This meme is brought to us by Shiela at Book Journey.

So here's what's been going on.

So this past week, I read...

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Need by Carrie Jones
Captivate by Carrie Jones
Entice by Carrie Jones

Now, I'm reading...

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater



Then I plan to read...

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl


So, what are you reading??

Happy reading to all,

Ali

My Overall Rating:
4.75/5
Age Recommendation:
I'd say that the age rec. for this book is about 14/15. It's violent. It's harsh. It's cruel. A couple heated moments, but nothing too bad.

Cover Art:
I just love all of the covers for this series. I don't usually like half faces on covers. And I don't think I've mentioned that in my other reviews. But, for these, I like it. It's mysterious and enchanting. The gold is beautiful and delicate.

Re-read and Recommend?:
Most definitely re-readable. This whole series is. And Like I said about Captivate, you have to read Entice. And this books is reason enough to pick up Need. Anyone who enjoys paranormal romance and thriller/suspense novels, this book/series is for you. She did it again. I. Am. Enticed. I'm so sorry, but with these titles, it's just soooooo tempting to do. But, it is the right description.

Summary:
Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not quite how things have worked out. For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla? And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't turned into just any pixie. . . She's Astley's queen.

My Thoughts:
Again, Carrie Jones has left us with the same ending that she did with Captivate. Only this time, we have to wait until 2012 to continue the story. But I must say, the way in which she leaves these books off really leaves you; 1: wanting to read the next installment immediately, and 2: with a very clear memory of what has happened. She opens the next book in the exact same scene. And I cannot be more grateful for that. There is no time lapse. It is indeed a direct continuation of the story. Yet it does have a plot of it's own. I really like that style fo cliffhanger and continuation.

Now, about the rest of the book. Carrie Jones keeps going above and beyond the previous ones. And I am so grateful for that. So many times, it's the first book that can't be beat, but these sequels are just getting better and better. And it makes me sooo happy. I am getting so wrapped up in this story, all of the mythology, all of the creatures, and all of the relationships. This series is like a drug. It enthralls you and you just lose yourself to it. You enter the book. My favorite thing to do. Become a part of the book, and experience everything the characters experience.

So, everyone is on a mission to try to find Nick, the pixies are still coming, and these guys are still relying on the internet alone! Granted, there is a bit more skepticism, and eventually the use of books enters the playing field, but I do think that the use of the internet is rather excessive since it is being used by the group as the only means of research. But given the time we are in, it does make sense. We met Astley in the last book, and I must say, that in this book, I was really beginning to become quite fond of him. But I think I'm still on team Nick. Let's face it, there's just something about him that makes him so darn lovable. Even when he does piss you off. But then there is Astley. He is just that wonderful gentleman, who will do anything to make you happy. No matter WHAT it is. They make it pretty difficult to like one more than the other.

Aside from Astley's entrance to the story, we have had Cassidy enter in the last book as well. Cassidy is such a perfect addition to the group. Her resourcefulness is much needed in Entice. Not to mention her witty comments and support to help keep everyone together. Especially when Issie is in mid conniption mode. For this book though, we have met quite a few new characters. Some I will not mention in order to keep this review spoiler free, but two in particular, Astley's mother and butler. Astley's mother is so psychotic. I love her. But at the same time I hate her because of how cruel of a person she is. We've also encountered a couple more species as well: ghouls and elves.

And of course, amongst these characters and the old ones, more complications arise. Some are having a hard time accepting Zara as a pixie queen, even though she is still Zara, and everyone is having a hard time trusting Astley since, well, he was the one who turned her. Trust is a huge issue in this book. More secrets are discovered to have been kept between friends, and friends are having difficulties trusting friends. Same with family members. Because of all of the sorrow that has been brought on, all of the disappearances of local children. Yet above all of this, love is prevailing. Something that The Romantic Scholar is quite fond of ;). I do have to say though, that there is so much sorrow in this book. It was a bit emotional for me at times. And it's difficult for a book to make me emotional...

So, some of the things I really really really loved about this book. The references. Issie is constantly making references to Buffy. She made a reference to Star Trek and Heroes. And then my favorite reference of all in this book...Zara said that Iceland looked like IKEA. I don't know why, but that just made my day. Another thing that I have enjoyed, and this had been for all the books. The headings for the chapters. In the first book, it was phobias. The second, it was pixie tips. And in this third installment, it's a mix of things. All relating to the happenings in the book. Tweets, news clippings, blog entries, facebook status updates, chat room snippets. It keeps things current. More real for the reader. Especially because of the platforms being used. All in all, I loved this book so much and I CANNOT wait until 2012.

Happy reading bloggers!

Ali


Entice by Carrie Jones
Pages: 272
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Released: December 14, 2010

Summary from Amazon Product Description

Book purchased from store

My Overall Rating:
4.25/5

Age Recommendation:
I think I would give this a rec. of about 14. You're dealing with a bit more violence in this one, and there are references to sex. Again, nothing graphic sexually, but there is some graphic violence.

Cover Art:
PERFECT. That is all I have to say about it. I absolutely love it. And when you read it, you will too. I'm sure of it.

Re-read and Recommend?:
Definitely. To both. If you've read Need, you have to read Captivate. It doesn't start out slow the way Need did, it's a much quicker opening. Now, if you haven't read Need, go do so. So that you can feel the "need" to be "captivated as well. Lame, I know. But it is just so tempting to do with these titles!!

Summary:
Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods one day, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure-despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life-and his.

My Thoughts:
First off, I just want to say that I am beyond happy that I have Entice and I do not have to wait for it to come out so that I can continue reading this amazing story. Captivate left off in such a way that I would be absolutely enraged if I couldn't read Entice immediately after. It is the height of the story and Carrie keeps you holding on until the end. I absolutely love being kept on the edge of my seat waiting for a resolution. And for that to not happen at the end of Captivate both angers me and excites me. It leaves me waiting, anxiously, for what I am expecting to be a fantastic resolution of the action continuing in Entice.

Now, for the rest of the book. I loved Need. And I was impressed. But I was so much more impressed by Captivate. The characters are more developed. You meet some new ones. And relationships are intensifying. The plot is thickening. Danger is looming. And surprises are thrown. Nothing was as predictable in this book, and one of my favorite things...much more skepticism. Everyone was much more cautious in believing things at the first glance. Research is much more involved in this one as well. And that was important for me.

Captivate included a lot of new ideas that Need did not. To be more specific, it pulled from ancient mythologies dealing with more than just the fey and were. This book had so much put in it and Carrie Jones did an amazing job of keeping everything clear. Anything new put before you was explained, and when it took time to be explained, you weren't the only one experiencing the frustration. Once again, Carrie made it so that as the reader, you experience the emotions felt by the characters.

And so much emotion was experienced in this book. Confusion, pain, and pure joy were all mixed together in this wonderfully written sequel. The plot is a whole mess of lies and secrets between friends and families, as well as tragic events and heroic actions. And as the characters feel the pain of confusion and worry, so do you. You really do become "captivated". Sorry, I had to use it. The title is absolutely perfect. It is the books purpose. It is extremely captivating. And if it weren't for the "need" of eating, it would have been completed in one sitting. Sorry, I had to do it again. The titles are just fun.

I cannot wait to finish and review Entice and of course the fourth book which will be released in 2012!

Captivate by Carrie Jones
Pages: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Released: January 5, 2010

Summary from Carrie Jones' Official site
Book purchased from store

My Overall Rating:
4/5

Age Recommendation:
I think I would give this one an age rec. of about 13. There's nothing graphic, but there are some sexual allusions. I don't think that the violence is too extreme to raise the rec. above 14. Again, nothing too graphic there. There is only one scene with a graphic nature and it is the result of violent acts.

Cover Art:
I really like the cover art. I think it's really pretty, and I also think that it ties in well with the story. For me, covers that actually go with the book is important. I like to think that the cover artist did actually read the book. For me, the cover of Need has some pretty good significance to the tale.

Re-read and Recommendation?:
A definite re-read. It's quite a fun book to read and it's greatly amusing. So many funny moments that make me want to actually compile a list of them. The book had me literally laughing out loud. And I enjoy that. As for a recommendation, I would definitely say that mostly anyone who enjoyed Twilight or fans of the TOUCH series. Maybe even some Wicked Lovely fans would be a good classification for people I would recommend this book to. Anyone who likes a good fey story with a little bit of suspense and of course a touch of romance would probably enjoy this book.

Summary:
Zara collects phobias the way other girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since life's been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother's pretty much checked out. Now Zara's living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays "safe." Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother can't deal.

Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving the trails of gold glitter, isn't a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie-and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He's the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he's trailing Zara.

My Thoughts:
When I first started reading Need, it took me a little while to get started. As I'm sure you all can tell. It just seemed a bit too familiar at first. Like I had already read what I was reading and I couldn't find where I left off. Well, just recently, it hit me. It was Twilight-esque. In a sense, I had already read that beginning. Emo girl sent away by her mother for her own good to live with a relative. In a completely different place than home. And of course, the hot guy at school, who just happens to be supernatural, saves her. From an incident with a car. Sound familiar anyone? But after I got past that, everything else started to fall into place. It turned into a book that I couldn't put down. I had to find out what happened next.

There were, however, a couple things that did bother me. There is absolutely no skepticism what so ever in this book. Mind you, after a little bit, you can kind of see why, but the kids rely on the internet far too much. One website in particular actually. And it just kind of goes against the whole "just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true" mantra. It's true because it IS on the internet in this book. Not to mention, things kind of end up a little predictable after a bit. Well, maybe not so much predictable, but they aren't exactly a surprise.

Now, the characters in this book were fantastic. Zara is a charming girl once she get's out of her little emo funk. But then again, who can blame her for being so down. I mean, I'd be a mess if I lost my dad. But her recovery is admirable. And her sense of humor, greatly amusing. I have so many favorite quote from this book. By Zara. Now, her two "sidekicks" Issie and Devyn are definitely a girls best friends. Issie is that lovable, adorable friend that any girl would love in an instant. She is too cute, her love for bunnies and happy-go-lucky personality make her so ridiculously adorable. Devyn is that sweet guy that all girls want to have in their lives. He's the supportive friend who is always there in a pinch. Now...Nick. There's a character every girl wants to be real. I swear, from the moment I met him in the book, I had a little school girl crush. Known as the bad boy in school. Hottest guy in school. And a total gentleman to boot! The development of the characters is very good. And that is always an important factor. There are no questions about the characters left unanswered. You really do get to know them as if you are Zara. And that is always my favorite part of reading.

I don't know how I'd react if I were sent away by my mother with no explanation other than "it'll be good for you, you'll be safe." I'd be pissed. And well, Zara is too. In the beginning. She ignores her mother. And I'm pretty sure that I would too. With a chance to start over completely, you can be whoever you want. But you can't exactly run away from your past and ignore it. Somehow, it always makes it's way back into your life. And that is the case for poor Zara. And when caught in the thresholds of the unavoidable, running and hiding REALLY doesn't work.

The complications Zara faces in this book are not your typical teen issues, although she does still face problems with relationships, trust, and family/parents. This book is relate-able on a couple different levels: relationships, coping, discovery, and familial issues. And for the first book in the series, it's pretty well done. It's a great story, and I can't wait to see how the rest of it unfolds in the forthcoming installations.



Need by Carrie Jones
Pages: 306
Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary from Carrie Jone's Official Need Site
Purchased from store

This meme is brought to us by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Sooo,

I am still reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr


(and I am loving it so far, btw this is the UK cover. I thought it was really neat looking.)

I am going to finish The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins next


And after that, I will be reading Captivate by Carrie Jones



I'll have my review up for Wicked Lovely this week. I know I said that I'd have that review for Shadowland up, but today was pretty busy. Even though it is Spring Break.

See you all tomorrow!
Happy reading Bloggers,

Ali

So, this is a combination of a few weeks.

I have purchased:

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Entice by Carrie Jones

Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan

and of course

Deadly Little Games by Laurie Faria Stolarz


I have of course finished and reviewed Deadly Little Games, I cannot WAIT to do all of these other books!!


P.S.
Sorry I don't have any images...Blogger is being a little glitchy on my end. I'll have that fixed later today! :)

Slow week. A little short on chas and time :( I did however manage to get one book, and that would be........