Daily Dose #5

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In My Mailbox #14

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Abandon | Enclave

I received both Abandon and Enclave from Rochelle at Books Like Stars. Thanks again, Rochelle!

I'd love to see what's in your mailbox this week. Leave a link and I'll check it out :)

Review: Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

 I figured I'd try something new today, so I'm going to format this review in a different way than usual. Let's see how it goes :)

Title: Tempest Rising
Author: Tracy Deebs
Publisher: Walker Books
Pub. Date: May 10, 2011
Source: Princess Bookie's Contest Craze
Length: 352 Pages
Summary (from goodreads):

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

What I Liked:

The fighting scenes. To be honest, I haven't read very many stories with fighting scenes, but the ones I have haven't been all that great. Luckily, Tempest Rising gave me some good action scenes that were well described and realistic.

The mythology & how Tempest already knew about her heritage. Her knowing before hand as opposed to just finding out was a nice change from most YA books about mermaids I've read. I loved learning about the different creatures of the sea, the mythology, and the little things like why they could see underwater, things that I haven't seen in any other book before.

How caring and supportive Tempest was. She really cared for her two younger brothers and her father; and always considered them when making decisions. She was also very loyal and strong when it came to family.

What I Didn't Like:  

The ending. It was a bit sad, but that's not what bothered me. The ending seemed to be lacking something (I'm not going to say what, to avoid spoilers) and it doesn't look like there's going to be a sequel, which leaves me with some unanswered questions ...

The dialogue. I don't have much to say about this one, other than some of the things the people said seemed very fake to me, and didn't seem like something someone would actually say.

The relationship between Tempest & her mother. Maybe I should say Tempest's view on their relationship instead, because it's a lot more that than just their relationship that bothered me. Tempest seemed really stubborn about the whole thing, not even willing to give her mother the chance to give her side of the story or listen to what other people had to say about it.

Review: Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Title: Impulse
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pub. Date: January 23, 2007
Length: 672 Pages
Series: Impulse #1
Summary (from goodreads):

Sometimes, you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

My thoughts: "Memory is a tenuous thing. . . . flickering glimpses, blue and white, like ancient, decomposing 16mm film. Happiness escapes me there, where faces are vague and yesterday seems to come tied up in ribbons of pain. Happiness? I look for it instead in today, where memory is something I can still touch, still rely on. I find it in the smiles of new friends, the hope blossoming inside. My happiest memories have no place in the past; they are those I have yet to create." ~ from Impulse

One word: Wow.

Ellen Hopkins is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She writes these powerful, hard-to-read-at-times stories in verse, yet still manages to make me love them and draw me in completely. I loved everything about Impulse... except one thing, the ending. I don't mean how it ended, but the way the ending felt. It didn't seem very final at all and seemed to lack the right emotion. Or maybe it didn't and I'm just in denial XD

In My Mailbox #13

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

Flawless

I only received one book this week, but it's one I'm very excited to read. It's a Flawless arc I got through trade from Dija at Black Fingernailed Reviews.


What's in your mailbox? leave a link and I'll check it out :)

Review: Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Title: Cracked Up to Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: December 23, 2008
Length: 214 Pages
Summary (from goodreads):

When “Perfect” Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter’s High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher’s pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace? Parker doesn’t want to talk about it. She’d just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there’s a nice guy falling in love with her and he’s making her feel things again when she’d really rather not be feeling anything at all. Nobody would have guessed she’d turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth. Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

My Thoughts: Courtney Summers is an awesome writer. I've read every book by her and have loved each one in its own, individual way. However, I should admit that the first time I read Cracked Up to Be, I was smitten; however, the second time I was a bit disappointed- probably because I remembered it as this perfectly amazing, emotional read, and it just wasn't quite there. Yes, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it, I just felt the need to mention that I was somewhat disappointed with the novel.

So. I really liked Chris and Jake, the two main guy characters in the book. I loved Summers' writing, her story; there wasn't really anything that I didn't like, I just found the book to be missing something, something that kept it from being down-right amazing.

As I've said before, Courtney Summers is an awesomespice author who takes her characters and makes them come to life, an author who's books you must read.

In My Mailbox #12

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

 Along for the Ride | Tempest Rising

That's all I got this week. What's in your mailbox? leave a link and I'll check it out :)

Review: Rich and Mad by William Nicholson

Title: Rich and Mad
Author: William Nicholson
Publisher: EgmontUSA
US Pub. Date:  September 2010
Length: 336 Pages
Summary (from goodreads)

Maddy is a sixteen-year-old who likes a boy in her theater club.
Joe is cute and popular and, incredibly, sending signals that he likes her back. Or does he? Isn’t Joe going out with Gemma?
Rich has a crush on Grace, and he even sends a letter of recommendation from the pope to get her to pay attention to him. But Grace doesn’t appreciate that tactic. . . .
The problem is, in life’s messy mixed signals of friends and lies and sex and status, true love can be hard to find. And the real thing doesn’t always come in the most obvious package, either. Is it possible that the person you never thought of that way is the one who will ultimately touch your heart?
 This compelling exploration of feelings, expectations, and attraction offers a contemporary and candid look at love and sexuality while moving readers with its gentle portrayal of a very special first relationship.

My Thoughts: Rich and Mad is not for everyone. There's talk about sex in this book, and there is sex in this book. I'm going to get that out of the way first, because it seems like a lot of people have a hard time reading it because of the sex and are complaining about it, and therefore giving it a very low rating. I personally didn't mind that part of the novel at all because without it, Rich and Mad wouldn't have been as wonderful as it was.

I found both main characters, Maddy and Rich, were easy to relate to. They were unique in comparison to most YA characters today, always wondering if love can exist with/without sex and their persepectives on it. However, there were two or three times when I wondered what the heck they were doing, and some of the writing was pretty dialogue driven but those parts are few and far between, so it didn't bother me too much.

As it says on the author's website as well as the back flap of the book, William Nicholson wrote Rich and Mad so that girls would get an idea of what guys think about love and sex and vise versa. I think that was one of the greatest things about the book: that (though it is written in third person) you get well written, realistic POVs from both genders on love, lust, and everything in between.