Vanish by Sophie Jordan

If you haven’t read  Firelight yet, this will contain some pretty awesome spoilers in it.  Ye been warned!  I couldn’t wait…I had to do another post this week.  This book…totally worth it.   It left an even BIGGER cliffhanger than the first…can you even fathom that?  And why am I using words like “ye” and “fathom“???

Title: Vanish

Author: Sophie Jordan

Summary:

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

My take:

I’m desperate…desperately desperate…for the next book.  I just had to let everyone know up front.  So if you’re the type that likes being able to read all the books in the series at once…do not start this one.  I’m doomed.

So, Jacinda has gone back to the pride with her mom and Tamra.  Everyone sure is surprised to see the changed Tamra too!  It even catches the eye of Cassian whom Tamra has fawned over for years.  Things start going downhill fast though and although a lot of people are glad to see Tamra, not everyone is excited about Jacinda and their mom being back.

While living with everyone in the pride being kinda nasty, Jacinda also is worried about Will.  In the last book we see, when Tamra makes her grand transformation, that Will and everyone gets thrown into a fog to make them forget everything they’ve just seen.  Just how much does Will forget?  Will he remember her at all?   Dun Dun DUN!!!!!!

I loved being able to see the day to day lives of the pride.  I liked the explanations of the different processes or things that goes on in the draki world.  This book helped give more background and insight as to how restrictive they are and why Jacinda had acted the way she did in the first book.

In this book, the love triangle is HUGE!  It can’t be a ya fiction read if there aren’t two boys and one girl involved, can it?  I hope you enjoy this book as much I did!  …now to twiddle my thumbs until 2012 comes around the the third book decides to publish itself…

~Myst

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

*claps hands  You know when you finish a good book and you’re just pouring back through to re-read favorite parts, but running around to get the next book in the series because you HAVE to find out what happens next?  …uh huh.  This book.  Yup.  *sigh  I REALLY liked this book…did the clapping give that away?

Title:Firelight

Author: Sophie Jordan

Summary:

A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will’s dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She’ll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

My take on it:

So Jacinda is a draki, a dragon who can manifest into a human…how cool is that?  Not ONLY that (like being a dragon isn’t cool enough), but she’s a fire breather…the last one that anyone knows about!  So she’s been “paired” up with the Alpha (King)’s son Cassian, to make sure more fire breathers are born (if you catch my drift).

Jacinda is stubborn, hard headed, and likes to defy the rules.  She’s got an “f  you” mentality towards her family and the pride and it costs her just about everything.  Her mom takes both her and her twin sister and run away into the Nevada desert to escape the draki pride.

Jacinda soon falls for a guy at school (who just so happens to be a dragon hunter) and there she goes on a hot and cold relationship.  A lot of people have hang ups on this book because of this reason, so if you’re not a “I love him”  “I love him not”  “I love him” “I love him not” etc etc. type person…theeeeeeen you might not like this book.

I like Will.  He’s cute, quirky, doesn’t give up, always puts the right mindset back into Jacinda, and puts up with her crap. So I root for him from the start.

Oh, just so you know…I started reading the second book and this author was awesome enough to start RIGHT where she ended the last one.  Loooooove that when authors do that!!

Anywho’s, I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews…it’s apparently the type of book that you either love or hate.  I personally loved this book and will hopefully finish the second to give you the juicy review on that one as well!

~Myst

Heist Society by Ally Carter

This was a great “who dun it?” book!  It had me flipping pages and trying to figure out…well who dun it?  🙂  I’m usually not a mystery novel reader, but the fact that the cover looked, oh so gosh darn cute…how was that for a southern’ accent?  I just HAD to read it!  Glad I did too!

Title: Heist Society

Author: Ally Carter

Summary:

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s history–and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

My take:

So this is about a girl named Kat, the first paragraphs of the book had me stuck with the book.  You had me at…hello.  I found myself laughing, cringing, biting my nails (nasty habit, I’m afraid) and loving the scenery and places the author took us along the way!  Paris, Warsaw, the Henley, California…pack your bags!

It was so interesting to see into a family of well known robbers and thieves and how crazy it gets!  It seems like a typical family, just on steriods.  The way they interact and the way they look at things different is amazing.  I would never be able to be a thief…it takes smarts that this blonde does NOT have!  Although…Charlize Theron looked mighty cute in the “Italian Job”, maybe there is hope for me!!

The book has great writing, you always feel like the book just ahead of you, and the ending (of course) leaves you with a Dun Dun DUN!!!!!! moment.  That way you’ll want to read #2 when it comes out!  Those sneaky authors and publishing companies!

Read it, enjoy it, let me know what you think!

~Myst

Where were you?

Yesterday, my husband and I watched a million hours worth (ok, not really a million hours, but a LOT) of shows on the History channel that dealt with September 11 and what happened here 10 years ago.

First of all, can you believe it’s been 10 years ago already?

Secondly, while watching it unfold again on tv, I realized I had never asked my husband “Where were you when it happened?”  So it opened up a conversation between us and we both expressed what happened to us on that day.

I was homeschooled, (see….all the dorky-ness should make sense now…) and my mom was avidly into watching the stock market on MSNBC or whatever channel it continuously runs across the bottom of the screen.  10 years ago, I was in highschool so I was finishing doing my hair and makeup at the time and I heard my mom start calling me downstairs to watch what was going on.  My dad at the time traveled a lot and was in Washington D.C. on business.  Needless to say, my mother was worried when the phone lines were down or all busy and she couldn’t reach my dad.   So my mom jumped on her computer and started IM’ing through AIM about what was going on and making sure my dad was alive and fine.  Now remember…this was all when AIM and MSN messenger were becoming BIG!  My mom let my brother and I watch it all unfold on tv that morning and afternoon, it was history.

I think the craziest thing about watching it all was when they showed people jumping or falling out of the buildings.  I could not understand why people would do that, I thought “Why not wait to be rescued?”  But then watching the towers as they fell…it all seemed like a horror movie…it didn’t seem real.  I sat there in shock.

My husband at the time (who was in high school as well), went to a private school.  When he got to the school he noticed a group of people around a tv and saw that they were showing the first tower had been hit.  When the  bell rang for class, the second tower got hit.  Unfortunately, the teachers didn’t let them watch what was going on, but in between classes, he would get updates on what happened.

So, if you read this…please tell me “Where were you?”  I’m sure we’d all have to try and remember what we did last month, but 10 years ago on that day, it seems like everyone remembers what they were doing or where they were.

Myst~

Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Ready to see my dorky side?  Sooooo not joking.  Elves, dragons, dwarfs…oh my!  Seriously though, this series rocks!   And it’s not even finished yet!!  The 4th book comes out in November, and goodness me…I cannot wait!

Title: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, (Inheritance – Nov 8th 2011)

Author: Christopher Paolini

Summary:

When young Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his adopted family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of inescapable destiny, magical forces, and powerful people. With only an ancient sword and the instruction of an old, mysterious, hermit storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a Emperor whose evil and power knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands…

My take:

Anyone remember the movie they made for Eragon?  Remember how much it sucked?  I think they should remake it…since everyone and their mom is remaking books right now anyways.  I kinda let my ideas of the movie influence my thoughts about reading this series…for shame on Hollywood!!  My brother …who never reads… tore through this series and told me that I HAD to read it!  So reluctantly I did.  Thank FREAKING goodness for my brother!

A lot of people have given this series flack because they feel like Paolini stole the story line from Lord of the Rings and I even saw a comment somewhere saying “He (Paolini) didn’t even make up the elvish language!  He stole that from Tolkien!”  Wow.  When you “spell check” elvish language to another book…that’s a WHOLE ‘nuther realm of nerdiness.

The books have a great sense of adventure!  It’s got heartache, it’s got a medieval feel, it’s got the damsel in distress, it’s got a love story, it’s got a revenge story….it encompasses a lot of great things that a brilliant YA Fiction book should have.  I absolutely cannot wait for the 4th book to come out in early November of this year!  These books are pretty lengthy, so if you’re thinking about reading them, don’t wait!

Also, what 19 year old do you know that writes like this??  I was even thinking to myself that there was no way I could write a series like that.   Talk about all the time, effort, and imagination!!

So, I thoroughly enjoyed this series so far and cannot wait for the 4th book to be published! 🙂  Let me know if you decide to read these and what you think!

Myst~

By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters

Somewhat dark, somewhat sad, and just a smidge depressing…other than that, it’s great!  Haha!  Really though, this book is not the feel good, jumping for joy, sugar coated with sprinkles book.  It deals with thoughts of suicide and killing oneself.  Happy Wednesday everyone!!

Title: By The Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead

Author: Julie Anne Peters

Summary:

Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she’s determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for “completers”— www. through-the-light.com.

While she’s on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she’s not on the Web, Daelyn’s at her private school, where she’s known as the freak who doesn’t talk.

Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she’s waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she’s made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won’t give up. And it’s too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life…isn’t it?

National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge.

My take:

So this book was one of the books I read while on vacation…I can’t believe I read such a sad book while visiting Disney World.  Although, maybe all the ooey gooey happiness that occurred cancelled out the depressing-ness of the book…yeah, that’s it.

I actually liked this book.  Although, I never went through the horrors of bullying through highschool like Daelyn did … it was worse actually, I was homeschooled, and I was picked on by my brother … this book helps show the struggles that teens and young adults go through while undergoing pressures from parents and peers.

Another angle,  I feel like this book would be good for parents to read…every parent says they “know what it’s like at that age”, but when they were that age, it was a different era/generation.  Cyber-bullying is definitely something I know that I really haven’t gone through and most certainly my parents haven’t either.

Just like the summary says, Daelyn has tried to end her life a couple times before and they have all failed.  She is committed to doing it and getting it done.  I don’t want to spoil the end but it has a sense of leaving you hanging a bit.  I wish the author would have been a little more “final” on the ending, but otherwise it was a great book.

~Myst