Between the Lines Series by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Between the Lines perfectly captured the reasons behind my love of reading. I swear, the main character was me :P So I thought it would be appropriate to start this review a little differently, with a bunch of quotes that I absolutely loved.

My favourite passage came from the ending of Off the Page (the second novel). Here's a shortened version of it;

 “Everyone has a story. You might think it’s not worth telling, but then again, it’s a story no one has ever heard. What you do, what you say, how you carry the plot, just might leave a mark on someone. ..[Stories] help you escape, and they give you the chance to do things you never imagined you would or could…They are dreams for those who are still awake…Stories are all around us, caught in the throats of the strangers you walk past and scrawled on the pages of locked diaries..You’d best get going. Your reader is eagerly awaiting the next chapter”

Now for a bunch of other amazing and very inspiring quotes;

“I’d much rather pretend I’m somewhere else, and any time I open the pages of a book, that happens.” 

"When you have so many people, each one inevitably fascinating, why would you limit yourself to only those like you?...Instead of feeling as if I'm being judged by someone different from me, I learn from them."

“We could all be lucky. We could all be what we want to be, instead of who someone else told us to be.” 

“The act of reading is a partnership. The author builds a house, but the reader makes it a home.” 

“Well, you have to find that rare someone for whom you’re not putting on a show. Someone who shines a spotlight in your direction—not because you’re who they need you to be, or who they want you to be…just because you’re you.” 

“When she wanted to escape her life, she read books” 

 “At that moment, Oliver realized that home is not a place, but rather, the people who love you.” 

“How do you know that you are not part of a book? That someone's not reading your story right now?” 

Click to read more, for the real review...

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

“We have to face difficulties to find out what our true strengths are. How we come back from a failure is a very valuable test.” – Insatiable, Meg Cabot

Insatiable by Meg Cabot is a modern retelling of Dracula. Meena is a soap opera writer with a special gift – she can predict when and how someone is going to die. Although facing supernatural powers in her everyday life, she does not believe in the other supernatural beings – especially not Vampires! In fact she hates vampires. But when she meets the mysterious Lucien Antonescu, Romanian nobility, she may have to reconsider everything.

Did I like this book? Of course I did! It’s Meg Cabot for goodness’ sake! Mediator is one of my favourite book series, and I was eager to read another supernatural romance by Cabot. I think Cabot really has a talent. By the end of the book, I was rooting for Lucien and Meena to be together, even though, like Meena, I find the idea of vampires kind of repulsive. (I like to read about them, but I would not like them if they were real…) I mean, he bit Meena even after she specifically said, “No biting”. And after the meeting, I could see he loved her but at the same time he was a very violent creature and would mean trouble for Meena. Despite all of this, whilst I was reading I was upset with Meena for not just running away with Lucien. That is what some good writing does – gets you to go against your beliefs and fall in love with whatever the author wants.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

“Life, unfortunately, doesn't seem to care what we want.” 

-        - Richelle Mead, Last Sacrifice

Vampire academy follows the story of Rosemarie Hathway. Rose is a ‘dhampir’ – dhampir’s genetics are half human and half vampire. Her job is to protect the Moroi, a form of vampires. The story begins when Rose is taken back to St. Vladimir's Academy, after having fled in order to protect her best friend and Moroi, Vasilisa Dragomir. Vasilisa is the last of the Dragomir line, and is in line for the throne. As they return to the academy, there are still many mysteries and dangers that hunt Vasilisa.

There is not much I want to write, except recommend anyone who likes fantasy and young adult novels. I think that this is one of the better young-adult paranormal novels. I literally spent a whole day reading series, only stopping to eat. This is how entranced by the story I was. This is mainly because of the protagonist. Rosemarie is strong and loyal. She is unlikely many female characters in novels of the same genre.

Richelle Mead is really able to transport the reader onto a journey. The story starts slow, and with every book in the series the story becomes darker, with more action, adventure and more complex story lines. The series is a whirlwind of emotions.

