Review - ANXIOUS HEARTS

Anxious Hearts - Tucker Shaw
Genre: YA Historical & Contemporary Romance
# of pages: 242 pages (hardback)
Publisher: Amulet
Amelia's Age Recommendation: 16+

My Thoughts
Okay. First, I want you all to know that I read this book IN ONE SITTING. That never happens. This book was so addictive, so encompassing that I literally could not put it down. I just had to find out what happened to the characters. That is an incredibly big deal for a reader like me - who is most of the time ruled by practicality - and so that counts toward the final rating.

This book is an expanded retelling of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "Evangeline" and I really do suggest you Google it before reading this book. Several times throughout the story I "gave it the benefit of the doubt" because I was familiar with the overall tone of urgency and devotion. The way this book is set up, you have two love stories that are told simultaneously through rotated chapters: the first one takes place in the mid-18th century in Acadia (note to Mr. Shaw: why in the world do you call it "Cadia?" You're missing an 'A') and is supposed to correlate to the poem; the second story is in the present, narrated by the main girl. I wasn't in love with the story's format: every other chapter switched perspectives/settings, regardless of what was going on in the plot, and so it made the transitions really choppy at times. The writing wasn't anything noteworthy, either. The stories blended really well, BUT they didn't follow a traditional literary structure - what I mean is, there was no climax and so you kind of feel like you're running around the pool 20 times.

This book is first and foremost a romance, and I commend Tucker Shaw for creating not one but two incredibly emotional and captivating stories. Like I said before, I was hooked from page 1. Now these two romances: Evangeline/Gabriel (past) and Eva/Gabe (present) are not supposed to be realistic, and so character actions are little contrived. And at the end... I totally cried. I told you - I'm a sucker! If you've read the poem... this story...is relatively faithful to the original ending. I'm not going to tell you which story - the 18th century one or the present one - I'm talking about, though. You'll have to read it for yourself!

However, I do feel the need to address some issues regarding content. I did a little "research" on goodreads and currently none of the other reviews mention what I'm about to disclose. I find that really shocking, because usually this kind of stuff is mentioned...but anyway. I mean what I said about the '16 or over' too.
So while the book was very riveting and engaging, it's organization was a bit lacking.

Quick Content Meter:
L: Maybe a few minor curse words spaced out - nothing particular stands out.
S: There is a sex scene pretty early in the story, and for a YA, it's pretty *graphic*
V: unless you count an idiotic teenager jumping off a cliff "violence," there really isn't anything noteworthy; a few 'heat of battle' scenes...

Final Rating: 4/5. I started out giving this a 3.5 because of the choppy transitions and the content, but then I bumped it up just because you know, I did enjoy this book. It gets props for capturing my COMPLETE attention from beginning to end. Bearing in mind the content issue (which I personally feel obligated to inform you all about) this was a good book and I recommend it to all over-16 year olds - the mature ones, that is.

Cover Wars [10]!

Yeah, it's been awhile since I did a Cover Wars - sorry! Now that summer's here I'll try and be a little more on-schedule. I'm also kind of struggling to find books to feature. Hmmm.

Anyway, to show that I'm an equal-opportunity Cover Wars-er, I'm going to feature a title that I... didn't really like. Let's put it at that. If you wanna know what an angry Amelia review sounds like, you can find my review of Graceling on goodreads. Haha, or not :)
So this Wednesday I'll feature Kristin Cashore's Seven Kingdoms Trilogy - well, the first two, that is. We don't know what Bitterblue will look like just yet.

US

UK


I honestly can't declare a winner this week - I like them both. What do you think?

Opening up the Suggestion Box: You Recommend STAND-ALONE

Alright everybody! I asked, you answered. Here are (some) of your recommendations for Standalone YA novels. Thanks again to everybody's suggestions! Sometimes finding new books can be overwhelming and it's great to be able to listen to other people's recommendations.

Recommended by Christina, Adriana, Molly (A Dazzling Distraction)

Before I Fall – Lauren Oliver

^ By far this was the most recommended novel. It's not really my cup of tea, but for fans of high school-based stories/realistic fiction, this is one you should check out.

Recommended by Christina

Flygirl – Sherri L. Smith

The Unwritten Rule – Elizabeth Scott

A Match Made in High School – Kristin Walker

Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots – Abby McDonald

The Stolen One – Suzanne Crowley

Twenty Boy Summer – Sarah Ockler

The Season – Sarah Maclean

Beastly – Alex Flinn

Recommended by Adriana

Willow – Julie Hoban

Going Bovine – Libba Bray

Steph the Bookworm

For Keeps – Natasha Friend

Angiegirl

The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson

This Gorgeous Game – Donna Freitas

Girl in the Arena – Lise Haines

Recommended by AtenRa

A Certain Slant of Light – Laura Whitcomb

Just Listen – Sarah Dessen

Recommended by Juju

Blood and Chocolate

Recommended by Molly (A Dazzling Distraction)

Crazy Beautiful – Lauren Baratz Longsted

Those were just some of the books you mentioned. I had to cut it off at some point, haha, so hopefully I picked your favorites. Thanks again for the responses!

THIS WEEK'S SUGGESTION BOX:

Dystopian novels (preferably YA)

Ready...Set...Start recommending!

Teaser Tuesday: ANXIOUS HEARTS

As always, Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading.Here's how it works: Grab the current book you're reading- Open up to a random page- share a little "teaser" from somewhere on that page.***Make sure your section is spoiler free!!

I'm about to start Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw- hope it's good, I'm a sucker for cute love stories!
Anyway, here's my teaser:

"Evangeline!" Gabriel shouted. A tall soldier grabbed Gabriel by one arm and jerked him away from her. He held out his other hand, but she could not grasp it before another soldier pushed her to the ground.

Ahh, see? I thought it was going to be an Indian raid. O.o
By the way, this book is based on a poem by Longfellow, "Evangeline," and I totally read that as a kid. When your mom's an English teacher, you read all sorts of fun stuff! Hmmm, I'm interested to see how this will do, because I'm actually developing a story based on a poem...

Review - THE HOURGLASS DOOR

The Hourglass Door - Lisa Mangum
Genre: YA fantasy
# of pages: 399 (hardback)

Publisher: Shadow Mountain His past. Her future. Can love bring them together in time? Abby's senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He's mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she's ever met before. Abby can't deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteenth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.

My Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to start the sequel, The Golden Spiral. First of all, I have to mention the cover design. It's beautiful, especially for a first-time author (honest to goodness, sometimes I think debut authors get jipped on cover art) and I definitely appreciate a good pretty cover!

The Hourglass Door is an especially fun read because it's quite different from a lot of other YA books floating around out there. There aren't any paranormal creatures in this book (which accounts for I'd say half of the YA fantasy genre); instead we are immersed in a story about time travel. Don't worry - that's not really a spoiler. It's actually pretty original, too: Yes, Mangum isn't the first person to write about time-traveling, but she certainly thought up a lot of really cool twists that makes reading Hourglass a fun and exhilarating experience.
I also have to give props to Mangum for creating a functional love story. I absolutely loved Abby and Dante (for the most part) because their relationship made sense. Let's face it - as much as we all love paranormal romance, sometimes those said romances can be a little on the dysfunctional side. That's not really a judgment, because it's fiction, not real life, but still...I'll admit to reading love stories in YA books and going, "Huh?" "What?" "Yeah right!" and "Ohhhhkay..." That doesn't happen here. Why? Pretty much because for all Dante's intrigue, he's not really dangerous. Now, the book tries to portray him as being edgy, but really every scene that Mangum puts him in, he behaves like a model protagonist. And to that, I say "It's about blooming TIME!" He's not arrogant. He's not a two-timer. He doesn't treat the MC like crap. Hey, what's not to love?

As much as I love this book - and highly recommend it, too - I do feel the need to address some minor points. There's a bit of a pacing issue in Hourglass, I think, and it can get kind of distracting. The book is 399 pages long, and I honestly don't think all of those pages were necessary. This is a YA fantasy book, but at several points in the story it read more like realistic fiction. I totally understand why: several authors get a little too immersed in the action of their stories that they don't focus on character development (*coughINCARCERON!*cough); here, you really do see into Abby's life and her relationships with those around her...in fact, I'd say you see a little too much, and it takes the focus off the fantasy aspects until about the last 15o pages or so. Don't freak out, but I'll quickly compare it to Twilight: you have a 1st person narrative that chronicles even the most microscopic details - ahhh, Bella. With her, it was like head-bashingly annoying; here, it's just like "Okay, move it along, move along..." I'll admit to skimming a little. Also, the teens in the story don't talk like teens at all. Wait, yeah they do---think the cast of "Happy Days." If you go to goodreads, you'll see a lot of reviews that point this out - I honestly didn't think it was that distracting, but still.

