Undertow

Undertow

by K.R. Conway

Eila Walker has never had good luck.  In fact, she's never even seen what good luck looks like from a distance.  Her parents died when she was just two years old.  She's the odd one out at school.  Her mother's best friend (and her current guardian) is practically killing herself with three jobs just to keep a crappy apartment roof over their heads.  So when a multi-million dollar estate is gifted to her because she was supposed to have inherited it, Eila can't believe it's real.

But it's not only real, it's all hers.  She gets to move to Cape Cod to finally have a home that isn't falling apart on her.

She also suddenly has friends who seem to really like her and a guy who seems to be really into her.

However, Eila's bad luck is never far and her ancestry is much more complex than she could ever have known.  Will she follow her many-times-great grandmother to an early end?

Final thoughts:  I could not put this one down!  Even when I needed to put it down, I had to almost immediately pick it back up.  It took mere hours for me to read this entire book and I am truly ticked that Eila's next story won't be published until July 2014.  I don't want to wait for this story to continue!  My only issues come from a need for a better proofreader (this NetGalley copy has a ton of typos) and these names that are so creative and nearly impossible to figure out how to pronounce.  Oh! And how is a person from 1851 using the term "DNA" when it wasn't even discovered until nearly two decades later?  Other than these things, this is an addictive read.

Rating: 5/5

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy

by Anne Eliot

After one horrible night of car crashes and cut wrists, followed by weeks in therapy, Hunter Kennedy only wants to get back to work as one of the top teen pop stars in the world.

However, his fairly absent mother has finally decided that he needs a change and a little time to figure out who he is, so she sends him to a relative in Colorado to live in disguise as king of the dorks.

To help him on his quest to dorkdom, Hunter's aunt enlists the help of her neighbors and their teen children, Vere and Charlie.  Charlie's an uber-jock, whose job it is to ostracize Hunter in school.  Vere is the complete opposite: an overly shy, mega dork who can't seem to speak in coherent sentences around boys.  Her job is make Hunter as uncool as possible.

In return for helping Hunter with his disguise, Vere gets a boy to practice talking to and be friends with, while getting tips on how to talk to her crush.

Enter Dustin McHugh, Hunter's new dork identity, BGF (best guy friend) of Vere, and personal tutor and confidante about the boy universe.  

Unfortunately, in his quest to help Vere, he also falls head over heels in love, just as Vere's crush finally takes notice of her.

Final thoughts:  Where my usual complaint is that authors tell too much and don't show enough with just a synopsis of a conversation rather than the conversation itself, Eliot just goes on and on.  Professional actors would have a hard time memorizing the sheer number of monologues in this book.  They all talk WAY too much.  I fell asleep more than once reading this one.  The plot was decent and there were some good moments, but the conversations were just very poorly written and went on far too long.

Rating: 3/5

Book Blogger Hop

Book blogging is more than just reading. 

Who helped you set up or run your blog? Or did you do it all yourself? 

Sadly, for me, reading is all I have time to do for my blog.  Originally, I created this blog as a way to communicate with students in my school library.  Very shortly, it became a blog where I book talked.  Eventually, I added "final thoughts" and ratings.  However, I still don't have time to do cool things like author interviews or giveaways.  Maybe that's why my readership is so low after all this time.  :(

On the bright side, I read so many books that it's good to have a place I can go to to remind myself about the books I've read.

Taste Test

Taste Test

by Kelly Fiore

Raised by her widower father and having spent most of her life as his assistant at his locally famous barbeque joint, high school senior Nora Henderson knows her way around a kitchen.  But when she's accepted for a chance to compete on a nationally broadcast food competition show, the prize for which is just too tempting to ignore, Nora's going to have to pull out all the stops.

When she meets her fellow competitors, she knows winning won't be easy.  Between the stuck-up roommate, the heir apparent to his father's cooking legacy, and the producers trying to stir up controversy, Nora's got some serious work ahead of her.  She also has to pass college-level courses and learn new recipes in order to wow the judges at each taping.

