REVIEW: The Unhappening of Genesis Lee by Shallee McArthur

Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.

Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.

The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things— or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.

Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.

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MY THOUGHTS
There are so many great things about this book!
The most interesting aspect of this book definitely has to be the idea.
This book revolves around a society where people's memories are kept in Links, which are beads that people generally wear as necklaces or bracelets (as the memories only stay with you if you touch/wear them). This allows them to remember everything vividly. These people are called Mementi. Then there's Populace, who are, essentially, average people. Their memories are kept in their brains are, therefore, thought to be dumber and many live in poverty because they cannot get the Mementi jobs.
Meanwhile, a thief is stealing Links, leaving the victims without any memory of who they are. And it is thought to be Populace, because Mementi are obviously too nice to do that to one of their own.

See how unique this idea is! I've never read a book anyway like this and I was amazed in how much thought was put into this society. And that's not even all if it! There's so much more in the book that I can't tell you about! And the mystery involved in the story, along with the unhappening, kept me glued to the pages.

Besides the amazing storyline, I loved the characters. Specifically I loved how our main character Gen, changes throughout the book. I also loved Kalan, who is such an amazing, nice guy. Another pro: There is very little romance! So, the storyline actually dominates the book!

My only issue with this book is how strange and crazy this book got. I'm sorry if I'm being vague, but no to spoilers! I don't know why, but I begin to lose interest towards the end of the book, mostly because I thought things were taking a weird turn. I was also not a fan of Gen's parents. Her parent let her have her own opinions and care also about how it reflects on them. They also go way too far in this book!


IN CONCLUSION
If you're looking for a very unique, original book with a bit of mystery, look mo further! This was such an interesting book! Sure, I had issues with the end, but it's still a really great book!
I will definitely be on the lookout for more by this author!

I hereby give this book

4 Wheels!

Meaning: It was amazing!

Cover vs. Cover: Teardrop by Lauren Kate

This week's pick is...

Teardrop

 VS.  

Original                      Redesign

While I do think the proportions are weird on the original cover, I do think it's a very pretty cover.I love the cool colors and how the dress turns into water. The redesign is not a bad cover, it's actually pretty cool, but I'm not the biggest fan of covers that feature just a face and while I love the text, it looks really awkward on top of the face.

Final Verdict: Original

Do you agree? Give me your thoughts on which cover is the best!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, where you talk about whatever book you are IMPATIENTLY WAITING for!

This week I am waiting for...

Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

Release Date: March 10th 2015  Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Why am I waiting?

This sounds like an AMAZING new fantasy series and it's by one of my favorite authors! Of course I want to read it!
What book are you waiting for this week?

REVIEW: The Fire Artist by Daisy Whitney

A forbidden romance literally heats up in this new fantasy from acclaimed author Daisy Whitney.

Aria is an elemental artist—she creates fire from her hands. But her power is not natural. She steals it from lightning. It’s dangerous and illegal in her world. When she’s recruited to perform, she seizes the chance to get away from her family. But her power is fading too fast to keep stealing from the sky. She has no choice but to turn to a Granter—a modern day genie. She gets one wish at an extremely high price. Aria’s willing to take a chance, but then she falls in love with the Granter . . . and he wants his freedom. Aria must decide what she’s willing to bargain and how much her own heart, body, and soul are worth.

In a world where the sport of elemental powers is the most popular form of entertainment, readers will be swept away by a romance with stakes higher than life and death.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

I received an ecopy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

MY THOUGHTS
I've seen this book around blogs for the past few weeks, but it just didn't catch my attention. I'm not a fan of the cover and then when I started to read the synopsis, I saw "forbidden romance" and instantly ran away in the other direction. I eventually read the full synopsis and thought, "Oh, this book has a really interesting idea!" I really wanted to know more about this girl who steals fire from the sky and I ended up really enjoying this book!

What I really liked about this book is the unique ideas and interesting storyline. This book takes place in an alternate world where certain people can be born with elemental abilities (fire, water, wind, earth, ice, etc.). Aria did not receive any elemental abilities, but her father constantly abused her by burning her hands in order to bring out her elemental abilities (which, again, she did not have). So, she devises a way to steal fire from the sky: getting hit by lightning, directly in the heart. But this fire only lasts a limited amount of time, so she must repeatedly get hit by lightning, slowing killing her.

See? How can this not be interesting! And that's one of the things that I firmly believe about this book: It is not just a "forbidden romance". Yes, she does eventually fall in love with a guy and, while it's not really forbidden, it is hard for them to be together. But I felt that the romance took more of a back seat. The main plot of this book was Aria trying to become a pure fire artist, and to stop her dad from his abuse <highlight to view spoiler>As he was also abusing her sister and her mother was ill, trapped at home because of his granter wish<end of spoiler>.

Now, I did have a few issues with this book.
The romance was a bit unbelievable to me. It was kind of insta-love and then there's the whole true love thing. The guy can only be free if he finds true love. That is just so cliche and while I did think they were cute together, I did not get the true love vibe from them

My other issue is how the whole dad thing was resolved <highlight to view spoiler> He gets eaten by some kind of magical gater! It's ridiculous! This could have been resolved in a much more believable way!<end of spoiler>

IN CONCLUSION
This is a unique and interesting standalone! It's a perfect quick read! I enjoyed reading it, even though some things seem out of the realm of possibility.
I will definitely be looking into other books by this author.

I hereby give this book

4 Wheels!

Meaning: It was amazing!

New Releases in YA! (October 5th-11th)

Every week I list all (or almost all) of the YA books (and the occasional MG) that are coming out within that week!

Here's what you get to look forward to this week:

P.S. Click on the book's cover for the Goodreads page!

               
                
               
               
               
               
               
               

What books, if any, do you plan to buy?

Cover Lust: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Cover Lust is something that I do every week where I feature a book cover that I absolutely love!

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

 Why did I pick this cover? 

Yes, I like the pink, but I really like how the background is in color, but the girl is in black and white. She also looks like she's about to stand someone with those scissors! My only issue is that the girl looks older than the main character, who is 14.

What are your thoughts? Tell me in the comments!

Cover vs. Cover: Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston

This week's pick is...

Frozen

 VS.  

Original                      Redesign

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of either of these. The original is kind of weird, because I have no idea what that has to do with the book. And the redesign looks like almost every other fantasy in existence (floating objects are necessary for fantasies). So, I'm really torn about this one, but I'll go with the redesign because there actually are dragons in the book.

Final Verdict: Redesign

Do you agree? Give me your thoughts on which cover is the best!

REVIEW: Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.

Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

I received an ecopy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

MY THOUGHTS
I loved Jessica's Hollow series, so I'm very sad that I didn't enjoy this one. This is not a bad book, by any means, I just felt very indifferent to the story in general.

This book has a very interesting idea. It's hard for me to elaborate without spoilers, but I loved the twist, even if I saw it coming, and I thought that it was a very interesting way to retell, in a way. I was a bit uncomfortable with Poe being a character, as I always when a real person is a character, especially as a love interest, but, sure, it works for the story. My main issue with the book is that it didn't feel like it was well-developed. A majority of the characters just felt flat to me and the story is very draggy. When the story does get interesting, everything exciting happens in only a few pages.  The romance also felt flat to me, mainly because the love interest was flat and the romance was an insta-love.

As far as Annabel goes, I was not the biggest fan of her. I was annoyed at her at times. She was constantly trying to get her father to accept her, who was a complete jerkhead, and would consider it failure when he was a jerk to her. She was also told repeatedly not to wander at night or see Edgar, but what does she do? Exactly that.

Now, the ending. The ending felt abrupt, like a cliffhanger, so I'm very confused by this, because this book is currently listed as a standalone. I'm not very happy with the ending if this is indeed a standalone.

IN CONCLUSION
Like I said, the very idea behind this book was very interesting. I liked the mysterious aspect and how things tied together, but the story and the characters fell flat. Annabel annoyed me and I was not a fan of the ending.
I won't let this deter me from the author's other books, I know that she's a great writer, so if she writes something else I'll still check it out.

As far as recommendations go? I don't really recommend it. It's not a bad book, but if you want a good, creepy historical retelling, check out The Madman's Daughter.

I hereby give this book

2 Wheels

Meaning: It was okay.

Waiting on Wednesday: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, where you talk about whatever book you are IMPATIENTLY WAITING for!

This week I am waiting for...

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Release Date: January 27th 2015    Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Why am I waiting?

At first, I was not sold on this. I'm not one who usually goes for in-between books and I was pretty upset that THIS was coming out instead of Winter (the release date is now set for November 2015!!!! Are you frexing kidding me?!?!). But now, I need another Lunar book. Heck, I just need Marissa's genius in general! And I will be happy to read this book! (And it also includes "full-color art"!)

What book are you waiting for this week?