REVIEW: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent was so action-packed and fast-paced that in some ways I find it a little difficult to talk about it in any kind of meaningful way. I was reading this book and it felt like this mad dash towards the end in which I was furiously clicking for the next page on my Kindle and everything kind of whizzed by me.  It was an exciting read, that's for sure!

Without Rachel Vincent's name attached to this book, I'm not sure how excited I would have been. But it is Rachel Vincent and I loved her Soul Screamers series. They were emotional and surprising and every bit as fast-paced.  So these were my expectations coming into this first book in a new series. And The Stars Never Rise really managed to do everything I wanted it to do including set up this new story and world and populating it with interesting characters and relationships.

All right, so this new series. It's set in a future America in which there have been a plague of demons that have consumed many souls. And it was only with the help of an exorcist and a war waged by the Church that the war was won and the demons defeated.  Now the Church rules everything and there are few souls to go around.

Living in this world is our main character, Nina Kane. She is seriously struggling to keep afloat with bills and school and taking care of her younger sister, Melanie. The two girls live with her mostly absent mother, and are quite happy to do their own thing. Only doing her own thing has meant that 15 year old, Mellie, announces she is pregnant and it sets off this shocking turn of events that changes everything.

I don't want to tell you too much more of the story because that is really where everything switches gear into this fast-paced action-packed story in which Nina teams up with this band of bad-ass exorcists and wage their own battles against demons and the Church in order to protect both Nina and Mellie. There is a rather unconventional romance between Nina and one of the exorcists in this group who call themselves Anathema and I could not be more intrigued by how things will work out!

Speaking of the romance, ahhhhh! I loved Nina and Finn. But there is so much standing in the way of them being together. And the anticipation of all that drama coming our way in future books feels like delicious anticipation for me right now!

One of the very surprising elements of the story actually happens before Nina meets up with Finn and has all of these earth-shattering realisations about her family situation and the Church and everything she's ever known about demons and exorcists and the state of the media and the world in general. And the element of the story in which shows how far Nina will go to protect and feed her little sister was one of the things that surprised me about this book. Not the level of concern or love between the two sister but the lengths Nina went to. This book goes to some dark places, as witnessed with this scene early on and towards the end of the story in the final show-down!

I thought The Stars Never Rise was a fantastic, gripping and addictive story. Sort of like a demon, this book swept into my life and consumed me until I was finished and I loved every second of it. I love Nina's determination and her bond with Mellie. I loved all the members of Anathema from snarky Devi with an attitude to loyal Maddock. I can't wait to read more in this series.

Author Spotlight: Sarah Alderson

I do really hope that you've been enjoying this new feature, Author Spotlight!  For today's spotlight, I'd like to shine it around Sarah Alderson, one of my favourite UKYA authors.

Sarah is an author that I've followed since the release of her debut book, Hunting Lila, back in 2011.  Since then she's published many more books than you'd think in just under 4 years. And I've loved them all.

She's written quite often of her family's travels around the world, living in Bali, and travelling more. She writes books incredibly quickly (like super-human quick!) and I think they're all very fast-paced, addictive and exciting reads. (And it says so on the back of most of her books!)

Do find out more about Sarah Alderson and her lovely books, by visiting her website or follow her on Twitter.

Hunting Lila and Losing Lila

Hunting Lila introduced me to Sarah Alderson! A lovely friend of mine sent this first book over for me to read and I very, very quickly fell in love with Sarah's writing style and her actiony scenes mixed together with some incredibly steamy interactions with hot Alex. These two books are all about people with extra-sensory powers and there's a road trip and explosions and it's all kinds of amazing. Sarah has also written and published several short stories/novellas surrounding the characters and story lines of these two books.

Fated, Severed, and Shadowed

These three books all center around demons and demon slayers and I've only actually read the first book in the series, Fated, so far. Though I do have both sequels on my Kindle waiting for me.  While I love the action and adventure of Sarah's stories, I do need to be in the right frame of mind for more paranormal-y stories!

Come Back To Me

Come Back To Me is a New Adult book that Sarah has written under the pseudonym, Mila Gray that follows a relationship between Jessa and Kit.  I loved how intense this book is and how much this book is also a story about friendship and family as well as a very emotional romantic book.

The Sound

I read The Sound early last year when I went home to visit my father who had been in the hospital. It was a very emotional time for me and all I really wanted to read were comforting stories by authors I knew and trusted.  And this book really fit the bill.  It's the story of a girl who becomes a nanny for a family in Nantucket at the time when there is a serial killer who is targeting foreign nannies.

Out of Control

Out of Control was so much fun.  I loved the added element of human trafficking to the story as well. Not only is it this fast-paced story with loads of chemistry between the two main characters, it also has this added bonus of bringing up a social justice story that I didn't realise was so prevalent. Plus, it's set in New York and I love New York based stories!

Conspiracy Girl

Conspiracy Girl is Sarah Alderson's latest YA book and it has been published by Simon and Schuster this month.  I'm incredibly excited to be taking part in the blog tour for this book. Look out for an interview with Sarah very soon!  This book was definitely an edge-of-my-seat read. About a girl who's family had died previously in a home invasion and who lives paranoid and constantly looking over her shoulder. She teams up with a hot hacker when her family's attackers come back to finish the job...

Have you read anything by Sarah Alderson? Will you be adding any of these books to your wish list?

REVIEW: Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

I absolutely adored Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini! I thought it was exciting and addictive and a wonderful start to a new series and I cannot wait to read more. I love the idea of alternative worlds, the witches, the romance. Give me more!

In this first book, called the Worldwalker trilogy, our main character, Lily Proctor, lives in a world that is trying to kill her. She's allergic to everything and so isn't able to do all the things she'd like.  Which is why when she's invited to a high school party by her best friend, Tristan, she jumps at the chance to be normal for once in her life because she knows that there really might not be that many opportunities for her left.  The party scene is one that really broke my heart and kind of set me up for how emotional the rest of this book was. Because Lily faces something really humiliating and it's kind of the last straw for her. She runs off, hoping that everything she's just run from would disappear... and it happens.

Lily wakes up in an alternative world in which magic abounds and there are powerful witches called Crucibles.  In this new world, Lily is no longer a weak girl dying from allergies, but someone who holds great power and has the ability to make great changes and be either a force for good or evil. I absolutely adored finding out about New Salem and about Crucibles and how changing what Lily eats and drinks changes her body's chemistry and how the whole magic system works.

I just loved New Salem in general.  Lily meets some familiar faces here including her own alternate-self, Lillian, who is cruel and does horrific things but also Rowan, this beautiful boy who Lillian has had this destructive relationship with already and has left Rowan bitter and broken-hearted.  Lily and Rowan must team together, however, to find answers to how Lily jumped universes and to stop Lillian.

I loved the slow-burn romance between Lily and Rowan and also a lot of the new friendships.  It was interesting to see Lily interact with alternate-Tristan in New Salem and get his perspective on Tristan's behaviour previously.  I loved how action-packed the second half of this book became and I was on the edge of my seat to know what would happen next.  I really cared for all of these characters, including, probably strangely, Lillian, and I wanted the best for all of them. The direction the ending took makes me very excited to see some of Lily's home life being explored more (and also more sizzling scenes between Lily and Rowan!)

Everything about this book excited me and I'm gasping for the next book in the series. I thought this first book in the series really brought us some fantastic, complicated characters, really interesting relationships and an exciting new world.  And I want more.

REVIEW: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Despite owning a copy of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black for a very long time, I didn't read this book until very recently.  I had my doubts about the vampires and the thought that this possibly wouldn't be the most original story, and if I'm honest, I was put off a little bit by the size of this book at over 400 pages.

Once I sat down with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I found myself being sucked in almost effortlessly by this story.  That first chapter really surprised me.  It was dark and violent and it went places that shocked me.  And similarly, I quite liked the way the story ended as well, though I can see that it could make some people feel a little frustrated.

This story is set in America at a time when vampirism has spread like crazy.  In order to combat the spread of vampires and to protect humans, Coldtowns were created. These are walled cities in which vampires live and are meant to keep them in.  Once you enter a Coldtown, you're not to leave.  Coldtowns also have become reality TV sets as people are so fascinated and intrigued by vampires and are desperate to know what's going on in them.

The main character of this story, Tana, wakes up from a party only to find out that there has been a massacre and everyone at the party except for her and her ex-boyfriend have been slaughtered by vampires.  It's all a little bit tense getting out, but she manages to save herself, her ex, AND a vampire and goes on this journey towards the nearest Coldtown.

I thought Holly Black brought us some incredibly interesting characters in this story, characters that I really wanted to know more about. I liked the main character, Tana, even if I didn't always fully understand her decisions or motivations.  My favourite thing about her was her relationship with her little sister and how much Tana wanted to protect her. I also found it interesting to see some of Tana's flashbacks and memories of what happened with her mother.

Along the way to the Coldtown, Tana not only spends time with Aidan, her sweet but exasperating ex, and Gavriel, this mysterious vampire but also comes across other fab characters.  Midnight and Winter, brother and sister, are vampire-wannabes who are heading to Coldtown hoping to be infected and turned and to broadcast their experiences on their website. I liked that there was not only revulsion and fascination shown towards vampires but also this obsessive longing from some characters. In fact, the entire mythology of Holly Black's vampires was very interesting and it gave it a new twist.

My only criticism of this book is that there are all of these great characters populating the story and unfortunately, I didn't really felt the connection that they had with each other.  There's a lot of backstory told between Tana and Aidan's previous relationship and a lot of build-up of tension and feelings between Tana and Gavriel and I just didn't believe in it throughout. In fact, towards the end, several key players start dying and doing shocking things and I felt slightly distanced from these events.  I thought the action was exciting and the pace was fairly quick for a book of this length and, like I said, I loved the characters.  I just didn't quite feel the friendships or romance at all. Despite all of this, I shall definitely be picking up more stories by Holly Black...

REVIEW: Glimpse by Kendra Leighton

I have been very excited to pick up and read Glimpse for Kendra Leighton for awhile. I don't know, I never really expected for ghost stories to be my thing but I've been reading several lately and they (and especially Glimpse!) have been really surprising and entertaining and just lots of fun to read. I am definitely looking forward to reading more ghost stories like this in the future and especially to read more with a British setting as well.  That's always an added bonus for me.

Glimpse is the story of teenage girl, Liz, who has not had an easy life so far. Seven years ago, at the edge of 10, she was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of her mother as well as all of the memories of her life.  When she wakes up in the hospital, she has no recollection of who she is or who her father is.  All she wants is a normal life with a full set of memories but instead, she wakes up with the ability of see 'glimpses' of bodies and people that nobody else can see.  She also has terrible nightmares and she's bullied badly at school because of her odd behaviour and the strange way she's dressed.  The bullying included in this story was quite to read about and it really made me sympathetic towards Liz right from the start.

Then Liz and her father inherit The Highwayman Inn and they move back to the place Liz's mother was originally from in order to start over in this new place.  Liz hopes for a new beginning and makes a 'Normalcy List' to help her in her goals. No more strange behaviour, no more nightmares, no more bullying. Fresh start, new life as new Liz.  Despite her plans, Liz soon meets Zachary and everything that Liz has been running from comes at her from different directions and forces Liz to deal with them directly.

I really loved reading Glimpse. I love how the story is based around the famous Alfred Noyes poem, 'The Highwayman' and how much that forms the narrative of this story. I had no experience with the poem before reading Glimpse, but the full poem is produced at the start of the story and then is referenced throughout.  I really love when other stories or poems become the basis of something new in this way. I also enjoyed the fact that Liz and her new friend, Susie, begin researching The Highwayman Inn as part of their school project to learn more about ghosts and how haunted the building is which allowed them (and the reader) to learn more about the history of this time period.

I thought there was plenty of suspense and tension in this book both from witnessing Liz's glimpses and her nightmares as well as from another angry ghostly presence for this book to be quite creepy and unsettling.  Liz and Susie visit a medium in the area who has been in contact with some of the ghosts from The Highwayman, one of which in particular is hell bent on vengeance towards Liz which puts her in some mild peril. It was all very entertaining!

But Glimpse is also a love story and I really loved the combination of ghosts and romance in this book.  There's lovely echoes of the love story between the highwayman and the innkeeper's daughter in all of the relationships within Glimpse and everything about this element of the story really made me happy.  I really do recommend this book for anyone looking for a good ghost story!

REVIEW: Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

I was really quite intrigued to read Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly.  The author's previous work included Revolution and A Northern Light, which either was nominated or won the Carnegie medal.  Deep Blue is a big departure from these historical based stories and instead we have the first book in a four book series about mermaids.  Mermaids. There is something pretty intriguing about oceans and the unknown but I can't say that mermaids have ever really captured my attention... until now. 

First off, I think the cover for Deep Blue is gorgeous. I love the colours and the general tone. And if you haven't already seen the book trailer for this book, I recommend that you seek it out and watch it as I think the visuals are just stunning.

For me, the first half of Deep Blue is stronger than the second.  We start the story with our main character, Seraphina, introducing herself and also this world that she lives in.  She's at the start of an important ceremony in which she must prove herself worthy to be her mother's heir and also become betrothed to Prince Mahdi. I really loved the first few chapters of the book as we learn more about Sera and see her interacting with the other mermaids and things. I think her personality and her character really shines through right from the start. 

I really felt all of Sera's anxieties at the start of this novel. She's worried she's not good enough for her mother, or Prince Mahdi, or good enough to rule in her mother's place. And to make things even more stressful, she's been having these nightmare visions of an ancient evil that is coming and through them she's been getting clues that reveal her own importance and involvement in stopping this.

I really felt like there was a lot of great characters and relationships at the start of Deep Blue. It felt exciting and addictive and I was very quickly pulled into Sera's head and her world. Her fight with Mahdi really broke my heart as did everything that happened at the ceremony.  My heart was in my throat, I was on the edge of my seat. It was all so tense and wonderful.  Which is why it was disappointing that that same level of paciness and tension did not continue to the second half of the book in which Sera travels to gather the other mermaids  needed to battle the evil thing that is threatening the waters and everything living in it. 

While I can see that being the first book in the series there has to be lots of groundwork put into place, I thought that the second half felt a little limp and lacking in comparison to what I thought was a great and strong opening. I wanted more from the second half and I can only hope that some of the childish mermaid terminology is dropped in the future books in the series and that we see more character development from the other mermaids.  Though I definitely want to know more about Sera and Mahdi.  I almost cried at the end of Deep Blue when this wasn't resolved!

All of my criticisms aside, I really enjoyed Deep Blue and I'm looking forward to reading more in the series. I can definitely see a lot of potential in these characters, in this world and in this story line. I'm looking forward to it.

REVIEW: Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Oh, wow. Reading Storm by Brigid Kemmerer came as an absolute surprise.  I'd heard of the series beforehand and I was curious about it so I jumped at the chance to read and review this book for its UK publication. I'm not entirely sure what my expectations were going into this story but what I got was an incrediby exciting and addictive story populated by wonderful characters with interesting relationships, new and wonderful world-building and a story line that I could really get behind.  This book really blew me away and I am so excited to read more in this series! 

In some ways, Storm, the first book in the Elementals series, is about Becca Chandler and in other ways I felt like this book was also a story about Chris Merrick AND also the rest of the Merrick brothers.  One of my favourite aspects about this book is that Brigid Kemmerer told us this story in such a way that I began to care about Becca and Chris but also all of Chris's brothers.  I love that we don't just get to see a very peripheral view of them but that there are actual substantial interactions between Becca ad all of them. I really liked it. I feel like I know each of them in some important ways before we will be introduced to them again when they come in their own stories in the future books in this series. 

So, Storm, introduces us first to Becca and Chris.  Becca was a fantastic protaganist. I really felt for her throughout the entire novel.  She's had a bad experience with her ex-boyfriend that has left with her some bad memories and a really bad reputation.  She's going through a lot.  And one evening after leaving a self-defense class, Becca steps in and saves fellow student, Chris Merrick, as he's being beaten up by other boys. In doing so, she gets linked and involved in the lives of the Merrick brothers. The Merrick brothers themselves are all good-looking and keeping secrets, mostly about the powers stemming from the elements (water, earth, air and fire) they possess. But they also are in the middle of a feud between other families in this small town that put themselves and Becca in danger.

I'm really in awe of Brigid Kemmerer's skill in writing such an addicting and exciting book filled with such twists and turns. I thought I knew where the story was headed, especially in terms of the mysterious new student, Hunter, but at every turn, I found myself on the edge of my seat and surprised by the events that unfolded.

By this point I'm already half in love with Chris and all three of his brothers and I absolutely cannot wait to read more in this series! Incredible and highly recommended.

REVIEW: Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout

It's now the Easter holidays and things will be busy for me. I'm in the middle of finishing an important uni assignment, something rather .. major is happening tomorrow that I hope to blog about soon and of course, I have my boys to entertain over the next two weeks.

I just wanted to share this review that I've done on my booktube channel of Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout.  I'm afraid that I didn't love it as much as the rest of you seem to have done.  Also, my plan in future is to review the books I bought or acquired myself as video reviews, so please do subscribe to my YT channel so that you don't miss out on those!

What was the last book you read and didn't enjoy that everyone else loved?

REVIEW: Sleeping Angel by Mia James (Ravenwood Mysteries, #3)

I've really enjoyed this series of books by Mia James.  This is the third (and final?) book in the trilogy.  Whenever I'm reading the books in this series I'm fully immersed in the world and the characters but when I picked up Sleeping Angel I was slightly worried as it had been awhile since I'd read By Midnight or Darkness Falls and I was afraid that too much time had passed and I wouldn't remember enough.  Thankfully, after the first few pages, I fell quite naturally back into this story and I thought this was by far the most interesting and thrilling of the three books so far as everything started falling into place and long-standing questions are finally answered.  This review will contain spoilers of By Midnight and Darkness Falls but not of Sleeping Angel.

I really loved getting back into this book. Sleeping Angel starts shortly after the events of Darkness Falls and April Dunne is dealing with the aftermath of her attack and the deaths of several people involved at Ravenwood Academy. She's living with her grandfather in Covent Garden, not really getting along with her mother but still madly in love with her vampire boyfriend, Gabriel.  She's absolutely determined to finally uncover the identity of the Vampire King in order to kill him and save Gabriel's life. In doing so, she'll also be able to find out the answers that surround the death of her father and so many others and hopefully stop this vampire takeover that has begun at Ravenwood. 

One of the things I like the most about this series is April's friendships with both Caro, a new friend, and Fiona, her friend from when she lived in Scotland.  You can really feel how close April is with both of these girls and it was really lovely to witness how much Caro and Fee were willing to pitch in and help despite the danger to themselves.  And in Sleeping Angel, some of the more antagonistic relationships in the past play a larger part as well and I liked that there was some doubt about characters' motivations. 

The thing that is at the heart of this series is this relationship between April and Gabriel.  Their relationship is the driving force of all the tension and the reason that April continues to drive forward in her pursuit towards finding the Vampire King despite the death and attacks that has chased April since her family have moved to Highgate.

The entire mystery of this book - the identity of the Vampire King, the conspiracy placed around Ravenwood, as well as some vandalism of April's father's grave - were all done really well.  I was quite excited to pick the book up again whenever I had to put it down and it was all very thrilling.  There were plenty of twists and turns throughout the book and lots of surprises around the big reveal.  And while I did feel like there was a slight info-dump at the end to wrap up all the loose ends, I was very happy with the way things ended.

I really loved the friendships and relationships in this series, I loved the atmosphere of Highgate and around London, and definitely the unravelling of this mystery! Fab series.

REVIEW: Shadows by Paula Weston

Oooh! Shadows by Paula Weston was such an unexpected delight of a book.  I say 'unexpected' because angels in general are a parnormal/supernatural creature that I tend to avoid like the plague. And for that reason, I did pass over the opportunity to read it when it first came out.  ...And by the time of its publication I'd heard nothing but amazing things about it. So when I happened to see a copy of Shadows in my local library, I thought 'well, why not?' I sat down to read it on a particularly cold, miserable morning and I was completely swept away by it. I found Shadows to be very addictive reading, very exciting and by this point I'm absolutely gasping to know more. More about this story and more about these fantastic characters.

First off, I loved the Australian setting of this book. I'd definitely like to read more YA from Australian authors such as Paula Weston. As much as I was enjoying Gaby's story, I kind of also wish there had been a gap in the action for Gaby and Maggie to head down to the beach and hang out for awhile. An idea for a future book in the series, I'm sure!

I'm also very drawn to books involving memory. And in Shadows, Gaby is faced on all sides by people asking questions and making remarks about memories that she had lost following the death of her twin brother, Jude, the year before. It had to have been frustrating being confronted by and being put into situations in which other people know (or think they know!) more about you as a person, or about things that happened to you in your life that you no longer have access to. That is what it is like for Gaby and I really felt for her. She's already in a difficult position and these memory issues do not help things along. 

I loved Gaby as a character. She's chosen to live in a quiet town near the beach. She's got a great best friend, Maggie, and a job at the library. Her grief over the loss of her brother still eats away at her but she's trying her best. And then the man of her dreams (he actually appears regularly in her dreams) walks into the bar and everything that Gaby thought she knew about herself and her life begins to change.  I thought the change in name from Gabe (her previous life) and Gaby (her current life) was quite cleverly done.

Here's where we get into the angels part of the story. Usually I start rolling my eyes when it comes to the history and mythology of how the descendents of angels came about or what powers they have. But I didn't do that with this story. I found the information and world-building of these angels to be quite straight-forward and I was okay with the extra abilities. And Rafa is a fantastic character as well. There's plenty of swoon right from the beginning and I absolutely loved the tension between Gaby and Rafa. The chemistry between them was amazing.

Shadows is filled with plenty of action and mystery.  There are just enough fighting and heart-thumping moments to keep a very fast-pace. But there's also many questions raised that is making me feel a slight desperation for the sequel, Haze, in the hopes that some of my questions will be answered. I'm dying to know more about what happened to Gaby and Jude, who tampered with Gaby's memory, if Jason is hiding any more shocking secrets and oh my god, what will happen next with Gaby and Rafa?! I'm definitely hooked on this series.  Tell me again why it took me so long to pick up this book? 

Also, stay tuned! Tomorrow, the author of Shadows and Haze, Paula Weston will be here on the blog with a special guest post.

REVIEW: Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, Alice in Zombieland, so I was incredibly excited to start reading Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter.  These are the only two books by Gena Showalter that I've read so far, but I'm quite looking forward to reading something else by her. I love the characters she's written and their relationships to each other.

Because of the fact that many sequels I've read this year have been disappointing, I was slightly nervous to read this book. I shouldn't have been and I hope that you don't remain hesitant either. I was able to dive straight back into this story without any confusion and I quickly fell under its spell. 

With Alice in Zombie Land, I really enjoyed seeing little glimpses of familiar things from Alice in Wonderland.  It was comforting to read a book involving zombies and families dying in which there is also fluffy white rabbits in the clouds that is sending a message because I knew that in some small way the overall structure of the novel was following a familiar theme. I didn't have any previous knowledge like that with Through The Zombie Glass. There is a storyline that involves Ali's reflection in the mirror that I imagine would also be a storyline in Through the Look Glass, but other than that everything in the story was a new discovery.

All the other people we met from book one are here - Ali, who's just found out about zombies and the slayers who kill them. Her Nana, who I love to bits with her wacky 'teen' vocabulary and overall awesome ways. Kat, the somewhat annoying but loyal best friend with relationship drama. Reeve, the clueless friend that everyone is trying to protect. The other slayers, Bronx and Frosty. And of course Cole the brooding, smoking hot slayer and Ali's boyfriend who shared all those steamy visions with Ali.

I think the two main things that are being dealt with in Through the Zombie Glass are trust and change - two very scary things and I loved how each of these things plays out throughout the novel.  Things are supposed to be great between Ali and Cole now.  Things went down at the end of Alice in Zombieland, sure. Ali learns she's got crazy-awesome powers but gets badly injured in a big battle and yes, Cole feels responsible for that.  But he isn't supposed to pull away from Ali and keep secrets from her.  So when two other slayers from Georgia, Veronia and Gavin, arrive they bring with them all kinds of drama.  Because Veronica is yet another of Cole's ex-girlfriends set to win Cole back and if things couldn't get any worse, Ali shares visions with Gavin! 

