Review: Inside Out by Maria V Snyder

Keep Your Head Down.  Don't Get Noticed.
Or Else.

I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

I am a massive fan of Maria V Snyder’s Poison Study series, and when I heard she was doing a whole new type of book, I was so excited; unfortunately, I couldn’t find it anywhere local and subsequently forgot about it. I saw Inside Out at my local bookstore last week and bought it. I finished it within three hours.

What I think is beautiful about Snyder’s writing is the pacing. She has so many things happening but doesn’t make it seem rushed, which is a skill few writers possess. She also manages to create loveable, honest characters and a loveable honest romance storyline, without throwing it in our faces. I fell in (metaphorical book character) love with Yelena in the Poison Study series, and was so scared I wouldn’t feel the same about Trella. I did, and despite the fact Inside Out is a million miles away from Poison Study. The story still enthralled me the same way. I love dystopian stories as much magic-fantasy and this book had me addicted!

Trella is a strong character, she starts out as a rebellious outcast kid and in the novel we see her evolve into a strong leader, while I feel she started out a little flat and unrelateable, her struggles changed my mind and I found myself really liking her by the end. Her love interest Riley is another character I thought was a little flat to start with, and I didn’t really like him as much as I should have, though I loved the way the romance developed, as a background story rather than a full on romance! It was slow and sweet and believable.

The story itself was simple but complex (oxymoron, I know!). It had a lot going on, but the pacing was so fantastic that I managed to keep up and not have to back-track pages thinking ‘eh? When did that happen’. her descriptions were simple to follow, when she was explaining the set up of Inside, I could follow it easily.

As always, a good book has to have a good twist and hey! This twist was just amazing!! It had me reeling and I didn’t even expect it, usually I know what is going to happen, but as always, Snyder creates such a unique plot that it’s almost impossible to guess what is going to happen.

What was a little unbelievable was the fact that all problems had a solution; all information was on data you could just hack into and if you needed to do something- hey just invent a machine for it!

All in all, I think I may be in love with this book, and I HAVE to get Outside In. SOON!

Because the characters may have been a little flat and the technology side was unbelievable, I’m giving this book

Overall rating: A-



Other books by this author:
Touch of Power (Healer #1)
Scent of Magic (Healer #2)

Recomendations needed!

So yesterday was not a good day for reading, I read about two books. (Well finished one, started and finished another and started the third), and of the three books I read, I only enjoyed one.

It's days like these that knock my reading confidence.

So I'm looking for recommendations. I want a YA book.

I don't care if it's fantasy, paranormal, historical, fairy-tale or contemporary.

I want a little bit of romance, preferably lesser known or recent books, as I have read a lot of books!

Please post a comment with your recomendations!

-Jade

Review: The Princess and the Hound - Mette Ivie Harrison. !Didn't finish!

He is a prince, heir to a kingdom threatened on all sides, possessor of the animal magic, which is forbidden by death in the land he'll rule.

She is a princess from a rival kingdom, the daughter her father never wanted, isolated from true human friendship but inseparable from her hound.

Though they think they have little in common, each possesses a secret that must be hidden at all costs. Proud, stubborn, bound to marry for the good of their kingdoms, this prince and princess will steal your heart, but will they fall in love?

Review: Haven by Kristi Cook

One month into her junior year, sixteen-year-old Violet McKenna transfers to the Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, inexplicably drawn to the boarding school with high hopes. Leaving Atlanta behind, she’s looking forward to a fresh start--a new school, and new classmates who will not know her deepest, darkest secret, the one she’s tried to hide all her life: strange, foreboding visions of the future. 

But Winterhaven has secrets of its own, secrets that run far deeper than Violet’s. Everyone there--every student, every teacher--has psychic abilities, 'gifts and talents,' they like to call them. Once the initial shock of discovery wears off, Violet realizes that the school is a safe haven for people like her. Soon, Violet has a new circle of friends, a new life, and maybe even a boyfriend--Aidan Gray, perhaps the smartest, hottest guy at Winterhaven. 

Only there’s more to Aidan than meets the eye--much, much more. And once she learns the horrible truth, there’s no turning back from her destiny. Their destiny. Together, Violet and Aidan must face a common enemy--if only they can do so without destroying each other first


This is one of those books that I wanted to give up on at some points, but also wanted to finish reading. All the time I kept seeing other books in it. I basically went this whole book finding cliches, and because I enjoyed some aspects of the novel, it killed me; here are a few;


-Girl goes to new boarding school. Almost a cliche in every paranormal YA romance, I kept sensing Sword & Cross from Lauren Kate's Fallen!
-Meets mysterious boy - he says he is too dangerous and tries to keep her away. Anyone else screaming EDWARD CULLEN?!
-Boy has past girl is jealous over; The Vampire Diaries/Evermore.