Complicating all of that is the saboteur who is picking off fellow contestants one-by-one.  No one knows who's doing it, but Nora's definitely got to watch her back... if she can get her eyes off the back of the hottie who's her biggest competition.

Final thoughts:  Cotton candy book.  It's fluffy and sometimes fun, though there is an odd "aftertaste" in the sense of unanswered questions.  If she's only worked in barbeque, how does she know how to cook so many other foods with so little practice?  Why in the world would the competition be continued after a serious injury to a competitor with no real consequences or changes?  What kind of college classes are they taking? Seriously.  Why can't she make up her mind?  I hate him... I like him... I hate him... He's not that bad... I hate him... I lloooooovvveeeee him!!!!  I would have like more time spent on the judging instead of glossing over that part as the author has.  The recipes at the back are interesting.  I wish the Kindle formatting had been a little better since there seemed to be some charts about the competitors during the judging matching them with their dishes and comments, but they were impossible to read the way the book uploaded.

Rating: 3/5

The Geomancer's Compass

The Geomancer's Compass

by Melissa Hardy

In the year 2021, virtual reality has become the norm with people often injuring themselves while walking around in the physical world and looking at the virtual one.

But that isn't really the problem for Miranda and her family.  Their problem is more ancient.

Her family is cursed by an ancestor who'd been murdered and then buried somewhere very wrong.  Everyone in their family for the last couple generations has suffered and Miranda is believed to be the key to finding the remains of the ancestor and bringing his bones to a more peaceful resting place.

Unfortunately, she has to bring her ADHD cousin along with her for the quest.

Final thoughts: Not even going into how this is for a limited audience of Canadian-Chinese, or even the long, drawn-out, in-depth discussions of both technology and Chinese traditions, this is a poorly written book.  Miranda is flat and annoying. She whines over every little thing and is just basically unlikeable.  Without Brian, the whole book would have been a waste.  Too much of it was unbelievable (an ancestor with very little tech experience manages to become a ghostly avatar in a VR computer program years after his death???), the rest was just badly written, and the ending just arrived with no real closure.  Avoid.

Rating: 1/5

Biting Bad

Biting Bad

by Chloe Neill

In the continuing sage of the Chicagoland Vampires series, Merit and Ethan are finally together.  As in together, together.  As in they are finally a steady, stable couple.

But before they can really settle down and enjoy their immortal lives together, there's another problem that heads their way.

Just as their House has separated from the vampire consortium, anti-vampire forces are building in Chicago.  Riots have begun with little evidence as to why they started or how they are organized.

Now Merit and Ethan have to investigate the riots, get the consortium out of their business, help redeem their wayward witch friend, and try to celebrate Valentine's Day.

No worries.

Final thoughts: I still love this series, but I'm not loving Merit so much in this one.  She's suddenly, and constantly, unable to hold her own.  Injury after injury. Lost battle after lost battle.  She keeps stepping into bad situations and needing to be rescued.  Her personality is still pretty strong, but she's not the bada$$ she has been in previous books.  The ending was also a little off and strange.  Not Neill's best work.

Rating: 3/5

The Bridge

The Bridge

by Jane Higgins

For decades, the land has been separated into the Southsiders and the Citysiders.

Citysiders are privileged, educated, and have all the supplies they need.

Southsiders are poor, uneducated, and must scavenge to survive.

Nik has been in a Cityside school since he was five, training for the elite squads that work to put down the constant uprisings of the Southsiders.

On Selection Day, however, he's passed up with no explanation.  Now he faces a life as an enlisted man.

But Nik's world changes when his school is attacked and destroyed by Southsiders, forcing him and his friends into the arms of the enemy and starting him on a journey to find out who he really is and where he came from.

