Review of Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title/Author: Incarnate (Newsoul #1) by Jodi Meadows
Publisher/Date published: Katherine Tegen Books, January 31st 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "New soul
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies - human and creature alike - let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?"

I'm always a bit wary when a book has been so hyped as this one is. Sometimes you find yourself disappointed, but that absolutely wasn't the case here! I really, REALLY enjoyed Incarnate and it definitely lives up to the pretty cover and I love that it actually has to do with the story instead of just being beautiful!

I thought the whole concept of the same souls being reincarnated over and over again for the past 5000 years was SO interesting! I mean, it's weird right, knowing you're going to die but being sure you're going to come back in a couple of years. I would love it if you knew, cause then I could totally justify all the book buying: in 5000 years I can definitely read them all! And I can absolutely understand people being scared when they come across someone who has 'replaced' one of their own.

And the thing is, while I can understand insecurity and confusion, it was still really lousy how they treated Ana. Especially Li, her 'mother'. Seriously, that woman doesn't deserve the title. The only thing she did was give birth to Ana and then continue to make her life miserable. One thing that slightly bothered me: the fact that Ana's mother Li seemed a bit two-dimensional in her awfulness towards Ana. I would have liked to have learned more about her character to understand where it was coming from.

But then there's Sam, and Sam is a wonderful guy. Sam has music in his heart and is gentle and I loved that even though he's freakin 5000 years old, he's also very much a teenage boy when Ana meets him. There were moments when I was frustrated and wanted to scream KISS HER ALREADY!! But other than that I loved Sam.

And Ana, Ana is not the easiest person out there. She's majorly defensive and impulsive and sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with her feelings and mood swings but I loved her. I loved the contrast between her and the rest of the population. She felt everything more intense I think and I was always right there in the moment with her.
Also, I LOVED that both Ana and Sam had such a strong reaction to music! I am that girl who has a memory and feeling associated with pretty much every song I know and though I'm not a musician I could so relate to their passion!

I think what I loved most about it is that I was RIGHT THERE with Ana the whole time. I was just as in the dark about everything as she was and I felt happiness, betrayal, attraction, wariness along with her and it was amazing! And I cried! It's been SO LONG since I cried over a book! LOVED IT!

This was a stunning debut and I'm already pining for the sequel!

My rating: 5 stars

Review of Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Title/Author: Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton
Publisher/Date published: Balzer + Bray, January 24th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned - to her old life, her family, her friends - before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.
She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back - this time as his queen.
As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's..."

Oh. My. Gosh. WOW!

Really, that is my first reaction upon finishing this book. And I cannot think of a better way for a book to leave me feeling. I mean, I fell in love with the cover before I even knew what the book would be about (LOOK AT THE PRETTY!!) and when I came to understand that it was a YA mythology I went all crazy-eyed and just felt the urge to HAVE IT. So to say that I was beyond exstatic when I received the e-ARC is putting it mildly.

And this book did not disappoint in the least. I'd heard people rave about it before I had the chance to read it myself and you know what? THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!

Everneath by Brodi Ashton was SO amazing! I fell in love with the beautiful writing at the first page. Seriously, evidence is my tweeting of 'I'm only 12 pages in, but I already know I'm going to love it'. And it was so, SO good! It made my little bookloving heart very happy.

I really liked Nikki. I know she made a really stupid decision when she joined Cole in the Everneath, but really, I could get where she was coming from. I mean, she was really insecure about her relationship with Jack. And while from the first moment I read about it, I couldn't believe sweet, awesome Jack would ever do something like that, I can see how she would. And I liked that she wanted to make it right with her loved ones when she Returned and wasn't all accusatory towards them and only blamed herself. And maybe Cole. But that's totally justified.

And let's just say it: Jack is amazing. Seriously, that boy! He made me swoon and smile and cry... And I loved him. He was everything a boyfriend should be and I loved the moments he and Nikki were together. I loved how they awkwardly sat next to each other for hours and hours in class and didn't speak. I loved how he tried to get her to talk to him again and their history together.

Then there's Cole, the 'villain' in this story. I know he's the bad guy, but I really liked him as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% Team Jack, but there's something about Cole that's got me not hating him even though he does some really bad things.

I loved it all: the story, the characters, the minor as well as the main characters, the writing, the romance, THE BOY, the mythology... I wish I had more words to do justice to the amazingness that is this book. I would have read this all in one go if my boyfriend hadn't insisted I needed sleep (which let's face it, he was right about).

It will be a long wait for the second book...

My rating: 5+ stars

Review of Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Title/Author: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
Publisher/Date published: Balzer + Bray, April 24th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed — as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows — with every fiber of her being — that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.
But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened — the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life — points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets — and keep from falling in love with him in the process."

You guys, as I'm writing this review I've only just finished Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris and it's left me feeling a little shell-shocked. And not because it ends on a cliffhanger, but because things that happened in the big finale were devastating and it totally tugged at my heartstrings. I need to read a happy book after this...

Ok, so let me talk more about Unraveling: I hadn't expected this to be so much science fiction as just maybe paranormal or something. But it definitely is and though it's not usually my thing (I'm more of a paranormal and fantasy kinda girl) I ended up really liking it.

Janelle is for lack of a better word badass. She is. After she's come back from the dead she realises what's important in her life and isn't afraid to make certain choices in order to 'better' her life. By badass I don't just mean she can kick butt, cause she can thanks to her dad, but she's also fiercely loyal and isn't afraid to get in touch with her emotions even if they're ugly or she'd rather not admit to them. And I loved her for that.
And I liked Ben. I wasn't head-over-heels in love with him like I would have wanted to, but he's a good guy.
The romance between them felt a bit weird at first, because you know, even though he's been staring at her for 7 years, she only just acknowledged he even existed and it's all happening a little too fast. The insta love was a bit strong, but the teenage hormones I could understand ;)

Also, I thought the FBI were giving Janelle a LOT of room to operate in when at least one of their agents knew she was keeping things from them and had even stolen files at one point. I mean, sure he'd been a friend of the family forever, but still, it just didn't seem fully plausible.

I LOVED the science fiction part of all this and without wanting to give anything away: the explanation for everything was crazy good!
But even so, I wasn't going to give this book an above avarage rating, but then THE END HAPPENED! OMG, the last couple of chapters were like crack and I just kept reading and holding my breath and it was just amazing! And it was pulling on my heartstrings like crazy and because of that I need to get something out and it's a HUGE spoiler, so do not light up this next part if you don't want to know!

***SPOILER! Light up to read:***
OMG! Alex died! And Ben LEFT! And I LOVED Alex! His death hit me harder than anything happening in the novel so far, even worse than Ben leaving. Alex was such an amazing guy and I would have fallen in love with him instead of Ben. *sob*
***End of spoiler***

So this was an ok book with an amazing ending and whole lot of science fiction not just for the fans of said genre! And I've already checked Elizabeth Norris' blog: there will be a sequel! HOORAY! I was a little afraid when I didn't see any info about it on Goodreads, but now I'm cool :)

My rating: 4 stars

Review of Fracture by Megan Miranda

Title/Author: Fracture by Megan Miranda
Publisher/Date published: Walker Books for Young Readers, January 17th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?
Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature - or something much more frightening?"

Oh. My. God. I literally just finished this book about 2 minutes ago and I already know it's one that will stay with my for a LONG time.
This book is SO powerful in its message and tone and really, I am just a bit dazed right now.

People seem to either love or hate it and I can see why. Fracture by Megan Miranda is brutal and it's honest. It's not sugarcoating anything about what is happening in the story: a girl surviving something she shouldn't in all likelihood have survived. This is not something that will leave you being okay after, or at least not right away. And of course your parents aren't going to be okay, this is not something you come back from easily.

Delaney isn't necessarily a likeable person but she is very easy to relate to. She died and then she lived and then she discovers she can feel when people are about to die. Of course she's scared and lashing out! Sometimes the honesty in Megan Miranda's writing was almost painful, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

And can I just say that I really liked Decker? I mean, he does some seriously stupid stuff, but he's a good guy and he cares about Delaney. And he READ to her when she got headaches from reading. I really don't need another reason to like him.

The only thing is, I kept wondering thoughout the novel if Delaney's survival or her newfound abilities would be explained and I'm kinda bummed that they weren't. The scientist in me is dying to know!

Fracture was brutal and honest and totally compelling and it's a story that will not be easily forgotten. I can absolutely see why it's not for everyone, but I really enjoyed reading it. This was a very powerful debut and I'm looking forward to finding out what Megan Miranda will write next!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Review of Tempest by Julie Cross

Title/Author: Tempest (Tempest #1) by Julie Cross
Publisher/Date published: St. Martin's Griffin, January 17th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is... until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.
But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit... or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly... and possibly the entire world."

I really, really like the idea of time-traveling. It makes for some amazing storylines and if done right it can be absolutely wonderful. And though I wasn't as in love with Tempest as I would have liked to be, this was an extremely well-done tale of time-traveling!!

The scientist in me gleefully cackled at the actual well, science, that was involved in all of it! Jackson is smart and he works together with another even smarter guy to try and figure out how it's all happening and I loved that! The science did slow the storyline down somewhat, but I didn't really care about that, cause it was just so awesome! I love understanding how things work! I also really liked that Jackson didn't always have complete control over his time-travels, no instant-skills and all that. Also, there are consequences if you push yourself too far and I liked that as well.

The thing that did bother me about all of it was that when Jackson time-traveled back to 2007 and couldn't find his way back to 2009, he seemed more concerned about his love-life in 2007 then the actual getting his life back and learning more about why the hell he and his girlfriend Holly were attacked in the first place. And stopping it from happening again. But Jackson gets his priorities straight after a while and when that happened the story REALLY picked up for me! I LOVED the last third of the book! I mean, I really enjoyed the first part too, but after that I just couldn't stop reading until the end!

There were some major things being revealed and there are still some things that have left me going: WAIT! There HAS to be more!! I'm really curious about Jackson's sister and the little girl that appears towards the end (weren't the scenes with both these girls amazing?? I LOVED them!). So yes, I am most definitely picking up the next book cause I'm dying to find out where Julie Cross will take us next with her storytelling! Also, the end was kinda heartbreaking, but I've never respected Jackson more, I don't know if I could have done the same thing. The wait for the second book will feel like an eternity I fear... (I wish I had time-traveling skills and could just jump to the time when it was already out, read it, and come back, that would be awesome).

My rating: 4,5 stars

Review of The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Title/Author: The Gathering Storm (Katerina Alexandrovna #1) by Robin Bridges
Publisher/Date published: Delacorte BFYR, January 10th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.
An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources... including two young men — George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.
The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose — and to whom will she give her heart?"

You guys know how I love mythology and I must admit that before reading The Gathering Storm, I'd never read anything about Russian mythology. And it's full of awesome!! I mean, really, I'm not really a big fan of vampires as a mythological creature, but they have these AND a bogatyr!! They have the tsar able to change into a bogatyr to defend his country, how cool is that?

And apart from that, I did really enjoy most of the story. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the names and pet names and so on, but after a while I got the hang of it and it became easy to understand who everyone was talking to/about. And if I didn't know I assumed the characters weren't all that important anyway.

I liked Katiya, she has big plans to study at the university to become a doctor in a period of time when society only expects her to marry and produce heirs. I really respected her drive and the effort she put into learning all she could about medicine within the limits of society's approval.

There was one thing I had a big issue with: Katiya learns she has this ability and then she just refuses to be taught how to control it. She's given a book with information and she doesn't seem the least bit curious to actually read it and find some answers. I wanted to scream at her to not be so stupid, especially when she used her power without meaning to. And let's just say that unconsiously bringing someone back to life has some major consequences. So yeah, that part didn't work for me.
Also, she was constantly ignoring advice from people older and wiser than she herself was and of course bad stuff happened because of that.

I did like the interaction between Katiya and George Alexandrovich and I really enjoyed Katiya's bond with her family. The romance was a bit meh for me, but the court intrigue is fascinating and I loved the Russian mythology and hope it gets expanded more upon in the next book in the series!

My rating: 3 stars

Review of The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams

Title/Author: The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams
Publisher/Date published: Walker Books for Young Readers, January 17th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Piper, Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. And they've always agreed on one goal: to get out of tiny Paris, Texas, and see the world. The school's foreign exchange program seems like the perfect escape: Piper will go to the original Paris; Mei will go to China; Cassidy will go to Australia; and Izzy, unable to afford the program, will stay at home. To add spice to their semester away, and to stay connected to their best friends, the girls start The International Kissing Club, a Facebook page where they can anonymously update one another and brag about all the amazing guys they're meeting. After all, these girls are traveling abroad: amazing guys abound at every turn! But sometimes fun, flirty vacation flings turn into more serious romances, and sometimes you don't return from abroad the same person you were. Will the girls' relationships - and their friendships - be able to survive?"

Did you know Ivy Adams is a pseudonym for the writing team Emily McKay, Shellee Roberts and Tracy Deebs? Cause it is. And these 3 lovely ladies have written an absolutely cute novel together!

I totally had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading The International Kissing Club! And seriously, just knowing I was reading a book called The International Kissing Club totally made my day! Cause how awesome would it be to have a club like that?? I would have LOVED that as a teen!
Before starting this one I had been reading a couple of books that weren't really working out for me and this one brought my fun back :)

I LOVED reading about the friendship between these 4 girls! Probably because my group of girl friends from college also consists of 4 girls and it's so recognizable! The dynamics were wonderful to read about and I loved that these girls know each other so well.
Also, there are four different point of views we're reading from, but it was always perfectly clear whose chapter it was because they had really well defined voices! Definitely brownie points to the authors for that cause it's not always the case with these kinds of books!

Of course there is a lot going on that I was expecting to happen, because of course all four girls are going to be having a love interest. And I could see the mistakes the girls made coming from miles away. But none of this made me enjoy The International Kissing Club any less! All four of the lovestories were incredibly sweet and I only wish we didn't have to switch POV all the time cause I enjoyed each of the stories and just wanted to spend more time with the characters and their boys.

Also, I'm BEGGING the authors to write a sequel because I am So not done spending time with these girls and I'm DYING to find out what's going to happen with these mostly holiday romances!
This was such a cute read and it was exactly what I needed at the moment. Definitely recommended when you need something light to just relax with!

My rating: 4,5 stars

2012 Debut Author Challenge!!

So, I had a blast this year participating in the Debut Author Challenge! So OF COURSE I'm gonna do it again this year! I've already spent some time lusting over the books and gorgeous covers :)

CHALLENGE OBJECTIVE:
To read & review a minimum of twelve young adult or middle grade debut novels between the dates of January 1, 2012 - January 31, 2013.

More information can be found here.

My tentative list:
Queen of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
I am so running out to the store/pre-ordering this one!! Because seriously, I'm DYING to read it! I have loved this story since the author posted it on FictionPress a LONG time ago and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's turned out!
Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Tempest by Julie Cross
Ditched by Robin Mellom
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats
Under the Never Sky by Veronice Rossi
Already pre-ordered it!
Candlewax by C. Bailey Sims
Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel
Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
Fractured by Megan Miranda
Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

And pretty much everything else that catches my attention ;)
So now the plotting as to how I will get my hands on all these can begin! 2012 will be the year I graduate and thus start making money, which means I will not have to budgetize so much, hooray!

So: are you guys planning to participate? Excited about some of these debuts as well? Or ALL of them? Let me know!