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Angelfall by Susan Ee – Review

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Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn and the End of Days
Book: 1
Format: Paperback
Pages: 284
Rating: 5/5

24936921Devastatingly heartbreaking and intense, Angelfall is the one angel book that everyone needs in their life. The second I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. When I finished it, I knew this was going to be going on my favourites list.

Penryn Young is exhausted. Day and night, she juggles keeping her wheelchair bound sister and her paranoid schizophrenic mother alive when the angels attack. When they get caught up in an angel skirmish on the streets, Penryn gets separated from her mother. She witnesses an angel lose his beautiful white wings and helps him fend off his attackers. All seems calm when one of the angels comes back in steals her sister out of her wheelchair. Survival becomes a rescue mission. Penryn teams up with angel Raffe, who hopes to get his wings reattached, in order to sneak into angel territory and get her sister back. Angels are then enemy, but Raffe seems almost different. He’s kinder and more thoughtful, but is he really different? Or is he just pretending for his own personal gain?

Susan Ee was born to torture me with her wonderful stories and her amazing characters that make me feel obsolete. Raffe. I cannot stress my love for that sarcastic asshole enough. And can we talk about how when Raffe first meet, before they even know each other’s names, he smiles at how funny she is when she acts like he weighs a ton. That is so cute and no one can convince me otherwise. But then, all of a sudden he wakes up and tries to kill her and sitting there reading as if I could actually reach through the pages and slap some sense into him. There are just some times where I’m wondering “RAFFE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” and then sometimes I had to set the book down and curl up because aww cute. And then “I don’t even like you.” and I’m dead. Don’t even get me started on how they can’t be together because that would result in Raffe being sent to Punishment and possibly a Nephilim, it just breaks my heart. They so obviously belong together and it makes me so mad. The ending made me want to throw the book at the nearest wall. Luckily, I purchased book two when I got book one, so I’m going to do something I don’t do often and read the second book instead of reading what I planned to read next.

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The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis – Review

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Title: The Colossus Rises
Author: Peter Lerangis
Series: Seven Wonders
Book: 1
Format: Hardback
Pages: 348
Rating: 3/5

16061340I had some high hopes for this book regardless of it being a Middle grade read. I try not to let things like that define how it makes the book feel. For example, Percy Jackson is a Middle grade book as well, but it doesn’t read like that, it actually has an interesting story with humour and violence and it could appeal to almost anyone. The Colossus Rises is a Middle grade book and reads like one as well.

I knew right from the beginning that I wasn’t going to fall in love with this book. The characters lack a certain something that makes them easy to connect to. Jack McKinley is the main character, he has a knack for coming up with complicated solutions to seemingly easy problems and he’s dying. Not that he knows this as first, he doesn’t find out until he’s taken to an institution that helps people just like him…all three of the others. Each of the other major characters, Aly, Marco, and Cass, are all given odd little quirks as well. Aly is a computer genius that can hack like a professional, Marco is an athletic star, and Cass is a mental genius with the ability to remember seemingly everything.

This book had such great potential, but even for a fantasy book it felt stretched a little thin. It throws odd scenarios with oddball names into a multitude of unlikely events that made my mind swirl a few times. While still maintaining a highly unique idea, it didn’t seem like it really focused on the fact that these kids are all dying which for some reason doesn’t phase any of them. That seems like a big deal to me, but clearly I’ve missed something more important than impending doom.

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The Body Electric by Beth Revis – Review

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Title: The Body Electric
Author: Beth Revis
Format: Paperback
Pages: 460
Rating: 5/5

24451538This is a joke, right? I’m missing the last one hundred pages, this isn’t really a standalone, surely there’s more, because this isn’t fair. A story such as this needs to have more than 460 pages dedicated to it!

In the future, nanobots are a daily occurrence. Everyone has them, a part of everyone’s life, especially when your name is Ella Shepherd and your parents are famous scientists. Ella’s father is dead, killed by a terrorist attack on the lab he was working in and her mother has a disease called Hebbs Disease, which is fatal and causes the brain to deteriorate. Her mother has developed a way for people to relive their best memories, but everything changes when theory becomes reality. Ella can walk through people’s memories, something that was only thought to be theoretical. Her life is throw into chaos and it certainly does help when a mysterious boy shows up. Ella isn’t sure who to trust. Can she trust the mystery boy that has attachments to her father, but seems to have secrets? Can she trust her government? Can she even trust herself?

I’ve read one book by Beth Revis before The Body Electric, and I loved it, so my expectations were pretty high. My expectations were met. Ella is such an interesting character. She has layers of emotion and strength, but as the story progresses we also see her fears, which (I shall not spoil anything) I find very understandable considering the circumstances. I would have loved to see more interaction between Jack and Ella at the end of the book and every time they were together I did a mental happy dance, but at the same time made me want to throw the book at the wall, because it. Is. So. Frustrating. There’s almost always action going on, so I just kept flipping the pages. All of a sudden the book was over. How did that happen? The science alone is enough to keep my mind constantly interested, but the twists just throw a little extra something that makes me crazy. I still want more, I can’t believe this is just a standalone, this world has so much that it could offer and I hope we see more of it in the future.

Side note: Across the Universe reference, don’t think I missed you, I saw you and I love you.

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The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey – Review

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Title: The Infinite Sea
Author: Rick Yancey
Series: The 5th Wave
Book: 2
Format: Paperback
Pages: 300
Rating: 3.5/5

25194192The world is a clock.
And it’s winding down.

Cassie is with Ben’s gang now. Reunited with her brother Sam, the world is slightly less terrible than it was before. If she wasn’t constantly butting heads with Ringer or arguing about how Evan would be back for her and that he isn’t like the Others, things would be almost normal. For a few seconds, anyway, until it looks like Ben is taking a turn for the worse, Ringer and Teacup disappear, and the gang is being watched. Can the gang survive this time? Or has their enemy finally caught up with them?

Biggest concern with the book – Ringer. I cannot for the life of me be interested in her character or her story. I find her insufferable and annoying most of the time and to be perfectly honest, I skimmed most of the parts that focused on her. I was expecting Ben, Cassie, and Evan as the main focus and for a few chunks of the book they were, those parts kept me interested. In fact, I loved the parts with Cassie as the narrator, because everyone else made it seem like she was stupid or complaining all the time. Ben made me mad this time. He was obviously in serious need of medical attention the entire book, but continued to push himself, which I think will certainly hurt him in the next book. Even Evan’s part made me interested! We got to see more into the lives of the Others and it really shows just how different he is from the rest of them. But why, why, and I can’t stress this enough…WHY was there not more of the romance between Evan and Cassie like there was in the first book? I love that so much. Overall, I think this would have been a 4 or maybe even a 5…if there wasn’t the POV of Ringer in there. I understand her part was in there to show what the Others were up to and their plans for the human race and the planet, but I just couldn’t get into her POV.

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The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan – Review

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Title: The Sword of Summer
Author: Rick Riordan
Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
Book: 1
Copy: Hardback
Pages: 491
Rating: 4.5/5

15724396There’s a select few authors where I can say I love virtually every book I’ve read written by them. Rick Riordan is the god of writing.

Magnus Chase has a normal life. Well, if you consider living on the streets for two years because your mother was killed by a pack of wolves before your apartment burst into flames normal, anyway. His “normal” life is turned upside down when…spoiler alert…he gets killed by a fire giant! Shockingly, he wakes up and finds himself in Valhalla, the life afterlife of deserving warriors that die honourable deaths. However, Doomsday is around the corner and Magnus is the only person that can stop it. Will he succeed? Or will he fail and destroy himself in the process?

I love and will probably love every book from here on that Rick Riordan writes. The way he takes mythology and history, but puts a spin on it, making it interesting and entertaining is unlike any author I’ve ever read.  Not to mention the way he integrates all races, disabilities, and almost everything else in between. Because, yes, there is an Arab girl in this book and she is badass and amazing. Yes, there is a deaf person in this book, does that slow down the plot? Not at all. Rick Riordan’s humour also never ceases to make me smile. Magnus reminded me a lot of Percy with his sarcasm and little one-liners that we all so much, but it wasn’t too similar that it seemed like they were the same person. Can we talk about the little Annabeth cameos? Because those were great and I love them. Uncle Rick, I want a novella with the Magnus and Annabeth conversation at the end, please and thank you. Can’t wait for The Hammer of Thor!

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The Program by Suzanne Young – Review

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Title: The Program
Author: Suzanne Young
Series: The Program
Book: 1
Copy: Hardback
Pages: 405
Rating: 5/5

11366397The Program is a heartbreaking novel about young love and the importance of family and friendship. I picked up The Program because it sounded interesting enough. When I started reading, I intended to just read the first few pages to get a feel  for in, but what I ended up getting was a book that sucked me in so fast I finished it in one sitting.

