Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Title: Mind Games
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Mind Games #1
Publication: February 19th 2013 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

    

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

~My Thoughts:

So far I've read only one book by Kiersten White which was The Chaos of Stars, a book with Egyptian mythology in it. I loved it so I wanted to try another book by this author to see if I was going to like it as much also. I really wanted to try Mind Games because it seemed really great and how could I resist that gorgeous cover? Anyways... I've seen a lot of mixed reviews of it — the usual extremes of only one, two stars or four, five stars. Because of that it's always hard to tell what you will think of it, personally. And I must admit, starting it the first fifty pages or so were kind of slow and I didn't know what to think of it. It doesn't mean it was bad or anything... I just needed something to pigue my interest. (That's why it didn't get a full five stars.)

Mind Games introduces us to two girls, sisters. Fia is the younger one who has flawless instinct. She acts first, never thinking always knowing what is right and what is wrong. Her older sister, Annie, is blind except when she has her future visions, where she can see clearly as you and me can. Together they are trapped in a school that's run by the Keane foundation where they use both Fia and Annie plus other girls who also have special abilities for their own gain. Fia and Annie have to keep using their gifts or risk each others lives and that's just not something they are willing to risk.

This book was fast-paced and shocking but very enjoyable for me. Its characters were brilliant and yet messed up in their own ways. Kiersten White has created a very intense world with the school Fia and Annie are trapped. I could practually smell, taste and feel Fia and Annie's desperation to protect each other. Especially Fia was very harsh and fierce to read about because she's so broken by everything she had to do to protect her sister. 

Mind Games felt right from the beginning very different from other books. I've never read anything like it. The overall story makes it very interesting as did the characters. It has both the sister's point of view, but also flashbacks about what happened before, taking place so far back as ten years ago to six months back, also in both Fia and Annie's perspective.

Aside from the two main characters we had a bunch of others. Some you will like, some you will hate. But really, all these people from the Keane foundation are awful. I can't understand why someone would be willing to work there. Anywho... we also have James Keane. Yes, Keane as in the Keane foundation. He's the son of the Mr. Keane who calls the shot. He's one of the love interests for Fia. Though it's not like there's a lot of romance in it, just the potential for romance, especially with Adam. Fia has a lot of history with James but things actually feel right with Adam. But before I give too much away I must say personally I like James more. People will probably call me crazy but what can I say, I like the bad ones.

The ending of this book was freaking shocking. I was freaked out by everything that was happening suddenly. Shit really did hit the fan. It only made me crave the sequel even more. I'm really glad I was able to score it already! I can tell you I will be reading it soon because I can't wait to read about what's going to happen next. I'm sure it's going to be really exciting as well.

Mind Games by Kiersten White was really as author Holly Black says on the cover of my copy, "A brutal, exciting gem of a book." It's the perfect description of it. It was all that and more. I was surprised by how captivated I was by it. A definite must-read for fans of psychological thrillers with paranormal twists.

Kiersten White is the NYT bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy and Mind Games, the start of a new dark thriller series. She has one tall husband and three small children and lives near the ocean, where her life is perfectly normal. Visit her at www.kierstenwhite.com.

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Review: The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

 About the Book 

The Two Princesses of Bamarre (Enchanted, #2)

Princess Meryl dreams of one day protecting the kingdom of Bamarre, while timid Princess Addie is content to stay always within the safety of the castle walls. The one trait they share is their devotion to each other. Their world is turned upside down, though, when Meryl is stricken by the incurable Gray Death. To save her sister, Addie must set out on a dangerous quest filled with dragons, unknown magic, and death itself. Time is running out, and the sisters' lives--and the future of Bamarre--hang in the balance.

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 My Thoughts 

I had no idea that this was actually book two of a series, so my reviews are going to be backwards (at least I've read Ella Enchanted before). xD

So this was my second time reading The Two Princesses of Bamarre and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. Levine writes characters that you can't help but love. Meek and timid Addie is relatable and Meryl wants to fight monsters and kick butt.

