Review: The Heart of Hannen by Fawn Bonning

I'm reposting this review because the book now has a new cover!!! (Much improved!). The plot is really good, so give this baby a try. :) (Remember what they say... don't judge it by its cover.)

The Heart of Hannen
by Fawn Bonning

Paperback, 484 pages

Published March 22nd 2011 by Old Line Publishing, LLC

Christine, a troubled teen with a dark past, is miserable in her small town. Shadowed in shame, she feels destined to live her lonely life as an outcast. She has no idea that her true destiny lies in a different town, in a different world; a most brutal world called Atriia. There she learns the true meaning of misery, the true meaning of loneliness, the true meaning of shame. But she also learns that her bravery is boundless as she battles against a formidable foe, a dark shadow that tries to smother the land. And in the arms of a most unlikely candidate, she also learns the true meaning of love. He is Hannen Fallier, the one they call the foul fraigen dropper, revered by men for his fearless feats, but looked upon by women with open disdain. With a face horribly mauled, he hides behind a mask of shame, deeming himself unworthy of love. That he would seek acceptance from Christine is irony in its purest form. That he would seek her love . . . the ultimate betrayal.

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My Review:

I really enjoyed this book! I won it from my first Goodreads giveaway! *-*

I must admit I first judged it by its cover. I thought it might not be so well-written, but I was very mistaken. It was fantastic. I loved the story and the characters.

I really enjoyed seeing how the main character, Christine, grew up! She suddenly finds herself alone in this strange, unknown place called Atriia, where everything is different from Earth. She deals with rude, aggresive, male-chauvinists and strange social costumes, not to mention the weird food and language, but manages to adapt quickly, and very well. I'm not sure I would've been as strong as she was.

Hannen found his way into my heart from the very start. (and when you read it, you'll see exactly what I mean with 'from the very start'). Such a complicated, strong, sweet character. Very well thought of and developed.

I was a bit confused at first with the new 'language' the author introduces to us, but eventually I got the hang of it. (It was only afterwards that I noticed there was a glossary at the end of the book. Silly, slow little me. >.<)

It was a dark, dramatic and sad book, but also very touching. Needless to say, I cried. Hard.

Of course, I wish I could have changed the ending and maybe have seen a bit more of a couple of characters, but it was still great. The book is a bit long, but it's not tiring at all! This one is a keeper. :)

I'm SO glad I had the chance to review it, otherwise I might have never heard of it. Thank you, Fawn Bonning!!!

Now, you! Go ahead and get it, you'll love it too. It's an excellent pick for romance and fantasy lovers.

Early Review: Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

Don't You Wish
by Roxanne St. Claire


Expected publication: July 10th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.

In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.

But on the inside, Ayla is still Annie. So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it? The choice isn't as simple as you think.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: July 10th 2012

Publisher: Delacorte

Format: eARC, 368 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

First line: Some days it seems like half the backpacks of South Hills High whack me in the head on their way to the back of the bus.

Last line: "Yeah. He's for real."

Favorite quote: Should I stay or should I go? 

Sixteen-year-old Annie Nutter is an ordinary, plain Jane. All she wants is for Shane Matthews, teenage god, to look at her. Really look at her. But she soon regrets that, when Shane plays a cruel joke on her inside the school bus, humiliating her in front of everyone.

Annie's mother isn't having a very good day, either. She's found a picture of an old boyfriend in a very classy magazine, and suddenly all she can think and talk about is how life would have been if she had married that man, instead of Annie's crazy inventor/hoarder of a father. Annie can't help but start wondering the same thing. Would she exist in said world? Would she be the same, even if she had a different father? Would her soul be the same?

After her mother destroys her father's newest invention (which allowed you to choose which celebrities' body parts you wanted to have, and see what you would look like with them) in a moment of anger, Annie picks up the remaining parts, to try and salvage her only -and quite old-  notebook, used in the invention. While she holds the notebook and a cell phone showing the picture of the simulation of what she wished she looked like, her room is hit by lightining...

...and somehow she wakes up in a dream world. A dream world where she is who she has always wished she was. Beautiful. Loaded. Popular. A-list. But is it really a dream? Then how come she can't wake up? Annie is now in Ayla Monroe's body, and needs to start making some very serious decisions. Is Ayla really who she wanted to be? Popular, but living a fake life, with no real friends? Beautiful on the outside, but ugly, mean and cold on the inside? Rich in terms of money, but with a distant and estranged family, threatening to collapse? She can't help but ask herself:

Should I stay or should I go?

This book was a very nice read. Very light chich-lit on the whole, but with some very intense and thought-provoking moments. I especially liked the tentative theories to try to explain how the transition through multiple/alternate universes could happen. And Annie and Charlie were so adorkable! :3 He was super dreamy!

I think we all like to imagine how our lives would be if we were different or if our lives were different, or if we were born in different circumstances... well, this book makes us think: Be careful what you wish for! You just might get it. And regret it. :P

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Friday Recommends #1 : Jack Knife

Friday Recommends is a meme hosted by Pen To Paper.  This is where we can share a book we would highly recommend. 






The rules for Friday Recommends are:

• Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
• Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
• Pick a book that you've read, and have enjoyed enough to recommend to other readers. It can be a book you've read recently, or a book you read years ago - it's up to you - but make sure you tell us why you love the book (like a mini review). You make the post as long or as short as you like.
• Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of this post after posting your blog post.
• Put a link back to pen to paper (http://vogue-pentopaper.blogspot.com) somewhere in your post.
• Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My choice is:

Jack Knife

by Virginia Baker

Whitechapel, London, 1888.

For Inspector Jonas Robb, each night brings new terror. But this night is different. It's brought two strangers-David and Sara-who have arrived in London seemingly with no past. What they do have is incredible knowledge about the Whitechapel fiend known as Jack the Ripper. Because David and Sara do have a past. It just happens to be in the future.

Sent back in time, they're in pursuit of a 21st-century madman whose purpose is to change history. As the body count rises, Sara and David realize that their quarry and Robb's have become linked in a way that threatens not only Victorian London, but the very fabric of time.

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This was a great book! I got it at a local bookstore and a day later I found out it was out of print, (O.o) which made me ever happier I bought it in the first place. If you look at the reviews of this title on Goodreads, you'll see that there are all kinds of opinions about it. Some people absolutely hated it, and some, like me, absolutely loved it.

I've always enjoyed time-travel romances, so that was part of the reason I got it. The other was the 'Jack-the-Ripper' part. It really got my attention. *-*

Okay, okay, maybe some things were a bit over the top, like the too-modern gadgets used by the time-travellers from 2007, and maybe the beginning of the book was a bit slow, but it was all worth it afterwards!

The book gets better and better, the characters are very interesting and complex, and the heroine was super strong. I loved her!!! It was very satisfying to see some of the things she told those chauvinistic assholes from the 19th century. LOL.

Also, even though it is fantasy, the author obviously did her homework on the time period, the clothing, locations and the Ripper murders, which made the book even more fluid and pleasant to read.

But, just a small 'spoiler' here, the ending was very unnerving. I get it that the author was trying to be as realistic as possible, but romantically speaking, she broke my heart. >.<

With that out of the way, it is a shame this book is not very well-known. It's almost the same as with The Sterkarm series. They are gems that need to be discovered.

Too bad the author didn't write anything else, either. A waste of talent.

Believe me, it is worth your time. I bought it as a gift to two of my friends already, and they loved it too, so I'm glad I did my job spreading the word about it to them, and now to you. ;)