The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie REVIEW

Summary:

For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She's been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the giant, genetically engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas's first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas's dream of being a full-rime trainer seems dead in the water.

Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup and teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea. But Cas has fought pirates her entire life. And she doesn't intend to stop.

My Thoughts:

I had requested to review this book from Netgalley, but they didn't give me a copy to review, which made me sad. So I got it from my library.

When the pirates attack Cas's ship, Durga, her Reckoner in training, is sick and dies when the pirates shoot her. It's a very sad, emotional scene for Cas, since it seems as if they had an unbreakable bond before the book started. Then she's kidnapped by the pirates and is forced to train a stolen Reckoner, Bao, with her training talents. Later on in the book she gains the friendship of Swift, the girl who oversees the training process. Then at the end Cas decides to join the pirates.

It was pretty good, actually. But it wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

My Rating: 3 stars

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray REVIEW

Summary:

Marguerite Caine grew up surrounded by cutting-edge scientific theories, thanks to her brilliant physicist parents. Yet nothing is more astounding than her mother's latest invention--a device called the Firebird, which allows people to leap into alternate dimensions.

When Marguerite's father is murdered, all the evidence points to one person--Paul, her parents' enigmatic star student. Before law can touch him, Paul escapes into another dimension, having committed what seems like the perfect crime. But he didn't count on Marguerite. She doesn't know if she can kill a man, but she's going to find out.

With the help of another physics student, Theo, Marguerite chases Paul through various diemensions. In each new world Marguerite leaps to, she meets another version of Paul that has her doubting his guilt and questioning her heart. Is she doomed to repeat the same betrayal?

As Marguerite races through these wildly different lives--a grand duchess in a Tsarist Russia, a club-hopping orphan in a futuristic London, a refugee from worldwide flooding on a station in the heart of the ocean--she is swept into an epic love affair as dangerous as it is irresistible.

My Thoughts:

I love books like this. A murder mystery, with traveling to different dimensions, with romance. Okay, this one had too much romance, I think. But it was still really, really good.

I wish I could travel to different dimensions, too . . .

But she's not only traveling there, she's becoming the version of herself for as long as she stays in that dimension. And she, unlike others, can remember who she is without always wearing the Firebird around her neck. And Paul isn't the murderer, he's actually trying to save her father who's still alive, by the way, and keep him safe from the company he works for, who want the Firebird to wage war.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare REVIEW

Mortal Instruments series: Book One

Summary:

When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder--much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with odd markings. 

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons and keeping the odd werewolves and vampires in line. It's also her first meeting with gorgeous, golden-haired Jace. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in an ordinary girl like Clary? And how did she suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know . . .

My Thoughts:

I know there's a movie based off this book, but I haven't seen it. I usually prefer to read the book first.
Anyway, I was kind of drawn to this book, I guess it's been on my to read list for a while, but I didn't realize it.
This book was really good. And the plot twists, like Jace being her thought-to-be-dead brother she never knew she had? Wow. I never would have thought of that. (and no, I'm not being sarcastic)
Although it was good, a lot of it was pretty boring, because nothing was really happening.

My Rating: 3 stars

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter REVIEW

Lost Voices Trilogy: Book One

Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.

A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in--all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.

Luce's own remarkable singing talent makes her important to the tribe--she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However, her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

My Thoughts:

This book was really good. I really loved it.

Luce is someone I can totally relate to in the way that she's a really shy person and people make fun of her for not wanting to talk.

But her uncle wanted to marry her mother. When he is bringing her home after getting some drinks, he mistakes her for her mother, who is dead.

Catarina seems to be really nice to her, although she also is jealous of Luce's voice. Her disappearance at the end was confusing, but the next book might clear that up. Also, near the end, the other mermaids all seem to hate her.

My Rating: 4 stars

Counted with the Stars by Connilyn Cossette REVIEW

Summary:

Sold into slavery by her father and forsaken by the man she was supposed to marry, young Egyptian Kiya must serve a mistress who takes pleasure in her humiliation. When terrifying plagues strike Egypt, Kiya is in the middle of it all.

Choosing to flee with the Hebrews, Kiya finds herself reliant on a strange God and drawn to a man who despises her people. With everything she's ever known swept away and now facing the trials of the desert, will she turn back toward Egypt or surrender her life and her future to Yahweh?

My Thoughts:

This book was amazing, and it's the author's first novel. I can't wait for more!
It was well written and had plot twists that you both expected and did not expect.
The boy she likes is the one she thought hated her? Nice plot twist.
The boy she used to like did not want to marry her anymore? Another plot twist.
Yay! This book was SO good.

My Rating: 5 stars

**I received this book from Bethany House for my honest review. Thank you!**