Final thoughts: The book draws you in and almost forces you to read it, but once you put it down for any reason, picking it back up can be difficult.  It's a dark, heavy read with a major message about war and oppression that is repeatedly beaten over the head of the reader.  It's easy to miss when you start, but it can't be ignored by the end.  There is also some confusion over its dystopian nature.  There's nothing really familiar about the setting, which is a series of bridges along a river, though that may be because the author is from New Zealand and so I may just not know the area about which she's writing.  There are also repeated references to indoctrination of a Christian-type religion and "fascism" (as it's labeled), which feels like the author has a personal point of view that she really wanted to push to others.

Rating: 2/5

The Naturals

The Naturals

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

For the past five years, Cassie's been living with her father's family while he's serving his country overseas.  Before that, she had lived with her nomadic mother, traveling from city to city.  But her mother disappeared from her theater dressing room, leaving Cassie behind with only memories of her mother's training, talents, and blood.

Now, the training that Cassie's mother had given her, and her Natural talent for reading people and profiling them, has caught the eye of the FBI and their new task force made up of other teens with talents like hers.  There's a Natural lie detector, a Natural pattern finder, a Natural emotion reader, and another Natural profiler, like Cassie.

They've been brought together to solve cold cases, much like the case of Cassie's mother.

But the best-laid plans are often thrown out, even by the FBI, and especially when a new serial killer is on the loose, and seems to be getting a little too close to Cassie and her new friends.

Final thoughts: This was an interesting tale, though you really have to suspend your disbelief to think that the FBI is going to hire a bunch of teens and then put them in the line of fire.  Cassie is definitely a thinker, and sometimes seems to over-think things.  The love triangle is awkward and strange at times, especially since Barnes doesn't make a clear choice of who to root for.  It's an obvious first book in a new series, so there was more exposition than might be preferred and there was the obligatory feeling of setting up for future books.  Overall, a decent read.

Rating: 3/5

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Gabe may have been born a girl, but he's always been a boy at heart.

A lover of music spanning the decades and inspired by a DJ neighbor with a collection to rival that of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gabe is on a quest to finish high school and finally be able to be the boy he feels he was always meant to be.

He starts his journey with a midnight radio show on a local station called "Beautiful Music for Ugly Children".

On his quest, he inspires people, gives them hope, leads them to crazy acts of bravery around the town, and he finally finds people who may actually accept him for who, and what, he is.

But no journey in life is without its potholes, and Gabe has a rough rode ahead.

Final thoughts: Immediately upon starting this book, I thought of a few students I've met over the years who could use a book like this.  It's realistic and gritty with moments of intense hate and real love.  Gabe's life changes aren't easy for everyone around him to accept, and even he struggles with the practical side of things, though he never even once thinks he might be wrong.  He's always known that though he was born with female parts, he's a male through and through.  His struggles are the struggles of many in the LGBTQ community, not just the transgenders, but it's good that trans teens finally have something to which they can read and relate.  It's not perfect, but it's a good start.

Rating: 4/5

Taking Back Forever

Taking Back Forever

by Karen Amanda Hooper

(Book #2 of the Kindrily series starts immediately after Grasping at Eternity with NO review of previous plot points, so if you haven't read the first one, you'll be really confused with this one.)

Maryah finally believes what the people around her have been telling her; she's the reincarnation of Mary, the leader of the family who "erased" her memory after her last life.

However, she's still unable to control her abilities and help her family as much as she wishes.  She's especially frustrated that she can't help her friend, Harmony, find her soulmate.

When it comes to light that Harmony's soulmate is not only alive, but the murderer of Maryah's family, the need to find him and find out what happened becomes even more important.

Now Maryah must fight to find her memories and regain control of her abilities, while Harmony must find her soulmate, but neither realize how much danger they have put their family in yet.

Final thoughts: It was interesting to finally read the second book of a trilogy that didn't spend the first few chapters in review of the previous book.  The relationships are becoming stronger, though the magic sometimes seems out of place.  Maryah's new knowledge of her past is fascinating and I love learning about her lives with her.  Harmony's voice is interesting, but I missed Nate's side of things.  The book ends fairly calmly unless you read past Hooper's warning and read the first section of the third book.  GOOD story coming there.

