The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

The Lost Saint  by Bree Despain
(The Dark Divine #2)
Publisher: Egmont USA
Release Date: December 28, 2010
Hardcover: 416 pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon
Source: library
Challenge: Support Your Local Library, 350 Page
Overall: 

A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.
Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.
Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace's relationship with Daniel is put in danger - in more ways than one.
Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her - not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung. 

Oh my! When I first started this, I didn't think I would like it as good as the first one. I mean, books are rarely as good as their prequel. But wow! By the middle of the book I was hooked back into the story and couldn't put it down, it was nearly as enthralling as the first. 


Some things are a lot different in this book, that is because a lot has changed, of course, and the characters have grown. I think the main person who has grown and changed is Grace. I mean wow, she's grown a lot. She really knows how to take care of herself, mostly. 


I really liked the new character Talbot in the beginning, though I knew all along that he was a bit suspicious. But that is all I'm going to say, because I don't want to spoil anything. 


Overall, it was awesome. Bree is a great writer and I can't wait to read the next book in the series! 


The cover is very pretty, just like the first one. I love the black backgrounds and the pretty colorful fabric on the front covering the girls. It's simple, yet beautiful. 

The third book in the series is called The Savage Grace. It's expected release date is March 13th, 2012. My review of The Dark Divine. 

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn't have) 
by Sarah Mlynowski
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Hardcover: 368 pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon
Source: library
Challenge: Support Your Local Library, 350 Page
Overall: 

2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house – parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.
If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.
In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.

This is my first book by Mlynowski. I have been wanting to read a book by her for a while, I have always heard great things about her books including this one. So when I found it at the library I happily grabbed it and brought it home with me. When I finally got around to reading it, it didn't disappoint me. 

Ten Things We Did absolutely rocks. It was a very fun and cute book and the writing kept you flying through the pages. When I first read the summary, I thought "How cool would that of been when I was a teen?!" I would have LOVED to live with a friend, have no parents around, and have money deposited into my account at the beginning of each month. I mean, what teenager doesn't? That's the ultimate dream, right?

The characters were really developed and fun to read about. April was a really fun main character. I think the only person who bugged me and I didn't really connect with or care much about was Noah. I would take Hudson's side any day. Loved how he was always there when April needed him. *swoon* 

Overall, this was a very fun book to read. If you want something light and fun to read this is definitely a book for you. I greatly enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to reading it again in the future. I'll be checking out more of Mlynowski's books soon. 

And isn't that cover gorgeous?! Would love to have it on my shelf. =)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Series: --
Next Book in series: --
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: December 2, 2011
Hardcover: 372 Pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon
Source: library
Challenge: Support Your Local Library, 350 Page
Overall: 5/5
Summary                                        
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?
First Paragraph                                                                                       

Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I’m not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day. The art museum is called the Louvre and it’s shaped like a pyramid and the Mona Lisa lives there along with the statue of the woman missing her arms. And there are cafes or bistros or whatever they call them on every street corner. And mimes. The food is supposed to be good, and the people drink a lot of wine and smoke a lot of cigarettes.

My Review                                                                                                

Oh. My. God. Seriously? I. Freaking. Loved. This. Book. Why did it have to end?! Why?! It was amazing. I have heard soooo many great things about this book.  I kept hearing that it was one of their most favorite contemporary novels for the year, and for some the greatest ever!

 It definitely got me intrigued and when I was able to snag it at the library without putting a hold on it, I was ecstatic! I wasn’t even looking for it at the time, I mean, I knew I wanted to read it, but I was just browsing the shelves and I saw the Eiffel tower on the spine and then the name and I freaked and grabbed it.

I don’t even know how to explain this book. I started reading it and that was it. I was hooked. From the first freaking page! And I didn’t stop then, nope. I read until, like, 4 in the morning! I only got in about 200 pages before falling asleep, but I finished the next day. And wow, I even dreamed about Paris and, of course, St. Clair (Drools!) when I was sleeping.  And that’s after about half an hour of tossing and turning while thinking about the book. I couldn’t get it out of my head. And I still can’t. I am so unbelievably sad I finished it. I keep staring at the pretty cover and making a sad face.  Normally books this size (Nearly 400.) takes me a few days to read nowadays because I have my son, but I read this book pretty dang fast! If I could add up all my time spent reading it, it might have been about 5 hours all together? And that’s because half the time I would read very slow in some areas, or go back and read it over again to smile at it. I will definitely be rereading this in the future and I can NOT wait to read the companion novel Lola and the Boy Next Door. I don’t even know what it’s about yet because I told myself I would read Anna and the French Kiss before reading the synopsis for the companion.

Anna was a great protagonist, she annoyed me at some points, but all the characters were great. Especially St. Clair! God he’s hot. And soooo nice! Even the annoying preppy girls like Amanda was fun to read about. All the characters were pretty real to me, they made mistakes and learned from them, and they were flawed. 

The writing pulls you in and has great detail. And I mean GREAT detail. Perkins did an amazing job describing the streets of Paris. I've always wanted to go there, but after reading this I want to go NOW. 

But overall, just get it. It was amazing. Really. I kind of want to go back and re-read it now just to be back with the characters and setting. 

Cover Love                                                                            

So cute!! Love everything about it!