The Demon Lover

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an eArc of this book :)

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of her having written the bestselling book The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she’s found herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.
 
But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: Her incubus is not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the demon, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this supernatural lover from her heart.

My Review:

I liked this book, but I wasn't blown away by it.

The protagonist, Callie, had an interesting background story, but didn't really feel fleshed out to me. She described her past and her family/bf with a kind of surgical indifference, like she was retelling a story of someone else's life, not her own. SPOILER, HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW When she discovers that she's a witch/faerie, she takes the news in stride, no big reaction, no doubts, nothing.  I honestly cannot understand what is going on in that girl's mind, first she wants a fancy NYC career, then, unexpectedly decides to buy a house in the middle of nowhere. My main issue is basically that Callie's actions were not well explained, unless everything she did was based purely on instinct and had no logical thought process behind it.

The setting was beautifully described and I could see it clearly in my mind's eye. Fairwick was described in detail, the architecture and the landscape, everything was clear and I loved it. We get a bit of an intro into the fantasy side of their world when Callie does, but the dean is a bit absentminded/busy/tired and doesn't give Callie/the reader the entire story, which was disappointing plot-wise and kept nagging at me throughout the book (you don't know what you're doing Callie!!!) 

I liked the phantom-prince character at the beginning of the book a lot, a shadowy knight in shining armor who comforts Callie in her time of need. When his motives became clearer though, I started to have second thoughts...SPOILER HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW especially later on in the book when it's revealed that he betrays a previous incarnation of Callie to be with the faerie queen, and comes back anyways to try and suck the life of present Callie..knowingly! %$&*!$%^.

The most interesting part of the book is the Faerie world, I'm intrigued by what we hear about it (very very little) and want to know more. So many questions! SPOILER HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW Are the borderlands on the faerie side or the earth side of the door? Why are stuff stuck there? Can't they just go back to Faerie once they see that they can't get through to earth? Where is Liam and can/will Callie set him free? (I don't think he deserves it, but if he makes her happy, SHE deserves it)

I will definitely be reading the sequel to hear more about Faerie and the borderlands.

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all

Destroy Me

Since this is only a novella between two books, I don't have much to say, but what I do have to say affected my opinion of the series as a whole.

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

Perfect for the fans of Shatter Me who are desperately awaiting the release of Unravel Me, this novella-length digital original will bridge the gap between these two novels from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me,Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

My Review:

This really helped with the problems I found in the first book, it was a peek into their world in a way that we hadn't had in Shatter Me, and it clarified a lot. 

It really changed my mind about Warner, the kind of 180 degree turn that rarely happens with me. Mafi managed to completely revise my opinion on a character I thought I knew, without changing who that character was..I could see this new side of Warner in the old Warner that I knew, and it helped me understand the character better.

I'm impressed with the author even more than I'd been after reading Shatter Me and I can't wait to read the sequel.

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all

Shatter Me

One of my friends recommended this book to me, I'm so glad that she did :)

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

My Review:

I loved the idea, loved the writing style too, very descriptive. Juliette is a bit...extreme..in her diary entries at the beginning of the book, but gets better, more coherent, soon after. 

I didn't like that everything was so vague for a good-sized portion of the book. I didn't understand much about the world Juliette was living in because Juliette was going crazy and didn't tell me anything that wasn't completely vague and meaningless. Don't get me wrong, the writing itself was beautiful, but those first few chapters didn't contribute to the story very much in my opinion, just gave me a basic idea of Juliette's current mental health.

Mafi is really gifted at prose, she strings sentences together that I end up wanting to take a picture of. Seriously, or is just me who want's to clap when I read a perfectly formed sentence that manages to transmit an idea so accurately and eloquently? I love love love her writing style, but the story itself was too murky and confusing for me. I like the basic idea though, so the series has potential, as soon as the world around the character's starts coming into focus.

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all

The Selection

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

My Review:

It was an okay read, but there were a lot of eye-roll moments for me. It just seemed like a halfheartedly dystopian version of The Bachelor...I can't say I liked either romance interest, nor, to be honest did I really like the main character.

It's not bad for a "fluffy" read, it was interesting enough, didn't bore me at any point. A lot of the characters were annoying though, and the setup of the selection process really bothered me; it seemed like the royal family/government was anti-feminist, endorsing/creating a "show" that stripped young women of their dignity spoiler: highlight to read If they are chosen, they get instructions to give the prince whatever he wants, including their virginity, whether or not they reciprocate the feeling. /spoiler At the same time this "show" was intentionally being aired to the entire country, making the prince's love life a national affair (their future leader, mind you) with his family's permission! 

I don't feel like we got a true "dystopian" story, the focus was not on the caste system or the world they're living in most of the time. America was mainly obsessing over her love life/social life, we get a few tidbits of information about the world around her, but it's mostly about Aspen/Maxon or the competitive/aggressive behavior of the other contestants/girls. It really feels like the dystopian aspect of the story was an afterthought.

At first, I thought America was just a typical lovestruck teenager, and that the irresponsible things she does at the beginning of the novel stemmed from that. Towards the end of the novel, my opinion changed a few times...she went from being irresponsible-lovestruck-teen to drama queen to naive pushover before finally making it to dignified and acting like she'd actually thought her actions through beforehand. 

Basically, I didn't like the plot (the bachelor meets semi-dystopian royalty imo), disliked most of the characters, but I'm giving this two stars because of character development, which I think was well done.

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all

Divergent

I'd heard a lot about this before finally picking it up on my last run to the bookstore. The recommendations and raves were definitely well-placed with Divergent. This book really deserves all the attention it's been getting. It was a refreshing read in so many ways, the writing style, the lack of cliche characters, the detail. It was well-paced, and so engrossing that I finished it in one sitting. On to the review:

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Review:

I really liked Divergent, it somehow managed to be original, dystopian, and relatable, without being depressing or annoying. I don't usually like dystopian novels because they always make the entire universe seem bleak and pointless, and the scenario's that make the world a dystopia rarely make any sense if you think about it. 

It's different in this book, it's a (reasonably) fair system, everyone has a choice. I appreciated the lack of a love triangle, they're so overused in series and it's refreshing to see a straightforward love interest. It had a perfect (in my opinion, of course) balance of action, dialogue, flash-backs, history, romance etc. The pace was perfect, not too fast, not agonizingly slow.

Roth really sucks you into the world she created, providing vivid descriptions and a detailed background story for the alternate universe where the story is set. At the same time the characters are well fleshed-out, their thought processes are understandable and realistic (illogical main characters automatically deprive me of any enjoyment I may have had from a book), and they're perfectly flawed (no Mary Sue's in sight thank god). Roth didn't rely on any of the stale YA cliches (love triangle, orphaned main character, drop-dead gorgeous main character, idiot characters, personal-grudge-bearing archenemy etc.)

In the end it was a very enjoyable read which left me anxious to buy the sequel :)

Ever Yours~

The Know-it-all