Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #13: Angelfall

Angelfall
Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1

Author: Susan Ee
Pages: 254
Publisher: Amazon Children's Publishing
Source: Purchased
Recommended by: Steph of Cuddlebuggery

Description from Goodreads:
It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

First Sentence: "Ironically, since the attacks, the sunsets have been glorious."

Review:
Right now, I am so happy with myself for coming up with this feature. Keep suggesting all of the wonderful books to me, you beautiful people. I'm riding high on two awesome suggestions in a row. *basks in the glory of good books*

I'm going to warn you up front that the awesomeness of this book makes me want to swear, and I believe in being true to my reactions to books, so if you can't handle a foul-mouthed review, this is not your day for my reviews.

Obviously, I've heard tell of Susan Ee's Angelfall. I mean, heck, the average rating among my friends on Goodreads is an almost unheard of 4.45, since I tend to befriend the pickier side of the internet. That's not just based on a couple of reviews either, but over thirty. Such things do not happen often. Oftentimes such hype can end in disappointment, but I am thrilled to announce that Angelfall is still badass, more than I could have anticipated.

Susan Ee's post-apocalyptic landscape is horrifying on just about every level and I love it so much. Like with so many, humans are scattered and suffering, surviving off of whatever they can scrounge up in houses and stores. Humanity's doomed whether they deal with the attackers or not, because agriculture's sort of important, yo. Also like a number of other post-apocalyptic scenarios, our heroine, Penryn is with helpless family to protect: her crippled little sister and her batshit insane mother. So, basically, she's fucked. Some people might want to cut and run, knowing their chances of survival were better alone, but Penryn loves her sister Paige and her mom, broken though they are in different ways.

The attack that happened? Yeah, that was motherfucking angels. Pretty intense, no? Susan Ee takes the whole Christian angel mythology and does something totally awesome and horrific with it. I would like to give her a fistbump for this. These angels definitely have more of a scary Old Testament flair, and, based on their actions, if they are controlled by a god, he's not too pleased with humanity. How incredibly creepy would that  be to realize your religion was both right and wrong? Oh, look, here come the angels down from Heaven to take the good people . . . and kill them in nasty ways. Only, not so much just the good people but all of the people. Pardon me while I evil laugh at how bitching this is.

As the book opens, Penryn, her mother, and her sister stumble across this like angel showdown. This angel with white wings is getting beat down by a whole bunch of angels with colored wings, even though white winged dude is obviously strongest. How often does a series open with the romantic lead getting the shit beat out of him and his fucking wings chopped off? Not often, and I dig it. I love to see strong characters not win every fight. If they don't, everything comes too easily and there's no big emotional payoff and no fear that they might not make it through.

Anyway, Penryn manages to startle the angel group sort of by accident and chase them away, but they freaking swoop down and flap off with Paige like a hawk grabbing a bunny for dinner. Obviously, Penryn is pissed and determined, so she has to try to save this damn angel, so he'll tell her where the fuck to find those other angels so she can get Paige back.

Penryn and Raffe, the angel, engage in some pretty great banter, both when they do and do not feel kindly disposed towards one another, so that's awesome. I like how Penryn often can't think of a clever retort, because that is so me, but that sometimes she thinks of one and I am all proud for her. Also, I love that Penryn and Raffe don't treat one another all that differently as they grow fond of one another. Like, yes, they help each other more and are more considerate, but they don't go from snarky to sappy at all. They stay true to their characters the whole time, which is awesome. Oh, and, just fyi, I talked about love interests and all of that, but there really isn't much romance in this one, so don't let that scare you off. More like there's a ship there if you wanted, but you don't need to sail on it to have a good time.

From this point on, I can't say much, because spoilers are evil. BUT I will say that there's some seriously creepy shit in this book, like a couple of scenes that join the list that haunts my brain. *shudders* Ee definitely also joins the list of authors not afraid to do monstrously awful things to their characters, which has me jumping around in malicious glee. Book two could go positively anywhere and I love that.

The only thing missing from this experience for me was an emotional connection to the characters. Oddly, I do really like Penryn and Raffe, so I'm not sure why I didn't bond. Sadly, I didn't. Scary things would happen and I would admire the awesomeness of the moment, but I never felt any concern for them. I was just watching, not sucked in. Of course, that's such a personal thing, and I wouldn't let that stop anyone else from picking the book up, because, as I said already, this book is bitching.

There's a reason everyone's talking about Angelfall. Go read it.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"When he smiles, he really does look like someone you'd want to get to know. Some otherworldly handsome guy a girl could dream about.
     Only he's not a guy. And he's too otherworldly. Not to mention that this girl is beyond dreaming about anything other than food, shelter, and the safety of her family."

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons, suggested by Lisa V. Now that I know what to expect from the series, I hope that I like this installment a bit more than The Bronze Horseman! *concentrates on being in the right frame of mind*

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #11: The Collector

The Collector
Dante Walker, Book 1

Author: Victoria Scott
Pages: 352
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Source: Gifted - Thanks Steph!
Recommended by: the ever-amazing Steph of Cuddlebuggery

Description from Goodreads:
He makes good girls...bad.

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

First Sentence: "I'm in a slump, off my game, throwing up bricks, swinging and missing."

Review:
Before I get to the book, check that sassy banner of awesomeness up there. Many thanks to Giselle of Xpresso Reads, Book Tours, and Design!

Listen, I won't lie to you guys. I full expected to hate this book. I mean, that cover and the description. Those things do not scream "CHRISTINA WILL LOVE THIS," and, in fact, generally send me screaming in the opposite direction. However, Steph put this in the Sadie Hawkins list, and even generously purchased a copy for me, so I went into it with as open a mind as possible. Well, surprise! The Collector actually turned out to be a highly entertaining read, full of humor and a unique protagonist.

Okay, so Dante is just as much of an ass as he comes off from the description and the cover. Since I hate cocky guys, I expected to want to kick him in the balls all the way through the book, but he really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. He's a cocky jerk, but really no worse than your average pampered, neglected teen. What's cool about his perspective is that Scott takes a risk with him as a narrator. If Charlie narrated this, The Collector would be a standard formula paranormal romance and Dante would appear a nicer guy overall.

See, I feel like Dante's just like a lot of the paranormal heroes in YA, only we have unrestricted access to his thought processes, not all of which are pleasant. He judges women on their appearance, often using derogatory terms like fugly. He also thinks shit like this: "If Charlie doesn't dig my get up, I'll expose her for what she is: asexual." The latter does keep me from ever really rooting for him. On the other hand, I don't completely hate him, because most of what he says and does is polite, even defending Charlie's looks to a rude salesperson, early on enough in the book that it's not because he's matured yet. If you're really in someone's head, you're going to see a lot of non-flattering thoughts, so if you judge Dante on his actions more than his thoughts, yeah, he's still not a great guy, but he's redeemable. This seems more realistic than the mysterious hot new guy finding all of a girl's flaws adorable right from the get go. For the record, though, I don't think he's hot and would never want him to be my book boyfriend.

The best aspect of The Collector is Victoria Scott's talent for humor. A lot of lines made me smile or snort. The tone of The Collector stays pretty light and the book doesn't take itself too seriously, which is another way Scott's novel distinguishes itself from the bulk of paranormal romance offerings.There's an element of tongue-in-cheek to Dante, in which he exaggerates his own personality to make fun of himself and lighten a tense moment. He's not always entirely serious when he says outlandish things, just mostly serious.

Though predictable, I also really appreciated the way Dante learned from Charlie's friend group. She has two best friends, Annabelle and Blue. They let Dante into their group pretty readily, after making sure he knows they'll defend Charlie with everything they've got. The moments where the three of them just hang out together are brilliant, and I especially loved the tentative friendship between Blue and Dante, despite their rivalry for Charlie's affections.

Where The Collector lost me somewhat was everything about Dante's relationship with Charlie. Thought I don't hate Dante, I still don't think they make a good couple, and shipped her more with Blue. The fact that their relationship is forced into such a short time frame only exacerbated my disinclination towards their relationship. Instalove is a huge turn off, especially when I already wasn't digging them as a couple. Sure, Dante didn't like her at first, but Charlie claims to have loved him from the start and falling love in less than ten days is still instalove to me anyway. While I did buy some of Dante's emotional arc, I never felt sold on his feelings for Charlie and they definitely came on too strong and too fast. It's also pretty questionable that they came on stronger in proportion to her attractiveness.

If you're a fan of humorous paranormal romance, you will most assuredly want to seek out The Collector. Though The Collector was not a perfect read for me, I am curious enough to pick up the next installment in the Dante Walker series, The Liberator, if I can get my hands on it.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "Ah, our touching love-hate relationship strikes again. Tear."

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, which was suggested by Dragana of Bookworm Dreams. So excited for this one, because I have heard only awesome things, and I've enjoyed the other two Sanderson books I've read!

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: Guardian

Guardian
Halflings, Book 1

Author: Heather Burch
Pages: 320
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Source: Publisher for blog tour hosted by The Book Vortex

Description from Goodreads:
Vigilance. The mission to safeguard Nikki Youngblood depends on the fragile alliance of two half-angel, half-human guardians, both struggling with intense feelings for the girl who has been assigned to their care. Mace, steadfast and deeply in love, wants to protect Nikki at all costs, while Raven's loyalty to Nikki finds him advocating for her independence and battling his own darker inclinations. At the same time, Nikki finds it harder and harder to choose between the two heavenly beings she may never have. Dangers intensify, and tensions between Mace and Raven flare as the purpose of their mission becomes clear. Can their defenses hold up to master manipulator Damon Vessler and the powerful secret he holds regarding Nikki's heritage? Can anyone protect Nikki from her true purpose and destiny?

First Sentence: "'We are not going in.'"

Review:

The fact that I enjoy the Halflings series by Heather Burch remains an utter surprise to me. They are so much not my thing that I keep expecting to be annoyed beyond repair on every page. I say this to emphasize that, while my rating is certainly on the low end of liking the book, it's a miracle that I liked it at all. If you enjoy paranormal romance and Christian themes more than I do, then you should most definitely check out Heather Burch's Halflings books.

As those familiar with my reviews probably know by this point, one of the few genres I generally cannot stand is Christian fiction. Not being a believer myself, I hate being preached to, so that kills a book immediately. Thankfully, Burch does not preach much at all. Both Halflings and Guardian felt more like they were merely set in Christian mythology rather than trying to impart Christian values to me, a fact I am immensely thankful for. 

Another reason I like these books is Nikki. Except with regards to romance, Nikki Youngblood does not act like the stereotypical heroine. She's strong, and always wants to help, even when people (primarily Will and Mace) try to marginalize her. From years of martial arts training, she's physically powerful. She loves motorcycles, and actually knows how to ride them, unlike Bella Swan who used them as suicide machines. On top of that, she knows and appreciates her own skills and refuses to let anyone tell her what she can or can't do. Best of all, she will not compromise herself to make a boy happy.

The plot meandered a bit in the beginning of the book, but took shape towards the end. I never did figure out precisely why the trip to Europe at the opening was necessary; the explanation that a higher power told Will does not fly with me. They really do not seem to have accomplished anything there that could not have been done in Nikki's home town. However, once the actual plot kicked in, it was both exciting and creepy, as Nikki confronts her internal battles and Raven studies some mad scientists.

The biggest weak point of the series is the love triangle. Of course, I'm generally not a huge fan of love triangles, so I suppose that's not surprising. On the plus side, there does seem to be a slight possibility Nikki might go for either guy, but I don't really imagine she would choose anyone but Mace. Unfortunately, Mace bores and irritates me, what with his desires to protect her like a manly man. Raven may be the "bad boy," but he empowers Nikki, helping her gain in strength so she can protect herself. Sure, he'll protect her if she needs it, but that's the back up plan. Mostly, though, I dislike the way Nikki acts when she's with them, because she finds herself unable to resist either Raven's or Mace's charms, swept away. Nikki is stronger than that, and it seems out of character for her to be so indecisive and to go from boy to boy, and especially to cheat.

Though I am not the ideal audience, I happily recommend these books to those who welcome Christianity as a main theme in their fiction and who are perhaps more tolerant of love triangle shenanigans than I am. They're well-written and certainly some of the better angel books I've read.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'In case you didn't notice, there's a war going on around us. And I've been drafted. So I'm sorry you don't like the idea of your girl fighting, but you better get used to it. Because I'm not backing down.'"

Review: A Temptation of Angels

A Temptation of Angels

Author: Michelle Zink
Pages: 435
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Source: Author for review

Description from Goodreads:
Even angels make mistakes in this page-turning epic romance.

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel. Michelle Zink masterfully weaves historical fantasy with paranormal romance to create a gripping tale of love and betrayal.

First Sentence: "Though it was late, it was not the sound of arguing that woke Helen in the dead of night."

Review:
Obviously, this is an instance of review copy failure. To be fair, I did receive this ARC after publication, but I still meant to have the review done way before now. Better late than never, though, right? The good news is that, despite some predictions to the contrary, I did actually like A Temptation of Angels, and, in some ways, I was very surprised and impressed by Zink's novel.

On the surface, this book was poised to frustrate me endlessly: a special snowflake heroine with violet eyes, the murder of parents, angels, and a love triangle. Actually, though, Zink dealt with most of these in a manner that I deemed perfectly acceptable, so, if you've been considering this book but unsure, you may want to give it a go.

Angels have not been my favorite subset of paranormal fiction by any means. Too often they serve as a platform by which the author can serve up their religious viewpoints to unsuspecting young readers. Thankfully, A Temptation of Angels ranks with the grouping of angel fiction that makes no attempt to say anything whatever about religion, along with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which I read earlier this week.

Though I obviously liked her omission of any real look into where the angels precisely came from or who they were working for, I would have appreciated a bit more elucidation into how the Keepers function on earth. Having finished the book, I'm not entirely certain what normal operations as a Keeper entail. What really boggles my mind, though, is how they come into being. I really couldn't get a handle on any of this from the few mentions they got. For once, I would have liked more infodumping.

What I really appreciated about A Temptation of Angels was Helen, and the way the boys treated her. Though I didn't initially think too much of her, she grew on me. She refused to let herself be left behind or ignored. The boys bossed her around much of the time, but only because she really didn't know what she was doing. If she picked up a needed skill, she would be accorded respect for that. When she had a better idea, they listened to her. Unlike so many YA boys, they did not view her as lesser solely for being a woman. Though she does spend a lot of time being lifted and caught, I suspect that, down the road, she would build up her strength and no longer require or accept that help. As a heroine, Helen was constantly growing, unwilling to be anyone's dependent, which is a wonderful message for teenage girls.

Yes, there is a love triangle, but I do need to give Michelle Zink props for not adding Darius into the mix. Things would have been so much worse had she been torn between Darius and Griffin as I initially feared. The triangle between Griffin and Raum made more sense, given that she had feelings of slightly different natures for the two, which could be complicated and nigh indecipherable to an innocent sixteen year old, new to the world of romance. In fact, were it not for the instalove, which grows naturally enough but in too short a time span (just a couple of days), I would probably be pretty okay with how all of this went down, especially since Helen was in control of herself throughout and making her own thoughtful decisions.

Zink's writes well, so far as sentence structure goes, which was another plus. I didn't however get a sense of the time period, and was surprised to note that it was a historical several chapters in. Perhaps that's my own failing, but, even once I knew, something about the book read as modern for me, though I really could not say why. The story does have the slower pace of most historicals, so beware of that.

For those who dearly love paranormal romances and can bear another instalove love triangle, Michelle Zink's novel will likely not disappoint. Even I, tired as I am of instalove, thought Zink's novel was quite enjoyable.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'I've felt your belief in me, and though it seems small, I've begun to wonder if that's all we really need. Just one person who knows us truly. One person who knows the darkness that lies within and believes in us anyway.'"

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Book 1

Author: Laini Taylor
Pages: 417
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
Around the world, black hand prints 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 grows 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?

First Sentence: "Walking to school over the snow-muffled cobbles, Karou had no sinister premonitions about the day."

Review:

One of the interesting things about being late to read a really hyped book is that everyone reports to you with their predictions of and hope for your reaction to the title. There's no doubt that Daughter of Smoke and Bone has been heavily hyped. Despite that, my expectations remained relatively low, because I'd heard of instalove and angels, neither of which generally work for me. While this book did not turn out to be a five star read for me as it has been for so many, DOSAB actually impressed much more than I ever could have anticipated.

Laini Taylor writes beautifully. Her prose has an edge to it that results in an entirely different atmosphere than I'm used to reading, and that was so unbelievably refreshing. Something about the phrasing really sold me on the foreign setting as well. The characters and setting and syntax did not feel American. Taylor's writing bursts with dark humor, which I just love. Seriously, the amount that I love her writing can hardly be overstated.

If I had to use a single word to sum up DOSAB, I met say 'refreshing,' because this book has a feeling all its own. Though on the surface, the plot seems somewhat ho-hum, another special snowflake set to fall in love with the super gorgeous paranormal hero, that barely scratches the surface. Laini has clearly put a ridiculous amount of thought into the building of this world. She has created an incredibly vivid landscape that came alive in my mind.

Karou sets herself apart from the garden variety heroine very quickly. Yes, she can make wishes and have them come true because of the chimaeras that raised her, and, yes, she will fall in instalove with a sexy paranormal, but she has so much verve that makes her just Karou and like no one else. Karou has blue hair (thanks to a wish), tattoos, and speaks numerous languages (also thanks to wishes). She attends art school in Prague, and has a clear passion for drawing. Brimstone, Karou's chimaera guardian taught her how to defend herself too, so she also kicks ass. When we meet her, Karou has recently dumped her first boyfriend Kaz, whom she thought she loved and with whom she had sex for the first time. Karou is a much edgier, darker heroine than can generally be found in young adult fiction and I loved her snark.

Her best friend, Zuzana, however, totally stole the show. I freaking adore Zuzana. For one thing, it's completely wonderful to get to read about a real friendship like theirs. They share ideas for projects, play delightful-sounding games together at their favorite cafe (for example How much would your life have to suck to want the Apocalypse?), and actually talk about stresses in Zuzana's life, not just those in Karou's. In fact, Karou cares so much that she scheduled a trip out of her way just to buy a present for Zuzana. This was such a delight after so many YA heroine using their supposed BFFs as doormats. Zuzana has an even darkier, dirtier wit than Karou. Also, she and Mik are so completely adorable, although a bit to prone to PDA.

