Review: Misguided Angel

Title: Misguided Angel
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 265
Series: Blue Bloods #5
Rating: 4/5
**WARNING: Spoilers from earlier books (not this one)**
From the book jacket: 
After inheriting the dark Van Alen Legacy, Schuyler fled to Florence with her forbidden love, Jack. Now the two of them must embark on the mission Schuyler was destined to complete: to find and protect the five remaining gates that guard the earth from Lucifer, lord of the Silver Bloods.

Back in New York, Mimi has been elected Regent of a crumbling coven. Struggling with her heartache over the loss of Kingsley and with her overwhelming desire to destroy Jack, she must focus all her energy on a perilous new threat. Vampires are being abducted and their captors are planning to burn them alive online... for all the world to see. Help arrives in the form of Deming Chen, a Venator from Shanghai, who must untangle the web of deceptions before the killers strike again.

As the young vampires struggle for the survival of the coven, they uncover a deadly secret, a truth first discovered by Schuyler's mother during the Renaissance but kept buried for centuries. And as the Blue Blood enclave weakens yet further, fate leads Schuyler to a terrible choice that will ultimately map the destiny of her heart.

---------------

A warning before you read this book: Make sure you've read the previous books in the series, and recently. I've read all the other Blue Bloods books, but apparently not recently enough, because I spent the first sixty pages of Misguided Angel being seriously confused. I couldn't remember why Schuyler and Jack were in Italy or where Oliver was.

At first, I was prepared to give this book a "meh" rating or maybe not even finish it -- I thought maybe I'd go back and reread it once I had refreshed my memory of the earlier books. But Melissa de la Cruz sucked me in with her writing and I couldn't put it down. It almost didn't matter that I'd forgotten a lot of what happened: this novel tells a story in and of itself. (Of course, it also helps a ton that I did eventually remember most of the earlier books...side note: I really do love these books, I just haven't read them recently enough. I did not forget them because they are bad; they're awesome.)

Anyway. Before I go on getting distracted, the book: Schuyler and Jack are in Italy looking for the Gate of Promise. Mimi wants revenge on Jack and she's torn apart by her love for Kingsley, but as the Regent, she can hardly spend her time on that. Not when Blue Blood lives are in danger -- which they are. A new threat has arisen... well, sort of new. The Silver Bloods are very much involved.

Instead of switching between characters frequently, Misguided Angel is divided into thirds. The first third is told from Schuyler's perspective, the second from Mimi's, and the third from Deming's. I thought Deming was an interesting addition to the cast of the series, and even though I'm not a fan of her name ("Schuyler" I just love, "Deming" not so much), I loved her character. Mimi...I just don't like her very much. Schuyler didn't seem very real to me, but I wished there had been more to her part of the story.

What I loved was that even though the three sections of the book are told from very different perspectives and one takes place on the other side of the globe from the others, they still worked together to explore ultimately the same mystery. Obviously, I don't think you should read this if you haven't read the earlier ones in the series...but if you have, read this one! (Before you forget!)

One thing is for sure, Melissa de la Cruz can write. I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of the series...

Links:
Melissa de la Cruz's website
Blue Bloods website

Review: Nightshade

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Philomel Books (Penguin)
Pages: 454
Series: Nightshade #1
Rating: 5 stars
From the book jacket:
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything -- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

**********

Nightshade is one of those books that you sit down to review and realize that you don't know how to describe the amount of awesome you want to convey, if that makes sense. I started off wanting to enjoy it, but I wasn't expecting to be completely blown away. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. It was simply fantastic.

Calla Tor is an alpha wolf, used to leading the younger members of her pack, the Nightshades. On Samhain, also her eighteenth birthday, she and Bane pack alpha Ren Laroche will go through the union, which is the Guardian wolf version of a wedding, and form a new pack, an offshoot of the Nightshades and Banes. Everything seems to be going according to plan, until Calla saves a human in the woods - and then that same human, Shay Doran, shows up at their school. Calla likes Shay, and he likes her, but Calla has been promised to Ren. That might be something Calla could accept, except for two things: one, her Keeper, Logan, wants her to protect Shay, who seems to be in danger from something she doesn't understand; and two, Shay challenges Calla to think about the world in a way she's never thought about it before - including the fact that her very existence as a Guardian may not be what she has always believed it to be.

Calla is easily one of my favorite protagonists. She's a totally kick-butt heroine, totally able and willing to defend herself, but she's not scared to let other people see her cry. Despite the fact that she's actually a wolf, she struck me as more human than almost any other female protagonist I've encountered. I really don't know how else to describe it - she could step off the page and be a living, breathing person, wolf and all. And I loved the dynamics between all the characters, too. Ansel and Bryn and Mason and Neville and Fey and Dax and Sabine and Cosette...I just love them. And Efron made me shudder. Andrea Cremer does characters incredibly well.

And then of course, there's Ren and Shay. Usually, when I read a book where the lead girl is torn between two boys, I know exactly what "team" I'm on from the start. But Ren and Shay are both so real and such compelling characters that I honestly don't know. At the moment, I'm thinking Shay, but I love Ren, too. They both have their strong points and their flaws - they, like Calla, could easily be real. I am beyond impressed with the characters I met in Nightshade.

And then there's the story. I need the sequel, like, now. I want to know the truth about the Guardians and the Keepers and Shay and the Scion, and I have to know who Bosque is, and and and.... you get the idea. Nightshade has a plot that sucked me in and kept me turning pages and left me wanting more.

Read this book. Just do it. You won't be disappointed.

Links:
Andrea Cremer's website

Review: Glimmerglass

Title: Glimmerglass
Author: Jenna Black
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 294
Series: Faeriewalker #1
Rating: 4 stars
From the back cover: 
Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she's had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl -- she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she'll never have a chance with... until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in or who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again.

---------------

Ahem. Shiny, glittery dots on the cover. Hee hee.

Okay, easily-distracted moment over. I loved the premise of Glimmerglass -- the idea that humans are very aware of faeries and vice versa and that they interact normally, but only in one city because that's the only place their worlds connect and they can't cross realms, is a really cool idea. And I love that being a Faeriewalker is something that can just happen and has a totally rational explanation; the novel avoids that contrived feeling that a lot of fantasy novels have. The whole concept of the fae/human politics is just awesome, too. Kudos to Jenna Black on an original fantasy piece that still very much plays into the traditional faerie mythology. Love love love.

And the story is well-executed too. Dana is an incredibly complex character, and her narrative is fun to read (except for the parts where she whines. I feel like almost all female protagonists in YA fantasy now are too whiny), and her emotions are real. As annoying as her obsession with Ethan can get, it's also very realistic and well-done. And Ethan - great character. His sister, Kimber, is also an absolutely wonderful character (j'adore Kimber, she's an excellent Best Friend character), and I really want to find out what's up with the Ethan-Kimber tension. Character development is excellent in Glimmerglass, even if I did get kind of bothered by Dana sometimes. My favorite characters were probably Finn and Keane - I hope we see lots more of them in Shadowspell.

The story is intriguing and fascinating. The fact that I didn't always like Dana very much made it hard to read in places, but on the whole I think Dana is a great character too - some of the stuff I disliked about her, I recognized as being pretty common to most teenage girls. But the worldbuilding is great, and we're not hit over the head with it -- it's just there, and it's lovely.

My recommendation here comes with a warning (can you guess? the narrator irked me sometimes), but I do recommend it. Glimmerglass is another wonderful addition to the growing collection of YA faerie novels with a really cool spin on the faerie world.

Links:
Jenna Black's website

Review: Beautiful Darkness

Title: Beautiful Darkness
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 503
Series: Caster Chronicles #2
Rating: 5 stars
From the book jacket: 
A few months ago, I believed nothing would ever change in this town. Now I knew better, and I only wished it was true.

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together Ethan and Lena can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

**********

I loved Beautiful Creatures, the first book in the Caster Chronicles, so I've been dying to read this since way before it was released. Sometimes in cases like that, the sequel can't possibly live up to your expectations, but I think Beautiful Darkness did.

I will confess that I had a hard time getting into it at first - it started off a little slowly. But once it got going, it really got going. After getting through about fifty pages throughout the week in my few free minutes at school, I sat down this morning to read a bit more over breakfast. I decided that I would read while I ate, then go work on college essays and NaNoWriMo. Around 3 pm, with only a brief interruption to get lunch, I finished the novel and hadn't written a word. I simply could not put it down.

Ethan is still crazy in love with Lena, but Lena is struggling with a dark secret and even darker emotions that are pulling her away from Ethan. Suddenly, she's hanging out with her evil cousin Ridley and a mysterious new Incubus, leaving Ethan feeling pushed aside and desperate to save her before she turns Dark. Her Seventeenth Moon is coming up, and Lena will have to be Claimed soon. And Liv, Marian's new assistant at the library, is only convincing Lena that Ethan has moved on. But, of course, in Gatlin, SC, nothing is what it appears to be.

I loved so many things about this book. The characters - Link and Liv especially, and Ethan's great-great-aunts, and Ridley, and of course Ethan most of all - just came to life in my mind. I wish we had gotten to see more of Lena, although I'm confident that she'll be more important in book three. I would read pages and pages of just small talk between these characters, because I love them that much.

And the plot. Oh my goodness. I really want book three NOW, because I just have to know what happens next. Beautiful Darkness keeps working at solving the mysteries introduced in book one, answering a few questions and raising plenty more, and there's always something new happening. I feel like that description is really cheesy and doesn't do the book justice at all, but I'm not sure (1) how much I can say without accidentally spoiling something and (2) how else to say it. It just takes hold of you and refuses to let go until you've read every last word, and then leaves you hungry for more of it.

Long story short: I adored this book, every bit as much as the first one if not more, and I can't wait for book three! Absolutely read the Caster Chronicles.

Links: 
Caster Chronicles website
Kami Garcia's blog
Margaret Stohl's blog

Review: Prophecy of the Sisters

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Pages: 343
Series: Prophecy of the Sisters #1
Rating: 4 stars
Description from Goodreads: 
Sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe and her twin sister Alice have just become orphans, and, as Lia discovers, they have also become enemies. The twins are part of an ancient prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other. To escape from a dark fate and to remain in the arms of her beloved boyfriend James, Lia must end the prophecy before her sister does. Only then will she understand the mysterious circumstances of her parents' deaths, the true meaning of the strange mark branded on her wrist, and the lengths to which her sister will go to defeat her.

**********

I've had a copy of Prophecy of the Sisters on my bookshelf for ages now and just hadn't picked it up. All the hype for the second book made me think that maybe I should read it, and I think on the whole, I'm glad I did.


I didn't realize when I started that this novel is actually set in the year 1890. I'd been expecting something a bit more modern, so that was kind of a surprise, but a pleasant surprise, because it worked perfectly. The novel opens with Lia and her family at her father's funeral. The circumstances of his death were strange, and the night he died, a strange circular mark appeared on Lia's wrist. Not long after, her boyfriend James shows her a book he found in her father's library: a book with all the pages missing except one. This page contains a prophecy about Lia and her twin sister Alice. Her father and the mark on her wrist have more to do with it than Lia understands, but she's determined to find out.


I love the premise of this book. The idea of the prophecy of the sisters is really awesome, and putting it in a historical setting just makes it better. I like the characters, too - I wish we had gotten to see more of James, and I love Luisa and Sonia's characters too. I wish there had been more Henry, too!


I will admit that for a lot of the book, I was really annoyed by how predictable it was. I figured out what the keys were (part of the prophecy mentions keys) within a few pages of the first mention of them, but it took Lia a good fifty or a hundred pages after that, which is never a good sign. I like reading to discover new things, and if I know what's going to happen within fifty pages, then why read past that? But there were still a few questions that I hadn't guessed the answers to, so I kept reading, and I'm so glad I did.


By the end of the novel, I was blatantly ignoring everything else I needed to be doing (such as feeding the cat. He was not pleased) so I could finish. I didn't realize until the last few chapters how much of an emotional connection I'd made with Lia! Oh, and another random thing that I really loved about this: it was not all about boys! Lia already has a boyfriend who she loves, and the focus of the story is not on that romance, it's on the plot. Hooray for plot variation!


Long story short: I do recommend this, with a warning attached: It's a little slow and predictable in places. Still, though, I did enjoy it, especially in the second half once it really got going. And definitely check it out if you like paranormal in a historical setting.


Links: 
Michelle Zink's new website (which you should definitely visit, as it's awesome)
Michelle Zink's old website (also awesome, although her new posts are on her new site)
Prophecy of the Sisters series website

Review: Clockwork Angel

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 476
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Rating: 4.5 stars
From the book jacket: 
Magic is dangerous -- but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks, and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, who are members of a secret organization called the Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by - and torn between - two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and vlatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

-----------

I think I would have loved Clockwork Angel a lot more if I hadn't been very busy noticing all the similarities to the Mortal Instruments series (which I absolutely adored). That said, I still thought Clockwork Angel was pretty freaking awesome.

Tessa makes an excellent protagonist - her feelings about/relationship with her brother are awesome, especially later on in the novel - and I adored Charlotte, but I think my favorite characters are the boys. Henry is adorable and reminded me of a cross between Beetee from the Hunger Games series and Luna Lovegood...but Will and Jem were the best. I would love to be friends with Jem in real life, and Will... oh, Will. I can't decide whether I love him or want to strangle him - which means that I agree with just about everyone else in the novel. I kept comparing him to Jace from TMI, but fortunately it's been long enough since I read those that I was able to (mostly) come at this as an independent story, and I loved it.

I'd offer you some quotes, but a) I'd have to pick just a few favorites, and b) they'll be so much better if you find out for yourself.

The plot was awesome too. I kept wanting to find out what happens - I've gotten pretty good at figuring out endings long before I get there lately, but Clockwork Angel had some major twists that genuinely surprised me and were executed very well. I'm really not sure how much I can say without being too spoilery, but I do think the jacket description plays up romance too much. It's definitely there but it takes a backseat to the mystery and suspense, which was good. Once I started reading Clockwork Angel I did not want to put it down (I had to at times, but I'd have loved to read it straight through). It kept me turning the pages and I am so sad that I have to wait until next September for the second one!

Also I love the cover. The cover is awesome and 1800s-England-y (which is fitting) and Shadowhunter-y (also fitting) and I just think it's lovely. And the setting! England in 1878 is a delightful setting. And my friends can attest to the fact that I slipped into old-fashioned British English for a bit while I was reading it. Oops. Oh, and the literary references! *happy sigh*

Definitely, definitely read this one if you get the chance and like supernatural things. I simply loved it! I do think, though, that City of Bones and the rest of the Mortal Instruments series were better. So read those too!

Links: 
Cassandra Clare's website
And her blog
And her Facebook page

Review: The Demon's Covenant

Title: The Demon's Covenant
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 440
Series: Demon's Lexicon trilogy #2
Rating: 4.5 stars
**Warning** Review may contain SPOILERS from previous book.
From the book jacket: 
Mae always thought she was in control, but in the past few weeks, control has turned into chaos. She's learned that her brother, Jamie, has magical powers, and that Gerald, the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, is trying to persuade Jamie to join the magicians. The same magicians who tried to kill Mae and Jamie last month in London. The magicians who get their power by feeding people to demons.

Mae turns to brothers Nick and Alan to help her rescue Jamie, but they are in danger themselves. Every magician in England now knows what Nick really is -- and they all want him dead.

Nick's new power has also caused a rift between the brothers. In the weeks they were gone something terrible happened, something that haunts them both. With Nick as unreadable as ever and Alan making secret bargains with a demon, Mae finds herself attracted to both brothers -- though she knows she can't trust either of them. The magicians are closing in on one side, and the dangerous, seductive Goblin Market is tempting her on the other, and Mae has to form her own plan to save them all. She's going to find that the price she must pay is more than she ever imagined.

The covenant is binding. There is no escape.

Okay, so, I'm not really sure where to start with this book. I can't decide whether to rant and rave about the plot, the characters, or the actual writing. I guess I can go in that order. The plot was fantastic, it just kept me reading and reading (I went to bed at 3:30 a.m. last night - this morning? - because I was reading this book). The Demon's Covenant picks up about a month after the conclusion to The Demon's Lexicon, only this one is told from Mae's perspective rather than Nick's. Jamie's a magician, and suddenly he's hanging out with Gerald - the leader of the magicians who tried to kill them just a month ago. Mae calls Nick and Alan for help, and they set out to determine what exactly Gerald wants. Then there's the fact that something is clearly wrong between Nick and Alan, and although Mae doesn't know what, it's clear that she's going to have to save them both. And the Goblin Market has a huge role to play, although no one is quite sure what. There's also the fact that she's deeply attracted to both of them. That was really my only problem with the book - I got tired of Mae's attractions toward Nick and Alan and the tall-dark-and-handsome Seb from school. Even so, it was worked in really well and the book would not have been the same without it. Everything about the plot just kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out what happened next.

And the characters. I love the characters so much. It was really cool getting inside Mae's head instead of Nick's this time - I think they're both such dynamic characters that it's awesome to get to see both of them that way. Mae's struggles with her own emotions and with her relationship with her brother are very engaging, and Nick's development as he's trying to figure out what it means to be human and whether he can ever be that is just amazing to watch(/read about). I do wish we'd seen more of Jamie, he's one of my favorites, and his role in this book is also spectacular. I am glad that we got to see more of Sin in this one, and it's really neat watching her character come to life too.

