Paranormalcy, Kiersten White

Evie wants to be a normal teen, but the fact is, she isn't. She can see through glamours. Making her a high commodity. Since she was young she went on "bag and tag" missions for the IPCA. Spotting vampires, werewolves, hags and other paranormal creatures that others couldn't spot with the naked eye. But Evie can see right though their glamour to the paranormal inside. This is normal life for Evie until one day the alarms go off and Evie finds a paranormal wearing her bosses body then everything changes from there!

Evie might be a little too conceited and pink for me but overall I like her. She is different than most teenage heroines I read about. She actually acts her age, like a 16 year old instead of older. She isn't always running into the face of danger, sometimes she runs the other way. She craves the things she doesn't have: a family, drivers license, locker at a high school, being normal. She doesn't always want to know about everything either. When the chance comes for her to empty everything off her plate she takes it. She doesn't want all that responsibility she wants to be a teenager. It is kind of refreshing to read because a lot of other heroines would want to know everything, be involved in everything and run straight into danger with a smile. But I am tired of that character. Evie wasn't that. Evie was refreshingly honest, and funny.

I like how Evie compares everything to her tv show. Because that is the closest she has to gauge what a normal life is like, by watching Easton Heights. Reality doesn't always end the same for her as it does in tv show though. Things happen more normally and not overly dramatized.

There is a point when she has the chance to sleep with the guy and she doesn't. She doesn't sleep with a guy the first chance she gets like in for instants in books Twilight, or Shiver. The book is well rounded and is great for teenagers. It is funny, action pack, and entertaining to name a few, without using profanities, sex, or an annoy heroine that must save the day and be in everyone's face. I would recommend this book to any teenager.

Clockwork angel

This book is a lot like the books before it in the Mortal Instrument series. Instead of Clary, Jace and Simon it is now Tessa, Will and Jem. And, instead of Clary looking for her missing mother it is Tessa looking for her missing brother. Even though there are a lot of similarities there are also difference. New characters, and every character has such a unique personality that it is drawn out of the book and makes them so real. I love the personalities that is given to each character, it truly brings them to life to me.

Tessa lives in New York with her Aunt, but when her Aunt dies she receives a letter from her brother Nathaniel with a ticket to London to come and live with him. But, when she arrives, instead of her brother there to meet her it is the Dark Sisters. Tessa becomes a prisoner to the Dark Sisters as they try to train her for her new husband the Magister. Just when Tessa is about to be shipped off to the Magister as her training ends Will comes along and saves her!

Will is arrogant and rude, but Tessa sees something else. And she is able to push past his armor to see past the arrogance and rudeness to what he is hiding inside. Will is a complex character. But Tessa doesn't just fall for Will she also likes Jem. Jem is frail and is held back by his illness. But, he is intelligent, soft spoken and kind.

Just like the Mortal Instrument series, this book catches you off guard and throws a twist in there that you were not expecting. Although if you read carefully the clues are there, I just never put the pieces together fast enough before the characters in the novel figures it out. But I like twists in the books I read.

The author ties in as much real history from London of era as she can. Which really brings the book together. Not only that, but the poetry at the beginning of each chapter is also from that era and they also tie into the book beautifully.

One thing though, I really don't understand is the Clockwork Angel. It wasn't really described well. It kind of just does its part in the book and that is all. Why does it do it? And, Tessa never really questions it which leaves me questioning it.

There are a tons of things that are left open for the next book. I wish I had that book on hand right now so I could just jump into it!

Sapphique - Catherine Fisher

Sapphique picks up about two months after Incarceron ended. Finn has escaped the Incarceron, but as he escaped the warden of the prison enters bring with him the two keys, the only way to enter the Incarceron. With Finn the only one to escape, this left his oathbrother Keiro and Attia in the Incarceron which he promised he would find a way for them to escape as well.

Not only does Finn want to find a way to rescue his friends but he must deal with his own problems in the realm. The realm isn't exactly what he thought it would be. Constricted by the protocol, the realm seems sometimes worse than the prison to Finn. The Queen will do anything to discredit him. And then, another boy announces he is Prince Giles, and Finn finds himself doubting his true identity and Claudia also begins to doubt him. And with no memories of the past, when he use to be Giles, almost everyone else doubts him as well.

In the prison Attia and Keiro try to find a way to escape on their own. Keiro lost faith in his oath brother and is determined to find a way outside. Attia meets up with magician named Rix who is in possession of Saqqhique's glove. Which might be another way to escape the prison and Attia will do anything to possess the glove herself.

Attia and Keiro go through more wings of the prison. Each wing is unique and interesting to read about. The Incarceron itself leads Attia and Keiro through its vastness as they try to find the way to the prisons heart.

There is tons of adventure in the book. It is a quick read with twist and turns. It leaves you hanging with Attia and Keiro and then switches over to Claudia and Finn or visa versa. So, you are always wanting to read more to figure out what is happening to the other characters. The ending is good doesn't leaving you hanging. But, in my opinion, there could be another book.

Incarceron

It was hard for me at first to grasp what I was reading. At first a lot didn't make sense. But as I continued to read, pieces started coming together and I started to really get into the story.

Finn lives in a dark, horrible place...a prison. And, for as long as he can remember, which is the last three years, he has always lived there. But he has dreams of the outside. He doesn't believe he was always in this prison but everyone tells him there is no way to escape and he must be part of the Incarceron.

The Incarceron is a vast, dark prison. With no stars, just red unblinking lights that watch everything. Many have tried to leave the Incarceron, and most have failed except for Sapphique. Sapphique is the only one that was known to escape, and many want to follow in his footsteps to get away from the prison. The prison is a ever changing intelligence and doesn't want any of its children to escape.

Finn, Keiro, Attia and Gildas try to escape the prison like many have. But they have something others didn't. For one, they have Finn the starseer, the one with the visions of the outside believed to be given to him by Sapphique. And, they have the key.

Outside of the Incarceron, is Claudia. Claudia is also trying to escape. She is about to get married to someone she loathes. Claudia wants to find the Incarceron and in a way escape into because she believes it is a paradise. But, she soon finds out that the Incarceron is far from a paradise when she finds the key. The key helps her communicate with the other key in the Incarceron, the key Finn has. With this key, Claudia find out many secrets she had never known and it drastically changes her life.

This was a great fast pace book. I like how imaginative it was with the living prison the Incarceron. The place Claudia lives seems to be the past but is actually the future generated by a computer to look like the past. Claudia lives in a realm that was forced to live the life of the Victorian age.

Really great book, and can't wait to read the next in the series.