Review: Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

Title: Ashen Winter 

Author: Mike Mullin

Publisher:  Tanglewood Press 
Publishing Date:  October 16th 2012

Pages:  576
Genre:  YA  Apocalyptic

Series: Ashfall #2
Source: Paperback

  

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

I couldn't wait to dive into the second book of this trilogy. I absolutely loved the first book, Ashfall, and wanted to read more of Alex and Darla's story. I enjoyed this read, not quite as much as the Ashfall, but it was a good second book read.

Alex and Darla made it to Alex's uncle's farm and have been surviving there, hiding from the brutal winter caused by the ashfall. The farm is attacked by some bandits and in the fight Alex finds a shotgun that belonged to his father. Now he and Darla will trek out to find his parents, with on one clue and through a very deadly cold. Alex and Darla find new threats, nasty gangs, cannibalism, sex trafficking, and so much more. The cold isn't the only thing they have to fight on the rescue mission. 

I thought it was a good read. The only issue, the one and only issue I had with this book... it felt almost like I was reading the first book all over again. It was a bit different. I mean Alex and Darla kind of know what they are doing and can fight so much better than in the first book.... But.. Its a trek through the ashes and now the snow too. I was looking for something a bit different. The book had enough in it to keep me reading.. It was just as gross and intense as the first, just felt too familiar to the first book for me to completely enjoy the read. 

What I did like... Alex and Darla's relationship. It was pretty solid and I enjoyed reading more about their devotion, their determination, and their dreams. They had some tender moments, more than in the first book, but it never got too mushy. They were pretty realistic on the world they lived in and the fact they may not have much of a future but at least they have each other. This book focused a bit more on their struggles staying together and safe. They had an amazing loyalty to each other that just made me feel good inside. 

Alex does make some stupid choices in this book. He is a bit trigger happy and doesn't think before he acts. He gets better towards the end. Really though, he wasn't the one that bothered me throughout the book. Darla had her moments where I wanted to slap her. Yes, Alex didn't always think before acting, but his actions were led by his heart. What he thought was right morally and he didn't want to lose his  humanity. I liked him for wanting to always be the good guy and not selfish in who he saves or helps. Darla was a bit harder, colder. She only cared about her own and didn't made it know how she felt about Alex and his "save the world" complex. Of course his stubbornness and heart is what saves her in the end. 

I really like the characters, but  the story just lacked a bit for me. It wasn't exactly predictable or slow,  but it was just another survival and rescue story. I don't feel as if I got anywhere. Although I do see that the story is headed in an ending and I am very excited to read the next book, Sunrise. I think the last book will give me exactly what I need. 

This was a good second book read, not exactly what I wanted, but it was enough to entertain me. 

Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really hoping this writing thing works out.

Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. ASHFALL is his first novel.

Review: Such Sweet Sorrow by Jenny Trout

Title: Such Sweet Sorrow 

Author: Jenny Trout

Publisher:  Entangled Teen 
Publishing Date:  February 4th 2014

Pages: 304
Genre:  YA Retelling/Mythology Adventure

Series: Stand Alone or Unknown Series
Source: Paperback

  

Never was there a tale of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo…But true love never dies. Though they’re parted by the veil between the world of mortals and the land of the dead, Romeo believes he can restore Juliet to life, but he’ll have to travel to the underworld with a thoroughly infuriating guide.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, may not have inherited his father’s crown, but the murdered king left his son a much more important responsibility—a portal to the Afterjord, where the souls of the dead reside. When the determined Romeo asks for help traversing the treacherous Afterjord, Hamlet sees an opportunity for adventure, and the chance to avenge his father’s death.

In an underworld filled with leviathan monsters, ghoulish shades, fire giants and fierce Valkyrie warriors, Hamlet and Romeo must battle their way through jealousy, despair, and their darkest fears to rescue the fair damsel. Yet finding Juliet is only the beginning, and the Afterjord doesn’t surrender souls without a price…

I was very excited to read this book. I haven't spent much time or seen many Shakespeare retellings so I thought this one would be a great one to check out. I was grabbed by the cover and by the title. Unfortunately the story and the characters did not grab me. I found it very difficult to connect to the characters or get caught up in the story. It had a great concept but I feel it wasn't carried out well. It was quite a boring read for me.


