This weeks featured blogs: Nettes
Book Shelf and Cheerful Reviews
Q: Best Cover? What is the best cover of
a book that you’ve read and loved?
There
are so many amazing books with covers I have loved!
Most
recently, it was definitely Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, I loved the
first cover as well – Anna Dressed in Blood; they are both eerie and they suit
the books perfectly.
What to do..
Grab the button up
there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to
say hi in your comments
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Since the car crash that took her
father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky — and unending —
lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal
seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of
living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a
reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.
It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has
put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about
spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not
about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he
accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has
left…his soul.
REVIEW: 3 out of 5 stars
Contains possible
spoilers
Inbetween by Tara Fuller is the first book in the Kissed by Death series
and was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Entangled Teen.
Seventeen-year-old
Emma’s life has been tough, ever since the death of her father in a car crash;
her days are spent trying to survive the many near miss accidents that she
comes across, she has had a stint in a psychiatric hospital and spends her time
thinking she is going crazy.
Finn
is a reaper and is in love with Emma, a girl fate has put on his list twice.
Finn couldn’t let her die the first time, and he spends every spare minute now
protecting her and trying to keep her alive but in the process breaking all the
rules of reaping.
In
this story of love and heart-break we find out Emma is a reincarnated version
of a girl Finn saved from the Inbetween, a place between Heaven and Hell;
therefore breaking the number one rule. As a result, he has managed to upset
another reaper Maeve who now has her sights set on Emma – her revenge against
Finn’s wrongdoing.
Inbetween is told from dual POV’s, it was great to get
insight into both Finn and Emma’s minds and whilst Emma was broken and constantly
questioning her sanity, Finn’s love and devotion (stubbornness) was able to
bring her back to her former self, she was finally able to believe in herself
again. I enjoyed our main characters but I definitely would have liked more of
a build-up to his reveal and also to the romance between them, I felt it was
too much too soon.
I
really liked each of the secondary characters, especially Cash,
Amaya, Scout, and Easton
– I am curious about what the future now holds for Cash after what he endured.
Maeve’s bitterness was written well
Whilst
the premise of Inbetween was
refreshing, there was something about it I just couldn’t connect with, I
actually put it down after the first few chapters but picked it up again and
persisted. It’s not that it was bad – not at all, I just have a hard time
accepting a connection between a human and someone who has been dead for quite
some time, the relationship just feels strange to me despite their history.
There
were many plot twists and turns and some interesting events which take place
that kept the story flowing nicely; the element of surprise certainly kept me
entertained and curious.
Overall,
I found Ms. Fullers writing to be engaging, the concept intriguing and each of
the characters likeable and even though I wasn’t completely hooked on it, I am
still intrigued by what is to come.
It's been months since the ghost of
Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but
ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not
walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living
girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in
waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams.
Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time
she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he
knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more
than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.
REVIEW: 4 ½ out of 5 stars
Contains spoilers from book 1, Anna Dressed in Blood
Girl of Nightmares is the second book in Kendare Blake’s Anna series and takes places a few
months after the events of Anna Dressed
in Blood.
Cas
Lowood and his friends are still reeling after their near deaths at the hands
of the Obeahman in book one where Anna Korlov sacrificed herself to save her
friends.
Cas
is getting back into the swing of things, banishing ghosts but still seeing,
hearing and feeling Anna’s presence, he misses her terrible and in the visions
he has of her she is being tortured in gruesome ways and these occurrences only
seem to be getting worse so Cas along with his friends set out to find out what
actually happened to her once she opened the door to hell.
I
absolutely adored Anna Dressed in Blood
and despite my love for Girl of
Nightmares, it didn’t have the same feel to it; it was still scary, eerie
and as enjoyable as the first but I honestly missed Anna’s constant presence.
Cas
is a strong, determined and seemingly fearless character who is truly devoted
to his mother and friends but he also has the most wonderful sense of humor
which brings a good laugh to an otherwise chilling tale. I loved how he was
still determined to help Anna despite being told that once she had ‘crossed
over’ she could not return, he was adamant he would find a way to help her as
she did for them.
There
is such a menacing feel each time Cas steps closer to evil, every time I read
mention of his Athame twitching, I literally twitch myself with anticipation
and it happened on numerous occasions.
Carmel and Thomas make wonderful side-kicks and despite me wanting to smack Carmel on a few occasions,
they never doubted Cas and the few errors in judgment that he made, they stood
by him; I have always liked their interactions and the support they had for one
another.
Ms
Blake’s storytelling is truly wonderful and her writing perfection,
Girl of Nightmares was a riveting read which had me wanting to know
more about not only what had happened to Anna when she vanished from the
basement but also what was going on with Cas and the power of the Athame –
their trek to get answers from Gideon and the Order of the
Black Dagger was quite interesting, it certainly gave a little more insight into
what was going on.
Overall,
the mystery, chills and action kicked off from the very beginning and didn’t
let up; it was fast-paced with a plot that was enthralling and characters which
are perfectly developed and compelling. I am not sure if this series will be
continuing because the ending came together nicely, I was satisfied with how
everything worked out for Anna and Cas.
A teen girl starts hearing the same voices that drove her
sister to commit suicide in this creepy, suspenseful novel.
Everyone thinks Sophie’s sister, Nell, went crazy. After all, she heard strange
voices that drove her to commit suicide. But Sophie doesn’t believe that Nell
would take her own life, and she’s convinced that Nell’s doctor knows more than
he’s letting on.
As Sophie starts to piece together Nell’s last days, every lead ends in a web
of lies. And the deeper Sophie digs, the more danger she’s in—because now she’s
hearing the same haunting whispers. Sophie’s starting to think she’s going
crazy too. Or worse, that maybe she’s not…
While you are here! I have finally created aFacebookpage; I’d
love for you to join me there <3
At Barinkoff Academy,
there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is
left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to
taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale
skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and
impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh
eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional
attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the
foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy.
Phoenix doesn't
realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka
the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.
Review: 4 out of 5 stars
Taste was kindly provided to me by the author, Kate
Evangelista in exchange for my honest review.
I have had my eye on Taste for a while now so I was quite excited when the opportunity came up to read and review it and I am so pleased it didn't fail to disappoint, it was a book which had me riveted and wanting to know more from the very first page.
Phoenix
McKay broke the one rule at Barinkoff Academy - no students on campus after curfew, and the
rule exists for a perfectly valid reason as Phoenix soon finds out. Residing on campus is
a mysterious group known as night students but she is thankfully saved and
returned to her dorms by a gorgeous, enigmatic but evasive guy named Demetri.
Phoenix is a character who truly lacked self-preservation,
I wouldn’t say she was careless as much as I would call her extremely curious with
authority issues, but I absolutely adored her! She had spunk, was witty and
humorous and her knack for needing to know everything made her an enjoyable
heroine, she was also extremely selfless.
We
find out a lot more about the night students after Phoenix agrees to partake in
an experiment in which she will be injected with a formula that will allow her
body to mimic a flesh-eater or Zhamvy as
they are known and will enable researcher Dray to study her in the hopes of finding
a cure for his people who are dying out.
We
also have two love interests, Demetri who just happens to be a Crown Prince and
is the more serious and emotionless of the two and Lukawho was flirty and fun; despite them being so different I did
prefer Phoenix’s
connection to Demetri. I found Luka’s background to be quite intriguing but I saw him as more of a best friend or brotherly figure for Phoenix.
Although I am not a fan of love triangles what so ever, I never felt there was
much of a choice between the two, it worked out well.
The
well constructed world Ms Evangelista has created was enthralling, I liked the
unique paranormal twist and despite the creepy species they were I am thankful
there wasn’t much flesh eating going on and they weren’t depicted as being
gruesome in any way besides their diet, they were actually all extremely
beautiful and their customs although unusual made for an interesting read.
The
side characters were well-developed, bad guys included – I especially liked
Dray, Demetri’s brother and crazy scientist as well as Luka’s sister, Yana who was fun and snarky.
I
enjoyed Ms Evangelista’s writing, the fast paced plot, wonderful characters and
mesmerizing setting; I love books which take place around schools/academies
etc. and Barinkoff was no exception.
Overall,
Taste was a fun and enjoyable read
and a nice twist on the Zombie/Human relationship. I am definitely eager to
read more books written by Kate Evangelista.
(Book provided by the author
through ARR
#32 in the We
♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)
What do you do when you've always
dreamed of a hero; your knight in shining armour, only to find when he arrives
he isn't a hero at all? ... He's a killer.
Ronnie Rose is trying to cope with the loss of her father; now it looks like
she might lose everything else that's dear to her too. Huge debts threaten to
destroy her family, her childhood home and her future. Only one person cuts
through her pain. Kalen Smith has just moved to town. He's trouble and everyone
knows it. He and his mysterious friends keep to themselves and the town likes
it that way. But when Kalen mourns at her dad's funeral, Ronnie wants to know
why and her investigation plunges her into a dangerous world of murky
government secrets, with deadly consequences. Ronnie knows she should walk away
from Kalen before it's too late. Problem is, she's falling for him...
Can we choose who we fall in love with?
REVIEW: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
First Light is the first book in the Project Five Fifteen series and was kindly provided to me by the
author, Samantha Summers in exchange for my honest review.
Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Rose is devastated by the recent death of her
father and the news she and her sister Rachel are about to lose the family home
and there seems to be only one person around to understand and offer support to her during such a tough
time, Kalen Smith.
Kalen
has recently moved to the small town of Clanots Ocean.
He and his mysterious friends keep to themselves but are talked about endlessly;
Kalen appeared at Ronnie’s father’s funeral, saved her from an embarrassing
situation at a diner and seems to be around whenever she is in need of a bit of
help but there is an air of mystery about him and he avoids many of her
questions which made me quite curious about who he actually was and what he was hiding.
As
a main protagonist, I felt for Ronnie, she has lost her father, is walked on
yet still protects her older sister and has a best friend who wasn’t the most
endearing person. Ronnie seemed lonely and naïve at times but showed strength when it was
needed but there was something about her that I didn’t truly connect with; she
seemed weak in her interactions with some of the characters, her sister and
Jared in particular.
Kalen
was such a complex, intriguing character who I was eager to learn more about;
the tidbits of his past at the end of each chapter were heartbreaking; what he
had been conditioned to do from such a young age was terrible and his
foreseeable future wasn’t looking too appealing since he was always on the run.
I also liked the connection he had to Ronnie’s father.
It’s
difficult to reveal too much about the plot without giving spoilers but it does
surround a secret government project known as Project Five Fifteen of the S.R.U
(Special Requirements Unit) who believed child assassins would be the ultimate
guise, a weapon no one would see coming - which Kalen and friends are a part of
and now they are constantly on the move to avoid termination; Ronnie’s
involvement in their life could possibly put her at risk as well, something Kalen is trying to avoid.
Besides
best friend Mae, Ronnie’s sister Rachel and her partner Jared who I didn’t like
whatsoever, I adored the secondary characters; Ace, Denver and Nash were wonderful and my
negative thoughts about Laith rang true, Alexandra also
became a great friend to Ronnie.
There were a few minor things which I didn’t really
connect with; I was a little wary of Ronnie’s instant trust of Kalen and his
group even though she knew there was something off about them; I would have run
a mile when he admitted what they were but I liked their interactions and the
trust they grew to have in each another. I also would have liked to have seen
more interactions with the agency rather than with civilians, it wasn’t until
around the last third of the book that they made an appearance. Also, I could
write a whole essay on what I didn’t like about Ronnie’s sister Rachel and her
boyfriend Jared, the way they treated her was unbelievable and the way she
accepted it and easily forgave had me shaking my head.
I
don’t know why I kept thinking of the Bourne
Identity throughout this book; I love an action-packed movie and for some
reason I connected this book to that series. It was certainly a thrill-ride and
I am eager to read the next book in this trilogy, As You Were.
Despite the few things mentioned above, I really
enjoyed First Light, the sweet romance,
action, suspense and intrigue made for a compelling read and the even pacing
and engrossing plot as well as Ms Summer’s writing made for much entertainment.
It's a chance to share News. A post
to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and talk
about what is coming up for the week on our blog.
This is my recap of what I received and what
happened on the blog this past week.
(Clicking
on the title will take you to Goodreads)
I am participating in the Jennifer L.
Armentrout summer blog tour through Kayleigh at K-Books.
I am a huge fan of everything I have
read to date by JLA which entails her Covenant series up to Deity, the Lux
series up to ONYX , Cursed and also Tempting the Best Man under her J. Lynn pen
name.
After just reading and absolutely
LOVING ONYX , I have decided as a part of this tour I will re-post my OBSIDIAN & ONYX reviews!
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much
resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of
boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie
green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But
when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his
hand, well, something…unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies
wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the
Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to
Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don’t kill him first, that is.
REVIEW: 5 out of 5
stars
All I can say is Wow! I can honestly say OBSIDIAN was one of my
most anticipated reads for this year, I was so excited to receive an ARC
through Netgalley that I literally devoured it from the moment I downloaded it.
Katy Swartz has moved to Ketterman,
West Virginia from Florida with her work-a-holic and seemingly
absent mother to get away from painful memories and reminders of her father who
died from cancer three years prior. Katy isn’t expecting much from the move but
hopes it will be a fresh start and a new beginning and things are looking up
until she meets her infuriating next door neighbor, Daemon Black.
Daemon {sigh} is sarcastic, arrogant, rude, mean and extremely
good-looking, I am not sure why I have this sort of obsession with the naughty
boys, his personality and mannerisms infuriate Katy (and at times me) to no end
and his cutting remarks were cruel. He was adamant he didn’t want Katy as a
friend to his twin sister Dee, he ran hot and cold but was mysterious and
certainly intriguing.
Katy and Daemon have a love/hate relationship, I was thinking
about Daemon long after I had finished the book. He was a fantastic male lead
and although his behavior towards Kat at times was downright nasty the
reasoning behind pushing her away made complete sense – I loved his little
nick-names for her as well as his ‘bonus point’ system and pen poking. Katy was
an enjoyable heroine; I liked reading of her inner thoughts and turmoil, she
was very real with her emotions and a character you can easily connect with; I
also loved the references to her blog and could relate to so many things being
said, I really liked this aspect. These characters had me giggling on so many
occasions, a great sign to me of fantastic dialogue.
What we are soon to discover - after Daemon has had to rescue
Katy on a few occasions, is he and his sister Dee are what are known as Luxen
or Aliens; let’s just say I have a whole new appreciation for Aliens! They are
certainly different to what we have come to know and think – their history and
past is both fascinating yet also quite sad.
I don’t want to delve into too much of the plot to avoid giving
away spoilers but let’s just say there are the bad guys wanting what the good
guys have and humans who know about them could possibly jeopardize everything
they have come to protect. The world Ms Armentrout has created is detailed,
exciting, creative and certainly unique. I enjoyed the drama, action and
mystery, I was engrossed in the storytelling from the very first to the very
last page, and it was thoroughly entertaining.
The secondary characters were written perfectly and each played
an important role in this book. I especially adored Dee and want a best friend
just like her, it was really sweet how she stood by Katy despite her brothers
demands she stay away.
I can honestly tell you this book is AMAZING! Ms Armentrout has
written the most wonderful, engrossing and detailed story with a superb cast of
characters, the interactions between each of them was intense and enjoyable.
Her writing is superb! Her skill with words immerses you in the amazing story
she is telling. I loved the imagery she provided on the setting, location and
characters.
This book literally has everything I enjoy in a YA novel and I
am so excited for the sequel. There are so many questions I still have about
this world and all of the characters.
Jennifer L. Armentrout has certainly made it on to my
instant-buy and favorite author list, OBSIDIAN was brilliant!
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is
more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even
though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger
problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do
and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in
school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can
help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's
possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though
I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What
happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from
them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…
REVIEW: Beyond a 5
out of 5 stars
ONYX would hands down be my most anticipated read for 2012! I
have enjoyed everything I have read so far by JLA which is pretty much all of
her published books to date plus a few yet to be released but I think the LUX
series is my absolute fave and all because of two individuals – Daemon and Katy
as well as a truly magnificent storyline.
It is hard to write a review of ONYX without giving away any
spoilers, the one thing I can definitely say is it kicked-butt! It was amazing
and even better than Obsidian, which is a hard feat considering how brilliant
that was but we get to learn more about the DOD (Department of Defense) and
what their presence could mean to not only the Luxen but also Katy, new
information has come to light about Dawson and Bethany which was a complete
surprise and we also learn more about the crazy changes Katy is experiencing
since being saved by Daemon.
Daemon was still as sarcastic as ever in this installment but
his sweeter side, his devotion, charm and his love for Katy was really obvious
in this book, I adored him in Obsidian but absolutely loved him in ONYX.
Katy is still as wonderful as ever but she made a few bad
choices in this book which had me shaking my head, but she faced everything
head on and accepted responsibility for her actions. I still love that she is a
reader/blogger, this part of her character really appeals to me.
Now Daemon and Katy together – steamy, romantic, sweet but still
fiery which I loved, they compliment each other beautifully and despite Katy’s
insistence that their connection wasn’t real, his actions certainly spoke
otherwise. I absolutely adored the banter between these two, JLA’a dialogue had
me giggling on numerous occasions.
The secondary characters are also written to perfection, the bad
guys in this book are truly evil and we also meet mysterious Blake, a newcomer
to town, he had me curious from the onset but I never completely trusted him; Dee is her usual sweet and bubbly self but my heart broke
for her.
ONYX definitely lived up to all of my expectations, it was truly
outstanding and a book I didn’t want to end, the riveting plot and many twists
and turns kept me riveted and I have come to love each of the wonderfully
fleshed out characters, Ms. Armentrout’s enthralling writing keeps me wanting
more and the world in which she has created is captivating.
Overall, ONYX is the perfect sequel to Obsidian, it is an
action-packed thrill ride which is beyond compelling and filled with
heartbreak, romance, intrigue and a cliffhanger which has left me needing more
(like right now).
I can’t wait to get hold of the third book, Opal which has an
anticipated 11th December 2012 release date.
About Jennifer:
Jennifer lives in Martinsburg,
West Virginia. All the rumors
you've heard about her state aren't true. When she's not hard at work writing,
she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies,
pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell,
Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most
of her time writing short stories....which explains her dismal grades in math.
Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and
contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.
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