“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.”
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Juliet Capulet didn’t take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn’t anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she’s fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she’s forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

The world’s greatest love story ever told is a lie. Romeo and Juliet didn’t commit suicide and die for their love, Romeo murdered her. Her one true love, the one she trusted and wanted to be with more than anyone else in the whole world, betrayed her and took her life in an act of brutality Juliet isn’t able to escape. Not even now, in present day, and she jumps from body to body.

Seven hundred years on, Romeo is still working for the bad guys, and Juliet is still ambling through her existence, trying to save true love from the grips of hell. She hates her life, but after seven hundred years, she’s pretty used to it: invade a body, conquer and make love happen, escape and move on. But when Juliet invades Ariel’s body, she never ever expected that she might be the one to fall in love with her subject. It’s unheard of and absolutely forbidden. It feels like Juliet has met his soul before, encountered him in another life … but its impossible, right?

Meanwhile, Romeo will stop at nothing to get to his Juliet. His love is of the sadistic kind, and although he seems hell bent on destroying her life, in his sick way, he does love Juliet. And she’s slipping from his grasp. He’ll stop at nothing to prevent that from happening.

As a huge fan of Romeo and Juliet, I was deathly afraid that this story would butcher the classic for me. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. Yes, I struggled seeing Romeo in such an evil capacity, but it … worked. Juliet seems to hold some of that hopeless romance she carried in the original tale, but what I was happiest about was her strength. In the original classic, Juliet takes charge of her life, decides what she wants and finds a way to make it happen. Although Juliet in this story is a slave to her circumstances, she does find a way around her pitiful situation and goes after what she wants. I was happy to see that element of her character remained true.

Thus, Juliet Immortal  did not ruin the classic tale for me. It was a really enjoyable representation, actually. I think those that even hate the original tale will get a kick out of this one.

I take my hat off to the jacket designer. The cover is perfect, and was actually what made me pick it up in the first place. The red dress against the murky, restless ocean really struck a cord with me.

Pages: 306

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication date: 2011

Teaser Quote: Life is precious – his life especially – but there are worse things to lose. I turn back to Ben, brush his hair away from his ruined face, a part of me wishing he was conscious so I could say goodbye, the other part glad that he’s beyond feeling pain.

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it’s a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy’s car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend’s attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players’ girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won’t get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don’t count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling.

Shut Out is Kody Keplinger’s second novel, a sort of modern-day retelling of the play Lysistrata. Lissa is dating star quarterback Randy, but she feels like he focuses way too much time and energy on the rivalry between the soccer and football teams. Not only is this pointless rivalry annoying, but it’s dangerous. If it doesn’t end soon, someone will end up seriously hurt. So Lissa has the brilliant idea to gather all the girlfriends of soccer and football players and convince them to go on a sex strike until the boys agree to end the rivalry.

So, pretty intriguing, right? Keplinger made waves with her debut novel The DUFF. While I liked The DUFF — particularly the realistic portrayal of teenagers — I didn’t love it. But I feel like Keplinger has really hit her stride with Shut Out. In my eyes, Lissa is a much more likable protagonist than Bianca was. She’s kind, sweet, and firm, if a little dense and naive at times. Anyone with eyes can see Randy’s a jerk, but Lissa’s so caught up in her first real relationship that she overlooks a lot of his negative qualities — something we’re probably all guilty of at one time or another. What’s nice about Lissa is that she’s not the most outgoing, the most popular, the funniest girl in school, but she does have an idea and she uses that idea to bring a group of girls together. She’s easy to relate to, believes in herself, and makes a lot of mistakes that teach her a lot about herself throughout Shut Out.

While Lissa’s not exactly the most unique main character, there are three things about this book that really stand out to me and make this one of my favorite reads of the year: the plot, the sex talk, and Cash Sterling. First of all, even though Keplinger borrows the idea of a sex strike from Lysistrata, I’ve never read the play and so the plot of Shut Out was a fresh concept for me. But even if it hadn’t been, I would’ve been riveted. And I should clarify, obviously all these girls aren’t having sex with their boyfriends. The strike includes no kissing for those couples not going as far, and no hooking up for those couples that are. And the whole idea of the strike inspires very open dialogue about sex and what hooking up means and the double-standards imposed on girls who sleep around as opposed to boys. The girls are at first hesitant to broach this taboo topic, but once they do they start asking all the questions that we all keep to ourselves, questions we’re too scared or embarrassed or nervous to ask. Keplinger takes a huge leap in addressing these topics and Shut Out won’t be for everyone, but for those with questions, Keplinger points out something we should all keep in mind — you’re not alone. She handles the situation with maturity and accuracy, perfectly capturing the mindset of curious teenage girls.

And to top it all off, there’s Cash Sterling. He’s dreaming, charming, and so, so sweet. He’s high school royalty, the nice guy who flirts with everyone and dates no one. As in, off-limits. Don’t even get your hopes up because he’s not looking for a relationship. Except how can you not get your hopes up when he’s so cute and chivalrous and just all-around amazing? He’s a perfect example of why I fall in love with book characters and I guarantee you’ll understand upon reading Shut Out. Keplinger is clearly an author to watch out for. She delivers interesting situations, realistic characters, and snappy dialogue once again, and she’s sure to do the same in the future.

Pages: 273
Publication Date : September 2011
Publisher: Poppy
Challenge: N/A
Rating :

Teaser Quote: “Part of me knew I should be mad, but I was mostly just hurt. After more than a year together, I hoped I came first to Randy. But the fact that he forgot me so easily because of a stupid egg on his car? It stung.“

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody’s head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I’m determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

Touch of Frost is the first book in Jennifer Estep’s brand new Mythos Academy series. Touch of Frost follows Gwen Frost, a teenage girl transfered to Mythos Academy after the death of her mother. Gwen comes from a long line of Gypsies, which means she’s gifted with supernatural powers. While her grandma is psychic, Gwen possesses the gift of psychometry, meaning when she touches objects, she sees visions, thoughts, and emotions related to those objects. At Mythos, Gwen uses her powers to find lost items for her rich classmates…at a hefty price. But when Jasmine Ashton is murdered in the Library of Antiquities, Gwen thinks she might be able to put her powers to better use.

At first, I was really excited to read this book. Supernatural boarding school, check. Independent, witty heroine who’s different from everyone else, check. Insanely hot, flirty boy who knows how to wield a sword, check. But the very first chapter irked me. In fact, the very first line made me cringe. “‘I know your secret.’” Really? Do girls really walk up to one another and just an announce this? Not to mention, the secret in question isn’t much of a secret at all. Estep tries to lead with suspense, but for me, this technique completely backfired so that I almost immediately wanted to put the book down.

But it was the first chapter of a new series, so I forgave it and moved on. Unfortunately, Touch of Frost doesn’t really improve. Estep’s writing style just really grates on my nerves. She beats certain phrases to death, such as “magic mumbo jumbo” and “warrior whiz kids.” Every single meal is described in agonizing detail and I’m not sure why. Epithets like Valkyrie, Spartan, and Gypsy-girl are thrown around probably over a hundred times. Never mind that the characters all have their own names. Apparently it’s a rule at Mythos that students disregard names and identify each other by whichever race of ancient warriors they descend from. This lends a forced quality to all of the dialogue and even Gwen’s inner thoughts.

Writing style aside, I wasn’t really held by the plot. Gwen is working in the library one night when she hears some sort of commotion. She’s knocked out and awakens to find Jasmine Ashton, resident mean girl of Mythos, bleeding to death. Gwen is shocked by the murder and shocked that the murderer left her relatively untouched. Even more surprising is the student body’s reaction. No one really seems to care, not even Jasmine’s best friends. Sure, Jasmine was well-hated, but she’s dead. Why is Gwen the only one who seems affected by this? She’s told that the students are used to and prepared for death. They grow up in an environment where they’re training to defend their lives and the lives of others. They’ve experienced death and the threat of death all their lives. It’s even pointed out that the professors turn a blind eye to students partying and drinking because, well, they could die tomorrow so why not let them live now? But if all this is true, then why is Jasmine the only dead student? No one ever mentions other friends or family members that died. No one even mentions other attacks. If the Reapers of Chaos are really such threats, then where are they and why aren’t they being more…threatening?

The ending, while not entirely predictable, is ridiculous. The villain seems to be reciting lines from a cringe-worthy horror film. And the villain’s reasoning behind her actions is completely unbelievable. Her actions are rash, crazy, and unjustified. Maybe that’s the point (after all, bad guys are usually crazy), but the villain’s actions are the catalyst for everything that occurs in Touch of Frost and by the time she reveals everything, my only reaction is, “Huh. Overreact, much?” Not only is it a letdown, but I also have a really hard time stomaching the explanation for why she does the things she does.

The characters in Touch of Frost aren’t super original or well-developed. Each one just reminds me of a poor imitation of a character I’ve read about somewhere else. Touch of Frost itself seems like it’s trying too hard to be Vampire Academy. The book really didn’t hook me. The only thing I’m mildly curious about is the burgeoning relationship between Logan and Gwen. I don’t understand why they like each other as they don’t spend any time getting to know each other, but my interest is still piqued. Since Touch of Frost is the first book in a new series and Jennifer Estep’s first attempt at writing for YA, I’m willing to give the series another chance with the sequel, Kiss of Frost.

Pages: 350
Publication Date : August 2011
Publisher: Kensington
Challenge: N/A
Rating :

Teaser Quote: “Well, well, if it isn’t the Gypsy girl out here in the dark all by herself.” Logan’s voice sounded deep and ominous. “What are you doing?”