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“Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father’s handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it’s too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.”

The Madman’s Daughter came out a while ago, and when everyone was picking it up and reading it, and raving about it, I knew I had to jump on the bandwagon! Just like everyone was claiming, this one was creepy, but I loved it!

This book was already had me scared within just the first few chapters, especially with the bunny scene! I don’t want to say too much, because I want you all to experience what I did, but it was absolutely bananas. I started feeling nauseous and dizzy while reading it, and that’s never happened to me before. I don’t know how or why this scene affected me so much, but I felt sick to my stomach.

The Madman’s Daughter was such a peculiar story. I can’t think of anything that can even slightly compare to this book. Obviously, this book is based off of another story, but I was still in complete awe. Her dad, who he was, what he did…it was mind blowing!

Alongside the main idea of the book, the characters were strange and intriguing too. Juliet is a teenage girl struggling to make small living and her father was a scientist who was shamed by society when he started these strange set of experiments on animals.

Montgomery is Juliet’s childhood servant and friend, who she reconnects with after her horrifying experience with the bunny rabbit. He isn’t the little boy Juliet knew all those years ago, but has grown into man. When Edward arrived at the ship on his wooden plank, he was this mysterious character who I wanted to learn more about. When these two (very cute) guys were introduced and Juliet seemed to be interested in both of them, I feared a love triangle. But, lucky me, there wasn’t much of that. There were a few small scenes here and there (which didn’t bother me at all), but they didn’t outshine or wash over the most important elements of the story!

Overall, The Madman’s Daughter was one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. It even gave me goose bumps a few times throughout the story, and it was such an outstanding read. I’ve already picked up the second book, Her Dark Curiosity, and I’m excited to start it!

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Avalon by Mindee Arnett has been all over the blogosphere; everyone has read it, is reading it, or is about to start reading it. Because of all this hype, I couldn’t say no when Amber asked me to review it! Space? Spaceships? Teenage mercenaries? How could I resist?

If you don’t know (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t), Avalon revolves around Jeth and his crew of teenage thieves who work for a very powerful man named Hammer. At the outset of this story, Jeth and his friends are on their most recent mission: going into Belgrave to find a ship that contains a secret weapon that Hammer desperately wants.

But Jeth is a bit worried about going into Belgrave; ships break down and people go crazy there. Besides that, he has a special connection to the place. While his parents were working and doing research, they travelled safely through it all the time. That was until they were caught deleting files and keeping information, and were executed as punishment.

Finding the ship doesn’t take as long as Jeth and his crew thought, but they can’t believe it when the monitors say that there are three people on the other ship. It’s been out for over a month, and its energy and supplies should have run out a long time ago. Three people being on the ship alive seems impossible!

But from that moment things only get crazier! Avalon, Jeth’s spaceship, is stolen, his sister is kidnapped, the secret weapon isn’t a weapon at all, and two of the most powerful men in space are tracking Jeth and his friends down!

After almost two weeks of trying my best to read, finish, and enjoy Avalon, I just had such a hard time getting through it. It wasn’t slow or boring in any way. It was actually quite the opposite. Avalon had so much going on that it was hard to keep up with. The story passed by so quickly. I felt like there was just no struggle and that the most important scenes were sometimes just glossed over.

The main characters were sent into this weird part of space where crazy and unexpected things happen, yet it only takes them a few days to find the ship and they didn’t even find it as such. They just happen to realize it was on top of them one day.

When the ship broke down, or parts were missing, I felt that Lizzie or Flynn always fixed it too easily, even when they first claimed it to be almost impossible. I guess that, in a way, I wanted to see a struggle; I didn’t want everything to be easy or ‘work out’ right away.

Overall, I loved the idea of the future and space, and this gang of teenagers doing these odd and difficult missions! I enjoyed the characters too; Celeste was awesome for not being one of those jealous ex-girlfriends who try to steal the show, I liked that Jeth kept his focus (most of the time) and that Flynn and Shady added some humor, and I even liked Milton, who reminded me of Jeth’s parents, and how his parents tied into the story.

The ending was my favourite part of this book by far! Again, with all this stuff going on, I had no idea how Avalon was going to end. The story had twists and turns around every corner, and there was absolutely no telling what was going to happen next.

My final verdict for Avalon would have to be that I liked it. I was frustrated with how quickly situations flew by, and with how much was going on, but I did like it. Avalon is a two-part series, the second and last book being Polaris, and while I don’t have any idea what Mindee Arnett would include in this second installment, I am considering picking it up. I don’t think I’ll be in line the day it comes out, but I will consider it.

Sorry this was such a negative review, but I had some things to get off my chest!

