It's time for another episode of Books That Didn't Hook Me. Where I feature books I didn't finish or just didn't like for any particular reason. Today's singular spotlight is....

Published: 3.20.12 by Dial
ADD ON GOODREADS

How do I put this nicely? I. DIDN'T. FINISH. THIS. BOOK.

So I got my hands on this book, and having enjoyed Prophecy of the Sisters, I was hoping for a new enjoying take on Angels. But one of the things I quickly found out was how INFORMATIVE Zink was. There were a few parts I felt like I was drowning in description and when Helen was basically saying the SAME thing over again, but with different words. Like she came to the same conclusion three times in a row.

Not to mention that this book was told in 3rd person. I don't like 3rd person very much because I don't get into the head of the characters as well and I can't feel that emotional connection to the romance, and the plot. I didn't get that with Helen. She was boring. Oh and I should mention this book is full of cliche. It's in the beginning, it's in the romance it's the book. It wasn't horrible. It was and interesting plot take and angel theory. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure I could have enjoyed it if I didn't get myself distracted with a bunch of other books. But I did, and after that I just didn't have the heart to go back and finish it.

I'm sad, because I felt like this book had potential. 432 pages worth of potential! Sadly it just didn't make the cut-off. But it is a clean read.

Have you read this? Do you want to? Did my review change the way you think of this book? Are you still interested? I'd love to hear your thoughts! XOXO,

Well it's time for another round of Books That Didn't Hook Me. Featuring books that I never finished and didn't deserve it in the first place. The purpose of this is not to give long blurb reviews but to share why this book didn't work for me in a couple paragraphs. The thoughts expressed are solely my own.

I snagged this book for a cute read quite a while ago. It looked fun and had a very cute premise. But honestly....the cover is better than the content. It's not that this book was bad or overdosed in content, it was that it was BORING. For one it wasn't even written in 1st person. I didn't get the connection to Emma one bit and it was just bland. I mean when you encounter phrases like "Emma croaked" often it's distracting from the story. Maybe that's just my Inner Editor talking but whatev. I'm sure this is a cute book and ends well, but for my it was too boring to earn finishing rights.


This book sounded SO cute and I was really excited to read this fun mid-grade early teen read. Then I started it. There was nothing wrong with the book. It was ALL content. These are FRESHMAN, not players. There was so much innuendo and language in the first 50 pages I couldn't finish! I can take some, but this just didn't seem to fit with the age the book was written for. And then there's a very prominent thread with a lesbian. Um, a little too much. I really wish I could have enjoyed it, but it just didn't work for me.


I wanted to read this book so much! A twist on Peter Pan about Tiger Lily? Sweet! And narrated by Tinker Bell? ROCK ON. But alas and alack, this book fell into that BORING category. It felt a little too wordy and sometimes sporadic. I didn't connect to Tiger Lily and all and for all her "warrior blurb" she just didn't deliver. And here's what breaks my heart the most....Tinker Bell wasn't....Tink. Come on. It's freaking TINK narrating. Where are the sparkles and pixie dust? Where is the snark and sass? Where is the puff-ball we know and love from Disney? She was boring. I mean she was constantly using phrases like "I MUST CONFESS". You are Tinker Bell. You DON'T confess. ;) Garrrr. Oh well. So this book just didn't work. I didn't even care about Tiger or Peter or Tink enough to finish.


So those didn't work for me. Have you read any of them? Did you think differently? I've love to hear what you think. Point me to your reviews even. Happy Tuesday.

Author: Hannah Harrington
TB Published: 8. 28. 12 by Harlequin Teen

I wish I could give this book more than 2.5 Stars. I've had to many of those lately. But I just can't give five stars to a book that spitting cursings and innuendo every other sentence. (see content) There were a few redeeming qualities about the book, so I'll try to do the book justice.

When I started this, I knew practically nothing about this book. All I know was that I was reading it for a blog event I was asked to participate in. So I'm planted headfirst in this story I don't even know the subject of and right off we have this party with drunk high-school kids, gossip, curses, and other stuff I don't tend to relish in. I was a bit skeptical and then we get Chelsea discovering a secret, and since she apparently can't keep them starts blurbing to everyone. (Ever heard of Self-Control?) Of course it results in her humiliation, outcast, and almost killing the person she blurbed about. In one chapter we have set up the plot for the redemption-forgiveness plot. 

What happens next I actually found very well done and interesting. I liked the process that Chelsea went through to forgive herself and apologive for the wrongs she caused. Seeing her change was probably one of the only things I liked about the book. She was a very interesting character and well developed. You get a lot of her thoughts since she's not speaking. Seeing the world from her head and position was well written. That and her new best friend Asha. Rock on girl. You are the bomb.

As w/most YA books, there is romance included. It was interesting how he helped her change and was part of that process. So yes, I did like Sam (he DOES have a name!). He was fantastical and hot and developed. I liked how their relationship went from nothing to a good connection. 

So honestly I didn't dump this book on the DNF shelf so that I could finish seeing how Chelsea ended up and how the romance rinalized. Other than that the content was getting to me. I can take some cursing and innuendo. I understand that sometimes characters just "need" to swear. But when the S, F and B words are being thrown out very often and sometimes casually that, to me is just a sign of bad grammar. Really? You couldn't have said that any better? We had to hear all that crap? (Please keep in mind that these are my direct opinions. I mean no offense to any who would find it.) Not to mention the innuendo, sexual and lesbian matters expressed in this book. It's all good and fine but to me I don't need all that.

So the story was disappointing on the content level but due to the redeeming qualities that didn't make it a total DNF read. I'm not sure that I would reccomend this unless you are okay with the language, content and like a nice contemporary story about redemption. That was very well told, and I do give it to Hannah (same name!) for that.

Content: Moderate-Heavy
(Rumors-gossiping-belittling of others. Drinking, getting drunk. I was surprised how centered around lesbians this book was. Character stumbles upon gays making out. It's seen a few times. Gay jokes, mention of gay characters. Innuendo, mention of slutty people. More innuendo. Two characters sleep in clothes together. SLEEP. A make out a bunch of times. Language: Sh** = 15+, He** = 15+, Deity = 35+, bit**=15+, F***=20 , As* = 15+, da**=10 +.)
Have you read and ARC of Speechless? Thoughts? Do you plan to read this? Do you agree with any of my opinions? I'd love to hear any thoughts you want to share.

Author: Jodi Meadows
Published: 1. 31. 12  by Katherine Tegen Books
This book caught my eye as soon as I saw the beautiful cover and fantastic premise. So when I won this in a giveaway I'll admit I was quite excited! However, this was one of those sad cases where the book doesn't live up to expectations. This book had tons of potential but it just wasn't fulfilled. Why?

Well for starters, the first chapter didn't hook me all that much because the writing was kind of spacey and just HUH?  And then it goes on and it's pretty good but mildly confusing. I just wasn't all that hooked on the story. I must have also missed the Fantasy memo because I start hearing mention of Dragons and Centaurs, and I was like....what? Either way the writing had it's flaws. Espescially when it came to being a little TOO poetic. PLUS, the first half of the freaking books was Way Too Slow! Talk about needing answers already.

Not to mention that Ana was a flat character. I really couldn't connect with her, I understood her problems and complaints (which happened a lot), but she just wasn't as alive and realistic as possible. Sometimes she would be fine and then seemingly fly into impulsive rages or actions. I'd be like 'where the heck did that come from?'. I can think of a few times she acted quite rashly, or didn't listen to her elders or just, was quite impulsive in a bad way. So she really could  have lived up to the role of heroine and storyteller SO MUCH BETTER.

Let's take Sam, the love interest. Can anyone spell CLICHE for me? What is this? He's was P-E-R-F-E-C-T. The whole hero-who-"loved-you-from-the-moment-I-laid-eyes-on-you" kind of guy. Shut. Up. I HATE HATE HATE insta-love with a passion. I just totally didn't work.  He was way helpful, and he put up with her complaints about life like it was nothing. Later in the book some of his struggles came out, but I still just felt like he didn't have enough depth. Near the end some accusations are thrown at him and even though parts of it were covered we never learn the whole truth about it all. Um can we get a resolution here?

