Book Review: Grim

Book: Grim
Author: Anna Waggener
Genre: Fantasy (Paranormal, Mythology) (YA)
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 320 (Hardcover)
Favorite Character: Probably Jeremiah, I'm a sucker for angels. (I also really enjoyed most of the brothers)

Plot: (From Goodreads)

A fantastic debut from the winner of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards novel contest.

When Erika wakes up after a horrific car crash, she finds herself somewhere between earth and heaven, between life and death. She doesn't want to accept help from Jeremiah, who she's not sure she can trust, even as she finds herself drawn to him, following him into a grim city of souls. She's not sure who wants to help her and who wants to hurt her. And she's desperate to get back to her children.

Shawn's never thought about having to shoulder the responsibility of caring for his young sister Megan and his reckless older sister. And he never imagined that the three of them would find themselves in a haunted wood, sometimes chased, sometimes assisted, never sure where they're headed.

With Grim, the terrifically talented Anna Waggener delves into the place where myth becomes reality, where family can distort you as easily as it cares for you, where death and eternity meet.



Review:
I speed through this book faster then I expected. I didn't know much about it when I picked it up besides the fact that it was about angels, a debut, and the cover was gorgeous (and it actually ended up being relevant to the story, which I love when that happens). But I ended up really enjoying this one.

This is a book that was just so intriguing in the way it was written. It wasn't just focused on one person and it wasn't focused on just the 'main' time period either. There were pages in the middle of chapters that were black with white writing and they were flashbacks, so it speak, and so very interesting. So the writing, the way it was written, was one reason this book got such a good rating for me.

Also, I enjoyed the characters and the plot, the idea of the whole world and how it worked, and the underlying darkness of it all. This isn't a lighthearted read but I don't think it really could of been. I'm not going to say anymore as to not give anything away. It really good, though, even if it had me tearing up a bit in places. You should check this one out, though, because this is Anna's first book and it's quite a stunning first book at that.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Genre: Young Adult (Psychological Thriller)

Rating: A

Plot from Goodreads:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

Review:

That little plot summary makes it seem a lot more like a romance novel than it really is. There is a relationship and it is one of the focal points but i found myself more interested in Mara's thought process and how she reacted to things. When you first meet Mara she had just moved to a new state to start over. After her best friends dying, and her not remembering it, she was having a difficult time. She would have hallucinations, she would see her dead friends. These hallucinations were beautifully written and I could really feel how she felt.

Next thing she know she is starting a new school, a preppy private school. She made a fool of herself on the first day because of her hallucinations and already made enemies. She then met a boy named Jamie, who's funny and quirky personality really helped with relief and made me smile. I was sad to see Jamie's character leave from the story but it was because the story got darker and there was no longer a place for Jamie's humor. Then there is Noah Shaw. How do i start to talk about Noah. I hated him. In the beginning at least, I did grow to love him when he started to reveal his little secrets. And of course he was attractive and English which just made him even more gorgeous.

Michelle Hodkin's writing was fast paced and it was believable. The way she made the novel a mystery until the end and still some questions hanging was amazing. In the beginning of the book the main character explained in a letter that she was using the name Mara Dyer as a pseudonym. I went through the whole book wondering what Mara's name really was because the name Mara just seemed to fit the main character.

I wish I could say more but everything else i could say could give away the amazing plot twist at the end. You learn so much in a short amount of pages that I had to re-read them. And let me say I was surprised and I was not even made it ended in a sort of cliffhanger. My only comment is go to your local bookstore and pick this book up. This book was unbelievable and a must-read for anyone. This book was a great mixture of things, and I think any age or gender would enjoy it.

Until Next Time!

-- Haley <3