Top Ten Tuesday (02)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish featuring a new top ten list each week. Everyone can participate- head on over to their blog and sign up.

Today's Top Ten topic is 'Top Ten Books You Loved But Never Wrote A Review For.'

That's a tough one. A few of the books I'm going to mention will actually be posted up sometime in the near future (either this week or the week after), but I guess it still counts.

10. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch - The tagline for this book is very accurate: What if Harry Potter grew up and joined the fuzz? This book was hilarious and action-packed and so magical. I can't wait to read the second book in the series, Moon Over Soho.

9. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly - A book about a 16 year old girl from 1906, who happens to be an aspiring writer. Fans of words and writing will find this to be an amazing read. I was left breathless for the most part.

8. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - I'm not usually into contemporary YA, and romance really isn't my cup of tea. But when I read this, I fell in love. Sure, it might be pretty cliched, but it's still so cute, and I couldn't stop grinning whenever Anna and Etienne were together.

7. Room by Emma Donoghue - I read this at the beginning of the year, and it still crosses my mind every so often. This book really hits you hard, and I loved that it was told from Jack's perspective, where everything is simple and innocent and beyond his comprehension.

6. the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger - This series is a lot of fun. I can't recommended it enough. Though the 4th and 5th books have ridiculously off-putting covers, I still love this series. I just wish there were more.

5. the Love by Numbers series by Sarah Maclean - This is the series that first got me interested in historical romance. It's funny, sexy, sigh-worthy. Read it, now.

4. Ash by Malinda Lo - I love fairytale retellings, and I thought that this was really well done. I don't agree with the romance (not because of the lesbianism, but because there just wasn't that spark), but the world and the magic was just amazing.

3. Boneshaker by Cherie Preist - Once again, I have to add Boneshaker. For the exact same reasons that I gave last Tuesday. I LOVE Boneshaker.

2. the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning - I've never been more surprised at a series. I came into it, not really expecting much, but by the end, I was salivating and wanting more. This is sexy, mysterious, addictive and kick-ass. And Barrons... Oh man, you will never encounter a man like Barrons. I wish he could just climb into my bed...

1.  the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins - I'm too scared to review this series, because I'm very analytical, and there's a lot to analyse in this series. I'd end up writing pages upon pages of essays about the politics, the themes, the character relationships, and why they all tangle together to create this masterpiece. It'll drive away all my followers, no doubt. Maybe one day, in the distant future...

What books have you loved but never reviewed yet? What do you think of the books I listed? Would you want to see a review from one or more of them? 
Feel free to leave your links in the comments. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (01)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey as a way to show what books have been read over the past week.

I've been in the middle of moving house these last few days, and have finally settled down. I'm pretty surprised at the amount of books I've managed despite being busy with packing and unpacking.


This week, I've read the following:

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

Overbite by Meg Cabot

Fables, vol 7: Arabian Nights (And Days) by Bill Willingham

Fables, vol 8: Wolves by Bill Willingham

Rosebush by Michelle Jaffe

Small Blue Thing by S.C. Ransom
Thyla by Kate Gordon
Fruits Basket, vol 6 by Natsuki Takaya

Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber

And at the moment, I'm currently reading:

Passion by Lauren Kate

I'm not really enjoying Passion too much, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Already, Luce is acting like a complete idiot. Blehh.

And the reviews I've posted in the last week:

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Chime by Franny Billingsley

Lights Out in Wonderland by D.B.C. Pierre

Earl of Darkness by Alix Rickloff

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

How have your weeks been? Got many books read? Feel free to leave a link to your It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post. :)

Review: Graveminder

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Pages: 324, hardcover

ISBN: 9780061826870

Publisher:William Morrow & Company

Date Released: May 17th, 2011

Genre: Adult / urban fantasy / paranormal / romance / horror / zombies

Source: library

Premise:

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place—and the man—she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D—a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.
(Taken from Goodreads)

Buy it From: Book Depository / Amazon

Wow, talk about a ride! This was so much better than I'd expected it to be.
I'm not too much of a fan of Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series, but this was different. It still had the same gothic charm, but it had something more.

The story was fairly fantastic, always giving you just enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. It's such an original concept, and I applaud Marr for making it work so damn well.

Another stellar thing about this book was the writing. When I'd said before that there was something more to this series, I meant it. Within the writing, Marr beautifully demonstrates a constant feeling of claustrophobia and doubt. There are gothic elements, and one can't help but feel slightly on edge while reading, as if the undead might actually be real.
The world-building was the best thing about this book. The town of Claysville, with its slight utopian feel, can be something of a prison. It's hard to tell whether their utopia is real or just imagined; after all, they have the perfect lives: there is no such thing as disease in Claysville. But is it worth the price of the possible rise of the dead, of being tethered to the town for the rest of your natural born life, of not ever being able to know the truth of the town due to migraines and memory-loss? When you think about it like that, it seems less like a utopia, and more like a dystopia. Of course, I have to stress that this book is NOT dystopian, there are just elements of it.
Another part of the world building that was done magnificently was the land of the dead. It was a place that I wish we'd seen more of. The alternating histories, the splendid characters, and the twisted rules, it makes it a place I'd like to visit.

I disliked, though, the main characters, especially Rebekkah. She was an unsympathetic character, constantly changing her mind regarding Byron. Every time it shifted to her POV, I was just like MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND, WOMAN! The way she treats Byron, by just using him, and playing with his feelings like that, man, I felt sorry for the poor guy. I wanted him to get together with Amity.

I wished that there was more. It left a lot of unanswered questions. Will there be a sequel? Does anybody know? If there is, I will just die from happiness.

10 Second Review: Fantastic world-building, with crappy main characters. Brings a whole new spin to zombies. Worth the read.

Cover Art: 4
Plot: 5
Characters: 3
Writing: 4
Level of Interest: 4

Total Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Review: Earl of Darkness

Earl of Darkness by Alix Rickloff

Pages: 341, paperback ( + sample of next book in series)

ISBN: 9781439170366

Publisher: Pocket Books

Release Date: December 28th, 2010

Genre: paranormal / historical / romance

Source: library

Premise:

The magic she tries to hide . . .

Born a lady, but reduced to surviving in the slums of Dublin, Catriona O’Connell has been hired to steal a mysterious book from Aidan Douglas, Earl of Kilronan. But Cat is secretly Other, an age-old mixture of Fey and human—something Aidan recognizes immediately when he surprises the lovely young burglar in his library, about to steal a magical diary.

. . . is the magic he desperately wants.

From the moment Aidan sees her, Cat’s spirited beauty enchants him, but her uncanny abilities are what he truly needs, for Cat can understand the mystical language in the diary he inherited from his murdered father. So Aidan makes an offer: translate the book or be thrown in prison as a thief. And as Cat slowly deciphers each page, she and Aidan are drawn together by passion . . . and into the violence of the Other world that is the Kilronan legacy. Can they defeat those who seek the book, or are their lives in even greater danger than their hearts?
(Taken from Goodreads)

Buy it From: Book Depository / Amazon


The premise sounded so interesting, that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and start reading. And it's a really good book, just as the premise promises.

Right off the bat, there's action and intrigue. In the first chapter alone, we find out so much about the characters, Cat and Aiden. This book is certainly not lacking in characterisation and building relationships. The chemistry is especially steamy. It's easy to understand why Cat and Aiden have such immediate feeling so each other, and it's even easier to want them to just jump each other already.

I don't know how I felt about the writing, on the one hand, I liked it, on the other, I disliked it.
I liked it because it was witty, hilarious. For example:

"I've found it!... And the last place I'd expected, under 'authors who died under mysterious circumstances."
... Aidan scanned the entry, his face hardening into grim lines. He looked up. "And you say this"--he flipped to the flyleaf then back to the proffered page--"Dudley Squires met a sticky end?"
Ahern nodded, his smile dimming. "Found dead in his bath."
"What's so mysterious about that?" Cat asked.
"He was fully dressed and missing his head."
 - pg 209-210

Now onto the bad part of the writing. There's just something about it that made me feel weird while reading it. Also, all these terms for magical things that are thrown about, with little to no explanation as to what they meant, it made things really confusing.
One thing that I felt restricted the pacing of the story was the sex. Now, I realise that this is paranormal/historical smut, but once they had sex for the first time, all the other times are lacking, and it feels like Rickloff just gave up trying to add any more chemistry and sexual tension between the two, and all other sexual situations felt boring.

The story is fairly fantastic, and definitely not lacking. It was filled with great world-building, and awesome, gripping plot.

10 Second Review: A satisfying blend of paranormal and historical romance, with plenty of plot, action, chemistry and wit.

Cover Art: 3
Plot: 4
Characters: 3
Writing: 2.5
Level of Interest: 4

Total Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: The Replacement

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Pages: 375, paperback

ISBN: 9780857071385

Publisher:Simon & Schuster

Date Released: October 1st 2010 (first published September 21st 2010)

Genre: YA / paranormal / urban fantasy / faeries / romance

Source: library

Premise:

Mackie Doyle is the Replacement. Thought he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement - left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass guitar or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl called Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place - in our world, or theirs.

(Taken from Goodreads)

Buy it from: Book Depository / Amazon

Okay so I was a bit reluctant at trying this story out. On the one hand, the premise sounds awesome. I mean, the main character is a boy AND a changeling, which makes me really curious. On the other, I've heard some less than spectacular reviews about this book, and I was worried that the MC wouldn't sound like a boy--like Ethan from Beautiful Creatures and Sam from Shiver. Thankfully, he doesn't sound like a girl, but that might be the only good thing about him.
It seems that most of my problems with this book stems from the characters, so expect a lot of ranting about that.

From the very beginning, I found that the writing was awkward. It was purple, it was fragmented at times, and sometimes, it just didn't make sense at all. It was as if the writer was trying too hard to craft her words. Underneath the awkwardness, I could see bits and pieces that stood out, but they were overwhelmed by the flower-y, tryhard lyrical prose. An example of the awkward prose:

"[Emma was looking] lonely as a lighthouse. Sad as a nun." -pg 40

Now, I'm not sure that nuns are particularly sad about what they do. In fact, I would think that they'd be happy, since that's sort of what they're devoted to.

There were a lot of things to the story that left me confused. For starters, Mackie's sister, Emma, somehow remembers the event of her brother being replaced. I forget what age she was supposed to be at the time, but it's still highly unlikely that she would remember it. And on the very unlikely occasion that she were to remember it, why on earth would she believe it to be real, even several years after it happened? When I was her age, I was certain that I was adopted and that my parents were either royalty or faeries. Doesn't mean that it's true. It just seems unlikely that she'd believe it so much. It makes this whole issue so unbelievable, and every time Emma mentioned it, I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "yeah, right."
And why does Mackie believe some random creep that tells him he's dying? Especially when that creep corners him in a club. If I were Mackie, I'd think the guy was high or drunk, and I'd try to avoid him, not, y'know, believe him.

My biggest problem with Mackie was that he was a loner and a major emo, and blamed others for it. He blames his popular best friend, Roswell, for his awkwardness around people and his inability to effectively communicate. He blames his father for people having expectations of any kind of him, and the list goes on. Everything wrong about him, Mackie points fingers and shifts the blame to someone else. Which is ridiculous and disgraceful. Maybe if he actually tried talking to people instead of actively avoiding them, he'd have more friends and wouldn't be seen as a freak (but actually, he does seem to be popular, despite what he says. I mean, he made out with the most popular girl in the school. I'd think that one has to be pretty high up in the school's hierarchy to be able to do that).
And I really really really hate how Mackie constantly whines about the threat of being lynched for being different. Um... what? As far as I can tell, Mackie is not black, nor does he live in the 1940's. People do not get lynched for having quirks, not in this era. He has nightmares and is told a story of a guy who was lynched for being different... IN GODDAMN 1930! Every time he mentions that, I just want to hit him with the book, and tell him to shut the fuck up and to stop being such a drama queen. I swear, 85% of this book is is Mackie angsting over how he's different, and 10% about Tate, while the other 5% is actual plot.

Speaking of plot, for the most part, it doesn't exist because of the ANGSTING. Most of the time, there's severe angsting for several pages, with maybe a paragraph or two of actual plot developments, and then back to angsting. I wonder if Yovanoff knows that angsting =/= character development?
And because of the lack of plot, there won't be much in this review on plot.

Now, back to the characters.

What the hell is wrong with Tate? Why is she so convinced all of a sudden that Mackie knows something--anything--about her sister? He's never given her a reason to suspect him of anything, yet she won't get off his back. She just keeps harassing him, and it makes me want to hit her with a mallet. She is such a disgusting character. She makes rude comments and sarcastic gestures towards girls who act 'girly' and not as 'tough' as her, as if wearing pink is a sign of weakness. She's a horrible person, and from the beginning, her attitude made me hate her vehemently. And she constantly goes on to insult Mackie, while at the same time, demanding that he help her. Why should he, when she's constantly demeaning him? This is a case of abusive relationships, but with the tables turned. And Mackie is weak against her, and is passive whenever she says something insulting.
Being tough doesn't make a character strong. And I don't see Tate as strong, just as a person who needs an attitude check.

And then there's the relationship between Tate and Mackie that seemed to pop up out of nowhere.When Mackie told Tate that he liked her, I was surprised. Up until then, he showed signs of liking Alice--even going so far as to find out that she has a tongue ring, kekeke--, and hating Tate. And why the hell would Tate be such a horrid person to someone she liked? What had changed? They showed no romance, not even any friendship. It felt like Yovanoff suddenly decided that she wanted Mackie and Tate to be together, so she made them both do an about-face concerning their feelings. And um... what's with the part where she gives him a handjob behind the churchyard, soon after? It didn't do anything to further the plot, and hardly did anything to develop their relationship and selves. If I were an editor, I would have cut it.

I do have to admit, though, that I really liked the character of Morrigan and the other fairies. They acted so mystical, so all-knowing, yet so cryptic, almost like I imagine fairies would really be like. Their descriptions were fantastic, and I believe that the story greatly improved once they were introduced. In fact, I was almost my wit's end and was thinking of dropping the book, just as the fairies were introduced.
The fairy lore that Yovanoff had created was fantastic, and it's a shame that the rest of her story didn't seem to follow suit.

So, no, I didn't really like this story. I found it to be a waste of time. Yovanoff needs a better editor, and better beta readers, ones who know what a plot is, and that wangsting is NOT character development. At all. Ever.

Cover Art: 2 (why is there a light shining from his ass?)
Plot: 2
Characters: 2
Writing: 2
Level of Interest: 2

Total Rating: 2/5 stars

Review: Insatiable

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Pages: 451, hardcover

ISBN: 9780061735066

Publisher: William Morrow

Date Released: June 8th, 2010

Genre: Adult / paranormal / urban fantasy / romance / chick-lit / vampires / satire

Source: library

Premise:

Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one. (Taken from Goodreads)

Buy it now from: The Book Depository / Amazon

I am such a major Meg Cabot fan. I grew up reading the Princess Diaries series, and almost annually, I return to them. So, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of this book. And to be honest? It didn't disappoint.

Meena, the main character, is a dialogue writer for the hit soap opera, Insatiable. In a time where the vampire craze is spreading, the big bosses feel that Insatiable needs a change, and that vamps should be introduced in order to lure in the younger viewers. This bothers Meena. She hates vampires and what it's done to society's younger generation. Also, a small bit of info: she has this weird ability to tell how people are going to die.

I loved Meena for the most part, up until she met Lucien, the sexy vamp prince. Because of his powers, he makes her feel as if she's in love with him, which in the beginning is a bit funny (apart from the whole mind-rape and control thing; but as this is a sort of satirical work made to mock most of the books being brought out in the vamp craze, I'll let it slide), but it gets annoying and hard to tell if she really means it.

One major plot point that I detested was when Vampire-hunter Alaric breaks into Meena's home to interrogate her about the whereabouts of Lucian. He holds a sword up to her. He insults her. When her brother Jon walks in, Jon ends up siding with Alaric for some stupid reason. None of this part flows or makes sense and makes the characters act out of characters.

Otherwise, I found the characters were well-developed to an extent. There certainly were moments when they didn't act like they were supposed to, and in certain parts, Meena acts TSTL, but most of the time, they felt real enough.

I didn't think much of the love triangle. It felt a bit weak and underdeveloped, showing a weakness to the character's relationships with one another.

What I absolutely loved about this book were the cute one-liners and the dialogue. For example:

Meena: You seem REALLY interested in me at the moment.

Alaric: That? That's just my scabbard.

Man, it's stuff like that that gave the book this light feel to it.

I recommend this to everyone who a) likes Meg Cabot or b) dislikes the Twilight craze. It's full of sexy, funny moments, with a fairly cool heroine and awesome story.

Cover Art: 4
Plot: 4
Characters: 3
Writing: 3
Level of Interest: 4

Total: 4/5