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Tiger’s Curse by Collen Houck Review- Jenni’s Review

February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Tiger’s Curse
By: Colleen Houck
402 Pages
Sterling Publishing
Release Date: January 11, 2011

 

 “A fantastic and delicious read” Me

 

SUMMARY: The last thing teenager Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing over the summer was meeting Ren, a mysterious white tiger and cursed Indian prince When she learns she alone can break the Tiger’s curse, Kelsey’s life is turned upside-down. The unlikely duo journeys halfway around the world to piece together an Indian prophecy, find a way to free the man trapped by a centuries-old spell, and discover the path to their true destiny.
MY REVIEW (Spoilery): I loved loved loved Tiger’s Curse and I couldn’t put it away. It’s a fantastic and delicious read. I was obsessed with the book. It’s full of magic and romance and adventure. I hadn’t come across a were-Tiger book before, and I must say Colleen Houck did an amazing and awesome job. A key reason I really loved this book, is the adventure and the romance. Tigers, Indiana Jones and Twilight all rolled up into one fantastic tale. The book takes a huge dive into the Indian culture, which is unique and refreshing as a reader. The story involves the main character Kelsey, who began working at a traveling circus taking care of a white tiger that she later learns, is also a cursed, unaging, handsome Indian prince named Ren. He is perfectly gentle and sweet and in their adventure she falls deeper and deeper in love with Ren. Ren is cursed to spend most of his time in the form of the tiger. Kelsey and Ren set off across India to end the Tiger’s Curse with the help of Mr. Kadam. Mr. Kadam, who is Ren’s princely advisor/mentor has continuously been seeking to free Ren from this Tiger’s curse for all these many many years. They travel to temples, through many test and battling things like the kappa vampire monkeys as they progress in their adventure solving Ren’s curse. She soon comes across Ren’s, distant, fellow cursed, and similarly handsome prince brother, Kishan. Kishan tends to complicate things for Ren, and makes the book more intense and more delicious.
Characters: Kelsey is a fairly normal person, until she encounters the magical white tiger and her life changed. She falls in love with the cursed Prince Ren/ White Tiger. Ren is the delicious factor of the book, he’s sweet and gentle, protective and loves Kelsey. Every once in awhile, Ren recites and just purrs sweet poetry and pet names for Kelsey in his native tongue, that is overwhelmingly precious and just send chills up your back at the sweet words.
Writing: Colleen Houck is very amazing writer, with complex and diverse writing style. She has such a wonderful and precise writing language, and beautiful poetry usage. Not many author’s can or attempt to approach unfamiliar culture or territory, which just shows that Colleen put a lot of work into research, to ingrain this Indian culture, and it all resulted in a very creative and astonishing tale.

 

 Rating
5 Out Of 5 Stars

REVIEW BY:

Jenni

 

Follow Colleen on Twitter
Tiger’s Curse Website

Filed Under: Book Reviews

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick Review- Jenni’s Review

February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

SILENCE
BECCA FITZPATRICK
438 PAGES
SIMON AND SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 4TH, 2011

SUMMARY: The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They’ve overcome the secrets riddled in Patch’s dark past…bridged two irreconcilable worlds…faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust…and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they’ve worked for–and their love–forever.
MY REVIEW: I really liked Silence. While I was a bit saddened by Crescendo, and let down, I must say Silence definitely won me back. Silence takes place where Crescendo left off, and Nora was kidnapped. Nora is been missing for around five months and is found in a graveyard with her memory wiped. She comes home with many things changed in her life, her mom is dating the father of her enemy Marcie Miller, and she has no memory of Patch. She comes across an old encounter, Scott Parnell and a new guy, she doesn’t remember, but claiming to be from her past. She is drawn back into the Angel world, during this time of the rising battle Fallen Angels against Nephilim. She is retaught things she has lost in her memory, many things she had once learned in the first story(Hush Hush) after she met Patch. While at first it was a bit frustrating being retold as a reader all these things about Becca’s angelology that we already know, and was told in the beginning (Hush Hush). But it’s a crucial basis for Nora in this book. Once she’s recaught up to speed, things take right off. She begins to retrieve bits of memory and sees keeps seeing Patch’s dark eyes even though she doesn’t know who he is. One thing after another the story captured me, as we struggle along with Nora to figure who kidnapped her and why, why her memories are gone, to figure out who she can trust, and who not to trust, why several people she has trust in, seem to have secrets and lying to her, how and why her mom is dating Hank Miller, and why she instinctly doesn’t like him. There’s so much going on and its all so fascinating, and I was just completely swept away in this book and all this mystery and searching for answers.
Characters: Nora is a progressing and growing character, while previously Nora was aggravatingly stubborn to her ways in the beginning, now she’s more vulnerable after the kidnapping and missing a lot of time in her memory and finding trustworthy companions and company. She’s grown and developed as an individual, which is always a great factor for characters. The returning characters have their flare and development as well, and there’s some twist with a new character as the story develops. I feel they had special distinctiveness and characterization  that has been nicely achieved in this work.
Writing: I applaud Becca Fitzpatrick on this third book in the Hush Hush Saga. Becca’s always seem to be a fast-paced eventful writer, making every moment in the book count, and keeping her readers interested, but I must say I feel she did such as excellent job in Silence, and I believe she has improved in her writing since Hush Hush in the beginning. She’s done well developing her characters and angels, and creating a great backstory and foundation for the books, as well as providing a fascinating underlying story of the big the battle that the saga’s been working up to in Finale.

Rating:
4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars

REVIEW BY:

Jenni

The 4th book in the Hush Hush Saga titled, Finale, is due out October 13th, 2012.

Follow Becca Fitzpatrick On Twitter
Author Website

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Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Review

September 3, 2011 By 1 Comment

  ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS
BY: Stephanie Perkins
LEVEL: YA
PAGES: 372–  ( Paperback Edition) PUBLISHER: Penguin Young Readers Group

 SUMMARY: Anna can’t wait for her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end in the French kiss Anna awaits?

MY REVIEW: I absolutely adored Anna and The French Kiss!  First I have to say that it’s very refreshing to read a book that takes place somewhere new.  I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read over the last year and a half, that take place in New York!  As much as I want to visit it, I needed a change of scenery as a reader and Paris did that for me!  Anna is a senior in high school and her dad decides to send her to boarding school in Paris.  Anna isn’t too pleased with the idea, because she is fine with the way things are in her hometown of Atlanta.  However, Anna settles in pretty quickly into her new life at SOAP (School of America in Paris), you must be American to attend.  Merideth is the first person Anna meets after arriving at SOAP and they quickly bond.  The next day she is introduced to Josh, Rashmi and of course St.Clair, all of whom are friends of Merideth.  Anna is attracted to St.Clair from the time she meets him.  Although, St. Clair has a serious girlfriend (Ellie), and Meredith also has a huge crush on him.  Anna struggles to speak french when she first starts SOAP, however St.Clair helps her whenever he can and he also helps her settle in as well.  I was attracted to St.Clair as well.  He has a British accent, he was born in America and raised in London.  Anyway, Anna and St.Clair quickly become good friends.  There’s also np denying their attraction for one another.  I particulary thought it was refreshing to see how their relationship developed from a friendship into a romance.  Anna wasn’t looking for love nor did she need someone to come into her life and and change her point of view on anything.  She was perfectly happy with how things were back home.  She had a crush on Toph, a guy she worked with at the movie theatre.  However, the more she is around St.Clair she can’t stop wishing that he would leave Ellie for her.  One thing I really liked about Anna and St.Clair’s relationship was how they could be themselves around the other and how they had this funny sense of humor between them.  It was enjoyable to read!  Stephanie is another great author that makes supporting characters have depth to them.  In my opinion they should add to a story.  There was some drama between Merideth and Anna over St.Clair, and there were times when Rashmi was giving Anna love advice.  Anna also had problems with her best friend Bridget betraying her in the story.  It was all very real and believeble, making the story more interesting to read.  I can’t tell you enough how I enjoyed the descriptions of Paris, from the food to the scenery it sometimes felt so real!  One of my favourite scenes was when Anna and Merideth were in a pastry shop.  The way Stephanie described the food had my mouth watering!  I also really liked a scene when Anna and St.Clair were on top of Notre Dame (that’s all I’m saying for now!).  Overall, I could not put this book down!  Stephanie’s writing flows very well, and she added a lot of depth to all the characters not just Anna.  Anna was very fun, likeable with a great sense of humor!

Rated and Reviewed by


Make sure you check out Stephanie’s Official Website for more information on her books!

Check out Lola and The Boy Next Door September 29th, 2011

Official Website

Filed Under: Book Blogs, Book Reviews, Book/Author Related

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore – Review

September 2, 2011 By 1 Comment

The Power of Six

by Pittacus Lore

Publisher: Harper Collins (Harper Teen)

Release Date: August 23rd 2011

406 pages

Spoiler Alert. If you have NOT read I AM NUMBER FOUR there ARE spoilers in this Review. If you plan to read THE POWER OF SIX, I try to be as vague in detail as possible… however just ignore the images I post (lawls). 

Summary:

I’ve seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he’s a mystery. But to me . . . he’s one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We’re hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we’ll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I’ve been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I’m ready to fight.

My Review:

To say I was excited about this book is a major understatement. I loved I Am Number Four and was eager to pick up the story where John Smith “Four” left us with Six and Sam by his side.

Have I seen the movie? Yes… but that is another story for another time children. Let’s get on to this book review.

Dear John (aka “Four”),

you are smokin’… I really like your character even though you pull some dumb crap sometimes. Listen to Sam… he is the smart one.

I really like Four’s character. He has this wholesomeness to him but also he seems pretty K.A. As the books progress you can see him struggling and growing. Though sometimes I want to just shake him or smack him up side the head… I thought I’d leave that to Six.

Which brings us to our next character point.

Six is just awesome. Bless her heart she has a dark past with her Garde’s death and everything… and then she *spoiler* falls for John who has his head up Sarah’s butt… idiot. *end spoiler* I really hope she gets a happy ending but in the mean time I will happily sit back and enjoy her kicking some Mog Butt. HECK YES!


Moving right along with the “love triangle”. I don’t know what it was about Sarah in I AM NUMBER FOUR… but once Six came into the picture I was like YEEEEESSSSS! Not that I am prejudice against humans, I myself am one, but Four deserves someone that can “keep up” and love him forever and ever. Six has some scars but she would love him and he would love her. Then they would get married and have a little baby that they would name 10.

Oh… I crack myself up with my corny jokes.

On a more serious professional note as a reviewer, I would have to say that The Power of Six is hands down a great 2nd to I AM NUMBER FOUR. I love that it compliments the first book perfectly without letting us down as so many others have in the past. The story picks right up where it left off and flows right into a steady pace. We are introduced to a new character, Marina, whom as I progressed through the book grew to love more just as I did “Four”.

The details and the web of connections between the Lorien on earth are something I truly loved. Knowing what was happening to Four and Marina as well as Six during certain events (sorry to be vague, avoiding spoilers) was nice to see that they WERE connected… even though they couldn’t see one another.

Furthermore, once Four open his chest we find out some interesting facts about Mr. Sam the Man over here. This was something I truly loved about the book; it made me giggle with happiness.

Sam’s character is just so lovable, however I do feel sorry for him at some parts.

The story as a whole was great. I loved how we developed a NEW relationship with the NEW characters and rekindled our love for the old ones. It was a great adventure to read as each Lorien put the puzzle piece of their destiny into place. I can’t wait for more and hope to see the trailer for THE POWER OF SIX come out SOON!

This is definitely a book you are going to want to read. If you haven’t read I AM NUMBER FOUR… you should go and read it so you can move on to THE POWER OF SIX.

If you don’t… evil Sarah will come after you.

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Review by:


The Power of Six on GoodReads

Power of Six Website

Pittacus Lore 

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Passion by Lauren Kate- Review

July 28, 2011 By 1 Comment


PASSION
BY: LAUREN KATE
PUBLISHER: Random House Children’s Books
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2011

SUMMARY (Goodreads): “Every single lifetime, I’ll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever.”

Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .
Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.
Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.

 MY REVIEW:
I really loved this adventure. In this third installment to the Fallen series, Luce journeys through history viewing her past lives, hopping shadows and traveling further and further back in search for answers to ending the curse of her and Daniel’s love, and being torn apart over and again with Luce’s death and reincarnation. This novel was the most eventful of the series so far. Over and over Luce witnesses her own multiple deaths and Daniels heartbreaks at each one. She witnessed different wars and rituals and lives. I was swept up with each life she explored. It has plenty of fun twist and mystery and definitely holds the reader’s interest. Different from the first two Fallen novels, this book is written in three different points of views, mainly that of Luce dashing back through her past, and Daniel’s point of view of him frantically chasing after her, but there’s a few that are first person narrative. There’s historical events that Luce experienced in her past lives that were neat to be placed in the middle of, in that time and world and to read about it.
Characters: It’s great to return back to the lives of Daniel and Luce. It was beautiful that Daniel was dashing after Luce, jumping place to place seconds too late to catch her but never giving up. There’s a new interesting and mysterious character named Bill, who has a larger role and importance to the book than is realized in the beginning. That’s all I’ll say about him.
Writing: Lauren writes very elegantly and beautifully in this third Fallen novel. She has grown some in her writing. It’s neat how Lauren wrote with the historical perspective that she does, and that she had all this knowledge of the events, I’m certain great research and study went into this book. I found it fun and just so great to read from the multiple points of views. I mean it would have really been fascinating to have had Daniels perspective at times in the previous novels. I definitely believe this is a great addition to the series, and people will love it.

RATING: 4.5 OF 5 STARS

REVIEW BY:

Jenni
Visit Lauren Kate Official Website
Follow Lauren on Twitter

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Book/Author Related
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