Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Great book you should read it--The Pearl Savage by Tamara Rose Blodgett


What can I say about this book without being a gushing fangirl. Tamara is great at creating worlds and characters that you can love. Clara is definately one of those. The book started out slowly at first because I had to adjust to the language and characters. It definately picked up within the first few chapters. In this book there are two seperate worlds the world of the sphere which has kingdoms and is run entirely off of steam. The opposite is the "the outside" which is full of "savages" with gills. (But don't worry they are hunky savages). The outside is a bit more back to nature obviously. They do have a settlement and are quite advanced for being left to perish by the Evil Ones. The reader then learns that perhaps the civilized sphere dwellers are the true savages as Clara suffers non stop abuse from her mother and future husband Prince Fredric (what-a-tool). She has true friends in her maid, bff Charles (who pines for her) and blunt Sarah. When she escapes/is taken outside she soon learns that her future is more than just future monarch (if douche bag Freddie doesn't beat her to death first). She maybe able to save the dwindling tribe of savages. She enjoys the short time she spends with the few women of the clan. And most definately enjoys her time with a certain male Band memeber. The worlds are rich and filled with drama and suspense and the characters are beautifully developed. Queen Ada is the perfect villan and I was very happy for what happened to her. I can't wait to read what happens next. Will tool boy Fredric return? Will Clara choose the right man to be by her side? Will Charles learn to chillax? I don't know but I am going to go buy the next book RIGHT NOW so that I can find out!!!! Thank you Tamara for writing another excellent story that I can escape into!
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Jenny Pox is Amazing.

I am currently reading this great book by JL Bryan. It is totally blowing my mind. I can't wait to get back in there and finish it. Review to follow when I do finally finish it.

Finished it this afternoon. Here's my review:
I picked this up after reading Tamara Rose Blodgett's fantastic review of the book. So glad I did. It was fabulous. From the first to last page I was sucked into Jenny's story.
Jenny is inflicted with a curse that causes people to break out into the plague whenever she touches them. I would love to say that she tries to lead a "normal" life but she doesn't. How could she even attempt to. She goes on because she knows her dad (her only family) needs her. Not only can she never touch anyone she is tormented for her shyness and social awkwardness by an evil hag named Ashleigh Goodling. Ashleigh has her own power of touch and her boyfriend Seth can heal with his touch. When Jenny steals Seth from Ashleigh all hell breaks loose in thier small town.
What I loved:
Jenny- I see a lot myself in her. I was a completely shy socially awkward teenager. I endured my fair share of teasing for ridiculous reasons that I couldn't change. She is a character that I think alot of young and old girls (like me) can identify with.
Jenny and Seth have crazy chemistry. The scenes the are together are my favorite parts of the whole book.
Ashleigh- love to hate her. She was great and JL Bryan gave her alot of depth.
The ending was amazing. I thought I might just read this as a stand alone novel and pass on the rest of the series. Needless to say half way through this book I downloaded the other two on my kindle.
What I didn't:
I really don't have a lot that I didn't like about the book. Other reviewers have commented that it rings of CARRIE by Stephen King. I have never read the book or watched the movie so I can't really fault the book for that. I do know the general concept of CARRIE so I do see how people can see the similarities.
I think some readers will be put off by the back and forth chapters that are split between Ashleigh and Jenny. Often time overlaps and you see the story from both sides. It could get confusing I guess. I'm at an old pro at this type of style. I've managed to make it through all of George RR Martins' Game Of Thrones series. The back and forth of characters and timelines is nothing compared to those books. Also don't let that comparison scare you off. Martin gives very tedious description of landscapes, food and goes of on tangents about rugs. No such problems in this book. Bryan flawlessly flows from character to character. It's really a beautifully executed book.
Really the book deserves FIVE freaking HUGE STARS.
This book is really intened for older YA readers. It has lots of sex, some violence and drug use. At the very least it needs to be read by a teen whose parents have taken the time to discuss these issues with them.