Since I'm the Last Person on the Planet.....

to read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (554 pgs, Little, Brown Young Readers, 2006) I'm not even sure if I should review it!! But I guess I will give a try. Actually, the reason I picked it up at this time is because Chad told me I had to read it. His reading teacher at school had all the kids in her 7th grade class read it for AR. When the movie comes out, she's taking the class to see it. THIS was the book Chad couldn't put down!! I even went out yesterday and bought him New Moon, because he is still on the waiting list at school and he was getting frustrated. Can't have that!!

I'd never given much thought to how I would die -- though I'd had reason enough in the last few months -- but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me. Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.

When Bella made the decision to move to Forks, Washington, to live with her father, she really had no idea just how drastically her life would change. Sure, Forks, with all it's rainy darkness, was world's away from the sun of Phoenix. The school was so much smaller than her old school, Bella worried she wouldn't fit in. And yet, in a matter of days, she seems to be the object of obsession for most of the guys in town. And she makes friends quickly. This should be a good thing, right??

But Bella isn't interested in the boys in her school. Except for one. She is unusually drawn to Edward Cullen, one the "beautiful" people. Edward and his "family" are rich, beautiful....and dangerous. You see, they are a family of vampires.

When I read The Host by Stephenie Meyer, I was completely blown away. I still contend it is probably the best book I've read all year. Maybe it's a timing thing. I know a lot of people preferred the Twilight series. And while I highly enjoyed this book, I still think The Host was better.

Meyer has a way of completely sucking you into the stories she writes. I had a hard time putting this book down, even though it was rather slow getting to the "action", so to speak. The majority of this book is spent on getting to know the characters. We learn....slowly....WHAT Edward is. Meyer's gives us a different take of vampire legends. Edward and his family have a conscious. They don't hunt people, even though most of their kind does.

I really liked Edward and his vampire family. I liked learning their history and why they made the choices they did and live the way they do. And when the conflict (FINALLY) presents itself, I like how they band together to resolve it.

My biggest complaint about the book turns out the to be "human" factor....Bella. At first, I liked her. She's different than most teenage girls. She's not scared of Edward...even though she should be. She's curious. But she takes too many chances, and puts people she loves at risk. And she's whiny. EXTREMELY whiny. By the end of the book, I wanted to throttle her. Her "Don't Leave Me" mantra was almost more than I could take. I love a strong female protagonist. And Bella started out that way....but by the end of the book, she was clingy, whiny and so controlled that it almost ruined my enjoyment of the book.

I can see why Twilight is so popular, especially for the younger set. It's the ultimate "forever and ever" love story. It's heartwarming to see soul mates find each other. However, I'm not sure this one will have that fairy tale ending. I don't really see how it can work. But it gives a person hope. And for all my criticisms, I DID enjoy the book. I just hope I want to smack Bella less in the next one! 4/5

And Yet ANOTHER YA Vampire Series

Good Lord. The Vampire Novels just keep on coming. One of these days I may get tired of them, but for right now, I'm just going to enjoy the Spooky Season and keep on reading!! Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (256 pgs. NAL Jam Books, 2006) is the first book in the Morganville Vampire Series. I chose to read this book for both the RIP III Challenge and the YA Challenge.

On the day Claire became a member of the Glass House, someone stole her laundry.

Sixteen-year-old Claire Danvers is a genius. She's always been the "smart" one. As the youngest freshmen at Texas Prairie University in Morganville, the odds seem to be stacked against her. She's always had a hard time making friends, but once she came to college, things got exponentially worse. "Geek" and "freak" are names she has been called many times. But when Claire made the mistake of correcting a statement that Monica Morrell made, she really stepped in it. Monica is one of the beautiful people. She is tall, gorgeous, and mean as a snake. And when Claire humiliated her in front of everyone, she made it her mission to make Claire miserable.

But when the teasing turned into violence, and Claire was pushed down a flight of stairs, she knew she had to get out of the dorms before she got killed. Picking up a newspaper, she finds an ad for 3 people that needed a roommate. Taking her books and what little dignity she had left, Claire sets off for the "Glass House".

