My Totally Awkward Supernatural Crush by Laura Toffler-Corrie

My Totally Awkward Supernatural Crush by Laura Toffler-Corrie
Series: N/A
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Format: ARC
Pages: 352
Source: Won.

In My Totally Awkward Supernatural Crush by Laura Toffler-Corrie, Jenna Bloom is just an average middle school student until her family takes her to her least favorite restaurant for her birthday, where she meets Cowpoke Luke, her waiter and one true love. Oh, and he also happens to be an angel. Jenna can't believe that Luke could actually be interested in her, and yet he is! Unfortunately he's got a demonic foe named Adam who could potentially complicate matters, and when the two boys have a big showdown at the local community theater's performance of Fiddler on the Roof, Jenna is right in the middle of it all.

 

I knew going in that this was supposed to be an over the top parody. Still knowing this it did not make reading this book any more enjoyable. I found myself rolling my eyes more than I found myself laughing. The Twilight references got old after a while and I could not read more than a few pages at a time without having to set it down and pick something else up.

I could not connect with the characters. Sure Jenna has flaws, which I generally like in characters but they were extreme. She didn't find herself attractive at all, she was shallow and kind of self centered and she cared way too much what other people thought about her. I know, she's supposed to be in middle school and all but I felt that it was even too much for that age range. And Luke, he was supposed to be perfect, but I found him really awkward and I did not get the super awesome hero vibe he was supposed to portray.

All in all there really isn't much to say about this one. It simply wasn't for me but if you do decide to give this one a chance do not go into it with high expectations. It's supposed to be a parody and nothing else but the humor was lost on me.

Bubble World by Carol Snow (ARC)

Bubble World by Carol Snow
Series: N/A
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (BYR)
Format: ARC
Pages: 352
Source: Won

Freesia’s life is perfect. She lives on the beautiful tropical island of Agalinas, surrounded by idyllic weather, fancy dress shops, and peacocks who sing her favorite song to wake her up in the morning. She has so many outfits she could wear a different one every day for a year and not run out.

Lately things on the island may have been a bit flippy: sudden blackouts, students disappearing, even Freesia’s reflection looking slightly . . . off. But in Freesia’s experience, it’s better not to think about things like that too much.

Unfortunately for her, these signs are more than random blips in the universe. In Bubble World by Carol Snow, Freesia’s perfect bubble is about to pop.

 

 This was a difficult book for me to rate. On the one hand I did enjoy it, on the other however, I wasn't wowed by it. Going in I wasn't really expecting much and I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the whole revelation about Freesia's perfect world.

We get to see quite a bit of the world Freesia is living in. With it's fancy clothes, perfect weather and extremely laidback style. Though as the book progresses it becomes clear that things aren't exactly as they seem. Things start to get weird on the island and pretty soon Freesia is exposed to the truth of Agalinas.

My one major issue with the book was the made up words. Face-linking? Couldn't they just say kissing? There's quite a few more that could have been left out or at least explained.

I wasn't a fan of Freesia. She was shallow and vain. She talked about people and was a pretty nasty person if you weren't one of her "friendlies". My favorite character had to be Ricky Leisure. He was totally laidback and just kind of chilled all day but you really get to see a whole deeper side of him as the story goes on.

This book is an extremely quick read and would be perfect for the beach. It doesn't take long to get through and is also a pretty easy read.

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason (ARC)

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason
Series: Love in the Time of Global Warming, #1
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Format: ARC
Pages: 356
Source: Won

Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you’re the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood. And when two society girls go missing, there’s no one more qualified to investigate.

Now fierce Evaline and logical Mina must resolve their rivalry, navigate the advances of not just one but three mysterious gentlemen, and solve murder with only one clue: a strange Egyptian scarab. The stakes are high. If Stoker and Holmes don’t unravel why the belles of London society are in such danger, they’ll become the next victims.

I was so excited for this book. Go on, read the description, sounds amazing right? I thought it would be too. I was extremely disappointed, maybe my hopes were just too high going into this but I just couldn't love it.

I thought following the adventures of the niece of Sherlock Holmes and the sister of Bram Stoker would be completely interesting but for the first half of the book I was extremely bored. The mystery doesn't really pick up much in the first half of the book, but we are introduced to a murder pretty quickly. The mystery, when it does begin to pick up, is very Holmes-esque and contains quite a few twists that leave you guessing.

