Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Wendy is determined to find her younger brothers, John and Michael, twins who are presumed dead when their surfboards wash up after a giant wave they tried to surf. But Wendy refuses to believe they are dead and her search brings to a private beach called Kensington and a group of surfers lead by the charismatic Pete. Here is where Wendy thinks she will find her brothers' trail but here is where she falls into between a rivalry between Pete and the fairy dust drug dealer Jas.

It might sound strange given that I requested to read this but I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Surfing is not a sport I've ever been interested in but I liked the idea of a retold Peter Pan with Wendy as the focus.  It turns out there's not a lot of that here. Yes, the names are the same and the locations have familiar names as well  but this story is not one that needed to be tied down to the Peter Pan legacy. It was good all on its own. It turns out that I did like it and a lot. Wendy is a confused and sad girl looking for her brothers and she doesn't know what to make of Pete and Jas and all the lost surfer kids who live with them. It was interesting to see the dynamic shift of Peter and Hook to Pete and Jas, two guys who use to be friends before a falling out and Wendy caught  between them. Yes, there's a love triangle but only sort of. Everything is only sort of in this book and it's the nature of the telling, the dream-like quality of Wendy's time on Kensington, that does it. I'm probably only 98% sold on the ending but only because I like a concrete ending. Still it was appropriate.


from NetGalley 
Publish date: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Cadence comes from a rich family who summer on their own island. She and her cousins and a friend are basically the same age and they always have the time of their lives. But something happens summer fifteen and Cadence is left with a faulty memory and severe migraines. So on her return trip to the island summer seventeen she is determined to find out what happen.

It's hard to say just how brilliant this book is. So amazing. I kind of guessed the ending, not to be smug or anything, it just reminded me of another book I love.*  But even though I did, it was still so good and so effecting. It's hard to even review without giving away too much. But as Cadence digs into the events of summer fifteen more and more of the makeup and attitude of her family becomes apparent. It is a very layered book and reminds me of when you are old enough to really understand your parents and aunts and uncles and their relationships with each other and to your grandparents. No relationship is without its complexities and We Were Liars explores that through Cadence and her memory loss and her relationship with her cousins and friend, collectively called the Liars. Their relationship is everything especially on their magical summers on her family's island. And then an accident happens and Cadence can't remember. It's through the remembering that she finally finds the truth and also understands more of her family. It's hard to say more because I wouldn't want to spoil anyone. Just read it. You won't regret it.




*The Basic Eight.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Prenna and her community have a huge secret. They are from a future where the world has collapsed and a deadly blood plague carried by mosquitoes is an epidemic. Sent back in time, the leaders of her community are suppose to be working on the solution. But in the meantime they are expected to assimilate into the 21st century and above all else, never tell who they are or where they came from. But Prenna falls in love with Ethan and the two make a startling discovery about Prenna's time and her community itself.

To get it out of the way first, I didn't like the romantic plot. It was strange. Yes, Prenna and Ethan had known each other for a long time but it moved so quickly into true love that it felt forced and I wasn't feeling it. It was more like teenage lust than love. And that's fine but don't pretend it to be otherwise. Anyway. I enjoyed the book despite my objections to the love story. It was a good read and I liked how feisty Prenna was and how she was willing to challenge the leaders of her community. I liked Ethan for how loyal he was and how he was just a good guy. I liked that there was just enough mystery to keep me going but not so much that it bogged the story down. And, honestly, I'm glad the author didn't get into the sciencey stuff too much.

Time travel is a tricky thing to write about, in my opinion. There's a lot to deal with and paradoxes, etc. It was handled fairly well and I didn't really have any questions at the end. I think it was all wrapped up pretty neatly.

Review copy provided by NetGalley
Publication date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt

Brighton is desperate to achieve 100% participation for her school in volunteer activities in order to get her name on the wall next to her late father's. Jonah is unwilling to get involved in anything in his new town, instead driving to his old one every weekend where he tries to pretend everything is exactly the same. But 24 hours together can change many things and Brighton and Jonah are about to discover more about each other and themselves then they ever thought.

I read this before last year ended but saved the review for closer publication. It was absolutely one of the best books I've read in a long time and it didn't take me long at all to finish it. I stayed up til 1 a.m. one night because I simply could not put it down. It is pretty different than Tiffany's first book but that's not a bad thing. It just proves how talented a writer Tiffany is.

I loved Brighton and how her perfect facade slowly disintegrates as the night wears on and how Jacob's tough guy attitude changes too. It goes to show that you really never know what is going on in someone else's head and that Jacob completely misjudges Brighton because of her perky girl can do attitude. I am also a sucker for one night stories. There is something that happens to people in the wee hours that feels crazy and magical and I think this book captured that feeling in all the right ways. It was a great read.

Review based on ARC provided by NetGalley
Publication date: February 18th 2014 by Walker Childrens

Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett (Confessions #2)

Rose is trying to be the 2.0 version of herself, a less angry, going to forget Jamie Forta version of herself for her sophmore year. But that is easier said than done. Rose is stuck going to therapy with her mom, dealing her brother and once again trying to make it through high school.

I try to be all 2.0 and I wink back, which a) is not what you're supposed to do when someone winks at your and b) looks super lame if you can't actually wink. Which I can't, I just found out. p. 113 ARC

One of the worst things about reading an ARC is that it extends the amount of time between books in a series. I assume there will be another one (please let this be a thing that happens) because I need to know more about Rose and about Jamie and about them together pretty much right now. I finished Confessions of an Angry Girl and immediately picked up Almost-Girlfriend. And I finished it in one night. I haven't been this enamored of a book in a long time and certainly not this invested in a teenage girl since Ruby Oliver. Sometimes characters just strike the right chord. Rose did that for me. She just feels so real. I feel bad for her. She wants to be a good person but then she lashes out because she is hurt or angry or embarrassed and sometimes she is sorry and sometimes she is not. And there is nothing wrong with not feeling sorry but there is something wrong with expressing your emotions in the worst way. She is so hard on herself and thinks everything is her fault and doesn't appreciate anything good about herself which is sad. And so very 15. And Jamie doesn't help with his hot/cold business. But that boy is hot and I might have a book crush on him. He is the kind of guy I would have liked at this age but I never would have ended up making out with him on his car in the middle of the night (sadly). He is another one that tries to do the right thing and have it blow up in his face. I like them together but I think they both have a lot to deal with. But their chemistry is excellent.

I was also happy to see more of Rose's best friend Tracy and their friendship. It can be hard at the high school level to maintain long standing friendship but they are trying their best. And I love seeing that in a book. Often you get girls fighting and breaking up friendships but it is unfortunately rare to see two teenage girls trying to keep their friendships together in YA books. Tracy definitely gains more depth in this book but that might be because we see more of her. I love that she is willing to put up with Rose's hostility but still expects to be treated right. And that she stands up for herself and takes ownership of her reputation rather than let the school bullies do it for her.

I could go on but I have a book hangover from staying up to late. My husband told me I was going to be tired today. But I honestly could not stop reading. It was worth it.

Received from NetGalley for review
Publish date: June 18, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

What if Buffy was only Buffy every other day?  That's pretty much the premise behind this book.  But it's pretty awesome.  Kali is kick ass on some days and on the others she is an ordinary human.  She doesn't know why but on her hunter days she is compelled to seek out the things that go bump in the night and kill them.  But it's one on of her ordinary days that she finds that a classmate is infected with a chupacabra, a virus-like organization that sucks the blood out of people and erases their memories.   Figuring that she can kill it on her hunter day, Kali takes it into her body only needing survive the chupacabra's draining until the next sundown.  But she finds that it's presence changes her in ways she could not predict.  Aided by some new friends, including a sort-of psychic, her older brother and his girlfriend, the girl who originally hosted the chupacabra, Kali begins to seek out the truth behind her origins.

I am a huge Buffy fan.  And I love the idea that superhero is only a superhero some of the time.  It makes the hero(ine) much more interesting.  I was surprised by the direction that this book ultimately takes, but surprised in a good way. Kali legitimately has a reason to complain because basically her life changes from day to day without her control.  And she wants to know if she is alone or if there are others like her.  But she and her dad have a frosty relationship so she can't ask him and tip him off. The answer actually comes from a surprising source and I love that. Kali is a great character whether she is the hunter or not and she is very much a teenager despite her unusual nature.  This is a fun read, not too gory or over the top, but just right with a unique concept.


