The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

The Golden Lily is the second book in Richelle Mead's series Bloodlines. Bloodlines is a spin-off series of the Vampire Academy books. This is a book and a book series that I recommend for all readers. I've read it, my mom's read it, my mom's friends have read it, my friends have read it. It's something that is a really fun read.

The main character is Sydney Sage. She's an alchemist. Meaning, she hides the human world from vampires. She's been charged with the mission of hiding vampire princess Jill Dragomir. Sydney is the kind of person that likes all her ducks in a row. She's very organized and doesn't like magic. In fact, she doesn't like anything that doesn't fit into logic. She's a very well built character and I like her a lot. Along with Sydney, several Dhampirs (half-vampires) and Moroi (mortal, magic using vampires) help to protect Jill. Sydney has always followed the rules and tried to please, so with new information and feelings, I'm wondering which side she'll choose. The repressive Alchemists, or her new vampire friends.

The plot of the book is well done. I never know what's going to happen next. It twists and turns and flips upside-down. Every character has their secrets. And no stone is left unturned. Be prepared for one of the best novels out there. I give it five stars.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

  Before you read please note, this book has content for older readers. It is not appropriate for younger readers.

  Now that that's settled, on to business. The idea of Pretty Little Liars is very good. I love the whole, getting text messages from a missing/possibly dead person part. The plot always kept me on my toes. I'm always wondering what's going to happen next. Secrets are everywhere. Revealing memories can come out at any moment. And nothing in the book happens by accident. There is a reason for everything.

  There a four main characters. There's Spencer. She is a nice girl, but can't help but feel jealous of her sister. Her parents tend to notice her weaknesses more than her strengths, so I can't blame her for being jealous of the sister everyone else thinks is perfect. There's Aria. She's also a nice girl. She's always remembering when she was younger and how insecure she was. Now she's very comfortable in her skin. She has some guy problems that need to be worked out, but she's decent. Then there's Hanna. Of the four characters, I liked her the least. Or at least, I liked her the least at first. She's a very popular girl who isn't very nice, but as the book progresses, her many insecurities are revealed, along with some family problems. My favorite character is Emily. She's a nice girl who at first, seems like she has a nice life. Though her parents aren't as nice as the seem. Emily's always strived to be perfect, but what if her parents can't except her for who she is?

  I loved the idea of the book. The details weren't amazing, but I liked it. The point of view switched between the four girls, so when a secret was revealed at the end of a chapter, it made me want to read more until I got to that girl again. I read this book in one afternoon and can't wait to read the next one. I give this book four stars.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

  City of Lost Souls is amazing. I read this book right after it came out in May. I reread it again recently and felt the need to spread the awesomeness that is Cassandra Clare. I love every word in the book. The book is well constructed and the plot is expertly weaved. There's action everywhere, along with tons of romance. And I mean a TON. The bad guys get badder, secrets surface, and there's something around every corner.

  Clary Fray is the main character. This book really shows just how far she'll go to protect the people she loves. She'll do everything from breaking laws to killing, if need be. She's very independent and strong-willed. If she sets her mind to something, there's no way to talk her out of it. And when she's in love, she loves with all heart. Then there's Jace. He's not as big in this book. Not as much is told from his point of view as usual. There's good reason for that too. But no matter how much or little there is of Jace in this book, his wit, humor, and good looks can always be counted on. There's the other characters as well. In the past couple of books the characters that were minor have become much more prominent. Everyone's tale is entwined.

  The plot in this book weaves and twists every which way. The end, never saw it coming. The Mortal Instruments is the main series of books, but there's a prequel as well. In this book more than others, the author will put hints and snippets from the other series. I squealed many times. All of that put together has made me decide to give this book five stars.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

  I read this book for the first time about one year ago. I loved every second of it. Then I read it again. I love this book inside and out. And the series as a whole is one of my favorites. This is the book in the series where you really figure out what's going on. The bad guys are explained, and you find out big secrets about the characters. So it's one book you just can't miss.

  The main character is Clary Fray. There are so many words I could use to describe her. She is strong, independent, amazing, powerful, dedicated, loyal, caring, stubborn. The list goes on and on. She's a well developed character that everyone is able to relate to. Not to mention she can kick demon butt. And by this point, she's starting to realize just how awesome she is. Then there's Jace. He is the male lead. He is actually a lot like Clary. The only difference, he may be more stubborn. He's not afraid to risk his life, which makes him a little reckless at times. It worries the heck out of the other characters, but makes readers fall in love with him. He is not the least bit modest. He is completely aware of his hotness, and often brings it up. He has a witty comment for everything. He'll have you laughing out loud at almost everything he says. He acts like an idiot at times, but all teenage boys do.

  The plot twists and turns. Just as it looks like someone is good, they do something evil. Someone evil might turn out to be good. And of course there are the characters no one is sure if they're good or not. If you are looking to read this book, be ready for one heck of a ride. I give this book five stars.

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

  Yes, I know I'm a little behind. Glass Houses is a decent book. My only problem, it's a vampire novel. There are way too many of them out there. Somehow, the author took general vampire facts, and made a yet another vampire world. But the book is interesting and well written.

  The main character is named Claire. She's basically a genius. She's at a community college in Morganville only because her parents wouldn't let her go to Yale. Yet for all her smarts, she acts like a bit of an idiot more than once. She goes and does things that don't only put her in danger, but put her friends in danger as well. Another thing. I like it when the main character really is the main character, but in this book, all the other characters feel like props, just sitting there until needed. I feel like I don't know the other characters well enough.

  The plot is good. It twists and turns in ways that I like. Sometimes the book wouldn't make sense, but only sometimes. Usually it didn't make sense when one certain character was in the scene. I've criticized this book a lot. Yet, somehow, the author has me hooked on the series and I can't wait to read the next book. And that is definitely a plus. This book gets four stars.

Nevermore by James Patterson

  Nevermore was a decent book. Well written and the plot was completely unpredictable. I started the book mid-afternoon and finished it by dinner. There was a problem though. I've been waiting for this book for months, and it just didn't live up to my hopes of what it would be. The book was set up to be this huge, amazing finale. But in reality, it wasn't.

  The main character is Maximum Ride. She's strong, smart, and will do anything to protect the people she loves. After a while though, she gets repetitive. Kill them, save her, rescue him, save the world, etc. Rinse and repeat and you see how the book (and series) is. There's also the love triangle. In some books, the love triangle is fun. Here, it's boring, annoying, and not needed. The book would have been much more interesting without guy number two. Guy number one is a first class jerk. I don't see what she likes in him. Personally, I'd prefer it if she ended up with neither guy.

  The plot of the story twists and turns so much that the book wouldn't always make sense to me. I like books with action, don't get me wrong, but this one had way too much. It was boom, boom, boom. One thing ends another begins. A little break is nice. The plot builds up to a lot of stuff that didn't happen. For the entire series, it's set up for one thing to happen, then a totally different thing happens instead. It's one thing to have one guy as the bad guy, and it turns out his second in command is the evil guy. But here, the bad guy is one guy, but a totally different bad guy shows up at the end. That probably didn't make sense, it didn't in the book either. The book has way to many loose ends. The author throws in a bunch of info right at the end, and never explains it. That usually wouldn't bother me, but this is the last book. The end of this book is the end of that world. I get no further explanations.

  So, in the end, the book was interesting. I was looking forward to reading it. But I just didn't like it. I probably should have seen it coming. The hints were there in his other books, but I didn't see it. So I give this book two stars.

Immortal City by Scott Speer

Immortal City was a fun book to read. The plot was a little predictable, and the characters weren’t as well defined as I would like, but it was fun. It kept me interested from start to finish. It’s a bit of an easy read. I finished it in less than twenty-four hours.

I like Maddy. She’s nice and can stick up for herself. Though she ignored her friends when she started to like Jackson. Jackson gets on my nerves a bit and I found myself wanting to throw the book at the wall multiple times. Both of them tend to act stubborn and so romance is a little hard to come by. The author made me hate one character, then acted like he was a good guy. Most of the other characters are not very deep, and don’t come in as much as I would like in the story.

I don’t like books with a whole lot of detail, but Immortal City didn’t have enough. I don’t need to know every little thing that goes on in their lives, but I would like to have enough detail so that I can see in my mind what’s going on.

From start to finish, the book was an interesting read. The characters and plot could be better, but the idea was very good. I give the book three stars.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky is told from two points of view, Aria’s and Perry’s. Usually I prefer a book to be told from one point of view, but Veronica Rossi writes it perfectly so that, by the end, I can’t imagine the book without both points of view. She also does an amazing job with the plot. Always keeping me interested. I read the book in one day, it was that good.

Aria is the female lead. In the beginning of the story, she is generally a pretty week person. But by the end of the story, she has grown into the strong, young women all girls wish they were. Meanwhile Perry, the male lead, can survive from the beginning. He’s grown up in this harsh world, and life has never been easy. Yet for all his strength, his ability to love and care is limited. But, by the end of the story, he has found his inner strength, along with his outer.

The end of the story left me wanting more. I know I can’t wait for the sequel. I very much enjoyed this story and give it five stars.

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

I loved Sweet Evil. It’s one of the best debut novels I’ve read in ages. The book has a perfect blend of romance, danger, and adventure. The plot twists and turns like that of a long-time author. Something was always around the corner.

Anna was an amazing character. The only thing I disliked was how fast and hard she fell for Kaidan. She barely knew him, and yet she was very near stalking him. That kind of crush comes from knowing that person for a little while. Soon after, it’s very obvious Kaidan feels the same way though. Their romance is one bumpy ride. In other words, it will not be easy.

I know I’ve already said it, but I love Sweet Evil. Everything fits together and it’s set up perfectly for a wonderful sequel. On a scale of one to five, I give it a five.

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe is a fun read. I gobbled it up in one evening. It’s a strong, stand-alone novel. Now, usually I’m not a huge fan of realistic fiction, but this book had me hooked from page one.

Chloe is a strong, female protagonist. When her best friend says hurtful things about her, she stands up tall and gets through it. She always has something to say. Usually it’s funny, often babble, and sometimes serious. But she’s also learning about how to listen, a trait that comes in handy towards the end of the book. The other characters are all very strong in their own ways. Many of them have to put up with problems at home or at school. Although her ex-best friend is set to be the antagonist, you just can’t hate her. She has problems of her own that make her a mean person. Many of the characters are very stubborn which makes the reader want to throw the book at the wall.

The author weaved an interesting plot. Always keeping me on the edge of my seat. I definitely enjoyed this book and give it five stars.

Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

One word to describe Before I Wake? Amazing. It’s the best and strongest book in the series so far. I found myself squealing with joy when a good thing happened to Kaylee, shaking with fear when she was scared, and tears came to my eyes when she was upset. Rachel Vincent keeps the plot twisting and turning so I could never quite tell what was going to happen next.

Since the series is already a good ways underway, Kaylee has already become a very strong heroine. Yet the author found ways to make her stronger. When there’s trouble, she doesn’t stop fighting until she’s won. She finds new and interesting ways to take care of them as well. Don’t get in between her and someone she loves, you might not make it out in one piece.

The author always found a way to make the plot interesting. The characters are strong and well defined. And I got sucked into the story. Add it all up and I give it five stars.