Read It With A Buddy #2 - Betrayed

Hello again! So Elyssa and I have finished our reviews for Betrayed, but I noticed that we had different ratings. Because of this, I will just post our reviews seperately. Hope you enjoy them,

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly [and Elyssa!]

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Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
By P.C. and Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2007
310 pages, paperback
Read: 7/17/2010
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Romance

First Line of Book: " 'New kid. Check it out,' Shaunee said as she slid into the big, boothlike bench we always claim as ours for every school meal served in the dining hall (translation: high-class school cafeteria)."
Last Line of Book: "I'll go back for you, Stevie Rae."


Zakiya's Review: Betrayed was even better than Marked. More guy drama, more fun with friends, Zoey's big moment as the head of the school (sort of). It was just a giant step up from the series debut that I was glad I continued the series. Hopefully, Chosen will be even better!

In this book, Zoey and her friends take over the Dark Daughters -- the House of Night's prestigious group of students. Zoey has also taken the position pf High Priestess in Training, a big deal to Neferet (the "principal"). Her first Full Moon ritual is coming up soon, but things always seem to get in the way.

Betrayed was an ah-mazing sequel. IT had some great kick-butt action near the end, which I really enjoyed. Something good (and bad) happens to Heath, but I'm not telling what :). Zoey's vampyre friends are defined just a little bit more, and they have some cool stuff going on with them. Meanwhile, Stevie Rae catches hell, and Zoey just might be able to trust Aphrodite now, even though Neferet is encouraging her not to.

I loved this book, the characters, and the plot. Basically every single letter! I can't wait until I can get ahold of Chosen!

Rating:


Quotes from the Book:

"Cats do roam free all over the school. They often followed "their" kid to class. Nala, in particular, liked to find me several times a day. She'd insist I scratch her head, complain a little, and then take off and go do whatever catrs did with their free time. (Plot world domination?)"

" 'What's wrong with you?' Stevie Rae said.
The attention that the four of them had been focusing on trying to figure out if there was a hair in Erin's salad or if it was just one of those weird strings of celery shifted instantly to me."

" 'We don't do ugly,' Shaunee said.
'Yeah, and pot's ugly. Plus, it makes you eat for no good reasom. It's a shame the hottie football players are into that,' Erin said.
'Makes them less hottie,' Shaunee said.
'Okay, hottie-ness and pot are not really the point,' I said."

"The cat was as fat as a Butterball turkey. I mean, her tummy looked like she had a pouch and could hide a herd of baby kangaroos in there. That's probably why she wheezed. Carrying around all that cat fat couldn't be easy."



Elyssa's Review: I enjoyed this second book of the House of Night Series more then the first time I read it. Probably because last time I did not get to read Marked before I received Betrayed from the hold list at the library.

I was a bit put off by the language that this mother and daughter team used. I was shocked at how much they used slut, skank, and hag bitch. What is with the tossing of these terms? And why is it that when a female is bad she is an automatic slut. Really. I think we could be better then that. All of the pop culture talk is also over done. Plus it really dates the book even though it really is not that old.

Zoey is now the head of the Dark Daughters and sons (a special group on campus) as priestess in training. The detail surrounding by their religion and her priestess duties was well done. Asking for guidance from her Goddess, Nyx, and receiving help must have felt amazing. The religion and Goddess offers some hint of humanity into the assumed horrible existence of vampires. I am just sorry for Zoey that she starts to question her mentors true intentions.

Zoey should really learn to trust the people she calls friends. It is hard to read and enjoy a character if they keep making the same mistakes over and over. For me it is more like banging my head against a wall (or telling my kids to pick up their toys).

Personally, I really loved how entertaining it was to read about her desire for blood. It is all apart of becoming a vampire. The change does not usually include this desire so soon. A fledgling does not also make it through a change. One of Zoey's friends did not make it through the change. It was absolutely a shock for me and I cannot image how she felt. Damion did say the darnest things and they were nearly almost always funny. It was too sad to watch her friends try to cheer her up without much luck.

Another part that I enjoyed was the fact that Zoey is now questioning herself over three different men. Her boyfriend, Erik, is absent from House of Night doing a monologue for a competition for most of the book. Zoey ends up meeting Loren Blake who is a part time professor whom she believes is very interested in her. We can not forget Heath, her human boyfriend/ex-boyfriend.

Overall this book was a fun read. However, you will find flaws in the book. But who picks up a urban fantasy paranormal romance for a literary masterpiece? I'm looking for a read that will transport me to another place that I can enjoy for a few hours. This book did just that.