As much as I geared up to hate the instalove in DOSAB, that aspect of the book really did not bother me. Karou and Akiva certainly do trade some eyerollingly cheesy lines, but they're not nearly as ridiculous as most instaloving characters. They do at least both show some evidence of a personality, which always help. What really made this okay, though, was Taylor's writing and the fact that there's sort of a reason for all of this.

Oh, also, I need to mention again how cool the creatures in here are. The chimaeras are like nothing I've read about before. More surprisingly, so are the angels. Taylor's seraphs are definitely my favorite angels thus far. Why? Because they have nothing whatsoever to do with religion! That reminds me of another thing I loved: each group of creatures had their own explanation for the creation of the universe.

Up to this point, I have pretty much been raving. Here's where I had to mark the book down. Through roughly the first half of the book, DOSAB could even conceivably have earned a 4.5 from me. However, most of the last half consisted of flashbacks to Akiva's relationship with his first love, the late Madrigal. While I see that these contained necessary information for the reader, they bored me quite a bit. Akive evinces a bit more personality, but does not have enough charisma to carry my interest. Madrigal, sadly, interested me not at all; she seems to have so little to her. Basically, as long as these flashbacks continued, I kept hoping that the end of the next chapter would bring me back to the present time with Karou. When they're finally over, so is the book. Le sigh.

Anyway, I ordered Days of Blood and Starlight when I was only partway through and will be devouring that very soon. From the reviews and statuses I've seen about that one, I suspect it will be a much stronger read for me.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'I don't know many rules to live by,' he'd said. 'But here's one. It's simple. Don't put anything unnecessary into yourself. No poisons or chemicals, no fumes or smoke or alcohol, no sharp objects, no inessential needles—drug or tattoo—and . . . no inessential penises, either.'
   'Inessential penises?' Karou had repeated, delighted with the phrase in spite of her grief. 'Is there any such thing as an essential one?'
   'When an essential one comes along, you'll know,' he'd replied."

A Quiet Mind - Blue October

Level 2
The Memory Chronicles, Book 1

Author: Lenore Appelhans
Pages: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
Source: Simon & Schuster at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours downloading memories and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, she learns the truth: a rebellion is brewing to overthrow the Morati, the guardians of Level 2.

Felicia is reluctant to trust Julian, but then he promises what she wants the most—to be with Neil again—if only she’ll join the rebels. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself in the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

First Sentence: "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Review:
Anyone who reads my blog regularly probably already knows how much I wanted this book. It was one of my WoW posts, and has been on my wishlist from the moment I found out Lenore Appelhans, the wonderful blogger behind Presenting Lenore, had a dystopian novel coming out. I was so all over that, especially since Lenore is the creator of Dystopian August, which means she really knows her stuff. Also, oh hey, it's Dystopian August! Woo! Make sure you check out her blog as well as mine for reviews, giveaways and bookish talk!

Since Lenore is one of my favorite bloggers, and definitely the one I've been following the longest, I went into this with ALL of the expectations. ALL OF THEM. From that perspective, Level 2 wasn't quite everything I was hoping for, though, if you aren't expecting instant new favorite book of all time, I suspect this won't be an issue. Lenore's book definitely is delightful and unique, though, so do not let the fact that it didn't rise to my insanely high expectations put you off at all.

The first awesome thing about Level 2 is the world building, which is multi-faceted and complex. She reveals new layers of epic awesome as you read through the book, and I have no doubt this will continue in the next book. The world building was definitely my favorite thing, and I loved how Lenore could completely surprise me or explain something that I was at first skeptical of. She makes this work like whoa.

At the beginning of Level 2, I was a bit confused, as, indeed, you're supposed to be. You join Felicia in this weird afterlife; that's about all I knew going into it, and Felicia doesn't know any more than you do. In Level 2's version of the afterlife, you hang out in a room full of pods, spending most of your time watching the afterlife equivalent of YouTube (YouDead? lol), only you're watching your memories, pulled from your mind in high definition and with better detail than you could have done on your own. I totally wrote short story like this in college, though clearly not so detailed, and I loved seeing the idea really fleshed out. Not only can they watch all of their own memories, but they can share them with others, earning currency to buy new memories when people purchase theirs.

Why would you want to watch someone else's memories? To stave off boredom, of course! One small theme running through Level 2 which I really appreciated was the Fahrenheit 451 aspect to the printed word. In the afterlife, books only exist if someone read them closely enough that every word appears in someone's memory. Otherwise, it's gone. That is just so powerful. You'll all be glad to know that I've got Level 2 tucked away in my brain, so we're good. Also, bloggers would have so much currency in the afterlife, since we read so many things!

Of course, there are also MORE things going on, like I promised. I'm not going to go into great detail about the rest of the world building, because I think it's something best left for you to find. I will just mention that there's some awesome stuff that one can do with mind power. Also, Lenore has a wholly new take on angels. I, for one, am always skeptical of angels, because RELIGION, but no worries my agnostic and atheist friends, there's no preaching, I promise.

Felicia, our main character, is not the most likable heroine you will ever meet. I suspect some readers will have difficulties connecting with her. Partly, this is caused by what spending so long constantly replaying just one's best memories will do to someone. She's definitely not a perfect person by any means. She has made serious mistakes with painful consequences, mostly involving an unfortunate attraction to the not-so-trustworthy Julian. She's also one of those people who, if you tell them to stay in the car, will never EVER stay in the car.

Though there were some things I didn't like about Felicia, she worked for me as a heroine. Felicia has spunk and sarcasm, and she's not overly trusting. She does complain, but as soon as she finishes doing that, she throws herself bodily into a task. I don't begrudge someone a 'man, this sucks,' so long as they then do what they can, and she always does. In fact, my one complaint about the pacing of the novel is that Felicia seems to come by her defensive skills too quickly and easily. In this case, I would have liked a training montage or some way to mark time passing.

In addition to Felicia, we have two other super important people I must talk about: Neil and Julian. Yes, there's a love triangle. I know, I know. It's okay, though. This love triangle is made more interesting by the fact that we have a juxtaposition between past and present, and the fact that only Julian is actually present. Though I initially hated Julian, who is definitely too cocky and bad boy-ish for my usual tastes, I'm currently in his team, because he's complex and interesting. I want to know more about him. Neil is too perfect, too high school love, too religious, to hold much appeal for me, BUT I have yet to meet him except in Felicia's favorite memories of him. At this juncture, it's in no way clear which competitor will win fair Felicia's heart, which always helps in a love triangle.