There's so much more to this story than just relationship drama though. There's plenty of zombie-killing action and new information to be learnt - about Anima, Ali's powers, the visions, a spy in the midst. Everything about Through the Zombie Glass had my heart-racing and I cried at several points. This book is filled with so much emotion - heartbreak, determination, loyalty, passion. I await the next book in the series with baited breath! 

REVIEW: Ink by Amanda Sun

I really wanted to love Ink by Amanda Sun. It's set in Japan, one of my favourite places to read about, it has a very interesting premise and a really gorgeous cover ... but in the end, I found Ink to be slightly disappointing. There's such potential here, and while I did really enjoy some parts, overall I found that it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Ink is the story of Katie, an American teenage girl who has recently suffered loss and is in Japan staying with an aunt until things are sorted out back home with her grandparents. Katie struggles at the beginning of this story to adjust to the many cultural and language differences and she's feeling a little bit isolated and alone.

This is a section of the story that I really loved. It was nice to see a glimpse into Japanese customs and culture with the descriptions of tea ceremonies and learning kendo and calligraphy and the cherry blossoms. I'm immensely attracted to Japanese culture so I'm glad that this book explores it a little bit.  Katie soon picks up the language quite quickly and begins to feel a little better within herself to learn more about her surroundings.  In doing so she makes several friends and meets the mysterious Yuu Tomohiro.

Ah, Tomohiro, boy with so many secrets.  The relationship between Katie and Tomo was a bit rocky. There are times when Tomohiro is purposefully nasty in order to drive people away and I didn't like Katie forgiving that so quickly. She's kind of a stalker about pursuing him, which did feel a bit uncomfortable at times. But there's also a sweetness about their relationship too. I especially loved the familiarity and sense of closeness that comes with calling somebody something different.

I also love the idea of ink coming to life and I especially love the idea of this power of Tomohiro's that is somehow connected to the Japanese legend. It starts off pretty small, with just small movements in a drawing but then Tomohiro goes a little bit crazy conjuring beautiful, magical things. I just wish the background of Japanese legend was explored a bit more by Katie. She's introduced to this crazy, paranormal thing and yet I found her a bit disconnected to it all. Yes, she does seek answers from her friend's brother on a holiday trip, but I'd have liked her to do a bit more digging. Find out more about the background, read some Japanese stories. In doing so, bring the reader more interesting information about what Katie is facing. I'm hoping that this is something that will be explored more in future books in this series.

The thing that keeps this book limited to just an okay read for me is that Katie doesn't feel like a real person. She only has meaningful interactions with Tomohiro and her relationship with her aunt and also with the friends that she makes at school feel only superficial at best. As much as I love a good love story, there needs to be more that populate the pages of a book than just the budding romance between two people. I'm also not entirely sure how much I loved the inclusion of the Yakuza into the story. I feel like it was throwing too much into the story when I didn't feel that added level was needed? Perhaps I'll proven wrong in the next book though. 

Overall, while I did have some issues with character depth and wanted more, there is the groundwork here for a really interesting series. There's so much potential created with a story set in Japan dealing with a mythology that I haven't come across before. I will still be on the lookout for more by Amanda Sun and this series.

REVIEW: Abyss by Tricia Rayburn

I seriously adore the Siren series, and I was absolutely thrilled and excited to read the third and final book in the series, Abyss by Tricia Rayburn.  At times throughout reading this series I have become a bit confused, sometimes about sirens and sometimes by events that happened in previous books, but what really stands out for me when I'm reading these books are Vanessa as a character and also her relationship with Simon. 

Especially considering what happens in the second book of the series, I was really keen to read Abyss and get reacquainted with Vanessa and Simon.  Slight spoilers ahead if you haven't yet read the first two books, Siren and Pulse. 

In Abyss, Vanessa makes the decision to return to the Maine lakehouse where her sister died and try to get things back to normal in her life, with her family and to get over her break-up with Simon.  Vanessa seems pretty comfortable with being a siren and she's determined to do what she can, by going for swims and drinking saltwater, in order to get by instead of going down other routes that have meant people dying around her and also that which damaged her lovelife. But with the appearance of Vanessa's birth mother and the news that Vanessa is in fact a much more powerful creature than just a siren means that Vanessa is facing even greater consequences than before.  Especially when, again, people start to go missing.

In some ways, I felt like I could have done with less of the mystery aspects in Abyss, in which Vanessa and her friends are trying to determine why there are people going missing and dying in this small town.  While that side of the story was fairly interesting, I felt like Abyss needed more closure from the series story arcs instead of closure in terms of this particular story being concluded.  There's a lot going on in Vanessa's personal life - her feelings about her biological mother coming to stay and how that affects Vanessa's parents. 

I loved the heartbreak and tension that comes with any interaction in Abyss between Vanessa and Simon as they both clearly are not over each other.  But all the reasons why they broke up are still there as are all the limitations and dangers of Vanessa actually being a siren.  While I did love seeing them make up and even go on normal dates as a couple, I do still worry about their future.  I think many fans of the series will not be happy with the conclusion of Abyss.  To me, it felt realistic, I liked that there are no magical answers to get around Vanessa's needs.  But I do definitely wish that it could have been explored a bit more fully. 

I loved getting to know Vanessa and Simon.  I found sirens to be something that I enjoyed reading about and I thought this series was particularly interesting and gripping.  I loved the mixture of murder, sirens and romance that came with these books, I was just hoping for a bit more towards the end. 

REVIEW: The Holders by Julianna Scott

As soon as I heard about The Holders by Julianna Scott, I became very excited to read it.  I love the idea of Ireland as a setting, with the folklore and history that comes with that.  And I especially love the idea of a story that deals with people who have special powers. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for an X-Men type storyline! The Holders also has some secrets, a romance and some father-daughter issues and I was expecting to love it beyond words. 

I find myself now, as I'm sitting down to write this, struggling to identify where or what I found myself being disappointed with.  I enjoyed the characters and the storyline but found myself holding back emotionally.  Perhaps that will change as I continue to read this series...

