Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss

Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss

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Source: ARC from Raincoast Books for review (thank you! <3)
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Release Date: September 4, 2012

Mira is shocked when she receives a postcard from her missing mother from Paris. Her father decides it's time for a trip to France to search for her. While visiting Notre Dame, Mira touches a gargoyle and is whirled into the past. There she meets the famous painter Degas and catches a brief, shocking glimpse of her mother. Mira begins to suspect that her mom didn't run out on them but is a prisoner of the past. Can one family on an incredible worldwide adventure stop a plot in time?
 

If you're looking for an enjoyable MG with a little bit of everything -- time travel, culture, history, romance -- look no further! Mira's Diary is a fun and charming trip to Paris that you'll be able to race through in no time.

What starts off for the main character Mira as a trip to Paris to find her mysteriously missing mother quickly turns into a whirlwind of an adventure as she tries to shape the future and hide her identity. I can't say that I was familiar with most of the history and information shared in the book about Degas and that entire scandal but it was interesting to read about. I did feel like the information came a little abruptly at times (I would have liked a bit more of a break between chunks of it) but overall, it was very cool to learn.

Mira herself was an interesting character. I appreciated for the most part what she tried to accomplish throughout the novel but I also wish that her character had been a little more well-developped. At the end of everything, I still don't think I have a good sense of who Mira is.

A part of this, I suspect, is the constant back-and-forth with the time travel. Now look, I get it. Time travel novels usually have lots of this and it's fine! For some reason though, it didn't 100% work all the time with this novel for me. The jumping around got a little confusing for me and I kept having to go back and compare the dates in the chapter titles (super helpful, those).

Overall, a cute MG with great pictures to improve the experience even more! Lots of fun.

Cover Comments: I saw this IRL at a bookstore when it first came out and it looks adorable! I love the diary style of it.

3 Golden Crowns!

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culbertson

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culbertson

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Source: Library
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Release Date: May 1, 2011

Three days before her drama club's trip to Italy, Jessa Gardner discovers her boyfriend in the costume barn with another girl. Jessa is left with a care package from her best friend titled "Top Twenty Reasons He's a Slimy Jerk Bastard," instructing her to do one un-Jessa-like thing each day of the trip. At turns hilarious and heartwrenching, Instructions for a Broken Heart paints a magical Italy in which Jessa learns she must figure out life-and romance-for herself.

A quick and enjoyable read awaits you in this contemporary novel.

Jessa Gardner is on the trip of her lifetime. She's been waiting to travel to Italy for as long as she can remember and finally the tme has arrived! It's too bad that instead of enjoying it with her boyfriend like she had planned to, she's being forced to spend it watching him and the girl he cheated on her with. This an easy kind of read. I wouldn't really classify it as a romance, although I'm sure many would disagree with me on that front. To me, it was more of a novel of self-discovery and being able to do it in the beautiful country of Italy was a huge bonus.

The descriptions of Italy were probably one of my favourite aspects of the novel. Even more than physical landmarks, Kim Culbertson manages to describe the atmosphere and feelings. It has me itching to hop on a plane!

Jessa as a character... confused me. I went back and forth with her a lot and although in the end I had more positive feelings than negative ones, there were a lot of times while reading that I got frustrated. Jessa's thoughts and actions are kind of all over the place. Understandable, considering her situation, but still a little jarring to read through. There's also the fact that when Jessa feels something, it hits you like a ton of bricks because of how deep it runs. Drama school indeed!

The supporting cast definitely made the novel interesting. Tyler, one of Jessa's best friends, was undoubtedly my favourite character. He puts up with a lot but still manages to keep up the friendly, supportive attitude. Carissa, Jessa's other best friend, I feel considerably less warm towards. There were moments I liked her and moments I understood her, but mostly I was just thinking that I hoped my best friend would never act like that with me.

Finally, Dylan Thomas! He had such great potential to be this smart, amazing guy that I felt we rarely got to see. He definitely wasn't shown enough for my liking and I would have liked to dig a bit deeper into his head.

Set with a stunning backdrop, Instructions for a Broken Heart is a novel about finding yourself when it seems like you've lost everything.

Cover Comments: It's cute! I'm a little confused as to why Jessa is wearing a coat but I like the overall effect :)

3.5 stars out of 5

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

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Source: Raincoast Books for review
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format: Hardcover, 369 pages
Release Date: March 6, 2012

It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

I was hooked on to this book before the cover had even been released (and for the shallow person that I am when it comes to covers, this should say a lot!) but now find myself kind of torn as to how much I really enjoyed reading it.

Violet started off as a character that I could definitely relate to. Her motives for feeling things made sense to me and I appreciated the strong way she carried herself. Moving further along in the story though, I felt like she travelled farther and farther away from who she started off as. The whole situation with accepting her destiny and picking a guy (the love triangle is a dominating force of the book, I'd say) just felt drawn-out and rather dramatic to me by the end of it.

And ahh, the love triangle. Lincoln and Phoenix. For me, there's a clear winner, but I always seem to go for the good guy -- can you guess which one I prefer? The romance in the story was very compelling and although it got a little bit intense for me at times, I liked it overall. I'm looking forward to seeing how Violet's relationships with Lincoln and Phoenix progress!

That being said, I did really, really enjoy the mythology of the book, something that seems to be time and time again a saving force for me :) The angel lore was fascinating to read about and it's unlike any other paranormal novel I've read in that regard. There was enough revealed to keep me reading but I can tell that there's still more to share.

Jessica Shirvington's writing is solid and the pacing of the book was tight without feeling like an overload of action.

Recommended to fans of paranormal romance!

Cover Comments: It's so pretty and even more so in person! I love that they chose to make the background purple -- my favourite colour, so I'm a little biased -- and those wings are just stunning.