Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Author: C.C Hunter
Format: Paperback
Pages: 398
Author Website
Date Published: March 29 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin


Introduction
         Everything in Kylie's life is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, she feels that her dad doesn't love her like he used to, she's still grieving over her dead Nana, and to make matters even worse, she has a stalker that only she can see. Her shrink, Ms. Day, convinces her mom to send Kylie to Shadow Falls, a summer camp for juvenile teens after she gets stuck at the wrong party. Kylie wants nothing to do with the juvenile kids at the camp, and right when she gets on the bus, she can tell that something is off about these kids. Kylie is at the camp all of five minutes when she is informed that everybody at the camp is supernatural. Vampire's, witches, fae, werewolves, and even a few necromancers are present at the camp. Kylie doesn't think she belongs at Shadow Falls, but every argues that she does. She is different. She's even different from everybody else at the camp. Nobody can figure out what she is, so that makes her interesting. Even though Kylie is sure that she doesn't belong at Shadow Falls, she's stuck at the camp for the summer so she might as well make the most of it.

Cover
       I like the cover, with the creepy looking tree and the shiny purple background, what I don't like is the girl standing in the middle of the tree. I think the cover would look much better if she wasn't there.

Love interests.
       Enter the love triangle square. Yeah, that's right Kylie kind-of sort-of has feelings for three guys. First we have Trey. A mortal, and he happens to be Kylie's ex-boyfriend that broke up with her after almost a year because he wouldn't go all the way with him. Kylie is not fully over him, and it doesn't help when he says that he wants her back. Personally, I think Trey is a huge waste of time. If he is going to be such a jerk, then she needs to move one, and not consider going back to him.
       Next we have Lucas. A werewolf boy with whom she shares a secret past. (Or so it says in the synopsis on the back of the book.) Now you should think if they put it like that, it should be really interesting. It's not. It's not as interesting as the synopsis makes it sound. But besides that, I liked Lucas. He was pretty cool.
       And last, is Derek. A half-fae. He seems the most determined to be her boyfriend out of the three. I liked him also. He had some pretty cool gifts, like how he can partially communicate with animals, and how he can manipulate feelings. Of course the fact that he can manipulate feelings has Kylie on the edge. She needs to know that her feelings for him are pure. Another thing that has Kylie on edge is the fact that Derek just so happens to look like Trey.
       The one thing that bothers me, is at some point she makes out with all three of the guys. It's true, she picks one guy in the end, but something happens near the end of the book that makes the other two guys unable to be with her, so basically she ran out of choices. I am happy with who she ended up with, but I do suspect that the other two guys that  she didn't choose to be with are going to be back in the second installment.

Della
       Della is one of Kylie's roommates. (The cooler one if you as me.) She's a newly-turned vampire. She has to put up with Kylie telling her how blood is gross, and I admire he for keeping her cool so well, with Kylie being so insensitive about what Vampires need to do to survive.

Grammar
       I did catch a few grammar mistakes. Simple rules that should be second nature, like when something that already ends in an s is plural you don't add the extra s afterwards.

Conclusion
       It seems that I have a soft spot for books that involve supernatural camps and schools, and this one did not disappoint. It didn't focus on Kylie being super-natural all the time, had chapters focusing on what Kylie's life is going to be like when she goes home. Now that her parents are divorced and I liked that. It added a realistic element to the story. I liked the ending of Born at Midnight, and I am intrigued to see what will happen in Awake at Dawn.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Author Website
Author Twitter
Publication Date: September 27 2011
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers


Introduction
       Mara Dyer wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the last few days. She is informed that her friends died when a building collapsed. She was with them, but she somehow managed to escape the same fate. She shouldn't be alive, she should be dead, along with everybody else. She isn't dead, but she isn't what she used to be. Mara starts hallucinating. beginning to doubt whats real, Mara downplays everything that is going on so that her family doesn't worry, but most importantly, doesn't have her committed. Mara's whole family moves to Florida in hopes to have a new beginning, but the hallucinations still follow her. She doesn't know how long she can hold herself together, but she also knows that she can't fall apart.

Cover
       I really like the cover of this book. I mean, really like it. I don't really know why, but it probably has something to do with the fact that I have never seen one much like it

Noah
     I liked Noah. His easy banter with Mara was hilarious. Even though he has a lot of money, I never really thought he was spoiled or bratty, like many authors make higher-class people out to be.

Jamie
       Jamie was probably my favorite character. Because he is one of Mara's only friends, he is in a lot of the book. You are probably not going to believe me, but even before it was mentioned in the book, he reminded me of Yoda.

Hallucinations
       Mara's hallucinations are consistent throughout the book. I enjoyed how while Mara was having a hallucination, there was no giveaway that she was having one. It wasn't written differently, it didn't go into another chapter. It was all written the same way. I liked that, because this way, it's a little bit of a guessing game at some points, just like it would be for Mara.

Plot Twist
       I have to say, I did not see this plot twist coming, and that actually makes me really happy. A lot of times, I predict the plot twists, and it kind of takes away most of what you should be feeling at the plot twist point. This book did manage to put a nice plot twist. It's not a earth shattering twist, but I liked it, nonetheless.

Conclusion
       I am extremely happy with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It has pretty much a little bit of everything. it had some paranormal aspects, it had Mara just trying to live a normal life, the romance between Mara and Noah was great. It was in most of the book, but it wasn't overwhelming. I will defiantly be recommending this to my friends. I believe that both genders would enjoy this book, and I can't wait to read the second installment in the trilogy.

I've Been Thinking About The Need Series

       In the midst of my boredom the other day, A series very dear to my heart came to my mind. That series, is the The Need Series by Carrie Jones If you haven't read my reviews for these books, it'll be kind of hard to know what I am speaking of so here are the links. Need, Captivate, Entice, Endure, but also, fair warning: If you haven't read Entice or Endure and don't want it to be slightly spoiled, I would not read this

       I was particularly thinking about the relationship between Zara and Nick. In the one of the last books either, Entice or Endure, while the Zara, Astley and friends are trying to get Nick back from Valhalla, Zara's mom says that all the trouble that they are going through to get Nick back isn't worth the casualties. I'm pretty sure, back when I first read the books I mentioned something like, I almost agree with Zara's mom. No. I Completely agree with Zara's mother. If you have read these books, I would hope you agree that all the things that Zara does are ridiculous. She risks her life many times, she risks her friends lives many times. Although they agreed to it, it doesn't make what they did any less stupid. I realize that she did these things because she did not want to lose another person she loved, but she ended up losing more than that while trying to get one person back. See it's time like this I remember that Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a very wise person, do you remember when Buffy said:

"No guy is worth your life, not ever."

Yeah, I do too.

Ink by Amanda Sun

Author: Amanda Sun
Format: Paperback
Pages: 369
Date Published: June 25 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Introduction
       After Katie's mom passes away, Katie is forced to move to Japan. As if losing her mom isn't enough, Katie speaks little Japanese, and is struggling to get a hang of the customs. Then weird things start happening to her whenever she is with Yuu Tomohiro. A gorgeous boy, with a tough jerk-face facade. Whenever they are together, ink appears, and pens explode. When Tomo draws, his drawings float off the page and come to life. Tomo warns her to stay away.  He is always trying to keep her at a distance, but as Katie gets to know the real Tomo, the one hiding behind tough words and mean faces, his secrets unfold before her eyes. It so happens that Tomo and Katie both have something to do with the ink.

Cover
       Are you looking at this cover? Congratulations, you have just laid eyes on the most beautiful cover that has ever existed. I love it. Everything about this cover is beautiful.

Tomohiro
       I can't even explain my love for Tomo. At the beginning he seems like a dirt-bag. But as you get to know him, he's amazing. Though it might not seem like it, everything he is doing is to protect somebody else. Everybody else must be safe before he even thinks of himself.

Jun
       Jun a boy that Katie meets early on in the book. He's pretty cool, pretty nice, (for the most part) and also puts effort into being Katie's friend. Right at the beginning, right until the end.

Ishikawa
       Despite everything that Ishikawa has gotten himself mixed into, I liked him from the very start, Even though he wasn't very nice to Katie, I still think that he is a very interesting character.

Setting
       I haven't read many books set in Japan--Okay, I haven't read any.--But I really like how the author made everything sound so real, I could picture the small places they were in so very easily. Everything about the setting was beautiful.

Kami
       I already knew a little about the Kami from playing the video game Okami and because of playing that I already knew a little bit about Amaterasu, but even if you don't know anything about the Kami or Amaterasu don't be overwhelmed. The author makes it really easy to understand.

Illustrations
       Every time that Tomo draws something of significance, on the next page you will find an illustration of what that drawing looks like. They are all beautiful. Every. Single. One. I love the fact that the illustrations are included, because now instead of just trying to imagine what the drawing is supposed to look like, you can see it. You know exactly what the author wants you to visualize.

Conclusion
       This book is so amazingly beautiful in every way possible. The characters are amazing, the setting is beautiful, and I am absolutely sure of myself when I say that this is one of my favorite books.

Goodreads Embers & Ice Giveaway!

     
 

       I'm sure that a number of you have read my review of Rouge by Isabella Modra, (here) and if you have, you should know that I loved it. So, if you've read Rouge, I am very happy to inform you that Isabella is holding a giveaway on Goodreads for the second book. You have a chance to win one of 2 SIGNED ARC's. As of right this second you have exactly 69 days 13 hours 6 minutes and 13 seconds to enter. If you are interested, the link is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/81841-embers-ice

Look What Book I Bought!

       HEY EVERYBODY. *Points at you*  Do you want to see what book I bought today? No? Well I am going to show it to you anyway, because I for one, am super excited. Ready for this? *Drum roll*

       Oh. My. God. It's beautiful. Look at that eye. Staring at you all beautiful and such. I am so happy that I bought this book. I now own the entire Shatter Me series. Man, am I ever proud. I am also sad, in a way. I know that once I finish this book, It's done. It's over. No more Juliette, Adam, Warner, Kenji, no more Restablishment. Oh, the sadness that will without a doubt come with finishing the trilogy.

       Have you guys notice that a lot of great trilogies are coming to an end, either soon, or recently? I mean, the Shatter Me Trilogy is done, The Divergent Trilogy is done, The Mara Dyer Trilogy is ending soon. Truthfully, I really do hope I get into another trilogy soon. I'm losing so many :( 

Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books That Will Make You Cry

       Top 10 Tuesday is an original meme hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish



       I have never cried at a book, but these ones had me pretty close.

#1. Revived by Cat Patrick

       This book, like many others, isn't an overall sad book. It does however have some sad moments

#2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

       As I mentioned in my earlier post about this book. This has book has put a void in my soul that will never be filled with any kind of happy moment.

#3. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

       I don't think anybody actually cried, but what happens between Adam and Juliette broke my fragile little heart.







AND...that's it guys, sorry, I'm really bad at posting these. I don't think I have ever actually completed a list.