Book Review: Crave by Melissa Darnell

Title: Crave

Author: Melissa Darnell

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication date: October, 2011

Softcover: 432 pages

Stand Alone or Series:  Series–this is the first in a series.

How I got this book: Bought

Why I chose this book: I’ll admit it.  I loved the cover.  With a quick glance, it’s pretty snazzy.  Look a little closer and I can point some things out I don’t really like, but for the most part, it’s chill.  Other than that, the synopsis drew me in.  Not terribly original, no, but sounded like a good read.

Synopsis:

Savannah Colbert has never known why she’s so hated by the kids of the Clann. Nor can she deny her instinct to get close to Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman. Especially when she recovers from a strange illness and the attraction becomes nearly irresistible. It’s as if he’s a magnet, pulling her gaze, her thoughts, even her dreams. Her family has warned her to have nothing to do with him, or any members of the Clann. But when Tristan is suddenly everywhere she goes, Savannah fears she’s destined to fail.

For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back…different, and suddenly he can’t stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences….

Review:

Crave was… well to be honest, it wasn’t very good.  It started out strong, which I thought would make for a good book, but it quickly went downhill from there.  I thought the whole thing was very messy.  There was either a lot going on, which wasn’t organized very well and just made the book confusing, or there was nothing going on at all, which just made the book dull.  I felt like the book didn’t really move around much at all, either.  It didn’t take me anywhere, it just kind of left me standing and waiting.  I also thought the characters were weak.  Even though the point of view switched between two characters, I felt that they both blurred into one being, because they were so generic.  Even smaller characters that I would have loved to see fly off the pages, just didn’t.  So I was thoroughly disappointed with this book.  I will definitely not be reading the sequel.  Part of me is sad that I wasted so much time reading the first book.  

Breaking Dawn

So, who’s going to go see the midnight premier of Breaking Dawn: Part 1.  I happen to be one of the lucky ones that get to go at midnight, instead of waiting until the next day.  I won’t be able to sleep from all the excitement!  So tell me, what are you most looking forward to in the movie?  Where do you think part 1 will leave off?  Do you think they’re going to leave us with a major cliff hanger?  (Yes, I read the books, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be pining for Part 2 like everyone else.)

Let me know in the comments!

Random Thoughts for the Day: People

So I decided to post another segment of Random Thoughts for the Day, since many people seemed to enjoy my snowball monologue.  So here goes:

People.  We are such diverse, weird creatures, are we not?  And we differ, depending on where we come from.  Why is that?  Why do people differ so much from somewhere such as America, compared to somehwere like England?  Or Germany?  How come people tend to stick with the values we were raised with, instead of breaking out on our own, and coming up with our own ideals?  I know, that’s a lot of questions.  I happen to be full of them.  That’s all.  This is what I’ve been pondering all day, and I wanted to let everyone else know as well.

Book Review: Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund

Title: Secret Society Girl

Author: Diana Peterfreund

Publisher: Dell

Publication date: May, 2007

Softcover: 320 pages

Stand Alone or Series: Series–this is the first in a series

How I got this book: Bought

Why I chose this book: Hello?  This is a book about the secret societies that are prevalent on some college campuses.  And it has romance in it. 

Synopsis:

Elite Eli University junior Amy Haskel never expected to be tapped into Rose & Grave, the country’s most powerful—and notorious—secret society. She isn’t rich, politically connected, or…well, male.

So when Amy receives the distinctive black-lined invitation with the Rose & Grave seal, she’s blown away. Could they really mean her?

Whisked off into an initiation rite that’s a blend of Harry Potter and Alfred Hitchcock, Amy awakens the next day to a new reality and a whole new set of “friends”—from the gorgeous son of a conservative governor to an Afrocentric lesbian activist whose society name is Thorndike. And that’s when Amy starts to discover the truth about getting what you wish for. Because Rose & Grave is quickly taking her away from her familiar world of classes and keggers, fueling a feud, and undermining a very promising friendship with benefits. And that’s before Amy finds out that her first duty as a member of Rose & Grave is to take on a conspiracy of money and power that could, quite possibly, ruin her whole life.

Review:

Secret Society Girl was…interesting.  I don’t know another way to explain it.  I liked the idea of the novel–uncovering the goings-on in secret societies that are present on major campuses.  It sounds awesome.  But I don’t think the way Peterfruend went about writing it was that great.  Or maybe it’s just the writing style.  I can’t say I liked this book.  I can say it was okay, and that’s stretching it a little.  I think that it lacked substance, something to keep it going.  What was the major plot point in this book, really?  So I’m going to give it two stars.  I feel bad, because that’s probably the lowest I’ve ever given a book, but it’s honest.  Though I didn’t much like this book, I will be reading the second installment.  (Partly because I already bought it and partly because I did hear it was incredible–much better than the first.)  Anyway, this is how I feel.  Take it with a grain of salt if you must.

Book Review: Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine

Title: Carpe Corpus

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Signet

Publication date: June, 2009

Softcover: 256 pages

Stand Alone or Series: Series–this is the 6th book in the Morganville Vampire Series

How I got this book: Bought

Why I chose this book: I had started reading this series called the Morganville Vampire Series.  After book one, I was hooked. 

Synopsis:

In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace-until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He’s kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths. He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants-the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?

Review:

Carpe Corpus was pretty good.  It wasn’t the most amazing book I’ve ever read.  But I loved it anyway.  The entire series (because it is so long) is like an old friend that I can keep coming back to again and again.  I love Claire’s little family that she created for herself in Morganville, Texas.  I feel like I know them all personally, and they’re all amazing.  Shane, Michael, Eve, Myrnin, etc.  They have so much depth to them that I feel like they’re real.  And I love that the setting is in a real town.  It makes the story that much more believable.  I have to say that for this series in particular, I love how each books ends with a cliffhanger.  I’m not going to tell you what the cliffhanger was in Carpe Corpus, because that would ruin the entire book, but I will tell you that if you are a hopeless romantic, you’re heartstrings will twinge when you read it.  I will definitely be reading the next installment.  I will be reading this series to the end because I need to know how Claire and her friends end up.  Will Claire flunk out of college? Doubtful.  Will Shane play more zombie video games? Probably.  Stay tuned for the next review of the Morganville Vampire Series.

Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer


Author: Michelle Hodkin


Publisher: Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers


Publication date: September, 2011


Hardcover: 464 pages




Stand Alone or Series: Series–this is the first in a series


How I got this book: Bought


Why I chose this book: I’d heard some great things about this book before I bought it.  And look at the pretty cover.


Synopsis:

Mara Dyer doesn’t believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.  

                                                                                                                                                

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.                   

                                                                                    

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.

Review:

     The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was…  Well, I’ll talk about everything in the novel except the ending first.  So it was amazing!  Spectacular!  Not scary like some of the comments said, but it was a thriller.  It did keep me guessing.  I love Michelle Hodkin’s style of writing.  It’s hilarious and amazing.  It kept me reading until the end.  The characters were magnificent.  They had so much depth–all of them–including the minor characters.  And the cover!  Wow, I don’t know if I have ever loved a cover as much (probably).  It’s mysterious, and part of the reason I bought the book in the first place.  (And the fact that it was Halloween and I needed something thriller-y)
     Okay, now lets talk about the end.  I’ve said it before (lots of times) and I’ll say it again.  The end of a book can make or break it.  In this case, it almost breaks it (almost).  I really disliked the ending.  Now, is that going to keep me from reading the next installment?  No.  Mostly because Ball’s writing is just so dang good!  I’m seriously surprised. Not that someone can write that good, but that in it’s complexity its understandable.  That doesn’t make sense.  But if you get what I’m trying to say, good for you.  So the rest of the book made up for the ending, even though I’m still disappointed by it.
     Would I reccomend this book.  Absolutely!  It was amazing in an I-can’t-put-it-down way.  Four out of Five stars!