Book Review | The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

It's no secret at this point that I love young adult dystopian novels, so I was extremely excited when Entangled Teen contacted me and asked if I would review The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel. Despite my busy schedule, I agreed to review the book in time for the release. I'm so glad I accepted the offer!

The Book of Ivy is told through sixteen-year-old Ivy's point of view. As the story begins, Ivy is about to get married. But this wedding is unlike the ones we know today. Ivy's marriage, like nearly all marriages in her world, are arranged. She's destined to marry the president's son, as their families have been at odds with one another for two generations, and their union is a symbol of the president's power over the town her grandfather established. While many girls her age are excited for a life with their new husbands, Ivy is petrified. Not only will she be forced into intimacy with husband Bishop, but she's also been set the task of killing him.

Readers follow Ivy as her marriage begins, and as she gets to know Bishop. As it turns out, he may not be the evil monster her family told her he would be, and things may not go according to plan.

It's not often that I race through a book, but I read The Book of Ivy in just two sittings. It is fast-paced, easy-to-read, and quite compelling. It did not have a "typical dystopian" feel, and there was nothing cliche in the plot. I was really surprised with how unique the story was. In fact, despite the arranged marriages, the world Ivy lives in isn't too bad.

I also really loved the character development in this book. I never knew who could be trusted, and who was the real enemy. Ivy also struggled with this, and with the book told in her voice, it made for a mysterious read. Of course, the ending was fabulous! I cannot wait for the second book in the series to be released so I can find out how Ivy's story continues.

I gave The Book of Ivy a full 5 star rating on Goodreads, and highly recommend it. If you love dysoptians, this is a must read, but I also think that contemporary lovers will enjoy this book as well. The Book of Ivy hits bookstores today, and can be purchased on Amazon HERE. Let me know in the comments if you've read this book, and your thoughts!

This book was provided for my unbiased review. I use Amazon Affiliate links so you can find the books I mention easily. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Snapshot Sunday | Home Cookin'

I usually feature city snapshots every week, but today I thought I would share a picture of the Banana Oatmeal cookies I made last night. While NYC has some of the best food in the world, sometimes it's great to stay in and make something in the kitchen, especially when the weather turns cold. I had a couple ripe bananas, and found THIS simple Pinterest recipe. I think they turned out great! 

Book Trailer | Anomaly by Tonya Kuper

Anomaly by Tonya Kuper is being released by Entangled Teen on November 25, 2014. Here is everything you need to know about this new, young adult release! 

COVER & SYNOPSIS

Reality is only an illusion.

Except for those who can control it…

Worst. Birthday. Ever.

My first boyfriend dumped me—happy birthday, Josie!—my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening…

Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it.

When hottily-hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead…

BOOK TRAILER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tonya Kuper is the author of ANOMALY, the first in the Schrodinger’s Consortium Series, a young adult science fiction trilogy, releasing November 25, 2014 by Entangled Teen. She fell for Young Adult lit while earning her Master’s degree in Reading Education. She's a mom to two awesome boys, an alt music junkie, a Star Wars nerd, and in love with Sherlock.

Find Tonya online:

Website: http://tonyakuper.com/

Twitter: @TonyaKuper

BUY ANOMALY NOW!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads Giveaway

Are you excited for Anomaly?! Let me know in the comments! 

Snapshot Sunday | NYC by Night

The laundry room in my building was out of commission for a week, and as soon as it was back in action I stayed up late to wash my clothes. What does this have to do with the photo, you ask? Well, the laundry room is on the top floor of my building, and there is a balcony with amazing views of the city. I couldn't help but snap a picture of the Empire State Building lit up. I'll always think the skyline is gorgeous, and I'll miss this view when I move out of this building. 

Book Review | Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

I've wanted to read a Scott Westerfeld book for years ever since hearing about his Uglies series, so I was very excited when I got the opportunity to review his new release. Afterworlds is a unique book that contains two stories in one. First, we follow 18-year-old Darcy Patel. She is a recent high school graduate who moves to New York City after getting her first book deal. The book she wrote is called Afterworlds, a young adult paranormal. Westerfeld's Afterworlds opens in Darcy's world, and then the chapters alternate so that we get to read Darcy's book as well. This back-and-forth makes for an interesting reading experience.

I'll admit I was a bit nervous to read Afterworlds. At just over 600 pages, I was worried I wouldn't get through this lengthy novel, or that the two story lines would be confusing. Luckily, Westerfeld does an amazing job at intertwining his stories. In fact, I was really impressed with how easy it was to keep up with both stories at once. Westerfeld definitely gets an A+ for crafting Afterworlds.

That being said I was a bit disappointed overall. I really loved Darcy's storyline. I found her chapters very interesting, as not only do I live in New York, but I liked learning about the publishing industry from a new author's point of view. Plus, Darcy is forced to grow up rather quickly, and has to learn how to deal with the beast NYC can be. I definitely liked her story better between the two in Afterworlds, though I feel like her ending was a bit abrupt and cliché. If I was to rate her story separately, I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Darcy's Afterworlds, on the other hand, was a bit lackluster for me. It begins with a bang when protagonist Lizzie is the sole survivor of a terrorist attack in the airport. When Lizzie plays dead to avoid being killed, she ends up transporting herself to the afterworld, the land of the dead. There she meets Yamaraj, a death god who explains to Lizzie that she is now a psychopomp. Afterworlds follows Lizzie as she learns what it means to be a psychopomp, and deals with this new aspect of her life.

I really wanted to love the Afterworlds story, but there were several issues along the way. For instance, the characters were a bit underdeveloped, events occurred without good explanations, and the ending was unsatisfying. I was unsure whether Westerfeld crafted Afterworlds to be purposefully weak, since Darcy is a debut author and therefore writing for the first time, or if the storyline just fell flat. I also know that Darcy is writing a sequel to Afterworlds, so that may be why the ending didn't completely wrap up perfectly, but as a reader of Westerfeld's Afterworlds I would have liked a bit more. Finally, Lizzie does something completely unforgivable in Afterworlds that I can't explain due to spoilers. What I will say, however, is that her behavior was extremely off-putting, and took away a lot of credibility for the entire Afterworlds plot. Rating this part of the book alone, I would give it 2 out of 5 stars.

All in all, I did really enjoy reading Afterworlds despite the issues I have with it. I read the book rather quickly in under two weeks because I wanted to know what would happen next. I think the story was quite unique and fun, but could use some more polish. My overall rating for Afterworlds is 3 out of 5 stars, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a different kind of young adult novel. You can purchase Afterworlds on Amazon HERE. Please let me know in the comments what you thought of this book!

This books was provided by Edelweiss for my unbiased review. I use Amazon Affiliate links so you can find the books I mention easily. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Book Signing | Grace Helbig at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe for Grace's Guide

When I found out that Grace Helbig, YouTuber, comedienne, and author extraordinaire, was coming to New York City for a book signing the day before my twenty-fifth birthday, I couldn't help but rejoice! Grace is an awesome human that I follow online, and I jumped at the opportunity to meet her. In honor of her first book's release, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe hosted a launch party on October 19. I decided it was perfectly cool to buy myself a copy of Grace's Guide: The Art of Pretending to Be a Grown Up as a birthday gift.

I had never been to an event at Housing Works before, but I've been to enough YouTube meet-ups and book signings that I knew I had to be there early. I arrived at 10:30am, and asked when the line would be starting for the 1:00pm event. I was super surprised when employees told me they weren't going to start setting up until 12:00 noon! Nonetheless, I hung around for a couple hours, and soon the place was packed with a crowd I was 99% sure was there for Grace.

Things got a little complicated. Everyone had to get up and move out of the cafe so the employees could set up chairs. Then, just before we were about to choose our seats, the book sales began. So even though I was one of the first fans to arrive, I ended up missing out on a prime seat due to there not being a line. I had a few seconds of panic and annoyance, but luckily I used my ever-growing patience skills and dealt with the disorganization. Finally, I got my book and chose a seat. I was next to a pole, but luckily had an amazing view of Grace!

Grace was really sweet and funny, and just like I would expect her to be. She read a piece from her new book, and then took questions from the crowd. I was completely obsessed with her outfit and totally chill attitude. Plus, she gave great advice to those of us trying to make it in New York.  Grace spoke for about half an hour, and then we were called up in groups to get our books signed. There was no personalization at this event, but Grace did pose for pictures! Here are a couple of awesome selfies we took!

 Overall I had an amazing time at Grace's book signing even though things were a bit disorganized at first. Grace was so nice, and I can't wait to read her book. As a now 25-year-old millennial, Grace's Guide is absolutely perfect for this time in my life. I'll be sure to have a full review up once I finish reading it!

Book Review | Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

In the spirit of Halloween I wanted to share my thoughts on a young adult book that I read over the summer. I had heard great things about Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, but was hesitant to pick it up due to the creepy cover. When I won the book in a giveaway, I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this is not a scary book at all!

Miss Peregrine's opens with teenager Jacob living his life, when all of a sudden his beloved grandfather is found dead in the woods by his house. Jacob rushes to the scene only to discover a monster lurking nearby, but no one believes that the monster is real. Instead, Jacob's family and friends, and even his new psychiatrist, believe that Jacob created the monster out of grief for the loss of his grandfather. Because of this, Jacob convinces his father to accompany him on a trip to Europe to visit an island where his grandfather spent time after escaping the Holocaust. At first it seems that no one left on the island remembers Jacob's grandfather, but everything changes when Jacob finds a home full of peculiar children.

As you can probably guess from my brief plot summary, Miss Peregrine's does have mysterious and spooky elements to it, but I would not consider it a horror novel at all. Instead, it is an interesting story with paranormal elements, and lots of twists and turns throughout the way. There is no denying that Ransom Riggs has created a new and unusual world, and I want to mention how incredible it is that he includes vintage photographs in the book to illustrate the story. The use of photos gives the story life, and helps the reader visualize things that would otherwise be lost in the imagination.

That being said, I did have a few issues with the book. The beginning is a bit of a downer. In fact, I almost didn't want to continue reading because I was afraid the entire story would be depressing. Luckily, I was able to move past that and discover the fantastical story Riggs created. However, I also felt that the ending to the book was quite rushed. Things happened so quickly that I had trouble grasping what was going on. In this way, I think Miss Peregrine's has an awesome plot, but could use some polishing at the start and finish. Nonetheless, I gave the book a solid 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and would highly recommend it for young adult readers who are looking for something different.

Miss Peregrine's is the first book in a series that continues on with Hollow City. I'm not sure whether or not I will continue reading this particular series, but I do look forward to other books by Ransom Riggs, as they are sure to be imaginative. You can purchase Miss Peregrine's on Amazon HERE. Of course, please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comments!

I use Amazon Affiliate links so you can find the books I mention easily. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.