Book Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Iron Fey #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: August 1 2010
My Source: Library
My Rating: 4.5/5

Goodreads Summary:
Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron Fey, iron-bound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her. Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's alone in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

My Review:
I have heard so many people who love this series, but I just wasn't impressed with The Iron King. I'm glad I stuck around with the series and continued onto The Iron Daughter. It got so much better! While I liked The Iron King, I found it a little too predictable and standard (you can read my review here). I was still very eager to see what Kagawa was going to do with the sequel, and I must say the sequel impressed me a lot more than the first book!

The action and adventure was non-stop. There was never a dull moment, the pacing was perfect. I loved the urgency and tension that made me need to keep reading! The romance was awesome too- a great love triangle. Puck and Ash were two great guys, but if you're wondering, I'm most certainly Team Ash. :)

I liked this book much more than the first one because I liked the characters so much more. I thought Meghan was pretty dull the first go around, but in this book she turned out strong and courageous. It didn't feel like she was out of character, I could tell she was just growing because of all the events happening to her. Very well done. I also want to mention something great I noticed was Kagawa's incredible dialouge skills. Every character had such a unique voice and phrasings I could tell who was speaking without even being told. Each character talked differently, which gave the book much more spice. The supporting characters were awesome too- Grimalkin, Leanansidhe, (plus the aforementioned Puck and Ash)- they all rock.

Great book. I give it a solid 4.5 stars, a great read that I highly recommend to anyone who loves a book with a perfect balance of romance, action, and fantasy!

Also, there are two more books in this series: The Iron Queen (release date is February 1 2011), and The Iron Knight (release date is scheduled for 2011 also). The Iron Knight was just recently announced and is going to be Ash's story. Not much information on it yet, but I am very excited to read it!




Author Info: Website/Blog/Twitter

Book Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Title: Halo
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Series: Halo #1
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: August 31 2010
My Source: Bought
My Rating: 3/5

Goodreads Summary:
Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings.

But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth.

My Review:
It took me forever to get around to writing this review because I honestly don't know what to say about this book. I've read a few reviews of it before, and I hate to say it, but Halo wasn't quite as good as I expected.

This book is about Bethany- a young angel who comes to Earth and ends up falling in love with the school captain Xavier. This book was largely romance (which isn't a bad thing) but here lies my main problem with this book. Xavier was just too perfect- through everything that happened, all the awful things he may have endured with Beth, there was never any strain in their relationship. He was simply always the perfect guy. I assumed Beth and Xavier would be sort of star-crossed lovers, where nobody allowed them to be together. But no- actually, it took about one chapter for everybody to approve of their relationship. It worked out too well, too fast.

Except, there was a point, towards the end, where it seemed like Alexandra Adornetto realized the relationship was going too smoothly and she had to throw a curveball at them. (I'm not going into detail because of spoilers). Xavier and Bethany's little "fight" seemed so out of character. I found it highly unlikely for Xavier to believe Beth would leave him that easily. If you've read the book you'd know what I mean. That one scene really bugged me.

Speaking of characters that were unrealistic, I have to say Bethany's "friends" at her school were completely unlike real teenagers. Sorry, but normal teenagers aren't super rich and have huge parties every weekend where they drink all they want and their parents don't care. I'm pretty sure every teenager portrayed in these books (besides Bethany and Xavier) were like that.

I don't mind long books, but I think if you're going to write a long book, you have to keep the suspense high to keep the readers guessing the whole time, to make them want to keep reading. Halo didn't do this for me, and I actually found it a little hard to get all the way through. Now, having said all those things about this book, it wasn't an awful book! I apologize I might have ranted a little bit earlier, but I think it's important to understand why exactly I had problems with this book. I also realize that Alexandra Adornetto, the author, is only 18 years old (and was 16 I believe when she wrote this!). I was amazed by this, and it was one of the reasons I wanted to read this book. I can't imagine being a published author at my age, good for her! I am very impressed. Especially considering that, it's a good book.

I gave this book a 3/5, I liked it and will probably read the sequel when it comes out. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre- it reminded me of other YA angel books, and if you enjoy those books you'll definitely enjoy this one. Though there were a few things that got on my nerves a bit, I am still impressed with this one, especially considering it's written by an 18 year old (oh, and did I mention the fantastic cover!).



Author Info: Facebook/Twitter

In My Mailbox (11)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the awesome Kristi, also known as The Story Siren, to give book bloggers opportunities to share books they've recieved.

I haven't done a IMM post for two weeks, but the actual amount of books I've gotten isn't a lot. But here they are anyway. These are all from the local public library!

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum

This is the first of a series I've heard good things about, so I'm excited to check it out!








Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

The description just sounds fantastic! Confusing and complex, yes, but still a great fantasy story I hope. Not to mention, it has a cool cover.








The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

I've had a hold on this at the library for awhile and I was so excited when it finally came in! I hope this book is as good as I expect.








The Line by Teri Hall

This is my second time checking this out from the library. I got never got around to reading it the first time (I tend to do that a lot, don't I?). But it looks like a good story and it's futuristic.






As I already said, all of these books are from the library.

Week In Review

Reviews I Posted:

• Matched by Ally Condie

Currently Reading:

• The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
• The Line by Teri Hall

Reviews Coming Soon:

• Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (I promise I will try to find time to review this very soon!)

NaNoWriMo progress update: Currently, I am at 10, 265 words. (That's 1/5 of the way done!) I haven't written anything today though, so I'll have more by the end of the day. I'm pretty happy with myself so far. I don't know if I've ever written this much in one book before giving up on it. I know that's a bit sad since in all reality it's not really that much. :)

Happy Reading and good luck to others participating in National Novel Writing Month!

