Review Addendum: For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Grad Student said it before, but let me say, go read "For Darkness Shows the Stars". (this links to her review).

I loved it.

“Three syllables and three thousand memories.” 

Swoooon. I laughed out loud happily, while waiting to get a flat tire replaced at 9:00 AM on a Saturday morning.  This book made that experience totally OK, and if that doesn't sell you on it, you have obviously never had two flat tires in two months.

Waiting on Wednesday: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Gah! big face alert!

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge (GoodReads).

Requiem by Lauren Oliver comes out next week! GASP! I liked Delirium and realllllly enjoyed Pandemonium. I hope this finale delivers.  Thanks to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW, a weekly meme that showcases upcoming publications we are looking forward to. What made your WoW this week?

(See our review of Delirium  and my review and Goosie Mama's review of Pandemonium)

Review: The Friday Society by by Adrienne Kress

OUCH this cover hurts my pride

An action-packed tale of gowns, guys, guns –and the heroines who use them all  Set in turn of the century London, The Friday Society follows the stories of three very intelligent and talented young women, all of whom are assistants to powerful men: Cora, lab assistant; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant; and Nellie, magician's assistant. The three young women's lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man.

It's up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder–and the crimes they believe may be connected to it–without calling too much attention to themselves. 

Set in the past but with a modern irreverent flare, this Steampunk whodunit introduces three unforgettable and very ladylike–well, relatively ladylike–heroines poised for more dangerous adventures (GoodReads).

STEAMPUNK super-heroines. I loved the idea of the "smart chicks" behind the powerful men, but this story fell flat for me after 250 pages.

• Absurdity: 10. It is steampunk! Corsets and goggles and hovercraft. I just cannot get my mind around it. I should probably give up.
• Originality: 10. That being said, you have to have an imagination to meld this all together.
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 2. The romance for Cora was the beginning of the end for me. People do not just make-out with basic strangers they dislike. Just stop. Oh, and then the truth at the end of the novel about the love interest?.. I basically said "you get what you deserve! at my book.
• Level of Harry Potterness: 3. These characters had potential. Smart and confident with a silly side. They all need each other, and will be less lonely as friends. But I thought they were too fluffy for this 400+ story. They would have been better served in something short and sweet.

Review: Cinders & Sapphires by Leila Rasheed

Today's review is of Cinders & Sapphires by Leila Rasheed: (which PS there are literally no cinders in.....)

One house, two worlds...Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averley treats Rose as an equal. And Rose could use a friend. Especially now that she, at barely sixteen, has risen to the position of ladies’ maid. Rose knows she should be grateful to have a place at a house like Somerton. Still, she can’t help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady, like Ada. For the first time in a decade, the Averleys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. But terrible scandal has followed Ada’s beloved father all the way from India. Now Ada finds herself torn between her own happiness and her family’s honor. Only she has the power to restore the Averley name—but it would mean giving up her one true love . . . someone she could never persuade her father to accept.

Sumptuous and enticing, the first novel in the At Somerton series introduces two worlds, utterly different yet entangled, where ruthless ambition, forbidden attraction, and unspoken dreams are hidden behind dutiful smiles and glittering jewels. All those secrets are waiting . . . at Somerton (GoodReads).

• Originality: 3. The characters teeter on the edge of boilerplate. The gossipy maid, devoted house keeper, unwelcoming step mom and sister, roguish gents...the list goes on. I am not saying it isn't enjoyable to visit with these time-tested archetypes, but the people do not feel new.
• Absurdity: 4. Are there only ten people at Oxford and in London society? Why do Ravi and Ada constantly bump into each other?
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 6. Some good swoon here! Nothing like a secret love affair restrained to Victorian moments of passed notes and long glances. Mary and Mathew from Dowton have some competition. By the end I came around to Lord Fintan. He deserves some attention.
• Level of Harry Potter-ness: 4. This was easy to zip through. Not too much heft, but enjoyable none the less.This book is a continuation of my reading trend of fluffy, girly books.

Review: Gone by Michael Grant

Gone by Michael Grant:

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE. Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents--unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers--that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else..

So guys.  I was intrigued by this book, but really... I can't. Can't finish it, can't review it.  I think (hope) I am just tooooooo old for this book.  It is batshit crazy.  Even crazier is there is a whole series of them. I CANNOT IMAGINE WHAT GOES ON IN THESE BOOKS.

Via

Absurdity: 10+.  Typical dystopian teenager book goes nuts- mutant powers, real bad, mean, 14 year-olds,  mutations in  humans and animals...talking Great Dane sized coyotes? Dead BABIES? and THEN "the Darkness," down in some old mine...it was the equivalent of a talking-smoke monster from Lost.   It was the return of that thing AGAIN that made me give up on the show, and the similarities which forced me to skip to the ending, and quit this book.

God speed to anyone who got sucked in....

Waiting on Wednesday: The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

In Bee Ridgway’s wonderfully imaginative debut novel, a man and a woman travel through time in a quest to bring down a secret society that controls the past and, thus, the future. “You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman.

In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance. (GoodReads)

Can we talk about how beautiful the cover of The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway is!? The book sounds awesome (hello, time travel, I like to read about you!) and I can take it out in public. Success. I will absolutely pick this up in April when it comes out. Thanks to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW, a weekly meme that showcases upcoming publications we are looking forward to. What made your WoW this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Our Favorite Realistic Teenage Characters

Heeelllllllo out there book blog people. Today we are participating in Top Ten Tuesday, but tweeking this week's topic a bit. Rather than our top ten favorite characters in any certain genre, we went with our top ten favorite realistic teenagers, individuals we could imagine existing (and often wish did). This was harder than we though--apparently lot of the books we read are full of crazies.

Goosie Mama:

1. Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Leviathan only because I want so much for him to be real and be my best friend.

2. Lennie from The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson- what teenager do you know doesn't hide under trees from time to time?

Crazy Camper:

3. Danny from Bonechiller  by Graham McNamee.  Life is not going easy for Danny, but he altogether seems very, very normal, in spite of the soul sucking monster of the winter chasing him.

4. Graves from Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow. Ignore the unrealistic aspect of his punk self living in the mall, and he seems pretty normal. (Graves 4-eva!! -Grad Student)

Grad Student:

5. Amy Goodnight from Texas Gothic , witch or not, she seems so hilariously normal

6. Kaleb from the Hourglass series by Myra McEntire. Boys really do hide their feelings and get drunk, lets be real.  (and I wish he was real. SWOON).

7. Gansey, Adam and Ronan from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. They seem like a real crew of boys, teasing and breaking things but caring about each other under it all.

The Raven Boys (and Blue!) by the oh so talented Stiefvater via 

Want to get involved with these reads? See our reviews of Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow, Timepiece by Myra McEntire, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan, Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore, and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. As always a big cheers of our whiskey sours to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting TTT, our fav weekly book blog meme!

NPR, Infographics, and Shy, Plucky, Brown-Haired Girls

Via. NPR-Today in literary infographics: Young Adult heroines are mostly shy, plucky virgins with poor self-esteem and brown hair.

Reivew: Elemental by Alexandra May

I was lucky to get my hands on Elemental: The First by Alexandra May through NetGalley.

P.S., the emo image of the guy
in the background
is pretty hilarious to me...

Just who is Halika Dacome? To Rose Frost, moving house every six months is normal. Another new town here, another new school there, her ability to adapt is as easy as breathing. But everything changes when her parents go overseas and Rose moves in with her grandmother. She enjoys meeting new friends and catching up with old ones from her childhood holidays — except now she must hide a precious secret from everyone, a gift from birth that defies modern day science.

Her dreams become riddled with a warrior woman called Halika Dacome, but are they visions or messages from the future? She starts her own investigation but encounters more questions than answers. Living right on the edge of Warminster in Wiltshire, England, doesn’t help with its folklore and myths about strange lights in the sky and ghost stories of the Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge.

Not only that, her troubles really take hold one night when the mysterious Aiden Deverill with his alluring smile, his gorgeous dark looks and hypnotising blue eyes, saves her from a freak fire. Or did he?

For Rose, her new life is beginning but she soon realises that despite assurances people are not always what they seem. What she always believed to be a happy family and a friendly town soon turns on its head when she discovers that her family secret, Aiden Deverill and the truth behind Halika Dacome is at the heart of the whole conspiracy.

I was VERY excited to read this.

• Originality:  8.  The whole Halika Dacome mythic element is brand new territory, with cool Stonehenge lore.   On the other hand, teenage girl who doesn't know how beautiful or powerful she truly is and is  kind to everyone she meets?  About a 2.   (Where are Dru from Strange Angels and Rose from Vampire Academy, with  their sassy abruptness and butt kicking styles?!)
• Absurdity:  6.  I have two clear reasons for this.  1- when mythology morphed into ancient alien legends... say what?  I felt like I slipped into part of Prometheus for a second there.  2- Rose Frost, why the HECK are you so trusting of all these people you have played whit as a child and now have known for 2 weeks.  She keeps spouting things like "Mira and Hannah, who I could trust with anything".... and I just had no clue why.
• Level of Paranormal Romance- 7.  LOVE TRIANGLE.  Ok, hope I didn't spoil anything.  I sorta felt like insta-love flopped back and forth between the two boys, our golden child and our dark haired former bad boy.  And while i could get swept away in hopping onto the backs of boys' mopeds and speeding through the countryside, I really only ever fell for one of the boys.
• Harry Potterness- 6.  I enjoyed this book, but it resolved NOTHING AT ALL. ZERO.  I am all one for series, but there needs to be some level of resolution, and Rose suddenly feeling at peace with her previously reincarnated self and incredibly powerful destiny at the drop of a hat?  Not what I would call a reasonable ending!  

Damn it Book 2 (it is actually Book 1.5....), you hooked us, but in a sneaky unfair way since this book isn't even out in the U.S. yet!  Book two's expected publication is May 28th, 2013, so I have some searching to do....

FTC Full Disclosure: I received a review copy from Puama Publishing. Happy reading followed. (We do not accept or receive compensation for reviews at YAF and WS.)

Friday Book/Life/President Updates

SO I have this enormous application due today, but Crazy Camper and I still managed this conversation. Are we twenty-somethings slightly hungover from Valentine's Day, or 15 year old girls who manage to discuss the president, John Green, and Four from Divergent (in less than 75 words)? HARD TO TELL SOMETIMES. 

(To set the scene....Crazy Camper has just shared this gem) (from John Green's Tumblr) 

Crazy Camper: WERE YOU AWARE THIS HAPPENED!?!?! P.S. Divergent is killing it!

Grad Student: OH MAN it’s amazing

  DFTBA WORLD

Grad Student:  PS happy to hear you are liking Divergent. Did you meet Four?

  Goosie Mama and I have STRONG differing opinions on Four.

Crazy Camper: WHAT I ADORE HIM

  Like Four is currently being brainwashed in the control room

  and her dad was JUST SHOT trying to get there [emphasis on epicness]

GS: WHAT I am so anti-Four

CC: OMG WHAT NO WAY

  I love him!

(And then I blog the crazy and run back to my application......)

Procrastination much? DFTBA book blog people, and happy Friday!

Review: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

In the good old days, magic was indispensable—it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading: drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If the visions are true, everything will change for Kazam—and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as . . . Big Magic (Good Reads).

The cons: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde is definately aimed at kids. The plot moves very quickly and characters are surface deep. The pros: Fforde can write and is the king of hilarious asides that bring a load of charm to this read. 

Originality: 8. I love alternate histories, and this is alternate history/fantasy. The UK exists but so do dragons. Soda companies still endorse celebrities, but also dragonslayers.
Absurdity: 10. And this is a positive score because this book is supposed to be crazy. It seems Scotland has been roughly replaced with Troll territory (the Troll Wars went badly). Also these gems of crazy:

“The Kingdom of Hereford was unique in the Ununited Kingdoms for having driving tests based on maturity, not age, much to the chagrin of a lot of males, some of whom were still failing to make the grade at thirty-two.” 

“Cats aren't really friendly, they're just cozying up to the dominant life-form as a hedge against extinction.” 

Level of Paranormal Romance Friendship: 5. Jennifer is such a nice friend. Loyal and fair. I would hang with her.
Level of Harry Potterness: 4. While charming, this world reminds me more of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for kids rather than the epic perfection of HP. 

If you have not read a book by Fforde this is cute, but I say straight to The Eyre Affaire!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Cydonian Pyramid by Pete Hautman

The Cydonian Pyramid Book 2 the Klaatu Diskos Series is today's Waiting on Wednesday.

Ask and you shall receive!  I posted my review of the first book in the series last week and wondered about the sequel. Thank you Internets and especially Pete Hautman, author of the Obsidian Blade.  This book is a Cliff-Hanger in the truest sense, and I was left wanting more, and sent my demands out to the internet- thankfully Pete graciously replied:

In May 2013, we will have the next in this series, the Cydonian Pyramid- until then, here is the video preview from Pete's website.

Enjoy the video and as always, a cheers of our whiskey sour to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW!

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Romances

Top Ten Favorite Romances--it must be time for Valentine's Day. I am a sucker for Valentines Day for no good reason. This year I got myself a book of Emily Dickenson poems as a valentines treat. Treat yo self, ladies! Without further ado (and I promise not to start spouting poetry) here are our favorite bookish romantic leads.

1. Rose and Demitri from Vampire Academy- the drama and poor Adrian, all together, Crazy Camper loved it.

“I've given up on you...Love fades. Mine has.”  ― Richelle Mead, Spirit Bound

2. The Fault in Out Stars by John Green. OBVIOUSLY-- Augustus Waters is involved.

3. Jonah and Taylor in Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta.

“What do you want from me?" he asks.What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him.More.” 

4. Eldric and Briony in Chime by Franny Billingsley. You people cannot fathom the build-up involved in this one.

5. Celia and Marco, the magicians from The Night Circus.by Erin Morgenstern. They build magical tents that are really love letters. It is weird unless you have read it. Then it is epic. I want someone to build me a magical room of trees made out of sheets of paper covered in love sonnets. 

“I would have written you, myself, if I could put down in words everything I want to say to you. A sea of ink would not be enough.' 'But you built me dreams instead.” 

6. Puck and Sean from The Scorpio Races when he shows up with the bread and looks like his is "courting" her I was all "let's bring back courting." It sounds dreamy (and bonus points for baked goods).

As always a big cheers of our whiskey sours to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting TTT, our fav weekly book blog meme!

Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson surprised me. It was much more somber and harsher than I expected. Peter Pan for grownups? Oxymoron?

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart. (GoodReads).
Originality: 3. All the hallmarks of Peter Pan are here- Hook is missing his hand, a crocodile ticks, the lost boys live in a borough hidden beneath a tree. Some of the back story is smartly constructed, and I most-enjoyed the reasons why Tinkerbell dislikes Wendy. 
Absurdity: 3. Tiger Lily girl, everyone thinks your brave but you have no concept of thinking ahead or actively defending yourself from the terribleness that is Giant and his mom. I found it absurd that such a "strong" character did so little to actively participate in her life choices. 
Level of Paranormal Romance: 2. Peter is always handsome, since he is Peter Pan, but this version was meh for me, mostly because anyone who falls for "Wendy Bird" is a lump of lame. Add a SUPER creepy stalker/murder Smee and Tiger Lily's smelly/predator fiance, and I am solidly anti any romance.
Level of Harry Potterness: 3. The darkness of this story didn't leave me breathless, it left me feeling down. I finished this book in a hurry so I could be done.

Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

I could do my review of Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor in two parts. Part I: In which monsters in the desert are scary but cool, and Zuana is awesome, and angels mope around/kill things,  but nothing worth writing home about happens. Part II: Taylor brings the epic and it is gripping.

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war. This is not that world. Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope. But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream? (GoodReads)

• Originality: 10. The chimera are just so dang cool! And I can get behind magic that isn't easy. (Like in Lev Grossman's books)
• Absurdity: 4. Making monsters in a decaying desert palace that is connected by a portal to a parallel monster/angel universe is cray-cray. Somehow the gritty details of Karou's work and the pain involved diffuse a potentially ridiculous absurdity score.
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 3. Zuzana and her boo are adorable, and I loved the "questing" joke they had going on. But they are HUMANS. Come on now, they can't get a high score. I have to honestly admit, however, that I was relieved that Akiva and Karou's relationship evolved the way it did (and this is not a spoiler) because it was a bit much for me in book one. Dangerously close to Fallen-style feather-petting.
• Level of Harry-Potterness: 5. This book has some starkly beautiful passages. Sometimes, however, the epic-ness and seriousness of the whole story feels a bit too much for me. I am sure others will disagree. That is the thing about fantasy worlds, if they don't hit you just right you can end up rolling your eyes. But this feeling doesn't keep me from enjoying this story, and ALL THE BIG THINGS that happened in the last 200 pages suggest the next book will be even better.
  

Waiting on Wednesday: Night School by C.J. Daugherty

Allie's world is falling apart... She hates her school. Her brother has run away. And she's just been arrested.  Again.  Now her parents are sending her away to a boarding school where she doesn't know a soul.

But instead of hating her new school, Allie finds she's happy there. She's making friends. And then there's Sylvain, a suave French student who openly flirts with her. And Carter, the brooding loner who seems to have her back.

Soon, though, Allie discovers Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Nothing there is as it seems. And her new friends are hiding dangerous secrets (GoodReads)

Night School by C.J. Daugherty -- this book could use a cooler title, and I am worried by the swagger on that chickadee on the cover, BUT, BUT, I am a sucker for magical boarding high-schools ever since I met my buds at Hogwarts. I am willing to try this book out. Thanks to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW, a weekly meme that showcases upcoming publications we are looking forward to. What made your WoW this week?

Review: The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Lets get to know The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman:

The first time his father disappeared, Tucker Feye had just turned thirteen. The Reverend Feye simply climbed on the roof to fix a shingle, let out a scream, and vanished — only to walk up the driveway an hour later, looking older and worn, with a strange girl named Lahlia in tow. In the months that followed, Tucker watched his father grow distant and his once loving mother slide into madness. But then both of his parents disappear. Now in the care of his wild Uncle Kosh, Tucker begins to suspect that the disks of shimmering air he keeps seeing — one right on top of the roof — hold the answer to restoring his family. And when he dares to step into one, he’s launched on a time-twisting journey— from a small Midwestern town to a futuristic hospital run by digitally augmented healers, from the death of an ancient prophet to a forest at the end of time. Inevitably, Tucker’s actions alter the past and future, changing his world forever.

I didn't know this was a series until JUST NOW when I looked at GoodReads, and that does explain the ending.........cliffhangers people.

• Originality:  8.  Time travel, we have seen it, but this was like Vonnegut's Tralfamadorians of Slaughter House 5 meets teenage destiny. 
• Absurdity: 9.  Ok, accept that we are time traveling with an alien race through portals.  Things are weird, and not fully explained.  And then the whole Jesus story line...I actually stopped and thought, is this a religious book?  I persevered  but think that it is not, but then again, not entirely sure either...
•  Paranormal Romance: 2.  Low, there is too much going on in this book, there is zero time for romance.
•  Harry Potterness.  5. It is good, different, confusing, and a cliff hanger.  This book does not give you an ending really, so Pete, when are we getting book 2?

Friday Book Updates: This about sums it up!

HAPPY FRIDAY. GO FORTH AND HAPPY HOUR. And watch Downton Abbey because you couldn't stay up late enough this past Sunday. And laze about, too!

via