Books to read

Books that are currently in my to read pile are:

- Sacrifice by Cayla Kluver (third book to the series legacy)
- The fault in our stars by John Green.
- The darkest minds by Alexandra Bracken
- The warriors princess by Barbara Erskine

Cold Magic by Kate Elliot

Cold magic is a book for an older audience it is not a typical teenage love story. It’s about two cousins who live in a world ruled by princes and cold mages. The two live in the same house as the elder cousin Catherine lost her parents when she was young. The cousins believe that they know their place in this world; however they could not be more wrong. When a strange man comes to the house, Catherine is whisked away as she is to marry this man. They soon find that the parents had made a deal with the four moon house that the eldest Barahal daughter would marry into the house. It follows their journey to the house and how Catherine deals with being ripped away. Catherine is married to the cold mage. However when brought in front of the mansa do they only realise that they had been tricked and Catherine was just the replacement that the parents had made. Catherine was the eldest Barahal in the house however it was the cousin that had meant to be married. Bee the cousin has the ability to walk the dreams of dragons they discover and the four moons house is desperate to be able to have that under their house that sort of power. However now that Catherine has been married the only way out of the marriage is death. Andevia the cold mage she had to marry was ordered to kill her. Catherine managed to escape and knows she has to get back to Bee and save her from the four moons house. The contract was to expire in a few days so that all they needed, however Catherine faces many dangerous along the way and is still being hunted by the cold mages. Catherine does not know who to trust anymore, she doesn’t even know who her true parents, her family are anymore. She finds her way back and now the two girls have to try and hide from the mages and protect themselves.

The book is very intriguing; it has a great story line. The book is not childish, teenage love like some of the books on this blog have been. This one rings with an air of sophistication. It is not based around a love story. There is however a forced marriage it looks at how their entwined destiny changes each other. However not all can overcome all authority. It is struggle for survival. This is defiantly a book that is worth reading and I am very excited to start reading the second book cold fire.

The fault in our stars.

The Fault in our stars, written by John Green. It follows Hazel who is a sixteen year old cancer patient who is forced to attend support group. this is where she meets Augustus, who is a amputee. it follows these two and their blossoming love story, however dealing with having cancer, of being given he short end of the straw in life. This book/movie looks to be and emotional roller coaster. it is written by john green who wrote on of my favorite novels looking for Alaska. John green has proven to be a very emotional writer and is able to create some of the most realistic characters and the most moving stories. i am so excited to read this book and then be able to watch the movie.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

The setting is reminiscent of Renaissance Europe, and it is about dragons. Rachel Hartman puts an interesting spin on dragons, that they can have a human form. There is a peace between the dragons and the humans; however the humans view the dragons as malicious and evil and not to be trusted. They stick to themselves humans and dragons ever really crossing. However one young girl named Seraphina is half human half dragon, she lives among the humans but must hide that she is part dragon as she would not be accepted.  She has scales on her torso and arm that is the only signs of her dragon side and she cannot make them go away. Another thing about Seraphina is that for some unknown reason she has this ability to enter into a part of her mind which she calls a garden. There are people in this garden which she once feared but now accepts. She has no idea who they are or even if they are real all she knows that if she doesn’t attend to this garden and keep the people inside calm it can bring her great pain. The story is about how she hides and the difficulties that she faces. As the book progresses you start to learn more about the people in her garden and who they are and what it all means. The peace that is between the dragons and humans is ripped apart when a royal prince was murdered. The humans blame the dragons. Seraphine feels drawn towards this investigation and tries to help, and tries to unveil the truth behind the murder. As she searches she unveils a much darker plot then just a murdered prince but one that can threaten the entire kingdom. Discovering the truth has put her own life in danger and is now a fight to survive and to stop the terrible plans that they have for the kingdom, all while trying to keep her secret safe.

This book is a very interesting take on mythical creatures, it explores a new world that none has seen before. I Admire Hartman’s creative thinking and how she was able to create this world and keep it so engaging. None of it felt too over done, she managed to pull together a great book with many different and interesting characters. Hartman is a skilled writer and has defiantly proved herself in this book.

