{NIN} Review: Angel Book Wrap-Up

Vampires, werewolves, and fey are, of late, the "it" creatures of the YA lit world. No surprise that angel-themed books soon followed suite. Tired of the same ol' vampy-shaggy-fairy stories, I decided to try reading angel-themed books.

After reading two books, I realized that angel-themed books are definitely not for me. Why, you ask? Because I have historically loved hot, snarky, tortured, angsty, sarcastic, yet sneakily caring dudes and angels are hardly any of those things. Sure, they're always unbearably beautiful... but that's about it. Angel suitors tend to be calm, have inner peace, overly protective, gentle teasing humor, the perfect gentlemen - in short, flat and boring. As Anne Shirley once said, "I wouldn't want a man who was really wicked. But I think I'd like it if he could be wicked, but wouldn't."

Word up, sister. Even turn-of-the-century prim chicks dug the snarky dudes. And no way, by sheer definition of the word "angel", could an angel love interest possibly encompass any of the characteristics that give compelling guys true personality.

So anyhoo, back to the books that led me to this realization. I really cannot say too much about any of these books so instead will just give a short review of each.

Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia

Outcast girl Teagan with only one friend to her name comes to school one day and hot new kid Garreth shows up out of nowhere with sudden inexplicable interest in her. Illusions are shattered and the truth comes to light - Garreth is Teagan's guardian angel sent to protect her from an evil fallen guardian that is out to rule the mortal world and only Teagan has the power to stop him. Oh, the drama. Oh, and Garreth is madly in love with her after watching over her all these years.

What the heck?

The lack of build up in the story was what bothered me the most. I don't understand the love connection; rather, it just "is" simply because he's been guarding her all these years. I mean, shouldn't there be at least something the guy mentions that he loves about a girl, not, "I've been watching you and now I luuuurve you!" This simply wasn't satisfying enough and just left too many unanswered questions. Mainly, what is so wonderful about Teagan and why should we be rooting for her?

Additionally, there was not much suspense and drama leading up to the epic battle that Teagan and Garreth were anticipating against the evil Hadrian. There just didn't seem to be a very strong and convincing reason on why Teagan was the only one who could save the world - and especially, why we should care.

Never Again

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

This book actually started out relatively better for me than Angel Star. We have a somewhat interesting tortured main character Zoe dealing with realistic issues - her family is stressed out over having to take care of a child with autism, and her parents spend so much time on her autistic sister that they don't have time for her or her brother. Her brother is turning into a druggie as a result, and Zoe turns to partying, alcohol, and meaningless hook-ups to deal.

The fantasy part of the story comes when Zoe learns that her sister has a hot guardian angel, Matthias. I'll give the book credit here; it was not instant Love-Pow! Zoe was initially wary of Matthias since he seemed to be stalking her little sister, but she slowly realizes what he is.

So of course you know, she falls in love with him...and he with her. But there was this one really strange part in the book where she thinks in her head that she loves him and then she sees him walking away and suddenly, she just blacks out and falls into deep, dark despair because she thinks he can never love her back. Like, this seriously all took place in her head in the span of like a few seconds.

I did not understand.

And from then on out, it just got weird and boring.

But really, the romance between Zoe and Matthias was uninteresting to me simply because his personality didn't appeal to me.

Never Again & a Half

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo starts out promising to be different from the previous two books in that it is written from the perspective of a newly descended-from-heaven angel rather than through the eyes of a normal human girl. Bethany Church (talk about obvious naming conventions) and her siblings, Archangel Gabriel and Seraphim Ivy, descend upon Venus Cove with the mission from above to “do good works” and, through example, lead the local populace to do the same.

Bethany is the youngest of the trio and has never set foot on earth, so her mind is ablaze with wonder at the sights, sounds, and different feelings she experiences as an angel in the flesh. While her siblings have descended to Earth many times before and are therefore indifferent to the human experience, Bethany is eager to soak up everything she can about being human.

Bethany enrolls at the local private school where she is immediately befriended by somewhat wild child Molly. Molly shows her the ins-and-outs of the school, and gives her the low-down on the different boys at school. The school captain, (Mr. Requisite Hottie) Xavier Woods, takes notice of Bethany and immediately endeavors to get to know her.

Bethany has been warned against forming attachments to the physical world, and especially with humans, as the locals cannot know who the angels really are. However, in true teen girl fashion, she disobeys the laws and reveals her true nature to Xavier whilst falling head-over-heels in love.

Okay, so that should give you an idea of the direction the book goes.

Downhill.

When I first started the book, I thought, okay, Adornetto is taking the angel angle in a different direction than the other two books. It might be interesting to see how an angel deals with landing on earth and trying to blend with the locals. But seriously, once Bethany indulges in her love for Xavier, all she can focus on is him, him, him. She waxes on and on about how much she misses him when she’s not with him, that he is her life now and heaven isn’t her home anymore because Xavier is her home now. What the bloody hell. The story very quickly disintegrates into annoying teen girl sighs over unrealistically attentive, protective, and kind-hearted teenage boy. Seriously, what teenage boy is really like that? Most boys that age are all about rollin’ with the homies and gettin’ action. And Xavier Woods doesn’t have any of those interests? Yeah, right. Fiction, fiction, fiction.

It was like reading Twilight all over again.

On top of the annoying lovelorn girl drama, supposed issues that came up in the book were resolved way too quickly. I present the following examples:

Gabriel and Ivy discover that Bethany has revealed her true angel nature to Xavier. Gabriel visits the Heavenly Council to determine what to do about Bethany and “the situation” – and they decide to let her be. What? Shouldn’t there be like epic consequences, natural disasters, floods, lighting – something – because she has disobeyed the laws of heaven and gained heavenly wrath? Nope, none at all. Bethany gets to go on her merry way with Xavier. If that’s the case, why bother having the law in the first place?

Another example is when Xavier breaks his leg and can’t take Bethany to the prom. He encourages her to go with a substitute date, where sub forces a kiss on her and the moment is captured on camera and posted on Facebook. Xavier avoids Bethany for the next 3-4 days and when she finally confronts him, he believes that she cheated on him and had given him the heave-ho. Bethany tries to explain what really happened, but it falls on deaf ears. She goes away and falls into a deep, dark depression because she despairs that she has lost him forever (sound familiar?). Oh, but guess what? It gets all nicely resolved 1 page later when Gabriel goes to Xavier’s house to set him straight. What makes Big Brother’s words more believable than Bethany’s?? Stupid boy. And stupid girl immediately takes him back. Dude, I would at least have railed him for being a dumbass and not willing to listen to my reasons. But no, it was, oh I'm so glad you finally believe me! I almost died without you. Blech. Totally gag-worthy.

Okay, so after all this crazy love drama, there is the baddie that comes in and tries to corrupt the town. And then they battle and it ends, but not really, because there is going to be a sequel. And that is just a really bad idea because if I can sum up what should be an epic confrontation with the main baddie in like 1 sentence, that tells you just how unmemorable this book turned out for me.

Halo is seriously like Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse combined but worse because at least I liked Edward at first. I felt that Adornetto was trying to pack way too much in one book, but it also simultaneously moved excruciatingly slow. Conundrum? Yes, but she managed it.

Never Again

JaReview: Clockwork Angel

Cassandra Clare continues with her fast-paced shadowhunter series in this prequel to the Mortal Instruments. I was digging Clockwork Angel from the get-go. I had forgotten how awesome her witty dialogue and gritty butt kicking scenes are. I’m warning you in advance, there may be spoilers that follow this largely disjointed train of thoughts.

Clockwork Angel centered around Tessa, a girl who comes to London in search of her brother. Upon her arrival, she’s thrust into an unknown world full of demons, vampires, warlocks and, most of all, Shadowhunters.

I quite surprised that liked Tessa. You might initially write her off as the boring damsel in distress but she isn’t. She can hold her own in a verbal sparring matches even if she lacks the physical superiority to keep up the Shadowhunters. And despite her lack of fighting skills, she’s a unique power and brains to go with it that. Plus she not super whiny like Bella and that’s always a plus in my book.

