Stacking the Shelves (#61)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, in which bloggers share the books and swag they've received in the past week!

So, what did I get in the week of Sunday, February 16th to Saturday, February 22nd?

(all links to Goodreads are provided!)

In the mail:

An ARC of Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

I'm on the blog tour for this one, and I can't wait to read this book! I'm not a big contemporary fan, but I did enjoy Jennifer Echols' Such a Rush :)

Another busy week, gone! I should have one "calmer" week before things get crazy again. Or maybe not. Fun times! How are you lovelies?

Review: Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: September 24, 2013

Rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water. 

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it…

What I Liked:

As you can tell from my rating, I'm right in the middle, with this book. I don't know what to think about it. I don't have a solid opinion (yet), so I'm going with three stars. On the one hand, I guess I liked the story at least a little, because I read it and finished it without too much trouble. On the other hand, I'm feeling a bit apathetic, which is never a great feeling.

Lynn and her mother are out in the wild, living alone (together, but alone), guarding their pond. Water is scarce, fresh water is basically unheard of, and any source is as good as any. The pond is precious, and Lynn and her mother will do anything - even kill - to keep the pond from others. Strangers arrive by the stream. Changes are afoot. This is Lynn's story of survival, as well as the story of survival of others.

One thing that I can tell you know is that I really liked how McGinnis killed off characters left and right. I mean, it's a post-apocalyptic survival novel, so would you expect any less? But it took me aback, because many times in YA literature, authors are afraid to kill off characters, because they don't want to upset their audience. Yeah, whatever. McGinnis axed so many characters. I liked that.

That really stood out to me. Otherwise, this book was kind of meh. I guess I liked it, but it's one of those books that is just sort of there. It didn't jump out and grab me by the nose, but it didn't make me feel like I should strangle something with my bare hands.

The plot was meh (see below), the cadence of the book was meh (see below), even the romance was meh. I guess I liked the romance a bit, because it wasn't overwhelming. At the same time, it was barely even there. I feel like Lynn and the guy barely had any scenes together, until the last major part of the book, and of course, that's when many things change. 

Yeah, I'm not sure what else to say. The ending was meh. I honestly was not invested enough to get upset or delighted or whatever I should have been feeling (like a normal person). This could be just me!

What I Did Not Like:

My overall feeling is apathy, so I don't really know what to say here either. I wasn't the biggest fan of the plot. It kind of just meandered along, and I wasn't really sure to expect from the climax and ending. Like, I was almost to the end, and I was like, what could McGinnis possibly do to actually have a climax in this book? I was confused. I guess the plot was more of a narration than Freytag's Pyramid, which is... okay, but not interesting, for this type of book. Yes, it's a survival story. But it's a story. It should have a plot. And climax. In my opinion.

The feel (mood) or cadence of the story was also very meandering-like. In music (I play the piano), I would call the tempo of this book "andante" - very much like walking speed. Things happened very slowly, and when actual things happened (besides Lynn killing people at her house), they happened in a way that you could probably miss them if you weren't reading carefully. And then you'd be like, who's this person? When was she introduced? Why is that person catching grasshoppers?

As far as survival stories go, this one isn't my favorite. It's an interesting take on a very significant topic (scarcity of water resources), and as an environmental engineer, I approve of the use of a major environmental issue in a YA novel. But the survival aspect of the story didn't really appeal to me.

Honestly, neither did any of the characters. I really did not connect with any of the characters - and if I *might* have, there was a good chance that McGinnis would kill them, so in the back of my head, I probably told myself not to get attached. But in all seriousness, I didn't really connect with Lynn or anyone else. Which is too bad.

The romance, eh. It wasn't really there, in my opinion. I liked and disliked this. On the one hand, at least the romance didn't take over the novel. On the other hand, I feel like Lynn and the guy barely connected. They weren't even together, like, in the same scenes, for a good part of the book!

The ending - see above. I'm very meh about the ending. Like, by then, I really didn't care.

Would I Recommend It:

Uhm. Yes and no. Yes, in that maybe you'll actually feel something towards this book, unlike me. It could have been circumstantial - maybe it wasn't the right time for me to read it, or I wasn't in the mood, but honestly, I highly doubt that. So, at the same time, not really (would I recommend it). My goal is to read all of the Friday the Thirteeners books, and this is one of them, so there's that.

Rating:

3 stars. Eh. Meh. Could have been better. Could have been worse.

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Swoon Thursday (#56): Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Swoon Thursday is a hot meme hosted by the fabulous ladies at YA Bound!

- From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering

- Try to make the swoon excerpt 140 characters (or less), if you are going to tweet about it. Use the hashtag #YABOUND when tweeting

This week, my swoon is from Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger!

I don't know if this is a dream or a delusion - but I know what I want to use it for. I pull his face down to mine and kiss him with every ounce of the love and longing that I've held on to all these weeks.

He tastes sweeter than I remember, and the heat between us is more intense. surging through me like a desert storm as I part his lips and kiss him deeper. His sparks burn on my tongue as I let parts of myself pass to him - sharing everything. Making him mine. 

- eARC, 47%

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Read my review HERE.

This was an okay sequel, but there were more swoons in this book than in book one! That was a plus :D

Waiting on Wednesday (#60): The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I'm featuring:

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

Book One of The Fire Wish series

Publisher: Random House Children's

Publication Date: July 22, 2014

Summary (from Goodreads):

A jinni. A princess. And the wish that changes everything. . . . 

Najwa is a jinni, training to be a spy in the war against the humans. Zayele is a human on her way to marry a prince of Baghdad—which she’ll do anything to avoid. So she captures Najwa and makes a wish. With a rush of smoke and fire, they fall apart and re-form—as each other. A jinni and a human, trading lives. Both girls must play their parts among enemies who would kill them if the deception were ever discovered—enemies including the young men Najwa and Zayele are just discovering they might love.

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FANTASY! This one sounds so great!

Review: Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: March 11, 2014

Rating: 2 stars

Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She’d rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changes when her sister is murdered—and she uses a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.

Zephyr is on the run from a punishment worse than death when an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend (a surprisingly HOT friend) changes everything. Because it seems like Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess made flesh that is prophesied to change the power balance. For hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.

But how is she supposed to save everyone when she can’t even save herself?

What I Liked:

I love Greek and Roman mythology, you all. Well actually, I love most types of mythology - including Norse and Egyptian and so on. But Greek mythology is definitely my favorite. So when I read the synopsis of this book months ago, I knew I had to read it. Yes, my rating shows that I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. But I'm glad I gave this book a chance.

Zephyr was sent to Tartarus because she killed a minor Æthereal (god), which is basically impossible for the vættir (non-god, non-human race, like Zephyr, who is a Harpy). But the Æthereals - especially Hera - are suspicious, and want to know how she did it. No one knows about Zepyhr's dark powers - shadow vættir are not supposed to exist anymore. So Zephyr escapes from Tartarus with the help of some friends. Thus starts the race to defeat Hera and her army of Acolytes from stealing shades and shadow vættir.

I liked the use of mythology in this book - and Ireland's adaptation of mythology. The author definitely added her own interpretation to Greek mythology, which was cool. All of the stories and legends and mixed-up families was so like the original Greek mythological tales. I liked Ireland's spin on things.

The idea of this book was definitely a good one. I wanted to like the plot, because it sounded really interesting. I wanted to like the characters, because they sounded kick-butt. I wanted to and did like the use of Greek mythology in this book. But I found that I really did not like very much about this book, unfortunately. 

What I Did Not Like:

The plot, the characters, the romance, the pacing, the mood, the execution, the inconsistencies. There were so many things that niggled at me while I was reading this book, and I should have written them down as I was reading. I did NOT finish this book in one sitting, which made me sad. It did not hold my interest at all.

So, the plot. The plot was so boring. This book was so boring. I mentioned that I did not finish this book in one sitting, that the book did not hold my interest. I literally FELL ASLEEP while reading this book - no joke. Granted, it was a Monday after my four classes, and it was the first day of classes after a four-day weekend, but STILL. This book was NOT exciting. I wasn't thoroughly invested. The plot was all about stopping Hera from stealing shades and destroying the shadow vættir.

Honestly, I still don't really understand the point. I don't really get why Hera was stealing shades and bent on destroying the shadow vættir. Actually, I think I understand the latter. But the former? Why? And why was that so catastrophic? Why didn't the gods (Æthereals) intervene directly, if it was an Æthereal behind everything, and they knew it? One Nyx is NOT stronger than one Æthereal. So that makes no sense.

I did not connect with a single character. And I didn't like any of them. They seemed flat and one-dimensional to me, and not the types to which I could relate. I can't stand flat characters, and I especially can't stand when I can't connect to characters on some level. Also, there were a ton of secondary characters, and I feel like none of them were really fleshed out.

The romance. Blah blah blah snooze. The romance was so boring. I could see the attempt at an angst-filled romance, but it was an ATTEMPT, and it so did not work. Instead, I was really hoping that either Zephyr or her love interest would die - or both. I seriously did not care at all if they did not end up together, or if one died, or whatever. So... the romance was pretty badly done.

I was not a fan of the pacing. Most of this book was sitting ducks, or whatever the phrase is. There are a ton of paragraphs and pages involving long explanations and stories and history. No thank you, let's get to some action. The action scenes were few and far apart, which was annoying, because the non-action scenes were really boring. So, the pacing wasn't the best. It was too slow.

The execution of this novel was (overall) pretty poor. The concept was really cool, and Ireland's spin on Greek mythology was fabulous, but the execution of the actual story was not so good. It's bad when your reader could care less about basically everything. And doesn't understand what's going on or why things are going on or so on.

I already mentioned a few inconsistencies (like with the gods not intervening), but the fact that I noticed more than a few at all is a red flag to me. For example, I also noticed something about Zephyr's hair. I thought at one point, when she incinerated everything, Nanda had to cut off all Zephyr's hair, really short. But then at the end of the book, Zephyr's curls were back. What? From that point of the hair-cutting to the end of the book, only a few weeks passed (like maybe three at the most). Hair does NOT grow that quickly, to that length anyway.

Anyway, those are the not-so-great things about this book (for me). Another thing - I really thought this book was a standalone. But the ending is a bit ambiguous. Well, I won't be reading future novels in this series (if it does end up being a series), so that's that.

Would I Recommend It:

Heh. Not really, no. I was so ecstatic to read a book involving Greek mythology, but it was such a disappointment. The negatives highly outweigh the positives. Heck, I had a hard time FINISHING this book, and STAYING AWAKE. Save your time and sanity and read something else!

Rating:

1.5 stars -> rounded up to 2 stars. I'm actually not sure why I'm giving this 2 stars as opposed to 1 star - probably because I really WANTED to like this book. Oh well.

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Review: Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Book Two oft he Sky Fall series

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Whirlwind romance and breathtaking action continues in the sequel to Let the Sky Fall, which Becca Fitzpatrick called “charged and romantic.” 

Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he’s told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn’t know how much longer he can last on his own.

But Audra’s still running. From her past. From the Gales. Even from Vane, who she doesn't believe she deserves. And the farther she flees, the more danger she finds. She possesses the secret power her enemy craves, and protecting it might be more than she can handle—especially when she discovers Raiden’s newest weapon.

With the Gale Force weakened by recent attacks, and the power of four collapsing, Vane and Audra are forced to make a choice: keep trusting the failing winds, or turn to the people who've betrayed them before. But even if they survive the storms sent to destroy them, will they have anything left to hold on to?

What I Liked:

***As with all sequel novels I review, expect spoilers from book one, whether there are actually spoilers from book one or not. You are warned.***

I binge-read book one and book two back-to-back, in two days. It's AWESOME, because I wasn't as likely to forget information from book one (which always happens when waiting between books, for the next book). But the flip side is that events from book one and book two kind of run together. It's like reading one long book over two days. I can't imagine what will happen when I go to read book three, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I don't think this book fell victim to the sequel slump, but it definitely wasn't fulfilling as I had hoped it would be. I'm hoping I pinpoint exactly why I feel that way, by the end of the review, because I'm not entirely sure what more I wanted from this book, I'll get there in the next section though.

Vane and Audra survived the showdown in book one, and they are bonded (much to the remorse of the entire Windwalker kingdom and a certain heir). But there are bigger problems than that. Raiden will be back, and this time, with a terrifying new set of power. With Audra still away, and Vane not sleeping, and the threat of Raiden looming, things are not looking up for the Gales.

As with book one, I really liked the split dual perspectives. And also as with book one, I liked Vane's voice more than Audra's. Vane is just so much more interesting than Audra - and he is NOT full of BS (like I think Audra is). Vane has a very unique personality, and I like it. Audra... she's full of s*** sometimes, which makes me mad. She wallows in excuses. I'll tackle that later.

A step up (and yet, a step back) from book one was the action. At times in this book, there was a TON of action. At other times, there was not. For example, the first part (half?) of this book was sort of slow. Things were happening, like with Arella and Vane's sleeplessness and his duties as king, but then things weren't really happening. Audra left and was trying to piece herself back together (or whatever), and her plot (when she was apart from Vane) was very boring. Boo. 

But then things did happen. There were two sort of climaxes, both involving battle-ish scenes. That was exciting (mostly). I liked that this book became more involved in the grand scheme of things, which is what a second novel in a trilogy should do. Props to Messenger on that one.

The romance is still relatively uncomplicated. If you read book one, then you know that Vane and Audra are bonded, but that the Windwalkers totally wanted Vane to marry Solana, the daughter of the former king of the Windwalkers. Vane is totally in love with Audra, and Audra loves Vane, so that's that. Solana doesn't love Vane, but you can't help but feel bad for the girl that always knew (and was forced to accept) her fate. 

The ending is pretty... killer, in my opinion (absolutely no pun intended, don't take that phrase the wrong way). It's definitely some sort of cliffhanger, and I don't really like cliffhangers in sequels of trilogies. But it's okay, I'll wait another year... sigh. The author would NEVER do something so extreme - but of course, Veronica Roth did, so why not?

What I Did Not Like:

As I mentioned before, like in the first book, I wasn't Audra's biggest fan. Don't get me wrong, I hope that she and Vane get their happy ending and ride off into the sunset and blah blah blah. Vane loves her, and for that reason, I like the pair of them together. But her as a person? Her personality? Her being? Eh. Not a fan. She wallows in self-pity, in my opinion. She wants to seem tough, but she's not really all that tough.

Also, she seemed to be gone for like, half the book. Maybe not half. But a significant percentage of the book. And all she was doing was having a pity party, and then ran into the wrong crowd, and then things started happening, and so on. But like, I don't cut her any slack. She's a bit wimpy, and she seems to like excuses, and then she gets weird and jealous any time Solana is even remotely related to anything involving Vane. Like STOP.

And I'm a bit confused on the logistics of the Living Storms... but I'm just going to go with it and pretend like I know how they're made. I understand who they were, their purpose, and the power, but I don't really understand how Raiden made them into what they are.

Somehow, this novel just didn't seem as satisfying as I'd hoped. I liked book one, and I wanted to be blown away (hehe, wind pun) by book two. Book two wasn't better than book one by any means, but it wasn't totally worse of anything.

Would I Recommend It:

If you read and enjoyed book one, then it's worth it to read this book. The way I look at it, with this particular series, is that if you read and enjoyed book one, you might as well read book two, because I have a feeling that book three will kick some butt. Hopefully. I could be so wrong though. If you have not read book one, then don't worry too much about reading book two. Read the entire series when it comes out, maybe. Or not at all. 

Rating:

3 stars. I was hoping for more, but didn't get more. However, I am really curious to see how it all ends!

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Review: Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Book One of the Sky Fall series

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Source: ARC won from a giveaway

Summary (from Goodreads):

Vane Weston should have died in the category-five tornado that killed his parents. Instead, he woke up in a pile of rubble with no memories of his past - except one: a beautiful, dark-haired girl standing in the winds. She swept through his dreams ever since, and he clings to the hope that she's real.

Audra is real, but she isn't human. She's a sylph, an air elemental who can walk on the wind, translate its alluring songs, even twist it into a weapon. She's also a guardian - Vane's guardian - and has sworn an oath to protect him at all costs.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both their families, Audra has just days to help Vane unlock his memories. And as the storm winds gather, Audra and Vane start to realize that the greatest danger might not be the warriors coming to destroy them, but the forbidden romance growing between them.

What I Liked:

I was actually really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I'm pleased that I enjoyed it as much as I did, but I'm surprised. I'd read a fair amount of positive reviews for this book, when it initially came out last year, but then I read a few reviews that pretty much picked this book apart. Those few negative reviews from bloggers I actively followed were enough for me to put off reading this book for about a year.

But then I had to go and request this book from Edelweiss, and of course I was approved, so I had to be sure to read the first book (this one) before reading the sequel. Good time to binge-read, right? If only I had the third book, too. Then I could read the entire series and be happy.

Vane survived a category-five tornado, and he remembers one thing: Audra. For years, he sees Audra in his dreams, the one thing from the fatal storm that seems to be consistent in his non-memories. But the Audra comes back. And she reveals everything to him - including the key facts that he is a Westerly, a future king of the Windwalkers, and the future of the Windwalkers.

This book is split into Audra and Vane's perspective. We get Vane's perspective first, so I immediately bonded with him first. Usually, the first character introduced is the one I like more. I wasn't always a fan of Audra (especially with what she did - she seemed to be the reason for all of the "bad"), but I didn't mind Audra. 

In Audra's mind, Vane seems to be a bit obnoxious and cocky and irritating. In Vane's mind, Audra is perfect and broken. In MY opinion, Vane is a bit cocky and sometimes obnoxious, but I think he is also scared yet determined. He is confident, but he also recognizes the fact that he has no idea what he is doing. Audra is NOT perfect. She is definitely broken up over what happened years ago, and she shoulders the blame, the burden, and the responsibility of basically EVERYTHING. 

All of that said, I definitely preferred Vane's perspective to Audra's perspective. I found Vane more interesting than Audra, and more authentic. Not that Audra wasn't authentic, but I didn't like her voice as much as I liked Vane's. But I DID like the dual-perspective dynamic - Messenger definitely did a great job in making the voices unique and interesting, and it worked in this book.

The romance was pretty sweet, nice even. I thought it was a bit insta-lovey, but I liked seeing Vane and Audra together. The whole book seemed like torture for the two of them, but the end of this book proved to be pretty great for the two of them. We'll see though, as the series goes on. There will be some serious consequences for the two of them.

The majority of this novel is focused on Vane and Audra training and preparing for the Stormers (I think they are called Stormers?) and Raiden to come. This didn't bother me too much, but it was a little bit slow. A lot of discoveries and plot twists happened during this time, but actually events, meh.

Otherwise, the plot of this book was pretty good - straightforward, with several plot twisters (hehe, wind pun!). I enjoyed the book from start to finish, and wanted to keep reading. I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting, which was nice. I can't wait to read the second book! Which is hilarious, because I'm reading it tomorrow.

What I Did Not Like:

As I said before, I think the romance was a bit insta-lovey. Like, immediately upon seeing Audra, Vane sees to become obsessed with her. I know he's been seeing her in his dreams for years and all, but he just becomes ENAMORED. Audra falls in love more gradually, which was nice (and interesting) to see.

I'm also kind of mad at Audra, for basically causing everything (she didn't REALLY, but that's how it seems). Like, a bird is not that important. But then I'm also mad at another people, like Audra's mother, for being a jerk, and Raiden, for being power hungry in general. I guess I don't like these events and characters, but I see their purpose. Sort of.

And I mentioned that the plot was a bit simplistic - meaning, the majority of the book was spent following Vane's training with Audra. Cool, but at the same time, can other things happen? Also, I'm a bit confused about how everything went down in the end, but I'm just going to roll with it and read the second book. Sounds like a plan, right? Right.

Also, I think the majority of the Windwalkers are full of BS. They want to pin the future of their race on one boy, on one person. They have all these rules and terms and conditions laid out for him, his entire life planned for him. It's like he's going to magically adjust to being a Windwalker (after seventeen years of NOT using his wind-related abilities), and he's definitely going to leave his old life behind and agree to everything they want to do (including that bit with Solana... um, NO). Full of BS, I say.

Would I Recommend It:

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of a good forbidden romance! And the paranormal aspect is pretty cool. And Messenger does a really great job of creating a contemporary world with a paranormal aspect (or a paranormal world with a contemporary feel? Whatever). 

Rating:

3.5 stars -> rounded up to 4 stars. This book was pretty great! I can't wait to read the sequel. Check out my review, coming tomorrow (February 17th) on my blog!

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