Karenschoice books

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UPDATED VERSION OF THIS REVIEW! Unearthly by  Cynthia Hand Series:   Unearthly #1  Source:  Kindle copy Publisher:  HarperTeen Publication Date:    April 2011 Age Genre: Young Adult In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side. As Clara tries to find her way i...

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock Series:   Hemlock #1 Source:  Kindle Version Publisher:  Katherine Tegen Books Publication Date:  May 8th 2012 Age Genre: Young Adult MACKENZIE AND AMY WERE BEST FRIENDS. UNTIL AMY WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED. Since then, Mac's life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac's hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy's killer: A white werewolf. Lupine syndrome - also known as the werewolf vius - is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control. Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy's boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk. Kathleen Peacock...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UPDATED VERSION OF THIS REVIEW!  Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo Series:   The Grisha #1 Source:  Kindle Edition Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Publication Date:   June 5th 2012 Age Genre: Young Adult Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire k...

The Alchemyst by  Michael Scott Series:   The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #1 Source:  bought paperback Publisher:  Corgi Publication Date:  August 5th 2010 Age Genre: MG-YA The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life. The records show that he died in 1418. But his tomb is empty. The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects — the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power ...

A Thousand Pieces of You by  Claudia Gray Series:   Firebird #1 Source:  Bought hardback Publisher:  HarperTeen Publication Date:  November 4th, 2014 Age Group: Young Adult Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray. Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him. Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers...

CLICK HERE TO READ AN UPDATED VERSION TO THIS REVIEW!  Deerskin by  Robin McKinley Standalone Source:  gifted paperback Publisher:  Ace Publication Date: July 1, 1994 Age Genre: Adult As Princess Lissar reaches womanhood, it is clear to all the kingdom that in her breathtaking beauty she is the mirror image of her mother, the queen. But this seeming blessing forces her to flee for safety from her father's wrath. With her loyal dog Ash at her side, Lissar unlocks a door to a world of magic, where she finds the key to her survival - and an adventure beyond her wildest dreams... Surprisingly, considering this was a birthday present and I have never heard of this book before, I really liked this book , and recommend you read it if you're looking for something different than you're used to, because this book is different than most everything I read before. Deerskin is written in a matter which includes very few dialogues. Most of the story is told through a storyteller, ...

Moon Dance by J.R. Rain Series:   Vampire for Hire #1 Source:  Free Kindle book Publisher:  Self Published Publication Date:  August 10th 2009 Age Genre: Adult Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire. Now the world at large thinks Samantha has developed a rare skin disease, a disease which forces her to quit her day job and stay out of the light of the sun. Now working the night shift as a private investigator, Samantha is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum to investigate the murder attempt on his life, a horrific scene captured on TV and seen around the country. But as the case unfolds, Samantha discovers Kingsley isn't exactly what he appears to be; after all, there is a reason why he survived five shots to the head. T...

So as you guys know, I wasn't always part of The Book Babe's Reads. I had my own personal blog before - which now lies abandoned... alongside all my old reviews. But because I feel like some of them don't deserve such an awful treatment, I'm going to slowly move my favorite reviews here! (though some editing may occur, as I'm a little OCD about my reviews, and the older they originally are, the more likely I am to have things I want to rephrase).  Dark Lover by J.R Ward Series:   Black Dagger Brotherhood #1 Source:  borrowed from library Age Genre:  Adult Original Review: April 12, 2013 In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to ...

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley Series: Not announced Source: Bought Publisher: HarperCollins Publication Date: April 28, 2015 Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers...

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater Series:   The Raven Cycle #3 Source:  Bought signed Hardcover Publisher: Scholastic Publication Date: October 21st 2014 Age Genre: Young Adult There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up. Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel. "...But what she didn't realize about Blue and her boys was that they were  all  in love with one another. She was no less obsessed with them than they were with her, or one another, analyzing every conversation and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag, spending each moment eithe...

AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS REVIEW CAN BE FOUND ON AFTERWORDS! The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Source:  paperback Publisher:  Black Swan Publication Date:  January 30th 2014 Age Genre: Young Adult HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH It's a small story, about: a girl an accordionist some fanatical Germans a Jewish fist fighter and quite a lot of thievery. ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES The Book Thief has been reviewed many times over. I bet everything that could be said about it, already has been. But... as a Jew, reading this book...

So as you guys know, I wasn't always part of The Book Babe's Reads. I had my own personal blog before - which now lies abandoned... alongside all my old reviews. But because I feel like some of them don't deserve such an awful treatment, I'm going to slowly move my favorite reviews here! (though some editing may occur, as I'm a little OCD about my reviews, and the older they originally are, the more likely I am to have things I want to rephrase).  First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones Series:   Charley Davidson #1 Source:  Bought paperback copy Publisher:  Piatkus Books Publication Date:  November 3rd 2011 Age Genre: New Adult Original Review: May 22, 2013 Private investigator Charlotte Davidson was born with three things: looks; a healthy respect for the male anatomy; and the rather odd job title of grim reaper. Since the age of five, she has been helping the departed solve the mysteries of their deaths so they can cross over. Thus, when three lawyers f...

AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS REVIEW CAN BE FOUND ON MY NEW BLOG! Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare Series:   The Infernal Devices #1 Source:  Bought Paperback Publisher:  Walker Books Publication Date:  March 1st 2011 Age Genre: Young Adult 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. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by — and torn between — two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all. Yep, you're reading this right. A mere three and a half stars. I thought Clockwork Angel might...