• Review: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

    Abnegation. Amity. Candor. Dauntless. Erudite. Where faction do you belong to? On Choosing Day Beatrice (Tris) Prior must decide but first she undergoes an aptitude test to see which faction she will most likely gravitate toward….then she must choose to define her identity for the rest of her life based on that information. Born into the Abnegation faction, she is supposed to be selfless and think only of others….but she feels like a square peg in Abnegation. Hoping the test will shed some light on her conundrum, the worst happens—her aptitude test is inconclusive. She is Divergent. Being Divergent is dangerous….if anyone find out, her life will be in imminent danger. She is a threat to…

  • Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor

    What happens when the good becomes the evil? What if everything you know about heros and villains was wrong? In Laini Taylor’s debut YA fantasy novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, everything you know about traditional good vs. evil cliches are wrong. This is the story of Karou and Akiva. Karou is a demon–Akiva, is an angel. In this series, the angel is the devil in disguise. Karou is not like other girls. She speaks 20+ languages, natural peacock blue hair, and a body covered in tattoos including two mysterious eyes on her palms. She lives in Prague and attends an art institute by day, but when the sun goes down–her real…

  • Review: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

    The sparks of rebellion have turned into a raging inferno in Suzanne Collins’s final installment of The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay. Katniss Everdeen, ‘the girl who was on fire’, is the catalyst for the movement and the symbol of the rebellion–their very own Mockingjay. After the first Hunger Games, whispers of uprising begin when Katniss and Peeta Mellark both emerge from the Games victorious….two winners not one–an open defiance of the Capitol. Then when Katniss, Peeta, and their allies destroy the Games for good in Catching Fire–the letters are on the wall, uprising is inevitable. With District 12 demolished, Katniss and her family are taken to rebel headquarters–District 13. During…

  • Review: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

    Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire in The Hunger Games is now sparking revolutions throughout the 12 Districts in Suzanne Collins’s second installment of The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire. Having emerged from the Hunger Games victorious, Katniss and her now ‘made for TV boyfriend’ Peeta Mellark return to District 12. Their final act of desperation in the Games makes them both symbols of rebellion and hope to the people of the 12 Districts….but targets for the Capitol. President Snow smells deception….he knows their love was just an act and feels that they rebellion in the Games will only incite more uprisings in other Districts….while on their victory…

  • Review: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

    Like the gladiators of ancient Rome, the youth of post apocalyptic North America are put face to face in a ‘fight to the death’ game called The Hunger Games. Blood, complicated strategies, alliances, betrayal, and death are expected to play out, all with the nation watching on live television–twenty four children between the ages of 12-18 go into the games but only one will emerge victorious. The Hunger Games is the first in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. In this post apocalyptic/dystopian society, there are 12 Districts. The 12 Districts are ruled by the The Capitol. The tyrannical Capitol keeps the Districts in check by forcing them to send…

  • Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

    Epic. In Cassandra Clare’s third installment of her wildly successful series, The Mortal Instruments (MI), City of Glass is just that…epic! City of Ashes left off with the group of shawdowhunter warriors poised for a show down worthy of the OK Corral! Jace, Clary, Alec, Luke, Simon, Magnus, The Lightwoods….everyone was anxiously waiting for the day when Valentine would make his move and they could either fight and destroy him or submit to his demands. City of Ashes left readers tasting the looming battle…waiting for that day to come. This book follows Clary’s journey to the shadownhunter ‘homeland’ of Idris. The whole Lightwood family, Jace, and Clary plan to attend…

  • Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare

    1, 2, 3 ACTION! From the first page of Cassandra Clare’s thrilling YA series, The Mortal Instruments, the second book of the series, City of Ashes–readers can expect one thing…ACTION. So much happens in this book, while a lot happened in City of Bones, I felt like the first book in the series was more about foundation laying than this second book…in this book things happen at an alarming pace! Clary and her shadowhunter friends embark on a dangerous adventure. Having narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil (and rogue shadowhunter), Valentine in Book I, the shadowhunters know it is only a matter of time before Valentine resurfaces. Suddenly, an alarming number of…

  • Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

    Being a teenager is hard enough without the added stress of suddenly being able to see demons and other downworlders. In Cassandra Clare’s book, City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1), Clarissa ‘Clary’ Frey has gone from being completely oblivious of the shadow world to suddenly being very much aware of demons, downworlders, and shawdowhunters. Clary and her best friend Simon are at a club in NYC when Clary witnesses three other teens kill a boy–well Clary thought he was a boy but really he was a demon–the three other teens are shawdowhunters that only she can see. When Clary gets home that night, she is still stunned by what she…

  • Review: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

    Lies. Betrayal. Danger. Deception. Anger. Adventure. Passion. Love. All of which await eager readers in Cassandra Clare’s latest installment of The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Prince. Clare flawlessly blends action, sci-fi/fantasy, YA, pararomance, and steampunk together magically. While romance is a huge part of this latest book, it does not over power the adventure. For me, other YA sagas such as Twilight, the love story overpowered the action and adventure, especially in the second book making it less enjoyable but in this series….there was a delicate balance which made it exceptionally hard to put down! In the midst of all the YA romance there is a richly satisfying mystery and adventure.…

  • Review: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare

    How strange it is to have the power to literally transform yourself into other people and yet be unable to put yourself in their place. This is the problem that plagues shapeshifting heroine Tessa Gray in Cassandra Clare’s steampunk novel, Clockwork Angel. Part of a trilogy The Infernal Devices, this first book blends romance, sci-fi/fantasy, steampunk, and adventure all together churning out 400+ pages of entertainment. When I first started the Steampunk Reading Challenge, I considered reading this book as one of my five books but then I started the Parasol Protectorate series instead. But as the year is winding down I still needed one book for the challenge, Clockwork Angel…