The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Summary: It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Review: I've seen some reviews of The Future of Us that say there were too many 90's references and that dragged the story down, but the references were the highlight of the story for me. I loved the book and everything, but from the time Emma is choosing her screensaver (I was a fan of the pipes) I was hooked. I loved being brought back to the good ole days. I thought The Future of Us had some great character growth moments, but Emma and Josh annoyed me through most of the book. That sucked because I like Josh a lot. I stopped liking him when he became obsessed with Sydney. I kind of liked Emma but, again, when she was obsessed with Cody she got annoying. Unfortunately that was a good chunk of this book. I went to public school so I get the whole, "OMG the hot guy is soooooooooooo hot" thing. It doesn't make it any less annoying. That was the only thing that bothered me though. I've also seen people comparing this book to the authors' earlier works. I'm not going to do that. The only book of Carolyn's I've read is The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, but as that was a while ago it would not be fair to compare it. Jay's other book Thirteen Reasons Why is one of my favorite books of all time, but this was a much lighter story so that would be another unfair comparison. I think they wrote very well together and the story flowed quite nicely. I say give this book a shot. If you can remember the 90's at all then sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride down memory lane.

4.5 howls

Torn by Erica O'Rourke

Summary: Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!"

Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?

Review: I had not heard anything about Torn when I started reading it so I went in not knowing what to expect. I loved the first chapter. It certainly got questions running around in my head. I didn't really like Mo as a character at first. I thought she was annoying and a bit of a brat, but towards the end she started to warm up to me. She faced quite a lot in this book and I admire her for that. One thing I especially loved about Torn was the general idea. Usually in paranormal YA books the main character is in some peril because some paranormal creatures are after him/her. Torn was a bit different. Verity was the one in caught up in the paranormal stuff but she died, so Mo (the typical "in the dark" best friend) had to become part of this dangerous world herself. That was interesting. Luc and Colin were both good characters. I was on the fence with them when they were first introduced. I don't know why, but I didn't fall in love with them upon first meeting them. I will say I was more on Luc's side than Colin's by the end of the book. I liked the whole story a lot. I think it is interesting and new, but it didn't feel like there was a whole lot going on. You get introduced to a lot of characters, but I was hoping Mo would have had to do more running/fighting baddies in this book. I still liked this book a ton, and the last few chapters were pretty packed full of stuff so that was good. I think this is definitely a series worth looking out for. Can't wait to read Tangled!

4 howls

New in the Den (IMM 25)

From Kristi at The Story Siren

Gift:

I won a contest Erica was holding, and she felt bad for taking a while to send the prize (a bracelet) out so she also sent me a copy of her book! It sounds awesome! I've only read the first chapter so far, but it was really good. Can't wait to read the rest of it!

Die for Me by Amy Plum

Summary: My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

Review: I enjoyed this book greatly. I didn't relate to Kate or Georgia or Charlotte very much, but I liked them all which was nice. I liked Vincent too. He had a few moments where I felt like he was a bit of a creep, but overall he was a very desirable guy. Charles I worry about. Anyone who has read the book will probably understand why. It's sad because of ALL of the other characters, Charles is the one that reminded me of someone I know in real life. Jules is probably my favorite. He's makes me smile every time I see his name on a page. He's such a great character.

The story was interesting and well done in my opinion. It's about these weird guardian angel things. Actually, they aren't really angels. They're like angel/ghost/zombie things. Yeah. That sums it up I suppose. Their purpose in life is something I haven't heard of before and I like the fresh idea it brings to the YA world. The story was lovely and there was one part regarding Kate/Vincent I especially liked even though it wasn't good for the characters. I don't want to make this a spoilery review so I'm not going to say anymore, but it happens about mid-way through the book I think and it was surprising to be honest. Not something you see in many YA romances. I'm excited to see Paris as a setting. I've never been to Paris, but reading this book and seeing the adventures Kate and Vincent have makes me want to go. I think my only real issue of this book was there didn't seem to be a lot going on in terms of action. I wish the bad guys were more of a point in the story, but the rest of the book was good enough so I didn't think much of it while I was reading. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a new Paranormal story.

4.5 howls

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Runion by L.J. Smith

Summary: Elena: transformed, the golden girl has become what she once feared and desired.

