Bloodlines, by Richelle Mead

If you bother to go back to my first posts, you'll notice that the very first book I commented on was Last Sacrifice, also by Richelle Mead. Last Sacrifice was the 6th and final book in the Vampire Academy series and Bloodlines is the first book in a new sister series. Bloodlines takes place in the same world as Vampire Acadamy, which is ours with 3 different kinds of vampires, but the main character was just a minor one in the VA books.

In case you didn't know, the 3 kinds of vampires are differentiated between by how vampire-like each species are. The strigoi are the worst. They are the vampires of legend: evil, soulless, determined to suck your blood, immortal. Strigoi are different than the others because they are made and not born. Moroi have vampire tendencies, such as drinking blood, pale skin, dislike of the sun, but are not immortal and have to eat normal food. They think they're so special but I don't really get it. The 3rd species, and most annoying and hard to understand, is dhampir. Dhampir are born by the coupling of a moroi, dhampir, or human with someone of a different race.

Now that I've finished explaining the details I can get to the actual story. What I like is that the main character is not a vampire of any sort but rather the antithesis-an Alchemist. Alchemists are the humans who keep us unknowing Muggles (sorry, but it was the best word I could think of) from finding out about vampires. They clean up messes and dislike all vampires as a whole. Sydney Sage entered the VA books when she bumps into Rose (the main character in Vampire Academy) in Moscow. She comes up again in the last book when she helps Rose with something that I shall not mention because this blog is not about Last Sacrifice. So, anyway, Sydney is given an assignment to protect the Moroi princess while she hides in a boarding school in Palm Springs, away from her would-be assassins. A bunch of other people accompany them basically resulting in a vamp reunion in Palm Springs. They then have adventures, Sydney solves a few mysteries, various people have crushes on various other people, and ADRIAN IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all fangirlish, I just couldn't help it. For those of you who don't know, Adrian is the party boy who is in love with Rose (even though he's way better than her) in Vampire Academy. And he's back. This is my excited face. I know you can't see it but pretend that you can.

One big topic in this book are tattoos. Let me tell you, I am sick of tattoos having all these meanings and significances. Seriously, the ink is on the skin, not in it. Why does it matter if you mix gold or silver or steel or copper into the ink? I suppose it adds to the story but it just doesn't impress me much.

And in case you haven't read Vampire Academy, don't even think of touching this book until you do so. If you do, I will find out and hunt you down and tattoo on your forehead "I READ SPOILERS". Except I have a really bad handwriting and don't know how to tattoo so it will probably hurt a lot.

4.5 stars. I expected more romance for Sydney.

As much as I complain about tattoos, I have to admit that the one on her face is kinda pretty.

Beauty Queens, by libba Bray

Before i start i am going to apologize for the letters i cannot capitolize-including i if you couldn't tell. The left shift key is broken on the laptop i'm using so to any grammar freaks reading this, find something else to read or get over yourself. i'll also be using a lot of dashes instead of parenthases but i don't think anyone will complain about that.

Beauty Queens is one of the best and smartest and funniest and awesomest and best books i have ever read. The sarcasm and wit alone kept me laughing the entire time. The story was unique and brilliant. Come on, would you think to write a book about some teenage beauty queens stranded on an island/-that's a question mark by the way. no, you wouldn't.

After their plane crashes, the miss Teen Dream contestants must learn to live on a deserted island while waiting for rescue. This book is kind of like lost just with a bunch of teenage girls more concerned about evening gowns than actual food and shelter and staying alive. Their adventures are joined by a group of reality TV pirates who are less ready for life on the island than the girls were, if possible. There is also something fishy going on on the island and it may not be as deserted as the girls thought.

The characters were one of the best parts of the book. Each one was so different from the others and the fact that they called each other by their states half the time made it even funnier. in fact, some of their names are only mentioned for the first time at the end of the whole book! The rest of the time they were just called ohio and new mexico. The main characters are Adina, from new hampshire, a journalist who wants to expose the superficiality and sexism of pageants. There's Taylor from Texas who is the leader and more interested in practicing for the pageant than trying to get rescued. Tiara from mississippi, nicole from Colorado, Shanti from California, Sosie from illinois, jennifer from michigan, petra from Rhode island, mary lou from nebraska are all their own characters as well, establishing themselves as their own personalities and not just pageant princesses right from the start. it was interesting to watch which paired up to become friends after they stopped seeing each other purely as competition.

A big part of the story is the Corporation, the corporation that sponsors the pageant. The Corporation practically controls everything, drawing in consumers with things they didn't know they needed-my favorite; maxi pad pets!!-, stupid TV shows such as Captians Bodacious iV; Badder and more Bodaciouser-the pirates' show- and basically representing and making fun of consumer America. The girls are the epitome of what the Corporation wants them to be until they have to settle on the island and discover that their brains are meant to be used and that their looks don't define them. Well, some of them learn that. others know that already.

pageants confuse me. They try to act like they're pro-feminism while promoting judging girls on their bodies and looks. They promote philanthropy and the girls have to be well-rounded in all sorts of things with more extra-curriculars than a collage application but to the girls all that matters is the crown. And in the end, the ugly one isn't going to win even if she is 10 times more impressive than everyone else. So all that they do is teach girls that the only way to get anywhere in life is to be gorgeous.

5 stars. If only i could give more.



At first i wasn't impressed by the cover. Then i realized that it was lipstick.

Crashed, by Robin Wasserman

After reading Skinned I was determined to not read the sequel. If you had read my opinions on that book you would know that I did not enjoy many aspects of it. But then my curiousity set in and naturally, I went to the one place guarunteed to settle it: the Internet. After reading a spoiler summary of Crashed I decided to read it because it didn't seem as boring as Skinned. And it wasn't.

Stop here if you have not read Skinned or any information on it (that means my post)

Lia is accustomed to her new life as a skinner, or more the more politically correct term, mech. She has a place where she belongs and everything is hunky dory (is that supposed to be hyphenated?). Then she's sent on a mission by Jude, the guy in charge, and all sorts of things happen that no longer allow her to retain her sheltered (not really life because she never dies) life away from the orgs (that would be us). I don't want to give you spoilers so I'll say this. Skinned was only the introduction. Crashed is the good stuff.

The big morality issue in this book doesn't really apply since we don't have any skinners but it goes like this: Is humanity the human body or is humanity the souls within the bodies. The people against the skinners call them machines and computers, soulless entities calling themselves human. From the point of view of the book (Lia's) we are pushed to see humanity as the soul. I tried to think about this from the other opinion but then it got me thinking. If our bodies are what make us human and equal to one another, then how are we any better than animals? It must be our souls that make us special because otherwise we might as well be machines. I'm sorry if I confused you--it makes sense in my head.

All the characters in Skinned and Crashed are very round. Many tend to be lopsided in the bad direction but they all have a good side and good qualities or a bad side and bad qualities, if that is the case. This makes the book so much more enjoyable and easy to get through because much like real people, you can predict reactions, but you never really know.

I'm sorry that this post isn't very funny. I'll try harder next time.

4 stars. Big improvement from Skinned.



I am crazy about the silver and purple streaks.

Drop Dead Neighbor, by Sara Lee Rosenberg

Warning: If you read this you will fall victim to shameless self advertising. Twice does the author mention her own books so I will not be mentioning her name anywhere in this post. Ha!

This book was not was I was expecting. (I feel like I say that sentence a lot.) Way funnier and the plot moved along well. See, I thought it would be a bunch of neighbors playing pranks on each other until something serious happened. Maybe I should have read the back more carefully. Then I would have noticed that instead, the annoying neighbor part comes in the beginning of the book. Now you are looking at me with that confused look on your face. You really shouldn't make that expression. It will probably give you wrinkles and it isn't as cute as you think.

So the main character, Mindy, has a nightmare neighbor who is eternally perfect and better than everyone else. You know, the type that makes a huge deal when you ask her to do a tiny thing but acts as if you're huge favor for her is nothing (and besides you always owe her for something). Mindy has to deal with this neighbor and then after an email is read by the wrong eyes and its contents posted on Facebook, Mindy's dealing with her neighbor got way out of hand. And her family is psycho which makes this even more fun.

Mindy is one of those moms who should be paid for being one. She is running around fixing everyone's lives with no time to actually think about herself. And no one ever gives her credit or thanks. I would have been angrier but it was too funny.

I can't say more without giving the whole book away.

4.5 stars. Points were lost for the self advertising. Seriously, you're better than that.



Abandon, by Meg Cabot

After finishing this book I asked myself: did I like it or not? yes or no? And honestly, I don't know. I don't know if I liked it or not. I am very ambigous about it to tell you the truth. It was very strange. My favorite line: That's why nobody's cell phone worked here. The phones were dead. Just like they were.

Now you're all curious about what this book is actually about. As your good friend, I won't keep you in suspense. I'll tell you what it's about. It's about...about.....about....I'm stuck. I can't tell you anything without ruining this story. It's kind of about this girl who died and came back to life and now has this stalker named John Hayden. The cover says something about death wanting her back. Even after finishing the book, if I wanted to give you spoilers I probably couldn't. Oh-there is some cool old guy. Who is a bit creepy. And there's a few typical high school scenes. Pretty much a normal day in Meg Cabot's world. One more thing I can tell you is that the story is based on the myth of Hades and Persephone (love that name). The cover says, ominously, "She knows what it's like to die....and now death wants her back." I think we should insert an evil laugh after that line.

I started laughing (out loud, I may add) at random points throughout the book. The seriousness and obliviousness (obliviousity?) of all the characters is so hysterically pathetic that I couldn't help it. Someone would be dying and I'd be giggling my way through it. The cover is also melodramatic. A little too melodramatic, especially when you consider the fact the almost nothing happens in the book.

3 stars. Exactly in the middle.



It doesn't tell you anything, does it?

The Overnight Socialite, by Bridie Clark

The inside cover describes this book as Pygmalion in the 21st century. Girl from Minnesota (Lucy Jo) comes to the big city and becomes the subject of Wyatt Hayes', a snooty upper class guy, experiment. The experiment is, as you can guess, to turn her into a socialite and see if she can fool all the other socialites. There's also Wyatt's malicious ex, Cornelia, who desires to be number one and in time makes it her goal to destroy Lucy. Does she succeed? You'll have to read the book to find that out.

I was surprised by the author's style in this book, mainly because I read her debut novel and I expected The Overnight Socialite to be more like it. And it wasn't. I also appreciated the minimal use of name dropping. In most books about upper class society in Manhattan at least 5 designers are mentioned per page and other famous names pop up constantly. Not so much here. Don't get me wrong-names were dropped plenty, just not enough to make me grind my teeth in frustration. Only enough to make me sigh once in a while.

I am very sad. My computer closed the page and was kind enough to reopen it for me but then lost everything I typed. Absolutely lovely, aint it? In rebellion I refuse to retype it all so you will have to manage without my riveting and engrossing humor. And you know what? You can blame my computer for it.

4.8 stars. I wrote an explanation but am too aggravated and bothered to rewrite it.



The Back Door of Midnight, by Elizabeth Chandler

I am not a fan of ghost stories but I manage to make exceptions when it comes to Elizabeth Chandler's books. Don't ask me why though; I'm still in the middle of figuring that out. This book followed the mold that Elizabeth Chandler's books usually fit into but knowing the mold is there gives me faith that I won't have nightmares that night. I don't make sense. Anyway, the mold that I'm talking about is how in the ghosts' lifetimes there was some scandal or tragedy and now they want revenge and the main character, a girl who is put into a situation she isn't accustomed to (usually she's visiting) must figure it all out, the boy next door who knows something, the mean girl who also knows something and either is suspected the whole time only to come out innocent or vice versa, the crazy person, the old person who knows all the secrets. Now that I think about it, Elizabeth Chandler is very predictable. And when it comes to scary stuff, I like predictable.

In this story, Anna is returning to her birth great aunt and uncle's home. When she arrives, she finds out that her great uncle is dead and now she must live with her crazy aunt while she figures out who murdered him. The boy next door is Zack who doesn't have much of a personality. Anna has clues flying at her from every direction pointing at a whole bunch of different suspects and thinks someone else is guilty on every other page.

All in all, it was a pretty good book. The story tied together nicely with all the loose ends tied together in neat little bows. Some of the bows were sad but after all, this is a ghost story. I'm getting bored so I'm going to stop now.

4 stars. I go with my gut.

I love the colors.