My Very UnFairy Tale Life

My Very UnFairy Tale Life

by Anna Staniszewski 

For years, Jenny has been an adventurer.  With the help of her somewhat helpful gnome guide, Jenny has been traveling from world to world, helping to find the lost, rescue the stupid, and solve unsolvable problems.

But after one too many adventures that leave her scarred physically and emotionally, Jenny has had enough.  It's quitting time.  All she really wants is homework and some friends.

Unfortunately, the adventuring world needs her more than ever.  Can she really have a normal life in the human world?  Is normal for her different than everyone else's normal?

Final thoughts:  Blah.  This was boring and dull.  There were a few moments when it looked like something truly sinister was happening, but those ideas were ignored and the story moved in different directions.  Jenny's one great skill is cheesy cliches.  Her idea of "crisis mode" seems ridiculous.  And does anyone really think she'd be able to convince an entire school that she, at 12, would be directing a movie with no cameras around and a giant monster flying in?  Really?  It may be cutesy to some, but it was really just annoying to me.  Finally, there was nothing "fairy tale" about it.  Yes, there were gnomes and unicorns, and talking sheep, but nothing that was reminiscent of a fairy tale anywhere.  The title just does not fit.

Rating: 2/5

If I Die

If I Die

by Rachel Vincent

Kaylee Cavanaugh is used to dealing with death.  She's a bean sidhe, a singer of souls; it's her job to sing souls to the great beyond.

But when death tells Kaylee she's on the list to die in just a few days, that's a bit of a surprise.

To take her mind off of her definite impending death (turns out you can only avoid the Reaper once, and she did that when she was three), she decides that her math teacher has to die, too.

She hasn't suddenly become homicidal; it seems that her new math teacher is also an incubus who has been feeding off the lust of mothers, while working to impregnate their daughters with future incubi.  He also has now set his sights on Emma, Kaylee's best friend.

With the help of Sabine (her frenemy), and Tod (something more than a friend), Kaylee is determined to take down the threat to all high school girls before he can take another life.

Final thoughts:

I spent almost the entire book going saying to myself, "She wouldn't.  She wouldn't!  She so would NOT do that!!!!" and then it was "She did WHAT?!?!"  The books keep getting better.  It's like a supernatural soap opera.

Rating: 5/5