The two main characters, I just couldn't bring myself to connect with. Mina Holmes was obnoxious and constantly looking down on people. She was the stereotypical smart girl who had pretty much no friends and a severe lack of social skills. Evaline Stoker was not much better. She was extremely boring and for a vampire hunter that was pretty sad. I just did not connect with either of these characters.

The two characters I did enjoy immensely were Pix and Officer Ambrose Grayling. Pix was a thief and he was witty and had some of the best dialogue. Officer Grayling was obnoxious, but in a way that didn't bother me. He was trying to solve the case and constantly had the two main characters interfering. He was a complete gentleman and I adored him.

The writing style really was difficult to get into. It read like a novel from the time period it's set in. I found myself having to go back and re-read paragraphs just to fully understand the language and that really interfered with my overall enjoyment.

Despite the faults that I had with this novel, I really did like the second half of the book and I will probably be reading the sequel at some point.

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block (ARC)

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block
Series: Love in the Time of Global Warming, #1
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Format: ARC
Pages: 240
Source: Won

Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything—her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy.

In her signature style, Francesca Lia Block has created a world that is beautiful in its destruction and as frightening as it is lovely. At the helm is Pen, a strong heroine who holds hope and love in her hands and refuses to be defeated.

I wanted to love this book, I truly did and based off the description I really thought I would. But when I started reading it I just knew I wasn't going to. I had to constantly stop and ask myself what just happened throughout the novel. Maybe I'm just getting pickier with books but I just couldn't get into this one.

The writing style is definitely something I have never seen before, it's unique but I found it really hard to get into. I've never read something that used The Odyssey as a guide, I never even read The Odyssey and that factor was really interesting for me. The giants were cool and their reasons for existence was interesting, but my enjoyment only went so far.

When it came to the characters I either loved them or hated them. I wasn't a fan of the heroine. I found Pen to be rather annoying. The city is dangerous but she wanted to go to a museum that her mother took her to once and was willing to risk not only her but her friends lives as well. Most of her decisions aren't very smart and I found myself not connecting with her. I loved Hex on the other hand. His story could have been developed a little more but from what is shown to us he's an extremely complex and interesting character. Ash and Ez just kind of seem to be there, I liked them but there wasn't any real connection to them since not much is really learned about either of them.

Love in the Time of Global Warming was a quick read and though I didn't enjoy this one maybe you will, it all comes down to what your looking for. If you want a deep book about the end of the world maybe you should pass this one, but if you want a quick light read that even after all of the faults I had with this seem like something you would enjoy I say go for it.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender (ARC Review)

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender
Series: N/A
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: ARC
Pages: 296
Source: Won in a Goodreads giveaway

Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She’ll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family’s French roots.

But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette.

Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won’t believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is suddenly in danger . . .

Acclaimed author Katie Alender brings heart-stopping suspense to this story of revenge, betrayal, intrigue — and one killer queen.

 

I wanted to love this book, I really did. After reading the description I had such high hopes for this one, I mean Marie Antoinette as a serial killer ghost. Awesome right? No. This book did not live up to any of the expectations that I had.

 

I'm going to start with the pro's on this one. The setting was a major plus. I love Paris and anything to do with Paris. I love that the book describes so much of the city and it's like getting to be there without actually having to leave your house. Another huge plus for me was the historical factor. I'm just going to admit it right now, I'm a history junkie. The facts about Marie Antoinette's life and the different French buildings were fantastic and really had me hooked.

 

The only other good thing about this book was Jules, and his family of course. Jules was just all around sweet and caring. He really tried to help Colette and went out of his way to do things with her. His family was so welcoming and I loved the part with Jules' family.

 

Now, while I loved Jules I hated Colette and her two best friends Hannah and Pilar. Hannah was controlling and shallow and just all around mean while Pilar had absolutely no backbone. Colette was just as shallow and only really cared about something if it concerned her. How is anybody supposed to like someone like that? I felt absolutely no connection with her.

 

The biggest disappointment for me has to be the ghost of Marie Antoinette. While the murders were pretty good, I felt like the ghost was kind of flat. The story behind why the murder's were happening was pretty easy to figure out and the mystery wasn't very mysterious at all.

 

I'd really recommend this to you if you aren't in it for the creep factor because to be honest there really wasn't any.

 

 

 I won this book through the Goodreads First  Reads Program. This has not influenced this review and all opinions expressed are my own.