Origin (Lux #4) by, Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

 

Summary:

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?

And will they even be together? (Via www.goodreads.com.) 

Pages: 400

 

Release Date: August 27 2013

 

Review: 

      Origin starts off where Opal leaves off, but not only is Origin in Katy's point of view but Daemon's as well! Which is handy since they are both separated, we know what both of them are up to.
      Two observations I have made about all the book titles in the series are, that for one, every book starts with the letter O. As well as all the titles are different kinds of rocks that are important to the plot line. During Origin, I was trying to guess what kind of rock it would be, but it ends up that an Origin is not a rock, it turns out that an Origin is a baby of a Luxen and a Hybrid, I did not see it coming. Origins are super powerful and can pretty much do anything that Luxen and Hybrids can besides having the ability to change faces. Also it turns out that Luc, who we assumed but were not positive if he was a hybrid, and new character, Archer, turn out to be Origins.
      I assumed that the whole book would be Katy trying to escape and Daemon trying to get her out. But they actually get out halfway through the book, but they are not off the hook. Daedalus is still after both of them because they are valuable to their research.
      During Origin we get to understand more about Daedalus, whether it is the truth or not. I mean, it was true what they said about Luxen's invading Earth. But who knows what the real story behind LH-11, I am still confused what it is exactly but it can not be good. Look at what happened to the people Daemon mutated. I did find it extremely funny that one of Daedalus hide outs was Area 51.
      Luc turns out to be a good character after all he has done to help Katy and Daemon, for a syringe of HL-11, which I have no idea why he wants it.
       When being held by Daedalus, Katy has  to go through stress tests.  One of them is to fight other Hybrids which she refuses to do until her opponent is Blake, and she kills him. It may seem rude but Blake had it coming, it was only a matter of time.
      Speaking of betraying characters, I trusted Matthew the entire time. I never doubted him, that betraying weasel! I was shocked to hear that he had originally turned in Dawson and Bethany as well as Katy and Daemon. Even though he did that, he did not necessarily do it for a selfish reason, he did it to protect everyone else. I may not approve of what he did but I was happier to know that he did it to protect everyone else, that he still cared. His decision to turn them in turned out to be the source of his death, as well as Paris, Ash, and Andrew. Ash and Andrew were a couple that he was hoping to save but in the end did not.
     Out of the couple things that happened in Vegas that turned out to be awesome were, Daemon and Katy getting "married". It was under fake names so legally it did not count but to them it did. Plus those fake names were Anna Whitt and Kaidan Rowe, characters from Wendy Higgins Sweet Evil! As well as Archer and Dee may or may not have gotten together, I am hoping the first one.
     The whole Las Vegas blow out at the end with the Luxen's showing the world they were out there was amazing! Not that people died but it sounded like a cool battle that I would love to have witnessed but not anywhere near the Arum!
     In the second to the last chapter, Dawson tells Daemon that Bethany is pregnant, I reread that line about five times to make sure I was reading it correctly. I am so happy for them, but like Daemon was thinking how are they going to deal with this Origin baby. What really sucked though was that Dawson and Bethany have no idea what an Origin is and that they are having one!   
     The book ends on a bombshell ending when the Luxens start to invade Earth. It has me anticipating the fifth and final book in the series!
     Overall, Origin was shocking, action-packed, high staked, swoon worthy, and totally amazing. Yesterday Jennifer L. Armentrout, the author, announced the fifth and final book in the Lux series, Opposition. After finishing Origin, the title is self-explanatory!
     ~Casey
    

Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3) by, Meg Cabot

 

 

Summary:

Death has her in his clutches. She doesn’t want him to let go.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she’d be forced to live forever in the one place she’s always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.

But now her happiness — and safety — are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.

If the balance between life and death isn’t fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce’s home back on earth will be wiped away. But there’s only one way to restore order. Someone has to die.
 (Via www.goodreads.com.) 
  
Pages: 346

 

Release Date: July 2nd 2013

 

Review: 

