Paranormalcy

Kiersten White's Paranormalcy is a gripping, funny tale about love, dreams, and "mythical" creatures, with the end of the world as a possible outcome. 

Faerie ex-boyfriend? Shape shifters? Vampires? A mermaid for a best friend? At the International Paranormal Containment Agency, these things are nothing out of the ordinary. From the time she was a child, 16-year-old Evie has had the ability to see through glamours. Someone who might seem normal could be a werewolf, vampire, or  a shape-shifter. Her job is to go out into the world to find those paranormals and bring them back. But now, she finds dead paranormals with a mysterious glowing hand print. Her dreams are filled with mysterious prophesies. Could her strange ability be linked to the deaths?

I love the style this book is written in! Evie's funny, sarcastic voice does a great job of lightening up an intense scene. This strong heroine shows her style! White is one of the best authors I've seen for teen fiction. The ending scene can only be described as "epic." This hilarious urban fantasy will have you laughing at every page.

I liked this book because there is no profanity or swearing. Evie, the book's protagonist, is a strong female that is easy to root for. In this book, there is also romance for the lovers. If you like zombies, werewolves, vampires, mermaids, or other creatures of the night, then this is the book for you! I end this review with a hope that you will love this book as much as I love it. In the words of Evie: "Have a bleep bleep day!"

The Future of Us

In 1996 less than half of all American high school students had ever used the Internet.

Facebook would not be invented until several years into the future.

Emma and Josh are about to log on to their futures.

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler work together to create a very exciting tale about two high school students logging into their Facebook accounts, seven years before it's even created. I know what you're thinking. "The Future of Us" sounds like some stupid love story about teens and love. Cue rolling of the eyes. But, suprisingly, it's not. "The Future of Us" is about two kids who log onto their future Facebook account, fifteen years into the future, and see everything. Their spouses, careers, homes, and status updates. It's all there. Except, everytime they refresh the page, their futures change. As they realize all the problems in their life in the future, they go crazy trying to fix it. At first Emma sees her futures marriage is in danger. Before she thinks it through, she finds her future husband in the phone book, and calls him. She finds out that she meets this guy at college; her dream college. She simply tells herself she's never going to go to Tampa State, even though its her dream. She refreshes the page, and miraculously, she's married to a different guy named Kevin.

Potentially messing up their lives even further, they realize how delicate the future really is. For example, Josh finds out he's married to Sydney Mills, the hot and popular Junior. He also has three kids, two twin girls and a little boy. Only problem? She doesn't know he exists. Without trying to, he sticks up for her in class, drawing her attention to him. The next time they check his page, Josh and Sydney are expecting. Their first child.

I turn the chair to look directly at her. "Come on, even if it's a prank, don't you want to see who they say you end up marrying?"

Emma thinks about it for a second. "Fine," she says.

I click on the photo and a new screen appears. We watch the large square in the center slowly fill from top to bottom. First, choppy ocean waves. Then a man's face. He's wearing black sunglasses. Then his fingers, gripped around the sword-like nose of a fish. When the picture has fully loaded, we see that the man is standing at the bow of a fishing boat.

"That fish is huge!" I say. "I wonder where he is? I guess it's supposed to be Florida."

"He's hot!" Emma says. "For an older guy. I wonder where they got this picture."

We're startled by a rapid knock on Emma's door, followed by her mom entering the room.

"Do you like your new computer?" she asks. "Are you two surfing the World Wide Web with all those free hours?"

Emma moves slightly in front of the monitor. "We're researching swordfish."

"And future husbands," I say, which gets the back of my arm a sharp pinch.


I actually really loved the style Asher and Mackler wrote the book. The book is written in a switch from Josh and Emma, so you can really connect with both characters individually. By the way they styled the book, you could really see the different personalities of the two. The writers did a fantastic job on describing the two, and getting the sense of Emma and Josh and how they think differently as a boy and a girl. There were parts that were so entertaining and funny, I absolutely loved it. This book can definitely can go into the comedy category.

Personally I really enjoyed this book. I could not put it down. I finished it in two days! It was different than I was used to, and a different idea for a book, which I really liked. It was so interesting to be able to see really how sensitive our futures are, and how easily they can be changed by one little ripple. I think almost anyone would enjoy this book. Since you get two sides to the story, it can connect to boys and girls too. Plus, this story is packed full of humor. Who wouldn't like that? If you choose to read this book, I know you wouldn't regret it.

Throne of Glass

Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass is well written intriguing tale of love, magic, and survival that I couldn’t put down.

All she wanted was freedom. “Run and disappear into the mountains and live in solitude in the dark green wild, with a pine needle carpet and a blanket of stars overhead” she once said. But Adarlan’s greatest assassin is kept in the salt mines, preventing her to fulfill her dream. When the prince offers to sponsor her in a contest that could make her free after five years of servitude to the king that sits on the throne of glass, she takes it. But first she must win the contest to become the King’s Champion. Her name is Celaena Sordothien.

Celaena lives in a fictional world where tyrants rule. Unfortunately many nations are ruled by tyrants. Many of those tyrants get others to do their dirty-work for them, and if Celaena wins the contest she will be doing the dirty-work. In this world there are remnants of magic, like Stonehenge. In hers there are ruins, strange magical symbols. The name of her world is Erilea, ours is Earth. The two worlds are similar but different.

I loved the book Throne of Glass. It is a brilliantly written novel, and it never gets boring. This book had me filled with suspense. It is filled with action, bravery, romance, and magic. If you like any of those things, you really ought to read Throne of Glass.