Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood

Author: Kendare Blake

Release Date: August 30^th, 2011

Publisher: Tor Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 320

Source: ARC Won in Contest

Series: Anna Dressed in Blood (#1)

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge (hosted by the Story Siren)

Summary (goodreads.com): Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

My Review:

A good scary, thrilling tale is hard to come by these days, but a brilliant one is almost impossible to find! Anna Dressed in Blood is one of those rare near impossible to find stories that will give you chills. There are parts of this that truly freaked me out, but there are also parts that made me laugh as well as say “AWW”! It’s got action, blood, love and laughs which makes it pretty much perfect in my opinion. It’s a book that will make you think twice about going into that dark room after you read it. I loved Cas’s background of ghost hunting and I loved that he was a kick butt character. I love how this seemingly “easy job” of Cas’s changes his life. I also really love Anna. Her story is so sad and it just tore at my heart. Cas and Anna’s relationship is truly what made me love this book (also the plot and well everything else)! I beg you to go get this book. Don’t walk, don’t even run, I want you to break speeding laws to get to your local book store or library!

Review: Red Glove by Holly Black

Title: Red Glove

Author: Holly Black

Release Date: April 5^th, 2011

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 325

Source: Library

Series: Curse Workers (#2)

Other Titles in the Series: White Cat (#1), Black Heart (#3 is out April 2012)

Summary (goodreads.com): Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue—crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too—they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

My Review:

I fell into Cassel’s world of cons and curses much faster in Red Glove than I did in White Cat. Red Glove jumps right in and the action starts early and never stops. After the events in White Cat I was sure things couldn’t get any worse for Cassel. I’ve since learned to never think that. Red Glove is much more exciting than White Cat. I learned more about the characters and I loved that there was more of a mystery in this book than there was in the first one. Between Cassel’s relationship with Lila and the murder of a family member it kept me on the edge of my seat! If you liked White Cat you’ll love its sequel.

Review: Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray

Title: Falling for Hamlet

Author: Michelle Ray

Release Date: July 5^th, 2011

Publisher: Little Brown

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 368

Source: ARC from Publisher (thanks so much!)

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge (hosted by the Story Siren)

Summary (goodreads.com): Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia.

My Review:

Falling for Hamlet is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet told from Ophelia’s point of view. I enjoyed Hamlet, but I adored this retelling. I read Hamlet for my AP Literature class, two years ago (and will be reading it again for my theater class this semester) so I’m familiar with the story, but you don’t need to be to like this novel. I don’t even think you need to like Hamlet to like this retelling. My friend hates the play, but I’m sure she will like Falling for Hamlet. What I liked best was that it was told from Ophelia’s point of view. In the play she’s vastly overlooked as just being Hamlet’s crazy, suicidal girlfriend. In Falling for Hamlet she’s neither crazy nor suicidal; she’s strong and has a sensible head. I think she does everything right; she makes the right decisions even if they are hard. It’s also quite interesting, as a fan of the original play, to see how Michelle Ray modernized all those famous speeches; my favorite was the way she conveyed the “To be or not to be” soliloquy of Hamlet’s (you’ll have to read it to know how she did it, I know unfair, but I don’t want to spoil it). I encourage you to give this a try!

Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Title: Sweetly

Author: Jackson Pearce

Release Date: August 23, 2011

Publisher: Little Brown

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 312

Source: Finished copy from Little Brown (thanks!)

Companion Novel: Sisters Red

Summary (goodreads.com): Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

My Review:

Sweetly is a companion novel to Jackson Pearce’s Sister Red, which I haven’t read. I don’t think it’s necessary to read companion novels in the order they were published because they aren’t actually continuations of each other, or so I keep telling myself. I plan on reading Sisters Red, however, because if it’s anything like Sweetly its sure to be brilliant. I couldn’t put down this modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel. I loved how it wasn’t just a fairy tale retelling but also a super cool mystery with a sprinkle of romance thrown in for good measure! Sweetly doesn’t just retell Hansel and Gretel and doesn’t just update it with modern technology, no Jackson Pearce has made this fairy tale completely her own by adding her own twists and turns. At times I completely forgot it was supposed to be like Hansel and Gretel at all and  I love that. What I didn’t love was the cover, it seriously creeps me out to the point where I can’t look at it without shuddering.

I fully recommend this to everyone.

Review: 13 to Life by Shannon Delany

Title: 13 to Life

Author: Shannon Delany

Release Date: June 22nd, 2010

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 308

Source: Bought (and had signed at TBF 2011)

Series: 13 to Life (#1)

Other Titles in the Series: Secrets and Shadows (#2), Bargains and Betrayals (#3), Destiny and Deception (#4 out January 31st, 2012)

Summary (goodreads.com): Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…

My Review:

I met Shannon Delany in May at TBF 2011 and attended her panel (with Rachel Hawkins of Hex Hall fame). She was super sweet and totally incredible. She wrote this for the first ever cell phone novel contest and she won! I think that’s so cool. Russian Mafia Werewolves? Oh yes, I think so! I really enjoyed this book, even though at times the plot was very high school (which is appropriate because that’s when it takes place). When I say High School, I mean that Jessie and Pietr act a tad childish when it comes to their relationship, but due to Jessie’s history with certain characters I forgive them for acting as such. There’s a scene in this book that also made me terrified to go on an ATV when I went camping this summer. However, I did go on it when my friend convinced me that she was a safer driver than a Russian werewolf. Read this!

Review: Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey

Title: Skin Hunger

Author: Kathleen Duey

Release Date: July 24th, 2007

Publisher: Atheneum

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 368

Source: Bought (and had signed at TBF 2011)

Series: A Resurrection of Magic (#1)

Other Titles in the Series: Sacred Scars (#2)

Summary (goodreads.com): Sadima lives in a world where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima, who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection and ridicule. When rumors of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant, to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking decision.

Centuries later magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate — and the first academic requirement is survival.

Sadima's and Hahp's worlds are separated by generations, but their lives are connected in surprising and powerful ways in this brilliant first book of Kathleen Duey's dark, complex, and completely compelling trilogy.

My Review:

This book is so crazily complex, it blows my mind! I *LOVE* this book. At the beginning of the book I kept trying to figure out how Sadima’s and Hahp’s stories were intertwined and when I couldn’t figure it out I got discouraged. After a few chapters of each character’s world I just gave in to the wonderful worlds Kathleen Duey had created. Sadima’s world is magical despite magic being banned and Hahp’s world is terrifying because it has magic. This story is just brilliant. I beg you to read this book, you won’t be sorry!

Review: Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Title: Blue Bloods

Author: Melissa De La Cruz

Release Date: April 1st, 2007

Publisher: Hyperion

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 302

Source: Bought

Series: Blue Bloods (#1)

Other Titles in the Series: Masquerade (#2), Revelations (#3), The Van Alen Legacy (#4), Misguided Angel (#5), Bloody Valentine (#5.5), Lost in Time (#6)

Summary (goodreads.com): When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires. The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated blue bloods of American society.

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a popular girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think, but she wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger?

Could those vampire legends really be true? Steeped in vampire lore and set against the glittery backdrop of New York City, Blue Bloods will be devoured by Melissa de la Cruz's legion fans.

My Review:

As I was reading Blue Bloods I kept saying to myself “Mhm. Yep. That makes sense. That has to be why my family is so weird. We’re secretly Vampires.” You’re probably thinking that’s a really strange thing to think and it is if you aren’t me. Blue Bloods is about the people who came over on the Mayflower and how they rose to power throughout the years. My 10th Great- Grandfather Francis Cooke came over on the Mayflower and signed the Compact and stuff. That little fact is a big reason why I liked this book. It also is original, which is great. I don’t think I ever would have read this book if I hadn’t have had the chance to meet the author this past May (she is lovely!). Overall this is a fun read and I recommend it.

Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Title: The Near Witch

Author: Victoria Schwab

Release Date: August 2, 2011

Publisher: Hyperion

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Source: ebook from publisher via Netgalley. Bought Hardcover today (because I seriously love it so much)

Challenge: Debut Author Challenge 2011 (hosted by the Story Siren)

Summary (goodreads.com): The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

My Review:

Where to begin? I could happily go on about The Near Witch forever. I love The Near Witch. If there was a stronger word than love I would use it to describe my feelings for Victoria Schwab’s brilliant debut novel. I read the advanced ebook last week and bought the hardcover of it today and I already want to re-read it. I’ve never read anything like it, yet I feel as if I’ve known it forever (the blurb above tells it all). Everything about this book makes me happy. The story of the Near Witch, which when told by the Main Character Lexi starts off with my new favorite line of all time, “The wind on the moors is a tricky thing”. The story of the Near Witch makes this novel one of my favorite of all time. When Lexi is telling Wren the story, Wren falls asleep and Lexi stops telling it, I literally said out loud “What? No! HOW CAN YOU FALL ASLEEP DURING THIS?! Oh man, finish the story, Lexi! I have to hear the ending”. Victoria Schwab’s writing is beautiful and chilling. Even when the characters mention “the town of Near” a chill goes up my spine. With Schwab’s writing you feel as if you’ve lived in the town of Near your whole life and you grew up hearing the stories. I felt as if I already knew the Near Witch song that the kids play along to. I keep humming it to myself even a week later (my version is sort of upbeat and bouncy, I’m not sure it’s supposed to be, but to me it made it all the creepier). I love the stranger that comes to Near and the witches that live on the edge of town, just as Lexi does. I despise Lexi’s uncle and friend, Tyler for what they do throughout the course of the book, just as Lexi does. I feel as if I live in a town called Near and hear the Near Witch singing the moor to sleep, just as Lexi does and that is what makes me love The Near Witch.

Review: Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Title: Always a Witch

Author: Carolyn MacCullough

Release Date: August 1st, 2011

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 288

Source: E-book from Publisher via NetGalley

Series: Book Two of the Witch Series

Other Titles in the Series: Once a Witch (book #1)

Summary (goodreads.com): The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights.

Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice

My Review:

Always a Witch is even better then Once a Witch. Now that Tamsin knows about her talent, it's even more interesting than before. The returning characters are even more developed in this novel. Tamsin and Gabriel are together and they are such a cute couple, Rowena is becoming Bridezilla and the Greene Family basically hides from her wrath. Personally, if I was Tamsin I would have stuffed a sock in Rowena’s mouth ages ago, she annoys me. New characters are introduced when Tamsin travels back in time. She wants to stop Alistair from giving the Knights any information that may halt the Greenes’ plans in the future. I’ve got to say the only character I liked when she traveled back was Cook, everyone else had some kind of motive, it was like no one was really who they seemed. But never the less, Tamsin’s time in Victorian-era New York is so exciting, its almost like historical fiction. There’s a lot of action in Always a Witch, so it’s a good book for all types of readers. Its also a fast paced easy read, perfect for a lazy day.