Review: The House of Ivy and Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 352

Received: Received an e-copy from the publisher through Edelweiss

Release Date: April 15, 2014
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Goodreads Synopsis:

Josephine Hemlock has spent the last 10 years hiding from the Curse that killed her mother. But when a mysterious man arrives at her ivy-covered, magic-fortified home, it’s clear her mother’s killer has finally come to destroy the rest of the Hemlock bloodline. Before Jo can even think about fighting back, she must figure out who she’s fighting in the first place. The more truth Jo uncovers, the deeper she falls into witchcraft darker than she ever imagined. Trapped and running out of time, she begins to wonder if the very Curse that killed her mother is the only way to save everyone she loves.

My Review:

This book was really intriguing, the witch story really caught my attention. The book starts out right away with some great creepiness to it, as we follow Josephine navigating keeping her two lives apart, none of her friends have seen her house because her grandmother is so secretive and very wary of outsiders. But now that danger is lurking around every corner, and this Curse is coming after Josephine and her grandmother, Jo needs to find the mystery of who and what she is going to fight.

The magic aspect of the book was fun, sometimes a little over the top, but what isn't when it comes to magic. It was definitely fun reading about the spells and the way the magic works in this book. There are two different types of witches, those who let the magic control them (who become evil) and those who are able to control the magic themselves. But what really made this book stand out to me was the family aspect of the book.

This is a story that really values family, Josephine is determined to find out what happened to her mother and who gave her the Curse that killed her. Along the way you see those closest to Josephine become targets of major danger and you see all those that mean things to her, and her family slowly grows over the course of the book in different ways. Even though Jo's mother is no longer around, she still makes a huge impact on her life and there are still many great memories.

I really had a lot of fun with this book, and I really did enjoy the magical aspect of it, I think Natalie Whipple did a great job with everything. The characters are tough, yet they still have their downfalls sometimes, but there is always someone for them to lean on, which I really love. Definitely a great read!

Review: The Lovely and the Lost by Page Morgan

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: The Dispossessed #2
Pages: 368

Received: Received a copy from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: May 13, 2014
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Goodreads Synopsis:

Ingrid and Gabby survived the Underneath. They saved their brother, Grayson, from a future of dark servitude and exposed a plot to undermine the Alliance. But danger still lurks in the streets of Paris, and the Dispossessed, perched on the city's bridges and rooftops, might not be able to save their human wards this time.

My Review:

This series has become a new favourite of mine, I remember saying how excited I was for this book after finishing the first one (review here), and it definitely delivered in so many ways. The characters are just as strong, if not more so after the events in book one. I can say that I enjoyed book one more but this was still a great follow up story. There are many different points of view throughout the story, so you really get a good feel for each of them, readers get to see Ingrid, Gabby, Grayson and Luc, I really like seeing this and it brings out the plot of the book even more so.

This story follows as Ingrid, Gabby and Grayson are all coming to terms with the events ending the first book, you get to see them all fight harder for what they believe in (especially Ingrid and Gabby). These two girls are invested in protecting themselves and want to learn as much as they can so that they don't need help all the time, it is what I love most about these books, that these girls don't want to depend on others and want to be able to do their own things. Ingrid and Gabby know that they are not completely in the clear from danger, but this book brings about a brand new sort of danger for the family, seeing more than just the Underneath is out to get them.

What I really enjoyed is that you get to see a lot more of Grayson in this book and see things through his perspective. It is interesting to view the difference of how the experience in the Underneath has affected each of these three in such different ways. Grayson obviously takes things the hardest because of what he is, and he wants to keep that evil part of him at bay. Readers also get to see a lot more about the Alliance and learn more about how exactly they work as a team.

The romance in this book is the one part that is difficult to discuss, it is not a clear cut route, but everything is understandable, and just like in book one you never know what is going to happen. I love that there are many different romance plots throughout, each of the characters have their own lives outside of this supernatural element that it is great to see. The siblings also have a lot of things to work through together, work on their relationships with one another, family is such an important part of this series.

All in all this is an amazing sequel (may not be as awesome as the first book for me, but I still loved it!). You can really see that Page Morgan has set things up in this series perfectly, and that there is a lot of things to go down in book three (The Wondrous and The Wicked). I myself cannot wait for more of these characters, but I hope not to have to say goodbye too soon!

Review: Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Publisher: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
Pages: 373

Received: Received an e-copy from Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: April 8, 2014
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Goodreads Synopsis:

It takes guts to deliberately mutilate your hand while operating a blister-pack sealing machine, but all I had going for me was guts.

Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live, and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays who live and work during daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol deliberately injures herself in order to gain admission to a hospital, where she plans to kidnap her newborn niece—a Ray—in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. By violating the day-night curfew, Sol is committing a serious crime, and when the kidnap attempt goes awry it starts a chain of events that will put Sol in mortal danger, uncover a government conspiracy to manipulate the Smudge population, and throw her together with D'Arcy Benoît, the Ray medical apprentice who first treats her, then helps her outrun the authorities—and with whom she is fated to fall impossibly and irrevocably in love.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights—and a compelling, rapid-fire romantic adventure story.

My Review:

I had heard a lot of interesting things about this book before picking it up, and the cover really caught my eye, after finishing this book I did really enjoy it but it wasn't absolute love. I really believe Elizabeth Fama has a beautiful writing style that kept me intrigued throughout the whole story. I found myself immersed in this new world where people share day and night, having many places open around the clock.

When Sol decides to try to kidnap her niece so that her dying grandfather can meet her, problems arise and change Sol's world quickly. Sol finds herself in the middle of a political conspiracy and her life changes drastically, with the help of D'Arcy Benoit, who has treated her injuries and now ends up helping her through her issues. I enjoyed the interactions between D'Arcy and Sol, they have this good back and forth, where they are both sarcastic and they take their time to really get to know each other. What really caught my interest was how you get to see a lot of Sol's past and you learn why she is so jaded towards certain things.

The one thing about the characters in this book is that they are very real, living in this divide they are two completely different people who each have different outcomes. I enjoyed the world that Fama created in this story, but I feel like the story itself took some time to get into, and by the time I was truly invested in the controversy the story ended. I felt that there could have been a little more intrigue with the conspiracy idea in this story.

The romance was what really kept me reading though, I wanted to know more about Sol and D'Arcy, watching as they spend more time together and really get to know and understand one another. The end of the story left me wanting a little more and yet at the same time I think it had a perfect ending where you see that anything can happen.