Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

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Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly #1 
Source: Kindle copy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date:  April 2011
Age Genre: Young Adult

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

I wrote and re-wrote this review about three times. Maybe more. It took me about a month to finally post it at all, and I wasn't sure I was ever going to get there. For once, it's not because I don't have what to say. It's because I have too much and I just don't know how to put it down in writing or what to focus on and it's driving me nuts.

It's been such a long, long time since I've read such a solid and well balanced contemporary YA fantasy. And, to be honest, I really wasn't expecting this to be this good; this well rounded; to have all the elements I'm looking for in a story.

Frankly, I don't have that good a record with Angel stories.

Not this one. First of all, the whole concept here is refreshing and well thought out. It's obvious the author knew exactly what she was going for and not only that - knew what she wanted to develop it into. We don't learn everything in this book. Far from it. We're given enough so we understand everything that's happening, while making it clear a lot of vital information is still missing from this puzzle and will be unraveled in the future. I love that.

I loved Clara, the main character. Geez, when was the last time I read of a YA heroine who is level headed, logical, rational and real. Who fights for what she wants and for her life. Who is willing to listen. Who doesn't give up. Who is actively working on her life and not just... waiting for something to happen? Especially when the whole plot actually revolves around waiting for a certain even to happen?

This was so precious to me. I was 100% behind Clara and with her.

And then, the romance? My god. I was so afraid of the romance because the synopsis seems to tease Insta love and I am happy to inform the synopsis is lying! No insta love for this book, thank god. Just a case of insta attraction which is a-okay with me. Instead, we've got delicious, slow burn built up between two people who I think are meant to be together and asdfghjkl so many feels.

Is there a love triangle? Kinda. We do have two boys.

The first is Christian, the guy who Clara uprooted her whole family for. He's sweet, nice, kind of removed... but I didn't feel much towards him. He's, to me, not appealing. There isn't too much to him, and even when he was nice to Clara it never felt like he was really invested in her.

The second? Love of my life, light of my soul, what else could a girl want when she's got the sweet and layered rancher Tucker Avery in her life (romantically wise, anyways)? He starts off as the guy who teases and makes fun of Clara, in a rather fun manner. Then he grows to be more, showing her around the place and being sweet af and just... I can't with this guy.

Don't need to tell you which team shirt I'm gonna buy, is there?

Then we've got the surrounding relationships in the book which were all wonderful. The siblings in this novel love each other. They are also a pain in each other's butts, but when they need each other they are there for them. It's so realistic and heartwarming and I loved it.

Then we have the parental relationship between Clara and her Mom which was a big part of the story. I loved their relationship, even as we watched it begin to fracture underneath the weight of secrets and lies and destiny. But their love was never in question. 

And everyone in this story are such good friends to one another. Good, real, healthy friendships. You've no idea how much I miss those in literature sometimes. 

I highly recommend this novel to everyone who love YA and fantasy, and I will most definitely read the sequels! 

Nitzan★

Thursday Oldie: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & The End of Days #1
Source: Bought paperback
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication Date: August 28, 2012
Original Post: Jan 11, 2014
Age Genre: Young Adult

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.
Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...

Angelfall is one of these books. You know, the kind that takes over the reading community by storm? The kind everybody seems to unanimously love? Naturally, I was pumped up for this book. I wanted to be wowed by it. I wanted it to be the first Angel book that blew my mind all the way to mars.

For the most part, it wasn't. But there was a ton of epic shit going down there at the end, and just for that last 30% I'll be picking the second book up... probably the moment book three comes out, so I could binge read.

This book is not all puppies and rainbows. Unless we're talking about man-eating puppies and rainbows of blood, in which case, maybe it is. This book is bloody dark. Much darker than I expected (I always seem to forget how much crap dystopian worlds are capable of). It has death, and it has munching on body parts, and it has people (creatures? beings?) playing Frankenstein. Which is so not cool.

The conclusion? Don't read it at night. And if you do, make sure all the lights are on, so you'll at least be able to see the monsters coming.

The story is told from Penryn's point of view, as she navigates this angel ravaged world in her quest to find and save her little sister from the angels who kidnapped her. (Why are the angels destroying our world? No idea. Actually, no one seems to know. Which kind of sucks for us.)

I really liked Penryn as a main character - she was loyal and tough, hardened and strong... but the thing I actually liked most about her is how she is not looking to save the world. All she wants is her family in one piece, and even that is too much weight on her young shoulders.

