Evernight by Claudia Gray

Evernight by Claudia Gray

Synopsis:

Bianca wants to escape.

At the eerily Gothic Evernight Academy, the other students are sleek, smart, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.

When she meets handsome, brooding Lucas, he warns her to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him. But the connection between them can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

Review:
I had a major love/hate relationship with this book (which my twitter friends can attest to). I loved the second half of the book but really hated the first half. Reading this book was a rollercoaster ride for me, I liked the beginning, got really ticked off in the middle and loved the second half.

My problems: I knew this book was about vampires but I didn't know much else so when the narrator didn't say anything about vampires through the first half of the book I assumed Bianca was as clueless as me. I assumed she would be let in on the secret at he same time I was. Well I was wrong and I really didn't like the way it was revealed. It made Bianca a really unreliable narrator and in my opinion, she either should have been honest with the reader from the beginning or the story should have been told from a different point of view.

What I liked: just about everything else. I love the relationship between Bianca and Lucas and the plot was great. I don't want to give too much away but this is a great story and I love the concept of the Evernight Academy I just didn't like the way it was revealed. As always my favorite character was one of the background characters, Balthazar, who seriously has the best name and it really understanding while also knowing how to kick a little behind. My suggestion, if you read this book be patient, the ending is worth it to get through parts that may be a little frustrating. In the end I was really glad I did and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Stargazer.

Stargazer, the sequel to Evernight is released TODAY! So head out and get a copy! I have a wonderful copy from Gray sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read.

This book counts toward my Library Challenge and First in a Series

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Synopsis from B&N

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

This book was amazing! I had read a lot about the series and while they seemed interesting I never really felt the pull to read them that I often get with books. Boy, was I wrong. This book is fabulous and I am going to the library as soon as I am done to get Pretties.

Westerfeld has created a whole new world and amazing characters. Tally desperately wants to be pretty and can't wait for her sweet sixteen when she will have the surgery but of course things never work out that easily. Her story just gets more compelling when she leaves the safety of her city and heads to the Smoke where people live without all the futuristic help, basically like we live now.

I loved that they keep magazines and things from Rusties (us) as artifacts and that they think the way we live and idolize the celebrities in the magazines is ridiculous. It is a great futuristic world without being unbelievable.

The book ends on a giant cliffhanger so I really have to go get the next one because I loved it and I need to know what happens. Go read it. Right now.

Favorite quote: While Tally and Shay are looking at old magazines.

"They're sports stars, actors, artists. The men with the stringy hair are musicians, I think. The really ugly ones are politicians and someone told me the fatties are mostly comedians."

This book counts toward my Library Challenge and First in a Series

Other Reviews: leave a link in the comment if you have reviewed this book

Melissa's Bookshelf

Sloppy Firsts

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

Sloppy Firsts is the beginning of the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty which I have read great things about. The fifth book, Perfect Fifths, will be released April 14.

Jessica "Notso" Darling is a typical angsty teenager who drops in to a full on depression when her best friend Hope leaves Pineville, New Jersey and moves to Tennessee. She is forced to pretend to be friends with Clueless Crew, boy and shopping-crazy bimbos, and spend time with her parents who just don't get her. Everyone wonders why she doesn't date Scotty, the superstar athlete who has a crush on her but has been her best friend for years and why she doesn't want to spend her time shopping with the Clueless Crew or her Mom and sister.

Her life is further complicated when Marcus, a "dreg," or druggy suddenly starts imposing on her life. She can't sleep, she is bored at school and she is positively miserable.

Overall this was a good book. Jessica is a captivating narrator who any girl can relate to. Her parents don't understand her and she feels like she doesn't fit in at school. She is sarcastic and a little bitchy and I like that in a protagonist.

Sometimes I felt like she was a little over dramatic and way more sex-crazed than I remember anyone being in high school but her moments of insecurity and vulnerability made up for it. I also didn't like that we never heard from Hope. We heard so much about how much Jessica missed her but I think it would have lent some validity to hear just one conversation between them. It would have made Jessica's sadness more real if I also knew Hope was missing her as much.

I very much enjoyed this, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series before Perfect Fifths comes out in April.

This book counts toward my Library Challenge and First in a Series

The Hot Flash Club

The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer

Synopsis from Barnes and Noble

Meet Faye, Marilyn, Alice, and Shirley. Four women with skills, smarts, and secrets—all feeling over the hill and out of the race. But in a moment of delicious serendipity, they meet and realize they share more than raging hormones and lost dreams. Now as the Hot Flash Club, where the topics of motherhood, sex, and men are discussed with double servings of chocolate cake, they vow to help each other . . . and themselves.

Faye, the artist. A determinedly cheerful widow and connoisseur of control-top pantyhose, she’s struggling with creative block and an empty, lonely house. Now she’s got a tricky problem to bring to the club’s table: how can they catch her perfect son-in-law cheating on her only daughter Laura?

Shirley, the healer. Though her yoga-slender body belie her years, decades of dating losers and the strain of being broke make her feel her age. Shirley has a secret dream: a wellness spa that nurtures body and soul. But first she needs to believe in herself, in her abilities, and in her friends at the club.

Marilyn, the brain. A paleontologist who has spent so many years looking at dried-up fossils, she’s almost become one herself. Worried that her brilliant but nerdy son is about to marry the very wrong woman, she gets some help from the HFC, who transform her from a caterpillar to a butterfly, with amazing results.

Alice, the executive. Black and regal, she soared to the top of the corporate ladder. Now her shoes are murder on her arthritic back and the younger jackals are circling in for the kill. But as the inspiration behind the HFC, she’s about to discover something extraordinary: contentment.

For Faye, Shirley, Marilyn, and Alice, the time has come to use it or lose it—be it their bodies, their brains, their spirits, and their sense of fun. Together they realize that they can have it all, perhaps for the first time in their lives. And though what sags may never rise again, feeling sexy has no expiration date— and best of all, with a little help from her friends, a woman can always start over . . . and never, ever, give up what matters most.

Review
This book started out slow for me and about 100 pages in I actually didn't want to finish. But in then end I was glad I did. The second half of the booked really picked up and actually connected me to the characters and I am looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again. I think my problem in the beginning was that there were too many story lines and with new characters I was having trouble keeping them straight. However, by the mid-point of the book I had put all the pieces together and the book flowed a lot better.

I love how these women meet and form friendships and scheme to help each other with their various problems. It was also refreshing to read about women in their 50s and 60s talking frankly about men, sex, children careers and their feelings about younger women.

It wasn't a great book but it was a good book. A solid beach read for sure. And I think maybe a better option for older women who need a good laugh.

On a personal note I absolutely loved parts of this book because it was set in Boston, where I lived for the past five years. They hold their weekly meetings at Legal Seafoods, which is a great restaurant where I waited tables. They walk down Huntington Ave. where I lived. Every time one of the characters mentioned something uniquely Boston I got a little more attached to the book.

Up Next: F is for Fugitive

This book counts toward my Library Challenge and First in a Series

A Girl's Guide To Witchcraft

A Girl's Guide To Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky

Jane Madison is a librarian forced to wear a silly costume and serve coffee in an attempt to keep her library open but when her pay is cut anyway and she is forced to live in a cottage behind the library her life changes quite unexpectedly.

In the basement of her new home is a collection of magic books that Jane learns she has the power to use. She awakens her familiar, Neko and gets a warden to help teach her, David Montrose. These characters round out her inner circle which already included best friend forever, Melissa, and her grandmother who raised her. There is also her "Imaginary Boyfriend" Jason who is a local professor and frequents her library.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I will probably read the next two in the series (mostly because I am one of those people who has to read the whole series, not because I have to know what happens to the characters). I like Jane's relationship with Melissa and the way she interacts with her grandmother and I really like how she struggles with becoming a witch but I HATED her relationship with Jason. They went on one date and danced once and she was calling him her boyfriend and inviting him to family reunions. It just felt forced and unrealistic, thats right more unrealistic that the part about her being a witch.

I did love Jane's internal rambling and her constant Shakespeare references. And I really loved how she realistically handled every bad day with mojito therapy, that is my kind of remedy.

I'm hoping without Jason I will like the next book more and I actually want to know more about her magic which there wasn't a ton of in this book.

This also counts as another book done for my First In A Series Challenge

Up Next: Accidental It Girl by Libby Street


This book counts toward my Library Challenge and First in a Series

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by A Striped Armchair and Alessandra that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

I just got back from the library and I have four new books to look forward to as well as one more to read to my four-year-old sister.
The Accidental It Girl by Libby Street

Girls Guide to Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky
Excited about this book which I read about the first 30 pages of while I was at the library. It is very cute and it fits my first in a series challenge!

E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
I am truly addicted to Kinsey Millhone.

The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer
Also for the first in a series challenge

I also strayed into the children's section of the library and found a book to read to my little sister. Mostly I liked the cover of it.
The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven

While I was at the library today I discovered there will be a book sale there this Saturday so I now have that to look forward to as well. Now I am off to read my treasures!

First in a Series

Guidelines for 1st in Series Challenge 2009

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Read 12 books that are the first in any series. You may read & list your chosen books any time during the year.

3. Challenge begins January thru December, 2009.

4. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.

Click here to sign up

This looks like too much fun!

My 1st in Series Challenge 2009 Reading List:

1. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
3. No Lesser Plea by Robert Tanenbaum
4. The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer
5. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
6. Girls Guide to Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky
7. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
8. Evernight by Claudia Gray
9.
10.
11.
12.

More to come as I read them and come up with more to read!

A is for Alibi

A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

Confession time: I love a murder mystery, crime novel or legal thriller. I haven't met a version of CSI, Law and Order or Without A Trace that I didn't love and I haven't found a John Grisham, James Patterson-esque novel I didn't devour. So my latest project is to read the alphabet series by Sue Grafton from A to Z (or T because that is as far as she has written.) I was very happy to realize the local library has all of them sitting in a pretty little row so I checked out A-D and am well on my way.

A is for Alibi introduces Kinsey Millhone who I must admit I adore immediately. She is a twice-divorced, rebellious, minimalist who prides herself on being a good liar and, oh yeah, solves mysteries. Its like Nancy Drew all grown up with an attitude and I love her.

In A Kinsey is hired by a woman just out of prison for the murder of her husband to find out who actually murdered her husband. Turns out there were lots of people who wanted the guy dead but it wasn't his wife and it wasn't his supposed mistress who was also murdered.

Kinsey gets tripped up when she starts sleeping with the dead guys former business partner. She figures out the ex killed the guy but the trick is that his business partner killed the supposed mistress to cover up his embezzlement. And he nearly kills Kinsey when she figures it out but she kills him instead. Just another day in the office.

Favorite quote: "You try to keep life simple, but in the end it never works, and all you have is yourself."

This book counts toward my Library Challenge and First in a Series

Other reviews
Robin from My Two Blessings
Dorte H