A Lot Can Happen In A Month [Dec 2012]

A Word from Nicole: Happy New Year's Eve! I'm proud to announce that this is the second month of book blogging me and Sarah has been through. I know she hasn't been posting a lot lately (I'm probably making you fall asleep with my lengthy posts) but she'll be back soon! I just find it slightly funny that we both just depend on the other to write the blog for a certain amount of time, then switch, and repeat. Anyways, let's start the recap for the month of December of 2012!

BOOK REVIEWS:

1. Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Its so darn AVERAGE. I finally found the word for this story. Its average. The speed is average, the action/adventure is average, and the romance is average-ish. Its not bad, but its not good enough to be called good. I guess its a good story, but its not worth saying its the best. The speed is, guess what, average. Its not slow enough to bore me enough to make me stop reading, but its not fast enough to make me read and make me wonder what will happen next. As I was reading this, I kept looking up occasionally, just because it came to a particularly boring part. (Quote taken from the Glitch book review. Click here to read the full review)

2. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

To be honest, the ending killed me. I'll try not to spoil much but it did get tears in my eyes. It was the type of ending that you get in real life, but that didn't stop my sympathy. This ending will move your heart. (Quote taken from the Second Chance Summer book review. Click here to read the full review)

3. Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

The plot was a pretty good idea. The perspective was pretty good too. The perspective was from a girl, Mac, and honestly, I find her annoying, but the perspective itself was fine. The storytelling was okay, I guess. I just wish it would be more vivid. It kind of felt like a blur, and a good way to put this as an example is when in a movie, they focus on one thing only, and everything surrounding it is a blur. Thats kind of how I felt like during the book. (Quote taken from the Hemlock book review. Click here to read the full review)

4. Everneath by Brodi Ashton

This was surprisingly fast. At least in my head. This was one of those stories where I couldn't stop reading because I was deep into the book. Everneath was one of those rare stories that I can't put down and read until midnight. I absolutely loved how it was fast-paced even though there wasn't action on every corner. (Quote taken from the Everneath book review. Click here to read the full review)

The pink titles are reviews written by Nicole. The blue titles are reviews written by Sarah.

MEMES:

Because of the holidays, Sarah and Nicole did not post a lot of memes. As a result of this, there was only one "In My Mailbox" post (hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren) and zero "Waiting on Wednesday" posts (hosted by Jill at the Breaking Spine).

Standing in place for the lack of meme posts, Sarah and Nicole made a few BATCH posts. Being A Thursday Cover Hoard posts are listed below along with the one "In My Mailbox" post. Enjoy!

12/3/12 -- In My Mailbox (4)
12/6/12 -- BATCH (2) features Breathe by Sarah Crossan
12/13/12 -- BATCH (3) features Everneath, Maximum Ride, Of Poseidon, and Under the Never Sky
12/21/12 -- BATCH (4) features North of Beautiful by Justina Headley Chen

OTHER POSTS:

Below are posts about books. They are loosely related, so they are put together in this section to let you read them.

Click here to read about the best books of 2012.

Click here to read about upcoming books in 2013 that Nicole is looking forward to.

HALL OF FAME:

Hall of Fame is a collection of amazing books discovered by Nicole and Sarah.

This month, one book has made it to the Hall of Fame again. This book is...

Everneath by Brodi Ashton! Click here for a link to Sarah's 5 star review! Nicole has also read this book and she highly recommends it if you haven't read it already!

MONTHLY FEATURE:

Like the last time, monthly features are usually kept a secret until you click on the link. So here's the link! Click here!

UPCOMING BOOK REVIEWS:

The exact review dates are still unknown at this point but beware: On the first week of January, Umbrella Dreams will start off the new year with 3 book reviews (there might be more). Some of them include the books up there, but there could be some surprises...

A FINAL WORD...

Thank you for sticking with Umbrella Dreams for another month! It's been a great two months book blogging and we hope you continue with us to the journey of books. Don't forget to subscribe and follow!(:  



This image belongs to Chibird of chibird.tumblr.com.



Have a happy new year! 2013, here we come!

