Review: A Sea of Stars

Title: Sea of Stars

Author: Amy A. Bartol

Series: The Kricket Series

Publisher: 47North

Genre: YA

320 pages

Release Date: March 2015

Eighteen-year-old Kricket Hollowell was looking for her place in the world when she discovered that the universe was bigger—and more dangerous—than she had ever dreamed. Now, whisked across space to the planet Ethar, Kricket learns that her genetic ability to see the future makes her a sought-after commodity…and the catalyst for war between her star-crossed parents’ clans. According to Alameedan prophecy, one house will rise to power and the other will be completely wiped out, and Kricket’s precognition is believed to be the weapon that will tip the scales.

A target of both the Rafe and the Alameeda houses, Kricket finds protection—and a home—in the arms of Trey, her Etharian bodyguard-turned-boyfriend. But her visions of what’s to come disturb her deeply, especially since she must discover whether the gift of foresight will allow her to rewrite the future, or if her fate is as immovable as the stars.

-taken from Goodreads

This is the second book in The Kricket Series. I read the first one, Under Different Stars, months ago and really enjoyed it. It led me to read Bartol's Premonition series, which is all about angels and fallen angels and lots of other creatures, but I personally think The Kricket Series is a lot better. It's better written with stronger characters and just feels like the author didn't have to work so hard make a YA book relatable to teens.

The story involves a sister planet in another dimension that's similar to Earth. I loved the terminology Bartol came up with for this other world's vocabulary. There are lots of slang words and I can't even imagine how she came up with them. I love Kricket and her whole attitude of not allowing things to just happen to her. She takes control of her life as much as possible and gives in to circumstances when she knows she needs to.

This particular book, as opposed to the first book in the series, is packed with action. Literally packed. I think at least the first half of the book is nonstop craziness with no breaks in between. It was good in that it was fast paced but I almost had to sigh with relief when Kricket finally got a break from running around and got to relax for a just a second. Still, at least it didn't fall into the Middle Book Syndrome category. I enjoyed it just as much as the first, the storyline wasn't weak, and I can't wait for the last one to come out!

Review: Overseas

Title: Overseas
Author: Beatriz Williams
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Genre: Romance
464 pages
Release Date: May 10, 2012

When twenty-something Wall Street analyst Kate Wilson attracts the notice of the legendary Julian Laurence at a business meeting, no one’s more surprised than she is...Why would this handsome British billionaire—Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor—pursue a pretty but bookish young banker who hasn’t had a boyfriend since college? The answer is beyond imagining . . . at least at first. Kate and Julian’s story may have begun not in the moneyed world of twenty-first-century Manhattan but in France during World War I, when a mysterious American woman emerged from the shadows of the Western Front to save the life of Captain Julian Laurence Ashford, a celebrated war poet and infantry officer. Now, in modern-day New York, Kate and Julian must protect themselves from the secrets of the past, and trust in a true love that transcends time and space.

-taken from Goodreads

I've had this book on my to-read list for a while, simply because I love time traveling stories. However, I'm also very picky about time travel novels because they can so easily be done wrong. Time travel is tricky.

I know that it's technically impossible* in and of itself, but I don't like it when a book gets it wrong, when the time traveling doesn't make sense. Although Overseas keeps its timelines in order, it does the other two things I don't like in time travel novels: when the characters don't seem to understand it and when the how of it, the explanation for it, makes no sense.

Without spoiling the plot, in case anyone does decide to read this book, the characters make choices to try and change events, even though, if they were successful, it would make sense that they would suddenly lose certain memories,etc. For some reason, the characters don't seem to grasp this and continue to forge headlong into crazy plans that could affect them in way they don't think about that should be obvious.

The romance of it is weak. Julian is a bit overdone - a strange mix of some Jane Austen hero and Edward from Twilight with his flowery words and control issues. Kate was annoying in her hesitance to commit. Their relationship felt forced and not very believable.

Basically, Overseas felt like a letdown for me. It had a lot of potential and didn't deliver. However, I wouldn't say for sure not to read it - the basic story is a fun idea and just because I'm neurotic about time traveling, that doesn't mean everyone is. And hey, if people like the romance of Twilight, it's likely they'll like the romance of Overseas.

*for now...right? RIGHT?

Buy it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Review: It Had to Be Him

Title: It Had to Be HimSeries: It Had to Be Series
Author: Tamra Baumann
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Genre: Romance
278 pages
Release Date: April 2015

Even though Meg Anderson’s hell-raising days are over, coming home to Anderson Butte isn’t easy, especially when her impossible-to-please dad is the mayor and her do-gooder siblings run the place. But with another job lost and the gorgeous father of her daughter trying to make contact after disappearing three years ago, a break is definitely in order. Hopefully the little town filled with big, juicy secrets can help.

After being off the grid for years, Josh Granger, a man with his own secrets, wants Meg and his daughter back. But first he has to get past townspeople as protective as a pack of rottweilers. He’s not the man Meg thinks he is, but he can’t tell her why…not yet.

As Meg slowly warms to Josh, it’s clear the old spark is still there. But when his secret is exposed—along with Meg’s own shocking revelation—will it tear their family apart again, or bind them forever?

-taken from Goodreads

I'm kind of weird about the order in which I read books. If I read a complex mystery or something really heavy and dark, then I can't just switch to a YA novel or a comedy memoir immediately after that. For some reason in my brain, making that switch harms my perception of the lighter/younger stuff, so that's where romance novels come in.

Romance novels are my palette cleanser.

Now I'm not trying to be rude to romance novels so let me also say I LOVE romance novels. That's pretty much all I read growing up (my grandmother ran her church library and clean romance novels are the heart's blood of church libraries) and I still read a lot of them. They're the perfect escape from reality - they're usually light fluffy reads intended to have a feel-good ending.

Anyway, after reading the long epic novel, Kushiel's Dart, I needed a palette cleanser so I downloaded It Had to Be Him from Amazon's Kindle First program. It was very cute - what really made it stand out to me was the variety of unique characters. Meg's gun-toting grandmother is hilarious and doesn't hesitate to shoot trespassers - even if the trespassers are part of her family. Meg has a strained relationship with her father, and yet fixing that relationship isn't really a focus in the story. Her siblings are all very protective of each other in very different ways - all in all, I just really loved everyone. I'll probably be looking into books in the same series in the future.



Buy it: Amazon (free with Kindle Unlimited!), Barnes and Noble