-Ava

Hop...Hop...Hop... (9)

This is my 9th time participating in the Blog Hop... I actually went back and counted. :)

Hi! Welcome to Book Infinity! My name is Ava, and if you're a new follower, leave a comment and tell me! I always try to return the favor to the best of my ability.

The question for the week:

"What are your feelings on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?"

My answer:

Very interesting question, and I'm not really sure what my opinion is. I've never been concious of actually losing followers, but I assume people have stopped following my blog for one reason or another. If it's because they don't like it, that's not my fault. I'm just being myself- people either like it or they don't!

As for the second question, I've never un-followed a blog through Google Friend Connect (I don't even know if that's possible!). But I guess it's true to say I'll went to someone's blog a few times, commented a few times, and never returned. Not intentionally though, it was never because I didn't like the content, it's just that there's so many blogs out there and I follow so many sometimes it's hard to keep up with commenting on all of them!

I'm interested to hear what other people have to say about this. What's your opinion? Feel free to leave a comment!


Other news, my NaNoWriMo progress: I an currently at 6286 words in my NaNoWriMo novel! I started a day late (I didn't write anything on the 1st), but my personal goal is 2000 words a day. So far I am ahead of myself, which is a positive thing! I will admit content wise my novel is a little bit on the awful side, but I believe the goal is just to get writing, no matter how awful it is, because I know without it I wouldn't be writing anything at all. An awful book is better than procrastinating and never getting around to it at all!

-Ava

Book Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Series: Matched #1
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: November 30 2010
My Source: Borrowed

My Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Summary:
In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.

My Review:

Matched! When I got this book I literally screamed for joy- that was how much excitement I built up about this book. The premise sounded absolutely amazing, and I'd read plenty of positive reviews already. There was so much hype about this book. I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint.

Matched is a dystopian love story with a great premise. Cassia is Matched with her best friend Xander, but then she finds she starts to fall in love with Ky, who is an abberation, aka, he's not in the matching pool, he's not allowed to be Matched because of something in his past. The whole book is simply Cassie discovering that she wants to rebel against the Officials by falling in love with Ky.

There weren't a lot of negatives, but the few that were brought this book down. Matched has no sense of urgency. I felt like it was just a mental and emotional journey for Cassia without a lot of action or events. In some books this works just fine, but I thought this one could've benefited from some urgency in Cassia's actions.

The love triangle was so good- I didn't know who I wanted Cassia to end up with! I really liked Ky simply because he was different than the Society's expectations for Cassia. He had a past and secrets, and knew things Cassia didn't know. But at the same time, I didn't like him because he seemed a little plain. He was quiet, but not in a mysterious way, and it just felt a little awkward. That's the best word I can use, because I'm not exactly sure how to describe how his mannerisms felt. Xander on the other hand was a character I loved! I connected with him instantly and felt like I knew him- he was the boy next door. But I didn't want Cassia to end up with him, it didn't feel right for her, I could tell she didn't really love him. So that's why I'm still stuck between the two boys. It's frustrating when I come to the end of a book and still can't decide between the two, but I also know that makes it a good book because I was involved enough that I care.

Cassia was a great character who I could identify with. She cared for her family, but was also torn between two great guys, and torn between following the Society or her own choices. She was strong and made good decisions, but she certainly not perfect. She was independent, and though she was choosing between two guys she didn't rely on them to make decisions for her.

I'm so glad there's going to be a sequel! (Two actually-it's going to be a trilogy) There's definitely a lot of potential for a great continuation of the story. I can't wait until it comes out. I would recommend this to fans of clean romance, or YA dystopian stories.

Note: This was an ARC I borrowed from a fellow blogger friend. This book is not out yet- it releases on Nov. 30th.

Pre-Order From Amazon



Author Info: Website/Twitter

10 Days of Halloween and Spooktacular Blog Hop Winners!

I know these contests all ended last week, and I apologize for not selecting winners earlier! But now they've all been selected and emails have been sent.

The 2 winners of the Kick-Off giveaway are:

April X (entry #78)
Reading Lassie (entry #156)

The winner of Infinite Days is:

Rani (entry #385)

The winner of Rot & Ruin is:

Kathryn (entry #107)

The winner of Halo (Spooktacular Blog Hop) is:

Carol G. (entry #133)

Congrats to all the winners! I appreciate everyone who entered. I was blown away by the number of entries I had for some of the giveaways and gained over 100 new followers. Thank you so much!!!

NaNoWriMo Begins!

Today, November 1st, National Novel Writing Month officially begins. Throughout this month- I have committed to finishing my first novel! I posted about it awhile ago, but I'm just reminding everyone. This will be my first time! *squeals of nervous excitement* :D

If there's a slight absence of me in the next month, that would be why. I am committed to working hard on my novel! I haven't actually started yet, but I intend to after I finish writing the post.

I would love if any of my followers wanted to be my writing buddy! The website currently isn't working for me, otherwise I'd leave the link to my profile. If it works for you, then leave the link to your profile in the comments and I'll definitely add you once the website starts working! (Just the name doesn't work, you have to actually leave the link). Thanks!

Good luck to everyone else participating! It's gonna be an awesome month (I hope :)).

Also: This week is YA Love Triange Week at Down the Rabbit Hole. I'm participating in a guest post- I'll be defending Simon from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series on Saturday! Throughout the week there'll be a lot of other bloggers defending their favorite characters, so go over there and check it out to read some awesome posts. Today the post is Team David vs. Team Zane from the Uglies trilogy, a series I love. My post goes up Saturday- I can't wait.