CRESCENDO AND SILENCE BY BECCA FITZPATRICK

Today, we have not just one book review, but TWO!!!! Now, remember not to read them if you haven’t read the previous books in the series…wouldn’t want to spoil anything for anybody! Anyway, let’s jump right in!

**Do not read if you have not read Hush, Hush**

Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it. A mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever (if that's possible) and what's worse, he seems to be spending time with Nora's archenemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn't been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude, Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feelings that he is hiding something.

If that weren't enough, Nora is haunted by images of her murdered father, and comes to question whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death. Desperate to figure out what happened, she puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations to get the answer. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.

At the end of Hush, Hush I was really excited to start reading Crescendo - because finally, FINALLY, Nora and Patch were together! Hallelujah! Now was the time for celebrations, where I would read of Nora and Patch having a perfect relationship with the occasional fight to keep it interesting, but they would be so happy and love -

Wrong. I got the romance for about four pages, but the kind of romance that I only want to see when I have gone through three books of a working relationship. Basically what happened was a car make out scene, Nora declaring her love (and how long have they been dating…? A couple of weeks most? I can’t remember but it was ridiculous. Like woman, please.) and giving him her DECEASED FATHER’S RING. That was, as she made sure to tell us all, her dearest belonging, because it was the only thing she had left from her dad. And she gives it to Patch, whom she “loves” after they’ve been dating for about a week.

Oh, and then they break up.

This whole book, my problem was mainly characters. Nora is selfish and whiny. Patch...is still a barbie doll. The whole time I was irritated at them, and just wanted to tell them to get over themselves and work it out. Really, if they would just talk about it…

Aside from Nora and Patch, I felt that the story was also predictable because of the characters. I’ve started to notice that almost  any character that comes into this story is automatically not a human, and as soon as that character is used up and done, they’re gone forever and they don’t come back no matter what. Elliot for example. Where’d he go? Isn’t he mad that they killed his best friend? I suppose not.

What I did like from Crescendo is that I started to see more of a plot and more world building. Despite my anger at the characters, I was still interested in what they were going through because there were more trials for them to overcome, oh and I’m a sucker for break ups because I just want them to get back together...that always keeps me reading…

Overall rating, I give it three stars.

WHEN SILENCE IS ALL THAT'S LEFT, CAN THE TRUTH FINALLY BE HEARD?

Nora Grey can't remember the past five months of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks - with no one knowing where she was or who she was with - she tried to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge mom's creepy new boyfriend.

But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she can almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows.

And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing.

Then Nora crosses paths with a sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers...and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

I always hate when I seem to be the only person who doesn’t like a specific book...but it seems like I have done it again. This series has sort of been a downwards spiral for me - here is why.

The very beginning of the book, I was interested and excited to read. It felt like a fresh start, really. She’d lost her memory, maybe she could rebuild herself. Or something like that. I don’t really know what I was wanting, but it wasn’t what I got, I can assure you of that.

Nora suffers from amnesia, and though that has to be a traumatizing experience, for the first half of the book all I read is her moaning about it. Not to mention the question “Why me” which ended up appearing A TON OF TIMES. I have always accepted the answer “why not you?” and I’m not going to stop accepting it now. I understand that it would be hard to undergo what she went through, but in a four hundred or so book I don’t want to waste one hundred pages on whining. I never want to waste one hundred pages on whining, honestly.

And then we run into Patch...again...who, as you guys know, I think it just a glorified barbie doll. I feel like they use each other as eye candy because the only romantic moments I get from them is kissing and...that’s it, yep. Anytime either one of them would say something romantic verbally I kind of felt like I was watching those eighth graders in the hallways again. Infatuation, yes, but no real love or commitment.

This whole story, all I did was watch Nora and Patch make bad decisions. The action, I suppose, did intensify slightly, but not enough to satisfy me. And did I mention that it took me three and a half weeks to read this book? That doesn’t happen very often. It’s a bad book when it does.

I am going to take a reading break before I read the final book, Finale, because I need to read something that I will enjoy for now. I most likely will not be writing a review on it, either.

Overall rating, I give it two stars.

HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Where’s the light switch? Seriously, this book was so dark. Not in a bad way, but the mood that Fitzpatrick set was definitely very thick and well executed. It felt like the room I was sitting in literally dimmed whenever I was reading this book. So again, I’m not saying this as a bad thing, but if you are more into the cute summer reads and you aren’t really big on the darker stuff, then I wouldn’t highly recommend this book.

Hush, Hush was an entertaining book, but only for the reasons that I was expecting - we have an attractive angel and a human girl who find each other extremely attractive, even though they bump heads a little bit. The kind of thing to be expected. Obviously, I like to read books of these sorts, but it’s always nice to have distinguishing features to the story that make it it’s own. Hush, Hush didn’t give that to me. It was exactly how I thought it would go. Dark, scary angel meets nice, goody-goody girl, and despite their incredible personality differences, they fall in love, and THEN it’s super complicated because he’s an angel, and she isn’t.

Something that was definitely different and unexpected was that Patch didn’t even try to hide his un-humanity. As I am sure anybody who reads books such as these, it generally starts out with the human/normal one noticing that there is something off about the not normal one (in this case, our angel) but chalking it up to their own minds, but they ‘just can’t shake that feeling.’ But it didn’t seem like Patch was all that into hiding his identity at all. He would deny that anything was different about him, but he’d say things that just were not normal. And then he would talk to her mind and then say she was crazy, he was completely normal? Um, hate to break it to you Patch, but...kind of a dead giveaway there.

The other thing that I didn’t like about Patch was that he was so plastic. He had that tough exterior, and I kept reading because I really wanted to see what he was like underneath his shell. But no. He was just a ken doll. Yes, he’s attractive and awesome, but I wanted more from his character. It was like he had no vulnerabilities whatsoever, and I like vulnerabilities. A lot. How am I supposed to relate to this guy if all he is is reserved and...an angel? Not a lot to go off of there. I JUST WANTED HIM TO FEEL SOMETHING.

I did like the idea of the plot, but I wish more would have been put into it - Nora went through a lot in the book, but she was always okay and only mildly affected. The climax was exciting, but for the most part, predictable.

In general consensus, this book did keep me hooked and reading, and despite all of my problems with it, I did enjoy reading it.

Oh, did I forget to tell you? There’s rumors that this book is going to be a movie! According to a few articles, it’s in the making, but only in the screenplay stages so it still might not fall through. So let’s just remember that it’s a RUMOR. :)

The Mortal Instruments - TV show and New Covers!

I'm sure that quite a few of you have already found out about this news - but I thought I would make a post about it just for good measure :) Because I can't help it! I love The Mortal Instruments, and I just have to talk about it! So first things first, let's talk about these new covers.


Original Cover Movie Cover NEW COVER


Original Cover: I don't necessarily love it, but it catches my eye for sure. But from my sister's point of view, it is very "tacky." I think I love it because it is the original, and since I love this series I love the cover, but I am trying not to be biased...so I will say that I like it, but I don't love it.

Movie Cover: I never really like movie covers...I don't even know why, but I just don't like movie covers! I have always felt like it was a sin to put the movie cover on the book, because they are poor representations of what the book will be like. Because the books are ALWAYS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE. I want people to read it for the beauty of it's bookness and not the movie. Though I do have to admit, this cover is better than a lot of other movie covers...I might even like it if it weren't for the fact that it's a movie cover. XD

New Cover: I've spent a fair amount of time staring at this cover, and finally I have concluded that I like it. Do I love it? I don't know. But I do like the Jace on the cover (He looks finnnne) However, I don't feel that the title looks as fierce and mysterious...the lettering just looks so...simple. So if I could change one thing, I would make the font and color of the title a little more intense.

Overall, I like the original cover because it was the cover it had when I first read it, and I have a special place in my heart for it. However, I can say without a doubt that these new covers have potential. I could even say that I might like them more than the originals in the future. As for now, that is all I can say :)

I saved the best news for last...



THE NEW TV SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Right now, they are still working on casting. This is great news to me, because I didn't like the casting from the original movie... There were a few characters here and there that I wouldn't be upset to see come back, like Robert Sheehan, but for the majority I wanted to start over with a clean slate. Hopefully they do a good job with casting!

