45 Pounds (More or Less)

45 Pounds (More or Less)

by K.A. Barson

At 16 years old, Ann doesn't remember a time when she hasn't struggled with her weight.

All of the other women in her family look fantastic and thin, while she fights to fit into something other than baggy pants and t-shirts.

When her aunt announces that she's getting married in just a few short months and Ann is going to be in the wedding party, Ann knows she's got to lose 45 pounds in order to feel confident among the beauties in her family.

On her journey, she tries fad diets, "incentive" clothing, bargaining with herself (just one more donut and I'll be good tomorrow), and so much more.

Can she find herself among all the words of wisdom, help, and hate that surround an overweight girl?

Final thoughts: Ann's struggles are realistic, if a little repetitive.  She sometimes comes off a little whiny, but the overall message is good.  Tricks don't work. Fads don't work. Fat doesn't magically come off. People who are overweight aren't necessarily lazy or pigs; they are just regular people who don't really know how to balance food and fitness.  There are other messages about the dangers of being thin, too.  How are we affecting our future generations with our constant messages about being skinny?

Rating: 3/5

Dead Silence

Dead Silence

by Kimberly Derting

Violet has been drawn back into the group whose leader has threatened her family.  Whether she wants to help or not, she's got to protect those she loves and she's got to follow the echoes of the dead.

Following echoes can be a little difficult now, though, since she's got an echo of her own.  Ever since she accidentally killed her kidnapper while escaping, Violet has had to hear an incessant music box melody droning over and over in her head.  

She's never free of it.  

It never stops.

But neither do murders.

Violent deaths are everywhere and Violet can't help but try to put the dead to rest.

When someone she loves is put in danger, Violet must risk everything to protect her.

Final thoughts: Ok.  That's it.  I may be done with this series.  Violet isn't strong anymore. Her grandmother's journals seem really convenient and solve a few problems, while also introducing new mysteries.  Jay isn't as awesome; in fact, he's one-dimensional and kind of annoying.  The team is barely seen except when needed.  And I was just disappointed.  It was just okay.  It wasn't fantastic and it wasn't awful.  (Btw, the official book trailer from HarperTeen doesn't really fit the book.)

Rating: 3/5

Frankenstein

Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley

When Robert Walton decides to head to the Arctic to challenge himself and go on an adventure, little did he know that he'd meet someone whose life adventure far surpasses his own.

Just hours after seeing one giant man pass by the ship, then stranded in the ice, another man appears, sick, tired, and on a journey to destroy his greatest creation.

That man is Victor Frankenstein and his quest is destroy the monster he made.

He tells Walton his tale, both as a warning and prayer.

Final thoughts: It's an iconic book with that rare female author of her day writing a "man's" story.  Unfortunately, it's annoying.  It's a story within a story within a story and every single narrator has more than one moment where he says something to the effect of, "I know I'm talking a lot, but... " and then keeps on talking. Walton is re-telling the story of Victor, who at one point re-tells the story of the monster.  There are a few brief moments of feeling sorry for the monster, but he keeps turning it around and becoming a whiny pain in the butt.  And Victor isn't great, either.  Gothic, maybe.  Good, not really.

Rating: 2/5

With All My Soul

With All My Soul

by Rachel Vincent

Time may march on but Kaylee never has to worry about that for herself. As a bean sidhe, she was already looking at a very long life. Now, as an undead, she is looking at immortality as a collector of souls. She's also looking at immortality with her reaper boyfriend who happens to look kinda hot both in and out of any clothes.

Unfortunately, it's not all fun and forever young for Kaylee since the avarice demon is still after her and will do pretty much anything to get her.

Couple that with her best friend now being in a new body (with her own new supernatural powers to boot), her best friend's sister being impregnated with her murderer's incubus, soul-free baby, and the demons of envy and vanity coming for her and her friends, and Kaylee still has a long list of tasks to cross off her "to-do" list.

All that is bad enough, but when she discovers that Avari has taken someone she loves, she may have to lose everything to save him.

Final thoughts: Solid ending to the story, though a little forced. Wrath's sudden appearance in the story and how his character is used is a little deus ex machina, as if Vincent couldn't figure out how to end it without sending in a kind of cavalry to save the day... kind of. The last few chapters felt rushed and strange. However, it's still a good read and I don't have too many objections except that the Thane story thread is mentioned a couple of times, but never closed. 

Rating: 4/5

My Ex from Hell

My Ex from Hell

by Tellulah Darling

Sophie Bloom only remembers living with her adoptive mom followed by being sent to boarding school and meeting her two best friends.

Except for being the obvious bully target of the popular group (probably because of her snarky attitude and smart mouth), her life is actually pretty good.

She's even got a plan of revenge against her worst tormentor that should be foolproof... until she meets HIM.

Sophie goes from not being interested in anyone to being completely addicted to Kai. 

And then they kiss.  

And then Sophie's world is forever changed.

It turns out that she's no regular girl.  She's the human reincarnation of the murdered Persephone.  Kai is the son of Hades and her sometime lover.  One of her besties is Prometheus.  She's suddenly got a few god-like powers.  And, oh yeah! both Hades and Zeus want her, if only to kill her and stop her from stopping their plans.

What's an ex-goddess to do?

Final thoughts: Fairly decent read, though there were a few times I had to go back and re-read because things went so fast they became unclear.  Action moments were extremely detailed and a little long, while a few other moments could have been detailed a bit more.  Nice enough that I'll happily read the sequel (of yet another trilogy).

Rating: 4/5

Bloodspell

Bloodspell

by Amalie Howard

After Victoria's parents died in a car wreck, she went to live with her "aunt" Holly.  Life has been pretty normal for her since then, if you count being an outcast as "normal".

On her 17th birthday, everything changes.

When Victoria's blood changes from bright red to nearly black, the spell that has been in her family for generations finally comes to her.  She inherits the curse that gives her great power and slowly destroys her at the same time.

When she moves to a new town to get away from the rumors about her, she meets Christian Devereaux, a boy who is more than he appears.

Why she's drawn to him, she doesn't know.  What he knows about her could be her end.

Final thoughts:  Ugh! Awful!  It's so blatantly a Twilight rip-off with the added issue of witches, fairies, etc... And yet, Howard seems to be constantly screaming "THIS ISN'T TWILIGHT!" Victoria has a nickname (Tori). She's in love with a vampire. They are deeply in love, but can't be together because it's too dangerous for them. There's a second guy who seems to believe that Tori is meant to be his and his alone.  He and Christian hate each other on sight and it only gets more powerful between them.  There's Angie who can see what people are and knows it will affect the future if they know what she knows.  There are fairies who "sparkle", and it's like an in-joke with a whole, "See! It's NOT Twilight!" vibe.  The writing is horrendous and choppy.  The dialogue is forced.  None of the relationships are believable.  Too many things happen on the fly like, hey! she's a witch!  Hey! There's a prophecy about her that no one mentioned before!  Let's have him go to Paris... oops! No. He needs to be back in the states.  But now they both need to go to Paris.  No.  They need to be back in the states.  I love you and want to be with you forever! We can make this work!  Nope!  Too dangerous.  We'll never it make it work.  We really should be together! We can make this work; I know we can!  No.  We can't do it.  

It's a freakin' yo-yo of bad ideas and poor follow-through.  

Avoid.

Rating: 1/5

Frost Burned

Frost Burned

by Patricia Briggs

The honeymoon is over and Mercy Thompson is now Mercy Hauptman, mate of the Alpha.  He's one of the strongest Alphas out there and she now shares his power.

She also shares his daughter as she is now her stepmother, which means she shares those duties as well, including protecting her from all harm.

And harm has come their way.

In fact, all but one of the members of the Pack has been captured, including Mercy's new husband, and all signs point to the abductors coming after her and her new stepdaughter.

