Ali's Pretty Little Lies

Ali's Pretty Little Lies is the prequel to Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series.

Before there was A, there was Alison DiLaurentis.  Boys wanted to date her, girls wanted to be her, and somebody wanted her dead...

It's the end of seventh grade, and Alison DiLaurentis and her friends are the girls of Rosewood Day.  Ali runs the clique with an iron fist, and she's got enough dirt on Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer to keep them in line.  But Ali's hiding a dark secret of her own, something so huge it would destroy everything if it got out.  She's desperate to keep the perfect life she's worked so hard to build, but in Rosewood deadly secrets have deadly consequences...

Set in the weeks leading up to Ali's murder, this special Pretty Little Liars tale is told by the prettiest little liar of all: Ali herself.  For the first time ever, we see how the mystery began... and how Alison DiLaurentis's life ended.

The Breakdown:
1.  This book is a complex tangle of lies that Ali has carefully placed to keep her perfect life.  She finds out secrets about her friends, and holds it over them to keep them close.  She sits up blackmail situations for them.  She really is a horrible person.  I am honestly not even a little sad when she dies at the end.

2. As much as Ali loves knowing others secrets, it is her that is keeping the biggest secret of all.  She is not who she says she is.  And in becoming Ali, she becomes the person she hates the most.

3.  I just don't think I can continue reading this series.  All the lies, backstabbing, and manipulations gets old real quick. I just don't find myself liking the characters, and most of the time when bad things happen to them, I don't feel sorry for them at all.

To Read or Not to Read:
Don't Bother

Currently Reading:
If I Should Die
by Amy Plum

Dark Descendant

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black is the first of her Nikki Glass novels.

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can't die...

Crazy as it sounds, Nikki's manhunting skills are literally god-given.  She's a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods.  Nikki's new "friends" include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she's a spy.

But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them.  In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon.  But if they think she'll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy...

The Breakdown:
1. Black writes an interesting twist on of old mythologies in this book.  The Old gods have left, but they gave their descendants a gift which has some nasty twist to inheriting it. Not all their descendants agree on how things so be run, and there is a war brewing between the factions.

2. Nikki is a woman who had a rough childhood bouncing from foster home to foster home until the Glass's took her in.  She is close to her adaptive sister, Steph, and is a damn good PI. She is thrown in to this crazy world of the Descendants, where everyone seems against her.  The Olympians want to use her to track down innocent the descendants, and the other Descendants think she is a spy. She is smart and resourceful, and learns to harness the power of Artemis without others help to prove her loyalties, and she still has protect her sister from threats.

3. Anderson, the leader of Descendants, is man of mystery.  He seems so easy going at times, but there is something darker simmering under his surfaces.  He has some pretty big secrets and is more than what he seems.

4. I found it interesting the Descendant that Nikki feels more drawn to, Jamaal, is the one that hates her. Jamaal is unstable at the best of times, and completely psycho at his worst. He has some serious anger management issues. I an interested to see where Black will take their relationship as the series progresses.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Currently Reading:
Ali's Pretty Little Lies
by Sara Shepard

Falls the Shadow

Falls the Shadow is by debut author Stefanie Gaither.

When Cate Benson was a kid her sister, Violet, died.  Two hours after the funeral, Cate's familt picked up Violet's replacement.  Like nothing had happened.  Because Cate's parents are among those who decided to give their children a sort of immortality- by cloning them at birth- which means this new Violet has the same smile. The same perfect face. Thanks to advancements in mind-uploading technology, she even has all the same memories as the girl she replaced.

She also might have murdered the most popular girl in school.

At least, that's what the paparazzi and the anti-cloning protestors want everyone to think: that clones are violent, unpredictable monsters. Cate is used to hearing all that.  She's used to defending her sister, too.  But Violet has vanished, and when Cate sets out to find her, she ends up in the line of fire instead.  Because Cate is getting dangerously close to secrets that will rock the foundation of everything she thought was true.

The Breakdown:
1. I loved this book! It is a beautifully written dystopian thriller that the topic it addresses in human cloning is still relevant in current society. Gaither does a great job of make this world different from ours, but at the same time addresses things we worry about like biological warfare and environmental impact of society.

2. The thriller aspect of this book kept me on the edge of my seat. Gaither kept me guessing on who was trustworthy, and what everyone's end game was. Not everyone's motives are what they seem on the surface.

3. Cate is such a wonderful character.  As much as she tries to blend into the background in the beginning, it is easy to see she is a standout character. While she never accepts Violet's replacement is the same as the original, she still loves her and defends her. She risk so much to help Violet, and even goes so far to push the boy she likes away to be a good sister.

4. Speaking of the boy, Jaxon, he obviously has strong feelings for Violet, but he is still dealing with the beliefs he was raised on.  Despite that, he does help Violet, and is trying to figure out what is right and wrong without his mother's influence. Probably my favorite scene is when he comforts Cate after her first confrontation with Violet.

5. Violet is an interesting mix of strength and vulnerability.  She is physically superior to normal humans, but she is vulnerable emotionally.  She wants so much for Cate to love her, and for them to be close as they were in the memories from the original Violet.  She wants to protect Cate, despite what orders she has been given.

To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read

Currently Reading:
Dark Descendant
by Jenna Black

Glimmerglass

Glimmerglass by Jenna Black is the first book in her Faeriewalker series.

It's all she's ever wanted to be, but it couldn't be further from her grasp...

Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, by she's in big trouble.  When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she's had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect.  But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she's isn't just an ordinary teenage girl, she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics.  Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her new-found friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she'll never have a chance with... until she does.  Caught between two worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again.

The Breakdown:
1. I really liked this world Black created in Avalon where the human and Fae worlds collide. Black does go a bit against convention in that her Fae are able to outright lie. I loved the intrigue that Black adds with Fae politics both with the political power struggle in Avalon, and the parties wanting Dana dead.

2. Dana is an interesting dichotomy of human and fae, plus the struggle of being the responsible adult for years, and yet still longing to be the child. At times Black illustrates the struggle she has between being the one to take of everyone, and now having someone take care of her. I loved seeing her open up to Kimber, and I hope to have more interactions between them in series.

3. Kimber and Ethan are an interesting sibling pair. The tension that has built between them because of Ethan's gifts with magic is palpable at times. I really liked Kimber once her personality showed through the tension, and she appears to be a good friend to Dana. Ethan is the sibling I am less sure of his goals with Dana.  He does seem to genuinely like her, but I question if that is enough to keep him from using her for his plans.

4. There were some great developments and discovers made by Dana and her powers in this book, and it will be interesting to see how Black grows them in future books.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Currently Reading:
Falls the Shadow
by Stefanie Gaither

Crown of Ice

Debut author Vicki L. Weavil's Crown of Ice is a re-telling of the story of the Snow Queen.

Thyra Winther is seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can't reassemble a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she's doomed to spend eternity as a wraith. Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact.  Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy, Kai Thorsen, whose mathematcial skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal.  A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai's childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles.  Thyra's willing to do anything- venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers or battle enchanted beasts-- to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast.  Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup's devotion and the fire of a young man's desire, the thawing of Thyra's frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing. 

The Breakdown:
1.  I really felt like that Weavil was trying to do something new with the tale of the Snow Queen. There things I really liked about the story, like the Snow Queen's creation and curse. Although Thyra's mantra of Let It Go seemed like it was an afterthought because of the popularity of Frozen.

2.  Thyra was very much the embodiment of Snow Queen, which unfortunately made her unlikable. She was very manipulative which is another trait I don't like in characters. She did improve toward the end of the book, but by that time it was too late for me to grow to like her.

3.  Kai has a strange personality for me.  He is obsessive when he is working on problems, and forgets to eat and sleep. He is dense to Gerda's feelings for him, but judges Thyra for the same thing.

4. Honestly for me the best characters where the animals, Luki the wolf pup and Bae the reindeer. Luki was a loyal pup, and protective of those humans he chose to love.  Bae was wise in who he chose to protect.

5. The ending was lack luster for me. It just seem to fade out and I wanted a bit more or at least an epilogue to see how things turned out for everyone.

To Read or Not to Read:
Skip it

Currently Reading:
Glimmerglass
by Jenna Black

The Greyfriar

The Greyfriar is the first book of Clay and Susan Griffith's Vampire Empire.

In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world.  It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming. Princess Adele is heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire.  When she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan, her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans.

The Breakdown:
1. The Griffith's have created an interesting world in this book. Humans are no longer the sole dominant species. The vampires are a terrifying creatures in this world. They make no effort to understand humans or be human-like in appearance. The humans struggle after the vampires rose out of the shadows, and now they are amassing power to reassert their dominance in the world. It makes for some interesting political moves both in the human and vampire worlds.

2. I liked the way the book changes between all the major players in the story's perspective. This gives me glimpse into other characters thought processes and motivations for their actions. It really brings the story together well, and helped me to understand the world even better.

3. Princess Adele was wonderful. She is a wonderful combination of strong and soft. She is not afraid to protect was she loves including her family and her empire. She shows a vulnerability that makes her enduring when she is with Greyfriar. Her character makes it easy to see that she will be a great Empress.

4. One of my favorite characters is Prince Gareth, the heir to the British Vampire throne. He has a fascination with humans, and wants to be so much more than a savage vampire.  He shows restraint and logical thinking, and is not ruled by his instincts like many of his brethren. Plus his love of his cats is cute.

5. The Greyfriar is mysterious hero, with some really amazing secrets, but I don't want to give away too much.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Currently Reading:
Crown of Ice
by Vicki L. Weavil

The Jewel

Debut author Amy Ewing's The Jewel is the first of her The Lone City series.

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty.  The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty- because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel's glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive.  But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentlemen hired as a companion to the Duchess's petulant niece.  Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

The Breakdown:
1. I picked this book to read because of my love of dystopian societies.  I was a little worried after I saw some of the reviews of Goodreads, but I ended up really liking it. Ewing creates a fascinating world where there is a sharp contrast between the haves and and have nots.  While the wealthy look down upon those of lower class, they are reliant on them to produce offspring since they can no longer do it.

2.  I found Violet to be such a compelling character. She wants nothing more than to live with her family despite their poverty. She loves them so fiercely, and is horrified by the backstabbing and cruelty of high society.  I love that she works so hard to hold her identity despite society doing everything possible to take it away.

3. I really liked Lucein from the beginning.  He reminded me so much of Cinna from The Hunger Games. So I was glad to see him play a bigger part in the story than I first expected.

4. Ash is such an interesting character. While not quite the object that surrogates like Violet are, he is too is a prisoner of high society. I loved every interaction between him and Violet.

5. Other characters such as Annabelle, the Duchess, and the Duchess's niece added so much to the story.  Annabelle, who I could see not only cared for Violet, but worked so hard to make sure Violet did what was expected of her.  The Duchess with her murcurial mood swings that I never knew what her reaction would be to an situation. The Duchess's niece who was bitter and jealous of Violet.

6. The ending really gave me quite a surprise.  Let's just say not all the characters are what I expected them to be, and I cannot wait to see where Ewing takes this story.

To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read

Currently Reading:
The Greyfriar
by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith