Princess Academy, we finally meet! After about three years of hearing about you, I’ve FINALLY opened your wonderful pages. And I was not disappointed! I don’t know why I would be, though. So many people have been telling me to get you! It took me a while to get through the first few chapters, I will admit, but it was well worth it.

About the book:
Title: Princess Academy
Series: Princess Academy #1
Author: Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: April 17th, 2007
Source: Purchased at 2nd & Charles (local chain used book store)

Synopsis: Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king’s priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year’s time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king’s ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.

Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.

Basically: this book was creative master-mindedness. Sometimes, I really don’t know how authors come UP with this stuff! Does it just pop into their little brains, or do they spend years mastering the art of making up highly intelligent imaginary worlds and sciences and stuff? I SHALL NEVER KNOW. But I do know that Princess Academy was amazing.

So, little mountain girl named Miri can’t work in the quarry that her whole town, Mount Eskel, works at, because she’s too small. Then one day a prince comes a’calling, and all the girls ages 12-17 in Mount Eskel are required to attend the princess academy, because one of them will be the Prince’s bride! BOOM. Miri’s world flips upside down, secrets unfold, you get the gist of it.

Only you don’t! Because unless you’ve read the book, you don’t understand how (secretly) awesomely powerful Mount Eskel is. It’s INCREDIBLE. Again, how, Miss Shannon Hale?? I was shocked at everything that happened in Princess Academy. Totally wasn’t expecting it. I admit I pre-judged this little gem linder (if you’ve read the book you’ll understand that reference!) 😉

I was told that the book was like a Middle Grade Selection series, so I was really hyped up about that. There was a little romance sprinkled in – you know, 15-year-old school crush type thing, but I’m excited to see where that goes in the next two books, as Miri gets older. It definitely wasn’t exactly like the Selection because a) this is an MG, The Selection is YA (Young Adult), and b) both of these books are incredible, but are both unique in their own rights. The Selection is 400 years or so into the future, but I got the feeling that maybe Princess Academy took place a long time ago. It was more a traditional fairy tale, if you know what I mean.

I was also expecting there to be more meetings with the prince as the girls learned more and more about being a princess. That way the prince could get to know each of the girls. But, as it turned out, the girls didn’t meet the prince until a year had passed, and they were ready to meet him as princesses. And then the prince was to choose his bride after one meeting with the girls. I was like “WHHAAAT? Surely he won’t make someone his bride after only one 2-minute dance with each of them.” But never fear, Shannon Hale had the whole thing in her hands. Everything ended perfectly.

The book ended with a lot of questions hanging in the air, but the kind that are sort of answered, so it’s left to the reader’s imagination. With that type of ending, Princess Academy could be a one-stand book. But noooo, there are TWO MORE BOOKS. TWO more books in the series. I’m delighted!

Princess Academy gets 4 stars!

I know several of you have read this book! What are your thoughts, now that we can gab about it?? Is the rest of the series good? (I’m SURE it is!) Any books like this one? Do you think Princess Academy is like The Selection? Do you think this one could have ended differently? And do you want to read it?! I MUST KNOW!

I read a lot. Sometimes, it’s so much I can’t even keep up with all the reviews I need to write! This morning, I had five or six reviews on my hands, and with all those books having just read, you can imagine that all the books were sort of blurred together in my head! I haven’t done one post with several “mini” reviews in a while, so I thought today would be a great day to do that.

This Means War by Ellen Whittlinger

Wow, what a sweet book! This Means War was a short read – but certainly not light, as it seems in the beginning of the book. At first, I was just kind of like “This book is good… BUT IT’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE!” And it totally went somewhere. Why do I doubt?

I give this book five stars! Yep. It’s made its way to my favorites shelf! 😉

Keep Smiling Through by Ann Rinaldi

This one was kind of sad… alright, a lot sad. I mean, really depressing. But no tears were shed! It was too short for me to really get into the book… and the characters were… well, bland. The story itself was great, though. Plus I love a good WWII historical fiction. 3 stars!

Serendipity and Me by Judith L. Roth

Ohmigosh, I LOVED this book! I have to admit, I kinda-sorta pre-judged the cover. I mean, it seems kind of silly. A book about a girl trying to convince her dad to let her have a cat? But I totally shouldn’t have. There was so much more to the plot than that. Plus, it was written in poetry, which is always refreshing. I need to read more books like that. And can we just talk about Sara’s crush, Garrett? *sigh* FIVE stars! 