In addition, she finds out that all of their phones, and the phones of those who are considered allies, have been tapped, so calling for help is out.

Now Mercy must find a way to save her new family, all of them, whether they like her or not.

Final thoughts:  Much better than the last one, though still with some flaws.  Great to see Mercy at her best.  While I loved seeing a few things from Adam's point of view, it felt like Briggs was desperate to convey some story features and couldn't figure out how to do it with Mercy, so she's added him to the story, but only where absolutely necessary.  Essentially, his chapters felt out of place and forced.  Otherwise, still pretty darn good.

Rating: 4/5

Oh. My. Gods.

Oh. My. Gods.

by Tera Lynn Childs

For years, it's been just Phoebe and her mother.  After the freak accident that killed her father when she was just a child, Phoebe's adjusted to life without him.  In fact, she's on track to having the best senior year ever!

USC has already expressed interest in giving her a scholarship the following year.  Her best friends are with her and have gotten her over her rotten ex.  And her final race is her best yet.

Things are looking magical.

Until her mother comes back from a trip to Greece with a new fiancé and an order to move.

Phoebe's on her way to Greece to live at her new stepdad's house, whether she wants to go or not.

It's bad enough that she's got to move to the other side of the planet, away from her friends and extended family.  It's worse that she's got to take courses so different from what she knows that a B-average will be difficult to maintain.  It's still worse that she's now related by marriage to one of the meanest girls ever born.

But the worst part of all is that her new school is filled with the descendents of Greek gods.  Every single student, including her evil stepsister, has a god for an ancestor... except her.

Thank goodness Phoebe can run because she'll need that talent more than ever.

Final thoughts: Fun cotton candy book.  There's nothing here that's a brain drain.  Phoebe's fun and the world that Childs has created is realistic enough.  There are a few awkward moments and a few things that didn't work perfectly, but it was definitely a decent read.  Sadly for me, I had heard about this book because I read the preview for the sequel, which gave away one of the twists from this book, so I spent much of the book looking for the twist to occur; but that was not the book's failing and it's still worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

Going Vintage

Going Vintage

by Lindsey Leavitt

Even though Mallory just moved to town about two years ago, she's already set in her high school ranking.  She's the girlfriend of one of the hottest guys in school, so she's got an identity and hundreds of "friends" on her Friendspace account (think MySpace merged with Facebook).

After an intense make-out session at her BF's house, she goes onto his computer to write his philosophy paper, only to find his Friendspace account open and a virtual "wife" who is a complete stranger to Mallory.

Is it cheating if it's only online?

Hell YES!

While Mallory is recovering from the ultimate betrayal, she comes across a list her grandma made in 1962.

        Junior Year: Back to School Resolution.

             1. Run for Pep Squad secretary

             2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree

             3. Sew a dress for homecoming

             4. Find a steady

             5. Do something dangerous

This list is simple.  This list is powerful.  This list is exactly what Mallory needs.

In order to make this list authentic, Mallory immerses herself in a tech-free environment.  No more cell phone. No more computer. No more digital anything.  And definitely no more Friendspace.

Now she has just a couple of weeks to finish the entire list, while dealing with the real world ramifications of an online smear campaign.

Final thoughts:  This is a cotton candy book.  It's light and fun, but you have to let some concerns go as you read to really enjoy it.  There are far too many things that line up for Mallory, as well as go wrong.  It's just a bit much to see all of this happening in the space of about two weeks.  Some of the things are just a little out of the realm of believability, but are still interesting to read.  Mallory's voice was really true to that of a high school junior, sometimes annoyingly so.  However, the overall story is a decent one and one that many people will be able to relate to.

One annoying thing, from this Librarian's point of view, is Mallory's research project.  Because she's sworn off technology, she has to write her report the old-fashioned way, which includes researching in the Library (YEAH!), but then she procrastinates too long, gets bored and frustrated, so she sneaks onto a computer, copy/pastes from different articles, changes a few sentences "so the words are my own", prints the paper, and submits it.  The author just endorsed plagiarism??  We already have a HUGE problem with students doing this every day and the author just put it in a book?  I know she's going for reality, but this is just frustrating.

Rating: 4/5

The Shadow Society

The Shadow Society

by Marie Rutkoski

Darcy Jones was left at a fire station when she was just five years old with no idea who she was or how she'd gotten there.

Eleven years and far too many foster homes later, Darcy has finally found a town, a foster mother, and a school that she's been able to stay with for more than a year.  But just when she seems to be getting everything on track, she finds herself drawn to a boy who seems to know more about her than she's ever known about herself.

He knows where she comes from.  

He knows what she is.  

He knows what she's capable of.

And he knows how to hurt her.

Will she be able to find out who she is and what she can do before everything she has worked so hard for is taken away from her forever?

Final thoughts:  It's another supernatural book with a clueless, but powerful heroine, and a hunky, dangerous boy.  This is a decent read and it has its moments, but some of the things that happen are just too unbelievable and the love triangle/quadrangle/whatever is predictable.

Rating: 3/5

The Goddess Inheritance

The Goddess Inheritance 

by Aimee Carter 

Nine months after she was kidnapped by the queen of the gods, Kate Winters finally gives birth to the son that only a few even knew existed. 

Now she must find a way to get him back to his father, free herself in the process, and stop the most Titan to ever walk the Earth from getting free and destroying everything she loves and has sworn to protect.

Final thoughts:  Such a disappointment!  This one just doesn't live up to all the other books in the series.  I had high expectations walking into this one and just didn't get much from it.  Kate was whining and indecisive, seeming to have lost all her gumption from the first books.  The story shifts around far too quickly and moments are pushed through rather than savored.  The ending felt like a set-up for the next series Carter might be planning, rather than a true, meaningful end.  So very sad.

Rating: 3/5 (and only because the rest of the books helped this one)

House Rules

House Rules

by Chloe Neill

Even though she's been a vampire for less than a year, Merit has probably seen more, done more, and dealt with more problems than most other vamps combined.  

She's saved Chicago, and the vamps within its limits, multiple times, with the help of her boyfriend and House Master, Ethan, her partner in the secret vamp group, Jonah, and a number of other supernaturals and vampires everywhere.

Now, in the middle of the Cadogan House's most dangerous undertaking (separating from the Greenwich Presidium, the vampire governing agency), suddenly vampires are being murdered.

Once again, Merit has to track down a killer and save her House even as the House takes on its biggest challenge.

Final thoughts:  Yet another winner from Neill!  Now that Merit and Ethan seem to have finally gotten through most of their problems (but not all, as evidenced by a major issue in the book), the books can focus on other characters and mysteries.  I'm not sure how much more the story can stretch, though, and I really hope she doesn't push this too far and ruin what's been going so well so far.

Rating: 4/5

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

This week's question:

What upcoming 2013 book are you most looking forward to reading?

My answer: anything urban supernatural lit.  I'm currently in love with the Chloe Neill Chicagoland Vamps, Darynda Jones and her Charley Davidson books AND her newest YA series including Death, Doom, and Destruction.  When Patricia Briggs' new book Frost Burned comes out, I will be downloading it to my Kindle and devouring the contents.

.

Thank goodness for NetGalley.com and all the ARCs I get to read from it!

The S-Word

The S-Word

by Chelsea Pitcher

Before her death, Lizzie had been invisible most of her life, until she got caught by her best friend in bed with her best friend's boyfriend.  Suddenly she became the most well-known face on campus and she had a new nickname: Slut.

After her death, she became Suicide Slut.

Now, someone is defacing her locker and passing around pages of her diary, sharing secrets no one knew before she jumped to her death at school.

Angie, her best friend and the person who should be angriest at Lizzie, is determined to find out the truth, even if that means destroying everyone around her in the process.

