Review of Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published by: Scholastic Press
Pages: 386
Source: Once Upon a Twilight Book Tours
Available: July 12, 2011
Rating: 5/5

Summary from Goodreads: 
then. 
When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.
now.
That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.
forever.
Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

I always feel a bit of sadness when a series comes to an end.  You grow to know and love the characters and it feels as if it's a bittersweet goodbye. 

Forever was the perfect end to this captivating series.  Not only was this novel packed with suspense, action and fierce emotions, but there was an undercurrent of need.  A need for justice, protection, decisions and hope.  This need flowed like a river it's current pulling deeper and deeper until I couldn't decipher my feelings from those of Sam, Grace, Isabele, and Cole.

Maggie Stiefvater sure knows how to give the audience what they want.  Each of these characters are completely different and yet they form a band of friendship that could rival the strength of steel.   All of her characters are 'damaged' in some way by their parents yet have opposite personalities.  Sam and Grace are quiet and thoughtful, while Isabele and Cole are brash and in-your-face.

Whichever character you like best or can relate to the most won't disappoint you in this novel.  Their journey is heartfelt and heartbreaking...and utterly breathtaking. 

Review of Shadow Days by Andrea Cremer

Title: Shadow Days: A Nightshade Novella
Author: Andrea Cremer
Published by: Philomel Books
Pages: 79
Source: A pdf (I don't remember where I received it from, but if you want a copy email me and I'll send it to you)
Rating: 3/5

Summary:  This novella is a prequel to Nightshade giving us Shay's previous story up until he meets Calla that fateful day.  It all starts with a call from Uncle Bosque telling Shay he needs to move to Colorado to spend his senior year at their family's estate.  Shay's only connection to his old friends is a facebook page and a blog.  Shay soon realizes that Rowen Estate holds many mysteries, so he wrangles some of his online friends to help crack the codes of the mystic that surrounds his new home. 

This novella was a quick and easy read.  Personally, I wasn't the biggest Shay fan so when I heard this novella was about him I put off reading it.  The other day I stumbled across it again and decided to pick it up.  While I still prefer Ren to Shay, I was able to learn a little bit more about Shay and he's staring to grow on me.

While I'm sure if I had a Uncle like Bosque I would rebel like crazy, I still felt bad for Shay being under complete control of his uncle.  Leaving all his friends behind to move to a new place and then being left completely alone for weeks at a time is cruel.  I really felt sorry for Shay and now I'm glad that Calla and him become friends in Nightshade.

I felt that things moved a little fast in this novella and that left us missing the rich detail and highly developed characters that Andrea Cremer does so well.  There were many instances I felt were rushed and not fully explained.  I understand this is a novella though and not a prequel novel. 

I'm glad I read this novella as it gave me some insight to Shay and his background.  I wonder when I read Wolfsbane if my opinion of Shay will change at all.  I let you know!    

Follow My Blog Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

           My answer to this week's Follow Friday question:

Let's step away from besties...What is the worst book that you've ever read and actually finished?

I don't know if I have any YA books that I thought were horrible; there have been plenty I didn't like but none that I flat out hated (that I can remember). 

 

As for adult books it would have to be Season of the Machete by James Patterson.  This was one of his earlier books (and one that he wrote completely by himself...that doesn't happen much anymore) and I just couldn't get into it. 

Giveaway!

I recently acquired a couple of copies of Fang (Maximum Ride #6) by James Patterson and I thought I would share the wealth.

 

Giveaway Rules:
You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
You need to fill out this form.
This is open to both U.S. and International readers 
The contest ends on July 21, 2011 at 11:59 CST
The winners will have 3 days to return my email or new winners will be chosen

**I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items.  (I haven't had any lost or damaged and I really hope that none will be)

Review of Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

Title: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls #2)
Author: Ally Carter
Published by: Hyperion Book
Pages: 236
Source: Audiobook borrowed from the Library
Rating: 4/5

Summary From Goodreads: Cammie Morgan is back, and it's clear that her life hasn't calmed down since the events of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. At first, giddy anticipation is in the air. Gallagher Academy, Cammie's elite spy school, is hosting a visit from the Ethan Frome Academy, a covert training center for boys. Soon after the boys' arrival, though, everything goes dangerously awry when a series of security breaches are discovered at the academy. Worse yet, teenage agent-in-training Cammie is being blamed for the penetration. With the school's top-secret status at risk, the Gallagher Girls have to work quickly to save their beloved school. Girl sleuths with nice asides on youthful crushes.

