Stacking the Shelves #2

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This is a weekly post that highlights all of the books that you have somehow received.







Recieved:
Prophecy by Ellen Oh

I got this from Christina at A Reader of Fictions via The Little Blogger, Big Ambitions  at Cuddlebuggery book blog.
(Both of which are awesome blogs!!)














Bought:

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
Variant by Robinson Wells
Both of these books I got on my kindle for $2 each! I was psyched! I've heard so much about Sweet Evil that I just had to check it out! And with any luck it will live up to my expectations!


WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN THIS WEEK?

Shards and Ashes

Title: Shards and Ashes
Authors: Melissa Marr, Kelly Armstrong, Veronica Roth, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder, Beth Revis, and Carrie Ryan
Series: Several Short stories
Genre: Dystopia, YA, Short Stories, several others because there were several different stories....
Rating: Whale

So you have some of the biggest names in the book world, writing short stories. Each story is a take on a dystopian future. Each is unique. Many are exciting. Some are heartbreaking. Not all of them are amazing. You would think that each and every one of these stories would be filled with perfect amount of action and adventure. With the kind of characters that you can immediately connect to. Well that is an overrated notion. There were some real gems in here, but definitely not what I was expecting!
THE PREMISE
Gripping original stories of dystopian worlds from nine New York Times bestselling authors, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong.

The world is gone, destroyed by human, ecological, or supernatural causes. Survivors dodge chemical warfare and cruel gods; they travel the reaches of space and inhabit underground caverns. Their enemies are disease, corrupt corporations, and one another; their resources are few, and their courage is tested.

Powerful original dystopian tales from nine bestselling authors offer bleak insight, prophetic visions, and precious glimmers of light among the shards and ashes of a ruined world.

THE HEARKEN by Veronica Roth
I was expecting this one to be good! I mean come on, it's Veronica Roth. Her books are normally pretty epic. And this story was good. It was a great opener. It had a strong message. The main character, Darya, was strong and independent. My problem was I felt like the message was trying to force itself into my brain! The author was trying to hard to tell me the message. (Here's a spoiler for what the story was trying to say.) You need to look deeper. There is good in every person. No person can be all bad. There is "secret beauty".And I get what it's trying to tell you, I do! I just don't believe that and it felt like the author's message was too obvious. I didn't have to think about it! In all though I thought that the story was unique and original, one of the best in the bunch.
4/5 stars=BISON
BRANDED by Kelly Armstrong
I really enjoyed this story and it's supernatural take on the possible future. The characters felt well developed and I enjoyed hearing their story. It felt a bit unresolved and I would have loved to learn more. I did think it was a bit confusing with the twists, but I was able to understand it better the more I read about what was going on. This is one of the other stories that I thoroughly enjoyed.
4.5/5=ZEBRA
NECKLACE OF RAINDROPS by Margaret Stohl
This story....I had NO IDEA what was going on. There were these necklaces that everyone owned that controlled when they lived and died. But there was poison in people's bloodstreams and, and, and.....I'M SO CONFUSED!! It was like, let's jump out of a plane cause our lives are over because we've used all these magic beads that somehow keep us alive, but that girl over there will live forever because she never actually experiences life. SAY WHAT? The only promising thing about the story was the characters and the last couple of pages. Both were confusing, yet somehow good. Okay because that sounds really rambley, all I mean is the how, why, and what are never explained. HOW does being an adrenaline junkie kill you (aside from the obvious risk). WHAT exactly are the beads? HOW does this poison work? WHY do you need a necklace? WHY are people dropping (jumping out of planes) to kill themselves.  WHAT did Jai do in her job? EPIC CONFUSION!!
2.5/5 stars=BUTTERFLY
DOGSBODY by Rachel Caine
This one wasn't actually that bad. EXCEPT for the very end. I got to that part and was like really? They went through all of that for THAT?  SPOILER***Both of the main characters were killed and the whole place shut down.***SPOILER I just felt like it was all so pointless. I didn't even like the characters that much. I mean they were okay, but they just kind of were there and then they weren't. They went through so much trouble for revenge and then got nothing out of it. It was the classic (this might give away who the bad guy is so if you want to be shocked....DON'T READ THIS) Good Guy who is really secretly the Evil Villain plotting against the world. It wasn't bad, just really pointless. Reminds me of how I feel about 1984 or The Always War. POINTLESS. This was also confusing.
2.5/5=BUTTERFLY
PALE RIDER by Nancy Holder
Was this a short story part of a series? I was so epically confused that I just skimmed the last part. Then became even more confused because I had absolutely no idea what they were discussing. (Something about wars that occurred over 800 years ago, but are only beginning to take effect????) I may be missing something obvious....So if you read this and wanted to explain what was happening to me then feel free to tell me. I would love clarification! If this was part of a series and that's the reason why I understood nothing, then I apologize for this negative review.
1/5 stars=SHELL
CORPSE EATERS by Melissa Marr
This story had a great concept, but I was so confused about the main characters. Harmony was interesting, but everything she did just confused me. Chris was intersesting....kind of depressing, but interesting. The story was interesting. It wasn't really memorable or anything, but I would probably read more! The ending though, was so abrupt. It was just like, GAH, let's leave NOW!!! than it was over! WEIRD...
3/5=HORSE
BURN 3 by Kami Garcia
This one was enjoyable. It was interesting and the MC, Phoenix, was a strong character. She was determined to find her sister and managed to face her fears in the process. I would have liked to read more and see more developement of the characters. It reminded me a bit of Deviants......Like a dome and then a sister chasing a younger sibling and bringing them to safety.
3/5=HORSE
LOVE IS A CHOICE by Beth Revis
This is another of those stories that was a gem. I was not a huge fan of Across the Universe, but I loved this story. It offered a really interesting insight into the books. It might be confusing if you've never read the first book, but it definitely made me want to read the second.
5/5 stars=OWL
MIASMA by Carrie Ryan
This was my favorite story in the book. I LOVED the concept and the main characters. Frankie was great and I loved how desperately she wanted to save her sister. I thought that this story was a true gem and I would love to see more about this.
5/5 stars=OWL
OVERALL
I think that for me this was a letdown. I was expecting so much more from these authors. I feel like several of the stories weren't unique. It felt like a used idea. Something I'd read before. And those ones that were unique confused me to no end. I have actually never read books by several of these authors (Carrie Ryan, Nancy Holder, Rachel Caine) and maybe that effected my views. Overall there were several interesting stories that held my attention, but if they were all separate, I might not have ever read them. I do thuink this was an interesting book and I did for the most part find it enjoyable.
WOULD I READ THIS BOOK: Probably not the entire thing, but the stories I liked, YES
WOULD I BUY THIS BOOK: MAYBE
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK: MAYBE
WOULD I READ MORE BY THESE AUTHORS: SOME: YES OTHERS: NO

WHALE=3.5 STARS








HAVE YOU EVER READ SHARDS AND ASHES? WHAT DID YOU THINK?
(And if you understood some of the things that I didn't, EXPLAIN!!)

Feature & Follow Friday #1

Feature and Follow is hosted by both Parajunkee at Parajunkee's View and Allison at Allison can Read!
This is my first Feature and Follow! So with any luck I won't mess anything up!
This weeks' question is:
Is there a song that reminds you of a book? Or vice versa? What is the song & the book?

So I actually have two. Both are for some of my absolute FAVORITE BOOKS. And I have NO IDEA why the songs remind me of the book, but they do so here they are:
 The song Shooting Star by Owl City ALWAYS reminds me of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. I have no idea why, but I really like both the book and the song....So I guess it's a good thing.





 The song Round and Round by Selena Gomez also reminds me of the series, The Heist Society by Ally Carter. When I first read this question it was the first thing that popped into my mind!



Are there ANY songs that remind you of a book???
And if you want to follow my blog, any way is fine with me!

Friday Finds #4

This is a weekly meme hosted by Should be Reading.

This highlights the different book finds for the week!



MY FINDS:

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard
Imposter by Susanne Winnacker
Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
Tandem by Anna Jarzab
Relativity by Cristin Bishara
Elemental by Antony John


So those are my Friday Finds! What are yours?

A Very Hexy Valentine's Day

Title: A Very Hexy Valentine's Day
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall
Genre: Short Story, YA, Magic
Rating: Owl (for it's length it was very good)
Recommended to: Those who loved Hex Hall

So this came as a shock to me but Rachel Hawkins wrote a (very, very, very) short story about two of the Hex Hall characters! (Sophie and the person she ends up with) I was so surprised, but immediately read it because I LOVE THE HEX HALL SERIES! So I figured I might as well post the link and a mini review on it!

A Very Hexy Valentine's Day by Rachel Hawkins

MY THOUGHTS

Since I love all things to do with Hex Hall, is this review really necessary? I loved the short story, although I wish it was a bit longer! It fit the characters so well and was super sweet! If you liked Hex Hall then you'll probably enjoy reading this!

OWL=FIVE STARS

So Close to You

Title: So Close to You
Author; Rachel Carter
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Romance, Adventure
Series: So Close to You #1
Rating: Owl
Similar: Timeriders, Clockwise, Ruby Red

This book was fantastic, to put it simply! I read a few time -travel books before I read this book and wasn't sure what I should expect. I found this book completely amazing! I was packed full of adventure, action and intrigue with a great main character! Here's my book breakdown.

THE PREMISE
Lydia Bentley has heard stories about the Montauk Project all her life: stories about the strange things that took place at the abandoned military base near her home and the people who've disappeared over the years. Stories about people like her own great-grandfather.

When Lydia stumbles into a portal that transports her to a dangerous and strange new reality, she discovers that all the stories she's ever heard about the Montauk Project are true, and that she's in the middle of one of the most dangerous experiments in history.

Alongside a darkly mysterious boy she is wary to trust, Lydia begins to unravel the secrets surrounding the Project. But the truths behind these secrets force her to question all her choices--and if Lydia chooses wrong, she might not save her family but destroy them . . . and herself.
(Summary from Goodreads) 
THE PROS
1.) Time-travel and how the author chose to make it possible. In each time-travel book it is different, in some it depends on the gene (Ruby Red) or sometimes you have no idea why it happens (Clockwise) and sometimes it is by machine, as it is in this book. I liked how the author chose to write about the effects of time-travel and also how they needed to have the time-machine to get back. Very interesting!
2.) I liked Lydia. I thought she was a fun independent character! I thought she was brave (and maybe a bit stupid) but sweet at the same time. She really cared about her Grandpa and indulged in his crazy fantasies.
3.) I liked how she went back in time and met her ancestors. I thought that was good because instead of random strangers she was with her family even if they didn't realize it.
4.) The characters. I really liked all of the characters in the story (which is unusual for me. I normally hate a couple) I thought the characters were unique and funny! Each had an interesting personality and I liked the mystery, especially the one involving Dean.
5.) I loved the way that Lydia interacted with her family. She had a great relationship with them.
THE CONS
1.) I thought that Hannah and Grant were going to play a more important role in the story. Instead they dropped off the face of the Earth pretty early on. I felt like there wasn't enough time to really get to know them and also that they were there for the soul purpose of showing that Lydia had friends.
2.) The beginning felt slow. I was anticipating the time-traveling and wanted to know what was going to happen. Instead I had to read a slow beginning. 
OVERALL
I really enjoyed So Close to You and found it to be a great read! There was a great concept that had a great execution and I enjoyed it immensely! It was a fast paced read! (After it picked up that is) I am definitely looking forward to the next book!
WOULD I BUY THIS BOOK: YES
WOULD I READ THIS BOOK: YES
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK: YES
WILL I READ THE NEXT BOOK: YES
WILL I READ MORE BY THIS AUTHOR: YES!!!!

OWL=FIVE STARS