Enchanting Review: Dramarama

DRAMARAMA
E. LOCKHART
YA Contemporary
Hyperion
ISBN# 978-078983815-8
320 pages
$7.99
Paperback Available now

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Sarah and Demi are the two misfits of high school. They’re lives change when they go to Wildewood, an elite boarding school for the performing arts. While there, Sarah is Sadye and Demi comes out of the closet, comfortable for the first time about his sexuality. But while Demi soars at the school, Sadye finds that maybe she’s not good enough to succeed. All the while her relationship with Demi is tested. Will their friendship withstand one of them making the big time?

I loved this story! Sarah’s conflicts were so real. Her experiences were similar to going to American Idol try outs for the theater. The harshness of that life is very true. Not all will be stars. Sarah’s struggles to be happy for Demi, while he succeeds, rang true. I also liked how Lockhart shows Demi finding his true home, a place where he’s accepted for who he is.

Once again Lockhart delivers a hilarious and totally unforgettable look into the friendship of two who learn to become the best in whatever they do. A must read!

E. Lockhart is the author of The Boyfriend List, Fly on the Wall, The Boy Book, and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Check out more on Lockhart at www.e-lockhart.com

Kim
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
April 09

Enchanting Review: Revelations

REVELATIONS

MELISSA DE LA CRUZ

YA Vampire paranormal

Hyperion

ISBN# 978-142310228-1

264 pages

$15.99

Hardcover- Available now

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Schuyler Van Alen is now living under the Force’s roof. This means she is forced to share a living space with her rival Mimi, and her love Jack. Her best friend is now her familiar and is completely in love with her. Schuyler must choose between the two of them or someone will get hurt, and it might be Schuyler if Mimi finds out that Jack and Schuyler are still seeing each other. Schuyler’s grandfather is now the Regis and he is spreading the word of how dangerous the Silver Bloods truly are. What no one can figure out is who exactly is harboring the silver bloods and what their plan is. When an accident in Rio forces everyone to fly down there, lines will be drawn. Secrets will be revealed. Evil will be unleashed. Will Schuyler’s friends be who she thought they are or will one of them betray them to the evil Lucifer?

REVELATIONS is the best story yet! Schuyler is torn between two men who both truly love her. Both men however are forbidden from being with her. One is forbidden by law and the other by destiny. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out who was behind the Silver Blood attacks. Every time I figure it out I am proven wrong. I was shocked, SHOCKED, at the ending. But that is what makes a story truly wonderful. I cannot wait for the fourth book, THE VAN ALEN LEGACY that is released in September 2009 when we see where we can pick up after tragedy strikes.

Melissa De La Cruz is the author of the Ashleys series, the Au Pairs series and now the new Blue Bloods series. To find out more about her and her books please visit her website at http://melissa-delacruz.com/index.php

Jennifer

ENCHANTING REVIEWS

January 2009

Enchanting Review: Masquerade

MASQUERADE

MELISSA DE LA CRUZ

YA Vampire paranormal

Hyperion

ISBN# 978-1423101277

336 pages

$8.99

Paperback- Available now

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

Schuyler Van Alen is on a mission to find her grandfather, Lawrence Van Alen. Her grandmother’s last plea was that Schuyler find her grandfather so that he could save the blue bloods from the Croatan, or Silver Blood. He is the only one who truly believes that the Silver Bloods are alive. Schuyler and Oliver travel to Vienna to find the infamous Lawrence, but what they find is a man who does not want to come back to a group that shunned his ideas and cast him out. Schuyler decides that maybe the Silver Bloods are not back and it was all the delusional ideas of her grandmother after all. Schuyler attends a masquerade ball in the hopes of seeing her secret crush, Jack Force. What she finds is a mysterious masked man who takes her breath away.

Bliss Llewellyn has never given up hope that Dylan, her love is still alive. Everyone thinks that he was turned by a Silver Blood or was the Silver Blood but Bliss knows deep in her heart that it was not the truth. When Bliss attends the 400 Ball her father gives her a huge Emerald necklace. He tells her it was her mother’s and it is an emerald that fell from Lucifer him self’s crown. Bliss has a unique attraction to it but surely her mother could never own something so evil right? Who is her mother anyways? And how did she die?

MASQUERADE is the second installment in the Blue Bloods series. The story picks up a mere few weeks after the end of Blue Bloods and is just as action packed. Schuyler is coming into her character quite nicely. She is not afraid to dig a little deeper. The only part of Schuyler’s character I do not like is how distracted she gets from the big picture. She knows there is a serious problem and that the Silver Bloods are roaming free yet she seems to forget everything when she is around Jack. I loved the progress that the story made. The ending made me run out immediately to buy the third book, which I devoured in one sitting also. MASQUERADE is a book that is not to be missed, but Blue Bloods really should be read first for the story to be fully understood.

