Category Archives: Young Adult

Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

8 October, 2014 7:21 am , 1 Comment ,

3236307Graceling
(Graceling Realm #1)
By: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Harcourt
Published: Oct. 1, 2008
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight – she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po’s friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace – or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away…

 

1thoughtsKatsa is a Graceling. She was born with a special gift that allows her to fight with extreme skill. She always wins when facing an opponent. She’s been her Uncle’s mercenary since she was young and she’s had enough. When another Graceling comes into the picture, she decides to leave her uncle and take off with the other Graceling on his quest. They come across some enemies along the way who have special gifts of their own.

The world that Kristin creates is amazing. This really didn’t read like a debut novel. She wrote such a great fantasy with strong characters. You won’t find any timid, self-conscious females here. Oh no, Katsa is as rough as they come. She’s not afraid of anything and she’s not looking to get married and have babies. Even Bitterblue (Po’s cousin) is a strong willed 10 year old girl who is wise beyond her years. She doesn’t take things at face value but she doesn’t voice her opinion, instead she seems to observe and take in everything. I really did enjoy all the characters in the story.

The author also does an amazing job with the plot and pacing. There wasn’t a lot of lag time where I was left skimming over pages. There was always something going on whether it was Katsa and her gift, Po and his gift, their journey to save Bitterblue or simply, what it’s like to live during those times. Everything flowed together nicely and I really did enjoy the story. I will definitely be reading Fire.

 

1favequote“If there’s anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I’ll hit him in the face.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Fantasy

Review: Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross

1 October, 2014 8:28 am , 8 Comments ,

20757528Whatever Life Throws at You
By: Julie Cross
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: Oct. 7, 2014
Genre: YA Romance
Rating:
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Life loves a good curveball…

Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas’s life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she’s living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals’ super-hot rookie pitcher.

But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.

But baseball isn’t just a game. It’s life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…

 

1thoughtsAnnie’s father has just been hired to be an extra pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals (major league baseball). She’s excited to start a new life in KC… that is, until she realizes how flippin’ cold it gets. However, she makes the best of it and joins the track team at her all girls catholic school (she’s not even religious), and becomes friends with the first baseman’s daughter, Lenny (who also attends her school). What she isn’t expecting is to fall in love with the rookie pitcher, whom her father’s career is hanging on. You see, both men are on a trial run right now with the team, if the 19 year old rookie pitcher does bad, then her father does bad, and if the rookie doesn’t make the cut, Annie’s father gets the boot as well.

Julie Cross wrote an amazing story about young love that will give you butterflies. I thought this would be another cute young adult romance but I LOVED this. These characters don’t start off with the insta-love, or even the insta-lust. Nope, Julie did this romance the right way. You have a lot of awkward interactions between the two. Brody treats her like a little sister that he has to keep his eye on and Annie treats him like an obnoxious guy who she’s forced to deal with. They just sort of co-exist around each other for a while. Then slowly Annie develops feelings for Brody and finds herself battling the feelings because he has never once shown signs in viewing her as anything other than his coach’s daughter.

Not only was the romance perfect but the dialog was spot on. I was laughing out loud just about every other chapter. Annie is one witty chick and not an obnoxious witty like some characters. Nope, Annie was genuinely think-on-your-feet funny. She’s a chick that I’d love to be friends with. For instance in the beginning of the story when Annie gets to KC and checks out the stadium where he dad will be working, she walks in on Brody in the locker room wearing a towel. She plays it off as if she’s an intern reporter from Sports Illustrated there to do an interview with him and starts asking questions. Questions about his favorite color, if he adjusts how he throws his pitch when it’s windy, and if he could be any magical creature from Harry Potter, what would he be (at first he chooses a house elf and then changes it to an owl). Ha! That’s when he questions her about working for Sports Illustrated and she plays it cool and says that it’s for the KIDS EDITION! AND HE BELIEVES HER and continues answering. I laughed so hard at that. I must have read it 4 times. Then when I finished the book, I went back and read that part again. And that right there sets the stage for the rest of the book.