Romeo lost his Juliet and now he is on a mission to find her in the Afterjord and bring her back. Hamlet is out for revenge for her father's murder, he has been instructed he needs to find the gateway to the Afterjord. They team up together to work out their missions. Along they way they find Juliet and they are a fearsome threesome through the Afterjord fighting, surviving, and discovering.

I want to say that I loved the idea of the book. It sounded so intriguing. I though it would be really really good. I wish I could say I thought it was but I just didn't like the book. I had some major issues with the book that kept me from wanting to really finish it but I also wanted to know the ending, so I kept on reading. It didn't do me any good. The story does not have an ending. So I added that to my list of problems. 

So first... I didn't care for the characters, of course I didn't dislike them either. I felt non committal to any of the characters in the book. They all had their moments that made me giggle or made me feel they were honorable or good... but they were far and few between. I just didn't connect with them. '

Juliet had my attention the most but I can't say much other than she was fearless, loyal, and she had some pretty great ideas while in battle. Romeo had a few good qualities, but mainly he was just whiny and selfish. Hamlet was at least humorous. For the most part. He had the best one liners and I think, given a bit more time with him, I could have really liked him. There just wasn't enough character building or personal interaction to really get to know the characters.

The pacing was a bit off for me too. The beginning was very slow and even once the action began, it was non stop battling for their lives. I know that sounds like it would be great, but it wasn't. I felt there was too much fighting and too much detail in the fighting to be enjoyable as a book. As a movie it would probably rock. It just wasn't exciting for me at all. 

The writing was also confusing to me at times. They povs would switch between Hamlet, Juliet, and Romeo and was written in 3rd person. This would normally be fine, but the characters did not have a distinguishable enough voice for me to differentiate  between them. It took me a while to figure out who I was following at the moment. 

That brings us to the ending. It finally started to catch my attention... in the last 50 pages of the book, then the book ends with no real resolution. The ending felt as if it will be a series, but I am not positive of this. Either way I am not happy. The ending left me needing resolution... so if its not a series.. no resolution. If it is a series... I have to read more or no resolution. Either way no resolution. 

I feel awful for not liking this book. It happens rarely and I really wanted to enjoy this book. I just didn't care for it at all. I do think it will appeal to those readers who love a non stop action adventure book. The positive of this book, the action scenes were written well enough to picture it all in my head... like a movie. I just prefer more character development and interaction. More story. And an actual ending. 

This was a boring and detached read for me. 

Jenny Trout is a writer, blogger, and funny person.
Writing as Jennifer Armintrout, she made the USA Today Bestseller list with Blood Ties Book One: The Turning. Her novel American Vampire was named one of the top ten horror novels of 2011 by Booklist Magazine Online.
Jenny also writes award-winning erotic romance as Abigail Barnette.
When she’s not writing, she’s sleeping or otherwise incapacitated.
She is a proud Michigander, mother of two, and wife to the only person alive capable of spending extended periods of time with her without wanting to murder her.

Stacking the Shelves #73

Stacking The Shelves is a hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Come join the fun and share all the book you received this week. 

For Review:

The Lonely by Ainslie Hogarth

         

A darkly humorous and imaginative story

After she discovers The Terrible Thing, Easter Deetz goes looking for her sister, Julia, but ends up pinned under a giant boulder with her legs crushed into tomato paste. Bored, disappointed, and thoroughly dismembered, Easter slowly bleeds to death in The Woods with only sinister squirrels to keep her company. As The Something Coming draws closer, memories of Easter's family surface like hallucinations: a mumbling father who lives alone in the basement; a terrifying grandmother who sits in her enclosed porch all day; an overly loving mother who plays dead in the bathtub on Sunday nights.

As the story of her life unspools, Easter realizes she's being stalked, making it very difficult for her to bleed to death in peace. Will The Something Coming save her? Or will it do her in entirely?

Words and their Meanings by Kate Bassett

Anna O’Mally doesn’t believe in the five stages of grief. Her way of dealing with death equates to daily bouts of coffin yoga and fake-tattooing Patti Smith quotes onto her arms. Once a talented writer, Anna no longer believes words matter, until shocking discoveries– in the form of origami cranes– force her to redefine family and love.

As Anna goes in search of the truth, she discovers that while every story, every human being, has a last line, it might still be possible to find the words for a new beginning.

The Swap by Megan Shull 

                  
        

“YOU BE ME...AND I'LL BE YOU.”
ELLIE spent the summer before seventh grade getting dropped by her best friend since forever. JACK spent it training in “The Cage” with his tough-as-nails brothers and hard-to-please dad. By the time middle school starts, they’re both ready for a change. And just as Jack’s thinking girls have it so easy, Ellie’s wishing she could be anyone but herself.
Then, BAM! They swap lives—and bodies!
Now Jack’s fending off mean girls at sleepover parties while Ellie’s reigning as the Prince of Thatcher Middle School. As their crazy weekend races on—and their feelings for each other grow—Ellie and Jack begin to realize that maybe the best way to learn how to be yourself is to spend a little time being someone else.

Audio:

Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?

Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.

Steal the Scarecrow's brain.

Take the Lion's courage.

Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell

Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.

Rule Two—Be careful.

Rule Three—Fight using your legs whenever possible, because they’re the strongest part of your body. Your arms are the weakest.

Rule Four—Hit to kill. The first blow should be the last, if at all possible.

Rule Five—The letters are the law.

Kit takes her role as London’s notorious “Perfect Killer” seriously. The letters and cash that come to her via a secret mailbox are not a game; choosing who to kill is not an impulse decision. Every letter she receives begins with “Dear Killer,” and every time Kit murders, she leaves a letter with the dead body. Her moral nihilism and thus her murders are a way of life—the only way of life she has ever known.

But when a letter appears in the mailbox that will have the power to topple Kit’s convictions as perfectly as she commits her murders, she must make a decision: follow the only rules she has ever known, or challenge Rule One, and go from there.

Katherine Ewell’s Dear Killer is a sinister psychological thriller that explores the thin line between good and evil, and the messiness of that inevitable moment when life contradicts everything you believe.

Gifted:

Delightful Discoveries #60

Delightful Discoveries are books that I have discovered recently... old, new, just released... from blogs, Goodreads, libraries, friends, or bookstores. 

Dream on Amber by Emma Shevah

  

Amber Alessandra Leola Kimiko Miyamoto. As if her name made up for being tiny, half Japanese and half Italian, and starting a new school with a caveman phone. Dream on! But the hardest bit about being Amber is that a part of her is missing. Her dad. He left when she was little and if he isn't coming back, she'll have to sort things out another way. And Amber has a big imagination.

Blackbird by Anna Carey

This twisty, breathless cat-and-mouse thrill ride, told in the second person, follows a girl with amnesia in present-day Los Angeles who is being pursued by mysterious and terrifying assailants.

A girl wakes up on the train tracks, a subway car barreling down on her. With only minutes to react, she hunches down and the train speeds over her. She doesn’t remember her name, where she is, or how she got there. She has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist of a blackbird inside a box, letters and numbers printed just below: FNV02198. There is only one thing she knows for sure: people are trying to kill her.

On the run for her life, she tries to untangle who she is and what happened to the girl she used to be. Nothing and no one are what they appear to be. But the truth is more disturbing than she ever imagined.

Crown of Ice by Vicki L. Weavil

Thyra Winther's seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can't reassemble a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she's doomed to spend eternity as a wraith.

Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact. Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy Kai Thorsen, whose mathematical skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal.

A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai's childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles. Thyra's willing to do anything – venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers, or battle enchanted beasts -- to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast. Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup's devotion and the fire of a young man's desire, the thawing of Thyra's frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing.

Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke

  
Hot girls get the fairy tales. No one cares about the stepsisters' story. Those girls don't get a sweet little ending; they get a lifetime of longing

Imogen Keegen has never had a happily ever after–in fact, she doesn’t think they are possible. Ever since her mother’s death seven years ago, Imogen has pulled herself in and out of therapy, struggled with an “emotionally disturbed” special ed. label, and loathed her perma-plus-sized status.

When Imogen’s new stepsister, the evil and gorgeous Ella Cinder, moves in down the hall, Imogen begins losing grip on the pieces she’s been trying to hold together. The only things that gave her solace–the theatre, cheese fries, and her best friend, Grant–aren’t enough to save her from her pain this time.

While Imogen is enjoying her moment in the spotlight after the high school musical, the journal pages containing her darkest thoughts get put on display. Now, Imogen must resign herself to be crushed under the ever-increasing weight of her pain, or finally accept the starring role in her own life story.

And maybe even find herself a happily ever after.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty––because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence . . . and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.