The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross Review

Title: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar (Steampunk Chronicles #2)

Author: Kady Cross

Genre: Young Adult, Steampunk

Page Count: 416 pages

Publish Date: May 22, 2012

Book Type: Kindle Galley

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 978-0373210534

From Goodreads: In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling - or dangerous. 

Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade-the dangerous device Jasper stole from him...for the life of the girl Jasper loves. 

One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens. And tightens.

My Review: Love this cover! That necklace/collar is crazy looking. Imagine having that thing strapped to you. The colors are also amazing.

I really enjoyed The Girl in the Steel Corset last year and was excited to enter the wonderful steampunk world again in The Girl in the Clockwork Collar. This time, the gang traveled to New York City to try to save their friend Jasper after he was arrested at the end of Book 1. Naturally, nothing goes as planned and Finley, Griffin, Jasper, Sam, and Emily find themselves in the middle of trouble.

One of my complaints from Book 1 was that I felt the characters weren’t developed enough. This all changed in this book and I got to know them much more. Finley and Jasper were the two characters that the readers will really get to know. Some new characters were also introduced and I hope we get to see a few of them again. Although mentioned quite a few times, Jack Dandy wasn’t in the book. Maybe he will be in the next one.

The relationships were fleshed out some--although Finley and Griffin still drive me crazy. Just make it work, you two crazy kids. I had wished there was more Sam and Emily, but the moments that were there were completely precious. 

While I was able to predict the answers to some of the mysteries, the very end was actually pretty surprising. I didn’t see that one coming--you’ll have to let me know if you do. Hopefully some of the consequences will play out in the next book.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar was packed with action and adventure. It was really exciting and I had a hard time putting the book down. 

This sequel really solidified my love for steampunk and I cannot wait for the next book to come out! I’ll be glad for the trip back to London, even though I enjoyed them crossing the pond for a bit.

Thanks to NetGalley, Kady Cross and Harlequin Teen for this review copy!

Lovesick by Spencer Seidel Review

Title: Lovesick

Author: Spencer Seidel

Genre: Thriller, Suspense

Page Count: 376 pages

Publish Date: June 2012 in paperback, Original October 15, 2011

Book Type: ARC provided for review

Publisher: PublishingWorks, Inc.

ISBN: 9781935557692

Picture from Goodreads

From Goodreads: A teenage boy is found on Portland Maine’s Eastern Promenade Trail holding the dead body of his best friend and the murder weapon. Forensic psychologist Lisa Boyers is called in to interview the disturbed young man, and her jailhouse interviews reveal more about her troubled, violent past than she bargained for.

My Review: Love the cover! Bleeding hearts are always good. Very appropriate for February. It also makes me think of Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." A lot. The one thing I would change would be to have the author’s name a bit smaller. However, that’s just personal preference.

I really need to start reading more thrillers. I think I say this after every thriller I read, but then I forget about it. Someone remind me. Please? The best part about thrillers is they always seem to keep me interested--they keep me wanting to turn the pages and guessing until the end. It's always fun to try to solve the big mystery. 

The best thriller authors know how to reveal just the right amount of information. They don’t reveal too little or too much. Spencer Seidel did just that in Lovesick. If Lovesick was any indication of Seidel's writing, I’m really looking forward to reading more in the future.

She wasn’t wrong about Chad. She just knew it. She was sure about him, despite his perfectly logical explanation. Lisa’s apartment on Cumberland Avenue was only fifteen or twenty minutes from USM, in Portland, almost in the East End. Her commute home took her down Forest Avenue and then left onto Cumberland. She parked in back, in her assigned spot, still feeling uneasy. She didn’t exactly have the greatest track-record with men, budding mass murderers or not. Face it, she thought. Your track-record is downright abysmal. And when your life was filled with these bad experiences, you couldn’t possibly give a kid like Chad Lamm a break. So, knowing this about herself, maybe she should? Maybe she had overreacted? She remembered a trip to the emergency room, sitting in the back seat of the family’s rattly Volkswagen Beetle, her mother in the front seat, holding a bloody kitchen towel to her lip, glaring at Lisa’s father.

To find the next excerpt, visit:  http://www.goodchoicereading.com/

To find the rest of the blogs participating in the tour, visit here.