“Owls in real life are actually pretty stupid. But no big deal, I’ll just relay that message on to the children of America. Jason Brody, temporary Royals pitcher, wants to be an owl when he grows up because they know geography and shit like that.”

Julie Cross could not have written a more perfect love story for these two characters. She didn’t try to tie everything up giving it a feel good happily ever after. There are some things that never get resolved and are a little sad to think about but that’s life. At no point in this story did I think that the story was melodramatic. I loved every second of Whatever Life Throws at You.

 

1favequoteI figured it was only fitting to have this part be highlighted since Derek Jeter is retiring this year.

“I bet even Derek Jeter had some friendly comradery with a batboy or something his rookie year. Someone who is far gone from his life now. That’s what I’ll be to Brody in twenty years – the forgotten batboy.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Romance

Review: The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O’Brien

16 September, 2014 5:51 am , 4 Comments ,

20518838The Vault of Dreamers
By: Caragh M. O’Brien
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Published: Sept. 16, 2014
Genre: Sci-Fi YA
Rating:
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The Forge School is the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success: every moment of the students’ lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students’ schedule includes twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras in the school. What’s worse is, she starts to notice that the edges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.

 
 
1thoughtsRosie was selected to take part in the Forge Show in order to get a good education. Something she wouldn’t have received had she stayed home. However, one night she decides to not take the mandatory sleeping pills and witnesses people coming in to take one of the other girls away in her sleep. The next morning the girl acts as if nothing happens. However, the next night, Rosie finds herself next on the list. The dean is up to something and Rosie has decided to figure out what that is.

Rosie was an interesting character. She was sort of all over the place to be honest. One minute she’s being careless and the next she’s totally in recon mode. I suppose it would be exactly what any 15 year old would do in her situation.

The fact that a good chunk of the scholars from Forge end up dying young or committing suicide was an interesting twist. Especially considering that Rosie starts having mental issues while at Forge. It makes you wonder what they do to them while they are under the sleeping pills power. When you do find out what’s going on, it’s a bit creepy. Not to mention, the sleeping pills that the attendees are required to take so that they get enough sleep to help their artistic minds added a whole new level to the story. It made you wonder, was Rosie really awake and witnessing this? Or was it all just a dream?

This was a good sci-fi thriller for young adults. However, it felt like it was missing something. I just wasn’t blown away by it like I thought I’d be. Rosie and other characters made some bad decisions that just seemed odd, the villain didn’t seem villainy enough, and I wasn’t that freaked out by the events that take place. Again, I’m not a 13 year old, so maybe if I were I’d have a totally different reaction to this one but it just needed a little more oomph to it. It was like it was on the edge of being a thriller but wasn’t quite there yet.
 
 
1favequote“I don’t believe in worry. It doesn’t change the outcome, but it make the now miserable, so I don’t do it.”
kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Sci-fi

Review: Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch

10 September, 2014 8:15 am , Leave a Comment ,

perfPerfected
By: Kate Jarvik Birch
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Published: July 1, 2014
Genre: Dystopian YA
Rating:

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Perfection comes at a price.

As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury.

Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows…and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating.

But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving…and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death.

 

 
1thoughtsElla is a genetically engineered “pet”. She was bred and trained in a kennel and then sold. Her new owners are given instruction on how to care for her. For instance, don’t give her you’re food, she has a strict diet and giving her food from your plate may make her sick. If she runs away, she must be in heat and therefor you should have her spayed so she won’t stray. Oh yeah, there were multiple times where I looked over at my dog with sad eyes. The only difference between a human pet and a dog is the human pet has to worry about her masters coming on to her.

We are with Ella on the day she is purchased. She’s chosen by a caring husband and wife to be their daughter’s friend. However, the image they portray is nothing like what you get behind closed doors. At first things seem okay. You know something is off since there is talk of a previous pet, a pet that they returned to the kennel because it was sick. Returning a pet to a kennel is not like taking your dog to the shelter. They don’t adopt them back out. Instead they take the returned pets to the red door in the back and have them euthanized. Yeah, this story was seriously screwed up.

Ella has no idea that her perfect little bubble of a world is about to burst. Tiny things start happening here and there. The author hints at what really happened to the other pet and the fate that awaits Ella. Even though there were no surprises in this story, it’s still shocking to read about the events that take place.

The author did a great job taking a slave type story and twisting it into this weird dystopian novel. It made me wonder what my dog would say if he could talk. Hopefully, he’d say I’m the best dog mom ever but after reading this, who knows. Maybe I’m an obnoxious helicopter “mom”. Maybe he hates that I call him “handsome”. That was all I could think about throughout this story since the similarities between human pets in the book and the pets of our day are almost identical. This is a great story. A little creepy, but still heavily enjoyable. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a dystopian that will not only creep you out but make you wonder at the same time.
 

 
1favequote“Powerful men tire of their toys easily. And the novelty of a pet doesn’t last forever. After a while even the prettiest things become ordinary.”
kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Sci-fi

Review: Everything Changes by Samantha Hale

3 September, 2014 9:49 am , Leave a Comment ,

20702918Everything Changes
By: Samantha Hale
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: Sept. 1, 2014
Genre: Contemp. YA
Rating:
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Seventeen-year-old Raven Walker has never had a boyfriend. She’s never really been interested in boys. But she was always too afraid to examine what that might mean. Until she meets Morgan O’Shea and finds herself inexplicably drawn to her.

As their friendship develops, Raven is forced to face the possibility that her interest in Morgan might actually be attraction and that she might be gay.

Acknowledging the possibility opens Raven’s world to the excitement of her first romance, but it also leaves her struggling to come to terms with her sexuality and the impact it will have on her relationships with her family and friends.

1thoughtsRaven is your average seventeen year old. She’s gone on dates, she hangs out with her friends, but she’s never enjoyed those dates, and she’s always felt slightly different from her friends. She never knew why she couldn’t connect with any guys. She thought it was because she grew up with them, watching them eat paste in kindergarten and grow through puberty. That is, until she meets Morgan. Just one look at Morgan and Raven is entranced. What does this mean for Raven though. Is she gay? Is it just some weird draw to Morgan because Morgan IS gay and Raven’s never met a gay person before? What if Raven is in fact gay, what does she do? What will her parents think? What will her friends think? Will they still want to be her friend?

This was a very sweet and light read. Sure it revolves around a 17 years old but for the content that is inside the book, Raven could’ve been 13. There is no swearing, no hanky panky, and nothing inappropriate taking place in the book. It was very wholesome of a story. So this is actually a great story for all ages, both young teen and adult.

I did feel like the story was a bit robotic at times. Like it was just a catalog of events instead of a story. We would go from one event with Raven hanging out with Morgan to Raven hanging out with her friends with no real story between events. It just didn’t flow well for me. Which in the end kept me from fully getting into the story.

In the end though, this is a good story. The author didn’t add unnecessary drama or crazy plot twists. She kept it clean, simple and very realistic. She also left things kind of open because not everything is resolved in the end. However, there is hope of things will get better. I liked that the author didn’t just write that everyone accepted Raven’s sexuality *YAY* the end. Because the truth is, not everyone is okay with things/people that are different from them. So I liked that even though these people knew Raven her whole life, they struggled with her sexuality. Like being gay changed who she was.

1favequote“It hadn’t been the most enthusiastic of acceptance. While she was grateful Chloe hadn’t freaked out or taken off, she couldn’t help but think that a true friend wouldn’t have to make an effort to be her friend. She wouldn’t have to try not to treat her differently, or not feel awkward around her. This one piece of information shouldn’t affect a decade of friendship.
Except it did.”
kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Contemporary

Review: Going Down in Flames by Chris Cannon

2 July, 2014 1:45 am , 2 Comments ,

18363243Going Down in Flames
By: Chris Cannon
Published: June 30, 2014
Genre: Paranormal Romance YA
Rating:
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If her love life is going down in flames, she might as well spark a revolution.

Finding out on your sixteenth birthday you’re a shape-shifting dragon is tough to swallow. Being hauled off to an elite boarding school is enough to choke on.

Since Bryn is the only crossbreed at the Institute for Excellence, all eyes are on her, but it’s a particular black dragon, Zavien, who catches her attention.

