Review: XVI by Julia Karr

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer. (from goodreads)

XVI was one dystopian that I have been waiting for for a long time. I was pleased to finally be able to read it and find that it was as enjoyable as I had hoped.

XVI focuses on Nina, a soon to be sixteen year old girl. her father is believed to be dead and her mother is with an abusive man. The story mainly focuses on Nina's adventure of finding out the truth about the society she lives in and all the secrets that her family held. It was very enjoyable for the most parts, though it does seem to drw on the "oppresive government" theme, as most dystopians seem to do. Also, around halfway through the book, I found myself not wanting to read the book much. It became slow and for some reason I felt univolved. Luckily, soon after the slump, the story picked up and threw us right back into the action. Overall, it was a fun ride that I think fans of dystopian novels wil enjoy. 3.5/5

For the most part, I loved most of the characters. Nina was probably my favorite. She was strong and independent, and she didn't let people push her around. She was likeable and funny and I enjoyed reading from her perspective. Wei and Sal, Nina's friends, were also great. They were well developed and smart. My one complaint is some of Nina's other friends- Mike, Sandy, and Derek. I didn't feel as if they were very well developed, and while they were not as much of a main focus as the other characters, I still wish we felt more involved with them. 4/5

I loved the world that Nina lived in. It was a great dystopian concept, a world where girls over 16 are free to have sex with whoever wants to. It was concerning and disturbing, but it was very creative. The futuristic setting of Chicago was great and there was plenty of variety in the places that the characters traveled to. It was highly enjoyable. 5/5

I really enjoyed the writing! I felt involved with Nina through most of the book. When things happened to her, I felt for her. Some points in the book had me feeling so strongly for the characters I was close to tears, which was great. Though it was slow at points, overall, Ms. Karr did a great job and I am looking out for more from her. 4/5

Overall, 16.5/20. I really did enjoy the book, and i hope to see a sequel sometime soon! I want to find out more of what happens after the cliffhanger of an ending Ms. Karr left us with! I recommend it to fans of dystopian novels, as it is a great one. Oh, and I also want to warn about the high sexual content in the novel. If you are okay with sexual situations, then go ahead, but consider your self warned.

IMM Vlog #1

A Beautiful Dark- Jocelyn Davies

Cold Kiss- Amy Garvey

Deadly Cool- Gemma Halliday

Enthralled- Paranormal Diversions- Various authors

Frost- Marianna Baer

Vanish- Sopie Jordan

The Carrier of the Mark- Leigh Fallon

Supernaturally- Kiersten White

Possess- Gretchen McNeil

Between- Cyndi Teft

The Beginning of After- Jennifer Castle

Dark Eden- Patrick Carmen

Variant- Robinson Wells

Swag:

Tattoos and boomark form Gretchen McNeil- Thanks Gretchen!

Also:

Thanks Cyndi!

Thanks Harper Collins

Mentioned:

Sonny From http://sonnyinkdout.blogspot.com

Trailer: Enclave By Ann Aguirre

Enclave is one book I have been looking forward to for a long time, and the trailer makes me want to read it even more! It looks exciting! I hope you guys enjoyed it, as it is pretty awesome!

Oh, and here is a summary of Enclave:

"New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters—or Freaks—who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs. As the two are guided by Fade’s long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they’ve ever known."

Review: Wake Unto Me By Lisa Cach

A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school. There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School. And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy. (From goodreads)

I revieved this ARC free from Speak/Penguin in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way altered my opinion.

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach was a very refreshing read. It centers on Caitlyn, a 15 year old girl plagued by nightmares of monstrous creatures. Soon she is sent to a castle in France, Chateau de la Fortune, where things start to get pretty weird.

From the description of Wake Unto Me, I thought it was just going to be ‘a girl falls in love with a ghost and no one else sees him’. But it wasn’t. Wake Unto Me was a very refreshing paranormal romance that puts a new spin on ghosts. The story is enticing and pulls you in pretty much from the beginning. We follow Caitlyn as she moves from Oregon to France, where she is enrolling in the Fortune School. Soon, the dreams that she has always had become more vivid and realistic, with the focus of them happening right there at the castle Caitlyn is living in. She needs to figure out why these dreams are coming to her, and what the secret behind the castle really is. It had everything you could want, action, romance, and ghosts. The story switched around a lot, focusing on Caitlyn when she is living at school and on Caitlyn when she is in her dreams. I really liked the way it switched. It was great and I really hope we get to see more of the crazy things going on at the Fortune School in the future. 5/5

One word: France. I loved the setting of this book! CASTLES! IN FRANCE!!!!!! What more could I want? I love foreign settings, as I believe I have said in past reviews, and this one was no exception. Medieval castles with secrets from millennia ago? Yes please! I don’t really know what else to say. It was amazing. I want more reads with castles in the now. 5/5

The characters actually didn’t really turn out as great as I had hoped. Caitlyn, in the beginning, just didn’t interest me. She seemed boring and she seemed to be one of those typical “woe is me, I have been through so much and my life is terrible” girls. In the beginning she was. She just didn’t grab my attention. Luckily, she got better by the time the story really got rolling, and I began to find myself liking her more and more. By the end, Caitlyn became a strong character that I really enjoyed reading about. The same applies for the other characters. They didn’t interest me much at first. My favorites were probably Ammalia and Naomi. They were both great friends and awesome supporting characters. Raphael just didn’t really stand out at first, he just seemed boring, but as his relationship with Caitlyn grew, I began to like his character more and more. In the end, I really liked them all, so I’m not complaining! 4/5

I am not to sure how I feel about the writing. It was very good and very descriptive, but there was just something… different. I think it might have been the writing style. It was written in third person, which tends not to be my favorite perspective. It was good, but it just makes it harder to relate to the characters and the situations in my opinion. It did seem to make me feel a little less involved, but overall, it was good, and I look forward to more by Ms. Cach. 3.5/5

So, overall, 17.5/20. I really did enjoy this book a lot because it takes a different route than most paranormal books these days. I will definitely be picking up more by Lisa in the future, and I can say that I am really hoping there is a sequel, as I want to find out more about the mysteries of the fortune school!

In My Mailbox #6

Strangely, my computer messed up the way the pictures are showing up on here, but here are the pictures of what I got the past few weeks. I wanted to do an IMM but I don't have anything to record video :(

At Borders I bought:

Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Darkside By Beth Fantaskey

Touching Darkness By Scott Westerfeld

Then I went to a signing for Kim Harrington and bought

Bloodfever By Karen Marie Moning

Clarity (signed) By Kim Harrington

Then from Penguin/Speak, I recieved for review:

Wake Unto Me (arc) By Lisa Cach

I also got assorted swag from Kim Harrington, who is awesome! She gave me a bag with a bunch of signed stuff, which some of it I will be giving away. Thanks Kim!

At the signing, I also met Dawn Metcalf, who gave me a Luminous bookmark. Thanks Dawn!

I also got a signed Sweet Venom bookmark from DforDarla's Definite Reads, so thanks Darla!

And finally, I recieved the prize I won from the Read Chat Love chat with Jennifer L. Armentrout, which was a beautiful signed bookmark and two equally beautiful Half-Blood guitar picks! Thanks Jen and Read.Chat.Love.!

OH, and also for review, I recieved an ebook of Paradox: The Angels are Here By Patti Roberts, so thanks Patti!

I hope you guys had an awesome week for books, and let me know what you got in the comments! Thanks guys!