The Gunslinger by Stephen King

This book is so confusing; I don't know what to say about it. Here is a summary from Amazon.com:

"The Gunslinger introduces protagonist Roland as he pursues the Man in Black through bleak and tired landscapes in a world that has "moved on." Roland believes that the Man in Black knows and can be made to reveal the secrets of the Dark Tower, which is the ultimate goal of Roland's quest. "

The Gunslinger is the first book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. My brother and father love this series and have been trying to get me to read it for a while now. I finally decided to read the first book, and it was... confusing. I still don't fully understand why Roland is looking for the Tower! My dad and brother told me that the first book is the hardest to get into, so I am looking forward to the second. Hopefully it will make more sense to me. I did enjoy this book despite the weirdness. Some of the scenes were a bit disturbing, but that's to be expected in a Stephen King book!

4 out of 5 stars

The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

This is a sequel to Peeps, so you may not want to read this review if you haven't read the first book.

Moz (short for mosquito) is confused yet excited when he sees a woman throwing all of her belongings out of her window including a "mid-seventies Fender Stratocaster with gold pickups." He, with the help of a girl named Pearl, catches the guitar and they run away with it. Pearl; Moz; Moz's friend, Zahler; Pearl's friend, Minerva; and a girl who plays the "drums" (paint buckets) on the street decide to start a band. They can tell that New York City is deteriorating around them as the disease spreads, but all they care about is signing a record deal and getting famous. Somehow, their music is causing strange things to happen and is more important than they all originally thought.

The Last Days starts out very slow. I did not realize that it is about completely different people. I figured it would start out continuing the story of Cal and Lace. I was disappointed. The book was OK, but I liked Peeps better. I have to say that the second half of The Last Days is much better than the first. It eventually got to the point where I really wanted to finish the book to see what would happen. I'm definitely taking a Scott Westerfeld break. The books I've read recently by him just haven't been all that great.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Prom Nights from Hell by Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer and Lauren Myracle

Prom Nights from Hell is a collection of short stories by popular YA writers. Obviously, all of the stories are about prom, and they all have a supernatural element to them. I picked up this book because Stephenie Meyer wrote one of the stories. I was also interested in the one by Meg Cabot, but I haven't even heard of the other three authors.

The first story is called "The Exterminator's Daughter" and it's written by Meg Cabot. It's about a girl who hunts and kills vampires. She happens to do just that at her prom. This story is not Meg Cabot at her best. I was very disappointed. The reactions of the characters seemed very unrealistic. Overall, this story was just OK.
3 out of 5 stars

The second story is "The Corsage" by Lauren Myracle. The author says that the story was inspired by "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs, and she's not kidding. It's the same premise, but it takes place during the prom and is obviously more modern. The main character, Frankie, is given a corsage that can grant three wishes to the person in possession of it. Frankie thinks it's great until she realizes that she must be very careful what she wishes for! This story is just plain creepy. I have also read "The Monkey's Paw" which was quite creepy. "The Corsage" was OK, but I feel that it wasn't a very original idea.
3 out of 5 stars

The third story is "Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper" by Kim Harrison. Madison is not having a very good time at the prom; she just found out that her date only asked her because he felt sorry for her. She is about to leave when she sees Seth. A gorgeous guy she had not seen at school before. They dance together and he offers her a ride home. She agrees but soon realizes how stupid it was to get into the car with someone she doesn't know. This story was very weird! I'm still confused about it. It leaves a lot of loose ends which is kind of annoying.
2.5 out of 5 stars

The fourth short story is "Kiss and Tell" by Michele Jaffe. This story is about Miranda Kiss, a girl with amazing abilities like super speed, super strength, super hearing... you get the idea. She works as a chauffeur, picking passengers up from the airport mostly, and on the day of the prom she picks up a 14-year-old girl named Sibby. After much annoyance, Miranda drops Sibby off at her house, but she feels that something isn't quite right so she goes back to investigate. The people at the house are trying to hurt Sibby. Miranda breaks in and takes Sibby away to hide out at the prom. Who is this young girl and why are so many people after her? This story was definitely the most confusing and weird. I didn't like it at all.
2 out of 5 stars

The last story is "Hell on Earth" by Stephenie Meyer. This is why I read this book. I loved Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse so I wanted to read anything I could by Stephenie Meyer. This story is basically about angels and demons (not the Dan Brown book!). Specifically, it's about a demon who is trying to ruin the prom. This was definitely the best story of the five. I liked it a lot.
4 out of 5 stars

Overall, this book was OK. I liked the story by Stephenie Meyer and the rest were OK. Overall, I would give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

I'm not sure how to summarize A Great and Terrible Beauty without feeling like I'm giving too much away, so here is what it says on Amazon.com:

"Gemma, 16, has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order."

