Becoming Jinn
Author: Lori Goldestein
Series: Becoming Jinn #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Summary:
Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit.
To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny.
Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn…and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.
Lori Goldstein’s debut sparkles with all the magic, humor, and romance that readers wish for!
First Sentence: A chisel, a hammer, a wrench.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Right from the start, I was sort-of excited for Becoming Jinn. Although I didn’t like the cover (why couldn’t it be a white background like it was for the Becoming Jinn bookmarks?) Becoming Jinn was about JINNS! (Obviously.) I am always looking for new books about jinns to read and hopefully, it’ll become a trend. I sadly DNF’d Becoming Jinn on page 55 as I could already tell that Becoming Jinn would sadly not be the book for me.
Right from the start, or page two to be exact, I noticed that there was a lot of info-dump. Azra was thinking about world-building – the rules of the Afrit and what would happen to her if she doesn’t follow them through – through several paragraphs of info-dump, which just wasn’t natural at all.
As I read on, I noticed that a majority of what I was reading was focused on girl drama, specially girl drama between Azra and her Afrit sisters. From what I read, I could tell that there would be even more girl drama introduced in Becoming Jinn. Fifth grade Kelly would love this aspect of Becoming Jinn, but college Kelly is long tired of reading books focused on nothing but girl drama, which was what ultimately caused me to DNF the book.
Public Enemies
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Immortal Game #2
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Summary:
Through a Faustian bargain, Edie Kramer has been pulled into the dangerous world of the Immortal Game, where belief makes your nightmares real. Hungry for sport, fears-made-flesh are always raising the stakes. To them, human lives are less than nothing, just pieces on a board.
Because of her boyfriend Kian’s sacrifice, she’s operating under the mysterious Harbinger’s aegis, but his patronage could prove as fatal as the opposition. Raw from deepest loss, she’s terrified over the deal Kian made for her. Though her very public enemies keep sending foot soldiers – mercenary monsters committed to her destruction–she’s not the one playing under a doom clock. Kian has six months…unless Edie can save him. And this is a game she can’t bear to lose.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
My Review:
I knew starting Public Enemies was a bad idea, especially since I forgot mostly everything that had happened in Mortal Danger. I started Public Enemies despite my worries since I requested it from Macmillan and Macmillan was nice enough to send it to me. (Thank you Macmillan!) I really tried with Public Enemies – I read up to page 56 and couldn’t do it anymore. There was nothing that was keeping me from reading on, especially since I wasn’t a fan of the romance. I was also completely detached from all the 56 pages I’ve read.
There’s sadly really nothing else to say besides that Public Enemies was not for me.
Tracked
Author: Jenny Martin
Series: Untitled #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Dial
Summary:
On corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high-stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee’s legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn’t stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble. When she and her best friend, Bear, attract the attention of Charles Benroyal, they are blackmailed into racing for Benroyal Corp, a company that represents everything Phee detests. Worse, Phee risks losing Bear as she falls for Cash, her charming new teammate. But when she discovers that Benroyal is controlling more than a corporation, Phee realizes she has a much bigger role in Castra’s future than she could ever have imagined. It’s up to Phee to take Benroyal down. But even with the help of her team, can a street-rat destroy an empire?
First Sentence: I pace the garage like some crazy-eyed wind-up girl.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
My Review:
The beginning of Tracked was oh so good. I’m a huge fan of the Fast and Furious movies and the beginning of Tracked definitely reminded me of Fast and Furious, especially when Tracked began with a fabulous massive car race. There was also talk about car parts, you know, all the car related aspects I’m clueless about.
We also get a glimpse of Phee and Bear’s friendship near the beginning of the book and my goodness, I’ve never seen any other friendship scene done so well. I literally felt the longing they had for each other, not romantic longing, but friendship longing. It’s been more than a week since I’ve read that scene and it’s still fresh in my mind.
However, as I read on to the two-fifths point, it where things got familiar. By “familiar,” I mean it was when Tracked was becoming just like any other dystopian out there. Like The Hunger Games, Tracked had a section where the main character had to be prettied up for appearances, but of course, the main character hated doing so.
Then finals came and I had to drop Tracked to study for finals. After they were done, since I’ve read almost one-half of Tracked, I wanted to pick it up again, but just couldn’t do it. I was just not into Tracked anymore.
I’m very sad about Becoming Jinn! I saw that once and I thought: “What a unique plot gaaah, its about jinn’s!!!” I really really thought that it would be one of those unique books that would wow me once I read it, but before I even got the chance to read it, a lot of my friends said that its wasn’t good at all!
Hope your next reads are better Kelly! :D Hope school is feeling lighter for you! :D
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whoa! that’s a lot of DNF but understandable…i was actually looking forward to Tracked. It’s in my tbr list. so i think i’m going to give this one a chance.
I’m not familiar with this other series of Ann Aguirre, for I have read only the first book of her zombie series. which reminds me i have to pick up book 2 by now.
Too bad these books didn’t work out for you; some books are just hard to get into. I DNF’ed a couple of books this week myself.
I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you DNF three books in a row. Literally. Too bad these books didn’t grab your interest as much as they should have. And Tracked definitely sounded like a really interesting story back when I first heard about it months ago. I guess it isn’t as great as I thought it would be. Especially if it keeps getting familiar with not just one dystopian story out there, but many. Eventually that would get boring and tiresome. Hopefully your next read is better for you Kelly! ^^
LEL Becoming Djinn. I dropped that one like a hit potato XD The MC was just a horrible person. I couldn’t deal with her. Same goes for Mortal Danger which is why I’m not even going close to Public Enemies. Also… THAT COVER IS SO BAAAAAD. I loved the first cover, I don’t care how much I hate the book but they had to change it :(
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Aw, sad face. DNFing books is the worst feeling :( I’m so sorry that these books sucked sweetie. Sigh. But yeah.. Becoming Jinn.. I got it via Netgalley. Didn’t even bother trying it. Knew I wouldn’t like it at all :( But, like you, I wanted to love it. How mean. But uuugh. Public Enemies. I also got a print ARC from Macmillan. <3 But.. I gave book 1 three stars. And I worry I won't like this. But I shall try :) Anyway. Stunning reviews, as always, Kelly. <3 Thank you for sharing sweetie :)
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haven’t read any of these; doesn’t really sound like my kind of premises
the day I allow myself to DNF a book(s) will be a day of celebration. I don’t know why it is so hard for me to put a book down that I am not enjoying. I’m currently reading one that is a struggle to get through. :/
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