Again, this is really short… Especially because I read this so fast, that it's just a blur. I can't really examine it book by book. What I can say is that the overall series is light, entertaining and very enjoyable.  Kind of sad that they're not making any film sequels...

READ IT! :) Every book gets better

Portraits of Celina by Sue Whiting

“… but it seemed that the troubles of the past had strangely brought us a little closer together…”

Portraits of Celina by Sue Whiting tells the story of a broken family who move into an abandoned haunted house. The house had belonged to past members of their family, and had been the site where Celina, Bayley’s second cousin, had died. Bayley shares a striking resemblance to Celina. When Bayley starts to have visions of Celina’s old life, she thinks she is going crazy. Celina seeks revenge and Bayley must be the one to avenge her.

I am absolutely mesmerized by this book. It was so interesting and it had both cute teen romance and brooding mysteries. Full of plot twists, I could not put the book down. The result? Two hours later, and a finished book to write about. It is listed as part of the Premier’s Reading Challenge for years 7-9. But I think it may be interesting to even older grades.

iBoy by Kevin Brooks

“we’re all … animals - none of us know any better”

iBoy by Kevin Brooks is the story of a teenage boy who acquires ‘superpowers’. When someone throws an iPhone from the top of a 30 story building, Harvey’s head is cracked and the iPhone pieces get stuck inside his brain. Harvey is able to everything that a phone can do and much more. He seeks revenge on the gang members who hurt his childhood friend, Lucy. He becomes known as iBoy, a superhero protecting the violent local area. But in all of that, Harvey loses himself to iBoy as the line between good and bad starts to blur.

After reading How to be Invisible, I simply assumed that this would be another book for pre-teens. However, this book contains some heavy themes and should be read by younger adolescents. (Maybe 15 and up? It really just depends on maturity…)

How to be Invisible by Tim Lott

“Trust is invisible too, but it turns out that that it’s the invisible things that matter most of all”

How to be Invisible by Tim Lott is the story of a 13 year old science genius who, as per the title, learns how to turn invisible. Strato Nyman, just moved schools and was having a hard time fitting in. When he discovers how to be invisible, he finds out that no one is ever really ‘visible’. He learns a lot about his family, his friends, his bullies and even his teacher.  

I think I may be too old for this book. I kind of worked that out from the age of the protagonist. However, the title seemed so interesting, I decided to read it anyway. So, of course since I’m not the target audience, this review might be a bit harsh.

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

"You were like a piece of magic. You held the fixed stars in place for me and you stopped them from falling" 

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty follows the story of a girl from the World and a boy from the Kingdom of Cello. They live in different worlds, but are connected through a small crack- just wide enough to fit letters. They write to one another, and help each other with their problems. 

The funny thing is that I actually borrowed this book a few months ago, read a few pages, got tired of it, and returned it again. But I had forgotten I had already started reading this book, and just a few weeks ago, I borrowed it again. And I'm glad I gave the book a second chance. 

The beginning is quite slow (that's why I didn't finish reading it the first time), but the story gets increasingly better. Since part of the book is set in a magical Kingdom, I found it hard to understand everything that was going on. I think that Moriarty should've explained this Kingdom in more detail, and what the 'Colours' are. 

Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney

“…Well, you can’t have it both ways. You wanted a father, so you’ve got one.”

Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney follows the story of a Gold Coast elite high school girl, Macey Pentecost.  She is being visited by ghosts who need help to ‘move on’.  Although she doesn’t understand anything of the supernatural, she thinks she has it under control. That is, until she is visited by the ghost of ‘Nick’, who stubbornly refuses to admit he is dead.  He tries to warn Macey of danger, but even he doesn’t know what the danger is.  It all becomes more complicated as her father comes home with a surprise, Macey gets threats messages from a stalker and she starts developing feelings for Nick’s cousin.

