Bombarded with Books

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Serpent's Kiss by Melissa de la Cruz

Title: Serpent's Kiss (Beauchamp Family Series #2)
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Hyperion
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Adult
Grade: 90% or A-
Buy It: Amazon

The intriguing Beauchamp family, introduced in the New York Times bestselling Witches of East End, returns in Serpent’s Kiss, with dizzying plot twists and spellbinding magic.

Joanna and her daughters, bookish Ingrid and wild-child Freya, are just settling into the newfound peace that has been cast over their small, off-the map town of North Hampton. With the centuries-old restriction against practicing magic lifted, casting spells, mixing potions, and curing troubled souls has never felt so good for the three witches. That is, until everything gets turned upside down—from Joanna’s organized kitchen to Ingrid’s previously nonexistent love life to Freya’s once unshakeable faith in her sexy soul mate, Killian Gardiner.

When Freya’s twin brother, Freddie, suddenly returns, escaped from Limbo and professing innocence on a long-ago crime, Freya should be ecstatic. The golden boy can do no wrong. Or can he? Freddie blames no other than her fiancé Killian for his downfall, and enlists Freya’s help to prove it. Now Freya doesn’t know who to believe or trust.

My Thoughts::
It wasn't until I started reading this book, that I remembered how much I enjoyed the first one. If you haven't read this first book yet, do so and then come back to read my review because there is a good possibility that it will include spoilers. As a person who also read the Blue Bloods series, I have to say that these books are better. So if you don't like that series and that is what is holding you back, stop it! Just read these books!

I really love that these books don't just try to fool you with a whole bunch of filler and leave you at the end thinking "wait...nothing actually HAPPENED" But there is a ton going on in this book. The three separate narrators are affected by each new event differently and it is interesting to see how they will all react. Because of the type of person each of them is, they have different problems. So we have the big storyline, but then also we have these little side stories from each character, which better yet, fit in with the big storyline as well. There were so many twists and turns!

And the book is even better because the characters are awesome! All three of them are so different, that you'll definitely be able to find traits you share with them. Maybe it's the fact that I am no longer in High School, but this book appealed to me much more than some of the YA novels I've been reading. Though there is some drama in the character's lives, that isn't what the plot its. Learning about all of the ancient stuff and history about witches was really cool as well. I also love how I felt like I got a lot out of the book where it comes to plot. By the end I felt fulfilled, but it leaves plenty open for the next book to pick up.

Overall I think this book was a good sequel. Things developed nicely and I can not wait to read the next book!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Beach Reads

Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten is...

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend As Good Beach Reads

1. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
2. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
3. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
4. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
5. The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher
6. Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock
7. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
8. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
9. Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita
10. Something, Maybe- Elizabeth Scott

Monday, June 11, 2012

It's Our Prom by Julie Anne Peters

Title: It's Our Prom (So Deal With It)
Author: Julie Anne Peters
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Acquired: Received free for an honest review
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 77% or C+
Buy It: Amazon

When Azure's principal gives her the chance to turn the school's traditional (and boring) senior prom into an event that will appeal to everyone, not just the jocks and cheerleaders, she jumps at the opportunity. Soon Azure manages to convince her best friends, Luke and Radhika, to join the prom committee as well.

Facing heavy opposition and admittedly clueless about prom logistics, the three friends are nonetheless determined to succeed — if Luke's and Azure's secret crushes on Radhika don't push the committee members, and their friendships, to the breaking point first.

My Thoughts::
I remember in student council my Junior year playing a large part in planning prom, so I could definitely relate to that part of the book, which was one of the bigger reasons why I requested it for review. Plus, I also shared those feelings about how prom is mostly meant for certain types of people, and agree with the idea of an alternate prom.

The plot of this novel had a lot going on. There were a lot of subplots, which I usually don't mind except this was a standalone novel. It was hard to gauge how important certain information and events were supposed to be, because some of them would be discussed again and expanded, but others would just be dropped. Then the topics we were supposed to care about just kept piling up, which made the book a bit messy. Plus these topics were very underdeveloped. On the other end of things, I always had something to think about and I wasn't bored.

I was very pleased with the characters thrown our way. Well, for the most part. Luke was awesome and I loved everything that came with his chapters. I was thoroughly interested in his life and wanted to know how he would deal with living with his brother and the other stress in his life. Azure was also pretty cool, but I couldn't connect with her like I could with Luke. I don't blame the writing, I just didn't like her personality. I did really like her dad though. Rarely do I encounter a parent in a book that I actually feel some kind of feelings for. Usually I barely think about the parents at all. I didn't like Radhika and I couldn't understand why Luke and Azure were in love with her, which was frustrating and made everything they thought about her so teenagery and dramatic.

The ending was sweet, but maybe too sweet. It wrapped up in a pretty little bow with everybody happy and getting what they want. This is nice..but not very powerful.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.

So many books this week!