Review: Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink

Title: Guardian of the Gate

Author: Michelle Zink

Release Date: August 1^st, 2010

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 352

Source: Borrowed from Library

Series: Prophecy of the Sisters (#2)

Other Titles in the Series: Prophecy of the Sisters (#1), Circle of Fire (#3)

Summary (goodreads.com): The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

My Review:

I liked this book a lot more than its predecessor. A lot of things actually happened in this book. Yeah sure we learned more about the prophecy and the spectral world and stuff that we had already learned in the first book, but we also got to see the sister safe haven Altus. I liked that there was more adventure in this book and Lia and her friends got out of that freaky old house. This also wasn’t as Victorian as Prophecy of the Sisters, there was way more romance and it was generally more exciting. So if you loved the first book or if you were a tad disappointed like I was this is a good read either way.

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Release Date: September 27^th, 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 420

Source: finished copy from Publisher

Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1

Summary (goodreads.com): Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Review:

[insert a ridiculous amount of exclamation points and then add twenty more here]

I LOVE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE SO MUCH!!! I love everything about it (except the ending which practically killed me when I read it). Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a beautiful novel (which is high praise considering I rarely ever used that word to describe anything). The beginning intrigued me. I was so interested in this girl with blue hair who went to art school in Prague and ran strange errands for devils. I loved her relationship with the chimera, Brimstone especially (who is my favorite character). I loved the idea of wishes coming true and doors that opened to anywhere in the world. But when the doors to Elsewhere burned the story takes a turn, it lapses into what can honestly only be called beautiful. The angel/devil relationship described within the pages of this novel is so touching, so heart-wrenchingly beautiful that I just sat there reading with tears in my eyes. But that ending! I wanted to− but no; I can’t tell you, let’s just say that I was a very angry chimera lover. This is one of those books whose characters will remain in my heart forever. I will always be able to picture Karou drawing Brimstone in his shop as he counts out teeth, that image (and many more) will be burned into my brain forevermore and I am a better, more magical person for it.

I LOVE BOOKMARKS!

Hey readers,

Have I ever told you guys that I'm trying to break the World Record for the Largest Bookmark collection?!

So far I have 240 bookmarks in my collection.

(the picture is of my bookmark box*)

As of January of 2007 the current WRH has about 80,000...so I have a ways to go.

If you have extra bookmarks lying around collecting dust that you don't want anymore or if you have a book you'd like to promote with bookmarks, send them my way!

Email me at Littlewood10@aol.com with "bookmarks" as the subject if you'd like to help my cause :D

~Talk Less,

Read More,

Rory!

*see that signed Witch Eyes bookmark? Want one of your own? When its posted later this week, look for my Review of Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey to find out how you can win o'ne!

Review: Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher

Title: Stoneheart

Author: Charlie Fletcher

Release Date: August 2^nd, 2006

Publisher: Hyperion

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 464 (audio book has 8 parts)

Source: Audio book from Library’s Overdrive Media Console

Series: Stoneheart (#1)

Other Titles in the Series: Ironhand (#2), Silvertongue (#3)

Summary (goodreads.com): A city has many lives and layers. London has more than most. Not all the layers are underground, and not all the lives belong to the living.

Twelve-year-old George Chapman is about to find this out the hard way. When, in a tiny act of rebellion, George breaks the head from a stone dragon outside the Natural History Museum, he awakes an ancient power. This power has been dormant for centuries but the results are instant and terrifying: A stone Pterodactyl unpeels from the wall and starts chasing George. He runs for his life but it seems that no one can see what he’s running from. No one, except Edie, who is also trapped in this strange world.

And this is just the beginning as the statues of London awake…

This is a story of statues coming to life; of a struggle between those with souls and those without; of how one boy who has been emotionally abandoned manages to find hope.

*REVIEW OF AUDIO BOOK*

My Review:

I first learned about Stoneheart from my Uncle Jim. A few years ago he told me to find the audio book because it’s read by Jim Dale (the man who reads the Harry Potter books here in the States), who happens to be the best audio book reader on the planet. Anyway, I finally found it and it's brilliant (and not just because of Jim Dale). Stoneheart is an amazing story with characters that really come to life (sometimes literally). I love everything about it from the statues coming to life like the Gunner and Dictionary to everything that George and Edie have to navigate around in this strange new level of London. Stoneheart is one of those books where I want to buy it just so I can turn back and read my favorite passages over and over again and believe me there are a lot of them. This book is really funny and at times it’s quite serious. George needs to learn about this new world so he can figure out a way to make it to tomorrow and it turns out to be quite a ride. Stoneheart is one of the best books I’ve read (okay, listened to) this year!

Review: Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters

Author: Michelle Zink

Release Date: August 1^st, 2009

Publisher: Little, Brown

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 352

Source: Borrowed from Library

Series: Prophecy of the Sisters (#1)

Other Titles in the Series: Guardian of the Gate (#2), Circle of Fire (#3)

Summary (goodreads.com): An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-

One good...

One evil...

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.

They just know they can't trust each other.

My Review:

I read this upon the urging of two of my best friends who read it when it first came out in 2009. My one friend read it in one day, while the other read it in a double period of engineering (so about an hour and a half). I was convinced that it would be a brilliant book because they just blew through it like they couldn’t read fast enough. I didn’t blow through it at all, there was a slow start and it didn’t pick up until more than half way through. I felt as if I was always waiting for something to happen, something other than what the book jacket said. There’s a lot of talk and no action. However, I will be reading (and reviewing) the rest of the series because I am hoping it will get better. Overall, I liked this book, but it was nothing special.

Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter

Author: Julie Kagawa

Release Date: August 1^st, 2010

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 359

Source: Borrowed from Library

Series: The Iron Fey (#2)

Other Titles in the Series: The Iron King (#1), The Iron Queen (#3), The Iron Knight (#4)

Summary (goodreads.com): Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

My Review:

The beginning of the book starts off where the last one left off basically, Meghan in the Winter Court. However, in the beginning of the novel she isn’t that strong heroine I grew to love. Oh no she’s a whiner baby. She spends most of her time in the Winter Court complaining about how Ash is ignoring her. That drove me CRAZY. If she loves him she should have LISTENED to him when he told her that he was going to have to do that while they were in his neck of the Nevernever because it wasn’t safe for her there if he showed his true feelings. But did she listen to the man she loves? Of course not, so she spends a majority of the beginning complaining about everything. When she does leave the Winter Court to go on the next adventure she becomes her old awesome self and the book starts to become as unputdownable as the last one. All my favorite characters are back including Puck, Grim and Ironhorse and with some new enemies and some new friends the middle and end are action packed. Will I tell you about that action? No, because I’m afraid I’ll spoil it. Rest assured though that if you like The Iron King and can make it though the whiny beginning this will not disappoint!