Book Review: A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

AUTHOR: Leah Clifford
PUBLISHER: Greenwillow
PAGES: 432
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Series book 1 (A Touch Morbid, A Touch Menacing)
SOURCE: Bought on Amazon
OUTLINE: Eden didn't expect Az.
Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.
Yeah.
So long, happily-ever-after.
Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven. 
She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.

And that's only the beginning of the end.

MY THOUGHTS

(Read in 2011)
This review is from notes I had.

Going into this book I had high hopes that it was going to be awesome. Why would I do that when it might just break my heart? Have you read the synopsis? It was a different take on angels and sometimes subjects need to have a new or fresh perspective in order to keep a readers attention (or is that just my attention).

So where am I going with this and what's my point. My point is that while at first I was confused with what was happening and the mix of all the characters just kind of popping up. I thought this is going to be hard for me to follow and I'll lose interest and that is when all my excitement for the book was lost. I didn't want it to be because it had potential. I'm not a DNF, quick to give up type reader. It's really hard for me to give on a book because I feel if I start it I should give the author a chance to wow me. (I mean sometimes the best parts are at the end.) So I figured maybe it was just my mood. So I put the book down for a few days.

After coming back to the story I can say I began to like it, I didn't love it, but it's better than just hating it. As the story unfolded I began to see the characters more clearly. I don't remember being to thrilled with Eden as a character.

More to come.

Book Review: Choker by Elizabeth Woods

AUTHOR: Elizabeth Woods
PUBLISHER:Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
PAGES: 233
STAND ALONE/SERIES: Stand alone
SOURCE: bought
OUTLINE:
Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe, years ago. She eats lunch with the other girls from the track team, but they're not really her friends. Mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her, and avoiding the popular girls who call her "Choker" after a humiliating incident in the cafeteria. 

Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight. Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she has her BFF there to confide in. 

But just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect—including Ethan. Worse still, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day when she's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what, but what if she turns into a total stranger?

THOUGHTS
(The blacked out parts are spoilers)

In a YA world of witches, vamps, and weres it's nice to get the ghostly, mystery every once in awhile. I'll admit I read this book back in 2011 when it came out as a debut for this author, and I remember the end tripped me out. I guess when I look back on all the clues it makes since, but seeing as how I'm not a detective I was blinded by the story itself.

When Cara's family moved to a new place her parents thought everything would be okay, little did they know that some friends are hard to get away from.

Besides the fact that it wasn't paranormal it really didn't stick out all that much to me. The ending was probably the best part about it. The mean girls were pretty much the cliche of what  mean girls are. They laugh at people, call them names that pretty much stick with the poor soul, and  in Cara's case it was choker. After that Cara comes home to find Zoe there. I mean is it a coincidence she's shows up right after that happens. My guess probably not. I wasn't really a fan of Caras's love interest Ethan either, he was the generic love interest type. All in all I guess he fit with Cara though because she was pretty plain as well. The only character I found interesting at all was Zoe, and needless to say she was just a figment of Cara's imagination. So as much as I wanted to like the book I couldn't...just liking the ending and one character, who wasn't real...isn't going to cut it.

Waiting on Wed: Wildefire

Sorry, I haven't been chatty the past day or two. I figured I would do another WoW this week. (I'm half way through two books so the reviews will come shortly) Which is hosted by Breaking the Spine. This week I chose Wildefire by Karsten Knight.

Ashline Wilde never received an instruction manual on how to be a 16-year-old Polynesian volcano goddess. If she had, it might have contained helpful warnings such as:

• Dreaming about your (thankfully) mortal boyfriend may cause your bed to spontaneously combust
• Oven mitts should be worn at all times during heavy make-out sessions

Instead, Ash has to learn these life lessons the hard way as her dormant powers erupt at the most awkward times. In the wake of a hometown tragedy, Ash transfers to Blackwood Academy, a boarding school nestled in California’s redwoods, where a group of fellow gods-on-earth have mysteriously convened. As if sophomore year couldn’t get any worse, her storm goddess older sister, the wild and unpredictable Eve, resurfaces to haunt Ashline. With a war between the gods looming over Blackwood, Ash must master the fire smoldering within her before she clashes with her sister one final time, which leads us to life-lesson #3:

• When warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

I chose this because it sounds awesome, and the excerpt I read on Simon and Schuster was awesome. It was funny, and I adored the MC Ash (and not just because we share the same nickname) she seems like the type who won't take shit from anyone. You have to admire that in a character. The give 'em hell attitude. :) The other characters seem just as good, her older sister, Eve (who seems like a complete mess of problems) will definitely make the story interesting. It did have a few laugh out loud parts. Honestly, I kind of wanted to hit Lizzie and Rich too. If that doesn't sell you then what about the whole god and goddesses thing it's always fun to see others interpretations. :)

It comes out July 26,2011.

Can't wait!

Ashley