Firelight (Firelight #1) by Sophie Jordan

Firelight (Firelight #1) by Sophie Jordan

Release Date: September 7, 2010

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 336

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.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

My Thoughts: Why did I wait so long to read this one? I loved it!

We are introduced to Jacinda who is a draki. She basically turns into a dragon-like creature. Its hard to explain but I loved it. She lives with other people who are like her but she has one quality they don’t! She was also promised at a young age to a boy named Cassian. I didn’t really like Cassian very much but he made things interesting that is for sure.

When something happens with Jacinda that could threaten her life, her mother takes her and her twin sister away. They move to a town and try to be normal. They attend high school. And, Jacinda gets more than she bargained for. The little thing that happened to her before just happens to be around now.

Oh Will, how I loved you! You were so sweet yet you also had this crazy side to you. I loved how you were different from your family and you understood things better.

I loved Jacinda and Will together. I loved the little moments where she had to try to hide her identity but it sure wasn't easy.

I loved the plot of this one and I loved Jacinda as a character. She was brave but also very sweet. I loved how she did think of others before herself but she also knew things had to change and she couldn’t kill her draki side.

And the ending, whoa. Now I need to read the next one in the series. I’m glad I already have it!

Overall:  I really enjoyed this one! I can’t wait to finish the series! I hope they are just as good as this! I loved the whole draki aspect and I loved learning more about both Jacinda and Wills family! Very cute romantic story but also had more depth to it than I expected!

Highly recommended!

Cover: Like it! Love the orangeness to it! Also could picture her looking like this!

What I’d Give It:

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

Release Date: May 22, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages:  240

Summary:  Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

My Thoughts:  We are introduced to Clem who just lost the boy she likes and her best friend. Clem did a bad thing and flirted with him. He was her best friends boyfriend. She spent time with him but nothing much really happened. We see a lot of flashbacks to what went down and I liked that, so I felt like I was part of the story.

Clem is spending the summer on a boat with her family. Her mom, dad, and younger sister. At least she gets to get away for a while but she’s also really depressed and angry at herself.

Clem meets a boy named James along one of the docks they stop at. James and Clem run into each other a lot as the story progressed. He and his dad are basically on the same route. So, Clem starts healing with the help of James and she starts to fall for him and realizes it doesn’t have to be such a complicated mess.

This was a nice contemporary. I really enjoyed it a lot. I was hoping this was going to be a 5 cupcake rating for me but I felt like something was missing. I’m just not sure what. I liked both James and Clem and I was happy to watch them get to know each other.

I also did like knowing what happened back home between Clem and her friend. It made me feel like I knew the characters more.

Overall:  I enjoyed this one! I also liked how most of the story took place on the water and they made it more fun. I liked seeing them fish, and swim.  Perfect summer novel to read in the actual summer!

Cover:  I like it! Its romantic and would draw me right in!!! Like how she’s just sitting there and such pretty colors!

What I’d Give It:

Fire And Flood (Fire and Flood #1) by Victoria Scott

Fire And Flood (Fire and Flood #1) by Victoria Scott

Release Date:  February 25, 2014

Publisher:  Scholastic Press

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 320

Summary:Time is slipping away....

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Victoria Scott's breathtaking novel grabs readers by the throat and doesn't let go.

My Thoughts: So, I started this one and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. At first, I felt like the main character Tella was kind of annoying. She rubbed me the wrong way. But, as I started reading and got farther in, she grew on me and I started really enjoying it!

Tella is participating in the Brimstone Bleed. Its basically a competition where people can win a cure. A cure for any illness to save someone they love. The cure can make anyone better. Doesn’t that sound interesting and something worth fighting for?

Tella goes into this competition knowing almost nothing about it. All she knows is her parents tried to hide it from her. Each contender also gets a Pandora. It is basically something to protect them. I loved Maddox but I also loved meeting all the other characters, and their Pandora's.

In this novel, they race through the jungle and the dessert. Once they complete these rounds, they will move on.

