Review: Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

Published Date: Febuary 8th, 2012
Finished Date: December 6th, 2011
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Format: eARC via Netgalley
My Rating: 4.5/5!

Blurb from Goodreads:
I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end.

My Review

The first thing that came to me after I read the The End was: Perfect. Actually no, scratch that. The first thing that came were actually incoherent "WOWOWOWOWOWOW" then came the finality of "Perfect". I think that this book is definitely well-deserving of that adjective. And shortly after that came the shoutings (still in my head, of course) demanding the sequel for FRACTURED LIGHT.

**Minor spoiler minefield alert**

Llona Reese has been an orphan since she was ten - her mother died when she was but a toddler by a Vyken, a demon who can walk in sunlight only if it drank the blood of an Aura, and her dad when she was ten hunting down the Vyken who killed his Aura wife. She's been on the move with her uncle, Jake, who was more of an older brother, trying not to stay in one place for too long and not making any friends who would just become a burden in her heart. But this time, Llona doesn't feel like moving. She's found a friend in May, and was saved from a painful fall by Christian, who quickly won her trust and subsequently, her heart.

People are dying one-by-one in Bountiful, and they all somehow has a connection to Llona - the high heel of the victim ends up on her lawn, the victim's body left in her car and blood splattered onto her car. And with her guard slipping, her luck doesn't hold up for too long, cause now that she's settled down in Bountiful, Utah, it makes her easy prey, and the Vyken that made her an orphan all those years back isn't going to let her slip through his fingers quite so easily this time..

**End of spoiler region**

Let me just say this again cause I can hardly contain the excitement within me: I loved, absolutely adored FRACTURED LIGHT. Even though it took some time to immerse myself into the scenes, it was still an attention-grabber and after the initial few pages, I was honestly hooked! It is a magnificent story with very realistic and relatable characters, and a fantastic yet believable plot that was simply filled with action, suspense, thrill, romance, and surprises. And a little fear added into the mix along with the aforementioned thrill. The best thing I liked about the plot was that I couldn't guess what was about to happen next! Y'know usually (and almost always for YA novels) readers would be able to predict or have an idea of how a story will play out and who would end up how, but I couldn't, at all, for FL. That was how good it was, and it literally kept me glued to its pages, turning it as fast as my brain could read. It was amazing, really.

I loved McClellan's writing style, I really do. It was mature, humorous, witty, and really entertaining. An example:

[Christian (male protagonist) is speaking to Llona]

“I never told you, but the first time I saw you, I thought I was looking at an angel. You were walking to school wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. You’d taken off your hat when you thought no one was looking and your hair fell down your back like wings unfolding. I think this was one of the rare times I saw you as your true self.”

If I could talk, I would’ve been speechless.

A little cheesy at the start, but I was stunned for a few minutes then I started cracking up. Hah! The irony is epic. You have to be in the moment to have found as much humor in it like I did. Ohoh, and another one (but this one's a little more somber):

" That night I focused more on my light bullets, and with the moon’s cycle no longer affecting my strength, thanks to Christian’s very dangerous, yet highly effective training on the mountain, it came much easier. In a matter of days, I had them piercing through just about anything. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, because I couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was coming. The tick tock of death’s clock was growing louder. "

I loved the way she phrased things, it gave it a very sophisticated feel, and I had such an enjoyable time reading it. Unlike those YA, and sometimes Adult Fiction novels, who employs a more informal (and a little childish) writing style.

I loved the cast. As I've mentioned before, the entire cast is made up of very realistic and relatable characters. Which means that I would probably have acted and chosen the things that they chose to do at any specific circumstance. I'm not explaining this right. Y'know how sometimes authors make heroines (or heroes) choose an option which is obviously the wrong, and most of the time the stupid one, just so that there can be a plot to elaborate on where there was now an obstacle to be overcomed by the protagonists? But FL wasn't like that. Even though Llona (properly pronounced as E-o-na, by the way) was mature and always picked the sensible option, shit just somehow manages to find a fan to hit, and trouble always ends up at her door. It made it all the more engrossing to read.

Oh, and don't let me get started on Christian. He is one hot Guardian. Yes, he is Llona's guardian! AHHH, haha! Every Aura out in the world is assigned a guardian, and Christian's Llona's!! Lol, Christian's Llona's. Sounds funny. (Random musing: Why are all the Christians I'm reading about so hot? The book I'm reading now, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, is about one Christian Grey, whom I feel obliged to say, is a goddamned alpha male. Trust me on it; I can hardly keep my attention away from the book - and him - for more than a few minutes! But I'm digressing) Because of his enhanced genetic makeup, Christian moves faster than normal human beings, and is stronger. Please don't compare him with a vamp cause that's totally de-cooling him. He's so much more awesome than them. And way, waaaay, more awesome.

The only thing I found odd was the cover. It's beautiful, yes that it is, but it misled me to think that this was going to be a Fantasy novel, but it turned out to be URBAN-Fantasy. Lol, not that I minded, not at all actually, just... It was misleading. This may be a for me only, but just saying.

I'd love for all of you good readers to be able to read FRACTURED LIGHT also, but it's only going to be released approximately 2 months from now..:( Haha, do I sound like I'm gloating?XP Anyway, since you're reading this review (past all my verbosity before), I assume that you and I have similar tastes in books, so I humbly beseech you to get your hand on a copy of FL when it's out. I assure you it's totally worth your money, time, effort, living space, and brain space.

Random Musings:

I went on to read the bio on the author, and was pleasntly shocked! LOL! I have to quote this since I know most readers won't go on back to read the acknowledgements:

" Rachel McClellan was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When she’s not in her writing lair, she’s partying with her husband and four small children. Her love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, her imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it is . . . "

It's so unique..and cool! And the picture she posted was very ghost-like, mind you. I freaked out a little when I flipped the page and a big, half the page, ghost-Rachel was staring out at me. *shudder*

Oh and McClellan replied to my email saying that there will be a sequel!!!!! SQUEAALLLL! But it's only going to be out Feb, 2013. *sobs uncontrollably* Lol, my rep is totally tarnished with the sobs.

My Rating

Loved it to bits and pieces and munches and crumbs!;D

ARC Review: Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper

Published Date: November 25th, 2011
Finished Date: November 14th, 2011
Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing
Format: eARC from Publisher
Series: The Sea Monster Memoirs #1
My Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.

When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.

Young Adult fans of Mermaids, Selkies, Sirens and Gorgons will love this tale of the sacrifice one makes for genuine love. Love that could be lost at any moment to the ever-changing tides.

My Review

TANGLED TIDES is a beautiful and enchanting story that swept me up in its currents, immersed me in a magical world filled with mythical creatures, and at the end left me gasping for more. It is truly every girl's childhood dream come true. Lol, at least for me it was. The Little Mermaid has always been my favourite Disney movie (I still watch it now and then), and to say that I am addicted to TT now is a gross understatement.

Yara Jones lives in Eden's Hammock, and recently, there were lots of freak storms happening there. She was having a hard time lifting, heaving and dragging one of her Uncle Lloyd's mermaid statues outside to board up her window so as to protect it from the crazy winds when one of the most handsome guys she's ever seen walks up to her front door and offers his help. Topless. Lol, just had to add that.

After Yara invited Hot Topless Guy, Treygan, into her house to weather the storm, Treygan told her to trust him and wish for him to bring her to some place safe. She feels this dreamy sort of lull, and did as she was told. After some time, Yara wakes up and finds herself underwater, breathing, and has grown a tail in place of where her legs used to be. All of a sudden, her wish for a safe place doesn't sound so good anymore.

The story now will be mostly about Yara discovering a whole new world that she was now, and had always been, a part of, a mystical place where everything seemed like magic. But all is not flowers, daisies and gayness - Yara's found out that her "human" boyfriend, Rownan, back at Eden's Hammock wasn't human at all, in fact, he was very much a part of her new fishy life, and that she actually has a destiny to fulfil, one that involves her dying at the end. Turns out that Yara's birth was never meant to be, but through some unwonted means, she was, but because her parents committed a grave mistake, almost half of the mermaids' and selkies' population have been thrust out of their paradise home, out into the modern world where they can only survive by smoking a special type of weed that was very limited in supply, and Yara must be the one to right that wrong.

Big destiny for a seemingly small mermaid to handle, huh, especially when Yara was just getting comfy with the idea of being one of the "monsters" herself, and of course, to a cobalt-eyed, sexy mermaid that had introduced himself in a storm and welcomed her into her new life, with new friends, and new love. A life that she will want to help save even if it means sacrificing her newly-found beloved fishy existence...

I seriously can't do this book any justice, it was so good! So good that I was hooked throughout the 3 days of reading it (I took so long because of my exams). And how did Edward Cullen phrase it again? Right, "you are my personal brand of heroine". Yep, that sounds about right. That was Tangled Tides to me.

One thing that stood out was Hooper's writing style. It was so smooth and flawless, so... appropriate! One example:

“Gentlemen.” I nodded.

Pango spit a mouthful of water at me and flicked me with his tail. “Don’t gentle man me. You two sped ahead so you could discuss our newest Goldilocks. You better share some juicy porridge with Papa Bear.”

“Pango, there isn’t that much to tell.”

Merrick rolled his eyes. “Even I’m declaring sharkshit on that one.”

Sharkshit? Lol, while I was reading it, her writing was so fluent that I didn't notice that oddity at first. And another one was, "She's tough as a seawall. She'll be fine." Loved the language; It matched the world that they were living in and made it all the more believable.

Yara was a very inquisitive and stubborn heroine. Even though she was new to the Greek-myth world, she showed no fear and kept asking questions and learning the mermaids' way of life. Treygan, her beau-to-be, and whose team I am very much in, was fiercely protective of Yara even though he refuses to admit it. He was so cool, those brooding guys with a mission in life, and who happens to be the fastest swimming merman alive. Yeah, he's so mine. HAH. Movin on.

What's even cooler is that not only is the male protagonist very macho-man and testosterone-y, even the side characters displayed similar traits! I don't want to quote it cause that part I'm thinking about is filled with surprises and humor, and of course that macho-man-ly goodness.

The plot was in no way simple or convenient. It was filled, absolutely jam-packed with suspense and action, and betrayals and such. I loved the second-guessing that everyone had to do. It was just that Hooper wrote TT in an alternating first-person/POV way, which switched from Yara's point of view, to Rownan's, to Treygan's, then back to Yara's. It wasn't confusing, not at all actually, but it took away some of thrill. For example if we didn't know what Treygan and Rownan were thinking, wouldn't you think it'd have made them all the more mysterious and, well, cool? I like that the male protagonists are usually an unknown element, someone who only the female protagonist had the ability to unlock. But the story's still cool, and I thought that Hooper's take on the gorgons and Medusa part of Greek myth is very different from the norm, and the input itself is awesome enough. And the ending! When all hope seemed lost and I had no inkling at all whatsoever of how the protagonists are going to save their sorry asses out of all that trouble and chaos, Hooper somehow made it work. And I loved it so much.

I have always, always loved mermaid novels, but have never been able to find the perfect story. Recently I've discovered THE MERMAID'S KNIGHT by Jill Myles, loved it to bits but I thought that I wouldn't be able to find any that would be able to hold a candle to it. But here I am, being proven wrong. TT is truly a beautiful underwater fairytale.

I absolutely adored the entire cast of TANGLED TIDES, and I think any YA fan would too. Try it out when it releases on November 25th, 2011.:)

My Rating

And add a .5 at the back of ^that!