Book Review: Scent of Magic (Healer #2) - Maria V.Snyger

YA - Lounge

Book Review:  Scent of Magic - Maria V.Snyder

Scent of Magic ( #Healer 2)  by Maria V. Snyder

Hunted, Killed—Survived?

Release Date: December 18, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Source: NetGalley
Rating: Snore!

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle. Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat. War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

Death Lilys and the Walking Dead

I loved Touch of Power (Healer #1) the first book in this trilogy
In fact I loved the first book so much that I went on to read the entire Study series and started the Glass series. Healer #1 started my foray into the fantasy genre. I loved to read fantasy when I was a young teen, when Tamora Pierce was one of my favorite authors, but I somehow lost sight of the awesome book-genre that is fantasy and started to read adult contemporary fiction and YA-contemporary. So of course I was over the moon when I finally got my hands on Scent of Magic through the awesomeness that is Netgalley. That was last year. It took me a while to read it.
The Scent of Magic is sadly one of these typical *middle, second in a trilogy book*. It has a slow start, many flashbacks and *explaining the plot from the previous book* and non-logical exasperating decision-making from Avry.

Different to the first book, the story in the second book is told from two POVs. We still have Avry's but now also Kerrick's voice. To be completely honest I found Kerrick's story a lot more interesting than Avry's. He was a mysterious entity in the first book and now we get to see a little glimpse of his thoughts and feelings. But also his storyline was more action filled than Avry's which seemed to be at a standstill.

Avry and Kerrick spend a lot of time apart in this book. I missed the banter and the arguing. For me it also made Avry a much weaker character than in the first book, where she was a headstrong, independent young woman with extraordinary abilities. In Scent of Magic a big chunk of Avry's thoughts are occupied with missing Kerrick, feeling lonely without him, wondering if he's ok and still alive. I missed the slow-burn, the bubbling passion between these two. Now that they are in love and together it got a bit predictable and boring.

Also, what is it with dying in these books? Seriously!

All in all this is just *transition* book for me, a bridge I have to cross to get to the big Finale. But there are still some awesome scenes in it, and it was nice to spend time with Avry and the Monkeys again, to read about the different magicians and all the obstacles this world still has to face before there can be Peace. An enjoyable read with a somewhat slow start. With an ending that makes you want to pick up the third book without delay.

Book Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

YA-LOUNGE

 Book Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

The IRON KNIGHT by JULIE KAGAWA

 My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn. I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

Release Date: October 25, 2011

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: NetGalley
Rating: Epic!

Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing.

Unless he can earn a soul.


To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side.

To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale.

And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The Epic Journey of Ice Boy

It was last Christmas when I finally started reading The Iron King, it had been sitting on my bookshelf for a while, and I was completely blown away by the Iron Fey world. Immediately after finishing the first book I started the second one, The Iron Daughter, and I loved that one even more than the first one. After that the excruciating wait for book three, The Iron Queen began. When I finally held the Iron Queen in my hands I was over the moon, so happy, and when I finished it I was crying like never before. I needed to read The Iron Knight right there and then. Not possible of course.
A few months ago, I finally got my hands on The Iron Knight. The wait seemed eternal. Happy-Dances all day!
But, finally having the chance to read the fourth book in the series made me very apprehensive and scared too. What if I wouldn't like it as much as the previous three? What if the ending wouldn't satisfy me? What if I didn't like to see the story through the eyes of Ash? Would I miss Meghan too much?...I shouldn't have worried of course. Because The Iron Knight was everything I hoped for and more. It is EPIC!

Julie Kagawa is a genius when it comes to storytelling and using words. The Iron Knight has the perfect blend of adventure, action, emotional scenes that made me cry and hilarious banter between Ash and Puck that made laugh so hard I almost dropped my kindle. And lets not forget about Grim (lets hope he'll NEVER change!).

For me, The Iron Knight was the perfect, but bittersweet ending to a series that very much reminded me of the Neverending Story. It was interesting to see the Fey-world through Ash's eyes. To get to know him a bit better (though he'll ever be mysterious Ice-boy for me), to understand his actions, get to see small glimpses of his heartbreaking past, and feel the love he has for Meghan.

So, prepare for an epic journey (yes, I realize I use the word epic way too much in this review, but for me there's no other word to describe this book better), have tissues ready and prepare to fall in love with Ash and Puck and Grim and the Fey all over again!

YA-Lounge: And For Your Information... - Denise Deegan

Book Review: And For Your Information... by Denise Deegan

Sometimes you come across a book that surprises you. It doesn't happen all that often to me anymore. I guess I spend to much time on Goodreads and on other blogs. I hesitate writing a review of this book because I really think you should go read it first, and then come back and let me know what you thought.  Anyway, And For Your Information... is the second Butterfly Novel, the first one is And By The Way which you should have read before starting this one, as it's going the spoil it otherwise.

