Mini-Reviews: I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest & Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I've read a couple books lately that don't really warrant lengthy reviews, sooo... mini-reviews it is. I always have *something* to say, I just don't always have a *lot* to say. :)


Title: I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

Series: No

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: May 26, 2015

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library Loan

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon



Synopsis

Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.

Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window.

Princess X?

When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon - her best friend, Libby, who lives.

My Thoughts

I saw I Am Princess X mentioned on a blog not too long ago and it caught my eye. Enough so that I nabbed it from the library. This is a YA (that often felt more like a MG) novel about May and her friend Libby. As children they created Princess X - Libby drew and May wrote. A few years after Libby's untimely death May starts to see Princess X stickers all around and begins to dig into the how's and why's. 


This was a fun blend of traditional story telling and a graphic novel/comic. When May discovers the Princess X web comic, fantasy and reality start to blend as she pieces together clues from the comic to solve the real life mystery of what really happened to Libby. However, the "mystery" of what happened to Libby isn't particularly mysterious since it's basically all spelled out right in the comic. And it didn't take a genius to decipher the clues. Add in the fact that May's new friend just happens to be a hacker extraordinaire (gee, how handy!) and all answers basically just fell in their laps. Middle grade readers will probably have fun with the comic aspect and the few "action" scenes but this is just too dumbed down for teens. I still give it 3 stars for the cool concept and the entertainment value.

3/5 Stars

Title: Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Covenant #0.5

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Mythology

Release Date: May 10, 2011

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Purchased

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon



Synopsis

For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals—pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards… and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return—the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

My Thoughts

Despite my deep and abiding love for all things Jennifer L. Armentrout, there was still one of her series that I had yet to start. I changed that over the weekend when I picked up the prequel to the Covenant series. This was a super short (60-something pages) introduction to the series but was still packed with plenty of action. It's interesting getting familiar with the world and the mythology of a new series. I've never read anything based on Greek mythology so the gods and demigods, etc are all new to me. I've seen some reviews that take issue with the series because apparently (at least the start of the series) is very similar to the Vampire Academy. Well, guess what... I haven't read the Vampire Academy series so any similarities will go right over my head. (Look at that, a little bonus to being behind on my TBR.) I enjoyed this one enough that I immediately picked up the next book, Half-Blood, and I'm excited to see where the series goes. Plus, I'm a sucker for JLA's male characters and I've heard plenty about Aiden and Seth. So let's be real - I'm way excited about meeting them. *cue the heart eyes* 

4/5 Stars
Have you read the Covenant series? What are your thoughts on it?
And, if you've read JLA's other series, how does this compare? 

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