The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Title: The Butterfly Clues
Author: Kate Ellison
Publisher: Egmont USA
Publication Date: February 14, 2012
Source: Library
Add to your shelves 


Summary: Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place—possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.

But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.

As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.

Review: When I first started The Butterfly Clues I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm happy to say that my expectations for The Butterfly Clues were met because this is such a fantastic book.

One of the things that really made this book great for me was Lo's narration. She has such a unique voice and I absolutely loved Ellison's writing style. It was nothing short of gorgeous. Lo has OCD which makes The Butterfly Clues a little hard to read. I liked how this aspect was handled and, personally, I loved it but I could see how it could annoy some readers. As a character I didn't feel like I really got to know Lo till later in the book because her character in the beginning was definitely a bit rocky.

 The two characters that really stood out to me were the dead ones. Oren, Lo's brother, and Sapphire. I felt like I got to know these characters so much better through Lo reminiscing and imagining. Oren and Sapphire just felt so real.

The mystery in this one is fantastic! It's hard to guess exactly who committed Sapphire's murder. The Butterfly Clues is my favorite sort of mystery. It involves actual clues and detective work. It's not a book where the character just stumbles onto something and then the mystery is solved. Ellison did a great job with this aspect of the story.

The Butterfly Clues is more of a dark book but it easily won my heart with its mystery and the writing.


Rating:

Summer Reading Weekly Update #1

Hi everyone! You know how I embarked on that crazy quest to read 30 books this month? Well, I'm happy to say that it's going okay! I'm a bit behind but I'm hoping I can use today and the weekend to catch up!

What I've read: Since June 1

• Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
• Struck by Jennifer Bosworth
• The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• All These Lives by Sarah Wylie
• Something like Normal by Trish Doller

All of these books were absolutely fantastic! 

Currently Reading:

One Moment by Kristina McBride: I've only read the first couple of pages but so far I'm really liking it!

The Plan:

If I'm going to catch up I need to finish both Touch of Frost and One Moment today, which I think is doable! 

• Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
• Destined by Aprilynne Pike
• Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
• In Honor by Jessi Kirby
• Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I hope to read more before next Friday but there needs to be some element of surprise! 

Speed Date with Mia: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Hi! This feature is hosted by Mary over at The Book Swarm. Speed Dating is basically giving a shorter review of the book and it's ton of fun! Go check it out!

Title: Struck
Author: Jennifer Bosworth
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR 
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Source: Thanks Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR
Add to your shelves 


Summary: Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.


Review: Struck is an entertaining book. There was a never a dull moment and most of those moments were filled with exciting revelations and even more action.

I don't particularly like Mia Price, the main character, but I understood her. She's stubborn and brave but I just could never connect to her. She was a little distant, even in her narration. A character I really liked was Parker: he was willing to take care of people no matter what. Mia's love interest,  Jeremy,was all over the place. He hardly stayed in the book long enough for me to see if I liked him!

The whole concept of the Church of Light and the Seekers was awesome. I, of course, loved learning more and more about these two and their battle against each other.

Struck didn't quite do it for me but I did love the action and plotline!

Waiting on Wednesday (82)

Hi everyone and happy Wedneday! Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine to share books we can't wait to read!

This week's pick is:

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
October 1, 2012


Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?

Companion to CATCHING JORDAN.

Yippee!! I loved the first book in this series. The fact that this is a companion book just makes it even better. I'm loving the concept of this one too. It sounds like a little forbidden love to me. I'm sure it will be just as awesome as Catching Jordan! I can't wait for October! 

Of Poseidon by Ann Banks

Title: Of Poseidon
Author: Anna Banks
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends 
Publication Date: May 22, 2012
Source: Thanks Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends
Add to your shelves 


Summary: Galen, a Syrena prince, searches land for a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. It’s while Emma is on vacation at the beach that she meets Galen. Although their connection is immediate and powerful, Galen's not fully convinced that Emma's the one he's been looking for. That is, until a deadly encounter with a shark proves  that Emma and her Gift may be the only thing that can save his kingdom. He needs her help--no matter what the risk. 


Review: I hadn't read the best reviews on Of Poseidon but I knew that I was definitely willing to give it a try. And I'm so glad I did. Of Poseidon may lack in some aspects but it always made me smile while I was reading it! 


This may sound a little silly but I found Of Poseidon to be a book that I could totally emerse myself in and forget everything else. Of Poseidon was super addicting for me. I wanted to keep reading and reading. I think this is mainly because of Emma's narration. It was just SO dang funny. She wasn't always the smartest but she kept be smirking and laughing throughout the entire book. I'm not quite sure what I feel about Emma as a character, I really didn't connect with her but I still liked her.


Emma's love interest is Galen has his own chapters in 3rd person narration. I hate to say this but I disliked Galen's chapters so much. I like Galen as a character and as a love interest but his chapters? They were the only thing that could make this book not addictive. Luckily for Galen he's a sweetheart and, well, he seems pretty hot. Of course, Galen and Emma have a little case of insta-love but these days I find myself overlooking this and not really caring. Slow romances will always be my favorite but for some books it just works well to have a little case of insta-love. 


In Of Poseidon the mermaids and mermen are all called Syrena. I loved learning all the little facts about them. I really hope we get to know more about their history once the second book comes out. Of Poseidon does end in a cliffhanger but I think most readers will be able to see it coming. It makes the blow of having a cliffhanger a bit less.


Of Poseidon definitely has its iffy moments but it still manged to wow me with the Syrena mythology and Emma's silly but lovable narration.


Rating: 3.5 stars

Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Schultz

Title: Spellcaster
Author: Cara Lynn Schultz
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: March 27, 2012
Source: Thanks Netgalley and Harlequin Teen!
Add to your shelves 


Summary: Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.

Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…

After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....

But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.

Review: Can I just say how cute this series is? There's a ton of evil things going on but for me the romance is what takes center stage in these books. 


Emma and Brendan face a lot of scary things in this book. The villain in this book is bad that you'll find yourself rooting for Emma to win against the villain, no matter what. Other then the romance I loved the spell and witch aspect to Spellcaster. The things that Emma can do are pretty darn awesome. She's definitely one powerful girl!

Brendan and Emma are basically adorable. There was quite a bit of time spent on just them and their bonding in Spellcaster, and boy was it cute! It didn't take away from the plot that much but I would have liked to have seen more of a solid plot in this one. Yes, I liked the villain but it wasn't as exciting as I would have expected. But on a good note there were two chapters in Angelique's narration! Emma's best friend is just so awesome which I love in YA.

One thing Spellcaster truly succeeds in is the "laugh factor." I was constantly smiling and laughing during many parts of this book (they usually involved Brendan). Schultz definitely did well on keeping the story light but darker when it needed to be.

Spellcaster is a great sequel to Spellbound. It'd be a good last book in the series, but if there are more coming I'd definitely be willing to read them. If you're a fan of romance, witches and other related things then picking up this series is something I'd seriously recommend!


Rating:

A Load of Books: June 3, 2012

Hi everyone! Happy Sunday!

Library:

The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Destined by Aprilynne Pike

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Bought:

Body & Soul by Stacey Kade

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Gilt by Katherine Longshore

This is what you get when I don't do one of these in weeks! I probably won't be buying any books any time soon, but I cannot wait to read all of these! 

This post was inspired by In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren.