Avalon High by Meg Cabot

 

Ellie has recently moved to Annapolis, Maryland from her old home in Minnesota with her parents. She starts to go to Avalon High, which is seemingly normal on the outside. But it doesn't take long for Ellie to notice how different it actually is. Is what Mr. Morton saying the truth? Is it actually possible that the people at her high school actually might be the reincarnations from the King Arthur legend? If everything that Mr. Morton claimed is true, then she's the Lady of the Lake and must make sure the world is free from great evil. Ellie must make Will, the supposed King Arthur, believe who he is, it's the only way to keep the dark forces at bay. Will Ellie be able to all this and still keep her friends and crush?
I happen to love this modern take on the classic legend. The Arthurian legend is cleverly woven into an everyday high school. I loved the ending, it made me feel like crying. It is nearly just as powerful as the actual story. The story heavily relied on coincidences, which is something that made the story feel kind of unbelievable but somewhat magical. Overall, this novel lacked humor but the powerful combination of fantasy and romance made up for it. The only thing that I absolutely hated was that there is no sequel.
The characters closely resembled the actual characters. Will clearly was the reincarnation of King Arthur and Ellie clearly was the Lady of the Lake. Ellie's parents were most important than they seemed. I loved every single one the characters. They were my favorite part of the entire story.

There is another one of Meg Cabot's books that I reviewed. You can check that out here.

Reign or Shine by Michelle Rowen

Who knew being sixteen could be so hard? Nikki moves to Erin Heights after her mother gets married again. Life seems to be going fine after all she is best friends with one of one of the most popular girls at her new school. And she might also have a super cute boyfriend. But on her sixteenth birthday, she meets a gorgeous stranger, Michael, who claims that her demon father sent him to bring her to the Shadowlands. As the daughter of a demon and a human, it means that she is the first half-demon in years. Even Nikki doesn't know what she's capable of. With her father dying, she must decide if she wants to take the throne. But what about Michael and why is she feeling so attracted to him? But Nikki Donovan knows that her life isn't getting easier.
I love that this book shines a light on demons. I haven't heard about that many books based on demons these days. I love the beginning as it jumped right into the story. The middle was shocking and mysterious. But the end was the best part, it was suspenseful yet still wrapped the story up nicely. I love the setting, you could tell that a lot of thought was put into thinking out the role of the Shadowlands and the rest of the Underworld. I didn't think that Nikki's potential relationship at the beginning was really that necessary. I also didn't like some parts in the middle that could have been taken out. But overall, the unnecessary parts made the novel more suspenseful.

The characters were very relatable and Nikki's voice was very clear and easy to follow. Michael warmed up towards the end of the book and his chilly personality in the beginning was necessary. Nikki's best friend seemed to be holding a big secret that will be revealed in the second book. Overall the characters didn't take away from the novel but only made it more interesting.

Elixir by Hilary Duff

Clea Raymond, the daughter of a famous surgeon and important politician, has made a name for herself as a photojournalist. Her father left disappeared one day and has yet to return. It's one day that she takes a photograph and notices a gorgeous man in the background. Who is he? Why is she drawn to him? It becomes harder and harder to trust him when she finds out that he could be connected to her father. Her life in the spotlight has become even dangerous. Is this beautiful stranger her guardian angel or just trying to kill her?

This book series reminders me of the Evermore series by Alyson Noel. They both have a love triangle and a mysterious elixir. Yet they both are very different and interesting on their own. I love the many different settings that this novel took place. The ending had a cliffhanger which made the next book in the series even more exciting. But I didn't like that the love triangle wasn't really that suspenseful, from the beginning you could tell who she was going to end up with. Nonetheless, Elixir is worth reading.

Sage, the person in  Clea's photographs, is so mysterious you can't help but want to read more and more about his past. Clea was a pretty cool main character but at times she felt a little bit emotionless. I loved all of the characters, this is one of those rare books were all the characters are interesting and exciting to read about. I can't wait for the new books to come out so I can read more about Clea's father.

 

Little Women And Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Emily knows how hard it is to be the middle sister. As soon as she gets an assignment to write about what she would change from a novel, she immediately thinks of the Little Women. There is so many changes that she can make, but fixing them is more difficult than she ever expected, especially after she finds herself in the world of the March sisters. Adapting in this new environment, is more diffcult than living at her own home. A crush on a boy from 1860, four other sisters and one big suprise no one saw coming will change Emily's life forever.
I am so happy that this kind of book was written since I know so many people would love to change things in their favorite books. Little Women is a great book and this book was an enjoyable modern take on it. Some of the events that happened were unnessesary and the story would have been the same without them. I liked that Emily was a modern girl put into a different time period. My favorite part was the end because it was so suprising and so hard to see coming.
Emily was annoying at the start at the story but towards the end, you could tell how much she grew up. The March sisters felt quite similar to ones in the original Little Women. I liked that their personality didn't change much even though the stories were kind of different.