Review: The Goddess Test

Books about Greek mythology intrigue me.  Every time I hear about a book that has Greek mythology in it I immediately snatch it up and I have to read it.  I love hearing different authors perspectives on the old tales and how they change them and make them relate to this newer day and age. The GoddessTest by Aimee Carter gives an all new twist to the myth of Persephone and Hades.

After reading the excerpt and others gushing reviews I have to say I had some pretty high expectations of this book.  It was because of these high expectations that I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought I would.  The book was not bad, it just was not the amazingly, awesome Greek mythology, action-packed book I had expected and it has to be absolutely amazing for me to really like a romance book.

Most reviews have gushed over the romance part of this book which was swoon worthy, but, by just reading the excerpt I  had assumed that it was more action packed than it actually was.   One specific quote led me astray. “He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.” I have read many books regarding Greek mythology.  This quote stating that the main character Kate had to try and pass these seven tests led me to believe that that this was not just going to be a regular romance book.   Other Greek mythology stories tell you about all the challenges and tests that these heroes have to go through and they are never easy. Most of the challenges Kate endures don’t really seem like challenges at all but things that she probably should not do anyways.

I love well developed characters and the stories I enjoy the most are ones where I can connect and sometimes swoon over them. I am sad to say that Henry better known as Hades the male lead  in this book was not the guy for me.  While I understand that Henry was going through an awful heartbreak with Persephone the love of his life, I felt like he was sad and depressed all the time and it made him a somewhat boring character.   

Though the majority of this review has been about what I disliked about this
story, there were many parts that I did enjoy!! I really loved how the Greek gods were like normal people. Instead of completely portraying them as mystical, godly beings the reader gets to see them in a more humane light.  Lots of them even become friends with Kate as she goes through her challenges. 
James and Kate were by far my two favorite characters.  James was just like his god he portrayed and knowing lots about the different Greek gods I could tell which one he was from the beginning.  He was so supportive of Kate, even when she was angry with him.   I would have liked him to end up with Kate instead of Henry. They just seemed like the better match. My favorite thing about Kate was that she was such a strong character, emotionally.  Some of the people and things she had to deal with I probably would not have been able to handle as calmly as she had.  Her mind was her own and she didn’t let anyone influence her choices. 

The end of this book was really enjoyable for me. It answers a lot of questions and it ties almost everything together which I was really appreciative of because 9 times out of 10 I hate cliffhangers.
For the most part I thought this book was pretty good.  Although The Goddess Test lacked a few aspects that I wished it had included like action I enjoyed reading The Goddess Test and would recommend it to any Greek mythology fan. Or if you happen to be a romance fan, readers of that genre will also find this book a enjoyable read. Even though this wasn’t my favorite book, I do look forward to reading the sequel: Goddess Interrupted.  As I am a softie for Greek Mythology.

My rating for The Goddess Test is 3 out of 5 palm trees

Review: Divergent

Let me start out with saying that I absolutely LOVED this book! After seeing so many new dystopian books pop up on shelves and after reading the excerpt from this book I was a little worried that it might be a little to much like The Hunger Games or that because it was so well reviewed I might be end up being disappointed. Thankfully I was not disappointed and Divergent was as good as others had stated in their reviews. Divergent, while somewhat like The Hunger Games in the sense that it was a dystopian and that they both had strong female leads was in all other ways completely different from each other. With a strong main character and an enticing dystopian world Divergent had me hooked by page one!

Debut author Veronica Roth has a wonderful writing style that starts the story off at an amazing pace. Readers will not be able to put the book down because they will be dying to know what happens next.  In the compelling world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions each dedicated to something different.  Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Erudite (the intelligent), and Amity (the peaceful).  Certain days, each year, all 16 year-olds must choose the faction in which they would prefer to be in for the rest of there lives.  Once the character chooses they must then pass initiation to remain in the faction. The main character of Divergent, Beatrice, or Tris as we get to know her as, has to make a decision between her family or the faction she thinks she truly belongs in.  Her choice might shock you because Tris is different, Tris is Divergent.

I did not particularly like Tris at first, although I love her name!  I thought she seemed a little shallow and that she seemed to not have self confidence; she did not believe in herself.  The more I read the more I started to realize that Tris was not like that at all and the only reason that she appeared to be that way in the first place was because of her placement in the faction of Abnegation, the selfless. The more I got to know her the more I liked her. She was tough and brave and she didn’t let what others thought of her bring her down. I admired how she made her own choices and that those choices were not based on what everyone else was doing but what she believed was right. It was interesting to watch her grow as a character throughout the book and to see all the things she learned about herself and the world she lived in. Though the world building in this story is amazing, I think its the characters similar to Tris that really make you fall in love with this book.

Four is Tris’ love interest in Divergent, and he is now on my list of favorite fictional guys.  Let me just gush for a minute on how much I loved his and Tris’ relationship!  The relationship that develops between the two of them throughout the book is so realistic and honest.  Four had an amazing, yet conflicted personality.  He was completely closed off from almost everyone and kept a close reign on his emotions, but there were those rare times when he let his vulnerable side show which let the reader and Tris get to know him better.  Four pushed Tris when she almost gave up and he was a great teacher helping Tris train for initiation. The relationship was not overly sappy, but it was still swoon worthy and amazing.

Even though Four was an amazing character, there were others that helped make the story just as great. All the characters somehow contributed to Tris’ success  or downfalls. Some helped make her stronger by trying to make her life harder. During initiation some even tried to kill her, but Tris made friends that helped to protect her.

If there was one thing I that I did not enjoy about this book it would have to be the ending. I felt it was awkward and incomplete. There seemed to be more that could have been added to it. In most books that have sequels the authors leave the readers with a cliffhanger, but in Divergent the ending does not feel like a cliffhanger. The way the book ended did not necessarily make me want to read the next book. I want to know what happens to the characters and that is what is made me excited to read the sequel.

Divergent is such an amazing book and I would recommend it to any reader who loves action and a little bit of romance. Readers will stay up all night reading this book dying to know what happens next. I cannot wait to see what happens in the sequel Insurgent which comes out in May. If you haven’t read Divergent yet go right on to your public library or local bookstore and read this amazing debut novel!  Looking forward to other great works from Veronica Roth.

My rating for Divergent is 5 out of 5 palm trees

Review: What Happened to Goodbye?

I usually love to read science-fiction and action books and so the time had come for me to add a little variety and switch genre's for one read. That is when I turned to What Happened to Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen which is one of  those books that may not be so action-packed but is still wonderful all the same.

I speak from experience as a teenage girl, Sarah Dessen's books are easy to relate to. What teenage girl at some point doesn’t want to just start all over again and become someone new, someone different? Enter Mclean Sweet, the main character of What Happened to Goodbye?, also known as Eliza, Lizbet, Beth, and Liz. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her dad who relocates frequently. Trying to escape her past, everywhere she goes Mclean changes her personality first from perky girl, to drama queen, finally to all around joiner. But, when she arrives in Lakeview everything changes. Mclean is forced to somewhat be herself again.  Almost everyone one at some point in their life wants to change who they are or start over

One thing that has impressed me with Sarah Dessen’s books is just how real her stories seem and how easy it is to relate to all her characters. The stories she tells deal with a lot of problems that teens face everyday and some that I can relate to in my daily life.  We all have troubles with our families, our friends, boys, and you don’t find many writers who really write about such real problems, but it is something I love about Sarah Dessen’s books.

In the last Sarah Dessen book I read Just Listen, one of my favorite aspects of the book was the characters. I loved their unique personalities, how well they interacted with one another, and how the author makes them come to life. How you can find characters in the stories that are just like people you know in your real life. In this book that is also one of the many things that I really enjoyed about reading it. I love how each and every one of the characters has a completely different personality yet they all mesh together perfectly. Mclean for example, has one of those personalities that others can’t help but connect with and she instantly starts making friendships the minute she gets to Lakeview. She creates relationships with all that she meets, even those that might not fit in, which is one thing I love about her character. While I loved almost all the characters there were a few that stood out besides Mclean. One character I really enjoyed reading about was Deb, one of the girls in the story that Mclean becomes close friends with. Even though at the beginning Deb, was a little out of the circle and shy once we got to know her I loved her sparky and happy personality that made me want to become friends with her myself. Dave was also a character that stood out to me from the beginning and while I liked how he was different from some of the other guys I have read about in Dessen’s books I didn’t fall for him like I did some of the others. Dave just didn’t connect with me like I thought he would. To me, there was just nothing special about Dave. He seemed to have no flaws and he was just to perfect, just like out of a book. The other guys I have read about from her books just seem more real to me in the way that they have flaws and have feelings  and I could picture them in being real, but Dave being so flawless just doesn’t fit in this unperfect world.  Seeing as he was different I thought I would have some kind of connection with his character, but even now as I think about it I feel as if I didn’t get to know enough about Dave to truly make an assessment on his character.

I loved many things about What Happened to Goodbye?, but one thing that disappointed me in this book was the lack of connection/romance between Mclean and Dave. Maybe, this book was intended to be more focused on the family aspect instead the sweet and romantic aspect, but even so I felt like Mclean and Dave had so much potential as a couple that could have been elaborated on. I wanted to enjoy reading about Mclean and Dave so much that I would jealous of Mclean, but because I never really felt there relationship click, that didn’t happen.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Although I would not consider this book my favorite of Sarah Dessen’s I did think it was a good read and even if one is not a contemporary or realistic fiction fan I think anyone could enjoy reading this meaningful,light hearted book.

My rating for What Happened to Goodbye? is 3.5 out of 5 palm trees

Review: Trickster's Queen

Starting out, I didn’t exactly have super high expectations about this book. While the first book, Trickster’s Choice was a good read it wasn’t as action packed as I had thought and hoped. Trickster’s Queen was completely different than its prequel drawing me into the story by page one!

Usually when reading a sequel to a book, the reader finds the first one much more enjoyable, but with these two book this is not the case.  As Aly’s adventure continues she is faced with new challenges and all kinds of adventures.  Between spying on the palace and protecting the future queen Aly has her hands full.   Besides the exciting action with the rebellion we are drawn deeper into Aly’s relationships with the other characters and we get to know them and Aly just a little bit better, allowing us to find more things in common with the characters.  Some of these people are the spies that she has trained to help her and others are leaders in the rebellion that she has grown fond of and become partners with. While in Trickster’s Choice we didn’t get to see Aly interact a lot with others, in this book we get to see her fight, strategize, and love which shows us a lot more of Aly that we had not seen before.

As Aly grows as a character throughout the book she also learns things about herself and her companions that she thought she never would. While, at times, her confidence is a good thing at some points in the book Aly grows too confident in herself and makes mistakes, making her easy to relate to as a character.    When reading if I realize that the character has no flaws and is perfect it ultimately turns my interest level down. I think most readers are like me and enjoy reading about main characters that have flaws and sometimes make mistakes.   We like to know that they are human like we are and that even the amazingly brave and wonderful characters we read about in book are not without flaw.

Not to give any part of the story away, but Aly learns that sometimes people need to split up for a little while to figure what they want, and sometimes people need to leave permanently to achieve what they had always wished for, and that the people we put on thrones or on pedestals don’t necessarily want to be there.

In the end, I thought this was a great read! It captured me in and I was able to relate so much more to the characters. I was glad that I was able to finish Aly’s adventure and that I could experience the journey alongside Aly and all the other characters we met along the way.

My rating for Trickster's Queen is 5 out of 5 palm trees

Review: Trickster's Choice

When first starting this book I was a little disappointed. I had read great reviews about the author’s previous works and in the beginning, Trickster’s Choice, wasn’t capturing me in the author’s world like I had hoped it would. After a couple more chapters I was hooked on this unique story.  I love strong main female characters and this story has a great one, a girl that you will add to your list of favorite heroines.

When I was younger I enjoyed the idea of becoming a spy. Though I knew it was dangerous and possibly a deadly job I always thought about all the exciting things you could learn and experience from having a job like that. The main character from Trickster’s Choice, Alianne of Pirates Swoop better known, as Aly is strong, brave, courageous, and she’s a spy.

I absolutely loved the part in this book that was about Aly and her spy activities.  She was one of those heroines that knew what she wanted to do and she had plans on how she wanted to do it. As a spy she met and helped interesting people, but she also was able to go and do things that she never in her life thought she would do. As a spy she knew how to find things and how to notice little details that others would not notice which helped her in everything she did and also made for an interesting read for someone like me who has thought of being a spy. Though I loved this spy aspect of the book I was a little disappointed in the lack of action seeing as the book revolved around Aly as a spy. When you think of spies you think ACTION! ADVENTURE! and for me that was one thing this book lacked  a bit of. Nevertheless, the way that the author wrote about Aly’s spy work was captivating. I just wished it had included some more of Aly in action.

Mythology is one of my favorite genres to read, no matter the kind. Gods, Goddesses, and myths that we have never heard of come to life in Trickster’s Choice. The author, Tamora Pierce creates her own myths and her own mythology, which makes the story all the more fascinating.

Usually when reading an adventure/action book with a heroine as the main character I enjoy it when there is a little romance on the side along with the action in the book. Trickster’s Choice provides just that with a unique character as Aly’s love interest, Nawat, a person who isn’t really a person at all. Nawat is a crow that has turned man. As an agreement with a god, Nawat is teaching Aly how to communicate with crows and as they become friends Nawat decides to become a crow man. What makes this relationship so special is that since Nawat was a crow before he became a man he does things differently than a normal male might do. This unique character and love interest is just one of the many things that you will enjoy about this book.

Overall, I thought this book was a pretty decent read. The beginning was a little slow but the plot came through and the book took me off on an amazing journey through a new world of mythology and magical characters.

My rating for Trickster's Choice is 4 out of 5 palm trees 

Review: The Son of Neptune

Though this is a spin-off series from Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I would highly recommend that you start from the beginning for the full Percy Jackson experience.  These books are truly amazing and will keep you up all night reading especially if you are a big fan of Greek Mythology and even if you aren’t you still will not be able to put them down.

Rick Riordan is one of my favorite authors.  As a kid, in school, I would love to read about the gods and goddesses and their stories.  When I read the first book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series I was so happy to find out that it was about Greek Mythology and I then immediately fell in love with the series and have been reading it ever since.

We first hear about Percy Jackson in Rick Riordan’s first book in the Olympians series The Lightning Thief. From there you are with Percy until The Last Olympian. I thought after this the Percy Jackson series was over, so when I found out that Rick Riordan was coming out with a series that was a continuation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians I can’t even put into words how excited I was.  With three more books to come out, The Heroes of Olympus is looking just as promising and electrifying as Percy Jackson and The Olympians.  I can’t control my excitement to see what happens next. 

Percy Jackson is back in The Son of Neptune.  In Rick Riordan’s last book, The Lost Hero we learn that Percy has been kidnapped and Hera(Juno) has sent him to another Half-Blood camp, but instead of being another Greek camp it is Roman.  Percy wakes up and he has no idea who he is or where he comes from.  The only thing he remembers is Annabeth, his girlfriend.   In this all-new book Rick introduces two new characters Frank and Hazel, who like Percy have a past.

I received my copy this book about a week after it came out and I was ecstatic to learn that parts of it would again be in Percy’s POV (point of view).  Once again Rick Riordan has made me fall back in love with this series. He introduces new and old characters in such a wonderful way that you just can’t help but connect with them and wish that you could be friends with them in real life.  Although I loved learning about the new characters I was especially excited to have Percy back and to learn about what had been happening with him during the time that he was missing.  I love the way that Rick wrote it in a way that the reader could experience with Percy the struggle and frustration that he has to deal with while trying to help his new friends, but also trying to regain his memory. This is one of the reasons I love these book so much. The way the writing is, you feel very connected with the characters.  The problems they each experience are problems that all teenagers have, besides having gods and goddesses for parents and fighting monsters all the time.  They experience problems with school, friends, and even bullies and by giving the characters these real life troubles readers like me can connect even more with them.  While having Percy back was amazing, it was nice to have the two other POVs and hear the other characters opinions on Percy himself.  This let me get to know Percy in so many other ways by getting the different characters view of him.  When I first started reading the stories about Percy one of my favorite parts about them was the Greek Mythology aspect of it, but the way that Rick Riordan has incorporated Roman Mythology along with Greek Mythology makes the stories even more wonderful for me.  I love reading about any kind of mythology and by relating back to teenagers that are my age it makes it all the more fun!  The action and adventure throughout the book was amazing as always.  The sword fighting, the quick thinking, the monster destroying, was relevant to Greek Mythology but also very entertaining and I just couldn’t put it down. If you love to read, you will surely enjoy reading this book.

        My rating for The Son of Neptune is 5 out of 5 palm trees

Review: The Night Circus

With most books I read I have a clear and concise opinion about them; I either like it or I don’t and in this case it’s different.  The Night Circus starts out with a very compelling prologue, which makes the reader think that from the start they will be drawn into this book and they will not be able to put it down, but instead after the amazing prologue the story starts out slowly. It takes about halfway through the book for things to get exciting, for the competition between the two players, Celia & Marco to start. After the competition starts everything comes together. All the different POVs (points of view) and all the different characters come together and it starts to make sense.  Now it may sound like I didn’t really enjoy the book, but in truth I enjoyed it very much!  The imagery and details used to describe the places and circus tents in this book were amazing.  The Night Circus was very enchanting and although I, personally didn’t connect with the characters like I usually do while reading I still wanted to be there, in the story, experiencing this magical, spellbinding circus.  I wanted to visit the circus tents in which Celia and Marco created, I wanted to feel the magic that the visitors to the circus did.  This is one of the most imaginative books that I have ever read.   The circus tents in the story contain such wonders as a labyrinth in which rooms grow and appear, a pool of tears, into which you can release your sorrows, a cloud maze which allows the one who enters the tent to feel as if they are flying in the clouds, and many more tents that are just as fascinating.  This story has a life of its own, just as the circus takes a life of its own.

When this book came out many compared it to Twilight and the Harry Potter Series, but besides the two characters being madly in love and the fact that they are both magicians that is where the comparison between The Night Circus and these other series end. Having read Twilight and all of the Harry Potter books I can say that they are not alike. While Twilight and Harry Potter are full of action and adventure The Night Circus seems to focus more on the imagery and details. Although I did thoroughly enjoy The Night Circus I was a little disappointed that in the descriptions it describes the competition between Marco & Celia as “fierce” when throughout the story the competition remains mostly calm and nothing fierce seems to happen.  Aside from this I found the story an enjoyable read and I hope to make it a permanent book in my personal library.

My rating for The Night Circus 4 out of 5 palm trees