Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: 2013 by HarperCollins
Genre: Dystopia, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3 Stars
Read Count: 1
Synopsis:
tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

| Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |

 My Thoughts 

I really had high hopes for Unravel Me but it just left me wondering why I bothered to spend my time reading it.
The story continues at Omega Point, where Juliette, Adam and James have been for a few weeks. Juliette isn't adjusting and Adam is acting odd while my favorite misunderstood little soldier Warner is still searching for Juliette, heaven knows why though...I really don't understand the attraction Warner has to her.
Good points, was that we learn Warner's name (though someone had already ruined it for me on Twitter and yes I am bitter xD), there is more KENJI ('nuff said) and yes, Chapter 62 was hot but I'm just not a fan of Warner/Juliette being together.
Bad points, Juliette was so freakin' self-centered and cruel to Adam in my opinion. Warner was also self-centered and cruel, I know he is supposed to be a sorta-bad guy but after reading Destroy Me and parts of Unravel Me you know he can be loving and kind but then he just turns around and acts like an ass, I still like him but want to smack him.
Overall the story was decent but I just couldn't love it like I did Shatter Me. The characters are likeable and learning about the other residents of Omega Point and having a deeper back story for some was nice but Juliette being obnoxious just kills it for me.

 About the Author 

Tahereh Mafi is a girl. She was born the youngest child with four older brothers in a small city somewhere in Connecticut, and currently resides in Orange County, California. She graduated from a tiny liberal arts college two miles from the shores of Laguna Beach, has varying levels of competency in eight different languages, and spent a semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain, where she had the opportunity to study Spanish literature in its native form. 

Mafi has traveled all over the world, lived on both sides of the United States, and even spent some years writing really bad poetry. When unable to find a book, she can be found reading candy wrappers, coupons, and old receipts.

Official Site | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Arc Review: Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Secret
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Series: Elemental #4
Publication: January 28th 2014 by Kensington Books
Genre: Paranormal ~ Young Adult
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Cover Rating: 1/5 (Dafuq?)
Overall Rating: 3/5

Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Nowhere is safe. Not even home…

Nick Merrick is stretched to the breaking point.

Keep his grades sky-high or he’ll never escape his hometown.
Keep his brother’s business going or the Merricks will be out on the street.
Keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his own twin—-or he’ll lose his family.

Keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who’s supposed to be his “girlfriend’s” partner.

Of course there’s also the homicidal freak Quinn has taken to hanging around, and the Elemental Guide counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers.

There’s a storm coming. From all sides. And then some.

Nick Merrick, can you keep it together?

~My Thoughts:

I feel kind of bad giving Secret only three stars. Though it's still a good rating. But I had a hard time deciding whether it would be three or four and settled on three eventually. Looking at the whole story and comparing to how totally amazing the previous book "Spirit" was, I was kind of disappointed. And also seeing some kind of theme here with this series. I went from loving book one, Storm, to be disappointed in book two, Spark, to be awed by book three, Spirit, to once again being disappointed with this one. It sucks but I love this series nevertheless!

So for the first 50% in this book I was just bored to death. Seriously, this book wasn't on the same level as Spirit by far. I think it mostly featured on Nick and Adam and their romantic relationship that began growing. Don't get me wrong, I loved them so much. They were adorable together and these two were the only thing I was looking forward to. There really should be more gay couples in young adult books. I actually think it was really smart of Brigid Kemmerer to make Nick gay because I'm sure we all were expecting for Nick to get a real relationship with Quinn or maybe meet a new girl like his brothers did. I hadn't seen the gay thing coming at all but I really loved that twist and I loved Nick's short story in Breathless too! So as far as his new relationship went, perfect, nothing to say about that but that was the only good thing. I also couldn't help but feel that Nick should get over himself and just be with Adam. I get that this wouldn't be easy but he was whining a little too much for my taste sometimes. Still love him though.

Quinn on the other hand... I hated her. I'm sorry, but I really did. I never liked the girl. Yes, she goes through a lot with her family but I don't know, she's just not likable to me as a character. I didn't want to read about Quinn, her chapters were boring, which is probably why I disliked the first half of this book so much. But I gotta say the twist with her and Tyler was pretty great. I love Tyler! I can't believe I'm saying this because we've seen such a bad side of him in the previous books but he's really not so bad. Well, maybe a little. Boy, he was hot! As much as I dislike Quinn, she's right there.

If I haven't said it before, I'm saying it now:  I love the Merrick brothers (and Hunter) so so much. They're all super great guys but shit keeps happening to them. Will they ever get some peace? Anyway... I loved them all in this book. Chris is such a great little brother to the others and I miss him. He was awesome in Storm. Gabriel might've reacted a little wrong to Nick and Adam but I'm glad it's all worked out now. And Michael? *dreamy sigh* He's the best. I loved how he reacted when Nick told him his secret. He's the best and I can't wait for his story (finally! finally!) next!

The overall story was pretty much only about Nick and Adam's relationship and Quinn going through shit with her family and getting to know Tyler and oh yeah her whining. The real action didn't occur until the end which left me the most disappointed because Spirit was FULL of it. But I do have to admit that the end was also a big twist. Can't wait to see where THAT is going. I only wished there would've been more Hunter. I missed him. Althoug he had a pretty great scene with Nick.

