DNF Review: Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Tayler

Goodreads Blurb

Wren MacAvoy works as a coal miner for a domed city that was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect the royal blood line of England when astronomers spotted a comet on a collision course with Earth. Humanity would be saved by the most groundbreaking technology of the time. But after nearly 200 years of life beneath the dome, society has become complacent and the coal is running out.  Plus there are those who wonder, is there life outside the dome or is the world still consumed by fire? When one of Wren's friends escapes the confines of the dome, he is burned alive and put on display as a warning to those seeking to disrupt the dome’s way of life. But Alex’s final words are haunting. “The sky is blue.”  What happens next is a whirlwind of adventure, romance, conspiracy and the struggle to stay alive in a world where nothing is as it seems. Wren unwittingly becomes a catalyst for a revolution that destroys the dome and the only way to survive might be to embrace what the entire society has feared their entire existence.

I'm doing a DNF (did not finish) review. It'll be short, since I didn't finish it actually! And while you shouldn't take this at heart, because, after all, I didn't finish the book, these are just a few reasons why I quit the book. For all you know, you may end up completely LOVING this book! 

Sadly, I didn't, no matter how much I really wanted to.

The first thing that hit me when I read the pitch was "Oh! This sounds a lot like City of Ember! Loved that, may as well read this." And I could barely get 10 pages in, honestly. I couldn't connect to the character who, while she seemed nice and selfless, was just...not there for me. 
The writing was another thing. It was written in present terms (ex: "She calls" instead of "She called") and while I usually love that, there was something that I can't quite put my finger on that made it seem awkward. Out of place. I think it was actually a bit choppy, really. And present tense, when not done properly, can get real annoying. I just couldn't...I couldn't go any further than I already was. 
Some of the worldbuilding and happenings actually confused me and I actually had to reread things several times before I realized what was actually going on. 

So, maybe I will give this another try when my TBR has lightened, maybe when I'm in a cheerful mood where I don't analyze every little detail. But the first time around, I just couldn't read this. However, I skipped to the back a bit (I do that sometimes) and it seems the writing improved then than in the beginning, but still. We'll see what happens! I may re-review this, sometime in the future! It does seem to have a lot of potential, but I'm a bit out of patience recently. 

Pages: 320
Series: Ashes Trilogy
Genre: Dystopia/Romance (I'm guessing)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: Nov 13, 2012
Rating: DNFed (Though this may change later in the future)

Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson

Goodreads Blurb

Nothing ever happens in Norway. But at least Ellie knows what to expect when she visits her grandmother: a tranquil fishing village and long, slow summer days. And maybe she’ll finally get out from under the shadow of her way-too-perfect big brother, Graham, while she’s there. 
What Ellie doesn’t anticipate is Graham’s infuriating best friend, Tuck, tagging along for the trip. Nor did she imagine boys going missing amid rumors of impossible kidnappings. Least of all does she expect something powerful and ancient to awaken in her and that strange whispers would urge Ellie to claim her place among mythological warriors. Instead of peace and quiet, there’s suddenly a lot for a girl from L.A. to handle on a summer sojourn in Norway! And when Graham vanishes, it’s up to Ellie—and the ever-sarcastic, if undeniably alluring Tuck—to uncover the truth about all the disappearances and thwart the nefarious plan behind them.
Deadly legends, hidden identities, and tentative romance swirl together in one girl’s unexpectedly-epic coming of age.

Hmmm...I've been in a mixed feelings mood (Just saying, I schedule these posts so even if I LOVED the a book in a review yesterday, that doesn't mean I wasn't in a mixed feeling mood while writing this!), and Valkyrie Rising definitely left me with mixed feelings! While I pretty much LOVED everything, the pacing in the beginning...well, it was pretty slow. And Ellie?  Sigh. Girl, (wo)man up already...

So the first half of the book was pretty slow--we spend a few pages for the introduction where we learn about the characters and their personalities, we're moved to Norway, and creepy things start happening. LOVED that, and I expected the plot to progress quickly after that. But...well, it didn't. Ellie spends about a hundred or so pages learning about being a Valkyrie, trying to defeat Astrid (a fellow Valkyrie) and failing. Ever. Damn. Time. 
And when the book did start to pick up, I was surprised to see about 200 pages had passed and I was still looking for that rising action/climax. Of course, the last hundred pages were definitely amazing and filled with action! If the entire book was like that ending, trust me, this would've been one of my rare 10 stars! 

Characters? We only really got to see two fully developed characters--Tuck and Ellie. Me? Loved the former, not so much the latter. Tuck was basically the one thing that made this book absolutely hilarious! He was just so...Tuck. He was always making fun of things, which was more endearing than annoying, trust me! He was just so fun to read about and I loved his banter with Ellie! I loved their interactions and wanted to strangle Ellie sometimes with err...what's-his-name. Kjell?
Ellie was definitely another story. Like I said, I wanted to strangle her when she was with Kjell, just for her brother's disapproval then breaking plans with Tuck for him. URGH. And then Tuck would be all...all...I don't want to talk about it. But she was also sort of naive at some parts, believing she could beat Astrid...then trusting Loki...then not believing her grandmother about the sudden disappearances, even when she'd witnessed something abnormal (and she KNOWS it) just the night before. I just...just...ugh, ugh!

But the rest? Loved. Ingrid Paulson cleverly delivers the legends of North mythology, and I loved the worldbuilding, even if we didn't get to see that much of it (although I'm betting my bookcase we'll see more in book 2!) and I loved the Valkyries, even (especially), Astrid! They were described wonderfully and they were written perfectly as how I've always imagined Valkyries to be (hey, I've loved Norse mythology since I was little!). So loved that! 

The romance? Well, I've always been a fan of those older-brother's-best-friend-is-a-jerk-turns-out-he's-super-sweet type of romances! They're just so cute and adorable to me and I want to squish them all up! It's just adorable how the guy tries to hide his feelings for the sake of the older brother--and because the main character wouldn't exactly believe the guy. ;D (LOOK. My first emoticon in a review...) SO I definitely adored this romance! And it was developed nicely, I think. There's no real surprise that he chooses now to reveal his feelings--before Kjell, no one really went after Ellie because of Graham...but now, the boy's got competition!

So all in all, I liked Valkyrie Rising pretty well, although it was pretty slow, and Ellie did get on my nerves at times! Everything else was wonderful; Romance, TUCK, World building, writing, anything but Ellie and plot...yep. DEFINITELY pick this up if you get the chance! Valkyries and Norse mythology? What's not to love?

Pages: 352
Series: Valkyrie Rising #1
Genre: Mythology/Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Rating: 3.5--->4 stars

Waiting on Wednesday

Linked by Imogen Howson

Elissa used to have it all: looks, popularity, and a bright future. But for the last three years, she’s been struggling with terrifying visions, phantom pains, and mysterious bruises that appear out of nowhere. 
Finally, she’s promised a cure: minor surgery to burn out the overactive area of her brain. But on the eve of the procedure, she discovers the shocking truth behind her hallucinations: she’s been seeing the world through another girl’s eyes. 
Elissa follows her visions, and finds a battered, broken girl on the run. A girl—Lin—who looks exactly like Elissa, down to the matching bruises. The twin sister she never knew existed. 
Now, Elissa and Lin are on the run from a government who will stop at nothing to reclaim Lin and protect the dangerous secrets she could expose—secrets that would shake the very foundation of their world. 
Riveting, thought-provoking and utterly compelling, Linked will make you question what it really means to be human.

Well here's a book that just sounds stunning. Honestly, it sounded a bit cliche at first, but the last line got me.It sounds emotional and heartbreaking. And honestly, what DOES it mean to really be human? I can't wait to read this! Though I'm a romantic through and through so...any romance in here? ;D I'll read it either way though! 

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Goodreads Blurb

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

(When I use the word mad in this review, I mean mad as in crazy. Not anger. I repeat, crazy, not anger)

Splintered is a gorgeous retelling of one of my favorite classics, Alice in Wonderland, and I'm thrilled to say, it did not disappoint!  

