How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: February 21, 2013

A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer.

Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick’s old flame. They’ve been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?

How to Lead a Life of Crime was nothing like I expected - I'll admit that I've heard some bad things about it, and I just wanted to see if they were true. And in my opinion, they weren't true at all. I thought that it was really gritty and interesting; and the world was just as well done. This was a crazy book, truly.

Our main character, Flick, was a good guy. He may be a pick pocket, but his moral compass points straighter than some I've met. He was loyal as all get out, and really, he just did what he had to do. No one should really blame him for that. And in that school, he may have been one of the only remaining sane people.

How to Lead a Life of Crime was a conspiracy theory and a half - with a crazy scientist, an underground school, and lots of psychopaths. And a few sociopaths, to keep the mix interesting. I liked it. I liked it a lot. It was an amazing read, in a psychotic thriller kind of way.

And some of the side characters? Whoa. Gwendolyn's back story was freaking insanely well crafted, and just like most of the events throughout this read, it was crazy. I loved the fact that the author could create characters that even as teenagers could be seen as psychotic.

The imagination used to create this book was great - I never expected it. It was a tad bit slow, but it definitely makes up for it in the end - I really liked the ending.

How to Lead a Life of Crime shows that no matter how psychotic you are, or how bad people think you are - everyone has a capacity for goodness inside.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Sheperd
Series: The Madman's Daughter, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: January 29, 2013

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

The Madman's Daughter is one of those books that I just knew that I would like. And for once, well, I was right. I did really like this one, and for me it wasn't very predictable. But I've never read The Island of Dr. Moreau, so this was a completely new experience for me.

I found Juliet to be a very...interesting/completely out of it character. She has ideas about things that just drive me absolutely mad. *I have developed a british accent in my head after reading this* At first her illness seemed really odd, but as some of the details about her father started to fall into place, it was like I suddenly figured it all out. And once I figure it out, I really wanted to beat some sense into Juliet. For instance, if you've read The Island of Dr. Moreau, you understand this: but there are natives on the island. And there is only one woman, a teenager, that Juliet deducts came on a boat...but. There are natives. She never even wonders where they came from? Really. I guess it kind of makes sense (her ignorance) for that time frame...but girl. People don't come from storks.

There are several other things that bothered me about her powers of deduction too, but for the sake of spoilers I won't reveal them. The island was so strange! When we first got there, I was questioning everything. I wanted to know about the past, and why and just everything. But the more I read, the more that it just got weird and twisted. Juliet thinks that what she did at the beginning was unnatural, but I disagree. What her father was doing was unnatural. And weirdly shocking.

As the story wore on, a couple new characters were introduced. And some had pasts that I never would have suspected. My face was like this by the ending: O.O All in all, it was a really good story, but I can't shake the feeling that it could have been a little better.

Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell

Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell
Series: N/A
Source: Publisher for review
Publisher: Abrams
Publication Date: October 1, 2013

Rebecca Blue is a rebel with an attitude whose life is changed by a chance encounter with a soon-to-be dead girl. Rebel (as she’s known) decides to complete the dead girl’s bucket list to prove that choice, not chance, controls her fate. In doing so, she unexpectedly opens her mind and heart to a world she once dismissed—a world of friendships, family, and faith. With a shaken sense of self, she must reevaluate her loner philosophy—particularly when she falls for Nate, the golden boy do-gooder who never looks out for himself. Perfect for fans of Jay Asher’s blockbuster hit Thirteen Reasons Why, Coriell’s second novel features her sharp, engaging voice along with realistic drama and unforgettable characters.

Honestly, I've been looking forward to thins one for a while. So, when I opened a random package and found this, my face immediately went like this: O.O I started it as soon as I could, and in the long run, I really wasn't all that disappointed with it. Yeah, it could have been better, but it also could have been worse; and as a whole I enjoyed it.

I found Rebel to be an interesting, unique type character. She had several quirks that I have too (constant lack of shoes being the #1) and I just connected with her. She was constantly herself, and she was really comfortable that way, which made her rock so hard. She may not have been perfect, but I liked her and that's all that really matters. Also, I love her name-- it fits her personality well. My favorite thing about her-- my absolute favorite-- was her growth. I really feel like she grew throughout the book into a better person.

But for every awesome-I-can't-get-enough-of-you character, there's always one who falls a bit flat. I say this because I know that it is true, and in this case it was Nate, the love interest. I didn't find him to be anymore than subpar, and it surprised me at first that someone as awesome as Rebel would want to be with him. He was such a blank canvas-- typical golden boy. I'm a huge advocate against stereotypes, but in this case he just was one. I didn't particularly care for him, but I loved his colorful family! What kind of a sick joke is that, I ask you?

But let's get to the real heart of the story-- bucket lists. I have always been fascinated by bucket list. The idea that someone somewhere might be completing something on their bucket list at any given time is like the coolest feeling. Kind of makes me wanna do some of the stuff on my...never mind. Anyway, the bucket list-- first of all, I feel like Kennedy's death and the subject of fate were kind of underplayed. Don't shoot me or anything, but that's just me.

I keep getting off subject, but...bucket lists. I liked the idea of completing someone's bucket list after their death, and how it would change someone-- but when I think of bucket lists I think of crazy crazy things, and Kennedy's bucket list was really lacking in that department. She was really white bread, but it was nice to see how doing some of those tasks changed Rebel.

All in all, Goodbye, Rebel Blue really was a good book, and I recommend it if you like bucket lists. Or blue. ;)

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Series: N/A
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I really expected to love Fangirl. I liked it, but I feel like it didn't resonate with me as deeply as it could have.

I really liked Cath as a character, but I just couldn't relate to the fandom. I did relate to almost everything else about her, though. Nerdy, socially retarded, and not leaving her room ever...that's me completely. She was so weird that it was endearing. I really liked that about her-- I liked her hesitance towards new situations, and just really enjoyed her as a character.

But as much as I liked Cath, I feel like the secondary characters lacked a bit. I enjoyed Levi and Reagan, but I don't feel like I really got to know them throughout the book. I mean, I can't even tell you where Reagan worked, and she does work somewhere. We get to see Levi a lot more, but I can tell you very little about him too-- it's like we got a quick school on them, and it didn't ever go any deeper than that. I can't very well tell you some of the most basic things about them.

Going past that though, I did enjoy Cath and Levi's relationship. They were very cute together, and they balanced each other out pretty well. I loved the scenes between them-- I don't think they could have been any cuter. It actually reminds me of a John Green quote, which is crazy.

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly at first, then all at once."

I liked that the situations seemed very realistic-- I could imagine them all happening, which was great. But back to the fandom-- I loved how it was like this alternate of Harry Potter-- it made it so much easier to believe, because you could compare it to the HP fandom, and it all made sense.

The only thing that really disappointed me to speak up was the ending-- I feel like not everything was resolved. We kind of end up with an open type ending, which isn't really my thing, you know?

All in all, Fangirl was a good read, and I'm not disappointed, but I feel like it could have been better. I don't know why.

Loki's Wolves by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr

Loki's Wolves by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr
Series: The Blackwell Pages, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication Date: May

"The runes have spoken. We have our champion...Matthew Thorsen."

Matt hears the words, but he can't believe them. He's Thor's representative? Destined to fight trolls, monstrous wolves and giant serpents...or the world ends? He's only thirteen.

While Matt knew he was a modern-day descendant of Thor, he's always lived a normal kid's life. In fact, most people in the small town of Blackwell, South Dakota, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt's classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke. No big deal.

But now Ragnarok is coming, and it's up to the champions to fight in the place of the long-dead gods. Matt, Laurie, and Fen's lives will never be the same as they race to put together an unstoppable team, find Thor's hammer and shield, and prevent the end of the world.

In their middle grade debut, K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr begin the epic Blackwell Pages series with this action-packed adventure, filled with larger-than-life legends, gripping battles, and an engaging cast of characters who bring the myths to life.

Loki's Wolves was just one of those books that I picked up because it was a middle grade. It looked interesting enough, and it was really just a place filler. I hadn't heard anything special about it, so I didn't know what to expect when coming into it. Turns out that was alright, though, because I really enjoyed it.

The Norse god's element was a fun break from the norm, and as a huge fan of Thor and Loki, it was a big hit for me. It was very interesting, but as I read it, well, it can also be a tad confusing. Keeping up with all of the happenings and different kinds of creatures was just hard. Not that it was interesting, but you know, maybe a little less information would have been nice. But then I probably would've complained about that too. ;)

Alternating points of view can be such a hit or miss for me-- I'm happy to report that this one was a hit. Each of the characters had their own unique personalities, and it was obvious whenever points of view changed. I feel like Laurie should have been my favorite character (because she's a girl), but Matt was actually my favorite. I don't know why I liked the golden boy so much, but it might just be that I'm supposed to. He is, after all, the hero, Thor's replacement, right? Maybe that's why. But I also really enjoyed the characters of Fen and Laurie...but I am so upset about Baldwin. Who knows what's going to happen there, though, so fingers crossed!

For whatever reason, I absolutely could not stand Astrid. She put off a bad vibe from the beginning, and I just can't figure out who she's supposed to be! I'm not exactly a huge fan of the twins either. But they were the only characters that I didn't care for, so I'd say we're doing good.

The illustrations were pretty good-- that might be my new addiction in MG-- why don't more YA books have illustrations? They are so much fun! Anyway, I noticed that the illustrations were slightly anime looking-- did anyone else notice that? All in all, Loki's Wolves was a good read, but hopefully the next book comes out soon because we're kind of in an awkward spot ending wise...

Also, happy birthday, Daddy!

Follow the White Rabbit by Kellie Sheridan

Follow the White Rabbit by Kellie Sheridan
Series: Beautiful Madness, #1
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Patchwork Press
Publication Date: May 21, 2013

For centuries, Wonderland thrived as the domain of beautiful bedlam and unapologetic madness. It was a place like no other. All it took was one girl slipping in through the cracks of the universe to start chaos spiraling toward order. In the 150 years since Alice’s visit, the realm has become tainted—almost normal. Rabbits in waistcoats and playing card minions are little more than creatures of myth, and Wonderland is literally falling to pieces.

For Gwen, Rose, and Lucky, Wonderland is home, and yet they know little of its former glory. When the Alice prophecy resurfaces, they’ll have one chance to use Wonderland’s own legends to bring a little mayhem back into their reality. For she who controls Alice controls the fate of Wonderland.

(Novella, 21k words)

Headlights illuminated the road ahead, flickering with each bump and crack in the pavement as I drove across the countryside.

I don't really know why I started this one-- I think it was because of the "Alice in Wonderland" re-telling point, but I can't be sure. Turns out that I really enjoyed it! My only issue? Way too short. I feel like the story had really only just started by the end of the book.

I was just starting to understand everything that was going on and to piece it together. I want to read more. I want to look more into the similarities between the original Wonderland characters and the new ones. I love the idea that "Wonderland" exists in cycles, and that it wants to repeat them over and over again.

I just loved the idea of this one. I loved the atmosphere, and the creepy vibes that I kept feeling were absolutely amazing. In the beginning, I wasn't sure how I would like it, because I knew that it was a novella-- but I actually enjoyed it! My only issue was the length, and that at first the changing POV's was confusing. I got used to it, though, and Gwen and Lucky were my favorite characters.

Two guesses as to who they are! All in all, I liked this re-telling of "Wonderland", but I wanted it to be longer.

Three girls hold cards; each plays her game.
As Wonderland's wind whispers a name.
Black is white and white is red.
All unravels as you tug the thread.
The stakes are high, don't interfere.
No turning back - Alice is near. ~Pg. 9, E-ARC