Masque of the Red Death

Author: Bethany Griffin 
Series: Masque of the Red Death #1

Genres: Steampunk, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Fantasy.

Publisher: Harper Collins

Released: April 24th 2012

Summary: Courtesy of goodreads.com A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

For Fans Of: For Darkness Shows the Star, Hemlock, Black City, Article 5, and The Infernal Devices

My Review: This was quite a wonderful read. I read it in about 4 hours because I had to finish it! I loved the steampunk style added to the dystopian themed plot. At first it bothered me because I couldn’t figure out when this story took place. I thought maybe it was in modern times, but as I read on, I figured maybe it was more of a Victorian age setting because of the dresses the girls wore and how the men carried walking sticks, how they used to ride horses but now the rich drive in steam carriages. It was slightly confusing but I quickly got over it. The plot and the characters pulled me right in instead.  I just really liked the setting and the plot of the story. That’s why I liked it so much. I was also torn between Will and Elliott. Will, at first glance was the mystery heartthrob who was going to sweep Araby off her feet. I was rooting for him. Elliott was the jerk, who wanted to save the world and only wanted Araby to help him. I was not a fan. So yes there is this love triangle that gets really twisted. Twisted because both boys can’t be trusted. This love triangle reminded me of Catherine, Mr. Henry Tilney and John Thorpe from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, like a lot.

Definitely a good read.

Storm

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Series: Elementals # 1

Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Kensington

Released: 24 April 2012

Summary: Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn't want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming . . .

For Fans Of: Immortal City, Storm Dancer, Wrecked, and Unraveling

My Review: Maybe it’s just been the last little while, and it’s more of a personal thing, but this book kind of bothered me.  Don’t get me wrong, the author is incredibly talented, and the story is really fantastic.  I love the idea of a family that can control the elements, especially when that family is four fantastic looking brothers.  The villains were also quite…villainous.  As in: I got angry at them in my head villainous.  If they actually lived in my real life I would have wanted to run them over with a truck.  Or a steam train 1850’s Western style.  Not kidding.   

But...that was also my problem with it.  Becca has to go through a lot of crap in this book. Seriously.  I felt SO bad for her throughout most of the book.  And some of the things that happen to her seriously made me cringe and my stomach turn over.  They were NOT the kind of things that I wanted to read happening to the heroine.  I feel like it’s okay to send your heroine through some bad crap, but the way that this was illustrated in Storm made me want to rip my hair out or barf or something (not in a good way).  I understand that life is not rose pedals and rainbows, but a little bit of happiness never hurt anyone did it?

I loved the family in this book, and the villains were a particularly evil brand, but I just wonder if there could have been a little bit more of a balance between good and evil?  I wanted Becca to be happy more often, when really she spends the bulk of the novel sad, confused, and scared of what's happening.  Becca is a smart heroine, but I almost felt like that Kremmerer was focusing so much on how the two main lovebirds weren't right for each other that by the end I didn't really care either way.  Like I said: maybe it's me, but I really had kind of a hard time with this one.

Unraveling

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Series: Unraveling # 1

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance.

Publisher: Blazer + Bray

Released: 24 April 2012

Summary: courtesy of goodreads.com Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life. But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process. From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming.

For Fans Of: Obsidian, Glitch, Glimmer, Twilight, and The X-Files (television show)

My Review: There is a book that I’ve read recently that this book really reminds me of, or maybe it’s a television show that I’ve watched?  That is how this book felt to me.  Like I had read everything in it somewhere before.  Don’t get me wrong, it was good.  I liked the characters (could have done with out so many F bombs, though) and Janelle and Ben played really well off of each other in that cutesy first love sort of way.  The science fiction aspect was pretty hard core and the author is pretty smart for being able to put it all together (although it did come out in the atypical “let me tell you everything about me” scenes) so that aspect I was a fan of.

I liked the action sequences, I loved the messed up character of the mom, but still, there was something that felt so familiar about this book…oh yes.  Because it reminded me of Twilight.  As in the epic read that everyone read and no one will admit to reading anymore.  Yep, that Twilight.  It felt like Twilight 2.0, with Norris going that extra half-inch with her characters that Stephanie Meyer never did, a lot of scenes felt like they were straight out of that read (the truck scene at the beginning, the big reveal, the in-fighting of a select group) it was a more action/adventure, science-fiction version of Twilight.  I promise that I don’t say this lightly.  Rarely do books remind me of other books, but as I was discussing this one with New Romantic I could not stop thinking about how familiar it felt, to the point where she wondered if I’d read it before (impossible, seeing as it only came out a week ago).

Unraveling was an entertaining read, it had everything that a reader is looking for in a young adult book, action/adventure, mystery, romance, a hint of the paranormal, some laughs, and some tears.  It was well written, though at times became a little redundant plot-wise.  It left me feeling a little bit ‘meh’.  As in: maybe I’ll read the sequel, but maybe I won’t.  It was really quick, pacing wise so you can read it in a few days, but it isn’t one that I would keep going back to like a bad habit, one read was enough for me.