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Bel:

Cover

The title draws the eye with grungy bright wording. Pink sneakers standing on a stage door pass covered in blood, hinting at the storyline. All in all, it is highly effective!

Characters

All standard issue boy band types can be found here.

Favourite

Genevieve. Awesome best friend.

Least Favourite

Alan Knightley. Just grrr!

Beginning

Lorna starts at a state high school while her brother’s band, Turmoil, spends some time back on Aussie soil.

Storyline

While doing homework in a dressing room, Lorna overhears a plot to kill the band. Can she figure out who wants to endanger her brother and the rest of the boys before they put the plan into action?

Ending

Guess ya gotta read it to find this one out.

Thoughts

This was a fun, quick romp. I enjoyed the banter between the band members. Nansi Kunze has a knack with creating tension and writing likeable characters. This would be perfect for those in the Northern Hemisphere to take on a summer vacation, or just read in a warm sunny spot.

Quote

“Apparently I’m a disruptive influence,” I said, “Or do you think it’s something else? Jealousy maybe? Perhaps he had a band once, and they never made it big because he was too damned ugly…” ~ Lorna talking about her home-room teacher.

 

 

Krista:

Cover

Punk Rock! Gritty background of purple and black with bright lettering, cute shoes and bloody pass! Very appealing, attention grabbing, and cute.

Characters

Variety of characters in this one; Lorna the MC who is the sister of a band member of Turmoil, her friend Gen, and the members of the band.  The characters have great chemistry together, and it shows through the writing.

Favourite

Marius–he is a joker, ladies man, member of the band, and hilarious.  And Flint, he is a really great, caring brother.

Least Favourite

I really didn’t have a least favourite (besides the villain who I will not name). Every character had a place and fitted into the story perfectly.

Beginning

Lorna’s guardian is her older brother who also happens to be in a very popular international band. She has been travelling with them but finally has a chance at a more settled life and a normal school. Bad thing is that everybody knows her brother, and she’s bombarded with questions from classmates until she finds a friend in Gen. Then she overhears a possible plot to kill the band members by somebody inside the entourage. Since she’s on the inside, the Constable asks her to help figure out which person it could be.

Storyline

Lorna agrees to take on the job of being “undercover” to help figure out who is plotting to kill the band.

Ending

Heart pounding and very climatic. A lot of things happen at once and big secrets revealed.

Thoughts

What I loved most about the book was the travelling. Lorna travels anywhere the band goes, so the whole book is not just set at the school with all the love-struck girls. I also loved the friendship that Lorna and Flint (her brother) have. There is constant movement in the story which keeps everything fast-paced and entertaining. It’s a very humorous and cute read.

Quote

I watched in alarm as Marius undid the belt of his yukata and let it slip from his shoulders, so that only his underwear remained. Clearly I had to stop him before he went any further. The problem was, all my instincts went against it-after all, I was naked in here. And though I’d seen Marius in very little clothing plenty of times, there’s a big difference between seeing someone in a pair of Speedos and revealing that you’ve been spying on them while they stripped off.

Marius’s hands reached for his undies. It was now or never.

“You do realise this is the woman’s bath, right?”

Lisa:

Cover

I didn’t get to see the cover, so I can’t comment.

Characters

Sadly, I didn’t really relate to any of the characters. We don’t get to know much about Lorna except that her brother is in a band named Turmoil and that she travels and spends a lot of time with them. I expected more from her, considering she’s the little sister of such a huge star.

Favorite

I didn’t really have one other than Gen, simply because she was such a good friend. But no one in particular really stuck out.

Least Favorite

I don’t really have a least favorite either, but there was one scene that really bothered me. Lorna was at school and a lot of people wanted to ask her questions, so she decided to answer a few. When one student asked her if Marius really cheated on his ex-girlfriend, Lorna responded by saying, she isn’t sure and can’t really release information like that anyway…

But then later she turns around to Gen, and basically tells her all the rumours she’s heard about the situation; that Marius let the fame get to his head, and that he was caught with another girl, making out.

Later Lorna finds out that the rumour wasn’t true, and she feels like crap about it.

It irked me so much, that at first Lorna defends the band, but then completely throws one of its members under the bus, when she, herself, doesn’t even know what’s true. I hate it when people gossip, so this definitely bothered me.

Beginning

The beginning was pretty fast paced. We learned about the band, and that Lorna was going back to a normal high school. We also witnessed Lorna make a new best friend and avoid a creepy guy. It was only a few pages in when Lorna over hears someone plotting to kill her brother and his friends.

Middle

Lorna learns the truth about Marius. We, the readers, get to discover what happened to Lorna, Flint, and Marius’s parents.

