It's all she's ever wanted to be, but it couldn't be further from her grasp...
Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again,
Dana decides shes had enough and runs away to find her mysterious
father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday
world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from
the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns
out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl, she's a Faeriewalker, a
rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person
who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.
Dana
finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's
trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from
her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures
she'll never have a chance with...until she does. Caught between two
worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in and who can be trusted,
not to mention if her world will ever be normal again.
Dana
is fed up with dealing with her alcoholic mother and wants to be a
teenager for once. So she runs away from home and heads to Avalon to
find her long lost fairy father. Upon arrival in the magical city Dana
is kidnapped multiple times because of her mysterious Faeriewalker
capabilities. As a Faeriewalker, Dana has the power to bring magic into
the human realm and technology into the Faerie realm. Dana is the most
valuable pawn in the complicated game of politics between Faerie and
Avalon and everyone wants to control her.
Faerie stories tend to
bore me because I feel like they're all the same. Glimmerglass took the
typical and twisted it with the unique city of Avalon. The faeries in
Avalon are no secret, in fact everyone knows about them. Avalon is the
bridge between the two worlds. It was nice to read a faerie story that
was acclimated to the 21st century.
For once there was a heroine
who was not completely insipid! Dana was responsible and had the perfect
blend of attitude and vulnerability. In a situation where she had
almost no control Dana didn't sit down and let everyone toss her around
like a piece of cattle but stood up and tried to take care of herself.
The complete opposite of Dana is Kimber. At the beginning Kimber seemed
to be the ultimate ice queen but she melted way too quickly and instead
of giving off the impression of a girl with a hard exterior and soft
interior I felt she was just fickle. I do regret not seeing more of the
relationship Dana has with her mother because I feel like that would
have rounded out her character a bit more and would have explained
certain plot elements that confused me slightly.
4.1 stars. This wasn't an amazing book, but a good start to a series.
Till death
Jana Webster and Michael Haynes were in love. They were destined to be together forever.
Do
But
Jana's destiny was fatally flawed. And now she's in Dead School, where
Mars Dreamcote lurks in the back of the classroom, with his beguiling
blue eyes, mysterious smile, and irresistibly warm touch.
Us
Michael
and Jana were incomplete without each other. There was no room for Mars
in Jana's life--or death--story. Jana was sure Michael would rush to
her side soon.
Part
But things aren't going according to
Jana's plan. So Jana decides to do whatever it takes to make her dreams
come true--no matter what rules she has to break.
Jane
loves Michael. Jana is dead. The only way for Jana and Michael to ever
be together again is if he dies. So Jana is going to kill Michael. And
then they can be together forever. Helping Jana is bad boy Mars. Mars
can't look away from newly dead Jana and likes her so much that he
reluctantly helps her on her idiotic quest for true love. In other
words, Mars has terrible taste in women. Jana is willing to break all
the rules of Dead School to be together with Michael again. But does
Michael want to join her? Does Michael even miss her?
This book
was, in one word, creepy. It's a book about where teenagers go after
they die, and it's not a pleasant place. The concept is original and is
based on the idea that a teenager hasn't lived long enough to be placed
in heaven or hell and needs a little more time to develop as a person.
The gloominess of Dead School was fitting, as it is a school for dead
teenagers, but I thought it was a little too gloomy for the story set in
it. Don't get me wrong-the story was plenty gloomy, but what little
humor there was fell flat because everything else about the book was so
depressing and instead of being comic relief, the jokes were just sad.
And the personal death stories-don't get me started on how horrid those
were
One major thing that bothered me about the whole concept of
Dead School were the rules. Sliders are students in Dead School who are
on their way down. One becomes a Slider if they die while doing
something "bad". What I hated about that was that if a good person does
one thing wrong and dies while doing it then they are doomed to go to
the fiery pits. Unless they undo their wrong, that is, but that's almost
impossible for most of the Sliders so it's practically irrelevant. The
worst part of this is that some of the Sliders are better people than
Risers (the kids going in the right direction).
Jana is evil. In
case you couldn't tell from the summary, she is selfish and doesn't
understand what love is. To be fair, Michael doesn't get the concept of
love either, but Jana is almost as horrible as Michael with her desire
to kill him. While reading Dead Rules I desperately wanted to bang Jana
on the head with the book and tell her that if she really loves Michael
she'd set him free. But Jana doesn't care about anyone but herself so
that wouldn't have achieved anything. She doesn't deserve Mars. She and
Michael were perfect for each other. Both are horrible and frankly, they
deserve each other.
3.0 stars
Freak. That's what her
classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a
horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's
own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron
tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna
feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any
chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and
grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.
When
the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin,
Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between
the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout
with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means
betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to
the death to protect.
When
Donna was little, her father died and her mom lost her sanity while
protecting their daughter. Donna's arms are covered in iron tattoos that
were put there to heal her after the attack. Now, teenage Donna must
come fact to face with the same dark fairies that killed her father all
those years ago when they start reappearing and eventually kidnap her
best and only friend, Navin. Donna is a social outcast because of her
weird arms and Navin is the only person her own age who doesn't know her
secret who stood by her. Helping her rescue Navin is a hot new guy,
Xan, whose got some fairy blood in him and would like to discover more
about himself and his past. I think you can figure out the rest of the
story from those totally unoriginal details I have provided.
I
thought the whole thing was pretty cliche and pathetic. There are so
many fairy books out there and I felt like this one didn't stand out. It
was completely average. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but I
wouldn't stop anyone from reading it. It wasn't horrible-just not as
good as many other books I could have read in its place. It is very
possible that this all stems from the fact that it is meant for younger
readers, but even books meant for kids or younger teenagers can be
appreciated by adults if they're good.
One would think that in a
book where the characters know there are dark evil fairies running
around wouldn't be that trusting. One would be wrong. Donna and Xan
reveal their secrets to each other after knowing each other for around
five minutes which is pretty quick, especially when you consider that it
took her years to confess the truth to Navin. I don't care how
good-looking he is-when you have a giant secret like that you don't give
it away that easily! Donna acted like a know-it-all brat the whole book
and her naivete was anything but charming.
Halfway through the
book I looked up and realized nothing had happened yet. The action
didn't start until the last couple of pages. The beginning contained
some minor incidents, drama, and romance, but I wanted more action and
fairies. I understand the need for an introduction-the reader needs to
know what's going on-but I felt like I was being introduced to the story
and the characters for most of the book.
When a girl and guy are
best friends in a novel (and both are straight) it is practically a given that at least one of them must
have romantic feelings for the other. I always thought that was typical
and overused, but I actually missed it in The Iron Witch. While it can
be annoying in books that are already stuffed with drama, I felt like a
love triangle would have really added to the overall story. Just imagine
Donna enlisting her crush's help to rescue her other maybe-crush. The
emotional turmoil would have been tortuously amazing to read.
2.7
Coming down from the
mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When
Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future
princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her
chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends
students who seem so sophisticated and exciting... until she learns that
they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them,
that she "should "help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between
loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love
and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling
city. Picking up where "Princess Academy "left off, this incredible
stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of
romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom.
Miri
and her gang of would-be princesses, along with her sort-of boyfriend
Peder, are going to Asland! More specifically, they're going to the
palace to be ladies to the princess, their friend Britta, at her wedding
to Prince Steffan. Miri and her crew will be leaving Mount Eskel for
the year and are expecting to find a land full of riches and happy
people. Miri is thrilled to spend her time in her nation's capital in university and
is surprised to learn that there is plenty of unrest in Asland besides for what just happened at Mount Eskel as the
"shoeless", the destitute peasants, are banding together to rise up
against the king and his family. Miri is torn between the rebellion, complete with her
new friend Timon and what seems to be right, and her loyalty to her
friend Britta and a future with Peder.
The plot of Palace of
Stone sounds a lot more serious than it actually is because the entire
book has a cotton-candy coating that makes it kid-friendly and adorable.
Miri is a big personality in a tiny cute package and a respectable role
model for young girls as she teaches readers to never be afraid to
speak up. Her romance with Peder is perfect. Princess Academy left off
with potential for Miri and Peder and Palace of Stone continued it
perfectly. The romance wasn't at a complete standstill, just moving at
the same slow pace it was used to which made it seem more realistic.
Princess Academy didn't make any promises, but Palace of Stone delivered
anyway.
As sequels go, this is one of the best I've read in a
while. I say this because unlike many other sequels, this one has the
ability to stand on its own. It doesn't completely rely on its readers
knowing everything from the first book but it doesn't either repeat
everything that had happened over again in a condensed few pages that
seem redundant and annoying to anyone who knows the story. Palace flowed
in a totally un-sequelly by introducing a whole new plot while
retaining many elements from the first book and by referring to its
events several times. All in all, this was a fantastic sequel and I urge
anyone who hasn't read it or Princess Academy to do so right away.
5 stars. This is a book that girls of all ages can enjoy and I WANT ME SOME LINDER!!!
In her last
adventure before starting college, Alice takes to the open sea for the
summer—and nothing can stop the tides of change.Everything
Alice has ever known is about to change—from where she sleeps at night
to how close her closest friends will be. So Alice is meeting that
seasick feeling head-on by setting sail as staff on a Chesapeake Bay
cruise ship. And like any last great adventure before starting college,
Alice knows she’ll need sunblock, an open mind, and…oh yeah, all her
best girlfriends. It’s the perfect summer job.
Perfect, that
is, when things are going perfectly. But when they’re not, Alice has to
figure out how to weather unexpected storms of all sorts. Which could
be perfect after all—perfect training for her next big
adventure—college.
Alice
McKinley has finally graduated high school and is spending the summer
before college working on a cruise ship with her best friends. She has
some tiny adventures, one or two big adventures, and misses Patrick the
whole time. The end.
I used to love the Alice books, primarily
because of how relateable Alice was. I felt it in this book but instead
of enjoying this one I thought it was kind of annoying. Alice felt more
like a walking PSA than a teenage girl and her feelings were too defined
to seem real. She didn't go through any of that confusing emotional
stuff she went through in past books but no one is that clear when it
comes to emotions. I will say that the book did flow like life usually
goes-lots of little memorable instances with one or two arcs that last
for a while but on the whole, unexciting.
For anyone like me who
followed Alice all the way to this book I will tell you now: nothing
important happens. Don't waste your time on this book unless you have
nothing better to do with your time. Please believe me-I read reviews
saying exactly this and didn't trust them and look where that got me.
I'm excited for the last book and to see what happens to Alice but I'm
not excited enough to give this book a good rating. All relationships,
friendships, and lives are exactly the same as they were at the end of
the previous book, so chill out and read something else.
For
anyone who hasn't realized it yet, Alice is going to end up with
Patrick. I wasn't sure if Naylor would go the obvious route with Patrick
or if she would have Alice be with someone we don't know but this book
confirmed (for me) that it would be Patrick. A tiny part of me thought
maybe Mitch (new guy in this book) but since Alice is going to college
and Mitch is going home I highly doubt that will happen. (Little secret-I actually want her to be with Paul, her brother's roommate, and there were even some hints at the end that that would happen, but I can't see the author getting past the age difference.)
2.4 stars. I'm really sorry Alice, but all good things must come to an end.
It's all she's ever wanted to be, but it couldn't be further from her grasp...
