Split Second by Kasie West Book Review

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Title: Split Second
Author: Kasie West
Published: February 11, 2014 by HarperTeen

Plot Summary:
Life can change in a split second.

Addie hardly recognizes her life since her parents divorced. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. She can’t believe this is the future she chose. On top of that, her ability is acting up. She’s always been able to Search the future when presented with a choice. Now she can manipulate and slow down time, too . . . but not without a price.

When Addie’s dad invites her to spend her winter break with him, she jumps at the chance to escape into the Norm world of Dallas, Texas. There she meets the handsome and achingly familiar Trevor. He’s a virtual stranger to her, so why does her heart do a funny flip every time she sees him? But after witnessing secrets that were supposed to stay hidden, Trevor quickly seems more suspicious of Addie than interested in her. And she has an inexplicable desire to change that.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Laila, has a secret of her own: she can restore Addie’s memories . . . once she learns how. But there are powerful people who don’t want to see this happen. Desperate, Laila tries to manipulate Connor, a brooding bad boy from school—but he seems to be the only boy in the Compound immune to her charms. And the only one who can help her.

As Addie and Laila frantically attempt to retrieve the lost memories, Addie must piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot . . . and a future that could change everything

As someone who loved Pivot Point and loves Kasie West's writing, I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of Split Second. 

Dual perspectives doesn't always work; often the two perspectives sound the same to the point where the reader is confused on who is who. However, Laila and Addie are so different that it is impossible to be confused on who is who. Their stories are vastly different and come together perfectly. 

The Compound became a lot more fleshed out to me throughout this book. Also, seeing part of the book through Laila's perspective allowed me to better understand her and like her more. Duke also returned in this book, but  I think I like him less than I did previously. I still loved Addie and Trevor and loved seeing more of them. Connor was also a fantastic edition!  The love stories intertwined perfectly and the ending kept me reading. I don't know if there is a third book in the works but I would not be surprised in the slightest. There is still enough information left open that it was would be easy to write a third book. If there isn't though, the ending to this book would still be a good ending to the series. That's what I love about these books; they feel like they could be standalones but they are also connected for a series. 

If you liked Pivot Point or enjoy West's writing, I would definitely recommend Split Second. It has a little paranormalcy without having to learn a new universe. 

Starcrossed Review

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Title: Starcrossed
Author: Josephine Angelini
Published: April 1st, 2011 by HarperTeen

Plot Summary from Goodreads:
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart

I really enjoyed this book; it was some nice, refreshing paranormal romantic ya.

The plot of this book was really intriguing. While at the beginning it may seem very similar to Twilight in a lot of respects, it diverges and goes down a completely new path. It's based on the Trojan War and the protagonist, Helen, is based on Helen of Troy. She has her own mystical powers and is able to use them. While I do question a lot of her decisions, she is still an interesting character to see the story through. 

As much as I like Helen though, I have to admit my favorite character is Claire. I just really enjoyed the fact that she was aware of how strange Helen was and accepted her anyway and continued to be her best friend. I hope we see more of her in the next book. 

The ending was so-so. On the one hand, I definitely want to read the next one. However, the main action happened a little before the ending and then the ending itself seemed like it was more of a teaser for the next book. Overall, I would recommend this to fans of the genre and fans of Twilight. Also, if you like books based on classics, this is one for you to try. 

Happy reading and happy new year! 

Pivot Point by Kasie West

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*Hey, guys! This book is currently $1.99 on both Amazon & Barnes & Noble. Just thought you ought to know*

Title: Pivot Point
Author: Kasie West
Published: February 12, 2013 by HarperTeen

Plot Summary from Goodreads:
Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without

My Thoughts:
I seriously adored this book, it was so awesome! 

From when I first hear about this book, I was definitely intrigued by this book. I mean, who wouldn't want to be able to look into the future when making their decisions. But it turned into a dark story really fast, and I really wasn't expecting it. I also enjoyed that it alternated between the two options Addie had in front of her. I liked that they were a little connected, like the events would intersect and everything was really put together.

Addie was an interesting character. She definitely felt very real to me. So did her best friend Laila. I adored Trevor, he was awesome. I also really liked her dad; I thought his job was interesting. I didn't really care for Duke. Her mother was okay, I felt like she was kept at a distance on purpose.

I figured from the beginning the ending would be intense, but it wasn't the same kind of intense I was expecting. It was even better than the ending I had in mind. I completely understand why she choose the path she did and I agree with her choice.

I originally thought this was a standalone but I found our they're making this a series even if the next one sounds super dark, I'm excited to see where Kasie West takes it. 

