My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman
Release Date: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Source: ALA2013
Rating: 
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
During the fall leading up to her bat mitzvah, Tara (Hindi for “star”) Feinstein has a lot more than her Torah portion on her mind. Between Hebrew school and study sessions with the rabbi, there doesn’t seem to be enough time to hang out with her best friend Ben-o–who might also be her boyfriend–and her other best friend, Rebecca, who’s getting a little too cozy with that snotty Sheila Rosenberg. Not to mention working on her robotics project with the class clown Ryan Berger, or figuring out what to do with a priceless heirloom sari that she accidentally ruined. Amid all this drama, Tara considers how to balance her Indian and Jewish identities and what it means to have a bat mitzvah while questioning her faith. – Goodreads
Review:
I adore this book. My only regret is that I did not read it sooner. My Basmati Bat Mitzvah is the story of Tara who is not sure of herself. Not only is she in middle school (which is the toughest period for anyone), but she’s also fighting between being too Indian and too Jewish. While both of her parents love her and obviously want just want what’s best for Tara, Tara isn’t sure herself.
Does she believe in God enough to have her Bat Mitzvah? Tara is such an adorable middle grade character that I spend most of my time wanting to hug and squeeze and tell her that she would be okay. Maybe not at that moment, but she would be. She’s scared she’s lost her best friend, she’s scared she’s falling for her other friend. What Freedman did was create a universal story that captures the feeling of middle school. Tara loves movie nights with her best friend, she deal And she continues to practice for a Bat Mitzvah, where a good portion of her classmates are either making fun of her for being half Indian or the fact her mother isn’t really Jewish because she converted.
It wasn’t too long ago that Id almost lost Rebecca–I’d taken her for granted, and she went and found herself another best friend. That should have woken me up, but it hadn’t. Probably I was a very terrible person.–ARC pg 210
I loved Tara. I loved how relatable she was. I loved that she was jealous, that she questioned things, that she worried that she ruined a family heirloom. She wasn’t a perfect character, but her growth throughout My Basmati Bat Mitzvah was amazing. What was awesome was that Freedman had major character growth for multiple characters and she wrote a book which includes the parents! You know what I love in Middle Grade books and Young Adult books? When parents are featured. I have a friend that calls them a mythical unicorn and it’s true! It’ so rare but when they’re done, and done well, it’s worth it.
Although I waited far too long to read My Basmati Bat Mitzvah it quickly became a new favorite.
The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Publisher: Little Brown
Source: Netgalley
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Review: I tried to pick it up a few times and every time I just could not find myself to care. There are too many books in the world for me to read/care about. This was not one of them.
Exquisite Captive (Dark Caravan Cycle #1) by Heather Demetrios
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Publisher: Balzer+Bray
Source: ALA2014
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Review: Never jumped off the page and excited me. It annoyed me more than anything. I may go back and pick it up in the future, but at the moment with my long TBR pile there are too many books out there.
The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: Little Brown
Source: ALA2013
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Review: I made it to 12% and was bored out of my mind. Maybe it’s wrong book, wrong time. I may come back to it later. But there were so many side stories it was hard to stay concentrated.
Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: ALA 2013
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.
In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can. – Goodreads
Review:
It took me months to read this book. Months. And that breaks my heart because I really enjoy this series, but I could not get into Cress and I tried. I first read a good portion of it and then I had to set it to the side. Then I put the audiobook at hold at the library and figured why not, let’s try it again. The audiobook worked better for me than the actual book did, which does happen occasionally.
The problem with this book for me ultimately came down to the fact it was told from so many point of views, the book felt sloggy and almost never ending because of that. My friend, Renae said it best:
This is one of those situations where I can understand and agree with the appeal other readers see in a particular book, but at the same time, I don’t, objectively, think the same book is actually very well-done.
I read her review as I was finishing the book and agreed so much I sent her a text message going something along the lines of “I’M NOT ALOOOOONE.” Yes. I’m as dramatic in text messages as you would think I would be. But when it comes to Cress I couldn’t help but agree.
I thought that it was an enjoyable book, but the flaws of the book pulled me out. The number of people! Should I have kept a list of the character, their role and the fact there wasn’t much character development because there was so many characters in one book that I didn’t get a good feel for any of them. If the narrator didn’t do different voices, all the characters would actually be one to me. Which is hard as a reader because they did so much planning in this novel. I love a heist as much as the next (Looking at you Oceans’ Eleven) but there was so much planning with so many people that I honestly spent a lot of time confused. And lost, so lost.
Also, I spent most of the book wondering when something was going to happen. I just finished the book and I’m still wondering when something is going to happen. While I’m fine with planning, this suffered from middle book syndrome where one spends a lot of their time bored. With this being a hefty book (550 pages) that is a lot of time to spent bored.
While, Meyer was able to intertwine all of the characters beautifully there was a downfall while she was doing this. I understand the appeal of Cress and I love what it has done to the genre of Young Adult but it still took me months to finish. The pain of putting a book on my goodreads “hold” shelf is never a good sign, which ultimately effected my rating on Cress.
Boy Nobody (The Unknown Assassin #1) by Allen Zadoff
Release Date: June 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Source: ALA2013
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
They needed the perfect assassin.
Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn’t stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend’s family to die — of “natural causes.” Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.
But when he’s assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program’s mission.
In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero. – Goodreads
Review:
From the first line of this book I was enthralled. Could not put it down enthralled. Part of me is almost glad I sat on it for as long as I did because now I can go to the second book right away. The other part of me is of course annoyed I waited for so long, because it was so good. Boy Nobody, which has now changed titles to I am the Weapon, is the story of Boy Nobody, a teen who wants a normal life, but doesn’t have anything close to one. He has parents, Mother and Father, who are nothing more than his bosses, his handlers. He is alone and more importantly, he is a killer. That is Boy Nobody’s speciality: he is a trainer killer.
One day, Boy Nobody is assigned to kill the mayor of New York City, but this assignment is very different for him. The mayor reminds him of his father, and his way in with the mayor is his daughter, Sam, who happens to be Boy’s age. What Zadoff does well is immerse the reader into the world, not only did I feel like I was in New York City with these characters, but I also felt like I was in high school again with them. The awkwardness of being in high school, and the uncomfortable in your own skin comes out. You want to be yourself, but being yourself is often the worst thing you could do. Boy has started high school so many times, and has had so much training from The Program, that to him it’s just another target. Or so he keeps telling himself.
Mother and Father catch on to the fact this is not just another target, something is shifting within Boy and this is not a good thing. They must nip it in the bud ASAP. While Boy tells them continuously that he can handle it, he really can’t. He starts to miss the boy he once was, the boy he should have been. Although his target is the mayor of New York, he reminds him of the father he once had and he is having problems separating the two. Then the assignment kills, he is no longer meant to kill the mayor, but Sam, the mayor’s daughter. Can Boy do that? In a short period of time he’s fallen in love with her and he can’t kill the person he loves. That’s impossible.
This is the perfect first book in the series, it hooked me in and made me demanding more.
Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: (4.5)
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie…and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for. – Goodreads
Review:
I get it now. I get high fantasy. Sarah J. Maas has finally made me understand and love the genre. It took me a long time to get here. I resisted for so long. It took at least three good friends, who’s opinion I trust with no questions asked, to recommend this series for me to give it a try. Then I devoured what is out of the series, within days. I could not put Crown of Midnight down. I tried. Work called. Sleep called and I continued to read.
Crown of Midnight gave me so many feels I continue to be unable to talk about them. There was a lot of yelling a certain boys name and being so entranced in a world that Maas created that at a point I forgot that I was reading high fantasy. I wanted more of this world. I wanted more of happy Celaena. I wanted more of bad ass Celaena who loathes the crown and I got this in Crown of Midnight. The first half is dedicated to what comes to be known as the Pre-Celaena. She is partaking in what comes to be a deadly charade while seeking for justice. While the King believes she is working for him, as she is the King’s Assassin, she is actually turning it into her own little game. Hopefully the King never finds out, right? RIGHT?!
The King believes that there is this secret rebellion against him and is worried (Spoiler: there is!) While this is going on the important part of the novel is going on: CHAOL AND CELAENA. Yes. I found my shipper side while reading Crown of Midnight. I spent most of the first novel, Throne of Glass, undecided. HAHA. I AM UNDECIDED NO MORE. It also seems that Dorian is also accepting the fact that Chaol and Celaena love each other (because they do!) Things seem happy! Everything is good! Too bad we’re only about 35% through the novel. Because then post-Celaena shows up. Post-Celaena occurs because there is a death in the novel that shakes Celaena to her very core. AND EVERYTHING HURTS (to this reader.) Celaena is now on a rampage and attacks anyone in her immediate vicinity. She lashes out. Maas’ ability to take me from hearts in my eyes to tears is amazing.
Throughout the second half of the novel I could not believe the growth of all the characters, not just Celaena. Dorian grows not only as a Prince, but as a person. Chaol decides to research more into Celaena’s background, even though she tried to kill him. And Celaena is not only researching more about the magic that she has been told about, but also slowly starts to put together the pieces of the puzzle that Maas beautifully intertwined into the book. And the final chapter of the book? Damn Maas. You’re good.
Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando
Release Date: December 24, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: ALA 2013
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon
It’s time to meet your new roomie.
When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl’s summer — and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.
As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they’ve never met.
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate. – Goodreads
Review:
This book gave me, mostly good, flashbacks. Flashbacks to myspace (she didn’t have a facebook!) messaging my freshman year roommate the summer of 2006 worried about how it would be and who would do what. Hint: she was a fabulous roomate and we still talk to this day. Mostly about how we went to a party school for undergrad and ended up staying in watching massive amount of TV and eating pizza (Hi Kristie! Miss you! Lets catch up!) It also gave me flashbacks to a few (almost two!) years ago when I sent Tina a DM going “hey! Can I email you?” and her going “OF COURSE” and our lives never being the same.
Here’s the thing about Tina and I. We cannot text or IM each other. When we need to in VERY IMPORTANT situations we will, but it’s almost awkward and forced and not us. It’s painfully not us. Trust me, we’ve tried. I know you’re thinking, it’s the same! Just shorter. Yeah, Tina and I are verbose in emails. We start the day with the simple hi and then I get all dramatic and throw CAPLOCKS around and it’s a failing mess.
The reason I’m bringing up these two moments in my life is not only did they define who I am as a person, but this book brought back a lot of those feelings that I once had and sometimes still have. Just because you’re BFFs and you email a lot doesn’t mean you don’t read an email with a wrong tone. I’ve had days where I was convinced Tina was mad at me, only to have her later tell me that we were fine and I just read the email in the wrong tone. That happens throughout this novel and it made me chuckle every time it happened.
This is the story of Elizabeth, EB and Lauren, two girls who’s lives could not be more opposite if they tried. If they went to the same high school their lives would have probably never intertwined. Of course their college decided their lives should intertwine. Zarr and Altebrando write this novel in alternating chapters, from each girls POV and then sprinkle in a few emails. I adored the emails because that is when the characters shined, in my opinion.
For example, once, Lauren is being bogged down by her 5 brothers and sisters so she is short and tense in an email to EB, without meaning to. Of course EB takes it personal like “what is that bitch’s problem.” Then we get their dialogue about “what did I do wrong?! I thought I was nice” I related to that. Heck, I still relate to that (Tina is now rolling her eyes.)
While this was an enjoyable book for me, there was nothing overly memorable about the book. There were times I wanted to strangle both of the girls because they’re teenagers and you could see the moment was going to crash and burn and ultimately hurt them but Zarr and Altebrando made it work for them. If anything it was a solid novel, the ending however was a bit of a let down for me, but I can see why the authors decided to end it where they did.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: ALA 2013
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.
One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black. – Goodreads
Review:
If there was to be an IT-Book of ALA 2013 for Tina and me, it would be this book. Tina and I spent months discussing this book and the fact that Holly Black would be there. Heck we even got to the line early to be turned away because “guys, really, you’re that early.”
I’m telling you all of this because I actually DNF (Did Not Finish) this book. In this blogging duo, it is known I finish books, Tina is the one who has no problem letting books go. Which is why it came as a shock to both Tina and I went I sent Tina an email going “TINA I DNF ANOTHER BOOK” and then we were both disappointed when it was this one.
While the writing is solid, the story bored me to pieces. I got to chapter 9, or through 84 pages. Those 84 pages took me about three months. No book ever takes me three months. I heard rumors that the book gets better about half way through, but my TBR list is already too long and the line has been drawn.
It’s upsetting because Black’s writing is as solid as ever, but the story was just..boring. There is no other way for me to put that. I was so bored. The world building, the info dump, I was just sick of it. I wanted more of the actual story and that never happened.
Did this book work for you? Please tell me, what did I miss?!
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: ALA 2013
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.
What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.
Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.
Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive. – Goodreads
Review:
I was actually really excited to get this book at ALA. It was not on my must have list or anything but once I read the synopsis, I had to read it. And I did. On the train from Chicago to Milwaukee. Recommendation, do not read a murder mystery on a train when sitting backwards. Of course I’m paranoid, that probably didn’t help my situation at all.
This is the story of Cassie, an average American teenager who is trying to live her life. Of course Cassie has a gift that allows her to be able to read people. Cassie doesn’t treat this as gift, or a skill, but instead treats it as something that she was born with and deals with it. Like being born with the need to wear glasses, she just deals with it. She deals with it by working at a restaurant and torturing the customers in her brain. While they take 20 minutes to order, she already knows what they are going to order and has to looked shocked when they finally order.
Cassie then goes to live at a house with a mix of people who all have skills, including two very nice attractive boys. I mean, it is a YA novel, there has to be the romance aspect. And there is and it ends with Cassie having to find herself before she finds a love interest, which personally, I always love and adore. I would always rather have a girl be alone but find herself than be with a man/woman and have no idea who she truly is.
Barnes is also able to end this book on the perfect time of cliffhanger where it really isn’t one, but at the same time it is so shocking you can’t help but want the next book now.
One day a gentleman comes into the restaurant and knows far more about her than he is letting on. He lets it drop that he works for a classified program in the FBI and she should come work with them. She has no interest in working with them. None. And I love her for that. She gives no shit about what the FBI thinks and is fine with the life that she has. Until they bring up her mothers unsolved murder. Then she cares. That is always a part of her life that no one has been able to understand and she wants to finish that part of her life. Who can blame her?
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: ALA 2013
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
For as long as she can remember, Wren Gray’s goal has been to please her parents. But as high school graduation nears, so does an uncomfortable realization: Pleasing her parents once overlapped with pleasing herself, but now… not so much. Wren needs to honor her own desires, but how can she if she doesn’t even know what they are?
Charlie Parker, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his heart’s desire. A gentle boy with a troubled past, Charlie has loved Wren since the day he first saw her. But a girl like Wren would never fall for a guy like Charlie—at least not the sort of guy Charlie believes himself to be.
And yet certain things are written in the stars. And in the summer after high school, Wren and Charlie’s souls will collide. But souls are complicated, as are the bodies that house them…
Sexy, romantic, and oh-so-true to life, this is an unforgettable look at first love from one of young adult fiction’s greatest writers.
Review:
I met Lauren Myracle at ALA this past summer, and I was really excited to meet her. She drew a little bird in my book because my last name and Wren’s first name are nearly identical. I loved Shine, and I was feeling worn out by the supernatural after reading Untold, so I thought, why not delve into Myracle’s brand of contemporary YA? There was a lot that I liked about it too, since it seems like it’s a romance novel but there’s a coming-of-age tale buried in there too. Not only is Wren figuring out who she is outside of her parents’ expectations, Charlie also has to learn to forgive himself. Wren is sheltered and Charlie lives with a foster family, so they’re different, but those differences can help the other. The point of view alternates between Charlie and Wren by chapter, and I liked how it was done. I like alternating POV anyway, but it really worked here in particular. There were also things I didn’t like, which is to be expected when it comes to me and contemporary novels, which I’ll detail closer to the end of this review.
Wren’s parents are suffocating and Wren is someone who wants to keep the peace. If this was a Myers-Briggs test, I say Wren is a feeling type. She puts other people’s needs above her own, even to her detriment. That doesn’t make her weak, of course, but it makes it harder for her to find her own way. Wren doesn’t even know if she likes the clothes she wears because her mother likes them or because Wren herself does. Her parents are also a detriment to her, because they don’t let her be herself. They tell her what she wants is foolish and selfish, they make up interests and likes for her like they don’t even know her. They’ve taught Wren that approval equals love, and that’s not only wrong, it’s messed up! They oppress her spirit even though they just want what’s best for their daughter. What Wren’s parents want is for Wren to want what they want, to reflect well on them, and not to argue about it. It’s frustrating for both Wren and the reader. I know people who have parents who treat them as an extension of themselves and it’s hard and can be hurtful for all involved. Luckily, Wren stands up for herself and what she wants.
Charlie comes from a neglectful home followed by years of modern day orphanages and foster homes. When he puts his trust in Starrla, a friend with a violent past of her own, she disappoints him, and the well-intentioned sympathy he gets from his peers and adults around him makes him ashamed. He considers his foster brother his brother, but he can’t bring himself to call his foster parents Mom and Dad. I figured he didn’t think he was worth it. The neglect he suffered living with his biological mother will do that to a kid. I liked him though. He was sweet and gentle and trusting. It was nice to see a boy just head over heels for a girl for once. Charlie’s loved Wren since forever. He’s afraid that he’ll never see her again after they graduate, which, in the age of Facebook, seems unlikely, but the sentiment is clear. Charlie is also a pushover, but in a different way and for a different reason. Where Wren wants to keep the peace, Charlie wants to be needed. Charlie has two real problems: his self-esteem, and Starrla. Starrla is a weird character, shaped by probable molestation into this sexy teenager who can’t afford to form meaningful relationships or feel real feelings. She is also a weird stereotype that I wasn’t sure I liked very much at first.
Wren is so awkward, asking Charlie what I thought were very personal things, but they’re so endearing. They fall for each other really fast, but I forgive them this. They’re young, they’ve just graduated, they’re both about to embark on experiences that can seem both exciting and scary. This is first love stuff. It never makes sense. (Note: I am much less inclined to forgive supernatural YA for instalove, because instalove always seems to put the paranormal love interest at an unfair advantage. See: Edward Cullen and his “dizzying” breath.) And the supporting characters were fantastic. Tessa, Wren’s best friend, and not-so-stereotypical jock PG are hilarious and smart and just feel real. Their relationships felt normal and easy, even if they weren’t very fleshed out. Starrla, on the other hand, was hard to like. She “talks black” (a phrase I dislike), she sleeps around, and she’s manipulative as hell. She is especially possessive of Charlie for some reason.
Charlie and Wren both make mistakes and act like jerks. They’re still figuring things out. Wren has been so sheltered that she wants to run as soon as something hurts, and Charlie is so used to being hurt that he expects it. I had much less patience for Wren because her life was pretty easy and charmed, despite her parents. Her hurt is still real, but to me it seemed less than Charlie’s. Wren had a period of “woe-is-me” and I just rolled my eyes. (Note: I am close to someone who suffered abuse as a child, so some of Charlie’s issues were very familiar and a little upsetting to read about.) There are also some pretty cringeworthy lines about touching souls and just general lovey talk that you never want to hear unless it’s directed at you by someone you love. I felt like I was spying on them, hearing private things. Is it an indicator that I’m getting too old for YA when the sex scenes make me uncomfortable? Perhaps.
So overall, this was a great book. The writing can be simplistic, but still beautiful and it gets the point across very clearly. There were good topic touched on in this novel, like gun safety and racism. Both were left incomplete, but indicative of a conversation between teenagers about topics they’ve just begun to explore. (One thing I did not like was the repeated use of the word “ghetto” to describe old or worn down things. Not cool.) There is also a very realistic party scene that I loved, and the makeouts are sexy and hot. There’s not a whole lot of alarmism about sex. Wren and Charlie are 18, and they have sex eventually. Nothing wrong with that. The only other thing I disliked was at the beginning when Charlie asserts that Wren dresses “classy” compared to “girls in tight jeans and peekaboo thongs.” Why he feels this way is later explained by Starrla, but that’s a problematic thought. Girls in tight jeans and peekaboo thongs are just as worthy as girls in button-downs and knee-length skirts. They are the same.
So I think this is another quality novel from Lauren Myracle, and if you like contemporary, if you like romance, this one could very well be the book for you.
Antigoddess (Goddess War #1) by Kendare Blake
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: TorTeen
Source: ARC from Publisher
Rating:
Buy It: Amazon
Old Gods never die…
Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.
Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.
These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.
Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.
Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.
The Goddess War is about to begin.– Goodreads
Review:
Our first joint review and you can tell it’s joint because the photo is in a different spot! Tina and I think we’re quite hilarious so we’re going to tackle joint reviews on certain books. Certain books because our idea of overlap is 1 out of every 100 books.
Ashley: Months ago, and I really mean months ago Tina and I were discussing how much we would die for an ARC of this book. This came out after BEA when everyone seemed to have an ARC of Antigoddess. One day, while I was napping the doorbell rang and an ARC of this bad boy was at my door. It seems sending really nice emails to the publishing department can help. Thanks TORTeen. You rock!
After I went back to sleep, it was the night of a concert I was saving sleep! I cracked opened this book and devoured it. In hours. 
Could not put it down. Full of feels. And I’m sure you’re wondering how Tina was handling the fact I got this book while she was 2,000 miles away. As the photo to the right shows. Well. She was handling it well.
It doesn’t help that Kendare Blake is one of the patron saints of our blog and I’ve become very good friends with her sending her awkward emails and oh the mocking we do. Just don’t tell her about the friendship. She starts to yell sport things at me and I send her photos of me hugging a book.
Tina is actually the one who got me into Kendare’s first series Anna Dressed in Blood.
Tina: Yeah. Three emails in about 2 seconds. I lost it when Ashley told me she got this ARC, and then I managed to pick up my own at ALA. It’s no secret that we love Kendare Blake here. I give myself some credit in convincing the people around me to read Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas Lowood is my fictional boyfriend (and Kendare even kind of endorsed it). I’ve had this book on my TBR since before it had a cover. Maybe since before it had a title. I plan to read everything Kendare has ever written, the way I’ve done with Malindo Lo and (almost) Lisa McMann. Plus I love anything that involves a modern spin on old gods. We first meet Athena and Hermes and have to read about Athena’s gross mouth feathers for awhile, but then we got to meet Hera and Odysseus and Circe’s witches, and I was SO THERE. One thing I like about Blake’s writing is how her characters swear like normal teenagers/people do and how their interactions just seem so authentic. Athena’s complicated feelings about Odysseus, Hermes complicated feelings about the war, everything makes sense and seems logical despite who the characters are.
Ashley: I was actually harder to warm up to this book. While I was thrilled for a new Blake novel, Athena and Hermes? Meh. That was always my tougher area while in school. I was however into the fact that it was very much “normal teenagers/people” aspect. I agree with Tina when she said it was authentic and realistic. I loved it. It worked for me, because if anything that is my problem with YA novels. A lack of authentic voice. At work my coworkers joke that I don’t speak “youth” but when teens are talking like 80 year olds, that is clearly hard to read. That never happens to me when reading a Blake novel. She has the teen lingo down.
Tina: I really felt for Cassandra, because humans have never been high priorities for the gods. They had favorites, sure, but they used them for their own ends. Just look at the original Cassandra of Troy and Apollo. The relationship between Aiden and Cassandra was complicated and twisty because of some prior circumstances, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about Aiden after it was all over. There’s a power difference between them that seems too large to bridge, in my opinion. Then again, the Apollo of legend was always a bit of a jerk, so I don’t know what I was expecting. And despite Cassandra being a main character, for most of the novel all I cared about was Athena. Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, keeper of owls, virgin, and she is just a mess. Her strength isn’t half what it used to be and there are those damnable feathers growing in her mouth, but she’s still Athena. She still inspires terror. (I loved Odysseus as well, and the Ody/Athena spark was something I was into watching develop.)
Ashley: Aiden and Cassandra killed me. I know and understand that you are shocked, Tina. I can picture the face you’re making now. And where you cared about Athena, I was all about Cassandra. My heart went out to her. My notes about this book is full of CASSANDRA NOOOOO. AIDEN NOOOOOOO. Because all of these characters gave me feels I didn’t want to deal with at the time. I probably still don’t want to deal with facing them now. If anything, I excel at denial!
Tina: Here’s a quintessential reason I love Kendare Blake:
“Why?” Cassandra snapped. “Are the reporters going to start saying that they deserved it? That they deserved to get blown into a million pieces, because they were whores?”
Excuse my feminism for a moment, but this is what happens a lot of the time in our media. Victims are blamed for their own deaths or for the crimes committed against them, and this happens most often to women in sexual assault situations and women who work in the sex industry. Two things hit me hard about this line. One, I don’t see this kind of thing in many other authors’ works and I think that needs remedying. Two, someone eventually would have come out and said “these women deserved to die because they were whores.” A FOX News pundit perhaps or the loathsome Pat Robertson. Maybe they’d get a woman to go on TV and condemn Circe’s witches, to show there’s no war on women, that it’s not just this subset of men, but women can hate women too.
This book is more than Cassandra and Athena though; it’s about the deaths of the gods, and that can’t be pretty. It’s not. Hermes looks like a dying anorexia victim, Athena has her feathers, Hera is turning to stone, and Poseidon has gone mad. Demeter is little more than skin and Artemis is missing. There’s horror, like any good Kendare Blake novel, and misery, but also humor and lightness and real friendship. Cassandra has a best friend and it’s a girl! That’s so rare in YA, or at least the books I read. Usually the best friend is a boy the protag is in love with until they meet the paranormal creature of their destiny. Lame. And here’s where I’ll include some misgivings I had: the very slow start with the search for Demeter and all the uses of the word “slut” and “slutty” (words I cannot abide being in YA and which was so confusing considering what I quoted above [and yes, I know teenagers/adults call women “sluts” but that’s not really something we need represented here? I just don’t think so]). So, not a lot of gripes here! And really, the ending made this novel. The scenes in the last quarter are equally heartbreaking and intense, and they’re my favorite of the book. I’ll definitely be reading Aristeia next year too. I’m really excited to see where the gods go next and who they’ll meet there.
Ashley: It is not shock that Tina is the better at writing reviews. I don’t deny that, and she sums up a lot of my feelings on this book. But I loved and adored this book so much. I didn’t find nearly as many flaws as Tina did and I don’t even mean to call them flaws because she read this with a different set of glasses than I did. Which is for our first joint review we have both of our ratings and then the dual rating. Because Tina and I agreeing on a book? HAHAHHAHA. No. Rare.
Overall Rating:
Tina: 3 Stars + Ashley 5 Stars = Tinley 4 Stars
yAdult Review 