Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Title:  Catching Jordan
Author:  Miranda Kenneally
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary YA
Release Date: December 1, 2011
Source: Copy from personal library

Synopsis:



What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

Why I read this book: I had been seeing reviews for it all over the place and I'm a sucker for a heroine who breaks gender roles.

What I liked about this book:  I liked Jordan a lot.  She's a strong confident football player when she's on the field but once she's off the field she's just a girl who's dealing with teenage girl stuff.  I could easily connect with her.  I'm one of those girls who's more confident being "one of the guys" than I am being "one of the girls."  The host of secondary characters...I especially loved Sam Henry.  I also really liked all the humor and trash talk that took place between Jordan and her teammates.  The writing style I connected with too.  It just sucked me in and wouldn't let go.  I also really liked the ending, good triumphs over "evil."

What I didn't like about this book:  Ty.  For me personally, he came off as a nice guy in the beginning but once got what he wanted he turned into UBER-prick.  He drove a pretty serious wedge between Jordan and Henry too.  Henry could see and Jordan just didn't want to.  I also didn't care for the overall feel of Jordan and Ty's relationship.  Another detracting point was Jordan's dad and NFL quarterback who just doesn't understand his daughter.  Everyone has dreams but I fel that Jordan's dad spent a considerable amount of time trying to squelch Jordan's.

Overall Impression:  Overall, I'm pretty happy with this book.  I will definately be checking out Stealing Parker when it comes out.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book with a strong heroine character who doesn't take any crap from anyone.

Rating: Borrow

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Reviewed Format: Finished Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Rating: Break the Bank!

Synopsis:

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

Review:

I had been hearing all sorts of AWESOME hype about Shatter Me all over the book blogging community.  I kept seeing the same things, “you have to read this!,”  “it’s different,”  you get the picture right?  So yet again, I put forth the big bucks to have Amazon deliver Shatter Me to my house on release day.

What really drew me into the story was Juliette.  She’s been lead to believe that she is a monster due to her “gift.”  Her family has basically abandoned her and sent her off to an asylum.  She hasn’t touched anyone in 264 days.  See Juliette’s touch is lethal in most cases.  Then Juliette is given a cellmate.  Her cellmate turns out to be someone she knows from her past, the only person in her past life that didn’t have it out to be mean or cruel to her, Adam Kent.

Adam to me isn’t your typical storybook hero.  There comes a time when Juliette is almost certain that Adam has betrayed her to the Reestablisment. You automatically want to think the worst of Adam but the further you read the more you see that “what you see” isn’t always “what you get.”  I was really impressed with Adam overall.

Warner!  I had a love/hate relationship with Warner.  In that I LOVED to HATE him.  He comes off as an overbearing ass and I really didn’t like it.  You hear rumblings about why he is the way he is but really, just because you had a crappy childhood doesn’t mean you have to be a miserable excuse for a human being as an “adult.” His obsession with Juliette just flat-out creeped me out.

I really LOVED the world that the author created.  A world where everything has fallen apart and a group has come in and says “hey we can make things better” and proceeds to make things so much worse.  A sort of creepy look at what our world could be like.  The writing style I really liked a lot.  There are portions of the text that are crossed out and I liked it, I’ve read some reviews where others haven’t liked the crossed out text, for me it worked.

The romance for me at first I thought it was a little bit too much “Insta-love” but the more I read into the book the more I realized that Adam and Juliette have a considerable amount of history.  So naturally, that shot my “Insta-love” theory all to hell.

Overall, if you haven’t added this book to your wish list do so RIGHT NOW!  It really is a touch of The Hunger Games with a little X-Men thrown in to keep things interesting.  I DEVOURED this book and now I’m very sad that I have to wait so long for the sequel.

Favorite Passage:

“H-how could you possibly care about someone…like me?”  I’m barely breathing, nervous and petrified but somehow staring at his lips, studying the shape, counting the drops of water tumbling over the hills and valleys of his mouth.

“Because I’m in love with you.”

Legend by Marie Lu

Title:  Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend #1
Genre: YA/Dystopian
Format: Finished Hardcover copy from personal library

Release Date:  November 29, 2011

 

Rating: Break the Bank!

 

Synopsis:

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.


Review:

I really LOVED this book.  What I really LOVED about this book was how it was told from dual points of view, ala Simone Elkeles books.  I really connected with the main characters June and Day.  Our hero Day is considered a fugitive by the Republic and he is homeless and lives on the streets with an orphan that he has befriended and takes care of named Tess.

Our heroine June on the other hand is sort of a child prodigy and is in the process of finding her place in the Republic.  Then her brother is tragically murdered and June goes looking for answers.  All the information that she has leads her right to Day.  And what follows is a roller coaster ride of heartache, action, betrayal, romance and so many twists and turns you won’t know up from down….I mean that in a good way of course.

There were a few things that were pretty predictable about the book but I did not feel that it detracted from the story itself at all.  I felt like the slight predictability of those few things actually heightened the anticipation and flow of the story for me personally.

Like with pretty much all (there are a few exceptions to the rule I’m sure) there is a lot of tragedy in Legend.  But you keep rooting for June, Day and a VERY select few secondary characters.

Overall, I was BEYOND extremely happy with the book.  I most definitely will be counting down the days until the sequel is released.  Is it time yet!?

Demons at Deadnight by A&E Kirk

Title: Demons at Deadnight
Author: A&E Kirk
Series: Divinicus Nex Chronicles #1
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: January 7, 2012

Rating: Break the Bank!

Synopsis:

For seventeen-year-old Aurora Lahey, survival is a lifestyle.

DEMONIC DESTINY
Aurora has the crappiest superpower on the planet. And it’s just unleashed a hit squad from hell. Demons are on the hunt, salivating to carve her carcass into confetti.

CHARISMATIC KILLERS
The Hex Boys—mysterious, hunky, and notorious for their trails of destruction—have the answers Aurora needs to survive. But their overload of deadly secrets and suspicious motives makes trusting them a potentially fatal move.

LETHAL ALLIES
The battle to save her family, herself, and stop demonic domination may cost Aurora everything worth living for, and force her to reveal her own dark secrets. But no worries. She needs the Hex Boys to pull this off, and, chances are, teaming up with these guys will get her killed anyway

Review:

I found out about this book because I happen to stumble upon one of the authors book review blog (Teens Read and Write).  Alyssa had posted her Book Boyfriend and "Team Buttons" for the Hex boys in addition to the first round of reviews for Demons at Deadnight.  I read the first round of reviews that were linked up on the that post and I checked out the "Team Buttons" and I decided that I NEEDED to download this book onto my Barnes and Noble Tablet.

I really enjoyed our main character Aurora very much.  She has a wicked sense of humor, sometimes under the worst circumstances .  She's smart.  She's pretty dang brave too.  She's also got a gift or possibly a curse, she can see demons.  I'll even forgive her for having legs that go on forever (I'm 5' 5"), curly auburn hair and pretty blue eyes.  And ALL of her problems seem to begin and end with a demon.  Dang those demons!  It sucks that they feel the need to try and kill her.  Aurora doesn't have many allies to begin with and is thrust into the world of the Hex Boys.  So now on top of all her demon issues she has to figure out what their intentions really are as well. There were times that I was so exhausted for Aurora while I was reading this book.  All of the non-stop action and all that thinking had to equal out to one heck of a headache?! 

Then there were the Hex boys. I'll fight Melissa and Missie for them any day.  The closest group of fictional characters that I can come up with to compare these FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC guys to are the BDB (Black Dagger Brotherhood)...Minus the whole being a vampire thing.  They've got the good looks, the bad boy attitude and as an added bonus there are 6 of them, one for each day of the week plus a day of rest. 

What I really enjoyed about Demons at Deadnight was that it wasn't full of some many of the cliches' that I've been seeing in current Young Adult novels.  It's starting to get old and Demons at Deadnight was breath of fresh air for me personally.  There was also a TON of action and humor throughout this book.  If you make me laugh out loud while reading your book that wins you a TON of cool points.  Another thing that I really liked about Demons at Deadnight was that there was a hint at a romance but the way it was written didn't have me wanting to rip my hair out.  Now for the Blaspheme...There are involved parents!  Woulda thunk it!?  For the record...LOVED IT.

Overall, I LOVED this book.  It's full of action, humor with a touch of romance thrown in too.  Personally, I think this book was a great start to this series and I can hardly wait to see how Aurora grows through out.  If Alyssa and Eileen are reading this I would LOVE to read the next book in the series when it comes out.