The three roommates in question were Eve, the "Goth" girl that works at the local coffee house; Shane, an angry boy that doesn't really do much of anything; and Michael (Glass), a musician that owns the house and only comes out of night. The three of them were so close-knit that Claire longed to join them. She was desperate for a place to stay and a little companionship. With Claire being so young, the 3 were reluctant to let her stay. But when they heard the story of her torture and saw the bruises that covered her, a short-term agreement was reached.

But early on Claire learns the secrets of the house, but more importantly, the secrets of Morganville. It seems the town was filled with vampires. They controlled everything and everyone. If you were a human, you need to be under the "protection" of a vampire. If you were, you wore a bracelet that linked you to your protector. If you didn't have a bracelet, you were fair-game, so to speak. And no one at the Glass House was protected. But they had each others back, and now they had Claires.

At first I thought the storyline was a little silly. How such terrible things could happen in a dorm and no one ever stepped in to stop them really bothered me. But as the story progresses, you find out that the "mean girls" in the dorm are protected by some really High ranking Vampires. Ok. I can live with that. But why humans would continue to live in a town run by vampires....including the local police force.....just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

But all silliness aside, Rachel Caine writes a pretty engaging story. The farther you read, you find out a little bit about each of the roommates' background. And you continue to get sucked into the story. Claire is not only smart, but is courageous and loyal. She takes the "vampire" stories with a grain of salt....until she actually comes face-to-face with one. Then the reality of her situation, and the precarious position she put the roommates in hits home.

All in all, this was a fun, quick read. Rachel Caine knows how to build tension and keep you on the edge of your seat. The snarkiness of the characters definitely add a bit of humor to some really dark situations. And you really want the main characters to stay safe. Since the last sentence of the book was a total cliffhanger, I had to start Book 2 right away. I couldn't just NOT find out what happens. If I like Book 2 enough, I may have to go pick up the next couple of books in this series! 3.75/5

A Book to Leave you in Knots

I love Young Adult books. I think I like them more now than when I WAS a Young Adult. I don't know why. When I was younger, I wanted to grow up fast. We all did. Now, I just want to go back! Life is funny that way. Or maybe I'm just trying to analyze it all way too much. Regardless, I'm thoroughly enjoying the YA Challenge, and Twisted is the second book by Laurie Halse Anderson (272 pgs, Viking Juvenile 2007) that I've picked up for this challenge. She is one amazing writer!

I spent the last Friday of summer vacation spreading hot, sticky tar across the roof of George Washington High. My companions were Dopey, Toothless, and Joe, the brain surgeons in charge of building maintenance. At least they were getting paid. I was working forty feet above the ground, breathing in sulfur fumes from Satan's vomitorium, for free. "Character building", my father said. "Mandatory Community Service" the judge said. Court ordered restitution for the "Foul Deed". He nailed me with the bill for the damage I had done, which meant I had sell my car and bust my hump at a landscaping company all summer.

Tyler Miller was getting ready to start his Senior year in high school. For years, he had been the quiet, geeky kid that most of the football team had picked on. Then a couple of somethings had happened. Tyler had grown taller and filled out. A summer of working at the landscape company had pumped up muscles he didn't even know he had. Now he was taller and stronger than most of the football players. And of course, the "foul deed". Tyler had spray painted a couple of thousand dollars worth of damage at school and had gotten caught. Now he was "dangerous", a bad boy. The kids at school were definitely looking at him differently. Including, Bethany Millbury, only the most beautiful, popular girl at school. A girl Tyler had a crush on forever. Oh yeah, and the daughter of his father's boss.

Tyler's dad was tough and cold. Working for Millbury trust, he spent so much time at work and traveling that he wasn't around that much. But when he was, tension at home was unusually high. Both Tyler and his sister Hannah had to walk on eggshells around him. And Tyler's mom spent a lot of time with either a migraine, or a gin and tonic in her hand.

When Bethany started eating lunch with Tyler, he couldn't have been more amazed. And neither could Chip, Bethany's brother. He was Tyler's mortal enemy and hated that his sister was interested in Tyler. When the Homecoming Bonfire came around, Bethany invited Tyler to go to a party with her and her friends. Since he didn't have his car any longer, Tyler had to walk to the party. Showing up late, Bethany was around drunk when he got there. She practically threw herself at him.....and Tyler being the good kid he really was, tried to sober her up instead of taking advantage of the situation. But Bethany took it as an insult and got mad. She started making out with one of Chip's friends, and left Tyler alone at the party.

Tyler figured this would probably be the end of his dreams with Bethany. But when pictures of a half-naked Bethany got posted on the Internet, Tyler became suspect number one. Now his new found popularity is gone. And he has to prove to everyone, including his dad, that he isn't the kind of person that would do something like this.

Laurie Halse Anderson has this uncanny ability to think like a teenager. And not only that, she can WRITE like a teenager. Twisted is told from Tyler's point of view, and it's hard to believe it wasn't actually written by a teenage boy. Anderson tackles some really deep issues including sex, depression, and teenage suicide. And she does so with such realism and honesty that it's scary. I haven't been in high school for a long time, but I remember a lot of those raw feelings. Anderson just puts them all down on a page. And it's gut-wrenching to read.

It makes me a little frightened to read books like this. My son will be in 7th grade this year, and I just want to hold him and protect him from all the bad things that High School can bring. I know that I can't. I can give him love, encouragement and the tools to try to do the right thing. Then I have to let him go and trust that he will be ok. It scares the hell out of me, it really does.

Even if you don't have kids in school, this book will take you back to the torturous days of high school. It's honest, insightful, and at times, very bleak. But, in the end, there is hope. And that's all that anyone can ask for. This book is definitely not for children (and it plainly states that on the opening page of the book). But for older kids and teens, it's a wonderful look at the world of high school, and the pitfalls and temptations that could possibly face them. Highly recommended. 4.5/5

A Tale of Acceptance

Every once in a while, I read a book just because of the cover. Maybe I'm just shallow, but I'm a sucker for a great cover! Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause (336 pgs, Simon Pulse) just happens to be one of those books. Both covers are incredible: colorful and mysterious. It's the reason I chose to read this book for Joy's Young Adult Challenge.

When a boy's first romantic interlude is with Phoebe the Dog-Faced Girl, he feels a need to get out into the world and find a new life. So I thought as I stood in the wings and watched Colonel Kingston introduce the next act. Not that I had anything against Phoebe. She was a sweet girl under all that fur. "Oh, Abel," she whispered prettily whenever I brushed her lips with mine, and perhaps she blushed -- who could tell? -- but I was seventeen and yearned to kiss a mouth sometimes without getting hair up my nose.

Come on...with an opening paragraph like that, who could you not love this book??

Abel Dandy had grown up in the world of "Freaks". His parents were considered human oddities, and he lived amongst them in Fairyland, a compound that was the home of Colonel Kingston's Freak show. But because he was "normal", Abel just didn't fit in. His uncle had taught him to throw knives, but there didn't really seem to be much room for a normal boy in a show of Freaks.

So Abel decided he was going to go off and join the Circus, and make his own way in the world. Armed only with his knives and a mysterious Egyptian ring given to him by Rose and Violet, the Siamese twins, Abel left Fairyland to try to make it on him own.

But nothing seemed to work out like it should. The circus that he joined, wouldn't let him try his hand at knife throwing. It was filled with perfect people that looked down their noses at the ones they considered human oddities. Then it was discovered that Abel was followed, and his young friend Apollo, the dog-faced boy, had stowed away with the circus. Since the Marvel Circus had no use for freaks, both were thrown out.

But when the two were picked up by the sinister Dr. Mink and his Monster show, bad things started happening. Abel had a bad feeling about Dr. Mink. But Abel's need to protect the young Apollo and the other children that were being held by Dr. Mink was strong. And what did all of this have to do with the mysterious dreams he kept having about the beautiful Egyptian dancing woman? The one who was calling him to save her.....

Annette Klause has done a wonderful job of painting the world of freaks. She has a special knack for showing us that there is a little "freak" in all of us. This book isn't so much about oddies as it is about acceptance. Accepting who we are and being able to live with that. And accepting others, not matter what differences are between us.

On top of that, there is a great mystery to be uncovered. This book is filled with action from murder to kidnapping.....and even a bit of a ghost story. Abel Dandy is such a strong character. He feels he is lacking in some way because he ISN'T different. And yet, he has such a strong sense of right and wrong, that he is willing to put his own life on the line to help the people he considers a friend, no matter what the consequence. It's a mesmerizing tale, and one that I highly recommend. 4.25/5

A Modern Day Faerie Tale

This weekend I needed something to read, so I picked up Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black (336 pgs, Simon Pulse). It's a book I'm using for the Young Adult Reading Challenge, though I think it would fit perfectly well in a category for the Once Upon a Time II Challenge.

Kaye Fierch isn't your average 16-year-old girl. She hasn't been to school since she was 14. She got a job to help her Mom pay the bills. To be honest, she was more of an adult than her Mom, who spent all her nights in bars singing in a band. Besides, Kaye was always considered a little weird. As a child, she spoke to Faeries, though everyone thought it was all in her imagination.

When an attack on her mom left the two without a place to stay, they were forced to go back to New Jersey to stay with Kaye's grandmother. As Kaye got a chance to look up old friends, she meets a Faerie Knight that is wounded. This starts off a chain of events that leads her right in the middle of a war between the two Faerie Courts, the Seelie and the Unseelie. The bright and the dark. The tradition of the Tithe is being brought back. It is the sacrifice of a mortal. And it will require that all the solitary fae, those that aren't a part of either court, be bound for seven years in servitude to the Unseelie court.

Just when Kaye starts to understand that she herself is set up to be the mortal sacrifice, she is blindsided with more news. For the last 16 years, Kaye has been living a life that wasn't hers to live. She is not a mortal at all, but part of the Fae world herself. Now with her mortal friend, Corney, and the Dark Knight, Roiben, she has to figure out who to believe. Things are not always as they seem.

I really enjoyed reading this book, although it is exceedingly darker than I originally expected. Holly Black has created a strange and dark world in which faeries aren't exactly the nicest creatures around. In fact, they are down-right frightening!! Kaye is a great character in that she has feet in both worlds. She is faerie by birth, but having lived in the mortal world for 16 years, she is starting to understand the delicate balance of power between the two worlds. And the need to keep each world in it's place.

My only major complaint at all is that this book IS marketed to the young adult set. As a 16-year-old girl, Kaye spends more time in bars with her mother than anywhere else. She drinks and smokes and is a high school dropout. There is also a lot of sexual innuendo that is just way too much for those under the age of 16. It's not a book that I would go right out and buy for my son, who reads at this age level now, at age 11.

But for older kids and adults, I think it's a unique story about new worlds. And I'm looking forward to reading Ironside, the follow-up to this book. 4/5

Also Reviewed by:

Darla D @ Books and Other Thoughts

Silence is Not Always Golden.....

Lately, I've seen the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (208 pgs, Puffin 2001) pop up all over the blogosphere. And with good reason. This is a book I chose to read for the Young Adult Reading 2008 Challenge.

"Older students are allowed to roam until the bell, but ninth graders are herded into the auditorium. We fall into class: Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders. I am clanless. I wasted the last weeks of August watching bad cartoons. I didn't go to the mall, the lake. or the pool, or answer the phone. I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don't have anyone to sit with.

I am Outcast.

For Melinda Sordino, high school is not going to be easy. Something happened over the summer that left her an outcast with not only her old friends, but most of the students at Merryweather High. Now this once happy, energetic, A-Student doesn't speak, is barely passing her classes, and has no friends at all. The only thing about high school that is tolerable is art class. Mr. Freeman, the art teacher, is the one person that seems to have any luck getting Melinda to open up. He's given her an assignment, and the entire year to finish. All she has to do is look inside herself, but that is almost as painful as being alone.

There's not an easy way to review this book without giving too much of the plot away. Speak, written mostly as Melinda's inner dialogue, is sharp, funny and yet, extremely painful. High school can be such a difficult time for some kids, and reading this book left me with a bad feeling right in the pit of my stomach. Anderson's writing is just so smooth, you can FEEL Melinda's suffering.

Honestly, this is a book that should be mandatory reading for High School students, to show them the affects of peer pressure and shunning. But that will never happen because someone would deem it too "inappropriate". Kids, on both sides of the coin, should feel what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes. If they did, they might not be so quick to judge anyone else. 4.5/5

This Series Just Gets Better and Better

Last Sunday, the girls and I went out for Brunch and a little side-trip to Barnes and Noble. While I was perusing the shelves, I stumbled up this one: Chosen: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast and Kristin Cast (320 pgs, St. Martin's Press). This is book number 3 and I was almost giddy when I saw it. I couldn't believe my eyes. This book wasn't supposed to be released till March!! Then I realized it WAS March, which is just more evidence that I am TOTALLY losing it!! So basically, all the other books on my pile got pushed aside, so I could read this one. Besides, it's a selection that I'm using for Joy's Young Adult Challenge.

