Mini Reviews XIV: Populazzi, The Seven Rays & Prophecy of the Sisters

Populazzi - Elise Allen
Cara has always dreamed of being a Populazzi, one of the popular crowd. But it’s not until she changes schools that she gets a shot at it, thanks to her best friend Claudia’s crazy plan. The idea is simple: The rungs of The Ladder are relationships. First get a boyfriend who's ranked low, then climb up through more boyfriends until you're not just one of the Populazzi, but the Supreme Populazzi.

Populazzi was an interesting debut novel that definitely made you think about the lengths some people will go to become popular.

I thought Cara's friends and classmates would react stronger than they did, and be more shocked about her new looks. If I would show up like for example a goth one day, I'm sure people would ask questions and gossip about it. And if I changed my appearances again the next month, well I'm sure people would consider that weird!

I am also surprised that Cara's plan worked as well as it did! (Well for a while at least). Even if Cara made some bad choices throughout this novel, what mattered most in the end was that she was finally true to herself and listened to her heart and brain. Even if everyone could she that her plan was bound to fail at some point, the things she learned about herself and others throughout her journey up the populazzi ladder was probably worth it. I could tell that she grew a lot as a person, and that the experience made her stronger in many ways!

Rating: 3 of 5

The Seven Rays - Jessica Bendinger

You are more than you think you are.
THAT IS THE ANONYMOUS MESSAGE that Beth Michaels receives right before she starts seeing things. Not just a slept-through my-alarm-clock, late-for-homeroom, haven't had-my-caffeine-fix kind of seeing things. It all starts with some dots, annoying pink dots that pop up on and over her mom and her best friend's face. But then things get out of control and Beth is seeing people's pasts, their fears, their secrets, their desires. Everyone thinks she's crazy and she's pretty sure she agrees with them. But crazy doesn't explain the gold envelopes that have started arriving, containing seeing keys and mysterious tarot cards...

When I saw that this book was written by Jessica Bendinger, the same person who wrote Bring It On, I got so excited! Bring It On is such a fun movie! This book though? Not that funny. It started out slow, but I kept reading, interested in the reason behind Beth's mysterious sights. Or not overly interested, how am I kidding? The reason I kept reading was a hot boy of course; Richie. Sadly like many other YA novels, Beth and Richie's relationship develops unbelievably fast. One week they hardly even know each others names, the next week they're head over heels in love. And this book just keep getting weirder, we are soon introduced to the other "rays" all of them with ordinary, lovely names of course (yes, I'm being sarcastic).

The Rays, all with different abilities (some better than others), supposedly has a great mission in life. I actually wanted to know what they were born to do, and what they could do if they worked together. But when they finally met and used their powers for a mutual goal, well the goal isn't that special at all. Sure, they did a good thing, but did they save the world from destruction? Hardly.

Needless to say this book, which started out okay, soon became too strange for my taste. A disappointment!

Rating: 2 of 5

Prophecy of the Sisters - Michelle Zink
In Michelle Zink's debut novel, orphaned twin sister Lia and Alice Milthorpe are yoked together in an ancient prophecy that makes them enemies and could destroy them both. If Lia can break this familial curse, she can not only save her relationship with her beloved boyfriend; she can finally resolve the mystery behind her parents' death.

Okay, Alice was downright creepy! I can't understand how two twin sisters can go from being best friends to hardly speaking, or knowing, each other! Sure people can change and you might not support their choices, but they are still family, right?

When I started reading I got a bit surprised when I found out that the story was set in Victorian New York - somehow I had missed that part when I had read about the book earlier.

This book had an interesting storyline and definitely contained some creepy parts! The plot moved quite slowly sometimes though, and I especially got frustrated with Lia's passiveness and her refusal to confront Alice.

The beloved boyfriend mentioned in the summary above? Not that beloved. I didn't get the feeling that Lia was crazy about him, he on the other hand showed more affection for her.

This book reminded me a lot of the Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray. So if you are a fan of that series, or like historical dramas overall, this might be the series for you! It wasn't my type of book though.

Rating: 3 of 5