So, have any of you read any of these? Did you like them? Do you want to read them? =)

First of all, if you haven’t read The Selection by Kiera Cass (or the first three books in the series, don’t read this review! There are spoilers everywhere! (This is the fourth book in the series.) I was really excited to get The Heir, and even more excited to meet Kiera Cass the day after it came out! 🙂

This… was… mildly stressing. At first, Eadlyn came off as a total brat. I’m just going to be honest here. She was whiny and controlling and everything everyone said she was. But under the pressures of the future queen and having to deal with 35 unwanted suitors, I gave her some grace. Besides, I felt the same way about her mother, and in the end, she came around. (:

Speaking of Eadlyn and America. They were similar in more ways than one, yet so very different. The Heir is Eadlyn’s story, not America’s, but I have to talk about the differences in the two girls. Eadlyn did come off kind of bratty, but I think part of the reason was she was guarded. Even though Eadlyn and America are very feisty, America wears her heart on her sleeve, and Eadlyn is a bit of a tin man when is comes to her heart. America is a more of a romantic, and in the beginning of The Selection, she’s already in love with someone. Eadlyn has no interest in love, and she had a lot more on her shoulders than America did.

The romance was iffy, but I’m sure it will get better in the fifth book. (Keep in mind that the novel is finished, but the story isn’t.) There’s 35 suitors. 35! Of course, as the book progresses Eadlyn eliminates most of them (well not literally!) (; and even then, 6 or 7 of them stand out. (Like in Maxon and America’s selection.) Even still, I found myself wishing Eadlyn would hang out with someone else! I was like “No, he’s not your soulmate! He is! Go, shoo, talk to HIM!” Although Eadlyn had no interest in marrying any of them!

Which brings me to the fact that she uses a few of them, and I really didn’t like that. She didn’t love them, and she had no intentions of anything but throwing them out once the 3 months was up, yet she would get romantically involved in one of them to “escape” from having to pretend that she’s romantically involved! It was all very… backwards. But of course, in doing that, in the end Eadlyn STARTS to come around… But we won’t know what happens for another year!

I really have no idea who will end up being Eadlyn’s true love. (Though I know who I’m rooting for!) Or do I?! Eadlyn’s right: there are SO many good choices! It was really cool being on the other end of the selection this time around. All of the boys are so sweet, cute, and funny. I feel for Eadlyn right now!

One relationship I loved was between Eadlyn and her family. They were so cute! They all clearly had a really strong bond. And I LOVED seeing how Max and Mer ended up. (Still just as in love as ever!) I also loved the little snippets of conversation and things that Eadlyn couldn’t understand about her parents’ past, but we, as the reader can. (Cause we were there!) But honestly, I was surprised at how much Eadlyn didn’t know. I understand certain things, but I wish Eadlyn knew more about her parents’ selection.

I was so so so happy to see that Marlee and Lucy were living in the palace with America! Again, I wish Eadlyn knew more about the previous selection, and “Miss Marlee.” Even Kile, Marlee and Carter’s son, didn’t know his parents’ story! Eadlyn grew up with her three brothers, Kile, and his sister Josie. But she was really a stranger to Kile, and Josie was bothersome to her. I hope that Josie and “Eaddy” can patch things up in the 5th book!

The ending… The ending ticked me off. I mean, it was a BIG surprise at the end! TWO big surprises! And here I was freaking out about surprise #1 and boom surprise #2 comes around and I’m freaking out and having a heart attack and I’ve got to wait a year to find out what happens next. Thanks a lot, Kiera.

So many things were packed into one book. Fantastic turn of events, no idea who’s winning the selection… Kiera Cass has done it again!

5 stars!

So tell me, everyone, have you read The Heir yet? Do you want to? And check out my post about meeting Kiera Cass here! 🙂

Ohhh my gosh, but I LOVED this book! My mom knows me so well. She got it for me for Easter (yep, this review’s a little late!), and I loved it so much. I may just have to let her pick out all of my books for me! Dauntless reminded me of Melanie Dickerson’s books (check out my reviews for The Princess Spy and The Captive Maiden), but longer – which of course, I loved!

Christian//Medieval times/Love story books are just the best. They’re always so intense. Like chocolate is for chocoholics is this genre for romantics. (Aka, me.) I was pretty impressed with Dauntless.

It was the perfect length. I hate it when books like Dauntless are too short. It was so intense, and things in the book kept taking a turn from good to bad from better to worse. I’ve noticed that other books in the same genre as this one can either be too short or drag on forever, and Dauntless was a great balance!

The main character, Merry, definitely had a lot on her shoulders. Heck, I felt stressed and nervous for her. It was definitely a lot for one book! I was wondering how in the world all of the problems in the book could be solved in those short pages, but the ending turned out beautifully. Actually, it looked like things were going to end one way, which was still a fantastic ending, but then it ended a completely other way, which was even better!

Alright so the romance.

It was just so. Good. The timing and development of the romance in Dauntless was rather impeccable. As a writer writing a love story at the moment myself, relationships are HARD to write – especially ones that need time to develop as the book goes on. But in Dauntless, this was done wonderfully. Plus, this is a Christian fiction, so all the romance was light but just enough to get my heart fluttering. Like “EEKK! They kissed! Just… be together FOREVER, okay??! Never mind the war or the fact that at any moment, you could have your heads cut off. Just LOVE.” Agh.

Dauntless gets 4 stars!

Have you read Dauntless? Do want to?

Leslie Connor is a fantastic author. I’ve now read two of her books – Waiting for Normal and Crunch, and loved them both. I guess I expected a little bit more out of Crunch because Waiting for Normal was, to put it simply, incredible, but this one was kind of an “eh” book for me.

The main plot was okay. The country is in the middle of an oil crisis, and since Dewey’s dad is a truck driver, he and his siblings end up on their own for the majority of the summer while his parents are stuck with no gas. That leaves Dewey and his brother in charge of The Bike Barn, the small side-job shop his dad runs. Of course, because gas is so hard to come by, everyone is biking everywhere now. Not exactly the easy-breeze summer vacation Dewey had pictured. But he really wants to impress his dad with how well he kept the bike barn going. But then thefts are popping up all over town, including several missing parts from the barn.

Pretty interesting. What went downhill, though, was the book started off kind of slow. Actually, the middle was pretty slow, too. And the ending. I did enjoy the book. It wasn’t slow enough for me to put it down, because I was genuinely engaged enough in the mysterious thefts and what was going on and whatnot, but for a decently long book, it honestly didn’t go fast enough for me.

Despite that, the characters were pretty complex. I was really taken by surprise by how the whole mystery theft thing turned out. Definitely not what I expected… I was also seriously wondering what was up with some of the characters, especially Dewey’s sister and brother. Dewey’s sister, Lil – seriously what is UP?! LET SOMEONE HELP YOU. And his brother, TALK TO SOMEONE. Really. They got on my nerves.

The hilarious stars of the book kept my attention well – Dewey’s five-year-old twins, who always had something funny to say, and their crabby neighbor. They kept things lively. =)

Overall, I really liked Crunch. I can’t say if it’s a re-read or not… I definitely liked the characters, and the plot was pretty interesting. I give it 3 and a half stars!

Have you read any books by Leslie Connor? What did you think of her? Do think you’ll read Crunch?

Kristin Levine is probably one of the best historical fiction writers I’ve ever had the privilege of reading her books. Seriously. I first read her second book, The Lions of Little Rock, when I was eleven (about two years ago now.) I’ve cherished it for a long time, and read it a good couple of times, too. Her characters’ perspectives on black and whites in times that really weren’t that long ago is incredibly written. The Best Luck I Ever Had was funny, and sweet, and innocent, and all good things that go into a Middle Grade novel, but it was rich with history and serious matters.

The main character, Dit, had me laughing my socks off in the beginning of the book. In fact, he kind of reminded me of Donnovan from Ungifted, facing more serious circumstances. My goodness, how Kristin Levine kept such a funny mood in this book is beyond me, but she did and I loved it. Things got pretty serious in this book, though.

Let me get you caught up: 1917. Small town in Alabama. The new postmaster comes to town, and Dit is disappointed because he only has a daughter; no boys. Not to mention this new family is black. Obviously, in times like these, there were many racist people. In fact, at one point in the book Dit’s teacher told her class it was a shame the South lost the Civil War! (It was a jaw-dropping, fist-making moment for me. It took all I had not to throw my Kindle across the room!)

Heads up: The sheriff in the book was very violent, and racist. There were some scenes I wasn’t too sure about… the sheriff got in some fights with people, and there was one chapter where the sheriff came into the barber shop and caused some trouble. During that scene, I was kind of taken off guard because there was a very vulgar word. (Page 187.) Just a heads up to everyone, because I was a little surprised… that was the only time there was anything like that in the book, though.

Nothing about the book was slow, or dull. I loved the fact that Dit had a certain dialect… (for some reason, I love hearing characters’ voices or accents in my head a certain way!) I was hooked the whole time. Definitely a re-read! LOVED it!

5 stars!

So, have you read any books by Kristin Levine? What did you think of them? Does this sound good?? 😉

I’ve always loved reading fairy tale/medieval times/retellings, and I read Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix about two years ago, so I was excited to finally get around to reading this one! (Yep, I read this on a total whim the other day. It’s been on my Kindle since I read Just Ella. When was that again? Oh yeah. Two years ago. >_<) Well, you can’t say I NEVER read it, now can you?? (Looking at you, mom.)

There were two main things I liked about this book: 1) nothing is as it seems. First, the good guy was the bad guy. Then the bad guy turned out to be the good guy. It was all very confusing, but made for some great plot twists. 2) The romance. I LOVE Margaret Peterson Haddix’s books because of this. If you’re a romantic at heart like me, but can’t seem to find any books that are clean but still have a touch of wholesome romance, this the book for you.

In a lot of fairy tale/medieval times-set books I’ve read, there’s a bit too much violence than I would prefer. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t read books with gruesome pictures OR descriptions, but I’m a girl who’s rather squeamish about blood. I can handle it, really, but if I don’t have to deal with it, great. I get that during these times, things were very unsanitary and bloody and all that, but… Margaret Peterson Haddix did a great job of keeping to the time she was writing in, while ditching the war scenes or plagues and icky stuff I’ve noticed in a lot of books like this one.

So there was one thing I was a little disappointed about… for me, character development is key. If the plot sucked, and the character development was incredible, I’d give the book five stars. (So to speak.) Palace of Mirrors was certainly a page turner, and like I said above, there was a perfect touch of wholesome romance… throughout the book, I got the feeling that something was going on between Cecilia and Harper, particularly because Cecilia kept mentioning how Harper was acting a little bit strange. But otherwise, I really wouldn’t have guessed that Cecilia and Harper would be romantic; they’ve been best friends since they were little, sure, but that doesn’t automatically mean they’re going to be boyfriend/girlfriend. I didn’t know Harper that well. I didn’t really know Cecilia’s relationship with Harper that well. That was kind of a let-down. 

BUT, overall, this book was super good! Definitely recommend to this to anyone like me: a romantic at heart, wanting books that are clean but still have a touch of wholesome romance.

4 stars!

Oh, and by the way, the third book in this series (Palace of Lies) just came out on April 7th! Be sure to check out the first book in the series, Just Ella, and get reading!

What a hilarious book! I laughed, cried, and pitied Ida B! I think this is the perfect fun, easy read and I loved it. Two bucks later and a whole lot of laughing, here I am with my review for Ida B by Katherine Hannigan!

I liked Ida’s sweet, perfect family and their farm and her cozy home-schooling life. I even liked it when Ida’s whole world changed and she went to regular school. It was a really light read – almost too light.

I got a little bit bored because a) Ida B was a little bit of a brat basically the whole book and b) I wasn’t even sure what the main plot was. Ida B’s mom got sick? A new family moved in on her family’s property? She has to go to regular school? I was sick of Ida’s whining and just plain hatefulness to the new family and little girl who moves in on her dad’s apple orchard – so that her dad could pay some of her mom’s doctor bills. I was kind of like, “Look, Ida B, I get that you’re ten and all, and your whole precious little world is ruined, but YOUR MOM HAS CANCER AND YOU’RE MAD THAT YOU HAVE TO GO TO REAL SCHOOL AND SAY GOODBYE TO SOME TREES??!”

Yeah. I didn’t like her too much. Buuut then I was laughing because a) she’s a total drama queen, b) her antics to try to get rid of the new family were rather silly and I could see my own little sister doing something like it, and c) I kinda-sorta understood Ida B. What she did and said in the book are what all of our ten-year-old-selves either did or wanted to do. Heck, I kind of wish I did have Ida B’s boldness.

I still think that a lot more could have been done about Ida B’s mother’s sickness. I mean, her mother has Cancer. I thought that should have been more focused on… Ida B is going on and on about the trees that got cut down for the new family to move in, but really? Even if the trees are my best friends, I’d give them up for my mom. Get a grip, Ida B. I wished it were a little bit longer, or the book was focused less on Ida B’s school life and talking to her beloved trees and more turned her friendship with the little girl who lived in the new house. (Or rather, lack there of.)

I guess I just think that the plot could have been better, but I still really enjoyed reading it. It was still worth it! =)

3 and a half stars!

Have you read Ida B? What do you think about it? If not, do you think you would read it?

P.S. I think it would be awesome if you entered my giveaway for a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card here (if you haven’t already) so you can buy this book of adorable-ness and laugh at Ida B with me. 😉

I’ve seen One for the Murphys at Barnes & Noble dozens of times, but finally decided to get it yesterday, especially because a regular commenter on For the Bookish (hi, Brooke!) said it was really good. And she was definitely right. In fact, One for the Murphys was even better than I was expecting!

After Carley’s stepfather takes quite a beating to her and her mother, Carley ends up in foster care while her mother is regaining her strength. Through thick and thin, the Murphy family loves Carley and shows her what a family is. I loved the family dynamic in this book. Although at first Carley thinks the Murphys are, they’re not a perfect family. But everyone has their place and loves each other. Carley even teaches the Murphys about family, too.

I thought that One for the Murphys would be more predictable than it was. In fact, almost everything in this book came at a complete surprise for me. But I wasn’t disappointed at all. Nothing ended or turned out exactly like I had hoped, but in a way, it turned out even better.

I would have liked the book to be even longer (but I’d say that about any of my 5-star reviews!) I liked that Carley met some friends at the school she was going to while she was with the Murphys, but I think I would have liked to have known a little more what her life with her mother was like.

Lynda Mullay Hunt did a really great job at changing my opinions about both Carley and Mrs. Murphy – and even Carley’s real mom! In the beginning, Carley didn’t want to accept Mrs. Murphy because she was the mother she never had. I was completely on board with Carley, because she if I were in her position, Mrs. Murphy would bug me, too. But then I was thinking, “Mrs. Murphy is doing everything she possibly can to open up her home and her heart to Carley, and Carley keeps shutting her down. How can she be so kind??” So I was sad for both of them… but then, in the end, there was a sudden twist that made perfect sense!

I also hated Carley’s mom with a passion.

Overall, I would totally read this book again, in a heartbeat. It’s already been added to my favorites shelf!

5 stars!

I know a couple of you read One for the Murphys – what did you think of it? If you haven’t, do you want to?

I really like different perspectives. Last week, I read a book about a genius, “gifted” girl named Willow and this week I read a book about a totally “ungifted” boy named Donnavon. (Although this week is really two weeks ago because I’m writing this two weeks before you’re reading this. It’s all very confusing.) This book was hilarious! I loved the plot, the different perspectives, and the cute robot cover. It was hook, line, and sinker, for me.

I think what I really liked about this book was the different perspectives. I’m a big fan of switching perspectives, period, but especially in Ungifted, because I got to see how the “gifted” kids and the “ungifted” Donnavon were really good for each other. Because even though Donnavon wasn’t gifted in academics, he was gifted in so many other things. When he accidentally ended up at a school for gifted children, he may have flunked most of his classes, but he brought his classmates together and everyone realized he was good for the school.

Plus, this was one of those books that had me laughing out loud. Donnavon was sarcastic and cynical, and I loved that he always ended up on top, “floating” along like his ancestor who survived the Titanic! 😉 I think a lot of kids would really enjoy this book, too. It made me realize that we’re all good for each other, even if the cut-ups are annoying and the know-it-all’s are snotty.

The ending couldn’t have ended better. The whole book had me smiling, but still genuinely excited to see how things would turn out. I knew that things would turn out great, because the characters were optimistic and the story itself was light and fun. I loved this book. =)

5 stars for Ungifted, and two thumbs up!