The Non Reluctant Reader

December 29, 2012

2012YASSH 12/29 Stop

ooking for this, hunters? I have today's trivia questions from Fiction Fervor's 2012 YA Story Scavenger Hunt here for you. 2012YASSH challenges you with your knowledge of young adult books published this year, and if you enter, you might win a prize! Check out it here for more info. And be sure to read the rules!

Without further ado, today's questions come from The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa.

Easy: What is the disease that wiped out a large portion of the human and vampire population?
Medium: What's the name of Allie's best friend before she becomes a vampire?
Hard: What is Allie's weapon of choice?

Enter your answers in the form below!

December 27, 2012

The Immortal Circus Blog Tour Week Three: Review and Teaser

Welcome to the third week of The Immortal Circus four court blog tour.

The Immortal Circus

Release Date ~ 12/4/12

Format ~ Kindle Serial

Publisher ~ 47North

Source ~ Author

Murdered contortionists aren’t exactly what Vivienne signed up for when she ran away to join the circus. But like most things under the big top, nothing is what it seems. With a past she can't quite remember, Vivienne finds that running away forever might not be as appealing as it once sounded—especially not when she realizes the devilishly attractive ringleader Mab is the Faerie Queen of legend…and that she and the rest of the troupe are locked in an age-old rivalry between the otherworldly Courts.
Aided by her friends Kingston—a feisty stage magician whose magic is quickly stealing her heart—and his smart-ass assistant Melody, Vivienne finds herself racing against the clock to discover the culprit behind a series of deaths that should be impossible. However, the answer she seeks might reveal more about her own bloody past—and future—than she bargains for.
The show's just beginning.

Step right up…

Review

Though it has no heart-stopping moments as there were in the first installment of this serial, in the second installment, there continue to be interesting plot twists that pull you in.

The character development isn't that major in this installment, but as it's a five episode serial, that's to be expected. All the characters continue to be interesting and readable though.

Kahler's writing style is very in-depth and personal, and it really draws you in and puts you in the mindset of Vivienne.

I feel like I can't say very much about this installment without spoiling it for anybody, as it is a serial, but I can say this: this episode continued to wow me! Very exciting and fast paced!

Teaser

Summer,” Kingston finally says. “They’re here.”
If this wasn’t clearly a serious situation, I’d make some witty comment about it being obvious it was summer, seeing as how it’s 80 degrees even after dark. He must notice I’m clueless because he doesn’t wait for me to say anything.
“The Summer Court. Mab’s rivals. They’re here. They’re interfering.”
“You think they tried to kill Jillian,” I say. Pieces are clicking together in my head.
“I think they’re trying to make a point. Which means we need Mab. Now. Before they make any more.”

Giveaway

This tour comes with a giveaway for five prize packs! Details after the break!

Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Release Date ~ 1/8/2013
Format ~ ARC
Publisher ~ HarperTeen
Source ~ Publisher

Purchase It!

It's been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the ItTides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don't take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe's precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.
Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?
In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and dystopian elements to create a captivating love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

The first book in Veronica Rossi's trilogy, Under the Never Sky, was one that I enjoyed but didn't love, and though I feel the same about Through the Ever Night, slightly less so though, because Rossi's has improved and matured drastically since Under the Never Sky.

Its been a year since I read Under the Never Sky, and though I like to think I have a good memory, it's hard to remember everything that's happened. And Rossi throws you into the fray of the novel with hardly any back story. I don't need a chapter by chapter summary of the first book, but something to refresh your memory is kind of handy.

I felt like we did witness a healthy amount of character development in Through the Ever Night, which is always vital in a trilogy. Often times characters seem to come fully formed after the first book, which makes for an awful boring second and third book. Both Aria and Perry evolved, and awesome, interesting, sub-plots began involving some of the secondary characters.

Speaking of secondary characters, Roar, a member of the tides who grew up in the borderlands, is probably one of my favorite, if not my favorite, secondary character in today's YA scene. He's loyal, complex, and very well-written. I have yet to read the novella, Roar and Liv, a novella in which he is the main character, but after Through the Ever Night that is definitely something I would like to do!

The settings in this trilogy are one of the parts that stand out most. From ruined wastelands to spectacularly crafted realms, there's a very diverse and broad canvas landscape in Through the Ever Night that really whisks you into Rossi's world.

Overall, Through the Ever Night was a strong second book that built up plenty of potential for the third book's finale. A trilogy to watch.

Cover Comments:

Putting a guy on a cover can be a ballsy move, and I'm glad they did it! The way it seems as though the model is walking out of the light is very cool, and the color of the text is perfect!

December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

From The Non Reluctant Reader to you, Merry Christmas. Its been a spectacular year full of fun for me, and you guys all mean the world to me. Merry, Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy reading.

December 24, 2012

Review: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
Release Date ~ 2/15/11
Format ~ Hardcover
Publisher ~ Katherine Tegen Books
Source ~ Swapped

Purchase It!

First there are nightmares.Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.
Then come the memories.When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.
Now she must hunt.Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

I feel like the biggest black sheep in the whole world. I've been hearing good things about Angelfire for over a year and everyone in the book blogging community seems to be in love with it. But I honestly did not like it. At all.

When I finally took the plunge into this series, from how everybody talked about it, I thought it would be rip roaring action from page one. It didn't really get interesting til about page three hundred. Which needless to say in a four hundred and fifty-some page novel is not really acceptable. And even after it got interesting, it wasn't that intense or enjoyable or exciting.

I felt like the characters were all super weakly and very paper-thin. It took a very long time to warm up to the heroine, Ellie, and even then she was still hard to like. I didn't connect with her or understand her, and she was just generally irritating.

Though I know a lot of you are going to be mind-stabbing me right now, I could not stand Will. He was so goddamn annoying and rather pompous. I don't like the brooding, protector, "I'm sexy and I know it" guys in YA, and that's exactly what Will is like.

In the end, Angelifire just didn't live up to the hype for me.