“Clockwork Prince” by Cassandra Clare

This is the second book in the Infernal Devices series.

Charlotte and the rest of the Shadowhunters living at the Institue have been given two weeks to find and neutralize the mysterious Magister. Tessa is growing to like Jem, though she still has feelings for Will. Will’s curse has plagued him for more than five years – will he ever find a way to remove it? And when a traitor is revealed, it could mean the lives of everyone Tessa loves.

I think this was Clare’s weakest book to date. There was a lot of Tessa dithering about her feelings for Will and Jem, and there’s not much action. While I enjoyed some of the more subtle parts of Tessa’s role in this one, I mostly found it boring. I was frustrated with the lack of communication going on in this one, and can only give it a 5.5.

Read-A-Likes: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (#1), Supernaturally by Kiersten White, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

“There’s No Place Like Home” by Jen Calonita

This is the sixth and final book in the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series.

Kaitlin is back in LA after succeeding on Broadway. Now it’s time to make some choices about her future – should she go to college or stick with her skyrocketing career? Will her mom overpower her forever? And when a public event goes horribly awry and puts Austin in danger, will he continue to love Kaitlin?

This was the most childish, contrived, and unrealistic book in the whole series – which was a bigger disappointment since the last one was so good. I found myself rolling my eyes and skimming a lot of this one. If you’re a fan of these books, you’ll probably still enjoy it, but I expected better from Calonita. This one only gets a 4 from me.

Read-A-Likes (but better): Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita (#1), The Daughters by Joanna Philbin, Airhead by Meg Cabot

“Tortall and Other Lands” by Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce is one of my favorite authors. I read everything she writes.

This is a collection of short stories. Some are fantasy, some are more realistic, some are about characters we already know and love, like Daine and Kit, and Nawat and Aly. I definitely liked the stories that took place in Pierce’s already-rich world that included Tortall. The more contemporary stories weren’t as enjoyable for me because I was expecting fantasy.

This was a good collection. I liked nearly all of the stories in this one. My favorite was “The Dragon’s Tale”, told from Kitten’s point of view. Daine and Numair’s quartet of stories is still my favorite of all of Pierce’s stories, and Kit was one of my favorite characters in those stories, so it was really neat to read about them again. An 8 from me.

Read-A-Likes: Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce, Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede, Young Warriors: Stories of Strength by Tamora Pierce

“Broadway Lights” by Jen Calonita

This is the fifth book in the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series.

Megastar Kaitlin Burke is ready to tackle Broadway in her first ever production. It will be a change, moving to NYC for the summer and being away from Austin, but nothing can tear them apart – not even flirty girls at lacrosse camp or sexy costars, right?

This one felt the most realistic to me of all the books so far. Kaitlin deals with insecurities about her acting – she has to get it right the first time because it’s live theater. There are no re-shoots. Also the relationship drama with Austin is very realistic – long-distance relationships do take a lot more maintenance, and this is one area they struggled. I give this one a 9 out of 10.

Read-A-Likes: Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita (#1), The Daughters by Joanna Philbin, Airhead by Meg Cabot

“Prince of Dorkness: More notes from a Totally Lame Vampire” by Tim Collins

This is the second book about Nigel, the Totally Lame Vampire.

Things are going well for Nigel – his dream girl Chloe is finally his and his vampire superpowers have kicked in. But Chloe keeps bugging him about making her immortal, a strange vampire is trying to become part of the family, and a weird new kid named Jason is suddenly stealing all the female attention from Nigel. When Chloe abandons Nigel and he loses his powers, how will he ever stand it?

This one was funny, just like the last one. I definitely like Nigel and hope there are more adventures to come. I give this one a 9 out of 10.

Read-A-Likes: Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire (Because the Undead have Feelings too!) by Tim Collins (the first one), Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

“Supernaturally” by Kiersten White

This is the second book about paranormal Evie.

Evie finally has a normal life – she attends a real high school, her boyfriend takes her out on dates, and she even had a locker. But when elementals start attacking her, and Raquel comes back into her life, Evie knows she can never be normal. Will she be able to stay with Lend? Or will she be sucked back into the Faerie Realms for good?

This book had a lot more angst than the previous one. I felt like Evie was less of a character – in the last book, she was kicking butt, but now she’s just whining about her life. I also felt like Jack was way too obvious, and the ending was silly and unrealistic. I was kind of bored throughout the book. If you liked the first one, or if you like the romantic angst, you’ll probably like this one. A 6.5 from me.

Read-A-Likes: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (#1), The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, Firelight by Sophie Jordan, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

“Woods Runner” by Gary Paulsen

This is one of the Sunshine State Young Reader’s books for the middle schools this year.

Samuel is thirteen years old in 1776, living in the wilderness of Pennsylvania with his parents. Knowledge of the war has just started to trickle into their homestead, when it’s attacked. Samuel tracks his parents, meeting both helpful and hurtful people along the way. Will Samuel be able to rescue his parents before the British kill them?

I don’t really like wilderness/survival stories, so I never would have picked this one up to read on my own. Setting that aside, I didn’t like the explanations before each chapter – it really chopped the novel up, and I felt like the story never had a good rhythm. I think the information would have been better before just a few of the chapters, to help the story move along. That being said, there was nothing really wrong with this book, and if you like survival stories, or stories about young folks during war time (without too much graphic violence), you’ll like this one. Including my personal feeling about this genre, I give it a 6.5.

Read-A-Likes: Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier, The Fighting Ground by Avi

“Darkfall” by Janice Hardy

This is the third and final book in the Healing Wars series.

Nya is desperate to get Tali back, but with the Duke mobilizing his troops, she must flee to Geveg to warn the people of his incipient arrival. When she finds a surprise in Geveg, and friends start to fall, Nya must raise her own army to defeat the Duke if she ever hopes to find her true sister again.

Nya seemed a bit lost in this one, probably because of the overwhelming odds against her. The final battle was a little confusing, especially the scene with the Duke, and I guess readers are supposed to draw their own conclusions about what happened. A fitting end to Nya’s story, though, and an 8.5 from me.

Read-A-Likes: The Shifter by Janice Hardy (#1), Terrior by Tamora Pierce, The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins