In My Mailbox

First off I'm happy to say that I'm back from a month long hiatus! I was at camp with no access to the internet so posting was pretty much impossible, but I'm SO excited to get back to the book blogging world and share my thoughts on some fabulous books!

My first post in a month is an In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren. In My Mailbox is a weekly MeMe where bloggers share what they got to read this week!

Bought:

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Does this book even need an explanation? Cassandra Clare is amazing, I love the mortal instruments series and I have no doubt that I will love The Infernal Devices series as well!

What happened to goodbye by Sarah Dessen

I read this book the day I got it, I just couldn't wait! Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite YA authors and I would recommend her books to anyone!

This week I took my first trip to Barnes and Noble since probably February, and it was pure torture! There were so many fabulous books I wanted, but I limited myself to two! Did you all  have an equally fabulous (or torturous) week?

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now.

The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.

I Am Number Four is the thrilling launch of a series about an exceptional group of teens as they struggle to outrun their past, discover their future—and live a normal life on Earth.

I AM NUMBER FOUR.
I AM NEXT.
  
The main reason I read this book was because I wanted to see the movie, and I always prefer to read the book beforehand. That said, I think this book will probably make a better movie.


I really loved the idea of this book. I loved the background we got on the Loriens and the different powers Number Four developed throughout the story, but I wouldn't say that I liked Number Four himself very much. I got very frustrated with him at times, especially during certain interactions that he had with his guardian Henry. I also didn't understand his obsession with Sarah, I really felt like the author just threw Sarah in because he wanted a love story, we didn't really get anything about her except that she was pretty, nice, and liked photography.


I will probably read the next book in the series, since it follows another member of the nine, and since my major downfall with this book was the characters hopefully I'll like the next one better. Overall it was a book that people who like more of the science fiction genre will enjoy.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

I loved loved loved Anna and the French Kiss! To be honest I love the whole YA romance genre in general, but this book was definitely a stand out.

Let's start off with the characters, they were amazing. Anna was an awesome Main Character, I loved watching her try to deny her attraction to St. Clair, and I loved the little details Perkins threw in to give her depth, like the fact that she wanted to be a famous movie critic. You couldn't help but feel almost tortured at certain points of the book when certain ummmmm, steamy situations arose between her and St. Clair, because, well, St. Clair is the perfect boy. I loved St. Clair from the minute Anna met him, how could you not? English accent, awesome looks, nice, talented, St. Clair is just the perfect boy (even if I did want to hit him for his stupidity at times).

To make the book even more fabulous we had an awesome plot that contained a few twists I certainly was not expecting, and a few that I was.When I first saw this book I wasn't sure if the author would really have a plot that interested me enough to fill up that many pages, but she certainly did!To top it all off Perkins also set the whole thing in France, the most romantic city in the world, and can I just say that her descriptions of the food in France made me extremely hungry!

Even if you classify yourself as a strict no romance reader, pick up Anna and the French Kiss, I promise it will charm you!

Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon

The Gods have abandoned Ai Ling.
Her mysterious power haunts her day and night, and she leaves home—with just the moon as her guide—overwhelmed by her memories and visions and an unbearable sense of dread. For Ai Ling knows that Chen Yong is vulnerable to corrupt enchantments from the under-world. How can she do nothing when she has the skill and power to fight at his side? A dream has told her where he is, the name of the ship he is traveling on, his destination. So she steals off and stows away on board.
The ocean voyage brings with it brutal danger, haunting revelations, and new friendships, but also the premonition of a very real and terrifying threat. Zhong Ye—the powerful sorcerer whom Ai Ling believed she had vanquished in the Palace of Fragrant Dreams—is trapped in Hell, neither alive nor dead. Can he reach from beyond the grave to reunite with Silver Phoenix and destroy Chen Yong? And destroy whatever chance Ai Ling has at happiness, at love?
In this sequel to the acclaimed novel Silver Phoenix, four lives are woven together and four destinies become one, now and forever. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great sequel to Silver Phoneix, sometimes sequels let you down but Fury of the Phoenix made the series even better.

One thing that bothered me about Silver Phoenix was the pacing, but Pon hit her literary stride in this novel. No section seemed too long or too short, and the pacing kept us wanting more. I also loved the extended characterization that we got in Fury of the Phoenix. I really enjoyed seeing a different side to the relationship between Chen Yong and Ai Ling, but I think my perception of Zhong Ye was the one that changed the most. After reading this book I actually felt very sympathetic towards him, and I felt like I really understood his motives behind his actions.

I really love the different aspects of the Asian culture that we see in these books, I wouldn't say that I was every particularly interested in it before, so reading about the more fantastical aspects of it was really great.

