ARC Review ⋯ Shadow and Bone

Title: Shadow and Bone
Series: The Grisha ⋯ Book 1
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Pages: 358
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Stars: ★★★★★


Summary: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. 

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. 

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.


Review: Absolutely loved! I loved how conflicted Alina was about everything, like her feelings about her powers and her feelings about Mal. I loved the ending, how it felt like an ending, but still left a lot to be resolved in the next books. I cannot WAIT for the next book.


I was in no way paid for this review. I won this free ARC in a giveaway I entered in.


NOTE: The number of pages is based on my ARC copy.

Book Review ⋯ Grave Mercy

Title: Grave Mercy
Series: His Fair Assassin ⋯ Book 1
Author: Robin LaFevers
Pages: 549
Stars: ★★★★★


Summary: Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? 

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. 

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?


Review: I absolutely loved it! It was so amazing! I loved how detailed everything was, from whatever Ismae's surroundings were to all of her thoughts. And thanks to Nightshade and The Mortal Instruments, I knew what most of the weapons were :).

A very short review, but I will say that ALL OF THE PEOPLE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK and Nun Assassins FTW!

Book Review ⋯ Torn

Title: Torn
Series: Trylle ⋯ Book 2
Author: Amanda Hocking
Pages: 324
Stars: ★★★★★

Summary: When Wendy Everly first discovers the truth about herself--that she's a changeling switched at birth--she knows her life will never be the same. Now she's about to learn that there's more to the story... She shares a closer connection to her Vittra rivals than she ever imagined--and they'll stop at nothing to lure her to their side. 

With the threat of war looming, her only hope of saving the Trylle is to marry a powerful royal. But that means walking away from Finn, her handsome bodyguard who's strictly off limits...and Loki, a Vittra prince with whom she shares a growing attraction. 

Torn between her heart and her people, between love and duty, Wendy must decide her fate. If she makes the wrong choice, she could lose everything, and everybody, she's ever wanted...in both worlds.

Review: I absolutely loved this book!! I was in a bit of a reading slump so it took me awhile to get into it, but once I did I couldn't put it down. I think it was just as good as the first book, Switched, though in a different way. In Switched, Wendy found out that she was a Trylle Princess and was being pursued fervently by the Vittra. Wendy discovered that there were a lot of secrets being kept from her and, in Switched, she only found partial answers to very few of the questions she asked. Torn sheds light on a lot of the vague answers Elora gave in Switched, and while the Vittra do try to get Wendy, a lot of the book is Wendy discovering that the Trylle need her, and that she must do her duty to save her people. It was nice to see Wendy realize what she must do, and think of things other than what she wanted. Not that she was selfish before, because she wasn't, but in lieu of what came to light throughout Torn, her previous actions and attitude now seem a little self-centered. 

As expected, the book was well written and the story moved along at a good pace, though at times it would jump forward with no warning and that bothered me a little. I loved the ending to the book. It was a good ending, one that wrapped up the book nicely, and one that I might have expected at the end of a series. Though it wrapped up well, it was still a cliffhanger, and I liked how the author combined the two. I cannot wait for the final Trylle book, Ascend.

The short story that came in the back, One Day: Three Ways, was really good, too. It told of later that day (the day that the book ends) from three different perspectives—Finn, Tove, and Loki. I liked reading from Finn, Tove, and Loki's point-of-views and I liked that it let you see what each of them really feels for Wendy.

My review of Switched: [here]

In My Mailbox {Week 4}

Title: Switched
Series: Trylle ⋯ Book 1
Author: Amanda Hocking
Pages: 293
Format: Advanced Readers' Edition
Release Date: January 3, 2012


Summary: When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

I received this book Tuesday, and I have already finished it. I loved it, and will be posting a full review soon.

Title: Ciudad de hueso (City of Bones)
Series: Cazadores De Sombras (The Mortal Instruments) ⋯ Book 1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 505
Format: Paperback


Summary: En el Pandemonium, la discoteca de moda de Nueva York, Clary sigue a un atractivo chico de pelo azul hasta que presencia su muerte a manos de tres jóvenes cubiertos de extraños tatuajes. Desde esa noche, su destino se une al de esos tres cazadores de sombras, guerreros dedicados a liberar a la tierra de demonios y, sobre todo, al de Jace, un chico con aspecto de ángel y tendencia a actuar como un idiota. (When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.*) 

I ordered this because I'm learning Spanish and figured reading my favorite book in Spanish might help. My review of City of Bones is here. *This is the English summary, not a translation of the Spanish summary.

Title: Magic in the Mirrorstone: Tales of Fantasy

Series: Anthology

Editor: Steve Berman

Pages: 295

Format: Hardcover

Summary: In this anthology for teen readers, fifteen best-selling and acclaimed authors--including Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci, Cassandra Clare, Eugie Foster, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and Gregory Frost--weave all-new stories filled with magic. Comic and dark, epic and entertaining, these stories will introduce readers to the new voices of Mirrorstone beside the treasured favorites of Young Adult fantasy.

Ordered this because I ordered So Fey last week, and was looking through Steve Berman's other works.

Title: The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm
Series: Anthology
Editors: Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
Pages: 528
Format: Paperback


Summary: Faeries, or creatures like them, can be found in almost every culture the world over—benevolent and terrifying, charming and exasperating, shifting shape from country to country, story to story, and moment to moment. In The Faery Reel, acclaimed anthologists Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling have asked some of today’s finest writers of fantastic fiction for short stories and poems that draw on the great wealth of world faery lore and classic faery literature. This companion to the World Fantasy Award–winner and Locus bestseller The Green Man is edgy, provocative, and thoroughly magical. Like the faeries themselves.

Ordered this because I read Teeth: Vampire Tales, which was also edited by Ellen & Terri.


I also picked up Fury by Elizabeth Miles and Crossed by Ally Condie from Barnes & Noble over Black Friday, but they didn't come in the mail, so I decided not to included them fully in this post.

Book Review ⋯ Fahrenheit 541

So, this isn't exactly paranormal YA, but it's the first review I've written in a while.
Title: Fahrenheit 451
Series: None
Author: Ray Bradbury
Pages: 147
Stars: ★★★★


Summary: The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. 

Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do...

Review: This book was good. The writing style and wording was something that I had to get used to, and there were only 3 'chapters', so I had to find times when I could read for while without being interrupted. One thing that bugged me was how Montag's thoughts were written, he seemed to repeat himself a lot, and he also seemed to shout at himself a lot, which while he was on the run didn't seem very smart. I did like the ending though, the book felt finished.