Darkside by T.A. Miles

Synopsis:

Xandria: A mega-metropolis on Bhast, humankind's newest home.

Calen: A young athlete and son of a top ranking senator.

Luka: A mysterious operative with an unorthodox method of investigation.

Yoshiro: A rising star in Xandria's exotic underworld.

Staciel: An enigmatic figure of political and social deterioration, a catalyst for change.

On the eve of an unprecedented political maneuver in Xandria, Calen Liese flees from his home, leaving a murder scene behind and setting into motion a chain of events that could decide the fate of humankind on Bhast, beginning with the planet's Fey population; a group seemingly handicapped by acute empathy and society's uncertain fears, drawn to the destructive and oppressive powers within the planet's largest slum. Are Fey the next evolution of humankind? Or were they created? Darkside is a sociological post-Earth thriller.

It took me a long time to get through this novel. It is very long, so it was easier to pick up shorter books instead and get through them quicker.

Something I didn’t like was the amount of different characters and how they appear. This book could have probably been broken up into a few books that covered different storylines while integrating the main characters with the new ones. Instead, it was all thrown together and became a bit jumbled and confusing.

Many times, new characters will just be introduced by reading a new name. I didn’t have the slightest clue where some of them came from or what the points of their storylines were. I either figured it out after reading further, or I just never new and I forgot about them.

This book likes to jump from event to event with no real transitional phase. It is easier to get used to as you read more of it, but it is very confusing in the beginning.

I would say it is like a reading funnel. It starts our very broad with a lot of different things going on, and as it progresses, it all stars to come together and fit into one story line.

I felt like this was almost a never-ending book and it needed to be broken up to make it more interesting. I often found myself wondering how much longer it would take me to read it. It dragged on for a good portion of the book and just made it really, really difficult to get through.

The one bright spot in the book is that the characters were all pretty well developed even if some of them didn’t seem to have that big of a part in the story.

1/5 stars.  I am sure there will be many readers who will get into this book, but I was not one of them.

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Worlds Apart by Yolande Krueger

Synopsis:

Worlds Apart is the second book in the Trix-ology series, following Between Worlds. In this sequel, Olive Trix, a sixteen year old witch going to school and working at her family’s coffee shop The Black Brew, has finally fallen back into her everyday routine of life after closing the portal to Dazrath. However, life is not completely the same as Dah-vid, her giant, has returned to his home in the mountains of British Columbia, and their only means of communication is their ‘message bottles’. At night, Olive is taken in her dreams to a strange place where she meets a snow-white-eyed stranger who seems to want to help her learn how to use her magic. It is from his teachings that everything begins to change.

There is always something nice about reading a sequel and coming back into the lives of characters that you have read about before and enjoyed. Olive is a strong protagonist, and her relationships with the supporting cast are written well. Plus one of the main characters is a pet dog. How could you not like this family?

This is a good second book in a series. It starts off right where the last ended and it introduces new elements to the series. It shows us a whole different world of magic – the dark side of magic and their leader.

Meanwhile, the characters that we knew from the previous book continue to grow and their arc progresses.

Olive continues to learn how to use her magic. Her abilities surprise everyone including herself. 

There wasn’t too much going on in this book, but it laid a solid foundation for the next book in the series.

I have a feeling the third book will be the best one. 

My favorite character is still the little dog.

3/5 stars

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Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Synopsis:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

This book was so addicting cover-to-cover. I could hardly put it down. I am not sure if it was the writing style or the actual story itself, but something about it just hooked me and would not let me go.

It was fun, it was sweet, it made me laugh out loud at times.

The characters were all pretty great. Anna as the protagonist was fun to read through. Her personality made this book very light and enjoyable. I think every girl reading this can find a bit of themselves in Anna or on of her friends.

St. Clair was a great complementary character. Once they met, you could feel the chemistry right away. He and Anna had witty conversations and you could feel the relationship growing from day one.

There was something really sweet about seeing such a fun relationship bud throughout the pages of this novel. You can’t help but to root for them to be together.

With the young romance, the family and friend drama, and the quick and fun experience with reading this book, I feel that Anna and the French Kiss as well as its sequels will be a staple in YA literature for years to come.

5/5 Stars

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