Review of The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Release Date: January 25, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 358 pages
Author Website: http://www.juliekagawa.com
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
Rating: 5 stars
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: My name is Meghan Chase. I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.

Review:  It’s very rare for books in a series to get better with each progressive book, but Julie Kagawa has done it. The Iron Queen, third in the Iron Fey series is the best one so far and that’s saying a lot because books one and two are really good!

The Iron Queen picks off almost exactly where The Iron Daughter ended with both Megan and Ash exiled from the Nevernever. Both the action and the romance start right away and it never slows down.

This book is a perfect balance of plot and romance, one never overpowers the other. Ms. Kagawa’s world building continues to be awesome, with vivid and rich descriptions of the iron kingdom and the creatures that live there. I love a well written fight scene and this book has tons of them.

As great as the plot and the setting are, it’s the characters that really stand out in the series. Megan has matured significantly since book one. She is no longer the self conscious 16-year-old from book one. Instead, she has grown into a strong young woman who understands she has responsibilities and embraces them. And Ash, oh Ash…. I am and always will be Team Ash! The Winter Prince is so swoon worthy, far from perfect, but perfect for Megan. Puck is awesome as always and Grimalkin, well Grimalkin is the brains of the operation.

If you have not started The Iron Fey series, I highly recommend it. It is one of my favorite and I love it so much that I already pre-ordered The Iron Knight, book four in the series, from Amazon. Now I just have to try to wait patiently until October to get it!

Content: Sexual situations and violence. A note to parents who may be screening this book for a younger teen, the romance between Ash and Megan is a lot more intense than in previous books in the series.

Review of Die for Me by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 10, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 341 pages
Author Website: Amy Plum
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC from the Publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads Summary: My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind. While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

Review:  After the tragic death of their parents, Kate and her older sister, Georgia, move from Brooklyn to Paris to live with their grandparents. The sisters handle their sadness in different ways. Georgia surrounds herself with friends and parties a lot, telling Kate that when she is out, she does not have to think about what happened. Kate, on the other hand, cuts herself off from everyone and drowns herself in depression and books. It’s only after she meets Vincent that she slowly starts coming back to life and feeling somewhat normal again.

I have read some other reviews that say Die for Me, Amy Plum’s debut novel, is a lot like other YA paranormal romances out there and in some ways, it does share similarities. However, the story’s unique elements and good writing makes this novel memorable and stand out from the rest.

Kate’s character is likable. Her sadness over her parents’ death feels so real. It deeply affects her life and her ability to get into a quick relationship with Vincent. Even though they are attracted to each other when they meet, Kate and Vincent do get to know each other before there are any declarations of love. Both characters have emotional baggage and I appreciate that. The secondary characters are well written and I see a lot of potential for them in upcoming novels.

The paranormal element is very cool and I really love the fight scenes. They were bloody and well played. Romance lovers will adore this book and I am looking forward to the sequel, Until I Die.

Content: Violence, kissing, references to sex

Review of Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Release Date: March 31, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 306 pages
Author Website: http://lisacach.com/
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary: A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school.

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School. And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy.

Review: In Wake Unto Me, we meet Caitlyn Monahan, a 15-year-old girl who knows she is different from everyone else and always feels misunderstood and alone. She has very vivid, frightening dreams that feel very real to her but in the past, when she told her father and stepmother about them, they thought she was going crazy. Caitlyn is desperate to get away from her small Oregon town and when she gets an unsolicited and fully paid offer to attend an exclusive private school in France, she jumps at the chance for a new start.

Wake Unto Me has a little bit of everything. Mixed in the unique paranormal elements are bits of European history, some real, some created by the talented author and a gorgeous castle setting in rural France. This story is not what I expected. It starts a little slow, but the mystery behind it keeps you reading and it does pick-up. I don’t want to give too much away, the novel’s mysteries are best discovered layer by layer.

Something that bothered me was how depressed Caitlyn got. She felt so unloved in Oregon and even though she does not have a very emotional relationship with her father, her stepmother and friends were very affectionate but Caitlyn made no effort to reciprocate. It seems like she chose to be lonely. It’s hard for me to read that a 15-year-old decides to give up on her (loving) family and prefers to use some tarot cards her dead mother deals her in a dream to guide her through her life instead. She also gets very depressed toward the end of the book as well, not healthy behavior.