Every book I have read by Levine has had a sweet little love story too and we have Rhys the sorcerer in The Two Princess of Bamarre. He's seventy-eight in sorcerer years! Which is seventeen in human years and he's sweet and funny, a perfect little crush for all the younger readers and the older ones (like me).

There's adventure, love and true family ties in this book along with all the cool creatures.

to
The Two Princesses of Bamarre

 Quotes 
“I was no hero. The dearest wishes of my heart were for safety and tranquility. The world was a perilous place, wrong for the likes of me.” 

“Step follows step,
Hope follows Courage,
Set your face towards danger,
Set your heart on victory.”

 About the Author 

Gail Carson Levine grew up in New York City and began writing seriously in 1987. Her first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a 1998 Newbery Honor Book. Levine's other books include Fairest; Dave at Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction book Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly and the picture book Betsy Who Cried Wolf, illustrated by Scott Nash. Gail, her husband, David, and their Airedale, Baxter, live in a 1790 farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley of New York State.

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Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Title: Scarlet
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: Lunar Chronicles #2
Publication: February 5th 2013 by Feiwel and Friends
Genre: Young Adult ~ Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5

    

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

~My Thoughts:

Okay, wow! I was blown away by this fabulous sequel to Cinder. It ended up being even more amazing and fantastic than I hoped it would be. Just like in Cinder, I devoured this book in record time even though it's a pretty big book of 450+ pages. 

This book follows 18-year-old Scarlet who lives in a small town in France. When we meet her her grandmother has been missing for two weeks but the police have stopped searching for her already. When Scarlet meets street fighter Wolf she finds out he might know a whole lot about her missing grandmother and is determined to find out what exactly it is he knows and where her grandmother is.
Meanwhile Cinder is trying to break out of jail in order to escape the clutches of Lunar Queen Levana who will stop at nothing to get Cinder and control of Earth. 

This second book in the Lunar Chronicles is even more awesome than the first one. Not only Cinder's story continues but we also meet Scarlet, who's in search of her missing grandmother. There were also other great new characters like Wolf who travels to Paris with Scarlet and "captain" Thorne who assists Cinder in her escape. A lot of the other characters we're used to seeing like Kai, Queen Levana (she still scares the crap out of me) and Iko (yes, she's back!).
The story definitely picks up a notch. There's more action, more gasp-moments, more unexpected friendships formed and more sadness than ever. There were quite a few different points of views; Cinder, Scarlet, Kai, also Thorne also if I remember correctly and one for Levana too (brrr). I loved all the POVs but I must say Kai's made me a little sad. 

Scarlet is definitely different girl than Cinder. But does it make her less awesome? No it does not. I like her just as much as Cinder. Scarlet and Wolf are just too adorable together when they were traveling to Paris. I loved their spark so much. And, gosh, is he hot! But swooning aside, I just admire him for changing his ways and trying to warn Scarlet not to go searching for her grandmother because he knew what was waiting them. I just want to hug that guy!

I just love the way Marissa Meyer tells this story. Her writing is seriously awesome and had me flipping page after page, hour after hour. No wonder I finished it in only a few days time. One word to describe this book is: "Addicting". So very addicting. One thing's for sure, I can't wait for the next book, Cress. The wait will be torture but so worth it. Is it 2014 already? Le sigh.

Also, if you haven't read Scarlet I would definitely recommend to read The Queen's Army (Lunar Chronicles, #1.5) before it because it'll give you more information on what's happening. You can read it for free here: http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/11/the-queens-army


Overall Scarlet was a kick-ass and absolutely worthy sequel to Cinder. I can't remember any book that's been as fascination, exciting and just stunning as Cinder and Scarlet were, especially the latter. Is Scarlet an even better book than Cinder? Most definitely so! I can't wait to see where the next book will go and what is going to happen in it. 

Amusement touched the corner of his lips. "Animals love me."
"Oh, I'm sure they do," Scarlet said, beaming with fake encouragement. She shut the door before muttering, "What farm animals don't love a wolf?”

He was still dazed, and though she hated to admit it, he was actually rather attractive. If a girl happened to like that square-jaw, bright-blue-eyes, devilish-dimples kind of thing. Although he was in desperate need of a haircut and a good shave.

A sickening howl stopped her, sucking the air out of her lungs.
The night's chatter silenced, even the loitering city rats pausing to listen.
Scarlet had heard wild wolves before, prowling the countryside in search of easy prey on the farms. But never had a wolf's howl send a chill down her spine like that.

Marissa Meyer lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and three cats. She’s a fan of most things geeky (Sailor Moon, Firefly, color-coordinating her bookshelf . . .), and has been in love with fairy tales since she was given a small book of them when she was a child. She may or may not be a cyborg. Cinder is her first novel.

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This review has also been posted on Bookfever.

Review: Descended by Debra Ann Miller

 About the Book 

Descended (Fallen Guardian Saga, #1)

Destiny has two ways of crushing us…by refusing our wishes…and fulfilling them.

Vie had no idea when she descended into the small town of Newcastle, Wyoming that she’d find herself mesmerized by the mysterious and alluring eyes of one Carter Stone. And Carter believed he knew everyone that lived in his rural town until the day he locked eyes with Vivian Thorne. He couldn’t help but wonder what was different about this girl he had known all of his life.

He was right, Vie was the beautiful young Guardian that had been sent to their world looking for Carter and she did so merged in the vessel of the Thorne girl. Their meeting sparks a passionate romance between the two and soon after they embark on their journey to uncover the secrets of a past that they begin to realize they both shared. Their forbidden connection unleashes a war with disapproving parties and the lovers find themselves on a mission to uncover the truth of their not wholly human existence and their unbreakable bond.

Darkness falls as Lucian returns to settle a score with them and their lives take a thrilling and terrifying turn. The only way for Carter to stop Lucian and save the one he holds most dear is to unlock the secrets of his past and unleash the powers within him. What are the chances that two raindrops, flung from the heavens, will merge on a windowpane? Gotta be fate!

Deeply passionate and extraordinarily suspenseful, Descended captures the struggles between doing what is expected of you and unleashing your destiny, between fulfilling prophecies and desires, between loyalty and love.

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 My Thoughts 

I tried really hard to enjoy this but it just didn't happen. Apparently angel books are not my cup of tea. :(

Descended starts off slowly and there isn't much action until the last forty pages or so. I didn't connect with any of the characters whatsoever. The main character Violet's personality flip flopped from dogging someone to find out something or hurting someone and then the next thing ya know, she was trying to console someone after upsetting or hurting them so I didn't like her at all. Then there's Carter...who is almost as frustrating as Violet (he's a little better) and their insta-love thing, though towards the end it is explained that  (small spoiler) they knew each other after all. Then we have our bad guy Lucian, who I found to be an over-the-top wannabe villain.

To me the storyline felt like a lot of other young adult books around today. Girl meets boy, short time later we find that we're soul mates, etc. My biggest problem was the constant mention of how 'beautiful' Violet was...what is wrong with what most call an average girl? Why can't she be pretty and still be as wanted? Overall I wouldn't read this again or plan on reading book 2. All of that said, I have to give a low review because I found myself struggling to finish this.

to

Descended

*Debra Ann Miller was kind enough to offer a copy of Descended in exchange for a review so thank you Miss Miller.*

 About the Author 

I am a happily married, devoted mom of 3 living in Naperville, Illinois. I'm married to a fifth grade teacher, who is my best friend and soul mate. Being "Mom" for the past 23 years has been my privilege but really didn't allow me the time I needed to pursue what I loved most...writing. I put my interests on the back burner while I carted kids off to soccer games, baseball practice, and back home to make dinner and help with homework. By the time my head hit the pillow I was off to dream land where my imagination flourished.

After my grandmother passed away, I decided that life was too short to put the things we love to do on hold. The next day my story took flight. I felt compelled to put the words inside my head to the pages of my old school notebook. I wrote freehand whenever I could and the more I wrote the more the characters came to life. Carter and Vie began having conversations in my head daily and I found myself addicted to writing their story. Nine months later I finished and published, Descended (Fallen Guardian Saga #1). 

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Review: Dear Rockstar by Emme Rollins

Sara is obsessed with rock star Tyler Vincent, and as she works to complete her senior year, she’s determined to find a way to meet him—although her best friend, Aimee, keeps telling her to find a different escape from her desperately violent home life.
Complications arise when Dale, the mysterious new transfer student, sets his sights on Sara, and she falls for this rock-star-in-the-making in spite of her better judgment. When Sara wins a contest, she is faced with a choice—travel to Tyler Vincent’s home town to meet him, or stay and support Dale in a Battle-of-the-Bands hosted by MTV.
Their triangulated relationship is pushed to its breaking point, but there is another, deeper secret that Dale’s been keeping that just may break things wide open...
Turn up your collar, feather your hair, and splash on some Polo, because we’re going back to the ‘80’s when MTV played music videos, there was no such thing as American Idol, and becoming a star meant doing nothing short of crazy for that one, big break.

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My rating: 

I loved this book! I went through every emotion reading it, I laughed, I cried, I was happy then sad, shocked, scared... you get the point. I sat up till like 4 in the morning because I just could not stop reading. I had to know everything. All the little secrets that there were hints for through the book that made you wonder, hmm what's that all about and then of course you read on. And before I knew it.. I was done. My mouth hanging open just looking at the screen for a while before I could wrap my head around it, it couldn't be over this soon I just started it. It was just that good! 

The book is about Sara, a girl who has a major crush on the rockstar Tyler Vincent, she's trying to get her diploma so she can leave and get away from home. She paints a picture of her and Tyler Vincent to win a schoolarship in Maine, her chance to leave. 
Everything changes when she mets Dale at school. Dale Diamond looks a lot like Tyler Vincent, but depsite that Sara feels a strong connection with him. It starts out as this really sweet book about Dale and Sara falling in love, and they have all of these cute moments from their first meeting sharing skittles, him making a little heart out of the red ones when he found out it was her favorites and moving on to their first kiss where you can say the first sign on trouble started with Sara's stepfather, or stepbeast as she calls him very fitting, interrupting them and pulling her inside. Despite that they continue to date and grow closer and closer. part of the book is just one hot scene after the other and you're like whoa and them BOOM! just when you think another one there's that stepbeast again and this time it gets bad. 
So apart from the amazing storyline and the excellent writing the characters are great! 
Sara is strong. I can not tell you how strong she really is because that reveal the whole thing, but when you get to the end and read what she's been through so just think about how can this girl still.. cope and live like everything is normal. She is amazing for being able to go through all of that and still being able to live a normal life, you really feel for her. And I guess we can all relate to the celeb crush cause who hasn't had that. so yeah hers is major, but still. 
And then there's Dale... I love him. He's so sweet, caring and fun. And also very talented with his mouth... yes you guessed it, the boy can sing! And play the guitar and other instruments. He's competing in the battle of the bands with his band. 
Aside from them there's Dale's dad John who is like the sweetest dad ever and Sara's friends are also great! 
Anyways.. 
By the end of it all of these things that suddenly gets revealed is crazy! And what happens... wow. I won't reveal anything, but it was pretty messed up and you just wonder how this girls survived all these years. All I can say is that I happy she found Dale, happy that she can for once be happy even after everything that she's been through. And then it's the sweetst end ever. 
This is a must read the book has everything! 


*BIG spoilers of the book* 
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*Seriously do not read unless you want the books ruined or you've read* 
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*Okay then. Hightlight the area under to be able to read it*

When Sara gets out of the hospital after her stepfather tries to kill her wondering how her mother hasn't come to visit her it was all "oh....my.... god..." when you find out she killed herself.. like how could she! she is finally able to escape that man, he's gonna rot in prison or maybe even get sentenced to death and she does that! She still had her daughter.. she survived and then.. yeah. It was awful. so many feels towards the end. 
And then finding out that Sara got had been pregnant and six months in her stepdad had beaten her so the little girl died :( It was all just so sad! 
and then the big revelation that Dale's dad really isn't his dad but Tyler Vincent! Like you've been expecting it cause of how much they look alike and her mother's affair with him so you knew. And then you feel sorry for Dale's dad because he is like the sweetest being ever. Sweet and caring and yet he doesn't 

Emme Rollins is an up and coming author of New Adult/Mature Young Adult fiction. She’s been writing since she could hold a crayon and still chews her pen caps to a mangled plastic mess. She did not, however, eat paste as a kid. 

She has two degrees, a bachelor’s and a master’s, one of which she’s still paying for, but neither of which she uses out in the “real world,” because when she isn’t writing, she spends her time growing an organic garden to feed her husband and children (and far too many rabbits and deer!) where they live on twenty gorgeous forested acres in rural Michigan.

She loves tending her beehives (bees are wonderful pollinators and Hello!? Honey!) and keeping up with her daily yoga practice and going for long walks in the woods with her boxer, Rodeo, who loves chasing squirrels almost as much as Emme loves writing!

Emme loves hearing from fans, so feel free to use the contact page on her site to connect with her.

http://emmerollins.com/

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Review: Immortal Heart by Inger Iversen

Title: Immortal Heart

Author: Inger Iversen

Series: Few Are Angels #0.5

Publication: September 30th 2013

Cover Rating: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

eArc provided by author in exchange for an honest review.

    

Immortal Heart
More than a century after the tragedy of Hélène's death and before Ella found Kale bruised and broken on her doorstep, Kale moved through the world in a haze of personal punishment allowing it to consume him. Until his friend, Detective Deacon, a newly infected Chorý calls on him for a favor.

In this prequel to the Few Are Angels series, Kale is thrown into a world of human blood trafficking and is introduced to a Chorý that offers him a chance at happiness— in blood.

~My Thoughts:

This book has been one of the highest anticipated books of 2013 for me and am so glad I got the chance to read it already. I read it really fast — in only two days. A part of my wished I hadn't finished it already, that I had relished in it more but I couldn't help myself it was just so damn good! 

Immortal Heart is a prequel to Few Are Angels about Kale that takes place before he met Ella. I was very excited to find out about Kale's life before Few Are Angels. He's one of my favorite characters in the series so I had very high hopes for this book. Knowing Inger, and the amazingness of Few Are Angels and also the second book Awakened, I was sure I wasn't going to be disappointed too much but I had never expected to love Immortal Heart as much as I did really. It was amazing and I wished it didn't end as quickly as I did (due to my fast reading of it). 

It was amazing to see Kale walking through life more than a century after Hélène's dead and before he even meets Ella. I loved learning more about him and his inner struggles. 
Though the prequel is mostly about him there were other points of views also. One of them was Deacon. What can I say about him other than that he's covered in awesomesauce? Because he truly is. But he isn't just that. He also has his own issues and I loved learning more about him than what we've seen in the Few Are Angels series. I love him to bits and pieces. He was (after Kale) my favorite character in this book. 
Another POV was Sola, which is a new character and was a potential love interest to Kale. I wasn't sure I was going to like her due to the fact that I like Kale with Ella so much but I did like her a lot. First of all she has a beautiful name, Sola. And other than that she was so much fun to read about and so witty. I'm glad she and Kale met and have this kind of connection and history with each other now. 

My favorite aspect of the whole book was not only Kale's tale was the storyline of the human blood trafficking. I loved how Inger weaved that in the story and not made it solely about Kale and Sola. It gave the book that extra portion of excitement and danger. 
It's kind of hard not giving to much away but I wonder if anything of what happened in Immortal Heart will be somehow appeared in the next Few Are Angels book. Who knows!

So personally I think it's Inger's best writing so far. I really do. A lot of the things she wrote were so beautiful, especially the part with Hélène in the end. Simply gorgeous! <3


Overall this book is in my opnion a much needed and totally amazing adition to the Few Are Angels series. Inger Iversen just keeps writing better and better books that leave me breathless. So am I looking forward to the next Few Are Angels book? Hell to the yes!

Inger Iversen lives in Virginia Beach with her tree-hugging boyfriend Joshua and her overweight lap cat Max. When not reading or writing she spends her time watching reruns of True Blood or killing zombies in Call Of Duty.

Visit Inger at:

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This review has also been posted on Bookfever.