WWW (35) and Waiting On Wednesday (March 7th, 2013): Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

W. W. W. Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading a great blog that I subscribe to. Here's how it works... Each Wednesday I will answer the following questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

So, this is the first WWW/WoW I've done since going back to work for the first time in 11 years because I am FINALLY learning to manage my time!  I've not had as much time for reading, and even less for blogging, but I think I'm beginning to catch up...

What are you currently reading?

Fuse by Julianna Baggott~ I totally loved Pure, the first book in this trilogy (read my full review HERE), but I'm having a difficult time getting into this one.  I'm kind of on a hiatus from it right now, so I can read something else...

Spellcaster by Claudia Gray~  I just started this one, and am already really liking it.  I love stories about witches, and this one is quite different from the standard fare.  Look for a review early next week.

The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, Book #1) by Chris Colfer~  So, who knew Kurt from Glee could write?  I'm reading this one to my eight year old daughter, and really loving it!




What did you recently finish reading?

Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison~  LOVED this one!  I wasn't all that impressed with Kate Ellison's debut, The Butterfly Clues, but I thought her second go was amazing!  Read my full review HERE.

Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons~ I really enjoyed this one too.  I finally read Article 5 in preparation of reading this, and thought it was great.  Breaking Point was a fantastic second installment.  Read my review HERE.



What do you think you'll read next?

Mind Games by Kiersten White~  I'm kind of behind on my review reading, and this is one of the books that I am dying to read.  It looks fabulous, and I've heard wonderful things about it from other bloggers.

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden~ Another one I'm looking forward to.  Scott's a funny, funny guy, and I am super excited to read and review his debut!

"Waiting On" Wednesday is another fun blog event. Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, this event gives us a chance to talk about the books we anxiously await the release of. Since there is ALWAYS a looooooong list of books I'm waiting on (I actually keep a spreadsheet), I figured this is one that I MUST do.

I haven't done one of these in ages, but I really wanted to profess my love and excitement for this upcoming book.  I had the honor of introducing this wonderful author at the Decatur Book Festival this past summer, and she was just great (very gracious about my fangirling).  I loved her first two books, Anna Dressed In Blood (read my review HERE) and Girl of Nightmares (read my review HERE), so it only stands to reason that I would be looking forward to her next book...

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Publisher:  TorTeen

Publication Date:  September 10th, 2013

My Expected Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

What are YOU Waiting On?

ARC Review: Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication Date: February 12th, 2013

The second installment in Kristen Simmons's fast-paced, gripping YA dystopian series.

After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.

Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper’s true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….

Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself.

Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways.

With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding…or fight back?

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I waited until right before this book released to read its predecessor, Article 5, and I'm glad I did.  Article 5 ended with a serious cliffhanger, and it was awesome to be able to go right into the sequel without having to wait.  That said, where has this series been all my life?  Frankly, I'm a little over the whole dystopian thing, just as I was over the vampire and werewolf thing in the wake of Twilight.  That said, I've really loved the genre since reading 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 a gazillion years ago, and am more apt to give these books a chance than I was the paranormal stuff; I just do so with a wary eye. Well, I went into this series with a good number of reviews in the back of my mind- some great, some scathing, and a bunch in between- and no firm expectations...  I ended up really liking Article 5, and although there were a few flaws, I felt like it was a solid start to what I expected to be a really good series.  I gave it four stars.  Needless to say, that after reading Article 5, my expectations going into Breaking Point were a little higher.  I'm happy to say that Kristen Simmons totally delivered!

First off, I enjoyed Ember a lot more in this book.  In Article 5 she had her desire to reach her mother driving her actions, helping her to do a lot of the more kick-ass things she did.  In Breaking Point that motivation wasn't there, but she continued to be kick-ass.  She became strong and independent, with a mind of her own, and she wasn't about to let anyone tell her what to do if it was in compromise with what she thought was right.  Not Chase, not Wallace, not the government.  And speaking of Chase (*swoons a little*), I'm glad Ember still managed to have a mind of her own when he was around.  I'm not sure I would have been that disciplined...

