Two down, many more to go...

I went to the library today to return Fire and Shiver because I read them both over the weekend. That's 744 pages. Woo!

I love reading books back to back because I can rather unfairly compare my reading experiences of the two. In this case, Shiver wins. Okay, fine, it's not a competition, but when I think of which experience I enjoyed more, which book captivated me the most, it's Shiver, no contest. It had several things going for it at the start, though, so again, it's an unfair match. First of all, I love books told in alternating points of view. Especially when one of them is the voice of werewolf boy - oh, how my heart melts instantly. And I'm not a Jacob fan. But this story was so... soft... sweet... gentle. Those words don't quite capture the essence of the book.

You know, now that I think of it, Shiver had a Time Traveler's Wife feel to it. The woods behind the house where the girl finds her one true love - though, in this case, it's a wolf she bonds with and doesn't realize he's actually human until she's in high school. I loved the romance in this story - not quite explicit (this is where "sweet" comes in), just a boy and a girl who spend lots of time together and know that that's all they want to do - be together. Grace and Sam are wonderful together, and yes, I was sobbing by the end of the book. This is one that could have easily been marketed as an adult novel too, had the characters not been in their late teens.

As for Fire, oh what can I say? I wanted to love it. I loved Graceling. But I just wasn't feeling this one. So much war! Fire is an intriguing character, one that I would have liked to know better, but I just felt like all of the war planning and politics got in the way. The romance in this story is sweet too and most of the reason why I kept reading the book. I would have put it down fairly quickly had I not been curious as to who Fire would choose and whether or not her love would be returned. But this was only a subplot to the book, I think, so I can't really love the book for it. There were too many other parts that I would have liked to skip. And maybe it's just because I despise so greatly anything to do with war that I couldn't enjoy it. I don't know. And I also don't know who to recommend it to, which is an even worse problem. Will fans of Graceling like it? Some people seem to think so, but I think it's so far from Graceling that I wouldn't even consider it. Hmm...

Oh, and I couldn't help myself but leave with three more books from the library today...













Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater
The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods #4) by Melissa de la Cruz
Violet Wings by Victoria Hanley

That's two faeries and a vampire. I can't help myself.