Monday, August 20, 2012

Nevermore

Author: James Patterson
Series: Maximum Ride, Book 6
Rating: Umm. 2 on my bestest day.

One last chance...
for Max, Fang, and Dylan...
before it all ends.

Then it asks all these random question like :Are you ready?" Because this is it. Thank God. Because it got really bad, really fast.

After the third book, I was like.. Okaaaaay. Weird. As I said to my friend earlier, this book left me with a general WTF feeling. Like, you made a bunch of winged children and made them go green? That's something every human can (and should) do. But really, if you're going to make hybrids, have them do something awesome. I am not saying that going green is not awesome (it is) but, make them do something we've never heard of. Something ordinary humans can't do. They have WINGS. Do something with them!

The beginning was alright. Still strange, and if one of these books ever go without saying "You're going to save the world" any less than 5 times, I'd be amazed. And thankful. I mean, Good Lord. And what's with all the voices, hm? Max has had one like forever now. Fang suddenly got one.Oh, I know, let's give the entire flock a voice now too! Weird.

The middle.. Well that's when things started getting weird. Er. Weirder. Um.. Someone dies, and I am glad. If any of you have ever watched Buffy/Angel they remind me of Cordelia. I also cheered when she (Cordelia) died. I was angry, and pretty much DIE, DIE, DIE! Yeah. It was bad, and then it was still bad.

I'm going to finish this right quick so I don't get another headache from thinking about this book again. My rating, as I said, would probably be a two on my best day ever. Because this book is freaking weird. I give up on James Patterson.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Onyx!

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux, Book 2
Rating: 5,000,000,001

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…


First warning, don't read this without reading Obsidian. Lucky for you awesome people I have the review for it here. Also, I will try my very hardest to keep this nice and spoilery free.  


This book left me speechless. Do you know the last time a book did that? I don't either. Possibly never. More often than not, sequels suck. I can't ever remember reading book 2 and saying wow. That was even better. This was more than better. It surpassed Obsidian. It surpassed every single book I've ever read. 


Sometimes, authors can get predictable. I've read several books by Jennifer, and let me say, this woman is a mad genius. I couldn't stop guessing what was going to happen next. Non-stop action is fantastic. Jen delivers, as always. Jen, if you're reading this, THANK YOU!


Character development.. Wow. There's just so much in this book. Katy, Daemon, even Dee. Everyone grows so much in this book, it's just awesome. There's a softer scene of Daemon, a tougher side to Katy, and a confused side to Dee. Everybody just seems more real and relatable. Yes, I'm probably making up words. No, I don't care. Yes, I want a chocolate chip cookie delivered to me via Daemon's mouth. 


Hmm.. What to say, what to say? This book was seriously just amazing. I read it in 3 hours, and I can pretty much guarantee that I will read it again before the weekend is up. And again when I'm at school. Do you understand that I think this book is amazing? Because it is.


Daemon. I love this man. That is all. No, not really because there's waay to much to be said about Daemon to leave at just that. He's still snarky, and at time a jerk don't get me wrong, but in this book.. Dang. He almost made me cry more than once. He's heartbreaking, and I love that he's taking this huge risk letting Katy in like this.


These DOD people are creeps. Just sayin'. And if there's this feeling about this one guy that you meet early on, you're probably right. I know I was. 


The ENDING. Not the worst cliffhanger I've ever read, but I am very, very curious to know what happens next. Very curious. Oh my God, Christmas is not the reason I'm looking forward to December, curious. And I love Christmas. 


So, I have everything covered right? Character development, check. Action, check. Unpredictable, check. So unbelievable I only got up once and only because there was persistent knocking, check. Hot alien, oh please. Yes. To the max. Awesome blogging changing Katy, yes! Yep, everything.


I have a serious need for a chocolate chip cookie. 


Thank you again, Jen! You're awesome, girl. 


Now for the rate. Again, 5 billion and one. 

:)

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Selection


Author: Kiera Cass
Series: Selection, Book 1
Rating: 4 1/2 Awesome!