2013 Books

Information: With the new year approaching, new books are coming as well! That is why I've collected a variety of these soon-to-be releases to share with you guys. A lot of these are sequels, so if you haven't, read the first book! These series are definitely worth to be recommended if they are on here. I've also tried to post only one or two of each genre [if I posted everything, this list will grow to be the size of Jupiter!] so some popular releases might not be on here.

Dystopian: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi -- I read the first book, "Under the Never Sky" recently and I really enjoyed it. The review will be up soon, but I couldn't help but share the sequel on here. I thought the concept of this dystopian world was really interesting and I can't wait to read more about it. Plus, the characters were really realistic and life-like. I'd love to visit them again.

Paranormal: The Essence by Kimberly Derting -- I read the first book of this awhile ago, but I remember liking it a lot. The ending was kind of an open ending, but it was pretty satisfying, so I was surprised to learn it had a sequel. Nonetheless, I want to read it....though I have to admit: I read The Pledge [the first book] because of its beautiful cover and The Essence's cover doesn't disappoint either.(:

Everbound by Brodi Ashton -- You know me. I'm the biggest Everneath fan on Earth; How can I resist putting this on the list?(:

Science Fiction: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza -- Mila 2.0 will be the first in its series, so I'm pretty excited about reading this. I have high hopes for it because of the good reviews on Goodreads, but you should know: I'm a really big fan of sci-fi stuff. That's why I'm really anticipating this release.

Historical/Horror: A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard -- You probably saw my review for the first book awhile ago on Umbrella Dreams but I'm really, really, really excited to read this too. The characters were so fantastic (especially Jie and Daniel) and the historical part of this makes me like it even more. Normally, I'm not a big fan of historical fiction books, but Susan Dennard has this unique writing style that makes historical fiction fun to read. Besides, this book is about zombies! (it isn't really a horror book, but I put it in that category, because it's meant to be somewhat scary/paranormal)

Comtemporary: Premeditated by Josin Mcquein -- I stumbled across this book on Goodreads and it sounded pretty good. Needless to say, I'm waiting for its release as well. Because honestly,

Other genres: Pivot Point by Kasie West -- I wasn't sure where to put this book genre-wise because it sounded paranormal with some contemporary in it. Mostly, I think it belongs in the paranormal section, but it didn't involve any mythical creatures or spirits (as far as I know), so I didn't put it there. But anyways, Pivot Point is a book I stumbled across in Goodreads and it's about a girl with magical powers. It kind of reminds me of Shatter Me, and since I enjoyed that book so much, I think I'll like Pivot Point a lot.

Parallel by Lauren Miller -- I wasn't sure about where to place this either. It's about parallel universes, which is slightly paranormal but not truly...So um, yeah. But the cover is gorgeous, and I'm probably the biggest science fiction geek, so I'm interested in reading it.

Crash by Lisa McMann -- Again, this book is not-seperable-by-genre, because it's about a girl who sees visions, but that's technically not involving mythical creatures, so I can't put it into paranormal. I'll just leave it here in the "other genres" and categorize it as a book I really want to read.

So those are the books I want to read! There are many more, but because of time limitations, I didn't put them on here. I recommend you to go on Goodreads and check out some of the books on your own!

Best YA Books of 2012

Okay, so I know this post is kind of late. Originally, it was due before Christmas, but because of the holidays, it was pushed back to until now. And I know me and Sarah haven't been posting a lot lately, but we'll be back in 2013 with awesome new posts! For now, posts will come about once or twice a week until we adjust to the new schedule in January...2013 (can you believe the year's almost over?)! 

This illustration belongs to chibird of chibird.tumblr.com.

But anyways, I'm here to list my top favorite books of 2012! And trust me, a lot of good books have shown up this year. YA book covers just keep getting better and better...

 Everneath by Brodi Ashton

I know Sarah has reviewed this one recently, but I read this one way back in January 2012 and I literally fell in love with it. The cover is absolutely gorgeous (though in Sarah's BATCH, she has mentioned the legs look weird & I cannot see it in the same way again), the plot is heartbreakingly beautiful and Jack/Cole. Plus, it's fast paced and keeps your attention. It's perfect for a rainy day read. I've re-read Everneath over and over, but I never get tired of it. If only the sequel, Everbound, will come out earlier....(counting down: about 23 more days!)



Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I admit, though Insurgent isn't as good as Divergent, I have a soft spot for it. And standing alone, it is a fantastic book, which is why I thought it deserved a spot on the list. Tris was still an entertaining character to read about, even if she grew slightly weaker. Tobias started to show more of his personality, which I enjoyed. The ending -- that cliffhanger-- really killed me though. I need the last book in the trilogy now!

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Yup, you've all seen my review on this book and you probably saw my WoW post for its sequel, Unbreakable, AND OHMYGOSH YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK NOW AND BUY IT AT THE BOOKSTORE AND LOOK AT ITS BEAUTIFUL COVER. That is how awesome it is; it deserves to be read! Janelle is such a strong main character who isn't weak at all; Ben may be in the running for "Best YA Boyfriend" against Jack of Everneath. And even though in my review, it is a four 1/2 stars, it is 5 stars in my heart. And if the sequel won't come out any sooner, I might go crazy. Plus, the cover of Unraveling doesn't hurt either.(:

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Okay, so I know my review for this never appeared on Umbrella Dreams, but it will..sometime in January. I know I'm kind of behind schedule, but I've read the whole book from cover to cover so can I just put it on this list because it's so wonderfully amazingly beautiful? In one sentence to describe this book: What's Left of Me is a story with an amazing cover and an even better story that involves two souls in one body and it is the story of Eva, a girl I'd like to have as my best friend if she came to life outside of the book.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Technically, this was released in November 2011, but I read it in early January, so I'll put this on here. Shatter Me is one of those really good books that you make you feel like you're living in them. There's a lot of good action and Warner (the villain) is a really 3-D creepy antagonist. Shatter Me is up there with Divergent and Insurgent for best dystopian book of the year. 

Yup! So that's it! There's my list of best 2012 reads. Hopefully in 2013, there will be even more great YA books!

Happy Holidays + Merry Christmas!

So, like the title says, Merry Christmas! I know this post is kind of late, considering Christmas is almost over, but I felt like I needed to say that.

It's been a great two months and Umbrella Dreams would be nowhere without you guys! Thanks for reading my and Sarah's blog. With all the template changes, our blog will probably have some technical issues so thank you for not complaining.

We're also very apologetic for the lack of posts this month. We have had some reviews here and there, along with some BATCH posts, but we haven't gotten to share much about books. Our goal for the new 2013 year will be to consistently post more.

With the holiday season ending, me and Sarah are happy to present you with more YA books!

Stay tuned for more books! And have a happy holiday!

BATCH (4)

Recap: BATCH is a meme created by Sarah. It is about anything cover-related. This week, we would like to introduce:

Books That We Read Because of Their Covers + the Results

Nicole's Thoughts:

Okay, so looking back, I realized that this cover wasn't as amazing as I remembered it to be. However, it has that simple look to it which I still like.

But anyways, the story is that I picked North of Beautiful up at Barnes & Noble. The reason why I did that was because it looked like the cover of Evermore by Alyson Noel (which I used to really like, but recently realized I hate it)

Of course, I didn't buy the book at Barnes & Noble. I have this weird habit of buying books I've read and liked. That's why my bookshelf is full of my most absolute favorites. But I couldn't help but check out North of Beautiful at the library, expecting to like it as much as I (used) to like Evermore, its cover twin.

I was wrong to expect that. Firstly, the book wasn't bad, but it didn't interest me at all. I thought I'd really love it, but it turned out to be quite boring. I started skimming the last half and flipping ahead for more captivating parts. The interesting part never came.

Nowadays, I don't remember much of the book, so I might give it a second try later on. But for now, I remember it as the book I read because of its cover.

So, that's the cover we wanted to introduce this week! What books have you read because of their covers? Let us know in the comments!