Yesterday, my laptop stopped working and I took it as a ‘sign’ that I shouldn’t be doing homework :P I must say I am happy that my computer is crazy because I then found Almost Dead. The same day I finished it. It’s light, it’s cute and it’s romantic. Definitely different to the recent books I had been reading, and I was very glad to just relax for a bit. While it is very easy to read, it still has a very interesting plot. I was just a bit disappointed when I found out who the stalker was. Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t think we had enough mentions of the stalker. I had to quickly read back to remind myself who this person was. At least it was a surprise.

Witch & Wizard : The Gift by James Patterson and Ned Rust

“Knowledge is valuable, but imagination is invaluable.” – James Patterson

 Witch & Wizard by James Patterson is a fantasy series that depicts the persecution of two magical siblings by the new totalitarian government, ‘New Order’. The Gift is the second instalment and it follows Whit and Wisty Allgood as they figure out how to better control and use their magic while trying to save everyone endangered – their parents, Whit’s girlfriend and all the brainwashed children. Meanwhile, the tyrannical leader is on the hunt for the Allgood siblings in order to take their gifts and be able to control everything and everyone.

I received this book as a gift and I’ve really enjoyed reading it. I can’t wait to read the next book, to figure out all the cryptic clues. However, I do feel that The Gift went in a circle; I don’t really know more than I what I got from the first few pages. It seemed that Patterson was trying too hard to extend the plot so that it could become a lengthy series; at one point, the plot became Whit and Wisty running away, then getting caught by the villain then escaping then getting caught – and it just wasn’t going anywhere! Really, none of the answers proposed at the beginning were answered. Maybe, this was because I skipped the first book and went straight into the second; the lack of background information could have hindered my immersion into the story. However, I don’t think this was too big of a problem as I didn’t even realise this was the second book until I started writing this post. Patterson managed to catch all the readers up to the full story quite easily, as there were so many references to the past, which I’m assuming mostly happened in the first book.

The Girl in the Steel Corset (#1 The Steampunk Chronicles) by Kady Cross

"No person was entirely good or entirely evil- one side could not exist without the other." Chapter 7

The Girl in the Steel Corset is about a 16 year old girl, Finley Jayne, with a mysterious side to her. Set in 1897, being different wasn't generally accepted in society. Finley has a 'thing' inside of her, something that gives her strength and aggression when she is in danger. Soon, she finds other people each with their own power. Together they try to find 'The Machinist' - the mastermind behind several crimes. All of his crimes seem to be random and  unconnected to each other, but there's one similarity- all of the crimes are done by automatons. And they aren't as random as they seem... all the small crimes are leading into something huge and catastrophic. 

When I first saw the cover book, I already thought it was the style of book I'd enjoy. I know... you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but my assumptions of the book were mostly correct. At first glance, I predicted it would be both historical and romantic. After flipping to the first page, I saw that my first guess was right- it was set in the past. 

Solace & Grief by Foz Meadows

Solace and Grief follows the story of a 17 year old girl called Solace. She was raised in a foster care, but when she finds out she is a vampire she is compelled to run away. Soon, she finds herself within a group of other strange young adults. They are part of ‘the Rare’ and each one of them has a ‘Trick’, which is a superpower or a supernatural ability. For example, Jess is a psychic reader, and Solace is a vampire. But soon things start to get a little weird... A Faceless man is stalking her and Professor Lukin is a bit too interested in their ‘Trick’...

This is the first book of a series called The Rare. It is set in Sydney, Australia and I found it interesting that Foz Meadows has used real places in the city but added twists to make them supernatural. At the beginning of the book, the story seemed to be droning on to nowhere. However, some things that seemed irrelevant at the start actually ended up being important towards the end. I didn’t like how Solace and her friends went to the Gadfly and got drunk, then stayed home all day. This seemed to happen several times, and I think it stalled the story a bit. Nevertheless I continued reading, and I’m glad I did.

I loved the variety of characters in the book. They all have different ‘Tricks’ and personalities. I found it a bit hard to remember who was who at the start, because a lot of characters are introduced all at the same time.

Paladin by Dave Luckett

“Good if they were good, but they weren't always good... Power goes to most people’s head, you know.” (p. 27)

Paladin by Dave Luckett is the exploration of truth and justice by placing the protagonists into fantasy second dimension/world. Sam and Finny live as outcasts in their city, until they find out that they belong to another world. Both Sam and Finny have magical talents that are needed in to fight evil in another land.

Firstly, the novel was a pleasant short read but it wasn't a great book. Paladin isn't bad but it isn't very good either, it’s just mediocre. While, I enjoyed the hour or two it took me to read I wouldn't recommend this book, simply because there are other fantasy novels that are better. The main reasons for this were that it was very brief and unoriginal. However, there were some nice themes investigated.

The Quentaris Chronicles- The Cat Dreamer by Isobelle Carmody

"Magic is a kind of dream, and love is a dream, and hope is a dream. Without our dreams, there is no sweetness, no purpose to life.” 

This book is one of many in the Quentaris Chronicles. Each book in this chronicles are written by a different author and has different characters and the only thing that is the same is the setting. The Cat Dreamer is about a mysterious fog that appears in Quentaris, followed by many unexplained suicides. Iakas, a secret agent, is sent to the city to investigate this. She can change from being a woman to a cat and she can also enter people's dreams. Iakas enters Igorik's dreams to learn what he already knows and tell him how to fight the fog. 

Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick (#4 Hush Hush Series)

“Arrogance can be deadly.”  - Finale

Finale is the fourth and last book of the Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. In this book the leader of the leader of the Nephilim revolution has died and now Nora must lead them. Nora wants to end this upheaval and bring things back to peace. However, other don't agree and there is a lot at stake. Nora must find her inner leader all at the same time maintaining her relationship with Patch. The people she thinks she can trust are the people that will surprise her.

As I mentioned, this is the last book of a series. I do not usually write a review on the sequels so I will keep this short and sweet. (If you would like to read the longer review on her it all began here is the link, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick )

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

"... Sometimes when I saw him at a distance ... I forgave him a hundred times over... Unfortunately, these were often the moments when he chose to attack ... that I would vow not to forget it, and never to forgive him again. I broke that promise many times... all petty things, really, irritants - too minor, it would seem ... The danger he presented was, after all, not immediate but slow and simmering... hundreds of small, unavenged humiliations which had been rising in me for months..." - excerpt from The Secret History

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is the story of of college students who end up killing their "friend". The first part is the story of how Richard moved to a New England college and found himself trying to fit into the Greek class, full of mysterious, rich college kids. As he befriends them and joins the class he ends up getting mixed into all the trouble and murder of Bunny, the first part is the story that leads to the death. The second part of the book is after the death and how each of them live on. 

This book was lent to me by someone else, henceforth the reason why it is so different to the usual books that I actually read. This book is a murder mystery. While I was quite entranced while reading this book, I didn't find it a really good novel. If you have read any of my other posts you would have realised that I like books that are more passive books, with happy endings. This book from the first page had a murder  (this didn't detract from the book, talked about later) and from then on even more deaths or attempted deaths. The end is quite mysterious and it definitely ends in a very pessimistic mood. Another reason for my contempt in the book is the fact that I couldn't empathise with any of the character's extreme personalities, and this is something I find really important. (I will talk about this later on this post.)

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

“Why be the sheep when you can be the wolf?”  - Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers is the first book in His Fair Assassin series. After escaping the brutalities of her father and her newly wed husband she is sent to a convent.There Isame learns that she is a daughter of death, just like the other girls of the convent of St. Mortain. She has been assigned a duty to kill those with a 'marque', to bring justice into the world. Ismae learns all the ways to kills a man and is ready for where her duties will take her. She has sworn loyalty to her God and convent to do their bidding. However,  everything is shaken when she starts falling in love with the man she is supposed to snoop and potentially kill. Also, she is starts to realise that maybe the convent can make mistakes.

To start off I have to say that this book is an older youth fiction; it is suitable to girls in their 20s. At the start I was a bit discouraged and thought that this book would be inappropriate for someone in their mid-teens. However, the book shifts in their focus, away from the villainy and brutality towards more of a mystery and romance novel. 

Although this book is all about an assassin, I think it can relate a lot to real life. The theme/idea that stayed with me through this book is one that I have always debated; the relationship between believing in religion and believing in the religion's faith.

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

“Tucking my nose into a book makes me completely oblivious to my surroundings. I would have made a terrible spy in the army--the first person to hand me a novel would have been able to shoot my head clean off without me noticing.”  - Haunting Violet

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey is the story of Violet and her new abilities to see the dead in the midst of 19th century society. Her mother was a fake spiritualist with a great desire and ambition to join the rich and live in luxury. Violet must obey her mother and follow her schemes however everything changes when Violet finds that an assassinated young girl wants her to solve a real ghost mystery. 

I quite enjoyed reading the book and I found myself pondering if real life spiritualists really do exist. I'm sure many are like Violet's mother, lying and deceiving just for fame and money. However, the world has such a numerous population, I really do think that maybe at least one person actually has this ability to see and talk to the dead. 

While reading this book I realise I would have really liked to be able to go to the past an spend some time in that era; in the richer side of the population, of course. All the dresses, no matter how uncomfortable thy are described as, hold some appeal to me. I realise how girls were treated as having to be all polite and obedient and that the thoughts there were very much sexist but I would like to spend just a week in that time so I can wear those clothes and live in such grandeur and splendour, with so many people to take care of you. 

Spoilers Below!!!

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

" Voices and faces aren't manifestations of good or bad. " - Fairest

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine is set in the fictional Kingdom of Ayortha. In Ayortha a person is judged on their appearance and their voice, it is considered normal for one to just break into a song in the middle of conversations. The main girl, Ava, has a beautiful voice however she is not so lucky with her looks. Ava always feels embarrassed and is very harsh on herself, all she longs for is to be beautiful. When she gets the opportunity to travel to the castle the Queen grows fond of her however but for the wrong reasons. The Queen quickly learns of Ava's secret ability and uses it for her own benefit. Ava also finds out the Queen's secrets and she too uses it for her own good. Both will learn that with any action, potion and spells comes great consequences. 

I read this book in under 3 hours. The plot was simple and the language was very easy and simple. By this description I do not mean to say the book was bad or even boring but I am stating these facts so that you can decide if you would like to read the book. I personally like reading these books when I don't want to spend too much of my time reading or when I want a cheesy, cute book just to pass my time.

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

"Fate...may...be...thwarted. [...] I long...for..a happy outcome" - Ever.

Ever by Gail Carson Levine is the intertwining story of Olus, God of the wind, and Kezi, a normal village girl. Olus is much younger than the rest of the gods and longs to live with the mortal humans. One day, when living in Hyte he falls in love with Kezi. Kezi's love for him is reciprocal. Her days, however, are numbered because of an unbreakable oath. This is the story of their love and race to change fate. 

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” 

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie is a well known classical book. All children grow up but one, Peter Pan. Peter lives in the Neverland. One day, in one of his trips to hear stories told in the Darling's house he gets caught and loses his shadow. When he returns to get back his shadow, Wendy is awoken by the sounds of Peter crying. Wendy helped Peter sow on his shadow and Peter realising the importance of a mother figure asks her to go with him and be his mother and mother to the lost boys. Wendy and her two brothers were very excited and with a bit of fairy dust they fly their way to the Neverland. 

In the version of the book I read there were two stories; Peter in Kensington Gardens and Peter and Wendy. This book was one of the most confusing books. I had watched the movie and cartoon versions of Peter Pan and so I was expecting something similar. However, when I first start reading the narrators are the Davies brothers and they talk about things like baby castle where the most sought up baby lives by herself and all these baby attractions in the kensington gardens, it felt like I was reading the wrong book. Finally when I read the name Peter Pan I was relieved, but not for long. Peter Pan was completely different to what I was expecting. Firstly he was only a week old, he wore no clothes, he rode a goat, he lived with the birds because everyone was a bird who flew to their parents' home and there turned into humans.