The Best First Chapter You'll Ever Read

That's what the PW Daily email said. Really.

And I agree SO MUCH.

Clicky to embiggen.

They're talking about Across The Universe by Beth Revis, which got Twitter all aflutter yesterday when Beth posted the link to the excerpt. In the words of Kiersten White: "Beth Revis is REMAKING YA sci-fi. There, I said it first."

Definitely. And Beth is a Doctor Who fan, which adds to her awesomeness by infinite factors.

What are you waiting for? Go to the website, read the excerpt, take a few moments to ooh and ahh, come back and leave a comment, and then tell Beth about her amazeballs excerpt on her Twitter or her blog!

The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

Title: The Naughty List	Loved it	Graded
Author: Suzanne Young
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Razorbill
Elements: Cheating
Series: Book 1 of The Naughty List series

Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time.

Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?

I had my reservations getting into this book. The cover looks like one of the Babysitter's Club books, and a naughty list in high school? The idea is absurd, yet strangely possible. Glad to say that I got over them quickly, because THE NAUGHTY LIST has one of the most authentic and engaging teenage voices in YA right now.

The plot is well constructed, with a lot more subplot that I thought it would have. This is such a well thought out and executed book that the cover doesn't justify. I like the cover, but it seems so light and fluffy compared to the story, which has substance.

Tessa is very likeable. She's a cheerleader who seems to have self taught herself good morals, and I respect that she knows the stereotypes that cheerleaders face, and works hard to overcome those and build herself a good reputation. What I really like is that she's an optimist. It's nice to read from the point of view of a character who doesn't dwell on the negatives and look at everything with a critical, distinctive eyes.

In fact, her whole life is like one big stereotypical, teenage fairytale romance. She is in a long lasting relationship with the captain of the basketball team, which sounds just peachy. What got this plot out of teenage romance-land is that Tessa is running SOS, a non-profit organisation that aims to catch cheaters. That's where the shenanigans truly happen.

The supporting characters are delightful. All of them play a part in moving the plot forward. One character I do take note of is the antagonist. He's nefarious, and his actions just make me really, truly angry with him. Seeing his motivations however made him more relatable and well rounded, and despite wanting to side-eye glare at him, he does earn my sympathy.

What Young does is that she crafts these little nuances and tidbits that make it seem like it's actually possible and real. I thank her for making the ever jaded me appreciate that some things can be good and true. Great debut. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Title: Terrier	Loved it	Graded
Author: Tamora Pierce
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Random House
Elements: Police procedural
Series: Book 1 of The Legend of Beka Cooper series

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat, but Beka can hear the voices of the dead on the wings of pigeons, and Beka's birds clue her in to two major murderers on the loose. The rest of the Guard is busy investigating the fire opal killer, so it's up to Beka to nab the Shadow Snake.

Tamora Pierce begins a new Tortall trilogy introducing Beka Cooper, a young woman who lived 200 years before Pierce's popular Alanna character. Pierce employs first-person narration, bringing readers even closer to a character that they will love for her unusual talents and tough personality.

Alanna: How do I begin to explain a Tamora Pierce book?
Daine: A Tamora Pierce book is flawless.
Kel: I hear the font type's insured for $10,000.
Aly: I hear it does book trailers... in Japan.
Sandry: Its favorite movie is Joan of Arc.
Tris: One time it met J.K. Rowling on a plane...
Daja: And she told it it was pretty.
Briar: One time it punched me in the face... it was awesome.

Oh heck yeah, characters! I am so with you on that. I love Tamora Pierce's books. Having been introduced to Alanna when I was 9, ten years later I've gone on to read almost all of her books that I can get my hands on. All of her books feature primarily strong female characters with a strong motivation and drive to get what they want despite the  cost, whatever the situation is.

TERRIER takes us back into the land of Tortall, 200 years before Alanna was first introduced to us. The focus is on the Provost's Guard, and how it comes to have such a reputation during Alanna's time, playing a big part in events then.

Lest you think it's just a prologue, TERRIER can stand up on its own as a story. Existing readers will have a great time delving into the history of Tortall, but new readers can also use this as a starting point to Pierce's books.

Tortall in Beka's world is gritty and a bit uncivilized. Death is rampant in the streets, especially so for Beka's case, having the power to hear the dead on her pet pigeons. I love the connection and loyalty Beka has to her pet; it's rare that pets play a big part in the story without something supernatural attached to them. Yeah, the birds do carry the voice of the dead, but other than that they're just normal pigeons.

Beka is a workaholic, determined to prove to herself and to others that she can make it in the Guard, and despite that she still has a social life. Sometimes Beka has the echoes of a Mary Sue, but the story is plot and character driven enough that it only shows up in the barest of flashes.

