TheBooky

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.

But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she’s supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she’s been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.

Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?

Summary from Goodreads!

Blood doesn’t lie…

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she’s still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill’s guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning…

Summary from Goodreads!

This also be a review!

The Farming of Bones begins in 1937 in a village on the Dominican side of the river that separates the country from Haiti. Amabelle Desir, Haitian-born and a faithful maidservant to the Dominican family that took her in when she was orphaned, and her lover Sebastien, an itinerant sugarcane cutter, decide they will marry and return to Haiti at the end of the cane season. However, hostilities toward Haitian laborers find a vitriolic spokesman in the ultra-nationalist Generalissimo Trujillo who calls for an ethnic cleansing of his Spanish-speaking country. As rumors of Haitian persecution become fact, as anxiety turns to terror, Amabelle and Sebastien’s dreams are leveled to the most basic human desire: to endure. Based on a little-known historical event, this extraordinarily moving novel memorializes the forgotten victims of nationalist madness and the deeply felt passion and grief of its survivors

Summary from goodreads!

I’m basically going to tell you to go read it. If you wanna know more then

This be a review.

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance. But Rory’s brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she’s become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city’s secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it’s too late.

In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson adds another layer of spectacularly gruesome details to the streets of London that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Summary from Goodreads

This review will be spoiler free.

Perfect Scoundrels is the third book in Ally Carter’s Heist Society series, and, I gotta tell ya, it’s the best yet. That’s not to say that the preceding two books weren’t amazing as well, cause they were—I’m just saying that Carter has indeed outdone herself with this one. 

Here’s the info:

Hardcover, 328 pages

Published February 5th 2013 by Hyperion Books for Childre

Here’s the summary: 

Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it’s that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting—or stealing—whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale’s family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother’s billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there’s no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won’t let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother’s will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company’s fortune. So instead of being the heir—this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she’s willing to save her boyfriend’s company if it means losing the boy.

From Goodreads

Read on for my review :) 

THEY SAY that the cure for Love will make me happy and safeforever. And I’ve always believed them. Until now.

Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected
with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

From Goodreads

tbplteenzone:

Now this was fun. Might be a slightly sick word choice for a book about global destruction, widespread natural disasters, and a mind-altering chemical leak, but… it was! Fast-paced with quick, action packed chapters. Enough detail to differentiate the characters, but not bogged down with unnecessary personality sketches - this story is about plot, not characterization, and knows it. Realistic and understandable decisions, logical conclusions, and even the occasional irrational freakout from formerly level-headed characters to just keep things authentic. Some GoodRead reviewers complained about the flat characters - like I said, I think they serve the plot-focus well. Some complained about the ‘teen drama’ - well, yes, there probably WILL be drama anytime a group of people are cooped up with each other in a confined space for a period of time. Is anyone calling Lord of the Flies teen drama? No. (Not that this is a new classic on the level of LotF, but I’m saying it also has its share of melodrama and exaggerated emotions/responses). And the last 50-100 pages will have you wishing the next book was out already.

Onto the next from my Lord of the Flies-esque booklist: The Way We Fall.

-Laura

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

MUST LOOK THIS UP. MUST. 

Summary, then review. ^.^ 

It’s been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot’s estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret—one that could change their society … or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she’s lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” “For Darkness Shows the Stars” is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Summary from Goodreads

DISCLAIMER: I love Jane Austen, okay? I’m pretty biased when it comes to things like this.

ALSO: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS 

They’re not major spoilers, though. Read at your own risk.

Actually, can you spoil a remake of Persuasion? I mean, who hasn’t read Persuasion? If you haven’t DO SO BEFORE YOU READ THIS/THIS BOOK. OK?

Stuff I liked:

• I thought it was a really fun take on Persuasion, really, to throw these characters in this dystopian world. It just made it so fun to read, and I liked that I was able to re-read one of my favorite stories in a completely different way. Also, it’s not like Peterfreund just kind of threw these characters in this world and said, “fuck it, let’s forget about it.” No, this woman actually interwove the world and it’s rules with everything. So, the world these characters are in causes a lot of the misfortunes and heartbreak. 
• The pacing was good. I wasn’t bored at all. I mean, I did stay up all night reading this book. I was really frustrated at times because I’m just naturally an impatient person, no matter what book it is that I’m reading. I just really wanted to get to the scenes between Elliot and Kai…
• Elliot and Kai! They gave me the same feels that Frederick and Anne gave me, which made me happy! I was miserable but being miserable made me happy (woah, I wonder what would happen if I let a psychologist get their hands on my brain). Plus, I just liked them both as characters. They don’t resemble Frederick and Anne too much, and I think that it’s because their situations were pretty different (dystopia and all…) but I was able to enjoy them as characters none the less. 
• The addition of characters was great. I really liked some of the new characters, like Andromeda, Felicia, Dee and Ro. I also didn’t mind that certain characters were gone. For instance, Mary is cut out entirely (yay), and Henrietta and Louisa were effectively morphed into one character called Olivia.
• The letters between Kai and Elliot were a really nice touch. These letters showed us how Kai and Elliot interacted, and what their relationship had been like when they were little (all the way until they fell in love). I’m a really mushy, sucker-for-love-stories, so that’s probably why I liked this so much.