Melissa De La Cruz is the author of the Ashleys series, the Au Pairs series and now the new Blue Bloods series. To find out more about her and her books please visit her website at http://melissa-delacruz.com/index.php

Jennifer

ENCHANTING REVIEWS

January 2009

Enchanting Review: Blue Bloods

BLUE BLOODS

MELISSA DE LA CRUZ

YA Vampire paranormal

Hyperion

ISBN# 978-1423101260

336 pages

$8.99

Paperback- Available now

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Bliss Llewellyn is the new girl at New York’s Duchesne prep school. It doesn’t take long for her to realize where the cliques are. Mimi Force is definitely the big girl on campus, rich, powerful, and has a hot twin brother, Jack, that seems to be matching her social status. Schuyler Van Alen is the complete opposite of Mimi, she runs with only two friends Dylan and Oliver, she dresses quite frumpy, and her family is from less money than is the standard. Duchesne has an elite group of students that are the committee. Only the “blue bloods” can get in. Those seem to be the high class uppity kids. Imagine Bliss’s shock when she is invited to the club as well as Schuyler. What neither girl realized that the term blue bloods was quite literal as they are all vampires.

BLUE BLOODS is the story of three girls coming into their vampire puberty. Each vampire lives a life cycle over and over, and when the teenagers hit the age of 15 their bodies start to recognize their past lives. They also start to crave blood. This cycle happens to each of the blue bloods, named after their blue blood, except for Schuyler Van Alen. She is the last of her line but she is not a true blue blood. She is a half blood. Her mother is a blue blood but her father is known as a red blood, or a human. Schuyler has no past lives to recognize as she is a new spirit. But Schuyler is on a much deeper quest. She is trying to find out who keeps killing young blue bloods. Each death is surrounded by mysterious circumstances and all seem to point to the mythical Croatan as the killer. But The Croatan is just a myth right?

This was the first book in Melissa De La Cruz’s Blue Blood’s series. I was hooked from the first page. I could not believe this book was sitting in my TBR for so long. Blue Bloods is not the typical YA vampire paranormal. So many of these stories are the same old cookie cutter scenario but Blue Bloods had me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what was going on. There were so many twists and turns there was no way I could have predicted what was going to happen. I highly recommend BLUE BLOODS to anyone who wants a fun, fast, and action packed story!

Melissa De La Cruz is the author of the Ashleys series, the Au Pairs series and now the new Blue Bloods series. To find out more about her and her books please visit her website at http://melissa-delacruz.com/index.php

Jennifer

ENCHANTING REVIEWS

January 2009

Enchanting Review: Generation Dead

GENERATION DEAD
DANIEL WATERS
YA paranormal
Hyperion
ISBN 978-142310921-1
392 pages
$16.99
Hardback-available now

Rating: 5 Enchantments


Phoebe Kendall has never hung with the popular kids at Oakvale High. She's used to standing out with her Goth outfits and pale skin. But there are others who stand out even more.

Teens in the United States are dying but coming back to life. No one knows why. They are called zombies, undead, and corpsicles while the PC term is differently biotic. And more of them are appearing at Oakvale High. Not everyone likes this. Bioism or racism against the differently biotic becomes more of the norm. There's even a Proposition for the federal government to issue rebirth certificates when they come back to life.

Adam is a football player and friend to Phoebe. When Phoebe becomes interested in Tommy Williams, one of the undead, neither Adam nor Margi, her best friend, can believe it. Adam later joins Phoebe and others in an Undead Studies class to help better understand what's going on. All the while he struggles with his own feelings toward Phoebe.

White vans and rumors of people killing the undead, again, surface. Adam worries if he can help Phoebe not make a mistake. Will her association in the Undead Studies class make her a target to the hate or even worse? And can he tell Phoebe how he truly feels?

I totally enjoyed this story. It's unlike any paranormal I've read this year. Who knew zombies had rights? I couldn't put down this humorous and original tale. Twists on the usual zombie stereotypes were throughout the book. They even had slogans! Dead….and loving it! Zombie Power! Open Graves, Open Minds.

There's even a love story which asks the question, what would happen if a zombie loved a blood bag-live person? This story is fresh and engaging. I highly recommend this book to those who are looking for a tale that is different. You won't be disappointed.

This is Daniel Waters's first young adult novel. You can find out more on his website at danielwaters.com and Tommy at his website, mysocalledundeath.com

Kim Rapier
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
JULY 2008

Enchanting Review: The Debutante

THE DEBUTANTE
KATHRYN WILLIAMS
Contemporary YA
Hyperion
ISBN 1-4231-0045-X
256 Pages
$15.99
Trade Paperback – Available May 20, 2008

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

Annie’s about to go through the most traumatic experience of her life so far, moving from Connecticut, to Beaufort, Alabama, right before the start of her senior year of high school. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Beaufort is home to her crazy younger cousins and even worse, her very southern, very traditional grandmother.

But things can get worse before they get better, especially when Annie’s grandmother drops the bomb that she expects Ann Gordon to debut like all other proper young ladies. Annie can’t imagine doing such a thing, but if she wants her grandmother’s help to pay for university, she just may be forced to don a puffy white dress in July and all the other headaches that go along with becoming a debutante in the south.

Annie slowly learns to maneuver her new life in Beaufort, getting used to being called by her full name of Ann Gordon by people other than her grandmother and learning to deal with the fact that there’s no way out of her making her debut as The Debutante. And maybe, things in the south aren’t as bad as she actually expected them to be.

I really enjoyed this book. Annie’s a great character, who finds herself uprooted and taken away from everything she’s ever known and dropped into what seems like an entirely different world in Alabama. A world filled with people with two first names; a field hockey team that isn’t the strong, championship winning team she’s used to being a part of. But in the midst of it all, the friends she makes might just be the one thing to keep her sane.

THE DEBUTANTE is Ms. Williams’s first book.



Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
February 2008