Book Nerds Across America

"It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess." (from Goodreads)

This was such a cute book! It took me a little while to get into it, but by the middle I was curious as to what exactly Kate's tests were and how she was doing with them. And I must say, I love the way everything tied up at the end. It was one of those endings where I had guessed some of it, but not all of it, and definitely not how it all tied together. I was definitely like, "OMG, that's...." and "Oh! That was that test?!" (At one point as I was reading it, I was definitely shunning, you know, my life and responsibilities. I tweeted Aimee Carter that I blamed her for the neglect and she cheerfully tweeted back that she was glad I liked I the book. :)

What I liked best about the book was Henry. Carter's personification of Hades, Lord of the Underworld, is probably the best one I've read. We see a man who has been deeply hurt, yet still does not want to hurt Kate. He definitely has darkness, but he also has feelings. I loved seeing the relationship between him and Kate grow.

The next book in the trilogy, Goddess Interrupted, comes out in April 2012 and I want it already!

~Flo~

An advanced reader copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley.

"Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid. Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld." (from Goodreads)

I'd heard a lot about Abandon before it came ou,t so I was really excited to read it. (Plus, I obviously like books based on Greek myths, seeing as how I am sponsoring a Greek Week and all...) 

Unfortunately, I really struggled with this book, and in the end I had to abandon it without finishing. (Bonus points for my clever pun?? No??) It just jumped around way to much for me. One minute we are reading about Pierce's present. Then the next paragraph will allude to the past. But it won't give a clear narrative of an event. It will just give hints about the event. So then I was confused, and the next paragraph would jump back to the present time.

In my opinion, Pierce was too stream of consciousness to tell a straight story. I found myself getting frustrated with her and the fact that she kept giving us tidbits about some big event that changed her life; but never telling us the full story. It didn't create curiosity for me; instead she would jump back to the modern day and then allude to another Big Life-Changing Event That The Reader Doesn't Know What It Is.

And the dark, mysterious John? He was so dark and mysterious that I didn't feel he was developed as a character at all.

All that being said, I may check out the sequel, Underworld. The Greek myth loving part of me is intrigued and thinks that maybe Pierce won't jump around so much in the realm of the dead.

~Flo~

GIVEAWAY TIME!!
The last time I tried to give away a book I didn't like, it failed miserably. So this time I'm sweetening the pot. I will have Meg Cabot PERSONALIZE Abandon for whoever wins it! Want it? Let us know in the comments. Don't forget to include a way to contact you. Contest ends July 18th.

I loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians saga. After I finished reading all five of those books, I picked up the first book in author Rick Riordan's lateast series, The Kane Chronicles. And I didn't like it.

So I had no idea what to expect when coming in to The Lost Hero. In fact, it's been sitting on my TBR (to be read) pile for many months now, and I just now got around to it. Boy am I glad I did! It only took a few pages for me to be immediately immersed and invested back into the world I loved so much in Percy Jackson.

In The Lost Hero, we are introduced to Jason, Piper and Leo at the Wilderness School, which is a school for difficult children. Jason, however, has no memory. He does not know who he is or how he got to the school. Soon enough, the three are taken to Camp Half Blood where they are claimed and sent on a quest.

There were several things I loved about this book. As always, Riordan is a master of writing action scenes that leave you holding your breath and characters that make you laugh and want to give them a hug. Jason, Piper and Leo's adventures were fresh and entertaining, and I loved discovering them as they discovered themselves and what they could do.

I also enjoyed seeing Camp Half Blood from a new perspective. In the Percy Jackson series, we were only able to experience it as Percy did. In The Lost Hero, we learn more about the camp and see it through multiple eyes. I love, love the way characters from Percy Jackson are so well integrated into this new saga! Annabeth, Clarisse, Chrion -- and even those demigods who died got mentions.

Running parallel to the the story of the three new demigods' quest is the story that Percy Jackson is missing. Only at the end do we discover how he disappeared and where he is. This revelation sets up the next book in the Heros of Olympus saga, which you can guarantee I will be picking up as soon as it comes out in October.

It's Greek Week on the Book Nerds Blog!!

Why?

Because we're random like that.

No, seriously.

There have been a lot of great books released lately that are based on Greek mythology. And we love it! So we decided to spend a week reviewing some of our most recent reads. Come back every day this week to see what we think about a new Greek myth-based book.

And perhaps, this is a HINT about one of our Read Alongs for next month...

Photo credit: uofdjesuit.org