Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.
As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed.
And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.
This was a good sequel to THE BODY FINDER. It gave me more of Violet and Jay's relationship, but I felt that at the same time, there was less of the mystery that so thrilled me in TBD. The revealing of the clues regarding Violet's stalker was obvious, given the situation, and I felt frustrated as Violet had to make some hard choices, and this caused a rift between Violet and Jay.
Derting definitely has a style when it comes to writing the thriller aspect, and while this worked on many levels, the surprise wanes once you start anticipating the moves of the antagonist. When the reveal came, I wasn't as interested as I was in Violet and Jay's relationship. DotD's real thriller is there. I would have thought there would be more romance between them, seeing how lovey dovey they both were at the end of TBD, and was surprised to find that the magic had gone by the start of DotD. The thing is, I can see where Derting's going with this. She lays out Violet's thought and Jay's actions so clearly that I could see both their point of views when they had fights.
I'll be reading the next book once it comes out, seeing as how The Body Finder series is more episodic rather than having a series long book arc. This is a great book for those who are looking for a contemporary thriller and romance, and Derting doles out both generously.
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.
Violet was a compelling narrator, bringing us through her growing friendship with Jay as well as trying to keep her powers hidden. Her compassionate nature was evident in the way she tried not to offend her uncle, who had killed in the name of duty.
Jay complemented her so well. He was patient and cautious when she was not. He was such a good person. Reading about him making the moves on Violet made me laugh; she hoped for it yet was in denial about it.
The murder mystery is my favourite part of the book. TBD is a thriller with supernatural aspects that's perfect for curling up in bed and reading. I'll have my blankets to curl up under during the scary scenes. Derting crafts some truly memorable tension-filled scenes that are both scary and entices me to find out more. She was willing to raise the stakes and put Violet in physical danger, and there were some moments when I believed that Violet was not going to make it out alive.
The pacing was just nice, moving slow enough at the start as we got to know Violet and the other characters, then building up to the suspenseful climax.
Check this out if you're looking for something to thrill you with not just the mystery, but a romance which makes you root wholeheartedly for the characters. Wholly recommended.
Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!
She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town. . . and stay hormonally human.
BTiB had so much potential. It could have been hilarious and campy, with some science that would blow my mind away with its simplicity. Instead it seemed like it was trying too hard to be all of that at once, and failed on all accounts.
The characters were roughly drawn at best with the exception of Kate. Jonah was a bit more believable, being Kate's younger brother who tries to protect her, which was endearing. Kate and Jonah's relationship was the saving grace of this book, and what gave it an extra one or two points. Her crush and best friend had some pretty cute moments with Kate, but I honestly can't recall any of them.
Kate, oh Kate. I went along with some of her actions, but at times it crossed over from bad B-list horror movie to bad B-list horror movie spoofs. Her actions were so far from believable that I just- Look, if your friend's finger broke in your hand, you shouldn't keep it to yourself. Both the fact and the finger. The rest of the characters didn't even notice, which makes me laugh now, but I wasn't laughing then.
As for the zombie curse and the cure, the science was not believable, even in a plot-moving way. The pacing was awkward, and the scenes jumped about such that I couldn't remember when they had gotten from the school to home. The resolution was unsurprising, and there were a lot of plot holes.
This book just didn't leave any impact on me, not even emotionally. The best I could say is that it was fun while I read it, and unfortunately once I finished the book, I quickly forgot and moved on.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for being here! We had a Twitter conversation the other day, and you mentioned that you have maybe 9, 10 books coming out in these couple of years. Will you tell me more about them, which series they are from and approximately how many books per series?
Thanks for having me today! Okay. Big gasp. The Covenant Series has four books, and two novellas. I’ll list them in order of publication: Daimon: A prequel to Half-Blood (04/2011), Half-Blood (10/2011), Pure (04/2012), Deity (11/2012) A novella from Aiden’s POV (winter 2012/2013), and the 4th and planned final novel (Spring 2013)
Cursed (09/2012) is a standalone novel at this time.
Obsidian (Lux 1-12/2011), Obsidian 2 (03/2012) and there is a third planned book with no hard release date at this time.
I also have three adults novels, which will release under a pen name that are all slated for release in Summer 2012. There are no definite dates at this time, but Entangled Publishing should have something on their website soon. There is also a YA thriller that I am working on with my agent.
That's a lot of books! How do you juggle writing that many books, that many different main stories with its different story arcs and characters?
The main thing I do is I only write in one “world” at a time. So when I’m writing for the Covenant Series, that is all I am focusing on. I also typically only write one book from one series at a time to keep me from being burned out on the world. I have to be super carefully that the voice from one novel doesn’t carry over to another novel.
How long does it take for you to finish a book, from the basic plot to the completion of the first draft?
It depends on the novel. Half-Blood took me about three months to write, but I’d been thinking of the plot and characters for years before I started actually seriously writing it. Revision on that took over a year, mainly out of self-doubt. Pure took about three months from beginning to draft to finish. Obsidian took 8 days for the first draft. Deity and the adult novels each took around a month to write.
Readers have noted the similarities between HALF-BLOOD and the Vampire Academy series written by Richelle Mead. Do you want to comment on that?
I’ve seen some reviews mentioning this. It’s actually very flattering. Mead is an awesome writer, so you can’t help but feel a bit warm and fuzzy. I even saw in a Daimon review were someone mentioned the Mortal Instruments Series and Percy Jackson. I think whenever there is a super-popular series that has a lot of fans, you tend to see similarities in other series. We call it the “Twilight Phenomenon.”
I’ve haven’t read Percy Jackson (seen the movie, though!) and read VA in November of 2010 after my editor compared Half-Blood to a mix of VA and Percy Jackson. That got me curious, so I wanted to read. I do plan on reading Percy Jackson at some point. Keep in mind, I wrote Half-Blood in early 2008. Publishing runs very slowly in most cases. So it’s very flattering to see those comparisons. My only concern is if people read the Covenant Series hoping it will be just like the VA series, they’ll going to ultimately be disappointed, because it is very, very different once you get passed the first couple of chapters and also when you get to the sequel and going further.
I noticed that the name of main character of OBSIDIAN, Daemon, is similar to the creatures in the Covenant series, Daimon. Though they do sound different, Daemon pronounced Damon, I guess, and Daimon as demon. Why is that?
Haha. See, I’ve always had this fascination with the name Daemon, and originally Aiden’s name was Daemon, but that changed when I named the creatures daimons (which is Greek for demons). So I decided I wanted to use Daemon’s name…when my publisher on the Covenant Series saw Daemon’s name on the Obsidian series, they were like, “Oh, noes…” So it was mostly an accident on my part, but a reader of mine pointed out that a lot of my character names sound the same: Aiden, Daemon, and Hayden. So maybe it’s a subconscious thing.
Your blog has a lot of information for readers to find out more about your writing, books and my favourite, contests to win some special items. You’re also pretty active on Twitter. What are some of your other methods of reaching out to readers?
That’s pretty much it. There’s a facebook fanpage where things are updated on, and a new website coming soon where everything will be streamlined.
What’s next for us readers next year?
Lots of books. =) A really cool contest coming up soon to win a loaded Kindle. In Obsidian, the main character is a book blogger, so she will have her own blog. So that’s pretty cool.
That is cool. I haven't seen a book blogger as a main character yet, and it'll be interesting to see how she's like. And a loaded Kindle as a prize?! Thank you so much for the interview, Jennifer!
Thank you for having me!
Happy release day, HALF-BLOOD! Here's your chance to win some HALF-BLOOD and/or PURE swag (3 winners), and a grand prize of a paperback copy of DAIMON, the HALF-BLOOD prequel, a swag pack (guitar picks included!) and a Spencer Hill Press tote bag full of promo items (1 winner). Details on the Rafflecopter widget. There'll be four winners in total. Open internationally. All the best!
Disclaimer
1. Neither I nor the authors/bloggers/publishers/sponsors involved are liable and responsible for any item lost in the mail. Sadly, these things happen.
2. Winners are given 2 (TWO) days to reply back with their mailing address, or another winner will be contacted.
Series: Book 2 in a trilogy featuring different protagonists
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future.
And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.
This review contains spoilers.
Perkins wrote an excellent romance, one that made my heart ache and shout with joy. I was honestly expecting something of the romance formula used in ANNA, where two people met and fell in love, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that LOLA is about two people who have fallen in love, are in love and have realised it, who have to work and find their way to each other.
The depth of emotions portrayed is just astounding. I could of course feel how Lola felt and what she thought, as she is the narrator. What I noted was that I could clearly know how Cricket felt too, with Perkins creating an effective mix that showed his behaviour so that we could then apply it to with what Cricket told Lola.
I fell a little bit in love with Cricket and Lola being in love with each other. They are perfect for each other, both so attuned to each other's thoughts and feelings. It was almost electric, how much connection they had. The yearning portrayed is just so overwhelming at times that I felt like crying with Lola and Cricket, who are always straining towards each other. At times, it crosses from melancholy to sadness. It's quite a contrast to ANNA, which had an overall joyful tone.
The two main characters from ANNA make a cameo in the form in supporting characters in LOLA, which was neither over the top nor a dismissive mention. There was not a lot of envy on Lola's part as to how great Anna was, and how much she wished she was like Anna. There was also no mooning after Etienne, but more of a friendly bickering relationship. I really appreciated how Lola was her own person and didn't want to be anyone else, which falls in with the theme of self-acceptance portrayed. It was nice to see them having grown from the events in ANNA, and even guiding Lola in her decisions without seeming superior, which I realise some series do when it comes to cameos of previous characters.
Lola, Lola, Lola. How I admire her. Not just her fashion sense and self-acceptance, but her maturity in handling her life and the people around her. She's made some serious mistakes, but she owned up to them and worked hard to redeem herself. I love that she realises that she has to work to earn Cricket's love, and that she doesn't want to be with Cricket until she finds herself again and can give herself fully to him.
Family is an important theme in the book, being there for one another. Lola has to learn to accept her birth mother, as well as "compete" with not just an interested friend or an ex-girlfriend, but a jealous and possessive twin. Cricket slowly learns how to live his own life after years of being a willing and supportive twin.
Okay, I would like to gush about every subtle emotion and moment in the book, and I'm going to stop now. Great romance, my favourite I've read in all time. It's been so long since I read a YA book that's purely romance, and executes it perfectly. I want more, please.
P.S.- Perkins' books have some of the best covers ever. The models here are gorgeous!
By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years.
Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.
When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life.
But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?
Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?
DeStefano has quite the way with words. Every sentence is lyrical, and there's a nostalgic, fantasy feeling to the whole book, as if I'm in a dream experiencing the wonders of Rhine's situation.
It's a double edged sword, because WITHER covers some touchy subjects, prominently polygamy and child brides, and it's not supposed to feel at all dreamy. I have to edit: I felt more horror and disbelief that I felt it was dreamy. The whole story is tucked nicely under the dystopian genre, but that's more of the set-up, which brings us to the main story: Rhine's life as one of Linden's unwilling wives in caged luxury.
So we've got a romance that is beautifully written and believable, the way the characters meet and react to one another. We've also got the beginnings of a love triangle, and perhaps on Linden's behalf, the hopes of a love square. It's all so prettily written, even the gritty parts, that I quite fell in love with the book.
And then I went online and came across some other reviews. Those reviews went deeper and questioned the science and geography, as well as the logic behind the behaviour. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about science or geography, but I had to agree with the logic.
There's a scene where women, or girls really, are taken from their homes and sold to become wives in a household. What results from that is that the desirable ladies become wives, whereas the undesirables are discarded with a quick shot.
The question here was: why kill women, who were in shortage, even if they were considered undesirable by the kidnappers? From then, the questions grew and the whole plot started to unravel. I agreed with them.
Here's where you might say: but you should review it based purely on your own opinion.
And my answer is right there in the ratings. I loved the book despite its faulty science and logic. I went to seek out reviews to see whether others loved the book like I did, and I came across some unfavourable reviews. I can't deny that those reviewers had a point, and having read the reviews, I reassessed how good I thought the book was.
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Ahhh! I loved this book. It's been so long since I've read a book that was purely, in a word, good. Taylor made me laugh, made me cry, made me turn page after page after page unrelentingly. I just couldn't wait to start the next chapter.
You know how good the book is? Every single chapter is like a mini story by itself. There's a start, a climax and an ending, with some threads weaving through, within that connects the previous chapter to the next. TDSB is so intricately plotted, with characters that burst into life in the form of drawings, sketches and colour.
I appreciated how every event's a surprise to me. Some books have this formula of 'SET UP -> HARDSHIP -> SMALL CLIMAX -> FAILURE -> MAJOR HARDSHIP -> MAJOR CLIMAX -> SUCCESS FTW!'. I couldn't predict what was going to happen next in this book, and it made me excited to find out more.
Every sentence, every word, every detail has meaning, and by the time you come to the end of the book, you realise just how many Taylor sneaked into the previous pages. What I thought was whimsical actually means something, not just within the rules of the world, but basic maths. Or science. Alchemy. Whatever you call it. GOSH. I love books that make me laugh and cry in the same sentence, and I love authors who write them.
"Hello," she whispered, happy.
