Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine for bloggers and readers to get excited about upcoming books.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater:

Maggie Stiefvater rocks. If you've read her Wolves of Mercy Falls series, you understand. In her newest novel, The Raven Boys, due to head into our nearest book stores and into our hands on September 18th, "the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before." (Well, at least according to Goodreads.)

Excitement Factor: 8/10

Hidden (Firelight, #3) by Sophie Jordan

Oooohhhhh, dear. If you've read the first two in the series (Firelight can be found here), you know why the 'oooohhhhh'. If you're new to the game, let me give it to you straight: these books rock. They are the only books I have read about dragons (Well, that's a fib. I did read Eragon. The difference is: I didn't like Eragon. I tend to not count it.), and they are the only books I plan on reading in the future about dragons. The thing is, dragons can be cool . . . when you work them the right way. Sophie Jordan knows how to work them. Hidden was released into stores yesterday.   

Excitement Factor: 9/10

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Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

Review:

Paranormalcy was absolutely amazing! First of all, Evie was fabulous. I love sarcastic, strong characters. I also love girls who are really girly but kick major butt, because it's just so entertaining. Who doesn't love a girl that has a Taser--and isn't afraid to use it? I'm sure all of us girls wish we could take out some vampires with our bare hands. (Trust me, if I could have any weapon, I'd most certainly want a pink Taser covered in rhinestones.) She has such a great personality, and her voice itself was so strong that she felt very real. When I met Kiersten today, she compared Evie's voice to someone walking up to you and hitting you in the face with a bat--which, truly, hits it right on the dot. The way she views life is, also, so refreshing. She really is the personification of a true three-dimensional character. Evie has definitely become one of my favorite characters--ever.

Lend was absolutely amazing, too. I fell in love with him right alongside Evie. His paranormal power--the ability to change his appearance--was very creative, and made you sort of feel bad for him; I wonder how sick you'd get of nobody ever really seeing the real you. He was so great to Evie, and had a great sense of humor, too. Kiersten did a fantastic job at building their relationship; everything happened at just the right pace.

The physical world of the story was also amazing; Kiersten certainly has a way with words. Evie's offhand way of describing anything--she was, at times, brutally honest--helped set the scene and mood for the entire novel. This also helped getting you grounded in the story; it helped create the perfect fictional dream, and sucked you into the world of Evie and IPCA. Kiersten also was fabulous at making you second guess yourself; you never really knew who you could trust, and that was something I haven't seen in a while in YA fiction books. The cover is, also, gorgeous.

Lish--a mermaid, and Evie's best friend--was also another excellent character. She didn't speak English, so a computer translated everything she said--and replaced every curse word with "bleep", a hilarious habit that Evie picked up as well. I actually really liked majority of the supporting characters in the story, which is surprising for me (Even in Sophie Jordan's fabulous novel, Firelight, I had issues with a few secondary characters--such as Jacinda's irritating twin sister). Even the evil characters, such as the faerie Reth, had strong personalities and were like able in their own ways.

Overall, this book was fantastic--the best paranormal fiction novel I've read in a while, up there with Firelight (Sophie Jordan) for creativity, and way up there for everything else.

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Firelight by Sophie Jordan

A hidden truth.

Mortal enemies.

Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy. Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses and ancient divide.

Review:

When I first saw this book and read the summary, I was thinking how completely and utterly unique the idea was--I mean, dragons? I was so there, and I'm so glad I was. Firelight turned out to be even better than I'd hoped.

First of all, Jacinda's character is great; there are so many conflicts she has to deal with throughout the book; having to move away from the only place she has ever known, to a desert that is the complete opposite of where her draki can survive, falling in love with a boy who she should hate, just knowing who he is and what his family does, coping with the unveiling of the truth behind the death of her father: All of this makes her more sturdy, makes her three-dimensional. She certainly does not have what I'm beginning to think of as the "Bella-syndrome", meaning her personality falls flat and she is so unlikeable its ridiculous. I'm glad to say that I liked Jacinda from the start; she had the spunk and flare I love to find in a main character, and was an honestly good person, despite her somewhat idiotic--but understandable--decisions at times in the novel. I absolutely loved the instant romance and rocky relationship between her and Will (who is, of course, yet another dreamy male to add to our list of great YA guys), which had the classic Romeo and Juliet feel that makes us all swoon.

Furthermore, the writing itself was fabulous--a score for Sophie Jordan--and the plot was outstanding. The dragon/draki aspect was something entirely new and fresh to read about, and it was carried out perfectly; the idea was so strong and different that it in itself made the book amazing, and took it away from the standard YA shape-shifting stereotypes straight off the bat.

All in all, the book was fantastic, and a major step forward in the imaginativeness of YA authors today. I'd recommend it to fans of Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and the Otherworldies (for a younger audience) by Jennifer Anne Kogler.

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