Review: Drink, Slay, Love

Title: Drink, Slay, Love

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (Simon & Schuster)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: September 13, 2011

Format: eGalley via S&S Galley Grab

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops. 

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast—as the entrees. 

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?—Goodreads

When I first started reading the unfortunately titled Drink, Slay, Love, I was very dubious—I really like the vampire genre and wasn't too crazy about throwing unicorns in with them. But, Sarah Beth Durst's unconventional take on the genre wooed me and I ended up having a really good time with this book. And by good time, I mean that I laughed out loud (on a plane) A LOT. 

To create her vampire-infused version of Connecticut, Durst takes a little vampire lore from the vast canon of vampire literature (she even names one of the characters Charlaine, surely in "honor" of Charlaine Harris. I say "honor" because Charlaine in the book isn't treated with very much care.), as well as from Buffy, adds in a unicorn, and churns out a witty romp of a novel. 

The main character, Pearl, is a lot of fun. She's vampy (in both senses of the word), intelligent, great with sardonic one-liners, and is all kinds of kick ass. And unlike other teenage vampires who have gone to high school, she relishes the opportunity and treats it like an anthropological study rather than sulking about and staring at humans until they love her. In fact, Durst does a great job in channeling Mean Girls and Heathers into the book via Pearl's "I am superior to all of you and you WILL bow to me" attitude, which is obviously problematic for the Queen Bee of the school and her adoring minions. It's not so problematic for Pearl. *grins* 

While Pearl's mission from her vampire-mafia type family is to find entrées to feed to the King of New England when he comes a'calling, she ends up making friends, especially in Evan, the teenage boy who is practically perfect AND has a hero complex (le sigh), and the overly-eager, but cunning Bethany (This is the first time I've encountered my name in a book. It was weird.) who is described as a "demented kangaroo." (I'm pretty sure people might STILL describe me that way. They definitely would have in high school. I'd like to think I've settled down a bit since then.) Rounding out the human cast are two guys, one of whom is named Zeke (which is the name of my dog. No lie.), who fancy themselves amateur vampire slayers.  Unfortunately for Pearl, she realizes that she actually likes these humans and doesn’t really want them to be snacks. But she also loves being a vampire and doesn’t want to disappoint her family. And thus the internal struggle/central crux of the plot is born.

Durst does a really great job of creating both a human and vampire world that are believable, and I really loved the idea of the vampire family that operates like a mafia. It keeps Pearl on her toes and provides a lot of drama to a novel that would have otherwise probably been so clichéd that not even Durst's incredible wit could save it. 

Overall, Drink, Slay, Love plays into every high school convention and trope you can think of—including a big climactic scene that takes place at, yes, the [junior] prom. While there are moments that feel a bit cheesy and perhaps a little too formulaic, it's never so heavy-handed that you're rolling your eyes or throwing the book across the room in protest. So if you have it in you to get past the awful title, idea of unicorns in your vampire lore, and vampires who do more than just brood and bite, you’ll probably end up charmed by Pearl, Evan, Bethany, and the rest of Durst’s hilarious cast. Take it from the girl who was skeptical at first—this book is wickedly, deliciously fun. 

Review: Shade and Shift

Titles: Shade and Shift
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Dates: May 4, 2010 (Shade);



Love ties them together. Death can't tear them apart.
Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.
Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.
Well, sort of.
Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.
As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.—Goodreads


After hearing soooo much about these books (and the Scottish slice of mancake that is Zachary) I finally, finally, finally read the first two books in the Shade series by the Twitter-loving Jeri Smith-Ready.

After finishing Shade, the first book in the series, I was actually sort of . . .  not in love with the book the way I wanted to be. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but  I wanted Logan to just freaking pass on already and let Aura get on with her life (preferably with Zach, the most patient teenage boy ever written). And then I felt bad for feeling like that because if MY boyfriend up and died, and I had the option of having him around forever as a ghost, I really don't know what I would ultimately want. Anyhow, by the end of Shade I actually found myself much more interested in the storyline regarding Aura and Zach's project on The Shift than I was the love story aspect.

And then I read Shift. And holy cow did this book change things for me. The second book in the series deals much more with the idea of The Shift and the logistics of how and why it happened, thus satiating my desire for that—and you learn more about Aura's mother, who died when Aura was three, but left behind a very frustrating journal, full of missing pages, describing her time in Ireland about a year before Aura was born. In just this regard, I enjoyed Shift way, way more than I did Shade.

But onto the love story aspect. Logan is still around in Shift and actually plays a big role in helping Aura and Zach with their project as there are some DISCOVERIES that are made because of Logan. And though Aura still struggles with her feelings throughout the book, because who wouldn't, I actually liked the way Smith-Ready handled it. It's very obvious that Aura is torn, and that if Logan was still alive she would absolutely be with him, and wouldn't have thought twice about Zach. (Feel free to argue with me about that in comments.) But because Logan isn't alive and needs to pass on, Zach is definitely on Aura's mind a lot. However, she doesn't really pursue him until she resolves her lingering feelings for her lingering ghost of a boyfriend.

Alright, so other things in these books:

I have to talk about Logan's siblings, specifically Dylan. Although I do like Mickey and Siobhan, I adore Dylan and he really, really stood out in Shift. About halfway through, Aura decides to ask Dylan to go to prom with her, and though that seems a little weird (I mean, he's her dead boyfriend's little brother) he ended up being the best prom date EVER. Dylan is definitely the stand-out character for me.

However! I also really love Megan, Aura's best friend and girlfriend of Mickey. Megan is the kind of girl who would have no qualms about getting in a fist fight to defend her friends. She's kind of a hard ass, but she's really funny and has a Yoda puppet (!!!) and is just an all-around incredible friend.

And now we discuss the music, which plays a huge, huge role in this book. So huge, in fact, that Miss Smith-Ready has playlists for the books on her website. You should check them out because they are great. Logan's family, the Keeleys, are all uber musical (except for Dylan) and before Logan died were in a very successful Irish punk band. So, music is discussed a whole bunch. And there is a reference to Mumford and Sons. And I want to borrow Smith-Ready's iPod and steal all her music.

Oh! You also need to know that Zach wears a kilt to the prom. It's AWESOME.

Overall, these books are solid and actually very different in tone than are a lot of YA novels. Smith-Ready is great at crafting characters who are flawed, but still loveable (i.e., Mickey. And Logan. And, actually, Aura.) And though Zach is the most "perfect" of the characters, he's not a YA male who is so perfect that he could never actually exist. (There's hope for us accent-lovin' ladies yet!) So yeah. I like these. And I'm VERY excited to read Shine!

Waiting on Wednesday: Black Heart

Title: Black Heart (Curse Workers series)
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: April 3, 2012

Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy. 

But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what’s a con and what’s truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet—this time on love.—Goodreads


I. Love. This. Series.

When the lovely and wholly fantastic Miss Holly Black posted the first teaser from Black Heart on Monday, you best believe that I sort of . . . freaked out. It's not even a long quote. It's a blip, really. But it's a lovely, gorgeous, effing incredible blip that will make you want to devour the other two books, White Cat and Red Glove. (And, really, you probably should. Well, not literally devour. Whatever, y'all know what I mean.) Anyhow, the takeaway is this: I want to read this book real bad. And not in April. Which seems hella-far away, since it's, you know, currently August. *le sigh*

What books are you waiting on this week? Lemme know in comments!

Waiting on Wednesday is weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon &  Schuster
Pages: 450
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Format: ARC, borrowed from Ginger :)

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.—Goodreads

When I first heard about this book, I was immediately clamoring to read it. I was obsessed with the title and the cover and that description—the combination of the three were just beckoning me to read it. And then some blogger friends got a hold of ARCs and they read it, and had very, very mixed reactions. While I'd love to say that others' reactions to books don't influence how I think about them, it just isn't true. So I was a little nervous to read this.

Turns out, I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is effing incredible. Michelle Hodkin is a writer after my own heart. The dialogue she writes is witty and snarky and sort of nerdy, but in a geek-chic sort of way, and her scene setting skills are faaaantastic. The woman can write suspense so intense that you end up holding your breath without realizing it (Seriously. I had problems breathing while reading this.) and then she can have you laughing your ass off. And her sexy scenes? Lord have mercy.

Which brings us to Noah Shaw. Noah is straight up sex: witty and charming and reckless and BRITISH-ACCENTED and not afraid of a fist fight. But he's also the kind of guy who completely understands the sexually-charged thrall he holds over basically everyone, and somehow that makes him all that more attractive instead of insufferably douchey. In personality, he reminds me of Logan Ecolls from Veronica Mars, if Logan had a British accent. There's no way I'm going to do Noah justice, so I'll leave it at this—Noah Shaw is one of the most swoon-worthy YA males I've ever read.

But Noah isn't the only well-written character: Hodkin introduces a very diverse cast, featuring characters you immediately love (Jamie!!) and those you hate with such a passion that you want to reach into the book and choke the bitches yourself. And it would be SATISFYING, lemme tell you. Suffice it to say, you'll like them, even if you hate them.

While the characters are incredibly crafted, what really drives The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is the shroud of mystery that hangs over the book and the eponymous Mara Dyer. While I loved loved loved my reading experience with this book, at no point did I necessarily feel like I had a perfect grasp on what was happening. In fact, on more than one occasion I had the inkling that I was in the midst of an Inception-style, multi-layered world.

But that doesn't mean I ever felt confused. Hodkin weaves in enough intrigue, suspense, and what-the-effery to keep things feeling off-kilter, but not so much that I wanted to throw the book across the room and leave it there. My biggest hang-up while reading was that as I was nearing the end of the book I kept thinking "But I have soooo many questions! There's no way I'm going to feel satisfied with the ending!"

And while it's true that not all of my questions were answered, the book ends on a GINORMOUS cliffhanger that will make your head spin and your eyes bulge out. Now, normally I'm not a fan of the cliffhanger ending—I'm not a supremely patient lady, so I don't enjoy waiting that year or so for the next book to be published. But this cliffhanger is strangely satisfying: it answers questions, but also opens up a whole other can of worms for you to process and discuss with others. *hint hint*

To illustrate the OH-HOLY-CEILING-CAT-WHAT-JUST-HAPPENEDness of the ending, here are my tweets from directly after I finished:

I love this book more than is probably healthy for a person to love a book. But I do not care.

Overall, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of the most satisfying books I've ever read. It's wonderfully paced, features incredibly dynamic characters you want to spend more time with, and includes a plot that is so twisty and confusing and compelling that I couldn't help but become completely, totally absorbed in it.

Now, while I can't promise that you'll share my enthusiasm for this book, what I can promise is that at the end, you'll look like this:

And it is SO. WORTH. IT.

Review: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Title: Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 352
Release Date: May 10, 2011 (paperback)

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew—just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road—diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards—this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.—Goodreads

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour seems to be one of those books that EVERYONE loves. I picked it up on the recommendation of Ginger at GReadsBooks, and then that recommendation was echoed by basically every book blogger I talk to on Twitter, so I had very, very high expectations.

Which actually ended up being a problem. I had such high expectations that when I started it I expected incredible, amazing, explosive greatness right from the get-go. Which, of course, is a silly thing to expect because that is HARD to do. But expect it I did, and at first I was a bit disappointed.

I didn't immediately love Amy, and while I really felt for her situation, I thought she was being kind of a brat about the whole refusing to drive thing. [I'm heartless, I know.] And while I did like Roger pretty much immediately, I don't like his name. I think this is because Roger was the bully on Doug. [I'm serious. I really think that's why.]

Anyway, this book really had to woo me. Lucky for it, I tend to like 1) road trip novels and 2) fast food.

Which brings me to the point that there is SO MUCH AWESOME FAST FOOD IN THIS BOOK. Ok, so what you maybe need to know about me is that I'm a very, very unhealthy eater. It's not that I dislike fruits/veggies/healthiness, it's just that fast food tastes so damn good. And I fancy myself a sort of fast food connoisseur. My first job was working as a carhop at a Sonic Drive-In. I know the difference between Hardee's, Carl's Jr., and Jack in the Box. I've been to In-N-Out Burger, Shake Shack, and Five Guys, and know which burger I like best out of those three. And I have a deep love for Chic-fil-A, which I can't get in stupid NYC. (Well, technically there's one in an NYU cafeteria. But I would have to sneak in and then be surrounded by NYU students. Both of those things are kind of annoying.)

So, suffice it to say, I really, really enjoyed the fast food shop talk and reading about a Sonic/Chic-fil-A virgin's first time enjoying Sonic/Chic-fil-A. :)

But other than the fooood, what really made me like this book were the many fantastic characters Amy and Roger met along the way from Point A to Point B. Although I could probably write pages and pages about all of the minor characters, I will not subject you to that. Instead I will highlight three (well, four. But two sort of go together) of the ones I loved the mostest.

1) Bronwyn: First of all, her name rocks. Second of all, she's the sort of girl who just intuitively understands what another girl needs, be it a hug, a make over, or a whole new suitcase of clothes. Hooray Bronwyn!

2) Cheeks and Walcott: Love these boys. Love them, love them, love them. They were both just really dang friendly and warm and welcoming, in that way that makes you feel like you've known them both for forever. I like that. And Walcott provided my favorite quote of the book!

"Aren't you taking this Kansas thing a little far?"
"No," Walcott said simply, rolling down his sleeve. "It's my home, man. You've got to have pride in your home. You are where you're from. Otherwise, you're always going to be lost."

Hooray Cheeks and Walcott!

3) Lucien: Oh my, Lucien. He is the perfect southern gentlemen and I want to call him mine. And if I ever have a son, I want him to be just like Lucien. That is all. Hooray Lucien!

Overall, this book charmed the pants off me. Not only did I end up really liking both Amy and Roger, but I loved the journey they took together. And that's really what a road trip novel should be about, isn't it?

Waiting on Wednesday: Clockwork Prince

Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: December 6, 2011

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.—Goodreads

 1. That is the longest plot summary I've ever seen on Goodreads. 


2. I like TID more than TMI.


3. I want to read this. Like now. 


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Review: Sometimes It Happens

Title: Sometimes It Happens
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 320
Release Date: July 12, 2011
Format: Electronic galley via S&S Galley Grab (Thank you!)

On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Sebastian dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction--and one night, into a passionate kiss. The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Sebastian, and Noah all in one place. Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think.--Goodreads


Sometimes It Happens is perhaps the most real seeming YA novel I've ever read. 


Let me qualify that. 


The main character, Hannah, is super normal. There's nothing inherently "special" about her that makes her different from any other teenage girl. She isn't gorgeous, she isn't mysterious, and she definitely doesn't have super powers. She's just a typical high school girl who is insecure, unsure of herself, boy crazy, a little bit dramatic, and a little bit silly. Even her story is pretty typical—at the beginning of the summer before her senior year, she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, her best friend, Ava, leaves for the summer, and Hannah subsequently falls in love with Ava's boyfriend. 


Because, you know, sometimes it happens. 


The book alternates between "present day"—the first day of senior year—and the summer, which allows the story unfolds in a sort of emotionally manic order. Hannah is either freaking out because she's trying to determine how to navigate her first day of senior year, which is the first day all of the characters  have been in the same place at the same time since the beginning of the summer, or she's having an unexpectedly great, if not emotionally complicated, summer. The juxtaposition of her two experiences is actually a really fun storytelling device, as there is a nice  cliffhanger type set-up between chapters. Luckily, all you have to do is turn the page to get to the next pieces of information, instead of waiting for the sequel. ;)


Although Hannah ends up in a bit of a pickle because of how she handles a variety of situations, she learns that damage isn't necessarily irreparable. Sure, choices have consequences, and sometimes those consequences change relationships, but sometimes those relationships need to be changed. What Hannah ends up learning is that, ultimately, sometimes the bad choices people make don't always have a good explanation. Sometimes the choices aren't even really choices. Sometimes, it just happens. 


Overall, this book is a fun, quick read about a group of high school students and their motives. It's not life changing and it probably won't be your new favorite book, but if you're looking for something to breeze through to fill a day or two, Sometimes It Happens can do the trick and will even make you smile a time or two.