The People of Sparks (Ember Series #2) by Jeanne DuPrau

The People of Sparks

The People of Sparks picks up where The City of Ember leaves off. Lina and Doon have emerged from the underground city to the exciting new world above, and it isn’t long before they are followed by the other inhabitants of Ember. The Emberites soon come across a town where they are welcomed, fed, and given places to sleep. But the town’s resources are limited and it isn’t long before resentment begins to grow between the two groups. When anonymous acts of vandalism push them toward violence, it’s up to Lina and Doon to discover who’s behind the vandalism and why, before it’s too late.

I borrowed this book

The People of Sparks is the sequel to The City Of Ember. It was a long time ago since I read the first book but I saw the oportunity to pick up the second so I did.

The People of sparks doesn't have the adventure and sense of danger that Ember did but the themes are a bit more mature and you can really see a struggling society trying to make it. There are some events that are quite surprising that I love how the author handled it (or the characters did, whatever).

Like before, Jeanne provides a simple yet flowing narrative. The characters are so relatable, they can be your best friends! I am now wishing for a Doon/Lina relationship but only just because I'm a sap for those kinds of things, I'll have to see.

This is a short review, the book doesn't have that fast paced action Ember did and it's quite a dull book throughout but I have many hopes for the future books and can't wait to see more of these amazing cast of characters.

In one sentence:
"A dull sequel but with promise."

Plot: 3
Characters: 4
Writing: 5
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

Passing Strange by Daniel Waters

Passing Strange

Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal (if pale) teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing—this time, as alive. Karen DeSonne just happens to be an extremely human-like zombie. Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of antizombie regulations that have forced them into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” that destroyed their non-life was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be worse than death.

Passing Strange was sent to me to review by the publicist, so thank you!

The world of Generation Dead is quite interesting. Very unexpected and it is known that zombies do exist. This was my first Generation Dead novel but I found that I needn't read the others to get into this one as it works well as a stand-alone.

At first, I was very surprised with the changing of POV, it took me off balance and it was hard to get used to at first but once the novel progressed, I became accostumed to it.

Karen was a good character, if ever a bit distance. There were moments where I felt that I really knew her and then she pulled back and I wasn't so sure. Maybe this has to do with the POV change?

I really liked Pete's character, though. It was very three-dimensional and we see him change through the rest of the novel and come to terms with himself and the world he lives in.

Tak is another one I liked. He is a loyal friend who will do whatever with Karen.

Oh, and I didn't expect the end AT ALL. Which was really good. I did, though, wish that Pete wouldn't have found out about Karen until later but I was glad there was more to the story instead of just that.

In one sentence:
"A definitely unique read!"

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing: 4
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 The Great Gatsby

In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "somethingnew--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

This will be short since I had to read it for school. The Great Gatsby is very poigant and creates such awesome images of 1920's New York, one of my favorite times and places in history. The characters seemed real and the love story is so relevant, it could have been told in high school hallways.

I got a bit bored but it didn't have to do with the book. It had more to do with the fact that I had to read it for school instead of it being for my own accord. It's a short novel with a well-paced plot. Easy read, really.

In one sentence: "Poigant and realistic."

Plot:  4
Characters: 5
Writing: 5
Cover: 3
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

Annexed by Sharon Dogar

Annexed

Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex – but what about the boy who was also trapped there with her?

In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar explores what this might have been like from Peter’s point of view. What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her? Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To know you’re being written about in Anne’s diary, day after day? What’s it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting.

As Peter and Anne become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see happening around them?

Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter’s story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity and compassion the reality of day to day survival in Auschwitz – and ultimately the horrific fates of the Annex’s occupants.

I have mixed feelings about this one, in good ways. It's a very powerful book - as the blurb suggest - and it's very historically accurate in all ways it could be. I find it amazing that Sharon Dogar was able to create such a resonating story based on a diary (which, getting all lit tech, is only from Anne's very biased point of view) and still make it truthful and honest.

Peter is just like every boy, no matter which year this story is set it. I love how the relationship with Anne seamlessly develops through the story. It doesn't happen in a blink of an eye  and it takes time.

The thing that I'm more mixed about it the slowness. For those of you who've read Anne Frank's diary know that it is in no way an action book, therefore, at times, it is quite slow. But nevertheless I liked how Peter's story was more than just Anne, it was about faith, family, and identity.

I wished Sharon would have taken more of a creative liscence and done more with the story but at the same time I feel like I would have been mad if it were not as historically loyal. Ah, I'm to confuzzled (yes, I made that up.)

In one sentence:
"Sharon Dogar once again creates a powerful story that resonates with the reader."

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing: 5
Cover: 4
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

Magickeepers: The Pyramid Of Souls (Book #2) by Erica Kirov

Magickeepers: The Pyramid of Souls

It was stolen from Alexander the Great. To keep it safe, Edgar Allen Poe bargained away his sanity. And somebody suckered P. T. Barnum to get their hands on it. It's the most closely guarded secret in the magician community. And it's missing.

What would you do to protect your family from an ancient pyramid capable of stealing your very soul?

Nick Rostov finally has the life he's always dreamed-and he'll do anything to protect it.

Nick has only now discovered he is part of an extended Russian family of magicians: the Magickeepers. He lives with his eccentric new relatives at the Winter Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where they perform daring feats of magic to a packed house. Real magic.

But Nick and his family face a new danger in the form of a stolen relic, the Pyramid of Souls. The tiny pyramid has traded hands many times throughout history. Its power can steal a magician's very soul.

Nick knows who took it: Rasputin, leader of the Shadowkeepers. Using his unique ability as a Gazer-one who can see into the past-Nick enlists his cousin Isabella to help him find it. Soon, the two are hot on the evil sorcerer's trail...until Isabella's soul is trapped by the very relic they're trying to find.

Nick will do anything to rescue Isabella and recover the Pyramid of Souls. But will it be enough to save his family?

I was a bit surprised when I received this one. I had almost forgotten all about it. Then I realized it's the second one in the series. Thankfully, I read it and enjoyed it without reading the first and I was able to understand everything and not get confused.

I loved the folklore in this book. I loved seeing historical characters such as my personal favorite, Edgar Allan Poe. Like Harry Potter, this book weaves the magical with the ordinary. It's really well done, too!

The characters are likable and entertaining, sometimes funny. This will be a vague review because it is targeted to younger audiences but it was still really fun and entertaining. And the fact that it's just under 200 pages made it a fun, fast-paced, quick read.

In one sentence:
"A great story for kids who are fans of Harry Potter and the Narnia tales."

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing: 4
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

The House of Dance by Beth Kephart

House Of Dance

Rosie and her mother coexist in the same house as near strangers. Since Rosie's father abandoned them years ago, her mother has accomplished her own disappearing act, spending more time with her boss than with Rosie. Now faced with losing her grandfather too, Rosie begins to visit him every day, traveling across town to his house, where she helps him place the things that matter most to him "In Trust." As Rosie learns her grandfather's story, she discovers the role music and motion have played in it. But like colors, memories fade. When Rosie stumbles into the House of Dance, she finally finds a way to restore the source of her grandfather's greatest joy.

Eloquently told, National Book Award finalist Beth Kephart's House of Dance is a powerful celebration of life and the people we love who make it worthwhile.

The House of Dance has the same flowing, poetic narrative as Beth's other books. This story, especially, is heart warming and at times a bit sad. It has a hint of romance but it's not the center of the book, just enough to make itself known.

Rosie is an awesome character, well rounded and unique. She has such a good heart, I want her to be my friend. Her relationship with her mom isn't good but she doesn't blow up every time she's mad at her. She just decides to stay quiet and keep her thoughts to herself. Sometimes this frustrated me because I'm not at all like that but I also understood her.

The grandfather was adorable except that I would have liked him to be more involved somehow. I felt like when Rosie was with her grandfather, it was just as a spectator, not as part of the action.

I would have also liked to see more of the dancing. The title suggests like it would be all about the dancing and it wasn't, which was good, but I also wished there could be a pinch more. The ending is just beautiful.

In one sentence:
"A heartwarming story that will keep your feet tapping."

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing: 5
Cover: 4
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2 stars

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King

Meghan Chase has never fit in at her small-town high school, and now, on the eve of her 16th birthday, she discovers why. When her half brother is kidnapped, Meghan is drawn into a fantastical world she never imagined--the world of Faery, where anything you see may try to eat you, and Meghan is the daughter of the summer faery king. Now she will journey into the depths of Faery to face an unknown enemy . . . and beg the help of a winter prince who might as soon kill her as let her touch his icy heart. The Iron King is the first book in the Iron Fey series.

There has been such a boom with fey/vampire/warewolf books that I was rather afraid to read this one. I didn't want it to be another cliched story of a girl falling in love with an immortal. And since it's the first book in a series, I'd feel guilty if I didn't end up liking it.

I'm wrong a lot of times, and this was one of them. To put it simply, the iron king is great kind of neoclassical feel. It has the classic fantasy (not just fey) lore but also modern in a way that feels of this century.

Although there were some cliche lines (fiber of my being), I wouldn't blame anyone. It's kind of hard avoiding cliches (tell me, I know).

Meghan was, at first, a whiny character. I didn't instantly connect with her but as the story progressed, I liked her more and more.

Robbie was my favorite character. He brings out the real laughs and I think he's the one stealing the spotlight here.

I have something to say about Ash and Meghan, though. Seriously? This was the thing I was trying to avoid, the oh-he's-so-dangerous-but-I-fell-in-love-with-him syndrome. Nevertheless, it sort of grew on me so, I've accepted it...for now. (shh, I'm team Robbie).

The plot was original. It was slow in the middle but picked up near the end. It's such an awesome cliff-hanger end that you'll be wanting more.

In one sentence:
"Almost like a new YA genre, neoclassical."

Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Writing: 4
Cover: 5 (I just have to say, it's one of my favorite covers ever. Just so beautiful.)
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

3 Willows by Ann Brashares

3 Willows

summer is a time to grow

seeds
Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead.

roots
Jo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a busgirl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer. Or feeling embarrassed by her middle school friends. And she didn't count on her family at all. . .

leaves
Ama is not an outdoorsy girl. She wanted to be at an academic camp, doing research in an air-conditioned library, earning A's. Instead her summer scholarship lands her on a wilderness trip full of flirting teenagers, blisters, impossible hiking trails, and a sad lack of hair products.
It is a new summer. And a new sisterhood. Come grow with them.

I've been wanting to read 3 Willows for a while now but being a Sisterhood fan, I wasn't sure how well I was going to take this book. But I've had it in my TBR list for a while, so I went ahead and picked it up.

Oh, wow, that shut me up. 3 Willows is a beautiful stories with wonderful characters. I started liking Ama more and then Polly. I was very reluctant about Jo, though, her attitude and her obvious desperation to be cooler and appear older. Somehow, this didn't rub me the right way in the beginning.

Ama is such a character! She's smart and nerdy but definitely cares about her appearance which made her un-stereotypical and rounded. I loved how she acted through the trip in the wild, it was very believable and the way I myself would have acted. I loved her relationship with Noah and how easy and natural it was.

Polly was okay for me. She wanted to be a model and went as far to do some really extreme stuff for that. She seemed the most childish of the three. I liked her enough to care for her but I don't really have much to say about who she is and her roundness as a character.

Jo was interesting. In the beginning, I didn't like her but she became my favorite character. She is the perfect example of really growing up and knowing how easy teens change and give up what they love to be something they are not. She's the most evolved character.

The different stories weaved beautifully. Ann is such an amazing writer, the book flowed easily and was such an enjoyment. It's a quick beach read that I'd recommend to anyone. This book is about friendship and growing up and finding oneself. It is definitely for a younger audience than the Sisterhood.

In one sentence:
"Flowing and heartwarming, a story of true friendship that evolved but never dies."

Plot: 5
Characters: 4
Cover: 3
Writing: 5
Overall: 4
Average: 4.2