This book was stupid. The only clever part was having the frog surf the waves on her lily pad at the end, otherwise it was a total flop.  The art wasn't great. The story made no sense. How did the moon transport the frog from sea to pond and back again? What was in the vial from the random fisherman? Was the frog actually taking to the fisherman, or just thinking of a reply? These aren't the sort of questions I should be asking at the end of a children's book.
1/5 stars

Cover:  This cover is awesome. I find it easy to read. I love that you can't see her face. The color scheme matches the tone of the book. What shes' wearing makes sense for the story. 
5/5 stars

This book was good. 5/5 stars.  Not 5+.  It's not Harry Potter, but nothing is. I liked it. Great word building. Lack of purple prose but great descriptions.  Fun character development.  Some of the reveals at the end weren't my favorite, but it was engaging and creative and unpredictable.  

It's a story of family love, budding romance, subversive adventure. I recommend it. 
-Lara

Okay so, book covers. I'm not an art expert. I never studied art. Maybe that means I shouldn't critique art. It probably means that I often overlook meaningful and artsy covers because I don't appreciate them. I'm sure there are lots of art people out there who would disagree with my assessments on covers. That's just fine. Actually, that's great.
See, the only reason I feel qualified to give my opinion on covers is this : I'm a reader.  
I read and 90% of the time I picked the book based on the cover. It's unfair to say the least, since authors have little to no say in the covers of their published works. I'm fairly confident it was an author displeased with their cover art who first said, "Don't judge a book by its cover."
Unfortunately we do. I do. You do. We can't help ourselves.

And that's what I'm basing my opinion on. My opinion. :)  

Young adult is a huge age range. We're talking 12-18-year-olds and even if the age span isn't tremendous, the maturity and experiences differ drastically. Not only that, but I know a great many grown adults who don't read anything but YA fiction. Therefore, it's not really a big surprise that YA books vary so much. Some YA books are great for like 13-year-olds. Other's are excellent for adults but probably not ideal for a younger audience. When I review books, I'll try to comment on which age I feel the book is most appropriate for. 
I mean, I gave Firelight and God's Play both 3 stars for vastly different reasons.  God's Play is for an older, more mature audience. Firelight was a little too young for my tastes.
And therein lies the beauty of opinion blogs. My tastes. My opinion. Isn't it great that I can rate a book on a scale of 1 to 5 based soley on my opinion of what I think and what I think other's will think?  
Yes, yes it is.

When you read my reviews it's probably important to note that these are the thoughts of a 24-year-old mother who reads YA because I don't want the content of adult books, but I'm not really into mermaids, fairies, and dragons any more. 

Here is how I give my stars away-

One Star- I didn't like this book. Probably didn't finish it because it was so bad. How did this get through the intense publication process?
Two Stars- It was fine. I read it, didn't I?  If there are sequels I won't read them.
Three Stars- Good book. I liked it. 
Four Stars- This book was great. This author will not disappoint you and you should trust the lives of your characters in their hands. I rather enjoyed it and I imagine that you will too.
Five Stars- MUST READ. (I'll specify which age MUST READ.)  Either way, 5 stars are far a few between. I mean. I didn't even give my own published work 5 stars. I strive to be a reliable source. :)  

Let's talk covers. This cover is cool. It's interesting and not overwhelming and the concept isn't overdone. I'll say it now and I'll say it again, I ALWAYS judge a book by it's cover.  So far as covers go, I give this 4/5 stars

Now the book. The meat. The story. I'm 40% done with this book and while the writing is really good, descriptive and visual, I'm afraid I have to stop for one simple reason: Too much swearing.
I can handle some language in my books, but my curiosity regarding the outcome of the story is outweighed by my discomfort. 
Maybe I'll try to finish it later, meanwhile, I'm starting a new book. 
Also, the POV switches are a little bit much, though I think POV changes tend to be that way, and all things considered LYNN does a fantastic job. 
If swearing doesn't phase you and you like shape-shifter stories, you'll probably love this book.  It's well-written and I just wish the language was a little toned down.

Disclaimer: I read an e-copy of this book. I hate reading e-copies in general so it's likely that had I been reading it in print, I would have 1- finished it and 2- liked it more. 
3/5 stars
-Lara

This book shared some unfortunate parallels to Meyer's Twilight. That being said, I still think that YA would enjoy it. Adults who generally like YA....not so much.  Jacinda is much more likable than Bella and Will actually has depth to his personality, but it's still Twilight with draki (dragons) instead of vampires and the female is the monster instead of the man.  Love story between predator and prey....you know the drill. It's clean language, nice concept of people being dragons, and nothing age inappropriate for teens 14-18.

3/5 stars


-Lara

This book is adorable. The art is colorful, easy on the eyes, and very clever. Bridget is quite the artist! I liked this book so much that I bought it AND I bought a beret for my 2-year-old to wear while she reads (and colors).  It's a good, original story with a nice lesson. 

5/5 stars