Me on Recent Books I've Read Part 2

here's part 2 of recently read book reviews, now that i'm all full of dinner (fish & rice & peppers & sauce). we get such good fish out here in BC.

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough: i wasn't sure what to expect from this, but i was hooked when i saw family of witches when girl has no powers of her own in an overview or something for this book. it's almost become a cliche, but i like books like this. especially ones with witches (yes, i had one of those high school Wiccan phases). Tamsin was cool, & not just because of her name (i love odd names in books). she's a little bitter, but still interesting & very family-oriented. plus Gabriel is hot & he doesn't give a crap about Tamsin's lack of powers. awww. looking forward to the next book. :)

Wake by Lisa McMann: at the beginning i was unsure about liking it. it took me a couple of days after reading it to realize i liked it. i think what put me off in the beginning was how it was written. present tense, kinda choppy, no absolute concrete chapters. but then i got it, how Janie's pulled into people's dreams & how dreams can be weird at the best of times. Fade and Gone are on my to read list, as is Cryer's Cross. (i also still have it so i'll be reading it again in an attempt to write a better review)

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast: i'd either pushed this series to the back of my mind or decided to wait until it was over to read all the books, but it took me this long to read the first one. it felt like lots of things were squished together, like vampires AND magical/witch-like powers AND goddesses that have their favourites, and it felt like i was reading something written for a teen audience, the teen slang felt obvious & not natural. Zoey's name is cool.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff: holy freaking crap. i love this book. Mackie was confused and tortured and a gorgeous hero (book crush). Tate was brutal and sad and so kicked butt (girl book crush). the concept of fae-ish creatures replacing human babies with their own kind sent me back to grade 6 when a teacher gave me a copy of Eloise Jarvis McGraw's The Moorchild. i'll admit, reading this book late at night did jack up the creepy factor, but it so added to it. this book is supposed to be creepy. if it wasn't, it wouldn't have all the Morrigan or the Lady or the Cutter or the blue girls. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves was another book i read at night that had enhanced creepy. in conclusion, i love this mysterious and haunting book, & Mackie is hot (proof can be found here ;)). and yay for it debuting on the NYT children's bestseller list. :) also, this was not a library book, i bought this one cause i wanted it so much.

Torment by Lauren Kate: i really liked Fallen, and this just continued it. the lack of Daniel was to be expected, but Luce needed him not to be there so she could figure things out. the cover jacket flappy thing is unbelievably soft, i keep wanting to stroke it. the almost end felt a little hokey (i know how big Thanksgiving is to Americans, it's not as big here in Canada), & then the end was a shock, but a good one. the first book was all Luce's intro to what's going on with her, the second is her dealing with that & learning what had to happen/might happen/did happen, as well as her growing a spine & not being passive. the end sure was ballsy, and i approve. :) i have one question, though, which might be spoilery if you haven't read the first one, but i have to ask: if the reason the bad people went after her in the first book was because she wasn't baptized as a baby, why didn't they emergency baptize her once they saved her butt? this one was also bought with actual money. :)

so, that was the last 10 books i've read. i have 3 library books i picked up yesterday, plus another i have to pick up soon before they fine me for letting it sit there for too long.

and more props to @abbymumford. i really need to blog more.