Rating: 3

Guest Review #1 - Elyssa

This is our first ever Guest Review Wednesday post! "Yay!!" To give us our first guest review, here is my good buddy Elyssa with her review of Beautiful Dead: Jonas.

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly
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Beautiful Dead: Jonas

By: Eden Maguire
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Pages: 288
Rating: 5
Book Cover Rating: 5
Read: 7/3/2010
Genre: Urban Dark Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

The cover art for this book is what drew me in. It just has this look that had me loving it. I found and requested this book through the GoodReads swap. My skin was jumping off of me when Beautiful Dead finally hit my doorstep. I rushed through the book I was reading and then dove right into this book and finished the next day.

Beautiful Dead: Jonas is the first in a series. The story line is dark and left me oddly on edge. The premise is unique. At least I can say that I have never read anything this odd and uncanny book.

Darina, is our protagonist, who is a teen trying to deal with the death of four fellow students: Jonas, Arizona, Summer, and Phoenix. Alas, one of them was her boyfriend, Phoenix. She falls into depression and starts to see him in places that remind her of him. She soon finds out that her psychotic sightseeing is a bit more real then one would think.

The Beautiful Dead are selected people who have died and come back to figure out the events that unfold leading to their deaths so they can understand what had happened. The first book focuses on Jonas death, his time is running out. Jonas died in a motorcycle crash that also severely injured his girlfriend, Zoey. What really happened?

Darina finds herself no longer coping with death but tangled in a web of trying to spend time with half dead Phoenix, making it past all of the Beautiful Dead's powerful tricks to keep their kind a secret (showing their darker side), and the mystery she is determined to help solve surrounding Jonas's death. Surprisingly, Phoenix is a very caring and loving half dead. Who would of thought? The romance was cute. She struggled to fix her friendship with Zoey, who was indeed a very interesting character herself. Should Maguire toss in another obstacle for Darina? Logan was it. Her best friend, was now showing interest in her. He wanted more, a relationship that Darina could not even fathom now that she sort of had Pheonix back. Creepy.

Maguire spun a new twisted tale around a new idea of Zombies and created a book that I really enjoyed. The death and loss was sad and pulled on those heart strings but Darina's orginial personailty flows through the book to keep it light and flowing. This book has Paranormal Romance, Zombies with super powers, mystery, all wrapped up in a debut novel.


Rating: 5



Quotes:

"You're crazier than a gut-shot possum. That's what my old man would say."

"I didn't wreck it," I protested, defying the Neanderthals on the porch to say one bad word about female drivers. "I just rearranged the front fender, that's all."

"What are you suddenly, some kind of ghost buster?"

"Can you imagine what it's like, this PTSD? It's like knitting when you drop a stitch and everything unravels. You end up with a stupid hole that just keeps on getting bigger."

"I sank to the floor and wept until I was exhausted. Then I thought it trough and tried to deal with the shock of realizing that I was one crazy girl driven out of her head by the loss of the person in the world who had meant everything to her."

Read It With A Buddy #1 - City of Bones

Hello to all you blog readers!!

This is something that our guest today actually came up with for our group blog, and I figured we could post it on here as well.

Let me introduce, the wonderful, almighty Elyssa!!! Elyssa has been blogging longer than me, but she's still somewhat new to the blogging world. Elyssa, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?

I enjoy good writing. Lately I've been diving into fantasy/sci-fi books. Erotica is a guilty pleasure. Shh... don't tell. LOL!

Well we're definitely glad to have you here with us today. Now, down to business: Read It With A Buddy is a spin-off of a feature we started on Goodreads, called the Buddy Read. People who are interested in the same book can decide on a date to start reading it together, and they discuss as they go, answering questions or just talking. Elyssa and I recently finished a Buddy Read for City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. We will provide you with general book info and the product of our combined reviews for the book. Hope you enjoy our united efforts,

--Zakiya, the walking butterfly

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City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, #1)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 2007
485 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 6/?/2010 (Elyssa) , 6/28/2010 (Zakiya)
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Young Adult, Coming of Age

First Line of Book: " 'You've got to be kidding me,' the bouncer said, folding his arms across his massive chest."

Notice: In this review, the blue writing is Elyssa (aka Twisted Book Junkie), while the green is moi (me).

Review: First off, I think I need to make it clear that this book is full of tons of witty humor, and if you had a highlighter for great quotes, most of the book would be covered in bright yellow!