Final thoughts: What a mess!  This book is almost schizophrenic in its storytelling.  Angie seems to be having a psychological breakdown throughout the book and the final third is just a confusing mass of something indescribable.  There are pages that are almost completely dialogue with no description and it reads like a one-sided phone conversation.  A crucial piece of the puzzle goes undescribed for pages while the characters TALK about it, but take forever to say what it is they are talking about.  It's completely unbelievable and strange.  And the end is just weird.

Rating: 2/5

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

by Elizabeth Eulberg

For years, Lexi has been helping her mom take her little sister to almost weekly Saturday pageants, even though her sister is now only seven years old.

Though Lexi is moderately popular, thought well of by her peers, and has a couple of amazing friends, she's never really been "pretty" and hasn't even tried to be since her mother told her at a young age that she had a great personality.

She's also got a crush on the cutest guy in school whose girlfriend just happens to compete in the same pageants as her sister, so she's gotten to know him well.

When her best friend dares her to glam up for a week, she takes that dare and then things change overnight.  Now she's popular, admired, and even has a date!

Are the perks that come from being pretty worth the challenges that come with it all?  And can Lexi keep her "great personality" and avoid losing everything that matters to her?

Final thoughts:  The first quarter of the book was great.  The second quarter was ok.  The whole second half was just "meh".  The end just kind of trailed off as if a chapter or two got cut off.  I didn't like Lexi's evolution very much and her constant obsession with Logan just got annoying over time.  Mac and her mother were offensive in many ways and the ending of their part was just unfinished.  Overall, it was ok.

Rating: 3/5

The Weird Girls / Sealed with a Curse (dual review)

The Weird Girls

by Cece Robson

When Celia's mom married the wrong man, a relative cursed all the unborn Wird sisters.  But the curse backfired, giving each girl certain magical powers that make them more than human and less than supernatural.

Celia can turn into a tigress and shift through anything solid.  Taran can manipulate electricity and people's memories. Shayna can make any metal or wood turn into a deadly weapon.  And Emme can heal most wounds and use telekinesis to move objects.

Between them, the sisters have been able to handle most of the things that have come their way.  And now that they've decided to settle down in Lake Tahoe, things finally seem to be going their way in the best way.

That is until they manage to tick off the top witch in town, along with her coven.

Now Celia has to take the witch down to protect her family, while also keeping herself alive.

Sealed with a Curse

by Cece Robson

Just moments after being cleared of murder, Celia and her sisters are called on to help destroy vampires who have become completely insane with bloodlust.  They are killing indiscriminately and in large numbers, which has caught the attention of the new werewolf pack in town.

Tensions between the Wird sisters and the pack run high to start and then become tense for whole new reasons as each of the girls find a were who makes her heart beat just a little bit faster.  Even Celia's found someone and she doesn't find guys easily.

And when it rains, it pours for Celia because one of the local vampire masters has also taken a fancy to her.

Between the vamp, the were, the bloodlusters, and her sisters, Celia's got more than she can handle.  May your life be interesting is always a dangerous thing to wish on others.

Final thoughts:  Overall, I'm a fan of supernatural urban lit and Robson definitely has some interesting stories to tell, but I found myself more than a little turned around at times.  Tracking the action was very difficult.  Every time there was a fight scene, it felt obvious that Robson knew what she was seeing, but she had trouble painting the picture for the reader.  I like Celia and her sisters and Aric was great, but I kept wondering about Celia's (literal) dream guy from the first book/novella.  Is that Aric or is that someone else who's going to show up later?  That interfered with me truly falling in love with the second book.

Rating: 4/5

Every Day

Every Day

by David Levithan

Every day is a new day.

Every day is a new opportunity.

Every day is a new body..?

"A" has never been in the same body for longer than 24 hours.

"A" has never understood why this happens or how to control it.

"A" has never thought of living any other way.

Until Rhiannon.

When he wakes one day as her boyfriend, he realizes that he wants to be with her forever.

But how can you be with someone forever when you can't even be in the same body for more than a day?

