Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

What it's about: (From amazon.com) "Mara Dyer doesn't believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong."

What I thought: I was pretty excited to read this. It looked dark, mysterious, and creepy. And it was. But I have really mixed feelings about this book... There were a few moments where I was like, "Oh my gosh this book is so crazy good!" But then it would turn into this Twilight-y, sappy, this-guy-is-so-perfect-how-could-I-ever-be-good-enough story. I think this would definitely appeal to teens who liked Twilight or the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, but I thought it lacked the depth and originality to captivate me the way I was expecting. I'll probably read the sequels just to satisfy my curiosity... maybe it will get better? Ha.

My feelings? Ehh.

Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

What it's about: Min and Ed only went out for a month. But two weeks was all it took for Min to fall in love. Min, who loves old movies and uses odd words and gets called artsy by people who don't really know her. Min writes Ed a letter - a very long letter - telling him everything their relationship was to her and why they broke up. Along with the letter, she gives him back everything he ever gave her, from the movie tickets to the cookbook to the box of matches. Why We Broke Up is Min's letter to Ed.

What I thought: The only reason I even read this book is because it was written by Daniel Handler. Who is also Lemony Snicket. The Series of Unfortunate Events books were some of my absolute favorite books as a kid and when I read that he wrote a book for teens I was excited to say the least. And I wasn't disappointed, despite the fact that the story was angsty and horribly high school-ish. But it was beautiful, you guys. Min is wonderful and I want her to be my new best friend. She's funny and clever and brave and dramatic and perfectly flawed. But the writing. Some passages I seriously read like 5 times because it's just worded so dang beautifully.

Oh, and I can't forget the art! Throughout the book are pictures of everything Ed gave Min that she is giving back to him. The art is really pretty and I felt like it fit the tone of the book perfectly.

My feelings? Love.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

So I love to read. (Obviously, since I work at the freakin library.) I love reading YA. I love reading about YA. And so I'm gonna pretend that I'm a cool book blogger person like all the cool book blogging people whose cool book blogs I always read. And for today's review post thingy-dealy... drum roll, please... we have Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.



What it's about: Karou, with her strange tattoos, bright blue hair, and sketchbook full of fantastical creatures, isn't a normal seventeen year old. She is an art student at a boarding school in Prague, but other than that, her friends know nothing about her. Even Karou herself doesn't know much. She disappears often, running strange, secret errands for the creatures who fill her sketchbook. Yes, they are real. They're called chimaera - half animal, half human - and Karou has lived with them since she was a baby. But Karou's life will get much stranger and more dangerous before she finally discovers the truth about her past.

What I thought: Finally, a book worth recommending! I haven't read a book this beautiful in a long time. The first half of the book seemed a little slow at times, but as a whole, it was well worth it. Karou is wonderfully developed; she is strong and beautiful and talented, yet she has a vulnerability about her that makes her realistic, without being angsty. Even the secondary characters are fantastic, from Issa, the half snake lady who has been like a mother to Karou, to Zuzana, Karou's quirky best friend. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I will say that it involves a boy named Akiva, who is dark and mysterious and sexy and totally book crush worthy :)

Oh and it's a series! Which usually makes me groan because seriously, can there not be stand alone YA anymore? But in this case it actually makes me super happy because I really love this book!

My feelings? Love!