Mommy's Reading Break

I received a copy of this from the publisher for review via Edelweiss.This is another HarperTeen book, so it’s safe to say I heard of it on Tea Time (not that I remember for sure). I’m slightly obsessed with all things HarperTeen, so when I see a book of theirs on Edelweiss, I request it, and I was lucky enough to be approved to read and review an e-ARC of Undercurrent.I’m having a hard time even collecting my thoughts on Undercurrent, and I finished it two days ago. I really liked the beginning, and how it jumped right into the story. The very first page talks about Callum going over the Crystal Falls and waking up in the hospital. It doesn’t take him long after waking up to realize that things have changed for him, though. People he thought were his friends aren’t around, and people he barely knows are buddying up to him.From there, though, I kind of felt like I failed to connect to it. I don’t know exactly what it was about it that made me feel that way. I think part of it was probably a mood thing. You see, Undercurrent is a bit darker of a story than the other alternate reality books that I’ve read and loved, and I’m just not sure that’s what I was in the mood to read. I gathered from the description that it would be a bit of a thriller, but I felt like everything in Callum’s new world was twisted and dark. Also, I found myself very confused. We don’t find out until close to the end of the book how or why Callum is in this new reality or a lot of what is going on around him, so I just found myself often confused. One other thing that bothered me, but not to the extent of what I’ve already mentioned, was that there was a bit of predictability in the ending of Undercurrent. Not the full thing, but from the very beginning, there is a mysterious character that Callum sees, and I quickly predicted who he was.Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters. Callum specifically grated on my nerves. He very quickly realizes that things aren’t as he remembers them, but he almost seems to spend most of the story in denial, rather than trying to figure out what was going on. Also, I felt like he was really isolated a lot of the time. Unlike other stories I’ve read, he didn’t really have a confidante or that one person that was always by his side, and it was kind of depressing.I actually really liked the ending. Finding out the full story of how and why Callum ended up going after the falls was pretty surprising. That was one thing that I definitely didn’t predict. However, I did feel like it ended kind of abruptly. I can’t find anything to know for sure whether Undercurrent is going to be part of a series or not, but I feel like the ending left it so that it could really go either way. I felt like we got a decent resolution to the events of this story, but it also left an opening for a future book, if Blackwell decides to go that way. If there were to be a sequel, I would probably read it, since I enjoyed the ending, though the story as a whole didn’t really do it for me.Overall, I don’t think that Undercurrent was a bad book. If you’re in the mood for an alternate reality story with a lot of mystery and a bit of a dark, creepy story line, you would probably really enjoy this book. Honestly, I think it was more of a case of the wrong book at the wrong time for me, so I can’t really recommend whether to read or avoid it. I guess read the description, think about the things I didn’t like about it, and make the decision for yourself. I really wish I could be of more help and give a definitive answer, but I’m still just not really sure how to rate this book. I guess because I enjoyed the very beginning and the very end but felt mostly detached throughout most of it, I’m going to just say that it’s okay.This review is also posted on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break.

I received a copy of this from the publisher for review via Edelweiss.This is another HarperTeen book, so it’s safe to say I heard of it on Tea Time (not that I remember for sure). I’m slightly obsessed with all things HarperTeen, so when I see a book of theirs on Edelweiss, I request it, and I was lucky enough to be approved to read and review an e-ARC of Undercurrent.I’m having a hard time even collecting my thoughts on Undercurrent, and I finished it two days ago. I really liked the beginning, and how it jumped right into the story. The very first page talks about Callum going over the Crystal Falls and waking up in the hospital. It doesn’t take him long after waking up to realize that things have changed for him, though. People he thought were his friends aren’t around, and people he barely knows are buddying up to him.From there, though, I kind of felt like I failed to connect to it. I don’t know exactly what it was about it that made me feel that way. I think part of it was probably a mood thing. You see, Undercurrent is a bit darker of a story than the other alternate reality books that I’ve read and loved, and I’m just not sure that’s what I was in the mood to read. I gathered from the description that it would be a bit of a thriller, but I felt like everything in Callum’s new world was twisted and dark. Also, I found myself very confused. We don’t find out until close to the end of the book how or why Callum is in this new reality or a lot of what is going on around him, so I just found myself often confused. One other thing that bothered me, but not to the extent of what I’ve already mentioned, was that there was a bit of predictability in the ending of Undercurrent. Not the full thing, but from the very beginning, there is a mysterious character that Callum sees, and I quickly predicted who he was.Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters. Callum specifically grated on my nerves. He very quickly realizes that things aren’t as he remembers them, but he almost seems to spend most of the story in denial, rather than trying to figure out what was going on. Also, I felt like he was really isolated a lot of the time. Unlike other stories I’ve read, he didn’t really have a confidante or that one person that was always by his side, and it was kind of depressing.I actually really liked the ending. Finding out the full story of how and why Callum ended up going after the falls was pretty surprising. That was one thing that I definitely didn’t predict. However, I did feel like it ended kind of abruptly. I can’t find anything to know for sure whether Undercurrent is going to be part of a series or not, but I feel like the ending left it so that it could really go either way. I felt like we got a decent resolution to the events of this story, but it also left an opening for a future book, if Blackwell decides to go that way. If there were to be a sequel, I would probably read it, since I enjoyed the ending, though the story as a whole didn’t really do it for me.Overall, I don’t think that Undercurrent was a bad book. If you’re in the mood for an alternate reality story with a lot of mystery and a bit of a dark, creepy story line, you would probably really enjoy this book. Honestly, I think it was more of a case of the wrong book at the wrong time for me, so I can’t really recommend whether to read or avoid it. I guess read the description, think about the things I didn’t like about it, and make the decision for yourself. I really wish I could be of more help and give a definitive answer, but I’m still just not really sure how to rate this book. I guess because I enjoyed the very beginning and the very end but felt mostly detached throughout most of it, I’m going to just say that it’s okay.This review is also posted on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break.

Might try again at another time.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3I’ve seen 13 Little Blue Envelopes a few times around the blogosphere, so when I was browsing my library and saw it, I decided to pick it up. Of course, I then proceeded to procrastinate on reading it for a while, but I did finally pick it up.I felt like 13 Little Blue Envelopes really started off at a good pace. Ginny receives a letter from her dead aunt telling her to pack one backpack, travel to New York to pick up a package, and to fly to London. From there, she is to open one envelope at a time, and only when she is instructed to by the previous note.As interesting as this concept seemed, it also kind of lost me as a parent. Ginny is 17 and instructed to leave the country by herself with no extra money and no means of electronic communication with anyone in the states. No cell phone, email, IM, nothing. She can write letters however. But as a parent, I cannot imagine EVER letting my teenage daughter travel internationally by herself with no way to contact me if she needed help. I just found this to be extremely far-fetched, especially since Ginny’s mom found her sister to be a little crazy (not the exact words used, but close enough sentiment) and encouraged Ginny while she was growing up to NOT be like her aunt. This whole scene is glossed over in the book, though. She says “…she had to convince her parents of the same thing. Major international treaties had been negotiated in less time.” Seriously, this is a conversation I would have liked to see. How on earth did Ginny convince her parents to let her go?After she opens envelope #3, I felt like the story slowed down a bit. Honestly, I found myself not even caring that much about Ginny or her adventures. I kept reading only because I was curious more about what the letters said than how Ginny fulfilled them. I just never really connected to Ginny, so I just didn’t really care that much about her story. However, after a few twists at the end, I’m dying to know what the last envelope said, so I will probably be reading the sequel anyway.Overall, I thought that 13 Little Blue Envelopes was an okay story, but I’ve seen several people love it. So if you like art, nerdy, insecure girls, and travel, you’ll probably like this book. It just wasn’t really for me. (I’m giving it an extra half a star only because it made me want to read the sequel.)This review is also posted on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

