Troll's Eye View - Multiple Authors

Summary:(from book jacket) Everyone thinks they know the real story behind the villains in fairy tales- evil, no two ways about it. But the villains themselves beg to differ. In this book you'll hear from: the Giant's wife from Jack and the beanstalk, the oldest of the twelve dancing princesses, Rumpelstiltskin, the witch from "Hansel and Gretel" and someone called evil Cinderella. Just watch these old stories do new tricks.
Review: This is a book of short stories of fairy tale retelling giving the villains perspective on a traditional story. Considering the fact that I love these types of stories i didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. This is mostly because I didn't know a lot of the stories that were being retold and that kind of takes away from it. That being said my favorite story was A Delicate Architecture by Catherynne M. Valente. It really was an awesome story following the life of a traditional villain which i thought some of the other stories were lacking. I don't really have much else to say about this book. if you love fairy tale retelling you will probably enjoy this book.

Nailed by Patrick Jones

Summary:(from book jacket) Flint Southwestern High School is ruled by the jockarchy. And Bret Hendricks could never fit into their conformity cult. He knows what his dad means when he says that the nail that sticks out the farthest gets hammered hardest. But it doesn't , because he doesn't know, or want to know, what "normal" means. Standing out from the crowd doesn't hurt when he's on stage acting or singing in his band. And he feels at home in his girlfriend's arms because sticking out together doesn't seem as hard. But loyalties aren't what Bret thinks they are. As his safe havens disappear one by one, Bret discovers that sometimes you just have to risk getting hammered in order to build a great future.
Review: I thought this book was just OK. The plot was kind of intriguing when I first picked up this book and although I did enjoy it I wasn't all that amazed. The plot was entertaining and I finished this book pretty quickly. What I liked the most was really seeing Bret change over the course of the book. Although he did a few things that were kind of stupid he was able to learn from what had happened. The plot wasn't very action packed or fast paced but that's what made it better. It was a realistic story of a guy who doesn't fit in with the crowd.
 The thing that really stood out for me the most in this book was the characters. Every single character, whether I liked them or not, was very detailed and real characters. Even the ones who didn't have that much of a part were still awesome. I think that really made the story of Bret's struggle even better. If the characters had fallen flat I wouldn't have liked this book nearly as much as I did. Despite this I didn't really like any of the characters all that much. but i guess if the were all amazing it would have taken away from the premise of the story a little bit.
 I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants a simple look at the life of a high school misfit. I thought this book  was good and fairly enjoyable. i'll be curious to read something else by this author.

Locked Inside by Nancy Werlin

Summary: (from back of book) Wealthy... and alone. As the daughter of the wildly successful inspirational singer-author Skye- who died in a plane crash when she was young- Marnie Skyedottir stands to inherit great wealth. But until she is old enough, she must survive a dreary life in private boarding school. She endures by escaping into an online role- playing game as much as possible, and steering well clear of the other girls. So when Marnie is kidnapped by someone who also claims to be Skye's daughter, she is terrified. With her reclusive tendencies. will anyone even notice that she's gone? And will her online gaming skills be of any help to her in this real life drama?
Review: I liked this book. It was an interesting read that I finished pretty quickly. I thought the first half of the book dragged a little and was kind of slow but my curiosity kept me reading. Towards the end things picked up and  turned into the exciting novel I had anticipated it would be. I was very surprised by the kidnapper and their story, the way that story played out was really interesting. I was convinced that I knew what was going to happen once all the surprises were revealed, even after I finished it I'm still not convinced that I'm wrong. Thats what I liked about it. I was involved and thinking about how the story was going to progress. Sadly, I kind of wish I had been right. I can't say I wasn't surprised by how it did end though.
I didn't really fele that connected with any of the characters. I was so focused on the plot I didn't really find the characters all that great. Of course there was a lot of character development and change towards the end. My favorite character was probably Max, even though he was hardly present. The moments where he was made me really like him and show that he really cares about Marnie. It did take a while for the story to become exciting but once it did I couldn't put it down. This is a good book for anyone who wants family drama and a pretty awesome plot.

Breathe My Name by R.A. Nelson

Summary:(from back of book) "I need to see you. Please come right away. We have to finish." Frances Robinson Can try and forget her birth mother. She can even try to forgive her. But she can never escape their past.
Review: I thought this book was OK. I think a lot of the surprise was taken out of it for me because I read the short summary on the copyrights page and that told the premise of the story in more detail. Had I not known so much to begin with I think I would have enjoyed it a little more. Regardless, there were still some things that surprised me and made it interesting. However, I didn't think the story was all that great. I didn't find the relationship between Frances and Nix all that believable. I didn't think there was enough buildup and just getting to know each other. I didn't really feel all that attached to any of the characters. I didn't find them that relate able. I also thought the alternating between the past and present was interesting. It really let the reader see what was going on instead of just hearing about it eleven years later. The ending chapters were really exciting and there were a few things that took me by surprise. I thought the way it ended was a little bit weird but also kind of fitting. My favorite thing about this book was probably the theme of questioning the blurring line between good and eveil and discovering what that means. Anyway, this book wasn't one of my favorites but I was interested enought that I read it in a day. I want to reccomend this book just hear what other people think about it.

Torment by Lauren Kate

This review may contain spoilers of Fallen.
Summary: (from book jacket) Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts- immortals that want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something- something dangerous. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?
Review: I wasn't expecting much from this book when I picked it up because I didn't actually enjoy Fallen all that much. However, I actually really liked this one. It was entertaining and surprising and I was really enjoyed it. I liked some of the issues that were brought up between Luce and Daniel and the surprise as Luce began to discover some of her past lives. I also really liked Shoreline. It was a really interesting setting for the story. Also, Thanksgiving was the best thing ever, It was so funny and awkward and that was before the real fun began. One thing I didn't like though was that some parts of the book seemed kind of repetitive. Luce and Daniel can only do the smae thing so many times before I felt like yelling at them to grow up and get over there problems.
However, I really liked all the new characters that were introduced in this book. Shelby is awesome and Dawn and Jasmine were hilarious and I honestly don't even know what to think about Miles. Another good thing about it was it seemed like all of the old characters from Fallen made at least some brief apperance in this book. The book ended in a giant cliffhanger that makes me super excited to find out where the story goes from here, it's going to get really interesting. Anyone wanting more paranormal romance should read this series. Its worth it with this book.