The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby

Catherine Howard is the opposite of King Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves: young, beautiful and thoroughly English. So after his divorce, she seems to be the perfect candidate for marriage. But the luxury and power that comes with being queen isn't enough for Catherine. She wants to produce a male heir and is still upset over the fact that her relationship with Thomas Culpeper never blossomed. These thoughts are dangerous for a queen, especially one who is the cousin of infamous Anne Boleyn. As intrigue at the royal court becomes more and more scandalous, Catherine must hope that her power-hungry family doesn't leave her out to dry... on the chopping block.

Tudor England is my favorite time period to read about. There's something about the intrigue and gossip that takes place in the court of Henry VIII that fascinates me. Me and my friend will do anything to experience this era: books, movies, even TV shows (The Tudors, anyone?). When I heard about The King's Rose, I was so excited. It was another Tudor book, but it was also about Catherine Howard, a queen that I didn't know much about. Unfortunately, I wasn't very impressed with this book. First, I felt like it should have started with Catherine first arriving at court and then Henry taking an interest in her. Instead, it started right when the king was about to propose to Catherine. This made the book choppy and also didn't leave room for much background information. Next, the plot moved millimeter by millimeter. Nothing happened. Sure, Catherine went to a ball and then got a new dress, oh and went to this palace for Christmas, blah blah blah. It was so boring and I couldn't understand why nothing was going on. This made it hard for me to get into. Finally, the last forty pages there was some action, but a little too late considering it was 292 pages long. Overall, The King's Rose wasn't too too bad, but if you're looking for a good read about the Tudors, get a book by Philippa Gregory instead.

6 out of 10.

Release Date: March 19, 2009

Waiting on Wednesday - 7

Ahh, the smell of upcoming books. Okay, you can't smell them yet, but you can get excited for them, which is the purpose of Waiting on Wednesday. This weekly book lusting was created by the lovely Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

"Don't worry, Anna. I'll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."

"Okay."

"Promise me? Promise you won't say anything?"

"Don't worry." I laughed. "It's our secret, right?"

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie---she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago. Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.

This book looks like it could be funny, but sad too because of the brother's death. I think it looks interesting, though, and the cover is gorgeous. Twenty Boy Summer will be released on June 1, 2009, right in time for summer.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary's village is the last heartbeat of humanity. Her community, located in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, has endured droughts, disease and the Unconsecrated, flesh-eating zombies that are always trying to find a way into the village. After her parents die and her brother disowns her, Mary goes to live with the Sisterhood, a group of women who know everything about the village. As Mary gets accustomed to life in the Cathedral, she begins to discover things that she can't believe. But Mary's search for answers is cut short when a breach in the fence leads to an Unconsecrated attack. Will Mary and her friends be able to survive?

I was a little wary of The Forest of Hands and Teeth at first. From the summary, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, plus it was a little vague. But I was proven completely wrong. This book was amazing. It is set in the future, after our world collapses from a virus that causes people to turn into zombies, also known as the Unconsecrated. The people in Mary's village are the last humans alive, or so they believe. In a world without hope, Mary still has this gut feeling that there is more to the world than just her village. She is a resilient character who overcomes loss and despair and continues to move forward. Unlike everyone else, she is not content to live out her life in the village; she wants to leave and see if there really is an ocean, like in her mother's stories. These traits made Mary an interesting character to read about. Mary's faith that there was more to the world was a big theme in the book and the mysterious ocean was a symbol for Mary's dream of a better life.

Another aspect that made this book so wonderful was the romance. There was a bit of a love triangle present, but the love between Mary and Travis was so strong and pure. Carrie Ryan wrote Mary's emotions beautifully. As I was reading, I became Mary and felt all the things that she did. As for the zombies, don't be turned off if you don't like horror. The zombies added an element of fear and hopelessness that made The Forest of Hands and Teeth perfect. I still can't believe how good this book was and highly recommend it for all readers.

9 out of 10.

Release Date: March 10, 2009

The Season by Sarah MacLean

Lady Alexandra Stafford has just turned seventeen and begun her London Season. Alex isn't looking forward to the luncheons, countless balls and other events that will showcase her talents in hopes of finding a suitable husband, one with money and a title. Alex is different than most young ladies; she's most certainly not a "delicate flower" and loathes the fact that many men believe women to be their intellectual inferiors. But when she begins to see her brothers' friend Gavin in a new light, she might actually want to attend those balls and luncheons. That is, until Alex finds out that Gavin's father's death may have not been an accident, but murder. With her two friends Ella and Vivi, Alex is determined to find the murderer and and steal Gavin's heart in one fell swoop.