I can’t even rave enough about this one. I could say so much more about the plot and everything that happens but I want you to experience it yourself. This one was a weird one but in a great way. It really made me think and made me have lots of feels! I felt so sorry for the Pandora's at times but I was also surprised there a few times and I burst out laughing and screaming!

This one was definitely creative and unique.

Fire and Flood surprised the heck out of me. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. And I loved meeting all the characters and learning their back-stories. I had so much fun reading this one and I raced right through it. And I loved all the Pandora's!

Overall:  I enjoyed it so much!!! And the ending, now I want more!!! I would probably give this more of a 4.5 but I’m rounding it up to a 5 because I enjoyed it that much.

Cover:  Like it! It would make me pick it up but I don’t think it does the novel justice!

What I’d Give It:

Biggest Flirts (Superlatives #1) by Jennifer Echols

Biggest Flirts (Superlatives #1) by Jennifer Echols

Release Date:  May 20,2014

Publisher:Simon Pulse

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages:  336

Summary:  Tia and Will’s lives get flipped upside down when they’re voted Yearbook’s Biggest Flirts in this sassy novel from the author of Endless Summer and The One That I Want.

Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laidback swagger.

As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing Will away drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirts with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will’s new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…

My Thoughts: I love Echols! So, when I heard of this series I knew I had to read it!

We are introduced to Tia who is just your average teenager. But she kind of gets around. At least in a sense. One the guys she hangs out with most is Sawyer who is also known as someone wild.

When a new boy shows up named Will, Tia has her eyes set right on him. He likes her too at first until she pushes him away so much he moves onto another girl. So, of course everyone starts thinking he’s a bad guy. Tia and Will have so much amazing chemistry, I loved it!

They both have such quirky personalities and I loved it! I loved their banter back and forth and I just loved it when they were together. I also liked Sawyer and I can’t wait until he gets his own story!

Another aspect that made this one so awesome was Tia and Will were both in band. This added so much to the story-line and even though I wasn't in band, I felt like I was right there with them on the field. I loved it!

I adored the characters in this one and I enjoyed the plot. I liked the way everything progressed and I just enjoyed everything. It was such a cute novel but also full of so much wit!

I won’t say much else because I always tend to love Echols novels and I always look forward to the next one!!! And this one is no different!

Overall:   Another winner from Echols and this is going to be a series so I’m excited to read the rest! This was a light read but also very fun!

Cover: Love it!! This cover looks so real and believable and I love the colors and the whole cover in general. Very cute!!!

What I’d Give It:

After The End by Amy Plum

After The End by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 6, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 336

Summary: "I have no idea what is truth and what is fiction. I'm all I've got now. I can't trust anyone."

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

My Thoughts: I flew right through this one! I am guilty that I still haven’t read Plum’s other series. But now I want too even more!

We are introduced to Juneau who has always been raised in a small clan. Everyone knows everyone, and she considers each person her family. She cares about them. She knows them.  We are also introduced to Miles who wants to please his dad. Miles is out in the real world, separate from the clan.

The clan is all Juneau has ever known. She thinks the rest of the world got messed up in the war, and its not safe out there.

One day she comes home from hunting to find everyone gone and all the animals shot. She ventures outside to find her people. And boy does she get a surprising. Nothing is at all what she thought or what it seemed. Things are so different.

After The End tells the story of how Juneau is determined to get her people back. She also finds out that people out there want her. They want to use her, to know her secrets. To know more about her.  I really liked both Juneau and Miles. I enjoyed how Miles comes into the story and how we get to know him and his back story.

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. I wasn’t sure as I started reading because a lot of time is spent in the car traveling, and I thought that would get boring after a while. It kept me on my toes and I liked how things went.

Overall: I can’t wait for the next book!!! That ending, ohhhhhhhhh!!!! I was like, thats it? NO!!!!

Loved the characters, loved the plot!!! This one is probably more of a 4.5 for me! I enjoyed it!

Cover: Like it! It has that certain feel to it, like you know there is going to be a lot you don’t understand. I like it!

What I’d Give It:

Shine (Shade #3) by Jeri Smith Ready

Shine (Shade #3) by Jeri Smith Ready

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 416

Summary: In this dramatic conclusion to the Shade trilogy, Aura and Zachary’s relationship sizzles as the secrets of the Shift are revealed.

Life can change in an instant, and no one understands that better than Aura. It’s been almost a year since her boyfriend tragically died. She’s finally letting go of Logan’s violet-hued ghost, but not her search to uncover the truth about her past.

As the first in a generation that can see ghosts, Aura is convinced she has a connection to the Shift. She’s trusted Zachary, ever patient and ever by her side, with all that she knows. But when the government threatens his life in an attempt to learn Aura’s secrets, she will stop at nothing to protect herself and the one she loves...even if that means betraying her own heart.  

My Thoughts: When I started Shine, I knew right away I would enjoy it! Even the opening pages were awesome. I started it and got sucked right back in with Aura and Zachary.

Zachary is contained shortly after and Aura wants to help him, to get him out, to break him out. She and her friends do everything they can to try to find a way but it isn’t easy.

Once Zachary reunites with Aura, things aren't perfect. She ends up going to see him and this is the best part of the book. I loved their romantic moments together. Very sweet, even if people were always after them and they were trying to get away and out of sight.

I felt like a lot happened during this one but at the same time, not very much. I’m glad how things ended. I’m glad on the conclusion, and the very last few pages, I’m glad. I loved this series a lot but I felt like this book wasn't as great as the others once the pages flew by. I think I just missed Logan. I’m glad I got to see more of his family and all of Aura’s friends but I just missed Logan.

Oh sweet Logan. I like Zach, don’t get me wrong but I just missed Logan!!!

Am I happy on how things ended? Yes. Was it wrapped up nicely? Yes.  However, I just didn’t love this one as much as the first two and that is why its only getting 4 cupcakes instead of 5.

Overall: I enjoyed this one. I’m so happy I got to finish the trilogy with Aura! And I felt like it resolved nicely. I felt like it was the way it was supposed to be. To make a lot of people happy. To make Aura happy.

Cover:  Like it. I have liked all these covers!

What I’d Give It:

Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3) by Kiersten White

Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3) by Kiersten White

Release Date: July 24, 2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages:  400

Summary: Kiersten White’s New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy comes to a breathless conclusion with a signature mix of wit, romance, paranormal creatures, and a truly original heroine.

In Endlessly, pink-loving, butt-kicking Evie has way too much on her to-do list. Paranormals are begging her to open a faerie gate so they can leave the human world, something Evie’s not sure she has the power to do. The Dark Queen is torturing humans and must be destroyed.

On top of all that, Evie’s prom is coming up. She’s not sure what to wear, and, oh, yeah, her shape-shifting boyfriend, Lend, has been cursed so that he falls into an enchanted sleep whenever he and Evie are in the same room…and even Evie’s ex-boyfriend, the faerie Reth, can’t reverse the dark magic.

An epic battle is looming, and the choices Evie makes will determine the fate of whole paranormal world—and her own life.

My Thoughts:  I’m so glad to finally be able to continue this trilogy and finish it!

We are back with Evie. I easily remembered her. She was so spunky! And funny. We are also back with her boyfriend Lend, and the other guy who loves her, Reth. I really try not to like Reth but I always find him so funny and charming!

Evie has given up bagging and tagging paranormals and just wants to live her own little life, spend time with her boyfriend, go to school, etc. She wants to be done with everything else. But she is basically forced into it. And when a whole bunch of paranormals start creeping up on her wanting her to open a faerie gate, Evie gets more than she bargains for.

I really enjoyed this series. I enjoyed seeing all the paranormals reasoning behind opening this paranormal gate. I did understand.

Evie just wants to be by herself, she doesn't want people bugging her and that is what makes this so funny. She has such a great sense of humor. She never fails to make me laugh.

I did like the plot of this one but its always the characters that make these books for me. I love all the different characters. And, I really like Lend and Reth. I’m so happy with the way things ended. It was bittersweet but part of me still wanted it to end another way. Darn two guys being in the story that I liked.

What can I say? I really enjoyed this series and I won’t say much else because I don’t want to give away spoilers. If you haven’t read this series yet, what are you waiting for?