Oh the list of cliches continues, I don't fancy carrying on as I may give spoilers away, but let me say this. Don't read if you want an original plot. I mean, sure, I understand all books have to have a base, whether its another story, or a fairy tale or a myth. I understand Cook most likely didn't think 'hey, I'm gonna create a rip off book', I couldn't help but frown at how unoriginal it was, and while it was a good storyline and I enjoyed the events happening, I just knew what was going to happen, and I don't like when I can do that, it almost ruins a book for me.


That being said, it wasn't all bad, put aside the slightly whiney heroine and unoriginality and you get a hot love interest, Aiden was cute, protective, all of the things you need in a cheesy YA romance, but at some point he fell short, he didn't pull it off the way some of the book hotties can, and I need a good book hottie! It didn't help that everytime I read the name Aiden my head kept replacing it with Edward, and Violet; Bella. I can't help it, anybody who knows me will know my opinion on Twilight, don't get me started.


What I did like about this book was the writing style, it was great and probably the only reason I carried on reading, Cook's writing is blunt and honest, she doesn't attempt to sound poetic, which is good, I loved the voice she gave Violet, which was honest but not cynical or snarky, while I quite disliked Violet's character (too whiney, too typical), I loved her voice.


I also don't really see the relevance of the cover?


I can't say I loved this book, I don't think I really liked it, but I didn't really hate it. Not a page-turner really, but if you're looking for a book to kill time with it is worth giving a shot. I have read a lot of good reviews as well and I don't speak as a voice for all readers, so It's worth checking out other reviews, as well as mine.


Overall rating: D+

Stand alone/series: First in a series

Released: February 22nd 2011 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 416

Book obtained via: Borrowed

Review: Warprize (The Chronicles of the Warlands #1) by Elizabeth Vaughan

Xylara is the Daughter of the Warrior King, Xyron. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to the warring Firelanders.

Before she was old enough for a marriage-of-alliance, Xylara was trained as a healer. She can't usurp her brother or negotiate a peace--but she can heal the brave ones injured in battle.

But not only her countrymen are wounded, and Xylara's conscience won't let Firelander warriors die when she can do something to save them. She learns their language and their customs and tries to make them as comfortable as possible, despite their prisoner-of-war status.

She never expects that these deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. Xylara knows must trade the life she has always known for the well-being of her people, and so she becomes...

I actually only bought this book because it was very cheap on Amazon, so i wasn't really expecting much from it. From the blurb, I was expecting magic and romance - basically a rip-off of Robin McKinley's The BLue Sword.

I will be the first person to admit that, yes, I was wrong.

The storyline for this book is fantastic, and it wasn't really a cheap rip-off of The Blue Sword, some of the aspects are the same; the main character is taken by a desert population and becomes one of them, but the way they are executed are different.

I loved the characterisation. Xylana is a strong character, strong enough to give herself up as little more than a slave to save her people. What I loved about the way Xylana's character developed is that she already had a trade; healing. In many books, our lead will just suddenly learn a new skill and be fantastic at it, whereas Xylana's trade has come from years of practice. She isn't a spoiled brat, like many female leads are, while she can be whiny (the end of the book :( ) she is also strong and determined. I liked this. Her love interest, Keir, is lovely, strong and kind but with a temper, he will kill anyone who tries to harm his Warprize, he is the complete opposite of what I expected from a Warlord but I liked it that way. I also loved the way their relationship progressed, it was slow, but not too slow, and it didn't take over the whole book. There was other things going on.

There is a very entertaining set of side characters, from Joden and Simus, two fighters who take Xylana on and help theach her the way of their people, they crack plenty of jokes and serve as a sort of comic relief, to Marcus, who plays a Mother Bear role, and cares for Xylana, reprimanding her when she misses meals, which is quite funny.

If I had a problem with anything at all, it is Xylana's half brother Xymund, who is the ruling king of Xy. I couldn't understand why he disliked his sister enough to lie to her about what she would be to the Warlord. I do with Vaughan had better developed this plot as I'd like to be able to understand his behaviour a little better.

I have to point out right now that this is not particularly suitable for young people. There are adult scenes in it and while they are not particularly descriptive, if you don't want to read some sex scenes, don't read this book! I am 17 (18 in 11 days!!!!!) and had no problem with it, but it's really about what you are comfortable reading.

Overall rating: A -

Stand alone/series: First in a series

Released: October 31st 2005 (Paperback)

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 314

Book obtained via: Bought!

Review: Eyes Like Stars (Theatre Illuminata #1) - Lisa Mantchev

All her world’s a stage

Enter Stage Right

Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie): Our heroine. Nate: A dashing pirate who will do anything to protect Bertie. Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom: Four tiny, mischievous fairies, and Bertie’s loyal sidekicks. Ariel: A seductive air spirit. Disaster follows in his wake, but Bertie simply cannot resist him.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. The actors are bound to the Théâtre by The Book, an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of the actors, but they are her family. And she is about to lose them all because The Book has been threatened, and along with it the Théâtre. It’s the only home Bertie has ever known, and she has to find a way to save it. But first, there’s the small problem of two handsome men, both vying for her attention. The course of true love never did run smooth. . . .