From NetGalley

Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien

The sequel to Birthmarked finds Gaia struggling to save her baby sister as she tries to reach her grandmother.  But when she is rescued by a stranger and taken to the town her grandmother use to run, Gaia finds the rules of that society are also constricting.  The number of men far outweigh the number of women and so the women hold all the power.  But power can be corrupting and the men are getting tired of being the underdogs.  Gaia finds unfairness at each turn along with someone from her past who provides another source of conflict for her.

While there is no such thing as a perfect society, it seems that all Gaia can find is dysfunctional ones.  This time she moves to one where the rules seems unfair to her and, frankly, chaffed me as well.  The Matrarc of the town immediately takes away her baby sister and her freedom. And it left me angry at how quickly Gaia or any stranger is treated like a criminal simply for being from somewhere else.  The action moved pretty quickly even as Gaia is kept locked up.  But the romance angle felt like it was too much and it was a little unnecessary.  I am curious to see what happens next with Gaia and her tendency to overthrow dystopias.  This series is turning out to be a real page turner.

From NetGalley

Department 19 by Will Hill

Jamie Carpenter watches as his father is gunned down by mysterious government agents.  Two years later he is an outcast in society for his father's supposed crime.  But when his mother is kidnapped by a mysterious and dangerous creature, Jamie is brought into the Loop where the vampire hunters work for the government in Department 19.  It's up to Jamie to find his mother before the oldest living vampire does the unthinkable.  

Confession: I've never read Dracula.  It was just never high on my list of things to read.  And that story figures heavy into this story.  Despite my lack of Dracula literature reading, I still got the gist of the story and the background of some of the characters.  In this novel, Dracula is dead, killed like in the original story, but he turned three brothers into vampires and they are the oldest living vampires.  They are brutal and vicious and they are creating an army of other vampires.  The second oldest, Alexandru, kidnaps Jamie's mother, leading Jamie to hunt for his mother.  Jamie is taken by Department 19, a secret government agency founded by original slayers of Dracula, to hide him.  But Jamie only wants to find his mother.  Aided by Frankenstein (the monster), Jamie becomes immersed in the world of the supernatural, determined to find his mother and figure out what really happened to his father.

There is a lot going on in this book and I suppose part of that is a trilogy.  There is the mystery of Jamie's father, and why his mother was taken.  And there is something going on with the vampire brothers.  It's not confusing when you're reading it but when thinking about it, I can only hope that more is answered in the next book.  I enjoyed it though and I liked the characters.  I found Jamie a bit abrasive and there was a lot of yelling (I can't help noticing when a verb is overused), but it is all understandable.  It is on the gory side so if you are squeamish, be forewarned.  Mostly it is vampires exploding and lots and lots of blood.  But it didn't bother me too much.   enjoyed the alternating historical chapters and thought they were a nice touch.  There are definitely a quite a few stick with it images.  I'm curious to see where all of this is going.

Won from LibraryThing
Off the Shelf
350 Page

Queens of All the Earth by Hannah Sternberg (repost)

I've been asked to repost this review since the publication date was moved back.

After a mental breakdown, Olivia Somerset is brought to Barcelona by her stern but loving sister, Miranda for some R&R.  Olivia is drawn to the quiet and strange Greg Brown who is traveling with his father.  And the two families become acquainted after a mix-up with the sister's room and Mr. Brown's offer to switch with them.

If you have ever read A Room with a View, then you will be familiar with the plot of Queens.  There are a few changes here and there, but the basic story is there, just modernized and set in Spain rather than Florence.  Since A Room with a View is one of my favorite classics, I really enjoyed this book.  It is the condensed version and the descriptions of Barcelona are beautiful.  All characters fit their classic counterparts, but there are a few key differences that I liked.  The motivation for the trip comes from Olivia losing touch with reality and having a complete breakdown so her sister kindly travels for a bit of "travel therapy."  And the trip proves therapeutic for the both of them as is wont to happen in these books.  I'm not entirely sure if this is classed as YA or adult, but it really could go either way.  It is an enjoyable book whether or not you have read A Room with a View or not.


Provided by NetGalley
Publish Date: October 1, 2011
Publisher: Bancroft Press
ISBN: 978-1610880329

Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Goodreads: 
Princess Wisdom, known as Dizzy, longs for a life of adventure far beyond the staid old kingdom of Montagne.
Tips, a soldier, longs to keep his true life secret from his family.
Fortitude, an orphaned maid, longs only for Tips.
These three passionate souls might just attain their dreams while preserving Montagne from certain destruction, if only they can tolerate each other long enough to come up with a plan. Tough to save the world when you can't even be in the same room together.

I haven't read Princess Ben so I was unfamiliar with the world and with the character.  I might have to go back and read it because Nonna Ben was pretty fierce.  As was Wisdom.  She was very tenacious and curious and fairly unprincess-like. While she wasn't my favorite character (that honor going to Trudy) she was alright for a princess.  Trudy was the sweetest and the one with the most to lose as an orphaned serving girl with psychic powers.  The love triangle that springs up between Wisdom, Trudy and Tips, Trudy's childhood friend and first love, was inevitable.  But the real meat of the story, for me, was in the intrigue between Wisdom's kingdom and the duchy she is meant to marry into.  I loved the outcome and how clever they solved the problem.

I liked this book, let me say, I did.  But it is told in many random forms like diary entries, memoirs, letters, biographies, a play and all of that together felt mish mashed.  Random bits of important information are thrown in through in encyclopedia entries which seems like a lazy way of importing things readers need to know.  The conceit is cute at the beginning but loses its cuteness about half way through the book.  But it doesn't make the book unreadable.  On the contrary, it is a charming book that I enjoyed very much.  It was just one of the those things I couldn't help noticing.

From NetGalley

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Pearl is a fun-loving, blood-drinking sixteen year old bad girl vampire.  That is until she is stabbed by a unicorn.  Suddenly she is a different kind of vampire, one who can walk in the sunlight and has a reflection.  But she is also turning into a different kind of girl, much to her family's displeasure.  Now they have given her the task of luring a large meal to the Fealty Ceremony and, for Pearl, that means going to high school.

I loved Pearl in a weird way.  I love that she was so badass and so out to prove herself and that doesn't change even after the unicorn incident.  I love that it was a unicorn of all things that stabbed her.  So random and fun.  But I loved Pearl's gradual transformation the best and the fact that she went to the library of all places as soon as she could walk in the sunlight.  Her fascination with daylight was almost touching.  It's something everyone just takes for granted but as a vampire she had no experience with it.  Pearl was awesome, even in high school.  She was just the coolest.  And Evan, the boy, was super sweet and I liked him too.  It is a romance-light book which works for the story being told.


The story was really fun and I liked this book.  The vampires and the unicorns, it's a weird combination but it works in this book.  I did have a little laugh at the Vampire King of New England because I mean, come on, what kind of title is that? But the world was built nicely and everything made sense and there were some good light hearted laugh out loud moments in the midst of Pearl's identity crisis.  And prom, of course.

From the publisher
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publish date: 9/13/2011

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

In Quill, people are divided at the age of 13 into three categories, Wanteds, Necessaries, and Unwanteds.  The Wanteds are sent to university and get the higher level jobs, the Necessaries do the menial labor and the Unwanteds are sent to their death.  But all is not what it seems because at the Death Farm, there is a magical world, Artimé, behind the gates that takes in the Unwanteds and grows their artistic talents (the reason they are Unwanted in the first place).  Alex is an Unwanted with a drawing ability while his twin brother, Aaron, is deem Wanted.  The two brothers are very different and that might cause the biggest problems of all between Quill and Artimé.

I really did feel sorry for Alex and all the other Unwanteds.  Sentenced to die for having creative ideas is terrible.  But the High Priest is determined to keep everyone under her control and forward-thinkers would challenge that so out they go.  But luckily for them Mr. Today, the so-called "Death Farmer," has created a magical parallel universe hidden from Quill to save the Unwanteds and not only foster their artistic abilities but to teach them magic based on their abilities.  So the drawing students learn to paint themselves invisible and use clay to bind people and many other pretty awesome things. The Unwanteds thrive in this world.  But they must say hidden from the land of Quill otherwise the consequences would be dire. It's a pretty neat concept and I liked the magic involved as well as the characterization of Alex and his Wanted twin, Aaron.

I was expecting more older middle grade but this was read younger middle grade to me.  The story was very simple and everyone was fairly straightforward.  Nobody really had gray areas in their personality.  But it was cute and I enjoyed it.  The cover says The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter and that is far from the truth, having neither the grittiness of The Hunger Games nor the world-building of Harry Potter.  It is still charming though.  If I compared it to anything it might be Diana Wynne Jone's Chrestomanci series but it still lacks that intangible quality that makes those books great.  What I'm getting at is that it is cute and fun and provides a largely one-sided view of creativity and that it is worth reading, but it lacks that something that makes a book a classic.  Children will enjoy it, some adults will enjoy it as well.  I would recommend it, just don't go looking for greatness.

Provided by the publisher
Publisher: Aladdin (Simon and Schuster)
Publish date: 8/30/11
ISBN: 9781442407688

Fury (Fury #1) by Elizabeth Miles

Emily and Chase have each done something bad.  Em hooked up with her best friend's boyfriend while Chase's idea of revenge got a little out of hand.  When three beautiful and mysterious girls turn up in their town and begin manipulating Em and Chase, they are in real trouble.  Sometimes sorry isn't enough and someone has to pay.

Jeez, this was a creepy story.  There was one part I read right before going to bed and I regretted it.  It reminded me of Final Destination in a way.  Because in those movies if you escape death it will come for you until it gets you.  The Furies' determination to make Emily and Chase pay is relentless.  And the thing is that both Emily and Chase did something that was terrible but I don't think it was quite up to what happened to them.  Maybe it was and I just felt sorry for them.  I don't know.  This was a riveting book and I almost couldn't put it down.  The writing wasn't as polished as some of the books I've read lately but the story was good and made up for some of the clunkier writing.  It is apparently a trilogy so it will be interesting to see where Miles takes the rest of the story.

From the publisher for review
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publish date:  8/30/11
ISBN: 9781442422247

A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Rosalinda Fitzroy is woken from a sixty-two year chemically induced sleep by a kiss.  Confused by her long stasis and grieving for her lost time and her long dead parents and boyfriend, Rose begins to confront the reason she was put in stasis in the first place and deal with a new threat in her current time.

I really loved this book.  It surprised me because I figured it to be some sort of science fiction Sleeping Beauty (which is was) but it was took the story and molded into something beyond the fairy tale. It became less of just a Sleeping Beauty retell and more of a story of abuse and lost love.  I was glad that there was no real romantic storyline other than the one in Rose's past because it would have felt more artificial.  When Rose develops a crush on, Bren, the boy woke her up, I was worried since it seemed less like her feelings and more like a contrivance, but that is cleared up eventually.  The "realest" relationship would be Rose's friendship with the odd alien-human hybrid, Otto.  That was a relationship that was enjoyable to watch progress. Overall, it was easy to see where the story was going, except for two details revealed at the end that I wasn't expecting at all.  It was nice to be surprised.  One of my few complaints was how heavy handed the Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose comparisons felt at times.  The story had all the earmarks of that fairytale without it being forcibly shoved into the story.  My only other complaint was an unresolved storyline that would be good for a follow-up book.  I certainly hope it gets written since I am curious about what happens to Rose next.

Provided by NetGalley 
Publish date: August 9, 2011
Publisher: Candlewick
ISBN: 9780763652609

350 Page

Matched (Matched #1) by Ally Condie

Cassia lives in the Society where everything is perfectly controlled from leisure time to food to who people marry and how many kids they have.  Cassia is excited to finally be Matched but when the screen flashes a face different than the boy she is Matched to, Cassia begins to wonder about the choices people in the Society don't have. 

I was kind of  hoping to be blown away.  I've heard such good things and I waited so long to read it.  And while I liked it a lot, in the end, it felt like a cross between The Giver and the Uglies series.  The writing was good and it flowed smoothly for me.  It was a quick read despite being a little lengthy.  I didn't really connect with the characters much and I never really felt a connection between Cassia and Xander.  I know that they are best friends for years, etc. but she really spends so little time with him and when she does, all she can think about is Ky.  So I didn't get a sense of her love for Xander at all.  Condie did a nice job setting up the love story for Ky and Cassia, but I feel like she neglected the relationship between Xander and Cassia for it.  Thus the love triangle didn't really work for me. 