Overall:  I enjoyed this one! I enjoyed seeing Evie overcome so much. I’ve see her grow and blossom into who she is now. I also liked all the side characters. I also enjoyed the plot! I just really like this series! And its so bleeping funny!

Cover:  So pretty! Its perfect!

What I’d Give It:

My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal

My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal

Release Date:  June 10, 2014

Publisher: Farrar Straus and Giroux

Age Group:  Young Adult

Pages:  368

Summary:  What if your last kiss was with the wrong boy?

Cassidy Haines remembers her first kiss vividly. It was on the old covered bridge the summer before her freshman year with her boyfriend of three years, Ethan Keys. But her last kiss—the one she shared with someone at her seventeenth birthday party the night she died—is a blur. Cassidy is trapped in the living world, not only mourning the loss of her human body, but left with the grim suspicion that her untimely death wasn’t a suicide as everyone assumes. She can’t remember anything from the weeks leading up to her birthday and she’s worried that she may have betrayed her boyfriend.

If Cassidy is to uncover the truth about that fateful night and make amends with the only boy she’ll ever love, she must face her past and all the decisions she made—good and bad—that led to her last kiss.

My Thoughts: We are introduced to Cassidy who has a boyfriend named Ethan. Or at least she did while she was alive. Cassidy died one night by falling over a railing into water. She was drinking and took a tumble, or at least that is the story but Cassidy comes back as a ghost to figure it all out. She doesn’t remember very much and the only one who can see her is Ethan. And of course Cassidy had been hanging out with another guy too before her death but he can't see her now.

Cassidy was a very likable main character and I liked Ethan as well. I also liked getting to know all of her other friends but I just didn’t love this one. I felt like there was something missing. It dragged in parts and I just had a hard time really caring what was happening. Ethan sure did adjust pretty well to her being a ghost though, haha.

I wanted to love this one, and I thought I would when I read the summary but I just didn’t.

I did like the plot and I enjoyed seeing what really happened and who was behind her actual death. It was interesting to see but I also had a feeling it would be who it was.

I don’t know, maybe it was my reading mood but I thought this one was ok. Some people will probably really love it but I wanted more suspense I guess. I felt like it had a plot to similar to something else I have read lately and maybe that is why I didn’t fall in love. And, that is ok I’m not going to give everything 5 cupcakes I know this.

I still finished it, enjoyed it enough to keep reading, and needed to know for sure who was behind her death.

Overall: I liked it, just didn’t love it liked I hoped. I did like both Cassidy and Ethan and I liked seeing their story. I think a lot of people will fall in love with this one, I just couldn’t connect right now I guess.  

I would probably rate this more of a 3.5 rating.

Cover: I like it! The cover is just a girl but it will draw you in anyway. Cute.

What I’d Give It:

Supernaturally (Paranormalcy #2) by Kiersten White

Supernaturally (Paranormalcy #2) by Kiersten White

Release Date:  July 26, 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages:  352

Summary: Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be...kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

My Thoughts: It's been quite a while since I read Paranormalcy but I was excited to dive back into Evie’s world.  Evie has been living in the normal world. She’s being ordinary, going to school, thinking about college, keeping a job.

But things don’t stay ordinary for Evie. Once again she starts working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Its time for her to bag and tag paranormals again. A lot of this book focuses on vampires and why different paranormals are coming to town, and what they seem to want with her.

I didn’t feel too connected to the plot on this one. It just wasn't holding my interest. But I still loved Evie and Lend. I also loved the few scenes with Reth. And I especially loved the new guy Jack. He really added some spice and excitement to this one.

These books are so much fun and Evie is so funny and its just nice to fly through this. They are so easy to read and I find myself laughing more than anything else.

I can’t wait to see how things play out in the next book and see where things go for Evie.

Overall: I just love Evie’s personality and wit! She’s the girl I’d love to be friends with. I also liked the characters. I can’t believe how fun Jack turned out to be BUT the ending with him. Oh my. Did not see that coming. What is his deal?

I can’t wait to finish this series!

Cover: Like it! These covers are so pretty!

What I’d Give It: