10 The Soldiers of Halla

I have been reading these books for three years. Since I was fourteen! So as you can imagine, I approached the end of this series with mixed feelings of mourning, excitement and lots of screaming (yes, I was home alone while I read). Pendragon left us in the Raven Rise with terror that he had messed it all (and I mean ALL) up, and hope that him (he?) and the rest of the Travelers could "fix" things.

The bad: I would like to think that there is more to life than being happy, anyone else? I saw it coming, but it still bored me, the chapters of philosophical stuff that I thought was pretty much crap. People are pretty much good inside? I don't think so, pretty much good people don't do horrible awful things to each other...

The good: As much as I don't agree with D.J. MacHale's beliefs, I do respect the way he has his characters live them. As usual, Pendragon just keeps trying, even though it seems that everything he has done and is doing is just making everything worse. Keep at it dude! Only the series is done...

My view: This is just the kinda book that had to finish the series. Since I'm so emotionally attached to the characters, I'm just glad to see them all again. But this isn't the best book out of the series, and it almost couldn't be, with all the loose ends that needed to be tied up. Also, the end confused me. I don't like being confused. Did anybody else get it? But an all around necessary and decent book. My one word:

Hobey-ho!

13 Little Blue Envelopes

Ginny is a good daughter, she's quiet and follows the rules. But when her aunt dies and leaves her step by step instructions in 13 blue envelopes, Ginny takes a leap of faith and follows her aunt's wishes.

The bad: Nada.

The good: I love books where the characters step outside their comfort zones and experience a new way to live life. 'M not saying that we should all travel around Europe with little to no money, but...

My view: I picked this book up at my library, thinking it looked interesting. And it was. Though it is different than Sarah Dessen's style, I feel like they are comparable. Fun, light and interesting, I loved it. My one word:

Freeing

4 The Singing

The final book of the Pellinor series in which, we hope, Maerad and her brother Hem can stop the Dark by singing the Treesong. But of course the book is quite a bit longer then them just finding each other and singing that darn Treesong, so they fight battles, get stage fright, heal illnesses and have other uninteresting adventures until the meet.

The bad: Other than just general lameness, not much is bad about this book.

The good: Well, yay, saving the world from evil. And there are some interesting parts of self-reflection from Maerad. I like genuine self-reflection.

My view: This series started promising, and then got bogged down in itself. I got confused with the second one, the third one was beyond me. I did like, in this last one, I could follow the story. But I wouldn't recommend wasting time reading these large volumes. But some people really love them, so since there isn't anything particularly wrong with them, I guess most of my dislike is just personal opinion. My one word:

Cumbersome

The Lab

How can you go wrong with an spy/action book with genetic engineering and a hero who has tons of money? I didn't think so. Six is part of a secret organization with agents and departments named after the cards in a deck. If the top secret deck is discovered, no one will be left to fight for the good in their decaying world.

The bad: Ya know what: there isn't any!

The good: Finally a good secret agent who tries not to kill people! And all that fighting for goodness stuff is pretty good.

My view: Being the aesthetic person that I am, I picked this book out at B&N because of its cover, and when I saw it again my library, I was pretty excited. With good cause. I'm not afraid to call myself a teen action book connoisseur, I a liked this one. Lots of action (much of it impossible), a troubled hero and an interesting story made this book a really fun read. I hope he writes an other one. But his name can't really be Jack Heath. Too cool.

My one word:

Successful

Perfect Chemistry

Here's the classic story: Perfect girl isn't really so perfect. Bad boy isn't really so bad. But when they meet, neither one can tell. Through a deepening relationship, they discover that they are more similar that they thought, and they're falling in love. (Okay, writing that made me realize that the story is really similar to Just Listen, but it's not that good. At all.)

The bad: Swearing, sexual monologues, sex itself (which is bad, as we all know :-) without any commitment. And the cover, seriously, I was embarrassed when my dad looked at it...

The good: I appreciated that this book dug into the whole gang thing, which is something I am completely out of touch with and can't judge it's accuracy, but I felt like this book treated it realistically (kinda). As opposed to the silly movies where the hero only has to say "no" and the bad guys go away... And of course, the whole "look beneath the surface" thing, which is valuable.

My view: I enjoyed the beginning, even considering the sexual atmosphere, but the end lost my interest. I really thought Brittany would be more savvy (which is not my new word). I really thought the author could have gone farther with the book. My one word:

Underdeveloped

The Host

The souls are the dominant species of the universe. This is because they take over the minds of those they invade. The Wanderer is a well travelled soul, and now she's going to Earth, one of the few planets she's never been to. As an experienced soul, she is surprised when she realises that her host isn't dormant. She is even more surprised when she so consumed by her host's emotions and memories that she ditches her entire way of living to pursue the people that inspire emotions in her host she (Wanderer) has never known.

The bad: Ms. Meyer really needs to find a new way to describe sensation other than "like fire." His touch was like fire... It burned like flames... It raced up her arm like a wildfire... PLEASE! Other than that, this is a pretty clean book.

The good: I liked the struggle that Wanderer went through (no, I'm no sadistic) as a passive member of a parasitic society. And there were other good (interesting) elements... Like true love, sacrifice, friendship, mercy, trust...

My view: As not a huge fan of the massive Twilight saga, I was wary of picking up an adult book of Stephenie Meyer. Though it did have the melodrama and tiring length (of a single book) of The Twilight Series, The Host was much better. The story was inventive, morally intriguing and easy to read.
My one word:

Savvy

My Most Excellent Year

TC is a warm hearted funny guy who has set his sights on Ale (it's suppose to have an accent on the e, but I just spent five minutes typing every combo of Alt 22-- and couldn't find an e with a accent on it so just imagine). Ale is the daughter of political people who dislikes TC on principle and would prefer to be a dance rather than a diplomat. TC's brother Augie is gay, and everybody know accept him. And for an eleventh grade writing assignment they must recount their most excellent year, and they all pick their ninth grade year.

The bad: Mild occasional swearing.

The good: I loved TC and Augie, they were really kind and were completely amazing brothers (friends, read the book and you'll understand). They completely trusted each other, which I thought was amazing. TC describes himself really well, he says that whoever he takes into his heart is there to stay, and he is willing to do anything for them. And in the end TC says that a kiss after 5 months is better than a kiss after 5 minutes. Love him.

My view: This week has been a big school week, and next week is promising the same amount, if not more work. Waiting for one of my classes to start, I began this book. Immediately I completely forgot about all the pending assignments (a good thing???) and was completely in love with TC, Augie and Ale. My one word is:

Charming

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

I'm not really sure how to explain the plot of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. This may be because a lot of the plot is revealed in the title. First thing revealed: the book takes place on the edge of the Dark Sea (of darkness). Second: it is suppose to be a humorous book. Third: the humor is obviously geared towards an audience that finds the title humorous. Which I did not. The story follows Janner, and his two siblings Tink (of the masculine variety) and Leeli as they encounter mysteries and evil reptilian authorities.

The bad: Just general boy humor. Which, being a teen girl, didn't really appeal.

The good: I enjoyed the brief allusions to familial responsibility, and the joy and hardship that it presents.

My view: There are only so many stupid footnotes I can take before I go insane, I can read about gross-out stuff for only so long before becoming disgusted, I only read an "adventure" book for so long without adventure before becoming bored. This book crossed all of the "for so long"s. By the time the book finally got started, it was the last chapter. But my PW said that her boys really loved it...
My one word:

Contrived