2. They start filming MAY. As in, NEXT MONTH.

3. We are guaranteed 13 episodes, whether or not it gets good reviews. If the show is a success, the show will continue. If it is losing more than it is making, we can only assume that they will stop filming.

4. We can expect to see the first episode early 2016 - as early as January! The title? The Mortal Cup. For more information, go ahead and check out this link - http://www.mtv.com/news/2135165/mortal-instruments-pilot-title-date/

5. WE HAVE OUR ACTOR FOR JACE!!! Dominic Sherwood. Maybe some of you recognize him as Christian from the Vampire Academy movie.

THAT'S HIM!!!!!!!! 
HE'S BEAUTIFUL.
I very much approve of this decision. Point one for the TV show.

Tell me what you think about these new updates in the comments! I would love to hear your opinions! As for now, good bye, and happy reading!

ELEANOR AND PARK REVIEW

Summary:

Two misfits.

One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

My Review:

This has been one of the greatest books that I have read this year! I heard from a lot of people that it was a good book, but I honestly was just expecting the usual deal - attractive boy meets attractive girl, and they start a romance. I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff, but it’s always refreshing when I get something different but just as good - if not better. This is exactly what I got out of Eleanor and Park.

Basically, it starts with Park seeing Eleanor for the first time when she walks onto his bus and has nowhere to sit. He takes pity on her and invites her to sit with him on the bus, but makes his first impression by swearing at her and doesn't talk to her for the first couple of weeks that they sit together on the bus. Obviously, it wasn't the greatest first impression to make - and Eleanor wasn't making the best first impressions either, considering that the first words that everybody used to describe Eleanor when they first saw her was that she is “bigger” and “awkward.” Immediately I knew this wasn't going to be a regular romance. And it only gets better as you start to delve into their everyday lives. You see that there’s a lot more to them than just the outside look of both of them - especially with Eleanor.

Eleanor has a hard home life. It made me tear up about every time I had to read about her - it just broke my heart and opened my eyes so much. I realized, maybe deeper than I ever had before, that there are real people out there with situations like hers. And I think that it’s important to remember that people are more than just what they look like. Eleanor wore men’s clothes and did weird things with her hair, never wore makeup, and didn't act like a normal girl in really any way. But she didn’t have a choice in the matter, considering she couldn't afford better clothes, let alone makeup.

As for Park, he had the biggest heart. I haven’t read about such a kindhearted character in a long time, and it makes me want to be better myself, because Park was so sweet and thoughtful. I feel like serving everybody within a five mile radius right now!

As you all have probably already figured out, I’m a very character driven reader, so these two really made the book for me. But aside from characters, the writing was beautiful and real, as well as eye-opening. I feel like this book has changed me - and that is the best sort of feeling that you can take away from a book.

So should you read this book?

Two words: Heck. Yes.

My Rating:

IGNITE ME REVIEW

Cover rating: 5 stars ;) But seriously look at how pretty.

Summary: With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.

My Review: In the first book of this series, Shatter Me, I really didn't like Juliette. She was always crying and whining, and couldn't take care of herself. In Unravel Me, she was finally starting to realize that she needed to stand up and fight, and learn to finally except herself. And in Ignite Me, she finally comes to.

All of a sudden, I respected, even liked, Juliette. She finally accepted that she was who she was and figured that she would make the best of her abilities and use her powers for the good. She took hold of her mind and powers, and I loved her for it. Juliet, along with many other characters, became more real to me in Ignite Me. I’m one of those readers that places a lot of value on characterization, (like, A LOT of value) so I was really happy how real these characters became for me.

But let us discuss something equally important - the romance.

I enjoyed the romance in this story, but I personally believe that it could have been better. I felt like there was only one option for me to take because the author decides to make one of them incredibly undesirable. Aside from this, I liked how the romance was written. There was a lot of tension, and no instalove, which I always appreciate.

The only other problem is that that it took two books for this series to get really good. Right when I start to enjoy this series, it ends, and I didn't think it ended in a very good way either. The whole book was building up to one big moment, and I didn't feel that moment was big enough for me. It was reminiscent of Blood of Olympus, which spent hundreds of pages leading up to a five page battle scene.

My Overall Rating:

Songs that remind me of Ignite Me: The Man by Ed Sheeran (for Adam) - I know that this song is very specific, so some of the parts don’t work, but the general idea does. And a song that kind of reminded me of Warner is Comatose by Skillet.

Who I recommend this series to: I recommend this series to people who enjoy books such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Legend, as long as they are big readers. If you are willing to read past a not so good first book to reach bluer skies, read the series! If you don't want to push through that first book, then I wouldn't push you to read this series. However, my editor wanted me to tell you that the first book was, quote, “Fantabulous” so as always, there are differing opinions. :)

UNRAVEL ME REVIEW

Summary

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tick

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it's almost

time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

My Review

Guess what? I liked this book.

I still shock myself by saying that.

I. Liked. This. Book.

And I think I have finally put my finger on the general reason that I liked this book so much more than I liked Shatter Me. There was a lot more action, therefore more dialogue, which then led to less time for Juliette to...think.

That sounds harsh, but what really bothered me about the first book was that the author had a strange way of putting Juliette’s thoughts onto paper, and I didn’t really like the way that she was going about it. (If you didn’t read my Shatter Me Review, go ahead and read that for more details on why I did not like Shatter Me.)

Another big reason that this book was a lot better than the first was because of our good friend Kenji. Kenji, thank goodness, voiced my thoughts and told Juliette that she had to quit crying about her own problems and man (or should I say woman) up. Hallelujah! It was about time! And because of his words, Juliette actually started to turn into a character that I enjoyed to read about. She still struggled to let go of the whininess that had plagued her for years, but she was without a doubt more promising.

If it was so great, then why did you only give it 3.5 stars?

Glad you asked, wonderful reader. There is really only one answer that I can give to that - I didn’t like the love triangle.

In order to avoid spoilers, I will simply say this - it felt like the author was forcing me to take sides with one of the guys by making the other undesirable. I love love triangles, but I only like them if it is hard to pick between the two of them. What’s the fun in a love triangle when one of the boys is hot, and the other is not?

Overall Rating of Unravel Me

Song: Warrior by Beth Crowley (I know that it's a TMI song, but it works for this book so well)

SHATTER ME REVIEW

Summary of Shatter Me: (provided by Goodreads) 


I have a curse
I have a gift

I am a monster
I'm more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

I really wanted to like this book. I heard so many great things about it, and all of my book friends loved it. Not to mention, it’s Goodread's average rating was ABOVE 4 stars (by like, .4 but still.) So I was expecting a really great book.

But sadly, that didn’t happen. In the end, I had to admit to myself that I did not like this book because of one reason. I know that it seems low to only have one reason to dislike a book but this reason killed me throughout all 300-something pages. That would be the writing style. 2 main problems I had with it:

1. The whole book was filled with metaphors and similes that made absolutely NO SENSE most of the time. Don’t get me wrong - I love similes and metaphors just as much as the next guy, but only if they are good and insightful and not “Hmm...I wonder what one could compare to feeling anger?” *sees a paintbrush lying on the desk* “Oh, I guess falling from a ladder holding a red paintbrush makes sense.” No. It does not.

2. She constantly repeated words three times. Examples: his eyes were blue blue blue. I was angry angry angry. I was falling falling falling. I was about to start a tally on it with how many times she would do this. I promise I am not over emphasizing how much this happened. I’m cool when books occasionally do this to add emphasis - but it was way too overused.

The whole time I was reading this book, I felt that I was running in circles through terrible metaphors and crazy descriptions. I literally don’t know how to say it better than running in circles. The whole thing was very repetitive, and it nearly drove me mad.

If this book had been written in a more tolerable writing style, I probably would have given it around 4 stars. I liked the story for the most part, and I can’t complain about the romance too much. So if you find yourself reading this book and you’re okay with the style, yeah, read it. If that one aspect isn’t bothering you, then you probably will like it. But purely because of the writing, I have to give it 2 stars. :(

My rating:

Songs that reminded me of this book: Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings