Review: Mystic City by Theo Lawrence

Date Read: January 26th, 2013
Date Published: October 11th, 2012
Publishers: Corgi
Format: Paperback
Pages: 397
Blurb: 
For fans of Matched, The Hunger Games, X-Men, and Blade Runner comes a tale of a magical city divided, a political rebellion ignited, and a love that was meant to last forever. Book One of the Mystic City Novels.
Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself.


Review: 
I really liked this book. It was definitely different and not like any I'd read before. I got into it right from the beginning and it kept me up until the early hours of the morning.

Aria lives in the Aeries above Manhattan which is flooded due to global warming. She has a great life and is to be married to Thomas, the son of her opposing family. The two families hope that their union will unite the two. Except Aria can't remember ever falling in love with Thomas and she doesn't quite believe the things that are being said to her. But when a Mystic shows up, beings with strange powers that live in the depths, she begins to realize that not everything is what it seems.

Right from the start I connected with Aria and who she was as a character. She was strong, both in mind and determination and she was different to her parents. I love characters that go against what's set out for them. If I had her parents I don't think I'd have the courage to stand up to them. They were scary at times, especially her dad.

Hunter, our beloved Mystic is oh-so-nice! I'd love to have a book from his point of view, even if it's just a novella, a prequel, because he is an interesting character. He'll do anything for Aria and it's sweet how connected they are. On the other hand we have Thomas who does have his moments but I don't want to give away too much.

I kind of guessed how the story would go but there were still some shocks in store for me. After the first 100 pages it really gets going and I found it hard to put it down. That's when you know a book is good. That you risk looking like a zombie for the rest of the day after a sleepless night.

Overall a great read that I would recommend to those who like the mystical and unique side to YA.

Review: Of Posidon by Anna Banks

Date Read: January 16^th, 2013

Date Published: May 22^nd, 2012

Publishers: Feiwel & Friends

Format: Hardback

Pages: 326

Blurb: Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen — literally, ouch! — both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

Review:

I loved this book because it was brilliant. There are not a lot of mermaid books out there compared to the amount of vampire and werewolf ones. This was something I hadn’t seen before and it had a unique writing style as well. It alternated between a girl’s point of view in first person to the guy’s in third person. Sounds confusing, right? But surprisingly it was easy to follow and flowed nicely. 

This book starts off straight away with the two main characters and I liked that. Sometimes we have to wait a while but not with this book and boy did the opening surprise me. From reading the blurb you know that there is a shark encounter and Galen realises Emma’s special. So he decides he needs to get to know her and that’s when the story really begins. 

Those two characters...I love them to pieces. Emma is so feisty, funny and relatable. Some people have moaned about her feeling inst-love towards Galen but there is a reason people and it shall be shown later on. There’s a lot of mysteries surrounding her and I guessed a few but others I didn’t. There was one and I didn’t think it would be true but it was! I always love that feeling when you know something before it happens. Makes me feel paranormal!

Galen is a Syrena (merman but they told like to be called that, hate it actually and as I am writing this I am having deja vu, so scary) and he is a typical royal, bossy a bit bratty but that kind of changes when he meets Emma. They are uber cute together and he is swoon-worthy. He made me laugh a few times because of the things he says. Not being human he doesn’t know a lot about us and the things we do and our sayings. So when he learnt them it made me laugh. He is kind and caring, unlike his sister Rayna who could be a bit horrible at times. 

Some other characters worth mentioning are Toraf, Galen’s best friend, who is loyal and has a few great lines. Emma’s mum was the stereotypical over-protective mum and I loved it. Her scenes with Galen were cringey but also funny with the way he reacted to her. 

The story hooks you from the start and there are a lot of surprises in store for readers. You think you know what’s happening when in reality you’re completely wrong. This book will not disappoint. I didn’t want to give away too much because you deserve to find out yourself. Overall, an amazing read and I can’t wait for Of Triton.