At the start of The Holders, we are introduced to teenager, Becca, and her little brother, Ryland.  Becca is fiercely protective of Ryland and she refuses to let anyone take him away for testing or heavy medication to limit his ability to hear voices.  But these two newcomers claim to be able to help Ryland to use and enhance his abilities rather than squash it in order to become 'normal' like other medical professionals have recommended.  And despite a lot of mistrust on Becca's part, she agrees to Ryland flying off to this special school in Ireland on the condition that Becca goes with him. 

At St. Brigid's, Becca and Ryland became more aware of how special Ryland is and their connection to The Holders, a race of people born with special powers.  But together with this change of scenery and all this new and staggering information, Becca is also forced into facing the father who abandoned their family so many years ago and she is also trying to come to terms with where Becca would like her own future and prospects to look like, especially with the growing attraction she feels towards Alex, one of the people who came to track down Ryland. 

I really liked reading about the Holders and especially Alex's ability.  There was plenty of surprising twists that happen concerning the prophecy of Ryland and what he respresents for the Holders.  I really liked the relationship that forms between Alex and Becca very much, they're a bit tentative and unsure at the start and I love how miscommunication and assumptions on each other's parts seem to hold them apart. 

It's a very interesting premise and an exciting start to the series.  I can't quite pinpoint any faults with it, other than I didn't fully feel it in parts.  Still, I'm very much looking forward to reading more!

REVIEW: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I have nothing but excited to read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi since I've read nothing but amazing things about it since its publication.  I had pretty high expectations for the book based on the heaps of praise given to it by other book bloggers whose judgement I trust ... and yet, I read Shatter Me and while I loved the touch me don't touch me angst between Juliette and Adam in the first half of the novel, I still felt a bit emotionally disconnected to the story and to the characters.

The first few pages of the story really grabbed me.  I loved unfolding this strange story of a girl who has been locked up in an asylum for causing untold harm on others.  She hasn't spoken in 264 days and while she craves the touch of others, she also avoids it entirely for fear of what will happen.  As the story goes on, I was further intrigued by what little personal history she shares with Adam, the boy who comes to share her cell and of the horrors of this future world.

I think the thing that caused my emotional distance from the storyline as I continued reading were twofold. The first is the way in which it is written. I quite like the stark, honest and at times beautiful way in which Juliette narrates the story by the things she jots down in her notebook.  It seems to work quite well as she is confined in her cell with nobody but Adam for company and plenty of time on her hands.  But further in the story in when there is more action and dialogue and cameras trained on her for a large portion of the day, I didn't feel that Juliette writing in her notebook was really the most believable way in which the story is passed along to us.

The other thing that held me back from loving Shatter Me in its entirety is the relationship between Juliette and Adam.  Here is another instance in which we are told much of their past history and the reasons in which these two have become attracted and drawn to each other, but in the present day we don't see a huge deal of them getting to know who they are as people now and I would have liked to have seen more of that.  All well and good holding onto strong memories of childhood and of people who have made an impact on us, but that doesn't necessarily equal love when two people meet years later.

I really liked Juliette as a character. She's dealing with a lot.  The rejection of her parents is difficult, the way in which she has been treated her entire life, the guilt that she carries around for the things that have happened in the past. Juliette holds on to all of these things and more and it's a wonder that she isn't more emotionally damaged than she is.  And yet still she holds onto her goodness and her strong beliefs towards not using the power she has at all if it means hurting others.

The world that has been built for Shatter Me leaves me very interested, especially now that battle lines have been drawn, Juliette has chosen her side and that we've learned a bit more about her powers and how they fit into this new world.  I'm intrigued to know more!

REVIEW: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

I was always going to be very excited to read Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black! Because while this is the start of a new paranormal series there is the added element of ballet dancing, and honestly, who doesn't love the sound of that? 

I really love the cover of this one. I think it's beautiful with the petal dress and the ballet pose and it just makes me happy just looking at it.  I decided to jump in with Dance of Shadows straight away and I wasn't disappointed. Despite some minor issues I had with this book, I still think this is going to be the first book in an excellent new series! 

Vanessa Adler is a somewhat reluctant ballet dancer who has been accepted into an elite ballet academy in New York.  She's there mainly to look into the disappearance of her older sister, Margaret, who attended the same academy, got the lead role in the school's ballet and then was never seen again. 

I really loved this hint throughout the book that something happens to Vanessa when she dances, that the act of dancing calls out to something a bit supernatural.  This combination of ballet dancing and some sort of mysterious dark magic that is going on in this ballet academy really worked perfectly. Together with the competitive nature of ballet dancers and the sort of mean girl attitude of some of the older female dancers in the school really set a great atmosphere as we start unravelling this mystery that Vanessa is determined to solve.  And I love every snippet of ballet that Yelena Black gives us. Every one of them!

As Vanessa learns more about her sister Margaret and also that other girls have gone missing during the school's history, she also collects a small group of friends around her. Vanessa definitely needs a strong support network as she navigates through this mess.  Because it does turn into a bit of a mess. 

On the one hand, Vanessa catches the eye of the school hottie, Zeppelin Black, despite his relationship with the school's supposed best dancer.  And she, of course, doesn't take kindly to the fact that Vanessa comes in as a freshman and manages to attract Zep away from her as well as nab the coveted lead role in the school's ballet, The Firebird.  Also floating around is Justin, a rather mysterious fellow who knew Margaret and also seems to know more than he's letting on... what with Vanessa's new semi-relationship with Zep and her difficult training with ballet choreographer, Josef, Vanessa is finding it hard to work out who to trust and who to avoid. 

There's some things I didn't think workes as well as others.  The disappearance of another freshman after only a week at school left me a bit on the uninterested side, but Vanessa and her new friends seem to think this is hugely out of character for somebody they don't really know very well.  There's an element of Vanessa's relationship with another character as well which made me want to give her a good shake and ask her 'if he wasn't so good-looking would you really put up with any of his crap?!'

I really loved the build up towards the finale.  There were some unexpected twists and surprises and I do always love that.  I hope to see more ballet dancing and difficult and complicated relationships in the next book.  I want answers to some of the questions Yelena Black has left us hanging with and I want to see more of this interesting ballet-inspired paranormal activity! I just want more in general!

REVIEW: Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan

I do so love the Immortal Beloved series by Cate Tiernan, so I was absolutely ecstatic to read the third and final book in the trilogy, Eternally Yours.  It was so much fun to get back into Nastasya's head and reconnect with her and Reyn and River and the rest of these wonderfully flawed characters.  I raced through this book, despite it being over 400 pages long and I was always so disappointed any time something got in the way of me reading this book. 

Nastasya really is one of my favourite characters.  She's an immortal and having lived for so many years she's lost touch with what it means to be human, she's avoided making real connections with other people and she has had such a negative view of herself.  What I really enjoyed in Eternally Yours is witnessing how far Nas has come during her time at River's Edge.  Alongside River and the other teachers and students at this rehab for immortals, and together with study, meditation and lots of hard work on a farm, Nas is finally at this stage where she's able to put herself back together into a fully-functioning person.  Plus, I just love her sense of humour.  I can't even count the number of times that I laughed out loud while reading Eternally Yours because of some funny thing that Nas has said.  I love her confusion and her panic at feelings things.  I love that she tries so hard. 

I kind of love Reyn too.  Nas and Reyn are so perfect together.  They're both a bit rough around the edges and have clearly been through so much.  I love the connection and attraction that they have for each other and that we were able to learn a bit more about Reyn in this book.  While there wasn't quite as much tension and swooniness in this book as to previous books, there is still that great chemistry between these two characters.  There's also that chance that both of them can screw it up badly, so I was kind of on the edge of my seat where these two characters are concerned.

Eternally Yours didn't go quite as I imagined it.  I was expecting a return of some of the baddies from the previous two books, and while Incy did make an appearance in this book, it isn't in a way that I had considered before.  Even so, there's plenty of mystery surrounding a threat not only to River's Edge but to immortals everywhere that sends everyone into a panic.  I found myself not quite as interested this time around regarding the build-up of this threat, but that was okay and the explosive ending made my heart beat a little faster!

Eternally Yours was written in such an engaging way, with brilliant characters and development.  There's plenty of kissing and soul-searching and humour.   This was a really excellent book to round out an incredible series! Highly recommended.

REVIEW: Falling To Ash by Karen Mahoney

I've only read one book by Karen Mahoney before reading Falling to Ash, but I will definitely be picking up her other books, as I've enjoyed both books I've read by her very much. 

I was really intrigued when I heard Karen Mahoney was writing another YA series alongside The Iron Witch series.  I was even more intrigued after seeing the gorgeous cover for Falling To Ash!  And while I am feeling a teensy bit weary of books involving vampires, I found Falling to Ash very readable and slightly addictive. 

Moth is a teenager who recently dropped out of university and has had to try to separate herself from her friends and family ... because she's been turned into a vampire!  Things become even more complicated for Moth as dead bodies start appearing linking the dead to Moth.  Who is killing these teenagers that Moth used to know?  And why are they not staying dead?! 

One thing that I enjoyed  a lot about the book is how Moth's story of how she was turned into a vampire by her Maker, Theo is told in bits throughout the main narrative which is focused on the mystery of local murders that seemed to be tied to Moth's previous life as a human.  I really desperately wanted to know more about this strange relationship between Theo and Moth and I really wanted to know what led up to Theo losing control and turning her. 

Alongside these mysteries of murder and vampire-turnings, there are some really fascinating relationships in this book.  This is definitely what I loved most about the book.  First there's Moth and her relationship with her younger sister.  I love sisterly relationships, and you can tell how much Moth cares about her baby sister and while Moth knows that she should keep as much distance between her human family as possible, it's still really hard for her to turn her back completely on her family just yet. 

There's also Moth and Theo which is just briefly touched on in this book and one that I hope is explored more in further books.  But what is briefly touched on is Moth's insecurity over Theo's behaviours and feelings.  This area of the story both creeped me out a little bit and also fascinated me.  I definitely want to know more. 

Then there is a big one - the beginnings of a friendship between Moth and Jason Murdoch, the young vampire-hunter who is following in the footsteps of his vampire hunter father.  I really liked the very tenuous relationship at the start of the book as both Moth and Jason are wary of each other but know that they both need each other in order to get to the bottom of things.  I found myself also really caring about Jason and his difficult relationship with his father as well.

 I found Falling to Ash a really great start to an interesting series.  There's a real strength here in characters and relationships and mystery.  I want to know more about this story and about Moth and Jason and Theo.  I'm excited!

My Big, Fat, Slightly Obsessive American Halloween by Rusty Fischer (Blog Tour for Zombies Don't Cry)

I have the great pleasure today of being part of the blog tour for Zombies Don't Cry by Rusty Fischer.  Zombies Don't Cry is a hugely fun take on zombis.  I love zombies so I was very excited to read this one.  My review will be up soon!

Before I hand you over to Rusty, who is here today talking about Halloween, here is the description of Zombies Don't Cry from GoodReads:

Maddy Swift is just an ordinary girl, until the fateful night when she is struck by lightning and wakes up face down in a puddle. Then it's goodbye to all things Normal – such as breathing and having a heartbeat – and hello to yellow vision and a whole new Afterlife.

Turns out there’s a lot more to being a zombie than shuffling and groaning, but surviving school as one of the living dead requires a totally different set of skills. And things don’t get any easier when Maddy realises that she’s not the reanimated student at Barracuda Bay High . . .

To find out more about Zombies Don't Cry or Rusty Fischer, please visit the following websites:

Zombies Don't Blog ... Rusty on Twitter ... Rusty on Facebook

 

My Big, Fat, Slightly Obsessive American Halloween

By Rusty Fischer, author of Zombies Don’t Cry

When the folks at Electric Monkey asked me to compare Halloween in American with October 31st in the UK, my first thought was… I’m not exactly the right American to ask.

Don’t get me wrong; I love Halloween, but maybe just a little…too… much. I mean, I’m pretty sure most US citizens don’t start listening to scary movie soundtracks in mid-September, or Google “Help! I’ve finally run out of candy corn” in late August.

In fact, my Halloween pretty much starts the minute kids go back to school in the States, which is generally mid-August. That’s when they start replacing the big wall of backpacks and school supplies in the back of Wal-Mart and Target with plug-in jack ‘o lanterns (yes, I own two, don’t judge) and blinking witch’s hats (nope, don’t own any).

I’m not a big Halloween decorator, but a lot of folks here are. People go all out by turning their homes into haunted houses, complete with big, gassy fog machines that you can buy, complete with refillable fog juice, whatever that is, pretty much in any drug store in town from September on.

They have Halloween megastores, too, that open for a few months just to sell giant coffins with pop-up vampires or life-size zombies for hundreds of dollars.

And costumes. Tons of costumes. People go all out with their costumes, particularly the sexy nurse, sexy candy striper, sexy maid variety. Adults have costume parties. I’ve never actually been to one, but I hear they’re cool.

Kids get dressed up, too, and go trick or treating, which is basically where they knock on doors, shout “Trick or Treat” real loud and people give them candy to make them go away.

Folks spend a ton of money on candy here. Fancy trick or treat bags are huge, too. We used to just get them for free at the grocery store when I was a kid a hundred or so years ago, but now they blink and are shaped like ghosts and pumpkins and some even have straps like backpacks with drawstrings at the top to hold more loot than ever.

We live on a street with very few kids and the last few years I’ve bought twenty bucks worth of good candy, we’re talking like Snickers and Milky Way bars and Baby Ruths. And every year, the same three thugs show up – they’re about 15, which is WAY old to trick or treat anyway – around 9 o’clock which is also pretty late for trick or treaters.

Their costumes are lame and my wife is convinced they just get bored and say, “Hey, let’s go con those two suckers out of a Milky Way bar or two.” Which is exactly what happens; they show up just as I’m about to dig into my fourth scary movie of the night and I just want them to go so I hand them the bowl and say, “Play nice and split it amongst yourselves.” Then a feeding frenzy begins but I don’t care because by then I’ve shut the door and turned out the porch light.

My wife isn’t big into Halloween, and none of my friends really are, either, so for me the holiday has always been a mostly solitary affair that mainly revolves around food and scary movies. Most years I’ll make a double batch of popcorn, open a fresh bottle of diet root beer, snag a bag of candy corn (do you have this, candy corn? It’s awesomely gross, FYI) and put on the scariest movies I can find.

Other years I’ll head out to a movie theater and watch whatever is playing, usually one of the Saw movies or, lately, the Paranormal Properties. I generally wear a Halloween T-shirt, one of the five-dollar ones from Old Navy.

I’m lame, I know, but this is my Halloween and that’s how I roll. So, again, I know I’m not typical of most Americans when it comes to this holiday, but I’ve tried to hit on the highlights for you. I hope this helps and, if you’re ever in the neighborhood, don’t be shy. We could go trick or treating together. That is, if I remember how and can afford one of those newfangled trick or treat bags, that is!

Yours in YA,

Rusty


About the Author

Rusty Fischer is the author of Zombies Don’t Cry, as well as several other popular zombie books, including Panty Raid at Zombie High, Detention of the Living Dead and the Reanimated Readz series of 99-cent living dead shorts.

Rusty runs the popular website Zombies Don’t Blog @ www.zombiesdontblog.blogspot.com. At Zombies Don’t Blog you can read more about Rusty’s work, view his upcoming book covers and read – or download – completely FREE books & stories about… zombies!

REVIEW: The Dark Heroine by Abigail Gibbs

The thing about The Dark Heroine by Abigail Gibbs, is that once I started reading it, I just couldn't stop.  I had issues with the characters and the relationships at times but even when these things annoyed me, I still couldn't bear to put the book down.  I really think that that says something important about this book, but it doesn't completely erase all of my misgivings either.

I was really impressed to hear of Abigail Gibbs' writing journey with this book.  Writing the majority of The Dark Heroine at the age of 15 is astounding!  I hope that inspires many more young writers.  

I can tell you, I wasn't convinced by the romance element of the book right from the beginning.  This book begins with our main character, Violet, who on a night out in London with a friend witnesses this horrific mass murder.  A small group of people kills a much larger group of people and it's violent and bloody and I was horrified reading it, let alone witnessing it like Violet does.  When the leader of the winning group notices that Violet is a witness to this whole spectacle, he kidnaps her takes her back to his home in Kent.  There Violet learns that she's just been kidnapped by a prince of vampires and will remain hostage indefinitely. 

That right there?  That whole description and scenario of the beginning of the book does not scream romance to me.  I felt a little bit uncomfortable regarding the whole premise of the book.  I didn't much care for Kasper in the beginning.  There isn't a great deal likeable about him.  He is constantly unpleasant towards Violet, threatening her and biting her against her will and his actions really made my skin crawl at times.  Towards the end of the book, I found myself changing my mind about Kasper at times and as long as I tried to view him in the way Violet does, I found myself not loathing him as much as at the beginning. 

I came to realise my biggest problem with this book isn't so much the romance or the way in which Violet ends up in the position that she does.  My biggest problem with the book is that Violet has no other options aside from Kaspar.  She has no friends throughout the book, she has no family members besides a father and sister that are barely spoken of, she has no support other than that of the strange quasi-relationship she has with Kaspar.  And I really think that these sort of relationships, with friends and family, would have made Violet more human in my eyes.  Because as it is, Violet in this book is a bit empty.  She has occasional bursts of rebellion and can come out with some funny and sarcastic comments and things, but I had very little sympathy for her as a character.  What is a shame, and this is a slight spoiler, is that there was scope to give Violet a friend and a sister-like figure, but they are instead turned into yet another thing that leaves Violet completely alone. 

Towards the end, as we learn a little more about the vampire world-building and of this strange prophecy of the dark heroine, I found my interest returning.  I was definitely more intrigued by this added layer to the vampire/supernatural creatures world than I was with the romantic goings-on and other character relationships. 

I found this entire book to very strange.  Because as I mentioned at the beginning, even though I had numerous issues with this book, at no point did I consider giving up on it.  There is definitely something about this story or the way in which it is written that grabbed me.    Problems or not, it is still a 500 page novel, and I read the entire book in a short amount of time.