Stuff I didn’t like/was ‘eh’ about:

• Since this book has the added dystopian element, there’s generally more conflict regarding the caste system that Peterfreund sets up. Toward the end of the book, around page 332 (out of 402), the shit hits the fan. Like, hard. So, with the conflict that’d been set up I expected some sort of struggle and then a happy resolution. I kept reading, trying to figure out how everything was going to be fixed…and then, it was. Like magic. Kind of like…you know when you tie a knot in something, and you make it really difficult to undo just because you feel like it, and you think that there’s no way someone can undo it with one tug? Well, Peterfreund does. And poof! Presto the happy ending. 
• Ha. Did you like my metaphor? Sorry, I’m a little loopy. I stayed up until four in the morning reading this thing. 
• Second thing I didn’t love? Well, there’s the whole thing of Wentworth’s name being changed to Wentforth. Okay, I’m sure that Peterfreund had fun with her cute little pun, but seriously? Really? That’s what you’re going with? Whatever, I’m just going to let it slide. 
• Third: THE LETTER. If you’ve read Persuasion, then you know about the letter. It makes me cry, every time (too many feels, you see). Anyway, I understand that I am biased and that, in my eyes, nothing will ever compare to Wentworth’s letter. (No, I’m not a Darcy girl.Yes, I’m a Wentworth girl. Sorry!) While Peterfreund does her best with the letter, it’s just not good enough. Still, I can let that slide, because I’ll always have the original and this is just an adaptation (or it’s inspired by Persuasion).

Kai whirled around and his face was sadowed by the angle of the sun. Still, she knew his tone. Anger. “What’s so funny? That our project has been set back several says? That we’re stuck here longer? That you take a little spill from a horse and everyone wants to rearrange the world so you don’t suffer a moment of inconvenience?”

“No,” she said, and her voice was even. “That I would wait a month in agony just to hear you insult me. I’m a miserable girl indeed, don’t you think?”

-Peterfreund, pg 125

And because one isn’t enough:

“I want to take their money and let them build their ship and get off my land. That’s all I want.”

“Good to know,” said a voice above her head.

Elliot and Dee looked up, and there, shadowed against the light from the swinging sun-lamps, stood Kai.

-Peterfreund, pg 151. 

My review for Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. 

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.

Summary from Goodreads.

This book is the first of a trilogy. Here’s what I thought:

• Alina is such a great character! She’s funny and interesting. I really liked the journey, both figurative and literal, that Bardugo sets up for her. She’s a smart, self-reliant chick, and even though she doesn’t feel special, she is. However, just because she’s special doesn’t mean she wasn’t relatable. The readers feel for Alina, and root for her (which can be quite fun).
• My roommate actually made a good point,when I spoke to her about this book, in saying that she sort of wished Alina would end up on her own…as in, ditch the love story! At least, that’s sort of how I took it. I did like Mal and the Darkling. It’s just that, to read about Alina on her own was much more satisfying.
• The opposition of this book, though predictable, was nevertheless enjoyable. I swear, the villain made me question my morals (which in turn amused me). All the same, at least there’s no bad guy speech. At least, not that I remember.
• This book is a really fast read, with only 358 pages. It is the first in a trilogy (I think it’s a trilogy, anyway) and so the ending is kind of cliffy. I didn’t mind though, because it’s not a torturous cliffhanger. It’s just one of those, “hey, wait for book two, okay? Cause there’s more.” 
• The story is set in Ravka. It’s a really cool setting that we (my roommate and I) could only describe as a Russian semi-steampunk fantasy place. 
• We also decided that we’d read the next two books, because the first was actually pretty good. I couldn’t believe that this was Bardugo’s first published book. 

So, basically, I recommend this book! :D

Review of The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan!

NO SPOILERS.

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she’s about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo’s fantastical creation doesn’t appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that’s only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close— the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth’s biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he’s now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare… .

In The Son of Neptune, Percy, Hazel, and Frank met in Camp Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Camp Halfblood, and traveled to the land beyond the gods to complete a dangerous quest. The third book in the Heroes of Olympus series will unite them with Jason, Piper, and Leo. But they number only six—who will complete the Prophecy of Seven? 


The Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land to find the Doors of Death. What exactly are the Doors of Death? Much of the prophesy remains a mystery… . With old friends and new friends joining forces, a marvelous ship, fearsome foes, and an exotic setting, The Mark of Athena promises to be another unforgettable adventure by master storyteller Rick Riordan.

Summary from Goodreads

 Hardcover, 608 pages

Review? Can you really review such a classic? 

Originally titled The Saddest Story and heralded by Graham Greene as one of the finest novels of our century, Ford ‘s 1915 tale of passion and deceit in the lives of two married couples is a modernist masterpiece. The Norton Critical Edition of The Good Soldier allows the reader to thoroughly study Ford ‘s great work and unravel its mysteries and meanings. This Second Edition is again based on the meticulously edited first text of the novel and offers detailed annotation, a note on the text, and sections on textual variants and manuscript development along with pertinent illustrations. “Backgrounds and Contexts” brings together important appraisals of the work directly following its publication. Reactions from Rebecca West and Theodore Dreiser are included among the reviews. The section also collects critiques on literary impressionism, including one by Ford, and related writings by Henry James and by frequent Ford collaborator Joseph Conrad, among others. “Biographical and Critical Commentary” collects differing assessments of The Good Soldier. Contributions from Richard Aldington, Samuel Hynes, John A. Meixner, Frank Kermode, Carol Jacobs, Thomas C. Moser, Ann Barr Snitow, and Vincent J. Cheng are joined by new selections from Colm Toibin, John G. Peters, Max Saunders, Karen A. Hoffman, and Julian Barnes. A Selected Bibliography is also included.

From Goodreads

Let me just start of by saying that I read this book for one of my Brit Lit classes. So, I had no choice but to finish it (because a Sparknotes-based knowledge would’ve done no good for the quizzes or essays). 

However, I think I would’ve finished it anyway. (Although my friend she wouldn’t have, so there you go.)

I loved:

• The really twisted, fucked up characters.

I just loved their miserable lives. They’re all so twisted and at times pathetic…and, at different points in the book, you get to feel sympathetic toward the characters while at others you hate them. They were all so believable and, at a psychological level, fascinating. They’re complex and flawed, like real people. 

This story isn’t plot driven (and according to my professor, none of the modernist novels are), so the focus is more on the characters and how the story is told than anything else. That being said, there’s a fair bit of drama going on. Plus, I bet upon a second or third reading, the reader can “unravel” further “mysteries” within the book. I mean, there’s SO much going on that it keeps readers thinking, even after you’re done reading.

“I know nothing - nothing in the world - of the hearts of men. I only know that I am alone - horribly alone.” 
― Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier

• The narrative style. 

It’s not chronological (like I said, the focus isn’t plot so you’ll find out things that in a normal novel happen at the end pretty early on, and that perhaps you didn’t want to know right away because they would’ve been your incentive for reading…).

It’s told in a rambling sort of way. Like the main character says: it’s his aim to tell the story as if he were verbally recounting it to a friendly soul on a quiet evening (Or something to that effect). So, the author really makes you work for it, but at the end, I felt I truly enjoyed the story. 

If you accept the fact that you’re going to be confused and perhaps frustrated, then the book really becomes enjoyable.

For me, this  book brought up a lot of questions about reality. So, what is reality?  And the book actually doesn’t provide an answer. It just creates more questions. Granted, this may be frustrating for some…still, I’d give this book a try if I were you. ^.^

“If for nine years I have possessed a goodly apple that is rotten at the core and discover its rottenness only in nine years and six months less four days, isn’t it true to say that for nine years I possessed a goodly apple?” 
― Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier

saveoriginalthinking:

Today’s book review is for the really cute and fun Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer. If you liked Anna and the French Kiss…you’ll probably like this one as well.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

URL: http://www.tickettoanywhere.net/2012/07/review-smart-girls-get-what-they-want.html

savvyreadsbooks:

I read the book in about three full days (and I know I haven’t got to writing in the past week. I can’t lie. I haven’t been busy, just overwhelmed with the thought of finding an apartment). I read the book in three full days and then proceeded to watch the movie. As most books turned into…

ericareads:

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Building on a story that everyone already knows and many love can be a risky move. But Madeline Miller does exactly that in her debut novel The Song of Achilles, writing a story that surrounds the epic of Greek mythology, The Iliad. Miller does not…

bookcorner:

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:”A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are…

(Source: inthebookcorner)