All in all Secret by Brigid Kemmerer was a good book, not the best in the series and also definitely not the worse. I wish there'd be more elemental action in it and less main character whining. But overall not a bad read and it did leave me at the edge of my seat and wanting to keep on reading. 

"He's looking forward to it. See?"
She held up her phone.
A smiley face.
A smiley face? Nick had no idea what that meant. Was that casual happy? Excited happy? An obligatory response that didn't mean anything? It wasn't even a D smiley. It was one of the parenthesis ones.
God, he was trying to puzzle out the hidden meaning of the punctuation in a friggin emoticon.

After they were seated at a four top, with sodas in front of them, Nick was desperate for anything to lighten the mood.
"Fast service," he said wryly. "Do you want me to accuse you of dazzling the waitress?"
Adam choked on his soda. "Is that a Twilight reference? How is it possible your brothers don't know you're gay?"

He felt so unprepared to be with a guy, like he only knew the choreography for one dance step, and this was a completely different type of music.

"Is everything okay with your brother?" Adam asked.
Nick nodded. "I think so." He paused, then smiled. "He offered to make out with Hunter if it would prove that he's okay with me being gay."
"Hmm," said Adam. "Yeah. I think I need to see proof."
"Shut up."
"Tell him it has to be shirtless. Wait, let me get my phone out—"
Nick shut him up with a kiss.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)

Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager.

While writing STORM, it’s ironic to note that Brigid’s personal life was plagued by water problems: her basement flooded three times, her roof leaked, her kitchen faucet broke, causing the cabinet underneath to be destroyed by water, the wall in her son’s room had to be torn down because water had crept into the wall, and her bedroom wall recently developed a minor leak. Considering SPARK, book 2 in the series, is about the brother who controls fire, Brigid is currently making sure all the smoke detectors in her house have batteries.

Brigid loves hearing from people, and she probably won’t refer to herself in the third person like this if you actually correspond with her. She has a smartphone surgically attached to her person nearby at all times, and email is the best way to reach her. Her email address is brigidmary@gmail.com.

My other reviews in the series:

#1: Storm

#2: Spark

#2.5: Breathless

#3: Spirit

Review also posted on Bookfever!

Review: Another Faust by Daniel Nayeri and Dina Nayeri

 About the Book 

Another Faust (Another, #1)

One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish-only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city's most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor's extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up-reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty-they start to suffer the side-effects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary re-imagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption.

| Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |

 My Thoughts 

Let me start off by saying that I'd never heard of the Faust legend before reading this. Pretty simple idea: mortal, demon, soul, selling of said soul.

The prologue starts off five years before the rest of the book where we're introduced to our main characters who are Victoria from England, Christian from Scotland, twin sisters Belle and Bicé from Italy and Valentin from France who only have age and unhappiness in common. Then one night they all disappear from their beds.

The children reappear five years later in New York with their beautiful governess, Nicola Vileroy who's only outward imperfection is an odd left eye which pretty much scares the hell out of everyone. About a quarter of the book takes place before they're enrolled at Manhattan Marlowe School where the kids wreak havoc using "powers or gifts" that Vileroy has given them...for a price. As we learn very slowly throughout Another Faust and don't know for sure until the last hundred pages (well I didn't at least), Madame Vileroy is a demon! Was I surprised much? Not really since I'd been guessing she was a witch or something since each chapter has a flashback to some of the others our governess has "helped". The woman literally has an EVIL EYE! xD

Overall it wasn't a bad story but I didn't enjoy the characters. Victoria was a bitchy hag, Valentin was a liar and kind of lost his mind/any decency he may have ever possessed at the end, evil Vileroy (I know I'm supposed to hate the bad guy but sometimes I don't) and Belle who was so vain to start off with. I did like the story idea but I might have connected better if it was someone who had sold their soul for family or love...maybe. My biggest problem was that I felt like there wasn't a real ending and I don't do well with maybe they had a happily ever after.

So if you enjoy books about evil governesses and pretty dumb kids who will sell their souls for petty reasons, then you should read Another Faust.

to

Another Faust

 About the Authors 

Daniel Nayeri is a writer and editor in New York. He wrote and produced "The Cult of Sincerity," the first feature film to be world premiered on YouTube. He has had all kinds of jobs around books, including book repairman, literary agent, used bookstore clerk, Official Story-Time Reader Leader, editor, copy-editor, and even carpenter (making bookshelves). He's also a professional pastry chef. He loves Street Fighter 2, hates the word "foodie," and is an award-winning stuntman.

Dina Nayeri graduated from Princeton where she first discovered her passion for fiction. However, being a stubborn know-it-all, she had to spend five years in the business world first. She worked as a consultant at McKinsey in New York City and as a project manager for Saks Fifth Avenue. Dina then received an MBA and an M.Ed. from Harvard, where she was a Zuckerman Fellow, a teaching fellow in economics, a resident advisor, and a speaker on topics in business and marketing. Next she's off to the Iowa Writers Workshop for her MFA. Dina lives in Amsterdam. In her spare time, she loves to cook, travel, read, and collect fancy degrees to decorate her future sarcophagus.

Dina and Daniel were both born in Iran and spent many young adult years in Europe. There they learned several languages between them and tried Frosted Flakes for the first time.

| Another Site |