The Iron King review ~ May contain a few spoilers

The Iron King
Julie Kagawa

368 pages

Rating:

Synopsis:

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Review:

OMG! I absolutely LOVED this book! Fan-freaking-tastic! I'm usually NOT a real big fan of faery books..Vampires, werewolves and those sorts of paranormal are more up my alley. But once I started reading it I had a VERY hard time putting it down.

Julie Kagwa is VERY vivid and thorough of her descriptions of not only the characters, but of Nevernever land and the overall landscapes of the various Fey Courts. I felt like I was right there with Meghan and crew while they were on their journey.

There is action and "weird" things happening almost from the very start of the book. So your

on a fast track to Nevernever land real quick. See Meghan's life is turned upside down when her little brother (technically he's her 1/2 brother but who's being technical?) is kidnapped and a super nasty changeling (who attacks both Meghan and her mom) is left in his place.

But this is where Meghan's best friend Robbie comes into play. See in actuality Robby is the prankster Puck from a Midsummer's Night Dream. And off they go through the "trod," which is the portal into Nevernever land (conviently found in the closet of Meghan's brother.) As beautiful as Nevernever is a VERY dangerous place and you never really know who your friend or your foe is.

Pretty much everything keeps going wrong, more so when Grimalkin, who is a cat sith gets involved. Meghan keeps finding herself in one pickle after another, which makes her goal of finding her little brother seem almost unattainable. She's fighting trolls, gremlins, other faeries, each other, and other mythical creatures. It seems that Meghan and crew just couldn't catch a break if their lives depended upon it.

There were a couple parts of this book that were predictable. Like...Meghan is the daughter of the Summer king, so naturally she's gonna go and fall for the son of the Winter Queen. In all honesty I think that that piece of predictability was key to the story. I would have been severly dissapointed if it wasn't written the way it was. But for the most part the story kept me on my toes and guessing what was going to happen next.

Unlike Meghan (who is there looking for her brother and wants to get back to her life ASAP), it seems that pretty much all the rest of the characters in the story have a hidden agenda or have something that is brewing right there under the surface.

I think that Robbie/Puck takes the cake in this one, with his wicked sense of humor. Meghan is a very likeable character and seems to grow as the story goes along. Sometimes you think she's not real bright....Like bargaining with a faery. But just when you think she's going to go and do something dumb yet again, she throws you for a loop.

Which brings us to Ash, who is the prince of the Winter Court. He's written as a total hottie who is seriously cold in so many ways. He's attracted to Meghan but at the same time he wants to kill her. He even thinks about it several times but manages to stop himself. Ash is a superior swordsman with his sword of iciness and if his sword isn't cutting it....he likes to drop his predators by shooting icicles at them. Which I think is pretty cool.

I have to agree with Alyssa from Teens Read and Write. I just don't think that there was enough Ash in the story. We see him a little bit in the beginning but after that we don't really see him again until your well over a 100 pages into the book. Really that is my only complaint with the book....I wanted MORE Ash.

I can hardly wait until the second book comes out in the series. The Iron Daughter is being released in August. August seems so VERY far away!

Beautiful Creatures review May Contain Spoilers

*****MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*****
I am going to try and keep this review short and sweet and try not to give away too much. I’ve read so many great things about this book all over the book blogging community and when I finally got my hands on a copy of it I was definately more than happy with the book. I LOVED the book. I LOVED that it kept me guessing (will Lena turn Dark or not? what happens next in the “visions”). I even LOVED the length (I generally don’t care for 500+ page books)! I LOVED the characters (I especially loved the part on Halloween when Lena get’s even with the cheerleaders)….Ethan is just your “normal” 16 year old high school student, who happens to be having these weird dreams about a girl he’s never even met before…..and Lena….Lena has her own issues. She is so far from “normal” that it actually rocks Ethan’s world. All the characters are pretty likeable for the most part. I’ve never read a book that’s been classified as Southern Goth before and I am beyond happy with the results. Overall, I just LOVED the book. If you haven’t read it I highly recommend getting a copy.

Blog With Bite Ballad Review **May Contain Spoilers**

Ballad

Maggie Stiefvater

Synopsis - 9/10

Plot - 9/10

Characters - 10/10

Overall Story - 8/10

Conclusion - 9/10

Overall Score - 45/50

Synopsis: Remember us, so sing the dead, lest we remember you

James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the fairies are not as harmless. As Halloween—the day of the dead—draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala's life and his soul.

***** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS *****

Review: In the beginning of the book I was totally confused....The characters kept talking about events that took place "last summer" which I took to mean "the last book, Lament" which I did NOT read before I started Ballad (bad me!). The book starts off telling us - the readers - a little bit about the Leanan Sidhe and then about the death of a Leanan Sidhe. Then we meet Dee, who we "hear" from in the book mostly in the form of text messages to James. James and Dee are new students at a prestigeous music high school called Thornking-Ash. James plays the bagpipe and is kind of a smart ass (which is an unusual instrument, but if you've ever heard it belt out Amazing Grace your hooked) and Dee plays the harp. James' roomate in the dorms is Paul who is a talented Oboe player but in my opinion a little bit too straightlaced for my liking in the beginning of the book.

The first week of school is just like any other school....learning the ground rules, learning your way around....all that fun stuff. Then week two starts and James and Paul are assigned to read Hamlet in Mr. Sullivan's first hour English class AND James is hearing and seeing the Antler King (king of the dead)...which means that there are fey around. Seems that there is a cloverhand (calls to the fey) at the school. Then to top is off James is sent to take private piping lessons from a piper who is nowhere near as good as James. Upon leaving his disasterous lesson James meets Nuala who is a Leanan Sidhe. In the beginning Nuala wants to make a "deal" with James but James refuses. But Nuala doesn't give up....Nuala has never not gotten what (read: who) she wanted, so she decides that she is going to send him a dream that will just make him want to take the "deal." The day after James' disasterous piping lesson he is informed by Sullivan that he will either have to learn the guitar or the piano instead to meet his musical requirements.

I didn't really like Dee....She seemed really weak and whiney....Not to mention more than a little bit of a "user".....Nobody likes to be used, especially James. This is the point where is feelings start to shift in regards to the ladies in his life....In the beginning all he wanted was Dee and he wanted nothing to do at all with Nuala....now it's starting to shift the other way. Nuala takes James one night to a movie where they get to talking about things and end up sitting down and writing the play Ballad. Upon the completion of reading Hamlet Sullivan assigns a 10 page essay on Metaphor to his students. James and Paul are so NOT happy about the assignment that it leads to one of my favorite scenes in the book...Paul getting "drunk." This is where James tells Paul about Ballad and we learn that James and Dee aren't the only ones who are dealing with the paranormal.

The further into the book I got the more I learned and liked Nuala. In the beginning I thought she was going to be some soul sucking leech but she really isn't like that. Come to find out she's part human and every 16 years on Halloween she must burn in order to continue to live. But the kicker is that once she comes back she has no memories. Also, the further into the book I got the less I liked the "relationship" between James and Dee....Very UNhealthy. You also learn who the cloverhand is and what James and Nuala have to do while she is burning to make there dreams come true. Also, Thornking-Ash isn't just any ordinary prestigous music school either. Oh and all the "dirty deeds done dirt cheap" whichs ends up with a new King of the Dead being crowned. Oh, and Ballad? Ballad ends up being AWESOME!

Overall, I was really happy with the book. Next time though....I will start with the first book in the series so things make sense in the second book!

BWB Scale - 3/4

*****Blog With Bite Discussion Questions*****

1. James is a flawed and heart broken character, do you find his mental peculiarities charming or annoying? Please do explain.

I find them a little bit of both. Nobody likes to be used and I feel that in a sense Dee was using James.

2. What did you think of James and Dee's kiss? This being a pivotal moment for their relationship, how do you think it changed James?

I agree that the kiss was a pivotal point in the story but I also think with that kiss James finally realized that things with Dee were never going to be the way he wanted them to be.

3. Whom do you prefer Dee or Nuala?

Nuala hands down. Dee was a little bit tooo weak and whiney for my taste.

4. What's your verdict on the best way to read Ballad? Is it a stand alone book or do you need to read Lament first? If you read Lament, what did it add/not add to Ballad? If you haven't read Lament, do you think it would have added to your reading of Ballad?

In my opinion I think you need to read Lament first. I was sort of confused by some of the conversations that were taking place because they kept talking about events that happened "last summer" which I took to mean "last book."

5. We've been reading a lot of stories with fairies as the central paranormal creatures. What are your thoughts on the "Fair Folk". Do you believe in faires?

From what I've been reading in the books for the group fairies aren't necessarily nice creatures....so I'm not real sure how I feel about them. Do I believe in faires?....I'm not sure to be honest.

Blog with Bite - Intertwined Review

Intertwined
Gina Showalter
440 pages

Synopsis - 8/10
Plot - 9/10
Characters - 10/10
Overall Story - 9/10
Conclusion - 6/10

*Overall Score - 42/50


Synopsis: Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:

One can time-travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can tell the future.
And one can possess another human.

With no other family and a life spent in and out of institutions, Aden and the souls have become friends. But now, they're causing him all kinds of trouble.

Like, he'll blink and suddenly he's a younger Aden, reliving the past. One wrong move, and he'll change the future. Or, he'll walk past a total stranger and know how and when she's going to die.

He's so over it. All he wants is peace.

And then he meets a girl who quiets the voices. Well, for as long as he's with her. Why? Mary Ann Gray is his total opposite. He's a loner; she has friends. He doesn't care what anyone thinks; she tries to make everyone happy. And while he attracts the paranormal, she repels it. For her sake, he should stay away. But it's too late. . .

Somehow, they share an inexplicable bond of friendship. A bond about to be tested by a werewolf shape-shifter who wants Mary Ann for his own and a vampire princess Aden can’t resist. Two romances, both forbidden... doomed. Still, the four will enter a dark underworld of intrigue and danger... but not everyone will come out alive...








I had heard a little bit about this book on a couple of different blogs and forums before I stumbled upon Blog with Bite. At first I was a little iffy on reading it because it's not something that I would normally read....Honestly I'm a big ole sap for a sappy love story. But I'm really glad that I decided to read this book. The first chapter was a little creepy in my opinion but that's exactly what it is...my opinion. The main character Aden Stone is viewed by society as a "troubled" teen but in actuality he is possessed by 4 souls...LOVE the souls...There's just something about them I just really liked. Aden wants to go public high school so that he can spend more time with Mary Ann...who has a couple "issues" of her own. Heck there is even a little forbidden romance thrown in for both Aden and Mary Ann. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to give away anything. I really only had two gripes with the book....Just a tad bit too many paranormal characters make an apperance in the book and the rushed ending. Overall, I'm SUPER happy with the book and I'm glad that I decided to purchase a copy instead of wait for a copy from my library.

Discussion Questions:

#1 Do you feel the ending was cut short and needed more to be resolved before the book ended? I feel that the ending was pretty rushed...It wasn't the worst ending in the world but I wasn't particularly happy with it.

#2 Regarding Question #1, what are your thoughts on series books? For one you get more and more and more - depending on how long the series drags on - for another some series leave you with very little resolution at the end of the novels, i.e. the Merry Gentry series where only a couple of hours pass within the time span of one book. Do you find this is just an authors way of having guaranteed book sales - or do you really enjoy series and love reading about your fav characters over and over again? There are some series I feel that have been written just to get the books sold...Others I have enjoyed immensly...Overall I LOVE a GOOD series and enjoy reading about my favorite characters over and over again.

#3 Which "trapped" soul was your favorite and do you see potential in the future story lines with the remaining three? I liked Eve a lot....I felt that sometimes she was the "voice of reason" for Aden.

#4 When a larger-than-life character such as Vlad Tepes aka Dracula is used as a side-plot character do you believe it gives the story a more factual base, or makes it less real? I liked that Gena used actual characters in the story...I think it made the story more "real" for me personally.

#5 What did you think of the side plot involving Tucker and Penny? Do you think the issues from that plot were adequately resolved? Honestly, I didn't care for Tucker or Penny.

#6 What is your best guess as to what Aden Stone's superpower is - the power he possess without his souls? I think he's kind of got the "Jack of all trades" superpower...But that's just me.