Undeadly by Michele Vail

Undeadly by Michele Vail
The Reaper Diaries #1
Release Date: November 20, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads Stars: 4
Rating: Enjoyable

Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. 

Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble.... - Goodreads

The plot of Undeadly was fun and fast paced. The Egyptian mythology was woven into the story really well, and there were no huge info-dumps at all, which I really appreciated. I find that some YA books, when including mythology such as this, often try to throw everything at the reader at once but that wasn't the case with Undeadly. The mythology was very unique, and it's something that I loved reading about. I've read books about reapers before, but the Egyptian aspect was new to me. It's definitely convinced me to check out more books based on Egyptian mythology!

Molly was a great protagonist. She sounded and acted like a sixteen year old girl, which was both realistic and entertaining. She was the perfect mix of snarky, friendly and polite. It made me really feel for her when certain things were revealed in the story. Vail's writing style worked really well with Molly's character, too.

The only thing I disliked about the novel was how predictable it was. I knew almost exactly where the story was going from about fifty pages in, and I knew who the bad guy(s) would be, and what the 'surprise' reveal was going to be towards the end. This took away from my enjoyment of the story, because I love being surprised while reading.

Undeadly was a great read, and I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series, Unchosen, when it's released next year.

WoW: Pulse by Patrick Carman

Pulse by Patrick Carman
Release Date: February 13, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books for 2013

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) by Richelle Mead
I think everyone and their cat is waiting for this one. I love this series, as well as the prequel series, and I can't wait to see what happens to Sydney and Adrian next!

Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver
A lot of my favourite series are wrapping up in 2013, and this is just one of them. I discovered Lauren Oliver when I read Before I Fall, her debut novel, in 2010 and I have been a huge fan of hers ever since.

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3) by Beth Revis
After the way A Million Suns wrapped up, I am DYING to read this! I can't wait to see what goes on. Seriously, the possibilities are endless!

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
I adored Cinder when I read it at the beginning of this year. I can't wait to see Cinder again in this one, and to meet Scarlet!

Mind Games (Mind Games #1) by Kiersten White
I really liked Kiersten's debut trilogy - Paranormalcy - and the premise of this is so exciting!

Dead Silence (Body Finder #4) by Kimberly Derting
I've loved this series since I read the first book, and the main character, Violet, has been through so much in such a short space of time. I love her!

With All My Soul (Soul Screamers #7) by Rachel Vincent
This is one of my four ALL TIME FAVOURITE series. I love it so much, and am both happy and sad for this book, since it's the last one. Conflicted feelings all round.

Taken (Taken #1) by Erin Bowman
Doesn't this one sound amazing?! I have an ARC and I can't wait to get to it. The cover is gorgeous as well!

The Archived (The Archived #1) by Victoria Schwab
I'll be honest, I've been avoiding reading what this one is about. I want to go in surprised, but judging by the fact that a) everyone is excited for it and b) it's apparently set to be one of the best books of 2013, I AM EXCITED.

Unbreakable (Unravelling #2) by Elizabeth Norris
The first book in this series was SO, SO GOOD. I fangirled and squee-d all over the place. Cannot wait!

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
I featured this recently on a WoW post. This is about magic, assassins and all that good stuff. EEP!

Feel free to link your posts below! I'd love to see what books you guys are looking forward to reading next year!

New Releases: November 27 - December 3, 2012

All links go to Goodreads.

The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen

A Bright Young Things sequel.

Fragile Darkness by Ellie James

The third book in the Midnight Dragonfly series.

Elixir (novella) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 A novella in the very popular Covenant series.

Touched by Corrine Jackson

This is about a girl who heals people by touching them, but every injury becomes her own once she's cured the other person. Her abusive stepfather goes a bit to far and the main character is sent to live with her real father. Then there's a mysterious guy and the two are meant to be enemies but undoubtedly fall in love. Whew. It sounds great, so I'm gonna be reading it!

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Release Date: August 30, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Harper
Source: Publisher
Goodreads Stars: 2
Rating: Bland

Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family, but after her arrest, she awakens to a nightmare: she is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes – criminals whose skin colour has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime – is a new and sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder. The victim, according to the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she’s shared a fierce and forbidden love.

WHEN SHE WOKE is a fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future – where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can. In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith. - Goodreads

I had seen some friends rave about this book, and so I was really excited to finally get to it last month. Unfortunately, I didn't like it.

The beginning of the novel was promising. I really liked the concept of there being a world in which abortion was banned, and the main character being punished for it. Not because I agree, but because it's interesting... or, at least, it could have been. Despite my hopes, the book was just dull.


There were some really good moments sprinkled throughout, but most of the book felt like I was on a boring car journey through the desert with nothing at all to look at, not even cacti. Add to that your dad pointing out rocks that all look the same and you don't get a very good adventure. I'm not sure where I was going with that, but there it is. Boring boring boring.

The world it was set in was my favourite part about the novel. Criminals, rather than being imprisoned, get their skin dyed different colours to reflect their crimes. This is considered by most to be worse than imprisonment, due to the rest of the citizens treatment of the criminals. They become victims. I do wonder, though, what would happen if someone committed two crimes. I'd assume that if one was something like murder and the other was a petty crime then they'd be marked for murder, but what if the two crimes were as bad as each other?

There is a random lesbian love scene which I would have ADORED it if it had been developed more, but instead it felt as though it had just been thrown in. There was no build up to it, no curiosity from the main character (who started out as quite homophobic), and then it wasn't even mentioned again after it happened. What.

I don't even know what happened to Hannah's character. She seemed to yo-yo throughout the novel, which was incredibly annoying since we were stuck in the metaphorical car with her for the entire metaphorical journey. One minute she's against religion, the next she's completely for it. She didn't even develop into a badass by the end, by which I was incredibly disappointed.

Overall, it was a boring book with a stagnant main character. I wouldn't recommend it, despite the message... wait, what message was it even trying to send?