Why did I buy this book? Well, I've read a lot of rave reviews and it sounded magical and beautiful and so I decided I really needed to read it. So glad I did.

Bertie is a strong character, the first time we catch her she is dying her hair blue and in trouble for doing something bad the previous day, she is strong and funny and witty and we really see her develop over the course of the story - from a girl who doesn't know her past, who has few feelings for people, a pretty bland character really to somebody with loyalty, trust and strength. I did feel like her romantic choices were pretty bad, but hopefully Mantchev fixes that in the next book!

Mantchev introduced an amazing cast of backing characters, she brings play characters from a lot of plays to life, we see Ophelia and Hamlet argue, Gertrude and Lady MacBeth have a clash, it was fantastic really! I loved the character of Nate, a pirate for The Little Mermaid that has one line, he made me swoon, he is strong and protective and lovely and the perfect hero for a fairytale book.

Ariel is our sort-of-antagonist for the book, if you read it you'll see why I said sort of. To be honest, he scared me. A lot. Though I sort of liked him as well (strange as that is.) My problem with Ariel was personal though, after studying The Tempest in school, and performing a play of it in which I was Miranda :') I can't see Ariel as anything apart from the geeky guy who played him, so i didn't really swoon over him, hard as I tried.

Mantchev creates a fantastic world in Theatre Illuminata, where you can see it ran as a normal theatre, but you could also see the beautiful magnificence in the magic that she weaved into it, in a way it reminded me of Cirque Du Soleil, which I have an obsession with. I honestly have to say it is one of the most breathtaking book worlds ever created. There was so much going on as well! With a storyline about a sea-goddess, a storyline about The Book, a romantic storyline and Bertie trying to direct a play, it really was absorbing and I couldn't put it down.

Another fantastic thing was the writing! I loved the changes to script form every now and then, I loved the descriptions... descriptive but not overboard. I am honestly in love with this book.

I already have the sequel on first class order, even though I swore I wasn't going to buy any more books until I've caught up with my TBR err... pile.

Overall rating: A

Stand alone/series: First in a series

Released: April 13th 2010 (Paperback)

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Pages: 352

Book obtained via: Borrowed

Review: Cloaked by Alex Flinn

I’m not your average hero. I actually wasn’t your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.

It all started with the curse. And the frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

There wasn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Keys.

Don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it either. But you’ll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got CLOAKED.

After reading Flinn's Beastly a few years ago, I was massively looking forward to reading Cloaked, I love the way Flinn manages to put numerous fairytales into one story and I was honestly expecting something amazing out of it.

DId I get what I was looking for?

In some ways, yes. I love how easy Flinn's writing is to read. It's the type of story you don't need to get too absorbed into, as it isn't that deep. For some people this may be a flaw but I think that easy reading is essential sometimes, and that is exactly what Cloaked is.

It incorporates a lot of fairy stories, such as The Six Swans, The Frog Prince, The Elves and the Shoemaker and a lot more, as well as having some fairytales that I don't know. I was so excited to see how Flinn would handle this. Problem was, I wasn't really captivated. Sure, I enjoyed the book well enough, I read it in a couple of hours, but I was more coasting, not absorbed, the writing was fantastic, kudos to Flinn for getting into the teenage male psyche, but that teenage male just wasn't interesting enough. Johnny was just too... nice for me to like. He wasn't funny, or snobby.... he didn't really have any addictive features at all, and all the quotes about shoes REALLY annoyed me. Yes Flinn, we are aware that Johnny is a shoemaker, don't keep shoving it in our faces.

Meg was a nice enough character, I think Flinn aimed for her to be a bit of a plain ol' action girl, but she just came across as the girl-next-door, and her storyline twist at the end was soooo predictable. I could see their romance developing slowly but it just seemed so... one dimensional? It's a typical unrequited love which turns out to be requited at the end, and I was expecting it so much I was barely even interested in the romance.

I think the only character I did like was Todd, the fox (hehe the Disney movie Fox and the Hound has a fox called Todd!), and even his *shock* twist at the end was soooo forseeable!

The storyline wasn't amazing either- a poor boy who works real hard is enlisted by a European princess to help find her brother who has been frognapped and is given a magic cloak with which he can teleport anywhere he wants to. On his way he meets a wicked witch and her son, a talking fox/rat/six swans, a kindly biker and finds love. Typical fairytale storyline and it wasn't convincing; granted, its a fairytale, it isn't going to be convincing BUT he could have made it a little bit more believable, considering it's supposedly set in contemporary times.

All together, a decent read for sitting and relaxing, but don't bother if you're after anything too deep.

Overall rating: D

Book was released February 11th 2011 by HarperCollins
I borrowed this book from the library.

Reviews for other books by this author:

Beastly