Grave Mercy

Author:  Robin LaFevers

Title:Gravy Mercy

Publication: April 3, 2012

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Romance 

Pages: 560

Audience: 15 and up

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Source: Public Library

 Goodreads Synopsis:Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart

My thoughts:
I'm not really into  historical romance novels, but this young adult novel takes it up a notch. There is death, poison, lies, and betrayal behind every page.
 Ismae is a really strong willed character and I loved her for it because historically, women we to be looked at- not heard. Even though she is strong willed and intelligent, she was a bit too full of herself on occasion and there were times I wished that she would just get over herself. Having said that, I understand she was a guarding herself, being an assassin and all.
 Duval is another character I loved. He pushed all of Ismae's buttons. When she would push him, he would push her back (not literally). He was also intelligent and very observant, not to mention- sexy!

I wish there had been more about the covenant and I wish it had more darkness too it. I feel like it rushed the beginning, the middle lagged a bit, and the last 200 pages had me  on edge to find out who did it.

I've been talking with Cricket and the next book is due out this spring. We think the next book may be darker as it is to follow Sybella's story, which I am dying to know more about! She was a mysterious character who was not fully explained in the first book.  I enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next one in the series!

The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot

Author: Meg Cabot

Title: The Boy Next Door
Publication: October 8th 2002
Publisher: Avon Books
Source: Purchased
Genre: Adult Fiction
Rating: 5 out 5

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Amazon | BN

Synopsis: To: You (you)

From: Human Resources (human.resources@thenyjournal.com)
Subject: This Book

Dear Reader,

This is an automated message from the Human Resources Division of the New York Journal, New York City’s leading photo-newspaper. Please be aware that according to our records you have not yet read this book. What exactly are you waiting for? This book has it all:

• Humor
• Romance
• Cooking tips
• Great Danes
• Heroine in peril
• Dolphin-shaped driftwood sculptures

If you wish to read about any of the above, please do not hesitate to head to the checkout counter, where you will be paired with a sales associate who will work to help you buy this book.

We here at the New York Journal are a team. We win as a team, and lose as one as well. Don’t you want to be on the winning team?

Sincerely,
Human Resources Division
New York Journal

Please note that failure to read this book may result in suspension or dismissal from this store.

*********This e-mail is confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the original intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage mechanism.*********

Thoughts: What the heck did you read in the summary? It's not your average paragraph. That's because The Boy Next Door is all written in emails. That's an example of an email that is given to a character. The format is also email based. On top there's a "to", "from", "subject", and body so it looks like a legit email. In order to know who's talking you have to look at the "from" line. It's hard to get used to at first, but once you get the hang of it the book is really fun to read!

This book starts off with Mel who is a reporter for the New York Journal. She has a lovely older lady next door to her apartment, but one day her grandson -- Max -- came to visit and she "fell down" into a comma. Max, to put it bluntly, is an ass hole. He's self centered and a player who photographs naked women as a job. He freaks out and calls his friend John and asks him to take his place. John agrees and takes the identity of Max. Shortly after he moved in meets Mel and finds her very attractive, funny, witty, and all around a good person. John works for the New York Chronicle which is the rival journalist company to Mels. The challenge is to keep his identity is safe, but it gets harder when his family gets involved. All of this is sent via emails. They talk about their day and what they think about people to their friends and family so that's how you understand the plot.

This book made me laugh multiple times; Megs humor never fails to amuse me. Mel is a smart woman who doesn't care for romance in her life but get's it anyway. Same with John, he doesn't think about love until he meets Mel. All of the secondary characters (like Max, Mels best friend, all of her co-workers) play a huge part in the plot. It's not just John and Mel creating emails to each other, sometimes the secondary characters have an email chain of their own. The Boy Next Door is very clever, and I provided two examples email below... sorry it gets cut off. You can fill in the blanks pretty easily. This is an example of her humor, It's a conversation between John and his brother Jason. On the side of the first example you can see a snippet of Max and Johns conversation. It gets complex sometimes, but again you'll get used to it.

It's My Birthday Giveaway!

Yep, it's my 23rd birthday today and I would like to giveaway some books as a gift to you... even though technically you should give them to me. Tomato tomahto, potato patahto. I have a list of books below that I would like to give away. There will be two winners and they will get to pick ONE book from the list below. Good luck! -- USA/CAN only please!!

