Breakable by Aimee L. Salter

Breakable by Aimee L. Salter


When seventeen-year-old Stacy looks in the mirror she can see and talk to her future self. "Older Me" has been Stacy's secret support during the ongoing battle with their neurotic mother, relentless bullying at school, and dealing with her hopeless love for her best friend, Mark.

Then Stacy discovers Older Me is a liar.

Still reeling from the betrayal, Stacy buries herself in her art. But even that is taken from her when her most persistent tormentor uses her own work to humiliate her - and threaten her last chance with Mark.

Stacy's reached breaking point.

Literally.

Recently, we have received a electronic copy of Breakable by Aimee L. Slater and we will be publishing a review shortly.

If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say? If an older version of yourself could reassure you about the future - only to be revealed as a liar, what would you do?

Breakable, by Aimee L. Salter, is a promising novel centering around a girl who is offered just that. It is unique and interesting, and if it seems like the type of book you'd like to read, it releases on November 4th for Kindle, Nook, and in paperback.

Aimee L. Salter  is the author of a popular writing blog at www.aimeelsalter.com and can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@AimeeLSalter and Facebook at www.facebook.com/AimeeLSalter

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass

Today, we're reviewing "Crown of Midnight," by Sarah J. Maas, the sequel to "Throne of Glass" and a book we've been eagerly awaiting forever. Every time I look at the book, I have to resist the urge to rub my hands together and let out an evil laugh. This is a fantasy epic about an empire called Adarlan and centers around Celaena Sardothien, the best assassin in the empire and the main protagonist.


So, the cover: there's a lot to like about this cover. A girl wielding two sword, and fiery colors. I really don't think the colors suit the book. And Celaena looks a bit like a guy...

And now to the good part. . . the characters: Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan's Assassin and now King's Champion - I absolutely love her. She's really arrogant and has a very short temper, she's too stubborn to listen to certain people trying to protect her, she's too curious for her own good, and she's brave, strong-willed, and can kill anyone she wants to. In this book, Celaena showed a ruthless side to her that's dark and frightening, and she also showed an inherently good side to her. Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Guard, improved a lot too. Obviously, he doesn't try to be broody and might not even be aware of it. He has a sense of humor that's different from Celaena's dry, sarcastic wit. And he's in a very hard position as to where his loyalties lie, and he seriously needed a hug towards the end. (It's okay we offer free hugs.) As for Dorian, Crown Prince of Adarlan, one of the twists about him didn't really surprise me, because there was a lot of foreshadowing leading up to it. And he grew, too: "So Dorian closed his eyes, and took another long breath. And when he opened his eyes, he let her go." These three characters, although the main ones, aren't the only ones that were written this well. Nehemia, Archer, even Ress. The writing of these characters exceeds that of almost every other book I've ever read, even those I love just for the characters, because I can imagine Celaena and Dorian and Chaol in our world, as real people.

Normally, for me, one element of the story is the best part, but I have to say, I enjoyed the plot as much as the characters. At the beginning of the book, it was ordinary, engaging Sarah J. Maas writing. Then, as the book progressed, there were plot twists and secrets and things we knew and things we didn't know, but they were so enthralling. Another writer with the same idea could easily have written it to be unmoving. The last half of the book, though, is what made me absolutely love it. Especially the ending. . . I suspected what Celaena told Chaol, but I didn't think it would actually happen. It was more of a fantasy formed by the slight foreshadowing. And then a certain something happened, and I never expected it, and I'm dying to know how it's carried out. When I finished the book, I wanted to scream.

I understand now how this is a fantasy epic and not just a fantasy. The next book will definitely be very interesting: "And she didn't know how she would do it, or how long it would take, but she would see it through. Because it was time."

Recommended for fans of Kristin Cashore's "Graceling" and "Fire." If you haven't read "Throne of Glass," read it. And then read "Crown of Midnight." Because this is one of those rare occasions where the second book surpasses the first by leaps and bounds. I finished it in one day, staying up until 2:00, and it was worth it.

This book earns the rare and well-deserved 4 stars.
 

Endless by Jessica Shirvington

  "Even the greatest bringers of justice will only find salvation in surrender."

