Stravaganza: City of Secrets--Mary Hoffman

The Stravaganza series was supposed to be a trilogy. I am so glad Hoffman decided to go for more. As with the first three books there is a new protagonist, a new stravagante who travels between our world and the alternate world of Talia.

Matt is dyslexic and insecure in our world, but once he travels to Talia he is able to read with no problems. He discovers the other stravaganti in his world--Georgia and Sky and Nick--as well as the ones in Talia. Readers will be happy to see Luciano and Arianna return as well.

The entire series is a wonderful fantasy with a historical feel to it. It could spark an interest in the history of Italy--on which Talia is based--and the real people and places that inspired the series. A must read for any fan of the series.

Revolutionary Road--Richard Yates

This is not a teen book so I'm not really reviewing it. I'm just putting it here in case I ever forget that I read it and make the horrible mistake of reading it again. Which would be a pity because there are so many good books for me to read. (I read it for my mom's book group. I'm not leaving YA lit behind...)

Guinevere's Gift--Nancy McKenzie

This is book one in the Chrysalis Queen Quartet. I will not be reading book 2.

Guinevere is 13 years old and a tomboy living with her uncle and aunt since the death of her parents. There is a prophecy that she will grow to be the highest lady in the land but nobody takes it seriously, least of all Guinevere. Her aunt, the Queen, is jealous of the prophecy nonetheless and tries to advance her own daughter and hold Guinevere back.

I love Arthurian legend and usually enjoy anything even remotely related to it, but I just couldn't get into this book. It took me a long time to read it and even longer to be able to post about it.

Young tween girls would probably enjoy it, but the true Arthurian fan won't find anything new or special here.

Breaking Dawn--Stephanie Meyer

I don't think Meyer will ever be able to match what she had with Twilight. I enjoyed New Moon and then the series started to lose it with Eclipse. And now we have Breaking Dawn. Twilight was just so GOOD. Breaking Dawn is, well, okay.

I read it quickly because I wanted to see how it all ended. I liked it better than most of my friends did. But there were problems. I'm not sure how I can go into them without spoiling the book. Let's just say the major plot points of this book felt like a cop-out to me. It felt like she didn't have a vision when she started the series, didn't anticipate the success, and she was grasping at straws at the end.

I enjoyed the book in the sense that I had heard so many negative things about it from my friends, that I thought it was going to royally suck. And when it didn't suck, I was pleasantly surprised. I think it's a must-read to conclude the series, but it's a bit disappointing.