Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Paper magic may not be a powerful magic but who wouldn’t want the books they read to come alive. I don’t know about you but that sounds really cool and wished it existed. Also I have a feelings if this was real movies would become overrated.

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg features a 19 year-old girl by the name of Ceony Twill who wants nothing more than to be a Smelter when she graduates from magic school. When the time comes she is not given a choice like all the others to become whatever magician they want; no, she is forced to become a Folder the thing she least wants to do. She is placed under the apprenticeship of a Magician Thane, a young man who is considered a master of his trade. Fangirls commence the shipping. As the past finally catches up to Thane, Ceony will have to try her hardest using her little skills to save him from those who want to harm him.

It is cute I’ll give it that and possibly even fangirl worthy but a little cheesy and rushed at times. To me it is simply best explained as what would happen after Harry Potter meets the forbidden romance between teacher and student of Vampire Academy and Divergent. I feel the right to say the entire teacher/student romance things weird me out, a lot. Besides those points I enjoyed the book, a girl who will willing put herself in danger to save someone and who isn’t afraid to go into a fight where she most likely will loose.

4 out of 5 stars for the reasons in the paragraph above. I didn’t dislike it but I didn’t love it either but am going to read the second book. Yeah this book is just a filler book for me.

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Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Oh that was a cute book. Pretty much the opposite of a Romeo and Juliet story which made it all the better and we don’t have a helpless female which is all the better. So if you’re curious one word to sum up this book would be kawaii; short, simple, and sugary sweet.

Southern belle Jemma Cafferty has her entire life mapped out from the guy she’s suppose to marry to the college she will go to. But defiance is in her blood and she will do anything to go against her mom’s and Mrs. Marsden’s planning including hating the boy she’s suppose to fall in love with and applying to a school she actually wants to go to. The real question is how long can she rebel and hate the guy she’s secretly in love with. As a cheerleader with perfect aim with her gun Delilah she will have to decide how far she is willing to go to be against her parents.

In very few books we receive a character who is willing to admit they were wrong but finally some author decided it was time to stop that. Thank you Kristi Cook for that. This is also the book where extreme stereotypes are broken; the cheerleader is an awesome skeet shooter (something I’ve never seen a female character be good at) and the jock is actually kind and considerate and extreme genius but still has phobias. This book is a gem.

Overall? 4.5 out of 5 stars. Really cute but lacked the wow factor but none the less it is still an amazing book and you should pick it up.

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Some Boys by Patty Blount

I feel like I just got off of a really good emotional roller coaster. This is coming from the girl who strongly dislikes school drama. My excuse? This was a wonderfully crafted book.

This whole book occurs after “That Night” where Grace’s life is turned upside down and shaken senseless. I’m going to say it. She got raped. Not by any person but by the guy she broke up with two days prior and when she reveals that he raped her she gets shunned by the whole school. That is what happens when you accuse the hometowns golden child that he may not be as perfect as he seems. She will need the help from his best friend, Ian, to prove the entire school wrong and finally get justice. Expect major romantic vibes between the two of them.

The entire event that led me to read this book was simple; I wanted to take a break from fantasy and get faced with reality. Honestly I expected to take a few days dragging myself through this book not what actually happened with me reading for 3 hours nonstop to finish this book. We don’t particularly get a happy ending but you fall in love with a strong headed and determined girl has she makes peace with what happens and finally gets the justice she deserves. That is odd for books you get either a happy ending or non happy ending never a shade of gray like this book is. It wasn’t a fake reality it was like you were living through the eyes of the characters and sometimes it sucked. You cried when they cried. You laughed when they made a joke. You burned with fury at how they treated others.

Get the memo I really liked this book and I’m saying you should read it because you really should. IT WAS AMAZING. 5 out of 5 stars for a contemporary book that blew me out of the water.

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The Diviners by Libba Bray

Ever since Disney’s Princess and the Frog I’ve loved the 1920s combined with occult because who didn't enjoy Friends on the Other Side. This book has proven worthy of 578 pages worth of words with flapper references, occult signs, and magical powers it promises to it’s readers. Also it has cults which I love to see implemented in books. Who doesn’t enjoy a crazy cult?

Flamboyant Evie O’Neill is sent to her uncle in New York City after she has shamed hometowns golden boy by revealing his darkest secret with her power to take memories from objects. Soon after she arrives the Madman of Manhattan starts his killing streak that cause Evie’s uncle to be called in to help with the investigation as it is heavy in the occult signs. Evie’s power to reveal the hidden, might be the thing that solves this string of murders with the help of her friends and the secrets they hold.

I originally picked up this book to be a buffer book between books and for a time it was but once you got past a certain point you were lost and there was no hope of putting it down. Evie is strong but kind and once she starts to warm up to her environment she shows you her true colors and you practically get a character makeover. She has weaknesses; she acknowledges them and overpowers them. This is the kind of heroine every book should have.

It ended up being better than my original opinion of it scoring 4 out of 5 stars

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The Jewel by Amy Ewing

I must say I’m kinda disappointed. A few weeks ago when I read the synopsis I fell in love with the idea of the book. Let’s just say I’m less than pleased.

Violet is born special and by that it means she has this special power and can bear children. As told by the government all girls who can do this shall be raised in a holding facility to teach them to be a good servant… or a slave as they really are. Therefore when she finishes training she shall be sold to royalty who cannot bear children and have the child for them.

Okay yeah the concept is REALLY warped. And let me correct something; it is not The Selection meets The Handmaid’s Tale but it’s The Selection meets The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano (and we ALL know how that went down if you don’t I suggest you save yourself the time and just trust me on this). To me this book felt like it wanted to be an adult book but stayed behind because the YA market is better. It would have fared better in the adult market.

As I’m questioning what lead me to the moment that caused me to read this I give it this rating: 3.1 out of 5 stars

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Undertow by K.R. Conway

*Breath in, breath out* Excuse me while I fangirl for a second. . . Okay I’m back. I’m proud to say I have fallen in love with this book. Second off I NEED THE SECOND BOOK.

Eila is given a 1800s mansion that resides in Cape Cod by a complete stranger who says it should belong to descendant of the original owner. She moves from Kansas to Cape Cod with her guardian Mae (we aren’t in Kansas anymore seems totally appropriate at the moment,) unbeknownst to the enchantment, magic, and sacrifices that will follow. In a war against the Mortis she will have to trust her enemy to be able to survive.

The book had the most absolute perfect amount of action, romance, and the supernatural. The only qualm I had was early in the book was a conversation that looked like editing had not exactly worked out for it and I was confused for a page. Otherwise I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Final Rating 4.9 out 5 stars.

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Remember Me by Stacey Nash

First off the cover is deceiving but I have to say this was a good deceiving because at the moment I can’t think of a single thing in this book that really irked me. During the first 50 pages we jump sides extremely quickly. Anamae (like anime) our heroine who goes by Mae is part of the resistance against the government. When she is captured by the enemy and has her mind erased she has to fight for her memories back and go back to the life she left behind.

I read this book over a course of two days and could not under any circumstance get it out of my head. If you like Hunger Games, Divergent, or Legend you might very well like this book. The book shows you not everything is black and white there is gray to why the “bad” side is doing what they’re doing and not everyone under them is evil; that is a perspective that is hard to find these days in dystopian novels. For those of you who like romance there is some good cute romance in here with both her best friend/becoming more and her crush. For those of you who like action there is enough of that to satisfy the most picky person without it being too much or too little.

What more can I say besides I loved the book *pets book*. What are you waiting for? GO READ THIS BOOK NOW :).

Final Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Legend of the Blue Eyes by B. Kristin McMichael

Considering this is a genre I usually dislike *cough* vampires *cough* or more appropriately in this book *cough* blood sucking people *cough*. Yeah… let’s just say the Vampire Academy books ruined that sub-genre for me. But it was a nice twist to the whole Vampire thing having a battle between what I would call Demon vampires (Baku) and the human looking vamps (dearg-dul) and our heroine is stuck in the middle of it but at least she has cute boys to keep her entertained. (Yes if you like the Ouran HIgh School host club or the Selection you might as well pick this up for the romance.)

All things considered this gave me a little hope for the vamp genre which says a lot on its own. The only problem was with it was a little too focused on the boys which I understand why being the first part of the legend I just wanted more actual action and not romantic action. Hey, that is just me.

Will I pick up the next book; Yes without a doubt I’m too emotionally invested in this book and I have to see her end up with Devin. I WILL GO DOWN WITH MY SHIP!

4 out of 5 stars

(Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of the book)

All's Well That Ends well by C.E. Wilson

My oh my this books makes you realize how screwed up Shakespeare plots are. It’s is the best retelling of a Shakespeare play I have ever read. Basically if you want to know what it’s about here:

Hannah’s father was arrested for some unknown reason to the reader and has been given a bad reputation because of it. She has a crush on her best friends cousin (anyone else thinking Victoria Justice song?) Using the last of papers her father left behind and weren’t taken by the police (they are football related) she bribes Coach into getting a date with her crush. Some other stuff happens but you will have to read it because I’ve said enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite how screwed up Shakespeare plot is so if you love romance that is filled with drama PICK THIS BOOK UP. 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Puppet by Pauline C. Harris

To be a marionette is to be a robot with no bounds.

To be a puppet is to be under someone else’s control.

To be a living marionette is to be a human with superhuman abilities.

To be all three Pen might just lose what she values most; her freedom, and she may learn being free comes with a price.

I like many of my fellow ARC reviewers received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review so that is what I plan to do. When I first stumbled upon this book I thought twice about deciding whether to request this book or not just based on the cover (we all judge some books based off the cover just admit it) because I found the cover to be a tad bit creepy. When I read it was going to be a high tech retelling of Pinocchio in a science fiction style I can closely describe to being like Cinder by Marissa Meyer I knew I had to give it a chance.

To sum it up in three words; it was extraordinary. Props to the author for taking on a retelling of a non disney princess story. This book exceeded my expectations by far and following a good amount of the essence of the story of which it was derived from, Pinocchio, but in a whole new way. It blended the perfect amount innocent romance, action, and the occasional surprise to your plot and who you should trust.

5 out of 5 stars