Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Question of the Month

The concept behind the Question of the Month is simple. I ask a question and you chime in with your responses! Not too complicated, but always fun!

The Question of the Month is: Do you have a book or book series that you just can't get through but really want to finish?

My Answer: Little Women. I received the book as a Christmas gift years ago and have started it a good number of times, but something about the style never pulls me in enough to finish it. I have all three books in the trilogy and am determined to finish it. I keep hoping if I save it till I'm older, I'll be more drawn in, but that hasn't worked yet. :p

Now it's your turn!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate


Title: Fallen
Author: Lauren Kate
Format: ARC
Genre: YA, supernatural, romance
Perfect for: those who loved Hush, Hush


Angels, I predict, will be the next big trend in teen fiction. 'Fallen' is a supernatural romance of the celestial kind. It follows Luce as she begins attending Sword and Cross Academy, a school for delinquents. Admittedly, Luce doesn’t know if she belongs there, but by a strange course of events finds herself there nonetheless. Though it seems like torture in the beginning, that all changes when she sees Daniel. She doesn’t know why, but she feels a connection to him and a past she cannot remember.

Daniel, however, does know the connection and knows they cannot give in to their feelings for one another. He has played this game every seventeen years and never has the ending been happy. But here he is again; faced again with a girl he is destined to meet over and over again.

But fate has different plans for this lifetime. Everyone at Cross and Sword is about to find out just how much one small decision can change the hands of fate.
I loved 'Fallen'. Really. Fallen, the first in a series, will have you hooked. The characters are engaging. Luce is so unlike other heroines in similar situations, though she was a bit over the top at the end, I admit. The good vs evil is done in a way where by the end, you know that both sides have secrets and not all of them are good.


Was the battle scene a little long for my taste? Yes, but the rest of the elements of this star crossed lovers/holy war saga won me over. I loved it! Check it out!

UPDATE: Check out the book trailer!

Review: The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Title: The Hollow
Author: Jessica Verday
Format: Hardcover
Genre: YA, supernatural, romance
Perfect For: dark fantasy readers


When Kristin died, Abbey knew life would never be the same. With her best friend gone, the mystery of her death still unknown, and school rapidly approaching, Abbey has a lot on her plate. Abbey takes solace in walking through the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery she and Kristin used to haunt. Life seems unbearable until she meets Caspian, a mysterious, good looking guy who keeps on appearing at just the right times. Caspian makes Abbey happy and slowly fills the gap left by the negative things of the past, but happiness doesn't always come easy. Abbey still wants to know what happened to Kristin, and Caspian, however genuine he seems, is hiding something.

I'm unsure of how I feel about 'The Hollow'. While I was pretty addicted to the book and read it pretty quickly cover to cover, I still found some issues with it. When it comes to positives, the writing style was catchy and drew me in instantly. The characters were fleshed out well. I feel like we really did get to learn a lot about Abbey and even a bit about Kristin, for however little time we saw her in flashbacks.

The negatives of 'The Hollow'? While engaging, the story started out slow, continued slowly through to the middle, kept on chugging through to about fifty pages before the end and THEN picked up. I didn't have any idea of what the story was about until 3/4ths in. Some books work fine that way, Twilight, for example, but this... Not so much. I would have liked to know more about Kristin's disappearance, more about the caretakers, and definitely more about Caspian.

I'm not giving up on the series and am looking forward to the next title by Jessica Verday, even though the first book didn't leave me completely enthralled. It's an addicting read with good characters- characters I want to know much more about. 'The Hollow' is part one in a trilogy.

UPDATE: Watch the Book Trailer!