Thank you so much to Spencer Seidel, MediaMuscle, and BookTrib for my review copy!

Two Moons of Sera by Pavarti K Tyler Review and Tour

Title: Two Moons of Sera

Author: Pavarti K. Tyler

Genre: Young Adult/Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Size: 162 KB

Publish Date: October 11, 2011

Book Type: ARC provided for review

Publisher: Fighting Monkey Press

ISBN: 9780983876922

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: In a world where water and earth teem with life, Serafay is an anomaly. The result of genetic experiments on her mother's water-borne line Serafay will have to face the very people responsible to discover who she really is. But is she the only one? 

All the Fun of YA written for Adults 

Two Moons of Sera is a Fantasy/Romance and will be released in a serial format. The first volume is just shy of 20,000 words and will be priced at $0.99. Anyone who purchases it will receive all future volumes for free. However if you wait to get it until later, the price will go up with each addition.

My Review: The cover definitely fits the story--love that she’s underwater and I love the colors.

This is a short book, but Pavarti K. Tyler has decided to take the route of manga and comic books and distribute her story in sections. It’s actually pretty interesting. 

I love the Sera is a hybrid of the land-dwelling people and the water people. Like many teenagers, she isn’t quite sure where she fits in. She is also the result of cruel experiments. This aspect of the story kind of reminded me of The Hunted of 2060 (another fun, sci-fi book!).

Not too long into the story, Sera meets another person who is the result of experiments. It was nice to see Sera with someone who had similar qualities to her. She has been isolated with her mother for so long (her mother’s people abandoned her because of Sera being a hybrid) that she has been feeling a bit lonely.

I really enjoyed Tyler’s writing style. While reading, I could tell Tyler thoroughly enjoyed the world she created. The character building was strong, which could have been difficult with the novella. 

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the next stage of the story!

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A note from the author:
Order Your Copy Now

As a thank you to all of my amazing readers and supporters, I am hosting a month long rafflecopter giveaway on my blog!  Enter for your chance to win:

• A Gift Bag full of fun-tastic swag
• A $15 itunes gift card
• Ebook basket including:
• Two Moons of Sera by Pavarti K Tyler
• The Dome by Nova Sparks
• Farsighted by Emlyn Chand
• The Mumbo Jumbo Circus by Jane George
• 10,000 word critique of your manuscript
• An Advanced Readers Copy of my upcoming novel Shadow on the Wall

Farsighted by Emlyn Chand Review and Tour

Title: Farsighted

Author: Emlyn Chand

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Page Count: 218 pages

Publish Date: October 24, 2011

Book Type: ebook provided for review

Publisher: Blue Crown Press

ISBN: 9780615524689

From Goodreads: Alex Kosmitoras’s life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead-broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind. Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, a new girl from India moves into town. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Yes, sophomore year might not be so bad after all. 

Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to “see” the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they begin to suggest that Simmi is in danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and new friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex must embark on a journey to change his future.

My Review: The cover definitely depicts what is going on in the story, which is always a plus. I like that Alex has his “cool kid glasses” on! He would probably scoff at me using that term now, but I couldn’t help myself.

It was refreshing to get a different kind of main character here. 1. Alex is a boy, which is sometimes lacking in YA fiction. 2. Alex is blind, which is definitely lacking in YA fiction. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard of another YA book with a blind protagonist. Correct me if I’m wrong, please.

Another interesting aspect of this book was that the author included a rune and corresponding prophecy at the beginning of each chapter. They acted as kind of a teaser for what was to come and it was fun to try to figure them out. For a minute, I felt like Hermione deciphering the runes in The Tales of Beedle the Bard during Deathly Hallows. 

I like how Alex comes into his gifts. It’s sort of a build up and it was fun to see him make the decisions about what to do with the things he saw. I also appreciated that romance wasn’t the main aspect of this book. Sure, it was in there, but it wasn’t the focus. Maybe this has something to do with the main character being male. Thinking back on my other YA reads with male protagonists, I don’t think their main focus is romance either. I’ll have to find more of these.

I really applaud Emlyn Chand for choosing to have a blind character. It could have been really awkward to read about, but Chand knew all of the right descriptive words to use. I’m excited for the next one!

Have you read this one? Does it sound like something you might want to read?