I can't think of one other Alice retelling (Apparently, Alice in Zombieland is less Alice and more Zombieland!), so when I heard about a debut novel that was focused on Alice in Wonderland, I was both excited and wary! Most retellings I've read haven't done the original justice, but when the Splintered cover was release? I was a goner. It was just gorgeous and has that mad look about it and fits the books so wonderfully! So I decided to let go of doubts and requested!

Thank God I did! Once I started, I was hooked! While the beginning was a little slow, once the crazy things started happening, you'll become simply mad. Splintered was, in a word, stunning. I hate it when retellings erase parts of the original story to fit their plot, pretending like that original was never written. Seeing a book that used the original as a platform? Psh, there's one star already! I loved that A.G. Howard made our main character the daughter of Alice (she is, isn't she?) to explain the craziness and curse that seems to run through her family. 

I loved the "misinterpretations" of the original Alice story! Of course they wouldn't be entirely accurate. After all, Alice was just a kid when she went back home, right? Kids wouldn't want to remember all the dark and twisted things. So the "mistakes" weren't very far fetched, one of those "passed through generations" things that's getting a bit old. That was definitely some imagination on the author's part!

And of course, A.G. Howard had to have a lot of imagination. From the White Rabbit (My mistake! I meant, RABID WHITE.) to Twiddledee and Twilldum (Or rather, Sister Two and Sister One) to the seriously creeptastic flowers. That eat aphids. And humans. And somehow, A.G. manages to make them all seem madly sane and fitting the story so perfectly. Suddenly, this classic book isn't a fictional story: it's a guide. And that? That was just MAD.

As for the love interests, I can't decide who's team I'm on? Leaning towards Morpheus, the sneaky boy who lures Alyssa to wonderland, but loving Jeb, Alyssa's real world crush. They're both such amazing guys, this is possiblythe only time I couldn't decide who's team I was on! Morpheus was just sneaky and smirky with too many dark secrets to hide, but he was just torn apart on the inside. Basically, my favorite kind of fictional guy! Jeb was just...he was just adorable. He gave up so much for Alyssa and I just wanted to cuddle him throughout the book! Except, the end. The end, I wanted to knock him over with a giant flamingo-mallet and shove Alyssa towards Morpheus. But anyways.

one of the best things about Splintered was seeing our old friends: the Cheshire Cat, the *cough* Wise Caterpillar, the Twiddle Twins, and so many more! This one definitely met my expectations and I can't wait to grab a sequel! Because I'm telling you, there had BETTER be a sequel!

Splintered was imaginative and creative and was an absolutely stunning retelling of Alice in Wonderland and a mind blowing debut. With vivid worldbuilding, gorgeously written characters, and a plot as twisted as Wonderland itself, Howard brings to life a world that already haunted our imaginations! 

Pages: 384

Series: Standalone (NOT FOR LONG I hope!)

Genre: Retelling/Fantasy/Romance

Publisher: Amulet Books

Release Date: January 1, 2013

Rating: 10/5 stars

Blog Tour: The Twisted Tragedy of miss Natalie Stewart

Goodreads Blurb

For Natalie Stewart, a normal life has never seemed so far away. Her only solace, Lord Jonathan Denbury, is wanted for murder. To clear his name, Denbury must return to England and assume the role of his demon doppelganger. But Natalie begins to doubt his true motives, especially as a new gentleman begins whispering in her ear. Natalie and Denbury may be able to visit each other in their dreams, but they can't escape the darkening shadows. Amid spontaneous explosions, friends turned enemies and dangerous secrets revealed, there's still a demon who has Natalie's scent, and someone is trying to resurrect the ultimate evil.

I'm an official fan of Gothic literature now! I absolutely adored Darker Still (borrowed from a friend who doesn't appreciate it as much apparently!) So getting on this blog tour? Definitely some exciting stuff for me! I had insanely high hopes and i'm glad to say that Twisted Tragedy (What can I say? The title is incredibly long) met them all the way!

There were plenty of engaging parts that I absolutely devoured, but there were a few boring parts where we went through a ton of unneeded description in some parts, and there were a few filler chapters I ended up skipping. But, thankfully, all together that was only about 20 pages spread across all 336 pages! 

