Texas Gothic, by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Practical Amy Goodnight, together with her absent-minded scientist sister Phin Goodnight, has a new summer job taking care of her aunt Hyacinth's ranch. However, this isn't an ordinary farm as all the Goodnights have some sort of psychic or magical power, and when a malicious ghost starts haunting the ranch, as well as the ranch belonging to the cute but infuriating cowboy next door, everyone turns to Amy to vanquish the ghost and save them from his wrath.

I had this same complaint about The Splendor Falls, and I'll say it again here. This book had a very slow beginning. Different details pertaining to the plot were introduced but they didn't inspire any excitement until the very very end. It wasn't horrible in the slightest, as Clement-Moore's writing style is extremely entertaining, but I did have to trudge through to get to the good part. I am not a fan of ghost stories, but since Clement-Moore takes some of the somberness out of them and takes them to a place of perfect balance between dreary and hilarious, I am always willing to read one of hers.

This book was a semi-predictable whodunit, but I don't have any problems with the semi-predictable part because I think that was on purpose (or even if it wasn't, the action was good enough that the story was interesting anyway).

One thing I loved about the characters in this novel was how from the beginning, Amy portrayed herself as the normal one, and despite all her adorable quirks, she still seemed to be the sanest person around even when she clearly wasn't. It made the first-person point of view a lot more tangible and at times I almost felt as if I were Amy.

4.3 stars.

 Amy Goodnight knows that the world isn't as simple as it seems—she grew up surrounded by household spells and benevolent ghosts. But she also understands that "normal" doesn't mix with magic, and she's worked hard to build a wall between the two worlds. Not only to protect any hope of ever having a normal life.

Ranch-sitting for her aunt in Texas should be exactly that. Good old ordinary, uneventful hard work. Only, Amy and her sister, Phin, aren't alone. There's someone in the house with them—and it's not the living, breathing, amazingly hot cowboy from the ranch next door.

It's a ghost, and it's more powerful than the Goodnights and all their protective spells combined. It wants something from Amy, and none of her carefully built defenses can hold it back.

This is the summer when the wall between Amy's worlds is going to come crashing down.

Towering, by Alex Flinn

Almost as far back as she can remember, Rachel has been locked in a tower for her protection. Her Mama tells her that she must stay hidden from the bad man who killed her mother and wants to kill her as well. However, lately Rachel has been having dreams of a mysterious man and as her hair grows longer, Rachel sings out her window and longs for someone to hear her and release her from her prison. Wyatt has been shipped to a tiny town in upstate New York for the rest of the school year and is living with a little old lady whose daughter used to be his mom's best friend. As he settles in, Wyatt starts hearing a haunting voice singing that no one else can hear, and when he investigates he finds a beautiful girl who has been locked in a tower for almost her entire life. The two of them team up and hope to free Rachel from her tower once and for all.

I absolutely love Alex Flinn's other fairy tale retellings. Beastly and A Kiss in Time are two of my favorite books ever, and I was very excited to read Towering. However, Towering had a very different feel to it than the others. Perhaps it was the the plot involving drug lords rather than princesses, but the overall tone of this novel was a lot darker than the others. This is only a negative point because I expected a colorful adventure like the ones in all the other books, but instead found this one a dull gray. The story was also told a bit too slowly, and I had to push myself to get through at least half the book before I actually wanted to open it up and devour it.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
One problem I always had with the story of Rapunzel, especially the Disney version, is the Rapunzel has no problem killing the woman who raised her. Yes, she was evil and kept her locked up for all those years, but she never did her any physical harm and Rapunzel was taken away young enough to not remember anything better. Therefore, without taking into account the moral compass of the witch, Rapunzel killing the witch is not an act of a hero conquering a villain, but of someone turning her back on the woman who rose her. Rapunzel killing the witch may have turned out okay because the witch was evil, but imagining Rapunzel as pure and good is projecting the third-person perspective of the story onto Rapunzel, who doesn't know that the witch is evil until she falls for a stranger who climbs through her window and he tells her so. This monologue brings me to my point, which is that finally the captor is not the evil one. It was a relief to have the villain be someone else entirely with Mama being entirely innocent, and it let Rachel be a true heroine. 

3.6 stars
 
At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.
Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying.
Rachel is trapped in a tower, held hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her.

Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.

Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now.

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction, edited by Carrie Ryan

The ideas connecting all the stories in this book was fascinating. Each author took the topic of prophecy and prediction and interpreted it completely differently. It was cool to read all the different takes and twists on this one topic, especially because none of them were as generic as I expected.

Gentlemen Send Phantoms, by Laini Taylor: I loved this story so much that it inspired me to read Laini Taylor's novels. It was light and sweet with hints of fantasy but with the uncertainty if whether what you're reading is fantasy at all.

Burned Bright, by Diana Peterfreund: Diana Peterfreund is one of my favorite authors and I found out about her when I read her short story in "Zombies and Unicorns". This story was absolutely fascinating. The twist at the end reminded me of the O'Henry stories I had to read in 8th grade, the ones with the shocking endings. After reading the last line of this story my jaw dropped and it took about five minutes for me to get it shut. It was totally unlike the killer unicorn or the Secret Society Girl books, which was quite unexpected and shows great talent on the author's part that she could write in such different styles.

The Angriest Man, by Lisa McMann: This story kind of scared me. I'm not sure how literally I was supposed to take it but I'm not much of a fan of symbolism so if there was any, I didn't get it. This take on prediction was one of self-fulfilled prophecy and for some reason I just thought of the movie "Megamind" in that everyone expects the main character to be bad. Don't be mistaken though-this story is NOTHING like Megamind.

Out of the Blue, by Meg Cabot: Cute, but typical Meg Cabot. One of my favorite stories in the book.

One True Love, by Malinda Lo: The only way I can describe this story is lesbian Oedipus Rex. But I think that was the point of the story.

This is a Mortal Wound, by Michael Grant: Very very interesting but I couldn't figure out how this story connected with prophecy and prediction.

Misery, by Heather Brewer: Fascinating and introspective. I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I did appreciate it.

The Mind is a Powerful Thing, by Matt de la Pena: Another story of self-fulfilled prophecy, just this time with a paranoid girl who thinks the world is out to get her.

The Chosen One, by Saundra Mitchell: Sweet and strong. A more classic take on the whole prophecy idea, but the main character was full of spunk.

Improbable Futures, by Kami Garcia: Not a particularly unique story, but definitely good. I wasn't a huge fan of Beautiful Creatures so I wasn't looking forward to reading this story or the next one, but this story was a lot darker than I realized. This story is about a fake fortune teller who realizes that everything she is predicting starts coming true.

Death for the Deathless, by Margaret Stohl: This story was the first that had a prediction loop which makes you question what comes first. I liked a few of the other stories, but this one was definitely my number one favorite. I was shocked when I looked at the author's name and realized that I thought her other books were stupid.

Fate, by Simone Elkeles: This story had no fantasy involved but was just a short contemporary romance. Another goodie.

The Killing Garden, by Carrie Ryan: This story was nasty. The concept was messed up and made me cringe multiple times. I felt bad for the main character for not realizing the truth behind her father's words until the end, but the end of the story was okay.

Homecoming, by Richelle Mead: To anyone who hasn't read the Vampire Academy books, this story will seem out of place and won't be fully understood. To anyone who has, it's nice to read about Dimitri's reunion with his family.

3.6 stars.

 Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate? It's human nature to wonder about life's twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life's unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction's brightest stars.

The Splendor Falls, by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Sylvie is yet another misunderstood girl with parental issues who is shipped off to a random relative after an one-time-only act of rebellion. After breaking her leg while on stage, Sylvie must quit her promising career as a ballerina and after taking Vicadin with alcohol at her mom's wedding, she is sent down south to her late dad's cousin who is taking care of the family estate. Upon arriving in Alabama (I think), Sylvie discovers that she is something like royalty in the tiny town her aunt lives in. And of course, this story would not be complete without a prince charming and a prince not-as-charming vying for her heart. Her two pursuers are Rhys, the dark and mysterious foreigner who knows way more than he is letting on, and Shaun, the town's golden boy who can do no wrong in anybody's (except Rhys') eyes. As if a new home and two guys aren't enough, Sylvie starts getting the feeling there is something more going on on her family's estate, something with roots deep in her family's history.

Despite the previous paragraph, it should be known that although this book does follow many cliches, it also manages to separate itself from them. I don't know how and I can only pinpoint one or two reasons why that is, but while reading The Splendor Falls I didn't feel any deja vu which means it wasn't too typical. However, I could not give this book a perfect rating because of how long it was. In a book 500 pages long you expect something to happen every couple of pages, but those somethings were so boring that I felt like I was reading what her day to day life was and although it was written well, it was still not very interesting. There were little parts that kept me going, but there were many many times I was ready to give up. I was thankful when I finished the book because that meant that I could finally stop reading it and I would no longer have to convince myself to hold on.

For once there was a main character with a sharp tongue. I loved how Sylvie would react to Addie's insults-she was hurt but she hit Addie with an even sharper comeback. It was incredibly refreshing to have a heroine with both a backbone and a heart. It was also nice how she didn't complain through the whole book and only mentioned her hurt leg when relevant. Sylvie lost everything she ever wanted for herself when she fell and I was nervous that this would be an entire novel full of complaints but thankfully it wasn't.

The supernatural elements of this book were extremely vague for most of it, which almost made me believe at times that Sylvie was actually nuts. Then I remembered that is this is a YA fantasy novel and not a YA dark and twisty and suicidal novel.

One more clarification before I go: the love triangle in this book was perfect, mainly because it wasn't really a love triangle. (In case you couldn't tell, I don't really like love triangles.) Sylvie knows who she wants and makes it very clear who she is interested in so mentioning it in the summary is kind of misleading. And if you were wondering about the title, it's a reference to one line in the book which I forgot already. As for the purple rose, your guess is as good as mine.

4.3 stars.

Can love last beyond the grave?

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?

Dead Rules, by Randy Russell

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

Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die, The Deep End of Fear, by Elizabeth Chandler

In general I am not a fan of ghost stories. For some reason they give me the chills when vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other mythological monsters don't. The only ghost stories I enjoy are Elizabeth Chandler's and so I was very excited to read Dark Secrets 2.

As much as I enjoy Chandler's books one inevitable thing that happens around 2 days after I finish one is that it all gets blended into a mush with her other stories. Don't get me wrong: each story is unique and enjoyable in its own way, just for some reason (possibly the ambiguous and almost identical ominous titles) they get thrown into the Elizabeth Chandler junk drawer in my imagination. Therefore, I must write about the stories in Dark Secrets 2 before I forget them.

No Time to Die follows Jenny who is determined to find her sister's killer. Jenny comes from a theatrical family where she is the only one not interested in performing. After her sister is killed by a serial killer while in drama camp Jenny is convinced that the police are wrong and that the murderer was someone her sister knew. So she goes and meets a bunch of messed up drama types, many of whom fall in love with her. There's Brian, the older guy who works at the camp, Mike who was Liza's secret boyfriend, and Paul, Liza's stalker. (I was going to use the word "creepy" before "stalker" but then I realized that there are no other types of stalkers.)

The Deep End of Fear had that unfortunate quality of feeling like it was never ending. Sometimes that lengthens a book's awesomeness but when it's a mystery which you know is going to get solved in the last chapter (like this one) you kind of want it to end soon.

The Deep End is about Kate who returns to this manor where her parents worked when she was a kid. Her family left suddenly shortly after Kate's best friend, Ashley, died in what was supposedly an accident. Now, Kate is working there as a nanny and trying to solve the mysteries surrounding Ashley's death while keeping her charge, Patrick, safe from his many relatives who are out to get him. There's also a hot hockey player wandering around but my theory is that he's only there as a love interest and not to have any other contribution to the plot.

All of Elizabeth Chandler's books have spooky semi-ambiguous titles that in my head make them nearly indistinguishable. However, while reading these two, I realized the titles are actually puns. I'm very proud of myself because my ditzy side actually lost for once! No Time To Die refers to the face of Liza's watch being broken when they found her body because that was the serial killer's signature, and The Deep End of Fear has to do with Ashley dying by falling into a not so frozen pond. So now you know that the titles aren't completely random phrases taken out of a ghost-story-writer thesaurus.

4.3 stars. I have a thing against mysteries which doesn't let me go higher. There's also the fact that these two seemed almost identical to each other and almost all of Elizabeth Chandler's other books.