Amulet book 4 Graphic Novel

I have volume (or had) 1 and 2 but have not seen 3 or even this 4th volume. Would love to add to my library!

Everafter Review

The Everafter by Amy Huntley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hardcover, 248 pages

Published October 1st 2009 by HarperCollins (first published September 16th 2009)

purchashed hardcover


Book Blurb from Goodreads:

Madison Stanton doesn't know where she is or how she got there. But she does know this - she is dead. And alone in a vast, dark space. The only company Maddy has in this place are luminescent objects that turn out to be all the things she lost while she was alive. And soon she discovers that, with these artifacts, she can reexperience - and even change - moments from her life.
Her first kiss.
A trip to Disney World.
Her sister's wedding.
A disastrous sleepover.
In reliving these moments, Maddy learns illuminating and frightening truths about her life - and death.

My Review:
This book kept me thinking through the whole book how did she die? What did each object mean to her and how did she lose them? I must say that this idea is pretty unique, connecting objects to going back to spots in your life where you lost them. The learning about each thing to help you understand who you are and how you lived. It was really thought provoking to me since I have lost my mom and brother to cancer.

Now each object is not given it's own chapter but over all that is how the chapters are set up which helps you understand what is coming and to not get lost in the story. However there was a few times when there were multiple jumps between objects and time periods (from very young then to teenage) which was a little jaring at first. One jump I didn't care for was the baby one it was a little weird even though it was there to show how much she remembers her mom and associates her to safety and love.

The underlying love story between her and her boyfriend and the love of/and for her friend was heart wrenching because you know something bad happened. There were a few clues about what happened to Maddy. I thought about 2 ways her death could happen and the way it did was one of my ways I had thought. The actual event doesn't happen until the very last chapter of the book and I thought that was appropriate because while the reason for her death was all Maddy wanted she actually learned things about herself she didn't know before dying and became ready to let go with what happened. I was sad that the story ended and I want to know more about what happened to her friend even though we get the epilogue. Since Maddy didn't meet her family or her friend in the "Am"/"Is" we don't really know. But I think that Maddy's death really helped her friend in the long run.

The one thing I didn't like was that she only sees/talks with 2 people in the "Am/Is". I would think there would be more people but maybe that is the Everafter and not there. Maybe they are alone so they can learn why they are there. Again makes me think. I am still thinking about this book the next day. A very thing for a book to do~

For parents there is some cursing, slight mature subject matter appropriate for teens only (kissing, making out, drugs, alcohol, physical abuse). I think these topics were handled with a light hand and not very graphic as some teen books I have read.

Which Cover is best?

Ok got this idea from several book blogs. I am showing several versions of a book and I discuss which one I think this best. Plus you can vote too! First up is 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher  will be a movie with Emma Watson.(which I found out from? can't find blog post! if you posted this on your blog I will link to you)
US                                          UK                              

Italian                                                     Hungarian

                        Catalan (?)                       German                     
            

Bulgarian
 


First I must say I have not read this book but reading the blurb there are a couple here that fit the story. However for the prettiest it would be between US/UK. I do think the tape ones match the story but not sure if it matches who would pick up the book. I am more likely to pick up the US/UK. The Hungarian Italian and German ones I think look like fantasy/Urban Fantasy and horror titles!! The Italian one is just too creepy! Yikes! Leave a comment and let me know which one you like!

The Everafter Book trailer

I got this book from Book Closeouts and I have had it on my list to read for awhile. It kind of reminds me of Five People You Meet in Heaven. Review coming!

Books read in past 4 months for teen

Mistwood by Leah Cypess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am a little torn about this book. There are parts I liked and parts that I think were not developed enough. I liked the premise of a creature tied to a king to protect them and the plot was pretty good too. It was the characters that I felt where not developed enough. I felt Isobel very cold and standoffish and considering what she is (or thinks she is) I think was ok but I still wanted a little more about her thinking. At the end she basically "loves" the king but I just didn't feel that. The king who comes and gets her I think is where I really wanted more. He seemed really cardboard and static and I really wanted to like him but I just didn't connect with him.

The twist at the end was great and we were given clues that this was the real story. Soooo overall an ok book that needed more characterization but had a good plot and world building.



13 to Life by Shannon Delany
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well I must say I have looked for this book EVERYWHERE and finally found it at Half Price books~ I must say with as much hype I have heard on the blogs about this book I was not let down. I really liked Jess and she came across as a real teenager to me as well as her friends. I liked Pietr (Peter) and his family as well although the beginning was straight from Twilight (ugh hate that book!). I must say though that this author writes much better than Meyer and although Twilightesque (sp?). I think this story is much better written and came across way more realistic. I liked how Jess didn't like Peter for most of the book and he eventually grew on her (he is the ultra silent type and growls at crush boy~what's there not to like about that?). I didn't like her crush boy either and felt that there was something off about him and this was really not resolved and hope is explored more in the next one! Also her friend/rival that she tries to reform is pretty creepy. While I get the idea not sure if I would do such a thing. Again I think there is more here and while be addressed in the next book. Peter's family sounds cute too and hope we learn more about them.

While definetly not ground breaking the writing was great and characters well developed. The story developed slowly (not drawn out but you are not just thrown in and expected to figure out what is going on), and I kept reading trying to figure out what is up with crush boy, the friend, and will she like Peter? I read this book in one sitting and it flew by quickly and I sooo didn't want it to end! This author will definitely be added to my buy list! Can't wait for the 2nd and I think I heard there is a 3rd.

Solid by Shelley Workinger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was recieved through Paperback Swap and is an ARC (at least says on back).
I must say it was a pretty quick read. I thought over all was good with some editor errors that kind of confused me a little. Not a lot but about enough to notice it!

The story starts off really quickly with Clio already at the special school and does a good job of catching you up on the situation. It was a little slow in couple of places but it did pick up. I felt the teens believable and they talked pretty realistically (at least to me as an adult no kids but a teacher). I liked Clio and the kids over all but there was some questions that I had about Jack like what was his power? He was there but nothing was said. Also most of book was talking about "getting" the powers to come out/work but not really "using" them persay until the end. So sort of a mystery/thriller style for most of the bbok.

I was left wanting to know about these teens and their powers so I think that the writer did a good job with the story even though it was a little predictable. The romance was sweet too with one kissing scene.

Firespell by Chloe Neill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ok let me start out by saying I LOVE Chloe's Chicagoland Vampire series. So when I saw she was writing a teen series this was an automatic add to my tbr (to be read) shelf. The problem is that I don't buy teen books I only check them out from library. Soooo the public library didn't have it so I checked my district's high schools and middle schools and one school had it YES!!
Well I started it about March 1st but some big names in Adult Paranormal were releasing books so this was put down in favor of that. Well today I picked it back up and was wowed by the outstanding writing of this book. Loved the characters from the "mean" girls/brat pack to the geeks/weirdos that were the Enclave 3 adepts. Interesting outlook on magic and gaining/keeping it. Loved that there was a werewolf in the mix and hoping he becomes a love interest to Lily (love me some shifters!). Must say that Chloe continues to up her world building skills with this series. The teen characters were believable and the story line keep me guessing about her parents, what power she would have, how the other students/friends figured into the Dark Elite and how was Foley involved? This was all wrapped up really good and while it was a short book it was tightly written. There were still questions that were unanswered but this is a series so there will be more in the next book. For instance: are the brat pack involved in the Dark Elite (seems like a coinincedence that they would just leave her in the basement), why did Lesley become so friendly (again seems like maybe she knows something?), what exactly do Lily's parents do and how is Foley involved, who was the head guy of the Dark Elite, why did Sebastian help Lily, and the biggy why was Daniel put in charge of Enclave 3 and how will he effect the enclave?

For parents: This book was realitively clean with little to no sex, alcohol, drugs or violence. There was minor violence but no death.

The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I so wanted to like this book but I just kept waiting for something to happen! It was so slow and then when I thought something would happen nothing did. I think there was a lot of missed opportunities. The Deadly Sister had a similar story but was sooo much better than this!