Conceptually it is definitely part of the new YA trend for dystopians.  Society controls every aspect of the lives of its citizens who are, in turn, willing to be controlled in order to maintain a safe life.  There were a few aspects that stood out to me, like the pills that everyone carries around and the artifacts they are allowed to have from the before times (or whatever they call them). And I will probably read the next in the series (due out in November) because I am curious by the events at the end of the book.  

Won from Library Thing

Alphabet Challenge
Take a Chance
350 Page
Off the Shelf

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

From Goodreads:
Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

I'm pretty excited about this book.  It was different from a lot of the books that are out there right now.  Going in, I wasn't sure about it and I put it on hold right after starting it to finish the Betsy-Tacy series.  Picking it up, I was resigned to another "sisters' book.  And there is a lot of that in this book.  There is a whole lot more though. Ruby and Chloe are all each other has with Ruby acting as the mother figure to Chloe.  When Chloe comes back from her father's and begins living with Ruby again, they try to take up where they left off.  But Ruby's determination to get Chloe back results in her making a deal to return everything back the way it was, exactly and that leads down a strange and mysterious road, one I was happy to journey down.  The way the story unfolded and the mystery in the town was ah-mazing. 

I don't want to give too much away so that makes this harder to review.  Needless to say that I simultaneously wish I knew more and am happy with what I know.  There is a very large element to the story that is something that always intrigues me* and I was happy to see it explored in the story.  Excellently and beautifully written, I have to say that Imaginary Girls is in my top 5 of summer books.

* SPOILERS (highlight) ** I am always intrigued by god-like characters who control small towns.  I know that might be weird.  So, much like the Mayor in Bleeding Violet (Reeves), Ruby hit the right button to interested me.  What is she?  I know what her mother said about her and how the town people feel about her.  They seem afraid and disgusted by her, being made to love her and do what she says.  I love the idea of her and her need to keep the town the same as something both for amusement and her security.  I love that Chloe is really not afraid of her and is barely disturbed by her sister's abilities.  It was interesting that Ruby needed Chloe to adore her and wanted Chloe to really love only her.  There were a lot of elements that really worked including the town of Olive.  I'm still a bit confused on that point but, in the end, I was just like Chloe, waiting for Ruby to resurface.  **

From LibraryThing
What's in a Name

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Alison wakes up in a mental institution with no memory of how she got there.  As she begins to remember what happened, she also remembers confessing to killing a classmate.  But how she remembers that event doesn't make any sense because people just don't disintegrate. Do they?  As Alison struggles to make sense of that event, she always begins unraveling the mysteries of her own mind and her special abilities.

Dark chocolate, poured over velvet: that was how his voice tasted.  I wanted him to follow me around and narrate the rest of my life.  e-ARC

So this was different.  It starts Girl, Interrupted and then sharply detours into science fiction.  Alison wakes up in the psych ward of a hospital covered in scratches and bruises with no memory of what happened.  She is then moved to a mental health institution for young adults to recover and maybe tell what happened to her classmate, Tori, who disappeared the same day that Alison went crazy.  The description of Pine Hills, the place that Alison goes, is really well written and very realistic.  I could picture the place in my mind perfectly and it had a nice mix of patients that really illustrated the story the author was trying to tell. 

Another aspect of Alison's story is her synesthesia.  I've read a few books about this condition before and was interested to see it employed in this book.  I liked how it was made integral part of the story but was not the point of the story.  Alison didn't even realize that her extrasensory abilities had a name until part way through the story.  It gave the story some interesting depth and played nicely into the climax of the story. 

Provided by NetGalley
Publish date: September 1, 2011
Hogwarts: Astronomy

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Elodie is a spirited girl who only wants to become a mansioner, an actor, but is thwarted in her ambitions by her lack of money.  So she becomes the assistant to Meenore, a dragon skilled in logic and deduction.  When the ogre hires the dragon to find out who is behind a strange turn of events at his castle, Meenore sends Elodie to be ITs eyes and ears.  And Elodie learns about using her mansioning and logic talents for other purposes. 