Despite the adventure and the love I have for all things TP, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed that it's not as good as I hoped it was. The whole plot seems a little tired, and I don't feel the same magic I did with the other four story arcs in the Tortallan universe. The wide range of believable supporting characters is always something that I look forward to, even though at times it seems that their only purpose is to get Beka to the conclusion.

Nevertheless! It's a good story, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the sequels. Let's hope it'll blow me over in its awesomeness.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Title: Beautiful Creatures	Loved it	Graded
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Little, Brown
Elements: Gothic
Series: Book 1 of a trilogy

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
There was a curse. There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

It's taken me a long time to appreciate the intricacies of Beautiful Creatures. It's the story of a love that sustains through the ages, and the consequences of one such love set in a time centuries before. There are actually two stories being intertwined in this one book.

One story happens in present day, and is the main focus of this book. It's told from Ethan's point of view, which is quite refreshing in a love story. It's not the brooding, Cullenitis type of narrative: brooding, focused on the girl and how beautiful she is despite her insecurities, yada yada yada. Ethan is quite a normal guy, if slightly romanticised. I mean, he sure doesn't think much about what guys usually think about, which is understandable as it's marketed to girls.

It seems a bit as if Lena and Ethan have switched roles in the usual YA stereotype, because Lena is the female counterpart of the brooding alpha female. Misunderstood, mysterious and distant, I'm amazed at how well it works for a girl instead of a guy. The fact that she's a girl doesn't make her any less mysterious, but it does make some of her frustrations seem more like tantrums. They have to fight for their love despite the disapproval of the society, and this is echoed in the other love story. The flashbacks are slightly intrusive in its  frequency and italic font. Sometimes I just want to read to the main story, but the flashbacks are essential to the story. The slow pace doesn't work to the story's advantage at times, with the second half feeling a little packed.

Garcia and Stohl did a marvelous job of weaving the different story strands together and integrating the Southern culture into the overall story, making it a whole character. It's a good debut. I'm looking forward to see how the story is continued.

Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Title: Mistwood	Loved it	Graded
Author: Leah Cypess
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Elements: Shapeshifter, Kingdom
Series: Stand alone

Everyone tells Isabel that she is the Shifter - the ancient shape-shifting creature who has protected the kings of Samorna for centuries. They need her to be the Shifter. Prince Rokan risked everything when he rode into the Mistwood to summon her to his side; Ven, the magician's apprentice, has devoted his life to studying her legend; and even Princess Clarisse, who fears and hates her, depends on Isabel's powers to further her own plans.

But Isabel doesn't feel like the Shifter. She feels like a lonely human girl, beset by flashes of memory that do more to confuse than to help her. If she is the Shifter, why can't she change her shape? Why doesn't she remember what made her flee the castle so many years ago? As she is drawn deeper into a web of magic and assassination, Isabel will have no choice but to look for answers. But her search will lead her to the one question the Shifter hasn't faced in a thousand years: where does she come from, and what does she really want?

This review is spoiler free because I want those of you who haven't read it, to go out and get it.

It's been a long time since I've had such pleasure reading a book. It's also been a long time since I was engrossed enough, interested enough to actually finish one. I was blown away from the first page.

Mistwood was exactly what I needed. Cypess continued to surprise me with every turn of the page, and the tension is never-ending. I kept trying to guess what would happen, and there's really nothing I like better than to be proven wrong, especially when it's done so artfully. It's rare for books to impress me anymore, and for just one book to disarm me countless times is an achievement in itself.

Rokan as the human is beautifully imperfect with all his flaws next to the cool, distant beauty of Isabel. Isabel is deliciously not human, and her own internal struggles made me hurt for her. Being in her head was like going to have dinner at the restaurant you've been gushing about for a year. You get the appetisers in the first opening pages of the novel, where you whet your appetite with seeing Rokan and Isabel at their first ever meeting (which you can read here). Isabel and Rokan's voices were strong and distinctive, and they were really very engaging characters. There's not much internal monologue, which I really like because it's all action and less talk.

One thing that really surprised me was the understated romance. I was so caught up in what was happening that it only occurred to me somewhere in the last few pages. Cypess is a wonderful story-teller, and the Mistwood universe is one that I'd love to explore more.

Full of political intrigue and loads of action, Mistwood reminds me of Tamora Pierce's Tortall books. A really one of a kind debut, I'm looking forward to the companion novel, which really can't come fast enough. The problem with a really great book is that there's the risk that the other novels set in the same universe won't be as good. That's a risk I'm willing to take without a doubt.