#scandal by Sarah Ockler

#scandal

*ARC obtained from Edelweiss 

Author: Sarah Ockler

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery

Goodreads Blurb: Lucy’s learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart’s all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don’t feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. The policy has served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’d rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And especially the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.

When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of… and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ’fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.

By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation. 

Lucy’s been battling undead masses online long enough to know there’s only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate.

Published/ing: June 17th, 2014 Simon Pulse

Rating: 4.5/5

Review:

I related to Lucy Vacarro, the main character, on a personal level. 

She is a kick ass girl, prepared for the zombie apocalypse, has nerdy, quirky side, and doesn't like going to large social events. 

Through the entire book, there was reference after reference about The Walking Dead, one of my favorite apocalypse shows, Veronica Mars, my favorite detective show featuring the beloved Princess of Arendale Kristen Bell, and a lot more. 

When I first picked up this book, I was bit wary of the title and the beginning. I didn't get too into the whole intertwining of Facebook and hash-tags and all that. I didn't believe that belonged in a book. Low and behold, Sarah Ockler infused it with her contemporary writing like a champ. 

One of best ways to know that a character is developed well, is whether or not you got attached to them. Lucy, from the beginning, really connected with me. I began to understand her problem and want to help figure out who ruined the last few weeks of her high school experience. 

That was also a large reason I enjoyed the book: the mystery. It was straight out of an episode of Veronica Mars. I liked how, with the drama and the investigation to find out who socially murdered Lucy, that Lucy found who her true friends were, and that she had more friends and allies than she originally thought. 

The romance side of this book was a tad bit underdeveloped in my opinion, but because it wasn't to major of a point in the plot itself, I overlooked. 

I also wished that the setting was used a bit more, and at least more developed. That's the only reason the book wasn't a perfect five. 

On the other hand though, the characters were amazing and memorable. The plot line was thick and captivating. The writing was accurate and quirky. 

I also thought that the theme of cyber bullying was an excellent thing to include. This book really showed how human relationships and interaction are being directly affected by social networking it bad ways (although it can be for good also [not to be an (e)VIL]) 

This was my first ever Sarah Ockler book, and by the looks of it, I will be getting into more of her stuff soon if it is as good as this one. 

Future News:

#scandal will be on shelves next week!

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (Non Spoiler Review and Spoiler Review)

City of Heavenly Fire

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: Fantasy, Action and Adventure, Romance, Apocalyptic

Goodreads Blurb: 

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID. 

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance?

Published/ing: May 27th, 2014 Margaret K. McElderry 

Rating: 5/5

Review:

No Spoilers Part:

For those who are wary of reading this book for reasons unknown, don't be. It is a satisfying conclusion to the characters we have grown to adore over the past few years and if I know anything about Cassandra Clare, it's that this is not the last of these characters.

The book itself is fast paced and holds your attention in the sense that there are cliffhangers within the book. Cassandra will build up a scene and then switch the omniscient point of view to another scene, so it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Do not be intimidated by the size. The book will not be boring and uninteresting.

The plot is thick and hole less. She does a great job of leaving a few gaps and lead offs in the end so that the next few series have something to go off of.

This book was as well written, and even better, than the last ones. It is thrilling, witty, and overall outstanding.

Spoilers

I cannot believe this is book six. When I picked it up (with both hands mind you) I could not believe it was actually there, resting in my palms.

Above, I generalized my feelings on the book, but here I plan on going in more detail. Overall, it was exceptional in the fact that the plot was flawless, the characters well developed, the writing seemed effortless, and the world had already been built to the perfect amount.

In the beginning, when I realized that it was in dual character worlds (The Blackthorns and Carstairs to the Lightwoods and Herondales [and friends]) I was bit confused. I didn't think it would work out since the readers weren't familiar with those characters. In the end, the Blackthorns and the Carstairs ended up playing a large part and helped Cassandra set the platform for the The Dark Artifices trilogy that will come out next year.

Sebastian as the almighty in this book was good. I like that Cassandra keeps the villains pretty simple and powerful. I also thought that Sebastian's sleeping with the Seelie Queen was a good way to show betrayal and broken alliances in war.

The whole theme of war in this book was well drawn out. In the beginning when the shadowhunters thought they could save their relatives and lovers from being Endarkened was a good way to illustrate human weakness in shadowhunters. It also was very painful to watch and I could not even begin to think of what fighting your lover or relative would feel like, especially when the one possessed had only one thought in mind and that was to kill you.