And For Your Information... by Denise Deegan. A Butterfly Novel

Everyone thinks they know who I am - ditzy Sarah, who cares more about appearances than she does about anything real. And yeah, I do care about what people think of me. Take my friends Alex and Rachel. We all go to Strandbrook College, Dublin. We're supposed to be best friends. But Alex and Rachel - they're really close. They tell each other things that they would never tell me. I try not to mind. And then there's Simon. He's my sort-of boyfriend but we hardly see each other. And when we do, I feel like he doesn't really 'see' me, you know? Everything's such a mess right now. My dad left us to be with Her; my mum is really angry all the time; and my brother Louis, he just doesn't care. I guess that's why the shoplifting started. It makes me feel good. In control. I just want everything to change. And it does. The day I got caught...

My Review

Oh, you're still here?! (or back again :) )

I still think one should start reading this book without knowing anything about it. Because I didn't. And let me tell you, this book took my heart out of my chest and punched it. Several times. Then it put it back all battered and bruised.
So, yeah, I've already destroyed it for you. I'm sorry.

I started And For Your Information... right away when cute Postie came by with it. Maybe it was the wrong time for me, as I just had some very bad Family news and still felt really emotional. I wanted to read something that cheered me up and I thought this would be the perfect book for that. I was wrong.
It started already in the beginning of the book. The scenes between Sarah and her mother felt so real and raw, they made me feel so frustrated I wanted to punch something.
I've read And For Your Information in one day. In the end I actually hid it under my bed because I didn't want to finish it, so I tried to ignore it, but that didn't work obviously.

YA - Lounge: Bookreview

Bookreview 
Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Saving June - Hanna Harrington

'If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one — so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going — California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down — again.

Why did I read this book?

 I heard so much good about this book on Twitter and  in the whole blogosphere that it made me really curious to see what all the buzz is about. Dealing with death in the family, especially suicide is a hard but interesting topic, I wanted to see how it was executed in this book. And yeah, I'm a sucker for Road-trips and bad boys :)

The Cover

I actually don't think I like the cover. I doesn't blow me away. It's a bit blah. But I haven't seen it IRL so maybe it looks better on the book? But I do get a sense of sadness so it has achieved its purpose.

My Thoughts About the Book

For full disclosure I have to say that my timing of reading Saving June could have been better. I picked it up (or, well, I started my laptop) the day after I read one of the most amazing books I've read this year (Wanderlove). Not only after an amazing book, but an amazing book featuring travel/road-trippy kind of things. So it was clear from the outset that I'd judge Saving June to the background of that book.

There's a lot of grief in this book. I mean how would you feel if your perfect big sister ended her life by choice? With the grief comes the judging of others how you handle that grief. Are you numb? No tears, no showing of emotions? That's exactly how Harper reacts. She's just a teenager and has no idea what to think or feel about the suicide of her sister.

Harper is a sarcastic, outspoken character. She has a lot of anger bundled up inside her. It takes a while to warm up to her, actually I'm not even sure that I liked her at the end of the book. The same goes with bad boy Jake. He really is mysterious. Sure there are some bits and pieces revealed about him. Or maybe I should say that there a lot of descriptions about him. Like he lives and breathes music, that he doesn't write his own music, he has quite a strong opinion of what good music and bad music is, he can be a jerk, he can be nice, he had a difficult childhood. But you know what? I don't feel like I know him after having read Saving June. In fact, I feel like I don't know anything about any of the characters, not Harper, not Laney (her best friend), not Jake and certainly not June. It's not like they didn't do anything in this story, not that they didn't have opinions about things. I think my problem is that too much happened. To many conflicting views and opinions, characters changed from page to page. Or maybe that was just me.

I read Saving June on my laptop which isn't really a nice way to read a book. So there must have been something in the story, in the writing compelling me to read on. Yes, it is an interesting story, I did want to know how it all turns out, how it ends. Saving June is about a difficult topic and it shouldn't be easy to read those parts of the story.
What I particularly liked about this book is all the talk about music, how Harrington weaves these small anecdotes and tidbits perfectly into the story. How music plays such a big part in it. There even are playlists included at the end of the book.

What I didn't like (may contain some small spoilers !!)

There was just too much in this book in my opinion. All the teenage clichés crammed into it (promqueen, bad boy, goth-girl, drinking, drugs, sex and first times, date-rape, teenage pregnancy), different political views and acts and opinions (vegan, vegetarian, my body is a temple, protesting, religion, talk about God, and more...). Pretentious is the word. Sometimes less is more. In fact, there was a perfect scene near the end of the book which would have made the perfect ending for me.

Also the whole Road Trip was a bit disappointing for me. I had high expectations and it fell a bit short for me. I didn't really feel like a was there at all the different places, couldn't feel and smell the air, I didn't have the urge to google all the places or to pack my bags and travel. Which is a shame really.

All in all.... I know that Saving June  is well liked by many readers, many love it and connected with it on a deeper level. I didn't. I really wanted to like and love it, but didn't. Something was missing. If you find the blurb on the book interesting and think it might appeal to you then please read it, don't let my personal opinions keep you from reading it :)