Review: Georgetown Academy: Season One

Georgetown Academy: Season One by Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Received a copy from the author for an honest review

 

 

Georgetown Academy is a high school story about teenagers whose parents are into politics i.e. the senate, congress, or even political ties. It is the story of all the drama and politics that go on in their own lives. The book follows the lives of Ellie, Brinley, Evan, Taryn, Hunter, Gabe, and Brooks.

 

This Academy had enough love triangle going on to make my head spin. Everyone wanted to be with someone that was taken, or was with someone they didn't want to be with. It was annoying. And the politics drove me crazy. I researched the book before agreeing to read it for review, but I should know better than to sign up for a book involving politics.

 

I found most of the characters hard to like. Everyone was playing a game to get ahead. The last season brought me some peace, as some of the relationships finally turned for the better. There was so much drama with Gabe and Ellie that wanted to be together but couldn't since their parents were enemies. I think I liked Brooks the best. He seemed the most honest out of all of them. Taryn wanted to do right but her attitude annoyed me. And Evan worked with news and usually made the right choice, but I was afraid she wouldn't all the time. I don't like it when people dig low to find dirt on others to ruin them.

 

If you love politics, high school drama, and finding out all the details of what the rich are wearing then this book is for you. I found it to be well written, it just wasn't for me.

 

My rating: 3 Stars

Review: Runes

Runes by Ednah Walters

Young adult, mythology, fantasy

Published May 20, 2013

Received an eARC from Firetrail Publishing through Netgalley for an honest review

This was an interesting spin on mythology that reminded me of Thor as I read it. It's funny because I just barely watched the movie Thor a few days ago and then I read this book and recognized a bunch of the mythology.

Runes is about a girl named Raine whose dad has been missing and never recovered from a plane crash, and she thinks she is in love with her best friend, Eirick. A stranger moves in next door named Torin St. James and she finds herself strangely drawn to him. He is mysterious and hot as all get out with blue eyes that she has a hard time resisting. Torin may not be all human, and she struggles to discover what he is and what he and his mysterious friends are hiding. And why all of a sudden she sees runes all over the place. And a bad case of the Norns are there to screw things up a bit, and add to the fun.

I almost found Torin as the only thing likeable about the story. The tension between him and Raine was delightful, exciting, and flutter inducing. But the triangles that seemed to be going on all over the place irritated me. I love a good triangle, but it was like everyone had a crush on someone else and nobody wanted to admit their true feelings. Except maybe Torin, but even he had a game he was playing.

The end revealed many surprises, and a few I did not expect. I was kind of mad about a big one between Raine and Torin, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the sequel.

I enjoyed that this book was different than any other I have read and was a new surprise on mythology. It was a good start to a series that I may continue.

My rating: 3 stars

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Review: The Human

The Human by Keary Taylor

Genre: Dystopia, Sci-Fi

eARC received from the author for an honest review.

 

 

 

Synopsis:

 

The city of New Eden is cleared, but it won’t stay that way forever. The Bane continue to advance in horrific ways that will wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. A storm is coming, one none of them could have dared imagine.

When a group of outsiders come to the city, everyone is on edge. They have too many questions and not enough answers about where they are from or what they want. Just because they are human doesn’t mean they can be trusted.

Eve made a choice–one that could have deadly repercussions. Desperate hearts bring about desperate actions. Now she must make another decision as her world continues to crumble: come to terms with who she really is, or risk her sanity. She thought she had unlocked all the secrets from her past, but there are truths still buried that leave her questioning what is real and what is not.

 

My Review:

 

I loved this sequel. It had a lot more action than The Bane. My complaint is that it ended with such a cliffhanger! And I have to wait until next year for the next book. I enjoyed the end, and it didn't leave me screaming, I just need to know what is going to happen now.

