Incarnate

Incarnate By: Jodi Meadows

Rating: Incredibly AWESOME

Age Group: 13+

Summary (from Amazon.com):

NEWSOUL

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why. 

NOSOUL

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame? 

HEART

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all? 

My Thoughts:  Oh my gosh, I LOVE THIS BOOK!  This book has all the things I love in it: fantasy, science fiction, romance, and reincarnation.  Guys, these are my favorite things that I think about to make me not feel so bad.  So, obviously, I adore the plot and I loved how the story progressed.  I totally did not guess the end, and I loved it!  Mrs. Meadows answers enough questions to satisfy my curiosity, while still leaving plenty of questions to be answered in the following books.  The world is very well crafted and believable, and so interesting!  I enjoyed learning about it with Ana.  Which brings me to Ana, who is spunky and smart and lovably defensive.  I think she grew a lot as a character during this story and I liked how she developed.  Considering how she grew up, I think it’s understandable that she would be so afraid of the world and I think that her reactions are realistic.  Now it’s Sam’s turn.  I kind of love the stuffing out of him.  He’s so very understanding and kind, but he still has a backbone.  He is also funny and very sweet, and I liked how he approached his relationship with Ana.  He is OLD, and his hesitation seems to stem from how conscious he is of his and Ana’s age difference.  Personally, I think the two of them have a lot of chemistry and I see nothing really wrong with their relationship.  Though I admit it brings up a lot of ethical questions, I think that adds to the complexity of the story.  Anyway, I really can’t wait to see where the story goes!  I highly recommend this book!

Book Recommendations:  Reincarnation By: Suzanne Weyn

Witch Eyes

Witch Eyes By: Scott Tracey

Rating: Meh

Age Group: 13+

Summary (from Amazon.com):  A boy who can see the world's secrets and unravel spells with just a glance.

Braden's witch eyes give him an enormous power. A mere look causes a kaleidoscopic explosion of emotions, memories, darkness, and magic. But this rare gift is also his biggest curse.

Compelled to learn about his shadowed past and the family he never knew, Braden is drawn to the city of Belle Dam, where he is soon caught between two feuding witch dynasties. Sworn rivals Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe will use anything--lies, manipulation, illusion, and even murder--to seize control of Braden's powers. To stop an ancient evil from destroying the town, Braden must master his gift, even through the shocking discovery that Jason is his father. While his feelings for an enigmatic boy named Trey grow deeper, Braden realizes a terrible truth: Trey is Catherine Lansing's son . . . and Braden may be destined to kill him.

My Thoughts:  I’m afraid this isn’t my favorite book.  It isn’t necessarily a BAD book; however there were quite a few things that I didn’t particularly like about it.  The writing is pretty vague in generally, so there were a few scenes that I had to read several times because I didn’t understand how or why something happened.  Also, there were some scenes that were given one sentence descriptions that could really have used more.  Now, I DID like Braden.  He was funny and in many ways he was smart.  I also liked how his powers were described, and the most detailed scenes were the ones where he was using his magic.  Those parts of the book I really enjoyed.  Also, I adored Jade!  She was a cool cat.  I did like his relationship with Trey, though I didn’t find it particularly believable.  But I could look past that, because they were really very sweet.  However, the scenes with the two of them together tended to be the vaguest, which was kind of annoying.  The main character and his boyfriend shouldn’t have to interact in scenes-that-deserve-paragraphs-but-get-only-a-sentence sort of scenes, you know?  And I don’t mean just the romantic bits, the bits where they are just talking are still among the vague scenes that deserved more.  I liked the idea of the overall plot, but it didn’t actually pull me in very much.  I’m afraid I wouldn’t really recommend this book though I’m not going to say you shouldn’t read it either. 

Starstruck

Starstruck By: Cyn Balog

Rating: Not my cup of tea

Age Group: 14+

Summary (from Amazon.com):  Gwendolyn "Dough" X doesn't think she has much going for her—she carries a few extra pounds, her family struggles with their small bakery in a town full of millionaires, and the other kids at her New Jersey high school don't seem to know that she exists. Thank the stars for her longtime boyfriend, Philip P. Wishman—or "Wish." He moved away to California three years ago, when they were 13, but then professed his love for her via e-mail, and he's been her long-distance BF ever since.

At the beginning of her junior year, though, Wish e-mails that he's moving back to Jersey. Great, right? Well, except that Dough has gained about 70 pounds since the last time Wish saw her, while Wish—according to his Facebook photos—has morphed into a blonde god. Convinced that she'll be headed for Dumpsville the minute Wish lays eyes on her, Dough delays their meeting as long as she possibly can.

But when she sees Wish at school, something amazing happens. He looks at Dough like she's just as gorgeous as he is. But Wish is acting a little weird, obsessed with the sun and freaked out by rain. And the creepy new guy working at the bakery, Christian, is convinced that there's more to Wish's good looks than just healthy eating and lots of sun. He tells Dough that a mark on Wish's neck marks him as a member of the Luminati—an ancient cult of astrologers who can manipulate the stars to improve their lives. Is Wish and Dough's love meant to be—or are they star-crossed?

My Thoughts:  I’m afraid I’m not very fond of this book.  The concept is very interesting and I did like that the main character wasn’t a stunning beauty, but I didn’t like the way the story was presented.  Dough dwelt on her looks A LOT, and while I can sympathize I don’t think it should be the only think you think about.  She had such awful luck, and almost everyone in the story was a jerk.  I don’t know, it seemed to me this book was about how people are judged by appearances, and yes the end shows that this is wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that the characters sacrificed a lot just so that they would look better or be seen as better looking.  I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like stories that dwell, and this book is filled with characters that do nothing but.  For all the reasons I personally didn’t like the book, it wasn’t the worst book I’ve read by any means.  It’s just not really my cup of tea.  All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this book. L

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children By: Ransom Riggs

Rating: Incredibly AWESOME

Age Group: 14+

Summary (from BarnesandNoble.com):

 A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

My Thoughts:  I really loved this book!  I don’t usually read horror books, much less like them, but this book was just so interesting and unique that I couldn’t put it down!  First I want to say that while this book DID have some very scary parts, the book as a whole wasn’t as dark as I was expecting.  From reading other reviews I thought it would be utterly terrifying, but it wasn’t.  There were many sweet and funny parts that kept the book from being such.  I really liked how the characters were developed and how the Home was introduced, and I loved Miss Peregrine and the children.  Finding out about their pasts and the reason why they hid was my favorite part, along with the children’s peculiarities themselves.  And the pictures!  These added so much to the story, and made the story seem so much more real and believable.  I tend to imagine things as cuter or safer than they are described simply because that’s the direction my mind likes to go, but thanks to the pictures the true nature of the book came through.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes supernatural books as well as those that like horror.

Book Recommendations: Bones of Faerie By: Janni Lee Simner