Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Title: Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)

Author: Susan Dennard 

Publication Date: January 5th 2016

Publisher: Tor Teen 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb: 

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.
In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

I ended last year with a WoW for this book and sadly after reading over it and comparing my expectations to what it actually turned out to be, I am a bit disappointed. Yes, it was a great book because of the characters, the setting, and the story, but it lacked the depth and presence that characterizes my favorite fantasy novels like ToG and Angelfall. 

Pros:

• Loved the idea of elemental magic, very Avatar-like 
• World building/setting description was good
• Characters were interesting and had lots of potential (there were so many roles and personalities that were full of foibles)
• I gave this book 5 stars because it was fast paced and there was SO. MUCH. STUFF. The details, side-stories, descriptions, character interactions, magic, fights, travelling, and more fighting were all so interesting. I don’t think any one of these aspects of the book were developed as much as they could have been, but they were all undeniably interesting and added to the charm of this book.
• The writing was good and honestly I loved this book even before it came out. Thanks Twitter.
• The map in the front of the book really piqued my interest and I will continue this series in hopes of discovering the other regions. 

Cons:

• with all the build-up and hype, I expected the book to be my fave book ever, but it fell short of an ideal book
• weak character interaction- there wasn’t much tension/humor in the dialogue between the characters- it seemed to fall short of my expectations
• elemental magic could have been explained waaay better- I get that it’s a similar idea to Avatar, but it would have been helpful for the author to include how exactly the elemental witches contributed/played a role in society.
• the history was almost non-existent, I want to know more about Nubrevna, about where Safiya is from, why Safiya has such a high rank but lived like a peasant and how she was unable to help Iseult. The mood and intensity of the book was a little shallow/superficial and it felt like the author was just crafting a pretty story. It wasn’t very meaningful (to me personally).
• To compare to Throne of Glass, this book didn’t hold a candle to the action, suspense or gravity found in ToG. It had exciting moments, but neither of the heroines pulled off the “badass” vibe like Celaena did.
• Safiya and Iseult had a strong bond but it wasn’t the best bond I’ve seen in literature… I compare every “best-friend” bond to that between March sisters and I found this one to be lacking.

Main Characters: 
Safiya: Truthwitch (can discern lies from the truth), impulsive, outgoing, loud, and more lively and I guess this book is more "hers" than Iseult's
Iseult: Threadwitch (can see life threads), for the most part acts calm and secretive. She is an outcast and her backstory is heart-wrenching
Merik: Windwitch, the prince of Nubrevna and his role is to help the his country as Admiral of the Nubrevnan navy
Aeduan: Bloodwitch, tries to kill both Safiya and Iseult... but fails every single time. Complicated character, scary at times, and downright confused at others. 

Favorite scene:
I absolutely loved the dancing scene between Safiya and the captain; it was a sort of turning point and heralded a major conflict in this novel. Also, the writing was very descriptive and almost poetic. 

Reawakened by Colleen Houck

Title: Reawakened (Reawakened #1)

Author: Colleen Houck

Date Published: August 11th 2015

Publisher: Delacorte Press 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb: 

When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers, who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification.
And she really can't imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe to find his brothers and complete a grand ceremony that will save mankind.
But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world.
From New York Times bestselling author Colleen Houck comes an epic adventure about two star-crossed teens who must battle mythical forces and ancient curses on a journey with more twists and turns than the Nile itself.

*SPOILERS*

As a fan of Colleen Houck's Tigers Curse series, I was ecstatic when I first stumbled upon this book on Goodreads about a year ago. It seemed too good to be true- Egyptian mythology! Mummified princes! Ancient Curses! But sadly I was a bit disappointed- Reawakened did have everything that was promised, but while reading this book I was bored and didn't feel the same sort of excitement that was ever-present with the Tigers Curse series. 

So why the 4 stars? With this one I'll admit that the rating reflects my love for the Tiger's Curse series (and this cover!) more than it does for the content of this book.

Now, don't think this book is bad- it's not. It was filled with mummies, Egyptian princes, funny moments, and a few interesting characters. It had all the elements of a 4 star book in the fantasy genre. But what I found lacking was the life. Reawakened was boring. I felt no excitement whatsoever and characters & events were formulaic, lifeless, and middle-grade. I'm thinking that this book is directed at a younger, middle grade age group rather than my usual YA- this might be the reason I find it lacking. *shrugs* I'm not sure why I didn't have a blast with this book when I absolutely loved Tigers Curse and I know, I know. I should stop comparing it to Tigers Curse. 

|OK, lets start the review portion of this post.|

The main character, Lily Young, is the only child of two wealthy parents and, as you can imagine, quite lonely. She is a bit unsure of herself and has a "bubble-wrapped" view of the world. She doesn't really have a defining character trait (not funny, smart, or bold) except for her "hidden" sarcasm, which seems to be the main trait that is required in all YA/middle-grade heroines. 

The male MC is Amon. He's an Egyptian prince who was awakens every couple thousand years or so to perform a ritual that is meant to protect his people from Evil (aka Seth). This time, he wakes up in the Metropolitan Museum. Amon starts off weirdly backwards and slowly gets more modern as the book goes on. He was an interesting character with a background I really wanted to know about but sadly his thoughts/personality didn't shine through and he wasn't quite a dynamic character. 

The plot itself was interesting- Amon had to travel back to Egypt, locate his two brothers, and perform the ritual but of course things don't go as planned. Amon can't find his canopic jars (preserved organs) so he was to use Lily's organs. Then while trying to locate his organs/brothers, the evil Seth makes life difficult and sends henchmen to impede their progress and/or kill them. However, the narration was often dry. The climax of this book (the fight between Seth and the brothers) was anti-climatic because there was already so much fighting going on that it was a bit too much. The Indiana Jones-type scenes that were present in Ms. Houck's Tigers Curse series were in this book; they were pretty good and had me engaged.

My biggest problem: lack of character development. There were only a handful of characters in this book. I personally enjoy a large cast (such as in the Throne of Glass series) but a small one can be nice as well since it helps the author focus on developing each individual. However, in the case of this book, the characters were mostly flat. Interesting but not quite alive. Hopefully Ms. Houck will develop the three brothers in the next book.

My favorite part: the backstory. There are periodic flashbacks through this book and provide context for most of the events. The flashbacks definitely provided more depth to the mysterious brothers, whose individual personalities I found to be lacking. The flashbacks also felt like the most solid and well executed part of this book, and without them, I think there wouldn't be such a clearly defined plot/purpose.

Overall, this book was good. Maybe not exactly 4 stars but it had so much potential. I recommend it those looking for a beach/light read and those who enjoy Egyptian mythology.

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

Title: Stitching Snow 

Author: R.C. Lewis

Publication Date: October 14th 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Rating: 4 out of 5

Goodreads Blurb: 

Princess Snow is missing.
Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.
Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.
When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

SPOILERS.


I've heard that this book is similar to Cinder, being all futuristic and cyborg-y but honestly I didn't even see the similarities until someone pointed them out.

Stitching Snow was a wonderful Snow White retelling, complete with the evil queen, huntsmen, handsome prince, and the seven robots. That's right robots. They were brilliant robots and I really really wish they all had a bigger part in the story.

One thing that made this quite different from the original Snow White is that there were a lot of different races/countries involved. There were four to be exact, and the politics/war between the countries stood out from the standard YA Snow White retellings.

One thing I couldn't believe was that Dane's father died. That was honestly so heartbreaking because 1) it was so unexpected and 2) it totally threw everything in a loop because Dane's father was the catalyst for all the action in this book.

The two main characters, Essie and Dane, are both royalty who assume different roles to suit their purposes. At first they seem like they're on opposite sides, but by the end they totally unite against the evil monarchy of Windsong.

Essie was strong in the physical sense but she didn't really have a sense of purpose; she was perfectly willing to live disguised as a Thandan instead of going to reclaim her throne and fight for her life back. She acted all tough but throughout the book I see glimpses of the frightened nine year old girl whose world just collapsed. I fully empathized with her situation and admired how she pulled together and prevailed in the face of such odds: almost killed by her step-mother's decree and living in a harsh, unaccommodating planet just to spend her days fighting in the Cage to earn money. But near the end, Essie definitely lost some of that admiration. She was rude and dismissing, especially towards Dane, and after Dane's father died, that was definitely not ok. But overall, Essie was a well developed character.

Dane was great, and his actions (kidnapping Essie, going undercover, saving Essie's life) were either understandable or undeniably brave. He was the most down-to-Earth (does that phrase even apply in galaxial settings? Should I say "down to planet"...) person in the entire novel and I totally agreed with everything he said and did. Even kidnapping Essie. He was kind and unassuming, and also focused. Almost the opposite of Essie. Overall, Dane was great, but also a bit of an uncomplicated person (definitely an oxymoron- uncomplicated person), which however didn't help in enlivening his character.

Filled with robots, an evil Queen, interplanetary travel, and superpowers (yup, it fits in somehow), Stitching Snow is a book I recommend to fairy tale lovers as well as those who enjoy a more futuristic setting.

A School for Unusual Girls By Kathleen Baldwin

Title: A School for Unusual Girls (Stranje House, #1)

Author: Kathleen Baldwin

Date Published: May 19th 2015

Publisher: Tor Teen

Rating: 5 out of 5 

Goodreads Blurb: 

 It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war. After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts...

This book was surprisingly awesome. I totally expected a stereotypical plot (no offense but Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriager was what I was anticipating from reading the blurb) and dull characters but I was so wrong. The genre is historical fiction (one of my favorites) and had three important elements- balls, science, and spies. Ahem, sorry. Diplomats. 

So when Gerogie (yup we're on a first name basis) was sent to the finishing school by her abominable parents, I was hooked. I totally felt her emotions as my own and her character was extremely endearing, not only because she was incredibly smart, but also because she had a crazy passion for science. That was pretty awesome, since most MCs rarely come off as being blue stockings. She was prodigious but wasn't a super ninja like Tess, or a wonderful diplomat like Maya. She just seemed like an ordinary girl, and that, more than anything else, emphasized the fact that she was absolutely brilliant.

Another well done factor in the book was the finishing school. The peculiar characters, like the headmistress, Madame Cho, Ravencliffe, and the girls were extremely dynamic and all of them clearly had depth. Although the specifics and history of a few characters, like Jane and Maya, weren't thoroughly enough described to satisfy my curiosity, the resulting, enigmatic persona only added to their charm. The General and his nephew, Sebastian (OMG, I think Cassandra Clare has well and truly ruined that name for me. Sigh. I totally forgive her though, her novels were wondrous) were ruggedly noble characters. 

The secret spy vibe going on was too cool, and all the parts of the book (the espionage, the war against Napoleon, Stranje house, Georgie's life, Sebastian's still murky past) were all combined seamlessly and left me wanting to know a looooot more about each and  every character. Especially Headmistress Stranje (what is up with her and the Captain), who I adored. 

This book was uniquely its own and I believe it is easily on my top 25 list for 2015. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of any of Gail Carriager's novels (either the Finishing School series or the Parasol Protectorate series, which btw is FAB) or a fan of steampunk, Regency London, bluestockings, and teenagers with superpowers (I know that this doesn't seem to fit in with anything I previously described but trust me, this was the most germane description I could think of).

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

Title: Seeker (Seeker #1)

Author: Arwen Elys Dayton

Date Published: February 10th 2015

Publisher: Random House Childrens

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

*ARC provided by NetGalley*

Goodreads Blurb:

Quin Kincaid has been put through years of brutal training for what she thinks is the noble purpose of becoming a revered ‘Seeker’. 

Only when it’s too late does she discover she will be using her new-found knowledge and training to become an assassin. Quin's new role will take her around the globe, from a remote estate in Scotland to a bustling, futuristic Hong Kong where the past she thought she had escaped will finally catch up with her.

When I first read the blurb for this book, I was expecting Shadowhunters. But I was extremely off- there was absolutely nothing in this book that even hinted of Cassandra Clare's City of Bones. To sum it up in two words: futuristic ninjas. 

It stared off as a typical YA book, and I expected it to be unoriginal and boring but I was wrong once again. The characters had great backstories, which were shown through the wonderful flashbacks (my favorite part of the book). The flashbacks also served to add more depth to all the characters and were extremely interesting.  

Although the main point of the story was unclear (the biggest problem I had with the book), there were many side plots that introduced new twists and turns and kept the book exciting. Content-wise, the middle of the book was exponentially better than the beginning or end. The beginning, in my opinion, was too slow and lacked a plot. And the end threw way too much stuff at the reader, failing to competently wrap-up the book (it was NOT a cliffhanger, just an inconsequential ending) and the end did absolutely no justice to the quality of the author's writing.  

To address my biggest problem, I did not see the point of this book- I failed to see the big picture and literally have no idea what in the world a Seeker is supposed to do. And while the characters were wonderfully developed, the setting and the World could have been explained a LOT more. 

To sum it up:

Awesome:                                                                                                                    

• interesting, fully developed characters 
• flashbacks
• continuous action
• Quin was awesome
• amnesia
• the Young Dread (I absolutely despised the other two)

Shabby:

• ending
• lack of main conflict
• continuous action
• dialogue

This book isn't very captivating, and, at times, I found myself struggling to finish. 

But, overall the book is surprisingly original and I recommend it to anyone who wants a break from the stereotypical YA fiction. 

  

Don't Even Think About it by Sarah Mlynowski

Title: Don't Even Think about it

Author: Sarah Mlynowski

Publication Date: March 11th 2014

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

*ARC provided by NetGalley*

Goodreads Blurb:

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.
Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening. 

Don't Even Think About it presents a completely new and different premises than most of the YA books being published. Its about a classroom of teenagers who all receive mutated vaccination shots and end up developing telepathic super powers. 

This book is an extremely light read, and was a bit pointless- throughout the story multiple secrets are uncovered, the characters with the telepathy all get annoyed at one another, and everyone with telepathy knows everything everyone is thinking. So there is absolutely no privacy and way to many pointless conflicts. 

But I applaud the creative factor in this story and how Ms. Mlynowski introduces the telepathic powers. I also like how she collectively writes through the voices of all the characters, who are all telling the story together. 

I also disliked the "teenagers" in this story and believe all the emotions weren't exactly genuine. The main conflict, teenagers vs. telepathic powers, was too stretched out and way too much insignificant information was given. But I suppose all that info was added to further the effect of confusion and disbelief so I don't really have a problem with it. What I did, however, have a problem with was connecting to the story- sure it was interesting, but I never really connected with it or felt as if I was "in" the story.