"Incarceron" by Catherine Fisher

Walls have ears.
Doors have eyes.
Trees have voices.
Beasts tell lies.
Beware the rain.
Beweare the snow.
Beware the man
You think you know.
~Songs of Sapphique

Incarceron is a prison. Built to contain the undesirables of a world, it's huge. Vast enough to contain cities, mountains, oceans, valleys. Built to be a paradise, Incarceron has become a hell, and there is no escaping. Trapped until they die, most of the inmates have given up on leaving.
But not Finn.

In the Outside, time seems to have been stopped at the 17th century. Artificially preserved, Claudia's world is run by computers and protocal. She's doomed to an arranged marriage and tangled with an assassination plot she doesn't support but doesn't discourage either.

When the lives of Finn and Claudia collide, there's no telling what will happen.
Incarceron is everywhere.
Incarceron is everything.

They stared at the dark slit, waiting. She half expected a crowd of Prisoners to burst through.
But nothing happened, so she stepped forward, and opened the gate.
And looked Inside.

This book was rather rare for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's a YA book that I actually enjoyed. Second of all, there were several plot twists I didn't predict, and third of all, I only hated one of the characters.

The setting of this book is very interesting. It's a peculiar mix of Gregor the Underlander, 2001: A Space Oddyssey, Labyrinth, Alice in Wonderland, The Supernaturalist, Doctor Who, and a whole lot of imagination. It was fascinating if only for the setting, and I enjoyed it immensely. Incarceron was spooky, and reminded me a bit of HAL, which captured my interest immediately. If nothing, read for Incarceron!

The characters were interesting as well. It was difficult, but I decided that my three favorite characters were Keiro (Finn's oathbrother), Jared (Claudia's tutor), and The Warden (Claudia's father.). The single character that I truly did not like at all was Attia, who I found to be jealous, petty, stuck up, "holier than thou", and just annoying. But the others were pretty cool, I must say.

Also, the plot twists. I'm usually pretty good at predicting the way that books will go. In fact, some of the earlier twists I predicted immediately, but about three fourths of the book the author threw a twist at me that literally left me sitting and going "Wow. I did not see that coming. Wow. Wow. O.o". The plot is interesting, not very predictable, and has plenty of things going on that it moves quite quickly.

Overall, this was a really good book, and I'm definitely going to read the second one. :)

"Immanuel's Veins" by Ted Dekker

"This story is for everyone. But not everyone is for this story."
Toma Nicolescu, a warrior, is sent by Catherine the great to protect two sisters and their mother. At first convinced that it is just a simple job- He, after all, will not cave to the sisters beauty like his friend Alec will- and all he must do is help the mother arrange a marriage for the eldest sister, Lucine.

That just goes to show how mistaken Toma can be.

When a strange group of Russians arrive, Toma senses something strange about them. They seem more attractive, more powerful, and yet far more repulsive than anyone he knows. However, he sees nothing wrong with them or their strange ways...
At first.
As his suspicion of the beautiful strangers rises, so does his love for Lucine, and soon both are entangled in a dark plot, power, and a battle between good and evil.

Looking back now, I can say the series of incredible events that forever changed my understanding of this ordered world began in earnest in that moment. Though I did not recognize or embrace it then, the axis of this planet surely shifted. The stars reversed their course and sent a spell of love and anguish, tears and laughter into the valley, and I was too thickheaded to yet see it.

Ted Dekker is a truly amazing author.
I was drawn into the book as soon as I read the first page, and it only took me a few days to finish it. The writing is beautiful, and he uses so much symbolism that sometimes it's hard to tell what's an allegory and what's not.

The characters also brought me into the story- None were perfect, and yet I never got mad at the main characters (the story is told from Toma and Lucine's points of view) for doing something so dumb that it was ridiculous. All the characters had their own distinct personalitites, and for most of the book I was kept guessing about who was going to do what.

The plot also deserves mention- I guessed a few of the plot "twists", but overall felt like I didn't quite know what was going to happen next.

Overall, this is an incredibly wonderful book, and I enjoyed it very much. However, it is also a clearly Christian book, so if that does not appeal to you, you probably won't enjoy this book so much. Also- this was a book found in the "grown up" section of my library, and as such needs treatment in that way. I would not recommend this book to anyone under fourteen, due to some of the adult themes.

"Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi

"Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. "-goodreads

I read “Shatter Me” in about 2 & ½ hours when I probably should’ve been doing schoolwork. I thought I’d start the book and read a chapter during a break in math homework and go back to what I was doing. That didn’t work out so well… I started Shatter Me and was immediately enraptured with the thoughtful, possibly crazy, progressively awesome heroine, Juliette, as well as the deceptively dark (or not as much as it seems? You‘ll see. Read it!) dystopian world she resides in. It was absolutely psychological, considering being locked up in a cell in contact with no other people for so long in desolate conditions, all while stewing over the fact that you do awful things to people by simply touching them-- whether she wants to or not.

The writing was another thing entirely. It was amazing. It kept me right inside the story until the end. It was also just really pretty. Then, there was the whole thing with Juliette’s thoughts and her confusion of a contradicting thought process with the whole words crossed out thing in thoughts…

I’ve seen Shatter Me referred to as a dystopian, a thriller, a paranormal, a romance combined with any of those things, and I’ll just say it’s all of those. Dystopian, for the world-- though I wouldn’t say that’s quite the main focus like in some other novels, there’s other things! Paranormal, because she can hurt people with only a touch ‘for no reason’. Romance, because there is another incredibly complex main character, Adam, and I think you can just guess that there’s going to be something between them (and their relationship, the lack there-of, and the general tension? Stunning.). Thriller, because I kept turning pages and found that I was literally gripping the edge of my seat at the climax and some other parts. Psychological, because inside Juliette’s head is a scary, twisted, traumatic place to be in a psychologically fascinating kind of way. And really? The other genre I’d put it in, and as number one: genre Awesome. Awesome in a real sense of the world. In an awe-inspiring writing, complex and likeable character filled, complicated and deceptive plot, dark and controlled world, sort-of-way.

Needless to say, (but I’ll say them anyway) two things: I cannot wait for the sequel, Tahereh Mafi is awesome. On that note, I’ll end this with the surprise third thing: the cover is epic sparkly.

"The Falcon" by Jackie French Koller

"Sure." I heard Jim's pen scribbling again. "Our time's about up anyway. Just one more question, though. Do you have any idea why so many unusual things happen to you?"
"Yeah," I snarled. "God hates me."

Luke Carver is a 17 year old who can't seem to help getting in trouble. Every time he goes anywhere, he seems to get in trouble. He messes up so many times that it sure seems like God hates him. After all, how else would he get into such wacky, horrible situations?

Luke has secrets, though. There are things he hasn't told anyone. He hasn't even told his journal the full truth. After all, if it isn't his fault, why does he have to tell anyone?

"Yes," I said quietly. "I'm fine." Then I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. I was tired, too. So, so tired...
Just like I am now.

This was one of the shortest books I think I've read. It was, strangely, also one of the most interesting. It was one of those books where you think that it's not going to be that gripping, but then you find yourself wondering, throughout the day, what's going to happen next.

I really liked the way that the author pulled out the mystery of what happened to Luke before the book started. It was really interesting, even though it wasn't as "dark" as they made it out to seem. It was interesting, though.

I would actually recommend this book to anyone who really liked The Catcher in the Rye, mostly because the writing style seemed quite similar to me, and it's about the same sort of aged guy.

All in all- pretty good of a book.

"The Witch's Brat" by Rosemary Sutcliff (guest reviewer Runningfree)

"From the moment I picked up The Witch's Brat, I was hooked. Sutcliff follows the journey of a deformed, quiet, boy with the gift of healing in his hands, a head for herbs and their uses, a heart of kindness. One shoulder is hunched and his leg is crooked, leaving even the simple manner of walking to be a painful and arduous task. One day, on his way back from errands, he stops and watches the neighbor's cow who has, over the past three days, been growing extremely thin. Lovel believes the cow ate something that is causing her to lose so much weight so rapidly and is concerned. The neighbors raise a fuss, saying he's cast the Evil Eye upon their milking cow and Lovel is the reason the cow is sick. The neighbors create such a ruckus that a mob starts and soon stones are thrown at Lovel, driving him out and away into the wide, unknown world.
In less than 200 pages, I grew to admire Lovel and his tenacity, watched him grow in confidence as he discovered his gift for healing, and cheered him on when he doubted himself and his purpose.
Sutcliff's writing is so rich and hearty, I love her storytelling prowess, her ability to weave in so much without bogging you down. I can't say that I adore her characters like I've adored other characters but I admire them, I want to be like them, they are real, down to earth, dust covered, people that bleed, cry, and struggle through years of adversity.
Lovel, though he has been beaten by men, still has the capacity to forgive and care for them when they are ailing, old, weak and tired. He heals them, much as he heals himself.
I'd HIGHLY recommend this book no matter your age. For those of you who don't read any witchcraft, don't let the name throw you off. There is no sorcery whatsoever."

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor

"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?"-goodreads

This book was so many things. It was suspense, confusion, tension, beauty, strength, and weakness. There was romance and then there was hatred. There were memories and there was flipping in between their present and their past. There was a girl, Karou, our heroine of the story, and she had naturally blue hair. And that's cool too. The writing was beautiful and created superbly vivid imagery. At times, reading The Daughter of Smoke and Bone I was confused, because I couldn't decide what I thought of characters-- even Karou. By what I think, I meant whether I trusted them, and Karou is the main character! It was weird. It was deception! It was exciting. Akiva is awesome. All the characters were well developed even with their veils of mystery. The way time passed or flitted back and forth between the future and the present for the narrative, especially near the end, was difficult to get used to at first but then I ended up liking that too.

It was a peculiar book. With its many dimensions and complicated inner-workings it wasn't like anything I've read before. I have nothing to compare it to! It surprised me and it lived up to the hype. The writing kept me totally wrapped up in the story and engrossed in its complex world with its depth and clever wording-- Laini Taylor totally hit that out of the park! All that having been said; I look forward to the sequel!
Thank you to Little Brown for the opportunity to review this book!

"Ashes" by Ilsa J. Bick

"It could happen tomorrow . . .
An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.
Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human."-goodreads

Ashes is one of the best zombie books I’ve read, up there with The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Zombie Survival Guide, as well as one of the best post-apocalyptic books I’ve read (and probably one of the more ’realistic’ as well). But Ashes is so much more than that. As I was reading it I thought of it as one of those dolls that opens up and there’s another doll and another doll and another doll and another doll. Every page, there were more complicated (but awesome) things going on. Incredibly fast-paced, sometimes things happened so fast that I didn’t understand them right away-- but I don’t think Alex the protagonist did either, so that just enhanced it. Ashes bled fear, anxiety, tension, action, gruesomeness, creepy, scary, psychological stuff, and shock throughout the whole book. It was incredible! Also, it’s perfect for reading any time but I think I picked a fabulous time to read it, right around Halloween.

Alex is an epic heroine for the story. She’s a strong female character that doesn’t let herself totally give up for any reason, even when falling for a guy. She took charge and survived after the EMP, and helped others along the way. Granted, she also received help from several people, including Tom, the mysterious guy they meet along the way, however it wasn’t a *total* damsel-in-distress moment. Alex showed raw emotion throughout the book without being wimpy or anything like that. Tom was pretty cool too, when we got to meet him, and Ellie as well. Characters in this book (and a lot of similar books to these) are integral to me, I think, because you don’t typically see as many characters as often while they’re fighting their way through the EMP ravaged world.

An original thing that I liked about Ashes is that, while some post-apocalyptic (or dystopian) books avoid the actual disaster, experiencing it or explaining it, it started out from the beginning right before and the reader gets to see the whole thing unfold. I think a lot of the time it’s avoided because sometimes it’s hard to convince the reader and have them be like, ‘yeah, this could actually happen. The world really could end this way.’ and even I’m like that sometimes but Ashes convinced me. I’ll be thinking about the horrifyingly realistic (and horrifying in general) world from the book for a long time.
The bottom line: if you’re looking for an epic book, especially a scary post-apocalyptic zombie novel, Ashes is for you. I can’t wait for the next one! 

"Paper Towns" by John Green

"Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life–dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge–he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues–and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew."-goodreads

"The town was paper, but the memories were not."

In this edition of 'Sometimes Cat likes Contemporary', she falls hard for a book called "Paper Towns" by John Green. Not remarkable on the surface. The cover has a thumbtack on it and thumb tacks are cool but thumbtacks don't say, 'HEYTHISBOOKTHISBOOKTHISBOOKIT'SAMAZING'. The quote above about towns that are paper, or paper towns, that's amazing, right? It's good. It's SO good. This book. Too good. Written beautifully, oh so magnificently so. SO MANY quotable things in "Paper Towns" too. I figured it would be good, because of a few reasons: everyone seems to love John Green and his epic-nerdness and what isn't to love about epic nerd-ness? Nothing. Also, the vlogbrothers videos are excellent and nerdy and cool, and DFTBA (Don't Forget to be Awesome) and stuff. But mainly, last year my friend KT was talking about this book and was like, 'YOUNEEDTOREADTHISBOOK' and I was kind of like, 'yeah, I should do that sometime!' but mostly it left my mind. I was re-interested in reading it because of all the talk about "The Fault in Our Stars", Green's upcoming novel, and borrowed it from her and oooh I loved it. 