So far as the dystopian stuff goes, Level 2 is not the most dystopian novel ever, but there's obviously some creepy stuff happening because of...whoever's in charge. There will be more dystopian goodness (errr...badness) in the coming books, I am sure.

Lenore Appelhans' Level 2 is a thought provoking read that will put you into an entirely new world. The images will stick in your brain long after you finish. In fact, rewriting this review just before it's meant to publish (since I managed to accidentally delete the original, because I'm an idiot), I find myself wishing I had time to reread Level 2, so that I could catch plot threads that I missed on my first read. I will definitely need to reread before reading the next book. You definitely don't want to miss out on Level 2.

Favorite Quote: "‘The point is to keep trying new things, meeting new people, visiting new places. Once you settle into a rut, no matter how fun that rut may seem, you stagnate. You might as well be dead.’"

"You give me a quiet mind and I...
I love you
Until the end
Until the end

Give me strength to be kind... To combine
All the good things in life that are so hard to find
But I have and I won't let them go like I do with my friends (my friends)"

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Angel's Eye - Aerosmith

Angel Eyes
Angel Eyes Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Shannon Dittemore
Pages: 311
ARC Acquired from: Thomas Nelson via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .

ANGEL EYES

Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.

First Sentence: "The knot in my throat is constant."

Review:
Yet again, I must preface this review by saying that I myself am not religious. I'm an agnostic that doesn't have any religious background. I've had a lot of really close friends who are very religious, but I still have trouble with Christian fiction, which is mostly tied in to my hatred for proselytizing. Religious views can be conveyed subtly in novels, but usually it feels like I'm being whopped over the head with the Godly gavel, which leaves a rather nasty headache.

I've read a couple of other Thomas Nelson titles recently, Halflings and Swipe, and neither was too religious for me, even though Halflings was also about angels. Angel Eyes, though, definitely pushed a little too hard. I actually really liked the book until about halfway through, and then it perpetually made me roll my eyes more and more as the religious elements became steadily more heavy-fisted.

I'm going to start with the good stuff. First off, the writing is excellent. Told from Brielle's perspective, I can feel her pain. At the opening, she is broken, unable to cope with her friend Ali's murder, and the fact that she could possibly have prevented it. The writing conveys her brokenness and you can feel how cut off from others she is. You can also feel her warming up, literally, and recovering as she meets Jake.

The darkness of the story, not the sugary lightness of the usual inspirational fiction, was definitely a big plus. Dittemore tackles the big issues of death, grief, and why God would allow good people to die. Unfortunately, there's just not really any new ground or new answers she can, or at least does, provide to those issues. Still, I liked that she at least tried.

What I didn't like was the way the religion worked in the book. Brielle is not a believer at the start, because of her mother's and friend's deaths. Then she meets Jake, who stalks her (this only freaks her out for like five seconds) and he heals a broken bone for her. After that, he promises to tell her everything, but has to go on a trip with his dad, Canaan, so he leaves her a gold 'cuff,' which the girl does not recognize as a halo. Really?

My issues are twofold. Brielle doesn't have a choice but to believe. When she puts the halo on, she sees the celestial realm. She now knows angels on a first name basis. A big part of Christian faith, as I understand it, and this is even mentioned in the book, is based on faith without proof, but she gets to have proof. That's not fair! Her choice to be a non-believer has been taken away from her. And yet other people aren't told. If faith is the key to Heaven, and some people are shown the truth and others are left to believe in something they see no evidence of, that's a rigged system. Does He really want particular people to fail and some to go to Heaven?

This book also suffers from another problem I see in a lot of Christian fiction, namely that God and his forces do everything. Brielle, and even Jake, are mostly useless as far as the confrontations with evil go. For all that God isn't supposed to intervene to protect people, his angels sure do all of the defensive work. This is inconsistent and also makes me wonder why we're even following these teens, when they're clearly just being lead around by God's plan. The book says there's a choice, but there's not.

If I enjoyed Christian fiction, I think I would have liked this. If you agree with the view point being conveyed here, then you'll probably enjoy it, as the novel is well-written. I would have liked to see more of the heroine (particularly, why have her be a ballerina if she only dances once for like two pages?) and I'd like to see her more empowered. I will not be reading the second book, but I do recommend this book to people who aren't turned off by God as a character.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "There is something so attractive about a man who is able to laugh shamelessly."

"What ya gonna do when the Angels come?
What ya gonna do when you come undone?"

Think About Me - Goo Goo Dolls

A Beautiful Dark

Author: Jocelyn Davies
Pages: 390
ARC Acquired from: HarperCollins via NetGalley (this review is much belated)

Description from Goodreads:
On the night of Skye's seventeenth birthday, she meets two enigmatic strangers. Complete opposites;like fire and ice;Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair and aloof. Their sudden appearance sends Skye's life into a tailspin. She has no idea what they want, or why they seem to follow her every move only that their presence coincides with a flurry of strange events. Soon she begins to doubt not just the identity of the two boys, but also the truth about her own past.

In the dead of a bitingly cold Colorado winter, Skye finds herself coming to terms with the impossible secret that threatens to shatter her world. Torn between Asher, who she can't help falling for, and Devin, who she can't stay away from, the consequences of Skye's choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.

First Sentence: "The air had a brutal edge to it as I stood outside of Love the Bean, the local free-trade coffee shop."

Review:
What drew me to A Beautiful Dark is probably pretty obvious: there's a girl wearing a dress on the cover. That said, the more I look at it, the less I'm sure I actually even like the cover. The dress isn't all that flattering, and I hate the way it goes up at the shoulders. Clearly, the pointy shoulders were to suggest wings, which they do, but they also look like crazy evil-witch-queen shoulder pads.

From the very beginning, this book reminded me heavily of Personal Demons, although this book was definitely better. Both are about a girl being pursued, because of her super secret powers she doesn't know she has, by two hot guys, one light, one dark. In both books, the guys appear from out of town and infiltrate her high school. Both heroines are torn and want both guys. However, this one works a bit better, because at least it's not told from the POV of the heroine and one of the guys, which made the love triangle more stupid than most.

The main problem I had with this book was that the characters were all flat, failing to resemble real people at all. First of all, there's Skye. At first, I thought I might like her, because she was focused on good grades, totally not looks-focused, and not boy crazy. Of course, this level-headed girl goes out of the window as soon as the hot boys show up. For all that she's supposed to be incredibly intelligent, she fails to make any but the simplest deductions about the situations in which she finds herself. Although possessed of a lot of power, she doesn't try very hard to learn how to use it, and spends most of her time crying about how she just wants to be normal. Wouldn't a girl who loves to study want to figure out how to make use of her talents, rather than moping to lessons? Despite all that power, she has no control over at all, and thus does nothing useful with it ever.

In addition to Skye, there are three boys panting after her. First, there's Ian, the requisite best friend in unrequited love. He ought to be sympathetic, but he has no personality. He merely alternates between trying to buy Skye's affection with tons of free beverages from the coffee house where he works and being a dick to her because she doesn't like him.

Asher, the dark angel boy, is the one she feels an immediate lust for, even though she quickly decides that he's a playboy. The heroine has correctly identified that this guy is a bad place to put her heart, yet she spends most of the book wanting him. I will never like a male lead who winks as much as Asher does. Oh yeah, and did I mention the part where he totally was watching her secretly for most of her life? I thought Edward watching Bella sleep after they met was creepy, but Skye didn't even know him and he was watching.

Devin seems the best of the lot, assuming you have a thing for boring rule-followers. Not to mention the ordained to be with someone else part of the equation. His main qualification as boyfriend material is that he has a calming effect on Skye. This could be romantic, I suppose, but it's not here.

Skye's friends, Dan and Cassie, could have stolen the show. Several series that I love/hate have awful main characters but keep me coming back for the sidekicks (prime example: Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments books). Unfortunately, Davies didn't care about them all that much, and they don't do much of anything interesting either.

The plot, too, is lacking. Honestly, despite the fact that it's almost 400 pages long, not a whole lot happens to move the plot arc along. It feels as though this could have been the opening to a novel (assuming you cut out the unnecessary stuff), rather than a complete novel itself.

Fans of Twilight will flock (punned!) to this series, but if you're in it for plot, a strong heroine or originality, I would recommend looking elsewhere. That said, I might end up reading the sequel, because it has a pretty cover. Hopefully not though.

Rating: 2/5

Favorite Quote: "'It's a misconception that you need a heart to love.'"

"You see a little stranger in your mirror
The girl you never knew is what you fear"

Breathe - Angels & Airwaves

Halflings
Halflings, Book 1

Author: Heather Burch
Pages: 288
ARC Acquired from: Zondervan via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
For some reason, the forces of good and evil seem to be very interested in Nikki. On the plus side, this means that she has three very hot guys (Mace, Raven and Vine) following her around protecting her, halflings (half-angels). Of course, she's also being followed by hellhounds and other nefarious/disgusting creatures. Why is she so important?

Review:
For the most part, I try to be a fairly open-minded reader of fictions. While I obviously prefer certain genres to others, I do read most of them occasionally. The main exception to that is christian fiction. I just can't deal with most of it, although I have tried.

Believe it or not, I actually have a minor in theology, so it's not that I'm not willing to consider other belief systems or that I'm categorically opposed to the possibility of god. I'm an agnostic, so, basically, who the heck knows.

Anyway, all that lead in was just to explain that, despite my fairly open mind, constant biblical references and the sugar-sweetness that I've found in the Christian books I've tried up to this point have turned my stomach. Thankfully, Halflings did not fit that mold. I honestly never thought that I would be requesting anything from Zondervan. Even less did I expect that I might enjoy said title. The reason I requested Halflings, even though I feared that I would hate it, is that the author, Heather Burch, is part of the Apocalypsies, a group of really awesome debuting authors who have yet to disappoint me.

The religious stuff is definitely in Halflings no doubt, but Burch doesn't beat you over the head with it too much, thank goodness. The story opens with a bible quote, but she did not feel it necessary to open every chapter that way, as so many do. Nikki begins reading the Bible and is converted from her faith in science to faith in a higher power. And, of course, the major players are the forces of heaven and of hell. All of this is done in a light enough way, though, that believer and non-believer can enjoy the tale.

Just because it's Christian does not mean their cannot be some serious love triangle up in here. Of course, Mace is the obvious favorite from the beginning. Personally, I think he's kind of blah. So far, I just don't see too much interesting in him. Raven is the quintessential bad boy with the possibility for more, which I generally do not much care for, but he's just so much more interesting than Mace. Plus, Raven totally encourages Nikki's strength (she's a black belt in karate) and wants to help her protect herself. He's a feminist, woo!

I love when trying a book I wouldn't usually give a chance pays off! I definitely plan to read the next book in the series.

Rating: 3/5

"A blue-black shade of love.
Sent from above.
My hands are tied, two worlds alone,
And this I know.
Your breath's like wine,
And just like clouds, my skin crawls.
It's so divine, the sky it glows with fields of light."

Weak and Powerless - A Perfect Circle

Blessed
Tantalize, Books 3

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Pages: 454
Publisher: Candlewick

Brief Summary:
In Blessed, the storylines of Tantalize and Eternal meet up. At the end of Eternal, Zachary was assigned as the GA (guardian angel) of Quincie. With Brad apparently gone, Quincie is hurriedly hiring replacement staff, who will also be familiar to those who read the prior books, and seriously missing her best friend Kieren. Especially since his parents are now her legal guardians, meaning she has to stay at their house and hide her condition. Other than that, she just has to figure out what to do about all of the people who ate Brad's baby squirrel dessert and will be turning into vampires themselves any day now.

Review:
The storylines coming together is pretty cool. I actually had no idea that these book were a series when I read the first two a couple years ago, or, I knew they were supposed to be and was very confused to find they weren't particularly. The world that Smith created still strikes me as an interesting one, although I still wish her characters could be a little more interesting.

Quincie bothered me the slightest bit less, but mostly only because I was prepared for her annoying-ness. Her new obnoxious trait is complaining about the words people use, but not being smart enough to come up with a replacement of her own. Oy. Anyway, Kieren I still like, as much as one can, considering that he doesn't get much screen time or depth in his personality. Zachary is a bit less cool in this one, since he's trying to be good again. Miranda's gone and I didn't miss her, but I sure could have done without the constant missing of her.

I want to talk a little bit about the restaurant that Quincie owns. Sanguini's: A Very Rare Restaurant has a vampire theme. This makes for some humorous jokes and doesn't seem like something to be taken seriously. However, the restaurant does really well. What I want to know is why? The menus are completely nauseating. Note the baby squirrel dessert from the menu above. Another food featured is crickets. Why?!?

Smith decided to end this volume with a slightly happier note. This actually struck me as a bit forced; the ending seemed to wrap up to nicely, and not entirely realistically. Of course, maybe Smith is saving the real emotion punch for the end of Diabolical.

Rating: 3/5

"Desperate and Ravenous
I'm so weak and powerless over you"

Soul Back - Butterfly Boucher

Eternal
Tantalize, Book 2

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Pages: 307
Publisher: Candlewick

Brief Summary:
Zachary is a guardian angel and his job is to look after Miranda, subtly guiding her to a good path until her life runs its course. Unfortunately, once she grew up, he kind of fell in love with her too. So when he sees the shadow that means imminent death around her, he is freaked. And when he sees her about to die, without thinking, he makes himself visible to her and saves her life. For a little while anyway. Instead of her death by natural causes, his action results in her being turned into a vampire and his being kicked out of heaven. Now he has one chance to get his wings back: kill Dracula (the current one, not the Stoker one...it's a title) and get what remains of her soul back on track.

Review:
My first time through Eternal I was really disappointed, since I'd really enjoyed Tantalize. Now, though, coming in with somewhat lowered expectations I was, largely, pleasantly surprised. This is not to say that I now think this is the best book ever, but I did think it was an interesting read.

Actually, there definitely was quite a lot frustrating about this book and pretty much all of it can be summed up in one word: Miranda. I hate just about everything about her. After she's turned into a vampire princess against her will, she just rolls with it. She happily eats people and calls the creepy, power-mad vampire who turned her Father, because that helps him fulfill his delusion. Miranda is entirely vapid, conceited and selfish.

Smith tries to set her up as an object of pity by showing her friend Lucy's devotion to her, by showing Zachary's love for her, and by suggesting she had a rough home life. The only one of these that's working for me is Lucy. Miranda's fate doesn't sadden me, but her best friend's does, desperately hoping that her friend has not died because of her desire to flirt. Zachary I actually find to be a somewhat interesting character, but his love for her is both creepy (what with the whole guardian angel, watching her grow from a child to a teen, watching her sleep thing) and ridiculous (she sucks [punned!], so why love her?). And, as for her rough home life, her parents got a divorce. Not to say that that is not painful, but her mother still loves her, and her dad, though distant, buys her awesome presents (now who's selfish? haha).

If you like Maggie Stiefvater's books, you may want to give Cynthia Leitich Smith a try. They have a lot of commonalities, I feel. Both have really clever ideas for paranormal YA romances and both write incredibly obnoxious female main characters. With both books I've read so far, I feel like the stories would have been so much more interesting had they focused on the male characters more.

Rating: 2/5

"I think I'd like my soul back

And only now I find I lost it
At all
Some how
You think you're fine
Until you land
On stones
And then you try to think what pushed you
I'll confess
I'm a mess inside
All my fun fell out.
...I think I'd like my soul back."

Fool - Marie Digby

Soul Thief
The Demon Trappers, Book 2

Author: Jana Oliver
Pages: 324
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Brief Summary:
In the second installment of the Demon Trappers series, Atlanta, the Trappers Guild and Riley Blackthorne are still reeling from the demon attack on the Tabernacle. Riley's deal with Heaven saved her boyfriend, Simon, but he's different now, blaming her and her father for everything. Well, when God takes a boyfriend, he gives you a sexy mystery guy in the form of Ori, a freelance demon hunter. Hopefully, he can protect her from the geofiend that's still after her, since she's busy worrying about who raised her father, how the holy water scam is being accomplished, what's wrong with Simon, and convincing the demon hunters from the Vatican that she's not in league with Hell.

Review:
The Demon Trappers series may not be great literature in any way, but it is super enjoyable so far. Some elements, like her crazy religious stuff, which is getting more potent, annoys me, but I still read along at a swift pace, curious to discover what will happen next.

In its weak spots, Soul Thief reminds me of the House of Night series by the Cast mother-daughter team. This is definitely a bad thing. What saves the book from the horrors of that series is Riley. Although she's not the brightest, she does truly believe in her actions and she does what she can to help others. Unlike Zoey Redbird, she does not screw others over intentionally.

One really good thing that happened here was Simon going crazy. I really don't like Simon. Even at his sweetest, he kind of creeped me out and I never thought he and Riley made sense. I felt so justified when he acted like such a jerk after she saved his life. Beck is my favorite of the guys in her life, I guess, although I don't necessarily approve of his decisions (or his annoying accent). The whole protecting her by telling her what to do business is rather irritating; besides, he ought to know her well enough to know that ordering her around is going to have the reverse effect. Plus, if he really wanted to stop her, why not spend more time with her and less belly up to the bar?

Like the first book, The Demon Trapper's Daughter, this one is a definite thrill ride, filled with romance, betrayal and action sequences. This is a fun ride.

"You laid your trap pitifully obvious
But sometimes a good girl falls through
It's true, I'm not the only one
To fall in love with a fool
I fell in love with a fool

At the end of the hall
In room number 804
Lives the devil himself in his dark kept secret hell
And curiosity grew with every single following day
And I would dream, dream that you're here with me
I hate to say I'm giving in to you"

Angel of the Morning - Pretenders

Unearthly
Unearthly, Book 1

Author: Cynthia Hand
Genre: young adult, fantasy
Pages: 448 (I read this on my Kindle, but it really didn't feel that long)
ARC Acquired From: HarperTeen via Net Galley

Brief Summary:
Clara has known she was special (really special, not the your-parents-say-you're-special-but-you're-not kind of special) since she was 14, when her mom revealed to her that they are both part angel. Her mother is a Dimidius, half-angel, while she is but one-quarter angel. These descendants of angels refer to themselves as angel-bloods, not by the biblical term of Nephilim. What does this mean realistically? Clara has wings, extra athleticism, glory (super shiny commune with God state) and, oh yeah, her purpose. The first book in this new series focuses on her purpose. Every angel-blood receives one somewhere between their sixteenth and twentieth years; they learn what they are meant to do through visions. On the basis of hers, her family moves from California to Wyoming. Of course, nothing's going to come easy, considering how vague the visions are, but at least they involve a hottie.

