Review: The Children and the Wolves

The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp
Pub. Date: February 2012
Pages: 160
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Short and Sweet Synopsis: This book is about a trio of teens who abduct a young girl.  

I'm not a squeamish person and I don't shy away from books that deal with interesting topics, but "The Children and the Wolves"did nothing for me. I'm left just confused after reading this book. I wish the book had focused on one character because the four voices weren't always distinct and the four year old girl just was unrealistic.

The best thing I can say about this book was that it was short. It took me about 2 hours to read. If it had been any longer, I would have felt like I completely wasted my time reading it.

Review of "Passion" Lauren Kate

"Passion"
Lauren Kate


2

Pub. Date: June 14, 2011
Pages: 420
Publisher: Random House Children's Books


Synopsis: Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.

Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

I loved the first two books in the series and I thought Lauren Kate set up for a fantastic third book, but sadly "Passion" was only okay.  I spent most of the novel wanting to punch Luce in the face.  I just thought her judgment was TERRIBLE!  She didn't really question anything that was happening to her and was far too trusting of others.  There was too much time spent with Luce and not enough with other characters.  There were only two other characters that played a significant role in the book, and I was not a fan of one of them.

In the first two books I thought the endings were surprising and extremely climactic, but "Passion"'s ending was the opposite.  I thought it was predictable and I wasn't sure why all the characters were so shocked.  Luce's quest to learn more about her relationship was interesting for about half the book, but by page 200 I was sick of seeing Luce combust.

I really was looking forward to this book, but I honestly don't think I learned much more about Luce and Daniel's relationship.  It was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be without any surprises.  I think I could have done without this book and skipped to the final book without feeling like I missed anything.  I will probably read the final book in the series, but I will definitely go in skeptical.

Review of "Blood Magic"

"Blood Magic"
Tessa Gratton


 

2

Pub. Date: May 24th, 2011
Pages: 405
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers


Synopsis: It starts off simply.

Draw a circle ... place a dead leaf in the center ... sprinkle some salt ... recite a little Latin ... add a drop of blood ...

Maybe that last part isn't exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents' horrific deaths. She's willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood.

The book isn't the only recent arrival in Silla's life. There's Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She's not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick's first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can't deny their attraction. And they can't ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power.


I had high expectations for "Blood Magic", but sadly it did not live up to them.  I almost stopped reading this book multiple times, but then something would happen that kept me reading and I kept hoping it would get better.  I have to say the last 100 pages were pretty decent, but the pace was just too slow through the rest of the book.  There was too much switching between Nick and Silla's Point of view.  I think I would have liked this book better if it had been strictly told by Silla, I was not a huge fan of Nick as a character and his narration didn't help.  Nick may have been nice and patient with Silla, but he was an a-hole to everyone else.  If the duel narration didn't slow the book down enough, there were plenty of flashbacks and old journal entries to break us out of the immediate story.  Yes I did actually enjoy the journal entries at first, but after a while it just felt like the book wasn't going anywhere.  On top of that, I didn't really fear for the characters lives when they were "in danger" because there was so little action. 

What did I like about this book?  I liked Silla as a character; she was strong and I liked how she used masks to cope.  I liked the Gothic elements at first, but that only kept me interested for the first 200 pages.  The same goes for the use of blood.  I like how the book dealt with the dangers of too much power, it gave the book more depth than just a paranormal romance.  I am wondering if my problem with this book was that there was so much going on, but the plot didn't move forward.  It almost seemed like there were just too many elements forced into this book. 

There are a lot of great reviews of "Blood Magic" out there, but I just struggled through the first 300 pages of this book.  Maybe my expectations were too high, it is a possibility.  If you are really looking forward to this book, then give it a go.  I am definitely not continuing with the rest of this series.  I felt satisfied with the end of the book.  There is one question that remains unanswered, but I don't feel compelled to read anymore.  If you agree or totally disagree with my review, feel free to comment.

Buy From Amazon.com  Buy From BN.com

Review of "The Latte Rebellion"

"The Latte Rebellion"
by Sarah Jamila Stevenson


2

Pub. Date: January 8, 2011
Pages: 327
Publisher: Flux

Synopsis:  When high school senior Asha Jamison gets called a "towel head" at a pool party, the racist insult gives Asha and her best friend Carey a great money-making idea for a post-graduation trip. They'll sell T-shirts promoting the Latte Rebellion, a club that raises awareness of mixed-race students.

Seemingly overnight, their "cause" goes viral and the T-shirts become a nationwide fad. As new chapters spring up from coast to coast, Asha realizes that her simple marketing plan has taken on a life of its own-and it's starting to ruin hers. Asha's once-stellar grades begin to slip, threatening her Ivy League dreams, and her friendship with Carey is hanging by a thread. And when the peaceful underground movement turns militant, Asha's school launches a disciplinary hearing.  Facing expulsion, Asha must decide how much she's willing to risk for something she truly believes in.

I really wanted to like "The Latte Rebellion", but the book just didn't do it for me.  I originally got into the book thinking it would be an interesting read about girls banding together to make a difference in the world, but there seemed to be very little of this.  It didn't really bother me that Asha and Carey's plan stemmed from a marketing scheme to help them plan a summer trip, the fact that they did believe in what they were putting on the shirts made it okay for me.  What I didn't like was how Asha and Carey fought the entire book.  I get not wanting to lose an important friendship, but when your friend only has contact with you when it is beneficial for them, then that is a one sided relationship.  I kind of felt like Carey was only Asha's friend to bum rides off of her to school, help her study for tests, and so she had somewhere to sit at lunch.  Asha's character was also driving me nuts.  She kept ignoring her schoolwork and then was shocked when she got back grades.  It was also annoying because she kept whining about how unfair her parents were being, but she is the one who let her grades slip.  There was a lot of time spent on Carey and Asha's friendship, on Asha's grades, and on love interesting- this just really detracted from the overall story to me.

Another thing I really didn't like was the portrayal of adults in the book.  Almost every single adult thought the Latte Rebellion was a terrorist group or that teenagers were wasting time on something that wasn't important.  I have to say that if my child were to start a group to raise awareness of important social issues, I would be so proud of them.  I would not be ashamed and disappointed.  I would of course warn them that sometimes acting on your beliefs could cause trouble, even if you have the best of intentions, but I would still stand up for them if the school tried to expel them.  I can't believe no parent stepped in to talk to the school about how exclusive they were being to groups of students.  I know this is a teen book and maybe teens wouldn't like adults taking charge, but that is usually what happens.  Especially in a circumstance such as this where the school system is overreacting to a peaceful group trying to bring social awareness about mixed races.  The schools reaction was actually pretty disgusting; I'm surprised more wasn't done in this area.

Overall, the book was okay, but honestly I could have skipped reading this one.  Even though Asha did seem to want to bring awareness about mixed races to the world, I just thought "The Latte Rebellion" would have been a more successful book if more focus had been spent on the issues instead of Asha's personal life.  I know that other people have really enjoyed this book, but I'm just not one of them.

Buy From BN.com  Buy From Amazon.com

Review of "The Mark"

"The Mark"
by Jen Nadol


2

Pub. Date: January 19th, 2010
Pages: 240

Summary: Cassandra Renfield has always seen the mark—a glow around certain people reminiscent of candlelight. But the one time she mentioned it, it was dismissed as a trick of the light. Until the day she watches a man awash in the mark die. After searching her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person’s imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.

Armed with a vague understanding of the light, Cassie begins to explore her “gift,” seeking those marked for death and probing the line between decision and destiny. Though she’s careful to hide her secret—even from her new philosophy-obsessed boyfriend—with each impending death comes the temptation to test fate. But so many questions remain. How does the mark work? Why is she the only one who sees it? And finally, the most important of all: If you know today is someone’s last, should you tell them?

I don't know why, but I found this book to be really slow for such a small book. The book was okay, but I honestly only finished it because it was so short. I didn't feel like the book got interesting for me until the last 50 pages and then it ended. I could have done without all the philosophy and more with the family history. I felt like the philosophizing that went on through the book seemed very predictable. I didn't really like the guy that Cassie was seeing; the whole relationship felt very skeezy to me because of the fact that he was technically her TA. I honestly wasn't sure if I liked Cassie's character until the end of the book, which is weird for me because I usually care too much about the characters that I am reading. I felt a much stronger connection to some of the secondary characters, which I wished had played a larger role in the book.

I feel bad because I feel like I am just tearing this book up, but honestly these are only my opinions. There are a lot of great reviews of this book, but for some reason it just didn't click with me. I am going to leave this review where it is just because 1- I don't want to say more than I need to about my feelings... I think they are pretty clear and 2- I would probably end up giving away some of the plot. If this book sounds interesting to you then definitely check it out because you may really enjoy it, it just wasn't the book for me.

Pass On "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies"

"Pride And Prejudice And Zombies"
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith


2

"Pride and Prejudice And Zombies" is a rewrite of Jane Austen’s original texts with the addition of zombies. A plague has broken out that allows the dead to rise with the soul purpose of eating brains. Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters have been trained to be deadly assassins in order to help rid the country of the undead. Is it possible to find love in these dark times?

I was really disappointed in this book because I like my zombies to be over the top and blood thirsty, but I found these zombies to be pretty lame. Yes they did crash a few parties, but they were so easily killed that they weren't scary. I never once feared for the characters' lives at any point of the book. I was excited about this book because I was hoping that the writer would just do some crazy things like turning one of the Bennet girls into a zombie; however, I was extremely disappointed that Grahame-Smith just added tidbits of zombies to the overall story.

Overall it was an okay read. I wouldn't say it was horrible because the original "Pride and Prejudice" story line saved it, but it just wasn't as original as I would have liked. The beginning of the book was good, but it lost steam about halfway through. It almost seemed like Grahame-Smith got bored. I think I enjoyed the illustrations more than the text by the end of the novel. I may have enjoyed this book a bit more if I hadn't just read the original "Pride and Prejudice" last week, but I felt like it was the same book just with the word zombie thrown in every once and a while. I think it would have been more successful as a short story. I don't think it warranted an entire novel.

With all this said, I kind of feel like I need to read a really scary teen zombie book, if anyone has any good suggestions then please leave a comment. I assume most zombies in books are more terrifying. Unless they are better portrayed through film... but I believe in the power of creating terrifying creatures through print!