Review: The Shadow Prince

The Shadow Prince (Into the Dark #1) 
Author: Bree Despain

Publication Date: March 11th 2014        

~A copy was provided by  EgmontUSA via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 




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Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.

Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.

Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
 

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Greek Mythology in YA, what can go wrong? Really, just don't ask yourself that question.

Since I've read a lot of them, and most of them have been good, The Shadow Prince, however was average. The mythology was fun and though I'm not the person who could go through one and go "that's wrong", it was pretty good. That part was fine. You have the preface of the myth of Persephone and Hades,  overlapping with the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Review: Panic

 Fight Club Panic
Author: Lauren Oliver

Publication Date: March 4th 2014

~A copy was provided by HarperCollins via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

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Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

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The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.  

The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!  

Third rule of Fight- 

Sorry, wrong book. 

But, that's the idea. You know about Panic, you enter Panic, you do not talk about Panic. Kind of alá Cry Wolf. 

Review: White Space

White Space
Author:   Ilsa J. Bick

Publication Date:  February 11th 2014                           

~A copy was provided by Egmont USA via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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 In the tradition of Memento and Inception comes a thrilling and scary young adult novel about blurred reality where characters in a story find that a deadly and horrifying world exists in the space between the written lines.

Seventeen-year-old Emma Lindsay has problems: a head full of metal, no parents, a crazy artist for a guardian whom a stroke has turned into a vegetable, and all those times when she blinks away, dropping into other lives so ghostly and surreal it's as if the story of her life bleeds into theirs. But one thing Emma has never doubted is that she's real.

Then she writes "White Space," a story about these kids stranded in a spooky house during a blizzard.

Unfortunately, "White Space" turns out to be a dead ringer for part of an unfinished novel by a long-dead writer. The manuscript, which she's never seen, is a loopy Matrix meets Inkheart story in which characters fall out of different books and jump off the page. Thing is, when Emma blinks, she might be doing the same and, before long, she's dropped into the very story she thought she'd written. Trapped in a weird, snow-choked valley, Emma meets other kids with dark secrets and strange abilities: Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie. What they discover is that they--and Emma--may be nothing more than characters written into being from an alternative universe for a very specific purpose.

Now what they must uncover is why they've been brought to this place--a world between the lines where parallel realities are created and destroyed and nightmares are written--before someone pens their end.

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It took me 8 hours over 6 days to finish this. Yes, it's longer than the usual, but I couldn't handle more than over an hour at a time because I literally couldn't take anymore of it.

So, who else thought this is going to be awesome when they heard The Matrix meets Inkheart?  I don't know whether to cry or go back to sleep. You know everybody who watched Lost from the beginning and towards the end though we're finally going to get it and then it ended like that and you wanted 6 years of your life back? I want my 6 days back. And then I realised it's only book one and of course I'm going to have to read book two because I want to know what's going on.

Teaser Tuesday (20)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

 

 

 

Title: White Space

Author: Ilsa J. Bick

Release date: February 11th 2014              

Publisher:  Egmont USA   

Place: 10%

 

 

 

 Ilsa Bick’s WHITE SPACE, pitched as The Matrix meets Inkheart, about a seventeen-year-old girl who jumps between the lines of books and into the white space where realities are created and destroyed – but who may herself be nothing more than a character written into being from an alternative universe.

 

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"The doctors said her migraines were to blame for these pesky litte episodes. Her symptoms even had a name: the Alice in Wonderland syndrome."

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I've been reading this for five days. Five freaking days because it hurts your brain if you read more than an hour of it at a time. Also, I have 36 highlights and this is the only one I could use. So who else thought this is going to be awesome when they heard The Matrix meets Inkheart? I don't know whether to cry or go back to sleep. You know everybody who watched Lost from the beginning and towards the end thought we're finally going to get it and then it ended like that and you wanted 6 years of your life back? I want my 6 hours back, please. And then I realised it's only book one.

 

 

What're you reading?

 

Review: The Rules

The Rules
Author: Stacey Kade

Publication Date: April 23rd 2013        
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
 

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules.

Dear Hannah Montana, where did this book go?

Disappointment, disappointment, disappointment.

It was so promising, it really was..

Review: Witchstruck

Witchstruck
Author: Victoria Lamb

Publication Date: September 24th 2013        

~A copy was provided by Harlequin Teen, via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.~

If she sink, she be no witch and shall be drowned. If she float, she be a witch and must be hanged.

Meg Lytton has always known she is different; that she bears a dark and powerful gift. But in 1554 England, in service at Woodstock Palace to the banished Tudor princess Elizabeth, it has never been more dangerous to practice witchcraft. Meg knows she must guard her secret carefully from the many suspicious eyes watching over the princess and her companions. One wrong move could mean her life, and the life of Elizabeth, rightful heir to the English throne. With witchfinder Marcus Dent determined to have Meg's hand in marriage, and Meg's own family conspiring against the English queen, there isn't a single person Meg can trust. Certainly not the enigmatic young Spanish priest Alejandro de Castillo, despite her undeniable feelings. But when all the world turns against her, Meg must open her heart to a dangerous choice.



This review has some spoilers, since I couldn't actually write it spoiler free with my issues with it.

You know when you can read the first couple of pages and know you'll like it? You can pretty much tell by the writing and voice of the character, I was indecisive about Witchstruck and Meg for a while, I liked the beginning and I thought eventually it would evolve into something that could have been done really great.

Review: Unbreakable

Unbreakable
Author: Kami Garcia

Publication Date: October 1st 2013        
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me.
 When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.



I really, really wanted to like Unbreakable.

1) It was in one of my Waiting on Wednesdays

and

2) It was pitched as Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code.

What wasn't there to like?

A. Lot.