Category: YA

YA

Review: Haven by Kristi Cook

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Haven #1

haven -kristi cookViolet McKenna thought she was crazy when she had a vivid vision of her dad’s murder—but when her premonition came true, her life fell apart. Then she found a new school: Winterhaven. There, Violet fits right in. All the students have special “gifts” like her own, and she quickly finds a close group of friends. But Violet’s attraction to an alluring boy becomes problematic when intense visions of his death start to haunt her. In her premonitions, the secret he is unwilling to share begins to reveal itself—and the unbelievable becomes reality. To Violet’s horror, she learns that their destinies are intertwined in a crictical—and deadly—way.

3 Drink Me Potions

Warning: This review contains spoilers….’cause honestly, how am I supposed to rant about something major in this book without giving it away? (but really, it’s so predictable, I swear you’d guess it even before the answer comes out)

Okay, let me paint the scenario of this book for you. See if it starts to sound familiar in any way.

A girl moves to a new town/city. She goes to a new school, hoping to find friends and maybe fit in. She’s nothing extraordinary in the looks department. Yet, on the very first day of school, apparently the hottest guy makes eye contact with her and a connection seems to have formed. But, according to some of her new girl friends, this guy normally sticks to himself and never hangs with many people, especially girls.

Is this starting to sound a little familiar? Hmm?

He’s described to move quite fast, there one second next to her and gone the next moment she looks up. He’s quite pale, and hey, he’s a little cold to the touch. All women seem to be affected by his presence (dubbed the Aidan effect). Oh, and the fascinating part? He gives her the hot-and-cold treatment. One day he seems all into her, and the next, he’s off somewhere doing something and cancelling their plans. Later, he keeps trying to explain that he’s doing it for her own protection and that he has some BIG secret he can’t share without scaring her away. (Dun dun dun dun. He’s a vampire. No, seriously.)

Okay. I think I had enough. Who’s ready to guess that the above summary….totally sounded like the beginnings of Twilight? I know it’s hard to be original these days when tons of vampire books exist out there, but SERIOUSLY. Twilight was amazing, back in 2006…but now it’s rather overrated. The similarities were a little disconcerting. At least Aidan didn’t sparkle….or does he?

Thankfully, that’s mostly where the similarities stop. ‘Cause this girl ain’t Bella Swan. Violet can fight on her own (fencing champ, which is pretty cool), and definitely isn’t some damsel in distress in need of saving by her vampire boyfriend *cough*Bella*cough*.

Winterhaven was a rather cool setting. Some prestigious boarding school that has its own cafe, theatre, quad and tons of buildings. Kind of like a mini university, except for high school kids. Man, wish I went to a boarding school like that. Anyway, everyone here has “powers”–wait, I mean gifts (’cause it’s against the rules in this school to call them “powers”). Violet’s always had visions of things, normally terrible things, that were to happen in the future. Here, her friends don’t think she’s a freak, ’cause hey, they can telekinetically move things or even astral project themselves places. Come on, those are way freakier-tastic than collapsing in seizure-like fits when the visions come.

Violet’s friends were cool, each different in their own way with their gifts. However, the attention in the book was obviously not on them, so at the end of the day, even though they can be differentiated based on what they can do, I was never drawn to each individual based on who they are. They’re all nice, they all care about Violet and they’re dubious of any impending danger. I could as easily replace one girl’s name with another and it would make nearly no difference.

And that leads me to the romance. And Aidan? I wasn’t feeling the chemistry very well with him and Violet. Sure, they were described to have some connection that linked them, and the hyperawareness of each other, but still. It was too…instant. What does he see in her? What does she see in him, besides that all-female attraction to him? So when they say they “love” each other, I was totally uncertain as to how that attraction even grew to such heights. Look, this undeniable attraction was kinda cool…back in 2006 as I mentioned before. It was a little harder to stomach this time around. So that made me enjoy Haven a little less than if I had actually cared much for Aidan.

The one thing I will say was pretty cool was trying to be scientific with vampirism. The science of it, being a science nerd myself, was rather fascinating and was compared to a parasitic infection like malaria. I think that was definitely something no other vampire novels have tried out, and for that, I’m rather intrigued to see if Aidan can indeed find a cure for his “disease”.

Overall Recommendation:
Honestly, Haven held way too many similarities to Twilight in the first large section of the book, which may have made me a little antagonistic with the whole Aidan-Violet romance. It was way too fast and based off of some crazy attraction between the two that made it seem less real and not as romantic as it sounds. This may have been cool with Twilight back in 2006, but it got old real fast.
With likeable enough characters and Violet being capable of holding her own when need be, Haven wasn’t all terrible. Set in an enchanting prestigious school where everyone has their own psychic gifts, it was intriguing to see all kinds of people working together and as friends. Lots of secrets abound and it’s up to Violet to figure them out before danger hits too close to her. So hey, besides the similarities, Haven can still hold its own in a rather large genre of vampire books.

YA

Review: Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

magnolia -kristi cookIn Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

4 Drink Me Potions

Magnolia was an impulse read. And I’m definitely glad that I did.

From the looks of it, it could just be some simple story of two people who grew up not wanting to be together at all. Honestly? That statement would be just touching the surface.

Jemma wasn’t a bad protagonist, but she wasn’t outstanding in any way. However, her loyalty to family and her quick wit in dealing with a storm was admirable. Ryder was also someone I couldn’t quite decide on at first. Maybe it was because Jemma held such a bias towards him and it was hard to judge his character through her lenses.

I absolutely loved the feeling of the old South that touched this book so heavily. I’ve never been down there but I would like to imagine that it would feel something like the way this book made me feel. As the author was a native to the area, I can only assume that it would be quite accurate. The setting made it an even more enjoyable experience as not a lot of books in YA literature picks such a rural location, and does it justice.

The attraction and romance was made more delicious with the huge storm that trapped Ryder and Jemma together for the first time in ages. Just think about it. The two of them huddled in some storm cellar, which by the way isn’t all that large, enclosed in darkness as loud winds and roaring rain comes down from above. Sounds kind of cozy, like the two of them are in their own world where they are each others’ haven. There was even one amazingly steamy scene that was totally swoon-worthy…if you’re into that.

Anyway, Magnolia has proved to me that beautiful stories could be made from the tiniest of moments. Action and heavily packed plots don’t have to be necessary components that make up a tale of two people falling for each other.

And by the way, that ending was kind of genius. Just saying. For a flipped inside out Romeo-Juliet-esque type of story, that was one smart move to make. Kind of makes me wish there was a second book to see how the two fare once they hit college.

Overall Recommendation:
Set in the beautiful Old South, Magnolia is a surprising story from a not as well known author in YA literature. Steeped with a simmering attraction underlying the two protagonists’ animosity towards each other, it was a fun journey to see how a storm and a little together-time allowed them to see that the boundaries between love and hate may be quite thin. Both are rather strong emotions, after all, right? A definite recommendation. It was hard to put down, and sleep was worth the sacrifice to finish.

YA

Review: Catalyst by Lydia Kang

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Control #2

catalyst -lydia kangFor fans of Uglies and The Maze Runner comes a complex, thrill-filled love story that will make you question exactly what it means to be human

In the past year Zel lost her father, the boy she loves, her safety, and any future she might have imagined for herself. Now she, her sister, and the band of genetic outcasts they’ve come to call their family are forced on the run when their safe house is attacked by men with neural guns. But on the way to a rumored haven in Chicago, Zel hears something–a whisper from Cy, the boy who traded himself for her sister’s safety. And when she veers off plan in order to search for him, what she finds is not what she expected. There’s more to their genetic mutations than they ever imagined…aspects that make them wonder if they might be accepted by the outside world after all.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I was quite a bit disappointed with Catalyst. I loved Control so much that it physically hurt to see my expectations fall by such a wide margin.

To be fair, Lydia Kang is still just as amazing with her integration of science in her writing. I loved how Zel’s mind works, and in this next and final installment, many obstacles are thrown in her path which really developed her into a better character and person. From having to act as fugitives in their country to fighting off a new Aureus-like House, it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything happening with Zel and her friends.

The disappointment first stems off with Cy. After that conclusion in Control, let me just say that I totally hadn’t expected so much distance with him. Oh, and with another girl too thrown into the picture. Don’t worry, it’s not what you think (not a love triangle), but there’s definitely a wedge in their relationship after the year long separation and Cy seems fond of this girl. Yeah, he eventually lets Zel in after realizing he couldn’t “protect her from worrying about him”. I would just like to tell him that he’s an idiot and should’ve realized that Zel would worry twice as much from the added distance. Boys. They can be so naive.

And yes, there’s things to worry as Cy is displaying Ana-like traits. Freaky! Or not, ’cause it’s cool to receive air kisses and hear his voice in your head, whispering sweet nothings (or poetry). Unfortunately, it’s not as romantic as it sounds as the story never really goes into depth on their relationship, just somehow sliding back into place over time. I swear, it never even explains what happened that brought Cy and…the girl so close. Granted, I skimmed through a lot of this book (I was too saddened by my expectations slowly crumbling to read as slow as normal) so there may have been a few things I missed, but Catalyst is definitely not heavy in the romance department, unlike Control.

I will say that I loved the usual family dynamics with the rest of the Carus House members, and even seeing some redemption in former Aureus members. This story may not be considered a romance, but at least it stayed true to other themes like character development and learning to survive in a world that deems you illegal.

The ending was solid, in my opinion. Whatever problems I had with Catalyst, I think Kang did a wonderful job in choosing her conclusion. It was realistic and not some magical happy ending (it’s not sad, either, so don’t worry), but it held promises left up to the imagination of what may happen next to our favourite group of genetically manipulated friends. Not everything is answered. In fact, maybe there were more questions that popped up, but as Zelia even mentioned in the epilogue, some things may never been understood but you can choose to be happy or remain disatisfied with the unknown.

I love Lydia Kang’s writing and the science. So maybe this was just my own disappointment leaking into a biased view. Either way, Catalyst was unexpectedly surprising and still worth at least a primary read.

Overall Recommendation:
Control was by far my favourite sci-fi book that actually integrated accurate modern science into it. So with such high expectations come a downfall with Catalyst. Not so much a romance as Cy and Zel’s reunion was definitely NOT quite a happy one, the story still presented with action as the Carus House members are separated and chased by the society they live in. Zelia really grows in this story, finding in herself to take charge while all the same, remaining compassionate and forgiving to people even I would reconsider forgiving (and I like to think that I’m a rather nice person…). With that being said, don’t take my low rating as “it’s terrible”. It just wasn’t for me, but it may be a decent read for you.