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


Okay so this book is awesome. 10 reasons why:

10. It takes place in the future.
Yeah, these books are popular now. That started with The Hunger Games and hasn't ended yet so far. But this is cool. It gives history of the past. Plus, it's fantastic about not letting you be confused. And I get confused easily, so that says something.

9. It has a prince.
I'm a sap. I like princesses and castles (I still watch Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid and Cinderella.) This prince is cool. His introduction to the story is captivating and he isn't so bad himself. :) Very polite, but not... Stiff upper lip kind. If that makes sense.

8. The main character isn't a snobby girl who complains a lot.
Actually, she's not snobby at all. A bit poor, really. But not the whole I'm-so-poor-feel-bad-for-me. Because there are girls like that. And they are annoying. But America isn't one of them, so don't fret! :)

7. It has the Singer family in it.
Is it just me, or do stories that have the person's family in it make it more believable? Just me? Well, America has her family in the story. She has an older sister and a brother, and an adorable little sister. I'm a sucker for sweet little sisters. They have jobs and it's all very believable. To me, at least.

6. Aspen at the beginning.
At the beginning, he does some really sweet things. Then he makes me angry. Granted, it is sort of easy to make me angry, but still. 

5. The plot line. And cover.
35 girls all vying for one Prince's affections. A bit Bachelor-ish, right? Well, all the girls are well compensated for their time. There's sabotage, and crying, and eliminations and parties. That really does sound like the Bachelor, doesn't it? Plus, that's just a gorgeous cover.

4. Character development.
It's important to me for a character to learn something. About themselves hopefully. America does, and I think she learns a lot. Self sacrifice mainly. But she also learns maybe this competition wasn't the worst thing in the world for her.

3. Characters.
All the characters are very easy to understand. You can tell if they're gonna be good or bad. It was a tad bit predictable, but that's okay. I like the dialogue, and the simplicity. It fits the characters.  

2.  Prince Maxon.
I liked him. Couldn't really figure him out at first, which intrigued me. I like that's he's a prince (duh) a gentleman, which I suppose would be included in the whole prince package. He's supposed to be cute. Smart, the future ruler of a country and defender of the kingdom. Gosh, that sounds like a lot. 


.......... :)

1. Love triangle.
Huge sucker for a love triangle here. Between Aspen and Maxon, I'm more of a princely guy. Just my opinion. At some point in our lives, most of us have to make a choice. It's probably not going to be between a prince and someone in a lower caste level than you, still it's still a choice. 


So I'd recommend it to someone looking for a set in the future, Hunger Game like without the blood, but still action and love. I think. Does any of this make sense? If not, I blame the time difference. It's 3 am in my home time zone, and I'm 3 hours behind. Very confused. Bad spelling.

4 1/2 stars, because I keep thinking about it even though I read about it 3 days ago and have since read erm.. 4 books. Maybe 5. So it's pretty good.



Sunday, July 22, 2012

#TeamDaemonFTW

All right, guys. Here's the deal:


The wonder YA Sisterhood blog is having their annual YA Crush Tourney. It's this whole big mess of sexy. Right now, my personal favorite, is going up against Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars. Augustus is all fine and dandy but he is not, I repeat, not DAEMON BLACK.
Yes. Daemon Black from the wonderful Lux series by Ms. Jennifer L. Armentrout (which I have reviewed.) The amazing Ms. Armentrout has incentives for her boys (Daemon and Aiden) winning. She does it by votes (which is freaking awesome) and Aiden has already won his round on.. Friday?  So. Incentives. Go check out her blog for those AFTER you go to HERE to vote for HIM. (Look down.)



Hello?! Gorgeous doesn't cover it!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Final Warning

Author: James Patterson
Series: Maximum Ride, Book 4
Rating: 3, not my favorite book in the series


FIRST SHE WAS WATCHED.
In this breathtaking new story from the astonishing imagination of James Patterson, a girl has to save herself from an army assembled just to capture her - and maybe save the planet while she's at it. 
THEN SHE WAS THREATENED. 
Maximum Ride is a perfectly normal teenager who just happens to be able to fly, the result of an out-of-control genetic experiment. Max and the other members of the flock - five kids who share her remarkable ability - have been asked to aid a group of environmental scientists studying the effects of global warming. The expedition seems like a perfect combination of adventure, activism - and escaping government forces who are watching the flock all the time. 
THIS IS HER FINAL WARNING.
But even in Antarctica, enduring in the harshest weather on our planet, Maximum Ride is an irresistible target in constant danger. For whoever controls her powers could also control the world. . . . 



Okay, to start off, if you don't like this planet, don't read this book. This book, for whatever reason, is about saving the world. Part of me is disappointed, because while I am firmly for saving Earth, it's like... You created winged mutants.. To go green? It's just so mundane!


Now, if you like Earth and Maximum Ride, you should read this book! It's seriously not as bad as people make it out to be. It's still Max and the flock, they're just doing things differently. They finally found their purpose which has been leading up since book one. 


A good thing about this book, besides going green, is Max and Fang's relationship. As in, THEY'RE FINALLY UNDERSTANDING THEY WANT ONE. Well, Max is. Fang makes me a little angry in this book and the next two books that follow. I only hope that in Nevermore (Aug. 6) he doesn't do anything that makes me horribly upset (like he has before) because it's the LAST BOOK!


There's not that much of a plot line, besides saving the world.. That kind of sucks. There's not really any character development either, which also sucks. As I said before, it's not my favorite in the series. Possibly my least favorite, which is why I give it 3 stars. Maybe 2 1/2.



Saturday, July 14, 2012

Daemon's POV from Chapter 23 (laptop scene)

Surprise! Since I have been neglecting my posting duties (for which I apologizee profusely) I have a special treat for my amazing readers!
As you may already know, the Dameon in question is from the Lux series (i.e. Shadows, Obsidian, Onyx) and the laptop scene is pratically infamous.
The official trailer for Obsidian (is amazing) is here. Pepe (Daemon) and Stzella (Katy) are both gorgeous and it's magnificent! So go check it out.
Now, for the main event. ;D
I give you.. The Laptop Scene! In Daemon's POV, of course.

