my experience. 

Valkyrie Rising has all the right ingredients that I like. Myths clashing in with the modern world, a mystical foreign place I wish to visit some day, and a dash of romance between the heroine and her older brother's best friend. 

The story was fast-paced and action packed which I really liked in this case. I just wish it wasn't a stand-alone novel because I was really intrigued by the Valkyries and would have liked to see the author build the plot around their world a bit more than we were given. I liked how carefully portioned each detail about Ellie's history came out and that there was no info-dumping, wild denials or quick acceptances of her mythical history.

There were no annoying characters here to spout on about. I really liked the chemistry between Ellie and Tuck from the get go. However, more conflict for their relationship would have been nice and suspenseful, as well as a bit more of details on Tuck's side of the family. 

The blurb uses the term epic for this novel and I think it could have been epic if the plot was thicker! Overall it wasn't bad; it was good but just not epic.

Review: The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray

Publication Date: September 18th 2012 Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies." When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

My Thoughts 

I remember reading Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series years ago when it was newly released and how I was hooked into it until I had finished all three books. It didn't turn out to be one of my favorite reads but there is something about the way she writes that makes the story seem real even in its fantastical settings. I wouldn't have picked this up if not for the blurb that I posted above. A paranormal creepy mystery set in New York during the roaring twenties! It was too good to pass up.

October is all about Halloween and all things spooky! If there are summer reads, then there are also Halloween reads! The Diviners definitely belongs in the creepy category. It wasn't scary, but the things Libba Bray describe will make your hair stand on end or maybe just make you a little bit green in the face, especially the gruesome murders found scattered all over this whole book! 

I admire how she is able to give voice to multiple characters yet I find that with every detail that we find out about someone, the more I have questions about him/her. Who is he really? And how does he fit in the grand scheme of this nearly 600page book. It's so long yet so much is still left to be known about the plot.

My favorite character would have to be Evie O'Neill, who isn't a hard character to like. Sure she can be selfish and impulsive, but the she's also brave, caring, smart and liberated. The other ones like Will (Evie's uncle and curator of the "Museum of the Creepy Crawlies"),  Jericho, Memphis, Theta, Mabel, Sister Walker... I could go on and on! We're only given a glimpse of their thoughts from here and there, some darker than most. So I like Evie best because she somehow lightens up the mood whenever she's around. Oh, and about Jericho, I knew there was something 'steampunk' going on around him!

I can see how much research Libba Bray has put into writing this book and have so much to thank her for it. I did a little research myself and found out more about the facts from that time period that she mentioned in the story. I've never really had a big interest in the twenties but as I said, the combination of all those themes I mentioned earlier were just too intriguing.

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Blurb:

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

My Thoughts:

I only picked this up because of the movie that's coming out this week. I normally wouldn't read the book when I know that the movie is coming out, but I decided to forgo that thought since it's a short read and I really wanted to know about the story before watching it in theaters.

When I watched the trailer of this movie, it was hipster-like, I loved the cast and I was excited. When I read the book it still went with that theme but there was also a slew of issues being tackled or dare I say tackling the reader as well.

There's Charlie, the main protagonist who writes letters to an anonymous friend. I'm still not sure whether to peg him as the smart shy introvert, the emotionally challenged one or the boy who got molested, scarred and thereby unable to "participate" in a normal setting.

Pretty, smart and older Sam whom Charlie thinks he loves, I like her too. And maybe I'm a little biased because I picture her as Emma Watson in the book and I love that girl. Completing the trio is Patrick, gay friend extraordinaire. He's a fun character and there's always something going on with him.

It's about high school, love, friendship and family. And it's also about drugs, parties, sex, abuse and molestation.

Questions to ponder after reading this book. Are you the product of you're parents and your parents' parents own experiences? Would they be any different if they weren't abused as a child? Would you have been raised different or be different or is it all based on circumstance? 

Favorite Quote:

 

" I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is."

Judging the Book by Its Cover/ Movie Stars

By now you might now have noticed that I put on a "currently reading" widget and this week's read is "The Perks of being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. I've seen this book around the local bookstore for years and years but have never bothered to pick it up until now. Now that I think about it, I never picked it up because it had this green colored cover with a picture on the upper right hand corner showing the bottom half of a person in brown and white (I say this because it wasn't really black and white, it was sort of brown like an old photograph). It looked boring and didn't look like a fun read at all. 

Now that it's a week from the release of the movie, I decided that it was high time I got myself a copy. It had more to do with Emma Watson and Logan Lerman being in the main cast more than anything that made me want to read this book. I know it sounds like a weird connection but that is what motivated me, mostly so that I could imagine them as the cast in the actual book while I read it. Of course there's also the added allure of the book vs the movie debate after watching the film. 

Judging book covers is an art. If I'm going to get a copy of this book, I might as well pick a good one. Not the original green cover or the film tie-in one (which looked good but the paper was white and looked like textbook paper). And so I opted for this one. What do you think?

First Post!

I've wanted to blog ever since I got addicted to reading and hanging out on Goodreads for the past couple of years. I decided that it was time to let go of the leading strings and walk among (or in this case write among) the big boys so to speak. Please bear with me as I tweak and polish this new blog of mine!