A great addition to a beautifully written fantasy series. Definitely one to pick up!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly MeMe hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where readers share what they're waiting on this week.

Scarlett thought Dan McAndrew's murder was long behind her, but when she and her classmates arrive in Edinburgh for a weeklong field trip, she's startled to be joined by her old St. Tabby's cohorts--and enemies--who are visiting the area on a field trip as well. Even more startling, Callum, Dan's surviving twin, is in the area--and his cold treatment leaves Scarlett wondering what's changed, especially when a series of attacks makes her believe that someone's out to get her for her past mistakes. Would Callum ever hurt her, though? And what's Scarlett to make of her conflicting feelings for Callum, now that Jase isn't around? Even more upsetting, why is her most trusted confidante, Taylor, acting distant and dismissive?
Release Date: May 10th, 2011

I love this series. Scarlett is probably one of my favorite female characters in YA literature, and how can you NOT love a series that's full of hot boys? Also that cover is beautiful! I love the colors.

What are you waiting on this week?

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

After reading this book I really don't see what all of the fuss is about.  Honestly I've read some pretty scathing reviews of this novel on Goodreads, but I had also heard some gushing praise for it at school. I guess I would fall somewhere inbetween.

I didn't really like Cassia as a character. The only part where I actually enjoyed reading about her was when she was talking with her grandfather. I guess as the novel progressed she became more interesting and less annoying but I still wouldn't say I like her as a person. Actually looking back, I didn't really love any of the characters. My favorite would have to have been Ky but we didn't really hear enough about him to hold up the other characters.

The plotline was good, I just wish it had stronger characters to hold it up. I've read a lot of reviews that say The Society is a rip-off of The Giver but I didn't really see that. I think that a few things could have been cleared up, but maybe Condie wanted to leave them shrouded in questions.

Not the best book I've ever read, however I'll probably still read the sequel. What can I say? It's hard for me to abandon a series, off the top of my head I can only remember one (The Immortals by Alyson Noel, I really could not stand those books.)

Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

Meet Brooke: Popular, powerful and hating every minute of it, she’s the “It” girl at Douglas High in Lake Champion, Minnesota. Her real ambition? Using her operatic mezzo as a ticket back to NYC, where her family lived before her dad ran off with an up and coming male movie star.

Now meet Kathryn: An overachieving soprano with an underachieving savings account, she’s been a leper ever since Brooke punched her at a party junior year. For Kath, music is the key to a much-needed college scholarship.

The stage is set for a high-stakes duet between the two seniors as they prepare for the prestigious Blackmore competition. Brooke and Kathryn work toward the Blackmore with eyes not just on first prize but on one another, each still stinging from a past that started with friendship and ended in betrayal. With competition day nearing, Brooke dreams of escaping the in-crowd for life as a professional singer, but her scheming BFF Chloe has other plans. And when Kathryn gets an unlikely invitation to Homecoming, she suspects Brooke of trying to sabotage her with one last public humiliation.

As pressures mount, Brooke starts to sense that the person she hates most might just be the best friend she ever had. But Kathryn has a decision to make. Can she forgive? Or are some rivalries for life?

Wow. Sara Bennett Wealer definitely gained a fan with her Debut novel Rival, I'm going to be keeping an eye out for other novels from her for sure!


Oh my how I enjoyed this book. I loved the two main characters Brooke and Kathryn and I, shockingly, even liked Brooke a little better. Brooke was the queen-B but she wasn't a mean queen-B, in fact, she was rather uncaring about her status at school. I could definitely relate to Brooke's friendship with Kathryn, the way it went from amazing to terrible, and I LOVED the description that she used "all I could see when I looked at Kathryn was blackness" that's such an awesome way to describe how friendships can go sour. The book was a perfect interpretation of a high-school friendship gone wrong, it captured girls cattiness amazingly. The dynamic between innocent Kathryn with her two parents and lower-middle-class living to Brooke with her absentee dad and tons of money was so fun. The way we got to see how the two envied each-others lives really gives you a peak into the way people always want what they don't have, and take what they do have for granted.


I think what really pushed this book over the top for me was the singing aspect of it. I'm deeply involved with my own high-school choir and reading about two girls who care about singing so much really appealed to me. I couldn't wait to see what would happen at the Blackmoore (and I LOVED how it turned out). The ending wasn't one of those typical "everythings perfect" endings either, it still left you feeling happy but it didn't give you the typical solutions that most YA books do.


An amazing 2011 Debut! A great read full of friendship, music, drama, and fantastic writing!