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The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Here’s the thing. Obviously scary things don’t scare me. I can watch horror movies and not really flinch. In order to have me freaked out, things can’t be obvious.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer had me freaked out. Mara isn’t the most reliable of narrators, even though I knew she wasn’t crazy. She’s still a little bit unstable at times. And I loved that. It makes everything just a little bit unknown. I knew she was telling the truth, but I also knew she didn’t know the whole truth. When things in the novel started to change, I was getting freaked out.

In The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I felt like the balance between paranormal and romance was off. There was too much romance and not enough paranormal. The Evolution of Mara Dyer found the balance. There’s enough of Noah Shaw being romantic to keep me swooning and smiling, but there was more than enough paranormal to keep me turning page after page.

Noah Shaw was another issue I had with Unbecoming. He was too perfect. Tall, British, rich…it was just a little too much. His perfect exterior started to crack, though, in Evolution. He’s still the same tall, British, rich boy, but his imperfections are starting to break through. They are making me love him a little bit more each time I see one.

Mara. I like her. She does what she has to in order to keep fighting. She doesn’t wait for the guy to swoop in and save her. She knows when to take things on herself and when she needs help, but she does things for herself. She may not always trust what she sees or hears, but she trusts herself to do what she needs to. I wish there had been a bit more explanation of her powers and what in the world is going on, but I get why that wasn’t in this book. And I can’t wait to read it in the next one.

After being a little let down with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I didn’t want to expect too much out of The Evolution of Mara Dyer. Hodkin wrote a book I was not expecting, even a little bit. It has that creep factor that had me on edge. It has that sweet teen romance that makes me smile. It has everything I like to read in a book and then just a little more. I’m riveted and after the ending of The Evolution of Mara Dyer, I need 2013 and The Retribution of Mara Dyer to get here now.

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Sacrifice by Cayla Kluver

I’m not really sure how I feel about Sacrifice. Was it a good book? Yes. Was it engaging? Yes. But things were missing, and I didn’t find myself enjoying Sacrifice as much as I had hoped.

First, the romance. In the previous two books, I felt it. I was swooning as much as Alera was. In Sacrifice, I didn’t feel it. Sure, Kluver told me about how amazing Narian was and how sweet, but she didn’t show me like she did in the previous books. I feel like there needs to be more than kissing to make me fall in love, and that’s really all I got from Alera and Narian’s romance. There was some swooning in this book, but it didn’t last as long as I wished it would.

I could have handled a flat romance, if the rest of the story was spectacular. Unfortunately, it felt like there was a lot of build up to something that wasn’t fully explained. I wanted to know more about that last battle. I wanted to know how things went down. I felt like 85% of the book was leading up to this epic battle, and then nothing. There was summary, but nothing of the actual action.

I guess that’s how I feel about the entire novel, though. Legend and Allegiance were fantastic build up to Sacrifice, while fell short of what I was expecting. It felt like more of a middle novel, lots of little things happened, and one or two large things happened, but it didn’t feel like its own novel. Plus, the ending wrapped up a little too fast. I would have loved having the last 10% of the novel expanded.

Sacrifice wasn’t a bad book, but it didn’t live up to the caliber the first two novels had set. It’s a fine novel, but I wanted something more and it just wasn’t there.

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Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

This wasn’t a bad book. It wasn’t a great book, either. I just wasn’t as in love with it as I wanted to be. The characters don’t feel real and while I liked the ending and it made up for most of the book, it wasn’t enough to save it.

When I read a book about teens, I want to read a book about teens. Not adults packaged in teen bodies, and that’s what Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is. I’m all for reading about teens that don’t quite fit in, that are a little quirky. I think that can make a good book great. But there’s a fine line between making the characters enjoyably quirky and a little too pretentious. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares starts off cute and sweet, heads into pretentious, and ends on the last couple pages sweet again.

I could have liked Dash and Lily. Lily even felt like the book version of me for a while. It was just that part in the middle, where Cohn and Levithan seemed to be trying to prove to me how smart Dash and Lily are instead of letting the characters show me how smart they are. I don’t need to be impressed with their knowledge of obscure literature and poetry in order to believe a character is smart. For a while, it felt like Levithan and Cohn were trying to shout out, “Look how intelligent and well-read we are! We know more than you!” instead of trying to make a great story.

I will say that the ending, once the pretension left, was exactly what I hoped the rest of the novel would have been. It was sweet, made me sappy, and nearly perfect. It just came too late to save the rest of the book.

I had hopes for Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, and they just weren’t met. The beginning and end were exactly what I was wishing for, but the middle was too much. Too much adult for a book with teen characters, too much pretension, just too much. I’m disappointed with this book, and that’s not a feeling I enjoy having.

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The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

I saw “Jack the Ripper” in the book description and I was sold. I was going to read this book. I just hoped it wouldn’t let me down. I’d read a couple books by Johnson before and enjoyed them, so I had faith in the book. Johnson didn’t let me down.

The Name of the Star takes place in London, in the midst of a Jack the Ripper copycat string of murders. Rory is new to London and is thrown into the action right away. She’s connected to the crimes in a special way and that tie is what makes this novel.

There were times this novel had me creeped out. I woke up one morning at 3am and my first thought was a Jack the Ripper ghost was staring at my back. This book had invaded my dreams and thoughts. It gave me goosebumps and I loved it.

I wasn’t a huge fan of how easily this story-line was wrapped up, and I’m sure there are people that will disagree with that. I just feel like there was a lot of build-up for something that wasn’t quite as grand as I had been expecting. It worked, but it felt a little flat.

I like Rory. She’s real and not too stereotypical when it comes to characters. She works hard, but likes to have a little fun. She has friends and people she doesn’t get along with, but no one at the school is out to get her for no reason. She’s trying to get the most out of living in London without sacrificing anything. I wasn’t sure about the supernatural aspect at first, but it’s growing on me.

There wasn’t really romance in this book; instead Johnson decided to write a different side of the high school relationship coin. A relationship between friends that crosses the friend lines at times, but doesn’t become that big serious THING other Young Adult books like to make it.

The ending of The Name of the Star had me slack-jawed and anxious to read more. This is a series that has the potential to be great and I’m looking forward to going along on the ride.

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Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

When I first started reading, I thought there would be too many stories being told, and the novel would end up being too busy and crowded. Childs was able to write the very distinctive characters and voices and managed to avoid making the too big for the novel.

Gretchen is the huntress. It’s all she’s really known for four years. She’s accepted it as her future and works hard to make sure monsters don’t roam free for too long. Grace is new to town, looking to make herself different with this new move. She starts seeing monsters and her world gets thrown a little off-kilter. Greer saw a monster once, but years of therapy have molded her into the perfect daughter her socialite parents want her to be.

When these three girls discovery their connection, the world starts to change. The rules Gretchen has known and followed begin to change. Grace starts to get a backbone. Greer has a chance to be something more than a rich family’s daughter. Gretchen and Greer have the hardest time with these changes. They live their lives how they were, when they knew what to expect and what to do. Grace has the easiest time embracing the truth. This is the change she was looking for.

Sweet Venom is a beautiful book that brings mythology into the modern world. It has the stories of three very different girls interwoven in a clear way and it doesn’t overwhelm with details and backstory. Childs could easily have had a bit of a mess on her hands, but she wrote this book so well that I never once felt the 3 different points of view was a bad idea. Childs got the stories of all three girls across without losing the main plot of the novel.

The boys in this book are pretty swoon-worthy as well. Nick enjoys getting under Gretchen’s skin and Milo is the sweet jock everyone couldn’t help but love in high school. They weren’t a huge part of this first book, but they were in the novel enough to make me smile. I’m looking forward to reading more of these relationships’ development.

Sweet Venom is a novel that could have gone in the opposite direction and been a bit of a mess. Childs worked some sort of magic and kept it entertaining, flowing, and wonderful. This is definitely a book for anyone who likes a touch of mythology in their novels. It was a great read and I’m certainly going to be reading the next book.

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Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes

Falling Under was the story of Theia and Haden falling together and making choices they never thought they’d have to make. Dreaming Awake deals with the aftermath of those decisions and how it affects all the relationships in the novel.

Theia now has demon blood in her and she’s trying to continue as if she was completely human. She manages to escape from Mara and Under, but that doesn’t mean Mara won’t go after her. As Theia starts to shut people out to protect them, things keep getting worse and worse.

Once again, the relationship between Theia and Haden had me smiling. I may have been a little put off by the insta-love in Falling Under, but in Dreaming Awake there’s enough of a relationship there to make it wonderful to read. The only aspect I didn’t enjoy was Theia’s insistence on breaking up with Haden to protect him. I’m getting a little tired of Young Adult novels using this as a way to separate characters, instead of having them work on the relationship and its problems together.

Theia’s best friends, Donny and Amelia, are still fantastic people in this novel. They don’t let Theia ignore them or push them away. They tackle problems as a group, making sure they use their individual strengths to cover each other’s weaknesses. They’re some of the best written friends I’ve read in Young Adult fiction lately.

Varnie takes on an even more important role in Dreaming Awake and I loved him so much it hurt at times. Gabe is also a little more prevalent in this novel and I enjoyed reading about his and Donny’s relationship and their struggles to be together yet not lose who they were and what they stood for.

Dreaming Awake is a fantastic novel that really delves into the consequences of the characters’ actions in Falling Under. It makes the characters grow up and deal with the future they have written, while still maintaining a sweet, touching quality. Falling Under and Dreaming Awake are a wonderful pair of books that anyone who likes a touch of the supernatural mixed into the romance needs to read.

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Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

The beginning of Falling Under had me a little nervous. It was a little awkward and there was that “insta-love” that I have a hard time buying. After a few chapters, things started to turn around though. The story got interesting, I started to love the love, and I was constantly guessing about where the story was about to go.

Theia has lived a sheltered life, her father not letting her go through those typical teen trials and tribulations. So when a new guy shows up both in her dreams and in her life, she starts to want more. She doesn’t want to be the perfectly molded little girl her dad wants her to be.

I wasn’t really a fan of Theia and Haden’s relationship right away. They didn’t really have much solid interaction before suddenly falling for each other. They were hardly even friendly and suddenly they were declaring love. This was the only part of the book that I didn’t enjoy. It was a little too sudden and didn’t have a solid foundation, in my eyes. After they got to know each other a little more, I was in love with their relationship.

Theia’s friends were fantastic. They don’t let her get away with anything, calling her out when they needed to. They were always there for her, even when they didn’t always agree on everything. They were different from a lot of friends in Young Adult novels lately; they help build Theia up instead of trying to bring her down. I loved it.

Falling Under was a fantastic book that managed to make me love it, despite my initial wariness. It’s a unique story and I’ll definitely be digging into Dreaming Awake as soon as I can.

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A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young

I was feeling a little “eh” about A Need So Beautiful. It was good, but it was missing something. A Want So Wicked made up for that and then some. My eyes were getting foggy as I read my way through the book; it was that touching and wonderful.

A Want So Wicked picks up where A Need So Beautiful left off. We’re thrown right into Elise’s life, all the while knowing where she came from, even though Elise doesn’t have any idea. It was a little easy to pick up on the good and bad in the novel, but that didn’t make me enjoy it any less.

Harlin was even more wonderful in this book, and even Abe’s charms worked on me every once in a while. Lucy was a fantastic secondary character. I felt for the relationship between Elise and Lucy, it’s the type of sister relationship I wish more novels had.

Elise had me tearing up. As much as Charlotte’s story pulled at me, Elise’s did tenfold. Her confusion around her life and feels was so well written, it made my chest hurt. I wished more than anything the story would end differently than I knew it had to.

The ending was perfect and yet I hated it (in a good way). I’m just going to hope and wish there will be a third novel. I want more of Harlin and Elise/Charlotte’s story.

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A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies

I’m a little torn on A Fractured Light. It’s the second book in a trilogy, and started to fall into the slump a lot of second books seem prey to, and yet it managed to stay just enough outside of the hole that I still really enjoyed the book. I just felt some of the middle started to stretch and drag a little more than I’d like.

A Fractured Light starts out only a few days after the end of A Beautiful Dark. It comes out kicking and I was completely into it. Davies doesn’t let the story start on a dull note, immediately getting into gear and I loved that. Unfortunately, after a little while, the story started to drag just a little bit. There was a lot happening, but some of it felt a little like filler. There were still important things happening, but in between those moments, there wasn’t as much plot progression as I would have liked.

Thankfully, the last few chapters completely turned this novel around and had my jaw resting on the floor. There are plot twists that I didn’t see coming until they were right there and I can’t wait to read what comes next.

The relationship between Asher and Skye progresses, but I’m left with a strange feeling about it. Asher still gives the swoony feelings, but I’m no longer completely trusting him. Davies wrote him in such a wonderful way that even as I’m falling for his words, a tiny red flag goes up making me question the true motive behind his every word. Even with those red flags, I was still completely taken with him and his charm.

A Fractured Light was a good follow-up novel to A Beautiful Dark. There were places where it could have been better, but it was still a great read that had me constantly turning the pages. I can’t wait to see how Skye’s story ends.

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A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

I’ve had this book on my to read list ever since I came across it last year. I made myself wait until A Want So Wicked was out because I was hoping hard I’d love it and the wait between books would be too much. A Need So Beautiful was a good book, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, unfortunately.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book. Definitely. But the balance was a little off and that kept me from completely enjoying it. Nothing makes me happier than when the action side of the plot and the romance side of the plot balance each other out and make each other stronger. In A Need So Beautiful the angel aspect of the story isn’t explored as much as I’d have liked while the romance was given just a little too much attention.

While the love between Charlotte and Harlin was sweet and it provided some of the most touching moments of the novel, it also overshadowed the angel part of the story. What I did read about Charlotte being a Forgotten was done wonderfully and beautifully. I would have gladly read an entire novel about that, even without a love interest. Sadly, Young tended to put a lot of unnecessary focus on Charlotte and Harlin’s relationship instead of on Charlotte’s purpose.

In the end, A Need So Beautiful is a book that had amazing potential, but fell a little short. It’s still a good read, and if you like the angel genre, it’s a good read, but it just didn’t quite live up to expectations.