ABOVE WORLD by Jenn Reese

Rate: 7/10

Okay, so I read this book back in 8th grade and I absolutely LOVED IT. But, also back then it was very easy to captivate my attention. I reread it and one thing is still for certain: I. LOVE. MERMAIDS. I still draw them and I love the fact I can draw a human without the complication of legs and feet.

I mean 

Look at

THESE BABIES

beautiful <3

(All drawings curtesy of yours truly)

Actually the drawing go from least recent to most... First was before I read the book, second was freshman year, and the last was a couple of months ago! (Shamelessly promotes art because ART)

Anyways, the book, the whole reason why you're reading, is about a young kampii in The City of Shifting Tides. A Kampii is a human, essentially, who lives under the sea, and they breath by having tech attached to there throats. When you turn old enough, you swallow basically a seed that turns your feet into a tail. And her little friend, Hoku, is a year younger and is afraid to lose her. *sad face* 

What happens when the kampii tech stops working? The elders hide this. But Aluna sees this and she basically says, "these people are whack yo" (okay so not those exact words BUT PRETTY CLOSE) so she and Hoku both go to where everyone forbids they go: the surface. And what they find up there, no one could prepare them for.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Okay so, basically the above world is totally trashed. And the first thing they see when they get to shore? A bunch of dead, what they call, "Deepfell" which are there enemies. Which basically is a hybrid of a person and a shark, not only dead, but also missing body parts. She ends up finding one on the verge of living, and in a stupid moment of feeling worthless, she attached her tech to the Deepfall, which returned to the sea.

Then as Aluna was choking without her tech  she sees, what they call, "Aviars." Basically bird ladies. Where Hoku takes a fancy to one of them... Hehe xD

SKIPPING A BUNCH IF STUFF, READ IT YA LAZY NERDS

Aluna's sister is captured, and Aluna has to save her, along with Hoku, and a horse boy born human (never got his horsy legs or something like that). She ends up finding out a guy in a tech dome has a Very big fascination with the Kampii. While breeching, she is saved by the Deepfell that she herself saved, and find a crab-mecha girl that kisses horse-boy.

**HAHAHA ALL I'M SAYING FOR NOW**

**END OF SPOILER**

So overall I like this book, but there's a lot of slow sections. But at the same time a lot of fun stories! 

If you find you go to my school, and would like to borrow this book, sadly it is not in the library, but you can talk to a librarian and I'll see if we can work something. Okay? okay!

SEA Ya later! (Bad puns! Yay!)

-Spoiler Alert

THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan

RATING: 9/10

Okay, let me just start off by saying I HATE ZOMBIES. I really think there overdone. EVERYTHING has a zombie in it nowadays!! But, this book still managed to capture my attention. Here's what basically happened:

My heart: DO IT 

My brain: but CLICHE ZOMBIE *insert groan*

My heart: Bro.. bruh... Trust in me. Just frickin trust me.

My Brain: UGHHHHHHHHH *takes off shelf* UGHHHHHHH *takes to library counter* UGH *takes home to read*

As you can see by my rating, my heart was correct.. This time.

The books is about a young girl named Mary who lives in the only town known of that has survived the forest of hands and teeth (an actual forest filled of YOU GUESSED IT. Zombies). This book takes place AFTER the major zombie outbreak, which I thank the offer for. No one talks about the "What after?" Only the actual attack. So what happens in her little village lead by the church, is that her family and a bunch of others had been enclosed with miles and miles of metal fencing and they believed they were the only ones alive after "The Return." And because of years of isolation and never being able to even go CLOSE to the fence (unless you're a guard), there knowledge of the outside world is about the equivalent. Mary's mother becomes desperately depressed when she is told her husband has become one of the Unconsercrared (zombies) and goes too close to the fence, where she is bitten. The sisterhood then "banishes her" to the forest where the mother believes she will be reunited with her husband.

 When this happens, the sisterhood gives Mary a choice: join them or her parents. She chooses to join the sister hood. Though completely devastated that her love had spoken for her best friend, and his brother, who always had a fancy for her, doesn't even speak for her (To speak for someone is basically their way of getting engaged). 

Now the reason I like this book is because of the outsider. Oh I didn't mention this? YEAH. THE SISTERHOOD FINDS AN OUTSIDER, but she's been bitten, sooooo.... No info for them. But when she leaves, Mary finds the girls clues as to how she got here..

**SPOILER ALERT**

Then her town is breeched.

Led by the Zombie-version of the outsider. 

When the town is breeched Mary, her best friend, and both their betrothed (Yeah the brother comes back for her), oh and also her older brother, his wife, and a kid they saved. OH AND A PUPPY! That everyone? We have our group? Okay. Well let's see what happens: they've been traveling, and WHOOPSIE DAISY (I'm skipping quite a bit.. GUESS YOU'LL HAVE TO REEEEAD IT) Travis (the boy Mary looooves) breaks his leg, and the only one with medical experience: MARY! So what happens? We find out Travis always loved Mary but the problem is that his brother loves her. WELP NOT REALLY. Harry (the brother of Travis) and Cass (the best best friend of Mary) now like eachother.

Oh and just one more thing: Mary finds the ocean at the end

**OKAY END OF SPOILER**

Okay I think that's enough before I tell you the whole story.

If you like TONS of dialogue then shun this book and never set eyes on it. Me? I don't care either way as long as it's a nice book. But the minimal dialogue could be a breaking point for some people. 

But if your not scared of reading more paragraphs than witty one-liners, then this book is really amazing! Heck I don't even LIKE zombies and I love this book. Originally I picked it up because a part of me was "Well you need a low rates book on your blog..." BUT I ENDED UP LOVING IT WHOOPS.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

~Love, Spoiler Alert

THE NATURALS: Jennifer Barnes

Rating? I'd say somewhere around 7.5 out of 10.

This doesn't mean I do not like the book, this simy means I'm not as fond of this genre as I am with others. It was rather a good plot overall. The book is about a girl named Cassie who lives with her grandma, due to her father being in the Military and her mother being brutally murdered at age 5. Her mother was a con-artist; a fortune teller.

Now she's 17 years of age and working at a diner so that she may help her beloved nana. Anyways, she's always had a little talent for being able to profile people. And one day, the bad boy type of guy comes rolling in to her restaurant and   She comes up and takes his order. He orders eggs, she asks what kind, he said for her to tell him, bada bing bada boom she's enrolled to an FBI group for young adults with natural talents. It's name? The Naturals. 

 Now I know I'm being extremely blunt, but really that's what happens! Though I must applaud the author. I actually really enjoyed reading the book! It wasn't until I finished the book that I just sort of looked at it and questioned myself and why I enjoyed it so much. It really confused me. I mean it wasn't until I went back and analyzed it did I realize that: 

1) not much actually happened

2) the plot line was actually sort of funny (which is not the point of a mystery-murder book) 

3) it's very cliché when you boil it down to its main concepts.

Which is really funny, because I honestly couldn't put it down when I was reading it. Other than those three things, the book was extremely enjoyable and one of my favorite characters was a girl who was a natural at statistics. About the closest she could get to comfort was telling statistics on the subject, and her mind went even more rapid if she drank coffee (though I can't recall her name) 

Things I like about the book: 

1) at the end of (I believe) every other chapter, you are submerged in the mind of the killer who had an obsession for Cassie's mother and now for her.

2) that the author somehow makes you addicted to the story even though it's cliche after cliche. (I was giggling happily a couple times...)

So if you are to read this book, don't try to analyze it, just enjoy it! It's a good book if you leave it to that.

-Spolier Alert 

ETTIQUETTE AND ESPIONAGE: Gail Carriger

Rating: 9/10

Hey everyone! Spoiler Alerts is back! And today we have a series I love dearly, and thank my dear high school library for introducing me to it. Etiquette & Espionage, first book of The Finishing School series, is the story of a young girl named Sophronia (I know, weird name right? I read it out loud as Sophia) who in the Victorian age, has about the manners of a "pig" (as her mother would say), and has a rather unladylike interest in gadgetry and adventure (like most of us today, am I right?) Anyways, Sophronia's poor dear mother finally says enough is enough when Ms. Barneclegoose offers the idea of a Finishing school. When Sophronia hears this, she's rather upset. She doesn't want to go to finishing school... But her mother forces her to go (though her "darling" sister would love to take her place).

Now don't get me wrong: the fun part is now

We are then introduced to Sophronia's soon-to-be-BFF named Dimity and he r brother Pillover. Their carriage that they ride on the way to the finishing school, when they are attached by Flywayman

Sophronia makes a (rather unlady-like) heroic save for her new acquaintances. And she drives the caridge to her new school: Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. 

(Quality= KW-all-ee-TAY)

Soon once she reaches the school, she realizes she has to finish... More than expected.

Sure she has to learn to cursty and how to dance properly, but also how to kill her first husband and gain intelligence from the weaknesses of man.

But something goes wrong though, the "prototype" is in the wrong hands and its up to Sophronia and her friends to get it back to its rightful place.

Things I like about this book, you may ask? Well HERES A FEW THINGS

One: the entire CONCEPT of this series intrigues me, like the opening line: "It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School." <<that right there, IS BEAUTY. How to be a lady but also be powerful in the Victorian age? Oh.  yes.

Two: Okay so SPOILER ALERT !!! (Please skip to reason three if you wish to not hear this) Monique, a young lady whose beauty is only overcome by her love for herself. Pretending to be Dimity's and Sophronia's headmistress at first in the caridge I talked about earlier. Well this lady is always looking for a way of trouble. Towards the end of the book, we find out Monique is in possession of The Prototype. And honestly all she wants is a bit of dough and a high rank in society. What I love is she didn't turn out happy in the end, because Sophronia gets it from her and puts it in the right hands (who that is, I'll let you read to find out) but I honestly HATE when the bad guy is happy in the end. Kinda makes me want to stab someone. But whatever.

Reason three: remember how I said this is "Mademoiselle Geraldine's academy of quali-TAY" or something along those lines? Well Mademoiselle Geraldine is oblivious TO ALL ESPIONAGE AND INTELLIGER TRAINING THAT ARE TO THE CORE LESSON IN HER SCHOOL. For some reason I love that not even the Hedmistress knows all that's going on in the school.

Well, I highly recommend this book: though some slow points can be found, but there isn't one book I've come across that doesn't have at least one part I have to force myself to read through it so I can get back to the good..

Anyways, I would like to once again thank my High school library for having this book on shelf when I was looking around, and found this beauty. (I'm already working on the third book of the series)

Anyways,

Toodles, my fellow hipster book readers!

-Spoiler Alert

PERFECT RUIN: Lauren DeStefano

RATING: 10 out of 10 

In this book, the amazing author Destafano (who is more known for her Chemical Garden Trilogy, which I plan to read later) has incorporated some of my favorite things along with some difficult topics that no one really has the guts to talk about. So my hat is off to you Ms. or Mrs. DeStafano (I tried to find if you were married but didn't find anything... You are certainly pretty enough to be married).

As the biggest bookworm in the Seattle region, my favorite type of books are DYSTOPIAN. And the beutiful DeStefano's book is exactly that. 

It starts as our main protagonist lives on Internment: basically a floating city in the sky. You're given a betrothed from when you were conceived, but your parents couldn't even have you without the King's consent. And the protagonist, named Morgan, has been absolutely sheltered. In her world there's nothing wrong really. Other then you can't go to the edge. You fall of the edge, you're considered a jumper. Which Morgan's brother, lex, happened to be just that. He, unlike his sister, has been through more then anyone can imagine. Before his jump, he was a pharmacist. After, a writer and never touched another thing of  medicine afterwards.

Her world is perfect until.... A school girl, in her age group none the less, is murdered. It's later believed that her betrothed was the one who killed her. But was it really? You'll have to read the book to find out that and many other things.

What I enjoy so much about this book is it not only deals with murder, but suicide (technically). Many authors aren't even brave enough to tip toe around the subject, being it such a fragile and unpredictable thing. But this beautiful woman, her main character contemplates jumping quite a lot in later chapters. 

Another thing I like is the way DeStefano starts her chapters. Every single one of them is a quote from a paper the victim of murder (Daphne) wrote that went against the thought of the gods the city was practically forced to believe. Now that's the way to do it! Start your story with your quotes!! And every quote had something to do with that chapter (or the precious), either way it was truly amazing.

I would like to thank my school library, of course. When I asked them about the book, they said it wasn't in stock but they would get it. Along with another book I asked for called The Naturals... Buts that's another review! 

So long for now, my friends