Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Initial reaction: Huh, I actually enjoyed this way more than the first book. Greater stakes, competing interests and the return of a villain. I think I will see this series out until its end, but I really enjoyed both the story and audio … Continue reading »
The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington My rating: 4 of 5 stars Initial reaction: Solid YA mystery with paranormal elements. I’m usually fond of ghost stories and I found something to like not only in Jade’s respective journey, but also in the unfolding murder mystery that kept the ball rolling right up to the … Continue reading »
The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Initial reaction: Review to come when I can find words to describe how much this book swallowed me into the journey, characters and respective conflict. I really enjoyed this and it rather surprised me. Full review: And I’m yet again impressed reading … Continue reading »
Courtney Crumrin, Volume 2: The Coven of Mystics Special Edition Hardcover by Ted Naifeh My rating: 5 of 5 stars I certainly loved “Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics”, the second installation in the Courtney Crumrin series. In this volume, Courtney’s still adjusting to school life as well as studying under the wing of … Continue reading »
Courtney Crumrin Volume 3: The Twilight Kingdom by Ted Naifeh My rating: 4 of 5 stars Courtney Crumrin’s certainly one of my favorite graphic novel series for younger readers. I love the dark, twisted fairy-tale air about it, and I wasn’t disappointed with the third installment of the series: “The Twilight Kingdom”. In this particular … Continue reading »
Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel My rating: 1 of 5 stars Initial reaction: Definitely not as good as the first book, and there were times when I sincerely though I would be better off forgetting about this book’s existence entirely, and just keeping to what I liked about the first one. I think what I … Continue reading »
The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney My rating: 2 of 5 stars “The Wood Queen” was Karen Mahoney’s second novel in “The Iron Witch” trilogy, and well…it somewhat underwhelmed me to be frank. The writing seemed to meander more and rely on more direct citations of cliches, the plot took forever to move from one … Continue reading »
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney My rating: 3 of 5 stars Karen Mahoney’s “The Iron Witch” evokes conflicted sentiments within me. I probably should not have liked this book as much as I did given the familiar elements and progression, but somehow it had its moments of bringing me into the overarching story. I … Continue reading »
Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown My rating: 3 of 5 stars Initial reaction: Ooh, this was actually better than Lies Beneath in my opinion, but I’ll admit that there were points where I hit a bit of a bump in the story progression. I think Lily’s voice was much easier to warm up to … Continue reading »
Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff My rating: 2 of 5 stars Initial reaction: Despite this being a very quick read and for a young audience, I had a very difficult time getting into this book. Not that I didn’t appreciate the characters and the storyline, but it just didn’t grab and hold me in several … Continue reading »
Six Earlier Days by David Levithan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Initial thoughts: For 37 pages of one-shot accounts, this was a powerful story, and an intriguing lead into Levithan’s “Every Day”. I felt connected to each of the six accounts, and while it was a quick read, it left a powerful impression on … Continue reading »
Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout My rating: 4 of 5 stars Initial reaction: “Onyx” impressed me more than I thought it would going into it. I definitely liked Daemon more in this book, and while Katy pretty much has everything thrown at her in this book, I saw why she reacted the way she did. … Continue reading »
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout My rating: 3 of 5 stars Initial reaction: I’m actually very much torn on what to rate this novel. I think for the most part the person who made this novel for me was Katy. She has a great personality, fiesty, funny and provided more than a few laugh out … Continue reading »
Through to You by Emily Hainsworth My rating: 3 of 5 stars Initial reaction: I’m on the fence about “Through to You” because I think the novel became so much better towards the end, but the beginning and middle were muddled to heck and back. I was incredibly frustrated with it in parts. I read … Continue reading »
Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake My rating: 4 of 5 stars Initial reaction: I didn’t love this as much as “Anna Dressed in Blood”, but “Girl of Nightmares” managed to be entertaining in its own right, and the ending left me content for what it offered. I do think the major issue I had … Continue reading »