Overall, I think if you like stories with multiple perspectives and a paranormal element, I would definitely recommend this book.

If you could, would you want to be able to see the outcomes of your choices? Why or why not?

*I am not getting paid to say these things. I just really like this book and think you would too!

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins Review

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Title: School Spirits
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Published: May 14, 2013 by Disney-Hyperion

Plot Summary from Goodreads:
Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

My thoughts
This one definitely has a different feel than the Hex Hall series. It was a good different, but it definitely took me awhile to get accustomed to it, especially starting this right after finishing Spell Bound. It definitely felt slower to me in terms of pace, but it got there. 

I did miss Sophie a little bit, but I also really enjoyed Izzy. She definitely had a different voice and I think they would work really well together. I'm hoping for book with them both. It was also nice to see other characters reappearing from the first series, such as her mom and Torin, who got a lot more screen time in this book. The new characters were also good. I liked Izzy's friends Romy and Dex, and how human they were.  

The plot was pretty interesting too. At first, it looked like it could potentially be about her sister's disappearance, but it kinda shifted once they moved to Mississippi. Again, it started out a little slow, but picked up speed once she got there and found the ghost. Then it felt on pace in comparison to the Hex Hall series.

The ending was so good and not at all what I was expecting. I'm really curious to see how Izzy will adjust to the changes that this ending caused. I don't want to go into too much detail about it, but if you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm also wondering if they will find Finely. Really hoping for another book since I have so many questions that haven't been answered! 

Hex Hall Book Review

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Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Published: March 2nd, 2010 by Hyperion 

Plot Summary from Goodreads:
Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect

Review:

I read this book for the first time back in 2011 and didn't really think much of it. I liked it well enough, but I didn't have any real desire to read the second one. So I put it off, read other things, and eventually decided I should reread Hex Hall before I continued in the series. So I put that off and read other things, until I finally got around to it. 

And I really enjoyed it. Enough to increase my rating on Goodreads. 

I think what helped the second time around is that I got sucked into the school right away. I really like Sophie,  as I did the first time around, but I think my enjoyment of her also includes a little perspective I've gained since I first read the book. She can be a little bit teenager-y at times, but she is a teenage. 

There is a lot of world building in this book, which kinda goes alongside the plot progression. Sophie has a lot to learn about being a witch and her absentee father as well. It's a very face-paced story that will keep you interested long after you finish it.

The ending is probably the definition of a cliffhanger, but perhaps less so than Rick Riordan's endings. Thankfully, I had the next book in my possession, so the wait wasn't long.

As I said before, I really like Sophie as a character, but I also really enjoy the others as well. Jenna is a really interesting character. And I liked the trio of Elodie, Chaston, and Anna. Hopefully, some of them will make a reappearance in the series. I also liked Cal and Mrs. Casnoff from the school. Archer was a very interesting character, but I haven't decided how I feel about him yet.

Overall, I would recommend this book to people who like books about boarding schools with a paranormal twist. 

The Madness Underneath Review

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Title: The Madness Underneath

Author: Maureen Johnson

Published: February 26th, 2013 by Putnam

Plot Summary from Goodreads:

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory’s brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she’s become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city’s secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it’s too late.

Review:

Maybe because I read this one right after reading the first book in this series, but this one felt a lot shorter than the first one. In fact, I just looked at my copies of both these books and this one is a little less than 100 pages shorter than the first. Well, that explains it. I do feel like less happened in it.

I feel like this book is divided into two parts. The first half is more related to what happened in the first book and the second half felt like it was setting up for the final book (release date not until 2014 =[ ). And while I am still really upset about the ending, I also felt this book went from not much happening to everything happening at once. 

There were several new characters introduced, and not to give too much away but I was suspicious about a few of them from the start. And while I would like more of an explanation on their motives, I'm looking forward to seeing them again in the final book. 

I adored Rory in the first book, but in this one, she got on my nerves a little bit. She had been through a lot in the first book, and I think she was still recovering in this book and dealing with a lot of angst. And while angst is generally a no-no in young adult fiction, I think this a time where angst was accurately depicted. Teenage years are full of angst, especially if you're dealing with extraordinary things. Just ask Harry Potter. 

Overall, while I didn't love this book as much as I loved the first book, I did really like it and I will definitely be reading the last one when it comes out! 