Then there's the writing. It's the perfect blend of seriousness and lightness. There were bits that had me laughing out loud (I'd quote them, but there are a lot), and the characters' dialogue is so full of sarcasm and dark humor, and it was just fantastic; then there were the parts where everything was incredibly serious, and reading it you can just feel the atmosphere that the characters are in.

So, long story short: awesome, awesome book. If you haven't read The Demon's Lexicon, go pick that one up and read it right now. If you have, and you haven't read The Demon's Covenant yet, I dunno why you're still reading this, because you should be reading this book instead.

Links: 
Sarah Rees Brennan's website
Sarah Rees Brennan's blog

Review: Perchance to Dream

Title: Perchance to Dream
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)
Pages: 333
Series: Théâtre Illuminata #2
Rating: 4 stars
From the book jacket: (highlight gaps to read; spoiler warning)
Act Two, Scene One
Growing up in the enchanted Théâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn't know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and is determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world.

Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY
But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Théâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between--

NATE: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.

ARIEL: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear.

When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Goddess, only Bertie can free him. Bertie's dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it's Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Goddess's lair?

I read and fell in love with the first book in the Théâtre Illuminata series, Eyes Like Stars, several months ago. I was a bit concerned about starting the sequel because I was a little hazy on the details of the first book. I needn't have worried; while you certainly want to read the first book first, book two is almost self-sufficient.

As Bertie, Ariel, and the four Midsummer Night's Dream fairies are off on an adventure outside the Théâtre; Bertie is desperate to rescue her sort-of-boyfriend, the pirate Nate, and she also wants to discover the identity of the Mysterious Stranger who is her father. At the same time, she's maybe-a-little-bit falling for Ariel. She's also learning how to use her storytelling magic without accidentally doing anything dangerous, like lighting her fairy friends on fire.

So much of this book had me literally laughing out loud. I adored it. The comic relief, mostly in the form of the fairies but from other sources as well, is excellent. And I love, love, love all the literary references (the first line is "'It is a truth universally acknowledged,' Mustardseed said, flying in lazy loops like an intoxicated bumblebee, 'that a fairy in possession of a good appetite must be in want of pie," and it only gets better from there). But even through the lighthearted tone and the cheerfulness, there's a fair amount of danger and dark situations that definitely kept me turning the pages.

And the characters. Oh my goodness, the characters. Peaseblossom, Moth, Cobweb, and Mustardseed alone would be enough to keep me reading even with out all the other amazingness. Edible boyfriends and parodies about pie? Oh, yes. And Bertie is so sweet and so relatable - an awesome protagonist. And then there are the love interests. Nate and Ariel are both great characters (I'm Team Ariel, but that's me.) And all of the side characters are so much fun too. It's just spectacular.

My one complaint is that some of it was really hard to follow. While Bertie was experimenting with her magic, there were two or three places where I got really confused as to where she was and who she was with. But I think even that worked, because Bertie was confused a lot too. It made it difficult to keep up in places, but I still really, really loved the story.

So if you're looking for a quick, lighthearted, bundles-of-fun summer read (er, two), the Théâtre Illuminata books (first one titled Eyes Like Stars and the second one, of course, is Perchance to Dream) would be an excellent choice.

Links:
Lisa Mantchev's website
Théâtre Illuminata website
Lisa Mantchev's blog

Review: Beautiful Creatures

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 563
Series: Caster Chronicles #1
Rating: 5 stars. Or more.
From Goodreads: 
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. 


Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. 


In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.


I don't know where to start on how spectacular and amazing this book is. Right after I finished it, I walked by a mirror and almost did a double take when it was me and not Ethan or Lena looking back out. It's that engaging, and it does that good a job of putting you right there in the characters' shoes.


It was really refreshing to see a paranormal romance told (and told well) from the perspective of a guy, but that barely scratches the surface of all the things that are amazing about Beautiful Creatures. Danger, mystery, witches, history, and a sense of something bigger than any individual looming before the characters...this novel has it all. The conflict, mystery, and danger are all wonderfully developed, and the story moves quickly, so don't let the length scare you off. And the detailed plot does not at all take away from the characters. Ethan and Lena are two very complex, very real characters who can make you forget about yourself and just be someone else for a couple of hours. 


I completely adored this book. Read it, you guys, it is made of awesome. Beautiful Creatures is a beautiful book.


Links: 
Beautiful Creatures website