Book of Love (Knight Angels, #1)

Book Details:
Genre: YA paranormal/fantasy
Page Count: 395
Publication Date: April 26, 2010
Why I read it: ARC Tour
Grade: D

Cover thoughts: The cover is pretty enough, but I don't really think it has much to do with the book. I think that's pretty typical for these types of books, though.

About the author: You can find out more about Abra Ebner here.

The Plot: Some high school kids have powers. But not in a cool superhero type of way, more of a life sucks cause I have this power type. There are a couple of angels, some mind readers, a shape shifter, the kitchen sink . . . the problem with the plot is that it's never really clear what's going on, and at the same time there's too much going on. Too many things thrown in all willy nilly. And at the same time, nothing is happening. Yes, I'm being contradictory, but this book brings it out in me. For a much more in depth synopsis of the book, visit goodreads.

Characters: I didn't like a single character in this book. I can't even count how many times these characters "smirked" or looked smug. Is that supposed to be endearing? Because it's not. By the time I finished the book, I truly hated every single person in the book. If I had to be around these people in real life, I'd probably move. I also didn't really find the relationships realistic (or even the characters themselves, for that matter)

Setting: The world building here is pretty terrible. I don't understand the rules, I don't understand why or who or what or anything! It felt like the author pulled a bunch of different ideas out of the air because they sounded good, and put it all in a book.

Notable quotes:
"I thought about my dream, thought about the taste of his lips on my fingers."

"I felt smug as I puffed my chest. 'And what will this poison do?'
Max watched me with a smirk on his face."

Yes, I know. This is what the whole book is like. You can find the words smirk or smug on just about every page.

Read this if you're in the mood for: something that is similar to Twilight. The writing quality is the same, and it has the same whiny, angst-filled writing that so many people must have loved, considering the popularity of Twilight.

Continue or part ways? I don't think I'll be continuing on with this series, or looking for more by this author. We just didn't connect.

The Clearing

Title: The Clearing
Author: Heather Davis
Genre: YA Fiction
Page Count: 228
Why I read it: received review copy
Grade: D

Synopsis:
Amy, a sixteen-year-old recovering from an abusive relationship, moves to the country to start a new life with her aunt–all she wants is for everything to be different. In the clearing at the back of Aunt Mae’s property, she makes an amazing discovery—Henry, a boy stuck in the endless summer of 1944. Henry and his world become Amy’s refuge and she begins to learn that some moments are worth savoring. But when the past and present come crashing together, both of them must find the courage to face what is meant to be, even if it means losing each other forever.

My review:
I didn't care for this one. It may have worked a lot better as a short story, because there just didn't seem to be enough here to fill a whole book (even though the book itself is quite short). It felt like nothing was really happening, and there just wasn't a whole lot of plot.

I didn't connect with the main character, or any other character actually. Well, I did like her aunt Mae, but we really weren't given a whole lot of character information about anyone except Amy and to a po...more I didn't care for this one. It may have worked a lot better as a short story, because there just didn't seem to be enough here to fill a whole book (even though the book itself is quite short). It felt like nothing was really happening, and there just wasn't a whole lot of plot.

I didn't connect with the main character, or any other character actually. Well, I did like her aunt Mae, but we really weren't given a whole lot of character information about anyone except Amy and to a point, Henry.

Although this book is very short, it took me a long time to read, so I can't say that it's a quick read, either. This one just wasn't for me, even though I did like the ending.

Gone

Title: Gone
Author: Lisa McMann
Genre: YA Fiction
Page Count: 214
Why I read it: third in a trilogy
Grade: D

Synopsis:
Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she’d made her peace with it. But she can’t handle dragging Cabel down with her.
She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He’s amazing. And she’s a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves: She has to disappear. And it’s going to kill them both.
Then a stranger enters her life — and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she’d ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out.... 

My review:
Oh, what a disappointment.  After loving both Wake and Fade, I felt like this one was something completely different, and not in a good way.  I disliked the characters, who almost felt like emotionless caricatures of themselves (from the previous books).  It all just seemed like filler, and not very good filler at that, especially to end a trilogy.

I wasn't sure how Janie's story was going to end, and honestly, the way it ended was fine.  It was the getting there that was the problem.  It just seemed that every character in the book was defeated.  There was very little happiness, hope, or love.  We were told that Janie and Cabel were in love (and we saw it in previous books), but it really was not shown here.  Cabel was mean, Janie was distant--it was just bad.

I would not recommend this one at all.  Even if you've read the previous two books.  Make up your own ending--it'd be better than reading this.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

Title: Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
Author: Obert Skye
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 339
Why I read it: saw it featured in the back of Fablehaven
Grade: D

Synopsis:
Fourteen-year-old Leven Thumps (a.k.a. "Lev") lives a wretched life in Burnt Culvert, Oklahoma. But his life is about to change and his destiny be fulfilled as he learns about a secret gateway that bridges two worlds -- the real world and Foo, a place created at the at the beginning of time in the folds of the mind that makes it possible for mankind to dream and hope, aspire and imagine. But Foo is in chaos, and three transplants from that dreamworld have been sent to retrieve Lev, who alone has the power to save Foo.

My review:
I really didn't like this one.  It was so bad that I had to skim heavily to even finish it.  The author was trying really hard to be clever, but it just didn't mesh with my sense of humor, I guess.  I found it more grating than funny.  It seemed that the author was going for a really quirky, fun story, but I was mostly bored.

It's labeled (at least at my library) as young adult fiction, and I think that was definitely a mis-label.  It's definitely juvenile fiction.  Compared to some of the really awesome YA fiction I've been reading, this one just seems really amateur.  I'm sure there's a market for this kind of book, but I'm not it, so I won't be continuing with this series.

Feed

Title: Feed
Author: M.T. Anderson
Genre: YA science fiction
Page Count: 236
Why I read it: Sounded good
Grade: D

Synopsis:
For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires.



My review:
Huh.  I don't even know what to say about this book.  It felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny and clever, and it just didn't work for me.  Like the line about the truffle being undervalued.  Not only was it unfunny in the book, it was equally unfunny in the "about the author" blurb.

Also, I was really, really annoyed with the slang.  I can't handle the way these YA authors are imagining how they think kids are going to be talking in the future.  It's obnoxious.  I know kids do have slang, and they swear, but if my kid was this stupid, I'd give them a good smack upside the head.

But the worst part about this novel was that it wasn't just the kids that talked this way.  It was the adults too.  The doctors, the president.  Everyone.  It wasn't a brilliantly written book, or a good satirical look at the future of America, it was just stupid.

I guess I had stuff to say about the book after all, and the last thing I'll say is that I really wouldn't recommend this one.