Waiting on Wednesday (8) - Clarity

Clarity
Kim Harrington
Publisher: Scholastic Point
To be released: March 1, 2011

Summary (from Goodreads):

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch an object and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case — but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother — who has supernatural gifts of his own — becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most? 

I love this cover and cannot wait to read this book! It sounds so good! Cannot wait for next year! 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event highlighting exciting upcoming releases. It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

Review: Keys to the Repository

Keys to the Repository
Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Release Date: June 29, 2010
Pages: 192

Ratings: 4 Stars 

Summary (from Goodreads):

Lavish parties. Passionate meetings in the night. Bone-chilling murders. Midterms. The day-to-day life of Schuyler Van Alen and her Blue Bloods friends (and enemies) is never boring. But there's oh-so-much more to know about these beautiful and powerful teens. Below the streets of Manhattan, within the walls of the Repository, exists a wealth of revealing information about the vampire elite that dates back before the Mayflower. In a series of short stories, journal entries, and never-before-seen letters, New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz gives her hungry fans the keys to the Repository and an even more in-depth look into the secret world of the Blue Bloods. Won't you come inside? 

This is a great companion book to the Blue Blood series. While this book is not a new story in the Blue Blood series, it provides background information on the characters, the Blue Blood society and their legends.

This book gives you a great overview of the series and the main characters in the series, even providing new detail to characters you thought you knew all about. I loved how this book was organized, with files on each characters and on the Blue Bloods myths and then Melissa de la Cruz would have a short story after each file to go along with what you just read. I really loved the short stories that go with the book series. It was great seeing some events from different perspectives, or learning more about a characters life that is unseen in the actual book.

Having not read the Blue Blood series in a while, this book helped to refresh my mind about what has occurred in the last books and made me extremely excited for the release of Misguided Angel. I loved learning more about the characters and seeing, in a way, how Melissa de la Cruz formed this complex Blue Blood series and created all these characters. This book is a must read for any fan of the Blue Blood series who wishes to learn more about the characters and events that take place in the books.

Cover News - Secrets and Shadows

On Shannon Delany's blog, the cover to the sequel of 13 to Life was revealed. I love 13 to Life and I really like the cover to the sequel, Secrets and Shadows and cannot wait for it to be released. To bad February 15 is so far away. For now, I will just look at the pretty cover and wait patiently.

Fragment Friday (2) - Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Fragment Friday is hosted by James of Book Chic and it is where you read excerpts of your favorite books or what you are reading now. I chose an excerpt from a book I’m currently reading: Forget You by Jennifer Echols.

Review: Infinity (Chronicles of Nick #1)

Infinity

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Release Date: May 25, 2010

Pages: 448

Ratings: 2 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

 At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

I was really hoping to like this book, but I was sadly disappointed. The plot hand so much potential but the writing style got in the way.

Infinity is the first in the Chronicles of Nick series and is a prequel to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s adult series Dark Hunters series. This was Sherrilyn Kenyon’s first YA novel and I feel it was an unsuccessful transition. While I enjoyed the plot, the writing style got in the way and made me not want to continue reading the book.  I was confused when I first started the book because of the point of view. While it was third person, it focused mostly on Nick and showed all his thoughts. When the story suddenly jumped and focused on some other secondary character it was extremely confusing, since the book focused mostly on Nick and felt at time like it was from Nick’s first person point of view. I wish it was told from Nick’s point of view because he was an interesting character and had a great personality and this series is about him becoming who he is later in life.

While I had a problem with the point of view of the story, I also had a problem with the writing style. It felt overly simplified at times, like it was dumbed down for Sherrilyn’s readers. There were phrases like “massive loser dork” and “ coolest awesome dork” that made me cringe. While writing for YA does have a different style then adult writing it does not mean it has to be written poorly.

While I was distracted by the writing style for most of the book, I really enjoyed the plot. While the book started off slow, I was drawn in by the mystery of who Nick really was and why students at his school were being turned into living zombies. The end had plenty of zombie fighting action which is always a plus. The characters also drove the story. While I did not like some characters, I loved others, such as Bubba and Nick. Nick had a great, unique voice that was entertaining to read and Bubba was just one of those great secondary characters who has a strange obsession with zombies.

Unfortunately, the plot wasn’t strong enough to hold my attention the whole way and I felt, at various times, like I was forcing myself to finish the book. I feel if I have read Sherrilyn Kenyon’s adult books then I would have enjoyed this book more, but I have not read those books. When the second book in the Chronicles of Nick comes out, I most likely will not check it out.

Waiting on Wednesday (7) - Crescendo

Crescendo

Becca Fitzpatrick

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children’s

To be released: October 19, 2010

Summary (from Goodreads):

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush! 

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

I am a huge Hush, Hush fan and cannot wait to see where Becca takes us in Crescendo. I have been dying to read this since I heard she was writing a sequel. I love Patch and cannot wait to see what happens next with Nora and Patch. And once again, the cover is lovely. James Porto is an amazing photograph and has made another beautiful cover for this book series. Now, if only it was October…

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event highlighting exciting upcoming releases. It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Revew: By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead

Julie Anne Peters

Publisher: Hyperion Books CH

Release Date: January 5, 2010

Pages: 224

Ratings: 5 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she's determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for "completers"- www.through-the-light.com.

While she's on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she's not on the Web, Daelyn's at her private school, where she's known as the freak who doesn't talk.

Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she's waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she's made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won't give up. And it's too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life. Isn't it?

National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge.

What a stunning, powerful story. This book left me speechless. While reading this book I laughed, I cried and even did both at the same time. A story full of emotions, By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead is a stunning book that will stay with you.

While the main character, Daelyn, might not be able to physically speak, she says so much. Julie Anne Peters takes you into the mind of Daelyn, showing you all the pain she has suffered in her life and why she believes death is the only way out. Daelyn has suffered horrible verbal and physical attacks from bullies her whole life and this novel truly demonstrates the extreme side effects of bullying. While this book is fiction, Daelyn’s story could be the story of any number of teens that have suffered from bullying.

How the story unfolded was one of my favorite things about this book. While the reader knows Daelyn has attempted suicide, we do not know the reasons behind the attempts and how she ended up injured in the beginning of the story. Through a website Daelyn finds, the read slowly gets glimpses into Daelyn’s past and the reasons for her wanting to end her life are slowly revealed. While the website is a suicide site, I felt that it was not there to aid people to end their lives. The website became a way for Daelyn to open up and expose her secrets and real the inner demons she was with which she struggled.

Even though this book deals with a multitude of extremely serious issues, Juile Anne Peters is able to offer some comic relief through the character Santana. I loved Santana. Even though Daelyn cannot speak, Santana is relentless in trying to draw her out and form some sort of connection with her. He provides much need relief from the serious and sad thoughts of Daelyn. He tries various ways to engage Daelyn, even enlisting the help of his pet rat. I cried when Santana revealed what was wrong with him. Santana is such an important character in this book, helping Daelyn even though she does not want help.

This book was just amazing. It captured so many emotions, demonstrates the extreme side effects of bullying, and deals with suicide efficiently. The ending of the book was one those ending that I hate, yet love, leaving it up to the reader. This book was beautifully written and truly captured the pain that comes from bullying and belongs up on shelves with books such as Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.