Wake Unto Me is a haunting, well written story with a satisfying ending. I am not sure if there will be a sequel, but it works as a standalone book. I am giving this book away, so stay tuned, I will be announcing the winner of the Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Blog Hop!

Content: Profanity (in French), Caitlyn uses someone else’s prescription drugs to help her fall asleep and induce dreams.

Review of Warped by Maurissa Guibord

Release Date: Jan. 11, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 352 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening.

After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman.

His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together, they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in, making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy.

Review: If you are looking for something different in the paranormal romance department that does not include vampires, faeries, wolves or angels, Warped is it.  This is a great debut novel by Marissa Guibord. It’s a modern fairy tale about love, loss, fate, destiny and sacrifice.

There are so many things about this book to love. I really enjoyed that Tessa’s father owns a book store and they live above it. Throw in a centuries old magical tapestry with a unicorn, time travel, the Sisters of Fate and a witch that must be defeated and you have the makings for an awesome story. I also really loved the characters, especially Tessa, Will and Opal. They are strong and likable. Tessa is very selfless and puts the welfare of her loved ones before herself. Will is very swoon worthy and in a deliciously arrogant kind of way.

The story wraps up very nicely and could easily be a standalone novel, but it leaves the possibility for more of Tessa and Will’s story to be told as well. I asked Ms. Guibord if there is a sequel planned for Warped and she graciously responded that there are no plans for a sequel right now though she may write one in the future. She also told me that her next novel is called REVEL and it's about a girl who comes to a remote private island off the coast of Maine for the summer and discovers the people living there are hiding secrets. Revel will definitely be on my TBR list.

Content:  Tessa and Will make out a bit on the floor, but that’s about it.

Review of Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages: 356 pages
Genre: Dystopia, Human trafficking, Romance
Rating: 4.5 stars
Source: ARC from the Publisher

Goodreads Summary: What if you knew exactly when you would die? Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

Review:  This is such a powerful novel of love, loss, making the most of your life and so much more. It is chilling to image a world where young women are no older than 20 years-old and young men are no older than 25. There are older adults, the first generation who are in their late sixties, but no one in between those two age groups.  This is a society where so many children are orphans and/or forced to make really horrific decisions in order to survive.

This story is all about the girls: Rhine, Jenna and Cecily. Their characters are wonderfully developed and have so much depth; you feel so much for them.  Rhine is such a fighter, refusing to be lulled into complacency by comfort and wealth; she is determined to live her short life on her own terms. I loved her and Jenna and pitied Cicely who just didn’t know any better. I am so curious about the men, Gabriel, Linden and Rowan, their characters were nowhere as developed as the girls. I hope that we to know them better in upcoming books.

I love that there is no cliffhanger to the book and that the end is satisfying. There is so much more story to tell, so much more to find out, I cannot wait for the sequel.

I would recommend this book for older or more mature teens. The story contains adult and sexual themes including a 13-year-old who seduces her 20-year-old husband and gets pregnant as a result.

Content: Talk of prostitution, the Kama Sutra, and the adult and sexual themes mentioned above.

Review of Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

Release Date: Jan. 1, 2011
Publisher: Point
Pages: 231 pages
Genre: Romance, Classical retelling
Rating: 3.5 stars
Source: Library

Goodreads Summary: After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be — especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk — so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?

Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?

Review:  I really love Pride & Prejudice and so when I saw that Elizabeth Eulberg was writing a modern YA version of P&P I was very excited and have been looking forward to it for months.

I started reading the book with a huge smile on my face because it really did feel like I was catching up with old friends. I knew everyone’s personality, the love interest, the villains, there was definitely a feeling of comfort and home for me in the book.

Elizabeth Eulberg has written almost all the characters that we love (or love to hate) in this book, most of them even have their original names. Darcy is not quite as swoon worthy as he is in the original, but hot nonetheless. Lizzie is sweet and smart, a little too mean to Darcy for too long of a time, but she’s Lizzie so we love her.

I did notice a few things that I thought were off. The language the characters used would be formal at some points and modern the next. Additionally, because I knew P&P, the book was a bit predictable for the first two-thirds, but did throw some surprises at the end.

Overall, this was a fun and very quick read. I would recommend it to both readers who don’t know the original at all and would like a very casual introduction, and to fans of the original who would love to read something a bit different with their beloved P&P characters.

Content: Some underage drinking.