Today I'm going to be doing a Review Mash-Up of 6 books that I've read anywhere from 2 months ago to 3 years ago. Some of these books were very good, while others were simply mediocre. I put these books together because of the fact that I only remember certain things from each of these books because I failed at posting a review as I read them. The general ideas, and some major happenings are still in my memory bank, but most situations from these books are forever lost until I decide to pick these books up again, if I ever decide to. The books I will be reviewing are:
- 13 to Life by Shannon Delany
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
- The 100 by Kass Morgan
- Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
- White Cat by Holly Black
- Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
13 to Life by Shannon Delany
*3/5 Stars*
I read this book in 2011, so this review will be quite hard to do because I don't remember some things that may be important to the plot. Initially, after reading this book, I gave it 3/5 stars and with what I remember, I would have to agree with that rating. I remember the hilarious/awkward moments of a teenaged boy and girl in high-school. I also remember the Russian werewolves, and the adventures they went on towards the end of the book. I also remember not liking the fact that it took the entire book before the protagonist found out that her crush was a werewolf and the apparent similarities to Twilight were blinding while reading. Altogether it was mediocre, I loved the humor and originality in certain points, but disliked the pacing of supernatural suspense and the similarities to Twilight.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Saenz
*3/5 Stars*
This novel was the first I chose to read in 2014, I was hoping for a great story of friendship and personal discovery. It delivered. Just not in the way I was hoping. It was a story of friends and finding yourself, but at the end it took quite a twist. Personally, I didn't find it realistic. I never saw it coming, and normally that's a good thing, but for a novel like this I don't think it's very affective to just fling something on the reader in the last two pages of a novel. I didn't see any signs of this occurrence at all in the pages before the reveal. I really liked the book up to that point and I laughed out loud at several points throughout the novel. The ending just ruined the book for me, and only because Saenz seemed to have dump a large piece information on the reader without any prior information about it. We followed the perspective of Aristotle and I think we should have been able to see sooner the reveal, I believe it would've made the ending more effective and more enjoyable. I feel like I'm harping on the bad, but it wasn't a bad book by any means, it was quite enjoyable and I would recommend it, but I just personally didn't find the ending realistic.
The 100 by Kass Morgan
*3/5 Stars*
This novel is a Sci-Fi novel that had a marvelously unique idea and the potential to become the next big franchise. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver. I was hoping for an epic book that would keep me on edge during it's entirety, but I was let down. I feel like this book was written with a TV deal in mind. The plot had no structure, the characters were quite stereotypical, and their was very little description at all. I was waiting for a driving point in the plot, "is there something they have to do on Earth besides survive? Something to oppose them on Earth, or will something happen to the ship that leaves them abandoned?" Something started to happen in the last two pages of the novel, which was too late for my taste. The characters were just like those with which I could see on any CW show, I was bored for the most part with their story lines. The only character I truly liked was Bellamy. There were a few funny moments during the novel, I believe I found 3. The only thing that kept me going in this novel was Bellamy's point of view, the rare funny scenes, and the naïve hope that the story would get better, and these were the only things that made this book a 3 star, which I consider generous.
Sidenote: The Television show is worse than the book, it ruined an already mediocre series. I would not recommend watching it.
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
*3/5 Stars*
I started this book over a year ago, but finished it a few months ago. It's a New-Adult novel, which is new for me, and it was a good mix between Young-Adult and Adult. I put it down for about 6 months because I was frustrated with the characters and their angsty romance. I picked it back up and decided to power through it, seeing as I was already half way finished. The latter half of the novel was a lot better than the first half, maybe it is because I was already familiar with the characters and I stopped on a funny scene. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book, but as many times as I laughed, I was equally frustrated with the main characters' romance. They were on and off throughout the entire book. It seemed that they had a different relationship status for every chapter. The first half of the book was annoying with their relationship, but towards the end of the book it got better. I really started to enjoy during and after they went to Vegas. Altogether, I'm not a big fan of romances full of angst, but I really enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the hilarious situations they got themselves into.
White Cat by Holly Black
*5/5 Stars*
I recently finished this book, and I listened to the audiobook version, which was narrated by Jesse Eisenberg, and it was AMAZING! I highly recommend that if you are interested in reading this book to buy the audiobook. Eisenberg adds a new dimension to an already unique and beautifully written story. He is Cassel. The characters of this novel were extremely unique, and so was the plot, setting, and writing style. It's just an altogether amazing introduction to a trilogy. I really enjoyed learning all about the world of curse workers. I've already bought the last two books in the trilogy, and I hope to buy the audiobooks as well, because I couldn't do without hearing this story told by Eisenberg. It was a phenomenal experience.
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
*4/5 Stars*
I finished this book earlier this year and I fell in love. This book is so addictively amazing, and I enjoyed devouring it in a few days. The characters are so hilarious and loveable. The plot is so engaging and entrancing. The story is original in certain aspects, but for the most part it reminds me a lot of Twilight. Ya know: girl moves to a new town, meets supernatural boy, falls for said boy, befriends his sister, apparently attracts the enemy, and eventually ends up with the boy and his supernatural family. Even through those similarities, I feel that this book shines in it's own way which makes it it's own book. I laughed so much more in this book than in the Twilight series, which is always good. I can't wait to continue on with the series and see where it takes me. I'm so excited for awkwardly hilarious scenes!
That's it for the Book Review Mash-Up, I hope you enjoyed the reviews. I hope to have more reviews up soon, and I'm also going to participate in the BookTube-A-Thon which will grant me more opportunities to read and hopefully more opportunities to post reviews and such on this site. I'm debating on which book to review next, so you guys will see what I'll post next when I post it.
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