First, I loved the characters. I loved Quentin and his weirdness and his tendency to be timid and how he thought Margo was so awesome in the true sense of the word awesome. I liked his friends and how he had real life teenage friend relationships and how sometimes you have weird friends and that's okay and when it comes down to it your friends are there for you and you'd die for them and them you, probably. I liked Margo Roth Spiegalman and her epic-ness and how she has the name Margo Roth Spiegalman and how her full name in its Margo Roth Spiegalman glory is used casually in the book just because she's Margo Roth Spiegalman. I appreciated her clever escapades and her willfulness to live by her own agenda and taking charge. I liked that she roped Quentin into her master plan and as that's going you begin to see her vulnerability and the true Margo Roth Spiegalman and not just the idea that Quentin and everyone else has of Margo Roth Spiegalman. I also like that I just used her name like 6 times and I'm okay with that. I like that this book has such a crisp and unique oh-so-very realistic and clever voice and it's addictive. I like that this book is forcing me to write a review where I break all kinds of grammatical rules because it's inappropriate that I just used the word 'and' so many times but I don't mind because that's the way I feel about this book.

What I'm saying is, "Paper Towns" broke some rules for me, but that was great and it was great otherwise as well. It made me use "and" so many times in this review that it should be illegal. It made me be in awe of a character with a name like Margo Roth Spiegalman and it was awesome. It had nerd-ness and fabulous adjectives. There was an epic road trip (two, if you count the first adventure), and it wasn't even that cliche even thought it should've been. It introduced me to the concept of paper towns in more ways than one, and a fabulous little place in New York called Agloe and its overwhelming population count of one.

"This Dark Endeavor (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein)" by Kenneth Oppell

"Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures...until the day their adventures turn all too real.
They stumble upon The Dark Library, and secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are discovered. Father forbids that they ever enter the room again, but this only piques Victor's curiosity more. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is not satisfied with the various doctors his parents have called in to help. He is drawn back to The Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. With their friend Elizabeth, Henry and Victor immediately set out to find assistance from a man who was once known for his alchemical works to help create the formula.
Determination and the unthinkable outcome of losing his brother spur Victor on in the quest for the three ingredients that will save Konrad's life. After scaling the highest trees in the Strumwald, diving into the deepest lake caves, and sacrificing one’s own body part, the three fearless friends risk their lives to save another."-goodreads

Okay, if any of you ever saw my review of "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, you know that I liked it, but also was maybe a little bit underwhelmed after my expectations from the Hollywood portrayal of the Frankenstein monster (yes I realize this is absolutely *blasphemous*). I'm actually re-reading it right now, and appreciating it a lot more. (Give me a break, it was one of the first Gothic 19th century novels I'd read, and it was a lot to take in!). 

I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this book but I loved it! It was so good. The portrayal of young Victor Frankenstein to show the childhood that isn't talked about in Frankenstein was epic. It showed us some of the events that could've lead to the famous Dr. Frankenstein and his *slightly* twisted ways. From reading Frankenstein, I could totally believe that this is what his adolescence would've been like; the culmination of 'teenage-angst', bitterness, and tragedy to warp his future. Victor's character was well developed and the voice of the novel was great. The tension between Victor and Elizabeth (and the different kind between Victor and Konrad) was remarkable.  It did move a bit slow for me at times but so did "Frankenstein", and many other books that I end up liking. The mystery and misadventures were daring and cool to read of, and it was interesting to draw parallels to what occurs in the original novel in Victor's adult life. Also, one might think that "This Dark Endeavor" would be cliche or cheese-y, another one of those unoriginal 'teenage monster' stories but it was much more.

I also looked up the book because I wanted to know if there would be a sequel, which I would be very interested in if that's possible or maybe it would be too much, but anyway I saw that it's going to be made into a movie which would be amazing because I could totally see this book as a movie-- super creepy. Also, for the bottom line of random notes, look at the cover!! So eerie and dark, absolutely perfect for the book! 
Thank you to Simon&Schuster for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Reader's Note: As usual, this in no way swayed my opinion.

"The Son of Neptune" (Heroes of Olympus, #2) by Rick Riordan

No description. Why? Because I didn't like any of the descriptions: too long, too spoiler-y, or generally too much. Did I think I could do better for a little summary? Nope.
(This review will probably contain spoilers for the first book. You might want to read The Lost Hero review instead. YOU ARE WARNED.)

The Lost Hero was seriously awesome, and being the first book in a companion series to THE Percy Jackson series by THE Rick Riordan, I didn't expect any less. Obviously I had high expectations for the sequel, "The Son of Neptune" which I impatiently awaited and narrowly avoided totally forgetting about. It was even better than the first though! Really good. So why did I like it?

The characters, as with the last one, were great. This one was told through three perspectives (as with the last one), each offering their own personalities with depth and history. That's one of my favorite parts of the book, actually, there were a lot of flashbacks and back story to the new main characters (of the 7? You'll find out) Frank and Hazel, from different families and *cough*times*cough*. Then, I'm brought to another of my favorite parts of the book, and this isn't a spoiler because the first page opens with him, PERCY. Percy is back and we read a lot of the book (I'd be inclined to say the majority of the book is from his perspective, but I'm not sure) with him. I think everyone's missed him since the end of 'his' series, or at least I have. He doesn't totally hijack the story though, it's still about the new heroes and it's also in third person rather than in the Percy Jackson books where it was ALL from his perspective in first person.

Besides characters, the settings were epic, as they are in the rest of Riordan's books. They cover a lot of ground in "The Son of Neptune", always moving. There's more mythology (duh.) as a lot of the book involves the Romans too as opposed to only the Greeks. The pace was quick too, the 520 pages passed lightning fast (get it? Lightning. Yeah...). The voices of the characters were fabulous, very different from each other which I was glad of, I can't stand it when I can't figure out who I'm reading as or forget.

I did have a few small disappointments, I wish we'd seen the characters we met in The Lost Hero; Leo, Piper, and Jason. I also wish that certain characters had been reunited (finish the book. You'll know what I'm talking about.) but I realize that's part of the cliffhanger thing. Overall though? I loved it and can't wait for the next book installment of The Heroes of Olympus.

"The Eleventh Plague" by Jeff Hirsch

“In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged and two thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade for food and other items essential for survival. 
But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true, where there are real houses, barbecues, a school, and even baseball games. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing forever.”-goodreads

Hehehe. So, I had a misconception (I have no idea why I thought this, actually, look up there it even says influenza) that “The Eleventh Plague” was about zombies. As in, zombies being the eleventh plague. Yeah. It’s not, FYI. However, I went into the book expecting zombies and didn’t get them, but wasn’t disappointed. (Books don’t have to have zombies to be good for the record. It’s just a bonus.)  Instead of a zombie smashing book I found a book about life after “the Collapse” (which I assume is the collapse of humanity-- a culmination of wars with other countries and the plague, but that’s not explained specifically), a book about survival, and ultimately, for me: a book about hope and community, and its necessity even after a disaster. Even if the world is technically already ‘over’ if you will. Even though the book wasn’t overly emotional these were the impressions it gave me.

Stephen is a nomad at the beginning of the book; both in the moving around all the time literal sense of the word, and to me, emotionally. He’s only close to his grandfather (if you can call what we see of their relationship that) and his father, and he used to be close to his mother before she met her end. That’s the other thing: this book is kind of about loss. Overcoming loss and finding that hope and community. Throughout the book Stephen has to figure everything out. That’s probably why I liked him so much a main character-- he didn’t know everything, not even close. He had a ton of flaws. Sometimes flaws (kind of like I was talking about in my Anna and the French Kiss review) can make the book if they’re done right. This is one of those books, I think.

Additionally, there quite a bit of action and when necessary, creepiness. There was romance that I didn’t expect (I basically thought she was going to continue ignoring him completely) with a troubled girl who really identified with Stephen. The ending was great because it wasn’t completely picture perfect-- also, it left me wanting more without being a total cliffhanger and infuriating me. I believe there’s a sequel or companion novel coming though this novel could easily stand-alone, I look forward to more of the story!

"Witchlanders" by Lena Coakley

“High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.  It’s all a fake. At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?  But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned— 
Are about him.” -goodreads

Hello there, epic like complicated fantasy novel, a variety of book I almost always seem to fall for. “Witchlanders” is fantasy, people. The fantastical world within is amazing; reminiscent of the worlds “Eragon“, ‘Narnia‘, or “The Lord of the Rings“, and I totally loved those. No one is flying dragons, there’s no talking lion, and there aren’t any hobbits to be found, but it’s the feeling. A whole different world, with magic and its varied abilities,  a broad sense of imagination where you never know what’s going to happen next-- what character will discover their magical ability or what new creature will appear. It makes you want to know more, more about what their magic is, what the singing is, what’s up with the witches shrinking coven, what is going on with Ryder and Farien? Main character Ryder is excellent too. I was kind of confused about Ryder; he’s a great main character and I really liked him but the cover has a girl (I presume his sister, Skyla, but not sure), and I don’t know I just expected the protagonist to be a girl for some reason. I’m entirely okay with it being Ryder though, he was really interesting, and determined.

An interesting thing I noticed throughout the book, is that some things, especially the characters, aren’t physically described much. At the beginning that actually annoyed me, but then as I read on, I unintentionally formed my own picture in my head and it was crystal clear. I don’t know if this was intentional on Lena Coakley’s part or not but it was brilliant and I’m guessing it was. The pace was good overall also, it did seem a bit slow at times but I think that happens in all fantasy books…

I’m also not sure if there’s going to be a sequel to this one or not, but I hope there is! It didn’t really seem like a stand-alone with the ending, but more importantly; I want more of the world in Witchlanders and Ryder’s adventures!
Thank you Simon&Schuster for the opportunity to review this book.

"Repossessed" by A.M. Jenkins

"Shaun... did something happen today? Anything out of the ordinary?"
Well, Shaun died, but other than that...
"Nope," I told Shaun's mom. "It' s just been a normal, regular day."

Kiriel doesn't like the term "demon". It's far too negative. He prefers "Fallen Angel", which is the proper technical term, anyway.
Though he doesn't really enjoy his job, either.
Kiriel isn't an "important" demon... His job is simply to reflect misery back onto the souls in hell. That's all. Nothing more important.
The big guy hasn't even paid any attention to him. Only important fallen angels get attention from God.
And trouble makers.

When Kiriel discovers that hell doesn't blow up when he doesn't do his job, he decides to take a vacation. It's not like he's ever had one before... Who cares if it's technically against the rules? Maybe it'll get him some notice in the end.

So he steals a body. The boy who it used to belong to was barely using it anyway, so what does it matter that he takes over for a few days?

Through the body of Shaun, a typical slacker highschooler, Kiriel discovers what it's like to be a human. And he likes it.
But how long does he have before the body is "repossessed"?

Whatever the reason, they punish themselves. I merely oversee; I don't actually do anything about anything.
Mine is a useless occupation.

I really liked this book. It was a very interesting point of view, reading from the head of a demon. Surprisingly, although Kiriel decides to see what's so enjoyable about sinning, he seemed to be one of the more innocent characters in the book. He had a very interesting outlook on the life he leads in Shaun's body, and I actually ended up agreeing with his points.
So, I think the author did very well making him a relatable character.

Besides that, it was just a very interesting book. Some of the themes can be carried over and related to our own lives... Especially us teens. You know, the whole, "my place isn't important," "my job isn't important" "no one notices me", and all that crap.

I also liked how it made fun of teenagers, and our lives.

You have to be warned however, that there are quite a few mentions of sex in this book, and some swearing. So if those sorts of things concern you, I wouldn't read this book.

"Lies" (Gone, #3) by Michael Grant

*As usual with sequel reviews, the description is spoiler-y, so I haven’t included it. The below review may reveal minor spoilers about the previous two books. YOU ARE WARNED.*

Lies is my favorite book in the Gone series so far. Not only did it continue all of the good things from the other two books, but there was MORE (if that’s possible)! The slight problems I had with Hunger were even less in their severity. THERE WERE ANSWERS. Those capital letters were entirely necessary. Now, there weren’t big answers like how to magically get outside of the dome (there’s three more books, it doesn’t work that way, folks), but we found out… oh I’m itching to tell you guys, but I can’t. We found out something that’s kind of a big deal. No one is sure whether their relatives still exist or know they’re gone. You’ll find THAT out if you read Lies. Sam is still quite angst-y but I could deal with it. My favorite character in this one was probably Astrid just because of the end, and her progression throughout the books of getting stronger and all, although I admittedly wasn’t her biggest fan for parts of the book. Lies was shorter (only a bit) than Hunger but I felt it packed an even bigger punch. Another element that was present in all of the books, but I felt strongest in Lies is the multiple view points. The story switches view points all the time and that keeps everything going and fresh while helping you get the whole story; it’s not in first person, so it’s not in another person’s mind per say, but just not everything from the location of the main character.

As the third book in the Gone series, Lies continues the awesome. These books aren’t just good, they’re explosive. I was hooked (as usual) from the beginning and could hardly put it down. As much as Gone and more than Hunger, it’s one of those books that you’d rather read than sleep because you have to know what happens and you’ll probably bring it everywhere with you. Simply amazing.

"Vanish" (Firelight, #2) by Sophie Jordan

September 6th, 2011 - HarperTeen

(The description is a bit spoiler-y to the first book. If you’d like to check it out and find tons more info on the book, visit Sophie Jordan’s website here.)

I really appreciate book series where each new book exceeds your expectations and there’s never a dull ‘middle book’. After reading Firelight, and then seeing the cover and summary for Vanish, I had really high expectations for it. I had a theory about who was on the cover, and surprisingly I was right. (Do you have a theory? Maybe you’re right like me. But you’ll have to read it to find out whether you’re also correct or not!) I liked Vanish even more than Firelight!! (Which I liked a lotttt!!)

As the story continues, it just gets better. There was never a dull moment. Vanish is an emotional roller coaster, but in a good way. The ending of Vanish leaves you craving more (as with Firelight). I also found the characters interesting, as they developed a lot more. They fooled me. People I strongly disliked in the first one, I found liking more in Vanish as they developed more. Also, I was firmly Team Will at the end of the first, and not only am I team Cassian now, I think he’s my new favorite character as we saw more of him. (You’ll probably find yourself at least swaying towards his side!) Almost all of the characters changed for me though, and I found myself feeling even more connected to our heroine Jacinda-- her narrative is awesome.

Same as Firelight, I found the draki element very interesting and unique. It continues to develop and we learn more about how that works. And there’s a new draki in town-- you’ll be surprised who it is. Overall, a great sequel that I doubt will disappoint!! Be sure to look for it when it comes out (meantime, read Firelight if you haven't!)
Thank you HarperTeen for giving me the opportunity to review this exciting sequel.

"Hunger" (Gone, #2) by Michael Grant

(The summary for this book is spoiler-y for the first book in the series, "Gone". If you'd like to view it anyway and find out more information about the book, here's the goodreads page for it. As usual with sequel reviews, though I try to keep them spoiler free, it's possible there will be minor spoilers for the first book. YOU ARE WARNED.)

With the same gripping plot style and breakneck fast pace as "Gone", "Hunger" is a really great sequel. It met my expectations, which "Gone" set very high. A lot of the best aspects of the first book were continued in the second, besides the incredible plot and pacing. However, I didn't enjoy Hunger QUITE as much as its predecessor. For example, Sam's humility left me feeling conflicted. While I was glad that he was humble, he was feeling pressures, and he wasn't perfect, like I felt in the first book, too much is well... too much. His tendency throughout the book for self pity got kind of annoying after a while. Then, at the same time, it made sense-- he was grasping for solutions to really difficult problems and searching for answers where there seemed to be none, and that was frustrating for him. Then all these kids have adopted him as their leader and when he starts not being able to fix everything, obviously he felt a little lost. Another thing that left me feeling that way is that a lot of questions were asked, more sub-plots started, which is all fine but then nothing seemed to be getting answered and at times that was just really frustrating to deal with. HOWEVER, these two problems did not really damage my overall impression of the book.

The characters continue to be great for the most part. The setting is so developed, so clear I can imagine the whole FAYZ, and I love that about these books. The continuing developments and the worsening of the situation in the FAYZ were both fascinating and horrifying. Then the problem of 'Freaks' vs. 'Normals', as they started to conflict was obviously intense but also interesting because of the psychology of it all, for me.

Overall, a good sequel! Continued awesome pace, plot, and characters; even if a few elements left me feeling a tad conflicted at times.

"Supernaturally" (Paranormalcy, #2) by Kiersten White

(The description for this book is spoiler-y for the first book. If you wish to view it anyway and find out more information, check out the goodreads page here. This review might also contain spoilers for the first book, "Paranormalcy". I suggest you read that review (linked) instead if you haven't yet read it. YOU ARE WARNED.)

"Paranormalcy" was SO fun and awesome-mazing (that is not a word, that is my, er... creative license?). Obviously, any book that practically makes fun of the paranormal creatures and their stereotypes that we love (and love to hate) and has a main character that dreams of having a locker rather than paranormal butt-kicking, with a pink taser affectionately named Tasey as a side-kick MUST be awesome, and so Paranormalcy was.

Needless to say (but bam, I just did) I was VERY EXCITED for the sequel, "Supernaturally". It was also awesome. Ohhhh and remember that time I thought there were only going to be two books in this series and then Supernaturally ended and I was like 'WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? THIS IS THE END? NOOOOO.' Fortunately, I looked it up, and I must have been miss-informed. There's another! Endlessly (due out 2012). Anyway, back to the reviewing thing. I was surprised that it didn't start right after Paranormalcy left off but a few months later, however, I didn't mind. It was nice to see how Evie was doing, more acclimated in the 'normal' life that she wanted so badly ('How IS she taking to that?', you ask. Read and find out, why don't you?!?). All of the characters we love are back. Evie and Lend are still all awwwww (with maybe a few bumps in the road...). Emotions ARE running high and there are difficult decisions all over and standing in Evie and other's path. We're also introduced to a hyper-crazy new character, Jack. All I can say is my first impression of him was RIGHT. (Not saying whether that impression was good or bad.) But I was still pretty surprised, well, when I turned out to actually BE right. Very importantly, the sarcasm and sparkles in the epic writing is back-- my favorite part. :)

The bottom line: An epic, shiny, surprising sequel! Readdd ittttt (or Paranormalcy, if you haven't)!!!

"Leviathan" by Scott Westerfeld

"Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever"-goodreads

Leviathan is the first steampunk book I've read. (Note: I still wouldn't understand what steampunk IS if it weren't for: a) Angela who is awesome and kind of a steampunk specialist, b) to some extent, google, and c) this book.) I now understand the appeal. It's also the first novel by Scott Westerfeld that I've read besides Uglies, Pretties, and Specials (which was ages ago and I REALLY need to re-read them as I hardly remember anything except that they were amazing). If they hadn't proved his genius-- Leviathan would have!

First off, oh my gosh I need to talk about the illustrations. There are these really intricate, awesome, brilliant full page and half page illustrations throughout the book. These were both great to look at and good at explaining things. The 'clanker' machinery and the 'Darwinist' creatures were so bizarre that I couldn't quite picture them, but then the illustrations had me seeing them perfectly. So cool. Then another favorite bit for me was how it's both historical fiction and futuristic fiction seamlessly put together, which is the steampunk element, but it was so interesting to read about a World War II world in an alternate society and universe sort of way. I can't wait for those things to be explored more in Behemouth and Goliath, the other two books in the series (although Goliath hasn't come out yet). 

The only negative thing I have to say about this book is while Alek and Deryn are obviously different characters, genders, and very different personalities their thought processes seemed TOO similar sometimes. Also, something to note, although Leviathan seems to have been marketed as a YA book I'd say it could just as easily be enjoyed by a more middle-grade and younger audience-- it has something for pretty much everyone in a broad age range!

"City of Ashes" (The Mortal Instruments, #2) by Cassandra Clare

*The description for this book has spoilers for its predecessor, City of Bones, so I won't disclose it here. If you would like to read the description or find out more about the book, visit the goodreads page for it here. This particular review is spoiler free.*

My experience thus far with The Mortal Instruments has been wonderful. "City of Bones" was brilliant, and I consider "City of Ashes" even better. 'Better?', you may inquire; to which I would respond casually: "Heck yes."

I think what I like best about The Mortal Instruments, "City of Ashes" in particular, is that they have a little bit of just about every element but it's still done remarkably well. There are vampires, werewolves, and demons. They are a lot like their stereotype, which is actually a good thing because that means NO *sparkly* vampires.Of course, there are also the fascinating shadowhunters, unique to TMI. All of the greatness present in the first book is back for the second, such as great pace, interesting and broad cast of characters, and deep-running emotions; probably even more of a thrilling page-turner than the first. There were more action filled fight scenes than in the first, all keeping you on the edge of your seat. An ongoing theme in the books seem to be that nothing is ever as it seems, and so I've heard, it stays that way.

All-together, an awesome book. I only bought the first two together and now can't wait to get the third. And, related question (please don't answer with a spoiler), to anyone else who has read TMI, isn't Valentine reminiscent of Voldemort? (Granted, I can draw a comparison to Harry Potter from pretty much anything...)

"Angelfire" by Courtney Allison Moulton

"When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.
A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.
While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember."-goodreads

Angelfire was action packed! There were crazy awesome fight scenes. But those aren't the only elements that made Angelfire such a great book. An interesting cast of characters and a rather unique plot contributed to the awesome as well. I liked Ellie and Will individually and then, awww. I also liked Ellie's mom, which is random, but it's actually kind of significant because so often in YA we find the mom that we hate or just feel indifferent about and there usually aren't likeable moms or dads (granted, the dad wasn't likable. At all. But I won't rant about that.). The characters were each quirky in their own ways, from Ellie naming her car Marshmallow to Will's thing for root beer floats. I appreciated how the monsters and the reality of their presence actually complicating Ellie's life and her social life. Sometimes, in the paranormal books, the character is fighting monsters at night and in the day everything is perfectly normal, no changes, which isn't realistic... The reincarnation aspect was interesting, and I'm curious to find out more about that and Ellie's memories in the sequel. The sequel, Wings of the Wicked, comes out in February 2012. (Which is almost forever from now *exaggeration* but I'm excited for it!)