Ashes, ashes, the second half fell down.

A few weeks ago I received this digital ARC from the publisher (Thanks a bunch!) through netGalley, and how awesome are ARCs on my Kindle, right?

Ilsa J. Bick writes this pre-to-post-apocalyptic story called Ashes about Alex, Ellie and Tom, who have to brave a suddenly dangerous and different world and "The Changed." The beginning of this book sucked me in immediately with a very different sort of beginning compared to the average YA novel. Bick seems to create a well fleshed out character in Alex effortlessly. She is vulnerable for reasons I don't want to spoil, yet capable and independent. Like Alex, Tom quickly comes across as a real person, a genuinely good, real person.

And Ellie. Ellie is a kid with issues. (I actually pictured Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl from the movie Kickass--attitude, not violence--when I read Ellie.)

Not only are the characters intriguing and unique, but the plot! The plot is so different from what I've come to expect in the post-apocalyptic YA genre. It is gritty and suspenseful and plausible enough to willingly suspend my disbelief. It basically starts right before an apocalyptic event that changes most of the population in a catastrophic way and takes us beyond it into the very new post-apocalyptic landscape.

The problem with this book rears its head just past the middle. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say it reads like Bick had two VERY different versions of this manuscript and just spliced them together. Midway through everything about the focus of the book shifts. All of the existing plot threads and characters (with the exception of Alex) are basically cut and all new ones manifest the way they should in the beginning of a book.

For me this was a huge let down for the plot. Because the initial story arc basically gets severed, the resolution at the end of the book only addresses the new arc, challenges, and characters introduced halfway through the book. Another problem, that may just be personal preference, is that the first half was far superior to the second, so the drastic shift was even more disappointing. Also the strength I loved in Alex through the first half seemed conspicuously absent in the second half.

It's hard for me to discuss the details of this book without giving too much away, and half of the enjoyment for me with this story was the discovery. It's part sci-fi, part post-apocalypse, part zombie battle, part wilderness survival, and the telling was extremely visual and well-paced.

What it really breaks down to is 5 of 5 stars for the first half of the book and 2 of 5 stars for the second half. I am still very optimistic for the next book, hoping Bick can get the story back on track, and personally hoping she returns to some of the characters and plot threads she ditched halfway through. I'm not ready to give up on Alex, Tom, and Ellie yet.

*ahem* hello!

Hi, lovely readers!

My name is Anna and I'll be contributing to this blog from time to time. I thought it would be polite to introduce myself formally before I just wrote a review and slipped it in there.

I'm a wife, student, proud canine parent, avid reader, and wannabe writer.

I'm extremely inconsistent (in reviews and life) because tiny things can win my heart or my hate (not that I truly hate many things).

Nice to meet you! *dives back into my Kindle*

Oh, Adammmmmmmmmmm. *sniff*

As is my calling, I'm probably the last person on Earth to read this book. Whatever. Someday, I'll be caught up. Maybe. (Probably not). I bought If I Stay by Gayle Foreman in January. I read it last week. But you know, if you still haven't, there might be spoilers.

Why didn't anyone tell me this book was so damn good? Oh wait, everyone did. Fail.

First off, please ignore the note in the upper corner of the cover. While I read and enjoyed the Twilight series, these books really have SO very little in common. I'm not sure what 'will appeal to fans of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight' is even saying. Um, in both, there's a boy and a girl. The similarities, for me, ended there.

I loved this. Like big whole bunches, kiss it and squeeze it like a new puppy, write it's name on my book covers in pink puffy hearts LOVED IT. I wasn't sure how much depth could be in a 250 page book.

But Gayle Foreman PACKED THIS BABY. Gah, I was aching for Mia and the choice she has to make. I loved her voice, and I loved the flow of the memories she had into the present. My heart broke for her over and over and over.

When she realizes what's happened, when she figures out that Teddy is gone. It's just impossible to imagine facing that choice as a teenager, or ever really.

And Adam. Well, that is one swoon of a boy. There were so many parts where I was like 'Girl, wake up and kiss him!' But when I read the line 'Please, don't make me write a song for you.' I was DEAD. Killed by angsty love.

I will also say that the author did a stellar job of fleshing out the secondary characters, making them rich and real and vibrant. *sniff* GRAMPS!*sniff*

So, what does one do in this case? Read the sequel (which I bought months ago)? I don't know, I'm sort of holding off. I'm afraid it won't live up. And I'm afraid it will just be some 'slap a happy ending on this story because the end of the other one was too ambiguous.' I like ambiguous. I'm could go happily on knowing that Mia chose to come back and that's it.

Except that I want a little more swoon boy. So look for an upcoming review of Where She Went.

Also, I'll be reviewing Forbidden as soon as I can stop sobbing.

Tangled up in meh

Have you ever read a book that's just...meh? Not 'throw it against the wall' flail inducing. Not 'throw it in the trashcan' bad. Not even 'well there's nothing on TV tonight, I might as well'. Just meh. 

For me, that was Tangled. It wasn't great (not by a mile), it wasn't terrible, it wasn't particularly anything. At one point while reading it, I fell asleep and it feel down under the bed. I couldn't find it and I wasn't all that broken up. I was about to move on to something new when I saw the corner poking out under the bedskirt. 

Told in four separate PoV's (no easy feat), it was an interesting concept, but it never really came together. The summary seems to indicate that they are all tied together by something, but really, they are just people that go on vacation at the same resort. 

Jena's PoV was a little on the whiny side, but not awful enough for me to drop it within the first 25 pages. Dakota's PoV almost got me there. (He's kind of a dick, and not the kind you fall in love with anyway). Skye's PoV was my least favorite. I think that was intentional. 

The whole book was saved, for me, by the last PoV... Owen. He was dorky and charming and I really connected to his voice. 

I was bummed because I'm really looking forward to Future of Us, which is co-written by this author (with Jay Asher). But the writing was good, I just think it was the story that I didn't connect with. 

*Disclaimer: I read this immediately after finishing Anna and the French Kiss. I don't think anything would have lived up. Except maybe Lola and the Boy Next Door. 

Things that make you go swoon

I love love. I mean, I love a lot of things, but I really love love. I read all kinds of books, not just love stories, but I am a dyed-in-the-wool sucker for romance.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins made me sublimely happy. It was well written, and funny, and just plain good. And the love. Oh my, it was delightful.

It's not really the kind of book that I have to worry about spoiling for you. You sort of know, going in, what you're going to get. Girl meets boy, boy has girlfriend, yada yada and etc. People more jaded than I would say 'predictable', but it's really not, and to be fair, I'm pretty damn jaded...

and I fell head over heels.



Even if you don't read YA, even if you're not a love story fiend, even if you think you've done it all, seen it all, read it all... go read this. Feel the swoon. Thank me later.

The Intro Post

There are any number of articles available on the internet that will tell you exactly how to write a blog intro post. How to draw people in. How to grab new readers. How to set yourself apart. I started reading them, but then I remembered that a) the whole idea of a bare bones review site was reviews and not much else and that b) I'm SUPER LAZY. So here it is.

Me: I'm a mother, a wife, a business woman, a writer, a reader and kind of a brat.

The site: Book reviews. Mainly YA, but likely some fluffy, contemporary chick lit too. Nothing more than my random thoughts about what I've just read.

No bells, no whistles, no extras... no schedule. Just book reviews.

And on that note, no more babbling from me.