A Buttload of Books

I don’t know what was up with the publishing folks this year (or more likely last year since books take time to make) but everyone decided to release ALL OF THE BOOKS within the first eight days of May!  Not only are these books I’ve been waiting for  but they are also all books from established series that I am super invested in!

LOOK AT ALL THESE!

I NEED ALL OF THESE BOOKS IMMEDIATELY!!  Publishing people! Why are you doing this too meeee??  Did you all just get together and be like “What are the books Mallory wants most in her hands this year?” Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore? Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready? Underworld by Meg Cabot?  RELEASE THEM ALL WITHIN SEVEN DAYS OF EACH OTHER!!!  Let’s Eff with her even more and release three ON THE SAME DAY!!!

I had a dream that I got Bitterblue months early and in my dream I was almost peeing with excitement.  True story, you guys.  This is a real dream I had.  This should tell you how excited I am for these books.  And now I have to try and decide what book to read first! How?  How can I choose between Tris and Four and Zach in a kilt??  God I hope Zach wears a kilt again.  I am so overwhelmed!!  In like, the best way possible.   So much excitement! Can’t handle all of the book amazingness!

I may just have flip a coin and go with the decision of heads or tails because I can’t handle the pressure of the decision of what book to read first.

Thus endeth the nerdiest blog post, possible ever.

Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?
Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.
But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could–from the criminal’s point of view.
And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.
In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows? (description from Goodreads)

Rating- 4/5 Awesome Sauce!

Cover
I’m digging it y’all! Not at all embarrassing which is always the best you can ask for in a YA cover.

Review
This was one of those books that I hadn’t really heard about but I saw it on the shelf at a bookstore.  It seemed fun, it seemed creepy and it fit into my personal preferences lately which have been leaning more towards horror and contemporaries so I bought it on a whim and I’m so glad I did.

I’ve tried a few times to write this review but I really can’t get into the story.  All I can give y’all is general feelings and reactions because this is just one of those books that is just much better to experience yourself.  It’s scary.  It’s chilling.  And yet you are rooting for Jazz.  You want him to be normal.  You want him to recover from living with a scary ass serial killer for a father.  You want him to not be messed up.

But then again the story is compelling and addicting because Jazz is messed up.  Wouldn’t anyone be if they were raised by a serial killer?  I don’t know how Barry Lyga lived in Jazz’s head while writing this and I also don’t know how he came up with Jazz’s dad’s kills and frankly, I’m a little scared to find out but I can’t wait for book 2 for more of the chilling thoughts of Jazz and the fear of what his dad has up his sleeves.

Re-Review of Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

So this review is going to be a little bit different than my other reviews being that I’ve previously read Sloppy Firsts when I was an eleventh grader in high school.  That’s right! I actually read this YA book as a YA! (except the Jessica Darling series is actually published as an adult series proving that YA and adult books can be arbitrarily categorized by the publishers.  See also: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak).

So here’s the low down of the book!

“My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”
When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?  (Poached from Goodreads)

What I can remember from High School Mallory:

I remember not completely liking the book but still being addicted to it and wanting to read more of the series.  It was a strange place for me as a book nerd because I usually felt strongly about the books I was reading.  I either loved them or I hated them.  So reading Sloppy Firsts was a new experience of not really understanding what was irking me about the story but then also wanting to continue to read more of Jessica’s story.

I am completely blaming my lack of ability to pinpoint my emotions to the way I was taught to “critically” read literature in high school.  Really I was just taught reading comprehension which was pretty lost on me since I had a high school reading level in, like, sixth grade. NERD ALERT! but yeah, all those extra years of filling in worksheets about what had exactly happened in the story was just boring repetition for me.  Yeah, I know what happened because I READ THE BOOK.  Jeezy Creez y’all.  We need to start asking better questions about literature in high school! Especially since I was in AP English for Junior and Senior year and still NO ONE TAUGHT ME ANYTHING ABOUT CRITICAL READING!  Thank you, Jesus, for college.  (There’s a point to this rant promise.  We just haven’t gotten to it yet)

My Reactions from Now:

My sister has read the entire Jessica Darling series and loves it.  I’m the reason she started the series but I stopped somewhere between Charmed Thirds and Fourth Comings (you see what McCafferty is doing with the titles y’all?  Do you see it?).  Anyways, I’ve always wanted to go back and reread the first two books and then finish the series so that I can be in love with Marcus Flutie along with everyone else who’s ever read this series because fictional boyfriends are the only boyfriends I know how to deal with.

So Sloppy Firsts, I now completely understand why I didn’t like you in high school and yet still was addicted.  First off, the writing is fantasballs.  Jessica’s voice is just so goddamn funny and sarcastic.  Second, it writes about depression in a way that I think not a lot of books talk about.  Like Jessica never gets put on anti-depressants and, in fact, no one ever really acknowledges that Jessica is depressed because it’s not clinical or anything.  I think depression has this big heavy cloud of “Oh my god DEPRESSION! So big and dark and scary.  Take Pills to get rid of it! Take ALL THE PILLS!”  but the truth is depression isn’t really like that.  Not in most cases and not in Jessica’s case and it’s a breath of fresh air to see it portrayed as such.

So to the point to why I didn’t like it in high school and yet sort of did.  Jessica is a whiny, self-centered biznatch.  She really is.  But guess what, so was I and good God, I did not want to read about someone who was that self-centered and horrible and reminded me of myself.  Jessica is a perfect asshole of teenage emotions and selfishness and now  that I am no longer a teenager, I can love her for that because I know that she will (hopefully) grow out of it as the books continue like the rest of us do (HOPEFULLY). (the series follow Jessica through the end of college..I think?  The last one might be a few years after she graduates from college… can’t remember) But as a teen I didn’t understand that you can not like a character but like the story and the writing.  Also that the character may grow as the story goes along, that was not something I think I was aware of either.

BONUS POINTS!

The books start around the year 2000 and Jessica almost immediately talks about Y2K and the Real World (which I hope isn’t as a big of a thing now as it was back then when it still tried to hold onto some dignity.) In Second Helpings, she talks about September 11th happening and it really brings you back to a time and place and feeling that you also felt when it was happening. (except when teens today read about it.  They are probably like Y2what?  Kids Today! Crazy Whippersnappers!)

I can’t wait to finish this series and find out what happens to Jessica and Marcus.

 

Review of Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

It could happen tomorrow . . .
An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.
Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.
For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Rating- 5/5 Holy Shitola!

Cover
Creepy Creepersville.

Story
The cover should indicate the mood of this book which is Apocalyptic which was a refreshing change from the stories that take place after everything’s already gone south.  Ashes starts in the normal world and then everything goes to hell.  Seriously, every time something started happening in this book I would be all “Oh this is not going to be good.  This is not going to be good.”  And it never was.  But the horror of this book is what drew me in.  I didn’t realize it was a part of a trilogy until I was reaching the end and things were not looking as if they were about to wrap up any time soon.  But I’m excited for the next two books because the world that Bick created was so scary and yet so interesting.

Alex is one of the main reasons I loved this book.  She was a strong character while trying to figure out how to survive (with the crazy zombie/cannibals running around) and also what exactly the EMP has turned her into.  The mystery is interesting.  The action is intense and addicting.  The writing is pitch perfect and terrifying and I loved every minute of it.

Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

Rating 4/5

Cover
I like the silhouette of the horse and its rider.  I think it’s a step in the right direction for a YA cover.

Story
So let’s try this again since wordpress deleted everything I’d written the first time I tried to write this review!
The Scorpio Races is a current Printz Honor book and you can certainly see why when you read Stiefvater’s beautifully written tale of man-eating water horses.  Yes, you read that right! Man-eating water horses!  My sister read this book before me and every time she tried to explain the whole man-eating horses thing I was a little skeptical but I’d read a few of Stiefvater’s books before so I thought I’d give it a try.

I’m so glad I did!  Puck and Sean are great characters and actually all of the characters that populate the small island they live on breathe life into the story.  I really enjoyed the folklore of the horses as well and the races themselves are exciting and very dangerous.

Go fall in love with Steifvater’s style and Puck’s toughness and Sean’s quietness!

 

 

 

 

A Letter to Ally Carter

Dear Ally Carter,

I wish I’d had your books when I was a teenager.  Your books are so full of strong, ass-kicking girls that I know teen me would have loved Cammie (and Kat) even more than I do now.  The Gallagher Girls series is ALL about strong, awesome, teen girls.  I mean, Cammie goes to an all girl spy school… It’s like my dream school.  Seriously, first dream school is Hogwarts (you got to give me that, right?) but second is totally and completely the Gallagher Academy especially if it was guaranteed that Cammie would be my best friend.  Because even though she goes gallavanting off in a misguided attempt to keep the people around her safe, she is pretty damn awesome even though she can’t remember the last four months or where she went and what she did.

Which reminds me of something else to flatter you about…Can I just commend you on tackling the spy (and thief) thriller novels that usually star men being all cool and suave and womanizers and writing them about teenage girls probably the most underestimated group of people in the world?  They are so easily dismissed and the things they care about are so easily dismissed and you writing about teenage girls who are so clearly capable and refuse to be dismissed (or they count on being overlooked so that they can spy or steal valuable art) is so great to have as examples to teen girls. (and some older “girls” too!)

I’ll wrap this up with saying that Out Of Sight Out Of Time is great, so great!  Each book of this series just keeps getting better and better and Cammie keeps getting more and more awesome and I think I may love you or at the very least have a huge writer talent crush on you!

Thanks for all those shirtless Zach scenes!

~Mallory

Review: Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Rule #1: Do not show fear.
Rule #2: Do not show pity.
Rule #3: Do not engage.
Rule #4: Do not let your guard down.
Rule #5: They lie.
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear.  Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.
Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession.  But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons.  Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

Rating- 4/5 Awesome Sauce!

Cover
I guess the cover conveys the creepiness factor in the book but, you know, it’s just another big face on the cover.

Story
So I’ve been a fan of McNeil since I started watching the YA Rebel youtube channel back in the day and frankly, she’s the only one I actually like watching. (to be fair I didn’t give the new people much of a chance) So I was excited to read Possess and hoped I would like it since I liked Gretchen for who she was on youtube. (and her friggin adorable dog).  I’m glad to say that I can still watch and love Gretchen because Possess was awesome.  It was a fun romp of horror which isn’t a genre I delve into much but now that I’ve read Possess I can’t wait for McNeil’s second book Ten which has an amazing cover to go with the serial killer on an island plot.

Bridget can banish demons which is not something that I would particularly want to be able to do and Bridget is rightfully not excited about her newfound power.  She’s also prickly, at times bitchy, and just an all around crank and I  love her for it.  She’s got some stuff to deal with what with the demon powers and all and some family issues I don’t want to reveal too much about so I think she has a right to be a little cranky.  She’s got great friends and she’s sweet to her brother and she’s kickass!  Bridget is totally the reason y’all should read this book. (other than the excellent creepy factor of the possessions.  Think the Exorcist but no green vomit and head-spinning.)

Is it the best book I’ve ever read? No. But it was fun and fast and it helped me explore more of the horror genre which was something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile now.  So read it! Have fun! Enjoy! And look up the cover for Ten and see what an awesome YA cover should look like!