A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

How in the world does one fit everything in A Clash of Kings into one review?! I give up, I’ll just stick to the important bits. This book is great but ginormous, and it's a whole lot of book to take in at once. I'm a multi-book-reader, but while I was reading this one, I had to put basically everything else aside for a while. This is a massive story, and it's only a small part of the whole epic tale.

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

As it is sort of indicated by the title, this book is chock full of guys wanting to be kings and kick other kings butts. The two people who probably have the most legitimate claims are Daenerys and Stannis, but I’d definitely just go ahead and give the North to Robb. They’re never going to settle down up there now unless they’re burned out by dragon fire (possible now since Dany has dragons), but it would be easier to just Robb have his own kingdom and deal with the White Walkers and wildlings on his own. Also, Robb is all kingly and stuff…let him have a kingdom! One without backstabbing, twofaced, nasty Theon in it. Darn you, Theon. You made me sad-face so much!

There are multiple storylines that thread through the main plot of who-gets-to-be-king-now, and I thought that Daenerys, Davos and Arya had particularly interesting threads. I didn’t expect to like Davos as much as I did, but he was really fascinating once you knew his backstory and got to watch him deal with suddenly-crazy Stannis. There are battles and alliances and betrayals and bargains and dinners and journeys galore in this book. It is definitely an epic story with a massive cast of characters.

Deciding which character is my favorite is too hard. Tyrion was FANTASTIC. He's so incredibly clever and awesome, and I love how he got to kick some serious butt in this book, both mentally and physically. However, I really think Arya is just the best. She’s so feisty and indomitable, you just know that she’s eventually going to come out on top. Or at least she should, but Martin’s evil and likes to kill off totally wicked characters... I also really wish that we could have gotten to see more of Robb in this book. I like him bunches, but we don't spend much time at all directly with him, though he's talked about a lot during the book. I have a feeling he gets more attention in the next book, but from the rumors I’ve heard and the little alluding-tos in this book, it might not be a good kind of attention.

Oh, and I am a member of the Punch-Joffery-In-The-Face Club. That boy should be tied to a post and smacked by every other character in the book, from Dany down to Hot Pie. Seriously, I'm not kidding, that would probably be the best scene ever. I wonder if HBO would go for that…

This book is super good but I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to younger teens or preteens. There are a lot of mature themes in this book that they might not enjoy as much until they are older. However, older teens and young adults who enjoy fantasy and adventure will probably love this book to pieces.

Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

In this book, we learn that the FBI is bad and likes working with evil aliens, the Mogadorians are flippin' everywhere all the time, and Cepans are not the sturdiest of guardians. Seriously...Cepans need more battle training. And maybe invincibility.

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

There is a lot going on in this book, so much so that the story gets a little lost in all of the action and mentions of alien objects. Oh, and very few of the objects have names, so you sort of just have to keep up with what the red bracelet, the nubby yellow ball, the stick, the glasses and various other random items do. And I agree with the kids, it would be much simpler if the Chests were backpacks instead of wooden boxes...I guess the only things on hand when Lorien was being destroyed was bulky wooden boxes!

The Bad Bad Mog is on Earth now, and it seems like he’s even more powerful than all of the Guarde put together. However, they think they have a chance at beating him in the future, after they learn about their legacies, which is rather optimistic of them since this guy and all his buddies wiped out a WHOLE PLANET that had its own super-powered population. But these kids are just going to be so amazing one day that this will be plausible. Got it…

There are too many POVs in this book, and I don’t like how the writer switches font types to signify that a new voice has taken over. It’s aggravating, and I would rather that the same font was kept and the POV were signified by writing the character’s name in front of each chapter.

I like Nine. He was sort of bonkers, volatile and unstable, but there is something intriguing about him and his craziness. Eight is also nice addition to the team, what with his jovial, playful personality and his incredibly useful powers. Marina’s crush on him is random but cute.

This book was decent but scattered; I just wasn’t really caught up in the story or the characters. I’ll probably read the next book in this series out of curiosity.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Can I just love on this book? A lot? The Darkest Minds is completely fantastic! It's full of emotion-twisting moments, captivating writing and awesome characters (Chubs, I love you, man!). This is one of those books that I devoured. I slipped into the story and let myself get wrapped up in it, which was probably a bad idea since the novel tried to rip out my heart and stomp on it a couple times. But it was so worth it!!

