Mean Spirits & Young Blood (The Mediator) By Meg Cabot

Title: Mean Spirits & Young Blood (The Mediator)

Author: Meg Cabot

Publisher: Macmillan

Page Count:  437

Publication Date: 2010

Synopsis:

Meet Susannah Simon: she's a typical teenage girl who just happens to be a ghost-hunter ...oh, and she's also dead-over-heels for Jesse - the sexiest spook ever! But can this girl get her ghost? In "Mean Spirits", Suze is all set to spend a relaxing summer on the beach, until she runs into the vengeful ghosts of four high-school students. She must use her mediating skills to guide these ghouls through the afterlife and stop them wreaking havoc in the present. In "Young Blood", Suze is heartbroken when gorgeous ghost Jesse doesn't seem to love her back. When his 150-year-old grave is unearthed in her backyard, she is determined to discover how and why he died. But one thing's for sure - digging up the past can be a deadly business…

What I thought:

Well this is in a way the second book whilst also being the third and fourth. I always enjoy reading about Suze’s crazy ghost adventures where she has to fight off some supernatural baddies so this was a comfortable read. By this point I’d realised that in each book she has a new love interest (that isn’t Jesse) and she ends up either being stalked by him or having to politely turn him down. At first I had fun trying to guess which one they were going to be but it soon got quite repetitive and none of them were particularly likeable which I suppose was the idea and a way of making us like Jesse more.

I like the action scenes much more than when we were just hearing Suze’s thoughts because as independent Suze is when she isn’t in combat with a ghost she’s actually quite boring.

Suze makes a few odd decisions in this book. Mostly because this far into the series we think we can read and predict her actions but then she does something crazy that likens her to some of the same baddies she’s trying to rid the world of. Of course not all the ghosts are bad guys but the majority we meet aren’t that friendly. I enjoyed this book for the most part and I felt like it was a decent, quick read that would keep you entertained if you’re looking for something to fill that supernatural void in your life.

Rating: 3/5

I'm Booked! has 100 Followers!

Yay. I'm Booked! has finally reached 100 followers!

Thanks to everyone who followed, commented or even took a few seconds to look at my blog. It means alot.

I'd do a give away but I can't think of anything to give away. Maybe I'll have something when/if I ever reach 200.

Thanks again, Lettora.

Got Caged? Interview with Amber Lynn Natusch

Today on I’m Booked! You will be making a gentle stop on the Got Caged? blog tour where I will be hosting an interview with the author of the series, Amber Lynn Natusch. For those who have been following the tour or who have indeed read or heard of the book, this is great chance to find out something new about the series and its writer. If this is the first time you’ve seen this title then this is also great, if you’re looking for a new book to read.

So let the questions begin!

What inspired you to write this series?

 Pregnancy hormones, insane dreams, and a challenge set forth by my office manager. The best way to get me to do something is to tell me that I can't.

It all started from there and snowballed into me becoming an Indie author and trying to sort out how to fit this new career into my life.

How did you decide on the title Caged?

The title came from a recurring theme in the first book as well as the overall series. It's both literal and metaphoric, and I think it sets the tone well for what readers who purchase it will be in for.

What are some of your favourite books?

Fever series by Karen Marie Moning

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (the first 3 books in particular as the series is losing its edge for me)

Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss (I think it has a great message for kids AND adults)

What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Finding time. I run a health care practice with my husband and have a two-year-old son. Writing time consists of me locking myself in my bathroom for the most part :)

If you could meet any of your characters who would it be?

Yikes! Tough question... I would want to pick many of them for various reasons, but, in the end, I would pick Sean. He's enigmatic, impossible to read, and plays it close to the chest. I think I would want to meet him most because I need to see if I could handle him any better than the other characters in my series. Of course, I think I'm going to be able to deal with him without issue, but, in reality, I'm not so sure that's the case. He's a cagey bugger for sure, and even I, with my inflated sense of confidence, might be in over my head.

- End of Interview

I think I was a bit mean with the last question. I know if I wrote a book I would have trouble answering it. But now you know a little about Amber Lynn Natusch what do you think?

Are you 'Caged'?

Love You to Death & High Stakes (The Mediator) by Meg Cabot

Title: Love You to Death & High Stakes (The Mediator)

Author: Meg Cabot

Publisher: Macmillan

Page Count:  410

Publication Date: 2010

Synopsis:

Meet Susannah Simon: she's a typical teenage girl, who just happens to be a ghost-hunter ...oh, and she's also dead-over-heels for Jesse - the sexiest spook ever! But can this girl get her ghost? In "Love You to Death", Suze arrives in California and has barely unpacked when her mediator skills are put to the test. A vicious spirit in her new school is hell-bent on making her life a complete nightmare, but Suze is more than ready to kick some serious ghost butt if she has to. In "High Stakes", Suze's new life is looking up - cool friends, pool parties and getting to know Jesse (swoon), but then a desperate spirit asks for her help. Suddenly she's on the trail of a creepy local businessman, who just might be a vampire. Life just got dead complicated. Again.

What I thought:

Well there were two books put together here and I actually enjoyed reading them both as they were fast paced and the story lines were quite exciting. In the first we meet Suze, a girl who father died ten years ago and whose mother is remarrying, she is no ordinary teenager because she can see ghosts. At the start I quite liked Suze, she was self-dependent  and smart. But then she moves from New York to Carmel, California where she meets Jesse.

Yes, he’s a ghost. An attractive ghost at that which means Suze must become defensive around him while she denies she might like him. But Jesse actually lives in Suze’s room which probably gives her a pretty good reason for behaving that way. Their relationship is difficult to define because of two things: Jesse is a ghost and Suze should really exorcize him or at least help him find peace due to her being a mediator and all. But of course this is easier said than done.

She has three step brothers who all have distinct personalities, like the seven dwarfs as they’re often compared to only there are less of them. They were your classic annoying siblings that occasionally give you a heart warming-moment, so nothing new there although did find the eldest particularly irritating which I suppose was the idea. The story itself was decent and the writing was quite good so overall I would recommend this to anyone who has an affinity for ghosts.

Rating: 3/5

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Title: The Rise of Nine

Author: Pittacus Lore

Publisher: Penguin

Page Count:  360

Publication Date: August 21^st 2012

Obtained: Received from the publisher

Synopsis:

Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive.

Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others. . . .

I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others--including John.

But so are they.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They caught me in New York--but I escaped.
I am Number Six.
They want to finish what they started.
But they'll have to fight us first

What I thought:

Well the start of this book was quite slowly paced which I’ve become used to with the Lorien Legacies series. There wasn’t an obvious plot to begin with but I assumed the book was carrying on from where it left of in The Power of Six. I like how we were seeing more of the other characters and less of John/Four who I found annoying due to his lack of common sense and what I felt was out of character behaviour.

The combat scenes have improved since the first and second book but are still a bit difficult to follow. At times I felt they were either too vague or overly detailed which can be frustrated when you’re trying to picture anything, let alone a battle scene.

As for Nine himself, I wasn’t sure about him in this book. At the end of the last book he appeared to be to most interesting character and admittedly I was excited to be seeing more of him. The problem was that he seemed to be too similar to John personality wise, albeit more knowledgeable, and he was more of a ‘Sam replacement’ than his own character.

I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t love it either. One thing I will say is that as the series has progressed, the books have improved and they are quite enjoyable to read if you’re quite partial to a blood thirsty alien so if this looks like your kind of book, you should give it a try.

Rating: 2.5/5

Pure by Julianna Baggott

Title: Pure

Author: Julianna Baggott

Publisher: Headline

Page Count:  480

Publication Date: February 8^th 2012

Synopsis:

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

What I thought:

Pure’s your regular dystopian novel set in a sombre, disturbing post-apocalyptic world where people have been disfigured or have mutated beyond humanity. We mainly follow the lives of Pressia and Partridge whom, at the start of the novel, live two very different lives.

Firstly, this isn’t a bad book, it just isn’t great. It’s one of those stories where you can see the potential but for whatever reason it doesn’t quite reach it. The main problem with this story is the plot. There isn’t really a story here and frustratingly there are certain things which are never properly explained, like the OSR. Maybe I missed the part where we were told what they actually stood for. It seems like the writer has too many ideas but there isn’t enough space in the novel to execute them all.

The front of the edition I bought say’s ‘Love The Hunger Games Love Pure’. Well I did love The Hunger Games but I can’t say the same for Pure. Which brings me onto another point, The Hunger Games - it is not. There was way too much unnecessary and often unexplained violence. I expected the book to be a little gruesome but when it came down to the actual killings everything seemed too forced. This is in a sense a coming of age novel and as Pressia turns sixteen the OSR come after her to recruit her which leads to her getting her hands on some weaponry that she can't bring her herself to use on an old acquaintance. Oddly later in the story she doesn’t think twice to end someone’s misery – that someone being a character closer to her in certain respects.

I still don’t feel like I know who Partridge or Pressia are which is why some of their actions can be a surprise but at certain parts of the novel, as we were going from one person’s view to the other, I felt like they were the same person. Because of the characters and the lack of a proper plot I couldn’t really get into this novel the way I would another and so I couldn’t really enjoy it.

Rating: 3/5