Wicked Like a Wildfire - Book Review

Wicked Like a Wildfire (Hibiscus Daughter #1)
by Lana Popović

What is it about:
All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love.

But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever?

What did I think of it:
I'm in two minds about this book.

It's beautifully written, but it felt slow. Now I don't mind a slow pace if it benefits the mood of the story, but here it just felt like it took forever to get to the actual point of the story and it didn't add to the mood for me.

I must say that the setting felt anachronistic at times. It's set in present day, but it felt more like the eighties to me, so I was jarred out of the story every time I was reminded by something that this was taking place now. Now I will confess that I've never been to Montenegro, so maybe they do have a pace of life and of doing things that fits more with my ideas about how it was in the eighties than it's fitting with how I experience the world today, so this might be all on me.

Those things aside this is a beautiful story with an intriguing mythology. I liked both Iris and Malina, they might be twins, but they have very different personalities. The way they both dealt with what was happening felt realistic and I rooted for them both. There were some other characters that I wished had gotten a bit more screen time. They felt important to the story, so in my opinion could have been fleshed out a bit more.

All in all a beautiful read if a bit slow. I might get the next book, but it won't be in hardcover.

Why should you read it:
It's an intriguing Paranormal YA read.


Buy from bookdepository

Isla and the Happily Ever After - Book Review by Voodoo Bride

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #3)
by Stephanie Perkins

What is it about:
Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:
After the train wreck that was Lola and the Boy Next Door I was a little bit hesitant to pick this book up, but I really liked the first book and I liked Josh in that first book as well, so I hoped this last book would be enjoyable again.

And it was.

I liked both Josh and Isla and could understand how the both of them felt. Their romance is sweet, but then stuff goes wrong and the story turned more angsty, but not in a bad way. Isla needs to think hard about what she wants to have a chance at her happily ever after.

If there's one thing I can say against this story it's the way Isla's best friend is used and discarded for the sake of the story. For me it really felt as if he was just a story hook instead of him really being Isla's best friend. I'd have liked to see more of their friendship instead of him being a prop in the romance between Isla and Josh. The same goes for Isla's sister Hattie.

That aside this is a nice romance and it's once again set in a boarding school, so I very much enjoyed this book. I think the first book will remain my favorite, but this one deserves a spot on my keeper shelves as well. I will keep an eye out for more books by Perkins.

Why should you read it:
It's an awkwardly sweet YA Contemporary romance


Buy from bookdepository

On McPig's Wishlist - Black Bird of the Gallows

That gorgeous cover alone is reason enough to want to buy this book. But I'll be strong and wait for the paperback which releases next year.


Black Bird of the Gallows
by Meg Kassel

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What's more, she knows something most don't. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.


Buy from bookdepository

Lola and the Boy Next Door - Spoilery Book Rant by Voodoo Bride

Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)
by Stephanie Perkins

What is it about:
Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

What did Voodoo Bride think of it:
*beware: spoilers*

I will confess I almost DNFed this book. I tossed it aside full of disgust with just 90 more pages to read, but finally decided I already had made it so far into this train wreck I might as well finish it.

And in those last 90 pages I got to know Calliope and wished the book had been about her, or if not her than Lola's best friend. Anyone but Lola and Cricket.

At the start of the book Lola has a boyfriend: Max. It's clear from the start that Max (who's really cool) will be scapegoated later in the book because he's clearly not The Boy Next Door. Now to understand why this really annoyed me you have to know that Lola just turned 17 and Max is 22. When they met Lola lied to him about her age, during the book she lies to him about other things, but when she breaks up with him she thinks he's in the wrong because he doesn't trust her! When did you ever give him reason to trust you, Lola!? Add another extra scene later on to further make him seem to be the bad guy so Lola can go smooch her boy next door without feeling guilty and I really despised both Lola and the whole scapegoating of Max.

And then there's the boy next door a.k.a. Cricket. What a pompous ass! I disliked him from the first sentence that came out of his mouth. Then he does some things I would have kicked him for if I was Lola, but Lola is too busy scapegoating Max to notice. Of course Cricket likes Lola best when she's conforming instead of being alternative, although later on when it's convenient he suddenly likes her costumes again. And to top it all off Cricket confesses he really likes Lola and immediately follows it by telling her he has lots of practice kissing other girls... Smooth, Cricket. Real smooth.

So yeah... The only two reasons I finished this book were that I was curious to see where this train wreck was going, and then I wrestled my way through the last 90 pages because I already made it through most of the book anyway.

I do have the last book in this series in my TBR pile, and I really liked the male lead of that book in Anna and the French Kiss, so I have hope I'll like that one better.

Why should you read it:
Maybe you will like Lola and Cricket better than I did.
And I will confess: I did like Lola's dads.


Buy from bookdepository

Teaser Tuesdays - Wicked Like a Wildfire

"Riss," she choked out, stumbling against my side. "I can't stay here. I-I can't listen to her."

(page 81, Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic)

Buy from bookdepository

---------

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Invaded - Book Review

Invaded (Alienated #2)
by Melissa Landers

What is it about:
Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.

Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life.

The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

What did I think of it:
It took me some time to finally pick this book up, for some reason it kept being overlooked.

This is a really fun read.

It's been a while since I read the first book (February 2015) so I didn't remember all that happened in Alienated, but the way Invaded is written it didn't matter as the important things were mentioned in an organic way to remind the reader.

In this book we follow Cara while she's trying to fit in on L'eihr while Aelyx is trying to win humanity over back on earth.

Cara is experiencing a lot of the same prejudice Aelyx encountered in Alienated and next to that someone is trying to frame her for some nasty incidents. I loved reading how Cara is trying to adapt and trying to figure out who her secret enemy is. Add other mysterious events to that and some intriguing, but untrustworthy characters and I was hooked.

Meanwhile Aelyx is on a tour to get humans on board with the whole L'eihr-human cooperation plan, and has to dodge both fan-girls and attacks on his life. This storyline was cool as well, but it was easy to sniff out one of the culprits. Luckily the why was more hidden.

The ending was full of action and left lots of things open for what promises to be an exciting last book in this trilogy. I already have the book in my TBR pile and will read it soon.

Why should you read it:
It's a cool YA SciFi read.


Buy from bookdepository

TBR Orphans Challenge Update - August

I have difficulty concentrating on reading lately, but even so I manged to get three books read in August that had been on my shelves for more than three months.

The Nothing was a deliberate Orphan.
It's been on my shelves from May 2015 until this month just because I was in denial and didn't want the series to end.

The Cage and Invaded have just been overlooked in favor of newer additions to my TBR pile.
Both were added to my TBR pile in 2016, The Cage in May and Invaded in October.

This brings my total of Orphans read this year so far on 11.

How are you doing on your challenges?