Clare's first book for The Mortal Instruments Series just pulled me in deep. Her words spun a fantasy world that had me loving the characters, caring about them. I stayed up late New Year's Eve reading this book early into the morning. Yup, this Twisted Book Junkie spent New Year's with Jace, Clary & Simon. (I recently re-read this book for a challenge.)

**I should mention that Elyssa and I had a little difference in our main characters. We both agree, as can anyone else who has read this book, that Clary and Jace are automatically into focus. Twisted decided to close up on Simon, while I focused more on Isabelle and Alec.**

Cassandra Clare did an excellent job of starting the Mortal Instruments series. From the moment Clary saw Jace, Isabelle, and Alec killing that demon in Pandemonium, the book got even more interesting. A great book . . .

Clary Fray's mother disappears, and soon, Clary befriends local Shadowhunters Jace, Isabelle, and her brother Alec. Together, they recover the Mortal Cup (and unfortunately end up giving it to the enemy) and Clary's mother. They fight against vampires, fight with werewolves, and visit a wizard in hiding. Everything Clary thought was just stories is really apart of her world, and she didn't even know it.

This book starts off with normal teenager Clary Fray who grew up in NYC with her mom, who is a painter. Of course, like a normal teenager, Clary got into a fight with her mother. However, when she came back home she did not get grounded. She got the shock of her life! The apartment was torn up, her mother was no where to be seen, and a hideous black thing attacked her.

Jace is introduced into this story. He is the bad boy that just has steamy good looks. Picture that, now toss in a darkly dressed attitude, and add weapons that help the boy kick butt at killing demons. *Drool* He helps Clary learn about the world that Calry's mom tried so hard to keep hidden from her. Soon Clary's geeky-in-a-cute-way best friend Simon camping out at her Uncle Luke's. Here Jace, Clary, and Simon end up breaking in to his apartment... to find out that he knows about the world of demons, Shadowhunters, and downworlders.

This book really was a great start to the series. It was recommended to me by Elyssa, actually. I was glad that this was another action / adventure book; Clare provided us with action around every corner, and Clary was always getting to visit new places in the world she never knew about. It was thrilling to read everything, although I found myself skipping half a page sometimes, trying to find out what was about to happen. Then, of course, I had to go back and read what I skipped :). Sometimes, I didn't even bother going back!

This book was very thrilling. There were so many twists and turns, but Clare definitely wove her words perfectly throughout the whole book. For me there was never ever a down point. Can we say ORIGINAL!?! I Loved this book. IT was such a great start to a series, and I highly recommend this book.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was one of those that I would recommend to anyone who wasn't too picky about what they read.

~WARNING~ There is a big huge twist at the end of the book that will totally floor you! I figured out what was going to happen, but I was still very floored to see it in ink!

Look For:

City of Ashes: The Mortal Instruments #2

City of Glass: The Mortal Instruments #3

City of Fallen Angels: The Mortal Instruments #4 (Not Released Yet)

Clockwork Angel... COMING SOON! (So excited!)

Rating:

Quotes from the Book:

" 'Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?'
'If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.' "

" 'If you were half as funny as you think you are, you'd be twice as funny as you are now.' "

" 'Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor b----rd who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie.' "

" 'The meek may inherit the earth, but at the moment it belongs to the conceited. Like me.' "

" 'Don't.' Clary raised a warning hand. 'I'm not really in the mood right now.'
'That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me,' Jace mused."

" 'Also, I'm sleeping with your mom. Just thought you should know.' "

" 'You hate the Silent Brothers,' protested Isabelle.
'I dohn't hate them,' Jace said candidly. 'I'm afraid of them. It's not the same thing.'
'I thought you said they were librarians,' said Clary.
'They are librarians.'
Simon whistled. 'Those must be some killer late fees.' "

" 'It's so . . . dark,' she said lamely.
'You want me to hold your hand?'
Clary put both her hands behind her back like a small child. 'Don't talk down to me.'
'Well, I could barely talk up to you. You're too short.' "

" 'You shouldn't remember me,' he said. 'I threw up a glamour as hard as a wall as soon as I saw you. You should have run right into it face-first -- psychically speaking.'
If you run into a psychic wall face-first, do you wind up with psychic bruises?"

" 'I was expecting something . . . you know.' He gestured with his hands, indicating something roughly the size of a house cat.
'It's the Mortal Cup, Jace, not the Mortal Toilet Bowl,' said Isabelle."

" 'I should have guessed you were Jace's sister,' he said. 'You both have the same srtistic talent.'
Clary paused, her foot on the lowest stair. She was taken aback. 'Jace can draw?'
'Nah. I was just kidding. He can't draw a straight line.' "