Book Reviews

Reviews for books that I enjoyed reading and highly recommend! All books will be given a rating, 1-5 stars, and a link where you can buy the book will be provided. Stay tuned!

Rico & Nico by C.C. Nicoleson
http://www.amazon.com/Rico-Nico-C-C-Nicoleson/dp/1484989848/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369098248&sr=1-1&keywords=rico+and+nico
Cute story about a little girl named Fred and her love for her two unusual pets, two raccoons called Rico and Nico. The tale is told from one of raccoon's perspective reminding me of the Art of Racing in the Rain, and it has the heart of some of the books I read as a kid. Fred's raccoons, seeing the trouble they're causing, escape to the swamps beyond their home. But it's man not nature that will cause them and their family the most grief. It can easily induce tears one moment and laughs the next. Fans of animal stories young and old should give this one a shot.
Rating: 4+1/2

Couldn't Put Rose Together Again by C.C. Nicoleson
http://www.amazon.com/Couldnt-Rose-Together-Again-ebook/dp/B00DGESY2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371591029&sr=8-1&keywords=couldn%27t+put+rose+together+again
Check out her mystery novella too, Couldn't Put Rose Together Again. A deep yet, at times, fun read that, despite its brevity, is worth every penny. What can I say but who-dun-it?
Rating: 4

Silverwing Trilogy by Kenneth Oppel
http://www.amazon.com/Silverwing-Kenneth-Oppel/dp/1416949984/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369101472&sr=1-1&keywords=silverwing
Another animal tale (actually 3) about a little bat named Shade who has a sea of adventure. The first book, my favorite, follows Shade trying to find his way back to his colony after getting displaced during migration. Together with a female bat named Marina, Shade will meet friends and enemies, reach landmarks and avert obstacles. Will he make it to his colony? I'll leave that for you to find out.
Rating: 4+1/2

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
http://www.amazon.com/Everneath-Brodi-Ashton/dp/B00AF3T8B4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376696841&sr=1-1&keywords=everneath
A retelling of the tale of Persephone. I must say, I wasn't too familiar with the myth before reading this book (I'd heard it but was fuzzy on the details after so many years), but I had a strong desire to dive right back into myths and folklore once I was finished with this book. I thought this was a pretty good read in that it has creepy elements without being horror and strong suspense that will keep you going. I don't want to say to much because a blurb itself might feed you too much information. I have the sequel, Everbound, all set to read (yes, it's good enough to continue the journey, especially with its cliffhanger ending) and so I can at least say that I recommend this story for fantasy/romance fans, especially if you're already keen on young adult. If not, the drama might make you put the book down before it becomes impossible to. As with anything, its readability depends on taste.
Rating: 3+1/2

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316042676/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377956834&sr=1-1&keywords=beautiful+creatures
A book that is now a  motion picture (that I still haven't seen), this book is unique in that it tells a romance from a teen boy's perspective. If you dabble in young adult books, you know how rare this is. I thought that this book was rather well-written. The main character's voice flows in a Carolina dialect that doesn't seem too forced. There were some beautiful descriptions that could evoke nostalgia in anyone who grew up in the South, and there were intriguing moments involving mysterious music on an I-pod, a vision-evoking locket, and a self-morphing house. But there are times when the story drags, inevitable in a book of almost 600 pages but, still, with a bit of editing the extrenuous details could have been cut to make for a book impossible to put down, instead of one with pages that beg the reader to skip ahead. That said, I do still highly recommend giving this a read if you like magic and mystery because it does a good job punching the reader with both.
Rating: 4

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Book #2 in Hush, Hush Saga)
 http://www.amazon.com/Crescendo-Hush-Saga-Becca-Fitzpatrick/dp/1416989447/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393291268&sr=1-1&keywords=cresendo
 First off, this is book 2 of a saga (the first book was one of my reads last year so I decided not to review it due to foggy memory). I can say that the writing was an improvement from the first one with more mystery (It is given in the first novel that the main character is without her father; now she'll discover the details around his death including who killed him), though not too difficult of mysteries to solve. It's hard to say anything more without saying too much, but for all the interesting mythos and cool characters and action sequences, I was continuously put-off by the main character's mood in this book. All I'll say is that romance was mostly turned off for the sake of jealousy and it put me in the bad mood that Twilight saga's New Moon did. Still, I did keep turning the pages to find out what was in store, and while I will likely pick up the next book, I'm not in a rush. Read this if you aren't too drained with young adult paranormal, otherwise you may want to pass. Just be sure to stay on the lookout for this author's future works, hopefully in other genres, because it seems to me she has a lot to offer.
Rating: 3

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles Book #2)
http://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Lunar-Chronicles-Book-2/dp/1250007216/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394567301&sr=1-1&keywords=scarlet
I'll start by saying I love fairy tale retellings, especially those that make the happy ending feel improbable, keeping me writhing in suspense. Meyer pulls this off beautifully. The first book, Cinder, was brilliant, relocating Cinderella to a futuristic Beijing and giving her mechanical limbs, and now Scarlet remodels Red Riding Hood and her infamous nemesis, the Big Bad Wolf. The book starts with a mystery, where is Scarlet's grandmother, and builds on it, constructing a deeper and darker picture that has you flipping to discover where it's all headed. There are laughable moments along with some tearjerkers, heartfelt emotion that would tug on the toughest of heartstrings, and there's Wolf. If I like revamped fairy tales that leave me wondering if a happy ending is still in sight, I love ones that allow me to sympathize with former villains (not to mention he plays on my love of wolves). This is an excellent sophomore entry in what is shaping up to be a truly noteworthy series. Can't wait to read book 3, Cress.
Rating: 4

More reviews to come!