Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (Kindle edition)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?” -Goodreads.com




My Review:
With this being the first book in a series I found it surprisingly interesting. It did a great job of retaining my attention. The author is quite descriptive in the characters and does a great job of dispersing vital information of Clara and her life throughout the book. The book did, however, contain the usual cliché’s of young adult books; girl has a dilemma, meets boy, likes boy, has another boy thrown at her, becomes confused, etc. It’s the details and plot twists that the author introduces that brings the book up a level. The books leaves a lot of questions to be answered, so I cannot wait to read the next in the series, “Hallowed”

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“Mom smiled. ‘So often we only do what we think is expected of us,’ she said. ‘When we are capable of so much more.’” (78)

Rose Madder by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Summary:
Tired of the fourteen years of abuse, Rosie Daniels wakes up one day and decides to leave her husband. As she becomes a stronger woman, she’s transformed into Rosie McClendon (her maiden name) and tries to start a new life in a new town, with new friends, but she is afraid. She is afraid of her cop husband, Norman and the lengths he’ll go to to get to her. She however comes across a strange piece of artwork that calls to her and beckons Rose Madder. Like Alice and her wonderland, reality is challenged and dreams are questioned. Will Rosie regain her sense? Her sanity? Her life?


My Review:
I’d give this book 3.5 stars. This story intrigued me from the beginning, confused me in the middle, and then recaptured my intrigue in the end. This has been my relationship with other Stephen King books in the past, so it’s not out of the ordinary. The plot is definitely unique from other authors, and although the little “Alice in Wonderland” part became a little laughable in the middle, the reason for it forced sense in it. Rose Madder is a story of an abused wife and how she overcomes the adversity and madness of her husband by going a little mad herself.

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“She had stayed for a long time with a bad man, but had left him and met a good one. lived in a room at 897 Trenton Street, second floor, end of the hall, good view of Bryant Park. Oh, and one other thing. She was a single woman who never intended to eat another foot-long hotdog in her life, especially one smothered in sauerkraut. They did not agree with her, it seemed. She couldn’t remember what she had dreamed…but she knew how it had started…” (236)