Review:
Despite having read and been disappointed by a number of these paranormal series books, I still get really excited for every single one. Unearthly was no exception, except in the sense that this one proved not to be disappointing. Although this may not be a book I actually add to my personal library, I did love almost every minute of reading it and figuratively cannot wait for the next in the series.

Angel books can be really awful, even in the context of how bad some of the teen paranormal romances can be. When you bring in the whole pesky religion business, which is somewhat unavoidable with the whole angel thing, a story can go from fun to preachy in less time than it takes to cross yourself. Hand does a good job with this delicate subject: she does not ignore the issue, but nor does she dwell on it. The book feels like fantasy not like an allegory or disguised lecture on the one true god. Maybe she's got an agenda with her angel story, but I don't think so.

One of the things I appreciate about Unearthly, which falls into the realm of spoilers is that, even though there is a super perfect guy, she does not go for him. The boy in her purpose, Christian (for serious, she went there) is the super sexy guy with no faults who is dating the hot bitchy girl. She describes initial encounters with him thus: "And so far in the span of two weeks, the stars align exactly three times and he ends up in the desk next to mine. I smile and say hello. He smiles back and says hi. For a moment, an undeniable force seems to draw us together like magnets. But then he opens his notebook or checks his cell phone under his desk, signifying that our Nice weather we're having chitchat is over." It begins in a barf-worthy place, but then goes to a more realistic, this-magic-emotion-is-all-in-her-head-place. In another story, Personal Demons for example, he would feel drawn to her and she to him and no obstacle could possibly stand in the way of their monumental and immediate love. I really appreciate that Hand did not go that route, at least not yet. Just because the guy is a dreamboat and perceived as perfect (or even is perfect) that does not mean that he is perfect for the heroine.

The other thing I loved a whole lot were the pop culture references weaved in. The one that sold me was the nickname given to the main character by the guy that was not Christian. That is a reference (and hopefully an intentional one) to Anne of Green Gables, which made me, from first use of the nickname, root for that guy wholeheartedly. Her chapter titles are also frequently references, such as "My Purpose-Driven Life" (I burst out laughing reading that one). The song from the post's title is also referenced. For me, pop culture references = win, both because I love pop culture and because it's good not to take oneself or one's story too seriously.

Paranormal YA fans, find yourselves a copy of this one as soon as it's published and get a-reading!

Toxic - Britney Spears

Personal Demons
Personal Demons, Book 1

Author: Lisa Desrochers
Genre: young adult, fantasy, romance
Pages: 368
ARC Acquired From: TOR booth at ALA 2010

Brief Summary:
Frannie's life gets a lot more exciting when two sexy new boys transfer to her high school and both want nothing more than to get with her. Well, maybe they want a little bit more: her soul. Both Heaven and Hell are actively pursuing Frannie for some reason, determined to 'tag' her for a final destination. Luc (short for Lucifer) is the demon sent from Hell, who finds himself falling in love with the girl he is meant to be sentencing to eternal damnation. Romantic drama ensues.

Review:
This book was ludicrous on a number of levels. Perhaps most obviously obnoxious was the writing, which definitely learned from Twilight. Here is a brief selection, which will demonstrate the nature of the entire novel:

"He smiles his wicked smile and nearly stops my heart. And when he leans in to kiss me, I'm pretty sure it does.
I can't stop my hand from reaching for his face. I feel him shiver in answer and he locks gazes with me. 'Let's get out of here,' he says into my lips.
An achy tingle spreads through me and I smile a shaky smile. 'I know just the place.'" (164)

While the writing tends to be grammatically correct (which unfortunately is not always true), it also does not show any particular special talent at crafting sentences. The first real problem is that his smile nearly stops her heart (not creative, but a fairly common phrase), but (oh noes) his kiss actually does her stop her heart. Umm, no. Am I the only one who has a problem with this? Her heart does not actually stop; this is mere 'romantic' exaggeration. It doesn't stop there, what with her apparently being some sort of puppet on strings, since she 'can't stop' her hand from going to his face. Again, I am not buying it. Then he speaks into her lips. Awkward and ineffective, anyone? Of course, you cannot forget the achy tingles spreading through her throughout the book. He's hot and you want to have sex with him. We (the readers) get it, thanks. No emotion or phrase is not continually harped on, so be prepared for the repetition of these already banal teen exhibitions of love and lust. Not to mention that these phrases fail to achieve their goal, which is to make the reader believe in the love and deep connection between the two. I, for one, am not buying it.

Beyond this, I feel compelled simply to point out a few absurdities bullet-point style.

1) Frannie (actual name Mary Francis) is one of five daughters, all of whom have the first name Mary. Even for Catholics, I see this as incredibly inane.

2) Luc can smell people's emotions. Love smells like chocolate, lust like ginger, anger like black pepper, etc. This is actually kind of a neat idea, but mostly it got on my nerves. Had it been used effectively, it would have been cool.

3) Frannie wants both the angel (Gabe, short for Gabriel) and Luc throughout almost all of the book, even though I am supposed to believe in her deep, forever love for the latter boy. Bull.

4) "He thinks I don't know he's following me all the time. He knows I want my life, and he's trying so hard to let me have it. I don't want to burst his bubble, so I don't say anything, but, really, I like knowing he's there" (302). Frannie on Luc in an example of the Twilightishness of this book. Being a stalker is super hot!!!

5) The book is told from the perspectives of Frannie and Luc. It's kind of hard to play up a love triangle effectively if only one of the boys gets his point of view shown. I mean, obviously, Frannie will choose the guy we never hear from. Right...

6) Apparently all demons look the same in human form, such that Frannie cannot tell which one is lover boy and which wants to eat her soul. That's true love.

I will wrap up with six, what with that being a number the demons would approve of (at least in triplicate). Recommended only for those who believe that Bella and Edward's relationship is the pinnacle of true love.

"With a taste of your lips
I’m on a ride
You're toxic I'm slipping under
With a taste of a poison paradise
I’m addicted to you
Don’t you know that you’re toxic
And I love what you do
Don’t you know that you’re toxic"