Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Rating: ☆☆☆
Release date: Aug. 30, 2011
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Format: hardback
Source: library
Pages: 424
Series: --
Challenge: --
Summary: 

Bethany Church is an angel sent to Earth to keep dark forces at bay. Falling in love was never part of her mission, but the bond between Beth and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier Woods, is undeniably strong. But even Xavier's love, and the care of her archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, can't keep Beth from being tricked into a motorcycle ride that ends up in Hell. There, the demon Jake Thorn bargains for Beth's release back to Earth. But what he asks of her will destroy her, and quite possibly, her loved ones, as well.

I was a little hesitant to read this after being disappointed by Halo, but I was surprised to find that I enjoyed Hades a lot more than I thought I would. As with the first, I found myself being annoyed with Bethany. She still seemed really helpless, especially how she got "tricked" into the motorcycle ride. I didn't really understand, with her being a divine being and all, why she couldn't just jump off once she realized something was wrong? I mean, maybe she was glued to the seat or something, but that really annoyed me. (And yeah, if there was an actual legit reason, then I apologize in advance. I must of missed that part. :))

Aaand one more thing that bothered me was how Bethany couldn't even figure out she was in Hell. I understand that angels don't exactly make trips to Hell every other week, but I still don't get how she couldn't have put the pieces together.

In the middle and towards the end, she showed a little bit more guts, though, which I guess makes up for all the other stuff about her that bothered me. For the most part, I tried to ignore her helplessness and it ended up more like a minor annoyance. I did end up liking her a lot more towards the end of the book.

One thing I liked was the pacing. Hades has a much faster pace than Halo did. I actually really liked how the book was going, and there really were not that many dull moments. The fact that we get to see both what's happening with Bethany in Hell and what's happening to Xavier and her family ensures that the book never really gets slow. If there's a lull with one character, then Adornetto allows us to see what's happening with the others. I thought this was a pretty effective method to use to keep the book from getting boring.

I also really liked how the danger in this book focuses more on a global view. Whereas Halo was all about Bethany and her family coming to rescue the town, this one had an issue that would impact the whole world. There was more of a sense of urgency in this one, which made the book much more exciting than the first.

I definitely thought this was an improvement over the first. Now hopefully, the third book will be even better!

2012 YA/MG Fantasy Challenge

Okay, this is the last challenge I'll be participating in. I don't think I could handle any more. :)



The YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge is being hosted by The Book Cellar. The goal is to read 10 YA or MG fantasy books that will be released in 2012. Here's what I plan on reading:

1. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

2. Above by Leah Bobet

3. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

4. Underworld by Meg Cabot

5. Grave Mercy by R.L. LaFevers

And that's it for now! I'll keep this updated as the year progresses. I'm super excited to be participating in this challenge, though, as fantasy is one of my favorite genres!

In My Mailbox #10

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren in which bloggers are able to show off what books they received. If you want to learn more, you can read about it here.

Follow Friday #1

This weekly meme is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Basically, it's a way to meet other bloggers. This will be my first time participating in it!

This week's question is:

Q: If you had to spend eternity inside the pages of a book, which book would you choose and why?

This is definitely a hard one. I would say Harry Potter, although I'm pretty that's going to be a lot of people's first choice. So my more "original" answer would be the Percy Jackson world. I mean, come on, that would be so amazing to be a demigod and have awesome powers and stuff. Plus, Camp Half-Blood has to be one of the coolest places ever. And because I also really, really love Percy Jackson.

My third choice would be the Mortal Instruments series! I think that'd be so awesome hanging out with the characters and being a shadowhunter and stuff. :)

Be sure to leave the link to your post in the comments!

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆☆ [5]
Release date: Feb. 1, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: paperback
Source: bought
Pages: 363
Series: Iron Fey (#1)
Challenge: --
Summary: 

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could have never guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Wow, this book is amazing. It was fast-paced, with hardly any slow moments or downtime in between all the action. Not to mention that the story itself isn't flowery or just driven by love like other faerie books might be - this one had some pretty gruesome elements in it, and a couple of the descriptions of the different characters actually frightened me a bit. The plot was also pretty unique in comparison to most other faerie books. It just made sense, and fit in with the world that Kagawa created.

Meghan got on my nerves a little bit, especially in the beginning. There were several times when she had to be saved by somebody else, because she either wouldn't move out of the way or she didn't know what she was doing. Towards the end, though, I began to like her a lot more, because she actually began to fight for herself. She still had a few "damsel in distress" moments, but I learned to ignore it.

I LOVED all the characters. Puck was pretty awesome, and he had a lot of really funny lines. And I really don't know what to say about Ash, the main love interest. He's just amazing. Really. He's definitely high up there on my favorite characters list. The other few side characters, even if they didn't have a big part, were all very interesting and different. I actually don't think there was a character that I disliked.

The ending of the book had me dying to read more. Now I can't wait until I get my hands on The Iron Daughter!