Love at First Write

"The darkest minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces."So, finally walls have been built on the US borders against Canada and Mexico, but it's to keep the American people in. NOT to keep other countries out. Only kids between the ages of 8-14 have been susceptible to a plague. It's not about all of the kids dying though, it's about the survivors. They came out with special abilities ranked Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Red (in that order). The kids have been rounded up by the government and were put into 'rehabilitation' camps so that the kids can 'one day be brought back to society' basically a bunch of BS told by the president. The kids are treated like slaves, aren't allowed to talk or use their abilities, and work at gun point. Our main character, Ruby, has done some pretty terrible stuff, and I love how everything is explained to the reader through events. The entire book was entertaining and didn't slow down. I loved every moment, from her escape to every other thing that I won't mention for sake of not spoiling haha. I loved the characters so much I just wanted to be part of the book and have a group hug

*This review can also be found at my blog Love at First Write

A copy of this book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

The book was really interesting with the HTML code and just the way it was written before even getting into the plot. The modern take made it an easy read and really enjoyable. I honestly think it's a great young adult book, taking a classic and putting your own twist on it. The book was short and to the point, while still having all the details necessary without making the book boring.

I should probably point out that, as of now, I haven't actually read the Great Gatsby, so I have no comparison. Without that bias, I thought it was a great book. Charlie Middle is Maisy's cousin and he's from the Midwest. He moves out to Silicon Valley (Maisey'e house) for his internship when some crazy stuff goes down. Maisy is married some super old, super rich guy named Reed Graft because her father told her to, even though she loves Joss... Even though she only talked to Joss on the Internet for 6 weeks... It switches back and forth between the present and the past, to kind of show that Joss is still stuck in his past with Maisey (at least thats how I interpreted it?) The initial switch was a bit confusing because it wasn't exactly obvious, just all of a sudden it was Joss's perspective, but it was a quick adjustment. Anyway, Joss has the beginnings of a program called Remake that could very well change the social network world and is set on finishing it to become rich to be with Maisy. He calls up his hacker friends to help him out and do their best to make the program super hard for others to hack. Maisy's dad won't have it though and will do everything in his power to keep Maisy with Reed.

He buys a huge mansion near Maisy and while he finally gets to see her again, he's not himself. Somewhere on his journey to that moment, he's become a different person, and by the time he realizes it and becomes his old self, it's too late! As far as I know it doesn't really follow the Great Gatsby plot so there are quirks that should make it fun for anybody to read :D
It wasn't the BEST book in the world, but I thought it was a great start and after I picked it up I found it hard to put back down :)

A copy of this book was given to me by the author to read for an honest review.

 

Janus is your typically teen going through High School, aside from the fact that her father walked out on her and her mother and Janus doesn't know why, her mom is now in a wheel chair, their shop is close to shutting down, and to top it all off Janus is an unappreciated computer genius. No exactly typical.

 

So, Janus and her mom run 'Assured Destruction' where they assure the destruction of hard drives for people. Except, not all of them meet the mouth of Chop-chop. Janus has a place called The Shadownet. She goes through hard drives and pieces together a persona from the information on it. She then puts these people on the Internet. They're like a family to her, their infractions are each a different part of her. JanusFlyTrap, Gumps, Heekleena, Frannie, and the new recruit Paradise57. Things were great, her biggest problem was Chippy the computer science teacher who she had a mutual dislike for. That all changed when the hacker attacked. Her Online refuge is getting destroyed piece by piece, and she is getting pushed into a world of reality and relationships with real people.

 

Not only is this way more serious than she ever imagined, her mother is also starting to date a new guy named Peter and now that she notices, Janus is having some boy trouble of her own.

 

I love the tension between Janus and her mother throughout the book. It completely realistic and reminds me of an over-the-top exaggeration on my own relationship with my mom (we don't agree on things very often). The way technology is incorporated into the story was great. I mean, I wasn't expecting much (the whole e-book thing is still skeptical to me haha) but this book actually blew me away. I genuinely loved the modern writingI style and how the book didn't end in a 'happily ever after' sort of way, but it was still satisfying. I totally wasn't expecting the plot twists, I ended up feeling emotions for the characters instead of just 'reading from the sidelines' and I couldn't help but root for Jonny's success as far as relationships go hehe. There WAS a bit of a love triangle, but the fact that the book wasn't revolved around it at all was awesome. I thought is was really cool that Jonny spray paints and is artistic, while the book also brought up real world issues about the modern high the world such as bullying on social media, how easily pictures spread, hackers, identity theft, child pornography etc. it was really quite interesting. The book is told in a very new generation social media sort of fun lingo with the occasion tweets from her different selves. It was really enjoyable to read :D

Thanks so much for the copy Nathan! I'm going to get started on this book next week, really looking forward to it :D

I am seriously considering making a shelf for 'characters-I-wish-I-could-kill' Soooo Frankenstein is such a jerk! This book would've gotten 1 star if there weren't those couple of chapters from the creatures perspective. The beginning doesn't add anything to the story and the letters are pretty pointless. Vic leads an ideal life whoop-de-do, BORING. Then he see lightning strike a tree *gasp* like THAT'S never happened before... So Vic now know how to create life! But reanimating a dead body, that's just TOO simple isn't it? Let's take hundreds of different body parts and just put them together into one huge 8 foot tall person, isn't that just the best idea you've ever heard? And hey, how about the second it opens it's eyes we just leave this 8 foot baby on it's own and never come back? Cause THAT makes total sense and is definitely responsible of you. When you eventually run into it and it requests a companion at the cost of letting all if your friends and family live, let's just say 'F U MAN I don't need to listen to you' and just let him kill your little brother, let Justine die for being convicted of your brother's murder, let Elizabeth die on your wedding night, let him strangle your BFF, AND let your father die. All of Vic's misery is no where NEAR the misery that the creature feels, and all of Vic's misery was his own fault! Man, I just wanted Victor to die throughout the whole book. It really makes you pity the poor monster. He was abandoned by society and forced to not be his benevolent, true self.

***** This Review can also be found on my blog Love at First Write Finale (Hush, Hush #4)by Becca FitzpatrickPublication Date: October 23, 2012Publisher: Simon & SchusterRating: 5/5Refresher (WARNING contains Books 1-3 SPOILERS!!!)So as you all know (or SHOULD since this is a review of the fourth and final book) is that it’s about Nora Grey. She’s part Nephilim, which means she is the daughter of a Nephilim and a human, which means she’s the grandkid of a human and a fallen angel. Fallen Angels take control over Nephilim bodies during the month known as Cheshvan. So the two hate each other forever and ever. If a fallen angel kills a female descendent of their Nephilim host, the immortal host will die and the fallen angel will become human.Nora is smitten with Patch (Jev) who is a fallen angel, saves her life in book one, and becomes her guardian angel. Gets involved with Nora’s mortal nemesis Marcie in book2 while the mysterious Black Hand threatens Nora’s life, and the issue of Nora’s father’s murderer. Nora also encounters childhood friend ‘scotty the hotty’ (Scott) who turns out to be nephilim. Book 2 ends, Rixon is the murderer and also tries to kill Nora, Patch and Nora are back together, Vee the bff is witty as usual, and dunDunDUN Marcie’s dad is Nora’s biological father. Book 3 has Nora losing her memories and restarting her relationship with Jev (frickin’ adorable) and she spends the book recovering from being kidnapped by Hank! So end of book three was pretty intense and leaves the reader wondering what Nora will do now that she’s head of Hank’s Nephilim army! An Army that’s set on destroying their captors, destroying the fallen angels- destroying Patch.My Thoughts: Let me just say that Scott was perfect. I loved him throughout this series, though I was TOTALLY rooting for Patch as far as being with Nora goes. Books 2 and 3 were nowhere near as good as 1 and 4 (as far as I’m concerned) and this last book made getting through 2&3 worth it for me. Throughout the series Nora hasn’t been very smart. Book smart, maybe, but not street/boy smart. This book was no exception. She knew that devilscraft was bad for her, but the way it heightened her abilities and made her almost as strong as a normal Nephilim got her addicted to the stuff. DUMB. She’s also still really paranoid about losing Patch to another girl. Seriously?!?!?! After all you two have been through, you can’t trust him by now??!!?!!!???!? However, this book made reading the whole series worth it! Oh my god! There are always these unexpected plot twists and betrayals from the people I least expect (such as Rixon in book 2). The second Vee said she had a secret it was pretty obvious what it was, but at the same time I didn’t want it to be true. With everything going on it should’ve been apparent much sooner, and Nora’s heightened abilities in book 4 would’ve picked up on it. Her secret just seemed forced and didn’t seem to fit in with the book. Another thing I didn’t like is that Vee is normally a witty, loud-mouthed, strong-willed girl. And after Rixon, she swore off boys, but the second Vee sees this one guy she falls head over heels for him! I mean, they DO make an adorable couple and I totally shipped them, but still……I honestly thought Marcie wasn't going to be the important in this book.... She’s annoying, self-centered, and honestly really bitchy. She wants to know who her father’s murderer is (that would be Nora) and decides to move- in with Nora and Nora’s mom! Geez, Mrs. Grey is too much of a push-over. So Marcie lives with Nora, gets some sister bonding and investigating done, and Marcie screws up so important plans…. Let’s just say that boy was I wrong about her being unimportant.Nora shapes up and gained my respect towards the end, but the end was still heart-breaking ;( And Detective Basso's real identity? Geeez I didn't even THINK to consider something was up with him. Vee was sassy and hilariously witty throughout as usual :D Patch was frickin' sexy as HELL, thank god for that. Scott is still my favorite

I just looooved this book! It's set in a future North America where the West is the Republic of America and what's left of the East are the Colonies of America. Antarctica melted and they lost a lot of land due to rising seas. Africa an Antarctica are now the best parts if the world to live in and are the most technology advanced. The Republic of America and the Colonies are at war (originally due to a fight over needed land, but no one remembers the cause anymore). June is the Republic's Prodigy. She is the only person to ever score a 1500/1500 on the tests kids are forced to take at age 10. These tests assign kids a rank in society. June is going to a top military school to eventually become a top military officer for the Republic. On the other side of the spectrum, there is Day. He's the Republic's rebel. Everyone knows about him all across the country, even though he's never left his hometown of Los Angeles. Some coincidence forces these two unlikely friends into each others lives and omg it's just amazing

This manga I SOOO weird, but I can't help but keep reading it >.< the main character is 6 years older than her step brother (who's only in 6th grade!) and they're sexual with each other... Not a socially acceptable concept in my opinion, but at the same time I can't set it down

Chocolate Cosmos are flowers that mean 'the end of love' and the teacher (Hagi-kun) has dated a student in the past! dun Dun DUUUUN! And now this new 3rd year girl has joined their club and things are getting intense. What's their history together?? I can't till i read volume 4 to find out :) I also LOVE the artwork in this manga, so cute!

So Basically, Chocolate Cosmos (which are brown flowers that smell like chocolate) is about a girl who goes to the beach over summer break and meets this really cute guy. He was selling chocolate bananas and smelled like chocolate. They realize that they go to school together and she thinks it is fate. Then when they get back from break- she realizes that he is a TEACHER- one of HER teachers- and isn't interested in a relationship. Or is he? This manga is really cute, they made a culinary baseball interest group just because they liked a manga about baseball and because the hot teacher is a good chef haha.

So, in Boyfriend Hijiki is a second year student who just transferred schools. For some reason she wasn't able to go to school much over the years (hopefully that will be explained soon) and all the kids at her old school bullied her because of her absences. At this new school Hourai, a genius who is going to be a doctor one day, sort of takes her under his wing and helps her study so that she doesn't fail school now. She loves Hourai, but Hourai loves another girl who his BROTHER stole from him. Hourai is in love with his brother's girlfriend >.< So then Hourai applies to the medical school his family wants him to do to and where the girl he loves is a student, which means he'd leave Hijiki! the ultimatum was QUITE interesting. The whole manga is just absolutely adorable. Sooooo Cute, I love it haha

HouraiHijikiSo, in Boyfriend Hijiki is a second year student who just transferred schools. For some reason she wasn't able to go to school much over the years (hopefully that will be explained soon) and all the kids at her old school bullied her because of her absences. At this new school Hourai, a genius who is going to be a doctor one day, sort of takes her under his wing and helps her study so that she doesn't fail school now. She loves Hourai, but Hourai loves another girl who his BROTHER stole from him. Hourai is in love with his brother's girlfriend >.< So then Hourai applies to the medical school his family wants him to do to and where the girl he loves is a student, which means he'd leave Hijiki! the ultimatum was QUITE interesting. The whole manga is just absolutely adorable. Sooooo Cute, I love it haha

Witchling, is about three sisters from the Otherworld living Earthside. Basically, the Otherworld is another dimension, and the people are Fae, Cryptos, and Demons. Thousands of years ago the 2 dimensions liveed in the same plane as each other, but then the Fae went to war with the humans, so the gods (the Greek ones to be exact) asked the Elementals to do something about it. They made a pact that sealed off the dimensions with limited access through portals regulated by the Fae. This pact was split into 9 seals and given to each of the elementals involved to guard. Over the course of time, they had gotten lazy and all of the seals eventually fell into a mortal's hands. Now modern day, the OW had become nothing but legends until the OW revealed itself once again. Humans are now aware of the OW's existence and have treated OW creatures as celebrities on Earth. The Three sister's are half-Fae, half-human. Their mother was a human who moved to the Otherworld to be with her husband, a fae. The story is told by the PoV of Camille, the eldest daughter, and an incompetent witch. Being half human has pretty much made their powers harder for them to control all the time and Camille's magic doesn't always go as planned. Her younger sisters are Dililah, a werecat who not only turns on the full moon but also turns when she's gets stressed out during PMS (pre-moon-syndrome), and Menolly, had amazing climbing skills until she was unwillingly turned into a Vampire on one of her assignments. Since they lived in the Otherworld while growing up, they were constantly ridiculed by the Full Blood Sidhe, especially Delilah ("Pretty Kitty") because she only turns into a small tabby cat while, typically, were-cats turn into big cats. So living Earthside as OIA agents (Otherworld Intelligence Agency) has made them minor celebrities in Seattle, and they have come to love quite a few Earthside luxuries. Then Jocko, a stunted Giant OIA agent who runs the Wayfinder bar, was garroted. Even while stunted he's taller and stronger than any human, and the rope gives off a strong Demon aura. dun-Dun-DUNNN!! Demons live in the Subterranean Realms of the Otherworld. They supposedly are to never allowed to reach Earth to cause their chaos, and THESE Demon scouts are looking for seals to give to their King, who planes to destroy the pact, destroying the separation of worlds, and bring an army to Earthside! With new dangers, new friends (such as a dragon that can morph into human form, an adorable gargoyle cub, and a foxy Japanese guy), and some intense passions between the characters, can the girls defeat top-notch demons and get the first seal from a mysterious 'Tom Lane'?I loved this book, it incorporated many known mystical devices while also incorporating new which explained a couple of questionable things. It was very entertaining, and pretty hard to set down once I had started! The characters all have their problems which made it more relatable, even with all of the fantastical elements, it was quite love able. I also loved the authors writing style and I can't wait to read the next book :D

This book was sooooo muth better than book 1! No offense to them, but Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon weren't as interesting as old men- though the story of taking the seven kingdoms would probably be quite entertaining. The youth in this book made it much better. Arya traveling with males going to the wall was awesome and she grew increasingly more badass throughout the book. A lot of this book consisted of intense plot twists, always keeping the reader on their toes. Basically, anyone can die at any given moment- even main characters. What I really enjoyed was Jon's point of view on/past the wall, and Daenerys PoV from her adventures with her dragons across the sea. I love that the book didn't end in a huge cliffhanger, because the point of view switches throughout the books are suspenseful enough. I gets into the one character and what they're doing, and then BAM I'm somewhere else and i have to recall who all of those people are and what their situation is. That's one more thing that I don't like- all of the different houses and names, it's hard to keep track of who is who. Though that's just me being REALLY picky haha. One last thing I guess, Sansa was a point of view, again, in this book and in Game of Thrones I HATED her character, but she was actually kind of enjoyable this time. All in all, a GREAT BOOK and i'm looking forward to reading book 3, A Storm of Swords!

The Promise was sooooooo intense I absolutely LOVED it!!!! I loved the animated tv show and this stuck well to the story line with more awesome adventures for the gang! Now that the war is over, the earth kingdom wants the fire nation citizens out- but they've been living in the earth kingdom for generations by now, that's their home. So what to do? When Firebenders claim earth kingdom citizenship things will be sure to get tricky for Aang to help resolve! Sokka has his same humor, Toph is still a badass....teacher? That's right, she's opened a school for METALbending which sort of explains how it becomes more of a common bending skill in Korra's time. It was nice to read about Sokka, Katara, Aang, Toph and Zuko again, quite refreshing after Legend of Korra. I was also awesome to see Appa and Momo in a new story line- Pabu just can't equal the amazingness of BOTH of them. This was a GREAT book to sit and read while reminiscing one of my favorite childhood shows :D I'm really hoping that in the next book (The Search) the go into depth about what happened with Zuko's mom! can't wait!!!!!!!

This manga was ALSO very adorable, once I started I couldn't stop! I have Clash of Kings due at the library TOMORROW and I'm not even halfway through it, yet i spent the last 4 hours reading Beauty Pop instead. It was a great cast of characters, I loved how laid back and food centered Kiri was, it was quite hilarious. It also pissed off Narumi many a time too which was also pretty funny. I love hoe Naru-Naru realized his success was because of his rich father and how he strived to separate himself from his fathers company and make his own way in the beauty world. Everyone had their interesting story to tell and fears to get over. There was a bit of a fight over Ki-chan between two of the guys but it surprisingly wasn't very interesting and in my opinion ended too quickly. I also don't like how they don't show the marriage or how they became successful or anything. They're in high school and they don't even actually tell each other their feelings and then BAM it's 10 years later and they're married with 2 kids. But it was still really god :D