Mini Review: Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Title: Ballet Shoes

Author(s): Noel Streatfeild

Release Date: September of 2003

Publisher: Yearling

Page Number: 256

Format: Paperback

Source: Own

Synopsis:  Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their new family by joining the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. But when they vow to make a name for themselves, they have no idea it's going to be such hard work! They launch themselves into the world of sho business, complete with working papers, the glare of the spotlight, and practice, practice, practice! Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. But practical Petrova finds she'd rather pilot a plane than perform a pirouette. Each girl must find the courage to follow her dream.

My Review: I was super excited to pick up Ballet Shoes. I own the movie and have watched it over and over again because it's fabulous, and I expected the book to be the same way. I wasn't let down. Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are orphans and their personalities are great because they are so different. Pauline when she gets older becomes the older sister figure and she loves acting, Petrova is a little timid and loves cars and aeroplanes, and Posy is outgoing and loves dancing with all her heart. I thought the characters really gave the story some splash. I thought the relationship between the three girls was just like three sisters, because despite being from different families, that was all these girls had ever known. The concept of three orphans working on the stage to earn money for their family was also really interesting. The plot kept going at a nice pace and would be good for keeping kids reading, because it is a middle grade book.

Rating: 5/5 worms

A great book for anyone, but I have to say I did like the movie better.

 

Waiting on Wednesday (15)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking the Spine. It showcases upcoming titles we're currently awaiting.

This weeks title is...

Pivot Point (Pivot Pivot #1)
by Kasie West
Publication Date: February 12, 2013

Synopsis(Goodreads): Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

Dark Seraphine by KaSonndra Leigh

Title: Dark Seraphine (Seraphine Trilogy #1)

Author(s): KaSonndra Leigh

Release Date: October 21, 2012

Publisher: TriGate Press

Page Number: 216

Format: ebook

Source: Publisher 

Synopsis(Goodreads): "Mom always says the angels walk among us. She forgot to tell me that sometimes they're not all fluffy and nice."

Seventeen-year-old Caleb Wood has seen people he calls the walkers since he was a baby. It didn't take long for him to realize something…no one can see these strangers but him. They never stuck around or tried to touch him. And they never said a word. That was until one day on the first day of class in his senior year when an incredibly gorgeous girl strolls into his life…and things are never the same again.

Soon Caleb realizes he has stepped into the middle of a growing conflict between two ancient groups. And his ability to see the invisible ones, the half-breeds that want to modify the human race, just might be the only hope both he and the mysterious, but infuriating, Gia, have of making it out alive.

My Review: Dark Seraphine was so super good! It had everything that it needed and it was fabulous!

From the first page of this book I was sucked in. Stuff was happening and KaSonndra Leigh just grabbed us and threw us into the book. This book sounded like nothing I had ever heard before and it was crazy awesome and good. The plot was very fast paced and there was never a dull moment, because something crazy is always happening that usually comes out of no where.

Caleb was a great main character. He was caught between a rock and a hard place for most of the book and he has his flaws, but that's what makes him such a great character. I loved how he knew he had flaws and didn't think he was perfect and above everybody else. Gia was another great character. She was always popping up at unexpected times and she had me guessing what she was until the end. The side characters all fit together well too, and they all had a story and they weren't just shoved into the story because more characters were needed.

I loved the romance between Caleb and Gia. It wasn't one of those insta-love things that happen a lot in Young Adult books now, and I'm glad it was something different. There romance just happened slowly and it gradually got stronger and I was cheering for them in the end. More YA authors need to create romances like KaSonndra Leigh creates hers.

The writing style of this book was great. KaSonndra Leigh creates great characters and keeps the plot going smoothly. There were sometimes that I was a little confused with what was going on, but usually it was easy to tell. She also makes the dialogue sound like normal teenage conversation, which some authors don't do which was great. I could actually imagine kids at my school talking that way. 

Rating: 5/5 worms

Everything was great about this book. Definitely check it out!

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. They give us a topic and bloggers create a list to go with it.

This weeks topic is...

 

Top Ten Books I Read in 2012

 

1. The Fault in our Stars by John Green: My favorite John Green book yet. This book brought out so many emotions! A must read!

 

2.Easy  by Tammara Webber: I adored this book! More people need to read it!

 

3.The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater: With action and a cute romance, what's not to love?

 

4.Insurgent by Veronica Roth: I thought this book was a fabulous sequeal to Divergent.

 

5.Cinder by Marissa Meyer: You guys know how much I love this book. Enough said.

 

6.Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: It was so good! I can't wait to see the movie!

 

7.The A Circuit by Georgina Bloomberg: Both the first and the second were great, and I hope the third will be just as good.

 

8.The Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead: The perfect end to the Vampire Academy series. It was so good, I read it twice in a row!

 

9.Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare: I haven't read the Mortal Instruments series yet, but if this book was any indication of how that will be, I will definetly read it.

 

10. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen: This was my first Sarah Dessen book, and it won't be my last!

Waiting on Wednesday (16)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted at Breaking the Spine. It showcases upcoming titles we are currently awaiting.

This weeks title is...

MILA 2.0
by Debra Driza
Publication Date: March 12, 2013

Synopsis(Goodreads): Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past —that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Vixen by Jillian Larken

Title: Vixen (Flappers #1)

Author(s): Jillian Larken

Release Date: December 14, 2010

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Page Number: 432

Format: ebook

 

Synopsis(Goodreads): Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry.

 . . .

My Review: I picked up Vixen because I hadn't read any books set in the 1920s and I didn't know much about flappers, and I thought it would be interesting to expand my horizons. I didn't want go go out and buy a book I didn't like, so I got it on my Nook from a library and began to read. I loved the book as I began to read and that feeling continued for most of the book.

Vixen was set in the 1920s with flappers in sparkly dresses, speakeasies in the most unexpected places, and people from the mob smoking their cigarettes on streetcorners. The 1920s aren't something I know a lot about, so I thought it was really interesting and fairly different from what YA does a lot of now. Aside from a few spots that felt kind of like I was in the modern day, this book did a really good job of making the world come alive. The plot also did a really nice job of bringing this book to life. It was pretty good with a few slow spots, but otherwise really nice.

Vixen was told in alternating perspectives of our three main characters Gloria, Lorraine, and Clara. And right off the bat, I didn't like Gloria. She seemed different from the other characters, everything came easily to her. And I hated her romance. One moment the guy she liked didn't like her, and then he did, and she acted like she was in love the moment she saw the guy, when she didn't even know him! But I really liked Clara and Lorraine, because they had interesting stories and their emotions felt real, while Gloria's just felt fake. And I really liked Clara's romance, because it didn't just happen, it gradually happened over time.

Jillian Larken's writing style was okay. There were times that the chapters seemed really long (especially in Gloria's case) and I got bored. Her writing style didn't capture me the way I was hoping it would, but I enjoyed reading about the 1920s, so her writing style was pretty much average.

Rating: 4/5 worms

The 1920s aspect of this book and the characters were what made this book really enjoyable for me. This is one that I think isn't really known, but a lot of people would probably like it.



 

 

 

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Author(s): Marissa Meyer

Release Date: January 3, 2012

Publisher: Feiwal and Friends

Page Number: 387

Format: Hardcover

 

Synopsis(Goodreads): Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

 

My Review: I haven't read that much sci-fi, but Cinder definetly takes the cake as my favorited sci-fi book yet! I can't believe I waited so long to read it!

 

The plot and idea of Cinder were so fabulous. I mean, a retelling of Cinderella in New Beijing during a plague running loose on the city? That's crazy enough, but then Marissa Meyer tells us our main character is a cyborg and everything just gets crazy. I liked how the world was clearly depicted and that it spent enough time on both the characters and the world to make this book great. Cinder never had a dull moment. It was packed with action and something was always happening. And even though it was a Cinderella retelling, the fairytale was just barely there and it wasn't overpowering the rest of the story. I loved it!

 

The charcters were also really, really awesome. Cinder is a really strong main character who's a cyborg. She is looked down upon because she's a cyborg, I think that's what makes her a great character. When her stepsister gets the plague she doesn't just let her go, and when her stepmother signs her up for plague research, she doesn't leave without a fight. That is one rocking awesome heroine! The rest of the characters were really well done too. Kai was definetly one of my favorites.

 

The writing style was really fabulous. I would sit down to read for five minutes and I would look at my clock and it would say I had been reading for an hour! The writing style was really captivating and it sucked you into the book and it wouldn't let you go untill you finished it. I kept reading in between classes, desperate to find out what happens next. Marissa Meyer, hurry up with the rest of the series please!

 

Rating: 5/5 worms

This book had everything, a great plot, some kick butt characters, and some flawless writing. If you haven't picked up Cinder yet, get it before Scarlett comes out next year!

 

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday (13)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine. It showcases titles that we are currently awaiting.

This weeks title is...

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
by Marissa Meyer
Publication Date: February 5, 2013

Synopsis(Goodreads): Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I want from Santa (5)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is. . .

 



 

Books You Want Santa to Bring You for Christmas!!!

 

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: I can't believe I haven't read this yet! I definitely need it in my stocking this Christmas!

2. The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse: The cover is just so beautiful!

 

3. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman: I've been hoping someone would notice me staring at it in the bookstore and buy it for me for Christmas. Maybe someone will....

 

4. Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snicket: Another book by Lemony Snicket? I must have it now!

 

5. Off Course by Georgina Bloomberg: I need to know what happens! This is one of my favorite series.

 

6. Everyday by David Levithan: This would be my first David Levithan book, but I've heard such good things that I feel that I must read it.

 

7. 52 Reasons to Hate my Father by Jessica Brody: Ahhhhhhhh! It looks so good!

8. Defiance by C.J. Redwine: I've heard super great things about this book.

 

Upcoming releases (because Santa is awesome):

9. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer: Cinder left me hanging. I have to know what happens next!

 

10. Cross My Heart, Hope to Die by Sara Shepard: I haven't finished the fourth Lying Game book, but I really, really want to read this one!