Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Publication Date: June 4th, 2013
Finished Date: May 26, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 432
Series: The Grisha #2
My Rating: 4.5/5

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Blurb from Goodreads:
Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

My Review

*Received a retail copy from NOQ Store*

SIEGE AND STORM is reminiscent of the seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, IMO. It’s got the whole gloomy outlook and landscape, a growing evil force, a girl looking for the objects that will hopefully bring an end to said evil thing down pat, but with a tad more romance and politicking.

S&S starts off where SHADOW AND BONE ended, with Alina and Mal onboard the Verhadder, sailing for the shores of Novyi Zem where they hope they’ll earn enough coins to travel out of the Darkling’s insidious reaches. But we know how these stories go, don’t we all? Happy ever after never comes easy. The Darkling survived the Fold, gaining a horrible scar and terrifying new powers and soon catches up to them. He has plans for Alina and Mal, but along the way, they meet unexpected allies – though Malina are still unclear of said allies’ true motives and allegiance – and barely escapes the Darkling.

This story has a very different style of plot layers than most other High Fantasies. Most others have complex storylines, a number of other subtle plotlines happening concurrently as the main story arc. However in S&S, it’s about mindplay as much as politic maneuverings, betrayals, deceptions and the ultimate battle/showdown between good and evil. During their short stay in Novyi Zem, Alina is happy, but she is also not. She feels this loneliness and discontent because she’s got to hide her powers and she can’t ever wield it again if she and Mal are to live in the shadows. She doesn’t like it, but what the Darkling said was true – they are similar, and no others will ever be like them.

Throughout the novel, most of Alina’s issues happens inside her head and with the new love interest – who I’m still pretty conflicted about – the pace of the story did slow down quite a bit. There wasn’t as much adventure and fighting as the previous installment, though there were plenty more problems dished out to our protagonists. I did like seeing more of the world outside Ravka though, and of course the new characters that were fleshed out.

The new love interest, Sturmhond, is a privateer with a secret identity with a very off-hand, witty attitude that can turn steely and dangerous the next second. Alina prefers to call him pirate though. He’s…well, he’s cool and funny and the captain of a very awesome bunch of crew and his secret identity is even more awesome… but I’m still Team Mal cause nothing shouts true love like a guy that gives up his present, his future, his friends and his other passions just to be with and protect his girl, so, GO MAL! Beat that stuck-up pirate! Hahaha, moving on.

After helping Alina and Mal escape the Darkling, Alina feels the guilt and burden of the lives lost in Novokribirsk where the Darkling used her powers to expand the Fold, and of the bajillions other Ravkans now that the Fold is constantly expanding. She feels responsible for these people, and so she goes back to Ravka and devises a plan to, well, essentially to save the world.

I feel that Bardugo did a superb job with the internal turmoil in Alina. I feel and surprisingly sort of understand her obsession with finding the amplifiers, her confusion of whether or not it is her thirst for power or genuine desire to save her people, and the rift that it causes between her and Mal. I can feel her helplessness as it happens, her heartbreak and feeling of inevitability. I was just so invested in her I read S&S in two sittings! I did feel a little dirty after putting it down though, because the decisions Alina had to make were terrible and I did just go through it all the way with her.

THAT ENDING. I pity Alina and ARGH, Mal. What is a girl supposed to do with you. I’m Team Mal, but…ARGH, I can’t put this into words! The situation between them isn’t anyone’s fault, and I just can’t stand this…situation. ARGH.

Anyhoo, I thought that SIEGE AND STORM is another brilliant addition to the High Fantasy genre and definitely an awesome sequel to an amazing debut.

P.S. I really don’t get the draw for the Darkling that other girls are squealing about!! He’s not really a bad boy, brooding type. He just seems…relentlessly annoying and weird…and old. :/

My Rating

       

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Review: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: Febuary 25th, 2014
Finished Date: March 2nd, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: eARC  
Series: The Dark Elements #1
My Rating: 4.5/5!

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Blurb from Goodreads:
One kiss could be the last.

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever.

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul.

But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

My Review

I'll be frank - WHITE HOT KISS reads more like a fan fiction, with a more colloquial, YA style of writing. In fact, most of JLA's works have the same tone of voice - snarky, witty, and ultimately enjoyable, but with a healthy dash of YA colloquialism thrown in. For me, sometimes it works out, other times it can really turn me off big time. I wasn't a big fan of the later part of her COVENANT series, I discontinued the LUX series after ONYX...but I loved UNCHAINED (JLA's adult PNR series). Fortunately for me though, WHK read more like UNCHAINED, and I inhaled the book in two sittings.

There is a lot to gush about WHK, and the first thing, of course, is the GARGOYLES! They're wicked cool and they're almost like dragons...but darker. Edgier. And cuter. Haha! They sleep in stone-form for defense reasons cause their stone covering is literally impenetrable. By force or by fire. Wicked cool reimagining of gargoyles.

Then there is Roth. Zayne...not that much. Other than his awesome name, he ain't got nothing on Roth. Not only does Roth possess the standard requirements for a sexy YA/NA hero - y'know, the whole sometimes-brooding-sometimes-hilarious, mischievous but protective thing they've all got going on - but the sacrifices he makes and the things he does for our protagonist, Layla, places him on a whole new level. My respect for him grew like tenfold after the end, and is making me CRAY^2 waiting for STONE COLD TOUCH to see what happens to him. (He reminds of Robin "Puck" Goodfellow from THE IRON FEY series by Julie Kagawa.) And Layla and Zayne, of course. Heh.

There was a lot of teenage angst in WHK, both in high school and in the relationship department, but there were the other complexities of the Wardens and Demons that made WHK a more engaging read. It's not all black and white with the races. The Wardens might seem like the good guys, siding with the angel and ridding the world of pesky, trouble-making demons. But as Layla hang out with Roth more often, there are certain things that the Wardens ingrain into the younger Wardens and Layla aren't true.

Being half-demon, half-Warden, Layla has always longed to fit in. To be one of the good guys. To be able to shift and take to the skies. Too bad all she got from her mixed blood is to be able to distinguish demon from human/Warden, tag them, lighting them up for patrolling Wardens to kill, and that pesky soul-sucking kiss from to hell. At least this skill allows her to feel more useful in the battle against the demons and ridding the world of evil. But Roth is determined to open her eyes to reality, that not all demons are as bad as they seem.

Are the Wardens brainwashing their young to hate the demons? What if there are demons that aren't, well, evil and she's been helping the Wardens kill them? And where does that place her in the entire scheme of things?

Another reason why I like JLA's writing style is her way of revealing things, and building her worlds bit by bit, letting the plot progress while giving us nuggets of information along the way. It's a smooth world-building process, and the pace never gets compromised. There's no huge info-dumping when it comes to the history of the Wardens and demons. But I can feel the tension between the two factions and shown just a nugget of the why and their history.

Altogether a very enjoyable, pretty steamy (and angsty), fast-paced read with a minor cliffhanger ending. I'd recommend this to fans of THE IRON FEY series, UNCHAINED by J. Lynn (JLA), and THE GUARDIAN LEGACY series by Ednah Walters.

*Review copy courtesy of Harlequin Teen via Netgalley*

My Rating

Review: The Iron Prophecy by Julie Kagawa

Publication Date: September 1st, 2012
Finished Date: December 19th, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Format: eBook
Pages: 67
Series: The Iron Fey #4.5
My Rating: 4.5/5!

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Blurb from Goodreads:
Meghan Chase is finally getting used to being the Iron Queen, ruler of the Iron Fey. Her life may be strange, but with former Winter prince Ash by her side at last, she wouldn’t have it any other way. But when they travel to the Summer and Winter courts’ gathering for Elysium, the oracle from Meghan’s past returns with a dire prophecy: “What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them.” Now Meghan faces a devastating choice that may determine the future of all fey—and her and Ash’s unborn child… A novella from the bestselling Iron Fey series.

My Review

This glimpse back into Ash's, Meghan's, Puck's, Grimalkin's, heck even Glitch's life...WAS AWESOME. Satisfying yet it fed my unending hunger for more of this magical and enchanting world of faery. Oh man, I sound like a drug junkie fresh from rehab. And can I just say that the covers in this entire series is stunning?

Being able to see the revamped Mag Tureidh, court of the Iron Fey and Meghan and Ash's home was so heartwarming, seeing Beau and Razor and the other gremlins play together and making all that ruckus. We got to see Ash in all his former Ice Prince glory (don't worry, Ash still has his swag, his powers and that icy aloofness that we all love) but with a little more emotions when he's alone with Meghan, Puck came back after very funny adventures in the human world (wait till you hear them!), Grim with his "I am a cat" and all, and Meghan. Meghan! She showed those boys some girl, Summer-Iron, power! The only grievance I had was that the pace was not quite as fast as its predecessors and the book was much too short!

Even in such a short novella, Kagawa has the skill to completely suck me into her vivid and imaginative world full of hauntingly beautiful places and a simple yet eventful plot filled with action, humor and an easy friendship between 4 very memorable characters. If you're a Kagawa fan, you don't want to miss this final novella to the Iron Fey series! I swear, every page, just like any of her other books, is worth 5 golden stars.

P.S. I'm not sure I'm going to pick The Lost Prince up (though I am a HUGE fan of the Iron Fey series), cause... I'm just disgruntled that it's not in Meghan's POV anymore. :( And the synopsis and reviews just doesn't seem that interesting anymore.

My Rating

  

Quickie Review: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Publication Date: September 6th, 2011
Finished Date: October 26th, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 310
Series: Guild Hunter #4
My Rating: 4/5

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Blurb from Goodreads:
The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past...but Dmitri's need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel's right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality...the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting...and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more...

My Review

“So he held this hunter whose midnight green eyes said she saw him, shadows and all, who touched him as (view spoiler)Ingrede used to do, who made him imagine an impossible truth, held her so close that she was a part of his very soul.”

Usually I give every Guild Hunter novel an immediate and resounding 5 stars. I wasn't the biggest fan of Dmitri...and I still ain't one, but I'm starting to understand him more now. And respect. Wow, he gave his heart to this amazing village woman centuries ago, and even after her very tragic demise, his heart and soul still remained with her. Until now.

Enter Honor, a Guild Hunter who was very recently saved from some crazy vampire. Honor's sanity was on verge of cracking, and only after months of therapy and stuff, she just managed to walk out on her own. But she prefers locking herself up in the Guild library. That is, until a job at the Angel Tower required her expertise and Honor forced herself to meet up with Dmitri. From there, you can probably deduce the rest for yourself. As they spent more time together solving a series of murder cases in which Honor finds out how deadly--and sexy--Dmitri is and Dmitri finding out the side of Honor that made her a hunter in the first place, the courage and innate strength before her unfortunate abduction.

As always, Singh's delivery was AMAZING, and she knew just how to feed us little tidbits about Dmitri's past here and there, which was hard to piece together a complete picture until right at the very end when she gave a final piece and bam, everything just falls into place. And the gradual change in Honor and Dmitri in the end was really heartwarming. Quiiiiiite a typical wounded hero/heroine finding love and healing (that's why I docked off one star), but well, it's Nalini Singh, so naturally it is still in a league of its own.

A dark novel about an inspiring love that heals. A sort of spinoff to the main plot, so it is technically fine to skip this go directly to book 6 which is confirmed to be in Elena's and Raphael's POV where, I'm assuming, the main arc will continue but I have to admit it, now that I have read it, I do feel this bond to Dmitri (and Honor) now that wasn't there. I'll be noticing him more now. ;)

My Rating

      

 

Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Publication Date: October 15th, 2012
Finished Date: December 29th, 2012
Format: eBook
Pages: 204
My Rating: 4.5/5!