   Kat was two seconds from losing it, and I loved it. Her hands curled into tiny fists. “Like what?”
            “Well, the jumping jacks… for an hour or so should do it.” I was only half serious when I made the suggestion, but then my gaze dropped over the front of her shirt. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to see her jump around.  “You may want to change first.”
            She took a deep breath. “I’m not jumping jacks for an hour.”
            And that was a damn shame. Crimson stained the tips of her cheeks. A sure sign she was angry. I couldn’t help myself. “You could run around the house, up and down the stairs.” I met her eyes and grinned. “We could always have sex. I hear that uses up a lot of energy.”
            Her mouth dropped open. “That will never happen in a million years, buddy.” She took a step forward, raising her pointer finger at me. “Not even if you were the last—wait, I can’t even say last human on the face of this Earth.”
             “Kitten,” I murmured.
            “Not even if you were the last thing that looked like a human on the face of this Earth. Got that? Capiche?”
            I tilted my head to the side and smiled. She was really on a roll now. Eyes bright and face flushed. Part of me hated to admit it, but she was amazing when she was like this. Absolutely amazing.
            “I’m not even attracted to you. Not even a little bit. You’re—”
I was in her face before she had a chance to blink. “I’m what?”
“Ignorant,” she said, taking a step back.
“And?” I matched her steps, compelled. Compelled by what? I didn’t know.  
“Arrogant. Controlling.” She took another step back, but I didn’t let her get far. Oh no, I was all up in her face, sharing the same air. “And you’re…you’re a jerk.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can do better than that, Kitten.” And I knew she could. Kat had a mouth on her. Speaking of which, my gaze dropped. Her lips parted. Dammit. “Because I seriously doubt you’re not attracted to me.”
She laughed—the sound low and husky. Sexy. “I’m totally not attracted to you.”
I took one more step and her back was against the wall. Staring down at her, I think I may’ve forgotten to force my lungs to inhale. “You’re lying.”
“And you’re overconfident.” She wetted her lips, and energy pounded through my body. “You know, the whole arrogant thing I mentioned. Not attractive.”
Man, she was so full of it. She’d say anything to keep arguing. Placing my hands on each side of her head, I leaned down, my mouth so close to hers I could almost taste her. I doubted her lips would be sweet. More like one of those red hot Fireball candies.
I really, really liked that candy.
“Every time you lie, your cheeks turn red.”
“Nuh-uh,” she said.
I slid my hands down the wall, stopping beside her hips. “I bet you think about me all the time. Nonstop.” As much as I thought about her, which had become… nonstop, so it only seemed fair and right that she did the same.
“You’re insane.” She pressed back against the wall, her chest rising and falling sharply.
“You probably even dream about me.” My gaze dropped to her mouth again. Fireball... “I bet you even write my name in your notebooks, over and over again, with a little heart drawn around it.”
She laughed this breathless sound. “In your dreams, Daemon. You’re the last person I think—”
Tired of arguing, I kissed her… just to shut her up. And yeah, I’d keep telling myself that. Just keep right on with that train of thought. But the moment our lips met, a shudder rolled through my body and I half growled, half moaned. Because I was right—like a hot as hell Fireball.
Kat wasn’t arguing anymore. No, she was shivering. Kissing really wasn’t necessary anymore, but then she pushed off the wall, fitting her body against mine. Her fingers sunk in my hair and she moaned against my mouth.
This was so not about shutting her up anymore.
Something came unhinged in me. Like a lock that had been turned. Or a dam that burst. Or, hell, it was like being struck by lightning, ran over by a truck and then shocked back to life. I was moving and doing without really thinking.
My hands gripped her hips, and I lifted her up. Her legs went around my waist and she was kissing me right back with a passion that almost startled me, and I was hoping she didn’t notice that my hands were trembling. Hell, my entire body was shaking. There was a fire under my skin, and I was out of control. Seconds away from going full Luxen on her and what good would that do?
Aw hell, it didn’t matter. Not when I pressed into her and she made this beautifully feminine sound that really had my blood pounding. And I could feel it building in me. Pure power and it had nowhere to go but out. This had been building for months. Maybe always leading to this.
And then we were moving along the wall. A lamp toppled over. Kat didn’t seem to mind, thank God,  because I was beyond the point of caring about anything than what was in my arms.
Kat.
Vaguely, I was aware of the TV switching on and off.  I tried to rein it all back in, but her hands went to my shirt and then she was wiggling down, pulling at my shirt. I could only obey her silent command. I pulled back and let her take off my shirt.
I’d pretty much let her do anything at this point. Kind of scary…. and all kinds of hot.
I captured her cheeks, pulling her back to my hungry mouth. Man, I couldn’t get enough of her taste, of how she gave it right back to me on all fronts. Her hands went to the button on my jeans.
There was a cracking sound in the house. Most likely something had just went up in flames. But we were moving toward the couch and then we were on it, our hands everywhere, tugging on clothes, on each other.  Our hips were molded together like our lips.
Kat whispered my name, and I was crushing her against me one second and then the next, I was giving up space to explore—for me to explore. Sliding over her arm, down the front of her shirt and lower, and her shirt was off. I don’t even know how, but it was.
“So beautiful,” I said, because she was beautiful. And then I kissed her again. Kissed her until I knew she needed air, claiming her mouth as long as I could.
My body took over completely, rolling against hers, but something else clicked inside me. Another hidden door was opening. I slowed down, taking my time. Where everything had been so frantic and crazed, it was now more tender and controlled.
I was still shaking, though, on the verge of…
Of not being able to stop—not wanting to, of needing her more than I should.
I stilled and forced my lungs to work like hers. Inhaling ragged breaths that weren’t enough, I lifted my head and opened my eyes. I knew there were glowing, speaking a thousand things I couldn’t say and she’d never understand. Probably not want to hear either.
Our gazes locked. The look in her eyes, the way her body melted into mine, I knew she’d let me do…anything. But if I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t stop ever. And even though I was prone to moments of ‘great dickdom’, as Kat would say, it wasn’t right. Not under these conditions. Not on a freaking couch. Not when her life was in my hands.
So I said the only thing that came to mind. The only thing I knew that would snap both of us back into a cold, harsh reality.
I forced my lips into the half smile I knew always got under her skin and said, “You’re barely glowing now.”


Awesome sauce, right?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012