Review: Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

From Goodreads:

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

My Rating:
2 stars

Thoughts:

I started reading this book with a bit of skepticism, since mermaids are usually the subject of children’s books and little cutesy stories. There was the potential for this to twist that stereotype around and create its own original breed of mermaid (like the man-eating mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean – they were awesome). Sadly, that isn’t the case in Forgive My Fins, which was a sometimes-painful mash up of an irritating heroine who uses cutesy ocean words in practically every other sentence (ex:  her heart was beating “flipper-fast”). The guy she was obsessed with had little to no merit, and it was obvious from the start what was going to happen by the end of the book. The thing that bugged me the most was when Lily goes back to her kingdom, and they had things that humans use, only their names had been slightly changed so they sounded like they came from the ocean. Mermaids eat sushi in this story (since rice would keep so well in ocean water…), but they use “seasticks”, which the heroine explains are the mermaid equivalent of chopsticks. Apparently if you change half of a word to “sea” then it’s automatically something that mermaids use. I’m not buying it.

                The only redeeming qualities about this book were certain points in the relationship between Quince and Lily, and the idea of “mermaid bonding”. Other than that, I had trouble finishing this book because it was mostly Lily complaining about the fact that Brody didn’t love her. That got old really fast.

The author’s writing style wasn’t bad, and that was probably one of the very few reasons why I was able to finish this book. I might be a little biased because I’m used to reading darker paranormal books, but the mermaids were just way too cutesy for me. With a lot of ironing out, this could be a good story. But before then, I wouldn’t recommend reading Forgive My Fins.

Review: The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

Summary:

It’s the year 2018, and with human society seriously disrupted by the economic upheavals of the previous decade, Lucifer has increased the number of demons in all major cities. Atlanta is no exception. Fortunately, humans are protected by Demon Trappers, who work to keep homes and streets safe from the things that go bump in the night. Seventeen-year-old Riley, only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing attraction to fellow Trapper apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving citizens from Grade One Hellspawn. Business as usual, really, for a demon-trapping teen. When a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood, she realizes that she’s caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell.

My Rating:
4 stars

Thoughts:

                I loved this book. First off, Riley was just the right mix of spunky and interesting. She did what she wanted to do, and her decisions made sense (most of the time). The world Oliver created was believable, and I liked the intermingling of all different types of paranormal creatures throughout the story. There are witches, demon hunters, demon trappers (there’s a difference), demons, necromancers, and even hints at vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. And I loved the originality of demon trapping. Everything from the types of demons, and the way they were caught was unique, which made the story that much more interesting, since I didn’t really know what to expect.

Most of all, this book was interesting because it turned out to be so dark, but in a very good way. Horrible things kept happening to Riley (and I mean horrible) but her ability to pull through them made me like her that much more as a character. The part about this book that amazed me the most was that romance wasn’t a huge part of this book, and I still loved it (this is weird for me, because I usually get bored with books that aren’t romance centered – maybe it was just the promise of romance to come in the next books that kept me going). The only problems I had were that I had trouble keeping track of all the trappers, and Riley’s romance with Simon seemed to move kind of fast. Other than that, this book was amazing, and was a great start to what is sure to be an amazing series. I can’t wait to read the next book, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read an amazing YA book.  


Author's Site:
http://www.janaoliver.com/

Review: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

From Goodreads:
Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

My Rating:

3 stars

Thoughts:

This book surprised me. I went into it expecting a run of the mill YA paranormal romance, with the dark and mysterious hero, and the heroine who just can’t seem to keep away from him. At certain points, it was just that, but at others it had just the right amount of originality. The first few chapters had me rolling my eyes and thinking “oh great, another book I’m not going to finish.” But I stuck with it, and I wasn’t disappointed. First off, I liked the fact that it wasn’t explicitly stated that Haden and Theia were soul mates. Lately, as soon as those two words come into play, it seems like the author doesn’t feel the need to add any chemistry between the main characters because they are “meant to be together”, and then poof! They’re in love. In Falling Under, Haden and Theia are sort of thrown into the same situation, but they still did their fair share of flirting, and got to know each other before being “in love”. Yes, the story was very clichéd at times, but the explanation for Haden and Theia’s “connection” was original (to me at least) and while I’m not going to say what it was, I will say that it was one of the high points of the story. Theia’s friends were a little too stereotypical at times, but I still liked them, nonetheless.

 I’m pretty sure that if I keep talking about this book I’m going to give too much away. So I’ll stop here and say that this book was a diamond in the rough. I know 3 stars seems kind of low if I'm saying I liked the book, but it was just the first half that made me hesitant give it a higher rating. It started out badly (an annoying heroine, clichés galore, etc.) but by the end of the book I was hooked, and I’m definitely going to read the sequel. If YA paranormal clichés make you want to scream and pull out your hair, you probably shouldn’t read Falling Under. BUT if you can get past them and want to read a good book with an interesting twist on the paranormal genre, then put Falling Under on your reading list.

Author's Site:

http://www.gwenhayes.com/

Review: Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

From Goodreads:

The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights.

Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice.

My Rating:
4 stars

Thoughts:

If you haven’t already read the prequel to Always a Witch (Once a Witch) then stop reading this post immediately and go get it from your library, or local bookstore.

 I read Once a Witch about a year ago, and was impressed with the story MacCullough had created.

Always a Witch matched up with its predecessor easily; Tamsin is still the same spunky character she was in the first book, and her relationship with Gabriel was stable, and didn’t overwhelm the entire story. It didn’t seem completely original that each of the witches had their own special power, and Tamsin’s ability was to block other people’s powers (sound familiar? *cough*Twilight*cough*) BUT, there were some pretty unique abilities. The plethora of aunts and uncles got a bit confusing at times, but all of them were pretty well developed – it didn’t feel like they were added in last minute.

 Overall, the book was great. You get a deeper look at the rivalry between the Greene's and the Knight's, which makes it all the more apparent why Tamsin is her family's only hope. I’m a sucker for books with time travel (especially to the 1800s), and I thought it was well done in Always a Witch. The book didn’t drag on forever, but it wasn’t rushed either, and when I finished it I didn’t feel like I’d been cheated by some ridiculous ending. Tamsin’s fulfillment of her grandmother’s prophecy wasn’t some grand realization that she had some amazing ability – her powers didn’t save her family, she did. If you are looking for a good book, I would definitely recommend Always a Witch, and its prequel.

Author's Site:
http://www.carolynmaccullough.com/main.html

Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

From the Cover:

Azalea is trapped.

Just when she should feel that everything is before her…beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing… it’s taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

My Rating:

3 Stars

My Thoughts:

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I was first drawn to this book because of its amazing cover. Turns out, what was inside wasn’t half bad either. Entwined is based off the story of the 12 dancing princesses, and does a pretty good job of telling the Brothers Grimm tale, albeit with a few additions. I thought Dixon did a good job of creating the characters, especially with there being so many (12 princesses, plus everyone else). The addition of the Keeper was an interesting take on the story, since there wasn’t really any explanation of why the sisters had to dance every night in the Brothers Grimm tale. It was good, but the story did seem to drag on after a while, so I had trouble finishing it quickly (the same story could have fit into half as many pages if it hadn’t repeated itself so much). Also, the setting was pretty much 19^th century England remixed (but with different country names), so I felt like Dixon could have spent more time on world building to make the story more unique. Azalea bugged me at points because she was so determined to protect her family, but her decisions usually created more harm than help, or were completely accidental. Overall, I thought this was an okay book, and if you’re looking for a dystopian, fairytale-inspired story (and you’re not a huge stickler for world building), I would recommend it.

Here it is!

My first blog post! I made this blog in the hopes that I will read more of the books on my list if I'm excited to post reviews about them, and so I can share my love for reading with more people. If you're reading this, thanks for visiting! and whether not you were brought here on accident or on purpose, I hope you enjoy I Dream of Reading. :)