Book Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Author: Claire LaZebnik
Series: Standalone
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Pages: 295
Format: Paperback
Average Rating: 3.72
Read it in: 1 day
Source: Bought from Amazon

- Summary - 

 At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

- As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
- As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn't exactly on everyone's must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise's beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince's best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Book Review: Enclave (Razorland #1) by Ann Aguirre

Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Razorland #1
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: April 12, 2011
Pages: 259
Format: Paperback
Average Rating: 3.92
Read it in: 2 days
Source: Bought from Amazon

- Summary -

WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE.

In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed ‘brat’ has trained into one of three groups–Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear—to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning.

Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn’t like following orders. At first Deuce thinks he’s crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don’t always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth. Her partner confuses her; she’s never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace. As Deuce’s perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy… but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she’s ever known.

M.A.S.H: Book Edition

I am sure you have all played M.A.S.H at some point in your life. It's that thing you did in elementary school, where you would write down the name of the cute boy from class and giggle when the number of hashes predicted that the two of you would live happily ever after in a mansion with your dog and six kids. Well, I decided to relive that childhood fun, but with a little twist.

Recently, Youtube's very own jessiethereader created a book edition of this game; meaning that, instead of your RL crushes and dream jobs, you enter occupations and forms of transportation from books that you have read. Which characters you have wanted to marry, which worlds you wish existed, creatures turned mythical companion you had once yearned to have at your side. The options are limitless! And so, even though I do not make Youtube videos and was not officially tagged, I thought that it would be fun to sit down with a pen in hand and write out my own version. Also, I just really wanted to know whether or not Will Herondale was in my future. Here is the before:

I forgot to mention that you are supposed to put some less-appealing choices on your list, to spice things up a bit (hence the hive of Tracker Jackers under "Pets" and President Snow as a potential love interest (ick)). Also, the addiction of the "Best Friend" category was created by Youtube's bookables and was not in the original video.

And, the results!

It's official. Will and I are meant to be together.

I must say, I am in for a pretty amazing future. Working as a magician in the Night Circus, living in the London Institute, MARRYING WILL HERONDALE. I am pretty okay with this. 

What does your future hold?

Series Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna Dressed in Blood
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Dates: August 2011 and 2012
Pages: 648
Format: Hardcover
Average Rating: 4.01, 4.0
Read it in: 1 day, 2 days
Source: Bought them from Amazon

- Summary -

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life