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Blurb from Goodreads:

Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible-- a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

 

My Review

LOSING IT, I admit, is one of those little guilty pleasures I let myself indulge in once in awhile to take a break from all the PNR/UFs that I normally read. I usually like my romances interlaced with some crazy action going on, but sometimes, a girl just needs a nice, clean and sweet romance to curl her toes and accompany her to the beach. Ok, I admit, it was the cover that first attracted me. I mean, look at that, that that..that.. Handsome male specimen alert~

LOSING IT wouldn't really be a guilty read, seeing as it is still within the premises of the YA genre, just with a little sexual content in it. Looking at that synopsis, you'd think that there'd be tons of pages on Bliss Edwards having some mind-blowing horizontal tango, but no, fortunately or unfortunately (haha). Well, I thought that little in this case was really good; It was still intense, but slow, sweet and romannnnnntik. It is YA also because the plot was rather simplistic and it just lacked the dark and dirty element of eroticas/adult romance novels.

I won't go much into a summary of the book, cause what you see in the synopsis is pretty much what you'll get, and since this is a pretty short novel I don't want to spoiler it to much. It's basically Bliss Edwards (lead girl) still having her V-card which her best friend thought was totally not natural, so naturally, she saw fit to take Bliss to this high end club immediately to hook up with a guy and have a one-night stand. Just when she thought the night would be as futile as any other nights in the past, she may just have stumbled upon her happy ever after... Literally!

Let's go into the characters first, shall we? Let's see, who do we start with......hmm...... Let's start with Garrick Taylor. OMG GARRICK. He has this certain similarity to Christian Grey but more realistic. No troubled, dark past, not as intense (come on, who can be as intense as Grey?) or overbearing, and wealth is totally out of the question. Garrick just graduated from the college Bliss is at and is working as an actor somewhere in Philadelphia when Bliss' school's stage director called on Garrick and offered him a job as an instructor in their school, being one of the best students when he was still there. I won't say much on how Bliss and him met and their subsequent encounters and all cause I really enjoyed slowly savoring every one of them and I don't want to spoil it for you. But the embarrassment when Garrick walked into class and was introduced as their new acting teacher-instructor... That scene was priceless! Carmack described it so well I could totally see the scene unfolding in my head and laugh with sadistic glee, anticipating the embarrassment when Bliss recognized him as the man she'd left naked on her bed a mere few hours ago and all that tension (both sexual and non-sexual). Oh, and did I mention that Garrick has a British accent? Yeah, and I'll leave you to find out every sexy piece of him yourself.

Bliss was a really witty character, so full of emotions and life, and also clumsily cute! She's conservative, she mature, and she's sooooo funny when she rambles and crazy-talks. The side characters were well-developed too, all having their own distinct personalities.

One of my only grievances about this book is not explaining what "mono" was. Some STD, I think. It might be a slang from somewhere (America, perhaps?), but I didn't, and still don't, know what it was.

LOSING IT made for an easy, addictive read, and it has one of my favorite endings! It'll make any reader smile. Seriously, this is such a fun and addictive book with humor and romance that is sometimes intensely sexy and others heartwarmingly sweet. I'd recommend this to any fans of YA contemporary romance!

P.S. Carmack's biography at the back of the book's kinda cool too! Haha here's just a portion of it:

“She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too.”

(Ditto!)

My Rating

   

Quickie Review: Blood Fever by Veronica Wolff

Publication Date: August 7th, 2012
Finished Date: August 19th, 2012
Publisher: NAL Trade
Format: Paperback
Pages: 290
Series: The Watchers #3
My Rating: 4/5

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Blurb from Goodreads:
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME—EVEN IF HOME IS WHERE THE DEAD LIVE...

It’s the start of the fall semester, and a new crop of Acari and Trainees have descended on the Isle of Night. Watcher training has intensified, and Drew has a new roommate named Mei-Ling. But Mei-Ling harbors a dangerous secret that drove the vampires to abduct her against her will. Drew knows she shouldn’t get involved, but she can’t seem to leave her roommate to fend for herself.

Luckily, Drew has other things on her mind—like vampire Carden. A blood bond to a brawny, eighteenth-century Scottish bad boy tends to preoccupy a girl. And though she’s still figuring out what this bond means, one thing has become clear: She craves him in a major way.

But then bodies start turning up on the island. All the evidence points to the existence of a rogue vampire, and the sinister vampire Alcántara is gunning for Carden, even though Drew has proof that Carden had nothing to do with the murders. Now she has to find the true killer—without endangering Carden, Mei-Ling, or herself…

My Review

Wolff is one talented and imaginatively sadistic author; BLOOD FEVER had so much more bloodshed, action and, not surprisingly, romance! (Carden!! GAH!) Everything was back more intense, and the storyline was a little more complex with a confuddling riddle at the end!

Drew is back at the Isle of Night after her hard-won mission with Alcantara, at which one mysteriously attractive Carden McCloud was rescued. Drew's having a tough time dealing with the bond that she unknowingly forged with McCloud, craving for him and his blood and all, plus the newest assignment that the vampires dumped onto her - to ensure the safety of her new roommate, Mei-Ling. There's something a little off with Mei, not in the psychopathic-pyromaniac way that her previous roommate Lilac was, but Mei didn't come to the Isle of Night willingly. Not like Drew or the rest of the Acaris that were outcasts in society. Thing is, Mei isn't even an outcast in society with a family that wouldn't miss her even if she were gone. She had a loving family and a loyal boyfriend. Mei was abducted. But why? The only thing that Mei have in common with the she-wolves at the Isle of Night is that she has a gift, a very peculiar and dangerous gift that the vampires are interested about. Mei's good at playing musical instruments, and Drew's going to find that out what's so special about it.

Also going on at the Isle of Night are strange killings that are happening around the island. Random people are turning up exsanguinated and nobody knows the how and why. And the Directorate seems to think that Carden's the culprit.

So, on top of finding out why the vampires are so interested in Mei, Drew's got to protect her from Masha, the other Guidons and Acaris AND protect her own hide from her hate club at the island (which surprisingly has a huge fan base) AND figure out the nitty gritty of her bond with Carden AND clear his name to save him from a possible public staking.

I love all those private moments between her and Carden. They're reaaaally sweet together. But what makes this book different from its predecessors is the amount of bloodshed! I'm still reeling from all the fights that Drew had been pitted through in BLOOD FEVER! Especially at the end. It was one fight after another after another traumatic accident. More, much, much more people are going to die and when they do, a new mystery pops up and Drew's in deep enough that she's going to figure it all out.

This series gets more and more interesting and intense that once you pick ISLE OF NIGHT up, you know you're a goner till the series ends. This Watchers series is similar to The Hunger Games series, but in my opinion, better and much more intriguing. Gripping till the end! Can't wait till next June for the next and fourth instalment in the series, THE KEEP (which, very aptly, is the new mystery that Drew has to solve. Is it where all the dead girls are brought?? OH MAN, I can't wait to read it!!!)

My Rating

       

Review: Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

Published Date: January 31st, 2012
Finished Date: Febuary 6th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 516
Series: Angelfire #2
My Rating: 4.5/5
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Blurb from Goodreads:
Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.

Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.

Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.

Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

My Review

Disclaimer: If you haven't read ANGELFIRE yet or are averse to spoilers, please DO NOT read this review.

WINGS OF THE WICKED is one awesome emotional roller coaster ride - so full of action, tragedy, and romance. A great sequel to Angelfire that I loved. Every part of it was so intense and utterly memorable and I loved them all.

My Brief - albeit with a lot of spoilers - Summary
We return to the world of the reapers where Ellie, who is really the archangel Gabriel in the flesh, is still trying her best to maintain a balance between her reaper life and high school-normal teenager lifestyle. Things are getting tougher for Ellie, with Bastian becoming more aggressive and sending higher-level reapers after her - namely, Merodach and Kelaeno, two of the oldest reapers recorded in Nathaniel's history texts.

Add into the fray Cadan's shifting loyalties and frequent visits, the arrival of an old friend - and maybe ex-lover - of Will's, and the many deaths that always seem to shroud Ellie's future, she's still got to find a way to save the day. Cause, as the synopsis says, if she doesn't, there really will be hell to pay.

My Thoughts
I thought that WOW was written really beautifully - vivid, suspenseful scenes, thrilling action, forbidden romance, and to top it all up, an exciting plot with lots of curveballs. The anticipation for the release of WOW, personally, was all hyped up way before its expected publication date because of Moulton's amazing 10 weeks countdown at her blog. So naturally, my expectations were pushed way up the bar, and I wasn't disappointed. I just loved the way Moulton described each scene and her writing style. I loved the suspense and surprises - both good and bad - that were thrown at us throughout the book; It kept me on tenterhooks, and it kept the pages turning swiftly.

As for the characters, I must say that I could've done without all the parties and pink dresses on Ellie's part. I know she's trying her best to keep her normal, teenager life, but I think that that's going a little too far. She's a tough-assed heroine who still attends high school and who loves to shop, and I think that that's plenty cool already. Will is still his usual brooding self, but we get to see more into his past life as he opens up to Ellie and as she starts remembering her previous incarnations. (I love that Will likes it when Ellie combs her fingers through his hair!:P Just saying.)

Another bone I had to pick with Ellie is that, she's supposed to be the best fighter amongst her little group of friends. Like the ultimate, archangel, in-a-league-of-her-own best fighter, but Will seems to be the one who's saving her ass in every fight she gets involved in. I'm not a fan of weak heroines who depend on their oh-so-strong hero to come saving their day, so this part didn't sit that well with me.

There were more secondary characters that were introduced - Ava, Marcus, Merodach, and Kelaeno. Marcus is awesome, period; Ava's.....she's still on probation for me; Merodach's awesome too, in his own mysterious, powerful-villain way; Kelaeno's seems like the crazy-witch villain to me. Ok, she's beautiful and all (like every other reaper), but my subconscious just have this cackling-witch image whenever her name pops up. I wonder why...

Anyway, as for the ending, I wasn't a big fan of it. I'm just going to go ahead and reveal the big spoiler (not all the way, of course) - someone died. Someone who's very much an integral part of the story died, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. I know that there will always be casualties in war, but ARH. He's not supposed to go so suddenly!! And..ARHH! Ok, I'm incoherent, but you get the point. Not only that, it ends with a cliffhanger.

I will reiterate this again - WINGS OF THE WICKED is one awesome emotional roller coaster ride packed with a larger dose of action, tragedy, and romance. If you're still hesitating on picking this up, wary that WOW will not be as good as ANGELFIRE, then rest assure, WOW is as good as ANGELFIRE, and with more high-level-reaper fighting, sexual tension between Ellie and Will, and emotional scenes that will render you speechless.

*Won this book at a giveaway at CAM's blog.

My Rating

    

Review: Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

Published Date: September 5th, 2006
Finished Date: December 18th, 2011
Publisher: Signet
Format: Paperback
Pages: 434
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #3
My Rating: 4/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…

My Review

LOVER AWAKENED is a very dark, very intense book. Lots of misery and tragedy. Personally I like dark and intense books, dark means that there will be action, and the hero and maybe heroine will know how to kick some real, tough ass, and intense means that I will like the writing style of the author cause the novel can incite deep emotions in me. But this is the first time that I say there's a limit to all these. Not that I didn't enjoy LA, I liked the romance, the action and the Brotherhood plenty, but I couldn't stomach how miserable it made me feel at the end. Lol, yes, it is that intense.

**My Summary with Spoiler**

Zsadist is the odd ball in the Brotherhood who has deep, permanent emotional - and physical - scars from an abusive, horrifying past. Z doesn't like to get close to people, the proximity scares him, and he doesn't drink from a female vamp's vein but from a human's. That would normally not be enough to sustain a male vamp, moreover a warrior, a Brother, but that's how strong Z is, even without proper nourisment. (Imagine feeding from tofu once ever alternate day or something and fighting street thugs. Yeah, I think that's a good analogy.) So Z would never have thought that his life would actually have a hint of romance in it.

Bella is part of the aristocrat in the vampire society, a sheltered female with a protective brother and 2 doggens to wait on her and her family (brother and mother only). She's only ever been in one relationship before, but that guy proved to be a coward and they went their separate ways. Who would've thought she has a thing for dangerous males, and when she sees Z, all she can think is to get close to him, to know him. But what she discovers is a man in need, a man who has been hurt but has never been healed. And she still wants him.

But a terrifying lesser, if you'd remember Mr. O from the previous instalments, has become obsessed with Bella ever since he set eyes on her, cause when he sees her, he sees his deceased wife. Well, he's majorly screwed up upstairs, violent, one-track minded, very smart, and the Omega seems to really like him. A very dangerous combination. And when he gets his hands on Bella...

**End of Summary**

I loved to watch how Z started warming up to Bella. Like Rhage with Mary, and Wrath with Beth, Bella started to change Z for the better. I liked those parts. Haha, esepcially when Bella went into her needing period where the male has to "serve" the woman by having sex with her or the woman goes into intense pain. Hahahah, and after that Z was SPENT!XD And when Z became protective of Bella, it was very heartwarming even if he's methods aren't always conventional.

Anyway, other than Z's parts, I wasn't very taken by Bella. I've mentioned this in my review of the previous book, LOVER ETERNAL, that Bella's a little too bold for me. It's not that apparent in AWAKENED, but well, it's still there, and I thought it bordered on pesky. But that's what got through to Z cause he kept pushing her away, and if she took the hint, their thing together would never have happened, so yeah, I guess it's good for their relationship.

As always, I immersed myself into the world of the Brotherhood, and I loved it. I loved them dark and mysterious, and I read LOVER AWAKENED in one sitting. I wasn't wow-ed by the book, but I'm just somehow addicted to them, the Brotherhood. I loved the way the brothers bantered with each other like carefree boys, and how Butch is totally integrated into the Brotherhood's fold. Butch is so full of bullshit! Hahhaha, his sarcasm and wit is hilarious! He brightens up every scene he's in.

Similar to the previous two books, I don't really agree with Ward's writing style the way she alternated POVs between multiple characters. It serves a purpose, but I don't like the way I'm cut off when something interesting or major is happening with a particular character. Especially when the something happening involves Z and/or Bella.

The reason why I took that one star away from the five was because I really don't see the necessity of that death at the end. IT WAS TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR AND STUPID! &*(^&%^$^%#$%$^&*%(&! I don't want her to die.... That was the too dark and intense part. Z's and Phury's past was indeed very heartbreaking and traumatic, but I was preparing myself for the worst, seeing as how broken Z was. But that death at the end....

Anyway, I thought that until the ending, LOVER AWAKENED was a fantastic read that contains everything a Paranormal Romance fan will want - action, suspense, thrill, romance, gore, and heartbreak. I loved Z and Bella when they're together, especially when Z's not being an idiot thinking he's too filthy for Bella to touch and to be close with. Ok he's not being an idiot, I know it wouldn't have been convincing if he let Bella into his life that easily, but I really like the times when they're, well, intimate physically.

A very recommendable read, just like its prequels.

My Rating

    

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!

Review: Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff

Published Date: September 6th, 2011
Finished Date: October 16th, 2011
Publishers: NAL Trade
Format: Paperback
Pages: 302
Series: The Watchers #1
My Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Is life offering fewer and fewer options? Then join the dead.

When Annelise meets dark and seductive Ronan, he promises her a new life-if she has the courage to chance the unknown. Now, she's whisked away to a mysterious island and pitted against other female recruits to become a Watcher-girls who are partnered with vampires and assist them in their missions. To survive and become a Watcher, Annelise has to beat out every other girl, but she's determined to do so, because to fail doesn't mean dishonor-it means death.

My Review

I feel like going up to my rooftop and shout "FUCK" at the bloody top of my voice. Sorry for the language, but my actions are absolutely justifiable. Know why? Cause the story ended perfectly, but then I went on to read the small excerpt of ISLE OF NIGHT's sequel, VAMPIRE'S KISS, and it effing ended in an effing major cliffhanger. And the book will not be out till the effing middle of next year. EFF.

Wow, that... nah it still didn't cool my hackles. But as the saying goes, life gotta move on.

Ok, so. Annelise's, who prefers to be called Drew, life has been a cesspit full of shit and tragedy - father's an alcoholic dickhead, stepmom's evil as hell, constantly spurned by classmates, etc. Fortunately for her, she's got a brilliant mind. Perfect SAT scores, and is practically Einstein's reincarnation (she hangs a poster of him in her room and even gave him a pet name - Al). Drew can't wait to graduate out of high school so that she'll be free of the non-home she lived in all this years to go to one of the top colleges as one of their youngest and brightest scholarship holder.

She enters the registrar's office and sees the world's most gorgeous boy she has ever seen, but well, things just had to spiral down at that moment - the registrar's office doesn't register her name as an official high school graduate (which means she can't enrol into college and gotta return to that non-home), her rusty old Honda will not even start up when she went back to it - all said and done in front of Ronan, said most gorgeous boy. Ronan comes over then and convinces her to get in his sleek sports car and then into this private airplane where he ferries her and 2 other beautiful but crazy evil girls to this remote island far removed from civilisation. Once there, she was ushered into a world filled with horrific nightmares in the form of vampires, and her purpose there was to train to be a Watcher, a vamp "ambassador". And to be one of the exclusive Watchers, you had to be one of the top, which means to eliminate all other competitors. But the thing is, there are 100 odd girls there, and only 5 can ascend to Watcher status...

This book is sorta like a mix between The Hunger Games and Half-blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout. It has the cruel, sadistic and gloomy atmosphere of HG, but the hot guy teaching smart-ass and unique girl aspect of Half-blood. The romance is very like Half-blood too. The rules and regulations too. Lol. Basically, they are very similar.

When I say romance, it was more of the subtle mutual attraction, but there's definitely much less acting upon feelings in ISLE OF NIGHT. It focuses more on the mysterious and dark aspects of the island and its otherworldly inhabitants. So if you're looking for romance, I urge you to turn back now.

The sadistic nature of the girls there, wow! It's even worse than HG. Much, much more action and killing. The darkness and jealousy in the girls' hearts bordered on insanity, and they were just so evil! Lol, I feel so inadequate to describe the whole thing now, but it was so BADASSSSSS! When Drew made her first kill, this cold, unfeeling calm settled over her, and she stabbed at this beast over and over, then dumped him live into a fire. After which she retreated into this numb stupor, trance-like state. But don't worry, Ronan helped pull her out of it.:) Then came her subsequent second kill. It was an accident, but it was also bloody damn cool.

There was this tournament thing going on in the back part of the book which was the ultimately focus of the book. Tournament rule is that you will be pitted against a single opponent, one on one. And let me tell you, IT WAS WICKED! 25 out of the hundred took part (because it really is a scary game, considering that you will be pitted against another girl who will probably be crazy and out for blood), and since you either knocked a person out or kill your opponent to win and the crazy peeps there preferred the former, 13 girls died in the end. I'm sorry I spoilered, but I'm just bursting to tell all this! It was so cool!!

I thought that the character development and world building were superb. I got to know the snarky, smart-ass heroine very well (even tho her sacarsm gets to me sometimes..You don't have to be SO sarcastic all the time, right? And this coming from me is saying a lot, mind you..). Yasuo and Emma, the supporting characters had such varing personalities, but they were perfectly delivered. The island was plain scary. There were "things" hidden in corners all around the looming buildings-mansions, and you wouldn't want to break a rule, lest be eviscerated by any of your teachers or the headmaster like that girl on the first day of school.

Oh one additional point I want to make about Drew is that she is so skepitcal and cynical about everything that it kinda irks me. And the fact that she KNOWS she's smart and sometimes tend to be a little snobby in her thinkings.

Random Musing (which you will not understand if you haven't yet read the book):

Y'know when Ronan told Drew that she will have one private study every day, and that hers will be swimming, and that he will be her tutor, my heart just about burst with laughter and happiness for both of them. Haha. See, thing is, Drew absolutely abhors and is terrified of swimming. So to get the boy that she is falling hard for as her private tutor, how cool is that watch?? Well, in this case it's read... But, how cool is that??

Oh yeah, and am I the only one who finds Alcantara hot? :X

My Rating

       Would give it a 4.5, but I don't have an icon for that so..:(

Review: Skye's Trail by Jory Strong

*THIS BOOK IS AN EROTICA. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ARE OF LEGAL AGE TO READ THIS BOOK AND REVIEW.*

Hah, like anyone listens to that anymore..I'm sixteen and reading eroticas. Pleased to meet you.:)

Anyway, on with the show.

Published Date: October 1st, 2005
Finished Date: October 11th, 2011
Publishers: Ellora's Cave
Format: Paperback
Pages: 225
Series: The Angelini Book 1

Blurb from Goodreads:
For Skye Delano, the hunt and the kill are sometimes inexorably tied together. Her origins shrouded behind an impenetrable wall of mental pain, Skye has survived and evolved into a tracker, a hunter who metes out justice to those who prey on the helpless. Alone but not lonely, she's been content with her life. But now her body is changing and there's an underlying craving that's left her restless. She needs to take a mate - or rather, two mates...

Detective Rico Santana wants and needs Skye - for himself, and to track a couple of kids who have gone missing. In all the centuries that Giovanni Banderali has been alive, he's never desired any woman enough to bind her to him as a companion. That changed the moment he saw Skye. She's a threat to the fledgling vampires he's searching for, but nothing will stop him from claiming her - not even the Angelini blood that flows through her veins. Adversaries, natural enemies - dangerous allies - the bond that links them is stronger than lust, more powerful than love. When an Angelini chooses a mate, no man can resist.

My Review

It's a sin to be such a sexy and talented writer like Strong...

Skye is an Angelini, tho she doesn't know it as of yet, but she knows how to control and utilize her powers to survive and hunt criminals down; Rico is a cop, a hot, sexy, competent and very-aroused-whenever-he-looks-at-or-even-thinks-of-Skye cop; Gian is an age-old vamp who is crazy powerful, and sexually very active. Lol. Yep, that's the 3 protagonists laid out for you.

Goth girls are disappearing around the city, and one of 'em turned up dead and it didn't look like she met with a swift, clean end. The police are working day and night with the case, but when they're still coming up blank, Rico took matters into his own hands and requested the aid of our dear Skye since she has hunting abilities sharper than a hound. And this case brings Skye to the night club, Fangs, which Gian co-owns. And therein brings our three protagonists together.

It's a relatively short story, but NONE of the thrill, erotic, romance and mystery factors are compromised. It's amazing how intricate the crime case is, everything somehow linked up together even when they seemed so unconnected at the beginning. There were many details to consider, but Strong handled them all perfectly, and she left nothing dangling or unanswered in the end, which is amazing.

Even tho Eroticas usually would not have a very developed relationship between the protagonists, I thought that Skye's Trail kinda did have. I felt the affections between Skye, Gian, and Rico grow, and well, of course their lusts for each other did too, but that only made it all the more hot, sweaty and sexy. Ew, gross visuals. Lol, but yes, what was missing in other Eroticas that made me not like them was very much looked into here, that's what made me fall in love with Strong's world all over again.

I loved Skye. Not only is she powerful in her own right, she has this very playful and sexy inner nature that I really liked. She can be very devil-may-care sometimes, but inside, she did care very much about how her mates (Rico and Gian) felt.

Gian and Rico were...Lol, kinda weird sometimes. Not bad weird.. Just weird. You would expect the millenia-old (ok I'm exaggerating) vamp to be the more dominant one right? All "you are my minions, bow before me"?  But surprisingly, I found Rico to be the more domineering one. And he is, I stress, a very human cop. Huh, at the start, Skye somehow got the upperhand when they were doing the S, and sort of reduced Gian to begging for release. Ok, that made him sound weak, which he isn't, but it came close to that.

Still, I loved all of them.

And it really helps that there is a really hot biker woman with silver hair on the book jacket.

Anyway, I don't really have much to say about Eroticas, so 'nuff said for now. But bottomline: I thought that Skye's Trail is a steamy hot Erotica that, if before this you do not like Eroticas, you should try this out first before you condemn this genre.

My Rating

                    

(I would give this a resounding 4.5, but since I don't have an icon for it, I'll stick to 4.)

Review: Half-blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published Date: October 18th, 2011
Finished Date: September 28th, 2011
Publishers: Spencer Hill Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 281
Series: Covenant Book 1

Blurb from Goodreads:
The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi -pure-bloods- have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden.

And that would kind of suck.

My Review

Imagine being avulsed from life as you know it, then witnessing your only surviving kin die before your eyes, being chased by blood-sucking fiends, being pulled back to your previous life but are going to be forced into a lifetime of servitude, then falling for the one guy that when people finds out, will sign your death slip, then finding out your kin is actually not dead and has turned into a monster and she is currently out for your blood, and then told you're actually not only who you actually thought you were, you're actually something else too?

Sucks, right? But that's basically the everyday life of Alexandria "Alex" Andros, the tragic heroine Armentrout saw fit to torture... LOL, nah, kidding. Even tho her life sucked balls big time, Alex was a tough-assed, witty-tongued, snarky-sassy attitude heroine who dealt with everything head-on. Although the snarky-ness and obstinacy tended to be rather immature sometimes..She's seventeen going on eighteen, so act like it! But she was still a pleasure to read.

I thought that the story was super fast-paced, Alex was always either up to some mischief, or trouble comes stalking and biting her in the ass. So much action and suspense, and the steamy hot romance between her and Aiden! Something's always happening, be it a good hot making out session, fending off daimons for their lives, daimons infiltrating the Covenant, those L.O.L witty banters and arguments between Alex and the world, there's just no time to do anything than to flip those crazy pages.

Now on to that endearing male heroine of ours, shall we? Aiden St. Delphi. Storm grey eyes that can turn silver when experiencing any strong emotions, which most of the time has Alex in the picture. Intense gaze. Fights like a god. Moves like those Twilight vamps. Reclusive and brooding. The triple P's - passionate, protective and possessive when it comes to Alex. And what does that scream? PERFECT HERO MATERIAL!

Haha.

The side characters were very supportive. Caleb, being the brother that she never had, was very protective and understanding of Alex, always there to lend a hand or a shoulder or an ear when she can no longer bottle everything up in her heart; Lea, the typical archnemesis, was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous and very bitchy; Marcus, Alex's uncle, and Daecon actually grew on me as the story progressed; Seth...This one's dangerous (even the pures are terrified of him, that kind of dangerous) and a potential love interest..Hehe, can't wait to read more on that in the next book, PURE!

All in all, you do not want to miss this book.

Random Musings (This time would not contain spoilers)

When I got to the Acknowledgements part, I was part laughing part feeling touched. Ok, let me quote some phrases out.

" I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for allowing me to write random stuff with permanent markers all over the walls of my bedroom when I was a teenager and not killing me. To Jesse, thank you for playing Barbies and Nintendo with me. "

" Oh, Chewie - my Chewsters, Chewtoy, also known as Chu-won Martin, you were my first friend to actually read anything I wote and not laugh. You will always hold a special place in my heart. "

LOL, but aww..But LOL.

Ok, you've gotta read the rest to fully experience the L.O.L moments that I had. She actually thanked her dog too! Haha. Armentrout's sure one eccentric, but brilliant writer. She's currently working on a few dozen other series, so you can support her and go to her blog to see her update statuses.

My Rating

P.S. I would give this book a 4.5, but I only have a 4 licks picture, soo...DEAL WITH IT! muahahhaa

Review: Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart

Published Date: September 1st, 2011
Finished Date: September 18th, 2011
Publishers: Random House Australia
Series: Lharmell Book One

Blurb from Goodreads: I wanted to turn but I was held captive by the song on the wind. I’m coming, I told the voices. Please, wait for me.

When her sister becomes betrothed to a prince in a northern nation, Zeraphina’s only consolations are that her loyal animal companions are by her side – and that her burning hunger to travel north is finally being sated.

Already her black hair and pale eyes mark her out as different, but now Zeraphina must be even more careful to keep her secret safe. Craving blood is not considered normal behaviour for anyone, let alone a princess. So when the king’s advisor, Rodden, seems to know more about her condition than she does, Zeraphina is determined to find out more.

Zeraphina must be willing to sacrifice everything if she’s to uncover the truth – but what if the truth is beyond her worst nightmares?

My Review

From the very first page, BLOOD SONG managed to capture my attention. Quite wholly, I might add.

It started out describing our protagonist's, Zeraphina's, home. Which is a run-down castle in some landlocked country suffering very bad weathers and thus, bad crop yields. Things are looking bad for the three of them - Zeraphina, her sister and their mother (princess, princess, and queen) - when the prince of the wealthiest country sends them a letter requesting Fina's sister's hand in marriage.

The weird stuff happens here. Fina suddenly has this sudden urge to go to the North (where said wealthiest country lies), and a blue-eyed apparition keeps appearing before her.

Who is he? And does this urge and mysterious blue-eyes have any connection to the illness that took her when she was but a babe and has thus made her crave for blood?

Once in the northern nation, she tries to find out more about this much-unknown country which lies on the opposite side of the strait from Lharmell, and which waged wars against Lharmell time and again. But Rodden, the King's young, handsome and reclusive advisor, is on to her. But what does he do up in his turret where he coops himself all the time?

Well, of course they're all connected. This is YA Lit we're talking about.

Even tho this novel is based on a (kinda sad) variation of vampires, I did like it. Very much. Hart didn't focus on the romanctic relationship between Zeraphina and Rodden, but the sparks that flew between them were as clear as day. And I loved every single moment of it. Both were so smart and witty, trying to outsmart the other every time they saw each other. When they weren't, well, those scenes are just absolutely heart-wrenching. And when Rodden caught Fina trying to flirt with the other guards to try and worm out information, that scene was priceless. PRICELESS. lol.

There was plenty of suspense and action. Rodden was a top-notch archer; Fina is a stupendously good archer. Put them together and you have many funny challenges thrown at each other.

 Oh, and I loved it when they were fighting side by side when they were trapped in Lharmell. The land and its inhabitants were depicted absolutely vividly. The land had this withering, dying feel to it, and its inhabitants - the "vampires" - were downright freaky. So when they were fighting back-to-back, quarelling side-by-side - in short, spending some quality time together, it was sweet.

However, one thing I found rather annoying was Fina's self-centeredness at the start of the book. Her sister was worrying her nuts off about her fiance being killed in a hunt, and was going to be carted off to the far northern nation to marry another prince she has never met, but Fina just kept lobbying her to go, just because she had this urge to see the North. All under the mask of thinking for their dying, bankrupt country. She's being such a bad sister. There's such a thing called empathy, yo!

That aside, I did love the book. There was definitely much action and thrill reading this, and the subtle hint of romance between 2 very stubborn, very awesome protagonists was such joy to read. Loved it!

My Rating

Review: Vanish by Sophie Jordan (a.k.a Sharie Kohler)

Published Date: September 6th, 2011
Finished Date: September 18th, 2011
Publishers: HarperTEEN
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 294
Series: Firelight Book Two
 

Blurb from Goodreads: To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.


Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

My Review

Look at that cover.. Such beautiful things are just not possible, y'know what I mean? It is absolutely gorgeous. A little kink tho - why is her eyebrow not silver?>:/

Comparatively, I had set mighty high expectations for this book after FIRELIGHT, and I must say that I am a little disappointed with VANISH (but it is still a crazy awesome book AND series!).

VANISH picks up right where FIRELIGHT left off, where Jacinda, her mother and sister, Tamra, were being escorted back to the pride by Cassian, prince of said pride. But during their tense drive back, they met with Will's hunter family. Dun dun dunnn!

Anyway, in that very bleak face-off, something happened to Tamra and she manifested. (Oooh, big spoiler.XP) So, because of Tamra's newfound abilities, she managed to salvage the situation. But also because of Tamra's heroic feat, Will's memory of Jacinda and the promise he made to her to find her no matter where she went, may very well have wiped out clean from his mind. Vanished from his memories.
The trio returns to the pride, amongst suspiscious glares and unfriendly neighbors. Tamra is now lodging with another draki; their mom was given multiple shifts that pushes her to work till ungodly hours; Jacinda, instead of having one of the top jobs (working at the library, which is what she did prior to their escape), was allocated a place with the gutting crew. In short, life was bleak and bad.

Will Will (not a typo) remember Jacinda? Will he find her? But what will happen if he actually found her? Can she run away from her mom and sister when they're all each other have? And what about Cassian? He really loves Jacinda, doesn't he?

All this are answered within the pages behind this very beautiful and silvery book jacket. I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE COVER. IT IS JUST TOO BEAUTIFULLLLLLLLL!

So. I still loved Jordan's writing here as I did in FIRELIGHT. Her scenic descriptions and the characters' emotional development were done perfectly. You can feel Jacinda's torn emotions and dilemma, and when it comes to Cassian, wow. Just, wow. When she says "his intense gaze", you can feel some hot male attention searing thru your skin. Lol.

However, what I was disappointed in, and what ultimately made me give it a 4 and not a resounding 5, is because of Will's change in behavior. And it isn't a good transformation, I can assure you. He became too assertive, and his sweet, romantic demeanor towards Jacinda was almost non-existent in here. My heart totally broke (*piang*) when Will came back into the spotlight. I was expecting a quietly fierce, but still caring and loving Will to fight his way back into Jacinda's life. Now? He's not actively fighting for her and just... Well, too assertive and aggressive. And he actually said something to hurt Jacinda so that she would agree to run away with him. Which is total jerk attitude.

I don't know if it is to sway us towards Team Cassian or what, but Jordan portrayed Cassian as such a... Self-sacrificing and protective and sweet and romantic and alpha and possessive male. I love him. I am totally Team Cassian now. I actually was wary when I read all those reviews saying how they have been swayed over to Team Cassian, thinking I would never cross the enemy line over from Team Will, but Will crossed the line for me. He was a total jerk here, and Jacinda had to fight for their relationship.

Sometimes, I enjoy the love triangles and the fight for who loves who in the end, but over here the focus and harping about it was bordering on excessive. And annoying. Jacinda CANNOT make up her mind. And whenever she's with Will or Cassian, she would feel like she's betraying the other. Which she is. But she desnt't have to think about it the WHOLE time, EVERY time she's with one of them.

When she's with Cassian, "no, I shouldn't betray Will. Cause he's the one for me. I know it all the way down to my bone marrows. Even after all that he has sacrificed and fought for, even tho he protected me and pushed away my sister and everyone, and even tho I reciprocate some of the love you've showered upon the undeserving me, Will is the one for me".

When she's with Will, "I kissed Cassian. I am a sinner. You're too good for me, even tho you're acting like a jerk, and you want me to choose you over my family who desperately needs me. But I can't push you away, cause it feels so goddamn comfortable in your arms". It's annoying.

And she wallows a lot in her misery.

Buuuut, I liked the plot and the suspense. I loved the pride. I loved the mystery and the magical feel everytime Jacinda steps out into the forests. I loved the drakis, I loved their forms and colors and when they fly, you soar with them. The way Jordan describes it, you can almost feel the wind on your face and your hair whipping about behind you. Enchanting and captivating.

The stakes are much higher here. More to lose, more to consider, more dilemmas, more conflicted emotions. Jordan came back with ten-folds more drama and epic-ness. It was an amazing ride thru the world of the draki.

I'm giving this a 4.5 rating. Because it mighty well deserves it.

My Rating

(Because I don't have a 4.5 pictureXP)

There's a sneak preview of VANISH provided by Harpercollins. CLICK HERE!