    The biggest mistake I believe Meg Cabot made with this trilogy was to revive Alex. I disliked his character since the beginning and thought he had no purpose to the story but, he grew on me during this book and he turned out to have a purpose of being brought back and being in the trilogy at all. He turned out to be possessed by Thanatos after Thanatos left Seth's body, and Thanatos turned out to be a decent character too.
      New characters were mixed with the old characters when the dead join the living Underworld characters because of the ships being wrecked and the dead being stranded in the Underworld.  I grew attached to Chloe, Reed and Mrs. Engle, the new characters, and enjoyed learning their past when they were alive. I figured they would only be around until the boats were replaced and they would be off to their finale destinations but they ended up staying after they helped fight the furies off.
      I adored Kayla and Frank's relationship! When I discovered Frank's death, I felt for Kayla, but once Frank was revived by Alex and Thanatos's powers I wanted to give Alex a bear hug. Kayla is such a funny character, even why she does not mean to be funny, like for example when Mr. Mueller was trying to kill them and Pierce told Kayla to run him over with her car, but Kayla refused to even though she had hit her own brother with a fire extinguisher before. She claims it is okay to hurt/kill family but not strangers, until Mike comes along and kills Frank, then it is revenge time.
      Mr. Smith's partner, Patrick, reminds me so much of Cam for Modern Family and I love both Cam and Patrick dearly!
      I am not going to say I completely loved Pierce as a character but she is definitely not one of the worst narrators when it seems most female narrators, I know I am being sexist, turn out to be annoying and whiny, but Pierce is a decent narrator. I admire her though because she is selfless, and she has the courage to fight for her friends and family.
      I thought that during the book John would be asleep and the gang would try to awaken him but he actually is awakened about halfway through the novel.  This surprised me since the title of the books is Awaken and I would have assumed he would be awakened at the very end.
      John is not one of your average bad boys, not that he is a bad boy but he looks like one. Anyways, John has a modern day boy charm but he talks and acts like the time period he is from, the 1800s'. I love that he pesters Pierce about getting married, instead of the other way around, it switches it up from your average book.
      I love in the end that everyone can take turns going back to Isla Huesos and that Pierce and John are going to eventually get married and, at some point, hopefully have a baby. The one thing I am very curious about that was not answered at the end, is what is going to happen to Kayla and Frank's relationship? Since Kayla was never brought back to life she does not have to stay in the Underworld and currently she is back in High school and will eventually open Save Yourselves, a beauty salon. She will age if she stays in Isla Huesos, meaning she will eventually die, and since Frank works in the Underworld, he can not age, so how are they going to be together unless they are both in the same place? But, after a while, Kayla could come and stay in the Underworld with Frank and everyone else. Otherwise, I have no idea how their relationship will last since Frank will live forever and Kayla will not, unless she stays in the Underworld. The only thing I know about those two since the ending is that Frank will sometimes go to Isla Huesos to have dinner with Kayla, which is cute. That is the one thing that has me wondering since finishing the book.
       I would also like to know if Meg Cabot is considering writing a spinoff trilogy or series to the Abandon Trilogy about maybe Pierce and John's child or about one of the other characters because the furies are still out there so they are completely in the clear.
      Since I was young I always have had a thing for mythology, so I am a huge fan of this trilogy because it a twist on a classic myth! One of the first myths I ever read about was Persephone's, so I have a deep connection with this trilogy and I would recommend it to anyone who likes mythology or any romance or paranormal stories.
     ~Casey
 

 

Early Review: Not A Drop To Drink by, Mindy McGinnis

Summary:

  Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water.

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own. (Via Goodreads)

Pages: 320

Review:
     First off I would like to thank www.goodreads.com for giving me an ARC of this novel, it will be released in a bookstore near you on September 9 2013.
       This was Mindy McGinnis's debut novel so I did not know quite what to expect, but it turned out to be a great novel! But her characters lacked detail, I had to imagine their appearances, especially Lynn. She described scenes great but just not her characters appearances. 
       I admired Lynn because she is self-sufficient and her ability to learn to love and trust others, something her Mother taught her not to do. Her Mother seemed hard-core, but once her past is brought up it is understandable why she was who she was, but not everything she did was acceptable to me.
      This was the first book I have read in a while that had no love triangle, which I was thankful for because, I believe a book should not be revolved around a relationship unless it is in the romance section, and that is still stretching it.
       The book was fasted paced, and that was good for the most part, but there were a couple scenes that I wish would have been slowed down a littler more.
        I was almost positive that Stebbs was going to turn out to be Lynn's Grandfather, but that was not the case, I was shocked to find out that the leader of the Steamers was actually Lynn's Father, I did not see that coming. I also did not see Eli dieing coming either, especially as a ball of flames.
        My favorite scene would have to have been when Eli was teaching Lynn how to flirt, it was hysterical!
        The epilogue should have stated had how many years had passed since the finale chapter because then the audience would known how much time passed until things were a bit better for them, with new people around. I believe at the end Sebbs and Vera ended up together, it was not stated if they were or were not, but I inferred they were.
        I liked that the post-apocalyptic world Mindy Ginnis's created was realistic because at some point Earth most likely will run out of water or the government will put limits on how much water everyone receives.
        Overall, Not A Drop To Drink is fresh, exciting, action-packed, includes girl power, and I could not turn the pages fast enough. 
        ~Casey

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Movie Review

Summary:

Suddenly able to see demons and  Shadowhunters, who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, Clary Fray is drawn to them into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary is attacked by a demon.