Gail Carson Levine can tell a good tale.  While some of her other books are retellings of fairy tales (Ella Enchanted), this one has a few aspects (Puss in Boots) but is a wholly original book.  And it is a very cute book.  I loved all the fairy tale touches and the characters were delightful.  I thought the solution to the mystery was easy, but that is because there tends to be a pattern in Levine's fairy tale books that gave it away.  I do wish there was more of the dragon and the ogre because I loved both characters, but I'm wondering if they are going to be more books with Elodie and her friends.

Provided by NetGalley
Publish date: May 10, 2011

Hogwarts: Care of Magical Creatures

Shine by Lauren Myracle

Set in a small, rural poor Southern town, Shine tells the story of Cat.  After her best friend from childhood is the victim of a horrific crime because of his sexuality, Cat decides to come out of her shell and find out who would harm her friend.

This was a beautiful and heart-wrenching book.  Cat's voice comes through loud and clear though she is a introverted character.  It is interesting to watch her progress from self-inflicted outcast to a strong young woman through her investigation of the crime against her friend.  Cat has a good reason for her introversion and that is tragedy itself.  While I wanted more resolution for that, I also feel like sometimes, in real life, there is no resolution when bad things happen to people.  So it was fitting.

As for the mystery aspect of the story, well, we all know I like a good mystery.  Cat does the mystery proper, interviewing people, trying to figure out the timeline and exactly what went down the night that Patrick was attacked.  Through the investigation, we learn a lot about the small town Cat and Patrick have grown up in and to anyone who has experienced tiny rural towns, it felt very real.  It was pretty dead on in its exploration of the mindset and the social structure of a small town. Also through the investigation we see how Cat became current day Cat and what happened to end her friendship with Patrick and all of her childhood friends.  Patrick seems like a great guy and what happened to him was horrifying.  The resolution of the mystery was bittersweet, but the book ended on a good note and I walked away from it glad that I had read it and sorry to see Cat go.  But I think she will be alright.

Provided by NetGalley
Hogwarts: Defence Against the Dark Arts
GLBT Challenge
350 Page

Bumped (e-book) by Megan McCafferty

In a world where adults lose fertility around the age of 20 due to a virus, Melody is one of the first girls in her class to go pro, as in professional surrogate.  Offered a highly lucrative contact to preg for a well-to-do couple, all she has to do is wait for them to find the perfect match for her.  Then her long-lost, "Godfreaky" twin sister, Harmony, shows up wanting her to give up pregging for money and move to Goodside, the religious compound, with her.  However, when the surrogate parents finally find the perfect donor, things begin to change for the twins in an unexpected way.

I feel like this book was saying a whole lot of things.  I also feel like most of things went over my head as I was distracted by the onslaught of pregnancy related slang.  The sheer amount of it almost overwhelmed me.  Since society has now become focused on encouraging teenage girls to become pregnant, of course the slang would move along with it.  It made me laugh but it also made me scratch my head occasionally.  And if I had a nickel for every time the word "bump" was used, well, then I'd have a lot of nickels.

Still this is a very clever book.  In fact, everything about this book screamed clever.  It is a biting look at society's tendencies to go overboard with an idea and also to commercialize it.  From the FunBump available for the "pre-bumped" to the use of "man brands" (sperm donors), everything about this society is focused on surrogates and child birthing.  And I mean everything.  I had a hard time grasping the timeline of when all the adults went sterile but everything in the books seemed a bit frantic like babies had to be had now or the world would end.  And, by making teenage pregnancy not only palatable but extremely desirable, the message of why they were doing it becomes lost in the marketing.

As for the characters, I can't say I liked either one of the twins that much.  They represent two extremes and it's hard to relate to an extreme.  In fact, the only likable character is Zen, the friend of Melody, who acts like the only voice of reason in the whole book.  Everyone is a caricature from both Melody and Harmony down to every adult and teenager in the book with the exception of Zen.  Nothing in the whole book felt real and I was emotionally separated from the characters' plights, much like the pregnant teenagers from their bumps. 

It is a quirky and interesting book though.  I found myself racing through it, curious to see what happens next.  Was I surprised by the turn of events near the end of the book?  No, not really.  Am I curious to see what happens next?  Yes, actually I am.  There were things that could possibly develop into something interesting for the characters and I'd like to see if they are addressed and how so.  A lot of people really like this book and I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it.  It was worth reading and I guess that's the best thing I can say.

Provided by NetGalley
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publish date: April 26, 2011
Hogwarts: Charms