Children of Jihad - by Jared Cohen
I read Children of Jihad a couple years ago for my 8th grade summer reading, and when I returned to school I was surprised to find out that I was the ONLY person in the grade who had chosen to read it. This book was one of the best I have ever read (and I have read a LOT of books) and the imagery and themes that Cohen gets across through his words are astounding. Cohen uses his own experiences in the Middle East to show the truth of what is going on there, clearing up stereotypes like 'every muslim is a terrorist' (which is total bullshit) and conveying the hope and determination of the younger generation.
The Juliet Club - by Suzanne Harper
This book is about a girl named Kate who goes to a Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare seminar in Verona, Italy with her Shakespearian scholar father, and the seminar happens to be run by her fathers sworn enemy and rival. Kate, a girl who has sworn to never fall in love again after having her heart broken, thinks of herself as a sensible person. But in Italy she meets Giacomo, the good looking guy who happens to be in the same seminar! But there is more... he is also the son of her father's rival, Professoressa Marchese. Could what begins as a game between the two of them to fool everyone else into thinking they are in love spiral into something more?
I am a sucker for Romeo and Juliet stories, so I picked up this book thinking it was a great twist on the original story. For the first hundred pages or so I was very happy with it, but sadly the second half of the book was kind of a disappointment. The story was not like Romeo and Juliet at all, and I think if Harper had continued to mimic the star-crossed lovers story line the book would have been 10x better. Instead, the story got a bit dry and strayed from (who I thought were) the 2 main characters. The romance got less exciting and more exasperated, I was disappointed with the ending and the book altogether.
Strange Angels / Betrayals - by Lili St. Crow
Dru Anderson is your everyday teenage girl, except for the fact that she travels the country with her dad hunting down zombies and other things that go bump in the night. She thinks everything is fine until one day her dad goes out to hunt a zombie... and comes back as one! Now she and her new friend Graves have to find out who wants Dru dead and why. With the help of the mysterious Christophe they might just have a chance at survival.
I read these books a few months ago (in february) but I saw fit to put them here because i absolutely LOVED THEM! I have read so many romance/adventure/fantasy books that at this point I can pick one up, read the first 5 chapters and predict the ending. And in 7 out of 10 cases my predictions are spot on, BUT those 3 out of the 10 that I can't predict are always the ones I love the most. And these 2 books fit into that category. Personally, I thought that the character development was spot on. It was packed with action and thrills, which made it impossible to put down! I had to pace myself while reading them because I wanted to make them last (I got them to last 3 days! That's a record time for me ^_^ I am a really fast reader). The heroine in the story is a comfortably strong figure, she isn't too strong-willed and distant that she is unlikeable, but instead the opposite. I saw a lot of similarities to two other series' that I love (The Immortal Instruments and The Hunger Games) so it was as if the books were a blend of the two (which made me love it more)! On top of the great story, and plot development that gave the reader just enough information to keep one waiting anxiously for the next installment without making it unbearable to know what is going to happen next, the books both had well written and nicely set up endings (which, believe me, are incredibly rare)!
I would recommend these books for anyone who likes a good thrill and a bit of romance mixed into the the adventure. They have zombies, ghosts, vampires (suckers/djamphir) and werewolves (werwulfs), basically if the Twilight series was good, this would be it (with better twists, characters and plot).
Iron King / Iron Daughter -- By Julie Kagawa
This series (2 books so far) fits perfectly under the adventure/fantasy/romance category.
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined...
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 never have 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.
(Taken from Julie Kagawa's website http://enterthefaeryworld.com/ironfey/#)
These books, in my opinion, are the perfect fantasy series. They have a strong heroine protagonist and adequate character development. With the quirky characters and the hilarious back-and-forth insults between her companions (Puck and Ace) on their quest to find her little brother. The pacing of the story is perfect, especially in the first book. The Author paces the plot by cutting it into episodes within the story, like different stops on their journey. The romance is perfect, and the imagery from the words creates the perfect movie in your head. You won't be able to put these books down!
