Book Review: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Rating:

“I’ve left some clues for you.

If you want them, turn the page.

If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Literary Awards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2010),Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award for Honor book (2011), YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (2011), The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky longlist (2011)

*****

DELIGHTFUL.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is the perfect Christmas read. It took me around New York in the busiest time of the year with Dash’s abhorrence versus Lily’s ecstasy for the holidays. It kinda remind me of the movie Serendipity: same Christmas-in-New-York setting with the same non-meetings but with the longing of meeting the one another.

Dash and Lily are the total opposites. Dash never recovered from his parents’ nasty divorce; Lily stayed at home while her parents celebrated their second honeymoon in Fiji. Dash reveled in being alone; Lily is scared of not having anybody. Dash is articulate; Lily is stumped on how to talk to boys (and girls!) her age. But they do have something in common – they love to read. and they wanted to believe that there is someone out there existing just for them. 🙂 So cute.

I loved Dash‘s character more than Lily’s. His has a certain sadness and hope at the same time. I relished reading his POV because it’s very entertaining to see the switch of his train of thought from simple things to contemplative ones. I loved the scenes where (1) he’s feeling up Santa, (2) he’s being interrogated by Aunt Ida, and (3) he’s being lectured by Boomer, of all people. Dash is very charming in this unobtrusive way that makes being snarly so endearing.

Lily is the odd girl. Wearing her school uniform even during weekends with her worn chucks, she already accepted her eccentricity years ago. But after reading Dash’s writings in her notebook, she thought that maybe it’s time to get out of her family’s comfort and venture to a normal teenage life. I found it funny that she’s this dogwalker who also loves hanging out with her Grandpa’s friends but can give the middle finger on a whim.

Boomer, Aunt Ida, and Mark are secondary characters that made me laugh in more ways i thought possible. I love how they are solid and yet they do not overpower the main characters.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is a story of what could be the machinings of first love set in snow-capped New York. Dash & Lily’s mismatches left me light-hearted and hopeful. I just felt good after reading it.

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Rating:

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she’s prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever. Or thereabouts. After a mugging on the streets of South London goes horribly wrong and exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust – her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them. Trying to uncover the truth of why her mother was killed, and the real remit of The Unit, Lila becomes a pawn in a dangerous game. Struggling to keep her secrets in a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone – there are others out there just like her – people with special powers -and her mother’s killer is one of them…

*****

SUFFERABLE.

Hunting Lila could’ve clicked for me if not for Lila’s constant swooning and drooling over Alex. Really, Ms. Alderson, I lose interest in your story every time Lila shifts from being afraid to being hot for Alex in a snap. Ugh. Still, I liked the paranormal stuff being connected with government covert operations.

Lila is telekinetic. She doesn’t know how she came by it, all she knows is that she has to keep it secret. When she visited her brother Jack and saw Alex again, she doubted she can keep her eyes off Alex and her secret at the same time. I have nothing good to say for her character, so let’s leave it at that. Alex, on the other hand, is cool. So cool, in fact, that i don’t see myself falling for him like Lila did. It’s like I can only admire him from afar. He’s kinda perfect that he felt unreal.

The story only got interesting when Lila began to run. It was like a yarn that unspooled so quickly. the ending was ok for a first book in a series. I think it is obvious by now that the 3-star-rating came from the suspense rather than the syrupy romance.

Hunting Lila might work for you if you want a teenage/action-adventure read. All i want is for Alderson to solidify her writing with the sole intent of building a suspenseful plot for the YA genre. But i guess she’s gunning for the romantic flair to appeal with the YA readers. Perhaps. Unfortunately, it only brought a frown on my face every single time Lila gushes about Alex. Grrr.

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

RATING:

(Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

*****

REGAL.

