Shiver

This book was absolutely AMAZING! I finished it yesterday. I started it on Friday, but didn't get to read on Saturday because I was out all day. So, I read it on Friday and Sunday. It's a little over 300 pages. AMAZING! It was- WOW! Wow.

Review: So, if I haven't said is enough times for you: WOW! AMAZING! There you go. I loved it SO much. Maybe because I love werewolves? I don't know. But Shiver was fantastic. I loved the first-person perspective. It switched off every now and then between the two main characters: Grace and Sam. Like I said, I love werewolves. I don't mean love, I mean LOVE, as in very creepy. They don't exist, but I kind of wish they did. That's just how much I love them. So Maggie Stiefvater hit a 3 just by writing a book about werewolves. AND this time there were no vampires. Now, I love vampires, but in this story, it would have killed it. It's all about werewolves. YAY!
Characters: The characters are one more star. Grace isn't bad. She kind of reminds me of Rose from VA. Not that they're anything alike. *VA SPOILER ALERT* It's just that Rose would do anything to have Dimitri back. In that way, she's like Grace. Grace did what she could to keep Sam a werewolf. Sam, being a werewolf, caught my heart right away. It sounds weird (and believe me, it is) and I don't really know why werewolves get that reaction from me. Well: werewolf + awesomeness= good character x 1,000,000. So, he'd still be cool if he wasn't a werewolf, but I wouldn't love him the way I do now.
Story:Shiver has the right amount of love, suspense, action. Because Sam's a werewolf (in Shiver, this means he's wolf during the winter and is human during the summer), they only have a certain amount of time before he's a wolf for the winter (and probably the rest of his life). Ohhhh, drama. Love: Sam and Grace relationship. It's funny because Grave actually fell in love with Sam while he was a wolf. Action: There are tons of action parts. I mean, the book's about werewolves. What did you expect? Suspense: If you get to the ending, you'll know. WOW!

Content: kissing, make-out scenes, sex scene (One, but it's not especially inappropriate. If you've read the Twilight series, you're good.)

Stars: 5

Quotes:

"'What do you eat?'

'Baby bunnies.' She narrowed her eyes, so I grinned and said, 'Adult bunnies, too. I'm an equal-opportunity bunny-eater.'" - Grace, Sam

"'Sensitive,' I tried.

Sam translated: 'Squishy.'

'Creative.'

'Dangerously emo.'

'Thoughtful.'

'Feng shui.'" - Grace, Sam

"'You're the girl, aren't you? The girl who was in my house?'

'Yes.'

'Do you have a name?'

'Do you?'

'I think I like you. I'm Beck.'" - Beck, Grace

Series (Trilogy):
Shiver
Linger 7-20-10
Forever 7-??-11

Glass Houses

I figured to just keep on going with my vampire book reviews. This should be it for a while, considering I've only read so many vampire books. I just finished Glass Houses by Rachel Caine a few days ago. This is the first book in the Morganville Vampires series.

Review: I thought it was pretty good. In the beginning, it was kind of hard to read, but that might have been because I wanted to read other books. Anyways, by the end I was really glad that I read it. I don't quite understand what happened at the end though. If you've read it, can you please shed some light? I thought the book was funny in some parts. It was serious when it needed to be. I like the characters (meaning that none of them had annoyed me ;-) ). I would have preferred it to be in first person, but things are the way they are.
Characters: Like I said before, none of them have annoyed me. Yet. I had to put that in. I'm just that pessimistic. I like how Claire is stubborn and won't take no for an answer. Because I can't, personally, be like that, I either admire it or hate it when others are. In this case, I admire Claire for that. She's still stupid though. Stubbornness is not that great of a quality. Shane and Michael are both pretty cool. It makes me wish guys like them existed in the world. They probably do, but not in my part of the world. Eve is also cool. It's kind of ironic that she's Goth but her name's Eve. Maybe not ironic (still trying to figure out how to use that word correctly), but it's funny. Both in the ha-ha and weird way.
Story: The storyline was pretty good. It had drama, action, the first whispers of romance. It was a little bit of a mystery, but sometimes the characters just have to be clueless (of course, clueless works better in a first-person perspective, just saying). I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

Content: kissing, major make-out scene

Stars: 4

Series:
Glass Houses
The Dead Girls' Dance
Midnight Alley
Feast of Fools
Lord of Misrule
Carpe Corpus
Fade Out
Kiss of Death
Ghost Town

This Week's Playlist

So, I've been thinking about what songs I could use for this week's playlist. I have come up with:

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Explanation:
Be My Escape - This song kind of reminds me of Beastly by Alex Flinn. Adrian (the "Beast") is locked inside and he can't get out. He's asking Linda ("Beauty") to be his escape. Or maybe he's asking the witch. It can go either way, because there are parts for either of them.
Hero - Vampire Academy. It's an amazing song for Rose and Dimitri. <3
Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This - The parts where it says "Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused by you./Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to be used by you." That reminds me of Impulse by Ellen Hopkins. It kind of has to do with the main characters' lives, especially Tony and Conner.
Unwell - This is another song for Impulse. They all get sent to Aspen Springs because they all attempted suicide. The song says "I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell. I know right now you can't tell. But stay a while and maybe then you'll see a different side of me." Tony, Conner and Vanessa aren't necessarily crazy, but they're "Unwell". (Get it?)
Soul Meets Body - The Host for the whole "soul meets body" thing. The song doesn't really go with the book, though. Still, it's a cool song.
How Far We've Come - This could go with any end-of-the-world book. It could go with Life as We Knew It (Susan Beth Pfeffer) and Terra Nova: The Search (Nathan Charlton) or even books like The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) and The Giver (Lois Lowry) because their uptopias/distopias that were created after an end-of-the-world event.
If Today Was Your Last Day - I haven't read Before I Fall or Before I Die, but I would imagine that this song could be really good for either of them.
Electric Feel - This is that song I talked about in one of the latest posts. It is my current favorite song. It's held that position for about two weeks tops. A few more weeks and it'll pass Savior by Rise Against (stayed my favorite for about a month).

The Host

So I'm continuing my reviews. Today is: The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Now, I want to say that Stephenie Meyer annoys me slightly. Most authors do, for one reason of another, so don't feel bad Stephenie Meyer. The thing is that they usually annoy me for stupid reasons, so it's really no big deal. So, what about Stephenie Meyer annoys me? Well, Twilight. The happy ending.
The Host is not one of them. I happen to LOVE The Host. I thought it was amazing. It's been over a year and I still love it. I started hating Twilight a few months after I read Breaking Dawn. The Host? My second favorite book of all time. At least for now. There are tons of promising books out there... but The Host hasn't been replaced yet.

Review: So, yeah, I love this book. It's the only reason I still like Stephenie Meyer. I really hope she continues the series and gets over the whole Midnight Sun thing so that she could start writing. Not that I don't understand. I'd be pretty mad and hurt, too, if somebody decided to post my copyrighted story on the Internet without my permission. I get it. Anyways, I liked how this book was written. The ending wasn't too happy. I like that. I'm all for not-too-happy endings, especially when the characters went through some heck. Of course, I prefer not-happy endings. They just make it seem so sad and real. I love sad books and it seems real because the story will continue even if the book ends. So, if the book ends sad, it doesn't necessarily mean the story ends sad. I don't know if that makes sense, but to me, it does.
Characters: I like Wanda. I found it VERY interesting seeing the world and humans and everything like that through her eyes. You can tell that there's a BIG difference between souls and humans, but they're mostly the same (at least, while souls are in human hosts). They both feel the same emotions, desires, etc (again, when souls are in human hosts). The difference between REAL souls and humans, is that souls are pure. They're so nice, innocent, peaceful. That doesn't excuse them of taking over our planet, though. That would be something humans do; taking over someone else's planet (Avatar). So, souls and humans are similar and different. Wanda was especially different. She was like a soul, but she felt human. It's hard to describe. It's like: She was a soul and she was a human at the same time. Wanda was pure and kind, but she felt real love, desire. She felt hatred, sorrow. I don't know. You really have to read it.
Story: I have to admit it. The beginning of The Host is extremely boring. But I wouldn't be recommending this book if it didn't end amazingly. Maybe it's just me, but I can read through half of the book just to get to the good part. Well, I can read through anything. If it's boring though, it takes me forever to read. The beginning, for me at least, went by fast enough. Before I knew it, the book was so good and I couldn't put it down. The ending, especially. It was unexpected, yet so predictable (Another, makes sense/doesn't make sense). Well, I would say that if you could read through Twilight, you could read through this. Skip through the first part, then go back and read it. That way, you know that it gets better and you can understand what you didn't the first time. I would suggest skipping about 150 pages. The next chapter after that is where you should start.


