A Lady Never Starts A Fight, But She'll Finish It

Harper Price has everything- she's super smart and the president of practically every club/ association, she's popular with a super hot boyfriend, and she is a shoo in for Homecoming Queen this year. Perfect. Except when the janitor dies and passes on his magic powers to her. And then she is forced to kill her history teacher with her brand new powers.
Harper soon discovers she has been given the powers of a Paladin, a guardian who must protect the Oracle at all cost. And her Oracle...her arch enemy since grade school- David. With the help of her Cotillion trainer and Mage (who maintains the balance between Oracle and Paladin), Saylor, Harper begins to realize the ancient ties that unite all three of these powers, and she might even be thinking about David a little too often. But there are people who want David dead, and worse. With the knowledge they all possess, Harper must find the the evil and protect David at all cost, even if it means risking her life.

This is one of those moments I judged a book by its cover. But come on- it is pretty :). Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins takes place in the south, so one can get the whole feel of this overly dressed, overly polished, and overly polite world. I felt it was perfect because it added a little charm, which is always nice when reading high school realistic fiction. Harper is the typical popular girl, but she's not mean girls. Her sister was killed in a car accident, and Harper tries to overachieve in order to escape the hole she feels.
As the story goes on- the Paladin, Oracle, Mage paranormal creatures do seem interesting. It fits, no matter how crazy, and it doesn't feel forced. As the novel goes on you get a good balance of the life Harper desperately is trying to hold onto and the life she might have to give up to save David. Harper is not a push over, but she is typical Susie High School. It gets a little fluff-ish- but once the end comes it is unexpected and completely twisted.
The author did a nice job of connecting the two, but let's say what it really is- a quick fluff read with a
little splash of paranormal elements.
I thought it was entertaining; I will definitely read the next in the series, but it is not to be confused with  Infinite or Chemical Gardens Trilogy. Rebel Belle is cute, fun, and yes, a little risque. Worth a read if you need a filler between series, or you are just looking for a quick pick me up.

It's The Only Way I Can Stop the Whispers...

Alyssa's grandmother, Alice, went insane after she "came back through the rabbit hole." These dream sequences were laughed off by all, but unfortunately landed her in the mental institution. Before she passed, Alice said that it was a family curse and all the women would succumb to this mental state. So it was really no surprise when Alyssa's mother, Allison, ended up mentally unstable. However, once Alyssa turns ten and she begins hearing bugs, she is terrified that this may be her curse as well.

Upon visiting her mother in the hospital years later, Alyssa is terrified when a dark force appears to be desperately trying to silence her mother, and she knows it has something to do with the curse surrounding her family. Her father is not buying into the curse angle, so he thinks it may be time to up Allison's medical attention and schedules her for electro-shock therapy. Despreate to try to get some answers and save her mother's mental state, Alyssa begins to dig deeper and try to solve this "wonderland" case.

As Alyssa sees into her past, she recognizes a dark figure that keeps pulling her back. In her memories, this feels familiar. It seems she has already been here; already been apart of the dream. Once she finds the portal to Wonderland, she knows this is her destiny. As she steps through, she knows she must save her mother and help to restore the wrongdoings in Wonderland. But, when Jeb, long time crush and best friend, leaps through the portal to help protect Alyssa, they both find themselves in a misguided world, with a possibility of never getting home.

Splintered by A.G Howard was really interesting. It did a great job of weaving in the Alice and Wonderland tale, and creating a whole gothic world surrounding it. It took me a while to read this one, not because it was bad, but because it was more complex than I expected. Being that the only free reading I do is at the gym, this one took some thinking. At times I felt it slipped a little too much into a typical romance; Jeb's love for her shines through and he is always acting as protector. There are points of the story that revolve too heavily on their suppressed romance for each other, and I think these were the points that were kind of off putting. I love a romance as much as anyone, but some parts seemed like it pulled back into the teenage "soft core porn" just for the sake of doing it. Plus, when the knight in shining armor seems too good to be true, it turns unrealistic.

However, Howard pulled me back in with the dark fantasy that is Wonderland. There are sexy, dark characters involved in this world, and Alyssa has to discover that she is part of this. There are parts of her that belong, and that is scary to her and to the existence of the this realm. The journey was not at all expected, but the end turned out somewhat how I imagined. The great part of this book was truly the whole back story of Wonderland. It adds in a new creepy factor to the whole Lewis Carrol story, and I think if you go in thinking and hoping for that, then you won't be disappointed. Look past the coincidences and easy escapes, and just take in the landscape and the darkness following.

True Love's Kiss May Prove Deadly...

Mira's sixteenth birthday is approaching, but the only thing she wants is to find out what happened to her parents. Her god parents are so wonderful, but Mira has so many questions about her parents' passing, the old town they were from, and why she has this strange birth mark shaped like a spinning wheel on her back.
A few days before the big day, Mira leaves home in search for Beau Rivage, the town she was born in. She stumbles into a casino, called The Dream, where she first encounters Blue and Freddie. Freddie is stunningly handsome, but seems too chivalrous for a boy in today's age. Blue is just a jerk. He continues to insult her and tells her to stay far away from the casino and his brother, Felix. But when Mira meets Felix, she can't imagine why. He's the perfect gentleman, and he seems interested to help her with her quest.
The more Mira stays in Beau Rivage, the more strange things begin to happen. She meets Viv, who keeps talking about choking on apples and falling asleep for years, Layla, who is very beautiful and intelligent, but it appears she has a tie to Rafe who is beastly and rude, and the more Mira speaks to Freddie, the more she realizes he may be a modern day prince charming. These people have secrets, and they aren't always quick to share. It seems so familiar, yet Mira is completely baffled. It isn't until she discovers that these people all have marks on their backs similar to hers that she sees there is something different about this town. Everyone is cursed, like in the fairy tales. Some people are heroes, some are waiting to be rescued, and some have an evil inside to them no one can quite figure out. Mira needs to figure out her curse and her trigger before it is too late. And the more Blue says to stay away from Felix, the more Mira is pulled to him. But there is definitely something off about these two, and it isn't your typical fairy tale.

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross was a modern take on today's fairy tales. She doesn't only focus on Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, Cross goes in and uproots tales from the Grimm brothers and tales not typically seen in Disney movies. I really liked how the book was in 3rd person instead of 1st. It makes a difference because in certain instances she was able to get different characters involved as well. Plus, towards the beginning Mira is completely annoying and bratty, so it was nice to not feel completely connected to her the entire book.
What really intrigued me was the idea of new fairy tales. Half the ones mentioned I had no recollection of. It was really interesting how Cross managed to put in more gruesome fairy tales, while still keeping to the wholesome view of these stories.
The whole book was a typical high school summer vaca party. It was very trite at times, but the whole aspect of these fairy tales being such a huge part of these kids' lives was interesting. Plus it was really neat to see what characters were the damned, the white knights, and the distressed. She did a great job characterizing these three main roles per tale.
Some parts of the novel I felt were rushed, left unsaid, or very predictable, but the book was very good. Like I said, the best part was the fairy tales and how she managed to make them all fit together in this mixed up town. Really neat. Plus, her writing is quite good. So the characters didn't really pull me, but the story did. Worth a look if you enjoy retellings of old fairy tales.

And Mercy Was Something The Darkling Would Never Understand

Alina has spent her life not expecting any sort of good to come. She grew up with her long time friend, Mal, in an Orphanage, so she is used to the bottom of the barrel life. Once her and Mal are drafted into the army of their homeland, all Alina can think about is the deadly mission ahead. Their unit is being sent into the Fold, a place full of darkness with horrible monsters who feed on humans. Once their convoy is attacked all seems hopeless, until she discovers she has powers that are unimaginable.

In a flash, Alina's life is turned upside down. She is torn away from Mal and everything she knows and sent head first into this new Grisha palace life. She meets the mysterious Darkling, who informs her she is the Sun Summoner and the only one who can help him destroy the Fold and bring peace. Each day brings despair and confusion, but slowly Alina begins to unravel secrets of the Grisha. She must take her stance, and determine if perhaps her heart can let go of her past.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo was a great dark fantasy. Bardugo created this world in such depth, and at times I had to remind myself this was created and not a reality. The world is a dark place, but hope is restored when the Darkling finds the Sun Summoner, Alina. It is a great way of showing how people will put their faith into whatever and whoever as long as someone in power is behind this idea.
The Grisha life is rich and beautiful, yet there are many things Alina does not know. She begins to slowly release her grip on her past as the months go by, and the Darkling continues to take an interest in her in all aspects. But I felt for Alina's pull toward her past and Mal. The fact that we as readers discover Alina is by no means the prettiest girl at the ball is another way for people to really see her character as strong willed and not simply a bratty teenager who is homesick.
I loved the idea of this book. The fantasy element worked perfectly and it weaved a fantastic story filled with despair, courage, resistance, and hope. I was skeptical when I began the book, but I forced myself to read the first chapter. I was hooked afterward. I figured out why she titled the novel Shadow and Bone after I was a little more than halfway through; such a cool concept. Definitely pick this one up if dark fantasy is your forte. Even if it's not, the novel is worth a read.