Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

Synopsis:
Everybody thinks Syrah is the golden girl. After all, her father is Ethan Cheng, billionaire, and she has everything any kid could possibly desire: a waterfront mansion, jet plane, and custom-designed snowboards. But most of what glitters in her life is fool's gold. Her half-siblings hate her, her best friend's girlfriend is ruining their friendship, and her own so-called boyfriend is only after her for her father's name. When her broken heart results in a snowboarding accident that exiles her from the mountains--the one place where she feels free and accepted for who she is, not what she had--can Syrah rehab both her busted-up knee and her bruised heart?

My Rating: 7/10

My Thoughts:
After reading North of Beautiful, I decided to check out all that Justina Chen Headley had to offer. Unfortunately Girl Overboard fell short.

I think if I had read Girl Overboard first, it wouldn't have seemed as disappointing, because don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad book. It just wasn't as good as I hoped.

What I did like was the book was about a very, very rich girl who was very down to earth and real. She had the same problems that many of us face every day despite the fact that we are not rich. She wants simply to fit in and be liked for who she is, and I thought it was kind of refreshing to read about this from her particular perspective.

What I was hoping for was more romance. It seemed to have a promising love story in the beginning, but then drifts away from that story line. I am pro love story, and will almost always rate a book with a good love story higher. But that's just my personal bias.

Overall, it was an entertaining story, I just had the misfortune of reading it right after North of Beautiful and because of this had greater expectations.

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Synopsis:
It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper. She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her small, stifling town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path?

My Rating: 9/10

My Thoughts:
I know I say this a lot, but I LOVED this book. The first half takes place in Washington, and being from Oregon, I consider this local, and I love books that take place near where I live. Then the second half takes place in China, which I want to visit so so so bad, so I really enjoyed reading about that. (There are not enough YA books where the characters travel to foreign countries) Plus, Terra is an artist, and I have a thing for characters who are artists.

Besides the setting, the thing that made this book for me was Jacob. He was so sweet and fun and comes to Terra just when she needs him. I have a major crush on this guy.

However, as much as I love Jacob, the opposite is true of Terra's father. I have never despised a character more in a book. He is nasty, petulant, unfair and childish. You just want to scream at Terra's mom to stop putting up with everything, and stand up for herself. (And Terra's mom's journey is a major, and awesome subplot, and is yet another reason why this book exuded awesomeness)

This is a book about coming to terms with things you can't change, and when you can making changes for the better, even if it's difficult. Overall it was very uplifting and sends a good message about inner beauty, friendship, and love. Plus the cover is beautiful.

Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey

Synopsis:
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that the angels found the land and saw it was good, and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: love as thou wilt.

Phedre no Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very special mission--and the first to recognize her for who and what she is:one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phedre has trained in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Having stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they wern't far off the mark.

The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phedre's brow, and they are not yet done with their charge--for while the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe that other heads should wer the crown. And those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge. To protect and serve, Phedre will once again leave her beloved homeland.

From the sun-drenched villas of La Serenissima to the wilds of old Hellas, from a prison designed to drive the very gods mad to an island of immutable joy, Phedre will meet old friends and new enemies... and discover a plot so dreadful as to make the earth tremble, masterminded by the one person she cannot turn away from.

My Rating: 9/10

My Thoughts:
This is the second book in one of the greatest fantasy trilogies of all time. Though it's not quite as good as the first one, it comes really, really close. We are again faced with dire political intrigue and national crisis. Like in Kushiel's Dart we get to experience not only the beautiful country of Terre d'Ange, but we get to explore many other of the countries that had previously been only mentioned.

My biggest gripe (and possibly spoilor-y) is my favorite blond warrior priest spends most of the book either really, really pissed at Phedre, or seperated from her. The first time I read this book, the seperation worried me so much I flipped ahead just to make sure his name appeared later in the book, reassuring me he was in fact going to come back into the picture. He does.

Overall, this series is so, so amazing. Go read it now.

Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey

Synopsis:
Alone and far from the lands of her birth, young Moirin sets out across wild Tartar territory to find her beloved Bao, the proud Ch'in stick fighter who holds the missing half of her diadh-anam, the divine soul-spark of her mother's people. But the lovers' reunion is short lived. Morin is abducted, cast in chains that bind her magic, and betrayed into the hands of a fanatic Yeshuite priest. Fiercely zealous, he is determined to save Moirin's soul and convert her to his faith... or see her stoned to death for her many sins. With her sould declared a battleground of the gods, Moirin will struggle to hodl on to her humanity and survive--all the while wondering if the gift of love bestowed on her by the godess Naamah is a blessing or a curse.

My Rating: 9/10

My Thoughts:
It's always so hard to talk about and review books that are not the first in the series. Even the synopsis can give stuff away in the first book. But I'm going to try my best.

I really, really liked this book. It's different from all the other Kushiel/Naamah books in the sense that there really isn't a huge sweeping political story line. Instead this is mostly a story about Moirin and Bao's relationship. And though I love the high stakes political catastrophes in the other novels, I really enjoyed reading about the two lovers coming to terms with their relationship.

Furthermore, as is always the case with the Kushiel/Naamah stories, the characters travel to the most wonderful and richly portrayed locations. I am in love with Carey's alternate world and would give anything to visit them. It's facinating to read the interprations of cultures and I always look forward to the new countries the characters will visit in each book.

Overall, I liked this book better than the first one, but if you are looking for far-sweeping politics this story might not be for you.

Kushiel's Marcy by Jacqueline Carey

Synopsis:
Having learned a lesson about thwarting the will of the gods, Imriel and Sidonie publicly confess their affair, only to see the country boil over in turmoil. Younger generations, infatuated by their heart-twisting, star-crossed romance, defend the couple. Many others cannot forget the betrayals of Imriel's Mother, Melisande, who plunged their country into a bloody war that cost the lives of their fathers, brothers, and sons.

To quell the unrest, Ysandre, the queen, sets her decree. She will not divide the lovers, yet neither will she acknowledge them. If they marry, Sidone will be disinherited, losing her claim on the throne.

There's only one way they can truly be together. Imriel must perform an act of faith: search the world for his infamous mother and bring her back to Terre d'Ange to be executed for treason.

My Rating: 10/10

My Thoughts:
After the first two Imriel books being only okay, this book is finally back up to the amazing level set by Kusheil's Dart. And it frustrates me how little I can talk about it in a review because I don't want to give anything away.

Imriel finally shines within this book, having come to terms with the horrors he faced as a child, and also with the guilt and sorrow he faced in the first two books of the series. He has grown into a strong character who knows his place in the world and is willing to fight for what he wants and what he believes in. And boy does he have a battle to win in this story.

I really didn't like Sidonie in the first two books. She was cold and distant with no real spunk and I never really understood what Imriel saw in her. But finally in this book we get to know her much better and I see something in her that is worth Imriel loving and risking everything for. By the end I really, really liked her.

As for the plot, I can't go into much detail without getting spoiler-y but I LOVED IT. It was fantastic beyond my imagining. Imriel starts off with a plan, and you totally think the plot is going one direction, but then the whole thing goes to crap when a major event occurs and CHANGES EVERYTHING. The scale and scope of the treachery amaze me and, yes, Melisande makes an appearance, and she is still awesome, and in control, and is still probably my favorite villain of all time.

Overall, it is well worth making it though the first two books in the series so you can bask in the awesomeness of this amazing plot and see the mediocre characters become pretty bad-ass.

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Synopsis:
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies--or as least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt echoes the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murder-- and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

My Rating: 8/10

My Thoughts:
I had looked at this book on Amazon a couple of times, but never tried it because it sounded depressing and morbid, and I was worried that Violet would be dark and depressing as a character. However, eventually the hint of a love story (and a desperate need for new reading material) finally drove me to reserve this book at my library. Upon finishing it I was pleased to discover I was wrong about the excessively morbid story and characters and instead discovered an interesting murder mystery with a bit of a supernatural twist, and a pretty good love story to boot.

Honestly, I loved both Violet and Jay. She was a girl who was coping with a rather dark ability, but still managed to find the joy in life. He was a fabulous best friend turned something more that I always wished for in my own high school years. Together they became a good team each helping the other out, without taking to much control over the other.

Plot-wise, I thought I had it figured out from the beginning, but as the story progressed, enough twists and clues were thrown in to keep me guessing, so that by the end I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out. I would come up with a theory, then toss it out and come up with a new one, only to then later go back to my original theory, before throwing it out again. I enjoy a book that can keep me guessing.

All in all, this ended up being a pretty fun read, despite the whole serial killer thing and I would recommend that you go and find a copy for yourself.