Review: Bewitching

Bewitching
Alex Flinn
YA Paranormal

Bewitching can be a beast. . . .

Once, I put a curse on a beastly and arrogant high school boy. That one turned out all right. Others didn’t.

I go to a new school now—one where no one knows that I should have graduated long ago. I’m not still here because I’m stupid; I just don’t age.

You see, I’m immortal. And I pretty much know everything after hundreds of years—except for when to take my powers and butt out.

I want to help, but things just go awry in ways I could never predict. Like when I tried to free some children from a gingerbread house and ended up being hanged. After I came back from the dead (immortal, remember?), I tried to play matchmaker for a French prince and ended up banished from France forever. And that little mermaid I found in theTitanic lifeboat? I don’t even want to think about it.

Now a girl named Emma needs me. I probably shouldn’t get involved, but her gorgeous stepsister is conniving to the core. I think I have just the thing to fix that girl—and it isn’t an enchanted pumpkin. Although you never know what will happen when I start . . . bewitching.

Beastly..... ring a bell? Remember? Great book, later adapted into great movie (*cough* Alex Pettyfer *cough*)? Yeah that! So the witch, Kendra, now has her story told. Partly narrated by her,  Bewitching tells the surprisingly not typical at all (!) Cinderella story of Emma punctuated with some really enjoyable anecdotes from Kendra's life including Hansel and Gretel, the Princess and the Pea and The Little Mermaid. 

The back gives the impression that the book will be told from Kendra's PoV. It was not- she basically put in little notes, which, after I got over the initial disappointment, I really liked. Emma was an ok MC, more or less realistic. The beginning was a little frustrating for me because of her naivete, but she grows throughout the novel and I liked her quite a lot at the end. About the Cinderella bit, I implore you, DO NOT PASS THIS UP BECAUSE OF THAT. It was done soooo differently than anything out there, even if it may not seem so at first. 

The ever-changing POVS kept the book interesting and refreshing, though I do wish we got to hear more from Lisette. The conniving stepsister had a hard life and we get to hear a little about why she does the things she does, but I'd have loved to have read more of that. 

Bewitching wasn't as amazing as I remember Beastly to be, but a really great read all the same. It's a companion to Beastly and Lindsey's Diary (called The Kendra Chronicles), though is a completely different story and can be read as a standalone. Which is why, this is my first book to be read for the SUMMER OF STANDALONES CHALLENGE. To read about or sign up for the challenge, go here. Rating

 

Love, Esty

Review: Clockwork Princess

*takes deep breath*  here we go.... MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. PROCEED ONLY IF YOU'VE FINISHED IT. 

Clockwork Princess
Cassandra Clare
EPICNESS

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

All right. I can do this. Right? 

So. After a surprisingly quick white night in which I cried and cried and cried, I finished this and was struck dumb until now. Well, actually, I think I'm still quite speechless. 

What are you supposed to say when an author you already knew is utterly feel-inducing goes all out and completely outdoes herself?? When she manages to give everyone exactly what they want but thought impossible (for Tessa to just be with both of them) but to break every reader's heart in the process? When she builds tension like a volcano waiting to erupt but then has one character deliver an epic-ly hysterical line that leaves you staring at the page, your face spreading into a slow smile thinking, 'I can't BELIEVE you just said that!!' When you're driven to a point where your like, 'I am NEVER reading a Cassie Clare book again' only to be taking that back the second you finish when you realize that even the ENDING OF THE SERIES is a cliffhanger (albeit carefully disguised- notice how Tessa doesn't dwell on Jem's new mortality in the epilogue. WE know he's referencing TMI {Fairchilds, Herondales, and Lightwoods? Ring a bell?}) and the only way to know what happens to him is to read City of Heavenly Fire- expected to be out ONLY NEXT MARCH. 

I don't know. What did you say? 

God. One thing I can say for sure is that almost halfway through,  I ceased to care about who Tessa would be with. Everyone vanished except WILL AND JEM. JEM AND WILL. All I wanted was for them to be together and happy, they just needed each other SO MUCH. Well, more Will needed Jem. If I have a complaint, it's that I didn't see Jem's need for Will as much as the other way around. I knew it existed, we were shown bits, but I wish the mutual dependency was clearer. But, BY THE ANGEL, I was so overwhelmed by their love. The things those two did and were willing to do for each other was astounding and and purely inspiring. They were more than parabatai- I mean, we never got that off Jace and Alec, now did we? True, in TMI their circumstances were less dire, but even in the few (barely existing) relaxed bits with Will and Jem their connection was evident. 

Let's rant talk about the ending till next week for a minute. 

WHAT THE HELL????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I----I--- WHY??????????????????????

Throw me out the window if you like, but in a way, I'd almost rather Jem had died. Because he kinda did. Instead of Jem there's this distant, changed Silent Brother based on what used to be James Carstairs. The farewell ALMOST KILLED ME. Once I got used to the idea though (after a few shell-shocked hours in which I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling) I was happy he lived. As long as he lived. I was so devastated happy when I read the scene in which Jem performed the ceremony on Will and Tessa's son James. Gosh all the confusing emotions... 

And I know some people thought it was perfect how in 2008 Tessa will now be with Jem but to me it felt like Tessa loves two boys, but she's immortal so she's like ok, I'll be with you until you die while you *points at other boy* conveniently prolong your life for a century or two and then I'll be with you until you die, too. I KNOW IT WASN'T LIKE THAT. Please excuse my unromantic mind. Once again though, once I wrapped my head around it I realized how unique the situation was- It wasn't a COUPLE who found true love, rather a trio. Ok that's sound wrong. But like she says, to fully love one boy you have to love the other, cause while they are not the same, they are one. Also, Cassie Clare made a point on her tumblr. If one days, does it mean the one they love has to be alone forever now? Of course not, but it's hard not to be loyal to Jem (when she married Will) and to Will (when she got back together with Jem). 

OK, I could talk about this all day (I have yet to talk about Magnus, Jessmine, Mortmain, Charlotte, Consul Wayland, the Lightwoods, Cecily..... Maybe I'll continue tomorrow....). Please PLEASE do email me if you, too, are looking for someone to mull it all over with (boardingwithbooks@gmail.com). Grade: YA RIGHT. I CAN'T DECIDE IF I HATE THIS OR LOVE THIS, LET ALONE COME UP WITH A NUMBER. 

-Esty

Review: Beautiful Redemption

   

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles book #4) 

Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Fantasy 

***SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, DARKNESS AND CHAOS***

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan's return, vowing to do whatever it takes -- even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect. 

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

SO, AFTER THE MASSIVE LIFE-ENDING HEART ATTACK WE ALL SUFFERED AT THE END OF BEAUTIFUL CHAOS, WE NOW HAVE A DEAD ETHAN. See, I was very nervous about this. The whole dead-narrator thing is usually a hit-or-miss for me. I'm happy to say that this was a hit. A MASSIVE one:)

The Afterlife thing was done perfectly for this book. Somehow, if it had been like the realms in A Great and Terrible Beauty, or Summerland in Alison Noel's books it just wouldn't have been right, you know? This was like a second Gatlin of the town's deceased. It was ironic and comical how it's pretty much the same.. you'll see. 

I looooved how the POV's were done. Finally we get to hear some of what's going on in Lena's mind. And speaking of Lena, I can't even begin to describe the EMOTIONS I felt when reading this. I was crying and laughing all at once (=mark of a good writer/s) and there is no other word to describe the beginning other than HEARTBREAK. Everyone is in such a state of utter sadness and you just have to stand by and read and not be able to do anything about it. And just a hint, the end is a little like that, too. 

The characters?? One of the best sets out there. Link and Ridley's relationship is so funny and so THEM that it just makes you smile through the tears even during the bad times. It's even oddly realistic. And Amma, Sweet Redeemer you are amazing. End of story. Macon- I heart you. Nuff said. Ethan, I hope one day I'll meet a guy like you. And Lena is the kind of girl I hope to be, who doesn't care what they say and fights for the ones she loves, four books long. 

And last but MOST, the sisters. I have always said no series is complete without its trio of old ladies, and these women play the part proudly. I think I actually choked with laughter because of them in one of the earlier books. I love love love how Ethan is with them and how they know pretty much everything but you'd never tell and how Aunt Prue left an entire plan for her own funeral and their southern accents and their "E-mergencies" how they never let anyone get a word in edgewise. God bless them. They are officially the coolest ancient great-aunts EVER. Yeah, I said it. ;) 

Well, as it says on the last page in Latin, "The story is finished, but the writings remain forever" (Thank you, Google Translate). Now all that's left is the happy-sad feeling when you finish one of your favorite series.*wipes tear* Bye-bye Gatlin. Grade: 100%

-Esty

p.s. if you have already read this please tweet me so I can gush over the ending!!!