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THE BOOK:  Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t.  When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider. Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com’s Kindle store or the eBook retailer of your choice. The paperback edition will be available on November 24 (for the author’s birthday). 

THE CASH PRIZES:  Guess what? You could win a $100 Amazon gift card as part of this special blog tour. That’s right! Just leave a comment below saying something about the post you just read, and you’ll be entered into the raffle. I could win $100 too! Please help by voting for my blog in the traffic-breaker poll. To cast your vote, visit the official Farsighted blog tour page and scroll all the way to the bottom. Thank you for your help with that. 


THE GIVEAWAYS:  Win 1 of 10 autographed copies of Farsighted before its paperback release by entering the giveaway on GoodReads. Perhaps you’d like an autographed postcard from the author; you can request one on her site.


THE AUTHOR:  Emlyn Chand has always loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). When she’s not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm, Novel Publicity. Emlyn loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media interweb. Visit www.emlynchand.com for more info. Don’t forget to say “hi” to her sun conure Ducky! 

MORE FUN: There's more fun below. Watch the live action Farsighted book trailer and take the quiz to find out which character is most like you!  

 

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa Review

Title: The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Page Count: 361 pages

Publish Date: October 25, 2011

Book Type: ARC provided for review

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 9780373210367

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her.

My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

My Review: Once again, I just love how these covers all fit together. I also love how the blue swirls match Ash’s eyes. Very nice. “Soulless, Banished, but Never Forgotten.”

I struggled a bit through The Iron Queen. I had just praised Meghan on my review of The Iron Daughter and that was probably the kiss of death for me. The way she was treating Puck really annoyed me and I thought it took a long time for the action to start. The sappy love story was really played up and, unfortunately, that is not what I enjoy about this series. 

Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about starting The Iron Knight. I did end up enjoying it more than I had anticipated. I loved the interactions between Ash and Puck. I’m also glad that we got a little more insight into their characters. Grim will always be my favorite character in The Iron Fey series. He’s the best. It was nice to have the opportunity to see things through Ash’s eyes.

I always love the way Julie Kagawa paints a picture with her words. I can always picture everything that she is describing. That’s key to a good fantasy/paranormal novel. If I couldn’t picture the world these characters are living in, I’m sure I wouldn’t enjoy these books nearly as much as I do.

Also, it wouldn’t be a Julie Kagawa book if there weren’t some twists and turns when you least expect them. The Iron Knight did not disappoint in that department.

If you’ve read the rest of the series, this one is definitely a must read. If you haven’t started the series yet, you probably should.

Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Julie Kagawa for this review copy!

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin Review

Title: All These Things I’ve Done (Birthright #1)

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Future

Page Count: 368 pages

Publish Date: September 6, 2011

Book Type: ARC won from contest

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

ISBN: 9780374302108

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidentally poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

My Review: Love this cover! The dripping chocolate heart is just so cool. It made me hungry for chocolate the entire time I was reading this book. I probably ate more than I should have during this time period. I can’t imagine a future where chocolate and caffeine are illegal. I totally need dark chocolate, coffee, and Diet Coke in my life. Although, the idea of a coffeehouse/speakeasy is pretty cool.  

I actually really liked Anya as a character. There were times where I grew frustrated with her (mainly when she was talking with her brother or best friend), but she was “real,” which I always appreciate. By no means is she perfect, but there is something remarkably likable about characters who are not perfect. Contrary to this, I wish Win (the new boy in school/assistant D.A.‘s son) wasn’t so perfect. He needed a few more flaws, which we may find in the second book.

The middle section was my favorite part of the book. The beginning started a bit slow (but still intriguing enough to keep my interest), it peaked in the middle, and then became a bit slower at the end again. I’m definitely invested in these characters enough to want to read the next book in the series, though.

I wish we would have learned exactly why chocolate and caffeine were made illegal, yet alcohol is legal for all ages. It’s an interesting turn of events, but some more world building would have been nice. Maybe more of this will be explained in the next book? I typically like to know WHY the world has ended up this way in the dystopians I read. It allows me to ponder if this future could actually happen and what it would be like. This is one of my favorite parts of reading dystopians. I want to know what it would be like!

Would you be okay with a world where chocolate and caffeine were banned? What is something (superficial) that you can absolutely not live without? 

Long Gone by Alafair Burke Review

Title: Long Gone

Author: Alafair Burke

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Suspense

Page Count: 368 pages

Publish Date: June 21, 2011

Book Type: ARC provided by publisher for honest review

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 9780061999185

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: How well do you know your boss?

After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. According to Drew Campbell, the well-suited corporate representative who hires her, the gallery is a passion project for its anonymous, wealthy, and eccentric owner.

Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never been there—and Drew Campbell’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of a police investigation, with the evidence mounting against her. To prove her innocence and uncover the truth, Alice must undertake a dangerous search for answers that entangles her in a dark, high-tech criminal conspiracy and forces her to unearth long-hidden secrets involving her own family . . . secrets that could cost Alice her life.

My Review: Once you get to the end of the book, you really understand the idea behind the cover and I appreciate that. I’m not sure that it is super eye-grabbing, but it is nice! I really like the blurred image and once again, yay for red heads on book covers!

This book really reminded me how much I like a good mystery/suspense novel. Like many of my other favorite mysteries, Long Gone had many intertwining characters and plot lines. Sometimes it was hard to remember which character was which, but once I got a hold on who was who, it was easier. Every aspect of the mystery comes together, but not in super obvious ways. That is the nicest part. I was able to figure out some things, but others left me guessing! I thought some people were guilty and they ended up not being guilty and vice versa.

I know what it is like to be unemployed (granted, I am still in grad school), so I can only imagine how excited Alice was to be offered her dream job. Only for it to all be taken away from her. Ugh. That would be awful. I thought Alice’s emotions about this were pretty well developed and natural. Well done!

I’m really glad HarperCollins sent this book to me--I want to check out the other books written by Alafair Burke. Thank you! I definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes a good mystery.

Sharks and Boys by Kristen Tracy Review

Title: Sharks and Boys

Author: Kristen Tracy

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Page Count: 272 pages

Publish Date: June 28, 2011

Book Type: ARC that I won and e-galley from NetGalley

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

ISBN: 9781423143543

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: When 15-year-old Enid Calhoun follows her boyfriend Wick to Maryland for a party, fearful that he might be intending to cheat on her, she finds herself sneaking on board a houseboat where Wick and his friends plan to have a wild night. But before the boys discover their stowaway, a hurricane strikes, and the teenagers are carried miles from the shore and shipwrecked. What follows is a harrowing, yet heartwarming, story of survival, as the teens battle hypothermia, dehydration, man-eating sharks--and along the way, confront their own deepest secrets, including their catalytic roles in the disaster.

My Review: This book is part of the Contemps reading challenge. The cover for this one is really cute. I love how blue the ocean is and after reading the book, I really appreciate the shark fin in the water. Also, I love how the green bracelet from the book made it onto the cover. It’s always fun when the cover for a book actually matches the content of the novel. It doesn’t always happen.

I honestly had a love/hate relationship with many of the characters in this book. I don’t want to go as far as telling you their fates (because this is a main part of the story), but Kristen Tracy really made me feel bad for some of them...and not feel bad for other ones. It’s funny... I think the characters I liked the most were not really the main focus of the story. I liked Munny and Landon way more than I liked Enid and Wick. Munny was a “fact box” and was always telling everyone random stories and statistics. I often wish I retained so much knowledge where I had a fact I could throw into every situation. [tangent ] Much like Dr. Spencer Reid on “Criminal Minds.” If you don’t watch “Criminal Minds,” you probably should. Reid is amazing. Garcia is such a techo-nerd that I absolutely love her. [ /endtangent] Landon seemed like such a genuinely good person. I wish he was real! Enid, at times, was very needy and insecure, but with what has went on in her life, I feel like it is natural for her to be a bit insecure. I don’t really know how to express my feelings for Wick. So, I’m just going to let everyone form their own opinions on him.

I love how the characters were all twins and that they met through a study at a college. I always find anything involving twins fascinating. I found myself thinking about what happened to these characters well after I was finished reading. This may be because Tracy ended the novel very abruptly. Some people may not like this, but I found it kind of nice.

Tracy did an excellent job of describing the locations and effects of being shipwrecked. I felt as if I was lost at sea while reading. It’s definitely not a situation I want to be in anytime soon. 

What is your favorite shipwrecked/stranded at sea novel? Sometimes, I enjoy a really good pirate novel!