Tag: Kiersten White

Review: My True Love Gave to Me Anthology

Posted December 3, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

my true love gave to meRowena’s review of My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Matt de la Pena, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White.

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins.

This book felt like it had a million short stories in it but I jumped in anyway because a lot of my favorite YA authors penned stories in this one so I was all about it. I’m going to briefly review each short story and hope that this review doesn’t end up being longer than the book. 🙂

“Midnights” by Rainbow Rowell: This was my favorite story in the entire book. Oh, how I adored Noel and Mags. I loved seeing how they met and then their anniversary celebrations each year. The way that their friendship blossomed over the course of their short story was too freaking cute and I just adored this book to pieces.

Grade: 5 out of 5

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: This story was short but I didn’t connect with Miranda at all and that she fell in love with a ghost did absolutely nothing for me. I read through the whole thing waiting for that moment when I’d connect with Miranda and the story and sadly, it never happened.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena:  This story felt like it took me a million years to read it. I didn’t connect with either Shy or Haley. I wanted to smack Shy every time he lied to Haley and then when we get to finally know about Haley, I wanted to smack her too. I wasn’t at all mad that the story ended.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me by Jenny Han: I haven’t read any books by Jenny Han (though I do have her latest release waiting to be read on my iPad) but I was really excited to read this one since I’ve heard a lot of good things about her books.  I’m sad to say that this book didn’t work for me at all. It was just…weird. Natalie grew up on the North Pole, having been adopted by Santa Claus? She lives amongst the elves and even has beef with one elf in particular because that elf is dating the elf she wants but can’t have? The only part that I thought was cute was the end when Flynn hands her what she wanted all along but even that wasn’t enough for me to like the entire story.

Grade: 2 out of 5

It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: I was excited to read this story. I adore all things Stephanie Perkins and I thought she delivered a great short story. Both North and Marigold were cute characters that really came to life in such a short amount of space. I laughed, I sighed and I grinned my way through this story. It was cute.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: I haven’t read any books by Levithan but was hoping for great things since he’s a pretty popular author of LGBT YA fiction. Unfortunately, this story dragged and the longer it went on, the more I just wanted to skip to the next story. The bitchy sister got on my nerves but I did think that it was sweet of the boyfriend to play dress up to make his boyfriend happy. I just wish that I could have connected with the characters more.

Grade: 2 out of 5

Krampsulauf by Holly Black: Another story that was just …weird to me. It’s a contemporary YA but with some fantasy elements thrown in and throughout the entire story, I kept wondering, “What the heck am I reading?” when it was finally over, I was glad to move on to the next story.

Grade: 1 out of 5

What the Hell have You Done, Sophie Roth by Gayle Forman:  This is one of the stories that I was most looking forward to reading when I first got this book for review. I love Gayle Forman and knew that she would deliver another great story. I’m so glad that I wasn’t disappointed. I thought this story was well written, cute and I loved seeing Sophie fumble her way around Russell. It was just all around cute and I enjoyed this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire:  This story was cute. Bad boy doing bad things and Good Girl not casting any judgments, seeing the good in him. Something that not anyone else sees. I thought they were a cute little couple. I loved seeing them work together to try to fix the problems that were all around them. I’ve never read anything by McEntire before but I’m keen to try something else.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: This was another great addition to the book. I loved getting to know both Maria and Ben. They were a fun duo. I thought it was cute that Ben had a sixth sense for what customers and employees of the diner would want or in some cases, need. He brought life into that diner and in turn, into that town and also to Maria’s life. I loved seeing them grow closer with each passing day and I thought White did a good job of telling their story in such a short space. I enjoyed this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5  

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: This was one of those change places with someone and see how they live, or well, close enough to that kind of story line.  I was interested enough in the story to read it but there were times when I just had to roll my eyes down the street. Still, in the end, I was glad that I read this book and would definitely read more from this author because, Ethan was a cutie pie.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Overall, there were some pretty great stories but there were also some pretty bad stories. I’m not at all mad that I read this book though because while it wasn’t perfect, the stories that I did enjoy were just fabulous.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Posted September 6, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Supernaturally by Kiersten WhiteReviewer: Rowena
Supernaturally (Paranormalcy, #2) by Kiersten White
Series: Paranormalcy #2
Also in this series: Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Harper Teen
Publication Date: July 26th 2011
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 336
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be...kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

This was another good addition to this series. It was a little slow to start but the story definitely picked up and took off after a few chapters in. This book takes place not too long after the first book ends. Lend has graduated from high school and is attending Georgetown University and Evie is in her senior year of high school. Evie lives above the paranormal diner and not with David anymore because living with your boyfriend’s father without your boyfriend there is just weird.

So anyway, Evie is trying to live that normal life she longed for in the first book and she’s kind of bored. She misses working with the IPCA and she misses Raquel but she’s coping as best as she could by doing the best that she can in school so that she can get into Georgetown with Lend, next year. She’s going about minding her own business when a sylph tries to kidnap her but because she’s got that little power of soul stealing, she takes enough of his soul that he drops her (from the pain) and then she’s back home with the people who care about her and she tries to brush it off.

On the same day that she’s almost kidnapped, Raquel comes back into the picture, asking for Evie’s help at IPCA. She swears up and down that things have changed over there and while they’re not 100% on the up and up, they’re aware of the things that they’ve been doing and they’re doing the best that they can to make things right. She wants Evie to come back and help out and though Evie wants to, she doesn’t think its a good idea because she doesn’t trust the IPCA and she knows that David and Lend won’t want her to go back either.

It’s hard for Evie because she wants to go back and help other paranormals out, the ones that need her help but she doesn’t know how to make Lend understand that the IPCA wasn’t perfect but they did help paranormals out, in their own way. So things happen and Evie goes back to work for the IPCA on her terms. She can pass on any assignment that comes her way if she thinks it’s too dangerous and she won’t work with any faeries. Raquel agrees to all of this and introduces her to her portal helper, non-faerie Jack. Jack can open faerie doors but isn’t a faerie so Evie goes back to work for the IPCA.

What I liked about this book was seeing everyone again. I really enjoyed getting to know Arianna, David, Lend’s Mom and everyone else in the book and seeing them again was great. I really like Lend and Evie together so seeing them together and in love without it being eye roll inducing was great. I liked that they’re still getting to know each other and they’re still in that I like her phase. I liked that they weren’t perfect but what I didn’t like was what I liked in the first book. The secrets. Evie had a lot of secrets in this book and she kept them from Lend. I really hate that she didn’t trust him enough to deal with her issues with her. When she kept the first secret and then the second secret, my heart hurt because she was being so unfair to Lend but alls well that ends well. By the time that she finally came free, I wanted to strangle her but I was glad that Lend finally knew the truth.

What I’m mighty curious about is where the heck is Lend’s Mom? Why has she been gone so long? Where did she go? Is there something wrong with her or what? Curious minds want to know and all that.

I never warmed up to Jack so I wasn’t completely surprised when all of the crap hit the fan at the end. It made sense since I’m usually all about new love interests and potential love interests and what not. I wonder if I’m going to find something out about Raquel because I can’t quite warm up to her either but I think it’s because she sighs too much. I hate when she sighs.

On the story front, I thought White did a fabulous job of weaving this story together. It started off slow but when it took off, it really took off. I really enjoyed seeing where Evie was in her life after the first book and watching her try to fumble her way through this new life that she’s building for herself was good stuff. It’s funny because when I first started Paranormalcy, I didn’t like Evie at all and now I love her. She’s not the most perfect of people but for me, that’s what I love the most. She could be anyone that I know, she’s this normal teenage girl who has these abilities and she’s trying to use her powers for good and mostly winning.

I’m anxious for the next book. I can’t wait to read it and if you haven’t read this book or series, you totally should. It’s a wonderfully entertaining YA paranormal series with likeable characters and a main character that will totally win you over. It’s a good one.

…and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Harper Teen.
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

four-stars

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Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Posted September 4, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten WhiteReviewer: Rowena
Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1) by Kiersten White
Series: Paranormalcy #1
Also in this series: Supernaturally (Paranormalcy, #2)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Harper Teen
Publication Date: August 31st 2010
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 335
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Discover the first book in a sparkling paranormal romance trilogy from Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken.

