The Fire Rose, by Mercedes Lackey (Elemental Masters #1)

After her father loses all of their money in a Ponzi-like scheme and dies shortly after, Rose is left completely destitute with nowhere to go. So when Jason Cameron, a railroad baron and secret sorcerer, offers her a position as a governess, she has no choice but to accept. Upon arrival in his manor, she discovers that her students are not two precocious children, as she was first informed, but her new boss himself. Due to a magical mistake, Jason is half-wolf, and he has hired Rose to help him with his research. However, every powerful man has enemies, and Jason's enemy, who already has the creepy steward on his side, wants to win Rose over to aid in Jason's downfall. However, Rose is nothing like the demure insipid woman the two sexists imagine her to be and are faced with a lot more than they bargained for when Rose starts training to become an elemental master in her own right.

I found this modern telling of Beauty and the Beast a tad disturbing. The romance and plot was cute, but the fact that he was still a wolf at the end made my stomach churn a bit. I understand the whole concept of looking at the inside and not the outside, but I think this book took it a little too far.

I haven't read many of Mercedes Lackey's books, but from what I've noticed, every heroine is strong, confident, entirely too sensible, and exactly the same. They all manage to be so sure of themselves that it comes off as cocky. They all think straight in completely crazy situations that make any normal person go nuts. But what I dislike the most about them, is that they seem to split people into two categories: people they like and people they don't. This wouldn't even bother me so much if it weren't for the qualifications that they use to judge, because it seems like they deem someone unworthy if they aren't as smart or sensible as the heroine herself, and she is always very smart and very sensible. They also give me the impression that they think they're better than everyone else, and that they are the only sane people around, save for one or two specific people. Maybe I'm magnifying my own slight observations and extending them to all the other heroines, but even their most staunch supporters have to admit that these girls are a bit judgy.

3.8 stars.
 

San Francisco, 1905: Rosalind, a medieval scholar, is hired by Jason, a powerful sorcerer. Jason's enemy offers to restore Rosalind's family fortune if she will betray Jason. And then the earthquake strikes. . . .

Romeo Redeemed, by Stacey Jay (Juliet Immortal #2)

Romeo has agreed to change sides in the epic battle of Mercenaries vs. Ambassadors and has been tasked, by Juliet's nurse, to get Ariel Dragland, Juliet's host from the previous novel, to fall in love with him. The reason why, he is told, is because Ariel has the potential for great evil and falling in love will prevent it. What Romeo doesn't count on, is falling in love with Ariel himself. However, everything is turned upside down when Mercenaries start getting into Ariel's head and Romeo can't be sure what side anyone is on. Who is good? Who is evil?

This was a great sequel, but what confused me was how I had assumed Juliet had her happy ending after Juliet Immortal. Wasn't the last chapter about her and Ben meeting again in an alternate universe? I remember complaining about how I thought it was a cop-out. I still think it was, but I like how Stacey Jay incorporated her cop-out into the sequel to make it seem like it was intended the entire time. For all I know it might have been intended from the beginning, but in Juliet Immortal it looked like an easy way out.

Ariel is the most disturbed character I have ever read about. Her anger and insanity is not "cute" or "imbalanced"-it's freaking nuts!!!!!! Sorry Romeo, you may have been on the side of evil for centuries, but you really should run far far away from this nutjob. Her insanities aren't a part of her that you should love, they're a part of her you should be very very scared of. This girl would totally murder you in your sleep if you asked a random girl on the street for the time! While I did like the happy ending, Ariel's insanity was a little too much for me.

5 stars.

 Seductive companion to the popular Juliet Immortal, in which former lovers—Romeo and Juliet—meet, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.

Princess of Glass, by Jessica Day George (Princess #2)

Princess Poppy, one of the middle daughters from Princess of the Midnight Ball, has been sent to Briton (I think that's what the country's name was) as part of a princess exchange program. Everything is going great for Poppy-she and her cousin have become very good friends, there's a handsome prince looking her way, and no one is forcing her to dance. However, things start to go awry when a mysterious beauty, who is really the maid Eleanora, shows up to a ball and no one can stop talking about her the next day. All the men are in love with her and all the women either hate her or want to be her. Poppy is one of the only ones who hasn't fallen under her spell, and she is determined to save her friends from the love spell, and Eleanora from her magical benefactress who is not quite as sweet as she claims she is.

This is one of the cutest books I have ever read, yet despite the undeniable adorableness, I didn't get annoyed by the naivete and immaturity. Sometimes in books like this you have evil people who all of a sudden aren't evil and are begging for forgiveness, but it actually made sense in Princess of Glass. What did bug me was the fake Europe, especially because I couldn't figure out what country Westfalin was supposed to represent. Maybe one of the tiny ones that no one cares about?

I definitely recommend this book to any princess-lovers (like me), no matter what age. The cuteness can be a little overdone, but it only makes the book more enjoyable.

5 stars.

Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other's countries in the name of better political alliances--and potential marriages. It's got the makings of a fairy tale--until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way.


Is it just me, or is that dress salivatingly gorgeous?

Sweet Venom, by Tera Lynn Childs (Medusa Girls #1)

On a night out with her brother and his new (hot) friend, Grace starts seeing monsters everywhere. Then a girl who looks just like her heaves her over her shoulder and out of the club. Gretchen was shocked to find someone else who could see the monsters, and even more shocked to find her long lost sister. After joining forces, the two sisters find out that they weren't twins-they were triplets. However, Greer loves her life and has no interest in joining the monster-fighting gang with her sisters. Monsters are starting to appear in multitudes in San Francisco and the sisters need to do something about it-but will Greer step up?

My summary is nothing like the publisher's. From their summary I expected the triplets to find each other in the first 3 chapters and move on from there, but it took half the book for Grace and Gretchen to meet and Greer didn't make her entrance until almost 3/4 way through. Instead of being about descendents of Medusa fighting monsters, this book was about three sisters finding each other and living their normal lives. The events in Sweet Venom could have happened in a third of the space and words, but if I like the next book, then I'll acknowledge Sweet Venom as a good introduction.

I'm a huge fan of the Percy Jackson books, but I have one friend who refused to read them because she claimed that they would totally contradict Greek mythology. I have to say, I totally disagree with her about Rick Riordan's books because if anything, I think they extend Greek mythology into our century. However, I think what she said about those books can be perfectly applied here. Not only was there a whole thing about Medusa being good and Athena being bad, but they didn't even give the Medusa girls snake hair!! This story would have been much better had there still been long lost triplets with magical monster fighting powers, without any mention of Greek mythology.

What annoyed me about the girls was how they each took their stereotypes to the extreme. Grace was sweet and bubbly the entire time, Gretchen was strong and hard with a little bit of softie for Grace, and Greer was the snooty rich girl. They had nothing else to them and it got very irritating.

3.6 stars. Maybe the sequel will redeem it?

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Trial by Fire, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Raised by Wolves #2)

If you haven't read my review of Raised by Wolves, click here.

Trial by Fire finds human Bryn settling into her role as alpha of a pack mostly made up of little girls. She sees the actions of other alphas and is determined to treat her pack well, but she is forced to make an uncomfortable decision when a wolf from a rival pack shows up on dying on her doorstep. Lucas tells Bryn that he was tortured by his alpha, Shay, and that he wants to join Bryn's pack. Bryn has to uncover the truth about Lucas's origins before Shay comes to claim him and takes some of Bryn's girls or an even more dangerous unknown enemy gets to her first.

For someone involved in such a cutthroat world, Bryn is way too nice. When she had the choice to give Lucas back or potentially start a war which would end with all her girls taken captive, I thought that a good leader would send Lucas back to save her pack. I know it sounds horrible to say something like that, but Bryn had never met Lucas before and for all she knew, the torture he experienced could have been punishment from his alpha for a crime which Bryn herself wouldn't have forgiven. It was incredibly naive and shortsighted of her to accept Lucas right away and I think it only proved even more so how inexperienced and unfit she was to lead her pack.

On a brighter note, this book did have a really fascinating ending, and is definitely a good read for younger readers. And as far as sequels go, this one is pretty good.

4.6 stars

There can only be one alpha.

Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were.  With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone.

Bryn faces both the costs, and the rewards, of love and loyalty, in this thrilling sequel to Raised by Wolves.

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.

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2), by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet's grandmother has been missing for over two weeks and she is willing to do anything to bring her back alive. After her alcoholic father gives her a clue to her grandmother's kidnappers that leads to a street fighter named Wolf, Scarlet sets off on a journey to Paris with Wolf as her guide. Scarlet knows Wolf is hiding things from her, and as his secrets start to unfold Scarlet learns that she and her grandmother are in a lot more danger than they ever would have imagined. Meanwhile, in Asia, Cinder is planning her escape from prison and has found a partner in crime who happens to have a ship. Cinder wants to find out what happened to her during the missing years before her adoption and how she got her magnificently wired brain. Her journey takes her to France, where she and Scarlet cross paths on quests with seemingly different yet similar goals.

As is the case with many second books (I think I've used that line before) this book did not live up to the first one. With that said, I will remind you, if you've read my review of Cinder, that the only reason Cinder got a five-star rating was because the plot shone through the mediocre prose. Unfortunately for Scarlet, the plot took a long time to get good and even once it did it was only for a few short pages before the story returned to the unexciting once more. However, I will admit that despite my dislike for Scarlet's point of view, the connection to the first book was very good and it continued the story well while still retaining its independence as its own book and not merely a continuation of the first one.

4.2 stars.

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.