So honestly this book really could have lived up to the potential story a lot more. I did like the best friend of Sam, who's name I forget. And I found learning about parts of the whole Reincarnating deal to be interesting. It wasn't a total slum, and had a few redeeming qualities. I mean there were scenes I liked and even enjoyed reading. But the development of characters and writing need more and now I'm not even sure if I care enough to read Asunder next year.

Content: Mild
(a few instances of substitute curses, swearing on their god Janan. Due to the fact that you could be reincarnated to the opposite gender, a pair of lovers, who have been every single life, have a special party to celebrate their love and in their current life they are both girls. some kisses. innuendo a couple times.)
Have you read Incarnate? What did you think? Do you agree, or did you like it better? I'd love to hear!

Author: M. J. Putney
Series: Dark Mirror #1
Published: March 1, 2011 by St. Martin's Press
Pages: 305
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Lady Victoria Mansfield, youngest daughter of the earl and countess of Fairmount, is destined for a charmed life. Soon she will be presented during the London season, where she can choose a mate worthy of her status.  Yet Tory has a shameful secret—a secret so powerful that, if exposed, itcould strip her of her position and disgrace her family forever. Tory’s blood is tainted . . . by magic.

When a shocking accident forces Tory to demonstrate her despised skill, the secret she’s fought so hard to hide is revealed for all to see. She is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reform school for young men and women in her position. There she will learn to suppress her deplorable talents and maybe, if she’s one of the lucky ones, be able to return to society. But Tory’s life is about to change forever. 

My Thoughts: It's a sad day when a book doesn't meet your expectations. I was really interested to read this book, but unfortunately it didn't live up to my standards. It was a fun cute read with magic but it just didn't grab me enough. I got distracted but two or three books before I came back to finish this one. The idea that begins this book is that magic is frowned upon in the London societies of 1803. Lady Victoria (or Tory) grows up in one of the nice families and is horrified to discover that she has the magical ability. Of course her family sends her off to Lackland Abbey, a school where they supposedly "cure you of your ability". 

I have to say it was interesting, but for me it didn't work in an ideal way. There is this whole Time-Traveling twist with the Mirror that shows up and that was interesting, but I dunno, it almost didn't work. It was kinda weird. Don't get me wrong, her historical detailing was really well done but I dunno I just felt like it was to.....bland. It needed more flavor. Putney's writing was nice as well but it was also a bit dull. I felt like there were times when unnecessary things were inserted and it took me off the storyline. Being a writer and reader I notice things and so it stands out more. It felt like some of the wrong things were being described and the things that should've had it weren't getting the right attention. I dunno, maybe I'm just being picky. 

The cast of characters was widely ranging and enjoyable, but I just didn't get into them as I like to. Tory was told in 3rd person and normally I'm not as much of a fan of reading that because I don't feel like I get the characters and the motives portrayed as clearly. Tory was well written but I was missing that link. I didn't feel the character development as much as I'd have liked to. She was enjoyable and I got all her motives but....

The romance was sweet. Allarde sounds uber hot. I want to meet him. So yes I approve of Allarde. But I get like they hardly knew each other before they were acknowledging they both wanted to be together! I mean they have this strong magical connection and there is attraction but I didn't see much else... so it was lacking. But I approve of Allarde. 

Okay I know it's a historical book and I love historical, but sometimes how they talked just got to me. They used phrases like "I'm very pleased to hear that," Tory smiled at her friend. Okay so not that bad, but yes poke me now, especially since I keep saying I love historical and I do but it didn't work so well in this book. I hate to rat out a book that's how I feel. And then the whole WW2 twist (sorry, mini spoiler) I was like.. What? Why? How? It was kinda out of the blue and I was a bit discombobulated. But either way it was an enjoyable fantasy/historical novel about friends and working together for the common good. So I won't say it wasn't a read wasted, just one that could have been better. 

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Published:1.10.12
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Pages: 386
Rating: 3 Stars

Summary: St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?


The Book in 3 Words: Historical, Interesting, Disappointing.


My Thoughts: Ookay. So. I didn't like this as much as I anticipated. Which is sad. Because I don't like to be let down. It even took me a while to get into it. Some of the problems I saw:

*I got confused and mixed up with who was who. Because like everyone was like a Duke/Duchess or a Prince/Princess. So maybe it's just my problem for getting them all confused, I don't know. Some details were left out that could have clarified some things. It was also a very fast ending for me. I got lost and things just disappeared so I didn't know what happened with them.

*I was kinda surprised how much this plot revolved around Vampires and Un-Dead/Zombies. I'm not a fan of hardcore vampires and zombies so when I can. I would have liked to see her necromancy a little more.It seemed like it was going to be a big thing...but then...nope..it wasn't as big.  

*I felt like Katerina was a dull heroine. She was always seeing things get worse and knowing she should so something but then she doesn't really do something about it. She knows what she needs and should do but sometimes she doesn't. I got quite mad at her sometimes. Especially if she was making a dumb decisions against her heart.  


Now, on a more positive note, I did really enjoy the historical setting. I could tell it was well done. I would also point out that the minor side characters were really great though. Well developed and even better than Kat herself. I probably liked her brother Petya as the best character.

Overall it was enjoyable, but lacking a few key ingredients, so I could probably classify it as a Book-That-Didn't-Hook-Me

Content: Mild
((three instances of languge)) 

Basically the objects of these posts are to talk about a few books that I didn't really like, ones I might have quit or just gave a really low rating. I don't like to be quite harsh at books an authors, but the opinions expressed are entirely my own thoughts. 

I felt it was time for some less-liked reviews. Lots of 5 stars on my blog and I needed to add a little variety.
I've been getting really picky about the books I read lately. If I read them I want them to be books that will keep my interest and glued to the page. Content wise, I want a clean read with appropriate content. I have all these sites that I go to to research books before I read them. I look up other people reviews and see what they thought. But I have come across a couple books that I just could hardly finish. Books I quit, either from content or lack of interest. I won't make these official reviews but I'll them Books That Didn't Hook Me.

****

BEFORE I FALL
Shocker I know, this books is like raved so much. I was really looking forward to this. The story looked great and I'd heard it was amazing. After Delirium I was ready for another great book by Lauren Oliver. But then the content in here drove me nuts. It was was just to much for me. I wasn't feeling comfortable  about that level of content.  Way to heavy. So I dropped it. I was disappointed with it, but honestly, I haven't regretted once, not reading this book.

MARKED (House of Night #1)
It's a seriously rare occasion when I do vampires. I'm not into them so I basically never read them. I only got this book because my friend was raving and I felt like I'd give it a try to see what the fuss was. I didn't even finish chapter to. Like Before I Fall, there was some content. It wasn't so heavy, but it was there. Also, I didn't feel like it was started very well anyway. It was kinda confusing. It just didn't grab my interest.


WARRIOR PRINCESS (Warrior Princess #1)
Okay, so the thing about this book was NOT content. Frewin's books are squeaky clean. The issue with these books was at the writing and how it was presented. And I didn't even want to finish this. It was boring and bland and FLAT. I just couldn't get into this. I really like finding cute clean reads but when it just doesn't grab you...it doesn't grab you.


MAGYK (Septimus Heap #1)
Again, with this one, it is not a content issue. It's the grab-my-interesting-in-a-unique-way issue. It dragged. It was totally a cliche. I didn't find much to appreciate. So I didn't finish it. I couldn't bring myself to do it. And, it's more a middle grade fantasy book, so maybe they'd enjoy it more, but yeah, I just didn't see much in it to excite me.


CRESCENDO (Hush Hush #2)
For me, this book was half and half as to why I didn't like it. I read Hush Hush and gave it 3 stars. I thought it was okay and I was sort of interested to see how Nora's story would play out. Total let down. Not that I was super hyped about this book, but Nora drove me mad. These books are dark okay? Like dark, cloudy weather, and hanging out in dark places. Nora supposedly doesn't ever want to do these things,  but she's ALWAYS giving into it. Always going though she knows it's not good and will turn out wrong. The content was on the line between the dark side and good side. As if Nora's like, How Bad Can I Be? Yeah I don't favor this book and I won't finish it or the rest of the series.

****

Okay, well I'm sorry to be so negative in these comments, but I'm trying to share my honest opinion. Books are such and important part in my life that I want to make sure I'm reading things I won't regret. So I'm not afraid to drop books any more. Every once in a while I'll post another one of these, but for now this shall suffice. I'd be interested to know why you liked them, if you found any of them interesting and good.

Later,
Inky