Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Book Review: Monster High by Lisi Harrison


 Monster High
Monster High by Lisi Harrison
Publisher: Poppy
Publish Date: September 1, 2010
Hardcover, 272 pages


My Review:
Why I read this:  I love The Clique series by Lisi Harrison and this premise sounded very intriguing so I signed up as soon as Book It Forward Tours put it up.

How is the novel driven: Characters are the star, but the plot drives as well.  I loved getting all the setup for the series in this book - it was well-done, and still enough story to go along with the set-up to really enjoy it.

My thoughts:  What made this book really interesting to me is that it wasn't cut and dried who the good guys were and who the bad guys were.  You thought you knew after one episode in the beginning, but truthfully there were two different cliques and there was friction between them, but seeing it from both sides I saw that neither was particularly in the wrong.

Both Melody and Frankie are new girls and learning to fit in at the high school.  Melody is a normal girl in an area that is filled with Monsters, though people don't know that.  Frankie was created by her parents and is one of the monsters, but she just wants to be who she is not some put on person.  Her naivete coupled with her pop culture knowledge made her a great character to watch develop.  Melody on the other hand was an ordinary girl until her father helped her along with some cosmetic surgery, now she is the girl all the girls are jealous of at her new school and this causes problems.  Not to mention the one guy she is interested in seems to  have two very different sides.

As the monster community collides with the normal community mayhem ensues and the book ends settling matters in one way but setting things up for the next book which I am eagerly awaiting.  I really like both Melody and Frankie and look forward to learning more about the monster community that Lisi Harrison has created in this book.


My Rating:  4.5/5.0

About the Book:
From Lisi Harrison, the New York Times bestselling author of The Clique and Alphas, comes a new series with a fresh twist on high school, romance, and the "horrors" of trying to fit in.

The monster community has kept a low profile at the local high school, but when two new girls enroll, the town will never be the same. Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and prom.

But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters stalking the halls, Frankie learns that high school can be rough for a chic freak like her. She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver-but can a "normie" be trusted with her big secret?

About the Author:
Lisi Harrison was the Senior Director of Production Development at MTV, and was responsible for creating and developing original programming for air on MTV. She also served as Head Writer for MTV Production and before that had her own column in Jane Magazine.

Lisi lives in Laguna Beach, California, and is currently working on her next Alphas novel, coming in April 2010, as well as her next Clique novel.

Her Website
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FTC Information: I received this book through Book It  Forward Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Series Talk: What's Your Opinion - The Immortals series by Alyson Noel (Giveaway at end)

I was at my wonderful local library yesterday picking up my reserved copy of Blue Moon by Alyson Noel.  I finished Evermore last week and couldn't wait to get my copy of Blue Moon.  While there, the girl who was checking my books out told me she really didn't know what to think about The Immortals series.  I told her I read the first one and loved it and she confessed as she read the series she went back and forth on her thoughts about it and after the latest one she really just didn't know how she felt.  This gave me the idea of this post and if popular enough maybe a weekly or bi-weekly series discussing various series books out there.

Now I trust her opinion, she is a very sweet girl and actually closer to the YA age group than I am.  She helps the children's librarian and my 9-year-old adores her.  What she said got me thinking - I think I remember hearing mixed views about the series all over the internet.

So have you read the series and what did you think?  Try to keep the spoilers away and don't bash the author, but you can be honest - did you love the series, is there one or two books that just didn't do it for you?  Are you still reading the series?  I'm just curious - I'm still going to read the series and form my own opinions, but the comments made by this sweet girl just got me wondering.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series here are the books.  I have read Evermore and loved it, review will be coming later this week and I should start Blue Moon in the next week or so.

Evermore: The Immortals  Blue Moon (The Immortals, Book 2)  Shadowland (The Immortals, Book 3)  Dark Flame (The Immortals)  Night Star

Note:  Night Star comes out November 16, 2010.

To sweeten the deal and generate some discussion, let me know what you think and you'll be entered for a book of your choice under $15 at the Book Depository, so that means if Book Depository has free shipping to your country - you are welcome to enter!  Simply let me know your opinion on this series and if you haven't read it, are you interested in reading it.  Giveaway ends 8/18.  No extra entries for this one, but I always appreciate tweets and blog mentions. :)