Ending

I’ll have to admit that the ending was pretty intense! It did keep my attention and had me sitting on the edge of my seat. The entire story, I was back and forth between who it could be trying to bomb up the band, but I never did I guess who it actually was. The ending of Kill the Music was my favourite part.

Overall Thoughts

I think I didn’t enjoy it as much as Bel and Krista because I simply couldn’t connect with any of the characters. 

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I absolutely loved What the Spell, and when I was offered Life’s a Witch for review, there was no way I was going to turn down the offer! Brittany Geragotelis’s story was light and the characters were fun.

Even though I was excited to get into this one and see what some of my favorite characters were up to, Life’s a Witch rubbed me the wrong way right from the beginning. I was a bit thrown off when the story started with an entirely different character: Hadley Bishop.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. I actually found her pretty cool, but I was expecting this second installment to be from the same perspective as the first.

Hadley is the queen bee at her high school and, with the help of her spells, she can make herself practically perfect and absolutely beautiful. She isn’t just any queen bee though; she is a descendent of the first woman executed at the Salem Witch Trials.

Hadley and all the witches in her community are part of a coven where everyone knows about each other and their powers. The coven trains their children for safety and to protect each other. Their main goal is to keep their true identities and powers a secret. I mean, could you imagine what might happen if people found out about a witch coven?

Hadley, on the other hand, isn’t very interested in the coven. She doesn’t like going to the meetings and she can think of a million other things she would rather do. That is until some of the coven’s members go missing one night, and then the rest of the parents the next night.

Hadley doesn’t know what to do at first. She isn’t even sure if her mum is ‘missing’ or if she’s just out. When a whole day goes by, she decides to contact some of the other kids in the coven to see if they might know what’s going on. With every phone call she makes a worried kid answers and says they have no idea what’s happened and that their parents are gone as well.

The group of teenage witches gather to decide what to do and how to destroy the coven that has kidnapped their parents. They spend the next couple of days training, learning how to fight, and teaching one another spells. Hadley takes charge because she’s the strongest witch out of the group and it’s what she does.

The group is ready to do anything and everything to safe their parents, even if it means losing their own lives…

I have to admit, Life’s a Witch was an enjoyable read. It wasn’t anything too dark or crazy, but instead a bit of a lighter read. But even with this enjoyment, there were a few things that confused me and caught me off guard.

1. The main character: Why wasn’t she the same person as in the first book? I guess I just assumed that the story would continue to revolve around Brooklyn. I really liked Brooklyn and found her hilarious!
2. Asher: Who is he? I mean, I know who he is, but he is a completely different guy to the one I got to know in What the Spell. He acted differently and said things that I wouldn’t have expected from him.

I was just so confused about these two characters when they were each first introduced. I wasn’t sure what the author had in store for her readers, but I tried my best to remain open-minded throughout the rest of the book. Within a few chapters I started to like Hadley and the new Asher. Hadley was fun, hardworking, and wanted to save the coven’s parents. She wasn’t going to give up and she wasn’t going to let her mum just ‘disappear’.

Other than that, I guess I was just holding my breath for more fighting and action scenes. Don’t get me wrong, there were two, but I just figured it would take much more than a group of semi-trained teenagers and two battles to win a war.

Overall, the characters made this story for me, even though they weren’t who I was expecting. The third book is already out, and I do plan on reading it soon!

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Looking at the cover of The Museum of Intangible Things, you would assume right away that this book is perfect for the summer and that it completely revolves around friendship. And it does! But there is so much more going on in this book than the cover and the synopsis show.

The story follows two best friends, Hannah and Zoe. They couldn’t be any more different, but are still ultimate friends. While Hannah is sensible, trying to earn her college education through selling hot dogs, Zoe is spontaneous and wild.

Life is boring in their small hometown in New Jersey, and the two have always talked about going on a road trip together. But neither of them knew just what would happen on this seemingly harmless vacation: hiding and spending the night in IKEA, flashing cowboys on the highway, and wanting to see a real buffalo!

Hannah doesn’t expect what happens next, and she has no idea what to do…after all, Zoe is her best friend.

The Museum of Intangible Things was filled to the brim with emotions! When I picked this book up, I had no idea just what I was getting myself into. But Hannah and Zoe go through a true test of friendship.

Overall, I LOVED IT! But I don’t recommend reading it out in public with a full face of make-up on, unless you like looking like a raccoon with the mascara running down your cheeks. I would say to read this one at home!

Besides the two best friends, who I could really relate to, there was also a boy involved and a little romance. Going into this book, I was hoping for and even expecting some romance. But in the end I’m glad that this wasn’t the book’s main focus. I like that it truly revolved around these two girls!

The ending was heartbreaking, but OH SO GOOD! I recommend this book to anyone who needs a good cry.

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