Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say? How can I possibly describe this book? It was... breathtaking. Gabrielle Zevin has this way of making me feel. Like, they make me feel real, alive. They make me want to cry, laugh and shout all at the same time.

I think this is partly down to how she writes her characters. They're so real, so utterly normal that you feel like you know them inside out. The way she writes in passages of time feels so natural as well, and it all just flows wonderfully.

The only way I can begin to describe to you how I felt about this book is that as soon as I'd finished reading it, I immediately turned to the front and started reading it again, purely for the sake of experiencing it again.

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This Side of the Monotony Train

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It says little of a book when I can't be bothered to finish it. I even deleted it off my e-reader because I just couldn't be bothered.

And you know why? It bored me.

I know, I know, it's not all that boring, but I got about halfway through then found a more interesting book to read. Then another. Then another.

Lemme tell you what happens/will happen (as I haven't finished it) Cat and Bones bicker, she gets kidnapped/threatened/chopped into peices by the villain, gets resuced by Bones. Cue more bickering. Cue waiting around for something to happen. EVERYTHING HAPPENS IN THE LAST TEN PAGES AND THEYRE BEING ATTACKTED AND CAT THINKS BONES IS DEAD AND THEN SHE REALISES SHE CAN DO SOME FREAKY SHIT AND MAGICALLY SAVES THE DAY! YAY! Cue loving words exchanged betwen Cat and Bones. And repeat.

Yeah, it bored me.

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Goddess Summoning Series (but mainly Goddess of Legend)

Goddess of Legend by P.C. Cast
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

*WARNING SPOILERS*

It was alright, I guess.

That's probably the worst thing anyone can say about a book. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was meh.

Now, this came as a bit of a disappointment to me. The first book in the series was weird, but I was prepared, thanks to your lovely selves. I really enjoyed the rest of the series, and then came this one.

It was really confusing at the beginning, and I often had to read the page twice before I understood it. The writing was stilted and muddled, and don't get me wrong, I love PC, but she can't write in old languages. The language is supposed to flow easily, and it didn't in this series. I felt like there were too many chunks of dialogue and no description of what the characters are doing. Like, at one point, Arthur's in bed and talking to Isabel, and then suddenly he's standing up and walking out the door, and I'm like: wait, what? *rereads page, but no mention of him getting out of bed*. Also, Isabel's and Arthur's characters aren't built up enough. I know, I know, the whole bloody book is about them, but the only characters I thought were actually built up was Gwen. And even then, she had a random mood swing and was like, 'No Izzy, all the things you suggested to me yesterday were actually MY ideas, so stuff that up your pretty little but.' And then, five minutes later, she's like 'oh, hey, all your ideas are pretty cool, we should do them.' And I'm left going 'WTF?'

Also, NOTHING HAPPENS. Like, actual nothing. Sure, there's a lot of lusting after people, but THAT'S IT. And they prevent a war happening by baking poisonous pasties. WTH? And Mordred. Grrrrrrrr Mordred. He presents the PERFECT plot device for a little betrayal, as the angry 'imma take your throne' bastard son. And helloooooo, Arthur doesn't even need to acknowledge him. Bastard, remember? So then, after a little kick in the balls, he's like, 'Oh, Father! I'm so sorry! Love you really!' And I waited, I waited for the moment when Mordred throws it back in Arthur's face, and goes 'I'M BETRAYING YOU ALL! GOODNIGHT!'
It never happened.
And the ending was crap, too.
Rant over .

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Clockwork Angel

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, it was better than I expected. And by that, I mean better than The Mortal Instruments series.

Maybe I should give it two stars. I find this book very meh-inducing.

3 stars it is. To be honest, after I had to physically restrain myself from ripping the pages out of City of Ashes (it was a library book, and it wasn't worthy enough for me to pay to replace it,) anything would be better.

Then I read the blurb, and thought 'Jeeeeeez, this AGAIN?', but persevered, as my friend promised it was better than TMI.

Verdict: Meh.

Yeah, I guess it was alright and the plot was ok, but most of the time, when I like a book, I read it in a couple of sittings. This took me a week. Now, I usually tell when a book doesn't excite me because it takes me longer than 24 hours to read it. So, yeah, meh.

My one problem with this book:
WHY HAVE YOU USED THE SAME CHARACTERS AS TMI?????????

Clary and Jace annoyed me so much in TMI and I was like 'WHYYYYYYY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO MEEEEEEE WUMMAN???????????' Granted, Tessa is a more realistic character than Clary, in that I could identify with her, and Will made me laugh, but STILL. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??????????????????

Oh, and one other thing, Southampton is awesome. Don't diss us scummers.

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My Name Is Memory (or deja-vu)

My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

On encountering this book:
Sure I wanna read it, but *ahem* Fallen, *ahem* Evermore, *ahem* The Eternal Ones. Maybe just a little overdone. And the names *ahem* Luce and Daniel (Fallen) becomes Lucy and Daniel. Just sayin'.

On reading this book:
AARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!! I despise this book. I really really despise it, It has absolutely no redeeming features at all. Let me list my reasons for hating it:
1. SHE STOLE THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES FONT ON THE COVER.
2. Lucy is a wimp. She has no personality, no soul, no balls and NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
3. Daniel is a prick. He spends seventeen years lusting after Lucy, then jumps her and starts calling her Sophia, then waits ANOTHER SEVEN YEARS before contacting her.
4. It jumps around too much. I mean, who actually read the date at the top of the chapter? I just read the place. And then Lucy was telling Marnie about Daniel and she goes 'but that was four years ago! blah blah blah' and I was like 'WAIT, WUT??????' and had to retrace half the book to find out when that section was set.
5. The plot sucks. It's overdone.
6. Joaquin is only introduced as a threat AT THE END OF THE BOOK. Honestly wumman, at least have her being stalked by some random guy consistently through the novel
7. Lucy sleeps with her best friend's YOUNGER brother. As in NOT YET 18 brother. Does anyone else see the wrongness of that?
8. She is wayyyy to gullible.
9. THE ENDING SUCKS SO BAD IT MADE ME WANT TO SCREAM.
10. Even though it was so bad, I *had* to read it in case it got any better.
11. The cover has NOTHING to do with the book, apart from the fact that she's wearing a purple dress, which Lucy does at one point in the novel.
12. This cannot be classed at 'Young-Adult' when for the majority of the book, all the characters are in their twenties.

Ann Brashares, I love you and all, but next time, PLEASE write a better novel.

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I am a very, very bad blogger. So much so, that I have (twice in a row) forgotten to post for three weeks. Again. To make up for this, I shall give you a big list, as can only hope that you accept my sincere apologies.

Fourth Comings, by Megan McCafferty

Perfect Fifths, by Megan McCafferty

Perfect Chemistry, by Simone Elkeles

Reckoning, by Lili St. Crow

Rules of Attraction, by Simone Elkeles

Leaving Paradise, by Simone Elkeles

Chain Reaction, by Simone Elkeles

Return to Paradise, by Simone Elkeles

The Goddess Test, by Aimee Carter

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Born to Bite, by Lynsay Sands

The Reluctant Vampire, by Lynsay Sands

Hungry for You, by Lynsay Sands

The Renegade Hunter, by Lynsay Sands

Simone Elkeles has nearly overtaken Sarah Dessen as my favourite author, because I LOVE THEIR WRITING :)

The Goddess Test

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

Let me start by giving you the sequence of events that occurred with this book. Picture this:
I walk into the teenage section of the library, sit down, see a book on the shelf, go to pick it up. I don't bother looking at the cover, instead I read the blurb. It sounds like a pretty cool concept. Hades, Greek gods, a retelling of Greek mythology? Hell yeah! Then I looked at the cover. Is it just me, or does the girl on there look like she's ill and is about to throw up? No? Just me then...
I'm not going to do a page by page analysis (because I'm not that weird) but main points here:
Plot: a bit rushed
Characters: Kate was WAYYYYY too goody-goody
Writing: meh
Ending: rushed

The reason why i'm not absolutely hating this book is simply the concept. So, overall meh.


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TMI. Go Die.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistably drawn towards a group of sexy demon hunters, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City - and the dangers of forbidden love.

Ok, first things first: I read this purely becuase of the hype. And I was expecting some epic tale about battling demons to find your love, taken away when you were still in that cutesey honeymoon period.

Well, they do say to never judge a book by its cover. So, Clary's humdrum life become suddenly intersting when she meets a fit guy, snogs him, and imagines herself in love with him. Let me list a few problems with this:
1. this is not an epic love tale.
2. a snog in a greenhouse in the middle of the night does not constitute a realtionship
3. HE'S HER BLOODY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!
way to go, Cassandra Clare. Not only have you name your female protagonist after yourself, you save her a lot of heartbreak by conviently revealing that snogging love interest no.1 is very, very incestuous. (You'd think one would have a natural aversion to snogging one's own brother, wouldn't you? I mean, the whole gene pool thing) also what creeps me out is that they don't talk about it. It's like: "oh, you're my brother, how cool, never mind that I unwittingly had an incestual relationship with you". This is utterly unrealistic and idiotic. She should be completely and utterly weirded out by swapping saliva with her brother.
Complaint no. 2, the 'mystery' of her father is sooooo predictable. I mean, couldn't you have made it so that her mother had been having a torrid affair with a werewolf? Just to add a little interest?

I can tell this is going to end up with a Twilight-sized DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE sticker slapped on it, with red warning lights stationed at strategic positions to make you jump the highest, so I shall stop.

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Perfect Fifths

Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Now a young professional in her mid-twenties, Jess is off to a Caribbean wedding. As she rushes to her gate at the airport, she literally runs into her former boyfriend, Marcus Flutie. It’s the first time she's seen him since she reluctantly turned down his marriage proposal three years earlier–and emotions run high.

Marcus and Jessica have both changed dramatically, yet their connection feels as familiar as ever. Is their reunion just a fluke or has fate orchestrated this collision of their lives once again?

SO GOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!! But I do have one complaint. In this book, there is a chapter written in haiku, and a chapter written in a poem-y sort of thing. However, instead of choosing a different font to set these apart, they have chosen one that is indecipherable. That font is worse than my own handwriting. The only words that I could make out were MARCUS FLUTIE and SEX, mostly because these were in capital letters. But other than that, an excellent ending to this series.


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Fouth Comings

Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Is the real world ready for Jessica Darling?

At first it seems she’s living the New York City dream. She’s subletting an apartment with her best friend, working for a magazine that actually cares about her psychology degree, and still deeply in love with the charismatic Marcus Flutie.

But reality is more complicated than dreamy clichés.

When Marcus proposes—giving her only one week to answer—Jessica must decide if she’s ready to give up a world of late-night literary soirees, art openings, and downtown drunken karaoke to move back to New Jersey and be with the one man who’s gripped her heart for years. Jessica ponders this and other life choices with her signature snark and hyper-intense insight, making it the most tumultuous and memorable week of her twenty-something life.


I WAS WRONG!!!!!!!! There are not many times I can say that, so I'll say it again: THE ENDING I PREDICTED WAS WRONG!!!!!!! (Although, I did have my doubts, as I read the blurb for #5 before this one, so....
BUT! I am very pleased with this book just because I didn't predict the ending.

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A List Mainly Comprising of Lynsay Sands and Megan McCafferty....

I know. I have been shameful. I have not posted since 17th December, nearly three weeks ago. Therefore, to make up for this, here is a gingantigous ist of all the book I have read since 17th Dec.

A Bite to Remember, by Lynsay Sands

Forever, by Maggie Steifvater

Hades, by Alexandra Adornetto

The Night Before Christmas, by Clement Clarke Moore (which I read every year, without fail on Christmas Eve)

Bite Me If You Can, by Lynsay Sands

Fury, by Elizabeth Miles

The Accidental Vampire, by Lynsay Sands

Vampires Are Forever, by Lynsay Sands

Vampire, Interrupted, by Lynsay Sands

The Rogue Hunter, by Lynsay Sands

The Immortal Hunter, by Lynsay Sands

Sloppy Firsts, by Megan McCafferty

Second Helpings, by Megan McCafferty

Charmed Thirds, by Megan McCafferty

...and there you have it. My Christmas/new year reading list :)

Charmed Thirds

Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Things are looking up for Jessica Darling. She has finally left her New Jersey hometown/hellhole for Columbia University in New York City; she’s more into her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie, than ever (so what if he’s at a Buddhist college in California?); and she’s making new friends who just might qualify as stand-ins for her beloved best friend, Hope.

But Jessica soon realizes that her bliss might not last. She lands an internship at a snarky Brooklyn-based magazine, but will she fit in with the überhip staff (and will she even want to)? As she and Marcus hit the rocks, will she end up falling for her GOPunk, neoconservative RA . . . or the hot (and married!) Spanish grad student she’s assisting on a summer project . . . or the oh-so-sensitive emo boy down the hall? Will she even make it through college now that her parents have cut her off financially? And what do the cryptic one-word postcards from Marcus really mean?


This was definitely the hardest book in the series to read. At times, I did feel like giving it up and throwing it across the room. Which would have been disastrous, as I read the kindle version. But I persisted. I have subsequently noticed a pattern in Jessica Darling endings.

Within the last 10 pages, here is what happens:
book 1: She nearly sleeps with Marcus
book 2: she sleeps with Marcus
book 3: she sleeps with Marcus
and, here are my predictions for books four and five:
book 4: she sleeps with Marcus
book 5: she sleeps with Marcus

I do have to say, the ending of this one seemed a little too contrived. And very abrupt, like she thought 'Ooh! I have only 10 pages left to write! Marcus must show up on her doorstep and they must have beautiful make-up sex!'

Not that I have an issue with this, but.... most books don't feature the heroine sleeping with three different guys. Just sayin'.

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