 Goodreads Summary

 Goodreads Summary

 Goodreads Summary

 Goodreads Summary

 Goodreads Summary

Goodreads Summary

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Matched by Ally Condie

Author: Ally Condie

Title: Matched
Publication: September 11th, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 4 out 5

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Thoughts:  Matched is about 16 year old Cassia needing to make a dire choice. Does she want to live in her world -- safe and sound -- forever, or take a chance at her true love and break all the rules. The problem with breaking rules are the horrible consequences. Exile, taking memorable posessions away, swiping minds clean... there's no stopping the government from taking control. Everything starts out great. Cassia is about to find out who her one true love is, and when the image is on screen Ky (a quiet boy she doesn't really know) pops up, then the screen goes blank. Once the computer turns back on, her best friend Xanders face replaces Kys. She has a feeling (a correct one) that this isn't the government -- also known as the "society" -- messing up because the government NEVER make flaws. Cassia has to dig deep down and find her true feelings. Is everything really what it seems? Can Ky or Xander give her the answers she seeks?


This plot is amazing! The main character has grown up to be naive and relient on the Society. Reading how her views change through out the book was interesting... it makes you want to learn more. I really don't like characters that makes stupid decisions and don't learn from them, and Cassia is a prime example of it. BUT, it's understandable. She literally doesn't know any better, and I would make the same mistakes in her situation. It's confusing when you think everything is happy and controled, then realize controling isn't the best way to live, so I forgive her actions. In a way she does learn from them. Well, kind of. The whole book she's scared to think differently and takes her a while to come out of her bubble (hence, she's in a green bubble on the cover).


I take one star away because of how terrible the writing is. It's very childlike and hard to get used to. An example of one of her paragraphs: I said yes. He shook his head. I didn't know why. Then he looked at me. I looked back. We looked at each other. -- That's not a quote from the book, but it's very close. There are. So many. Periods that aren't. Necessary. And the grammer. Is very. Childlike.

It was hard to get used to and I had to ignore the sentence structures after a while. It just doesn't deserve to be taken half a star away, it's that bad. I looked her up and the interwebz said she's an english teacher which worries me. I don't have great grammar and spelling and am totally owning up to it. I probably put commas that aren't necessary and forgot apostrophes multiple times through out this review, but you know what? I'm not a published author, I'm a reviewer. Millions of people are not reading this review.

If you forget about the horrible writing, I say go for it! The books plot really sucks you in, and I can't wait to start the third. It's a trilogy so the first book leaves you in a cliffhanger.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Title: Twilight

Publication: October 5th, 2005

Publisher: Little, Brown and Co

Genre: Young Adult

Rating: 3 out 5

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Amazon | BN

Synopsis: Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger.Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

Thoughts: Yes, I’m going to be the person to review Twilight. I read this book when it first came out in 2005. I was 15 years old and hated books. My friend recommended it to me, so I thought “meh, why not?” After reading I was hooked, everything was about Twilight. I tried to get my friends to read it, I couldn’t wait for the next book to come out, yadda yadda yadda.

I just picked up the book last week to re-read it and my view altered. I thought to myself “what changed? I loved this book!” Bella is whiney while Edward is conflicted and it goes on for more than half the book. The reason why most adults don’t like Twilight is because of the target audience. It still baffles me how I can change from loving a book to not want it in my hands again. Then again, I did re-read the fourth book and liked it. So let’s not get too hasty. I also saw every Twilight movie on its midnight release. Hey, it was a tween favorite of mine. *Shrugs*

The reason why I’m writing this review is to be on both sides. Twilight is a good read for girls that are into drama and conflicted love, and women who like to kill time. No, it doesn’t have the best writing. No, it doesn’t have strong characters. Yes, some of Bellas actions are extremely confusing. Yes, the vampires sparkle. This being said: if you’re iffy about reading the book, I think you should watch the movie first because it goes by the plot line. If you like what you saw then read it.

This review is all opinion based so if you disagree with what I’m saying write a comment rebutting your answer. I’d like to hear your side. What appeals Twilight to adults and children? What doesn’t?