Private Books 5 and 6: Inner Circle and Legacy Reviews

 

Titles: Private Books 5 and 6: Inner Circle and Legacy
Author: Kate Brian
Pages: 224 and 243
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: August 28, 2007 and February 19, 2008
My Editions: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Borrowed From: the Library

 

Inner Circle (Book 5) Summary from Amazon:
Reed Brennan arrived at Easton Academy expecting to find an idyllic private school experience -- challenging classes, adorably preppy boys, and a chance to create a new life for herself. Instead, she discovered lies, deception, blackmail, and...murder. But, thankfully, the killers were caught and the nightmare is finally over. 

Now, with a new school year ahead of her, Reed steps back on Easton's ivy-covered campus ready to start over. So when the headmaster announces that billings is forbidden from holding their traditional, secretive initiation, Reed is relieved. She champions the new rules and the six new girls the administration has picked to live in Billings Hall: Constance, Missy, Lorna, Kiki, Astrid, and newcomer Sabine. 

But Reed's fellow Billings resident and new nemesis, Cheyenne Martin, believes the changes are a mockery of Billings history. Despite the new rules, Cheyenne vows to keep the old ways alive, no matter what -- or who -- stands in her way...  

Legacy (Book 6) Summary from Amazon: 

The price of power... After Cheyenne Martin's death, everyone at Easton Academy is struggling to recover from yet another tragedy--especially the girls of Billings Hall. With Cheyenne gone, they need to elect a new leader. And who better than Reed Brennan, the ultimate Billings Girls? 

As the new Billings president, Reed suddenly has access to power she never imagined. Gossip is reported to her immediately, she has first dibs on everything from dining tables to dorm rooms, and Billings's most powerful alumnae are at her beck and call. So when Easton's students discover they're the only prep school on the East Coast not invited to this year's all-inclusive Legacy party, everyone turns to Reed to get them back on the list. 

Reed is the most powerful girl at Easton. She revels in her newfound status, but knows better than anyone that the Bilings leaders have a tainted legacy: Ariana was institutionalized, Noelle was expelled, and Cheyenne just died. History has a way of repeating itself at Easton, and now that Reed has everything she's ever wanted, she has everything to lose.

Review of both books:

The Private series is very addicting, and they are my girly, guilty pleasure reads! I love how much drama and crazy scandals can be stuffed into a 200+ page book. I always devour them in basically one sitting and finish them in about two hours.

Inner Circle starts with Reed finally back at Easton after the big "incident". Now she's back, a new headmaster changes everything for the worst including adding new girls to Billings which means the elite Billing Girls can't initiate their own choices. Lots of conflict starts to occur between the girls over the headmaster's new rules and causes the President to go a little crazy and break the new rules. All the drama leads to a very traumatic ending leaving Reed very terrified and worried especially after the email she receives. 

Legacy picks right back up after Inner Circle. The death of another student affects everyone at Easton and with the big Legacy party being canceled, it causes chaos. Reed is elected president of Billings leading to many open doors for her. Noelle is also back which means some more conflict, but she also helps Reed to make sure Easton legacies get the invite into the Legacy party. Reed has many romantic troubles though between her love Josh and her email flirting with Dash. The ending just left me craving to know what would happen next.

I can not wait to get the next one, Ambition, from the library! They all end with such huge cliffhangers (especially Legacy), so I will being going to the library very soon to get the seventh one and maybe even the eighth one too : )

Rating:

Hand-Me-Down Winner and Cover Remake!

Jenn over at Book Crazy is hosting a cover remake contest for Before I Fall and other goodies! To enter you had to remake the Before I Fall cover so without further ado my cover:

 *original picture from polyvore.com

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The winner of Hand-Me-Down by Lee Nichols has been picked by Random.org, and the winning entry is #10 who is...

 I'll be sending her an email shortly. Please respond back with your address by Saturday, or I will have to pick another winner. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Waiting on Wednesday (32)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that I'm eagerly awaiting. This week I can't wait for Beautiful Darkness which is the second book in the Caster Chronicles Series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl! I really liked the first book Beautiful Creatures, so I can't wait to see what happens next to Ethan and Lena. I'm very excited to read it when it comes out on October 26, 2010!

Beautiful Darkness: 
Caster Chronicles Book 2

By: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Description from Goodreads:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. Sometimes life-ending.  

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Crashed: Skinned Book 2 Review

 Title: Crashed 
Series: Skinned Book 2 
Author: Robin Wasserman 
Pages: 440 
Publisher: Simon Pulse 
Publication Date: September 8, 2009 
My Edition: Hardback 
Reading Level: Young Adult 
Genre: Dystopian 
Received From: Christmas Gift from Amazon 

Summary from Robin's website: 

No one to trust... everything to lose.

Before the accident, Lia Kahn was happy.

Before the accident, Lia Kahn was loved.

Before, Lia was a lot of things: Normal. Alive. Human.

Lia no longer lives in before. Six months after the crash that killed her, six months after being reborn, Lia has finally accepted her new reality. She is a machine, a mech, and she belongs with her own kind. It’s a wild, carefree life, without rules and without fear. Because there’s nothing to fear when you have nothing left to lose.

But when a voice from her past cries out for revenge, everything changes. Lia is forced to choose: between her old life and her new one. Between humans and mechs. Between sacrificing the girl she used to be and saving the boy she used to love. Even if it means he’ll hate her forever.

Review:

Crashed was an amazing addition to the Skinned trilogy. It was a lot different than Skinned but was a lot more action-packed with a touch of romance. Lia just left her family to live with the other mechs, since her family and friends no longer accept her or understand what she is now. The main plot was focused on the "orgs" against the "mechs" and was very interesting to learn how much the orgs hate the mechs because they shouldn't exist. The concept is very unique and very cool to read.

I love the original characters and the dystopian society with lots of new technology. Lia is a great, strong, developed character. She may technically be "dead" but her brain and mind was uploaded to a technology-made body. The relationship between all the characters was pretty tense until finally at the end things started to change. Towards the end, Lia starts to trust and become friends with some of her fellow mechs. All the mechs have their own past which is haunting many of the characters even in their new and different bodies. Even some romance brews between Lia and another mech which was a nice change from all the tension and fighting.

Crashed was pretty long but was very fast-paced & exciting. I'm really looking forward to the final book of the trilogy, Wired (out summer 2010), to find out what will happen to Lia and the other mechs. I enjoy the writing style of Robin Wasserman and highly recommend reading Skinned if you haven't already then Crashed!

Rating:

IMM (29)

IMM was started by The Story Siren. In My Mailbox is where I post the books/swag I won, received for review, bought, borrowed, or ect. The book titles are linked to their Amazon pages. These are the books and swag I got this week:

  
WON FROM CONTESTS:

Fallen by Lauren Kate (Hardback from Book Depository)*
Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards (ARC from Random Buzzers)

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hardback from Book Depository)*
*from Just Your Typical Book Blog for winning her design a blog header contest!

 
FOR REVIEW:
The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
(ARC from Sourcebooks)

 
FROM THE LIBRARY:
Legacy by Kate Brian (Paperback)
Specials by Scott Westerfeld (Audiobook)

What books did you get this week?

Princess Bookie's Contest Craze

Princess Bookie is hosting thousands of contests (it seems like it lol) for the Read-a-Thon today! There are many from the beginning of the week and tons from today. Just click on the button to start entering all the awesome contests now! : )