Falling Into Place Review

Goodreads

TITLE: Falling Into Place

AUTHOR: Amy Zhang

PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 9/9/2014

PAGES: 304

MY RATING:

**I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

BACK COVER SUMMARY: Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected narrator, the heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High's most popular junior girl. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to love someone? To be a friend? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang's haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Very early on, I could tell that this was going to be one of those books that was going to break my heart. It definitely delivered. It was so heart wrenching and raw and I was sucked in to the whole thing. As the story goes on, you delve deeper and deeper into Liz's feelings and emotions. It just kept getting sadder and sadder. I felt so bad for Liz and I wanted to help her. 

I love the timeline of the story. It doesn't follow a set path and jumps around in the past and the present, but it wasn't hard to follow at all.

CHARACTERS: I have a love hate with a lot of the characters in this book. There are so many characters that I just don't like in the beginning. As the story goes on, we learn more about them and start to have more of an understanding of them. Some of them grow on me a little bit and others I end up hating just as much as I did in the beginning. 

COVER: 3/5. The cover is okay. It completely relates to the story and I like the way they did the title.

Arclight Review

Amazon

TITLE: Arclight

AUTHOR: Josin L. McQuein

PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 4/23/2013

PAGES: 400

MY RATING:

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): No one crosses the wall of light...except for one girl who doesn't remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future--no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can't get in. Outside the Arclight's border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man's-land. That's where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She's the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who's determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn't even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This was a pretty good book. It was really intense right from the very beginning. I really enjoyed learning right along with Marina. At times I felt like I was next to her, taking everything in with her. I predicted a major plot point, but it didn't diminish the story at all. 

CHARACTERS: My favorite character in this book is Tobin. I just love his determination. Rue was also an interesting character to learn about throughout the story. 

COVER: I really like the cover. It gives off that creepy vibe that is found in the book. 

**I received an ARC of this book for review from Amazon Vine.

Girl In The Wall Review

TITLE: The Girl in the Wall
AUTHOR: Josin L. McQuein
PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books
PUBLICATION DATE: 4/23/2013
PAGES: 400
MY RATING:

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: Ariel's birthday weekend looks to be the event of the season, with a private concert by rock star Hudson Winters on the grounds of her family's East Coast estate, and all of Ariel's elite prep school friends in attendance. The only person who's dreading the party is Sera, Ariel's former best friend, whose father is forcing her to go. Sera has been the school pariah since she betrayed Ariel, and she now avoids Ariel and their former friends. Thrown together, Ariel and Sera can agree on one thing: This could be one very long night.

They have no idea just how right they are.

Only moments after the concert begins and the lights go down, thugs open fire on parents and schoolmates alike, in a plot against Ariel's father that quickly spins out of control. As the entire party is taken hostage, the girls are forced apart. Ariel escapes into the hidden tunnels in the family mansion, where she and Sera played as children. Only Sera, who forges an unlikely alliance with Hudson Winters, knows where her friend could be. As the industrial terrorist could be. As the industrial terrorist plot unravels and the death toll climbs, Ariel and Sera must recall the sisterhood that once sustained them as they try to save themselves and each other on the longest night of their lives.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Fun might be the wrong word to use with the subject matter of this book, but I did find myself having fun while I was reading this. I liked hearing about the plan to save everyone as it was unfolding. The last part of the book had a lot of intense chaos. I could really picture it all in my head as I was reading about it. I am really satisfied with how the story ended.

CHARACTERS: I liked all of the characters in this book. I feel like everyone had a purpose and they all fit well together. 

COVER: I like the cover that is under the dust jacket. It's bright pink and super pretty! The image on the cover is okay. I really like how the title is written.

**I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Masque of the Red Death Review

TITLE: Masque of the Red Death

AUTHOR: Bethany Griffin

PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 4/24/2012

PAGES: 319

MY RATING:

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup...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 Elliot, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

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

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I haven't read the original Masque of the Red Death by Poe, but I did read the plot on Wikiepedia so I'm a little familiar with the story. I can definitely see how this book by Griffin was inspired from Poe's version and I would like to read the original one day soon.

I would say this is a solid book the whole way through. I enjoyed reading it. I felt like I was in the world as everything was unfolding, so much so that I wondering if I should be wearing a mask while I was reading. The ending was intense and exciting and I cannot wait to see what is going to happen in the next book. 

CHARACTERS: Let's start off by saying that I am team Will. I felt a little creeped out by Elliot, and I think Araby and Will would make a better couple. 

I'm a little bit uneasy about the relationships between all of the characters at the end of the book. I want to see how the relationships will unfold in the next book and see what will happen between certain people.

COVER: I love the cover. It's haunting and creepy and just awesome.

*I won an ARC copy of this book from Angie @ Libby Blog

Entwined Book Review

Amazon

TITLE: Entwined

AUTHOR: Heather Dixon

PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 3/29/2011

PAGES: 472

MY RATING: 

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her...beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing...it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This was a cute story. I have seen in other reviews that it is based on a fairy tale called "Twelve Dancing Princesses" but I have never read or even heard of it before so I cannot compare this story to that. The story was a little slow for my tastes, but towards the end it did pick up a little and got exciting.

CHARACTERS: It was hard to keep track of all of the sisters, but it wasn't really vital to the story to remember all of them. The main character, Azalea, was an all around great person. She was very kind and very protective of her sisters. 

COVER: The cover of this book is gorgeous. It is honestly the main reason that I picked this book up in the first place. I could stare at it for hours.

A Touch Mortal

TITLE: A Touch Mortal

AUTHOR: Leah Clifford

PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books

RELEASE DATE:  February 22, 2011

PAGES: 417

MY RATING: 2.5/5

INSIDE COVER BLURB: Eden didn't expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long, happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every tough, Eden could be the key in the the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I really wanted to like this book. And it almost had me. But there was just some things about it that I don't believe were up to par all the way. First of all, I was very confused in the beginning of the book. I didn't understand what all of the characters were and exactly what they could do. I'm still not really sure about that. Also, I feel like the plot was a little lacking. I didn't understand what the plot was supposed to be about really. It didn't seem like there was a direction. I was left with some questions such as where is the story line going? What are they hiding from? What is the goal of any of the groups in the story. I just didn't understand what I was supposed to get out of the book. Now, all of that being said, I really enjoyed the last couple of chapters. They were very exciting and it seemed like a small plot took place. I don't want to get too much into the story because I don't want to give anything away, but some characters were trying to save another character and it gave the book a little bit of somewhere to go. In other words, at the end of the book, there was a conflict and a resolution.

The book was left in a way that makes me believe there will be a sequel, and I am interesting in reading that, to see if the author uses what happened at the end of the story to create another book that has a little more depth to it and a more prominent direction.

CHARACTERS: I enjoyed all of the characters in this book. They all had their own personalities and it seemed like they were well rounded.

COVER: Great cover. I love the dark feel of it and the tagline on it fits the story perfectly (She's been betrayed by life, by love, and by death.

*I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program for review.