Zavien is tired of the Council’s rules. Segregated clans, being told who to love, and close-minded leaders make freedom of choice almost impossible. The new girl with the striped hair is a breath of fresh air, and with Bryn’s help, they may be able to change the rules.

At the Institute, old grudges, new crushes, and death threats are all part of a normal day for Bryn. She’ll need to learn to control her dragon powers if she wants to make it through her first year at school. But even focusing on staying alive is difficult when you’re falling for someone you can’t have.

 

1thoughtsNot only did Bryn not know she was a dragon shifter, but she’s also a mutant that shouldn’t exist. Her parents are from different clans and weren’t supposed to be able to breed. Apparently, they were wrong because a fire dragon and an ice dragon can apparently create a hybrid. Bryn is not only able to use both elements but she’s also able to change her appearance by willing it. Her “coming of age” draws the councils attention and soon she finds herself shipped off to an institute for dragon kids. Not only does the fact that her parent’s ran away breaking the law cause her to be an outcast, but she’s faster and have more abilities than even the more skilled dragons. Yup, there’s a lot in store for Bryn.

This was a good paranormal young adult story. There was a little bit of romance sprinkled in but it wasn’t what stole the show. The author has a great way of giving the readers details on what’s going on without overloading them with information. I liked that we were talked through the transformation instead of getting the usual smoke and mirrors that so many paranormal books throw our way.

There wasn’t anything overly surprising in this story. However, I enjoyed it a lot. I like that the dragon clans are kind of set in their old ways. The council determines whether a dragon is eligible for marriage and if so they are designated a mate. If they aren’t approved for marriage, they are left to find a “benefactor” to whom they become the mistress of. Considering dragons are an old species that date back thousands of years ago, it would make sense that their ways would be a bit outdated.

The author did manage to throw some twists into the story to keep it interesting. I was never bored with where things were going. There was always something going on between attacks on Bryn, her non-existent romantic life, and the fact that she’s still learning about what being a dragon means.

The ending is a bit abrupt and left a lot of loose ends. I’m hoping that there is another book in the works and that this wasn’t a stand alone novel. Otherwise, there’s going to be a lot of frustrated readers.

 

1favepartEvery time I’m reading a romance novel the Mr. always leans over to my side of the couch to see what I’m reading. He even likes to narrate the book for me in funny accents. This interaction between Bryn and Zavien is pretty close to what we go through.

 

Zavien: “What’re you trying to hide?” His longer reach almost allowed him to pull the book from her grasp.

“It’s about rival dragons falling in love and ending a war.”

“Why are they half naked?”

“It takes place in a desert.”

“Isn’t that a forest behind them?

“They travel.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Fantasy

Review: Crushing by Elena Dillon

4 June, 2014 7:50 am , 3 Comments ,

17880386Crushing
By: Elena Dillon
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: May 24, 2013
Genre: YA Thriller Romance
Rating:
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As a pampered and adored daughter of a wealthy Southern family Rory’s life was seemingly perfect until her troubled childhood crush moves back in across the street forcing her to choose between him and the life that has been chosen for her.

As if that isn’t enough, her quiet island town has turned dangerous. A good friend has gone missing, lending truth to the rumors of a serial kidnapper. In her quest to help she becomes a target and will have to make choices about love, friendship and the inevitable sacrifice that they both require.

 

1thoughtsWhen Rory was a little girl she had a best friend named Gage. They got into all sorts of trouble when they were kids. One night Rory was preparing the best hiding spot ever when she saw a guy loading what looked to be a body into a vehicle. Of course, the excitement caused her to have an asthma attack and the guy soon found her hiding spot. However, it was because of her friend Gage that she was able to escape the clutches of the killer and run to safety. But a couple week later Gage moved away, never to be heard from until he returns for their senior year of high school. Now Rory’s life is flipped upside down. Not just because her childhood crush is back, but because the abductions have started up again.

This was not the story that I thought it would be. You don’t really get the sense that it’s a YA thriller/romance from the cover. The synopsis doesn’t really help matters anyways. However, the fact that it was a YA didn’t really bother me. It just took me a few chapters to start picturing a young girl instead of a woman.

The author did a great job balancing the romance with the suspense. Once the reader would start getting comfortable, something would happen, and you were thrown back into the fray. The author gives you tiny clues as to who it could be but she also leads you to dead-ends as well.

For being teenagers the characters of this story were really mature. There really was no pettiness, no cliques, or crazy drama. That’s very rare in a young adult novel. So, I was happy that I could just focus on suspense and romance without all the stupid dramatics.

My one and only gripe with the story was the convenience that any time Rory was in any sort of trouble, Gage was there to save her. Didn’t matter what/where/who, he was there every time. Either the boy was stalking her or he was just always at the right place at the right time when none of her friends seemed to be. I don’t know, I just felt like once there should’ve been a time where Rory either handled the issue herself or got saved by someone else.

Regardless this was a great story. This is mature enough to be enjoyable by adults and yet it’s appropriate for teens as well. There is mention of drinking but there is no sex and virtually no swearing. There could’ve been absolutely no swearing. If you’re looking for a good no-drama, romantic suspense, then this is a good one.

 

1favequote

Rory’s father dislikes Gage. However, one day while talking about golf, it comes up that Gage can’t got kicked out from his school for fighting. He reveals that the fighting was due to the fact that he attacked a fellow student who was beating up him girlfriend. The moment Gage reveals the reasoning behind the fight, Rory’s father lightens up around him, saying his actions were admirable.

“What in the world just happened? Had my dad and Gage just bonded over beating people up?”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Suspense

Review: Played by Liz Fichera

25 May, 2014 7:41 am , Leave a Comment ,

16177036Played
(Hooked, #2)
By: Liz Fichera
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Genre: Contemp. YA
Rating:
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This Game Is Getting All Too Real

He said: I like to keep under the radar and mostly hang out with my friends from the rez. But when I saved Riley Berenger from falling off a mountain, that rich suburban princess decided to try to save me.

She said: If I can help Sam Tracy win the heart of the girl he can’t get over, I’ll pay him back for helping me. I promised him I would, no matter what it takes.

 

1thoughtsIt’s not that this book is a roll over from the previous book in the series. However, the two main characters in this story were also in the last story. Plus, Fred and Ryan from Hooked are in this story a lot. So even though it’s not 100% necessary to read the first book, I highly suggest it.

Sam and Riley live on two separate ends of the teen sceene. Sam is a boy from the Reservation who keeps to himself. Riley is Ryan’s (the popular boy in school) younger sister. However, when on a camping trip, the two get paired up for a scavenger hunt and find themselves stranded in the middle of a thunderstorm. With Sam’s quick thinking, he’s able to get them through the freezing wet night. Sam tell’s Riley about is love for Fred (Riley’s brother’s girlfriend) and Riley gets it in her head that she’s going to cause a rift between the two love birds and find a way to get Fred to fall madly, deeply in love with Sam instead.

I will admit that even though the premise of the story is rather juvenile, the content of the story is not. Not only was the story interesting with the two becoming friends and getting into all sorts of trouble, but there some heart stopping moments as well. I like that the author could’ve just made the store one dimensional and had it based on only the romance the entire time, but she added little surprises that kept me flipping pages faster and faster to see what would happen next.

Even though the story is predictable, the author added in a few twist and turns to keep the reader glued to the book. I hope that in the future books we get more Sam, Riley, Fred and Ryan. I wonder who Liz will bring to the forefront next.

 

1favequote“In all the chaos of the past few weeks, I had come to realize that he had been the only constant. He saw me and that crazy ninja alternate-personality who lived inside of me and didn’t run away – well, not totally. He saw me at my worst and found a reason to still be my friend.”

 

Previous reviews from Hooked
Hooked
kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Contemporary

Character Profile from Psi Another Day by D.R. Rosensteel

21 April, 2014 6:46 am , Leave a Comment ,

psi

psiADPsi Another Day
By: D.R. Rosensteel
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Genre: YA

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When spunky teen Rinnie is forced to bust out her secret Psi Fighter moves in school in order to bring downs its drug ring, she encounters a deeper plot…and a more sinister danger.
My name is Rinnie Noelle.