Final Rating:
So please, please PLEASE give this book a try - if ever there's a book that I strongly recommend to others, it's this one.

LAST OLYMPIAN giveaway *winners*

Hey all - sorry it's been so crazy this week. Now that school's out, I don't have any other distractions, so I'll be able to post more regularly.

Here are the long-awaited results of my Last Olympian anniversary giveaway!


Anyway, because of the number of entries, I had 2 winners!

They are...

• Juju @ Tales of Whimsy
• Kaila Sage @ Reading the Best of the Best

Congratulations, girls! Send me an email with your mailing address and I'll get those out right away!

the 1st ever THROUGH A LENSE reading profile!

I have a new feature called Through the Lense, which hopefully will be a weekly occurrence. Through a Lense gives a quick snapshot of your reading preferences, allows you to share a little about your experiences, recommend books, and talk everything lit! My good blog buddy and first affiliate Jami from YA Addict was kind enough to drop by and for a little lit chat! Here's what she had to say:

Do you have character crushes? (list as many as you want)

Oh my God yes! I have so many, let's see. . . Dimitri from Vampire Academy, Balthazar from Evernight, Edward from Twilight, Peeta from The Hunger Games, Ash and Puck from The Iron King, Po from Graceling, Sam from Shiver, Ethan from Beautiful Creatures, Jace from Mortal Instruments, Daniel from Fallen, Seth from Wicked Lovely, Jay from The Body Finder, Kai from Rising Shadow . . . Just to name a few. Yea, when it comes to character crushes I have it bad.

If you could be any book character, who would you be? (if you want to list a few, you can!)

This one changes all the time, but right now I would have to say Phe from Shadow Hills. She was a really cool character!

If you could live in a fictional world, where would you live? (if you want to list a few, you can!)

It would have to be the Mortal Instruments world. Something about that series completely captured me.

If you were organizing an art exhibit of book covers, which ones would you show?
Ooh I love pretty covers! Some books I will buy just for the covers. Let's see . . .

Those are on the top of my head.

Ever been scared/ freaked out by a book villain?
Yes, when I read the Prince of Mist I was freaked out! I kept swearing I saw something in the dark corners. That's what I get for reading at night!

Is there a book/series that everyone seems to have read but you?

The Vampire Diaries Series. I love the show, but haven't gotten to the books yet.

Which book made you cry? (if you want to list a few, you can!)

Hourglass by Claudia Gray had me bawling near the end. So emotional!

Which book made you laugh? (if you want to list a few, you can!)

You Are So Undead To Me and Undead Much? by Stacey Jay. That author has a great sense of humor.

Have you ever been unable to finish a book?

Yes, there has been a few that I couldn't finish. There is not enough reading time in a day to waste it on a book you just can't get into.

What books did you like when you were a kid?


I use to love The Babysitters Club books. I ate those up. Goosebumps were the bomb back then. Anything by Judy Bloom. I also remember reading The Boxcar Children. Oh, and who didn't read Nancy Drew?!

When is your favorite time to read? Favorite place?

I love to read at night when everyone else is asleep. I feel like I am the only one there, which makes it easier for me to slip into the world of the book I am reading. And I can read any place that is comfy!

Any cool/funny reading habits or quirks?

Well, I often find myself talking about characters like they are real. Any day you can catch me saying something like, "Too bad Katniss is not here. She would totally know what to do right now."

If you could hang out with an author for a day, it would be…

Maggie Stiefvater for sure! Not only is she a fantastic writer, but she's an artist and plays all kinds of instruments. She sounds like she would be a really cool person to be around.

If you could adapt a book/series into a movie, it would be…

I would have to say the Mortal Instruments Series. Which sounds like it's going to happen, so yay!

What is your favorite word?

Incognito. I feel like a secret agent when I say it.

What is your favorite book quote?

"There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I'll love you then." - Jace in City of Glass

I get goosebumps every time I read this!



One word answers for…

Bestsellers? Yes 
Book blogs?Awesome 
Vampires?Bitten 
Science fiction?Some 
Classics? Some 
Harry Potter? MORE :)


If you could recommend ONE BOOK to everyone – that they may not know about – what would it be?

I would have to say All American Girl by Meg Cabot. It's my favorite from Cabot and one of the first books I read when I was first really getting into YA lit.

Thanks, Jami! Boy, you sure have a lot of crushes! And I agree, "incognito" is an awesome word :)

Do you want to be featured on Through a Lense? Leave a comment with your email, or email me!