Book Series Review: Watersong Quartet by Amanda Hocking

I finally finished The Watersong Quartet by Amanda Hocking recently. While the series didn't make it into my favorites, I did find the series satisfying. I loved the two romances blossoming over the course of the series, I loved the minor characters Marcy and Lydia, and I loved how the character list was a reverse of the standard stereotypical cast, with default characters being female and the guys only existing as love interests, dads, or dead bodies.

• Originality: 9/10
• Fast-paced: 8/10
• Mythology: 7/10
• Funny: 6/10
• Romance: 8/10
• Overall rating: 38/50

Pick up this series if you like

• Paranormal romance
• Hot love interests
• Killer ladies
• Siblings relationships

Skip this series if you hate

• Revisions to mythology

While I love just about any take on mythology, I can understand that not everyone is going to like every re-imagining. Furthermore, there was one part of the series that was not fully explained, and while I was able to come up with the reasoning that held with both the rules of the mythology and make sense in the world, a lot of other people did not come to that same conclusion. (read more under the cut)

Well, that's all for my non-spoiler review. You can check under the cut for some discussion on a very specific spoiler-filled part of Elegy, book four of the Watersong Quartet.

Book Series Review: The Lynburn Legacy (Unspoken, Untold, and Unmade) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Due to the stomach bug making its way through my family, I didn't make any posts last week. But I'm going to try to make it up to you by doubling up on posts this week. So here's the first of today's two reviews. I hope you enjoy!

Last Tuesday, one of my most anticipated books of the year was released. The Lynburn Legacy was one of the few book series I found out about right after book one was released, and I really enjoyed waiting for sequel releases, and then immediately buying and reading the sequels. While I agree that some series require binge reading (Vampire Academy, I'm looking at you), I love the opportunity that the breaks between books give me and other fans to anticipate the sequels and express that excitement through fan art or fan fiction or fan mixes. While The Lynburn Legacy doesn't have as large of the fan base as a lot of other book fandoms, the fans are so dedicated to the series, and it makes me so happy to find new people who have also heard of and love this series.

The Lynburn Legacy trilogy is a gothic mystery series with fantasy elements. It is my favorite series by Sarah Rees Brennan, and I have already reread the first two books in the series, and plan on rereading all three books again in the future.

• Addicting: 10/10
• Originality: 10/10
• Suspense: 10/10
• Funny: 10/10
• Romance: 10/10
• Overall rating: 50/50

Pick up this trilogy if you like

• YA mysteries
• Spunky protagonists
• Awesome female friends
• Jokes
• Siblings relationships

Skip this book if you hate

• Plots hinged on miscommunications

I realize that I am biased, but I really think everyone who likes YA books would love this book series. Unfortunately, since it is a lesser known series, it might not be available at your local bookstore, but you can always order online, or request that your local bookstore order a copy.

Book Raves: The Turn of the Story

So somewhere in between trying to finish The Lux series and City of Glass and considering whether or not I have time to reread Unspoken and Untold before the release of Unmade next Tuesday, I decided it would be a good idea to abandon all my other reads and go back to reading The Turn of the Story.

Sorry, everything else I've been excited for lately! Y'all are taking a backseat to this.

The Turn of the Story is a serialized story written by Sarah Rees Brennan (same author as Unmade, so I feel slightly less guilty about overshadowing its upcoming release), that was written as a present to her readers and is posted on her livejournal. While she has the brevity of George R.R. Martin (this 13 part series started as a short story), she also has the wit, imagination, and humor of Terry Pratchett at his best. Her words make me laugh out loud, fall into despair, shriek in frustration, and make me consider the politics of war and the dehumanization of our opposition in order to justify our own means while neglecting to see our shortcomings in reaching those ideals we insist make us better, sometimes all in the span of a few sentences. 

You should go read it right now, though you should know that the story does not end with part 13 on her blog, but with a separate short story all on its own. Wings in the Morning picks up right where part 13 leaves off, but from a different character's point of view, and is included in the anthology Monstrous Affections edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, which I bought on my Kindle immediately after finishing part 13. I must say I prefer Elliot's POV to than that of the character in Wings in the Morning, but they both are fantastic. 

I have far too many things to talk about this series to fit into one post, but I will figure out a way to share everything with you sometime soon!

Happy reading,

Katie

Book Talk: Hating on Twilight

In the last few years, it has become very popular to make fun of Twilight. These criticisms usually come with the rationalization that the Twilight books and movies deserve the hate because they have problematic issues (romanticizing an emotionally abusive relationship, depicting the nonwhite characters as animalistic alongside depictions of white people acting civilized, etc.). However, I've heard of many cases where people use these reasons to rationalize making personal attacks against the author and fans.

Whether or not you liked Twilight, you have to admit that it is a household name in young adult literature. Though I never finished the series, I did read and love Twilight, and I have watched the movie twice in theaters and several times on DVD*. Though I never considered myself being a diehard Twilight fan, I am a diehard fan of young adult literature. My paperback copies of the Hunger Games and City of Bones, two YA books series that became giants of their own, have recommendations from Stephanie Meyer printed on the covers. Stephanie Meyer is hugely responsible for the current popularity and breadth of YA literature, and yet the treatment towards her basically forced her out of her career as a book author. I can't help but find that incredibly unjust and sad.

I won't deny that the Twilight series has its problems, but there is a huge difference between finding fault with something you personally didn't enjoy, and bashing everyone who has ever dared to like that thing.  Furthermore, this is a book series that resonates with a lot of people, and I think it would be far more useful to examine the society which perpetuates the idea that controlling boyfriends are not only normal, but desirable, rather than to tell the fans they are stupid for liking the things society has trained them to want**.

Part of becoming an adult, for me at least, has been discovering that there are problematic issues with a lot of things I love, and I've found that it is much healthier for me to acknowledge the problems that exist while also pointing out the things that were done right, rather than disowning everything I've ever liked. If you are interested in checking out a way I think this is done successfully, I recommend checking out Ana Mardoll's Deconstruction of Twilight posts on her blog.

Well, that's enough preaching from me for one night. Thanks for listening to me rant!

Happy reading,

Katie 

*That movie is comedy gold and no one will convince me otherwise.
**For those of you that don't believe me that this is an issue larger than Twilight, watch Brenna Twohy's slam poem entitled "Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them. If you scared off by the title, all you need to know is the quote hidden under the cut.

Book Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I've recently started reading the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and I cannot recommend it enough. I literally could not put it down, to the point where I was pulling out my phone and reading a few paragraphs on my Kindle app while at the store with my sister or hanging out with my friends.

• Addicting: 10/10
• Originality: 7/10
• Fast Paced: 7/10
• Funny: 8/10
• Romance: 10/10
• Overall rating: 42/50

Do not pick up this book unless you have the time to read all of Obsidian and the sequel, Onyx, in a row.  While it would be optimal to marathon the entire series in one go, most people, myself included, have things like work and sleep and laundry that prevent us from making the commitment to reading 5 books nonstop. I personally found the end of Onyx to be the best stopping point to resume my normal life, and once I read the rest of the series, I will let you know about the other stopping points that worked best for me.

Pick up this book if you like

• Paranormal romance
• High school dramas
• Funny pop culture references
• Romances where the couple has a love/hate relationship

Skip this book if you hate

• Cliffhangers

If you are not sure if you will like it and you have a Kindle or the Kindle app, I recommend you download Obsidian from the Kindle bookstore because it is currently available for free. It's a no-risk trial of the series! You literally have nothing to lose by getting this book (other than hours of your life due to reading it nonstop).

That's it for the non-spoiler part of this book review, click the link below to reveal my discussion including spoilers.

What I'm Reading: The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I'm behind the times on just about everything, so it should be a surprise to no one that I've waited until a month after the release of Opposition, the fifth and final book of the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout, to start the first book, Obsidian. Although I'd love to be a book hipster and know about all the awesome books before they become popular, in this case I am glad I didn't start the series until after all five books have been released, because oh boy, is this an addicting read. You can click on the links in the book titles to see the descriptions on Goodreads, but I've also written my own spoiler-free blurb of Obsidian below.

The Lux series follows Katy, a teenage book blogger who has just moved with her mother from Florida to West Virginia, and her attempts to befriend her new next door neighbors, twins Dee and Daemon Black. Though the twins are both tall, athletic, and attractive, the similarities end there. Dee is as friendly and bubbly as Daemon is rude and sarcastic. While Dee quickly becomes Katy's best friend, Daemon wants nothing to do with her, and he openly discourages her friendship with Dee. But there is more to this sleepy West Virginia town, and the Blacks, than meets the eye, and if Katy wants to stay alive, she's going to need the help of the one boy who is determined to have nothing to do with her. 

I started Obsidian last Friday, and I finished it Saturday morning. I then immediately bought the sequel, Onyx, and finished that on Sunday. Luckily for me, Onyx has a slightly more satisfying ending than Obsidian, so I was able to sleep and go back to work on Monday instead of immediately buying Opal and staying up all Sunday night reading it. That being said, I can't wait for this weekend so I can continue on with Opal, and I'm using it as a reward for completing some chores I have been procrastinating on.

I've still got more than half of the series to go, but I can't help but see tons of Twilight parallels. I'm starting to wonder how many of these are common YA paranormal romance tropes that were just made popular by the Twilight series. Either way, this book series is loads of fun, and I recommend it to fans of YA paranormal romance, whether or not you liked Twilight.

A word to the wise: don't pick up this series unless you have lots of time to devote to reading AND either own all 5 books or can easily access the sequels. This is not a series of satisfying endings with resolutions packaged nicely in bows. This is a series of plot twists and cliff hangers that you can't help but marathon. I plan to finish it by next weekend so I can be free to read Unmade as soon as it is released on September 23rd, but we'll see what happens.

I'm got some plans in the works for this blog, hopefully to be implemented this weekend, so you can look forward to seeing those soon. I won't make any promises about specific content or deadlines until after those changes are set in stone, but you can expect another post from me in the not-too-distant future.

Happy reading,

Katie

Book Buzz: Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan

I'm sorry for my extended absence, but I am thrilled to say that I am back and ready to give this book blogging thing another go.

My return gives me just enough time to pump myself up for the release of the final book in one of my favorite in-progress series so far, Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan (which happens to be the inspiration for the recent change in color scheme). The Lynburn Legacy is a Gothic series and consists of Unspoken, Untold, and Unmade. I won't talk about the plot of Unmade, since that'll spoil books 1+2, but here's the blurb for book 1:

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in.She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

If you like YA mysteries and you haven't heard of this series, you need to check it out. It has romance, jokes, awesome female friendships, and hot boys in every flavor: brooding, princely, and flirtatious. What else could you ask for? Seriously, just check them out right now.

That's all for now, I'll be back with an update soon!

Happy reading,

Katie