Of Poseidon, by Anna Banks

Galen, a Syrena prince, searches land for a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. It’s while Emma is on vacation at the beach that she meets Galen. Although their connection is immediate and powerful, Galen's not fully convinced that Emma's the one he's been looking for. That is, until a deadly encounter with a shark proves that Emma and her Gift may be the only thing that can save his kingdom. He needs her help--no matter what the risk.

I think that I can safely say that, on my blog, books involving any type of mythology are set to a higher standard than just light and fluffy reads. Is it unfair? I don't think so. I think any time you're going to put your own spin on some type of lore that has been around for many, many years that you need to make your book stand out to be recognized among the masses. With that said, did I think that Of Poseidon stood out from all other mermaid books that came out before it? Yes and no. My opinion of this book kept wavering throughout and, even now while I'm writing this review, I cannot honestly say exactly how I feel about this book.

The most prominent problem that I had with this book has got to be the actual characters. There was a strong scene at the beginning of the story that showed a lot of promise, but the first glance of the characters really didn't live up to that hype throughout the rest of the novel. For instance, I think Emma has to be one of the most bi-polar female leads that I have read in a while. With her, there is the person that she thinks she is... then, there is the person she actually is. While she seems to see herself as a very sweet girl, some of her actions are actually quite sour and pretty much the polar opposite of what you would see from a "sweet" girl. Her internal dialogue and rationalization never quite match up to her actions and statements outside of her head, which was more annoying than anything.

Then, there's Galen. Oh, Galen... he seemed to have the potential to be a completely swoon-worthy male lead, but ended up being the douchey jerk that you always want to steer clear of. While sometimes playing coy and being a little possessive over someone you like is somewhat appropriate and cute, being that way 24/7 is not. I found his attitude to be entirely too self-serving and vain. He had a few nice moments, but definitely not enough to overshadow all of the rest.

Now, despite my lack of fondness for the characters I did find the mythology of this book to be up to par. The world-building and description in this book was nothing short of beautiful, minus a few inconsistencies that are so minor the point of bringing them to light is almost moot. Even though this book is over 300 pages, I found it to flow so exceptionally well that the pages seemed to fly by. Overall, I found Of Poseidon to be a decent read that is worth the time to give it a try. The cover is absolutely stunning and, of course, the writing is right there with it. As far as debut books are concerned, this one definitely made the cut for me in many aspects - just not the characters. ;)

Rating: ★★★✩✩ Avg 4.21
Source: Borrowed

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Title: Of Poseidon
Author: Anna Banks
Series: Of Poseidon, Book 1
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Format: Hardcover, 324 pages
Release Date: May 22, 2012

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Adorkable, by Sarra Manning

Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian's 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World. And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane's boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can't she stop talking to him?

After reading Adorkable, my first thought was that this book should come with one warning: "All is not what it seems to be in the beginning." To me, it's almost vital because I was thisclose to putting the book down because the main characters irked me that much.

This book is told from alternating view points of the two main characters: Jeane and Michael. To be frank, they both rubbed me the wrong way from the start. Judgmental and pompous would probably be the best two words for me to describe them. They both seemed a bit bitter and, most importantly, just acted as though they were so much better than every single person around them. It wasn't cute, nor was it necessary... and I just didn't like it. Period. I wanted to put this book down. I was going to put this book down. But something stopped me. I can't tell you what it was, I just knew that I needed to keep going.

Then, it happened.

As you continue through the story, there's more to each character that is revealed. The pompous side of them suddenly doesn't stand as the forefront of their personality, and you find yourself actually liking the characters. Well, I did at least. More importantly, I started to understand why the characters (especially Jeane) were the way they were. Everything clicked and it all made perfect sense. As an added bonus, the chemistry between these two characters really heat up the pages in many ways. Actually, I think the best parts of this book for me would have to be the scenes between Jeane and Michael. They make a great book couple.

Overall, this is a quick and easy read. The plot is light and quirky - there's no deep, poetic plot that puts this book into some sort of great philosophical debate. It's more a simple read to enjoy in one or two sittings, with an ending that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I definitely think this is a great read for teens and older, though I would venture to say that some of the content would lean more toward the more mature teen audience rather than younger.

Rating: ★★★★✩ Avg 4.23
Source: Borrowed

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Title: Adorkable
Author: Sarra Manning
Series: N/A
Publisher: Atom
Format: Paperback, 385 pages
Release Date: May 24, 2012

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Last Rite, by Lisa Desrochers

In this final installment of the thrilling, edgy Personal Demons series, the battle between Heaven and Hell has become critical, and Frannie Cavanaugh is right at the center of it.

With the help of the powerful angel Gabe and demon-turned-mortal Luc, Frannie has been able to stay one step ahead of the forces of Hell. But when the demons killed Frannie's best friend and destroyed her brother, they raised the stakes. If Frannie wants to keep her family and friends safe, she knows she has no choice but to go on the run.

Their best defense is the power Frannie has been struggling to master, but her attempts to hone her skill go horribly awry. If Frannie doesn't learn fast, the consequences could be devastating--even apocalyptic.

What happens when you can't outrun Hell...or trust the ones you love?

This is the third and final book in the Personal Demons trilogy by author Lisa Desrochers. To read my review of the first two installments, click a link for the appropriate book: Personal Demons (Book 1), Original Sin (Book 2).

The Personal Demons trilogy has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. I have enjoyed this series immensely for many, many reasons but I find that I am still struggling with a few of the personal feelings that I had with the two previous books through this book as well.

I think the most obvious would be how I feel about Frannie as the main character. Like always, she keeps the same two guys tugging after her, though I will say not as bad as before. And, like the other two books, I have an issue with the decisions that she makes and the oh-so-obvious details that she seems to almost blatantly ignore for one reason or another. The worst part is that the story (or at least the part I'm referring to) is actually told from her point of view and she describes these things that we catch onto almost immediately, yet she seems to just say them as an afterthought and give it no other mention. That was probably the worst things for me that I couldn't seem to digest.

Now, having said this and getting it off of my chest, I can say that I really enjoyed this book. Although there was some issues for me with Frannie, I can honestly say that I do like her as a main character. She still carries that spunk that I have admired since the very first book and, even though I don't agree with her decisions, I do understand the reasons as to why she makes the choices that she does. As a whole, every action she takes is a selfless act, no matter how wrong that action may seem to someone on the outside - there's always a reason to her madness.

The other characters were still as enjoyable as before, even the smaller (minor) characters had a bigger role in this novel and I absolutely squealed with joy to see that some of the other characters had their own special abilities that weren't necessarily talked about in the previous books. The descriptions of anything and everything, like before, is uncanny and Desrochers has a way with her writing that makes you feel like you're right there experiencing everything with the other characters. There was a lot of good and a lot of evil in this book, though the evil didn't seem quite as strong and vile as in Original Sin. The ending of the series was very satisfying, though it left a little room for more story that made me a little antsy. Actually, that's probably just on me because I want to read more about Frannie's life. But, if this is the end, I couldn't fathom a better ending for the trilogy.

Last Rite is a delightfully wonderful ending for an equally wonderful trilogy. While I'm sad that this series is over, I'm quite satisfied with how the story ended and cannot wait to read more from Lisa Desrochers in the future.

Rating: ★★★★✩ Avg 4.38
Source: Publisher

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Title: Last Rite
Author: Lisa Desrochers
Series: Personal Demons, Book 3
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Paperback, 368 pages
Release Date: May 8, 2012

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The Fame Game, by Lauren Conrad

In Hollywood, fame can be found on every corner and behind any door. You just have to know where to look for it. Nineteen-year-old Madison Parker made a name for herself as best frenemy of nice-girl-next-door Jane Roberts on the hot reality show L.A. Candy. Now Madison's ready for her turn in the spotlight and she'll stop at nothing to get it. Sure, she's the star of a new show, but with backstabbing friends and suspicious family members trying to bring her down, Madison has her work cut out for her. Plus, there's a new nice girl in "reality" town—aspiring actress Carmen Price, the daughter of Hollywood royalty—and she's a lot more experienced at playing the fame game... When the camera's start rolling, whose star will shine brighter?

Filled with characters both familiar and new, Lauren Conrad's series about the highs and lows of being famous delivers Hollywood gossip and drama at every turn.

Reality TV isn't really familiar to me, though it isn't completely unfamiliar either. With this book, I felt as though it was pretty much like reading a book based on a reality television... and I'm not talking about the part of the book that is indeed about a reality show. If that was the intended outcome, then Conrad definitely succeeded in that. If it wasn't... well, it was.

This is a spin-off series from Lauren's L.A. Candy series. I have to admit, I tried reading L.A. Candy and it really just didn't work out for me - which is why you will never see a review for that book on this blog - I don't review DNF's for many reasons, including being fair to the author and giving them more positive publicity through those that do enjoy the books. With that being said, I can say that it was a good thing that I did read at least some of L.A. Candy because it helped the scoring of this book.

One of my big things in reading a book is checking out the writing - and every single aspect of it. I can honestly say that the writing in this book compared to L.A. Candy is much MUCH better, and it really shows that the author has evolved with each of her stories. I also enjoyed Madison as a character, which was surprising to me considering that I spent a good portion of the book having a very love/hate relationship with her.

As a matter of fact, I had a love/hate relationship with most of this book and its characters - ultimately finding more "hate" with the other characters than "love" like I did with Madison. Unlike her role in the L.A. Candy series, Madison is definitely more fleshed out and developed in this book, which is its own saving grace considering this is her book/story. The other characters fell a little flat for me. There wasn't much growth nor maturation, rather the characters seemed to be shallow and not much more past that. However, they were pretty good for some laughs.

The plot of this book was pretty much non-existent... or just seemed to play hide-and-go-seek with me, and I failed miserably at seeking. I couldn't tell you a single commentary about what the actual storyline of this book was as it felt more like a story told the way stories are told in tabloids - which, again, could have been a nod to that whole "reality television" feel that seemed to have been missed on me.

I'm sure it seems that I am ripping this book a new one because I hated it, but it's not true. In fact, it wasn't an incredibly atrocious read - it was actually fun. I'm just being hard because I feel like this story could have been taken to the next level because it does have the potential to get there. Having said all of this, even though this wasn't my favorite read of the year... I could definitely see where a lot of teens and reality show fans would love this book. If you're one of these, I would recommend checking this book out and forming your own opinion.

Rating: ★★★✩✩ Avg 3.57
Source: Young Adult Books Central

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Title: The Fame Game
Author: Lauren Conrad
Series: The Fame Game, Book 1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover, 313 pages
Release Date: April 3, 2012

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Blog Tour: Character This or That List with Velvet {Giveaway!}

This post is part of THE FORGETTING CURVE Blog Tour. To view other posts, click here. Want the chance to win a hardcover copy of The Forgetting Curve and/or some really awesome swag? Read below to find out more!

Velvet's This or That

Cats or Dogs? Cats. Although she likes dogs—and her house is full of them—she’s more a cat person. Fiesty, independent, and particular.

Autumn or Spring? Autumn. It’s more suited to her wardrobe.

Movies or Music? Music. Velvet writes songs and promotes underground concerts.

Books or Computers? Books. She’s not that into technology.

Black & White or Colors? Black and white for her clothes, a touch of color for her hair.

Group or Solo? Group. She hangs with a group of friends, but she often feels alone.

Day or Night? Night. That’s when she promotes her secret concerts.

Reality or Virtual Reality? Reality. She has no interest in the virtual world.

Rain or Sunshine? Rain, but with an undercurrent of sunshine.

Half-Empty or Half-Full? She starts off half-empty, but grows toward half-full.

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Want to win a copy of The Forgetting Curve?

I have a hardcover copy of The Forgetting Copy, along with some (signed!) swag that I'd like to give one lucky follower. As much, five other followers will be chosen to also receive some TFC swag. Want to enter? Just make sure you follow this blog and leave a comment below with your e-mail address.

Winners will be chosen May 15, 2012 and notified via e-mail. There are NO restrictions - because I love you all, I am making this giveaway international!