Here's another thing--the synopsis is a bit misleading, but that in no way means that this book wasn't engaging! It makes you thing "A love triangle? Really?" But no. There was no love triangle! We meet Denbury's friend, Nathaniel Veil, and he only shows up, flirting and a possible romantic interest, for about seven pages, then he's gone. And honestly, I loved it that way. Twisted Tragedy would've been too cliche if that'd happened! And since Jonathon is the only love interest, let's talk about him a little...
Lord Denbury really is just as swoony as he was in book 1! He's just as supportive to Natalie and he's just as protective and has all the traits we look for in a YA love interest: Caring, protective, sweet, a bit of a dark side, etc. You just have to love him. Definitely one of my favorite book boyfriends!

Natalie is a great character. She's sharp and she's not one of those girls who're easily unnerved. She can figure out a lot of secrets and I loved her personality! She was a bit quirky and fun and she was definitely one of those sympathetic characters. She wasn't a strong heroine in the way that she wasn't scared by anything--she was. But she was facing a demon who had almost killed her. So she was one of those likeable characters, who didn't necessarily have to be strong to be amazing and still seem not as weak as others would be.

I loved the plot. Especially with Maggie thrown in the picture! Maggie is...deluded, we'll say, that she rescued Jonathon and that she's his. Of course, you'll find out why later, but it was just interesting to see how Maggie interacted with him and Natalie. Maggie, despite her cattiness, was definitely one of my favorite antagonists! But besides Maggie, the plot was definitely indescribable, really. It had twists, it had so many secrets just waiting to be revealed, and then of course, the demon. Natalie is waking up from premonition-dreams and she has runes carved onto her skin while dreaming. Creepy, no? Just goes to show how wonderfully creepy a book can be!

Overall, The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart was engaging and was the perfect sequel to Darker Still, one of my favorite books of 2011. It was new, demonic, and full of things you never expect! Read it, enjoy it, then come back here and tell me how much you loved it! I promise I'll squee with you! And trust me. You will squee.

Pages: 336
Series: Magic Most Foul #2
Genre: Gothic Literature/Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: Nov 1, 2012
Rating: 4 stars

Author Bio
Author, actress and playwright Leanna Renee Hieber grew up in rural Ohio inventing ghost stories. She graduated with a BFA in Theatre and a focus in the Victorian Era from Miami University. She began her theatrical career with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and began adapting works of 19th Century literature for the stage. Her one-act plays such asFavorite Lady have been published, awarded and produced around the country. Her novella Dark Nest won the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in the genre of Futuristic, Fantasy, or Paranormal Romance. 

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Book Haul + Weekly Recap

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WOOT! I haven't posted in forever. The other posts were scheduled. They don't count. But I'm back! Anyways let's get on with this 2 week haul! I actually didn't get much this week, tons of stuff last week! Also, I'm back with the pictures. Honestly, linking is way harder.

Bought

Publisher

ARCycling

Amazon. Whenever I buy one book from Amazon, it turns out to be a package of over 5! But I'm glad I bought...most of these. I finished Days, Mark of Athena, Angelfall, and I've already read Graceling! I loved all of them and I'm so glad I bought them! As for Graceling, they had a 50% off Black Friday sale on it. I couldn't resist! I'm reading Soul Screamers Vol. 2!!! I have no idea why it took so long for me to start this series! And I DNFed Heaven. I could not STAND Beth. I wanted to bitch slap her for all the 30 pages I read.
YES. I DID GET MY FIRST EVER REQUESTED PENGUIN ARCS.Although I'm pretty sure it was a fluke. Penguin's been sending me all sorts of Adult ARCs and I think that with all the sending outs of the two titles that they wound up on my doorstep...hmmm...BUT IM  NOT COMPLAINING! I read both in a night, loved them, and they currently reside on my favorite shelf. Especially Just One Day! Oh, the FEELINGS. I've already read Tempest, but I love the gorgeous paperback! Though who knows? Giveaway soon? Same goes for Lullaby--I got two copies!
This. Is. Why. I. LOVE. ARCycling!

WEEKLY RECAP
The Gush
Renegade by J.A. Souders
Waiting on Wednesday
Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes