Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

I gave this book 2 stars out of a possible 5 -

★ ★ ☆ ☆☆

I finished this book last night. It was quick, it was fast-paced. This novel did not take me at all long to finish reading, which is good, because if it was longer I would have quite possibly not finished it at all.

I honestly don't know what to say about this book. I am in two minds at the moment about it. There were elements about it that I loved; the mysterious photos for example. And there were things that I despised; the lame ending and the awfully depressing writing. 

Evan is possibly one of the most depressing character that I've read about. He was a prime reason that I never usually read these sorts of realistic teen-fiction novels. I'm not sure why I decided to pick this on up - the intriguing cover might have had something to do with it. 

The eding was also kina lame, as well. I was expecting a twist, a shock, something that made me go, "Wow! I didn't see that one coming!" but unfortunately, this book didn't do that for me.

In the end, I made the choice of giving this two stars. One for the photographs, half a star for the writing, and another half a star for the idea behind the story.

Camp NaNoWriMo

There are two sessions, this year. One in June -- the other in August. To be quite honest, I can't wait! For anyone who doesn't know what Camp NaNoWriMo, or what NaNoWriMo is, it's basically a month where you write a whole novel -- or 50, 000 words. NaNoWriMo, originally held in November stands for: National Novel Writing Month. I won't go into too much detail, but you can read more about the event/s here and here!


I attempted it last last year ( Both Camp NaNoWriMo & NaNoWriMo) and failed. I blame school, ha ha. But this year -- I'm determined to actually give it a proper shot and not give up if I get behind. So far, I'm still deciding between two plots -- and I really hope that during the month that I'll actually be able to stick to it.


So, what do you think? Are you participation? Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@Kara_writes15) to probably see updates during the month of June.


It's only nine days away, so get ready everyone!


(:

Book review: Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

Synopsis (From Goodreads):

On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.

What I liked: 

-- The cover

-- The title 

-- The plot, and the mysterious edge to it.



What I didn't like: 


The pacing.I felt that this book was a little too slow for my liking. It wasn't the fact that there was a lot of description; I usually don't mind that, I just thought that the way that she wrote it was boring. There was no spark that made me go: 'Wow'!

Phrases such as, "How old are you?" ,"Seventeen." ,"How old are you really?" and, "I tried to stay away from you." and, "I never sleep." are really starting to piss me off. They are the types of lines that you read in almost every YA paranormal. Don't you think that authors would deliberately stay AWAY from those sorts of lines that are directly linked to Twilight? 


Characters. It also doesn't help that I dislikes about 95% of the characters, especially Renee. I wasn't sure what it was about her, but I thought that she was just irritating half the time. And Dante. Oh, Dante. I dislike you even more, if possible.

Will I read the next one?

I think I will—in the end I really did like the plot, so I think I might. Although I don’t think that I will buy it. 

Book review: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

2.7 / 5--

I liked it, I really did, but was a bit let down. Probably because I'd read so many glowing reveiws of it before hand (probably not a good idea in hindsight). I felt as though I was skimming a lot of it, as well. I think I'll pick up the sequel though, just to see how what happens. And another thing that bugged me -- YOU DON'T HAVE TO POINT OUT LOGAN'S MUSCLES EVERY FREAKING PARAGRAPH! OK, I GET IT, HE'S SEXY! BUT CAN WE PLEASE GET ON WITH THE STORY!?

Book review: Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber

2.5 star rating out of 5 -- 

There's a fine line between a good book, and a bad book.

And this book sits right on the line.

There were elements that I did enjoy and then there were things that I didn't. 

For some reason, I actually did like the plot, although I thought that it was undeveloped. The characters, however, I thought were not very good.

Raven: The main character of the novel was extremely annoying. I'm not quite sure what it was about her-- but I really disliked her. 

Alexander: The love interest. He was pretty bland, but I did like him more than I liked Raven.

However, they were dropping the 'love' word when they hardly knew each other. In Twilight, I understood why-- there was so much emotion. But this? Nope, no way. And that annoyed me a lot. 

Will I read the next one?

Yeah, why not?

But this time, I know that I won't be expecting much. 

A blood moon!

Wooo! I finished my third novel, and I'll set it aside for editing to do later. (:

It finished at 82, 512 words. It's pretty rough, but at least that's the first draft is done. Yes, I realise that it's about vampires, but I *tried* to make them at least a little bit unique. The key word there being 'tried'.

Any feedback is welcome!

http://www.wattpad.com/2962983-a-blood-moon-chapter-one-unforgettable

So, yeah . . . I'll blog about something soon. (:

Book review: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

3.5 / 5-- 

I really like this book -- I really did, even though I thought that this book was more predictable than the others. 

Book review: Shadowspell by Jenna Black

Yeah.

Um.

It's odd.

Not much I can 'review', to be honest.

I actually really enjoyed the first book-- it was a good insight to the story and an introduction to the characters. But this one . . . I'll be honest, here-- I skimmed throughout most of the story and not found myself missing out on much. Dana annoys me: She's snarky, sure, but I found that I couldn't exactly relate to her at all. 

The plot was odd, I thought. I'm not sure how else to describe it. 

Also, the writing was very, very basic. Simple. Nothing special. That was something that I noticed during the first one, but for some reason, I thought that the authors writing would . . . I don't know, pick up? 

Will I read the next book? I think that I will, but I know now not to expect anything special. You never know, it might surprise me.

Book review: Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

I gave this book 2.5 stars out of 5.


Why?


I didn't love it, I didn't hate it.


It was alright-- but hey, don't get me wrong-- it was enjoyable, but it didn't have that 'wow' factor that I was looking for.


The thing that really bothered me so much about this novel was the main character. I'm not sure what it is with main characters, but, sure, Dana had snark--  but that was about it that I actually liked about her. 


I didn't really much like Ethan, either. He was alright at the beginning, but throughout the novel, he began to bug me.


I haven't really got anything to say about this book although it was enjoyable to read that that I will read the next one.

Book review: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

I think it's safe to say that I was disappointed by this book. Very disappointed with it. 

Things that I liked: 

- The title, although I didn't really see much relevance to the book. 
- The cover. 
- Despite the ranting that's about to go down, it was enjoyable and considering that I actually managed to finish it, I think that's a good sign. 
- It was hardback, which meant that when I through it across the room in anger, it didn't damage it much. 


Things that I didn't like: 

- The plot: I mean, seriously? Angels are cool and all, but two new "hot" guys starting in a new school? Can't we be a LITTLE more creative here? Can't the author have slipped them in another way? WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SCHOOL? I get it, school is a big part of a teenagers life (trust me, I know) but it's just too over-used now. Also, the fact that Asher watches Skye in her sleep. It's creepy, it's disturbing, and I don't like it. It makes such a connection with Twilight, don't you think. As soon as someone even mentions that, my mind instantly goes to Twilight. Don't get me wrong, I love Twilight and I think that they are amazing books, but I don't really need to read about guys watching girls in their sleep in every YA paranormal book. It's not exactly necessary, and doesn't drive the plot in any way. That's another thing: In about 80% of the book, nothing really happened. I mean -- stuff happened, but pointless boring stuff that just made me feeling like throwing the book across the room. (I actually did, in the end I was so pissed off.) The ending felt rushed, whilst a lot of the other parts of the book dragged slowly along. 

- Characters: Devin and Asher, good boy bad boy. It kind of reminded me of Luc and Gabe (Personal Demons) except not as good. Skye. Skye was alright. I didn’t hate her, but neither could I relate to her or like her. The Aunt. (Forgot her name.) I hate it how parents (or carers, Skye’s parents are dead -- died in a car-crash (why is it always a car-crash?)) are never actually around in this. Don’t they take an interest in her life? I get that she has a demanding job or whatever, but it’s just an excuse that the author has used to not bothering to actually figure out what to do with her. 

- Setting: Yeah, cold snowy place. Whatever. 

Overall thoughts: May or may NOT pick up the sequel. Depends how desperate for books I am. 

My advice to you: Don’t read this is you’re looking for something unique and good, otherwise it will be a massive disappointment as it was to me.

Signed copy of Julie Kagawa's: "The Immortal Rules".

If you're interested, go to: http://juliekagawa.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/giveaway-immortal-rules-signed.html for more information and how to enter! Good luck!