Thursday, July 7, 2011
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Friday, September 24, 2010
Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Stories of Paranormal Love
"I made my way through the crowd, trying not to jostled by the men around me."
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Blog Tour + GIVEAWAY: Merlin's Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton
The negative things I have to say about Merlin's Harp is that I kept getting the feeling the story was being rushed and it sometimes wandered of the main trail if you will. It was would slow way down, then it would speed up and would lose me completely. I kept having to go back and reread several important passages. The beginning of the book was rushed as well and there was so much stuff to "learn" about the Fey folk, that I felt a little overwhelmed by the details. Sometimes I felt kinda of silly reading about all this fairy stuff, but that is probably a fantasy newbie talking. Things like this may or may not turn off the reader. It just depends. Read a few chapters here.
I had no idea that I would grow use to talk of auras and magic spells. As the story progressed, so did my attraction to the “magical” setting. There is also a modern genuinely about this novel that is unique. Some of the phrases Nivienne and the other characters say are not true to the middles ages, but I didn't notice it all that much and sometimes modern phrases are okay to throw in when it comes to young adults. Again, depends on what style you like. Personally, I could have handled any kind of medieval terminology--that's just me though.
|Genre: Fantasy, Arthurian|Age Group: YA, ages 15 to adult|
|Content: Sexuality (PG-13 level)|Buy or Borrow? Borrow|
|Enjoyed It: 3/5|Content Rating: 2/5|Cover: 4/5|
|Overall|
(Contest Closed)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cathy's Ring by Sean Stewart & Jordan Weisman
The Cathy's Book series is a pretty good action packed/paranormal story of two teenage girls who solve a secret that could cost them their lives. Cathy's boyfriend, Victor is pretty much the target of Book 1, while Book 2, introduces several new characters....including a whopping surprise about Cathy's deceased father. In Cathy's Ring, it's more about Cathy and is shorter and more serious than the other two books. Although there were a few loose ends when I finished the last page--like what happened to Denny and Jewel--the sudden ending suited the pace of the story perfectly. I think the Cathy's Book series would make really cool movies. Jackie Chan could be Cathy's father or something.
The drawings in this book were awesome--again; and once more my favorite character was Pete because he's always the optimistic computer geek. There was no "proof" (little photos and nick-knacks in the front of the book) because it was from the library and they take all that stuff out [sniff], but I still had a great time reading this final installment! If you'd like to read this series, be sure to pick up Cathy's Book or if you'd like to read my review on Cathy's Book and Cathy's Key, please go here.
I hope Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman come up with another series--they are really good at creating action-packed stories!
|Pages: 149|Year Published: 2009|Publisher: Running Press|
|Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal fiction, action & adventure, romance|
|Age Group: YA, ages 14+|Content: Some language, violence, & sensuality|
|Enjoyed It: 4/5|Content Rating: 3/5|Cover: 4/5|
|Overall|
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A Pearl Among Princes by Coleen M. Paratore
Filled to the brim with island gossip, spoiled princes, tricks, and true love, Paratore is sure to make you giggle and blush no matter what age you are. I recommend to tweens ages 9-12 or the young at heart.
Coleen Paratore is the author of several books for children and tweens including the ever popular Wedding Planner's Daughter series. She lives in upstate New York.
|Pages: 191|Year Published: Sept. 2009|Publisher: Dial|
|Genre: Fantasy, romance, tweens|
|Age Group: Ages 9-12|Content: None|
|Enjoyed It: 4/5|Content Rating: 5/5|Cover: 5/5|
|Overall|
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hannah: Daughters of the Sea by Kathryn Lasky

Hannah wants to be normal, but she's not. While others in Bstone complain of the moody sea, it beckons her. The sea's billowing waves smooth her, while rolling fields make her ill. Hannah leaves a ring of salt in the bathtub at night, and can see a faint tracing of scales on her feet. There is something in her that's different, wrong-and deeply thrilling.
Only one person seems to know who-or what-Hannah is. He's a guest in the house where she works as a scullery girl, and his fascinated gaze followers her. She doesn't understand the pull he exerts or her longing. But even as the mystery deepens, Hannah is sure of one thing. A sea change is coming.
*****
In this first installment to the Daughters of the Sea series, Hannah, an orphan takes a job as a scullery maid with a wealthy Bostonian family and discovers a secret about herself that is just as wondrous as the sea. I enjoyed reading Hannah because it’s historical fiction with a magical story behind the characters. From the mysterious painter, a sly cat and her dark minded owner, to the call of the sea, Lasky has done it again creating a vivid world you’re dying to visit. Most of Lasky’s books I’ve read have been based on hard, solid historical facts, this book is different. Hannah takes a twist on a well known myth and flings it-not into the modern world-but to a past one, a world of romantics and of course, scullery girls.
Maybe it’s just me, but I like reading about how a household was run by one butler and a whole army of servants or how a portrait was painted. By far, though, my favorite thing in this book was the vases the Hawleys insist on lugging all over the world with them; they are the inspiration in giving Hannah the idea that she is part of the sea.
Besides the somewhat “normal” side the story, there is a magical side as well, a side that makes the book even more exciting. I can’t until the next book is out-I’m dying to see what happens to Hannah!
Overall, Lasky did not disappoint me one bit and I think Lasky fans and other readers alike will be enchanted by this lovable tail...er, tale of one girl’s magical discovery.
*Kathryn Lasky is no stranger to the sea, having crossed the Alantic in a thiry-foot sailboat twice. She is author of mover 50 books and has received a Newberry Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and a Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award. Kathryn lives with her husband in Cambridge, Massachusetts.*
|Pages: 310|Published: Sept. 2009|Publisher: Scholastics|
|Genre: Historical fiction, fantasy|
|Age Group: Ages 10+|Content: None|
|Enjoyed It: 5/5|Content Rating: 5/5|Cover: 5/5| (NEW)!
|Overall|
Monday, September 7, 2009
Blog Tour: Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Sideshow edited by Deborah Noyes

Saturday, May 9, 2009
Cathy's Book & Key by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman

Things weren’t so peachy in Cathy’s life before Victor broke up with her. Her father died unexpectedly, she’s failing school, and her best friend is mad
at her. But when Cathy decides to investigate Victor’s reasons for ending their relationship, things suddenly go from bad to very, very, very bad as her findings produce more questions than answers. For instance, wh
at does the death of Victor’s co-worker, the strange mark that appeared on Cathy’s arm, and the surreal behavior of several Chinese elders have to do with it? Through Cathy’s unique and irresistible voice—and lots of proof in the form of letters, photographs, date book entries, telephone numbers readers can call, websites they can access, as well as secrets
only a careful reader will be able to decipher—readers will enter a strange and fascinating world where things often aren’t how they appear. -from amazon.com


Rating:
Thursday, April 9, 2009
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier



