Review: 3:59

3:59 Gretchen McNeil

Josie's life is falling apart. Everything from her parent's relationship, to her boyfriend, and even her AP Physics experiment are going wrong. It seems even her sanity has taken a turn for the worse because she's begun to have dreams about another life, another reality, and the image in her mirror doesn't reflect, but it shows another room, another person in her bed. After a few days she discovers that the dreams and the image in her mirror occur every twelve hours, always for just a minute at precisely 3:59. The girl on the other side of the mirror, the girl who possesses the perfect life Josie has been living in her dreams, is her doppelgänger. Josie and Jo are the same person but with entirely different personalities and they live in different universes. With the belief that Jo has a life free of complications, Josie agrees to switch lives with her for a day. The world Josie steps into is a far cry from the paradise she imagined. The darkness brings monsters that crave human flesh and a power supplier, called the Grid, provide the only source for light. Josie has entered a world of corrupt government experiments and an endless fear of the dark. 3:59 has it all, from beautifully crafted sci-fi, enthralling mystery, suspense to keep you glued to the pages, and even romance. Personally, I've always been more for fantasy than sci-fi but this book definitely impressed me and McNeil better write a sequel.

Warning: the book ends on a slight cliff hanger
Rating: 4 stars
Recommendation: If you're interested in the idea of different universes and you love sci-fi watch the TV series "Fringe"

Review: Raven Boys

Raven Boys Maggie Stiefvater

The first thing I would like to say about this book is that the blurb on the back is EXTREMELY misleading. When you read the summary you may get the feeling that Raven Boys is all about the romance, all about Blue and Gansey's allure to each other, and it's just another teen romance story. Don't fall for it. Stiefvater put together a truly enthralling story, filled with fantasy and adventure, with a gripping mystery keeping you on the edge of your seat. The writing is amazing and it switches point of views between four different characters throughout the book. Blue Sargent is one of the most unique characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. She's the daughter of a psychic, but her only power is the ability to strengthen the skills of other psychics. She's strange in a way that she's proud of being different. Blue has been told for her entire life that she would one day kill her true love if she kisses him. It never really proved to be a problem until she sees the spirit of a boy who is destined to die within the next year. His name is Gansey. He's either her true love, or she's fated to kill him... or both. Their meeting is inevitable, but it isn't love at first sight as you would expect. Gansey has it all; he's rich, powerful, and has some of the most loyal friends he could ask for. He has devoted his life to finding a long lost king, supposedly buried somewhere near their town, and Blue soon finds herself involved in the search. Honestly, I found the search for the king to be odd and random, but it was interesting none the less. Raven Boys is fairly fast paced and is definitely a very fantasy heavy book. However, I would like to warn you that if you are searching for romance then this isn't where you'll find it. There are glimpses of what I assume to occur in the next two books of the trilogy between Blue and Gansey, but nothing serious. If you're in the mood for a new adventurous fantasy, then Raven Boys is your book.

Rating: 4 Stars

Review: Sweet Evil

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins


Sweet Evil takes the typical fallen angel book to a whole new level. The Demons are split in social levels; lowly demons, whisperers, and the Dukes. The lowly demons do not leave hell and do not work on the earth plane. The whisperers are dark shadow-like creatures who obey the orders of the dukes as they whisper bad thoughts and insecurities into the ears of the humans. The Dukes are the only ones who are permitted to possess a human body. They each are the embodiments of sin and work to spread sin amongst humans. Their children, however, are called Nephalem and are half human. It is their job to be bad influences among their peers and use their lure to their demon parent's sin to promote it.
Anna Whitt is as good as it gets. She's the goody two shoes of the school and has one of the most empathetic souls out there. She's the the last person you would expect to have demon blood coursing through her veins. Anna can see people' aura's (how they're feeling by the color that surrounds them), can see everybody's individual guardian angels, and has supernaturally magnified senses, but she also has a strong pull towards drugs and alcohol that she has been struggling to repress. At a concert with her best friend Jay, her eyes land on the drummer. Kaiden Rowe is one of the most good looking guys alive, a phenomenal musician, and has an english accent. To make matters worse, he is basically the son of lust. There's something strange about him; he doesn't have a guardian angel and she can't read his emotions. He is a Nephalem. From the moment they meet, Anna's life is turned upside down with the discovery that she isn't the only one with her abilities. She discovers that she is the daughter of The Duke of substance abuse, but she is also different from the rest of the Nephalem because she is the first ever half angel and half demon. Anna must stay out of the eye of the other Dukes and the whisperers as she and Kaiden make their way to California to find out more about who Anna really is. If the other Dukes find her and see that she isn't able to perform at being a bad influence because of her good nature, she is of no use to them and she will be killed.
The use of a demon social pyramid gave this book a new and refreshing quality. While I love the typical angel falling for a human book, the new play on the Nephalem was intriguing to me and made for an interesting plot. However, I found the book to be predictable and the characters were less developed and realistic than I would have liked. I didn't find myself falling in love with Kaiden like I knew I should have. There just wasn't enough personality put into him. I also didn't feel like I could relate very well with Anna. Higgins put a lot of effort in selling that Anna was the "ultimate good girl" and in the process she made it so that Anna was a little too good to believe. I didn't find enough strength in her character and she fell in love a bit too fast. While I know Anna is innocent and part angel I think there should have been a bit more stubbornness and power in her personality, something to root for. Sweet Evil was definitely a quick read. I breezed through it in one sitting. The idea behind the book had a whole world of potential and while it was good it still didn't meet my expectations. Even so, I really want to get my hands on the sequel and I do recommend reading this book, but only for anybody who has run out of material and needs some supernatural romance to hold them over until the next book in their favorite series comes out.
Rating: 3 stars
Recommendation: If you're looking for angels and romance try the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick

Review: Obsidian

Obsidian (Book 1 in the Lux Series) by Jennifer L. Armentrout



I've never really been one for alien books. Don't get me wrong, I love science fiction but aliens just used to seem too complex and... slimy. I would never have picked up this book but I am more than glad that I did. Armentrout took aliens and made them hot, both literally and aesthetically. She bases the book in the point of view of a seventeen year old girl named Katy and right off the bat I fell in love with her. Mainly because with in the first paragraph it's revealed that she owns her very own review blog named Katy's Krazy Obsessions. Katy immediately becomes more of a three dimensional character as we read about her background and why she moved from Florida to West Virginia. I know, all teen fiction books seem to start off the same way; there's a new kid in town, boy meets girl, downward spiral from there. I won't argue that Obsidian was intensely different in this sense, but I can say that I liked the way Armentrout handled the situation. Coincidentally, Katy moved in to a house next door to a pair of twins about the same age as she was. Her first encounter with Daemon Black is absolutely priceless. He has one of those dark and confident bad boy attitudes that we all love in our fictional guys. Not to mention those green eyes and the body of a god. Even if aliens aren't exactly your cup of tea, the moment you meet Daemon Black, you'll change your mind. Soon, Katy becomes best friends with his lively and much more lovable twin sister, Dee. What Katy doesn't know is that she has just been thrown into a dangerous and surprisingly supernatural world. She has become entangled in a life she only ever thought she would read about as she learns that the twins are creatures from another planet, they're made of light, they have super powers, and more importantly, they have enemies. Katy now finds herself in danger from being hunted by the Arum, aliens made of darkness, because of the mark of energy Daemon has left on her from using his powers around her. This book had me hooked on every word and was positively out of this world (pun intended). Armentrout created relatable and irresistible character, a romance that makes you want to scream in frustration and yet hug the book, and an absolutely thrilling plot that makes you desperate for the next book.
Rating: 5 stars
Recommendation: If you liked this book I recommend you watch the TV series "Star Crossed" on CW

In-the-Middle Monday: Allegiant

Welcome to my very first In-the Middle Monday!

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Date started: 4/6/14
Current Page: 24

I just started the book-I know I'm late because I actually read Divergent and Insurgent 2 years ago when they came out but I never got around to reading the final book. After I watched the movie I rediscovered exactly why I fell in love with the trilogy to begin with. I had the book on hand and being on my Divergent-high after the movie (obsessing over the posters, listening to the soundtrack on replay, and stalking the interviews on youtube) I felt it was necessary that I actually finish the books.
 So far I'm only up to the fifth chapter so there isn't too much to say yet. I found joy in the fact that the fourth chapter was written in the point of view of Four- very clever, very clever... or maybe I'm just weird and loved the coincidence. Roth switches the point of views from Tris to Four every next chapter and finally gives us access to what's going on in Tobias's head (never a bad thing), but to be honest it kinda throws me off since the last two books in the series were all written in Tris's point of view alone. Over all, five chapters has done a nice job of reminding me of what happened in the second book (much needed) and moves at a pretty nice pace, kicking off right away and making things happen. I've heard some pretty scary things about the ending of this book so I'm not entirely sure what to expect but I shall see soon enough.
Happy Reading!