Review: Timeless by Alexandra Monir

Title: Timeless
Author: Alexandra Monir
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: January 11, 2011
Series: Timeless #1
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Random Buzzers

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

Timeless is a cute, musical, time traveling romance of a book.

The characters have potential but at times they fall flat. Michele is an interesting character, but I find it difficult to connect with her. At first, I thought that it could be because I've been reading a lot of first person, and this one is written in third. I wanted to blame it on that, but I can't. Michele just doesn't have the depth that I desire in my characters, especially for one that is supposed to be a heroine. The characterization isn't done in a way that makes me FEEL it. I see that Michele is sad, but the writing doesn't bring enough of that welling up of emotion that SHOWS me she is sad and makes me feel sad along with her, and I wish that it would. She cries, but the reader doesn't get the feelings that go along with her tears.

The plot is alright. Michele travels back in time and interacts with some of her ancestors. And she meets a cute boy while she's at it. Obviously, attempting a relationship with someone who lived a hundred years before you has its complications. The story follows Michele as she tries to juggle the past and the present, and attempts to find a solution to the fact that the boy she adores died long before she was born. Michele's travels back in time also find her aiding various relatives. These little side plots are not as interesting as I'd like them to be. They feel like filler, to me. I really wish that there had been more to these interactions, but there isn't much about them that carries any weighty significance to the plot.

I don't love Timeless. It's teetering between "meh" and "okay". It's a fairly fun, somewhat shallow story. I just can't connect to it, and I can't take much away from it, either. The thing that I like most about it is that the ending isn't served up neatly. It is the first of a series, though it probably could stand alone with it ending the way that it does. There is something that happens toward the end that I assume will drive the plot of the sequel, but I can't really guess as to what direction the second book will take. Anyway, the ideas are great but the execution is meh.

Books for Summer

Summertime is approaching, and what better way to get ready for lazy sunny days than to read books about summer? These books are perfect for reading on your porch with a glass of lemonade, in a hammock, on a blanket in the grass, or while relaxing on the beach or by the pool:

Twenty Boy Summer
by Sarah Ockler

According to Anna's best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance.

Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie -- she's already had her romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

My Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Invincible Summer

by Hannah Moskowitz

Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?

Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....

My Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Summer I Turned Pretty
by Jenny Han

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Amazon | Goodreads

This is the first of a trilogy. The sequels are It's Not Summer Without You and We'll Always Have Summer.

Orchards

by Holly Thompson

After a classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg - a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American - wonders who is responsible.  She and her cliquey friends said some thoughtless things to the girl.  Hoping that Kana will reflect on her behavior, her parents pack her off to her mother's ancestral home in Japan for the summer.  There Kana spends hours under the hot sun tending to her family's mikan orange groves.

Kana's mixed heritage makes it hard to fit in at first, especially under the critical eye of her tradition-bound grandmother, who has never accepted Kana's father.  But as the summer unfolds, Kana gets to know her relatives, Japan, and village culture, and she begins to process the pain and guilt she feels about the tragedy back home.  Then news about a friend sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again.

My Review | Amazon | Goodreads

There are so many books about summer! Here are some others you might consider:

• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen  My Review | Amazon | Goodreads
• Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton   Amazon | Goodreads
• The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells   Amazon | Goodreads
• The Summer of Firsts and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy   Amazon | Goodreads
• The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin   Amazon | Goodreads
• Stay by Deb Caletti   My Review | Amazon | Goodreads
• Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar  The Book Depository | Goodreads
  
• Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols   Amazon | Goodreads
• Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell   Amazon | Goodreads
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare   Amazon | Goodreads
• Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares   Amazon | Goodreads

My reviews of many of these are forthcoming, so if you'd like more information on some of these books then look for those in the near future!
Do you know of a great book with a summer setting? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
Series: Iron Fey #1
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Borrowed

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

I should probably start by saying that I have really been wanting to find a faerie series that I enjoy, that I can't seem to like any of them as much as I want to, and that, because I want to like one so bad, I keep trying. Thus, we arrive at The Iron King.

I do like The Iron King more than other faerie books that I've read previously, but sometimes Meghan gets on my nerves. She sure does seem to trip and fall into Ash a lot. And it annoys me that she is yet another heroine who, for some unexplained reason, is attracted to a guy who might kill her, and who tells her as much on more than one occasion. There's no real bonding between the two of them (unless you count repeatedly tripping into him or falling and then having to be caught/carried), or even much conversation. So this frustrates me. A lot. Her redeeming qualities are her loyalty and determination. But she is also prone to making rash, idiotic decisions and often ignores good advice. Puck and Grimalkin are great characters though, and are easily my favorites. The only problem with them, really, is that they are both pre-existing characters, and I'm not sure if I like Julie Kagawa's versions of them, or if I just already liked them from other stories and that interest carried over into this book. Ash seems flat in his interactions with Meghan. The bits of his personality that do shine through are a result of his interactions with Puck.

I do like the plot. Meghan's brother is taken by the fae, and she must get him back. But there are also things that threaten to destroy the world which the fae inhabit. There are obviously numerous and varied threats to her in the faerie realm, which led to some fun scenes. The pacing is steady, and there's a good bit of action.

So I'm trying to decide if I should read the next one to see if Meghan will be less irritating to me now that she has some experience under her belt. She was my least favorite character in this one though, which is frustrating. Part of me wants to see if her attraction to Ash ever has a basis that is not superficial. Or if she ever stops being so infuriatingly blind to Puck's potential (not even necessarily as a love interest - just in general). Or if she ever stops tripping like Bella and learns to walk like a normal person. Does anyone slap some freaking sense into her? Does she experience that type of growth? Should I give Meghan another chance, or will I just be disappointed?

Waiting On: Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features upcoming releases.

Past Perfect
by Leila Sales
October 4, 2011

A summer job is exactly the distraction that Chelsea needs in order to finally get over Ezra, the boy who dumped her on her ass and broke her heart to pieces just a few weeks before. So when Chelsea's best friend, Fiona, signs them up for roles at Essex Historical Colonial Village, Chelsea doesn't protest too hard, even though it means spending the summer surrounded by drama geeks and history nerds. Chelsea will do anything to forget Ezra.

But when Chelsea and Fiona show up for their new jobs, they find out Ezra's working there too. Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. ...or will this turn out to be exactly the summer that Chelsea needed, after all?

Amazon | Goodreads

I really liked Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales (my review), and I'm excited to dig into this one as well. Past Perfect sounds like it is going to be awkwardly delightful! I love the whimsy of this cover. And if the characters in this book are even half as funny and lovable as the ones in her previous novel, I just know that I'm going to love it!

What book are you waiting on?

Top Ten Favorite Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is Top Ten Tuesday Rewind, which is a chance to go back through the archives and choose a past Top Ten to do, or maybe re-do.

I've chosen to list my Top Ten Favorite Heroines (in no particular order):

1. Éowyn (Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien) - Shieldmaiden of Rohan! (top right)
2. Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) - To me, she is the original heroine.
3. Mary "Jacky" Faber (Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer) - "A girl what's meant for hangin' ain't likely to be drowned."
4. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling) - I had to include the clever, bookish girl!
5. Lisbeth Salander (Millennium series by Stieg Larsson) - petite hacker chick and total badass (middle right)
6. Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë) - a heroine that sticks to her morals and refuses to accept defeat in any form
7. Arya Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin) - the tomboy
8. Daenerys Targaryen (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin) - another strong, epic female character (bottom right)
9. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) - The Girl Who Was on Fire!
10. Sabriel (Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix) - This little necromancer gets things done!

Honorable Mentions:

• Eilonwy (The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander) - for her dedication and charm
• Evie (Paranormalcy by Kiersten White) - for her feminine strength
• Alanna (Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce) - for her steadfast determination
• Raisa ana'Marianna (The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima) - for her work ethic
• Deryn Sharp (Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld) - for her sense of adventure
• Lina Vilkas (Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys) - for her unshakeable hope

These are all strong, admirable heroines for various reasons. I think that a lot can be learned from each of them. Every one of these ladies has certainly earned my respect.

Review: The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

Title: The Goddess Test
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: April 19, 2011
Series: Goddess Test #1
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: NetGalley

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails...

I love Greek mythology. I've been gobbling it up since elementary school, and I love reading the mythologies and stories based on or in them. The Goddess Test is a fun sort of re-imagining of the Persephone myth, but with the twist that Persephone is now out of the picture and Hades needs a new partner to help him run the underworld.

Kate is an admirable character. She selflessly puts her life on hold to care for her dying mother. She has a purity about her, but without coming across as a prissy little goody two shoes. Her actions stem from her love of her mother, loyalty, and a general desire to do the right thing. Because Kate is not Persephone retold and is actually looking to become what I guess you could call Persephone 2.0, she suffers from something like second wife syndrome. Henry (Hades) has got Persephone and his memory of her up on a pedestal, and Kate feels that she can never live up to that image. She can never be what Persephone was to him. But she does her best to be Kate and hopes that he (and the gods who are testing her) will find some worth in who she is and what she can be. This part of the story, these feelings of inadequacy, of standing in someone else's shadow, gave Kate a depth and relateability. Her relationship with her mother is something you don't get to see a lot in YA fiction. It is nice to see that angst-free devotion.

Henry is somewhat dark and tortured, as the description says, and can be a little bit emo at times. But he's freakin' HADES, separated from the other Olympians, an outsider due to being the ruler of a realm which is not of the earth, and so these character traits seem to go with the territory. What I like is that he seems sad about his situation at times, but not bitter about it. When he gets angry, the reader sees a hint of the god of the underworld and the potential there for some serious wrath. I admit that I would like to have seen more of this angry Hades.

I am not yet sure what I make of the relationship between Kate and Henry. It starts out as resistant but resigned, on both sides. They spend time together so that they can grow to appreciate each other, but the reader only witnesses their interactions some of the time, usually when something important is happening. Much of the time that Kate and Henry spend together is mentioned in passing rather than being shown. I would have liked to get just a little bit more of Kate and Henry's less exciting interactions, for relationship growth purposes.

The plot had me pretty much hooked. It moves along at a steady pace; there is always something happening to drive it forward. It is easy to become engrossed in Kate's story - her constant worry for her mother, the deal she makes with Henry, her mission to pass her tests. There is a bit of mystery in the plot as well, because someone is willing to kill Kate in order to see to it that she doesn't have a chance to pass the tests (though I did figure out who it was pretty easily). There are liberties taken with regards to the mythology and character of some of the gods. Some of these liberties I didn't mind so much and some of them are sort of irritating. The personalities of some of the gods aren't exactly accurate. They're like PG versions of the Greek gods. Some people won't mind this, and some will be bothered by it.

I liked The Goddess Test - more than I expected to. It is a fun read. The ending leaves the reader with resolution, but also plenty of room for adventures ahead. If you're a fan of mythology and/or re-imaginings, then you may enjoy it, provided that you don't mind the inaccuracies. If that sort of thing bothers the heck out of you, then you will probably want to pass on this one. While I enjoyed the story on a shallow level, these inaccuracies did start to wear on my nerves more the more I thought about them.