It was a good thing that I did not read The Daughter of Smoke and Bone when everyone was talking about it way back September/October. It would’ve lost its uniqueness to me. So what did i think of  Laini Taylor’s book with so much hype? I was… enthralled. I think that was the word i was looking for. I was drowned in the richness of the myths and tales – hook, line, and sinker! No doubt Taylor is a superb storyteller. I was lost in Elsewhere! And being lost in that world was a sweet escape.

When I think of Karou, i think of her doing her Jujitsu moves, wishing rather immaturely on her pebbles, and keeping her two lives as secret as possible. I love her wryness on hiding the truth from her friends by telling the truth itself. I found her remarkable as a heroine and as a daughter of Brimstone and the others. Akiva‘s character is well-played for me. The transition from being lifeless to confused to enlightened to helplessness was really smooth. I love Akiva, from his exotic name to his remorse.

The part where Akiva and Madrigal’s story unraveled? I rather found it unnecessary. It dragged on with the somber feel I can do without. Nevertheless, the mythical twists and turns are pretty much what gripped me tight. Fave scene? When Akiva attacked Karou the first time they met. He was dead set on killing Karou! *bloodthirsty* LOL

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a very adventurous read. Too much information? I think not. I handled the magnitude of Karou’s story with ease and quick understanding. It is unlike any urban fantasy i’ve ever read in a while. Not to mention that Taylor wrote beautifully it made me a fan of her overnight. 🙂

#28 Off-the-Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

RATING:

(Last Survivors #1)

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all–hope–in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

Literary Awards: Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award Nominee (2009), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2009),ALA Teens’ Top Ten (2007)

*****

Life As We Knew It bored the reading crap out of me. Yes, there was a time i was so afraid (the panic-buying grocery scene), and i was kinda relieved (the ending), but Pfeffer’s storytelling is not for me. I’m an action-packed kinda gal, and since this book has no action at all, i didn’t like it.

Miranda is living her normal teenage life when suddenly, the moon got knocked out of its orbit – now it is too close to earth which causes the erratic changes in weather, with no electricity and technology. Goodbye, life. Hello, survival. After the event that changes everything, Miranda and her family struggled to survive by staying in their home, hoarding canned goods, water, and medicine. The post-apocalyptic theme is very real it made think that I need to survive with Miranda. Alas, it did not hold my attention too long. I started reading last October, put it down a week later, then i picked it up again just days ago. I guess the whole conflict was laid out in Miranda’s family’s chances to survive in their house and that didn’t excite me.

Life As We Knew It will not appeal to readers like me who yearns for action and adventure in their post-apocalyptic reads. The concept is good, in fact, it still gives me the creeps because it is plausible in real life. But the storyline did not work for me.

#27 Off-the-Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Guild Hunter #4: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

Rating:

(Guild Hunter #4)

The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more…

Book 1: Archangel’s Blood review | Book 2: Archangel’s Kiss review | Book 3: Archangel’s Consort review

***** ***** *****

DECADENT.

Archangel’s Blade is sinful; very, very sinful! This book is, by far, the strongest and the most solid story among the Guild Hunter series. Nalini Singh wrote Dmitri’s character very consistently and i loved that. Even though I was irritated on how (or why) Honor and Dmitri connected, I can’t deny that I really enjoyed the book. How i’ve missed these cruel angels and impossible vampires!

Honor and Dmitri both have painful, horrible pasts. Whereas Honor still finds compassion among the helpless, Dmitri has none. I can imagine Honor’s struggle and determination to survive, as much as Dmitri‘s decision to kill his humanity through cruelty. They are both fighters, literally and emotionally. Though the general atmosphere of the plot is about dark, bloody vengeance, it was balanced by snippets of Ilium‘s (Yey!) and Raphael‘s humor. Venom is getting really interesting! I believe he’s starting to grow on me. Jason is brooding – an air of sentimentality laced with pain – man, he’s gonna be the bomb for the next book. Ms. Nalini Singh, about Bluebell’s story?!! 😉

Archangel’s Blade is a hard but rewarding read. Dmitri’s world is lethal; Honor’s is unforgiving. Reading it makes me think of a phoenix: in order to rise and have a new life, Dmitri and Honor must die and be grinded into dust until there’s none left. I am still not a fan of Dmitri, but i think his story is more compelling and well-written than Rafael’s.

