Fallen - Lauren Kate

So, I've been very slow in my fiction reading lately, amazing what a three hour delay on a train will do to help that!!!

Luckily for me, I happened into Easons before I got on my train and bought 3 for 2 books - one of which was Fallen by Lauren Kate.

Fallen, is a story about a girl called Lucie who is being 'reformed' after a terrible incident by being sent to Swords & Cross. There she meets a lot of strange young people, including two love interests Cam and Daniel. As the story progress, Lucie begins to realise that things aren't as normal as they seem, and that something is very different but comforting/familiar about Daniel.

Ok, so essentially Fallen follows the YA paranormal template, where Lucie is a new girl with something special about her who arrives at a new school and meets this strange new guy, who she is absolutely infatuated with and becomes obsessed with finding out his secrets.

This is what YA paranormal usually consists of, so I'm not going to go on about originality etc. as the way I see it, there is always a general pattern in all genres. Also I don't think it does this book justice to make comparisons.


*Spoiler Alert*


Back to Fallen, I really liked this book. I started reading it as a distraction on a stuffy warm train and it helped the time fly by for me (which is saying something). Once I was home, I had to keep reading.

I think Lauren Kate did an amazing job with this story and her characters, especially IMO Cam. It would have been so easy to cast him as the villain of the piece, but you really don't get to see this side of him till the end of the book. Seriously, although I read of the back of the book, I felt more drawn to Cam as the romantic lead (I honestly don't know what that says about me) - he was charming, perfect etc. yet you got hints that although Lucie felt something for him, there was a tinge of something darker attached.

The book is also nice and suspenseful, the pacing is perfect. I never felt that she was a] rushing the tension/love plot (till the end) or b] dragging it out. She just got it exactly right, so that I just kept turning the pages and was pulled into this world.

Like I said before, this story contains the YA template but it does have other suspenseful elements and can be dark in places. Lucie is not a perfect character, she is flawed and is full of guilt and fear over her past, but she is relatable and likable. I liked the minor characters as well such as Penn, whose death I felt was unnecessary. I imagine she would have made a nice human/grounding character for the future books, essentially someone to crack a joke or help Lucie remember being half normal.

I enjoyed that there is a bigger story behind the love story, that there is actually something bigger to be revealed as I continue with this series and that we don't (like Lucie) get all the answers by the end of the book. I'm really fascinated by Cam and Daniel's relationship and how this will all play out.

I give this book 8/10 though, because I felt that 'the shadows' explanation Daniel gave was a bit blah, I'm hoping that something more will be revealed here as I thought they were more than just demon gossips, especially with what happened to Trevor and Todd. I felt that the Sophia character was just a bit *there*, like she was thrown in as a twist and I didn't think she was exactly necessary. Lastly, 7/8ths of this books is excellently written and page turning good, but I felt that the action parts and the last chapter were not up to the standard of the rest of the book.

But I absolutely loved the epilogue, and am completely intrigued by where this story is heading and what Lucie's place is in relation to both Daniel and Cam.

So I do recommend you give this a read. It's fun, dark and romantic but with a dash of something bigger to come.

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

From the back

When her fiery older sister Bailey dies abruptly, seventeen year old Lennie, bookworm and band geek, is catapulted to the center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole world exploding.

The Sky Is Everywhere starts off with a poem. It’s simple, but filled with grief. That is where we meet Lennie, the main character. Lennie and the other cast of characters in this book is the reason why I gave this book seven stars. Characters and plot are the two huge factors that play into how I review, and in TSIE, Jandy Nelson delivers. Her characters are so bold and bright that anyone reading can’t help but to fall in love with them. Bailey’s family is especially charming to me, with and Uncle who tries to bring bugs back to life and a Grandma that paints green people.

Plot, the second huge factor of my reviews, did not deliver as much as characters did. Parts of the novel were extremely slow moving and hard for me to get through. There are at least 10 pages of unnecessary talk that could be removed and nothing would be missing.

The poems that are interspersed throughout the novel are what I believe to be the greatest treasure in the book. Each one, written by Lennie, tells a history of the two sister’s relationship, even after one of them is dead.

I give The Sky Is Everywhere 7 stars.

Evermore - Alyson Noel.

My cat and i decided we should review the series we have been enjoying lately (When i say cat i mean, i read he sits on my knee and gets cuddles.)
With out giving to much away i would like to give a brief overview of the story.
Ever Bloom's life was torn apart one tragic night when her mother, father, little sister and dog were killed in a tragic road accident. To make matters worse Ever had to be uprooted and moved from her home in Oregan to Laguna beach with her only living realative, her aunt. Not long after a boy came to town that would not only change her lift but had done so already, while she was dealing with the death of her loved ones she would have to deal with things no one ever would Ever realize.
At first i found this book quite slow, the plot dragged on and on until there where only 'about' 50 pages left then WHAM, i was shocked when the pin dropped, as soon as the pin dropped i was totally addicted.
The story was well writen and flowed nicely.
There are a couple of annoying consistancies (I am up to book three). While i like Alyson Noel's work her over use of "i pressed my lips together" is getting kind of annoying, and Ever's on going fued with school bullie does not seam to have a point, ok i guess every story needs its villan but i just dont get the point of theirs.
Having said that these annoyances are my personal ones and are extremely easy to look past.
It has a romance story similar to Edward and Bella's from Twilight but is so much more modern and realistic and Damen does not treat Ever like his little puppet.
If you liked twilight you will love this.
if you hated twilight you will still love it.
It's different and Alyson Noel is such a better writer then Stephanie Meyer.
all in all i completely love this series.
8/10 stars

New and ready to review!

Ok so!
I'm the newest reviewer here at The Book Bundle, My name is Monique i am 22 and i live in Australia. I love to write, read and listen to music.
I only recently began to enjoy reading, not only does it help me relax but it enhances my writing skills. Seeing has i want to be an Auther, thats important to me.
I'm very honest and opinionated so if i think a book really sucks i will say so, and wont be shy about doing it.
i will read anything once but my prefereances are Tough luck type stories, paranormal, young adult, i like things that are different, that go against the norm, but as i said i will read anything once, oh i really like reading series', you know things that go on and on, lol i hate things ending, if that makes sense.
obviously, i like to talk can go on and on. wops.
if you want me to review somthing,
you can email me:
thepastisinthepast@gmail.com
If you want to get to know me more here are a few options:

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/MissGC
facebook:
www.facebook.com/MissGC
Booksie (personal writing)
www.booksie.com/MissGC
and my other blogs:
UPWA:
http://unpublishedwritersassotiation.blogspot.com/
Personal:
http://missgc-monique.blogspot.com/


ok im going to go. . . and write my first review or somthing, looking forward to getting to know some of you

xx
Monique

Sorry...Kinda Slow Around Here Lately

Sorry all you avid readers!  Things have been kind of slow with the Bundle. 

Although I've been trying to zoom through the books in my "To-Read" List. 

I'll be posting reviews shortly of these titles, so look out for them!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull
Revelations and The Van Alen Legacy (last 2 books of the Blue Bloods series) by Melissa de la Cruz
Fallen by Lauren Kate
The Midnighter's Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

I'm sure all the other reviewers/authors/bloggers on here will be back shortly.  Just keep on the look out for future reviews coming up.

Masquerade (A Blue Bloods Novel)

I can't believe it has been so long since I've written a review.  However, this book is what has taken me so long to get to.  Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz haunted my nightstand until I finished it.  I would stare at it and realize that if I picked it up, I would have to sit down and finish it.  Every time I looked at it while reading it, I would have this problem.

Usually, that's the best sign a book is addicting.

I'm hooked.  I thought Blue Bloods, the first in the series, reeled me in but this book hooked me.  I think the worm is the cover of this book.  Just very mysterious with the eyes behind the beautiful mask. 

Here's a quick synopsis of what the story is about and I promise to try and not give too much away.

Masquerade, begins where Blue Bloods left off.  Doesn't every sequel do this somehow?  Anyway, we've met the characters, Bliss Llewellyn, Schuyler Van Alen, Mimi Force, Jack Force, and many others who come into more play. 

As many teenagers do, they all have social problems with themselves and with others around them.  Mimi is jealous of Jack paying more attention to Schuyler than to her even though they are "bonded" which means in their past lives, they were together as husband and wife, etc.  You get the drift.  Mimi decides early on that Schulyer needs to go away some how.  But how?

And Bliss is frightened by red eyes in her sleep giving her nightmares, and with her many different places she is going in the middle of the night in sleepwalker mode.  And who was her real mother?  The one her father never talked about.  Where did Dylan go?  What happened to him?

Then there is Schuyler, the half blood, the outcast of all the socialie scene in the Blue Blood world.  Although she is one of the top teen models in New York now, she is attracted to Jack more than ever and really looking for answers about Croatan or also known as, Silver Bloods.  Going to Venice with her best friend, Oliver, to find her grandfather, she learns throughout the story--as well as everyone else does--that she is more like her mother, Allegra Van Alen, than ever before.  She is, or may possibly be the strongest of the Blue Bloods and also, the only one that could defeat the Silver Bloods if they ever rose up and took to war.

Of course, these three mini storylines all mingle together and weave in and out of each throughout the book.  Every page is a turner, and I know I had to look ahead always and read the last paragraphs of certain chapters to see if they may leave me hanging or they would let me be.

As always in gripping stories, I could only find maybe one or two spots that I was comfortable putting the book down and waiting for the perfect day to sit down and read some more.

Even if you read, Blue Bloods, and like it in a mediocre way the way I did, go and pick up Masquerade, and just try to not read this in one sitting.  Luckily, I did it that way, but then again, it also took me weeks to get through it since I feared I would leave my motherly duties in order to read this book.

The Rubicon

For the past two weeks I've been reading this book nightly. The Rubicon is a hard book to categorise - although it is historical non fiction (has footnotes and all), Tom Holland tells the History of the Roman Republic in a compelling storytelling manner. The Rubicon (the first of Tom Hollands Historical books) can be summed up as 'Truth is stranger than fiction' or should i say 'Truth is more entertaining than fiction'.

In the first year of my undergrad degree, i did a year of 'Ancient civilisations' which focused on Rome and Greece. In all the books I've read on the subject of Rome, I think The Rubicon does an excellent job of telling the story of Rome - like a panoramic picture of its beginnings to the end - without too much (or overwhelming) detail to bog down the reader. This, i think, is the key to the success of this book - you don't have to be a scholar to comprehend and read this, and it isn't too clustered with details or differing academic opinions to leave you confused. Tom holland makes assumptions based on facts (lets you know he has) and gets back to the juicy details of the story.

Definitely this book though isn't a hero worship of Caesar or Augustus but gives a warts and all view of the political horizon of Rome, and of course (as he says in his preface) focuses beyond the typical 'main players' and shows the reasoning behind it all. My only fault is that there isn't a huge focus on the most epic moments (which almost feel anti-climatic) like Caesars murder or Antony and Cleopatra's suicides. He mentions them and moves on. However it should be noted that Tom Holland makes the point in the preface that this is a book about 'Rome and its people' and i think deliberately underplays the 'most known' parts so as not to swamp the message.

So to sum up, buy this book and read it! Even if history is not your cuppa, this is a reviting read! Can't wait to pick up his other two: Persian Fire and Millenium.