Review: HALLOWED by Cynthia Hand

This is the 23rd book I've read this year.

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

Christian beliefs: They're angels. They talk about God often, not much respect is going on, but sometimes.

Other belief systems: Nope.

Language: Hell is used wrongly, and they use the LORD's name in vain multiple. (which I fine ironic, considering they're angels...)

Violence: People get hurt, there's some blood.

Romance: KISSING!! And I'm going to give out a spoiler....everyone knows, (whos read UNEARTHLY) that Tucker and Clara like each other...so they almost take it a step further....(which I was like....'what?!') But they don't ever make it though. But Clara doesn't have her shirt on. And Clara daydreams about her getting married to Tucker and having a child etc....

And there's always Christian floating around...

Comments:

Good points:

I liked how well Cynthia plots! It was a roller coaster ride. Most of things, I would have never expected. 

Most of the time, I was like...WOAH. No way! WOW. NO!!!! (seriously.)

It was a great squeal, and I can't wait for 3!!

Negative points:

They're angels, they shouldn't be using the LORD's name in vain. I mean...that's SO ironic....so every time they did I wasn't happy. It seemed so backwards to me. I mean, it's alright to be upset at God, I mean, who isn't at one point in time? But do you really need to use His name in vain like that? Mostly if your an ANGEL? And the fact that Tucker and Clara almost went to far I mean...come on guys, you can get married soon, just wait, ok? And Christian, I mean, leave poor Clara alone!! lol.

It was hard to write this, my brain is still processing this book...(405 pages in less than 24 hours...O.o) So it's kinda short, but overall, I REALLY enjoyed this book, it just keeps guessing, and you just don't want to put it down! I stayed up until 1 last night reading. And I would have stayed up longer, but I was super tired....(I haven't done that in a long while...)

Rating: 5 stars!!

-Maddi

Review: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

This is the 22nd book I've read this year.

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.




Christian beliefs: none.


Other belief systems: Greek myths, Greek gods, monsters.


Romance: There was *NO* kissing in this book....I mean, I *need* kissing. (not really). But it was kinda good to read a book without a bunching kissing, but I was kinda hoping it would happen...you know....
But, Grace likes her brother, Thane's friend, Milo. And it's really clear he likes her. And Gretchen keeps wanting this one boy, Nick to leave her alone, but he doesn't. And Greer has a boyfriend, but not really sure she likes him, since he seems to annoy her a lot, with his surfing dude talk. (hehe.)

Language: Hell is used quite often. And each girl has their own way of being upset without swearing. Greer's was "sugar" ;)

Violence: They're destiny is to fight monsters. They have to bite them so they go back to where they belong, then there's some blood. But just once. 


Any other bad things: Nope.


Comments: 


Good points: 


 I love Greek mythological books. So I was excited to read this, even though Percy Jackson has really only been those kind of books I like. But this one was a close fave. I love that's it from 3 points of view. I like seeing the 'boys' in each girls life. And I'm excited to see what happens....*wins* And I always like books with big brothers in them, and then, out of nowhere, they have other relatives. (I wrote a book about that before...) I love their own personality's. Gretchen is the tough girl, who's known about her destiny most of her life. Grace, with her geek skills, and awesome grades. (I'd say I'm more like Grace) Then there's Greer, the snooty, I've-got-it-all girl. 
I loved learning more about Medusa and her sisters. I never really learned much about her sisters, I learned more about Medusa herself.


Negative points:

I know that Greek myths are well...myths. But it bugged me that she changed the myth about Medusa. I mean, people acutally BELIEVE this stuff probably. So changing it probably isn't a good idea. But the change was a good one, it made me think about Medusa in a whole new way. (even though she isn't real.)

Most of the time, I was like...why does she keep repeating this? I know what their destiny is. I think maybe she was just trying to add more pages to the book. Which isn't a bad thing, but I was like 'I know this already...'

Overall, I loved this book. It's always good to get back in the Greek stuff.

(SWEET SHADOWS comes on in August...I don't think I can wait that long..."

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

-Maddi

My Birthday!

Claire Reads is hosting my birthday!! I will be posting a guest post, and there will be an awesome giveaway. :)

I hope to "see" you there. ;)

-Maddi

Waiting on Wednesday 5/2/12

I am waiting for....

GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING by Chloe Jacobs. It comes out November 13th 2012, Entangled Publishing.

-Maddi

First Review and Rating!!

Carrie posted the first review of SHADOW FUTURE! She gave it 4 out of 5 stars. And it means a lot. <3333

You can check it out here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/321588525

Thank you Carrie!

xoxo

-Maddi

GOODREADS UPDATE

Alright, ya'll. I had to re-make the SHADOW FUTURE goodreads page, bc the old one was a bit messed up. So, if you had marked it as a to-read etc...please remove it, so I can delete it.

Old page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13492244-shadow-future

New one: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13628641-shadow-future

Please re-add everything to the NEW ONE.

Thanks you guys!!

Ooh, also, check THIS out:

SQEEE!!

-Maddi

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

This is the 21st book I've read this year! I read most of the book while listening to Mozart. I think it fit.

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

And also the book trailer, bc I like to spoil you guys...

Ok, now with the review:

Christian beliefs: Nope.

Other belief systems: Nope.

Language: Hell is used wrongly, and d--n is used.

Romance: Ok, so you know that America has a boyfriend, right? Well, his name is Aspen, and they kiss a great deal. But it never goes past kissing. But they do talk about getting married one day etc. Which I think is romantic how comfortable they are with one another that they talk about to each other about those things. And of course, which this is pretty obvious, Maxon and America kiss. But not like Aspen and America kisses. More sweet like kisses. Gentle. But they were both cool. <3 hehe.

Vi0lence: Well...if you want to count trying to rip a dress of another girl and leaving nail marks, violence. There ya go. ;) And of course, the rebels try to attack the palace, and some people die. (no one we know, though. There, I gave you a good spoiler.)

Any other bad things: The man that comes to check with America about her getting chosen for the Selection is awkward. He asks her if she's a virgin, and of course, how would that make you feel (if you were a girl) to have a man ask you that? Well, America was very upset about that. And the man seemed a bit shady to me.

Comments: I WAS SO EXCITED TO GET THIS BOOK IN THE MAIL. So when it came, I sat right down and began reading. I probably would have finished it in one day if I hadn't had an awful headache. I loved the beginning, I loved stepping into America's world. It was good to meet her boyfriend, Aspen. Even though I called him a jerk once or twice. *coughs*. I love their relationship, they seemed so comfortable with each other. And I think the best line I liked the most was this: "Why we married young, waiting was torture." And I'm sure a lot of you would agree with this. Not so much with me, for that reason, just because I want to start having my own family. *content sigh* Ok, back to the review:

The only part I didn't like, was the middle. I was getting bored, Maxon seemed like a boy, not a man. He seemed like another Louis the...uh...the guy who married Marie. Ok, sorry. But that's what I was experiencing. Maxon didn't seem to know how to talk to a girl, and I was kind of  hoping that he would have some kind of personality like a bad boy. But he didn't. But towards the end, I started to love Maxon a bit more. He seemed like man towards the end. I also didn't like how one point, America was fine, then she was running through the palace and she couldn't breathe, and she was crying. Then, she yelled at the prince. Which is like in every story, the girl yells at the guy, and they fall in love.

But what I really liked, was how Kiera writes. She writes like me, she doesn't want to spend a whole lot of time on the description. I didn't need it, I just imagined the places by myself. I didn't need the description. Kiera just wrote down the talking, and America's thoughts. Which are my favorite parts. I tend to skip through description, bc sometimes, there's just too much of it.

The book was an easy read, it didn't take a lot of time to finish. But, it wasn't written to perfection, but hey,  that's how Kiera writes. We should get to know exactly how they write, instead of covering it up with lots of editing etc.

Ok, there's my long 'comments' section.

You guys should read this book. Go buy it. Or request it from your library.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

-Maddi

PS: I can't BELIEVE where it cut off!!! Spring 2013??? Torture, I say. Torture....