The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Publisher’s Summary: In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

My take: What can I say? I am absolutely pissed off with this book. And I think the ending pissed me off the worst!

I actually loved how the book started. Something tragic happens that turns Mary’s (the main character’s) already strange world upside down. After this horrific incident, Mary has nowhere to turn and is forced to live with a bunch of strange, secretive women…the Sisters who control Mary’s village and who force Mary to become one of them. Mary’s brother really pissed me off when all this happened, and I thought, “How could someone be so cruel?” But her brother wasn’t the only one who pissed me off. Almost everyone Mary loves or considers a friend just abandoned her to this horrible fate…including Harry (who was supposed to “claim” Mary to be his wife)…Travis (Harry’s brother) who was the boy she always had a crush on…her best friend Cas…and, of course, her brother Jed! How could they ALL do that to her?

In the beginning, I was totally rooting for Mary and I actually liked her character. She is determined to leave the town to get to the ocean that she only knows about from the stories that have been passed down from generations within her family (no one else even believes the ocean actually exists!) This obsession with seeing the ocean had me hoping that Mary would actually reach it before the end of the book.

HOWEVER, as the story progressed, her obsession with reaching the ocean ends up really pissing me off! I came to realize that she is more obsessed with this dang ocean than she is with the still living people who love her! I’m now wondering if that’s why everyone abandoned her in the first place to a fate with the Sisters…they already knew what I now think…that Mary is truly and unbelievably selfish!!!

I liked the world that was created with the Unconsecrated (what we would call Zombies); physically separated by fences from the village that Mary lives in. I liked picturing the Unconsecrated constantly trying to break through the gates surrounding the village; imagining their cruel, tortured moans; and visualizing how their bones would break from pulling on the fences and how their faces were easily distorted by just a kick to the face! There is this one really crazy part in the story where an infant Unconsecrated is discovered, and I was thinking, “Who could come up with a story like this?”

I wouldn’t say that there were a whole lot of slow moments in the book because I was intrigued enough to keep reading and I actually really learned to like both Harry and Travis. I think Harry is my favorite character because he was probably the least serious character given the life they had to live and the hopeless situation they were faced with.

But I was so pissed off with the ending of the book that, in my mind, I came up with an ending that would have totally rocked!!! And no, it isn’t necessarily a happy ending. But it made me realize that the story had a whole lot more potential, and I think I could have said I would have really liked it…IF it ended differently!

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Publisher's Summary: Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

My Take: I was super excited to get my hands on a copy of Of Poseidon, and I couldn’t get to reading it fast enough!

I wasn’t fully sure what I was getting myself into when I committed myself to reading Of Poseidon, I only knew that it had something to do with mermaids…and I was intrigued! Of Poseidon starts immediately with a scene that had me cracking up! We find the main character, Emma, in a face-to-face, extremely mortifying position (No, I won’t tell you…you’ll have to read it to see what I mean!) . . . and the best part is her friend in the background, who’s cracking jokes and making Emma even more embarrassed than she already is. The second chapter is just as good as the first, only now we find Emma in a scene that’s horrifying, not mortifying! So, basically, the first and second chapters set the tone for the remainder of the book.

Each chapter switches back and forth between the POV of Emma and Galen, the prince of the Syrena. This switching between POV’s had me a little nervous in the beginning because I thought it would destroy any surprises and plot twists. However, even though we see the story from both POV’s, you’re definitely kept in suspense and don’t learn everything right away.

I really loved every single character in this book…and I mean every single character; I really can’t think of one character that I didn’t like! And I liked each character in a totally different way…so much so that I really can’t even decide which character I liked the most!

Of Poseidon is a magical story that includes a fun, cute romance. The story often had me laughing hysterically and, to top it all off, there’s an awesome twist in the end. The ending leaves the story open for another book or an entire series, but I’m content even with it being a standalone book! This is for sure a book I would totally recommend.

Next week's new releases!

Balthazar
by Claudia Gray
Expected Publish Date:
Mar 6, 2012

Publisher's Summary: For hundreds of years, the vampire Balthazar has been alone—without allies, without love.

When Balthazar agrees to help Skye Tierney, a human girl who once attended Evernight Academy, he has no idea how dangerous it will be. Skye’s newfound psychic powers have caught the attention of Redgrave, the cruel, seductive master vampire responsible for murdering Balthazar and his family four centuries ago. Now Redgrave plans to use Skye’s powers for his own evil purposes.

Balthazar will do whatever it takes to stop Redgrave and exact his long-awaited revenge against his killer. As Skye and Balthazar stand together to fight him, they grow closer—first unwillingly, then undeniably. Balthazar realizes his lonely world could finally be changed by her. . . .

In a story filled with forbidden love and dark suspense, one of the most beloved characters in Claudia Gray’s New York Times bestselling Evernight series will captivate readers with his battle to overcome his past and follow his heart.

Embrace
by Jessica Shirvington
Expected Publish Date:
Mar 6, 2012

Summary: It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Illuminate
by Aimee Agresti
Expected Publish Date:
Mar 6, 2012

Summary: Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

Fair Game
by Patricia Briggs
Expected Publish Date:
Mar 6, 2012

Publisher's Summary: They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...