Content: kissing, major make-out scenes (2)

Stars: 5

Series:
If Stephenie Meyer continues (and I hope she does), the sequels will most likely be:
The Soul
The Seeker

As you probably know, The Host is in the process of being made into a movie. I think it will be incredibly suck-y compared to the book. Otherwise, it'll probably be really good, you know, when not compared to the book. That's just how book movies are.

YA and Adult booklist

Marley and Me - John Grogan
The Host - Stephenie Meyer
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn
Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
Frost Bite
Shadow Kiss
Blood Promise
Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz
Masquerade
Revelations
The Van Alen Legacy
Marked - PC and Kristin Cast
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed
Hunted
Tempted
Beastly - Alex Flinn
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Life as we Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
Evermore - Alyson Noel
Blue Moon
Shadowland
Tithe - Holly Black
Valiant
Ironside
The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen
Just Listen
This Lullaby
Along for the Ride
Dreamland
Keeping the Moon
Some Like You
That Summer
Lock and Key
The Secret Between Us - Barbara Delinsky
Wake - Lisa McMann
Fade
Gone
Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
Pretties
Specials
Extras
Midnighters: The Secret Hour
Midnighters: Touching Darkness
Midnighters: Blue Noon
Peeps
The Last Days
The Risen Empire
The Killing of Worlds
Premonitions - Jude Watson
Disappearance
Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
Ink Exchange
Fragile Eternity
Bones of Faerie - Janni Lee Simner
Chibi Vampire Vol1
Chibi Vampire Vol2
Chibi Vampire Vol3
Chibi Vampire Vol4
13 Reasons Why - Jay Asher
A Walk to Remember - Nicholas Sparks
The Last Song
The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor
Seeing Redd
ArchEnemy
A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Witcomb
Hush, hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
The Rules of Survival - Nancy Werlin
Impossible
Every Soul a Star - Wendy Mass
ttyl - Lauren Myracle
ttfn
l8r, g8r
Bliss
Fallen - Lauren Kate
City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes
City of Glass
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Elsewhere - Gabrielle Zevin
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
Everlost - Neal Shusterman
A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
Runaway - Wendelin Van Draanen
Flipped

Impulse - Ellen Hopkins
Dead is the New Black - Marlene Perez
What My Mother Doesn't Know - Sonya Sones
Luna - Julie Anne Peters
Devil's Kiss - Sarwat Chadda
The Memory of Water - Karen White
Wings - Aprilynne Pike
Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak
The Strange Power - L.J. Smith
The Possessed
The Passion
The Killing Circle - Andrew Pyper
The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong
The Awakening
Song of the Sparrow - Lisa Ann Sandell
Tantalize - Cynthia Leitich Smith
Animal Farm - George Orwell
1984
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Little Women - Louis May Alcott
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
Terra Nova: The Search - Nathan Charlton*
The Strand Phrophecy - JBB Winner
Glass Houses - Rachel Caine (just finished TODAY!)

Currently Reading:
Burned - Ellen Hopkins: pg 33
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells: pg 57
Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater: 32

* I happened to have met this author. I've talked to him a few times. Anyways, I liked the book. It's Sci-fi. Just thought I would "advertise" him a little bit. You can get his book at Amazon or his website: http://www.charltonbooks.com/.
Unfortunately, I'm not in any of the pictures. Go figure. Anyways, I was there. I didn't buy the book because I was broke at the time (kind of like I am now). Oh well. I'm trying to catch up on some reading anyways. I want to read:
The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
Rebel Angels - Libba Bray
The Prophet of Yonwood - Jeanne DuPrau
Something by Elizabeth Scott
Something by Nancy Werlin
Something by Wendy Mass

Sorry it keeps changing. I can't really rely on the library or friends anymore. The library always seems to have the books I want checked out, or my friends forget to bring the book. Hopefully I'll at least finish three or four books next week. I should have time for it. Anyways, have a nice Spring Break and if you already had yours, I hope it was interesting. Bye!

House of Night

I know, I know. So many vampires, right? Sorry about that. Just getting started. It'll be over soon enough for those of you who don't like vamps too much. I only hate Twilight vamps (go figure), but every other kind of vamp? LOVE THEM!
So, back to the House of Night.

Review: So, I thought the first book was okay. Betrayed and Chosen were good. Untamed, Hunted, and Tempted? *screams* But I wouldn't really do that in real life. I'd probably jump up and down, singing my current favorite song: Electric Feel by MGMT. so, *jumps up and down singing Electric Feel, evens though it has nothing to do with the book*. Yeah. I loved the last three. First three: good. Last three: AWESOME! It brings a whole new meaning to Vampyres. That's right. Vampyres. With a Y, not the typical I. VA brought a new idea about vamps: three races: Moroi (live, magic), Dhampir (half-human), and Strigoi (undead, soul-less). HoN brings a whole new idea. They all believe in the goddess Nyx. They attend a school called House of Night. They have "tattoos" on them. The special ones have an affinity for something.
Characters: The main character would be Zoey Redbird. I don't like her too much. I like her character (no pun intended), but I don't her, if that makes sense. She's annoyed me on many occasions. Mostly with the multiple guys. She has a thing for that. So, Zoey mildly annoys me. I do think she's cool though. She does have affinities for all of the elements. I like Stevie Rae. I LOVE Stark (Untamed). The others are okay. I hate all the guys but Stark and (kinda) Heath. but he's human and really doesn't belong.
Story: It's definitely interesting. It has many twists, and turns. You think one thing, and then you find out something that changes everything. I would say the main points are: trying to save the world while simultaneously juggling a few guys. Not that she's, well, you know. She doesn't mean for it to happen. It's not her fault she doesn't have time to sort out her feelings. Everything happens quickly. Anyways, good plot. I liked it a lot, if that counts for anything. There are some really sad parts, some really messed-up parts. I felt like crying in some parts, but for some reason Vampire books (including VA, etc.) don't make me cry. Everything but vampire books.

Content: make-out scenes, kissing, sex-scene (1) [whole series]

Stars: whole series- 5
Marked- 3.5

Quotes:
"So I was beginning my new life as a anomaly, which figured about as much as it sucked." Zoey Redbird
"You are old beyond your years Zoeybird. Believe in yourself and you will find a way. But remember darkness does not always equate to evil just like light does not always bring good."
"Before I could cry or scream I whirled around and stalked to my bedroom,slamming the door behind me. I hope they all drown. "Zoey your mother and I need to speak with you." Great. Clearly they didn't drown."
“Hey, which one of them is supposed to be your boyfriend?” Stark asked me. Even in the terrible shape he was in, he caught my glance with his. His voice was scratchy, and he sounded scarily weak, but his eyes sparkled with humor. “I am!” Heath and Erik said together.

Series:
Marked
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed
Hunted
Tempted
Burned 4-27-10
Awakened ??-??-??

I hear that there's most likely going to be nine books. I really don't know.

I <3 STARK!!!

Vampire Academy

Well, I've read quite a few books, in the past two years, especially. So, I'm trying to catch my blog up. I've decided to start with one of my favs: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.

Review: This book caught me and was able to hold on pretty tightly. I would say that I either read this right before or right after I read Twilight. It made Twilight look so... not good. Overrated. So Twilight-lovers HAVE to read this. Just to compare the books.
Characters: Rose is a pretty strong character, and not just because she's a dhampir. Her personality is.... her. She's strong and independent. Of course, that can only go so far when she's in love with this hot Russian guy... who happens to be her instructor... Rose would do anything for her best friend, Lissa. She's sarcastic, witty, but she has a depth to her. She's not just surface. She has depth. But she's also a teenager. It is called Vampire Academy for a reason. It makes it more interesting too. She's still young, but she's growing up. You could tell that throughout the series. She hasn't annoyed me yet. Not like other protagonists have, anyway.
Story: I thought it had a pretty good story line. I don't know what I could compare it to. I could compare it to Blue Bloods, but don't take that the wrong way. They're almost nothing alike (except they're both awesome). The only reason they're similar is because of vampires feeding off of vampires. In Vampire Academy, it's the Strigoi; in Blue Bloods, it's the Silver Bloods. That's pretty much it. I liked how it was written. There's a little bit of everything: drama, suspense, action, romance, horror (if you count soul-less creatures). I would recommend it to girls, but guys could read it too. There's enough action for that, in my opinion. It's not just a love story *cough* (like Twilight).
The series definitely gets better. I CANNOT wait until May. Spirit Bound will be AMAZING! I just know it.

Stars: 5

Content: an almost-sex scene, drugs (book 1)

Quotes:
"Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies."
"A ghostly smile flickered across his face. "If you weren't so psychotic, you'd be fun to hang around.” "Funny, I feel that way about you too.” He didn't say anything else, but the smile grew, and he walked away. (Rose & Christian)"

Series:
Vampire Academy
Frost Bite
Shadow Kiss
Blood Promise
Spirit Bound 5-18-10
Last Sacrifice 6-14-10


Still taking requests. Go read VA!