Book Review- XVI

( From Goodreads) Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world-even the most predatory of men-that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. 


That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past-one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.


This is probably a book I would have never have picked up considering what it's themes are. But even though it sounds like something that could be bad to read for a Christian, it's actually a pretty good book. 


Living in a world where everything is about sex and looking good, Nina Oberon is one of the only people who disagree. Being raised by a mother who believes that her daughter deserves more, Nina realizes that there is more to life than boys and doing "it". 


This book tackles some strong issues I think, and I think that the author was brave to write a book dealing with sensitive issues. The book deals with murder, sex, abuse, and other things. It's about standing up for what you believe even if the world says you're wrong. About being strong even when the world around you seems to crumble and how bad things can lead to good. And about no matter how hard things get, it'll get easier in the end. And how you shouldn't believe everything you're told. Anyways, that's the message I got out of it at least. 


But besides that, I thought that most of the characters were good. I didn't like Sal very much, there was something about him I just didn't like. I also thought that her relationship with him was strange. Like sometimes she'd be in love with him and other times she wouldn't. I didn't like her friend Sandy at all. Sandy was too superficial and self-centered to be a real friend. She didn't really seem to care about Nina at all. Especially after her mom died. And even after Nina repeatedly told her to stay away from Ed, she didn't. So in the end, I was sad about what happened to her but in a way I kinda thought that she deserved it. 


I liked her grandparents. They were funny and amusing. Plus they were cute at times. I'm not really sure what I think about Dee. She seemed much younger than eleven at times. And Ed. I hated him. He was evil. As for Nina, I think she was a pretty good character to related to. Although at times she annoyed me. But I liked how she stuck to her morals even if no one else did. She cared very much about all of her friends and stuck by them even when they didn't really stand by her. 


As for the plot I wasn't super thrilled by it. I enjoyed how Nina had to try and prove that Ed killed her mom and where her dad was or if he was even alive at all. I loved the twists that I wasn't expecting too. The only problem that I have is that I think Nina constantly trying to get Ed to leave them alone was over done and that it took up too much of the plot. While Ed is certainly the villian in this story, I would have liked to have seen Nina look for her father more. 


And the very end annoyed me. I thought it was really sweet that she finally got to hear her father, but if she's never heard him speak before, than how did she know it was him speaking over the phone?


On Goodreads: XVI
Her Website: Julia Karr

So, have you ever read a book that dealt with strong/sensitive issues? Did the book bother you at all or do you think it handled that subjects well? Did you disagree or agree with the book? And have you ever picked out some themes or lessons from a story? And did those lessons affect you at all?

Sincerely,
Peony

Book Review- Pucker

(From Goodreads) Thomas Quicksilver, known to his classmates as "Pucker," has always been an outsider. His crazy mother, the secret of his family's strange origins, and above all, the terrible scars on his face from a childhood fire these things have kept Thomas isolated and lonely. But now, at seventeen, Thomas is suddenly given the chance to change all that.To be magically healed, even beautiful; to have girls throwing themselves at him.To fit in. The question is, what is he willing to sacrifice? His home? His personality? His mother s life? 

The story itself is quite odd in my opinion. Thomas comes from  a paraell universe where certain people have an extra skin- called a seer skin- that lets them see into the future. In the story, there was a gaint war over this and eventually the seers were forced to read everyone's future every morning. But Thomas parents are both seers and he isn't. When his parents rebel, his father is killed, Thomas's face is badly burned, and his mother is stripped of her seer skin.

And so she and Thomas both flee to earth where Thomas's mother works as a future teller. She also happens to be bed ridden because if she leaves her room, she is assulted by futures of basically every living thing that passes by their apartment. While his mother does this for a job, Thomas must survive in school where he is nicknamed "Pucker" because of his scars. 

His mother tells him early on in the story that he must return to their homeland and get her seerskin. Without it she shall die. At first Thomas doesn't want to go but he does and goes there as a Changed. The Changed are basically human slaves who have been changed back into beautiful people in return for their service for the rest of their lives.

While there he meets some people and turns out to be this good looking guy. Thomas also turns out to be a jerk and lets his looks go to his head. And eventually he saves his mother and falls in love.

Now, while the story was good, I thought that the writing was jerky and it didn't seem to flow at all for me. I thought that Pucker would say random stuff at times when it wasn't needed or things weren't clear enough. For example, he spent two pages talking about some girl's white pants, only for that the end of the chapter to say that she was going to have her period. Well why didn't you say that in the first place? There were some other examples too and it made me almost stop reading into the first hundred pages.

While the other world is interesting, I didn't like Dash at all. Actually for some reason, I felt confused about Dash and how he treated Pucker most of the time. Was he trying to be nice most of the time or wasn't he? He...just confused me. And the love interest girl also confused me. As did how the Changed society worked. Mostly, I stopped reading the book because I got really confused and I didn't like the protagonist at all.

The other characters were very good either. The only thing I liked about the book was the plot itself and how eventually Thomas learns that looks isn't everything.

Would I recommend it? Probably not.

On Goodreads: Pucker

Sincerely,
Peony

Book Review- Cold Stone Seduction

Title: Cold Stone Seduction
Release Date: 09/05/2011
Source: Netgallery
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Author: Jess Macallan

(Book pitch from Netgallery) When a regular night of Robin Hood-ery results in the manifestation of some, um, unusual paranormal abilities, perfume-maker Elleodora Fredricks realizes the normal world she lives in isn’t quite… normal. And neither is she, thanks to her father, king of the shadow elves. Not only is he evil incarnate and the reason Elle moonlights as a burglar—someone has to take care of all his victims—he’s stolen her memories.

And only reading her fate can fix that.

Good thing she’s got a trio of hotties willing to help her find said fate, but only if she gives them something in return. Saving her oracle BFF’s fiance, falling in love with the gargoyle, and making up for breaking the phoenix’s heart ought to be a piece of cake for the princess of the shadow elves.

If only the king didn’t want his daughter dead…

So I guess this is one of those things I've seen on other blogs where the post title is usually something like In My Mailbox. But I'm just gonna call it a review as I would do with normal books. I have signed up with a website called Netgallery where you can request to read and review books before they are out. And because I'm suppose to get the review for the books out before they're actually published, I'm going to post my reviews for these requested books first before I get to my regular books. Anyways....

So the title is kinda sketch I know, but it's an adult book. Yes, I, a teenager, read adult books. One of the reasons I picked up this book was that it's fantasy and has elves and the like in it. I'm interested in pretty much anything that has elves in it. 

Writing: I enjoyed the writing style in this book. I thought it was good and I saw a few words here and there I had to look up because I wasn't sure what they meant. The story's PoV is in first person, present tense, which I enjoy reading. I have seen a lot of books in first person but not a lot of them are in present tense. I also thought that Macallan keeps up the tense well throughout the rest of the book. 

Plot: While romance is certainly a strong theme in this book, as is the much overused love triangle, I enjoyed that Macallan didn't make it the center of the book. I enjoyed following Elle in her quest to retrieve her fate. I thought that there was enough tension and a sense of urgency to keep me reading and guessing. There were bits of mystery in this story that made it exciting. And the plot twists were great too, I never saw most of them coming. 

Characters: I thought that all of the characters were very good. Elle was a character that I think people can relate to and she was interesting. Although she was good as the Main Character, I thought that she could be too stubborn and she didn't really ever trust anyone (although she has good reason not too). Jax was an interesting character, but I thought that he was way overprotective. Sometimes it was annoying and kinda creepy. 


MacLean I thought was sweet. I felt bad for him when he realized that Elle doesn't remember him at all. Although as we go through the story, we see her slowly remembering who he is. As for Elle's father and Luke, I hated them. They were evil characters just as Elle said so. Macallan certainly did a good job portraying them as evil. I thought that her best friend, Teryl, was a good friend too. He was kinda funny and interesting. 

What I liked: I enjoyed the creativity in this book. I was happy to not only find out that there was no vampire and werewolves in this novel, but I also enjoyed Macallan's take on gargoyles and phoenixes. This is one of those moments were I think "why didn't I think of that!". While I'm sure I've seen gargoyles in humanoid forms before, I've certainly never come across phoenixes in human shape before. So I thought it was cool that Elle could "shift" both. And how gargoyles were bound to serve shadow elves and phoenixes were bound to serve light elves. I thought that the world building in this story was very good as was the mythology and lore put into it. I also loved the powers that Elle developed.


What I didn't like: As I said before, this is an adult novel so it has some..adult parts in it. And lets just say I skipped over them because I really didn't want to read those parts. That being said, I thought that Elle's relationship with Jax (cool name by the way) was too soon. I've seen this in other novels where the character has met a love interest and suddenly they're in love. I mean, how realistic is that? 


I think Elle's relationship with Jax was based more on lust and desire than it was on love. I think that her relationship with MacLean is based more on love even though she doesn't really remember him. And the whole part about Jax being made for her I think is complete rubbish even though his fate says so. It just bugged me. Elle has only known him for two months and all of the sudden they're in love and crap. 


Overall: I really liked this book and I thought it was good! I'd recommend it for it's certainly very nicely done. The only real problem I had with it was the relationship between Elle and Jax. 

On Goodreads: Stone Cold Seduction

So, have you ever done anything like Netgallery? If you're a teenager, how do you feel about reading adult books?

Sincerely,

Peony

Book Review- Wings

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

I've seen this book for a while and I've heard lots about it. I saw an interview of Aprilynne Pike on Inkpop and I saw that she said her Faeries were different from other ones. She said that she thought that she was the only one to make Faeries into pure plants. Well I remember thinking that she was wrong because I made Faeries like that in one of my own books...only they are not fully plants like hers. 

What I liked: I loved her idea of Faeries and how they are pure plant like creatures. While the idea is kinda orginal, I've seen it in other books but it just wasn't as explained as this book. You could tell that she did her research and I thought that was really cool. 

All the characters were very good, although at times David seemed the Mr. Perfect we've seen one too many times. And sometimes Laurel seemed like she wasn't a girl who could take care of herself. I found myself partly crying when we found out that Laurel's dad may not make it and when her mom was about to sell their old house. But then I was really glad when that Jamison guy came and gave her stuff to help her out. The only part I didn't like that him was that I have no idea who he actually is! He seems like he must be some kind of gate keeper to me.

I thought that while I like Tamani (his name is cool too) was cute and stuff, I thought it was kinda creepy the way he likes her. It seems to me that he's more of a stalker-ish guy who doesn't really like her for who she is but just wants her body or whatever. David was cute, I really hope Laurel ends up with David. 

The plot was good, I enjoyed how Laurel knew that there wasn't something right about the guy who wanted to buy their old house and how in the end she kinda helped fight then trolls off. I hope that in the next couple of books we'll see more of Avalon or whatever it was called and I hope that we learn even more about faeries. 

One of the things about this book that I didn't like was that I thought that the book took a while to get to the action and that it started out really slowly.  Overall I really liked this book and I hope to read the next two books. Hopefully, they will be even more exciting. 

So have you ever read a book where the author took a different look at something that's been done lots of times before? Did you like it or not?

Sincerely,

Peony

Book Review- The Last Days

Strange things are happening: old friends disappearing, angels (or devils) clambering on the fire escapes of New York City. But for Pearl, Moz, and Zahler, all that matters is the band. As the city reels under a mysterious epidemic, the three combine their talents with a vampire lead singer and a drummer whose fractured mind can glimpse the coming darkness. Will their music stave off the end? Or summon it?

Set against the gritty apocalypse that began in Peeps, The Last Days is about five teenagers who find themselves creating the soundtrack for the end of the world.

In the next book after Peeps, we meet five kids who want to start a band. Pearl and Moz meet when they save a rare guitar and then Moz introduces her to his best friend. The two boys have been playing guitars together for six years and considered themselves a too person band.

Pearl then brings her friend, Minerva, to their band practices as the singer. Min has been getting over the sickness that turns you into a vampire. That's one of the things I liked about this book, while they turn into vampires through getting bitten, I enjoyed this book partly because vampires isn't actually said. Plus they still eat people, hate light, love meat, and are pretty much normal vampires. They don't sparkle.

I thought that all of the characters were relateable to in somehow shape and form. Plus since this was written in first person and there was five different point of views, I thought that Mr. Westerfeld did a very good job keeping them straight and moving the story along. I loved learning about the characters and seeing the sickness that was affecting New York through many different eyes. Minerva was probably my favorite character. 

While I didn't think much happened in this book, it was still interesting to see how Moz and his new friends turned into vampires and into a great band. I loved the way the music was described when the played and how everything went good. I loved the part where they were trying to come up with a name for their band and how Minerva talked to her cat and how the cat acted. 

My favorite part was probably when the characters from the last book, Peeps, appeared. I was happy to see them show up and explain to Moz's band what was happening. Plus I love how vampires are good things in these stories rather than dark evil creatures. 

Overall, it was a good book although at times it was boring, so more could have happened. Some of the characters were funny and amusing and so I enjoyed the book. Would I recommend it? Maybe, if you like this kind of stuff.

On Goodreads: The Last Days
Website: Scott Westerfeld

So, have you ever read a book that take a new meaning or look at an old species or an idea? Did you like this new apporch or not? 

Sincerely,

Peony

Book Review- White Cat

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

First of all, the concept was really cool. And I love Cassel's name, it's epic. Cassel Sharpe lives in a world where a simple touch can be life or death, love or hate, good or bad. He lives in a world where people with magic are called workers. Workers are shunned by the normal people because they think that workers are bad people. Because curse work is illegal most of the workers have ended up working as mobsters or con artists. They also work for large crime families or other workers.

I thought that Cassel was a good character. I think that he is a character that some of us at least can relate to. Why? Well Cassel happens to not only be an outsider at his school since few people are related to workers, but he is also an outsider in his own family since he can't do magic. One of the traits I liked about him was his strong sense of family ties since I believe that family is very important. 

All the characters were very good too. From Cassel's brothers, his friends, family, and other people. They were all believable and cool. I loved his friends, they amused me. As did his grandpa. And I love how he turns out in the end, go grandpa! 

And the plot was amazing. As the story progresses Cassel figures out that his memories have been tampered with. So as you read, you're never really sure what's real and what isn't until the very end. I enjoyed how Holly Black explores the idea of memories and how they affect you. Like, if your memories change, does that change you? Can changing someone's memories make them a better or worse person? 

The other concept I thought was cool was the concept of curses or magic in this book. There are many different types of curses, good and bad, ones that can give you luck and protect you from other curses, to ones that can erase your memories. And according to the story, we find out with every time you curse someone, you get a blowback or something happens to you. Kinda like a check and balance. So say if you erase some one's memory, than a part of yours is gone too. Or like with Cassel's grandpa, he's a death workers which means he can kill people by touching them, so for every time he curses someone, he loses parts of his fingers. Eventually he's left with just stubs where his fingers used to be. 

Of the things I didn't like, I found some misspellings (although one of them I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not) and things got confusing for me at times that I had to reread something. I had problems following the story line and figuring out how a con worked. But other than that, I really loved this book! 

Overall this book was really good and I'd certainly recommend it. And I normally wouldn't read this type of book, dark and morbid
 at times, but overall I thought it was interesting. And it's good to read something you normally wouldn't. I haven't read Black's other books, but I've been meaning too. 

So, have you ever read any books about mobsters and gangs? Actually, do you know of anyone who has stories about mobs and gangs? According to a rumor floating around my family, we used to be related to some guy in the mafia. But he died a long time ago and we don't know if it's true or not. 


On Goodreads: White Cat

Her Website:  Holly Black

Sincerely,

Peony

Book Review- Guardian of the Gate

The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.

Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.


I had high expectations when I first started reading this book. Since I really liked the first book, I was hoping this one would be even more exciting. But...it didn't meet my expectations. 


The characters were pretty good, everyone seemed realistic enough. But the first thing that bugged me was that the book is set several months after they leave for London, so we don't get to see them search for the keys. 


Anyways, at this party Lia meets this dashing man who is mysterious and stuff. (Here comes what really ruined the book for me) As Lia is being chased by these Hell hounds, the man she met at the party, Dimitri, suddenly appears. And guess what! First we see that the Hounds don't even try to go after him, but then he confesses that he's part of some supernatural thing that Lia's father was apart of. 


So after he saves her, Lia gets her to tell him who he really is and then he tells her that *gasp* he's been watching her to keep her safe! Apparently that really didn't bug her all that much, especially after having met only twice, that Dimitri confesses that he feels like he's known her all her life and then Lia says the same cheesy lines and Bam! Their in love! And then they make out for the rest of the night. 


And I kinda really wanted to slap Lia and say, "are you out of your mind? You barely know the guy! And what about James?" 


Ah yes, James, now he's the real love interest I like. He actually knows Lia and has a reason to be in love with her. But as we find out from Alice, James has been spending more and more time with her since Lia has left. So after burning his letter and thinking that it'd be better for the both of them, Lia feels bad about "loving" Dimitri. and she only mentions this a couple of times. 


So, now onto what I did like. I thought that there was much more excitement and adventure in this book than the other one. It has a stronger sense of danger. Plus at first we think that Lusia is betraying Lia but no, it was actually Sonia, who has accidently let the Spirits into her mind. But after they get to Atlus, the Sisters there manage to save Sonia and Lia learns some important stuff about where to find the pages from her dying aunt. 


The ending was okay, it was exciting and I think it met my expectations but I'm not sure. It was good anyways because not only does she find the pages, but Lia confronts Alice for one of the last times. 


The writing was good, as was her descriptions. I love her descriptions and Lia's voice actually. Will I read the next book? Sure, but I won't have as high as expectations for it. 


Offial Website: Michelle Zink
On Goodreads: Guardian of the Gate
First Book Review: Prophecy of the Sisters
So, have you ever read a book where the first one was really good but the second one wasn't?


Sincerely,
Peony

Book Review- Halo

Three angels- Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human- are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They must work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments. 

Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong. 

The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?


Tip: Don't judge a book by the cover. Ayways, so the cover caught my eye right away and I was pleased to find a paranormal romance that wasn't so dark and dreamy unlike the majority of paranormal books today. I enjoyed not seeing so much darkness in this story. The cover clearly is a good representative of the story and it's very pretty. It was surprising find that it was about angels where an angel falls in love with a human rather then it being the other way around. 


While I thought that there was a lot of romance for this book, I was expecting it from the book blurb and the reviews I read here on Goodreads. But unlike the rest of the reviewers who only gave this book one or two stars I thought that Ms. Adornetto's style of writing and her choice of words was great. I loved seeing new words I didn't know and having to look them up. It was great. I was surprised to find that that Ms. Adornetto is a teen author. It gives other teen writers like myself hope that we too can get published. 


While Xavier did seem to be Mr. Prefect at times (actually a lot of the times) I enjoyed reading about him and Beth. I thought that his family portrayed a family that we could very much know. Although the characters were good, I thought that the whole "prom is such a big deal!" from the girls Beth was friends with was a little overboard. While Prom is a big deal, most girls I know don't plan their whole year trying to find dresses and stuff. We usually worry about that two or one month ahead. 


Unlike some people I enjoyed seeing the religon in this book sense I am a strong Christian, and in a way it was comforting. But even with this I thought it was interesting to see Beth's (not sure if it's Alexandra Adornetto's version either) version of what heaven is like. And I loved how her angels were different from how other angels are. The part that their skin glows, their wings are paper thin, and they have no naval is cool. 


As an angel turning human, I thought that Beth's transition from being a supernatural being to something more mortal was well portrayed. If I was an angel I would probably act the same way. Seeing how Gabriel and Ivy acted and responded to events and Beth's actions was interesting. You could tell that they clearly cared about her and their mission. I thought that for being one of the most important angels, Gabe was a good character. He wasn't arrogant or mean, but distant and reserved. Ivy was how I would imagine someone like her to be. 


The only part that I found remotely towards their actual mission was when Jack Thorn shows up. And even though they have proof that is was him causing all trouble, they don't do anything about it towards the very end. 


All in all, it was an interesting book. I thought that there was alot of unnecessary stuff and that the book could have been shorter. Beth could have been a stronger character too. Would I recommend it? Probably not. Will I read the next one? Maybe. I'm still deciding. 


So, what do you think about angel books? If you were an angel from heaven to help save the world, how would you go about it? And what would you change first?


On Goodreads: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
Her Goodreads page (I can't get to her website listed there): Alexandra Adornetto


Sincerely,
Peony

Book Review- Prophecy of the Sisters

An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-
One good...
One evil...
Who will prevail?
Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets. 
Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.
They just know they can't trust each other.


In the first book in this series I found this book at my library and started to read it while waiting for my brother to come pick me up. I usually don't really paranormal/gothic books but as of late I've somewhat been getting into them (mind you, I still will not pick up a vampire book). I've seen this book before at the bookstore but I never bothered picking it up because I was too busy buying the books I originally came for. 


When I began reading it I fell in love with Michelle Zink's writing style. It's first person in present tense (I think). One of the reasons I think I love this point of view is because I'm writing one of my books in this PoV too. So it helps me see how other writers have handled it. The second thing that drew me in was Lia's voice and the way she told the story. I also loved the way Ms. Michelle words her sentences. 


I thought that the prophecy was interesting, the way she wrote it was cool. And I like the mystery and the quest that Lia has to take. I thought that the characters were nicely done. I disliked Alice, although I never could figure out if Lia and Alice were close when they were young. Although I enjoyed Sonia's character, I thought that she trusted Lia too soon and that they became friends too quickly. Although I enjoyed the slight romantic pieces in the story, I was disappointed how Lia didn't tell James about the prophecy. Poor James! And he really is cute! I liked Aunt Victoria's part in the story, I thought she did well, as did Lia's brother Henry. Poor Henry, I hate the ending! 


The rules that was laid out for the Outerworlds and the rules set upon Lia and Alice are interesting. As is the parts about their births. I wasn't expecting it. Although there were a lot of surprises in the story but to me I had already figured them out by the time they were revealed. Maybe it's cause I'm a writer or it was just really clear what was going to happen in some parts. 


At times I thought that some parts were rushed and that the characters did things for no reason (like how Alice and her friend got to see Sonia and then Alice gets mad at the end of the visit). And although I thought that the Outerworlds was cool, the whole spirit talker and spirit world thing bugs me. I don't apporve of people who try to talk to the dead at all so I wasn't thrilled with this part. I also thought that Lia should have been more..afraid of this whole thing. Where was her screaming, "why me?" She seemed to take the fact that she could very much help end the world at any time pretty calmly. It didn't seem to scared her witless. (I mean think about it, what would you do if you could help end the world?)


I liked the setting. Although I've seen alot of the 1890s in books lately. Maybe it's the Luxe series to blame? But I think that the time period fits. The part where the little girl randomly shows up was weird. I mean she just shows up and then reappears whenever Lia loses the ribbon. Who is this girl?! 


The other part that bugged me was that Lia didn't seem to grieve all that much over her father's death. She did a little at first, but then afterwards it's...nothing. Where was her crying and sobbing over his death? I mean, from what the story implied they seemed pretty close. And then only a couple pages here and there have speaks of her being sad over his death.  


Overall I really liked this book. I thought it was good but parts bugged me. Especially about the whole evil Beast and spirit talker people. 


Offial Website: Michelle Zink
On Goodreads: Prophecy of the Sisters

*By the way, Mondays will also be Book Reviews again along with Poetry because of the excessive amount of books I'm reading during the summer. Probably during the school year I'll change it back to just Poetry.

So, have you ever read any books with end of the world stuff (besides zombies)? How about books with twins in them?

Sincerely,
Peony