We got a recommendation for The Ghost and the Goth, but we couldn't find it, sorry!
Instead, we decided to do "Endless," by Jessica Shirvington. It's the fourth book in the Violet Eden Chapters, for those of you who've never heard of the series. Please note that this review may contain some spoilers for those of you who haven't read the past books. Violet Eden is a Grigori, part angel and part human. She's juggling a billion different things due to plot twists in the previous books.

Cover: The cover was a picture of Violet so I can't really judge that. It looks pleasant.

On to the characters, would it be bad if I said my favorite character was Phoenix? Because honestly, he's one of the best written character I've ever read. He wasn't a flat cardboard image with one side. He had reasons for being the way he was and an actual character that had different faces to it. I've always really liked him, but after reading this  book, I absolutely love him. Violet toughened out a lot in this one, too. In the first book, I didn't like her all that much, but she shows depth and strength in this one, as well as an understanding most YA female leads don't have: 'Nothing is endless.' As for Lincoln - I've never really liked Lincoln. He's an okay person, but I can't really tell anything about him. All I know is that Violet loves him, but why? I can't help but think that was only because of their - I don't want to spoil anything - connection. He wasn't a well-written character. I liked Spence a lot, although he wasn't original. Griff, Steph, Salvatore, and Zoe, were all the supporting characters and they were written well too, if not amazing. Phoenix, Lincoln, and Violet mostly pulled the story, though. The other characters weren't as much involved in this one. And the plot was good, but I think this story mostly revolved around the characters.

The ending was amazing. I loved it! I'm sure a lot of people will be unsatisfied with it, but it was original and had a sense of finality and I'm afraid it's going to be undone and all those unsatisfied people.


Now just give me a second to say, Oh, Phoenix. Why?

So for those of you who gave up on the third book because it was unoriginal and rather boring, push on! You will be rewarded! And for those of you who've never read the series, read it. You'll be rewarded, too, I promise. There is a reason this book was given a 4.7 star rating on Goodreads, people. It's by far the best book of the series.

So, while the plot was unremarkable and the setting wasn't anything special, this is a story about the characters and for that, we'll round it up.

  3.5 stars-we recommend this to fans of Supernatural and YA fiction.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."

For a classic, this book was good. Great plot but it was a little slow with the plot line, but that is to be expected for a classic.


Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed. -Goodreads summary

For some reason, I had this urge to read a classic book. As recommended from one of my friends I decided on Jane Eyre. I didn't enjoy this as much as other classics I have read-mainly because of the slow plot line. One of the good things was that it wasn't as verbose as most classics. Jane Eyre was amazingly written with great in-depth characters. Some people argue that this book wasn't a romance novel because the book was about Jane's life but I believe that it is a romance novel because all the things that happen in Jane's life lead or relate to her romance with Mr. Rochester. For instance when she was young she misbehaves so she is put in a room where she sees a ghost and when she is with Mr. Rochester she sees a "ghost." 

Cover: It wasn't that bad! Keep in mind the book was a classic. 

The setting: I could truly feel as if I was there in the Rochester manor with Jane. It was written so well! The mysteriousness of the house was a great addition to the plot. 

The plot: Usually I can guess the plot of most of the books out here today. But the thing I love about classics is that it is really hard to. I couldn't guess the plot and that's what made me like this book. The plot twists were great even though there was a lot of time between them.

The characters were the best part in the book. It was great always knowing how they felt because they were all easily readable (other than Rochester.) For both of us, we had a strong disliking for Mr. Rochester *Spoiler* because who a) locks their wife in a attic, b) never tells the love of his life that he even had a wife? *End spoiler* He was also very moody and that was annoying because he wasn't readable so you didn't know what he was thinking. And his moodiness did nothing to help the book. He was written well and his character was thought through. As for Jane, she was very sensible and she was a strong female character for realizing that a) bigamy is illegal and b) leaving Rochester because of it. One thing that bugged me was when Jane got inheritance from her uncle and she was ok to stop working and live a carefree life. I know that's what they did back then when they were rich, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Jane didn't do anything to get the money, (yes she did deserve it) and then she uses it like Monopoly money. She could have donated it to the school she attended (it was funded by donations) or done something useful with it. After all, she knows what it's like being poor. 

So,  I did enjoy the plot twists, the main characters and the writing style. The long, sometimes boring plot was disappointing. So would I recommend this book? Yes, I give it a 3 star rating. 

Expressing our thoughts

At DansLesLivres it is important to us that you have the ability to talk about books. You can use our Chat About Books tab to discuss what is happening in your book currently, recommend a book, discuss characters or to just talk. You can also invite others to join in. So if you're looking forward to any new books and need someone to fangirl about them with, speculate about possible plots, gush about characters, rant about things authors do to their poor readers, or just express excitement that would be frightening to others about upcoming books, talk to us! We understand book-caused insanity and partake in it daily.  You need a Chatroll account to chat, if you don't have one they are free to make! 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

     Okay, so we decided to review "Saving Francesca," by Melina Marchetta. This book is about a girl named Francesca (obviously; the book isn't called "Saving Jessica" or something) who goes to a school that was previously all guys - so she's alone, with only a small crowd of other girls to call friends; a depressed mother who was formerly the most collected person Francesca knew; and a slight crush on a guy named Will Trombal who works with her to get the girls at their school more rights and may or may not like her. *Side note* the names are unusual in this book... Francesca? Trombal? that's different.

One fun quote: “Do you think I look like Sophia Loren?” I ask him as we get into the car.
“I used to tell your mother she looked like Sophia Loren.” He looks at me, frowning, and then it registers. “Oh God, some guy’s using that line on you, isn’t he?”

The cover: can a cover get negative stars? Like honestly? What's up with the cover's boring colors and not
that great drawing?

Everything that happened in this book could have really happened to a normal person. I wouldn't be surprised if Francesca was a real girl. Her problems with her mother, her frustration for her dad, her confusion over Will, her grudging friendships with the guys at St. Sebastian's, her group of friends who were all unique characters, and her struggles and realizations were all realistic. In this book more than most others, the supporting characters were well-developed. Francesca could be really likable at times, too (when she corrected Will about the author of "Anna Karenina.") Which was nice but that was the only time she showed her smart side.

Arya liked what happened with Will, though. It was realistic. And the ending was very nice, too. (This might not be relevant, but Luca seems adorable.)

Gabby was not as happy. Will just wasn't described well enough. I need to know more about him and so does Francesca. How did she even have a crush on him if she didn't know anything about him? And what we do see of him, he seems like a weak character. He didn't seem like a suitable love interest.

Sooooo. 2.5 stars.

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

      So, when we got a request for chick-lit, our first thought was Sarah Dessen. We went ahead and review "This Lullaby." It's about a girl named Remy. She has a cynical view about love, because her mother is constantly getting divorced and remarried. In her words, she has "made a career out of it." Even her father, a man she never met, left her behind, writing her a song called "This Lullaby" to explain it. Then Remy meets Dexter, who's a musician and has had even more stepfathers than she had, and he slowly starts to change her mind about love.

Cover: Well. I actually liked this cover. It wasn't spectacular, but it was original. Applause. I like how the heart isn't perfect and is slightly damaged. The cover actually relates to the story. I know! *GASP!*  

This book was beautiful. It was a simple story, but Sarah Dessen made it amazing. Remy is a believable character, and although she had a lot of faults, it was really easy to like her. She finds herself breaking all her rules for Dexter (no musicians, no food in the car, don't share anything real) and she has no idea why. Dexter, on the other hand, is easy-going and persistent, jokingly telling her she loves him. It's easy to see why Remy likes him. The characters around Remy were good, too. Her brother, Chris, who used to share her view on love but now looks down on her for them; her friends, Lissa and Jess, with different views on love that are equally believable; and her mother, who is the reason Remy lacks any faith in love.

The only problem - and it wasn't even a problem, just a slight curiosity - is why Chloe shares the same views as Remy. What happened to make her just as cynical? While the other characters had depth, we found ourselves wondering about Chloe. This didn't detract from the story, however, and it is easy to overlook.

So, 3.5 stars for this one. Sarah Dessen is an incredibly talented writer, and this is a beautiful story.