Sebastian made the perfect Hitler in this book. He wanted word damnation that would start by wiping out the shadowhunters, forming false alliances, and turning the downworleders against them. I actually kind of admired his strategy, even though, in the end he let his delusional desires to take over and provide the window for Clary to cut away the demon blood in Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern's blood.

That was also an extremely emotional part in the book, when Clary and Jocelyn were weeping over Jonathan's slowly fading body. In that moment I had mercy for the poor boy.

Moving on to a more happier theme, let's talk about relationship drama.

So at the beginning, everyone was kind of everywhere. Clary and Jace couldn't touch each other without burning hand prints into walls, Magnus was still feeling betrayed by Alec and wary of falling in love with a human, and Simon and Isabelle needed some serious DTR time.

It was painful, but kind of hilarious to watch all the puzzle pieces fall in place. Magnus and Alec finally working it out in the end by putting each other's lives on the line to save the other. Simon lost his memory, but slowly began to remember the shadowhunter ways and fall back into love with Isabelle. Clary and Jace kind of planning a future together at the Herondale Manor (OH MY GODS THE HERONDALE MANOR WHICH WE WILL TALK ABOUT LATER).

Everything was very witty and cute. They all acted like total teenagers about their relationships, although they were in the middle of saving the world. One part I do want to point out though was the sex scene.

It was a bit far fetched in my opinion. Although very romantic and steamy, it just seemed totally out their. Jace even had a condom. They were in hell. IN HELL. COULDN'T THEY HAVE WAITED?

The final thing I'd like to talk about is the infinite amount of references in this book.

I started crying at the end when Jem and Tessa were sitting at the table and talking about Will Herondale and Jace's similarities and how Tessa wanted to force Emma Carstairs to play the violin. I didn't know what to do with myself it was so perfect and lovely, especially since I had loved The Infernal Devices so very much. They mentioned so much about the London Institute and Jem's needing to meet Tessa at the bridge.

All of it came together so perfectly that I was just a mess at the end. I loved this book so much and really want to re-read it. Cassandra Clare and her characters will forever have a special place in my heart.

Future News:

Cassandra Clare has many series planned in this universe. That includes the following:

• The Dark Artifices Trilogy (2015)
• The Last Hours Trilogy (2017)
• The Wicked Powers Trilogy (Future)

Cassandra plans on having five main series in the shadowhunter universe in the end. The first two series are The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments.  

My Summer Reading List

      Summer's here and my books are stacked up. I am ready to just read. Here is my list for the summer, and feel free to make recommendations to what I should read, or what you are reading!

• Re-Read Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
• Re-Read Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
• Re-Read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan
• Every Day by David Leviathan
• The Selection trilogy by Kiera Cass
• City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
• Dangerous Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl
• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
• Shiver Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
• Out of the Easy by Ruta Steptys
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle
• Some Assembling Required by Lynn Kiele Bonasia
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• How to Love by Katie Cotugno
• Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin
• Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
• Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

       I have already started reading a lot of these and so expect a few reviews soon (especially for City of Heavenly Fire). Have a great summer guys!

      ~Monty

5/11/14: Fandom Update: A Bit of Sadness, But a Whole Lot of Happiness

What Happened this Week?

Television: Ups, Downs, and False Hope

      I have a backpack full of fun, and not so fun news about upcoming fall's plan for television. Let's start off with Supernatural. 

      In a sad turn of events, Bloodlines, the much anticipated Supernatural spin off, has been canceled. According to Entertainment Weekly, the show did gain the positive reaction and the rating they were hoping for. But, they did mention a possible future crossover (*crosses fingers for Destiel spin off*). 

     On the other side of that news, it is confirmed that Misha Collins back for Season 10! He has had his up and downs in Supernatural, going from a series regular to a special guest star and back to a series regular. But he is confirmed to be not only a regular in season 10, but a big part in the season finale, coming up in a few weeks. Exciting right?

      Thank Zeus that I mentioned that bad news in the beginning, because it is sun shine and yellow brick road from here on out. 

       Marvel's beloved spin off, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., has been renewed for another season. At the same exact time, Marvel announced a spin off series for the Captain America based on the beloved Peggy Carter. 

        I know from a first hand experience that this news spread like wild fire and instilled excitement in the hearts of all the fans, who had previously been hyped up on Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie. ABC has gone on and given the go ahead for the series. I believe, this is going to be a huge hit for Marvel and the Marvel community. 

         Just because I feel like adding to this post of madness, here are links to two super crossover gif sets I found on tumblr. Enjoy! 

Teen Wolf/Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Amazing Spiderman/Avengers

Source

Source

Source

Ed Sheeran + The Fault in Our Stars = Serious Gross Sobbing

        Just this past week, Ed dropped his song for The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack. The song below will be featured in the end credits of the movie coming out June 6th. 

Looking Forward to Next Week:

• Monday:
• Tuesday:
• New episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Beginning of the End @ 7pm CT
• New episode of Supernatural: Stairway to Heaven @ 9pm CT
• Wednesday:
• Thursday:
• Friday:
• New episode of Hannibal: Tome-wan @ 9pm CT
• Saturday:
• Sunday:

5/8/14: The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan

The Kane Chronicles

Author: Rick Riordan

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

My Overall Rating: 5/5
Points for Prequel/Sequel Challenge: 13
*THERE WILL MOST LIKELY BE SPOILERS*

So I love Rick Riordan, and if you don't know that by now, now you do. His writing is so influential and light hearted and realistic. Besides the fact that he writes about fantasy worlds. 

I've been reading his books for five years now, and have yet to be disappointment. They pull you in. You get so attached to the story and the characters that you inhale the books (not literally, don't inhale books). It took me longer than expected to read these books just because I didn't have as much time as I would've liked to have to read them (finals week). But when I got to the last book, I busted through it in a day. 

The characters in his books, all his books, are very round, meaning they are realistic and have traits that you would find in real people. Carter is a kid who traveled around with his dad all his life and never got a formal education. Sadie lived with her grandparents, separate from Carter. They led totally different lives and hardly ever saw each other, but they still have this beautiful sibling relationship. When they come together to find their father and discover their family lineage and their Egyptian powers, we see them connect almost immediately. They care for each other. And I believe this is extremely realistic in for sibling relationships today. Usually, siblings stick together in situations where their parents are absent or they develop the ability to channel godly powers. Not that that is truly realistic, but I think you are getting what I'm saying. 

Another thing that really got me was, Rick Riordan is a soon to be fifty year old man with two sons. Yet his first person point of view from a fourteen year old girl is flawless. How? What? I'm not kidding you. I am a girl and the way Sadie thought most of the time, was what I would think in those situations. I am so utterly speechless by the fact that he can so effortlessly write different point of views from Greek teenage boys with different family issues and personal insecurities to Egyptian teenage girls who miss their parents and their crushes join together to become the same person. It is astounding and worth reading just for that aspect. 

I do have to admit that I was wary about reading these books. It took me two years to finally pick them up, but I am so glad that I did. His writing with Egyptian mythology is no different than Greek. It is sarcastic and funny and their is romance and conflict. And my favorite part... YOU LEARN AT THE SAME TIME! I honestly don't think I could ever know so much about Egyptian mythology without reading his books. 

The only thing I have to say against Tío Rick, and this is a selfish thing to complain about, is swearing. At first, in Percy Jackson, it was funny. The "Holy Hades!" and "Oh schist!" but now I don't really know. It is still funny, and I totally get that he writes middle grade books but I just feel like in certain situations (like battling great lords of chaos) I would use stronger wording than "Holy Horus." I know that this probably won't ever change, but I thought it was something to mention. 

The last subject on this matter I will go over is his endings. And this is a very sad topic because I hate endings. As soon as I started getting into the first book, I knew, oh I knew, that this was a finished trilogy. I did not like the idea of an ending. This also frightens the heck out of me for October 7th, 2014 (The Blood of Olympus). I was completely satisfied with the ending though. He, like J. K. Rowling, ends the books to a point where there is still magic. 

"As for you lot out there, listening to this recording— we’re never too busy for new initiates. If you have the blood of the pharaohs, what are you waiting for? Don’t let your magic go to waste. Brooklyn House is open for business."

And that was the last line of the book. He ends it so that the story never truly ends. And although I'm scared to leave Percy Jackson, a story that has shaped me and grown up with me, behind. I don't want the books to stop coming, but I know that with Rick Riordan, the story will never truly end. 

Other Notes:

As I mentioned above, Blood of Olympus, the final installment in the ten book Percy Jackson series, comes out October 7th of this year. The next crossover in the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles Crossover series comes out as a single book on May 20th. It will be called The Staff of Serapis featuring Sadie Kane and Annabeth Chase.