WARNING: There may be spoilers of previous books, especially Betrayed in this review. If you haven't read it yet, you might want to skip to the last 2 paragraphs!!

"Yep, I have a seriously sucky birthday," I told my cat, Nala. And Zoey Redbird couldn't be more accurate with that statement!! First of all her birthday is December 24th, and everyone always gets her Christmas themed birthday presents. Her mother has basically given up on her. Her step-loser (uh, step-father) is an elder in the People of Faith church. They believe that all Vampyres are evil, and now some not-so-veiled threats have been received. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, "died" at the last Full Moon Ritual. But I guess you have to use that term loosely. When a fledgling is "marked", the change process to become an adult Vampyre begins. Not all fledglings survive the change because their bodies reject it. Some die. But Stevie Rae's death was actually another type of change. Because now she has become "undead", almost a caricature of what people believe vampires to be: full of bloodlust, only can move at night, and rather evil. But at least in Stevie Rae's case, a small part of her humanity is still present and Z wants to help her.

Then there's the fact that she has 3 boyfriends. The wonderful Erik Night, who is an upperclassman at the House of Night and a total catch. Her human ex-boyfriend, Heath who doesn't really want to be an ex. Ever since Zoey drank a little of his blood, they Imprinted and Heath just can't leave Zoey alone. And then there is Loren Blake, the Vampyre poet Laureate. He's gorgeous, sensitive, an adult Vampyre and a teacher to boot. Completely off-limit to students, but he really has a thing for Z.

Finally, there is Neferet, the High Priestess at the House of Night. She was Zoey's mentor and friend, until she betrayed her. Zoey knows she has something to do with the Undead fledglings and Stevie Rae. Zoey knows in her heart that Neferet represents something evil, but she doesn't know what to do about it. She can't even discuss it with her friends. Since Neferet has the ability to read minds, the little her friends know, the safer they will be. Zoey feels awful about lying to them, but she really is doing it for her own good. Then there is Aphrodite....Zoey's sworn enemy. When Zoey took over control of the Dark Daughters from Aphrodite, Neferet told everyone that the Goddess Nyx had withdrawn Aphrodite's powers to see the future. But that wasn't true. And since Neferet was unable to read Aphrodite, she turns out to be the one person who can really help her navigate her way through the mess her life has become!

When Zoey and Aphrodite stumble across the body of one the adult vampyre professors, it's almost a certainly that something bad is on the horizon. A war between the humans and the vampyres is coming and Zoey is trapped smack dab in the middle.

Can I just say now how much I really LOVE this series?? With that said, I really hated the ending of this book. I do realize Chosen ended in a way that will lead us to the next book. Zoey is a wonderful character: she is strong, smart and vulnerable at the same time. When she makes mistakes, she tries to own up to them and that makes her something special. She has been blessed by Nyx with an affinity for ALL the elements AND the spirit. Again, that is something that has never happened before. She is definitely a High Priestess in training. She just needs to figure out who she can really trust and find a way to do something about all the drama that has become her life!

This book was fantastic, even with the ending that I didn't like. Doesn't make it a bad book. Just leaves me on pins and needles until the next book is out. And I can't WAIT until Untamed, Book 4 in the House of Night series is released later this year!! 4.5/5

2008 Young Adult Reading Challenge

Since there wasn't a Booking Through Thursday today, I thought I would post my reading list for Thoughts of Joy's new challenge: Young Adult Challenge 2008! I LOVE YA books!! So this will actually be an easy challenge for me. The hardest part about it was narrowing down the list of possibilities!!

The Rules are simple:

Choose 12 YA books.

Link to Joy's Challenge.

Read them in 2008!

Could it be any easier??

Here is my list:

• Chosen: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast and Kristin Cast
• Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
• Magyk by Angie Sage
• The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Glass Houses by Rachel Caine
• Memories of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Twisted by Lauris Halse Anderson
• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
• Tithe by Holly Black
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

As you can see most of my books are leaning toward the fantasy or paranormal genre. I can't wait to start on this one!

Later!