Something that I liked about what this author did is at the back off the book she has put a sort of glossary that lists all the important characters, who they are their role in the story, and it also has the places that are mentioned in the book, so you are able to know what the place is while reading and are able to refresh on characters if you have forgotten, it is quite clever.

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Legacy follows the story of a young princess named Alera. Alera’s duty is to marry a man suitable for the role of the next king. Alera’s father king wants her to find the perfect replacement for him so he is able to step down from his position. However Alera does not wish to marry the man that her father has chosen for her and is desperate to find true love, but knows her duties and tries to find a way to fill both of these. Things become even more complicated when the palace guards capture a boy her own age from the kingdoms enemy. Alera has no idea that this boy will unveil the legacy that shadows both their lands. They soon piece together who this boy is, he is not only from enemies land but originated in Hytanica and was taken by the enemy when he was a child. The enemy took many children from that generation when they were babies no one knew why and returned all dead except for one whose body was never discovered. Now this boy has returned home and many question his loyalties. Alera knows he is possibly dangerous however there is something about him that keeps Alera interested in him. She accepts him in and begins to trust the boy, and the more she digs into the secrets of the past the more she discovers about the legacy and what this boy was destined to become.  Alera and the boys relationship grows and they find themselves struggling to overcome the pressure of the courts and the lands. They find themselves trapped in the middle of the start of the darkest war that their lands have ever been through.  Everyone is tested; courage alone is not enough to save the people she loves and the kingdom that she holds dear.

This is the first book of the series there is a lot more secrets and court being revealed then there is action in the book, however it is a great start to a series that has the potential to become great.

This book is filled with many dark twisted plots and hidden secrets and forbidden love. It has everything which entices a reader. This series of book will make you fall in love. It takes you through a journey as you discover all the secrets in this world.

The novel is written by Cayla Kluver, who is a very young writer and very impressed to have such a high quality book at such a young age. She uses sophisticated writing skills and structures the book well.

If you are after a very enjoyable and enticing read then I strongly suggest this book

Venom by Fiona Paul

Cass is a girl who is from Venice’s wealthy elite; she was raised as a proper lady. Her life was filled with ball gowns, masquerade parties; she was one of the top families. Cass wanted something else though. Her fiancé which has had since she was a little girl has been gone for years and Cass dreads the return and the marriage. With her fiancé away she meets another young boy named Falco, who is from lower class, he is an artist. He comes and goes as he pleases and is a mystery and suspicious to Cass. But when Cass finds her recently deceased friend’s body missing from her tomb and a different body there with a bloody X carved into her chest, Cass looks for answers and the one person who can help her is Falco. The two go around trying to find out what has happened to the girl in the grave and find a lot more then what they were expecting. Cass is now thrown into a world of danger and secret society, trying to put all the pieces together and find out what is happening. She no longer feels safe but feels that she can trust Falco and slowly falls for him. However when his secrets and lies are brought to light Cass no longer knows who she can trust.

It is an interesting take on secret stories and is an interesting crime story. It is a good reading following Cass as she finds all the clues on figuring out everyone’s secrets. It is a well planned book and it all falls together well. The whole book flows well and it is a nice read. It has interesting stories that all join and connect. It is good how the writer Fiona Paul has put the book together how she has planned all the secrets. Cass is also an interesting character she isn’t your typical heroin. The author has shown her for how she should be she is scared a lot but goes through with it anyways, she was bought up being a wealthy proper lady so for to have kept that evident her character is commendable. One thing that I like about books is when I can’t predict the ending where the author is able to make it their own and that is exactly what Fiona Paul has done. I enjoyed reading this book and it leaves it open to tell a great second book.

Dark Visions by L.J. Smith

Dark visions follow the story of a girl name Kaitlyn, who is an outsider in her town. She is able to see into the future, she draws images of the future which scare the people and call her a witch. Kaitlyn is not a witch but however a physic. When a strange person comes to her and offers her a spot in this new school, a school for physics she decides it’s the only option for her as she is not wanted in her home. At this new school she meets the other physics. This is where the love story starts to come in as two of the boys fall for Kaitlyn, the kind and athletic boy, and the dark and mysterious one.  The kids are taught how to use their abilities but start to find something deeply wrong with school. They get trapped in a telepathic bond which threatens each ones sanity. They are desperate to break the link but they discover it is also their best option to find out what is happening at the institute and who is trying to use the fives abilities and their agenda behind it.

I really enjoyed this novel, it had a very interesting story, and it does come across as a darker novel which I really enjoyed. The love story they have is rather enjoyable it’s not as pathetic as some when the girl has to choose between two.  L.J. Smith seems to be able to take that typical love story and put her own spin on it. I very much admire L.J. Smith as a writer she is always able to create amazing stories and dark visions is proof of this. The story is well written with great plots. I do recommend this novel.

City of bones: The mortal instruments

Also City of bones was turned into a movie, here is the trailer in case you haven't seen it !

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

 Great and terrible beauty is set in a Victorian era the 1800s and follows the story of a young girl who lost her mother and father is slowing deteriorating with grief. Gemma is shipped to a finishing school for young girls, where she is taught how to be a proper lady. At this school Gemma finds it hard to make friends, she sticks with her roommate Ann who is even worse at friends and is constantly bullied by two girls at the school. However Gemma always stood up to these bullies named Felicity and Pippa. However events at the school bring the four girls together and end the hate ship between them and they soon become best friends. Gemma discovers she has this magic within her which allows her to enter into this other world known as the realms by travelling through this door which she can create in her mind. In this world she enters what is called the garden and is not allowed to venture any further. In this garden anything is possible magic flows freely there. Gemma takes her friends there and they have some of the best times there. However the more the girls explore the realms the more they discover its secrets and how people want to find a way into the realms and use the magic. Also that not all magic in the realms is good, that it will try and corrupt you. Gemma has to find a way to keep the realms safe from the people that in tend to use the magic for wrong. Gemma has the help from her friends however the magic is what brought them together will it also tear them apart? Gemma also has the help from a young boy on the outside named kartik who is a part of a group known as the Rakshana who dedicate themselves to protecting the realms and the ones who can travel there; this group however cannot enter the realms. Gemma trusts the boy at first but as secrets come to light she begins to question the motives of the Rakshana and if they are just using her so they can claim the magic or truly trying to help the realms. Gemma finds that she has to trust her own instincts if she wishes to protect the realms.

The novel is written by Libba Bray, she is quite a sophisticated writer. She is aiming for 1800 style and has succeeded; her writing style for the book is very formal along with the language she uses which gives it that older feel. The structure of her book is well thought out. It is fluent and well written. She puts many twists into her novel with little hints along the way.

The book deals with a few different themes mainly Oppression versus Liberty and Power of Choice. gender equality is a big one as it is set in the 1800’s girls are raised to be proper ladies whose goal in life is to be married off and bear children. The way that this book shows this theme is the main protagonists of the book. One of the girls in particular Felicity is very opposed to the idea of being married off and wishes to make a life of her own. You also see bit of this attitude with the main protagonist, however largely though Felicity’s character. Also power of choices, the girls in the realms are able to ply with magic and are free to do whatever they like. They are able to live any life that they like and have no one tell them if it is wrong or right. They girls bask in this free will; they have a taste of determining their own lives, which sparks this will to have their own choice in both worlds. That is how the author shows some of these themes within her novel.

What is great is her chracters, how none of them are perfect that each one has their faults and qualities you hate them for. Libba Bray created some of the most realistic characters that i have read in a book. 

This is a very well written novel with a very interesting story line. It has great suspense and mystery and great characters for you to fall in love with. It is defiantly a book that all book lovers should read!

Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore

Bitterblue is another novel written by Kirsten Cashore which is third in her series. While fire was set in a time before Graceling, Bitterblue is set after and back in the same land of which Graceling was set. Bitterblue is the young girl that Katsa and Po had saved in the first novel. Now that Bitterblue is eighteen she wants to start taking a more active role as queen. She has been queen of Monsea since she was ten years old, her four advisers have been looking after the kingdom and getting her to sign different paper works and to attend the occasional trial. However Bitterblue feels that not all is well in her kingdom, she feels that the effects of her father king Leck still have affect in the kingdom. Bitterblue decides to sneak out and see her kingdom for herself, she dressed in servant clothing and snuck into town. She found herself in a story telling pub where people can tell stories. These stories contain personal stories, stories about her dear friend and her hero Katsa; she also hears the stories of her father. Bitterblue finds herself drawn to this story room and sneaks out night after night to listen, and that is where she meets teddy and Saf. These two boys soon start to become her friend; however neither knows her true identity. She finds out that teddy is a writer and publisher, a person who seeks the truth and spreads it to the world, while Saf is a thief. However a strange one he is, when Bitterblue saw him one night steal a gargoyle from her castle. She soon finds that Saf steals things that king Leck had stolen from the people and gives it back. Teddy is attacked because of his want to share the truth and his printing room burnt down so he couldn’t print anything for the world. Bitterblue knows something is wrong when people are attacking people who are trying to spread the truth and tries to find out what is going on.

Where graceling focused on a fighter, it was a more of a secret mission, journey sort of story more action. Fire focused more on the war and planning an army, finding traitors, and learning insight to the enemy. Bitterblue is more about the politics of running a kingdom, about how to help her people recover from a terrible king, about finding who is still working in the wrong and to finally cleanse her kingdom from the footprint of her father.

Kristen Cashore has truly shown her writing improvements through these books, she has become a very good writer; her use of language is more extensive. She knows how to create interesting characters, and is able to connect all her books in small ways which link them together and create a thrilling series. Kristen Cashore is an excellent writer who is defiantly worth checking out. She is a feminist and you can see this throughout her novels in certain ways, more evident in her first book, and in Bitterblue. This series has defiantly a high place in my favourites. 

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

This book has everything that a young teenage girl loves. Smart girl, quirky best friend, the bully, dark mysterious new boy, fallen angels and love conquering everything. Hush Hush is defiantly the typical teenage girl book. It’s the story of a girl named Nora who is this smart girl, doesn’t have too many friends and a mother who is never home. When this new boy comes to her school and takes interest in her. At first she refuses to acknowledge him but has this strong desire to be with him and as the book progresses she finds that she likes him and thinks he likes her too. However what she does not know is that this new boy patch is actually a fallen angel. These fallen angels cannot physically feel anything, however once a year during this certain time the fallen angels can posses a body. It has to be a pacific one type and that is a nephil. Each fallen angel has their own and they must make them agree and swear to them once before they can take over their bodies. The nephil hate this and want to put a stop to it. However in the book patch finds out that he can have a human body if he kills his nephil and the only way to do that is to kill a direct descendant of the nephil. For patch that is Nora. As Nora starts to fall for patch and he spends more time her he falls for her. Patch tries a few times to try and kill Nora but he never can. His interest in Nora has out her in danger from others as well. Patch now has to try and keep her alive while also determining whether he can kill her.  Nora and patch fall for each other and patch now knows he can never lose her and has to protect her.

The story is very clique, it is your typical teenage love story mixed in with a war between fallen angels and nephil. The book does make you laugh at times. However it is very predictable and is just another one of the many teenage love stories out. In my opinion it is not one of the best love story books. It is amusing and entertaining though and I did go and get the next one when it came out and read it. It’s a fun book if you don’t want a serious read and like to laugh at some of the predictability and the clique of the love story. However Becca Fitzpatrick’s novel hush hush has become a world known book that all the teenage girls seem to swoon over. Who doesn’t love the mysterious dark boy and shy cute girl love story?

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen is written by Lauren Kate. I was excited about reading this book however was quite disappointed. The book is quite clique. The book is about two people who are cursed the boy lives for many lives and the girl keeps coming back, and every time they find each other again the girl dies, so they can’t be together, however they just can’t stay away from each other. The girl has no idea of any of this. She is to attend a reform school called sword & cross. They have a strict dress code which is they all have to wear black. To me that seems like the author is trying too hard to create that sort of dark gloomy feel to the place dark and gloomy to give it that sense of something bad.  Maybe if they had a uniform instead of whatever they liked as long as it is black. Also the book is all about a girl who is trying to get over a traumatic event, and she finds her way with a new friend at this school. She falls for this mysterious boy and it is a very typical love story. I have read the first and second book in this series, I didn’t mind the first one too much, and it was a little bit interesting there are quite a few things that I did not like about the story line. However the second made me question why I was reading it, I did buy the third book and I was able to read a few chapters before I put the book down and could not motivate myself to pick it up again.

The writing itself is quite average and has a few awkward sentences which I hate to read two or three times before I could make sense of. The structure is okay, and the book does have some flow to it.

I do know people who have enjoyed reading the book, but I could not find the interest in it.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Kat Bishops family has their own unique business trade which is theft. However this is not the life Kat wanted and she leaves never to come back and decides to go to school. However when the principles car ends up in a fountain Kat gets the blame and is expelled. She finds that it was a friend from the past who did it to get her out of school. Because a mobster has accused her father of stealing his art collection and is now in danger. Kat is the only one who can save her father, so she had to return when hale came to get her. Kat knew the only way to save her father was find who stole the art and steal it back. The only clue they have is a business card that the person left behind with their initials. Kat gets her team together of different thieves from different families so that they can get the work back. They work together figuring out the clues and working out ways to save her father.  After one of the most well protected art galleries was broken into but nothing take only a card left behind to show that they had been there Kat started to think that maybe the paintings that were stolen were returned to the gallery. So Kat and her team plan to complete the impossible and break into the gallery as well to collect the paintings to save her father, no one besides this mystery person have ever been able to do it. They are working with a deadline and time is running out. The team manages to pull off the heist and retrieve the paintings in time to save her father. However Kat knows that after this heist she could never go back to trying to live a normal life that she can never leave this business.  However she decides she will not be a thief that she will join this mysterious man in his mission and sets out to find lost items from now on, she will do right and not just thieve.

This book is witty and clever. It is refreshing as it does not have a love story. This book is about friendship and family, and finding the right path. Learning what is right and wrong. This book is about learning to work with people and trusting others. It is a hilarious book which has a great story and great suspense. It is a truly enjoyable book. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska is a book that deals with some very confronting topics in a teenager’s life. John Green the author of this book explores what it is like to be a teenager and how to deal with growing up. Some of the topics that he explores are depression, relationships, the need to fit in, sex. The story follows a socially awkward boy named Miles Halter who left his home to attend a boarding school. Miles has always been obsessed with people’s last words which is quite evident throughout the whole book. There at the new school Miles is determined to finally make some friends, this is where the need to fit in starts to show. Green shows this need to be accepted by the things that Miles does to be accepted by his roommate who insists on being called colonel and the group that the colonel hangs out with. Such things as he starts to drink and smoke as that is what that group does and thinks that is how he will be accepted. Miles does start to like the smoking and the drinking and the friendship of this group for the first time he feels like he has friends. When you are reading the book you don’t not feel that the friends pressure him too much and you don’t blame them you don’t feel that Miles should have found other people, you feel that these friends were right for him in a way. In this group you meet a young girl named Alaska, who is a gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, and extremely screwed up. Alaska has a very unique personality which captures Miles from the very first time he met her. However Alaska Young suffers from depression. This is how the author deals with the topic of depression, he doesn’t straight up tell you that she suffers from it but gives you hints to help you figure it out, which can actually help readers know the signs of depression so they can recognise it in their own lives. Alaska always teases Miles and they become pretty good friends and he soon finds out that Alaska is already in a relationship with a person who doesn’t go to the school. Miles then tries dating someone else to try and get over Alaska. Miles and his new girlfriend decide to experiment with different sexual activities however both being virgins they knew nothing about it. They go to Alaska for some help and she gives them pointers. John Green might not actually teach about safe sex in the book however the part that he does look at is people deciding that they are ready and how they start to mature and how they deal with their new sexual interests. As the book progresses you see Alaska get worse you start to see her cracking. And on one night she starts to drive somewhere and crashes and Alaska young dies. Then the book shifts to how to deal with loss. You see how much the death affects Miles and he becomes obsessed with it. The death of Alaska hits the group hard and they all want to break down and yet still support one another. However Miles became distant and became obsessed of what really happened that night whether it had been an accident or if Alaska had driven off the road and killed herself. Always wondering what she had said in her final moments.

John Green is an amazing author who isn’t afraid to bring in confronting topics into his books. He has a very nice writing style and always manages to his readers on emotional journey through his books.

An interesting thing about the book is how John Green set out the chapters. Green has a sort of countdown for his chapters. There is a before such as “one hundred and twenty seven days before” the before counts to the night when Alaska dies in the book. Then after the event it starts to count days after the event. This is because when John Green was writing this book it was around the time of the 9/11. He thought it curious how people seemed to think they were living n a post 9/11 world. How after the event it was living in a time after, that there was a before and after not a continuous thing. John Green thought that sort of thinking the before and after could work well as a way to set his chapters and decided to use it.

Looking for Alaska is a very emotional book, and one of the few that actually show what it is like to be a teenager. John Green does that sugar coat it or make it pretty he shows it for what it is. He isn’t afraid to talk about some major topics in his book and he does it successfully. This book is truly quite special as the author puts a lot of real emotion into the book and I find that people would be able to relate to the problems the kids have in the book. John Green knows that people are not perfect and he shows that he really doesn’t glamorise his characters which makes it that much more believable and real to read.

City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This book tells the story of a girl who thought she lived a normal life until her mother was kidnapped and she was thrown into a world she didn’t know existed a world her mother hid her from. A world filled with vampires, werewolves, fairies, and hunters. Clary discovers that she is what they call a shadow hunter, a race of people that exist to keep the balance of good in the world; they fight against the demons that threaten to kill the world and keep order between the vampires and werewolves. With Clary’s mum gone she is forced to stay with the hunters and help to try and find her mother. Clary also searches to find out who she really is, why her mum hid her away from it all, who her mother was, and her father whom she thought had died. They discover that a shadow hunter turned bad, named valentine took Clary’s mum in hopes to find the mortal cup, a cup that can create shadow hunters.  Clary needs to find where they are hiding and figure out how to save her mum.

There is a love story in this one, between Clary and the boy who saved her and brought her into the shadow hunters whose name is Jace. They have a complicated relationship as Clary likes him however he is resistant to let anyone in and tries to push her away. Also it makes it hard when Clary’s best friend Simon gets involved in this world and has a massive crush on Clary and tries to win her heat. It is like most love stories a girl faced between her best friend and this golden mysterious boy.

The story line is a good idea and Cassandra Clare did a good job of making it come to life. City of bones is the first book in the series the mortal instruments. It was a good book. And I enjoyed the next two books which goes to that Clary has accepted who she is and has found her mum but her mother is in some sort of coma, and the story becomes about waking her up and preparing for a war between hunters and demons. However Cassandra Clare does lose it in some points, the love story between Clary and Jace becomes a bit annoying as they discover they are related, then all the sudden they are no longer related and it gets messy, she saved it at some points and I still enjoyed it. She has some very interesting characters through the series which makes it worth reading. However in my Belief Cassandra should have stopped at book three, it was a good ending and I had enjoyed it, then she bought out the next one and it was nowhere near the standard of the others and just seemed like she was desperate to keep it going, after reading the fourth I lost interest in the series and still have not been able to read the next one, maybe one day.

Fire by Kristen Cashore

Fire is the story of a girl named fire who is the last human monster alive. This world that Kristin Cashore has created there are these monsters, and they are beautiful they come in many different bright colour however they are also extremely dangerous and always attack people. Fire is the last of the human monsters. After her father died it was just her. She is beautiful she has bright red hair. Her father saw being a monster as a gift but fire sees it as a curse and refuses to have any kids and to pass on her monster gene. Being a monster gives her the ability to go inside people’s heads make them think things that they wouldn’t and she can manipulate minds and can read them. Everyone always falls for a monsters beauty and it makes it dangerous for fire because everyone always wants something from her.  When there is a trespasser in the king’s rooms they ask fire to come to the castle to help with investigations to use her abilities to come to the solution. She rides with an army filled with men which makes the journey hard for her. Brigin the commander protects her even though he hated her. As they journey together fire prove herself to Brigin that she is nothing like her father who manipulated everyone and Brigin begins to trust her and they soon become friends.

What is good about this book is it has interesting characters and a well told story line. It isn’t predictable and always keeps you guessing. This book doesn’t focus on a love story, there is romance in the book but its focus is on the troubles of the kingdom and fire proving to use her abilities for good. All fire anted is to make up for her father’s mistakes.

Kirsten Cashore is a feminist and you can see that as an undertone in fires character. This is the second book following graceling. They are set in the same world yet different kingdoms. In graceling they mention how no one has explored further then this certain point and this book is set past that point. It is also a prologue it has been set many years before graceling.

Kirsten Cashore has really proven herself to be a talented writer with this book. She doesn’t completely make her books about a love story which makes them so interesting because there is so much happening in the book. Fire has a very good story line which keeps you interested the whole book.

Vampire Academy

The book Vampire Academy has also been turn into a movie recently! Here is the trailer in case you want to check it out!

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Vampire academy is set in a modern society, however there are vampires. There are schools that vampires and damphirs (half vampire half human) can attend. They run on a night schedule because vampires are weak in the sun. They keep this world of theirs secret from humans. The novel follows the story of Rose Hathaway and her best friend Lisa Dragomir. The two run off from the schools they feared that Lisa was in danger. The story begins when the people at the school find rose and Lisa and bring them back. The first book is mainly about adjusting to being back at vampire academy and dealing with the pressures of high school. They are typical teenagers with all the problems that most teenagers face such as fitting in, bullies. The book shows how the girls deal with their return as most of the school are very unwelcoming. It also starts to show you the secrets behind why Lisa Dragomir is so important and about rose and her destiny.

The book is fun; rose is a very bold witty girl who is very tough and doesn’t mind telling people what she thinks and loves to get into fights. She is the drama of the book which keeps you interested. Richelle Mead made the book entertaining through character rose. Lisa is quiet and shy. Through the books you get to see both characters grow and develop it is great how Mead has worked her characters.

There are many fights in this series, personal ones that the girls fight at school, fights against the striogi who are bad vampires, and fights in court for Lisa drogamirs rights as one of the heirs to the throne.

Mead is a good writer it seems that she writes for a younger audience. It is an easy read, there isn’t a very high vocabulary used through the book.  However it is structured well and it all flows, there isn’t many awkward phrases. The writing style could be worked on a bit more as it is a bit weak compared to other authors. However I still enjoyed reading it, it was a light and fun read.

It is full of teenage drama and forbidden love along with dangerous threats trying to kill them and scheming royals. It has everything a teenage drama fantasy book needs.

The series is fairly long, but Mead manages to keep the story alive the whole time and keeps it interesting she doesn’t lose the story. Reading through the whole series I never lost interest. I liked the lightness of the book it was enjoyable to read, it was quite amusing and I do suggest it to people.

They have also made the first book into a movie; however it is a pretty poor movie. Think of twilight same situation they had a good book and did not put enough in the movie, the acting was okay, they made it too much teenage drama and I do not believe the transfer from book to movie worked with this book. However if you read the book I do suggest watching it, it does make you laugh to watch the attempt.  I defiantly recommend reading the book first as they left parts out in the movie and the book tells the better story and you can understand it now.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver is the story of a girl who was attacked by wolves when she was younger.  She survived and ever since then one wolf has stuck around and appears to watch her. She becomes attached to this wolf; however it only ever comes around in winter. The pack of wolves that are behind Grace’s house she finds out are werewolves.  They are able to turn depending on the weather. In the summer they get to return to human form. Grace the main girl is a typical girl she likes to stick to herself. it is the story of the wolf boy Sam and grace falling in love and having to deal with the problems of Sam turning every time it gets cold.

This is a very clique story, of boy girl falling in love and having to come over the fact of one of them being a supernatural character. It is a sort of twilight book. However twilight has a bit more of an enticing story line. It is a cute book and has a nice love story, however we have seen this story in so many books and it is not that original. However the author does get some credit as she did write the book before the twilight series. The writer Maggie Stiefvater has pretty basic writing style.

The book ticks all the books for teenage girl fantasy with a supernatural person. Like many books has romanced werewolves and made them nice and misunderstood.

It is very easy read; it is a slow pacing book and at times drags on for a bit too long. The book needs a bit more of a wow factor and a little less stereotypical elements in the character, the writer needed to put something new into the book to shake up the story.

Even though there are some negatives to this book, i did enjoy reading it, the love story was cute. i guess i just wanted to see something more from this book. However if you enjoy love stories and you enjoyed twilight i would defiantly suggest this book for you.

Graceling by Kristen Cashore

So Graceling is a novel set in a semi-medieval world.  This is a fantasy novel, and in it some of the characters have special graces, whether it be good at swordsmanship, swimming...ECT. This novel follows a young girl named Katsa whom everyone including herself believes to have been graced with the skill of killing. I won’t say too much about the story I will let you read that for yourself. However it’s about this young girl helping to find the mystery of a kidnapping.

The novel keeps you thinking trying to solve the mystery as well. At times it can be a bit predictable but it does have some very good twists in the book.

The structure of the novel itself is not all that impressive, that is where Cashore loses a lot of peoples interests. There are a lot of awkward sentences, and descriptions that don’t flow. There is usually a quite basic descriptive vocabulary through this novel, and sometimes seems to be a whole heap of adjectives all strung together to try create something and failing. However I do giver her credit, this is the first book this author has ever written and I believe it to be a good start for her. Cashore has some great ideas that she puts into books, I just seemed she was tiring a bit too hard and wasn’t able to completely make it. I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the start of her career and with a bit more work on structure and editing she will be a great author.

The major theme in this book is of course feminism. Reading this book you get quite an idea that the author herself is a feminist. You see this through the main character Katsa, who is opposed to everything that is deemed girly. The messages that I believe that Cashore was trying to show her readers is that you don’t need a man and that women are just as capable as men and are not as fragile. That women can stand up for themselves.  However she does have a love story within the novel but is not the dominate part, so she can also be implying that you don’t have to be alone but the women doesn’t need to depend completely on the man. She does force her ideas of feminism quite strong through the book; it is quite in your face and not just a subtle message. At times she does go a bit too extreme with it. She really does use very chance she can to show how feminist the main character is and tries to show people her views. It would be more appropriate if it was less intense and was just a theme that you get through the book instead of having the author try cramming these beliefs down your throat.

However one may argue that Cashore was unable to consistently keep Katsa’s beliefs the same. In some reviews I have read, people have said that her character is being all strong and says that she doesn’t need a guy however when Po leaves she cries because he left which contradicts Katsa’s independence. However I believe what Cashore was trying to accomplish which people may have failed to notice is that Katsa did not cry because of Po leaving yet because of the fact that she cared that he left. She is so determined to not have to rely on someone and not need someone as she had been hurt before and she was upset with herself when she found that she cared for Po. So in truth I do not believe that Cashore contradicted herself with her character Katsa. Cashore keeps her ideas throughout the book the same but she does let her characters grow while still maintain the sense of feminism and not relying on the guy.

I think that if you like a fun light read, if you like strong female characters, mystery, and don’t mind not having a major love story then this will be a good book for you. This was a book I read towards the start of my obsession with reading, it really is a great novel if you want something easy to read. If you are only just starting to read then I would defiantly recommend it.

Also I feel that most people should, as even though there is some structure problems and some people believe her to over indulge in the feminism, she really does improve through her other novels which spin off this one.