I could not get into this book at all. I don't know why. I really wanted to like this book, but I can't force it. It was well written and I liked that the girls wanted to amount to something more than just obedient wives, but that's about all I liked about it. I guess this trilogy just isn't for me. I probably won't read the next two books because I just don't really feel the need to. I'm very disappointed now. Oh well, on to the next book on my forever increasing "to-be-read shelf"!

2.5 out of 5 stars

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Do not read this if you haven't read City of Bones because this review will contain spoilers!

Clary and the Shadowhunters are back in this sequel to City of Bones. The Clave suspects that Jace is acting as a spy for Valentine, his father, and ends up in the Silent City. While he is there, it comes under attack and the second mortal instrument, a sword, is taken. Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon must stop Valentine from killing children and from using the mortal instruments. Clary and Jace must also fight their feelings for each other now that they know they are brother and sister.

I really like the plot of this series and I find the books very engaging, but the incestuous feelings between Clary and Jace are kind of creepy. I have a feeling they will find out that they aren't really brother and sister, but for now, it's really weird! It really is hard to get past that part of City of Ashes, especially since I have a brother and... eww! I will definitely read the next book when it comes out, though, because I want to know what happens. I want Clary and Jace to be able to be together so I hope they aren't really brother and sister!

3.5 out of 5 stars (for the creepy incest)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

It took me so long to read Wuthering Heights! It's only just over 300 pages and I think it took me longer to read this book than The Pillars of the Earth, which is over 900 pages! I guess it's the language.

Mr. Lockwood moves into a property called Thrushcross Grange. He visits his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, who lives in a property called Wuthering Heights. He discovers that Heathcliff is a very odd, rude man and decides to ask the housekeeper at Thrushcross Grange, Nelly, about him. Nelly begins a very long story about Heathcliff's life and the people he hurt along the way.

This book was so depressing! Heathcliff is so mean to everyone in his life including the woman he loves! It was interesting that the book was in Mr. Lockwood's perspective until Nelly is telling her story but then goes back to Mr. Lockwood's perspective near the end. It was very difficult to concentrate on this book because of the language and it just wasn't that interesting. I'm glad I read it, though, since it's a classic. Wuthering Heights is one of the books in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, so I have now read 24 of them! Time for a nice easy young adult book next!

2 out of 5 stars (because of the depressing nature of the book and the fact that it wasn't capturing my attention)

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

It has taken me so long to finish this book. April is the month of birthdays in my family (my mom, myself, my cousin, my aunt, my brother and my husband) so I have been busy with all of that. Also, my brother-in-law is staying with us during his high school's spring break. I'm glad I finished the book today, though, because it's due back to the library today!

The Other Boleyn Girl is an historical fiction about the rivalry between Mary and Anne Boleyn who are sisters. Mary, the younger sister, is a lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine, Henry VIII's wife, when she starts to notice the king is paying special attention to her. Her family notices, too, and they push Mary to become the king's mistress. Her older sister, Anne, is jealous that Mary is getting all of the attention, but there is nothing she can do. Eventually, the king tires of Mary and Anne captures his attention. The rest of the book is about Anne's journey to the throne and what she is willing to do to get there and then stay there.

The Other Boleyn Girl is told in the first person perspective of Mary Boleyn. It makes it very interesting to see the story through the eyes of the "underdog", the one who couldn't become queen. I loved the descriptions in this book, especially of the sibling rivalry between Mary and Anne; it made me glad that I don't have a sister! At first, I was sad that Henry chose Anne over Mary, but then I realized that it was definitely better for Mary that way, I mean, at least she kept her head on her shoulders! (OK, bad joke, I know) Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I liked it a lot more than The Constant Princess which is also by Philippa Gregory but is about Queen Katherine. I definitely want to read more books about the Tudors especially Gregory's next book, The Boleyn Inheritance.

5 out of 5 stars