 

New Eden is cleaning up the city after they let off the Pulse in book one to destroy the Bane. Eve feels out of place and like she has nothing to do, and no use in the city. She yearns to be back in the outdoors. But then new humans come to the city and they are suspicious as all get out. They are ruled by Margaret. I hate Margaret. She never improved and only earned more hate as the story progressed. She is up to know good and is ruled by revenge and desperation.

 

West has recovered the best he could from his infection, but desperation causes him to make some unwise decisions that harm more than himself. And Avian is just as wonderful as before. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for Eve.

 

The Human was full of action and was hard to put down once I started. I took 2 days to finish since my eyes insisted on closing for bed. I love the dystopian future that Keary Taylor has created and can't wait until the third book is released in hopefully January.

 

My Rating: 5 stars

 

About the author:

 

Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of the Fall of Angels trilogy, Eden, and What I Didn't Say. To learn more about Keary and her writing process, please visit www.KearyTaylor.com

 

Purchase The Human:

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Review: This Girl by Colleen Hoover

This Girl by Colleen Hoover

New Adult Contemporary Romance

Published April 30, 2013 by Atria Books

 

 

I received an e-copy from Atria Books through NetGalley for an honest review.

 

 

This is a sequel I was most excited to get my hands on. It was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2013. I read Slammed and Point of Retreat over a year ago, and it was a long wait to finally get ahold of this third and final book. This Girl is in Will Cooper's point of view and it takes place during Will and Lake's honeymoon. We get a little story of honeymoon fun, and we get a big story as Will reminisces about how he fell in love with Layken.

 

Will Cooper will forever be one of my favorite, most loved, book boyfriends. As he told Lake about how he felt and how he realized he loved her, and how he struggled to stay away from her, I fell in love with him even more. It wasn't all happy moments, it was mostly sad, but it was beautiful. I especially loved the slam poetry that was a reminder of what I loved from Slammed, but also a few new ones to love. Will made me angry a little bit more in this one with how he kept breaking Lake's heart before they were dating, but I still love him.

 

I am sad to see this series finished and done with, but I am so happy to own it and be able to visit it often. This Girl is for mature older teens and adults as it has a few more adult themes than its predecessors. They are at a honeymoon after all, but it was kept pretty clean and tasteful. I will forever read everything Colleen Hoover writes!

 

 

My rating: 5 Stars

 

Available in ebook now for purchase and paperback preorder for August 13, 2013:

 

Amazon

 

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Review: Taking Back Forever

Taking Back Forever by Karen Amanda Hooper

Publisher: Starry Sky Publishing

Published May 31, 2013

I received this book from Starry Sky Publishing through NetGalley for an honest review.

Description from Goodreads:



Forever is worth the fight.

Maryah erased all memory of her past lives, but she couldn’t erase her soul mate Nathan, or his undying love. Now, Maryah and Nathan have a second chance at a future together, but first Maryah must remember the person she used to be and embrace her supernatural gifts—more than one kindrily member’s life depends on it.

Maryah’s power is Harmony’s best hope of finding her kidnapped soul mate, Gregory. But Harmony isn’t big on asking anyone for help, and she’s tired of waiting, so she’s taking matters into her own hands. Heaven help anyone who stands in her way.

My thoughts:

I loved Taking Back Forever! It was a great follow up to Grasping at Eternity, and maybe even better. The romance stepped up a level, there was some surprising action, and Nathaniel was to die for. Previously I thought he didn't try hard enough to win Maryah, but in this he stepped up his game and was amazing and swoon worthy. Now if we could just have a wedding.

This is told from Maryah and Harmony's point of views. Maryah was frustrating at times with what I felt was not trying hard enough or getting to distracted, but who could blame her when Nathan was such a distraction. My favorite parts had to do with a transversing catastrophe, and a table covered with chocolate.

Harmony I didn't like so much. About 80% of the story I thought she was very selfish and on my nerves. But the last 20% she might have proved herself worthy of liking. I will have to see what happens in the next book to tell.

This was a great sequel with action, plenty of tense romance, and some big reveals about past lives. Recommend to mature YA lovers and adults.

My rating: 5 stars

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