Carrie's Abridged Reviews (2)

Okay guys are you ready for another round of abridged reviews? Here goes…

Graceling by Kristin Cashore – 5 hearts

Loved this book sooooo much! Kristin has created such wonderful characters; strong and fierce yet vulnerable and flawed. The story is well written, well-paced and shows a wide range of depth. We see the characters grow and relationships form and we get lots of great action along the way. Can't wait to start Fire now!

Side note: I listened to the audio book and I thought the narration was excellent. It was done by a cast so each character had their own unique voice. It was perfect!

Fire by Kristin Cashore – 2 hearts

I loved Graceling so much and couldn't wait to start Fire. When I started I didn't realize that Fire was a prequel to Graceling and that there would be all new characters in this one. With that aside I was intrigued to see how the stories would intertwine. However, I just couldn't get into this one. I felt like I was constantly waiting for something exciting to happen and I just didn't fall in love with any of the characters like I did in Graceling. Sigh. Fingers crossed that Bitterblue takes me back to the series I fell in love with.


The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab – 3 hearts

Victoria's writing style is reminiscent of old fairytales and folklore of old. The writing is definitely what kept me reading. I found the pacing however a bit slow. It seemed to take a long time to get to the end and then the end was gone in a flash. I guess I was hoping for a bit more. The same can be said for the characters of Cole and Lexi.

Heist Society by Ally Carter – 4 hearts

A fun read indeed. Ocean's Eleven style with teens. Cool characters, interesting plot and great pacing.

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr – 3 hearts

I adored How to Save a Life so I was excited to read this one. I love Sara Zarr's writing and her honest dialogue but man this book is sad. I had a very hard time relating to the main character Deanna as well. These are just my initial thoughts however so I'm going to think on it some more.


First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky – 4 hearts

It's always a good sign when a book makes me cry! I like being emotionally invested in the outcome of the story. These characters pulled at my heartstrings for sure!

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman – 5 hearts

I think this book has it all; mystery, intrigue, action and suspense. Great character and plot development. The story sucked me in from the first line and didn't disappoint. People are describing it as a YA Da Vinci Code and I can see why. On a side note: I listened to the audio book and I thought the narrator did an excellent job with the different languages as well as her accents. I highly recommend this one!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth – 4 hearts

Another fast paced & wild ride. I wish I had re-read Divergent before hand as I was a little confused at the beginning also I will freely admit that the dynamic between Four and Tris drove me slightly bananas in this book. Just sayin! I personally liked Divergent better but Insurgent had a lot to live up to. Don't get me wrong, I was thoroughly entertained and I can't wait to see what the next installment has in store for us.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles – 4 hearts 

A really great story with interesting and complex characters. Loved the romance and sexy times, I can't help it...I'm a girl! I will definitely be reading more from this author soon.