Review of Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer: Book 3 in the Nightshade Series

            Calla has finally found her place in life.  But is that enough?  The war amongst the mystical worlds must end and Calla is finding herself in the middle of everything.  This book is the epic end to an amazing trilogy.  In order to avoid any spoilers I will attach the books summary, but this book is one you must experience on your own. 

This is the summary given on the book, I have no rights to this and all copyrights go to Philomel books I just wanted to provide it so you could read it rather than me giving a bunch of the secrets away.  “Calla has always welcomed war.  But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting.  There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath.  There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor.  There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for all.  And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends.  If Calla makes it out alive, that is.”

            If you start to read this book, you will never want to put it down.  I barely did. This book is definitely a 5 out of 5.  I would recommend it to anyone interested in a fantasy fiction with twists and turns and love triangles.  It was the perfect end to an amazing series. Andrea Cremer really knew how to finish this trilogy.  She did an amazing job of filling in all of the blanks and tying up all the loose ends.  

Review of Andrea Cremer's Nightshade Series, Book 1 and Book 2

Review of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer: Book 1 in the Nightshade Series

Calla knows her destiny in life, but when her heart tells her to save a boys life while her head says no, she has to make a decision.  After a bear mauls a young boy, the same age as Calla, she knows he will die if she does not do something.  Against all of the rules she decided to save this random boy, whom she had never met. 

            From this moment on Calla’s life is turned upside down.  Calla is a Nightshade, a pack of shape shifters who can change in to wolves at a moments notice, called Guardians.  Calla is also the Alpha wolf of her pack.   Meaning she is in charge of all the Nightshade wolves in her generation.  But this large responsibility really begins to take its toll when she must be united with another Alpha from another pack.  This union would create a new, larger pack which would benefit the Keepers.  Keepers are in control of the all the wolves.  They make the rules, they tell them what to do.  Because of this, Calla must watch her step after she saves this young boy. 

            With the Union to the Wolfsbane Alpha in the near future, Calla must find out who she really is.  It wasn’t until this mystery boy shows up at her school that she realizes that saving him and breaking the rules may be harder to be kept a secret than she originally thought. 

            To avoid too much of a spoiler I will stop my description there.  This book is filled to the covers with twists and turns that makes you want to keep turning pages.  It’s a good read and keeps you guessing.  I found it to have an amazing storyline with well thought out characters.  Each one has their own personality it feels like you are in the book with them as friends. 

            I give this book a 5 out of 5.  It is so very good; I barely wanted to set the book down.  This is a book I would recommend to any of my friends.   I loved it so much I picked up the second book in the series the day I finished the first one.  Which leads me to part two of this post.

Review of Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer: Book 2 in the Nightshade Series

            Now that Calla’s life has been turned upside down and inside out, she must find her new path.   With her past not so far behind her, Calla is conflicted.   Soon her and her new allies find themselves in some difficult situations.  But in order to make the future a bright one and to win the war these actions must take place. 

            Calla is surprised when she finds that her and her former enemies and now allies are more alike then she first thought.  Together they must work to save the pack and teach everyone who the Keepers really are.  Sorry I know this isn’t a great summary but I don’t want to give too much away. This book, just like the first, is absolutely amazing.  It is such a page-turner that I rarely set it down.  I can not wait to read the next installment in the series.  If the next book, Bloodrose is just as good as the last two I know I will be pleased. 

            Again I give this book a 5 out of 5.  If you read the first one you have to read the second one.  This series is so good, and Andrea Cremer shows much promise! I can’t wait to see what other books she comes out with in the future.  

Secrets of My Hollywood Life: Paparazzi Princess by Jen Calonita

This book is a part of Jen’s Secrets of My Hollywood Life series.  Although I have not found much of a number system to the pattern I have previously read a few of the books before this one.  So I had a bit of back-story related the story line.  However I did not feel that is was overly necessary to know or have read the previous books in the series. 

Paparazzi Princess starts with Kaitlin very stressed over the ending of her TV show she has been on since preschool.  She is now a teenager and doesn’t know how to deal with the amounting levels of stress from the need to find a new job.  The story takes you on her journey of finding way to relieve the stress as well as move forward with her life.  After many twists and turns, Kaitlin finds herself once again and is able to make the right choices for herself. 

This book was not a difficult read and didn’t really require a large amount of thought during the read.  However, it was quite addicting to read, you wanted to know what was going to happen next.  Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

I would give this book a 4 out of 5.  It was really good and enjoyed reading it.  I would probably read the next book in the series too. 

Have you read this book? If so leave me a comment of your thoughts below.  <3 Lily

Review of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Book 3 of the Hunger Games Series

Katniss escapes once again when a rescue plan is executed.  She is taken to a place she never knew existed, District 13.  It was a surprising find, an entire city living beneath ground and making a living “off the grid”.  People who fled from their districts took refuge in District 13 and when District 12 was bombed some of the people escaped to District 13.  Life in District is not something that is normal for everyone who has lived in other districts.  There are more rules and more things to consider. 

            Now that Katniss has healed from her injuries she received in the Quarter Quell, she is spoken to about becoming the figurehead of sorts for the retaliation.  The President of District 13 believes having Katniss persuading the people would help to get all of the District people to retaliate against the capital.  At first Katniss declines, not wanting the responsibility and being the cause of getting people killed.

            After a period of time she decides she must take on this role.  It was what she was supposed to do.  She does everything she is told to by the retaliation.  Feeling like she is going through the motions everyone one is making her feel like a pawn.  So is she really being used or his her patience running thin?  Read to find out.

            I found the concluding book of the series to be a little slow.   It was good don’t get me wrong but at certain points I was just like “come on, let’s get to the point.”  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I found it a bit of a less fun read because of that reason.  I did however like the unexpected twists and turns it provided.  I was surprised at many points along the journey, which made the book much better scale in my mind. 

            I would rate this book a 4 out of 5.  I am giving it this rating because of the slow parts but other than that it is an amazing read.  If you have read the other books in the series you will find this book in your hands before you know it.  (You have to figure out how the story ends)

If you have read Mockingjay, leave a comment below with your thoughts.  <3 Lily 

Review of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Book 2 in the Hunger Games Series

            With the Hunger Games freshly finished, a victory tour is right around the corner.  Katniss must continue putting on show for everyone in the districts and the capitol, especially after a certain threat from the president himself.  The book takes many twists and turns, but in order to keep from spoiling the entire plot. 

            I found the second book starting off at a spot that I did not expect.  I figured it would pick up where the first left off, but was disappointed when this wasn’t the case.  Although the beginning was different than I expected, it was still very good.  Initially I found the book to be slow moving and honestly a bit boring.  A lot of time was spent on the victory tour, when I really just wanted to get to the next major event in the book.  After the book began to pick up a lot of loops were thrown in for good measure.  Many of the twists and turns were very unexpected.  In order to avoid any spoilers I wont go into much detail but the middle part of the book kind of boring, it was a ‘been there, read that’ feeling.  But I pushed through and I am glad I did, the outcome was quite unexpected. The book ended leaving a cliffhanger for the next book and I was left feeling a little less than satisfied.  Although this book is not as good as the first it is still definitely a good read. 

            I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 because it was a bit slow, but still good nonetheless.  I would most certainly recommend this book to everyone, however I would (obviously) recommend reading the first installment first, or you will be very very confused. 

Have you read Catching Fire? Tell me what you think.  Leave a comment below. 

Review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The book begins by explaining life within District 12, the main setting at the beginning of the book.  Katniss, the main character, gives the back story reasons for why life is the way it is now.  One of the main reasons for the back story is something called the reaping.  The reaping is where the entire district gathers to join in an unwanted game of chance.  Each year children from the ages of 12 – 18 have their name, separated by gender, placed into a ball.  At the reaping one male and one female is chosen to be a tribute in the Hunger Games.  The games are brutal and the story takes off from the point of the reaping.  The Hunger Games progress where survival is the way of winning.  It is an all out duel between the two tributes from each district, leaving 24 players in the arena.  In order to win you have to stay alive, but that also means killing others in order to do so. 

            This book is an epic tale of a young girl who just wants to survive.  Survive her life in District 12 which is anything but comfortable, and inevitably to survive the games.  I absolutely loved this book.  I never wanted to put it down.  I was captivated nearly every moment of the book and hung on to every word.  This is a book I would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to be entertained.  The book isn’t overly Sci-fi as one might think, but it does include some advanced technology.  But don’t let this discourage you from reading the book.  This is one that I believe anyone would love. 

           

            I would rate this book a 5 out of 5.  It is amazing!!! Literally males and females alike will love this book.  And with the movie coming out knowing the story beforehand may be a good idea. I know that was the reason why I picked up the book.  I was even skeptical at first.  But trust me when I say, you will love this read!

Have you read the book?? Tell me what you think below in the comment section. 

Review of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

  
   This story begins in the depths of a prison unlike any other.  It is completely metal and has a mind of its own, literally.  Within the prison the government or lack there of leads to anarchy, with different groups who steal from one another to get what they want.  Simply put life in Incarceron is not ideal.  With the end of each chapter the book the phases.  Claudia is the Warden of Incarceron's daughter, who lives a life of luxury.  Although the technology is very futuristic, Claudia's world lives under protocol of the medieval times, this way the people in power remain in power.  Claudia is jealous of her father's constant   absence because of the prison and is set on finding it.  Claudia sets on this journey not really prepared for what she finds out.

   Incarceron is a book with many levels.  If you are wanting a simple read, this is not the book for you.  It goes back and forth between the two main characters with each chapter making it difficult to really process.  The book starts out ok but very confusing, within the first twenty pages I hardly knew what was going on.  I will say honestly that was a really big problem for me.  The book didn't hold my interest  at all and was boring for most of the book.  I would say that out of the 442 pages only 40 of them really had me intrigued to know what was going to happen next.  In addition I didn't like the ending.  It was kinda anti-climatic and did finish tying up all the loose ends I wish it would have explained.  But I guess that leaves it open to a sequel that I will more than likely not read.

   Overall I would rate this book about 2 out of 5.  It lacked the interest I need to keep me enveloped in a book.  I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, it really wasn't one I enjoyed but finished it anyway because I am the type of person that can't put a book down once I have started it.  I have to give it the benefit of the doubt that it will get better eventually.  This one did for a little bit, but honestly wasn't worth my time.

Have you read the book?? Leave your comments below.