Her journey companion is Raffe, an angel who had his wings cut off. They both want to get to the same place, for different reasons, so they decide to cooperate. And if on the way they discover the other is not so bad? That Raffe may be an angel - the creature ruining our world - but he's also gentle and caring? Loyal? Well, that's alright. And okay, he sometimes comes out too confident and condescending... but it really works for him.

Side note: the way Penryn says Raffe's name is pronounced (like Raw Feet) is actually a name we have here, in Israel. My sort-of grandpa (long story) is called Raffie, so that was fun to read of. 

Together Penryn and Raffe were actually... kind of awesome. They don't embark on an epic romantic relationship... yet... but boy do the sparks fly. And in the end... *le sigh* - Raffe is so sweet. The two of them are. I want them together, Susan Ee, and I even have theories and suggestions to make it happen! Email me! We can talk about them!

But admittedly, the first 70% of the book were just "okay" for me. They were mostly travel, and hiding, and running, and you know - stuff like that. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything amazing.

But those last 30%? Boy, the epicness. They were fabulous. And utterly heartbreaking, for so many different reasons. I didn't know one could snuff so much heartbreak into one end -it was kind of impressive, and completely depressing. Nothing good happened.The situation looks beyond hopeless... which makes me excited to see how Susan Ee gets them out of it. At least I hope she will... without killing one of my favorite main characters.

This book is also the epitome of mysterious and intriguing. So many things seem to happen backstage, and we have no idea why or how or what the bad guy's end game. I have so. many. damned. questions. And something tells me I'm not going to get any answers any time soon... *Sobs*

Lastly... sorry for all the cursing. This book just brings all the best out of me *wink*

Nitzan★

Thursday Oldie: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

So as you guys know, I just moved here. And that means my old blog now lies abandoned... alongside all my old reviews. But because I feel like some of them don't deserve such an awful treatment, I'm going to slowly move my favorite reviews here, especially if my opinion differs than Megs. (though some editing may occur, as I'm a little OCD about my reviews, and the older they originally are, the more likely I am to have things I want to rephrase). 

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
Series: Sweet #1
Source: Kindle version
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 1th 2012
Age Genre: Young Adult
Originally published: May 27, 2013

Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

DNF at 50%

So, the last couple of oldies were dedicated to the gushing reviews of Kelly Oram's books, and that means I now need to balance it with the worst of the worst - starting with Sweet Evil. I don't normally rate books I didn't finish, unless the reason I didn't finish the book is that I found it completely awful and intolerable. Which is the case here. Big time.

Now, clearly, this is going to be a bad review. It is, in fact, a major rant. So, if you like the book and might find that offensive - don't read the review. I'm entitled to my own opinions, and I do not begrudge you for liking it. I simply didn't. So please, offer me the same respect, and don't comment hatefully.

SPOILERS AHEAD

This book ought to teach me never to trust hype. I saw the cover, saw the high score, saw all my friends loved it, and started reading it. I never looked at the summary, which is something I do sometimes when a book is highly recommended so I can let it take me by surprise. 

Not a good surprise, this one. Nothing sweet about this evil.

Now, I admit, if I had read the synopsis I might have decided not to give it a shot at all, what with the whole "life depends on being a bad influence thing", but I didn't, so...

By the time I reached 27% of this book, I had a page filled with written complaints about it. And, unfortunately for you, you are going to get a full list of them. Sorry.

The Very Beginning

I actually liked the very first 10%, minus that one really stupid moment in Anna's head ("Kai, like Thai, only yummier"). I really do enjoy the writing of the book, it's very flowing and easy to read. I will also mention that some of the conversations were very enjoyable! Now, to the bad.

Anna talking about drugs

I had a WTF moment when Anna talked about drugs.

Anna is the goody-two-shoe, the one who doesn't lie, who doesn't do drugs or alcohol, who always listens to her mother, who does all the homework, etc, etc. But when she started to talk about drugs, in her head, she freaked me out, because she talked of such longing toward to substance.

 
Now, I am well aware of the fact that is due to her heritage. That's why I said I might've opted not to read this book at all if I knew about all this, because this is just wrong to me on so many levels. It creeps me out. 

And at that party, when she was drugged? Her reaction to that? Total What the Fuck am I reading?! moment.

However, I could've gotten past that, because at the end, even though it greatly disturbs me, this is an interesting idea and plot. It's very different than other books in that aspect.

But...

Anna - You Drive Me Bananas!

The girl has had supernatural powers her entire life, but when she finally finds out what she is, she says, and this is a quote: 

"Part of my brain, the realistic part, didn't want to believe a word...but the other half, the heartfelt spiritual part, knew without a doubt it was the truth".

YOU HAVE HAD POWERS ALL YOUR LIFE and, yet;
a) you have a side that is "realistic" and doesn't believe in those things?! How do you explain yourself??

b) the reason you do believe is 'cause you're spiritual? What, the superpowers aren't enough!?

Also, the girl has no phone, shares HUGE secrets with a guy she doesn't know, has a hard case of Insta Love I don't care for, and many more stuff I would mention in regards to other sections. Yeah, she will never be on my list of favorite heroines!

Kaiden...

The guy is our love interest. He's hot, a musician, filthy rich. What's not to like? Oh, he also happens to be half demon, the son of the Duke of Lust. It basically means this:

The guy is a man-slut. He is kind of forced into it by his creepy father who demands he 'work' (yes, they treat and call it as work. It is actually whoring. Another reason to be creeped out by this book). 

Which means, I am not swooning over Kaiden. He doesn't drive me crazy like Anna does, but I'm not swooning. I mean, he is a man-slut, by choice or not. And I guess I would've been more forgiving if I did feel he had no other choice, but he didn't appear to be fighting it all that hard. And he's kind of a jerk. I find it hard to fall for a character like that...

On a side note, I don't really get why he has to sleep with them if he's promoting lust, because people lust after him just fine without him sleeping around, but whatever.

Patti - Try at Consistency!

Patti is Anna's very overprotective adoptive mother. She is the kind of mom who only lets her daughter go to a party after she makes sure it's supervised, who calls every hour if her daughter goes out (but doesn't get her daughter a phone so she could directly contact her rather than through her friends'), who repeats the dangers of the world to her daughter all the time.

So you can see why it is completely unbelievable and stupid that it's THIS mother who suggests said daughter go on a road-trip with a guy she had just met, whom she has warned her daughter from before, because she knows him to be half a demon - a creature meant to seduce humans to sin. 

What is this, Fuck Logic and Character Consistency Day?...

And THE worst part about all this? That dear Anna decides she'll "trust Kaiden once and for all" if her mother decides to let him take her on that trip. Seriously? You're leaving the decisions of trusting a guy you don't know once and for all to your MOTHER? 

Higgins tried to ease the effect of this later with Patti suddenly growing anxious and thinking she was stupid at suggesting all this (which she is), but the damage is done the moment she suggested it. She didn't just agree or something. 

Also, that woman cries so easily! It's annoying and kind of weird. 

The Romance... Kill Me, Kill Me!

Arrg, Insta Love alert.

Anna doesn't know Kaiden at all, but already the thing she wants 'most and least in the world' is to be stuck with him in a car for days, staying overnight. Seriously? Oh, and she trusts him with her biggest secrets after, like, two seconds. But Anna is not the only one faulted with this ridiculous response. Oh, no, Kaiden is, too. He knows her for a day or two when he tells her his favorite place to be is with her. But at least he has some form of logical explanation to it.

Oh, and do you know how long it takes Anna to think the L word about him? (and take off her clothes for him?) A freaking week, more or less.

If that's not enough, Kaiden doesn't really need to give excuses to his bad behavior (and there's abundance of that) or anything, because she's from those girls who gives meanings and excuses to the douches all for free! Just, because. They're actually not douches - they're kind. In their own brutish ways. Riiiight. 

Sex, Sex, Sex - Come Again? This is a Young Adult Book!?

One of the most disturbing things in this book? The emphasize on the sex, especially considering they're only 16 and 17. Now, true; teenagers today know and talk about sex. Some of them have it too. Ignoring it completely will be stupid. 

But must you make it so important and emphasized in the plot? Must every few conversations talk about sex in one way or another? Must you make your main characters sleep with everything that moves? Must you make every kiss much more erotic and sensual than YA really calls for? Must you make them take off their clothes and talk about virginity and stuff like that ALL THE TIME?

It drove me crazy! I wouldn't mind so much in New Adult and probably not at all in Adult, but this is marked Young Adult and the characters are minors, and the fixation with it is disturbing. I hope there is someone monitoring kids don't get their hands on this book and parents shouldn't let them! Seriously! I would never let a younger audience read this... and young adult carters to kids from 12 to 18!

Oh, and the real kick about this book?

Here I shall conclude the rant. I still had about a page more of things to say, but I decided I was drilling on your nerves enough as it is.

Again, please don't hate me for disliking and DNFing the book!

Nitzan★

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn and the End of Days, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Feral Dream
Publication Date: May 21, 2011

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

I jumped right into Angelfall without having a clue about it. I knew that it was about angels, but that was the extent of my knowledge. To tell you the truth, I'd never really been interested in it before - it didn't seem like my thing. But I gave it a shot, for Nitzan!

And it turns out that I actually liked it! It was really... I guess intense would be the word. It felt like we never really stopped for a breath. There were lots of horror-y moments where I wished I wasn't reading in the dark, and there was a bit of a mystery going on. I liked the mystery, even if in the end it was all gruesome and such. Gruesome is okay.

I liked Penryn too - but her name... I don't know about it. I couldn't decide how exactly to say it, so it kept coming out "Pinrin", which probably isn't right... but whatever. I also had a bit of a problem with Raffe's name - I kept calling him "Raf-eee", even though it's pronounced "Raw-Feet". I guess I just have a bit of a problem with pronunciation - let's blame it on my roots. But I've sidetracked a bit here... back to Penryn.

Like I said, I liked her as a character. She was a really strong girl, and it was nice to see someone so focused on keeping their family safe in a situation like hers. I did have a problem with some of the things that she did, though. For someone so focused on family, she's not afraid to run off and leave her schizophrenic mom anywhere - and her mom always finds her. I'm not going to lie, Penryn's mom sort of scared me.

There were lots of terrifying moments in Angelfall. And I mean lots - Susan Ee sure knows how to write a suspenseful scene, which I liked. I even liked the ending, although it was kind of sad. I still liked it. All in all, Angelfall was a pretty good read.

Outcast by Adrienne Kress

Outcast by Adrienne Kress
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Diversion Books
Publication Date: June 4, 2013

After six years of “angels” coming out of the sky and taking people from her town, 16-year-old Riley Carver has just about had it living with the constant fear. When one decides to terrorize her in her own backyard, it’s the final straw. She takes her mother’s shotgun and shoots the thing. So it’s dead. Or … not? In place of the creature she shot, is a guy. A really hot guy. A really hot alive and breathing guy. Oh, and he’s totally naked.

Not sure what to do, she drags his unconscious body to the tool shed and ties him up. After all, he’s an angel and they have tricks. When he regains consciousness she’s all set to interrogate him about why the angels come to her town, and how to get back her best friend (and almost boyfriend) Chris, who was taken the year before. But it turns out the naked guy in her shed is just as confused about everything as she is.

He thinks it’s 1956.

Set in the deep south, OUTCAST is a story of love, trust, and coming of age. It’s also a story about the supernatural, a girl with a strange sense of humor who’s got wicked aim, a greaser from the 50’s, and an army of misfits coming together for one purpose: To kick some serious angel ass.

Sing 'em to remember. Sing 'em because you remember. I remember Gabe, I remember. And I'm never going to forget.

The idea behind Outcast was really intriguing, but I honestly wasn't sure how it would turn out. Because, well, let's be honest here. How often do books deliver based on intriguingness? Almost never. But it turns out that Outcast was a step above the rest. Because it did deliver, in my mind. It had all of the elements that I like to see in a paranormal-- a hot guy who's somewhat paranormal, a freaky cult, some kind of scaryish ghost and some crazy twists in between.

I really liked our main character, Riley. At first I was expecting her to be our average, virginal, annoyingly whiny paranormal girl lead. I was pleasantly surprised! Riley was actually quite the badass. She was very straightforward and sarcastic, and let's be honest. She shot an "angel" in the face. That was pretty frecking epic. Am I right or what? Loved that. I also loved that she almost always has something to say that is so true. Seriously, check out this quote-- I love it because it's true!

Or worse. You see, an adorable little tank top on Lacy would look demure and pretty. One me it would look totally indecent, like I was some sex kitten. Basically, big boobs make people think you're trashy.

That is absolutely true! I can never get out of the house in anything resembling a tank top, so I feel for Riley. But I'm going to move on now. I liked Gabe-- he was a lot sweeter and more decent than I thought he would be. And I don't know that I would necessarily refer to him as a greaser, but whatever. He is who he is, right? Gabe was a huge part of the story-- he kept it going. You just don't realize until the end how big of a deal he is, and then it hits you how crazy awesome the whole plot was. It was twisty and turny and actually kind of confusing...but in a good way, do you know what I mean?

It was really interesting in the beginning, but as the story progressed it seemed like we were getting way too much information at one time...but it all starts to make sense later, so I'm actually okay with it. I just hope that there's less info-dump in the author's next book, because I really liked her writing. I didn't realize it until the end, but I was totally following and feeling everything that Riley was throughout Outcast, which can't be anything but good in my opinion.

All in all, Outcast really is worth a read. It was a great paranormal that made my head spin, and I absolutely loved the surprise ending, it was totally epic!