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through supernatural glamours.

She’s also about to find out that she may be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

For fans of Teen Wolf, Buffy, and Supernatural, this New York Times bestseller is a witty, fresh, and downright fun read that will capture your heart.

I’ve had this book sitting on my nook for the longest time and never got around to reading it. I would start it and then stop and then move on to something else but with my niece borrowing my kindle, I picked this book up on my nook again and finally read it through the end.

I’m glad that I read it through to the end.

This book follows a young woman named Evie who works for the IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency) and her job there is to bag and tag paranormal creatures that are behaving badly. Her special power is that she can see through any glamour that paranormals hide behind to the real things they are underneath. She’s an orphan that was tossed around in the foster system and then was discovered and “adopted” into the IPCA. Her handler, I guess you can call her, Raquel has been like an adopted mother to Evie and even though she doesn’t tell her much about anything, she’s all Evie has. She’s all Evie has ever had.

Even though Evie is content with the way that her life is, she’s not necessarily happy. She wants to be normal, or as normal as she can be. Her favorite TV show is Easton Heights, which is a show about high school. She wants to attend high school, have her own locker and kiss boys but since she can’t, living the way that she lives, she lives vicariously through the characters on her show. Evie’s never questioned her life until she bags and tags a paranormal that tried to break into the IPCA. His name is Lend. He’s a shape-shifter and he’s got some secrets that he won’t spill to Raquel or anyone else at the IPCA so in a cell he sits while they try to figure out what he is and what he was trying to do by breaking in.

Evie is intrigued by him so she sneaks into see him every chance she can and the more she sees him, the closer they get. The more she realizes that he’s not the bad guy that everyone seems to think that he is. When paranormals are dropping dead all over the place, Evie makes some decisions on where her loyalties lay and what she’s going to do about, well everything. Her life, the paranormal situation, etc.

In the beginning of this book, it took a while for me to warm up to Evie. Her attitude and her personality took some getting used to but as the book continued on, I really came to like her. I came to respect the hell out of her and admire the choices she made. She followed what she thought was right and didn’t let anyone talk her out of doing what she thought was right.

I’m not really big on the lighter paranormal stories. I don’t read very many of them because I prefer paranormals (when I read them) to be darker and more serious. I prefer my paranormal love interests/heroes to be the silent, brooding types but White does a really great job of drawing me into this story despite all of that. I really enjoyed watching the story unfold in pieces and I loved getting to know the characters.

I loved Lend (even though I’m not a fan of his name) and I’m really anxious to see more of him in Supernaturally. I loved the relationship that he had with his parents and I loved the way that he embraced Evie and showed her the things that she was missing, being trapped away with the IPCA. I really enjoyed the presence he had in Evie’s life and the influence he had on her. He made her a better person and it was just great.

I really enjoyed getting to know Evie as well, after that rocky start we had in the beginning. She was a really kick ass heroine, real strong and I loved that she used her powers for good and not evil. What I really liked about her was something that far too often, I hate in other characters in other books. I really liked that she was upfront and honest about what she dreaming about and what she thought was going to happen if she kept hanging out with Lend. I loved that she respected him enough to know why she was acting the way that she was. I loved that she protected him by giving him the knowledge he needed to protect himself and to help her any way that he could. I really liked that.

What I didn’t like was Raquel’s sighs. She sighed too hot damn much and it got on my nerves. Every time she sighed one of her “Why are you doing this to me” sighs and her “Why are you an idiot” sighs, I wanted to hit in her the face. I’m still on the fence with her but I did love the other characters that were introduced in this book. I can’t wait to dig into Supernaturally which is what I plan to do right after I finish this review.

I definitely recommend this book. It was good.

…and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Harper Teen.
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://goodreads.com

four-stars

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Book Watch: Mind Games by Kiersten White.

Posted July 20, 2012 by Rowena in Promotions | 2 Comments


Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

Wow, this book sounds like all kinds of good. I mean, sisters with powers. Those same sisters with powers, trapped in a school. Yeah, I’m definitely going to be reading this one. This book comes out on February 19, 2013 so mark your calendars!

..and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Harper Teen.
Pre-order the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://goodreads.com

2 Comments

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