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

In The Darkest Minds, Ruby is taken to Thurmond, a kind of work camp for kids with special powers, the survivors of a disease that destroyed most of the USA’s population of children. There are five different kinds of powers, and Ruby is an Orange, which basically means her powers are mental-based. But Ruby manages to get herself labeled as a Green, but years later, when she’s about 17, she’s discovered as an Orange. A terrorist organization helps her escape the camp, but when it when it becomes clear that the group's motives might not be entirely altruistic, Ruby runs. She meets up with Liam, Chubs and Suzume, who are escapees from another camp. As they search for a fabled safe haven for their kind, Ruby and Liam become closer, even as she struggles to keep her deepest secrets from him and the rest of the group.

Even though she's been abused and suppressed for years, Ruby isn't a fragile little dandelion, waiting to be blow over by whoever comes along. She's caring, thoughtful, incredibly guarded, and selfless; her final act of sacrifice at the end of the novel had me wanting to beat my Kindle into my bed, even though I sort of knew it was coming. And I cannot express my silly joy over the fact that Liam is a good ol' North Carolina guy. Go Tar Heel boys that aren't painted to be complete country hicks! It gives me hope that there actually are guys like that in my home state, just waiting to be discovered. ;) Suzume is possibly the most adorable preteen ever…yeah, she is. And Chubs, he just rules. He’s the cynical, practical voice that keeps optimistic Liam somewhat grounded, and I love the friendship that grow between him and Ruby. It’s so good.

Oh, I wish I could just gush on it a fountain of spoilers, this book is awesome! There are so many scenes between the kids that are so, so, so wonderful and realistically done. Some kids-have-powers books can be corny and contrived, but this one…I love it! So if you like dystopians and sci-fi and great stories, go read The Darkest Minds!

Thank you SO MUCH to Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley.com for letting me view this galley!

Beta by Rachel Cohn

Ever wanted to live in paradise? Just bask in the sun, play all day, relax without the worry of any work whatsoever? Demesne offers just that to its human inhabitants...but not for the clone workers who serve the humans as slaves, taught from the moment they are created that they are soulless, devoid of feeling and emotion, only there to obey the humans. Elysia is one such clone, a Beta version of the new teen model; she is bought by one of the island's most important families to be a companion. She's beautiful, naive and curious about the world, probably a tad more curious than a emotionless, desire-less clone should be. Elysia begins to suspect she's not as perfect as everyone once hoped...she can taste (she adores chocolate!), she has feelings, she's even attracted to a boy. These are things that clones should never experience, but worst of all, she has visions from her First, the girl who had to die in order for Elysia to be created, of a boy her First must have loved. As Elysia comes to grips with the fact that she might be "defective," she learns to stand up for herself and not accept the life that has been prescribed to her. She's going to create chaos in paradise.

Beta by Rachel Cohn

This book has some really super awesome parts, a few seemingly pointless sections and just a couple of muddled moments. Overall, the pacing is good: not too fast, not too slow. It was an enjoyable read, and I like that Beta deals with moral issues such as slavery, freedom and human rights. I loved the first 3/4ths of this book more than I loved the end. The end is decent, but the storyline seems to become confused and rushed toward the last fourth of the book. A new relationship is introduced, and it is very quick and sudden. The multiple twists at the end gave me a bit of a headrush but they also made me want to grab the next book, even though it won't come out until forever from now.

As for characters, I wasn't totally in love with either of Elysia's love interests, since one is rather distant and the other appears suddenly near the end. However, I did like Elysia as the protagonist of the story; she grows emotionally from a naive clone to a self-aware young woman who knows she deserves more than a life of servitude. Oh, and I want to know more about Astrid! She wasn't even in this book, really, except as just someone who everyone else referred to, but she sounded like a feisty, studious, deep character. I hope that she appears in the follow-up novels to this one.

Overall, Beta was a good book with a few plot issues, but it still kept my attention and left me wanting more!

Thank you very much, Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley.com, for letting me read the ARC galley for this book!