By day I’m just another girl in high school who likes lip gloss. But by night I’m a Psi Fighter—a secret guardian with a decade of training in the Mental Arts. Kinda like Batman, but without the cape.
Bad guys beware.
After screwing up my first mission, I’m now supposed to fix the problems at my school. Major, fly-catching yawn. Sure, drugs are bad, but what crime fighter wants to put bullies in detention when she can save the world from nefarious villains?
’Cause I will take you out.
But things heat up fast. Now I have two guys into me—yummy new kid, Egon, and my old nemesis-turned-nice-guy, Mason. Plus, word on the street is that a Walpurgis Knight, the Psi Fighter’s worst enemy, has infiltrated the school. And everyone is a potential suspect, even Mason and Egon. Darn. Fingers crossed I find the Knight before he finds me…

ExcerptOkay so this isn’t really an excerpt. More like a character profile from the book.

picName: Kathryn Hollisburg

Age: 16

Classification: Best Friend

Special Skills: Crowd control by means of extreme coolness. Sometimes a total goof. She really ought to be a Psi Fighter.

Special Note: I can’t show you my real face. You know, secret identity and all that. Psi Fighters are usually masked.

Kathryn Hollisburg is my best friend in the entire universe. We know everything about each other.

Kathryn knows I like Elvis Presley. I know she likes 1D. I know her secret shopping hot spots. She knows my secret identity. Kathryn is the coolest, most popular girl in Greensburg High, but she doesn’t know it. She is completely genuine, totally unaware of her popularity. She’s as unsnobbish as it’s possible to be.

On the other hand, she has little patience with lower lifeforms like Mason Draudimon and his minions, Art Rubric and Chuckie Cuff.

Oh, and she’s a Whisperer in training. The Whisperers sort of manage the outside world for the Psi Fighters. They protect our identities.

Posted in: guest post, YA Fantasy

Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

10 April, 2014 5:20 pm , Leave a Comment ,

7514925Tiger Lily
By: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: July 3, 2012
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating:
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Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn’t believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland’s inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she’s always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it’s the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who’s everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

 

1thoughtsThis is a great retelling of Peter Pan. Well, actually it’s not really Peter’s story. Tiger Lily is the main focus in the story. Tinker Bell is a faerie who has taken an interest in Tiger Lily’s life. Tiger Lily is unlike any of the other females from her tribe. It’s also known that Tiger Lily has cursed people who have crossed her. Leaving everyone wearing around Tiger Lily. The story is told in Tinker Bell’s point of view as she recounts her observations.

I will be honest that it took a little bit for me to get used to the narration. It’s in first person (Tink) but she focuses so much on the other characters that it’s almost like third person as well. It was very interesting and I have to give the author major props for pulling it off. After I got used to I could just imagine everything playing out.

I liked that the author showed a different side to Peter and even Wendy (who makes an appearance in the book). The only thing I have to go off of is Disney’s version of Peter Pan. So this was a very interesting retelling of a classic. The author added in so much that the only things that seemed the same in the story were the names. She really did a great job in taking a classic story and making it her own.

One thing I have to take a step back and applaud is how gritty the story was. For a YA the author touched on some interesting things. I don’t want to go into too much detail but there’s arranged marriages, village rapes, jealousy that causes malicious acts, and suicide. She doesn’t go into detail over the situations but she definitely eludes to these things happening. There were times that I was reading and my heart just felt like it stopped beating because things were so intense. I stayed up way later than I should have for a work night just so that I could finish it. And there is where my major complaint is… the end. It literally ends and goes into the acknowledgements. I seriously checked the pages to see if my library copy was missing one but nope. Maybe I need to watch Peter Pan again and the missing link will be there and everyone who’s a Pan fan will be like, “Oooooh, she’s so clever to incorporate that in her story.”, but I’m just thoroughly lost.

 

1favequote“Sometimes I think that maybe we are just stories. Like we may as well just be words on a page, because we’re only what we’ve done and what we are going to do.”

kRISTIN

Posted in: YA Fantasy