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

It’s Monday! What are you reading? [12]

RECENTLY READ

How come Book 4 isn’t about Ilium?!!! Boo.

Haha! Dmitri bares it all in Archangel’s Blade. It’s pretty solid, but the ‘reincarnation’ part irked me.

Review to come.

READING NOW

 

Just starting this one.

I smiled when I read about her ex’s beautiful face. ‘Stupid beauty. Stupid face.’ Ha!

NEXT

I want to get in the mood for Christmas!

Can Cohn and Levithan make me fall in love this holiday season? 

Whew! So what are your reading this week? 😉

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

RATING:

(Lux #1)

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

*****

FIRED UP.

Obsidian really got me all hot and bothered in those 6 hours that i read it! It has flaws, yes, but i’m willing to overlook them just for the spine-tingling, nerve-wracking, laughter-inducing moments between Katy and Daemon. Let’s just say if you are in the mood to just read, enjoy and relax, try Obsidian. Armentrout will leave you wanting, panting… for more. *ahem* (entering fangirl mode)

Katy no longer wants to be a bystander. With Daemon around, she becomes a queen b*tch that she needs to be, since Daemon is a jerk. She’s tired of being good ol’ Katy, that’s why she never backs down from him. I like her. She’s as real as any teenager can get. Feisty, angry, and has a filthy mouth (according to Daemon). Now this hot alien… WOW. How come I’m beginning to like obnoxious boys nowadays? Oh well. 🙂 Daemon kept the dialogues alive, spirited, and totally swoon worthy! Man, i believe i have a new book boyfriend, LOL! The thing i love the most about him – he never went from cold to sappy. i thought he’s just a regular guy who can’t express his true feelings that well. So i really liked the open ending. It leaves much to my imagination.

I liked the concept of light versus shadow. the plot reminded me a little of that Roswell tv series though. but Armentrout wrote in such a way that i never thought i was reading. i thought i was hanging out with a friend while she regals me this alien story that’s a little rough on the edges, but entertaining nonetheless.

Obsidian is a super fun read if you want to chillax. Smart-mouthed and heart-thumping, Katy and Daemon will surely fire up your senses. This book is HOT. (exiting fangirl mode)

😉

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: The Unbecoming by Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

RATING:

(Mara Dyer #1)

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

*****

DANGEROUS.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer appealed to me not because of the heated romance, but because of the horror feel of it. Yes, I enjoyed Mara’s and Noah’s bantering to the point of snickering, and Noah is charmingly sexy, but i think the suspenseful air brought about by the crime story made my heart thumped more. Hodkin’s writing is ok. Actual rating is 3.5, but hey, i love asylums and killings. So yeah, this book can passed into a 4.

Mara is strong in character. The hallucinations, the isolation, the bullying – she took it all in. One thing i did not like is her lack of remorse. Saying more would reveal some spoilers but this aspect made her callous. Noah… i can’t actually imagine him being hot (Mara goes ape-sh*t every time – only in her mind, of course). But when his smart comebacks to Mara’s bluntness started to show, i became one of those tittering females in their high school. Who wouldn’t love a guy who is smart, confident, and a fighter? plus he loves to read!

It wasn’t explained why Mara is getting ‘unbecoming’ and i hated that. I was still in the dark even when i finished the last page. Is it paranormal? supernatural? what?!? It was like i read the book for nothing 😦

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has parts of both good and bad. 2/3 romance, 1/3 suspense. I liked the romance, no doubt about it. But it was the suspense that got me going, held my breath, and stumped me in the end. I never imagine that it was not a hallucination. *goosebumps*

#26 Off-the-Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Rating:

Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first.

Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. In this celebration of nonconformity, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the perils of popularity and the thrill and inspiration of first love.