Stefan: tormented by losing Elena, he's determined to end his feud with Damon once and for all—whatever the cost. But slowly he begins to realize that his brother is not his only enemy.

Damon: at last, he possesses Elena. But will his thirst for revenge against Stefan poison his triumph? Or can they come together to face one final battle?

Collected here in one edition are the third and fourth volumes of The Vampire Diaries, a riveting conclusion to the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

Review: The Fury and Dark Reunion were both better than the first half of this series. The characters weren't nearly as bad this time around. Except Bonnie. She still made me want to punch people. I wasn't especially fond of Dark Reunion being in her POV because of how annoying she can be, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Matt or Meredith are probably my favorites because they really came into themselves in this half of the series. They didn't really have Elena to carry them through everything, and they didn't have Stefan for a while either. Damon warmed up to me a little, but I still don't like him as much as we're probably supposed to. I thought the story was a little better in this book, than in the last one. There were parts that actually surprised me. The thing with Tyler didn't work for me. It felt so random. I guess that happens when you have a 4-book-long series. I didn't understand how the last chapter happened. Maybe that part went over my head. So that felt out of place as well. Maybe the parts that bothered me will be better explained in the next arc. I don't have those book, and I don't know if I ever will get them. I might try them just because I like L.J.'s other books. Like I said, I thought this book went over better than the previous one, but not by much. I'm just not in a rush to get the others.

3.5 howls

New In the Den (IMM 24)

From Kristi at The Story Siren

I only got a couple of books last week, but here they are.

Won from Bea's Book Nook:

Already read and reviewed here.

Bought:

I finally bought this book hardback for $7. I still haven't read any of The Hollows yet, but I will! Eventually...

Book Blogger Confessions 2

Hosted by Tiger and Karen! Here's the new topic:

Have you ever had reading/blogging slumps? How do you work through them or work around them?

I was in a reading slump quite recently. I didn't want to read much of anything for the longest time. It wasn't because I was burned out from reading. I just didn't want to do it. Then I decided to read the books I got signed from YALLFest this year, and I snapped out of it. Now I'm better, but there are still some days I don't want to do any reading at all. Those are the days I force myself to read because I know it will help.

Blogging slump? Not really. There was a point in time where my laptop was messed up so I couldn't blog much at all. I love to blog though. I love putting my thoughts down about a book I loved/hated. My blog helped me gain a voice and an opinion. I love it so much. I hope I never have a blogging slump.

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

Summary: Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her.

Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

Review: I wanted to read The Vampire Diaries for the longest time because people are obsessed with the show, and I've read some of the Night World books and The Secret Circle series. I loved the other L.J. Smith books I've read, but I didn't love TVD. I liked it well enough, and I'll read the other bindup since I own it. I didn't like any of the characters except maybe Matt, Stefan, and Meredith. Elena was unbearable to read, and maybe it's just my old hostility towards her type of girl that made it hard to read. She was just awful. She seemed to change a little towards the end, but then she also seemed too much like one of those love struck teens so I was still annoyed with her. Bonnie was like a lost puppy following Elena around. I didn't like her either. Damon was just...ugh. Given the choice between Stefan and Damon, I would have to pick Stefan at this point. Though I am curious to see how things shape out in The Fury and Dark Reunion. Matt and Stefan were both okay, but they still had their moments when I wanted to punch them. The story was decent. The random shift to Bonnie's POV towards the end of The Struggle felt out of place. The diary entries were the same way. I understand the importance to the story, but both of those parts felt forced to me. I think I had a hard time with this book mostly because of characters. It felt like a chore reading this one. I wish I didn't feel that way because I didn't have a problem with Night World and The Secret Circle, but The Vampire Diaries didn't quite hit the mark. Don't let my review keep you from these books. I know there are people that adore this series. I liked it enough to read the other 2 books, but I don't know how much more I'll read. If I'm not impressed with The Fury and Dark Reunion then I might end my TVD experience with this arc.

3.5 howls

The Naughty List by Jodi Redford

Summary: Perpetual good girl Lacey McGuire has two Christmas wish lists. One suitable for public consumption…and a private one that’s too hot to handle. Right at the top: wild, wicked fantasies about her best buddies and business partners Ryan Hollister and Bram Colton.

Besides the fact they’re both poster boys for Hunks ’R’ Us, they’ve been there for her through thick, thin and the heartbreak of a cheating fiancé. So what if her boys will never know they star in her sexiest daydreams? In her fantasy world, her heart will never get trampled again.

Ry and Bram are pretty sure Lacey never meant to email a list of some of her raunchiest wants. Particularly the one that tightens their shorts—she wants a threesome. With them. Although they’ve loved her for years, they made a pact to keep Lacey off limits in order to protect their friendship. Now all bets are off. And the quest to give her all she wants—and more—is on.

Warning: This book contains a wickedly hot M/F/M ménage that will heat up the holidays. Friends steaming things up in a hot tub. Bondage and blindfolds. Sexy shenanigans at a Christmas tree lot. And maybe even a glimpse of Santa…in a Speedo.

Review: First, before I get into The Naughty List, I'd like to mention a couple things. One, this is my first threesome book. Yep. I was a bit scared to be quite honest, but it sounded good and I had a chance to win it in a contest so, why not? Second, I tried to read a contemporary erotica book a while before this one and I couldn't stand it. I didn't like the way it was put together so I've been putting off reading more of this genre. That being said, I really enjoyed The Naughty List. I liked Lacey, Bram, and Ryan all as characters. I liked their scenes together the most. I'm not talking about the sex, but the way their characters interacted with each other. I am tired of the "best friends falling in love" idea, but I think it worked very well for this book. My favorite scenes were the one in Lacey's office in Chapter 1, and the one when they were looking for a Christmas tree. Those were pretty hilarious, and I thought it showed the relationships between the 3 quite well. Something that bothered me a bit was the last chapter. Lacey decided one thing and then all of a page later she changed her mind. Maybe another chapter where Lacey really things about what she's doing would have been nice. Other than that, I thought this was a great book and I will definitely be reading more from Jodi in the future.

4 howls

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Review: Divergent is another one of those hype books that took me a while to get to. It took me a while to get into though which is a bit sad. I think that's why I didn't enjoy it as much as other bloggers. I kind of liked Tris. I liked watching her character change as she went through this story. It took a while for Four to warm up to me. I've seen so many bloggers talk about how wonderful he is. I didn't get that. I'm over the male characters who have to act like assholes. I understand that it's part of where he lives, but he bothered me when I first met him. I'm not sure how I feel about some of the minor characters yet like Caleb and Peter. I'm wondering if there might be some more to them than there was in Divergent. The beginning of this book moved slow for me. It was good, but it felt slow. It picked up a good bit during initiation and I think I enjoyed that a lot because of Tris' growth. There were a few twists that I wasn't surprised to see, but the end was a complete mind-blow. The last few chapters were incredible and I want to hug Tris so bad right now.

4 howls

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Summary: Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting asThe Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

Review: Shatter Me is one of those books I heard about, but was never really interested in buying. Maybe it's because I haven't read too many Dystopian books so that genre is still up in the air for me. I finally did though and I'll admit it was pretty dang good. The story was interesting and Shatter Me is like a Paranormal/Dystopian story which was cool. I thought overall the story was done very well. The few other Dystopian reads I've found had the main characters on the outside of the crazy corrupt organization, and at some point trying to destroy it from the inside. Juliette was on the inside to begin with. Granted, she was a prisoner, but that was another aspect that made Shatter Me so good to read. I wasn't sure if the scratched out text was going to annoy me or not, but I think it worked in the book's favor. I liked the effect it had. The only thing really keeping me from giving Shatter Me a perfect score are the characters. I didn't like Juliette or Adam to be honest. I related to Juliette to an extent as she dealt with a bit of loneliness and she seemed to be a little (a lot) OCD. I don't think I would be diagnosed with OCD, but I like to count things the way Juliette does. Maybe I'll like her more in book 2 when she comes more into her abilities and she can explore herself more. That'll be fun. Why don't I like Adam? I just don't. From the moment you're introduced to him I felt something pushing me away from him. Hopefully I'll like him later. I did enjoy reading Kenji and James. Hopefully nothing will happen to them like another popular Dystopian book, but it probably will as they're secondary characters and they're expendable. Meh. Overall, this was a solid read. It didn't live up to the hype to me, but again that's just because I didn't gel with Juliette or Adam. It's still definitely worth the read and I'll for sure be checking out book 2.

4 howls

Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund (spoilers)

Summary: Astrid Llewelyn is now a fully trained unicorn hunter, but she can't solve all her problems with just a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend, Giovanni, has decided to leave Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend's powers seem to be mysteriously disintegrating, and Astrid can't help but feel that school, home, and her hopes of becoming a scientist are nothing but impossible dreams.

So when she's given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and put her skills to use as part of a scientific quest to discover the Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she want--or can she? At Gordian headquarters, deep in the French countryside, Astrid begins to question everything she thought she believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and most of all her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns, or saving the unicorns from the world?

Review: I finally summed up the courage to read Ascendant. I loved Rampant, but after what happened to Phil I wasn't sure when I was going to be able to read the next book. Giovanni makes a return in Ascendant, and he was certainly an odd character for me this time. Phil was still there, and she was still rad so I enjoyed what bit of her we had. Neil, Cory, and the rest of the girls were back as well of course. They were all good fun to get back to again. Astrid's mom was back, and I absolutely hate her.

Here is where I get spoilery so be warned if you haven't read Ascendant.

The Cory/Val thing did not surprise me really. It wasn't something that I put a lot of thought into until a couple pages before it was discovered, but I read that and thought, "Well that's nice." I liked that it made the story/relationships a bit different from Rampant.

The Seth thing didn't really get resolved and that bothers me. I mean...Phil is my favorite. I wanted her to have justice. I hoped Astrid would have been able to do that actually. Novella perhaps? Please?

One of my favorite things about this book was that Giovanni walked away from Astrid and she didn't rebound with Brandt. I like how it showed Astrid's strength as a character and she didn't need a male in her life to make her strong. That was story gold to me. With so many YA titles now there always seems to be a relationship and that's fine, but it's refreshing to read a story without that on every page.

End of spoilers

I will say that I enjoyed Rampant more just because it seemed to have more going on with the actual unicorn hunting. I loved Ascendant as well, but it focused more on the Remedy than the hunting. It was still interesting and I absolutely recommend these books. Is this series over? It very well could be. Could there be a book 3? Yes! If Diana decides to end Astrid's story here then that's okay with me. If she writes another one then I'll definitely be picking that one up as well.

4.5 howls

Harper Imprint Challenge (update)

So I managed to make it home and gather more books so I have quite a selection to choose from. Now I have in my possession:

Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Kisses: Kissing Coffins by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Kisses: Vampireville by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Kisses: Dance with a Vampire by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Kisses: The Coffin Club by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Kisses: Royal Blood by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle

Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by LJ Smith

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Die for Me by Amy Plum

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I'm currently re-reading Rampant, and because it's a re-read and I have all these other books now I probably won't count it towards the challenge. I don't feel like writing a new review for it. I might end up reading the above books in the order exactly opposite to the way I posted them on here. Yep. Fun stuff. I'm just good like that. Anyways head over to Starry Sky Books to check out the challenge.

Book Blogger Confessions 1

This is a cool little meme that Tiger from Tiger's All Consuming Books and Karen from For What It's Worth started up. I like it. I think it gives us a chance to be a bit more open with our followers about how stressful and rewarding blogging can be. Here's the first topic:

January 2nd: How has the "job" of book blogging changed your reading habits? Both pro and con.

Pros:

I have been introduced to many new books. My library has expanded quite nicely. Well that's a pro for me. It's probably a con for my parents. It's also nice to interact with authors. Sometimes they tweet back when I review their book and put it on twitter. Some comment on my reviews and that's nice too. There have been a couple times when I didn't tag the author on twitter because I didn't know their name, but they still somehow found that I reviewed their book and commented. That's always a nice surprise. I have been contacted by a publisher and a couple authors to review books. 1 author I turned down because I didn't have the time to review her book, and I didn't think I was fit to make a good opinion on her book. The other author I was already a fan of and I was extremely excited when she offered to give me a copy of her newest book to review. That was an incredible honor for me. I accepted the publisher's offer to read a couple books on a whim and it worked out well. The books were very good. I have to force myself to think about why I did or did not like a book. That additional bit of thought is another nice thing blogging has done. It has helped me to become more vocal about what I do/do not like. I don't think my opinion matters much, but with books I like to think that I have a decent opinion. My friends seem to think so too. :)

Cons: It is a job, except I'm not getting paid. I didn't realize how much dedication it takes to run a blog. This, on top of school, and personal things I've been dealing with takes a lot out of a person. I don't want to be judged based on what I read either. I talked about expanding my library in the Pros section. One of the things I've gotten into since reviewing is Paranormal Romance and Erotica. Reading those books don't bother me, but I'm sure it bothers some of my friends. I don't want people to think bad thoughts about me just because I read those books. I try to joke around about them, but I don't know how well that works. I don't want my religious beliefs to be hurt by these books either. There are some books that I'm not entirely sure I'll read because of what I believe. I know some people won't read books about angels/fallen angels because of this. So far I haven't had an issue with that, and hopefully it'll stay that way.

Harper Imprint Challenge

So I'm going to participate in the Harper Imprint Challenge hosted by Starry Sky Books. Here are the rules posted on the blog over there.

For those of you that have no idea what this challenge is, it's pretty much a challenge to read as many books from the HarperCollins imprints that publish YA books: Harper Teen, Greenwillow, Katherine Tegen Books, and Balzer + Bray. I first held this challenge last minute in July, with sign-ups only posted two weeks before. This time around there's more time for word to get around and more people to sign up, hopefully! Here is the breakdown of the challenge:

• Open to anyone, whether you blog or not
• Books started before January 1 do not count - and we're going on the honor system with this!
• Audio books and ebooks do count of course
• Your books can be crossovers with other challenges
• Sign-ups will stay open through January 7
• Choose a challenge level and make an intro post with a link back to this post!

Here are the challenge levels, make sure you choose one that you think is realistic for you.

• Easy: 1-4 books
• Medium: 5-8 books
• Hard: 9-12 books

And here's a schedule of events that will be happening throughout the month, with more possibly to be added.

• January 1: Event starts! Review link-up for the first week posted.
• January 8: Review link-up for the second week goes up.
• January 15: Harper Imprint Challenge Readathon! Starts at 9am Pacific time and lasts for 24 hours; Review link-up for the third week
• January 22: Review Link-up for the last week, including the 29th through the 31st
• January 25: 24 hour Harper book giveaway!
• January 31: - Last day of the challenge!

On February 1 there will be one final giveaway for those who participated and do a wrap up post of your accomplishments! So don't forget those posts.

I'm going to do the Easy set because I may or may not be able to pick up more books from my house. Right now I've only got the books in my dorm and on my Nook at my disposal, but my Nook is dead so I can't even use that. Here are the books I'm going to read:

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund

Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi

Enthralled (anthology)

If I can get to my parents house I can pick up:

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The first 5 Vampire Kisses books by Ellen Schreiber

Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

That's a lot of books. Didn't really list them out properly, but if I do manage to pick up more books then I'll do an updated post to show how many I hope to read. For now though, I just have 4. Good luck to everyone participating!

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Summary: Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected-and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What-or who-will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena-and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself-forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

Review: Where do I even start with this book? Ethan was still wonderful. I live in South Carolina so where is my Ethan? Just sayin'. Really though. He was fantastic as usual. Lena wasn't as annoying this time around which was nice. Rid, John, and Liv still aren't there for me. I can't shake this feeling that one or all of them will screw up in the final fight. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The entire first few chapters of Chaos was quite nice actually because it was nice to see Lena and Ethan together and have a "normal" (I'm using that term loosely) life for once. Of course that ended quickly. I don't even know what to say about this book without spoilers. So far it's my favorite. It was sad and wonderful, and I almost cried a few times. The second half was incredibly sad. I still can't believe it actually happened. Any of it. I read the last chapter and I'm waiting for Kami and/or Margaret to release a secret chapter and say this last chapter was a joke. I know it won't happen. That's the point of a cliff-hanger right? Leave the reader wanting more. I just can't wrap my head around it. I knew it was coming too. Kami and Margaret set you up for the end, but I still couldn't believe it. I hoped something would be able to come out of nowhere to stop it. That's enough of my rambling. If you haven't read Chaos, then get to it. If you have, then maybe you can share my disbelief.

5 howls