Book Review – ‘Cursed’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Another great addition to the JLA collection…

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, Mystery

No. of pages: 384

From Goodreads:

Dying sucks.

…and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. 

After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things–including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden’s adopted father, a man she’s sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister’s hand again. And hell, she’d also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn’t?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not’ve been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life.

For real this time.

‘Cursed’ hooked me from the first page. A great premise, well-paced, and a fast read. I could see this as a start of a series, though currently it is sold as a standalone. There were plenty of elements introduced that weren’t tied up which could lead to many story arcs over a series. But having said that, it rounds up well enough to leave you with some satisfaction of a fun paranormal read.

I liked the supernatural aspect with abilities, but was wishing for more of the mythology and exploration of this aspect, maybe some origin stories.

Our protagonist, Ember, came off like a big emo/goth chick at first, and I thought I’d have some difficulty relating to her, but overall, I became invested in her story quite early on. She had her girly over-acting moments, which got me a little worried over the direction of her character, though, I found her to be level headed and intelligent.

I still would have liked to have found out about how Ember and the rest of the youngsters at the Cromwell place made up a unit of some kind. It was mentioned, but never fully explored. An X-men style gang sounds like a fun direction for the novel/series.

On the romantic side of things, it had a beautiful build to love, and a cute ending for Ember. Felt like a warm hug.

Her little sister was adorable, but infuriating. It bothered me how she always got her way and was oblivious of the cost… maybe a bit more realism would have rounded her out as a loveable character, other than someone I wanted to strangle.

I was disappointed about Adam – I really liked him and wanted more… We saw so much in the beginning chapters and then… *poof* gone in a cloud of smoke.

The love interest, Hayden, is a character I had a love/hate relationship with. The “misunderstood guy” storyline was dragged out a bit too much for my liking. But fun to have such a swoon-worthy man to drool over. Some of his over-protective qualities and stalkiness were a bit creepy and set of my alarm bells *Warning Will Robinson. Warning* I was really hoping Armentrout was going to deconstruct the trope that we see a lot in in YA, but alas, it remained true to the stereotype.

I definitely didn’t like Mr Cromwell (who ran the Cromwell place,) and I don’t think that will change – the way he operates is a little nefarious and does not match what he says he is trying to achieve. We never do understand why he behaves the way he does, even though his motives are explained.

The plot was mostly predictable, felt a little contrived, where some events seemed steered by the author for dramatic flair rather than unfold organically. It was a little light in tone, and could have gotten darker, angstier with the subject matter; but a lot of those opportunities were passed up – I guess if this was a debut of a new series Armentrout would have gone there, instead choosing a fun, exciting stand-alone. It’s a pity, because with what was set up in ‘Cursed’ it could lead to a great new collection – I say this because as a standalone many things weren’t resolved to my liking, and it would take another two to three novels to explore them fully in an action packed story arc.

Shame about the cover art – it didn’t appeal to me that much – and doesn’t match the Ember described in the pages… more effort could have gone into reflecting the main character and tone of the book succinctly.

Recommend to lovers of the paranormal, Jennifer L. Armentrout. This story is in the same vein of ‘Shatter Me,’ ‘Zeroes’ and ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.’

Overall feeling: Yeah. Pretty good.

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Losing Lila’ by Sarah Alderson

Felt like it was straight from the scripts of a CW show…

Genre: Y/A, Paranormal, Romance

No. of pages: 346

From Goodreads:

Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which is somehow tracking their every move. While Alex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila’s only thought is of finding a way back to California so she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they’re being held.

Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the others she’s come to think of as family, Lila plans not only to save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But the plan requires Lila to return to California alone, andto make friends with the enemy – and in doing so, she risks losing everything: Alex, her family… even her life.  

I really liked this follow up to ‘Hunting Lila.’ A group of teens with special abilities on the run from a maniacal Military Contract Organisation. Winner, winner chicken dinner.

It was great to see our protagonist Lila get a little more independence; although that was counteracted by her swooning and needing Alex (her love interest and brothers best friend) all the time. It felt a little weak. It was compounded by the narrative tone and actions of Lila (and Suki) which came of as childish far too often. But I had less problems stopping me from enjoying the novel than I did in the first book of the series ‘Hunting Lila.’

‘Losing Lila’ is very much like a Disney or NickTeen movie of the week. Saccharine sweet, moments of stereotypical teen behaviour mixed with an action infused plot. I do class it as a guilty pleasure though, I got caught up in the subterfuge, the development of their psychic abilities, and was floored by a few of the plot twists I didn’t see coming.

The story itself is engaging. I think if the comical notes of the story were approached differently, they could have pulled the story along in that Buffy-like pun in the middle of action style.

The element of family, and how it was woven into the storyline was fun; and I appreciated how bonds are tested and reshaped. Though there was some moments where I thought it was too premeditated by the author.

I think I like the relationship between Lila and Alex the least, even if they are the main characters in ‘Losing Lila.’ There was no tension and build up, it moved right into this desperate place that felt like it lacked substance – it was the 10 year old girl’s version of love.

Great follow up and conclusion to the series, probably better suited to a younger tween audience, but still an interesting way to spend a winter’s day tucked up on the couch with a light action-filled book.

Overall feeling: *eating popcorn*

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Book Review – Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

A paranormal cat and mouse with great potential.

Genre: Y/A, Paranormal, Romance

No. of pages: 318

From Goodreads:

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she’s prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever.

After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust—her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organization called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them.

In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realizes that she is not alone—there are others out there just like her—people with special powers—and her mother’s killer is one of them…  

‘Hunting Lila’ is a fun adventure with a group of individuals possessing psy(chic) abilities pitted against a military group – and Lila is caught in-between. Certainly a great premise, and a very enjoyable novel, but it fell a little flat for me.

It’s hard to place why it felt unremarkable – quite possibly it was a little too busy – with so much going on in plot and sub-plot, where character development became secondary.

There was also an element of instalove between Lila and Alex – I found that kind of infuriating. But he was a nice piece of eye candy to read about.

The story had an air of the superficial as well – everyone was gorgeous, everyone was a hero – whether they had special abilities or military training and gadgets, a lot of the ordinary and the relatable just wasn’t there.

Plus, half of the cast intrinsic to the story line were introduced in the second act.

Now that the yucky stuff is done and dusted, let me share what I appreciated about ‘Hunting Lila:’

I loved the different types of psychic abilities – telepaths, astral projectors, a psychokenosist, telekinetics, sifters, all reminding me of the graphic novel (and subsequent film adaptation) ‘Push.’ This had a very strong X-Men Origins vibe.

Lila, our protagonist is very relatable in the beginning and I felt all of her choices during the actions scenes made complete sense. It was the decisions pertaining to her love interest that had my hackles up. Lila is cute, spunky, somewhat naive and has the potential to be a great character and force of nature. She does tend to flounder a bit and I’m excited to see where Sarah Alderson takes Lila in this trilogy.

Jack, Lila’s brother added a fun dynamic into the romance between her and Alex, as well to the bait-and-switch scenario.

But I think ultimately, the military aspect felt unrealistic, as did the change of heart Lila comes to – I hungered for more angst and tribulation for her predicament.

The twist at the end was a great surprise amongst a sea of predictability. This would fall more into my ‘guilty pleasure’ category, and something I’m on the fence about recommending to others. While I enjoyed ‘Hunting Lila,’ and there is certainly a lot to revel in, it didn’t have that spark.

I have a hunch what is going to happen in the second book for this series, and I will pick it up as I am still interested to see where this story will go. Let’s hope that it is even better than ‘Hunting Lila’ and redeems the author in my eyes. Bring on ‘Losing Lila!’

Overall feeling: A bit of a love/hate relationship for me.

 

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – Evermore

Goodreads:

After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people’s auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone’s entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact to suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school — but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Damen is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He’s the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head – wielding a magic so intense, it’s as though he can peer straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she’s left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea just who he really is – or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she’s falling deeply and helplessly in love with him.

Beautiful mythology behind this book, and an incredibly fast read.

It wasn’t anything new, in fact, ‘Evermore’ was extremely derivative of most Young Adult books, and therefore felt entirely predictable, monotone and two-dimensional.

 

For all its downfalls, I did enjoy the romance (narcissism aside) and the concept of Summerland… but besides that I found the rest irritating. If this novel had turned out to be a clunky read, I would have tossed it unfinished; but, upon completion I got the satisfaction of having made it to the end, and it was, superficially, a pleasant story.
My enjoyment came from the same type of fun you get at watching a B-grade horror: the expectation of terrible acting and sub-par script… and in turn, roll out the sarcasm and laughs. That is what ‘Evermore’ was to me.
The protagonist, Ever Bloom, came across as despondent and whiny. It’s all about white girl problems. The book would have rated higher if she had gotten her bitch on and explored some flaws and darker feelings.
Damen, the love interest, was way too perfect and as much as I indulged in the fantasy, I was also making gagging noises while reading. I wanted to like him, but in the end just felt like I been served an overly large helping of cheese.

Wit and one-liners helped to redeem Alyson Noel’s book. But she has the subtly in metaphor as a brick to the side of the head. There is no intellectual symbolism here.

Source for original image: http://www.slowdive.com (image altered for post)

I’d like to recommend this book to younger readers, 10-13 years, as I can see some educational morals that re-enforce good values. But having said that, there are also bad ones which I think far worse… there is a message that girls can’t have a relationship without having sex, that boys are allowed to be possessive and narcissistic without apology, and its okay to think you are ugly and unimportant, let people walk all over you.

After reading this I was completely turned off attempting any other of the books in the series. While I liked Alyson’s writing style, the novel failed to measure up on all other accounts. I may give this author another try in a different series or stand alone novel later and see if she has improved the themes underlying her stories.


© Casey Carlisle 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.