I had never heard of Triangles before seeing an ARC Tour of it over at Literary Lushes, but the description sounded pretty interesting, so I signed up. I happened to be between books when it arrived in the mail, so I started it that day. The description says it’s 216 pages, but the ARC I read was 175. The print was pretty small, though.The beginning of the book was kind of boring. Autumn goes to work and then has lunch with her co-worker/friend. While there, she sees a hot guy who works at the bank and her “shadow”, one of the mechanics at the auto parts store she works at who has a crush on her. She chats to her friends about the boys, blah, blah, blah. Then she goes home, fights with her sister, and then they leave for the cruise. While on the cruise, she bumps into both boys from the aforementioned lunch, both of which are interested in her.Honestly, I didn’t like Autumn. She seemed like a stuck-up snob, who, of course, treated the good guy like crap and was all about the bad boy. She seriously had me rolling me eyes at her quite a bit. Joey is the good guy, but he is a bit annoying and clueless. She’s openly rude to him, and he just keeps coming back for more. Seriously? Take a hint! Marcus is the “bad boy”. He’s an obvious womanizer, and yet Autumn’s all about it. Like I said, eyeroll-inducing.The story picks up when the ship crosses over into the Bermuda Triangle. At this point, Autumn wakes up to a different reality where she’s been dating Marcus for a year. She has no memories of this, since this isn’t her true reality, so she has to learn about her life in this alternate reality as the day progresses. This happens for two more days. Each day, she wakes up to a new reality. On the final day in the Triangle, she meets a doctor who tells her that the Triangle affects different people in different ways and that any of the alternate realities could become her real one when they leave the Triangle.Here’s where a mostly enjoyable book fell flat for me. The alternate scenarios were really cool and had the potential to be up there with Parallel or Pivot Point. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t anything to back it up. Just being in the Bermuda Triangle, which does crazy things, didn’t seem like enough of a reason for her to have alternate realities, especially since these alternates change huge life events dating back a decade. It just didn’t make sense to me. Also, the doctor says that any reality could become her true one, but there is no explanation why or how her reality turns out the way it does. I just felt it was missing some major explanation as to why the events happened.Overall, I mostly enjoyed the story of Triangles, but unfortunately, I just felt it was missing a lot to make sense. While I was hoping for another Parallel or Pivot Point, it just didn’t measure up for me. It wasn’t terrible, though, so it may be worth a read if it interests you. Since I was the only person to sign up for the ARC Tour, Brittany has given me permission to pass it on, so if you’re interested in reading it, let me know!This review is also posted on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

I think that The Last Echo was probably my favorite book of The Body Finder series so far. It still had some slow parts, but I felt like there was more going on than in the previous book, especially since Desires of the Dead was a bit disappointing.So, at the beginning of The Last Echo, Violet is working a case with Sara Priest’s team. She finds a girl’s body in a freezer in a warehouse, who is believed to have been killed by The Collector. At this point, Violet realizes that she wishes she could do more with her power, stopping crimes, rather than just discovering them after the fact.We meet some new characters in Crystal, Sam, and Gemma. Since they all have abilities, they add some interesting dynamics to the story. We also get to learn a little bit more about Sara and Rafe, which I really enjoyed. Rafe is such a mysterious character that I really enjoyed learning a little bit more about him. We also get to see Violet struggle with her ability, as she tries to figure out a way to make it more useful. The villain is also all sorts of creepy. My biggest complaint is that there just isn’t enough of Jay or Violet’s friends.I really enjoyed the story line of The Last Echo. I felt like it had more depth and levels to the plot than the previous books, and that there was a lot more going on than I even realized. I also found it to be a bit more creepier. There were moments where I considered putting the book down until the next day. I think I even had a nightmare or two about it. Definitely a spine-tingler for me.The climax was intense and definitely had my heart in my throat, but the actual ending felt like it’s leading to darker and more dangerous places, and I’m really interested in seeing how everything plays out.Overall, I really enjoyed The Last Echo. I felt like it was the best book of the series so far, set up the next book really well, and definitely took the story deeper. I would definitely recommend it.You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

I had never even heard of Sisters in Sanity, but when I signed up for the Gayle Forman Read-Along at Book Addict’s Guide, I decided to go along for the whole thing. Since Sisters in Sanity was the first book up, I decided to give it a chance.Sisters in Sanity starts out with Brit complaining about a family trip to the Grand Canyon with her father, baby brother, and “Stepmonster”. However, when it’s time to leave for the trip, Brit realizes that something fishy is going on. Instead of going to the Grand Canyon, her father takes her to Red Rock. Red Rock is supposed to be like a rehab facility for out-of-control teens, but ends up more like an extreme boot camp. Their “therapy” borders on abusive.The characters are really interesting in Sisters in Sanity. Brit quickly becomes friends with several of the girls in Red Rock, who are all dealing with their own messed up relationships with their parents, along with their problems that got them sent to Red Rock to begin with. V, Martha, Bebe, and Cassie are definitely a great group of friends that really help Brit through being in Red Rock. There’s also a great love interest in Brit’s bandmate, Jed. The “villains” Sheriff and Clayton are definitely creepy. How they think they’re doing any kind of good for the girls in Red Rock is beyond me.Part of what I liked best about Sisters in Sanity is seeing Brit come to terms with the realities of her life. She has to face some harsh realities about her family and her own possible future, along with the fact that some adults just don’t take teenagers seriously. Getting her voice heard is not always an easy task.I thought that the ending was really good, though it left me wanting more. I can’t even put into words what I actually wanted and didn’t get, but I just felt like I needed a little something more. Overall, though, I thought that Sisters in Sanity was a really good book. It definitely had me feeling all sorts of emotions and had very likable characters. I would definitely recommend it!You can also read this, and other, reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

After the ending of Of Poseidon, I knew that I had to keep going with the series, so I bought Of Triton on my kindle and started reading it right away.Of Triton starts off with Emma waking up in a car and realizing that after being confronted with the truth about her identity, her mother has drugged her and run away, essentially kidnapping Emma in the process. I thought this was really interesting at first, but I was a little hesitant as well. I was afraid that the entire book was going to be Emma and her mother on the run, while Galen chases after her. I’m very relieved to say that this is not the case.I found that there was a lot more character development in Of Triton, and I really liked all of the characters. Well, I still found Emma’s mom to be frustrating, maybe even more so in this case, but I found Emma, Toraf, and especially Rayna, to be a lot more likable. I felt like Emma grew a lot in Of Triton and made some decisions that pleasantly surprised me.I was actually surprised with a lot of the twists and turns that Of Triton took. I wasn’t expecting it to happen, but I thought it was really interesting. I liked meeting new characters and learning a bit more about how the Syrena community works. I also liked seeing the internal struggles that Emma goes through and really seeing her come into her own.There was a scene at the end that I really didn’t see coming. It was emotional, and I’m not sure I fully understand why it happened, but I trust that Anna Banks knows what she’s doing. I did really enjoy seeing more of Emma’s personality, though.Overall, I really enjoyed Of Triton. I felt more connected to both the characters and the storyline. I would definitely recommend it and really wish that I didn’t have to wait for Of Neptune!You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

I bought Of Poseidon at the Fierce Reads signing I went to and picked it up as part of a buddy read in a Goodreads group I’m in, and I was pretty much hooked. However, this is going to be a really hard review for me to write because much like when I read Twilight, I’m not sure I can really pick out and explain what I liked about it, but I’ll sure try.Of Poseidon starts off with a bang, or should I say a crash, as it literally starts out with Emma tripping into a guy on the beach, who ends up being Galen. After completely embarrassing herself and a bit of small talk, she and her friend, Chloe, go in the water, where Chloe is killed by a shark. However, it is during this encounter that Galen realizes that Emma seems to have the gift of Poseidon, meaning that she can talk to (and be understood by) fish. The rest of the book basically is based on Galen trying to see if this is true and helping Emma realize her potential.I guess one of the things that I really liked and that kept me flipping pages was that there seems to be some ambiguity on what is really going on with Emma. She has the eyes of the Syrena but not the coloring. She seems to be able to communicate with fish, but she doesn’t seem to be able to grow a fin. She also is completely unaware of the existence of Syrena, let alone her possible connection to them. As she learns more and more about Galen, the Syrena, and most importantly, herself, we do too. We don’t learn anything before she does, though we may get some ideas and be able to predict things that are going to happen.The interaction between Galen and Emma was really interesting to me as well, though she frustrated me sometimes. She seems totally oblivious to the fact that he seems interested in her. Some of my favorite scenes, though, was when someone would have to explain human sayings or items to Galen. Looking at some of our sayings from an outsider’s perspective can really be quite amusing. The secondary characters of Rayna, Toraf, and Rachel were great, too. Actually, the interactions between Rayna and Toraf were always good for a laugh as well.In the Buddy Read thread, I saw a couple of people say that the ending was predictable, but I didn’t find it so. I mean, I definitely predicted several of the aspects of the ending, but I didn’t see how the pieces fit together until I read it. I also found the ending to be really great as far as making me want to immediately read the next book. All of the important aspects of Of Poseidon were dealt with and tied up, but the book itself ended with a major revelation, making me very eager to get my hands on the next book for more information.I’m not going to do a full-on review for it, so I’m also going to mention that the paperback version I read had a bonus prequel short story at the end, Legacy Lost, that had the back story of what happened between Grom and Nalia. If you’re interested in back story, it’s worth the read. It was only about 30 pages long, so definitely a quick easy way to get a little more information.Overall, though it’s hard to explain why, I really enjoyed Of Poseidon. I liked that not only did it cover a nontraditional paranormal creature but that it also took a slightly different approach to those creatures. I would definitely recommend this one.You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

I’m having a really hard time deciding what to say about Desires of the Dead. Honestly, I’m having a hard time even figuring out my feelings for it, let alone putting my thoughts into words. I read it fairly quickly, but I never really felt like it grabbed me. There were aspects that I liked and some that I didn’t so much.I will say that one thing I really liked about Desires of the Dead, especially over the first book, was the Prologue. It was written very similarly to the Prologues in the Twilight books, in that it gave a preview of the climax of the book, but with no context and not a lot of information. Honestly, this is probably what kept me flipping through the pages more than anything else. There were some pretty interesting things going on in that Prologue!However, from there, I felt like Desires of the Dead took a little bit of a downturn. Violet was really frustrating in this book. Because of her new romantic relationship with Jay and his resulting desire to keep her safe above all else, she starts feeling like she can’t talk to him like she used to, and she starts keeping things from him. Even when she starts receiving threats, she still doesn’t tell him. Um, what? It was just so far away from their characters in the first book that it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.Another thing that bothered me was that the mystery perspective chapters were a little too obvious to me. I guessed from the very first one who the character speaking was, though it took me a bit to fully figure out the context of what was going on. I did eventually figure out a lot of it, which is always frustrating for me, but it wasn’t horrible.Now that I’ve ranted, I will let you know that there were some things I liked about Desires of the Dead. For one thing, Violet’s friend Chelsea, who is usually outspoken and almost annoying sometimes, develops a crush, which she doesn’t seem prepared for. Seeing her navigate that crush was really funny. I also liked the new characters: Sara and Rafe. They brought a bit of mystery and intrigue.Though I predicted a bit of it, I really liked the way the final conflict played out. I thought the ending was pretty good, but it didn’t leave me dying to read the next book, though I still will. I definitely don’t think that this series is bad and would recommend avoiding it, but it wouldn’t be at the top of my recommendation list either.You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

So, I think I’m going to stop starting my reviews of HarperTeen books by telling you what made me want to read them in the first place because, let’s face it, it’s almost always the same. Suffice it to say that if I’m reviewing a HarperTeen book, I probably heard about it during Epic Reads’ Tea Time and added it to my ever growing TBR list!I will admit that I was a little nervous going into The Boyfriend App. I can’t even remember what it was, but something that I heard about it made me so excited and impatient to read it. So, I was super excited when I won a copy in a giveaway. But when it actually came time to sit down and read it, I was really nervous that it wouldn’t live up to my excitement level.And to be honest, in the beginning, it didn’t. Audrey is a bit of a geek who used to be popular, and her now popular ex-best friend is a mean girl to the extreme. The Boyfriend App starts off with Blake (the mean girl) stealing Audrey’s lucky rabbit foot and throwing it in the trash (the rabbit foot has sentimental value to Audrey, which Blake knows about). After getting in a fight, Audrey is sent to the counselor’s office and learning about Public’s (which strongly resembled Apple to me) competition to create a new app. Audrey immediately knows that she has to enter, as winning the scholarship is the only way she can afford to go to college.At this point, I felt like the story slowed down a bit as we see her actually creating the app, which isn’t very exciting. However, it turns out that there is much more to the story than the description implies. At about the halfway point, we’re introduced to a big surprise that I wasn’t expecting, and it shapes a lot of the rest of the book, which I found to be really interesting! Honestly, I was so excited to see this happen because otherwise, The Boyfriend App would have been kind of boring. There’s a bit of mystery and some really awesome moments that happen toward the end.The characters are great, though Blake and her cronies are such mean girls that it made me sick. I really couldn’t stand her. There is one scene in particular that I was just horrified about and made me want to punch her! Audrey’s cousin Lindsay and her friend Aidan are really great to her. Nigit is an odd duck. He starts off as Audrey’s friend, and I guess technically still is throughout the rest of the story, but he gets a bit too competitive with the app competition, which bugged me.I loved the conflict resolution at the end of The Boyfriend App, though the actual ending left me wanting a little bit more. Overall, I thought that The Boyfriend App was a really good read and would definitely recommend it to fans of contemporary.You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

3.5 stars rounded up to 4I had seen Unremembered mentioned quite a bit around the internet recently, and I had already had it on my TBR list, but when Jessica Brody came to my area with the Fierce Reads tour, I knew I had to buy the book! After listening to her talk a little bit about her book and learning more about it, I was pretty excited. I even started it while waiting for the train on my way home.Unremembered starts with the main character, who we soon come to know as Violet because of the unnatural color of her eyes, floating in the middle of the ocean, amidst a plane crash. When she is found, she doesn’t remember anything and thinks it’s 1609. We then fast forward to her in the hospital, though she feels fine. A search to find her family proves fruitless, and she ends up being placed with a foster family.Honestly, Unremembered started off a lot slower than I expected. We see some minor things, like a mysterious boy who keeps randomly appearing at Violet’s side, telling her that he knows her and that she’s in danger (oh, and that her real name is Sera), and we discover a couple of superhuman abilities, such as being able to do complicated math in her head and run really fast, but the true mystery and action don’t really pick up until about halfway through the book.Violet/Sera is kind of an odd character, but it makes sense. She remembers very little about her life before the plane crash, and actually doesn’t know very much about things around her, such as a plane or the internet. However, the more we learn about her, the more curious I became. I wanted to know where she came from and what was going on with her. I loved Zen. He’s the love interest of the book, and it’s obvious that he’s devoted to Sera, since he keeps appearing just when she needs him. He’s also mysterious, though. We know very little about him, and you can’t help but wonder how he keeps popping up just where she needs him.There was a big sci-fi twist towards the end that I totally didn’t see coming, and I thought it was really cool. It really wasn’t what I was expecting at all, and since Jessica Brody mentioned a big twist at the signing, I spent most of the book trying to guess what it was, and I was way off!The ending was pretty good. I felt like it tied most of the events of the story up but definitely left a big opening for the next book.Though it took me a little longer to get into than I expected, I thought that Unremembered was a really interesting read with enough mystery and a sci-fi twist to keep me turning. I would definitely recommend it.You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break.

3.5 stars rounded to 4I had never really heard anything about the Body Finder series, other than an occasional mention on Epic Reads Tea Time, so it wasn’t even on my radar. However, after winning an ARC of the final book in the series (also from Tea Time, YA Jeopardy to be exact!), I decided to check the rest of the series out from my library. I’ve actually had it for almost 8 weeks before getting around to it because I had other books taking precedence and almost decided to send it back unread. However, I had someone tell me that they loved the series, so I picked up The Body Finder and started reading.The beginning of The Body Finder was not exactly what I expected. After a prologue consisting of an 8-year-old Violet finding a dead body, Chapter 1 picks up with a now 16-year-old Violet starting her junior year of high school, and falling hard for her best friend since childhood, Jay. Unfortunately, Jay has grown a lot over the summer, and Violet isn’t the only girl who has noticed. Jay seems to have his very own entourage following him around. I did read in the description that Violet has developed new, complicated romantic feelings for her best friend, but I didn’t expect that to be the main focus of the story for as long as it was. It took quite a bit for the first murder to even happen.Once the first murder does happen, and Violet unintentionally finds the body, with her ability, things are still kind of slow in the story. The timing of girls disappearing picks up, and they seem to be disappearing more frequently, but there still isn’t really a lot of action going on on Violet’s end. Don’t get me wrong. This didn’t necessarily read badly; it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I think I was expecting more of a mystery with a bit of a romance in it, but it seemed to be more of a romance with some mystery in it.However, what I did really like was that there were several chapters interspersed within Violet’s storyline that follow the killer. We never find out exactly who he is, and he is only referred to as “he” in every sentence, but I did find it interesting to see little snippets from his perspective throughout the story. There’s even one part where the perspectives almost overlap, and I wasn’t sure what was going on!Jay and Violet are great characters. They’re likable, and are the coolest best friends ever. However, sometimes I just wanted to smack them. It was painfully obvious to the reader that they both liked each other, but neither one of them seemed to realize that the other felt the same way and were both afraid to admit their feelings. It was kind of frustrating. Luckily, this part didn’t last too long. Violet also has a great group of friends that are really funny.In the last 100-150 pages, the pace really picked up, and I found my heart in my throat, while the killer and Violet played a cat and mouse game of sorts. It definitely had me flipping the pages feverishly! The ending was absolutely perfect and actually had me reeling and a little confused for a few pages! It actually tied up really nicely, almost like a standalone, but I know that there are more books in the series. I’ve found the few mystery series I’ve read tend to have a standalone feel to each book, and I think that’s really cool. With that being said, however, I definitely plan on reading the next book in the series very soon!You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

I received this book for review from the publisher via Edelweiss.I feel like I’m repeating myself over and over again, but In the After was another book that I heard about on Epic Reads’ tea time. Seriously, it’s a great source for book talk and to discover new books. When I saw In the After available on Edelweiss, I requested it, even though it was out of my normal genre.In the After is definitely an interesting story, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I mean, creatures that are referred to as “They/Them” and eat humans? They could pretty much be anything: demons, zombies, monsters. We are told very early on what they are suspected to be, but honestly, the description wasn’t really important, as they are constantly referred to as Them, and they’re all the more creepy for it.In the After is broken into 3 parts. The first part focuses on Amy and Baby’s life in the outside world. She refers to the time before the creatures came as Before, and since they came as the After, hence the title of the book. This was a really interesting part of the book because we got to learn a little more about the creatures and see how Amy and Baby manage to survive around Them, especially considering how many people have died at Their hands. Every time Amy left her house in this part of the book, my heart was in my throat, wondering what would happen and whether They would find her. These were some of the creepiest scenes in the book. Part 1 ends when Amy and Baby are rescued and brought to New Hope.Part 2 is where I thought In the After really got interesting, in my opinion, because the writing style changes a bit. We fast forward 4 months, and Amy is in the Ward, with no recollection of why or how she got there. As she starts to remember bits and pieces of the past few months, we learn what is going on, and we find that things are not all as they seem in New Hope. Certain events take place and are covered up, and the leader doesn’t necessarily want people to question how and why things work. Also, there are some specific rules about how the citizens of New Hope must live, promises they must fulfill, that Amy doesn’t necessarily agree with.I felt like In the After ended on just the right note. The events of the book are wrapped up nicely, but we also know that there has to be more to the story. We’ve learned a lot more about Them and New Hope, and we know that something needs to be done about the state of the world. I really enjoyed In the After and look forward to reading the next book in the series.In the After comes out on Tuesday, so if you like creepy creatures and dystopian societies, make sure you grab your copy!You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

4.5 stars rounded up to 5After finishing Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I was DYING for the sequel. My library didn’t have the audio version available, but I knew that a print version would take me too long to get to, with my review and library books that I needed to get to first. I scoured my library’s site for another audio book, but could not stop thinking about Days of Blood & Starlight, so I finally rejoined Audible just to purchase it! And I started it immediately.Days of Blood & Starlight starts off very shortly after the ending of Daughter of Smoke & Bone. However, the first several chapters are from Zuzana and Akiva’s perspectives, and neither of them is sure that Karou is still alive, leaving the reader clueless as well. Obviously, I assumed that Karou was alive, seeing as how it’s very rare to kill off the main character of a novel, especially off-page, but I did wonder a little bit.Because Days of Blood & Starlight is written in third-person, Taylor is able to jump around a bit, and follow different characters, both major and minor, established and new. This worked out really well in Days of Blood & Starlight because the reader gets to see some of the aftermath of the events at the end of the previous book, and also what is happening within the war between the seraphim and chimaera. I will warn you that due to the nature of war, I found Days of Blood & Starlight to be very dark and even graphic at times. There was one scene in particular that really had me cringing. The whole thing was very serious and sad in a lot of ways. But I’m amazed at the writing. Taylor portrayed the grim realities and feelings of the characters so well that I really felt what was going on. Though the subject matter was grim, her writing was beautiful.Karou kind of got on my nerves in Days of Blood & Starlight. She feels guilty about what happened at the end of Daughter of Smoke & Bone and is trying hard to redeem herself. She made some questionable and even frustrating decisions, and I kind of wanted to smack her. As she learned more about what was actually going on in the war, and after one disturbing scene specifically, she finally started to grow and return to the character that I grew to love in the first book. Zuzana and Mik provided some much needed humor, amid the darkness of the war. They are definitely growing into my favorite characters within the series. Akiva was amazing and heartbreaking. I loved that he didn’t let his mistakes and grief drive him to make bad decisions, like he had in the past. I really loved him in this book.The ending was great and definitely very much needed after the rest of the book, but of course, it ended not so much with a cliffhanger, but definitely on the precipice of some very big things about to happen. I can’t wait for the third book and am so mad that I have to wait until 2014 to find out the rest of the story (This seems to be a trend lately!).I would definitely recommend Days of Blood & Starlight, especially if you enjoyed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, but I would warn you to go into it expecting some darker storylines and events.You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break

In case you can’t tell, I have been on a major HarperTeen kick lately. I’ve requested several of their books from the library, thanks in large part to Epic Reads’ Tea Time, and they seem to all have come in at the same time! Mila 2.0 was another one of these books. I’m not usually into sci-fi (or so I thought a few months ago), but Mila 2.0 was getting great reviews, and just sounded really interesting.Mila 2.0 starts off as any regular YA may. We meet Mila and are introduced to her friends, school, and troubles. There’s also a cute boy thrown in who actually adds to Mila’s troubles, as he seems interested in her, while her only friend, Kaylee, is interested in him. Needless to say, Kaylee is not exactly thrilled about this development, and unfortunately for Mila, Kaylee’s true colors come out.However, it is exactly this sequence of events that leads Mila to some interesting discoveries about herself. First, she realizes she has amazing hearing, able to hear things that she should not be able to hear from certain distances. She also finds herself moving faster than normal and unaware of her own strength. It isn’t until after an accident that Mila finds out the truth about herself: She is an android, created with human-like emotions, and that her “mother” is actually one of her creators.This is the point where Mila 2.0 really started to pick up. Mila has a very hard time believing and accepting the truth about herself, but as she finds herself on the run, she realizes more and more of her abilities and starts to face the truth. My favorite parts were when she would actually accept and use her abilities, especially when it led to some moments of kicking butt!There were a few scenes in the second half of Mila 2.0 that I just felt were a little too descriptive and possibly not necessary, but I’m wondering if they may become important as the trilogy progresses. I just tend to be the type of person that once the action picks up, I like a lot of it. Some of the descriptive moments just felt like they slowed the pace down for me a bit. They weren’t horrible, and things always picked up, but they definitely weren’t my favorites.I thought the characters were pretty great. Mila is definitely the most interesting, because though she’s technically a machine, the fact that she was programmed with human emotions makes her a very relatable character. I definitely felt bad for her when Kaylee turned on her. However, that brings us to Hunter. He was awesome. There was just something about him that I loved. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t like everyone else and was the only one who was truly nice to Mila. I can’t wait to find out more about him. I really missed him while Mila was on the run. General Holland was a terrific villain. He was just so creepy.I really liked the ending of Mila 2.0. There was one scene that literally had my heart in my throat, but it was just perfect. I enjoyed seeing Mila come into her own a bit, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next book. Why is so 2014 so far away?You can also read this and other reviews on my blog, Mommy's Reading Break