Archive
Baysinger, Sara. White Dawn (Black Tiger #3)
Blake, Kendare. Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)
Cass, Kiera. The Selection (The Selection #1)
Cass, Kiera. The Elite (The Selection #2)
Elise, Simone. Tattooed Love
Ness, Patrick. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1)
Flash Reviews
White Dawn (Black Tiger #3) by Sara BaysingerPublication Date: July 6, 2017
Genres: Young Adult - SciFi - Dystopian
My Rating: ★★★★☆
I've been following this series since the beginning, and I could cry over what a good ending this was! It's been a real trip, learning to love Rain, deciding whether or not to trust Aurora, mourning the beloved characters lost. This was a perfect conclusion with plenty of action. There was a happy ending, but not everything was perfect. A lot was lost and the characters had to make some difficult decisions and hard personal growth. Well done!
Publication Date: October 17, 2011
Genres: Young Adult - Paranormal - Horror
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Anna Dressed in Blood was one of those books that took me by complete surprise! When I saw that the main character was named Cas, I thought this would be an awful Suprnatural rip-off, and while I still think the author copped out with that name, ADIB was a refreshingly unique story.
I enjoyed Cas's personality because he took a new spin on the new-kid-in-school. Instead of desperately trying to fit in, he was trying *not* to make friends and failed. And Anna, of course, was a fantastic personality. She managed to straddle that line of being a bad-a** chick while being from another time when feminism wasn't exactly a thing.
The couple things that kept this from a five star: the horror actually was on point for a YA novel, but the twists and complexity weren't quite there. I also loved the romance aspects, but I wasn't entirely hooked, more like I was enjoying from afar.
Color me surprised by this one! I even went out and got the sequel the next day!
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Genres: Young Adult - Dystopian - Romance
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
A lot of people have called this their guilty pleasure read and I agree completely. The plot and the romance and fun and engaging, but the dystopian element is as flimsy as a cardboard wall. If the author put an ounce more effort into world building I would have taken it seriously, but as it stands, I felt like she needed to take an economics class. But as far as positives, America is a fairly engaging protagonist and the premise of The Selection has all the juicy drama of watching The Bachelor. I'll be continuing the series at the very least.
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Genres: Young Adult - Dystopian - Romance
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
This book was simultaneously better and worse than the first. There was much more political drama and I found myself rolling my eyes less at the world building that I previously called flimsy. On the flip side, the romance got ridiculous. I understand that America is 17 and life is complicated at that age, but I have no sympathy for cheaters. Just pick one! Especially if she cares about politics, Maxon is the obvious choice, and she just needs to let Aspen ego instead of stringing him along. Here's to hoping that the next book is more political drama!
Tattooed Love by Simone Elise
Publication Date: September 16, 2017
Genres: Contemporary - Crime - Romance
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆
I wanted to like this book, and it had a really great backbone. I loved the main character, Amber. She was not just a badass, but she also had a really complex emotional story. I loved her narration and her relationship with her brothers. The plot was just so oddly paced. The on-and-off relationship barely had any "on." The relationships she built were hard to keep track of because the amount of time passing between events was never clear. I was 110% not into the love interest. Not to mention there was a really odd sense of misogyny running through the whole book. I think it would have benefitted greatly from aging up the characters, because their actions and emotional intelligence in no way lined up with high schoolers.
Publication Date: May 5, 2008
Genres: Young Adult - SciFi - Dystopian
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
This book is an odd one for sure. What you're literally reading is a crazy world where Earth is destroyed, you can hear everyone's thoughts, and the land itself speaks to you. But once you adjust to all that, what you're really reading is a brilliant exploration of the human psyche and mankind's potential for evil. The protagonist, Todd, is a wonderfully complex boy-man who has never had the real opportunity to be innocent, and Ness takes you through an amazing journey as he faces the bigotry, sexism, and genocide perpetuated by the men around him. I'll be honest, The Knife of Never Letting Go didn't hook me right away, but once I committed to the series, it became one of my all time favorites.
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