Thursday, September 22, 2011

Mini Reviews: Spray, Daughter of Smoke and Bones, Low Red Moon, Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

Title: Spray
Author: Harry Edge
Pages: 240
Publication: December 7, 2010
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Summary taken from goodreads:
A group of teens sign up for an assassination game on the streets of a big city. Their weapons: pressurized water guns. It’s meant to be a game, a sport. But for some, it’s more than harmless fun. To win, they’ll use  any  means necessary. 
Two hundred players. Three weeks of tense cat-and-mouse action. Every stalker is being stalked and only one player will be left standing. No one will be the same. 
Through multiple points of view, Harry Edge puts readers right in the middle of the action—watch your back!
3.5 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

I liked the book, but I LOVED the idea.

The plot itself was ingenious and very interesting. However, it took a while to figure out who was who because the book moved from multiple point-of-views, which eventually became entertaining and suspenseful, waiting to see how one player was going to spray and therefore "kill" their target.

Because of this book, I was inspired to make a school version of the game called Assassin where it's seniors exclusive and killing people involves brightly colored sticky notes instead of water guns. The game is still in session, but it's already been hilarious and entertaining watching all of my friends being so paranoid and distrustful of each other in between classes. XD




Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bones
Author: Laini Taylor
Pages: 432
Expected publication: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Summary taken from goodreads:
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. 
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war. 
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. 
When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
3.5 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

From just reading the summary, I knew that I was going to in for a wild ride once I started reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and I was right.

The book was a wonderfully original fantasy full of amazing characters, suspense so thick you could taste it, and a mystery that slowly unravels to reveal something even bigger, all beautifully written only to conclude in an ending that is only just the beginning.

I can't wait to find out what happens to Karou in the next book in this series/trilogy/whatever it is.





Title: Low Red Moon
Author: Ivy Devlin
Pages: 244
Publication: September 14, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Summary taken from goodreads:
The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can't, and there's nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she's ever experienced. When Ben reveals he's a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she's not the only one who can't remember the night her parents died.Part murder mystery, part grief narrative, and part heart-stopping, headlong romance, Low Red Moon is a must-read for teen paranormal fans. As breathless as Twilight and as spooky as Shiver, this is a book to be devoured in one sitting—by an acclaimed YA author making her paranormal debut under the pseudonym Ivy Devlin.
3 STARS - I LIKED IT ENOUGH

MY REVIEW:

Low Red Moon had an interesting plotline, but the only emotions Avery and all of the characters in the book showed were either sadness, anguish, or anger, which made the book very depressing, in my opinion.

There was also a Twilight scene in the book that made me LOL when I read it.





Title: Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance
Authors: Emily Franklin & Brendan Halpin
Pages: 240
Publication: February 1, 2011
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Summary taken from goodreads:
Fans of romance don't need to look any further than the fauxmance brewing between teen idols Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers—known on their hit TV show as Jenna and Jonah, next-door neighbors flush with the excitement of first love. But it's their off-screen relationship that has helped cement their fame, as passionate fans follow their every PDA. They grace the covers of magazines week after week. Their fan club has chapters all over the country. The only problem is their off-screen romance is one big publicity stunt, and Charlie and Fielding can't stand to be in the same room. Still, it's a great gig, so even when the cameras stop rolling, the show must go on, and on, and on. . . . Until the pesky paparazzi blow their cover, and Charlie and Fielding must disappear to weather the media storm. It's not until they're far off the grid of the Hollywood circuit that they realize that there's more to each of them than shiny hair and a winning smile.
2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW:

A quick and easy book with an original plot that was kind of confusing. The transitions between chapters were confusing since the scenes didn't follow exactly after each other. Also, I did not particularly like Charlie's character, but then again, how can I relate to a girl who's been born into showbiz?

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