Series Recommendation: Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

I just finished The Ask and the Answer and will wait to review the series as a whole once I have read Monsters of Men but in the mean time I wanted to express my fangirl love for the series.  It's one of those rare gems that you hear by word of mouth and then later wonder why the heck more people haven't heard of it.  I guess you could say it's kind of like The Hunger Games in that way, only in my opinon this series is better, a lot better.  Don't get me wrong, The Hunger Games is a good series and I loved the movie and all, but Chaos Walking has a kind of depth and sincerity to it that you don't find in The Hunger Games, but I'll go into more detail about that later.  So if you love The Hunger Games, chances are you're going to love the Chaos Walking trilogy even more.

Surprise giveaway with a surprise prize!

So there's this awesome giveaway hosted by Reading Under the Moonlight that you should definitely check out!

Book Review: Betrayal by Mayandree Michel

Betrayal
by: Mayandree Michel
published: April 2011
format: ebook
Goodreads Summary:
Where there is love and power, there is always... betrayal. At seventeen, Cordelia is an ordinary teen with an extraordinary and frightening secret. A secret that induces vivid dreams which she not only experiences true love, but crippling fear while barely escaping with her life each night. After a life altering event, Cordelia has an unexpected encounter with Evan, the mysterious boy from her dreams, who reveals who and what she is, a descendant of the Greek gods. At that moment everything she knows of her world is a lie, and she must leave the present and go into the past to assume the role she was put on this earth for, safeguarding her ancient empire amidst evil forces that toil hastily to destroy it. In a race against time, Cordelia must decide if she is truly a part of this dangerous world, or risk defying the gods, and ultimately lose the boy who has put a claim on her heart.

I've been interested in reading this for awhile and recently bought a Kindle and found this in ebook for .99 so of course I had to get it ^.^ Let me first say that I LOVE my Kindle! At first I thought it would be weird reading an entire novel like that but it wasn't for me at all, in fact it seemed easier because the print is crisp and large and doesn't tire the eyes. Ok so what did I think of Betrayal hmmmm... this is a difficult review to make because on the one hand I loved the story but on the other the writing itself made it an absolute chore to get through. I'm not sure if it was because I had the Kindle version but there were sooooo many writing errors. I try not to be too anal and can overlook a few here and there but this book is chalk full of 'em. Some other reviewers have said they had to stop reading early on because the errors were too distracting. This book is also much longer than it needs to be with all the long-winded dialogue and characters constantly repeating themselves. I thought to myself "How in the world did a professional editor overlook this mess? It's like I'm reading a rough draft". Then I later found out that this book was self-published, meaning no professional editing had been done. If writing mistakes are one of your biggest pet peeves, you might want to skip this one, for now anyway.

As for the story itself, I liked it a lot. I assumed it was only going to be about Greek mythology but there's also vampires, werewolves, werepanthers, and even a weredragon, how cool is that! And I love the setting being in old west times, very cool. I liked the characters ok except for Bethany. Supposedly she's Cordelia's best friend but she was narcissistic and unnecessarily rude. Although, I guess that makes sense being what she is and all. The love story part was good. I liked that Cordelia was cautious and didn't instantly fall head-over-heels in love. I also liked Evander (and that name!) and there were parts that I thought were very sweet. And the ending, wow, I didn't see that coming at all *_* it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next book, I just hope Mayandree does herself and her readers a favor and hires a professional to do the polishing.

Final Rating: 3/5

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Betrayal
by: Mayandree Michel
published: April 1, 2011
format: ebook
My Teasers: "The dark-haired boy's eyes met my gaze, and the light in them fed me strength, making him seem only an inch or two away. I reached out to touch his cheek, and his skin was as smooth as velvet. Then he was where he had been all along, on the ground battling the fierce beasts."


I was so excited when I bought my Kindle and found this in ebook for a buck so of course, I had to get it ^_^ I've been wanting to read this book for awhile, mainly because of the Greek mythology. The Greek myths have been a fascinating subject ever since my childhood and I'm half-Greek myself so I love the idea of it being interwined with YA. As for the story itself, I'm not too far along but so far I like it. The writing is a bit weird to me but I'll explain more in my upcoming review.

Book Review: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Brisingr

By: Christopher Paolini

Publication Date: 2008

Goodreads Summary: OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.
Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.
First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices— choices that take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.
Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once-simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

I’m a huge fan of this series and bought the book when it first came out in 2008 and I just finished it today, I’ve been working on this book for 3, count it, 3 years! Not that I have a good excuse but between getting married, taking college classes that require a butt load of reading and writing, and coming across other reads too tempting to pass up I just didn’t make a lot of progress. Plus, I, nor anyone knew when the heck book 4 was coming out so I didn’t want to finish it only to wait for who knew how long. Once book 4 was announced, I happily dove back into Brisingr.

As the summary suggests, there is a lot of politics in this one which does slow the pace of the story a bit but I thought it was an interesting and important component to the plot and character development. Being a Dragon Rider, Eragon is of course expected to be this great warrior but he must also have good character and judgment, so him having to engage in delicate back and forth dialogue is just part of him growing up. Witnessing Eragon going from a 15 year-old farm boy to an adult and fully-fledged Dragon Rider is one of my favorite things about the series. I think Paolini does a superb job at constantly developing Eragon’s character.

I also enjoyed the continual growth of his and Saphira’s relationship. Their partnership is the heart of the story because they are the last hope for Alagaesia’s freedom from King Galbatorix. Again, from the beginning you can see their relationship constantly growing and improving. That’s how Paolini writes, he’s very gradual about things and some readers simply don’t have the patience for that which is a real shame.

Alright so besides the politics and growing relationships there is PLENTY of action and suspense, especially towards the end. So if you’re having a hard time getting through, hang in there! It’s so worth it, I promise. I don’t want to give anything away but the last few chapters or so were jaw-dropping. I almost cried at one part and happily squealed at another LOL, I’m such a girl!

In conclusion, I love love love this book! Eragon was good, Eldest was great, and Brisingr is awesome. Huge props to Paolini for outdoing himself each time. I am fully confident that Inheritance will be even more awesome and a most satisfying conclusion to an amazing epic.

Final Rating: 5/5

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451
By: Ray Bradbury
Publication date: 1953

Goodreads Summary:The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do...

So it's been awhile, and here I thought summer vacation would be less busy, ah well. So I read and finished Fahrenheit 451 which brings me closer to my goal of reading 35 books in 2011 yay ^_^ I had to read the short story "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury for my college English class and thought it was brilliant. Recently a couple of friends and I decided to start a book club and when it was my turn to pick the book I chose Fahrenheit 451. It's Bradbury's most popular work and is a required read for many high school students so I figured it would be a good choice. I was not at all disappointed. Fahrenheit 451 is geniusly written with incredible insight about how technology can be detrimental to a society.

Interestingly enough, this book was first published in the 50s but some of the things mentioned are all to familar to someone of modern times. For instance, Guy Montag's wife Mildred often has "seashells" in her ears, listening to music or various soothing sounds while being unaware of reality. This reminded me of a lot of college where students everywhere robotically walk from one class to another while listening to their ipods, purposely cutting themselves off socially. I'm not saying that ipods are bad, but sometimes people become more connected with their technological devices than their surroundings which yes, I would say isn't a good thing. There are other familiar technological "advances" mentioned to make one reconsider if some technologies are more harmful than helpful which is exactly what Bradbury wants the reader to do. The only issue I had with the novel was the language. Taking God's name in vain was pretty common throughout the story although ironically, there were many Biblical references, go figure. Overall however I very much enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 and strongly recommend it.

Final Rating: 4/5

Book Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo
By Alexandra Adornetto
Released: December 2010

Goodreads Summary:
Three angels- Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human- are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They must work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments. Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong. The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

Like most everyone else it seems, the cover art of this book is what first grabbed my attention. Normally, I mindfully try not to judge a book by it's cover but sometimes it just can't be helped. What can I say, I'm a sucker for pretty things and this cover, by far, is one of the most gorgeous I've seen. The fact that the author was seventeen years old when Halo was published is another reason I wanted to check it out. I thought it would be interesting to read a teenage love story written by a teenager. And one of my favorite authors was a teen when he first published Eragon so I didn't have any preconceived judgements based on her age.

The writing was pretty good I thought. I know a lot of people have slammed Adornetto for this and although I'm not quite as anal as some, I will say that she could have varied her adjectives more. This is one of my absolute biggest pet peeves. As far as I'm concerned, coming up with another word, other than the one overly used to describe a person's features, should be the easiest thing to proofread. For example, Xavier's hair being described as the color of nutmeg was used WAY to often. I liked it the first couple times it was used, after that it's time for something different. For that matter, I wished she had created a better picture of the characters overall. I found them rather difficult to visualize. For instance, I get that Bethany, Ivy, and Gabriel are angels in human form and therefore are to look perfect, but describing their perfect physique, perfect hair, and perfect complexion is simply not enough to bring a character to life. Going back to my original statement however, I do think she is a talented writer with a promising future.

As for the story itself, I really enjoyed it. The romance between Bethany and Xavier was sweet and genuine, although I thought they fell in love too fast. Bethany's an angel who has all these responsibilities and Xavier has major baggage. I was surprised at how easy it was for Bethany to put Xavier above her divine purpose and how quickly Xavier wanted to be with her despite his history. Ah well, I guess that's what love is suppose to do? Furthermore, their romance turns out to be not so forbidden like what the summary suggests. Ivy, Gabriel and all of heaven don't really have a problem with it even though the three of them arrive on Earth with strict rules about getting too close to humans. There were other inconsistencies but I'm going to hold off on those until I've finished the series, perhaps things will be explained in due time. Other reviewers have complained about how slow the story progresses but I personally didn't have a problem with it. I liked the steady pace because it helps to better absorb the characters and their world. This is the first in a trilogy so you're going to have all the introductions. And if you've read all the way through and seen the cover of Hades, you know things are going to get pretty interesting. With that said, I'm definitely going to continue the series with high hopes. Of course I can't wait to find out what happens with Bethany/Xavier/Jake but also Molly and Gabriel. Molly crushes hard on him and says she has deja vu when she sees him...interesting indeed. Alas, I must wait to find out *sigh*

In conclusion I give it a 4/5 rating.