Rating: 4/5

Fifth Grave Past the Light

Fifth Grave Past the Light

by Darynda Jones

Reyes Farrow, Son of Satan, is now Charley's new neighbor and Charley doesn't really mind at all.

In fact, it's kind of handy since her own apartment has been overrun by dead blondes, none of whom will talk to her to explain what's going on.

As the one and only Grim Reaper walking the planet right now, it makes sense that they've come to her, but they're not really helping her help them find peace.

Between the dead blondes, an arsonist burning down old buildings, a cheating husband, a woman who appeared dead and then wasn't, and a prediction of a few deaths of people she loves, Charley's got a LOT on her plate.

Final thoughts: I LOVE Charley!!!  She and Reyes are awesome and this book had more of them together, yet still not enough.  If I had any issue with this book, it was in the setting up of the end of the series (which, let's face it, could still be a dozen books away as long as Charley and Reyes get more time together).  There was time spent bringing in and/or mentioning characters from previous books for just a few moments and then forgetting them again.  It felt like Jones was just trying to make sure we remembered everyone as she gets ready to bring them all together.  However, it's still Charley and it's still quirky fun.

Rating: 4/5

Grasping at Eternity

Grasping at Eternity

by Karen Amanda Hooper

Maryah Woodsen is a fairly typical teen.  She's got parents who often say the wrong thing and a twin brother who tries to keep the peace, but teases his sister relentlessly.

Her life is pretty good.

Until the screaming starts.

After weeks recovering in the hospital, Maryah is moved across the country to her godmother's home.

There, she meets a family who take her in immediately and seem to love her with almost no hesitation.  The only person who seems to actively avoid her is Nathan, her godmother's son.

But Nathan is avoiding her for a reason.

It turns out that the entire family are kindrily, a kind of family that reincarnates and finds each other over and over again.  The only condition to them being together is that they keep their memories from one life to the next and never "erase" between lives.

And Maryah did just that.  She erased after her last life and no one understands why, least of all her soulmate for the last five centuries, Nathan.

Now Maryah and her new family have to find a way to work together because something is coming, and it's possible that Maryah's the key to it all.

Final thoughts: This is a nice, new, original story that I really liked.  The whole idea of the reincarnation of soulmates and keeping or erasing memories is fascinating.  My only real issue was with Hooper trying to explain the Elements and how those Elements gave supernatural powers to each of the members of the kindrily.  It felt a little forced.  However, that doesn't stop the coolness factor of the story itself.  I'm looking forward to the second book.

Rating: 4/5

Click to Subscribe

Click to Subscribe

by L.M. Augustine

Sam Green (a.k.a. West Ryder) has a thriving and popular vlog and on online romance with one of his subscribers (Harper) who posts comments at 2:02 p.m. every day on the dot.

West Ryder (a.k.a. Sam Green) has a crappy home life, especially after his mother died in car accident caused by his alcoholic father.  His only two joys are his alternate identity's vlog and his best friend, Cat.

When Sam and Harper agree to finally meet up in person, it's a Catfish moment as West realizes that Harper is really his best friend, Cat, who fell in love with him years before and has only now been able to confess it.

Now West and Cat must navigate this new layer of their relationship, while West must also deal with his father's alcoholism and the constant reminders of the loss of his mother.

Final thoughts: Meh. West and Cat have a cool friendship, but the "witty repartee" gets really annoying really quickly.  There are also a number of consistency errors with things like West mentioning that he works at Starbucks to help pay the bills, but then he's NEVER there and even meets his Catfish at an unremarkable coffee house somewhere else.  All he does is go to school, go home, vlog, do homework, rinse, repeat, so when does he go to this nightly job that he mentions ONCE?  The lack of closure at the end regarding his relationship with his father is frustrating, too.  However, the relationship between West and Cat feels as real and as chaotic as any typical high school budding romance.

Rating: 3/5

Reading Personality Quiz

The Relentless Reader posted on Book Bloggers International and she included a link to a personality quiz.  I took the quiz and I am a...

Serial Reader

"You may read a lot or a little, but either way you're a publisher's dream, because once you discover a favorite writer you stick with him/her through thick and thin and eagerly await the next in the series; but even you need to discover some new blood from time to time!"

Yup!  That sounds about right.  Without NetGalley, I might never try new authors, especially now that my local bookstores are all shut down and I don't have time to go out to others for serious browsing time.

Skinwalker

Skinwalker

by Faith Hunter

Jane Yellowrock is the best vamp hunter there is because she's got a secret; she's a skinwalker.  With a tiny bit of DNA, she can shift into any creature, big or small.  That means that she can track any vamp through any territory.

But Jane's no ordinary skinwalker.  She's got an even bigger secret.  The Beast lurks in her, speaks to her, gives her advice, and sometimes takes over.

How the Beast got in her is something Jane has never known.  All she knows is that she walked out of the forest years ago, was told at the time that she was 12 years old, and had to learn how to be human.

Now she's in New Orleans, hired to take down a rogue vamp who's killing vamps and humans around the city.  If she can provide proof of the kill within 10 days, she stands to make quite a bit of cash.  But tracking the vamp is harder than she thought and the whole hunt is complicated by a couple very sexy humans and a beyond sexy vamp.  

They're all interested and interesting, but they're a distraction she can't afford.

Final thoughts: This was recommended by Amazon because of my penchant for supernatural urban lit.  Unfortunately, it's not a good fit.  I didn't like the changing voices of Jane and The Beast.  There was far too much time spent on describing everything from buildings, to clothes, to her shifting, to how she took her many, many showers.  Jane also had a habit of giving people nicknames and then shifting between calling the characters by name and then by nickname. It made the large cast even more confusing.  The story itself was a little winding and strange.  It was OK, but I have no need to read the next one.

Rating: 2/5

The Boyfriend App

The Boyfriend App

by Katie Sise

Two years after Audrey McCarthy's father died in a freak accident on the job, Audrey is barely getting by in the high school social scene.  She's a hacker with a small group of friends and she's on the enemy list of her former BFF.

Now an opportunity comes for a $200k scholarship, if only should could use her amazing programming and hacking skills to come up with the best phone app.

After years of being ignored by guys, while pining after a few, Audrey comes up with the perfect plan: the boyfriend app.  With a few clicks and a few survey questions, girls can get a notification whenever her perfect match is within 100 yards of her.

The first few matches seem perfect, but can she get it to last long enough to make it the most popular app of the contest? 

Final thoughts: The first half of this book is really good.  I enjoyed Audrey and her friends.  The problems come when the author decides she has to go into tons of details about hacking and programming.  It kind of goes on and on.  The second half becomes a mess with mystery, intrigue, and computer espionage.  It gets messy and strange.  Mix in the highly questionable choices about the direction of the app and it's just all weird.

Rating: 3/5

Skin

Skin 

by Donna Jo Napoli 

When Sep stares into the mirror the morning of the first day of school, something's different. 

Her lips are now completely white. 

 Then a spot appears on her hand. 

Another shows up on her chest. 

And more keep appearing over the next few weeks. 

She's diagnosed with vitiligo, an incurable disease that causes the skin pigmentation to change, permanently, to white. It's unpredictable, but not contagious, and Sep will have to learn to live with it forever. 

Before it spreads so far that she has to admit to everyone around her what's going on, Sep is determined to get the most out of life and the new guy who just started taking an interest in her. 

Can she find a way to have it all before it all is taken away?

Final thoughts:  This one has me confused.  There is so much good to this story and it could be a real help to people who find themselves in similar situations, but there are too many problems.  The first, of course, is the sexual situation issue.  It's a natural progression to the story, but Napoli really didn't need to describe it in detail.  It takes the book from a good middle school book to upper high school with just a few pages.  The second issue is Sep's compulsion to spend page after page describing facts she's discovered about salmon and Vishnu and other scientific and philosophic things that come up in her life.  Finally, Joshua's nice and all, but the ending seemed odd.  While more realistic than many books, it felt unfinished.

Rating: 3/5

Book Blogger Hop

What is your favorite trilogy (series)?

Ack!  So many from which to choose!

My current fave is the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones.  But there's also The Grave Witch series by Kalayna Price and the Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill.  And, of course, there's also the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

Right now, I'm on an urban supernatural kick, and those tend to be long-running series books rather than just trilogies.  There are some really good dystopian series though, like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Across the Universe, Matched, and more.

The Mind Readers

The Mind Readers

by Lori Brighton

All her life, Cameron has had to hide her ability to read minds.  Every time someone even suspects she might be talented, her grandmother moves them somewhere else.  She's always had to live with the fear that "they" are coming to get her and she must stay away from them.

After a murder in her current small town, Cam realizes that she can do some good by stopping the murderer before he strikes again.  Helping to push her on is the new, mysterious Lewis, a cute new student who just showed up and seems to know more about her than anyone else.

Lewis has a few secrets of his own, and when he shows Cameron that there are others who understand her and can help her control her abilities, Cam knows this is an opportunity that she can't ignore.

But just because she has found people who know what she's going through, that doesn't mean she can trust them.

Final thoughts: Ok. Not fabulous.  I get that Cam's going through some major stuff, but she comes off really naive and kind of whiny.  Too many things never added up in the story and other things were so obviously wrong that you're shocked that Cam can't see it.  ::SPOILER:: If Aaron can erase memories, why not just erase Cam's memories of the world outside his camp and keep her around? He seems manipulative enough that he'd be willing to do anything to keep her around, not just let her go.::END SPOILER::

Rating: 3/5

Demonic Dora

Demonic Dora

by Claire Chilton

After years of dealing with her televangelist father and former stripper/born-again mother, Dora has gotten tired of the constant Bible thumping.  Now that she's finally got the missing ingredient, she can summon a demon, do some damage, and get the heck out of town.

Unfortunately, the demon she summoned is a teenage boy who can't seem to get spells right, but does seem to have the hots for Dora.  After nearly getting burned at the stake by her own parents, Dora and her demon take a portal to Hell to hide out.

But Hell isn't everything Dora thought it was and it's going to take everything she has (and a few things that she doesn't) to survive.

Final thoughts:  This is completely schizophrenic.  The writing style feels like it's meant for middle school, but the foul language and constant references to sex are meant for an older audience.  The plot itself is full of holes (and HUGE time/location jumps with no warning), as it goes from comedy, to romance, to mystery as if imitating a fly in a room; it zooms all over with no consistent path or pattern.  It's got some decent moments, but it's really not very good and I didn't even care about the cliffhanger.

Rating: 2/5

Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood

Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood

by Abby McDonald

The Weston patriarch has died shortly after he left his first family and started a new family with a stuck up, petty, selfish woman.  While Mr. Weston had worked hard to take care of his first family, he hadn't put anything in writing, so with his death comes the complete loss of funds for his ex-wife and two daughters.  The new wife even sells the first family's home out from under them.

Now Valerie, Hallie, and Grace Weston must leave San Francisco and head down to Los Angeles to live in the guest house of a wealthy cousin and his young wife.  Not only must they leave their home, they must leave behind all they've ever known.

Valerie sinks herself into her art, while Hallie works to be in the in-crowd in order to make it in Hollywood.  As they live in their own worlds, the more pragmatic younger sister, Grace, works to simply get through the day-to-day work of finishing high school and maintaining a part-time job.

For the sisters, life and love loom large.

Final thoughts: This is a retelling of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and really seems to keep a little too tightly to the story.  While the author doesn't really use the original names much, she drops them around the story to the point where it's distracting.  Hallie's whining gets frustrating at times, but it's tempered by the alternating points of view between her and Grace.  I wish the relationships had been a little more fleshed out, with less talking about their talks and more actual talks.  However, it's a nice little story with some good moments.

Rating: 3/5

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