Reviews by a Real Teen: Of Triton by Anna Banks

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Of Triton by Anna Banks

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Let me start off with, oh my goodness!! This book was so AWESOME!!.

Ok, so this book basically started off from where Of Poseidon ended, where Emma’s mom is Nalia. Well, let’s just say at the beginning Emma’s mom isn’t the best person in the world. Grom finds Nalia and he doesn’t want to be mated to Paca anymore. So Grom, Galen, Toraf, and Nalia go to the boundary so Nalia can live with the Syrena again and Grom can get unsealed from Paca. Well, I can tell you that is NOT what happens. They have to have a tribunal, which is like court, only in Syrena world. Meanwhile, back to Emma, she’s stuck with Rayna and Rachel and let’s just say that is not a good pairing. Plus a lot of secrets are spilled and “gifts” are uncovered, which keeps the book twisting and turning the whole way through.

I literally loved this book. It felt so good when I finished it because I haven’t read a book in a while, actually since I finished Call of the Wild for school. I’m so happy I picked this book to read first. It was full of humor, love, loss, and pretty much everything in between. There is so much emotion it’s like you want to literally reach into the book and hug Galen or slap Toraf. I will say this one was a good sequel. You have those series that the first book is really good, but the second or third or whatever are let downs. This one was not like that. It actually was more than what I thought.

If you’re debating whether or not you should read these books, you know have a great review and opinion to go towards the “read this” list.

Reviews by a Real Teen: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Meet Christina, a real teen, and her opinions on YA books!

The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite started where The Selection left off. There are six girls left and it’s getting tougher on Maxon to pick which girls are going to go home. The girls are getting even bigger tasks, like they have to plan this party for the people visiting from different countries and they have to create a philanthropy project, which I might say is quite the best part in the book to me. America is getting distant from Maxon and getting closer to *excuse me while I gag* Aspen. I’m sorry, but I really don’t like him. TEAM MAXON!!!!! And you really get to see a different side of the King and Queen and you really see the King’s true colors.

This book was sosososososo good!!! It was equally as good as the first one because I have been looking forward to this book for forever!!!! It was just-ahhhhh!! So good. Perfect! I actually felt America’s pain and happiness, and the betrayal she goes through is just kind of horrific. You really find out some things about Maxon and the girls that go home will make your jaw drop and want to cry. Seriously.

And I feel like with this book I should do something special, so I’m going to give my opinion on the girl’s that are left.

America- Well I personally love America, but she can be so weird at times. One minute she has finally realized she loves Maxon and then the next she can’t stand him and wants to go home. She should make up her mind and stick to one thing. If she’s going to love Maxon and potentially be picked as the new princess, she should put the anger she feels towards Maxon when she gets mad at him, and put it towards the love she has for him.

Kriss- Well, I liked Kriss, but about half way through the book, something switched. I think she’s misleading everyone. She told America that she really likes Maxon, and she loves the girls there too, but when she thought someone was going home, she was excited. So I think she is misleading people on her opinion.

Natalie- I think she’s kind of just there for maybe back up. She pleases the country, but she kind of just hangs around, hidden in the shadows. She’s either going to at the last minute change everybody’s mind and completely get herself out there, or she’s going to fade into the background and get sent home.

Elise- She is quite like Natalie. She is a background girl. It’s not that she doesn’t get noticed, she just doesn’t do outrageous things that will make her be remembered. I could see how Maxon would want her, or well the King would want Maxon to pick her because she has very many connections in New Asia and they are currently at war with each other, and the King thinks that maybe they could stop the war.

And lastly, Celeste- Someone should just kick her out now. She acts like she owns the place, and maybe that’s how she raised as a Two, but she is too over the top. Like with Elise and Natalie, they’re not noticed, but Celeste is the opposite. She is an attention hog. The spotlight has to be on her. Always.

Real Teen Review: Once by Anna Carey

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Once by Anna Carey

This book, Once, takes place after Eve was dropped off at Califia. Caleb is gone from Califia and wanted by the king. Meanwhile Eve is getting used to her surroundings at Califia. When word travels back to camp that Caleb was found in an Ikea store, Eve being her stubborn self goes out looking for him. When Arden and Eve make it there, she is attacked by the city’s soldiers. They take Arden with them and dropped Arden back off at the schools and take Eve to the City of Sand. Eve is so scared because the valedictorian of the class gets sent to the City so she can have the king’s kids. When she gets there she is surprised with some very deep information about her family. She then finds Caleb and they form a plan to get themselves out of the City. Love is pronounced, weddings are talked about, and people are killed. It’s a very tangled web of suspense of wondering what’s going to happen next.

I loved this book for the most part. There are lots of secrets spilled and blood is shed to protect Eve. Everything is going smooth until some stupid soldiers got in the way! The ending, for me, was awful. I wish it would’ve ended differently but I think Anna Carey did it that way for a reason. I mean now there definitely has to be another book. YAY!! I liked that there were new characters introduced and some of the old characters were talked about and brought back. I think deep down I knew something was going to happen because the way everyone was being secretive and kind of weird around Eve made me get to thinking. There are a lot of character reveals that I didn’t expect.

Reviews by a Real Teen: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

BOOK NOT MOVIE!!

So I’ve had the desire to read these books for a while and the movie was the motivation for me to go and read them. I wanted to read it before the movie came out so I could compare the book to how they created the movie. So this is the review for the BOOK.

Ethan Wate lives in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina. Nothing’s ever different. It is the same people, same personalities. Ethan then discovers that there’s more to Gatlin than meets the eye. Lena Duchannes is the eye opener for him. She is a caster, from a whole family of casters. Lena doesn’t really want to get close to him or anyone because she knows that on her birthday she is going to get claimed. She knows she’s going dark. Ethan does everything in his power take her mind off of it, but it she can’t. As their relationship get more and more serious, more and more secrets get uncovered like Amma and Macon are somehow connected and working together to keep Ethan and Lena apart. Or the fact that (SPOILER!! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK) her mom is still alive and inhabiting another body and she’s the darkest caster ever. (END OF SPOILER) And thanks to Genevieve, Lena’s great-great-great-great grandmother, her whole family has been cursed to all go dark. So the ending was very shocking reading it. So if you want to know what happens read the book. (Don’t trust the movie )

I loved this book. There is betrayal, secrets, forbidden love, everything I love in a good book. Might I say perfect? This book felt like I was right there experiencing everything Lena and Ethan were experiencing. The characters are lovable, even if you do hate them you can’t help but like them. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this book. I was a little confused at the end as to where 3 specific people went (people who have read it will understand). Over all, I loved it. Go read it if haven’t!!!!!

Reviews By A Real Teen: Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay

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Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay

Romeo Redeemed is the second book after Juliet Immortal. If you haven’t guessed yet this book is about the famous Romeo and Juliet story. The tragic love story of Juliet killing herself because she thought Romeo was dead, but this story is completely different. Romeo is a Mercenary and Juliet is dead. In the first book Romeo and Juliet inhabited bodies. Romeo was trying to kill Juliet while Juliet was trying to find couples that are in love. At the end Romeo ended up killing Juliet or the spirit that was inside of Ariel, the girl Juliet inhabited. In Romeo Redeemed Romeo is offered the deal of a lifetime; To become an Ambassador (the good people) and the only thing he has to do is make Ariel fall in love with him. It’s quite harder than he thought because she practically hates him, but loves him at the same time.

This book was so good!!! I didn’t even know there was going to be a second book until I went to Barnes and Noble and saw this. So of course I had to buy it. I will relate this book to Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick (even though the two books are NOTHING alike). I absolutely loved the epilogue in this book. It makes me smile because I seriously thought the ending was going to be horrible, which I’m not going to say whether or not it was. I really loved this book. The ending of the book wasn’t what I thought was going to happen. I also liked how every other chapter it changed POV from Romeo to Ariel to Juliet, and there is a HUGE twist at the very end!!!!!!!

This book was everything I wasn’t expecting so if you were hesitant to pick this book up or you have never even heard of it, read Juliet Immortal first and then this one. So good!!!