Book Review- Spells

(From Goodreads) Six months have passed since Laurel saved the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Now she must spend her summer there, honing her skills as a Fall faerie. But her human family and friends are still in mortal danger--and the gateway to Avalon is more compromised than ever. 

When it comes time to protect those she loves, will she depend on David, her human boyfriend, for help? Or will she turn to Tamani, the electrifying faerie with whom her connection is undeniable?


Certainly not one of my favorites. I decided to read the next book in this series because I hate not finishing series. 


Anyways. The books was really slow throughout. I'm going to say that now. 

What I did like about it was the fact that we actually got to see Avalon, which is what I wanted to happen. And I know I mentioned that in the last post about the first book, Wings.  Avalon was very interesting and I adored seeing how the author described it. 

I loved the summer fey's houses the best. They were cool. I also enjoyed seeing how they don't use money there and instead you can have something if you really like it. I enjoyed meeting the other fey and learning about the fey Laurel knew before she went to our world. 

It was cool to see Tamani's mother and the little girl who stayed with her. Although I wasn't sure who exactly she was. I got confused. The play that Laurel went to was interesting, especially the twist on The Midsummer's Night Dream. 

But beyond those things, I didn't really like the story. It was good yes, but really slow. You didn't even see trolls really until the very end where we find some things out.  The characters were okay although most of them just ended up annoying me. Especially the stupid love triangle. 

This is going to be a short review, but I just don't have that much to say about this book. The cover is beautiful though. 

On Goodreads: Spells

Website: Aprilynne Pike

Book Trailer:

Sincerely,

Sareh

Book Review- Chosen

So I just got done with an epic musical at my school. We did Beauty and the Beast with me as the broom (although everyone thought I was some random Hawaiian girl), a villager, and one of the wolves (I looked more like a Russian wolf because my "ears" were more of a hat). And because I'm finally done with it, I'll be able to blog more! Yes! The musical was fun and I'm glad it's over, but I'm sad at the same time. 


Anyways. 

(From Goodreads) Think with your heart and prepare to die for you have been Chosen.

The land of the Forest Dwellers has been decimated by the Horde under the watchful eye of the vilest of all creatures, Teeleh. Thomas Hunter, supreme commander of the Forest Guard, is forced to lower the recruitment age of his army from 18 to 16. From among thousands, four new recruits are chosen to lead--and perhaps die--for the greater good.

The chosen four are sent on a quest to prove their character, but their mission takes a dramatic turn when they are intercepted, sworn to secrecy, and redirected to a different endgame. Now they must find the seven lost Books of History. Books that have power over the past, present, and future. Books whose words are alive. Books sought by the Dark One that control not only the destiny of their world . . . but that of ours as well.

So the author, Ted Dekker, is one of my British litature teacher's favorite authors. I remembered he mentioned him back in freshman year and then he has almost all of his books in his classroom. Plus I've been seeing this series in my library but I haven't been able to find the whole series. Until recently when I discovered that my teacher had all of the books in the series. 

One of the neat things I found out about this author is that most of his books are all somehow connected or related. The other neat thing is that you don't have to read the different series in order that they were written to get one series. So I was able to get into this series without having to read another series first. 

Another cool thing I found out about these books are that even though they're fantasy, they're Christian books too. Which is awesome. The other cool thing about this is that although Christianity wasn't like "BAM!" in your face, the themes of Christianity was subtly woven into the story with clues that I picked up on. Like Elyon (God/Jesus) and Teeleh (Satan). And the lakes were like physical representations of God's forgiveness for us. And the skin illness was sin. 

So onto the story, the characters were all good although I wasn't really sure that I liked most of them. Johnis was cool, as was Silvie, but I didn't like the other two chosen teens. They were good, but not my favorites. I like the whole alternate reality thing and the whole idea of the books. 

My favorite part are the Roush, the fuzzy white bats. They sound adorable and I wish they were real so I could hug one. They were funny too. If I had to say if they represented anything I would say they represented angels. 

Well there's actually not much I really want to say about this book. It was good and I enjoyed it. The plot was exciting and interesting, plus orginal. The characters could have been better but they were good too. I wish we could have learned more about their culture and why there's only seven lakes left.

On Goodreads: Chosen

Website: Ted Dekker

So have you read books where the author somehow connects a story to another? Did you have to read the other one to get the one you read or could you read them separately? 

Sincerely,

Sareh

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

Interesting Facts- Can't get to the medicine cabinet? That's okay, go to your garden!

random picture of beach

Sorry everyone that I didn't post yesterday! I happen to be at a hotel by the beach and everyone is using the same internet connection. So my connection happened to be very, very slow.

Anyways, as most fantasy authors realize, if you're writing a novel where it's based in a century before the 20th century, they probably didn't have the kind of medical equipment or medicine as we do now. So what is one to do if your characters don't have our medicine today or they don't have their own special plants? Well one simple answer is herbs. Yep, its been known for centuries that all different kinds of plants have some kind of medical use.

Aloe vera (ignore the random flower in the back ground)

The aloe vera plant is one common plant that can be used to help burns and grown in your own house. If you've never used this plant but you get one, simply break off one of the leaves and put the sap on the burn area. Of course it isn't as nice as running cold water on it, but if you can't get to any kind of burn cream, this plant is nice.

So today I will share some uses for commonly found plants that your characters may use. Note: Do NOT try to use these yourself without consulting a doctor. I have no evidence if these plants and it's uses will actually work so don't use them yourself.

• Lavender- This pretty purple plant is commonly used in aromatherapy. While in ealierr times it was used for mental health issues, it now can be found to be used for conditions such as restlessness, anxiety, and insomnia. NCCAM- Lavender , Lavender 
• Garlic- This commonly used herb is used as a flavoring for many things such as garlic bread. It has been shown that it can help with issues such as blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart problems. NCCAM- Garlic, Garlic
• Ginger- Can commonly be found with cooking and in cold and flu and anti-nausea medicene as an extract. Some studies have shown that it is useful for motion sickness.
• Flaxseed (oil)- This is commonly used as a laxative and can be used to for hot flashes or breast pain. NCCAM- Flaxseed, Flaxseed
• Saw Palmetto- Probably not a commonly known herb. Anyways, this can be used to help prevent prostate cancer. NCCAM- Saw Palmetto, Saw Palmetto
• Rosemary- This plant which, like Lavender, can be found in some aromatherapy products, and has been used in shampoos to help fight dandruff. Rosemary
• Dandelion- Although pretty, this plant that takes over every yard in my town during the spring and early summer, is actually a weed. Although used in salads, some people are allergic to this plant. In earlier times it was used to help kidney and liver problems although there is no scientific evidence of this plant having any kind of medical use. NCCAM- Dandelion, Dandelion
• Red clover- This pretty flowering plant, can be seen growing in my grandma's yard. In earlier times, red clover was used for whooping cough and asthma, although there is not enough scientific evidence to determine whether or not red clover is health beneficial. Currently, some use it to help with cramps that come with women's periods. NCCAM- Red Clover, Red Clover
• Cinnamon- This spice is commonly used in food and other ediable things. While it is certainly tasteful, it could help with digestive problems. It is also said to help get fight the flu, common cold, and headaches. Cinnamon

There are just a few examples. But once again, don't try any herbs as medicene unless you have talked to your doctor first or you actually know they work. 

Resources/More information

MedlinePlus- Herbal remedies 

Index of Medicinal Herbs

Healing Spices

NCCAM- Herbs at a Glance

(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

MedlinePlus- Herbs

So, do you know of any uses for herbs and spices? Do you have a book where your characters need/could use herbs and spices for something other to make a meal tasty? Do you use real herbs or do you make up your own? 

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 Summoning

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…


I've seen this book around the library and I've heard lots about it. So one day I finally decided to read it, give it a try. I figured, it sounded cool but even though the library had the rest of the books, I decided to just get the first one in case I didn't like the first one. 


So this book pitch is pretty detailed and tell you basically what happened in the beginning. So the first ghost Chole sees is this janiter that died at her school in a fire and this ghost wants to tell her something. Well she freaks out, punches a teacher because he thinks she's trying to kill herself, and then ends up at the house for crazy kids. 


At first every one seems like normal kids, except that a few of them are different. The kids soon find out about Chole's ability to see ghosts and she begins to see them even at the house. The first ghost she sees is this ghost inside this locked closet in the basement. But she can't figure out how to get to him.


As the kids get "better" they are able to return to normal house. There's only two kids who leave during the story, Liz and Peter. Peter is "better", but Liz is sent to this hospital. Later on, Chole begins to see Liz's spirit but as she finds out from Simon and Derek, there are people who are able to astral project their spritis out of their bodies. Only, Chole isn't really sure if Liz is doing it without knowing...or if she's dead. 


So they go through the story, Chole slowly learning to trust all the kids except for Tory who's a bit actually crazy, and begins to find out the horrible truth about the house. Some crazy guy way back built the house to kill people like Chole- people who can raise the dead and speak to them. And she also slowly finds out the the rest of the kids in the house also have powers and that the people who run the house also know about their powers. 


So they realize that the only way for them to live...is to run. But do the escape? I'll find out in the next book.


Now the characters were all very good, except I didn't really like them. Chole was good but she was too stubborn and untrusting. I did not think that most of the characters were very good. Tori was too self centered and too unhappy to be liked at all, she bugged the crap out of me. Derek came off as a bully and I wasn't sure what to make of him most of the time. It was confusing. And I think Simon was an okay character although I wasn't too sure if they were suppose to like each other or not. To me, Chloe seemed to like Derek more. 


The plot was very good and interesting. I kept on wanting to know more and find out what was going to happen. But some things were really gross and creepy and sometimes I thought that the descriptions got a little too...descriptive for me. But otherwise than that I really like the mystery behind the story. 


But that being said, I really liked the book it was just the characters that turned me off the story. Otherwise I would have given it five stars, but I'm giving it four stars. Would I recommend it, yes I would, but only to people who like paranormal stuff and don't mind some gross stuff. 


On Goodreads: The Summoning
Her website: Kelly Armstrong


So, have you read many books that deal with ghosts? Did you like it? 


Sincerely,
Peony

Writing Tips- Stories With a Love Triangle.

Note: Sorry about the past couple of weeks with messed up posting on Saturdays. We're taking care of it this week. And I'm posting this Saturday tip on today because I saw that no writing tip was posted yesterday. Jessika if you see this, post your post today anyways. Thanks everyone!


In this post I''m going to talk about something that Im sure all of us have noticed by now: love triangles. And for those of us who have noticed them, I'm sure it is driving us nuts because there is just so many in books these days. Especially YA books.

I could list many books with love triangles (Twilight saga, Prophecy of the Sisters series, The Summoning books, The Iron Fey [maybe, we all know Meghan loves Ash but Puck is still in love with her anyways], The Hunger Games, The Infernal Devices series, Eona: The Last Dragoneye, Matched, etc).

Now while I'll say that writers love to use love triangles because for a couple reasons, 1) it adds to the story because while there may be something bigger going on we know that in most cases the MC will have to end up with one of the characters and 2) the writers might have their own reasons. And if you're going to add a love triangle to your story, I dearly hope that it's not just because you think there needs to be something more exciting.

And if there has to be a love triangle in the story I think there has to be a certain way to pull it off (at least in my point of view) I think that no matter who the MC or whoever ends up with whoever, that you cannot just randomly kill off a character or make them disappear so that the girl/boy ends up with the one you liked most or even the one they're suppose to be with. (I.e What happened to Gale in the Hunger Games?)

Plus then there's the thought, if you're trying to display a character realistically, how many of us actually have been or are in a love triangle? Not many girls I know have been loved or whatever by two different guys. Okay well one of my cousins once kinda was but it was complicated.

If you're going to have a girl be loved by two guys (or a guy loved by two girls) remember that you can't throw in some perfect, gary-sue character to be a love interest because we'll know. Make sure that both love interests actually have something to do with the plot. And make sure there's a reason the girl may be in love with both, and not just because one of them is super hot and the other is the sweetest guy ever.

Meeting random guys/girls and almost instantly falling in love with them is bogus, at least I don't like it at all. Like in Guardian of the Gate, Lia just seems to randomly fall in love with Dimitri even though they just met. And "I feel like I've known you forever" is not a good excuse unless there's a really good reason and not "I've been watching you or guarding you secretly". That's just borderline creepy and stalker-ish. 


But meeting a guy (or another guy/girl) and having them learn about the character first and then having them say that they may or may not be in love with them is a way to do it. And if you have to have two guys/girls in the story, they don't always have to be in love with the same person. One can be a friend, brother, sibling, or in love with another person. 


So let's sum this all up, shall we? 

• Don't add a love triangle to your story just because you think there needs to be something else to make it interesting. 
• If you have a love triangle, don't randomly kill off one of the love interests so the MC or whoever ends with the the one you want. 
• Make sure each love interest actually has something to do with the story.
• Don't embody one of them as your version of the perfect man; save those for your daydreams and not your books. 
• Try to change it up; try not to have one of them be the bad guy and the other the good guy. 
• Don't have an instant "love". If you can, gradually have the character fall in love with them or have a good reason for the character to love them when we meet the love interests. 
• You don't always have to have a love triangle if there's two leading guys/girls and the MC. One can be friends or be in love with another while the other guy/girl is in love with the MC or whoever. 
• If you're going for realistic or somewhat believable, remember how many people actually have ever been in a love triangle. 
• Also, not that I've seen this done, but try to not have more than two love interests. Then it tends to get confusing and messy. Just saying.

So, do you hate it when there's a love triangle or do you not mind them? Is there a reason why you do or do not like them? What's the best love triangle you've ever seen and the worst? Did a MC or character ever end up with the person you didn't think they should have? Why or why not?  

Sincerely,
Peony