The Indigo Spell, by Richelle Mead (Bloodlines #3)

 After the events (specifically one event) at the end of The Golden Lily, Sydney the alchemist is confused more than ever before. However, she has no time to reflect and contemplate what happened because now she is on a search for Marcus Finch, the alchemist who defected and knows deep dark secrets about the organization. And as if that wasn't enough, there's also a serial-killing witch on the loose and there is a very good chance she will set her sights on Sydney.

I was very very very excited to read The Indigo Spell and it did not disappoint. I loved how the ending was so satisfying even though there is obviously going to be another book (or two). Like the others, this book followed the big plot/little plot format. There was the major overarching plot which involved Sydney looking for Marcus, discovering secrets about being an alchemist, and rethinking her once cemented opinions on all vampires. However, there's also a small plot which has a lot of significance in the book as well. I suppose that's necessary in a series as long as this one though because otherwise the entire overarching plot would have been squished into one novel.

5 stars. How can a girl resist Adrian?

Links to my other Bloodlines posts: Bloodlines and The Golden Lily

 
In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

Shadowspell, by Jenna Black (Faeriewalker #2)

Dana has had nothing but excitement during her time in Avalon, and everything is about to get a little bit crazier. After her aunt's attempted murder on her life, Dana's father locked Dana up in a safe house to protect her from everyone who would like to kill/use Dana's unique fairiewalker talents. Unfortunately, that's a lot of people. When the mysterious Erlking, a fairie hit-man of sorts, comes to Avalon on a mysterious mission, Dana's dad gets extra terrified for Dana's safety. The Erlking and his minions, the Wild Hunt, want something from Dana and he's willing to resort to the most disturbing of tactics to get it from her.

Most of the time I love the first book, hate the second, and am somewhat ambivalent about the third, but Shadowspell and Glimmerglass were exceptions. I only somewhat liked Glimmerglass, but I gave Shadowspell a chance because the ending was cut off in a way that was solid, yet left me desperate for more. I'm surprised I even bothered with Shadowspell, but I'm happy I did. Glimmerglass was more of an introduction, while Shadowspell actually got the story started, and Sirensong will complete it.

I don't have much to say about Shadowspell because anything I had to say I probably said by Glimmerglass's review, but I will acknowledge two things I appreciated. The first is that the novel was filled with twists and turns. There were multiple climaxes and I liked how everything kept moving. The second was how Dana was a real teenager. She was extremely smart and sensible at times, and extremely stupid and self-centered at other times. She managed to keep cool during crises, yet she insisted on leaving her safe house while the Erlking was around. Though the latter made me want to yell at her, I have to admit that it was nice to read about a heroine who seems mildly realistic.

5 stars.

 On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm.

A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?

Lola and the Boy Next Door, by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and St. Clair are back!!!!! In Lola and the Boy Next Door, their friend and coworker Lola is a creative dresser (that was an understatement) with great parents and a hot musician boyfriend. But when the Bell twins, including her childhood crush and lifelong nemesis, return to the house next door, and Lola's mother reenters her life, everything is turned upside down. I would elaborate more but I can't really think of anything else to say.

Lola and the BND was very similar to Anna and the French Kiss, except it was the girl with the boyfriend with a guy pining after her instead of the guy with the girlfriend and the girl pining after him. All other differences in the two stories rely on individual details and emotions, but in some way I did feel like this was Anna and the French Kiss just from St. Clair's perspective.

Strangely enough, I would recommend any prospective readers to read Anna and the French Kiss first even though Lola is more parallel to it than a sequel because Anna isn't the main character. However, the relationship between Anna and St. Clair would have been annoying had I not known the story behind it. It was also cool to see Anna from someone else's perspective. From her own personal description and things that others said in Anna and the FK I had a picture of her in my head, but Lola finished that off and made Anna seem like a real person to me. St. Clair still seemed to good to be true.

**********spoilers ahead**************

I was about to post this when I realized that I've only talked about Anna and said barely anything about Lola, Cricket and co. so here goes. I didn't think Max was as bad as he was in the end. I guess that's because the story is told from Lola's point of view which skewed Max's portrayal a bit, but I really didn't see it. I thought it was incredibly sweet that he actually came to brunch once a week with her parents. Yes, he could have been a lot nicer to Lola's friends, but he's way older than Lola so I understand how he found what's-her-name annoying. Also, what was up with the whole waiting around after the break-up thing? They were so desperate to be together and he clearly wouldn't have been a rebound, so why'd she have to keep both their hearts in pieces for weeks and weeks? I thought it was a bit masochistic but since I've never been in that position I probably shouldn't judge.

5 stars.

 Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

The Goddess Legacy, by Aimee Carter (The Goddess Test #2.5)

Before I begin I am going to advise all potential readers to read The Goddess Test before The Goddess Legacy. I appreciated Legacy so much more because I was able to connect the characters' actions and development to who they are in the later books. The Goddess Legacy tells about the lives of five of the gods and goddesses in The Goddess Test before Kate Winters made her grand entrance.

The first story is Hera's, or Calliope, as she is called in the other novels and later stories. Hera takes us back to the time right after she and her siblings defeated their father, Kronus. Headstrong and loyal, Hera is stuck in a marriage to the unfaithful king of the gods, Zeus, who controls her life, while she pines for someone else. Hera's story nearly left me crying. I was reminded of the Keira Knightley movie "The Duchess" about the Duchess of Devonshire. Both were married to men who treated them horribly, both were forced to take in their husband's daughters, both were in love with other men, both had tragic endings. It was also horrifying to read about how power-hungry Zeus (Walter) was. At first I was shocked that he was so bad, and even when I understood his character better (though only from afar) I still couldn't connect the desperate man who will do anything to stay in charge and get his way with the quiet and stately Walter in the other books.

Instead of the five stories being totally different entities, I was pleasantly surprised to find all five flowing into each other. Although each story had genuine endings, it was interesting to see what happened after the endings and how the events at the end of each story effected all the characters. Ava/Aphrodite had the next tale and hers was the one I was looking forward to the most. In the other books then Ava, the goddess of love, dallied with several of the gods but she also made it clear that she loved her own husband, Hephaestus, the most. I loved reading about how their love played out and it provided insight into what is probably the most open marriage ever. It was also beautiful to read about Ava's love of love, which is her greatest weakness.

Persephone got the third story, which told us from her perspective about her time with Hades and her love for Adonis. I didn't particularly love this story, and it was a little hard to think of her as the same self-absorbed Persephone as in Goddess Interrupted, but it was still good nonetheless. It also finally explained why she and Ava were fighting over James when it was pretty obvious that neither of them were currently in love with him. In Goddess Interrupted I took Ava's side in the fight, but after reading about Persephone and James, I saw that Ava was being her selfish old self and that Persephone is actually in the right. I found it interesting that neither Ava nor Persephone seemed selfish in their own stories, but that both were totally egocentric in the other books, yet only Persephone was extremely disliked and judged for it. And although I understand why-she treated Hades horribly-she was still forced into marriage at 16 to a guy she didn't love.

The fourth story was about James/Hermes. It was good but I didn't think it provided insight like the other stories did. What James' story did provide was an explanation for the name changes. There was also a goddess named Iris in his story who I am extremely curious about. Where did she come from and is she in the other books and I just don't remember? Or was she invented for only this story? (I know she wasn't invented because she's part of Greek mythology, I'm just wondering about her presence in this series.) Henry's story finished up the bunch. His only told of the time leading up to Kate's arrival and didn't tell a story as much as the others did. Henry's tale was more of a tiny introduction to The Goddess Test.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who read The Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted and enjoyed them. The stories in Legacy are supplementary to the novels and can increase your appreciation for them by showing you how each god and goddess developed into their unique and seemingly random personas in The Goddess Test.

5 stars.

 
For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aimée Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.

Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness….

Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal….

Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another….

James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others;but never knew true loss before….

Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.

Under the Rose, by Diana Peterfreund (Secret Society Girl #2)

At the end of Secret Society Girl (which is way less stupid than its title would suggest) Amy Haskel and her fellow Diggirls showed all their antiquated society brothers that they planned to stay in Rose and Grave. Under the Rose picks up after the summer, at the beginning of the Diggers' senior year. Just as Amy and her brothers (the girls are also referred to as brothers) are settling into their new roles without the previous class, they are shocked to discover a mole in their midst. Someone has been selling Digger secrets to the media, and if they don't find out who it is soon then the entire society of Rose and Grave may no longer be a secret society (cue the scary music).

I remember this from SSG, as well as Diana Peterfreund's other books that I have read, that her novels always have a nice flow. This was a pretty hard feat to accomplish when you consider that the plot, antagonists, and challenges changed several times midway through the novel. Most stories with that much change throughout feel disjointed, but this one managed to keep a nice and steady flow, even when it wasn't really flowing nicely or steadily. However, although I do give the author props for twisting the plot so elegantly, I was still annoyed by the twist. I was so involved in the way the story was going when all of a sudden everything is flipped. Good guys are bad guys and bad guys are good guys. Except if you read on then everything will get flipped AGAIN. Although it's interesting to read, it makes the overall story extremely complicated.

-------SPOILERS AHEAD---------

While reading SSG I was eager to try to guess who Amy would end up with at the end of the last book. There were so many characters in SSG that I figured a new guy wouldn't be introduced for Amy. The main problem though was that of all the guys in the book, Amy stuck most of them in the friend zone. The ones she didn't were Brandon, who if you finished SSG you'll know she doesn't end up with, and George who is too much of a playboy to ever settle down. It's nice to dream that George will give up his philandering ways but I didn't see it coming in SSG and I certainly don't see it coming after UTR (that's Under The Rose for anyone who hasn't realized that yet-but don't feel embarrassed because that would totally be me if I hadn't written this). Finally, after finishing UTR I have come to a conclusion-Poe. I know Amy hates him but after UTR she hates him less. Also, the way he ran after her when she found out what he did (sorry all you spoiler lovers-I'm not telling you what he did) showed that he cares about what she thinks about him. Though I must admit, him showing up for only her CB makes this all seem really creepy. 

4.6 stars. 


Fans of Beautiful Disaster will devour Diana Peterfreund’s Ivy League novels—Secret Society Girl, Under the Rose, Rites of Spring (Break), and Tap & Gown. At an elite university, Amy Haskel has been initiated into the country’s most notorious secret society. But in this power-hungry world where new blood is at the mercy of old money, hooking up with the wrong people could be fatal.
 
Now a senior at Eli University, Amy is looking her future squarely in the eye—until someone starts selling society secrets. When a female member mysteriously disappears and a series of bizarre messages suggests conspiracy within the ranks, no member of Rose & Grave is safe . . . or above suspicion.

On Amy’s side, the other women in Rose & Grave remain loyal. Against her? A group of Rose & Grave’s überpowerful patriarchs who want their old boys’ club back. As new developments in her love life threaten to explode, and the search for the missing girl takes a disturbing turn, Amy will need to use every society maneuver she’s ever learned in order to stay one step ahead. Even if it means turning to old adversaries for help—or looking for her real enemies closer than she’d thought.

Every Day, by David Levithan

A is a wandering soul, waking up every morning in a different person's body. Sometimes A tries to do right by A's host; sometimes A spends the day hiding away so as not to ruin the host's life. Then A meets Rhiannon. While spending the day in her boyfriend Justin's body, A has the time of A's life with Rhiannon and falls deeply for her immediately. Unable to let go, A spends the next couple of days doing anything A can to be close to her. Finally, after years of emotional detachment, A has something A actually wants to live for-a reason to keep on being. Can A conquer who A really is and be with Rhiannon? Or is A doomed to live the rest of A's life without the woman A loves?

The number one thing I look for in books is a concept that I've never heard of or thought of before-one that blows my mind with its originality. I found that in Mothership and I found it in an extremely different way in Every Day. At first the concept of switching bodies and taking over for a day made me extremely uncomfortable, but once I got accustomed to it it was interesting to hear the author's take on what it is like in the minds of different people. I was especially struck by the day A spent in the obese teen. A is bodiless, so to read A's perspective of what it was like in Finn's body was incredible and almost made me cry.

For anyone who wondered at my lack of pronouns in the first paragraph, it was because A doesn't have one. A's pronoun in the book depended on the body A was in for the day. It was cool to have a character who doesn't associate with a particular gender and only determines the difference between males and females as anatomy and hormones. It creeped me out at first but once I got used to it I found it almost inspiring.

The ending of this book was perfect. It didn't destroy the purposes of the characters and it left me with a satisfying feeling. However, what I really felt when I finished Every Day was the big lesson of the book: make every day count. After A leaves the body of the day's host, the host doesn't realize what had just happened to him/her. The missing day is just a blur in the host's memory. While reading about this I contemplated whether I would fall for that or not, and I sadly realized that I probably would. Every Day taught me that every single day is a gift and I should appreciate every second of it.

3.7 stars.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.