Review:
    
      Heading into the movie I had pretty high expectations because the trailers were so well done and fantastic, coming out I was a little bummed but it was still a great movie. I would rate the movie a B.
      The sets that were chosen for the movie where phenomenal! The green house was gorgeous, the Hotel Dumort was frightening, the Institute was breath-taking, the City of Bones was creepy, and the Fray's home was cozy. 
      Most of the characters were portrayed well in my opinion, the only ones I am not completely happy with were Jace and Valentine. Jace had girl-hair which I did not approve of, and he looked anorexic, I am concerned for his health. Valentine, I do not really have anything good to say about him. On the other hand, I loved the casting for Simon and Isabelle, they were perfect. The only other complaint I had with the cast, in general, was that some of them had some sort of accent, it would not necessarily have been a problem for me but, Isabelle had an accent while Alec did not, and they are brother and sister, so that was odd.
      I was thrilled that some of the lines were taken directly from the book, it made it feel more personal.
      Some scenes seemed stretched out longer than they should have, while others were in slow motion, those got on my nerves a bit.
      The end of the movie was probably the most confusing and the most different from the book. First off, the whole battle took place in the Institute while in the book it took place in Renwick. In the book the enemies in the battle were Valentine and the forsaken, not Valentine and demons. I still want to know how he raised demons in the Institute since it is  hollowed ground. Also, Jace and Valentine were constantly battling in the movie, while in the book Jace pretty much trusted Valentine the entire time and did not try to kill him. Something that really confused me was why it started snowing after Jace and Clary broke the portal, which should not have been in the Institute in the first place. Since the portal was inside, why was it snowing? But the most confusing part of all is, does Clary really have the Mortal Cup or not because, in the book Valentine ends up leaving through the portal with the Mortal Cup, while in the movie I think Clary still has it. So, if Clary has the Mortal Cup then what is going to happen in City of Ashes movie?
     Quite a few things were spoiled for the next movie, for example, Simon starting to turn into a vampire, Clary with her ability to create new runes, and Valentine experimenting on himself.
      I wish they would have gone into more detail explaining runes, because to the non reader I am pretty sure they still think they are some random tattoo that may or may not have a purpose.
      One thing I did love though was the relationship development with Isabelle and Simon, and Magnus and Alec. Both future couples were adorable!
     It was nice that the screenwriters tried to fit most of the scenes from the book into the movie. It shocked me just how much they fit into the film from the book which is about 480 pages. Pretty much all of the scenes were necessary, some of them could have been cut a little shorter but it still worked out.
      Overall, the movie was pretty good, and I am hoping to see it again! This time I am hoping to keep a closer eye out for Cassandra Clare because she is in Magnus' party scene but I did not see her, did any of you happen to see her? If any of you have seen the movie what did you guys think?
~Casey

New Book to Movie Adaptaion Traliers.

      Last week the first teaser trailer to Vampire Academy was released,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH5UmVStHXE, and this week the first trailer was relesed for
The Book Thief,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92EBSmxinus.
      I have read the entire Vampire Academy series as well as its spin of series Bloodlines, and the trailer is interesting, most of the scenes I remember, a few of them I do not remember in the book but, it has been over a year since the last time I read it so I could be forgetting some scenes. Some of the trailer did freak me out, do you guys remember reading about so many fangs being seen. I do hope in the next trailer they talk about the different types of vampires so it comes across as not your average vampire movie.
      The Book Theif  is one of the books on the top of my to-read list because all I have heard about the book are good things. It seems like everyone who has read it absolutely loves it. Even if I do not read the book in time for the movie release date, which I have no clue when, I would still like to see the movie, because it looks like a great film. 
      If you have read the books or just watched any of these trailers, what are your reactions to them?
      ~Casey 

An Amazing Opportunity!

     I have been specially selected to get an advance copy of Julie Kagawa's newest book, The Iron Traitor, courtesy of Girls Life Magazine, www.girlslife.com
     This is a huge honor and an amazing opportunity because I will be reviewing the book and I have a chance for my review to be put in the December/January issue of Girls Life Magazine! I am also hoping that if my review is featured in Girls Life that my name will be out there, which could lead to more viewers! Also I have been dieing to get my hands on The Iron Traitor since I finished The Lost Prince last year! Plus Julie Kagawa is one of my favorite authors which makes this so much more amazing! 
      So check out my review of The Iron Traitor October 29, the release day, because I do not believe I am supposed to give away anything until the release day. Also stay tuned to see if my review ends up in the December/January issue of Girls Life Magazine.
     
      ~Casey
     
PS: I will be seeing The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones tomorrow so expect to see the  review up sometime tomorrow.  
    

Guess Who's Back!

     Hey guys, I appreciate your patients with me. I have stopped trying to make a YouTube channel because the software for editing will not work on my computer, but that does not mean I will not try to make a channel in the future. 

     Anyway, seeing that I pretty much took a summer break from reviewing, I am thrilled to get back to reviewing. I don't remember all the books I have read over the summer so I cannot give you a list of them so I will not bother with one but, below I have a list of books and movies out later this year that I will be reviewing! 

Books:

Origin by, Jennifer L Armentrout

The Fall of Five by, Pittacus Lore

Allegiant by, Veronica Roth

Champion By, Marie Lu

The Fiery Heart by, Richelle Mead

The Iron Traitor by, Julie Kagawa

United We Spy by, Ally Carter

Movies:

The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

    

       So those are the reviews to look forward to this fall and winter, plus more, but these are the releases that I am looking forward to the most! Yet again thank you guys for being so patient, I am happy to be back!

Yours Truly,

Casey