Further on the Chase subject, because his character was, honestly, one of the main things that kept me from giving Breaking Point five stars...  I think Chase is great in some ways, don't get me wrong.  He is certainly super-hot, and he has his sweet, protective side that makes me go, "Awwww", but he also got on my nerves. A LOT.  You see, I really wasn't into his, "Don't touch me, Ember. I'm damaged and I don't want you to get hurt," broody nonsense.  Yes.  We get it, Chase.  You've been through a lot, but guess what?  So. Has. Everyone. Else.  Get over it, and man up...  I actually still really liked Chase for the most part, but I did find him annoying from time to time.  Then there was Tucker.  Still not sure about him, but I would like to think the changes are legit.  I'm hoping that we get a whole lot of Tucker in book number three, because good-guy or bad-guy, he's become one of my favorite characters.  Another favorite for me was Sean.  I would have never predicted, while reading Article 5, that this would be the case, but he kind of grew on me, without my realizing it, and that is the best...

"Now, what about the plot and pacing and all that stuff?", you ask.  Well, you know I can't give spoilers, but I can tell you this.  Breaking Point kicked some serious ass in that regard.  There was a ton of action, and the story went in a direction that was entirely different from where I thought it would when I finished Article 5.  There were a lot of surprises, the biggest of which was that Kristen Simmons is not at all afraid to kill off important characters.  I love it when authors kill important people for a couple of reasons, but the most important one is that by doing so, they keep me on my toes.  As far as twists go, the only thing I saw coming was who the dishonorably discharged soldier Sean was talking about in the first chapter was. (I only give you even this tiny spoiler, because it was so obvious.)  Otherwise, I was taken off guard at several turns throughout the book.  

In the end, I think the thing I liked best was the imagining of what this society was like, and what it would be like to be a part of a fringe rebel group.  I thought it was an accurate, and rather disturbing one.  Of all the dystopian fiction I've read, I felt like this series had the most plausible scenario.  No natural disaster or plague caused the crazies to gain control.  The horrors of war helped a religious zealot get control of our country and over time, he basically dismantled the structure of our system of checks and balances through fearmongering, and under the guise of morality.  The people bought it because he was such a principled, moral guy and they craved structure after so much destruction.  I have no doubt that something like this could happen in our future.  Let's hope Kristen's writing isn't  as prophetic as it is compulsively readable! 

I felt like Breaking Point well outdid Article 5.  I liked the character development more (although there were a few, who are now dead, who I would have liked to know more about), and as I stated before, I liked that the scenario was so rational.  It was action-packed, with lots of death, so I felt like it would have just as much appeal to boys as it would to girls (and we all know books like that are few and far between in YA).  There was an underlying romance, which I liked, but it was never overpowering because the characters involved were exceptionally strong individuals, and able to function solo.  There were no love triangles either!

Overall, I am super happy that I finally started reading this series.  I am eagerly awaiting the third and final book in this series (that as of now, has no title or release date).  I can't really imagine where the story will go from here, but I am positive of one thing... It is going to be one hell of a ride!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½ 

Grade Level Recommendation:  There are a few makeout scenes, but nothing graphic.  As far as sexual content is concerned, this book is pretty clean.  There is a good bit of violence, some of it graphic in nature, but not overly so.  I would say both Article 5 and Breaking Point are appropriate for grades 6 and up (ages 11 and up).

ARC Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication: August 7th, 2012

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on. 
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live--not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I absolutely LOVED this book's predecessor, Anna Dressed In Blood (read my review HERE)!  It was high up on my Top 25 Books of 2011, and I had super-high expectations for Girl of Nightmares.  It was one of my most anticipated books of 2012, not only because of the amazing cover, because I've had a burning desire to know what comes next.  Did it meet my sky-high hopes?  Abso-freaking-lutely!  I will admit that I liked Anna Dressed In Blood a tiny bit better, but don't let that lower your opinion of this book, because it was phenomenal!  Wanna know more?

Girl of Nightmares picks up a couple of months after Anna sacrifices herself in order to drag the demonic Obeahman into hell, saving Cas, Thomas, and Carmel from certain death.  Nobody really knows exactly where they went, they just know that they are gone...  Now, months later, Cas is having dreams and daytime hallucinations of Anna being tortured,and it is driving him mad.  He feels like he has to find a way to help her, so he begins to search, against the advice of everyone he knows, for a way to free her. His search takes him to London, where a secret society, the very one that originally forged his ghost-killing blade, can give him the assistance he needs.  Is he willing to pay the price for their assistance, is the question...

This storyline of this book was just as mind-mending as the first book.  The characters were still awesome, the pace was once again perfect, the scary parts kicked just as much butt, it was just as action-packed, and there was just enough emotional tension to keep me turning the pages.  In respect to the setting, I thought the world-building was even better this time around.  Kendare Blake's descriptions of Hell were terrifying, and even more than those were her description of the "Suicide Forest".  She paints an unnerving picture that I won't soon forget!  Seriously nightmare inducing!  So, why was this book not quite as good for me as the first one?  Not enough Anna, pure and simple!  Anna doesn't really get much play until toward the end, and then she just wasn't the kick-ass Anna I grew to love in the first book.  She was tortured and pathetic for the most part, and although we do see some glimpses of the real Anna, it wasn't enough for me.

I don't believe there will be any more Anna books.  The story wrapped up neatly and in a way that I didn't expect.  Cas is even more of an awesome character because of how he let Anna's story come to a close, and I remain staunch in my opinion that he is one of the most swoon-worthy male characters in YA because of it.  I was satisfied with this closure in a very melancholy way because I will miss these characters, none of whom more than Anna, but I think it ended as perfectly as a story such as this could end.  Bravo, Kendare Blake, for another job well done!!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Grade Level Recommendation:  I put this book right where I put Anna Dressed In Blood, grades 6 and up (ages 11+), for swears and violence.

Review: Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication Date: August 30th, 2011

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Oh boy!  Someone is getting bumped off of my "Top 10 YA Books of 2011" list, because this book just earned a place high on it!  Wow!  What an awesome read!  This is one of those books that does not let go once it has you in its clutches!  It is really difficult for me to believe that this is Kendare Blake's debut novel because she writes like a seasoned pro.  She did a bang-up job with the character development, world building, plot, and pacing.  I just don't have any complaints.  I am officially a Kendare Blake fangirl!  Now that I've said that, I can delve a little deeper into why...

First off, I'm a sucker for books that are told from a male protagonist's POV; there are not enough books like this, and I usually find myself loving them.  Add to that the fact the male in question is an epic character.  Cas is a ghost hunter- he "kills" the worst of the dead, the ones who kill humans where they haunt- and he's damn good at it.  As you can imagine, a teenage boy with his job might have some morbidity issues.  Compound that with the fact that his occupational predecessor was killed on the job, and also happened to be his father.  Cas is a complicated character; dark, mysterious, sexy, and detached.  All he needs is the right woman to bring out his feelings, right?  But what if that woman happens to be a violently murderous ghost that he is responsible for taking out?

And that brings me to another reason I loved this book- Anna.  She was terrifying, tragic, and absolutely believable.  The mysteries surrounding her were so unpredictable and utterly riveting.  An YA mystery that isn't predictable is a rare, rare thing, and I was so impressed that I never figured her out.  As far as the other characters were concerned, while I didn't like them all, I never felt like anyone was flat.  They all had their stories and reasons why they were who they were.  I think it's important to be able to connect on some level- like, love, or hate- with supporting characters, and Kendare Blake makes sure her readers do.

As far as the story itself is concerned, it was fabulous!  It was gory and mind-bendingly scary much of the time, but at other times, it was tender and full of emotion.  One thing it never was, was dull.  It's pace was quick, but even; I stayed up far too late the first night reading it, starting again the moment I woke the following morning.  In the meantime, I dreamed about it.  It was that good.

Finally, I have to comment on the aesthetics...  Is the cover not to die for?  I love the black and white image, with just the smallest bit of red.  As is the case with a lot of the books I read, I was initially drawn to the cover, and I can tell you that this cover did not let me down!  Another small, but satisfying feature was the dark red type the book was printed in; it was exactly the color of dried blood and it was just perfect.  Small details like this make me happy.

Book #2, The Girl of Nightmares, comes out August 7th, and I cannot wait!  If it is even a fraction as good as Anna Dressed In Blood, it will be worth the long, long wait!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★+

Grade Level Recommendation:  This book has a bunch of swears, some teen drinking, and rather graphic violence.  No sex.  I'm not all that bothered by swears, so if you are, you probably want to add a couple of years to my recommendation.  That said, I would recommend this book for grades 6 and up (ages 11+).

**Don't forget to enter my 400 Follower Giveaway for your chance to win a SIGNED hardcover copy of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins!  Click HERE to enter!**