REVIEW: Second Chance Summer

Book: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Release Date: Published May 8th, 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages:  468 Pages
Source: Library Copy

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

  The Romance:

1     2     3     4     5

This scale is different than most. 1 means that there is no romance at all. 5 means this book was a very, very romantic based book. A 3 will be the most common, as YA books surround another plot while dealing with romance too. Below are my thoughts on the romance.

Like most aspects of this book, the romance was average. It could be bordering between fantastic or a little above average, depending on who you are. However, for me, it was okay. I didn't hate on the romance; Henry was actually okay. It was just we didn't really get to know him. He was a slightly undeveloped character who seemed really bitter in the beginning.

But in the end, he was understanding and grew to be a more likeable person. His chemistry with Taylor didn't actually seem like anything special to me, but it did work out between them.

In other words, the romance was average but okay.

The Action/ The Adventure:

1     2     3     4     5

The action scale is pretty obvious and it is just like the romance scale. 1 means there was no action. 5 means there was a lot of action. Whether or not the action was good, I'll tell you below.

There wasn't a lot of action/adventure. For a contemporary book, this could be normal, but the speed of this book was also really slow (see the speed section underneath).

Some things in this book was entertaining; however, there was a lot of unneccesary stuff. Most of it interested me though. I enjoyed the parts about Taylor and her dad spending time together. I also liked the way Taylor's friendship with Lucy healed.

But in a way, there wasn't really that intense-omg-what-will-happen-next action. If you're someone who really likes slow, background information providing and calm books, I think you'll like Second Chance Summer though. But to warn you: there are some increasingly sad parts in this book. So don't expect it to be too calm.

The Speed:

1     2     3     4     5

The speed scale tells how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

This book was slow. But not neccesarily in a bad way. For people who have a short attention span, then yes, this book will be slightly boring. But for me, the most part, I could tell it was slow, yet I thought it was okay at the same time.

Things happened in a pretty neat tidy order and I could see Taylor's character developement as the story progresses.

The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:

1     2     3    3.5     4     5

This isn't based on how much action shows up as the book progresses. It is based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat suspenseful. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

Taylor takes some time to get used to. In the beginning, she was this girl who always ran away from her troubles. In the end, she was a stronger person who grew from her experiences. So before you read this book and complain about how she is in the beginning, she gets a lot better, I promise.

I liked her a lot, even though there were some parts of the storytelling that fell flat just a bit. I didn't think it was a big problem, because overall, the plot was great. There was something so serene and beautiful this book that made me want to hug Taylor's family.

The End:

1     2     3     4     5

This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil the ending. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a complete surprise,  STOP READING.

To be honest, the ending killed me. I'll try not to spoil much but it did get tears in my eyes. It was the type of ending that you get in real life, but that didn't stop my sympathy.

This ending will move your heart.

The Summary:

The Good Points:

Second Chance Summer has a bittersweet tone to the writing. It fits in perfectly with Taylor and her family, which was the main focus of this story. I loved how Taylor's personality grew as the story progresses. Her relationship with her dad was very realistic and I could tell how much his cancer affected their family.

Taylor's family is by far, not the most perfect family there is. Yet there's that warm feeling to them that allows everyone to connect with each other. Warren and his obsession with weird historical facts. Gelsey and her love for ballet.

I really enjoyed this family story.

The Bad Points:

Henry was slightly undeveloped and there was no chemistry in his relationship with Taylor. I know they dated when they were twelve though, but they just seem more of "good friends" than anything else.

However, like I mentioned before, it wasn't like bad or anything. It was just average. And ordinary.

The second problem for some people could be the speed. It was slow, though it turned out okay for me. It just depends on who you are.

Overall Thoughts:

Pros ---

- Taylor's family
- Taylor's character development
-  The realistic ending that will produce lots of tears and kill you through sadness

Cons ---

- Speed (for some people)
- Taylor's personality in the beginning
- Henry (for some people)

Final Rank: 

1     2     3   3.5     4     5

This book was a little above average (an average for me is a three). There were good things about it, yet there could be some flaws that stick out to you. It's one of those books where you either love it so so so much, or find it to be a little under average. Everyone's opinions on this might differ, but I liked the ending the most. It really got to the depths of my heart and even though it was sad, I understood why it happened. However, if you hate slow books, you might not like this one.

 



BATCH (3)

This week's BATCH is going to be about:

COVER FAILS

Since I have a minor case of OCD, I find cover problems very annoying. Once you notice that one thing thats wrong on the cover, it just bothers you forever. You glimpse at it, stare at it, wishing it would go away but it stays there, forever. To relieve me of some frustration I'm going to share a couple that I found with you and hopefully make you paranoid about covers for the rest of your life. Enjoy!

CASE OF COVER FAIL #1:

If you look carefully at the legs, you will see that instead of it being flowy like a dress that has smoke should be it has legs crossing over. Now I guess that shouldn't bother me that much but it just doesn't fit with the rest of the cover. Red dress with smoke flowing out, yeah it should be a bit more flowy. But it just doesn't go away. The more you look at it, the more it stands out and soon (if you have some OCD in you) you'll be screaming like a maniac and go crazy whenever you see this cover ever again. Now, is it just me or does this remind of Jasmine's outfit from Aladdin?

CASE OF COVER FAIL #2:

Looks pretty normal right? The dramatic windblown hair and the "symbolic" branches/roots. And then the completely random glowing blue ground (maybe its symbolic as well?). But look again. 

 

What on Earth is she doing with her face?! Its like she's making a weird duck face. Seriously. Her lips are on PUFFED OUT mode. Its not a normal face and I don't know how her facial expression got published into the final copy of the book. The girl herself is actually pretty (though I think its photoshopped) but that face is just wrong. Try not noticing that from now on. >:D

CASE OF COVER FAIL #3:

Now this book is actually technically a cover fail. To be honest, its a pretty obvious one. The cover is intentionally dark with a white dress and inhumanly black skin. Now the cover actually is pretty and gorgeous but after I looked at it for a while, it just kinds of look cheap to me. Like one of those fake color changing things that people do on Instagram.  In the book it even SAYS in the book that she is the exact opposite of black. "But you'll still look albino when you let me back..." (page 15, Anna Banks). For a person who is white (skin color, not race) you would kind of expect her to not have charcoal black skin? Is it just me, or is the random dramatic cover just TOO random?

CASE OF COVER FAIL #4:

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment cover is actually pretty good. It has angel wings so not random, New York which means they probably go there, and she has freakishly white skin that makes you think she's an experiment. The thing is, you can't tell she's a girl. At least to me I couldn't. I thought she was a guy because 1). The cover shows a multi-gender looking person and 2). The book doesn't say ANYTHING about her being a girl until later. I mean the name Max even sounds like a guy. This also isn't technically a cover fail but next time there will hopefully be someone who can be more recognized as a girl.

Yep! So thats it.

That's all I can think of for now. In case you wanted to know, I just got all of these books from the library and it just happened to be that a lot of them had Cover Fails in them. I enjoy doing Cover Fails and there are already some more books that I find suspicious right now. Hopefully you are now paranoid forever about book covers. :) Hahaha, just kidding. I hope you enjoyed this post!

Super cheesy line coming up...

Are you Being A Thursday Cover Hoard?

Some Quick Stuff We Want To Say

Okay, so me and Nicole haven't been working that hard on our blog lately but it is because we have suddenly been flooded with homework from our evil teachers (and also because Winter Break is coming soon). We've also been in a bad mood because our template is frustrating. The fonts won't work, the pictures are weird and it just gives makes us annoyed whenever we look at it. Expect some template changing and weird fonts. In order to get more organized, we WILL find a template that is perfect and Nicole and I WILL work hard to make our blog better and perfected. Thanks for your patience with us amateur bloggers!

TREND: Paranormal Books

For the past three years or so, a lot of trends in the YA books have been sprouting up. Awhile ago, after Twilight, it was all about vampires. After a bunch of Twilight haters started showing up, the "in" genre turned to paranormal. For another year or so, this satisfied many YA readers. Then The Hunger Games made its debut. In the past year, I've been seeing many, many, many dystopian books.

There was so much of them that I had even written a post on dystopian cliches. Click here to read it.

But besides that, I'm here to discuss the pros/cons of the paranormal genre and to share my opinion on this old trend. Continue reading to find out more about what I think.
Paranormal Books:

The above are only examples. There are A LOT more paranormal books out there. If you check at your local Barnes & Noble, you'll a big section dedicated to YA paranormal romance. If you scroll by Goodreads, you can see that there's tons of lists for YA paranormal books.

I couldn't fit all the books onto a collage like that, so only six examples are featured so far.

But ignoring that, paranormal books are usually dealing with mythical creatures. Such as vampires (Vampire Academy, Twilight), angels (Fallen, Beautiful Creatures, A Fratured Light), myths (Everneath, Starcrossed, The Goddess Test), and werewolves (Shiver).

They also have their own cliches:

• Love triangles
• "Perfect" main character
• Good looking love interest
• Mythical creatures
• Some evil mythical creature

But while the cliches can sometimes bother me, there's a lot of pros and cons about paranormal books.

Pros:

• Usually quick to read
• Lots of action
• Easy to read (most of the time)
• Plot twists that interests you

Cons:

• Cliches
• Too predictable
• Poor characters (sometimes)
• Unoriginal

So really, in the end, it depends on the book you're reading. For me, some of my favorite paranormal books are Something Strange and Deadly and Everneath. There are also a handful that aren't my cup of tea. It just depends.

What do you think of this old trend?

BATCH! (2)

Batch is back! Being A Thursday Cover Hoard meme is actually quite hard to do. I feel like we're just doing books that we don't like and feel that the covers are misleading. Hopefully we'll have a different theme for the next batch as well as a picture motto we can use. :)

This BATCH we're doing a short rant about the book Breathe by Sarah Crossan.

First off, Breathe has a very pretty cover that's kind of symbolic in a way as well. It has a gigantic bubble (bubbles!) that symbolizes oxygen and cracked stones for the emptiness of the world around it. But do not be misleaded.

According to Nicole (who has read this book) Breathe was very disappointing. 

Nicole's words: About awhile ago, I was seeing Breathe on other bloggers' Waiting on Wednesday posts. There was a lot of hype about this book, in that the plot is frighteningly futuristic. Because of all the raves, I rushed to the library to get my copy. That was a big mistake; I didn't enjoy Breathe at all. Truth to be told, I fell asleep around the 100th page or so. No kidding. The characters were undeveloped. The change of POVs bothered me a lot, because we never really get to spend and/or get to know each character. The characters acted annoying. Alina, one of the main characters, seemed like a complete brat. Quinn, the other main character, was annoying. In the beginning, he had this crush on Alina because she was pretty, but he suddenly changed his mind halfway through. Instead, he started liking his best friend, Bea, who had been by his side all along. Ahem. Cliche much? But besides that, Bea was the only character I could actually stand. I felt slight sympathy for her, but she was a very 2-D character because she seemed weak. And on and on, the problems went. I don't even have that much space to write everything out. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy this book and I didn't finish it.

I think that explains what happened and the way she felt about this book. So I'm not sure what is floating around in Nicole's head currently, but be warned!

Are you Being A Thursday Cover Hoard? (Super cheesy line, I know)

REVIEW: Everneath

Book: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Release Date: January 24th 2012 by HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray

Pages: 370

Source: Library (Get used to seeing library here)
Goodreads Page: Click here

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

"Everneath" is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

A quick list of stuff I have to type before I write the review:
-The cover looks kind of weird if you look at it closely (The legs crossing over)
-Yeah, its another Sarah review. Your probably sad that I'm not typing in third person. Whatever. Nicole is still behind. So hopefully if she stops procrastinating she'll start catching up. :\  I'm just kidding. :P
-The font and size of the texts will be a bit wacky as for some reason the font thing won't work with me
- I AM NOT THE DRAMATIC TYPE SO I AM NOT BEING BIASED RIGHT NOW

The Romance:

1     2     3     4     5

This scale is different than most. 1 means that there is no romance at all. 5 means this book was a very, very romantic based book. A 3 will be the most common, as YA books surround another plot while dealing with romance too. Below are my thoughts on the romance.

Fortunately and unfortunately there is quite some romance. And by romance I mean drama. And by drama I mean love triangles. And by love triangles, I mean a whole bunch of crazy love things that will probably never happen in real life. But the plot isn't realistic anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter. But a warning: Be prepared for some frustrating moments 

The Action/ The Adventure:

1     2     3     4     5

The action scale is pretty obvious and it is just like the romance scale. 1 means there was no action. 5 means there was a lot of action. Whether or not the action was good, I'll tell you below.

Surprisingly, there was some action, but it was mostly adventure. And it was some GOOD adventure too. Not just some add-ons that the author felt were necessary to the story but actually just drags the plot. I liked it, and it kept you reading while you were reading (I don't think that makes very much sense, or maybe it does make sense. I don't know, it kind of looks wrong).

The Speed:

1     2     3     4     5

The speed scale tells how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

This was surprisingly fast. At least in my head. This was one of those stories where I couldn't stop reading because I was deep into the book. Everneath was one of those rare stories that I can't put down and read until midnight. I absolutely loved how it was fast-paced even though there wasn't action on every corner.

The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:

1     2     3     4     5

This isn't based on how much action shows up as the book progresses. It is based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat suspenseful. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

You already know the plot if you read the summary, so nothing much to say about that. It was a very good idea to use a Persephone story. The layout of the story was absolutely AMAZING. I loved how it went back and forth from present time to the past and how the story just kind of GREW from that point on. It was absolutely beautiful. The perspective came from a girl who, in a way, plays out the role of Persephone. Like other people said, they couldn't really connect with the girl but in my opinion (or excuse) I think to make it more realistic, since the girl is obviously traumatized, they made her very distant.

The End:

1     2     3     4     5

This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil the ending. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a complete surprise,  STOP READING.

I can't say much about this because I'll spoil it. But it is actually quite obvious how its going to end. But it was still absolutely beautiful. And sad. Be prepared for some light crying.

Final Rank: 

1     2     3     4     5

*Hall of Fame!

REVIEW: Hemlock

:

Book: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Release Date: May 8th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 416

Source: My awesome library :)

Goodreads Page: Click here

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 virus--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.

The Romance:

1     2     3  3.5   4     5

This scale is different than most. 1 means that there is no romance at all. 5 means this book was a very, very romantic based book. A 3 will be the most common, as YA books surround another plot while dealing with romance too. Below are my thoughts on the romance.

Some. :\

The Action/ The Adventure:

1     2     3  3.5   4     5

The action scale is pretty obvious and it is just like the romance scale. 1 means there was no action. 5 means there was a lot of action. Whether or not the action was good, I'll tell you below.

Wasn't as much as I had hope there would be. Some attacks. Car chasing. I think it was actually pretty well done, but if it was played out visually, like in a movie, it wouldn't be that exciting.

The Speed:

1     2     3  3.5   4     5

The speed scale tells how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

I think it went by pretty fast. I finished the book in 2 days, and the speed was enough to make me keep reading. Its not as fast-paced as I would hope, but I don't think the story drags like some others do.

 The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:

1     2     3     4  4.5   5

This isn't based on how much action shows up as the book progresses. It is based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat suspenseful. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

The plot was a pretty good idea. The perspective was pretty good too. The perspective was from a girl, Mac. Honestly, I find her annoying, but the perspective itself was fine. The storytelling was a so-so. I just wish it would be more vivid. It kind of felt like a blur, and a good way to put this as an example is when in a movie, they focus on one thing only, and everything surrounding it is a blur (bad description)

The End:

1     2     3     4     5

This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil the ending. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a complete surprise,  STOP READING.

Its a cliffhanger. If you have read previous book reviews, you'll know that I do not like them that much. Almost hate them. But I admire them if they are well written, and aren't just a sudden, quick solution to everything in the book.

The Summary:

Pros ---

-Pretty good ending

-Speed wasn't slow

-Plot was a good idea

Cons ---

-Romance- Love Triangle

-Cliffhanger

-Not vivid enough

Final Rank: 

1     2     3     4  4.5   5