The Season is definitely one of the best books I've read in a long time. I love mysteries, romance and historical fiction, so this book is a perfect fit. Alex is not like most girls living in 1815 - she doesn't want to be courted or attend any balls or dances. She's smart and funny, a perfect combination for some witty dialogue. All of the characters meshed well together, from her friends, three older brothers, even the villains of the story. And I must mention the love interest Gavin. He was such a great character: very handsome, very romantic and believed in the same things as Alex. Even though the mystery aspect of this book could have been better fleshed out, The Season kept me flipping pages to find out what happened next.

8 out of 10.

Release Date: March 1, 2009

Waiting On Wednesday - 6

I haven't done a Waiting On Wednesday post in forever! But now that swimming is almost over (one day of practice left before Districts!), I'll have some free time to do fun blog things. As you know, Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it’s all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery.

But Annika’s plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curveball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly finds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right?

Janette Rallison’s proven talent for laugh-out-loud humor, teen romance, and deep-hearted storytelling shines in a novel that will have readers laughing and crying at the same time.

This book looks so cute and funny. I haven't really read a humorous book in awhile so that will be a nice change. Look for it in stores on March 5.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Schuyler Van Alen lives with her rich grandmother in New York City and attends a pretigious high school in which all the students come from the wealthiest and most influential families. The girls are beautiful, thin, and seem to have it all - including immortality. And Schuyler's one of them. These are the Blue Bloods, a group of vampires that have ruled New York for centuries. Not quite your normal vampires, they shed their mortal bodies every 100 years and are born again, with memories hidden until the age of sixteen. These vampires are immortal, but something is preying on the Blue Bloods, and killing them. Schuyler must figure out who is behind the attacks before it is too late.

I've wanted to read this series for awhile, but didn't have the book until my friend let me borrow hers. She was raving about Blue Bloods so I expected it to be good. And it was. But I wasn't that impressed with it overall. The plot was interesting, even though it was another of the never-ending vampire novels. I'm glad that Melissa de la Cruz decided to go in a different direction with her vampires. These ones actually "die" in that they shed their mortal bodies and are born again at a different time. This is interesting because the characters are now different people and have different relationships with each other. The person you were bonded to in one lifetime could be born as your twin brother (which actually happens). Although, I wished the author explained more about the Blue Bloods and their history. Everything seemed rushed, and not fully explained, but I hope everything will be cleared up in the next few books. Things I didn't like included the dialogue, which sounded forced and a little cheesy to me. The plot could have been polished slightly so it wasn't so rough around the edges. I think one more round of editing would have done the book wonders. Even with its flaws, Blue Bloods took an unoriginal theme and made it original and new, which is always a good thing.

6 out of 10.

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

Lia Kahn was perfectly normal, until the accident that almost killed her. The damage to her body was so bad that she was downloaded into a new, mechanical body. She has a computer for a brain, and cannot feel pain, age or even die. Now that she has become what is called a "skinner" she is branded as unhuman by her friends, society, and even her family. Trying the be normal, Lia continually denies her existence and tries to act human. That is, until she meets others like her, who challenge Lia to realize her full potential.

So. This book was okay. Yes, just okay. When I first started the book, I liked it immediately. Lia's voice was just so real, the writing was good, and the plot was interesting. And I as kept reading, I started liking Skinned less and less.

First off, let me just say that this book has uncanny similarities to The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Both girls are in terrible car accidents and almost die, both girls' parents decide to "download" their brain into new bodies. They each feel alienated by a certain family member and both girls are deemed "unhuman" by society. These similarities were what attracted me to Skinned, since I really liked Adoration. But there is where the connection ends. Skinned takes place at least a hundred years in the future, as opposed to the fifty years in Adoration. And normally that wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Except I felt that the author took every stereotype (ok that's an exaggeration) of the future and put it into the book. I don't know, it just felt like too much science fiction for my taste. Like, this is hard to explain, but it felt like science fiction as I was reading it. And I don't want that. I want to feel like the story is real, or at least could be real. That's what good fantasy or science fiction does, it makes you feel like you're in the book and experiencing everything with the characters. Anyway, that's the main reason I didn't like Skinned. It just didn't click with me. I might read the sequel, Crashed, but I'm not sure yet.

6 out of 10.