P.S. With the death of GFC, you can now follow my blog on Bloglovin! Check it out! 
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Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl Review

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Title:Beautiful Darkness
Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Published: October 12th, 2010 by Little, Brown and Company

Plot Summary from Goodreads:
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Fiona's Grade: B- 
I have some mixed feelings over this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed it- it was a nice read away from school work.  On the other hand, some of it reminded me of New Moon, which I did not care for. (In short the whole mythical person goes away against there will part accounted for most of that. Though it was made to look as if Lena had no choice. Then she did. Then the reader understood why.)

One thing I really liked about the book was the fact that Ethan was no longer a Mortal stumbling around in a mythical world. He was given a purpose in "The Order of Things" (actual quote in the book). It made his motives more complex throughout the novel, rather than just "I gotta get Lena back" although it was still one of his driving forces. I also really liked the new character, Liv. I think it will be interesting to see if/how she is incorporated into futures books, though I think her primary purpose (of making Lena jealous) is done.

I really didn't like (although after doing some soul searching, I do understand better) was Lena's angst. Angst, angst everywhere. It was understandable towards the beginning but after awhile it just got to be too much. And though I now understand why, it is still a little irksome.

Once again, I didn't really see the romance between Ethan and Lena. I think the authors are telling us rather than showing us this, because after all, a Mortal and a Caster can never be together (physically, a mortal will die.) So, I guess it's some sort of forbidden romance.

Overall, if you enjoyed Beautiful Creatures, you will probably enjoy this. It didn't go crazy off in some other direction, although there were a few twists you probably won't be expecting, which I for one enjoyed. The lower grade than the first is because Lena's angst really started to grate on my nerves, but once I got past that, it was very enjoyable. I do plan to read Beautiful Chaos, but it may take me awhile because the books in this series are not a short read.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

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Title: Beautiful Creatures
Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company- December 1st, 2009 
Plot Summary from Goodreads: 
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything

Fiona's Grade: B 

When this book first came out, I started it, but didn't really care for it so I stopped reading it after only a couple of pages. However, when I heard a movie was coming out, I decided I should pick it up and give it another try. And I actually really enjoyed it. 

When I started it, I really enjoyed the Southern small town aspect of it- how they were living in the past. Those are the kind of stories that interest me. The first subplot with the Civil War Era soldier was really interesting to me for that reason. Not so much the magical stuff until the second half of the book. Probably not even the second half, more like the last quarter. I also enjoyed all the references int he book, particularly when they were quoting all sorts of people at the meeting halfway through the book. 

My one thing I didn't really get about this book was the whole romance aspect. I just didn't see it. What I saw is that Ethan was an open-minded human being, unlike the rest of Gatlin and was interested in making a new friend- even if that new friend was a little odd. Also, they went from being kinda friends to being in love and refusing to admit it to being in love and admitting it. That just seemed really rushed to me. 

The characters were okay. When I picked up the book the first time, I thought Ethan was a girl. I didn't make that mistake the second time around. Truthfully, all the characters were stereotypical. No one surprised me. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book for the two plots in  its massive page number. If you like paranormal novels, this is one for you. It was a little dull at time, but fortunately, I could put it down and pick it up at my leisure. When I looked on Goodreads, it had some truly awful reviews; I don't think it is that bad. Sure it has some things that could be fixed (I even noticed a typo at one point), but it's a debut novel. I plan to check it out but don't know whether or not I will continue with the series. 

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare Review

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Synopsis from Goodreads:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . 
Fiona's rating: B-
This book was interesting to say the least. It would be really-action packed for a bit, then it would slow down and try to explain some things before jumping back into the action.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the story and the world building. I wanted an extremely action-packed plot so I got bored during a couple stagnant moments in the story. The plot was really engrossing and I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

My main issue with this book is that the characters were a little bland. Clary was a good character, but there wasn't anything really interesting about her, other than the fact she was an artist like her mother. I understand that she was sheltered a lot, but she was just a little vanilla. Simon was your stereotypical witty dork and Jace was your usual troubled child. They were enjoyable to read, but they didn't really develop over time, so I'm hoping to see more character development in the series.

The story itself is an interesting premise. As we discover throughout this book, everything Clary was ever told ever is pretty much a lie. It got to the point, where I didn't even know what the truth was anymore. I was accidentally spoiled for "the big reveal" at the end (if you've read the book you know what I'm talking about- I hope). So that wasn't a surprise for me, rather the way it was brought up. I'm curious to see how Clare will decide to recover from this.

Overall, it's a nice read and easy to get through if your looking for a quick read. It has a little romance in it, but I don't know whether it will  continue throughout the series based on the "big reveal". I'm really excited to see where this series goes.

Note: From now on, I'm going to be giving each book a letter grade review, just like how they do in school.