The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

WANTED:

One young woman to take care of four-year-old boy.  Must be cheerful, enthusiastic, and selfless--bordering on masochistic.  Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a deliberately nap-deprived preschooler.  Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family.  Must enjoy the delicious anticipation of ridiculously erratic pay.  Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employer's Hermes bag.  Those who take it personally need not apply.

Who wouldn't want this job?  Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic studio apartment, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family.  She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife, who doesn't work, cook, clean, or raise her own child, has a smooth day.

When the X's marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny ends up involved way beyond the bounds of human decency or good taste.  Her tenure with the X family becomes a nearly impossible mission to maintain the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity, and, most important, her sense of humor.  Over nine tense months, Mrs. X and Nanny perform the age-old dance of decorum and power as they test the limits of modern-day servitude.

This was a hilarious book. I was cracking up the entire time. My friends would look at me strangely, and I would try to explain it, but they wouldn't understand. Now I'm forcing them to read the book. Yay for (positive) peer pressure!

Really, the only reason it took me as long as it did to read the book was because I had so much homework.  But then again, I used this as an excuse to not to do my homework. :)

 

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

That was. Just wow. I love Maria V. Snyder. I've read all her books except for Inside Out and Outside In. This is probably in the top three of my favorite books by her (Poison Study and Storm Glass being the other two)

I liked that Snyder split the points of view between Kerrick and Avry. It gave a different perspective on their relationship and allowed for more plot to be covered.

Hunted, Killed—Survived?

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

If you're a huge High Fantasy fan like me, this is a great add to your bookshelf. (Though I recommend reading Touch of Power first)

 

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Honestly, this book didn't really live up to my expectations. I guess they were abnormally high, though... I just didn't feel it with The Lost Prince like I did with The Iron Fey . It just didn't feel... right? I don't know.

The first thing that disappointed me was when Ethan's token was supposed to bring someone to help him, I thought it meant Puck... but, you know, I'm just fangirling... But why did it have to be Grimalkin? He's a lazy jerk with a God complex.

I didn't really enjoy the whole "younger brother of the heroine" as much as I thought I would. It just seemed like Julie Kagawa was grasping at straws and this was the first idea that made any sense at all.

But I have to admit, that is an awesome cover.

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Ugh. I. Hate. Cliffhangers.

Usually.

:) But definitely this time.

When I started The Crown of Embers it had been seven months since I'd read The Girl of Fire and Thorns. I'd forgotten most of it, and I didn't really know what to expect. The only things I remembered about it was that Elisa was very religious and that she had fallen in love with a desert nomad. Or something like that.

So when I started reading and I noticed the love intrest between Elisa and Hector I was confused. Very confused. But as I kept reading, I caught on quickly and started to LOVE their relationship. (And by the way, I love the last few pages, they are amazing.)

Since I started this while trying to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne for English class, I was surprised how fast I read it. Normally I focus on my school books and my free reading books take a back burner, but for once, I actually said, "Hell with it, I'm not going to read that!" Well, maybe not those exact words. But close.

:)

 

Anyway, here's the summary of the book:

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

My first reaction to finishing Bitterblue was "It was amazing".  Then I thought "Wait, it's over?"

Bitterblue was my favorite character in Graceling, and when I heard that Kristin Cashore was writing a new book that was about Bitterblue, I squealed! Literally, not metaphorically. Sound actually came out of my mouth. I liked Fire better than the other two, but this one still made my hair stand on end at some points. Which is what we all look for in a book right?

The characters were so real. And so much like I remember them from Graceling. I was kind of disappointed at how little Fire was in the book, but that's okay. But, Saf (Sapphire) was OMG! I loved the relationship between them, the banter, the laughter, the disappointments in each other. It seemed like the real thing. I was so sad when he decided to leave for the Dells! I wanted to cry, but then I remembered the Bridge scene (I swear I read that five or six times, thinking "did that really just happen?" I was so sad when he decided to leave for the Dells! I wanted to cry, but then I remembered the Bridge scene (I swear I read that five or six times, thinking "did that really just happe0

The setting was perfectly described. The bridges, every time we encountered a bridge, I could see it in my mind, it was amazing.

The way Cashore described the many sculptures and paintings in the book made me think "How did she come up with all those statue ideas?" And then I remembered that she's an author. And authors are amazing.

Here's the summary:

The long-awaited companion to New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

*Warning, there are a few spoilers in this review, I apologize, but it's just one of those books where you can't explain how you're feeling without spoilers, if you know what I mean.* 

Well, didn't know what to expect after Delirium, but if definitely wasn't that. And that ending? Where did that come from? (view spoiler)I was just getting used to the fact that Alex was dead and Lena now belongs with Julian, and BAM! Alex is alive and he's in the same place as the pair. Uh, oh. Heads are gonna roll.

The writing, again, was amazing. Lauren Oliver never ceases to amaze me. I liked how the book flipped between how Lena got out of Portland and into her new life, and her new life in New York.

(view spoiler)P.S. I totally saw that bit with her mom coming. I mean, really, who wouldn't? It was so obvious!

All in all, this was an amazing book. READ IT!!!

After falling in love, Lena and Alex flee their oppressive society where love is outlawed and everyone must receive the "cure" - an operation that makes them immune to the delirium of love - but Lena alone manages to find her way to a community of resistance fighters. Although she is bereft without the boy she loves, her struggles seem to be leading her toward a new love.

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Maria V. Snyder has been one of my favorite high fantasy authors for about 3 years now. I love how she can create a whole new, believable, world and still make an interesting plot line and romance.

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life....

In her new series, Healer, Maria V. Snyder follows a young healer who is on the run. In her land, disease is slowly destroying everything, yet her people distrust magic and refuse to accept that magic could heal the world.

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Since It's Winter Break, I took my annual WB gander through my library to find all sorts of books to read over break. I always spend most of my time in the New Shelf of the Teen Section; it has a good number of YA books released in the past year. When I saw the title The False Princess, it intrigued me, I thought; that is new, never in my many years (7, to be exact) of reading YA books, have I been so dragged in by a title. I imediately added it to my pile. (Which would be expanded to 9 books by the end of my trip.) At the time of this particular trip, I had been reading the amazingly attention-grabbing Clockwork Angel, so I finished that and immediatly started reading this. It took me less than a day to finish it; partly because it was only 323 pages, but more importantly; it was AMAZING!!!

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

A dazzling first novel, The False Princess is an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance.

Doesn't it sound amazing? With passionate love of friendship, her country, and her past, Sinda is attempting to reconstruct a plot to set a 'False Princess' on the throne; someone other than her, that is.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

That ending was crap. I hated it. It came out of nowhere! Now I need the next book. Ugh.

Lena is just your average girl. Living in a society where love is a disease. Love! A disease! They say that without love there is no hate and without hate there is no violence. But what happens when you fall in love? That is what Lena is about to find out.

They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever.

And I've always believed them.

Until now.

Now everything has changed.

Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.

Honestly, I finished this book in about 2 days. Which isn't normal for me. It usually takes about a week and a half to finish a book of this size. But I read the first 5 chapters in a preview and I was hooked from that point on.

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

I thought the series was amazing during the first two books. This one blew. Me. Away. I swear, I was in shock after reading this. Again, I highly recomend this book to anyone who reads Paranormal romance, fae books or low fantasy. It's just that awesome.

Here's the summary:

The "New York Times" Bestseller The Iron Queen

My name is Meghan Chase.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.