julie kagawa

The Best and Worst of 2012

by Stefani

After much deliberation and consideration, I have picked out my top 10 books of 2012.  The five best and the five worst.  It wasn’t as easy as I expected it to be.  Only two or three books jumped out at me as belonging on these lists and the rest were all most equal and needed to be thought over very carefully.  Finally, I reached a consensus.

The Five Best

 

renegade1. Renegade by J.A. Souders.

This book stood out to me by a mile when I considered my best books of the year.  I read it a little over a month ago and I still catch myself thinking about it and pondering over it.  I have recommended it to every person I know and will await the next book with bated breath.  It was a creepy and amazing book that was so much more than I ever expected it to be and created a fan out of me.

daughter of smoke & bone2. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor.

This is another book that swept me off my feet and enticed me into its world and didn’t want to let me go.  It is a beautifully written book and I expect a lot of great things for the author in the future.  A masterfully woven tale that I couldn’t put down.

nocturnal3. Noturnal by Scott Sigler

While I may not have reviewed this on the blog, it was one of my favorites all the same.  For anyone who doesn’t know, I am a gigantic fan of Scott Sigler.  I can only think of one thing I have read by him that I didn’t absolutely love.  Now this book does have a few moments where even a die-hard junkie like me rolled my eyes, but the overarching story was spectacular.  It was creepy, fun, and interesting for all the right reasons.  Sigler’s horror novels aren’t the kind that will scare you and make you check under the bed, that’s not his style of horror.  His style of horror is the kind that has you wrinkling your nose and thinking, “Oh my God!”

and all the stars4. And All the Stars  by Andrea K Host

This book was a surprise.  I had seen a lot of good reviews for it but wasn’t sure what to expect.  But it was a joy and a pleasure to read.  The characters were real, the story was interesting, and I couldn’t put it down.  Without a doubt one of the best books I picked up this year.

the lost prince5. The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Before last year I had never read a Julie Kagawa book.  I had heard a lot of great things and when I got offered the chance to read this beginning of a new series, I jumped at it to see what all the fuss was about.  The fuss was well deserved because this book was fantastic.  The world building was some of the best I have read and the characters were well-developed and rounded.  I will be reading from his author again and hope to be just as pleased.

 

 

The Five Worst

the rook

1. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

This book earned its place as the worst book of the year.  It was boring and amateurish.  The interest premise it established was squandered at every opportunity with boring nonsense.  I wanted to quit on this book so many times and probably would have if it wasn’t a book club read.  The long swathes of gibberish that had nothing to do with the plot made this the most annoying book I read all year.

the twelve2. The Twelve by Justin Cronin

POVs that switched and swapped every few pages and a convoluted plot that made everything about as clear as mud are the primary reason this book sucked.  Add in religious references being shoved in your face as nauseum and in the most annoying way possible and I wanted it to be over.  560 pages of purple prose later this book succeeded in making me fall asleep repeatedly and made my eyeballs shoot blood spontaneously to prevent any more pain.

ScarletUS.indd3. Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

This book made me angry.  It has such a great story and it just pissed it away with typical boring YA garbage.  The heroine was embarrassing to all young girls on the planet and the heroes should be locked up to protect the women of the world.  I didn’t find a single redeeming quality about this book.

immortal city4. Immortal City by Scott Speer

If ever there was a book that should be destroyed for the protection of humanity, it’s this one.  Yet again, another fascinating premise that they author mutilated and destroyed until it was unrecognizable.  I hated the characters, the plot, the villain, and everything in between.  I sincerely hope Mr. Speer goes back to screenwriting, it’s a certainty that he’s more talented at that than novels.

breed5. Breed by Chase Novak

Ugh, what a waste of a tree.  The characters were so irritating that I really didn’t care if awful things happened to them.  The plot dragged on and on and on but yet we never got anywhere.  There was no point to any of it and no resolution in the end.

 

So that’s it ladies and gents.  These are my favorite and most hated books of 2012.  I’m interested in knowing what yours are.  Add a comment and tell me!

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The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

by Stefani

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Published: October 23rd, 2012 by Harlequin Teen

Cover photo and synopsis from the Goodreads book page

Buy this book at: B&N / Amazon / Book Depository

Synopsis:

Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Rating (out of 5):

Review:

I first heard of this book through Goodreads.  Several people whose reviews I trust posted how excited and thrilled they were to read this book and I was intrigued.  Obviously I had heard of Julie Kagawa, but to see several people I trusted so excited about it, then it had to be something special.  I admit to being rather skeptical over whether I would like it or not since it is a spin-off of Kagawa’s Iron Fey series, which I have not read (that will be rectified now!).  But I was not only pleasantly surprised, I was pleasantly blown away.

This is a YA book, without being a typical YA book.  Ethan is the “bad boy” who really isn’t a bad boy he just wants everyone to leave him alone so that he doesn’t bring any more trouble on himself so he acts the role of a tough guy.  That was nice, to see a hero in a YA book that was smart, brave, kind, considerate, polite, gentlemanly, and funny.  I loved Ethan!  Although I admit that there were several moments where I wanted to shake him for being a moron, but he redeemed himself by the end.  Kenzie was also so very different from most YA heroines.  She is smart, funny, loving, generous, selfless when it’s necessary, and self-confident.  That last one made me so happy I almost cried!  A YA heroine with self-esteem and confidence in herself!  It’s like…the holy grail!

Then you have the story, this was really well done.  Half-breed fey and exiled fey are disappearing, and Ethan unwittingly gets pulled into it.  But once he’s into the situation he is determined to figure out what is going on and save one of his school companions who disappeared.  Kenzie gets pulled along just because she was stubbornly following Ethan around and became a target by accident.  They visit Ethan’s sister, the Iron Fey Queen, to tell her what is going on and asking for help about what to do.  When this reunion does not go the way Ethan expected, he strikes out on his own to solve the mystery himself.  I was intrigued with this story, so much that I was cursing at everyone who dared to interrupt my reading time.  I was staying up late to read some more, I was ending my lunch breaks at work later and later just to get in a few more pages.  I got addicted to this book in a bad way.
There was a nice simple romance in this book, which I greatly appreciated.  There was no looking into each other’s eyes and falling instantly in love.  There was no unnecessary third wheel who really doesn’t belong in the story at all.  It was just a simple boy and girl who start out quite snarky and irritable with each other who end up as friends before it develops into more.  I loved that.  I loved watching their relationship develop and grow into something more than just friends and allies.  I ahhhhh’d with joy and love when they finally confirmed their feelings for each other.  This is one of the better romances I’ve read in a while.

There were a few moments where I didn’t quite understand what was going on or who someone was, and I assume this is because I haven’t read the Iron Fey series.  But these minor instances were not crucial to the plot and so I was able to bypass them easily without any effect on my enjoyment of the story.  By the time I got to the end of this book all I could do was sigh in contentment and close the cover on my Nook gently, sad that it was over but thrilled that I loved it so much.

 
This book was provided free of charge by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.  No other compensation or promises were provided.