The more I read of Ally Carter the more impressed I am.  I love the thought of taking what is typically thought of as a male career and converting that not only into a women's career, but to train these women at a young age at an super secret school posing as an elite boarding school.  Who wouldn't want to go to spy school and learn everything from 14 different languages to how to pick a lock in under 5 seconds? 

Cammie and her friends are back on a covert operation.  They need to use everything they've learned in the past couple of years to figure who is threatening their school.  Is it possibly the cute boys from another elite boys spy school or is it a rouge CIA agent?  The girls seem to has as much trouble decoding the boys as they do their mission.   

This has to be one of the cutest series.  It's very sweet and innocent, yet packed with entertainment and heart-pounding adventure.  I really enjoyed this novel and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Top Ten Tuesday

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Rebels In Literature (characters or authors) -- Those people who stood up for what they believed in despite the cost of doing so.

1.  Lena from Beautiful Darkness/Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  Lena wasn't accepted by the town and seen as an outcast and yet she never changed who she was.

2.  Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  He stood up for what he believed in and made sure his children knew about it too.

3.  Skeeter from The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  This women was amazing.  She wanted to change things and found a way to bring awareness to an issue that most people ignored or didn't believe in. 

4.  Hannah from Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher.  Even from the grave she made people accountable for their actions and behavior and made then realized how even without knowing it they affect others.

5.  Lauren DeStefano author of Wither.  She wrote about polygamy, child pregnancy, kidnapping and other controversial issues. 

That all I can think of for this week.  What about you?  Are there any authors or characters you view as rebels?

Review of Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Book:  Lost Voices
Author:  Sarah Porter
Published By:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages:  304

From Goodreads:  What happens to the girls nobody sees—the ones who are ignored, mistreated, hidden away? The girls nobody hears when they cry for help? Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls. After father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle. When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair. Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below. Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.  A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.  Luce’s own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe’s queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder. Luce’s struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival. But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina’s leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe. Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again? 

This debut novel by Sarah Porter was hauntingly beautiful.  The story revolves around Luce who is forced to live with her drunk and abusive uncle after her father is lost at sea and presumed dead.  One night Luce’s uncle goes too far and Luce, devastated, falls into the ocean.  Instead of dying she joins all the other girls who have been abused by people in their lives.  These girls have all had tragic event happen in their lives that instead of escaping the cruelty of life by death, they instead change into mermaids.

I absolutely loved the idea behind this book of these lost girls escape their horrible circumstances and becoming mermaids.  I also think it was a great ironic twist that now these mistreated girls have the power to make humans succumb to them and kill them with their voices, which in their other lives where often muted.  I found it a little hard to believe that more of the mermaids, especially the ones who have been around for a while, didn’t have a problem killing innocent humans.  I thought that many would have wanted retribution at first, but then seen how ludicrous and meaningless all the killing is.

The character development in this book was brilliant.  You could really relate to these girls, especially Luce.  You felt her sorrow, pain and confusion right along with her.  She grew so much as a character, from this meek, timid girl into a courageously strong heroine.  The relationships between the girls were realistic and believable.  I often had to remind myself that these were mermaids and not your typically everyday girls.  At times I found the mermaids annoying and immature, but I felt as if that was representative of typical girls at that age.    

Porter’s writing was beautiful.  It was very lyrical and most of the time showed expertise of a seasoned writer.  There were one or two spots however, where I felt a conversation or thought was just cut off and there wasn’t any elaboration. 

The only real problem that I had with the book was the ending.  It left too many questions and I don’t feel as if it really ended…it just stopped.  

Overall I'd give it ★★★★