Category: YA Paranormal

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Short Book Review: Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand

Veronica Porras (TTB)

hallowed-cynthia-hand

Goodreads Summary:

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn’t prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

Review:

All aboard the Cynthia Hand train!

I absolutely loved Hallowed. The writing was better. The plot got juicer. The love triangle became even more intense. Ladies and Gentlemen, the sequel to Unearthly was not just better, it was phenomenal. I seriously hope that Boundless, the last book in the Unearthly trilogy, does not falls short when put next to this book.

I don’t know exactly how I feel about Angela yet. Something about her seems to be off. I am also warming up to Christian, a lot. I would be a fool to say I am not starting to root for Christian. The twists that were in this novel regarding Clara’s father, Jeffrey and other characters were done great and I never saw them coming. It kept me on my toes. You know a book is good when it turns your mind into mush. 🙂

Rating: 5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hate it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I like it /A fun read.

4/5: I really like it.

5/5: I love it!

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Short Book Review: Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand

Veronica Porras (TTB)

7488244Goodreads Summary:

When Clara Gardner learns she’s part angel, her entire life changes. She now has a purpose, a specific task she was put on this earth to accomplish, except she doesn’t know what it is. Her visions of a raging forest fire and a mysterious boy lead her to a new high school in a new town but provide no clear instruction. As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make—between the boy in her vision and the boy in her life, between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. . . . When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Review:

At first, the book was slow and the writing was weird. I was also in Fantasy slump so that probably didn’t help. The first time I attempted to read this book, I was only able to get through the first 70 pages and I quit. A month later, I decided to give it another chance and Bam! Best decision I’ve made. It takes about a hundred pages to get used to Cynthia Hand’s writing style but once that happens, it is smooth sailing from there.

There is so much I could say about this book but I don’t want to write a review full of spoils so I’m going to try to make this short and sweet. The characters in the story are infuriating at times but in a good way. The plot is a good and the world is well built. By the end of the book, I had been sucked into Clara’s world, the world of angels and angel-bloods, and I did not want to say goodbye. I love that the book wasn’t all love and gooey stuff, it had action and lots of it.

Rating: 4/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hate it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I like it /A fun read.

4/5: I really like it, but something is missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Special Review, YA Paranormal

Special Review: A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

Veronica Porras (TTB)

A-Corner-of-White

I was provided with a copy of this book by NetGalley & Scholastic. Thank you very much for approving my request.

Goodreads Summary:

The first in a rousing, funny, genre-busting trilogy from bestseller Jaclyn Moriarty!

This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).

Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot’s dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.

As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds — through an accidental gap that hasn’t appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called “color storms;” a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the “Butterfly Child,” whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses.

Review:

I am going to start off with a food analogy to explain how this book was for me. It was like a big juicy delicious looking steak without the seasoning. It was missing something. I liked the idea of the book. I loved how Moriarty build the world in the book but I wasn’t swept away by the story. This had so much potential for being great. I really wish I wasn’t giving it a bad review. This book did not move me and the characters, especially Belle and Jack didn’t move me. Kala didn’t add much to the story either. The only character I liked was Elliot. I felt nothing special for Madeline.

Overall, this book could have been better. Part of the reason why this book did not move me was the writing. It was strange and it took me a while to get used to it.

Sidenote: I love the cover art for this book. It’s so beautiful. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it (A fun read).

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Book Review: The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) by Richelle Mead

Veronica Porras (TTB)
The Indigo Spell (Bloodline #3) by Richelle Mead
The Indigo Spell (Bloodline #3) by Richelle Mead

GoodReads Summary:

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.

What I liked:

Richelle Mead has done it again. Even though this is the slowest book so far in the Bloodlines series, it is still very good and did not bore me. I absolutely love it when an author can make a book that is not all fireworks and sparks still be very interesting and intriguing book. I was very pleased to see Adrian and Sydney’s relationship develop to the point where both of them knew exactly where they each stood with their feelings and with each other. Honestly, I liked that The Indigo Spell did not have this big cliffhanger in the last chapter but instead TIS seemed to have this feeling that the complete book in itself was a big foreshadow and a big cliffhanger for the rest of the series.

What I disliked:

Marcus Finch. I didn’t like his character or the developments that occurred around him. I can only think of two good things that came out of having Marcus Finch in the series. He was blown up way out of proportion for how little importance he had in this book. Knowing Richelle Mead though, he will probably have a big role further down in the series and I will have to eat my words.

Rating: 5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book

3/5: I liked it (A fun read)

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

 

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Book Review: City of Bones (Book #1 of The Mortal Instruments)

Veronica Porras (TTB)
City of Bones (#1 The Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare
City of Bones (#1 The Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare

Out of the blue, I decided to read The City of Bones. About a year or two ago I remember picking up this book and wondering if I should read it but some other book caught my eye that day at the bookstore and ever since then, I had not given it another glance until a few months ago. I started hearing about TMI (The Mortal Instruments) left and right because the film adaptation of the book is coming out soon. I decided to read the book in order to see if the movie might be “worth” seeing.

The City of Bones ended up being action packed and intense! I was not expecting this at all. To be honest, I was expecting romance and lots of it for some strange reason. This book has almost every mythical and paranormal creature you can think of. There are vampires, werewolves, fairies, trolls, demons, etc. Seriously, they have about everything. They even have angels, the fallen angels and archangels too. When I say everything, I mean everything.

As the first book in the series it is just… okay. There was no mind-blowing thing going on in the book but it also wasn’t a bad read. Personally, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 or a B-. Take your pick. Honestly, I wanted more character development. The whole time I was reading the book I was so entranced with the action that the few moments where valuable information was given, the action/fighting scene overshadowed it. Another thing that really bugged me at first was how the author switched point of views. It was unexpected and at times, random. I feel as if it made the book a bit disorganized.

I probably won’t read the rest of the series but at least I gave it a try.

Now TMI fandom, please don’t bash me. We all have our opinions and likes and dislikes. 🙂

Oh and one last thing, DO NOT read this book all in one day from morning to night. It will give you nightmares and will not let you sleep. I was up imagining the horrible monsters described in the book and the whole Jace and Clary thing. Their issues are like none I have ever read before. I almost encourage you to read the book just so you can see what I mean.

This concludes my “review” of the book. These are my opinions and you are very welcome to disagree with me. 🙂

Happy Reading!