Final thoughts:  This is a deep, thought-provoking book about what really makes one person love another.  A's love for Rhiannon makes him break all the rules he's made for himself over the years as he's grown up traveling from body to body (never the same body twice).  Their relationship is both sweet and weird at the same time.  Reading this one was difficult because it always felt like A was playing with fire and pushing his luck.  The saddest part was the end, not because it was sad, but because it felt unfinished, like there's another story and we're left with an almost-cliffhanger.

Rating: 3/5

Speechless

Speechless

by Hannah Harrington

Chelsea Knot is horrible at keeping secrets.  She blabs everything she knows to pretty much everyone she knows.  No secret is safe.  Making out with your best friend's boyfriend? Wearing something hideous?  Shopping at the wrong store? Gay?

While drunk at a party, Chelsea reveals a secret and it leads to disastrous results.  

For the first time, she realizes that there are true consequences when she speaks.  After she reports what has happened to the police, she becomes the prime target of the very crowd who used to be her friends.  They begin a very deliberate campaign to punish her for telling the truth.

Because she can't trust her own words, she stops using them.  The school's biggest gossip takes a vow of silence.  And even though it upsets her parents and teachers, she is determined to keep her mouth shut.  She won't even defend herself from the slander and lies being thrown around about her.

Now Chelsea must fend off her former friends and try to find out who her real friends are, while also making peace with herself and her own past.

Final thoughts: Chelsea is familiar as a teen gossip who only does what she does because she hopes to keep her place with the "in crowd".  When she drunkenly outs a classmate and he is horribly beaten as a consequence, her personal path to redemption and forgiveness is interesting to follow.  While some of the moments seem forced and some things that happen seem a little too perfect, the overall story is done well and gives hope to readers who may be having difficulties speaking up and/or out.

Rating: 4/5

Mercedes Thompson Series

Mercedes Thompson Series

by Patricia Briggs

Born to a single mother and left to be raised by a werewolf pack, Mercedes "Mercy" Athena Thompson has always been able to get herself into trouble, even when she's trying to stay out of it. 

Being a woman who can instantly shift into a coyote and back again can lead to that kind of thing.

At 16, the Alpha of the pack (who happened to also be the Alpha of all Alphas), convinced her to run away for her own good, though it meant she learned of a betrayal of and by one she loved.  Almost 15 years later, she's the owner of her own garage, a decent mechanic, and the neighbor of the local Alpha.

But the world isn't just werewolves and a shapeshifter; it's full of vampires and magical creatures called "fae".  That doesn't much bother Mercy, since she's been around them for years, but their troubles begin to affect her when she's asked to help with one mystery and eventually owes everyone else around her and must help with their problems, too.

Coyote is the ultimate trickster and Mercy's got to use every trick in the book.

Final thoughts:  I didn't review or book talk each one individually because I just read one after the other.  I honestly just couldn't stop myself.  Thank goodness for the Amazon gift card I got over the holidays, which paid for all the instant downloads on my Kindle.  There are some issues in each book, but the overall series is amazing.  I'm glad it took me this long to start it because it meant I got to read 6 books straight through (in about 3 days), but now I have to sit and wait for book 7.  Luckily, Briggs has another series started in the same universe with some of the same characters, so I have more books to try out.  Mercy may not have extreme snark, but she has a sense of self and personality that makes her a great character to read and her world is well drawn and exciting.

Rating:  each book 4 or 4.5 out of 5... the series - 5/5

Parallel Visions

Parallel Visions

by Cheryl Rainfield

All her life, Kate has had asthma that's so bad it could kill her at any moment.

All her life, Kate has had visions about the people around her.

All her life, Kate has only had those visions when she's in the middle of an asthma attack.

All her life, no one has believed her.

Until now.

Now there's Gil and he believes her.

But will that matter as her attacks become more frequent, more painful, and more deadly?

Will that matter as she watches her sister be beaten and murdered in those visions?

Final thoughts: The premise is cool, but the writing is sloppy and choppy.  The characters around Kate, especially her parents, keep changing.  They are completely inconsistent.  The dialogue is poorly written and unbelievable.  Kate's relationship with Gil doesn't seem organic, but rather forced to forward the plot.  I really wish this was better because the idea is fascinating.  It's too bad the execution is so poor.

Rating: 2/5

Model Spy

Model Spy

by Shannon Greenland

Kelly James may have an IQ of 191, but she can still make stupid decisions.  Socially awkward (and what 16 year-old about to graduate from college wouldn't be?) and really lonely, when Kelly is asked by a super-cute boy to help him find out the truth about his dad, she jumps at the chance.

And wouldn't you know it!  The one time she breaks a law (and a pretty big one - hacking the government's main database is really, really bad), she gets caught.

But before she ends up in jail, she's recruited by The Specialists.  Now on Team Two, Kelly has joined an elite group of teens with special talents like linguistics, martial arts, theft, and more.

Nicknamed Gigi (for "genius girl"), Kelly knows she has a LOT to learn about being a secret agent.  And with her first mission coming up, she doesn't have time to lose.

Can she save her fave guy's dad and the day all at the same time?

Final thoughts: Complete and total cotton candy.  It's the first in a series of quick-print books that's more formulaic and less quality.  Too many questions pop up from time to time.  If you can relax and go with the flow, it's a quick read.  If you can't, it will set your teeth on edge.

Rating: 3/5

Also Known As

Also Known As

by Robin Benway

Margaret/Maggie/Marg/Meg/Peggy/Margo/Madge has been in the spy business since birth.  Her parents are spies for the Collective and Maggie's been a part of it since her first original birth certificate (and many subsequently forged ones) were written.

With a dozen passports for a dozen different identities, Maggie has spent her entire life helping her parents complete missions.  As a lock picking prodigy, she's finally become so highly respected that she's even given her own assignment.

High school.

In fact, her task is to befriend a fairly good looking boy whose father is about to run a story that will not only out the Collective, but will name names and print pictures of Maggie and her entire family.  If she can't stop the story, her life will be in danger and her job will be gone.

Unfortunately, not even 16 years of life spent entirely as a spy can prepare Maggie for the high school social structure, the boredom of class, and the trials of making friends.

Final thoughts: Total cotton candy book.  It's completely unrealistic and silly in the extreme, though her teen angst and problems fitting in are believable.  The only real struggle was the ending.  I kept expecting a twist of some sort.  The ending was rushed and happened abruptly.  There was no real explanation about why the person had chosen to reveal the Collective's secret or the reason for Maggie's danger.  I needed more closure on that, but it was decent up to that point.

Rating: 4/5

Greta and the Goblin King

Greta and the Goblin King

by Chloe Jacobs

Four years ago, Greta saved her brother from a witch's fire, but ended up getting thrown through the fire portal herself.

Now she's a human in a land that hates humans.  She must disguise what she is every minute of every day, while also making a living.  She's made a name for herself as one of the best bounty hunters in the land, but things are about to change.

The new king of the goblins knows what she is and he wants her for himself. 

There's a dreaded demon who also wants her.

And all of the natives are about to go completely to the dark side, if only for a few days.

Can Greta finally find a way home?  Or will she need all of her skills just to survive the coming bloodbath?

Final thoughts: A basic story with a few nice moments.  There were quite a few telling moments instead of showing, which was good in the beginning since the entire land was completely new, but later became annoying.  I didn't feel the chemistry with any of the characters and I think that's because I really wasn't wowed by Greta.  The land of Mylena was a little bare in its descriptions with no explanation about things like why they all speak English and how, if the land is so dang large, she takes a week to go one direction, but only a few hours to return later.  And, finally, the cover is annoying; it feels like a throwback to 80's fantasy titles rather than something reflecting current tastes and cover styles.  On the plus side, while this is the start of a series, the fact is that this book can stand alone.  There are no cliffhangers or dangling stories.

Rating: 3/5