Literary Awards: Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award Nominee (2003), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2003),Grand Canyon Reader Award for Teen Book (2003), Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award Nominee (2001), Iowa Teen Award (2003), Iowa Teen Award (2003), ALA’s Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2001), Book Sense Book of the Year Honor Book for Children’s Literature (2001), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2006)

*****

UNUSUAL.

Stargirl is someone you get used to. You hate her at first because of her eccentricity but she grows on you gradually . Spinelli wrote beautifully, that I can really rave about. But Stargirl seemed too ‘far-out’ for me (actual rating is 3.5). I felt like i’m one of those students in Mica High. Most times I don’t understand why she’s like that. But she has her moments, and oh, how heartwrenching those moments were.

I love reading a guy’s POV, and Leo is no different.  His character is plausible; I actually connected more with Leo than Stargirl. He loves Stargirl’s nonconformity with his school, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to publicly acknowledge that . He’s seeing something different in her and yet he hesitates because he doesn’t want to be shunned. But… aren’t we unconciously like that from time to time?

If not for those times that I was spacing out when reading it, I could’ve given this a 5. I’m not sure if Stargirl is really smart, really naive, or just plain unusual. Still, Spinelli’s use of metaphors and impressive writing made reading Stargirl worthwhile. Twice I caught my breath because my heart is breaking with Stargirl. First, i was falling in love. Second, i was falling apart.

#25 Off-the-Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Book Review: Butterfield Institute #1: The Halo Effect by M.J. Rose

Rating:

(Butterfield Institute #1)

As one of New York’s top sex therapists, Dr. Morgan Snow sees everything from the abused to the depraved, from couples grappling with sexual boredom to twisted sociopaths with dark, erotic fetishes. And the Butterfield Institute is the sanctuary where she helps soothe and heal these battered souls.

Cleo Thane is one of those special patients Morgan connects to immediately. A high-priced prostitute, Cleo is remarkably sensitive and unscathed, a woman desperate to reconcile her successful professional life with her neglected personal one. And when she asks Morgan to read her unpublished tell-all book about her exclusive clientele, Morgan realizes that what she has in her hands could be explosive.

Then Cleo disappears.

Detective Noah Jordan is trying to stay one step ahead of a serial killer who has been targeting prostitutes, killing them with ritualistic precision. When a missing person’s report is filed on Cleo Thane, Noah wonders if she, too, has fallen prey to the psycho’s wrath. He approaches Dr. Morgan Snow for any insight on her patient, but Morgan refuses to breach patient confidentiality. Instead she begins her own investigation into Cleo’s disappearance.

Certain that the answers lie in the manuscript that Cleo has entrusted her with, Morgan delves into the private confessions of a woman paid to act out the sexual fantasies of some of the city’s most powerful men. But she is shocked by how much the intimate sexual details of another woman’s life affect her own. Too late she realizes she’s ventured into dangerous — even deadly — territory.

*****

The Halo Effect was the sore thumb among the Butterfield Institute series. This is the first book and Rose was just building Morgan’s story, so maybe that’s why i didn’t enjoy it as much as i would’ve? Because i love The Delilah Complex and The Venus Fix; imagine my suprise when this one fell short for me.

The serial killings were elaborate and grisly, but the killer’s motive to do the acts were rather… plain? It was too simple for me to warrant that kind ofdeviant behavior towards prostitutes. Dr. Morgan Snow is effective as a sex therapist but like most women who have successful careers, her family life was kind of in shambles. Noah Jordain sounds like a god to me, knowing he’s a cop but a great cook and musician. Not to mention he has no problems with money. Highly impossible to be true, right? Still, i like his character.

The Halo Effect is an ok read for me. Perhaps you can start this series with little expectation, because when you get to The Venus Fix (my favorite), Rose will surely satisfy your thriller/suspense cravings. It will be worth it. 🙂

 

#24 Off-the-Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

 

*

*

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”