Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Pure

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Reviewed by: Cassie

Rating: 5 glass slippers

Summary (from BN.com)

There is need. And then there is Fate—

Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome—especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom—so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do—and sacrifice—for her.

When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies—lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon— and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude— or killing her.

When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

Lemme just begin with, I need to go out and buy this book. NOW. Secondly, this is one of those books where you (or at least I) put it down mid-page, stare into space for like, 5 seconds (open-mouthed, at that) and go "I need to go die now." Because it is so awesome. Mmmhmm. Yeah, that's got awesomesauce smeared all over it. Lastly, all you need to know is that Alex is by far one of my favorite heroines. Ever. Let's begin.


The heroine-
Alex is pure awesome. She is hilarious, with her fits of "irrationality" or "ridiculousness", and insanely cool. When I say cool, I mean she can kick your booty (and leave a bruise) and simultaneously eat a hamburger. (She likes her hamburgers) Now, if that hasn't convinced you yet as to her awesomeness, then you must trust me when I say she is relate-able. She has the average (ish) girl's fears and issues and she is someone you would love to be BFFs with. Well, the times she wouldn't get you in trouble. She is a great read and so, so fun. The best parts about her?
1. she can break a bitch's nose with an apple 2. she's real fun when she's high on the equivalent of Olympian roofies 3. she has an obsession with stabbing and knives 4. her thoughts are INSANE! In her words, her attention span is close to an ant on Redbull. 5. she likes tater tots 6. LOTS of other things.


I found her hilarious here:


"We talked about how I'd almost beaten him in practice yesterday, and how he was considering buying a motorcycle. Which I was strongly behind, because really, what could make Aiden hotter than he already was?
A motorcycle.
"What kind of bike are you looking at?"
He got this dreamy, far-off look on his face - almost like the kind of look I got when I saw chocolate... or him." pg 84


The guys-
*dreamy sigh* Okay, let's start out with this: shout-out to all of Jennifer L. Armentrout's boys:

Yes. I just went there.
You wanna know why?


Seth-
Golden boy Seth, you are soooooo yummay! So, you've got these golden eyes... golden skin... LUSCIOUS (gasp!) golden locks... Yep I'm down with that. Real down with that.
Plus... Plus you have this amazing sense of humor.


"My shoulders slumped. "I have to practice with you all day?"
Seth spun around in front of me, the perpetual, cocksure grin on his face. "You have to spend all day with me. Every day. For as long as we are here."
I stared at him.
He clapped his hands, letting out a rather high-pitched squeal before grabbing my hand. "Oh, we are going to have so much fun! Aren't we? Fun, Alex - we will have fun." pg 182


Okay, so that's not the best example of his humor, but that had me busting out laughing. The squeal part, mostly. Ahh joy. He and Alex are great in their banter, especially their cuddle-oriented banter! Also- not only is Seth hilarious, but he's also super duper protective. In his own little way.


Aiden- 
Let's just say if Seth is yummay, Aiden is mouth-wateringly, out-of-this-world, scrump-dilly-illy-umptious. Black (LUSCIOUS) waves cascading down into his eyes, gray-I-can-tell-what-you're-thinking eyes, and this smile with DIMPLES that you get only when you make him super duper happy. If you think that is nice, get this- he's amazingly caring and sweet. And although you may think he's.... er, questionable... for doing what he does, just get your hands on the Aiden POV Mrs. Armentrout released for this year's YA Crush Tourney. He will blow your freaking mind.


The BFF-
Caleb in Pure is his usual self- loyal, fun, and great. He's a cool best friend and insanely heroic. Gah, I wish I could say more but it'd be spoilericious.


The adventure/world-
Okay, so I usually have a problem with these kinds of books. The kind of book where you read, and you read, and you wonder, "Why do I care about this drama? I thought I was getting action-packed fantasy!" This is where I would usually fantasize about throwing the book in the fire, BUT, no fears, Pure is a book where I had fun reading about the drama. So much fun so that I want to run out and buy this book. 
But really.... the huge action at the end of Half-Blood and Pure covers up the mediocre/good/entertaining action in the middle of the book. I don't know how to describe this, but it's good. If you want a book where the heroine does this and then five pages later jumps off a building and blahblahblah, this is not for you. But if you want a hilarious, great, you-must-buy-this-now book, I highly recommend you try this out :)
Also, the world is kind of down-to-earth (in a good way) and kind of out-of-this-world. It has the right balance so that you can immediately catch on yet also maintain a surreal feeling to it.


Overall? I really need this book. And I also really need Deity (which is coming out in freaking October!!) Oh, the torture.


Soon coming is an interview with the one and only Jennifer L. Armentrout, so check back in soon! Also, comment and subscribe!


Cassie

Possess by Gretchen McNeil

Title: Possess

Author: Gretchen McNeil

Reviewed by: Cassie

Rating: 3 glass slippers

Summary (from BN.com)

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her over-protective mom, by Matt Quinn, the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, the voices are demons—and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Literally.

Terrified to tell her friends or family about this new power, Bridget confides in San Francisco’s senior exorcist, Monsignor Renault. The monsignor enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession, but just as she is starting to come to terms with her freakish new role, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. And when one of her oldest friends is killed, Bridget realizes she’s in deeper than she ever thought possible. Now she must unlock the secret to the demons’ plan before someone else close to her winds up dead—or worse, the human vessel for a demon king.

So I cracked open this book and I see this verse before the book starts-

"My name is Legion," he replied.

"For we are many."

                                             -Mark 5:9

If you don't know the story behind that, CRACK OPEN THE BIBLE! Or, if you're like me, ask someone you know who knows the Bible well, namely my dad. Anyways, it's a really interesting, "whoa" worthy story. And it sets very high standards for the book, because you think "Oh wow! This Gretchen McNeil really knows her Bible and possession shit!" Unfortunately, however, her story does not meet this Bible verse's standards.

The heroine-

Let me tell you, the first issue I think I had with the book was Bridget. Not really her attitude but her GENETICS. She is half-Irish and half-Chinese. Somehow, she has curly brown hair, freckles, and bright blue almond-shaped eyes. I know that half-Asians can have curly brown hair and freckles, but blue eyes? No. It is genetically impossible 99.99% of the time. Also- red curly hair + black Asian hair does not get brown curly hair. My brother, who studied this shit, said that black cancels out red automatically. I'm sure if her mom had BLONDE curly hair than it'd be fine, but... there are so many problems with her 'half-Asian' genetics and actual appearance. And I can judge because I AM one and practically all my cousins are half so I know a lot of diversity of half-Asian looks.

Then there's her attitude. The writing confused me, because usually the story was written like "she slammed the door" but then there were bits like "I am weird." Also, her personality was so messed up! She had this tough-girl vibe going, but really it's just a shell. So during one of her personality switches, I literally slapped the book down and wondered aloud as if speaking to Bridget, "What ARE you?!"

Funny Bridget:

"The familiar tingling ignited in the pit of her stomach. It spread faster this time, swamping her mind with its electricity, its power. It felt exactly like...

Bridget rolled off Matt and scrambled to her feet. She felt like she was going to be sick. [...] She turned her back and pretended to straighten her shirt so he couldn't see her panic.

She heard him sit up and clear his throat. 'Bridge, are you sure you're okay? I hope you're not-"

"I'm fine." She turned to him with a faint smile. "Really." Yeah, perfectly fine except apparently banishing demons and making out with you give me the same sick thrill. PERFECTLY FINE, MATT, THANK YOU! "  pg 287 (you have to read it to find it hilarious)

Revelation that Bridget is a hipster:

"The truck slowed as Matt pulled into her driveway.

"Are you going to Winter Formal?"

His question caught her so off guard, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I don't do dances."

"Why not?"

"Well, the lameness factor for starters."

"You ever been?"

"Hell, no." " pg 74-75 (combat boots and social pariah, too)

I think that she's a total beyotch on the outside but inside, she's a real softie. But sometimes her sudden personality changes would just throw me and so she was only an okay POV to read from, despite how funny she could be. Did I mention she has a hilarious phobia of dolls?

The guy-

Matt is Mr. Dreamy Eyes as a sandy-blonde with yummy hazel eyes. And that horribly perfect, always-winning smile. I thought he was boring and the basic "I will protect you!" boyfriend. However, I think he and Bridget go very well together. EXCEPT- why the heck do I want to read a love confession between a 15-year-old (almost 16) and a probably-17-year-old??? Wrong answer- I don't. Highschool relationships don't last, even IF there's supernatural crap going on. And especially so if the girl is freaking 15.

The BFF-

So... Hector's gay. And funny. And a little chubby. But a good best friend, usually.

The adventure/world-

So, they live in San Francisco but usually we see their Catholic school and random exorcism-related places. It was decent.

Basically it was a decent book that would have deserved a 2.5 for it's mediocre-ness but got 3 because of some hilarious moments.

Don't forget to comment and subscribe!

Cassie

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Title: Illuminate

Author: Aimee Agresti

Reviewed by: Cassie

Rating: 3 glass slippers

Summary (from BN.com)

Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything changes when she is awarded a prestigious internship at a posh Chicago hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous strangers: the powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.
As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

When I first set out to read this book, I expected soul trade and dangerously gorgeous people. Maybe an angel here or there. I'm sad to say my expectations were not met.


The heroine-
Haven (I immediately thought it looked like "Heaven") is... very "ugh" worthy. She's not really a fun read. No, I take that back. She's not a fun read at all. Uh-uh. She's way good and pure and amazingly annoying. I hate it when weak heroines who don't have that badass mindset are set out to save the world or whatever. It plain old irks me. This is the case with Haven. She's got caramel skin, deep amber eyes, and dark honey hair. I myself would think that's gorgeous, but nooooooo. Haven has this insecurity issue (like so many stab-worthy protagonists, le sigh) and she kind of goes from this stuttering, "cutely" awkward girl to this elegant, highly regarded, confidant young woman. And she wields a knife. Is she worthy of wielding a knife, in my opinion? NO. HELL NO. Girls like her should NOT have knives. They are not deliciously dangerous. They are not even as dangerous as a costumed dog. A drugged, costumed dog.

Basically I can usually understand Haven's thinking... I just don't like it. It's totally handle-able. I just don't like her being projected as this strong heroine who's "capable" when really she's just a braver-than-average nerd. (NOTHING wrong with that) Who happens to be absurdly.... um... let's call it "special."


The guys-
Okay so this is not a love triangle. It's a "I like HIM but I also unconsciously am falling for HIM". 


Lucian- I like his personality. I like the bad boys. I do. But somehow... (I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE THIS!) Lucian is a bad boy who hopes to be better. But not in that totally swoon-worthy case. It's more of like a... "I take innocent, unsuspecting girls' souls... but now I've met pure Haven! Ah dear me, save my soul! I wish to be with you, Haven, and have a cleansed soul!" (except way less lame) So... I mean he's attractive and he's bad-boy. He just totally lacks game. I mean, come on! I really hope when he comes back (HE BETTER) he has learned some new, extremely sexy moves.


Lance- Okay, I'm SORRY! But he totally had the Andrew Garfield from The Amazing Spiderman feel to him! 

And that is extremely delicious. So, here's what you need to know: he kisses amazingly. He is absurdly cute and nerdy. He slouches. He's adorable and... yeah. I think he could have a lot more depth to him but he ended up turning out kind of boring. An adorable boring but boring nonetheless.


Best friend-
I love gay guys. They are so funny and amazing. Dante (awesome name) is amazing. He's funny, bubbly, and cute! When he lends her his belt it's so funny/cute. However, for 1/2 the book he wasn't really there or nice so I didn't really like him for 1/2 the book.


The adventure/world-
Okay so the hotel they're staying at? TOTALLY WICKED. I mean it. It's beautiful and described purrrr-fectly (yeah I just did that [no there are no cats, unfortunately]) and it's full of lots of intrigue and secrets. Lots and lots of them.


But. (the big butt) The adventure/action was kind of confusing. So, Haven just blindly trusts some random book she finds in her room? (I swear I have lots more issues with minor/major details I just have sleep-deprivation and can't remember them.) Also, the action was kind of slow... maybe from 250 pages on? I just got tired of all this nonsense sensory details and I just wanted to cut to the chase. 


Sorry if this is obvious that I'm like, a zombie, but hope you enjoyed!
Don't forget to comment and subscribe! Off to get my beauty sleep ;)


Cassie

Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Elemental

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Reviewed by: Cassie

Rating: 5 glass slippers

Summary (from BN.com)

As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn't have much power. That's okay-she knows what happens to kids who do.

Like Michael Merrick. He's an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy, dangerous, and completely off limits. At least according to Emily's family.

But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily's family doesn't just want her to stay away from him.

They want him dead.

Since this is a novella it is very short and doesn't have much of a beginning middle or end. But let me tell you this, it does not disappoint. Seriously, I had to put it down several times just to legitimately squeal and go "AW!!" It's way cute. It's way awesome. And it's way worth your time.


The girl-
Emily is the secret family rebel. She needs the job that's in jeopardy (because of Michael Merrick) to save up money to move out. She doesn't want to live with all of this hate her family has for the Merricks. In fact, she just wants a fresh start. She's heard all the stories about Michael and is scared witless when he comes to her new job. Yet she can't help being drawn to him... At first she is the girl who believes her family's lies about Michael. Soon, she becomes the not-so-secret rebel. I like her :) A funny thought of hers? -->


" Don't be stupid. Even serial killers can be hot."
-Emily


The guy-
Okay so in Storm, I couldn't understand or really like Michael. But dang, reverse the clock seven years and Michael is SO CUTE!!! I can die in peace now, thinking about a sexy, sexy boy who is extremely dangerous... yet extremely gentle?!? Booyah! He is so, so lovable.


"She looked ridiculous and adorable and he tried not to laugh."
-Michael


The story-
It's cute. Tragic, from what we know in Storm. Completely relatable and totally explains the mystery of what happened (mostly). Can't wait for more!


Don't forget to comment and subscribe!


Cassie