Sloane lives in a world where suicide is an epidemic. Almost everyone knows at least one person that has committed suicide. In the hopes of ending the epidemic, the government comes up with a solution, the Program. Unfortunately, the Program isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In order to be deemed “not infected” or “cured”, you have to spend six weeks in an institution. People that come back from the Program aren’t the same. They don’t act the same and they don’t remember any of their friends and little of their past. Some people die before getting to the Program, some are shipped away, and some kill themselves before the Program can take them, choosing to die instead of living as a shell of their former selves.

Sloane’s brother killed himself, leaving Sloane heartbroken and feeling helpless. Luckily for her, she has James. Her other half, the love of her life, and her soulmate. Together, they try to fight the Program, staying off the Program’s radar, hiding just how scared and sad they really are. When their friend commits suicide to avoid being put in the Program, James falls off the deep end, slipping into a depression that Sloane can’t pull him out of. Her attempts at making him appear normal work for weeks only to falter. James is shipped off the Program and returns with no memory of their love. Sloane’s life spins out of control, with no direction, no James, and no hope for him coming back to her.

This book is one of my new favourites. The passion between James and Sloane just makes me so happy, they’re so cute together and have such a great relationship. It’s such a heartbreaking story to the point where I found myself in tears more than a few times. If I lived in this world, I would never want to lose all my memories, no matter what the outcome. What’s the point of living, if they take the best parts of you? The good times and the bad, they make up who we are and the idea of something with the ability to take those memories away scares the crap out of me. I simply couldn’t put this book down and I read it in a few hours with the need for more. Certainly one of the best books I’ve read.

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Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard – Review

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Title: Glass Sword
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Number: 2
Copy: Hardback
Pages: 444
Rating: 3.5/5

23174274
Anyone and betray anyone.

With that quote, being one of my favourites of the whole series as of now, I can now relate somewhat well to it. I feel betrayed by this book. I loved Red Queen, but Glass Sword seemed predictable and I felt like it was being dragged out.

Mare Barrow has Red blood, but Silver powers. She has been betrayed by one of the people she trusted the most and is suddenly forced into a battle she didn’t want to be a part of. With her friends, Mare goes on a quest to find newbloods. People of Red blood, with Silver powers, like her, before they can be whipped out of existence by Maven. Throughout her quest, Mare is faced with the pain of the past, the pain of the present, and the uncertainty of the future.

I’m one of those people where I usually love the sequel novel more than the first book. This is not one of those cases. The first give or take 375 pages were dragged out and gave me information that I probably could have gone without. I could have cut out about 300 pages in the middle and it still would have made sense in the end. The relationship between Cal and Mare confuses me to no end, because they act like they love each other, but then they hate each other. Kilorn made me mad. He was jealous and sulked about most of the book without really adding any significant plot. Actually, a good portion of the middle of the book was people sulking about. Mare, I get that Maven betrayed you and that it hurts, but that doesn’t mean that everyone you meet will betray you, calm down. Spoiler here, but obviously Mare was going to end up giving herself over to Maven. It was brought up over and over again throughout the book and I guessed it within the first few hundred pages. Overall, I was disappointed in Glass Sword, it dragged on and on and was, in my mind, predictable. I still love Maven, though, and I wish we saw more of him.

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Nil by Lynne Matson – Review

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Title: Nil
Author: Lynne Matson
Series: Nil
Book: 1
Copy: Hardback
Pages: 374
Rating: 5/5

17225463This book just tore out my heart and threw it on the ground like it was nothing. Nil is an amazing, unique story about love, heartbreak, survival, and friendship.
Charley’s normal life is thrown out of balance when wakes up naked on an island. Her first thought is that she doesn’t even know if she’s on Earth let alone if there’s anyone else with her. Twelve days of barely scraping by on what little things she could gather, Charley runs into Thad. Thad and Charley are instantly captivated by one another, but neither one knows it. With Thad deemed as Charley’s island guide, they have plenty of time to get to know each other. Turns out, people (and warm blooded animals) can appear on Nil any day as long as it’s noon. Being on an island with mostly nice, hardworking people doesn’t seem entirely terrible. But there’s a catch. Each person only gets 365 days to get off the island or they die. With Thad’s clock ticking, Charley realizes that she doesn’t have as much time as she thought. Will she be able to save both of them? Or will one of them die trying to save the other?
I never stood a chance against this book. With it’s stupid beautiful idea and great characters, I was doomed to love it from the start. Don’t get me started on Thad and Charley. They are amazing and beautiful and oh so very frustrating. Even if I think their liking for one another was a little sudden, I’ll let it slide for how well it was portrayed. They wasted too much time thinking about their feelings and didn’t act! If I’m on a deserted island with the guy of my dreams, I will not just stand by and think! Especially if the time is limited!
Li, Natalie, and Rives were my three favourite minor characters and I loved each one for a different reason. And each one of them made me sad for a different reason. I don’t want to give too much away because this truly is a great book and I know I say this with a lot of books, but the ending is quite spectacular. All in all, it’s a great kick ass story that lovers of the TV show Lost and The Maze Runner would probably go crazy over.
The second book is called Nil Unlocked and the last book Nil on Fire comes out May 31, 2016

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Frozen by Erin Bowman – Review

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Title: Frozen
Author: Erin Bowman
Series: Taken
Book: 2
Pages: 359
Rating: 4/5

18089999It’s been over a year since I read Taken, but something told me it was time to read Frozen. In my typical fashion, I completely disregarded the idea of skimming book one to catch up on a few things. That was my mistake. However, it’s okay, because most things I forgot were explained quickly anyway.
Frozen revolves around Gray Weathersby and his team of Rebels on their quest to find survivors of Group A. Seems like a real simple quest. Trek through the snow and ice for days to find people that may or may not be alive while everyone is looking for you in order to find a group of people that may or may not be alive and may or may not actually want your help! Not surprisingly, things didn’t go all that smoothly.
Honestly, my internal struggle mainly revolved around who I liked with Gray. Bree is butch and violent, she and Gray fight all the time (good? bad? it’s a toss up). I don’t have a fully functioning opinion on Bree. The cold side of people is usually the best side when it comes to things like this, but I just found her entirely unlikable when she tried to face things on her own. Emma is the polar opposite, yet I still don’t like her. Her sweet, kind exterior makes her appear helpless and weak, the last thing a survival group needs. Now, if Emma and Bree were the same person, that might work, but they’re not. Gray strings both of them along and no one can convince me otherwise.
Some parts were slow, but when things picked up, they picked up fast and stayed that way. So as to not give anything away, I’ll give my favourite parts a one word ode. Blaine. Boat. Group A. I’ll let the reader sort out what part of the story each belongs to. All in all, though that ending was not something I was expecting and I give props for that. The entire time I was reading I was 100% sure this was a duology until I got to the last page and things were unresolved, then I remembered that Forged is the next book and now I have to buy it in order to see what happens. Looking forward to it!

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Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke – Review

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Title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Series: Between
Number: 1
Format: Paperback
Pages: 360
Rating: 4/5

18693883I can honestly say that this was one of the most thought provoking books I think I’ve read in quite a while. It’s also one of the first where I found myself disagreeing with the love interest (if you could call it that).
What would you do if you could make people see things, feel things? Would you use your power for good, spread joy and happiness? Or would you use it for vengeance and evil? Would you let it consume you? Or would you be strong enough to remain yourself?
I found myself asking myself many of the same questions. When I first started reading, I was kept thinking this book talks about the devil a lot…makes sense. I bet this is all about the devil being real. 
I’m not sure if I’m right. The book quickly introduced mystery boy, River, into the mix. Naturally, I automatically assume he’s the love interest, because that’s just what happens. He’s mysterious, he’s handsome, he’s funny, he’s rich, and he’s basically the perfect love interest, right? Wrong. One thing that really got me was the way Violet (the main character) was able to shrug off all the red flags surrounding our mystery boy. Due to spoilers, I won’t say too much, but River is an avid liar, which is usually a warning signal in every sense of the word, when bodies start piling up and things in the small town of Echo start to get darker, you would think someone would take a hint. Not to mention Violet slept in his arms without even knowing him a full day. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of their relationship, I just hated how blind Violet made herself to his faults. She asked questions, he dodged them, but they always ended up sleeping next to each other anyway, because how much does it really matter that you know a person? Apparently in Violet’s world it doesn’t. It even got to the point where River was making Violet do things, but clearly that’s not much of a red flag either.
Honestly, the ending is what finally made me realize that I truly liked this book. It was intense and it made me so mad, but I’ll leave that to the reader to sort out. All in all, I will certainly have to get my hands on the second book.