Vanish by Sophie Jordan

In Vanish, the second book in the Firelight trilogy, Jacinda returns home to the enclave. But home isn’t home anymore. Kept in a constant lockdown, Jacinda is forced to completely reevaluate the relationships with the people she loves. Seeing Will has become just a fantasy, never to happen, and Cassian isn’t as coldhearted as he used to seem… but when Jacinda is given the impossible chance to meet with Will again, how can she refuse?




Lately all the second books in the trilogies I read have been disappointing. Since Firelight is one of my favorite paranormal romance books ever, I hoped that Vanish could beat the Second Book Slump. Maybe. At first I could almost believe that Vanish had the Slump beaten. In the first chapter, everything is what I expected: fast-paced with crazy awesome twists.



But then Vanish slows down. Nothing, well, Firelight worthy happens. Mostly, Jacinda spends her time mending old relationships and starting new ones—like with Cassian (eww!). The thing about Vanish is that singular events are taken out of proportion and made overly dramatic. Too many chapters are wasted on Jacinda’s thoughts about what she needs to do and grievances over the slights of her community. I wanted something to wow me, but nothing especially pops out.



I’m Team Will. I LOVE the whole hunter-falling-in-love-with-the-hunted thingy. There is so much potential in those kinds of relationships. But Cassian? Who needs him? Though some parts of Vanish really did make me want to go to the dark side (after all, they have cookies), Jacinda and Cassian simply don’t have enough chemistry to convince me that they could be happy together.



So, Vanish doesn’t quite compare to Firelight’s impossibly awesome standards. But I haven’t abandoned the series; based on how Vanish ends, the final book in the Firelight trilogy looks like it’s going to be the best of them all.



You can also view this review on Figment

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Emily Winters is crushing hard on the deep, soulful Zach McCord, and she is positive that he has feelings for her, too. Em feels awful about the fact that Gabby, her best friend, is already dating Zach, but she knows that he deserves better. Em is better.

Chase Singer wants nothing more than to forget his past. When he meets the gorgeous and mysterious Ty, he leaps at a chance to forget it all. He never expects to fall in love. But instead of helping him forget, Ty makes him remember his horrible past even more. Chase is sorry about what happened, and Em wishes Gabby could forgive her.

But sometimes sorry and begging for forgiveness isn’t good enough. The Furies live to make them pay.


I was sucked into Fury from the first page. I loved the detail-oriented writing. You know the “oh-just-one-more-page” books? Well, Fury is an “oh-just-one-more-sentence” book. I tried to stop, but every sentence begged me to keep on reading. The writing allowed me to feel closer to the characters then I do in most third-person narratives.

Em-the-boyfriend-stealer and Chase-the-player are two characters that don’t seem to be likable, but I ended up loving them both. They (obviously) have their flaws, and at times I loved to hate them (Hello, Em? Does the phrase, “Once a cheater, always a cheater,” ring any bells? Of course not, you… you ninny). Other times I wanted to forgive them because I could see that, despite everything, they didn’t deserve what was happening to them. No one does.


The only reason why I can’t give Fury the full five stars is because of the paranormal aspect. Fury is kinda, sorta supposed to be paranormal, I guess, but for the beginning and middle of the book I would’ve classified it as a mysterious drama with slight paranormal undertones. In the last quarter, I felt that Fury plays a rushed game of catch-up on the paranormalacy part of the novel. It partway succeeds.

Fans of Pretty Little Liars will love Fury’s thickly suspenseful drama. I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the trilogy, Envy. Four and a half figmentstars.

You can also see this review on Figment.

P.S.
  Sorry for being absent on this whole month. A reasonable excuse would be that I just started high school, and my thoughts are now constantly swinging between, "this isn't so hard compared to middle school, why did everyone make a big deal out of this?" And, also, "why in the world did I take an AP and a seminar as a FRESHMAN? If I was really smart enough to pass those classes, I wouldn't have taken them." That is my impressive fake excuse.

   My real reason: I got addicted to Lost. Any other Lost fans here? On that last episode I bawled... So really, I have no excuse.

But no worries!

I'm baaack!

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Super-smart Kate Grable has an okay life playing doctor to her high school’s football team. I mean, managing football players looks good on college apps, right? No way is she “doctoring” the losing football team just so she can breathe the same air as her unattainable quarterback crush, Aaron. No way. Kate is too smart for that.



But Kate’s insider status means she’s the first to find out that the football coach has been giving the players a creepy steroid that turns them into mindless, flesh-eating, football-playing zombies. Kate knows she needs to find a cure, preferably before the zombies kill everyone.

Ehem…I have a confession to make. I discriminate against short books. There, I said it. To put it in simple terms: I like big books and I cannot lie. At first I was wary of the length (or lack thereof) of Bad Taste in Boys. But it was about zombies. Football playing zombies. Alas, I was too weak to resist. Not all short books have “short book issues,” but Bad Taste in Boys, sadly, has some. I think that the novel could have been better if it had more room to develop. The beginning and the ending both needed some fleshing (sorry, couldn’t resist) out.


Although it took some time getting into the story, I managed to fall in love with Kate’s character. She knew when to break out her lab kit and when to use her plastic sword to show the zombies who’s boss. The sarcastic voice of the novel had me smiling all the way through while the creepy gore kept me “ewwing.” There was a dismembered foot in the underwear drawer. Nuff spoken.


But can you guess my absolute favorite part of Bad Taste in Boys? My absolute favorite? NO STEREOTYPICAL CHEERLEADERS! There was actually a nice cheerleader. I get really annoyed when a book has a stereotypical slutty, popular cheerleading team in it. Because guys, cheerleaders are people too. With personalities and stuff. Sorry, I can get really worked up over that.

So, if you are looking for a funny, light zombie read with plenty of creepiness involved, Bad Taste in Boys is your book. Four Figmentstars.

This review is also posted on Figment, the awesome teen-centered writing site.

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Stars: 3.5

Summary:

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.
Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies


Review:

At first, Forgotten was purely "meh." London was too apathetic to my liking. She could see the future, but she just seemed resigned to it. Strike one for annoying main character. And Forgotten had stereotypical cheerleaders whose only job is to stare menacingly/ vapidly at London to make her very uncomfortable. They didn't even do anything cool. So, strike two for useless stereotypical cheerleaders.

  What kept me reading was Luke. It wasn't like Luke was that special or memorable of a character. It was the fact that London got up every day and discovered Luke all over again. Every day was a new beginning and that is what made the romance of Forgotten so memorable. I even got to know and like London better. How London and Luke were together made up most of the middle part of Forgotten and I was totally okay with that.

   But then the ending came. And it just ended. The ending left me wanting more information. There (sadly) isn't going to be a sequel so I don't know what exactly to think about end.

Despite Forgotten's faults, I think this book will appeal to people looking for a unique romance/ paranormaly/ mystery.