I dug her unwavering loyalty to characters, whether they deserve it or not. I only hope Clare doesn't take her character down the insipid Stupid Girl Path. You know the one where Stupid Girl blindly trusts Truly-Evil-Boy, to which Secretly-Good-Boy (aka Will) has to go and save her. Although that could make for some heroic and swoon-worthy rescue scenes (and possibly loads of gratitude kisses).

If I liked Tessa, then I loved Will Herondale and all his multiple personalities. There was Will the Git (“I once thought I was a ferret…”). And of course Will the Philosopher (“Beauty fades but cooking is eternal”). Though I’m well aware I cut him too much slack. I know he doesn't mean what he says when he says mean things. *g* I blindly believe he's good deep down, even when he says truly horrible and way out-of-line things. Perhaps it’s wrong of me, and most definitely jumping to conclusions, but I believe that in the end, he’ll admit to Tessa his true feelings.

Of course Will would be his snarky self, we don't want him to go all sappy, spineless love-straught on us (like some disappointing, not-to-be-named male leads).

I adored his witty banter and appreciated how he was never really straight with anyone. He’s such a complex individual, there’s obviously some sort of childhood trauma. But I’m such a sucker for the mysterious and emotionally closed off bad boys. Honestly, how can you resist someone who’s both snarky and beautiful?

The synopsis of the book says there’s a love triangle between Tessa, Will and a third Shadowhunter, and Will’s best friend, Jem. But honestly, I really don't think Jem is going to be a true contender for Tessa’s affections. The primary reason, he seems absurdly loyal to Will. They’re parabatai and despite Will’s worse intentions, I think Jem knows him too well to let a girl get between them. I’ll probably be eating my words in the next book, but I really don't see it.

Jem strikes me as picture perfect and too good. It’s true that Tessa gets comfort from him that she obviously won’t get with Will. And Jem is her shoulder to cry on when Will’s being a tosser. But even though he's more emotionally available to Tessa there wasn’t enough of a spark.

Not that Jem is entirely lame. He is snarky enough to be slightly interesting (“but then I think of how I could kill him in his sleep and that makes me feel better.”). I’m sure he’ll find a nice Shadowhunter girl to settle down with. But until then, he needs to stay the hell away from Tessa. Unless it’s contrived to make Will crazy jealous.

On a completely different note, it’s rather hard to believe that someone as cool as Isabelle descended from someone as poncy as Gabriel Lightwood. Gabriel is a fellow Shadowhunter but is constantly at odds with Will. But their interactions were some of my favorite parts in the book. I digs Gabriel if only for the fact that he brings out Will the Git better than anyone else in the book. Their exchanges were legendary.

Cassandra Clare definitely did not disappoint with this prequel to TMI and I’m eager the next installment. Perhaps while I wait another year, I’ll get myself a cat named Church.

{NIN} Review: The Truth About Forever

I have to say that The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen is a most excellent read. As {Ja} stated before, there is no Love-Pow! (PS) in this story but a believable progression from friendship to sweet love between two people.

Macy has had a rough year (understatement), adjusting to her father's sudden death and trying to prove to everyone that she is "fine just fine" by striving for perfection. She even has the "perfect" brainiac boyfriend who's about as interesting as mud to go along with her facade. Seriously, this guy is so goal-oriented and so obviously not that into Macy that you have to wonder if she was just another checkbox on his list of goals. "Find girlfriend - check!"

When stupid, useless boyfriend goes off to Brain Camp for the summer, Macy is left to fill his "so very important" position at the library with two snide and condescending co-workers who think stupid boyfriend is dating down when it comes to Macy. Day in and day out, she is forced to endure their snotty comments and torturous silent treatment with a smile. And the stupid boyfriend has no sympathy for her. Seriously, when she tells him about it, all he can say is, "I don't think you're taking the job seriously enough. You didn't answer my last question about whether the reference documents came in," or some such nonsense that doesn't even acknowledge the real emotional issues Macy is feeling. If that was not a sign to dump the guy's sorry arse, I don't know what is. It was incredibly frustrating that Macy did not have enough of a spine to dump him right then and there when she received that email. Yes, yes, I know she was having emotional issues and what-not b/c of her dad, but still...better to be alone than to be with a stick-in-the-mud that drags you down like that.

But then, there would be no WES to come along and show how right the world can be if you just find the right person.

ANYHOO, like I said, Wes...total "sa-woon!" Since {Ja} gave a most excellent review already about where and how Macy met Wes, I'll just move on to the more important stuff, like what makes him so awesome.

Hot, down-to-earth, approachable, not full-of-himself, hot, easy-going, family-oriented, artistic, and hot.

Yup, that about sums it up.

But their progression from friendship to more was simply...perfect. And after reading some of the books I've just read (Angel Star, Heavenly - more on those later), I've realized that it's supremely irritating when all you get from a book is a Love-Pow! and you have no clue why two people should be together (I can throw in Linger here too). Not so with Macy and Wes. They learn the other person's history, what makes them who they are, and how their past has shaped who they are today. Slowly, but surely, the connection is made and it's a match that is just so right.

So next up...the rest of Sarah Dessen's book. Cuz if The Truth About Forever is any indication, Sarah Dessen's books are the thoughtful and realistic cure for the prevalent Love-Pow! books in YA lit today.

JaReview: More Randomness

Here is my rendition of Nin's "bursts of thoughts" on books I've recently read, but dont really know what to say. As you can tell, I havent read anything stellar lately. Well, except Clockwork Angel, which I might like more than TMI. But more on that later.

When it Happens by Susane Colasanti
This was another one of those dual perspective books, alternating between Tobey and Sara. She’s the quintessential student government smart girl. He’s the slacker, rocker boy. But Tobey didn’t really do it for me. Perhaps because it was in his perspective, so it took away from the mysterious, enigmatic boy persona. You always know what he's thinking and sometimes, I really did not want to know. The alternating perspective got a bit dull after a while, lots of repeating the same scene only from a different point of view. It was sort of like watching an episode of the Event. And call me shallow but I just cant get behind a guy name Tobey.

Didn’t suffer to terribly


Fallen by Lauren Kate
I did not like this book. At all. It was a major case of love-pow. Luce is inexplicably drawn to Daniel but she cant figure out why. Sure you get glimpses of their past lives together, the ones that always ending with her untimely demise. But there didn’t seem to be any real connection in the current life. It was way too reminiscent of Soulmate by LJ Smith or the Immortals series by Alyson Noel, only with less significant interaction between the couple. But the sequel is on my queue. So I suppose I’m partially vested.

Didn’t suffer to terribly (but should probably be Never Again)


Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
I waited forever to get this book. So quite possibly I built it way too much in my head and, thus, it was doomed to fall short of expectations. If the Ministry of Magic ever had an alternative to Hogwarts, where they’d send all their misbehaving underage witches and wizards, Hex Hall would be it. The main character, Sophie, is ordered there after a love spell gone awry.

Upon arrival at Hex Hall, she accomplishes all the requisites of any teen novel. Piss off the most popular (and mean) girl in school. Check. Tries not to but falls for the hottest boy in school (who’s dating said mean girl). Check. Befriend the school outcast (in this case a vampire girl happens to be her roommate). Check.

Of course add to that learning the truth about her parentage and amassing more powers then the other kids. But, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story. Though, it did seem like the events that transpired happened at the cost of character continuity (like what's her face's sacrifice at the end). And that didn’t sit well with me. But there’s a sequel, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I digs


Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern
Since I totally dug Halpern’s Wild Nerd Yonder book, I decided to give this one a try. Anna Bloom is institutionalized by her parents, much to her dismay. It was interesting because she didn’t seem to have a clear mental illness aside from maybe depression. It’s not as though she was hearing voices (who doesn't?) or anything concrete like that, but perhaps that’s what made her more relatable to a wider audience.

There are some comical characters, such the boy who claims to be a servant of the Dark Lord (and, no, I’m not talking Voldemort). Then there are some seemingly normal people that make you wonder why they’re locked up. Anna’s narration is snarky and filled with the Damn the Man thoughts, which was entertaining. I digs mostly because it was completely different from any YA I've read and a nice change up from the norm.

I digs

Need by Carrie Jones
Becoming seriously depressed after her stepfather’s death, Zara moves to Maine to live with her stepgrandma. When she finds out that her stalker, who she thought was just a figment of her imagination, is not only real but also a pixie, the sleepy, snow ridden town of Maine becomes a whole lot weirder. There are a few different takes on the normal paranormal rules, but overall the story was rather predictable. The only thing that made Zara relatively interesting was her obsession with phobias and naming them. I thought if anything I could get somewhat smarter by remembering the names of random phobias (like the fear of glass or the cold) and try to work into normal conversation but alas, I’ve forgotten them all.

Probably – Never Again

Miss Match by Wendy Toliver
This book is part of the Teen Romantic Comedy series and probably the worst one I’ve read to date. The RomCom series is much like regular trashy romance novels sans the trashy bits. When Sasha begins her match making business, setting up her classmates with their crushes, she finds it difficult to remain professional when her own crush hires her to hook up with her sister.

You don't have to read the book to know how it ends (because obviously it’s going to work out for the heroine, it always does). However the ending left me wondering, what the heck? I get that it all gets wrapped up in a pretty little package, but what I don't understand is the why and the how. Aside from the fact that it’s supposed to because that’s how all romcoms end. It was like- Bam! You’re nearing the end of the book, must get to happy ending now.

Never Again

Prada & Prejudice by Amanda Hubbard
I’m not quite sure why I picked up this book. I have an inkling that maybe Nin read one of her books and, seeing as how I have to copy everything Nin does (I am Kakashi the Copynin hehe), I had to get my hands on something by Hubbard.

Callie is your typical high school outcast. But after her besty moves away, she finds that scoffing at the cool kids isn’t as much fun when you’re all alone. So in a misguided effort to belong, she winds up buying a pair of Prada heels. (Sidenote, don’t know what high school y’all went to but at my school Chinese Laundry and Nike’s were considered chic.) Unfortunately, barely outside of the store, Callie takes a tumble and winds up in 1815. She is mistaken for a long-lost best friend and is taken to the home of a Duke. Chaos ensues as this modern, feminist girl tries to adapt to becoming a proper lady. All this while trying hard not to fall for the handsome, yet completely git-like Alex, who just happens to be the aforementioned Duke.

The book itself was interesting. Callie is snarky and smart, but then she’s also dumb and clueless. Totally contridictory but it seems to work for Callie. However, the ending was totally confusing. I still don't quite get what happen. But I cant discuss without giving it away. I think I need someone to read the book (hint hint) then explain to me what the heck happened. Still, I'd have to say -

I didn’t suffer too terribly

{NIN} Review: Linger

Linger is the sequel to Maggie Stiefvater's novel, Shiver. Sam has been cured of his werewolvism and can now look forward to a future with Grace. As the snow melts and winter slowly turns to spring, Sam waits to see who of his wolf pack family will return to human form... or if none will return at all. Grace is looking forward to a future with Sam but hiding a secret that threatens to take her away from him forever. Isabel is dealing with the guilt of her brother's death on her conscience and is mysteriously, magnetically drawn to newly turned werewolf Cole, who is full of his own dark secrets.

Told between alternating views of Grace, Sam, Isabel, and Cole, the novel unfolds as all four deal with the tragedy and heartbreak that the future holds for each of them.

Linger, like its predecessor, moved excrutiatingly slow for most of the novel. I was seriously bored and struggled to read through it. The most annoying part was Sam and Grace pitching and mooning at each other the whole entire time. I never really understood why Sam and Grace were so in love from the very first book since all she did was stare longingly into some wolf's eyes for most of her life, or why Sam was so obsessed with her. I realize it had to do with her getting bitten when she was younger but never changing, but really, that's the only reason?

The saving characters of this novel was definitely Isabel and Cole. Although Isabel has her own issues to deal with and secrets to hide, she at least was not paralyzed by fear or guilt or whatever it is that affected Sam and Grace. Cole started out as a selfish bastard seeking to run away from his past, but his evolvement and coming to turns with his own internal demons was fascinating and somewhat touching to see.

In the entire book, it only got really interesting in like the last 3 chapters. But I seriously don't know if I will read the last book in the series because the novels have moved so slowly, and Sam and Grace don't really do it for me.