Words & Sinew

After reading this book, I'm not really sure how to feel. Now by that I mean this book is so filled with emotion, you're sort of a jumbled mess by the time you finish it. Going into it I wasn't sure. I had read mostly positive things about it but the summary was unsettling because I though I'd be reading the typical novel where perfect girl with perfect life gets into accident and then perfect is taken from her with a hell of a messed-up life. In a way, If I Stay is like that but it's still different. The relationship between Mia and Adam is real. It felt real, it was presented in a real way. It wasn't perfect. It had it's flaws. It didn't start off as wonderful, but instead it faltered and stuttered for a bit. I'm not one to believe that you can find your "soul mate" in high school, but for a few minutes Mia and Adam had me totally believing that. Not only that, they totally prove that you don't need sex for a relationship to work and that you can be attracted to someone for something other than their looks. It's beautiful.The part I felt the most was the last three pages. Man. I'm not one to cry reading books (yet I'm a mess when I watch Grey's Anatomy) but Adam broke me. I didn't sob or really cry, at the most I teared while at the verge of possibly slipping a tear, but to me that's still something. Adam is just everything and the speech/promise he gives Mia at the end is just... man. It's touching. Again, I'm not sure how to feel about this book. It was beautiful for sure and it had one of the most beautiful relationships I've read in YA, but there's still a certain realism it lacks. The characters just needed more flaws really but now that I think about it, maybe there was a point the characters had no flaws and that things were nearly perfect. Maybe the point is that if you suddenly had your perfect life taken away from you, would you make the choice to continue to live without it, or would it be too much for you to live without? Could you live with everything taken away from you? Would you stay without it? It's those sort of questions that make me think, "What am I living for?"This was a beautiful that you have to think about a bit to realize how profound it really is. The point isn't for it be painstakingly real. I think Gayle Forman made the near perfection of Mia's life so noticeable for a reason. I did really like this novel and as soon as I finished I wanted the sequel immediately.(For the full review, click here.)

Also at: http://wordsandsinew.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-soul-to-take-by-rachel-vincent.htmlThis novel surprised me so much! For the first few chapters it seemed like it was just going to be the atypical YA novel. Average girl meets hot guy, hot guy knows secret about average girl, they fall in love and badda-boom! End of story. But whoa. It so took an unexpected turn. I won't lie, Kaylee and Nash's relationship still developed way too fast. Unnaturally fast. I'm not sure whether I like them together or not because I've yet to seen any sort of depth or evidence in their relationship that makes me want them to be together. Unless you count their frequent hot kisses, but I don't so I need a little more emotional evidence which is something Kaylee wants too. She doesn't just go, "Oh to hell with it. I'm kissing a hot guy, I don't care if we barely have any emotional connection what. so. ever." She questions the authenticity of their relationship. Something that bothered me was she never really discussed the relationship with Nash but there's so many other things going on I don't really blame her.Kaylee's a really strong lead. She's totally kick-ass. I can really see her standing her place and growing with every book. She's a character to watch for, one I personally am excited to see more of. My biggest complaint with her is when she's with Nash. I'd just hear over and over how comfortable he made her feel, how calming he was, and how he-- yea, okay, I get it. Nash is freaking awesome but can we move on? I didn't really fall in love with Nash either. He's the typical male lead. Hot, soothing, and his kisses are out of this world. He does have some personal demons but they don't make him a brooding emo which was nice. I would just like to see more of his personality, which hopefully will happen as the series going on.Now to the plot. Holy crap, this plot. This is one of the most original plots in YA I've read in years, folks, years. It had so many twists and turns I just did not see coming. Rachel Vincent did a fantastic job with it. The ending was just whoa and a character I once hated, then sympathized for, I ended up hating but then sympathizing for all over again. Jury's still out on whether or not I feel sorry for that character or if I hate them. Probably little bit of both. But still, I love the new elements Vincent brought and appreciate how much thought she put into building up this world and plot. The vividness of it is incredible. Another reason why this book is so original is the creature it's centered around. Face it: most pnr novels are werewolves, vampires, faeries, mermaids, or whatever else. But Vincent uses banshees. Banshees! I mean who would've ever thought of, not just using them, but twisting around the folklore so much that this entirely creative and mesmerizing world comes out as well? Just al;kajsflkja.I had a small problem with the editing though. Typically,the word "bean sidhe" was italicized, but there were a few occurrences when it was not making me confused on the purpose of the word being italicized in the first place. Also there seemed to be a lot of ellipses which always get annoying very fast. Regardless of those small annoyances, Vincent's writing is incredible, so much so that I can see it becoming a favorite of mine very fast.Soul Screamers was a pleasant surprise. I was so wary when I started it but man, once the plot starts it don't stop. It's a full on ride that I enjoyed every bit and look very much forward to the next one.

Wow. What can I say?I loved this book. It's by far one of the most honest books I've read about life, love, death, and the relationship between people in general.I'm a bit of a history nut, especially when it comes to European history, and this book absolutely doesn't shy away from it. I learned so much regarding the French Revolution. What's great is that Ms. Donnelly gave me the information in a way that it wasn't overload. I could read it without having to go back ten times just to remember who was what or who did what. She presented her information really well in a way that kept the story moving forward. I can tell she did an insane amount of research for this book; it shows through Alexandrine's narrative and even Andi's.Speaking of narratives, I enjoyed every bit of Andi's. She's a very gritty, honest, and troubled character whose voice shines. I enjoyed reading her story and related to her so well. Alexandrine's narrative was entertaining as well. I didn't enjoy them as much as I thought I would though, in fact sometimes I struggled to get through her entries! I don't know why, perhaps when I read this again sometime in the future I'll figure it out, but at times I really did struggle to get through them. However, her narrative stayed true to her time of the 17th century and some of the statements in them were so profound or enigmatic which I loved. Jennifer Donnelly's writing is LOVE. It's seriously some of the best writing I've come across in awhile. She can paint a picture without giving you paragraph after paragraph of detail. She can make you feel. If you don't get lost in the plot or character, you'll get lost in her writing. It's stunning. The book kind of hits a slump somewhere in the middle. You're just reading entry after entry. Which I totally get why, I just wish I had found them as captivating as Andi had. Don't get me wrong, I still totally enjoyed the plot but it just hit a bump that took a bit to get over. It may take while to get through if you aren't super speedy reader but it hits close to the heart and worth the read. (For the full review, click here.)

A snail moves faster than this book's pacing. Way too much information is thrown but it sheds a lot of interesting light on New Orleans's culture. The descriptions of the city itself were well-done. Too bad nothing else really lived up to that.

First of all, I want Cameron as my new best friend.And possibly boyfriend.I'll love him forever.It also seems to be a trending pattern that the men I like, their name ends up being Cameron. Is this a sign from the universe?!I'm going to be honest here- this book surprised me. I totally didn't know what to expect from it and it definitely blew-up my expectations. Uhm, that's a good thing.From page one, Cameron had a voice, man. He felt so real to me and the more I read, the more I got to know him. By the time I finished the book I felt sad- I had to say goodbye to what felt like a really good friend. Most, if not all, of the characters were completely developed. I loved the characters in here, especially Cameron.The setting! Who doesn't love a good road trip? Every place we (as in the characters and me) visited, there was a purpose for it. From each place, I learned so much; it was amazing. Another thing that's amazing is Libba Bray's writing. Bray's writing is beautiful, simple, and hilarious. I'm not the type to get emotional when reading, but I physically laughed a few times when reading this. (Those silly CESSNAB people....)I learned so much from reading this book. When you read it, it gets so absolutely ridiculous. It's a wild and chaotic ride but it's exactly as the summary says: it gets into the heart of what matters most. Pick up this book guys, you won't regret it.

Being the first cozy mystery novel I ever read, this is wasn't too bad. The focus of the novel isn't so much on the plot as it is the characters. I absolutely loved Abby and her voice. It was so funny and engaging, plus, she had the best comebacks I had ever read. I'm not a real big of fan of Victoria Laurie's writing style though. She's got huge bulks of description lodged into every chapter that really slow down the novel. Despite this however, I'm going to continue reading more of the misadventures of Abby Cooper. She's got a sass that don't quit.