Happy.
"Hello," he returned, like a shared secret.
Taylor made such a simple word, "hello" so powerful, so poignant, so heartbreaking and full that even now, thinking back on what I just read made me tear up a bit. Just a wee bit. And "happy", which from that excerpt makes me feel totally the opposite.
The characters. Karou and her life are a delight to read about. She's accompanied by some pretty interesting characters for a family, and her best friend is in her own words "a violent little thing". She's my dream narrator: one who's wry, humourous and utterly captivating, with so much talent that she might seem like a caricature in lesser hands.
Never repent of your own goodness, child. To stay true in the face of evil is a feat of strength.
Akiva is a great angst-filled dude. Other angsty mandudes should look up to him for inspiration, because he, he has angst for a reason. From his past, to his future, with all his secrets revealed to us readers, Akiva is one yummy, angsty dude. With swords. In fact, I dove into the book without reading the summary, and let me tell you that the summary does not do Akiva, Karou, their love (I had stars and tears in my eyes reading it) or the book justice.
The art. One does not talk about a Taylor book without talking of the art, because while writing is an art by itself, writing about art and making it come alive is art of a higher order. It would have been nice seeing the art, but imagining it was better. Here's one of the trailers for those of you who want to see the drawings come to life, which eeep! More here.
The mythology, world-building. My favourite part ever?! It is so rich, so detailed, with its own myths and legends that counter each other. I can't believe that Taylor created this world. Perhaps she came out from that world into this to write DSB. I don't know. It's entirely feasible.
Talking about feasible: mixing a few genres and making it her own. There are angels, demons, magics, worlds, vampires, ninjas with their slashy swords. It's fantasy at its best.
And let's not just talk about the supernatural elements. DSB is set in Prague. I've never read a book that's set in Prague, nor read a conversation that's happening in Czech, but written in English. I love the culture that is portrayed in the book, that there's a school for art, not just that, but puppetry! The interesting locales, such as the morbid cafe that I'm pretty sure is a real place. It'll probably get loads of visitors now that the book is out, and it's so on my list of places to visit.
Prague's not the only Earthly place featured there. While Taylor created new worlds with its own cities, I appreciate the fact that she highlights other cities, languages and cultures here. It's like a travel book set in a YA fantasy novel.
Can we pretend that airplanes In the night sky Are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now Wish right now Wish right now
I'm making a wish right now: sequel please!
P.S. - Check out the website. There are some gorgeous graphics done by Jim di Bartolo (also illustrator of LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES.) My favourite graphic there is the 'return' card. A wallpaper would be nice, for my mobile too, hint hint!
Written entirely on an iPhone, this quartet of YA novellas by Another Pan and Another Faust author Daniel Nayeri showcases four different genres.
This bold collection of novellas by Another series author Daniel Nayeri features four riveting tales. These modern riffs on classic genres will introduce young adult readers to a broad range of writing styles that explore universally compelling themes such as identity and belonging, betrayal and friendship, love and mortality.
Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense, set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys.
Wood House: This science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls “ReCreation Day.”
Brick House: This detective story set in modern NYC features a squad of “wish police” and a team of unlikely detectives.
Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed here as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one. With humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this hip and cutting-edge collection dazzles.
It's out! To celebrate the release, the good people over at Candlewick have offered a copy of SWBB for a lucky blog reader. Use the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win! Open only to US.
Widget deleted due to closed contest.
Disclaimer
1. Neither I nor the authors/bloggers/publishers/sponsors involved are liable and responsible for any item lost in the mail. Sadly, these things happen.
2. Winners are given 2 (TWO) days to reply back with their mailing address, or another winner will be contacted.
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear.
Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.
Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons.
Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.
POSSESS is not the type of book I usually read, but man, if you love creepy scenes, this is the book for you. I made the mistake of reading this just after reading Maureen Johnson's Name of The Star on the same night. That is not a night I wish to repeat anytime soon. Because geez, I don't think my bedroom light can take it anymore.
The exorcism, or banishment scenes were the worst. Okay, I mean that in a scaredy cat way. They were amazing, well-written, with information dispensed to readers, and the process explained as readers went on a banishment with Bridget. They were also freaking scary, and I kept seeing flashes of The Exorcist in my inner eye while reading. Nightmare fodder, brr.
K, so now that I've gotten my scaredy-catness out of the way, can I just say how great it is to read a character who's of mixed race, and the fact accepted, but neither highlighted nor dismissed in the book? It's just a fact that Bridget is half-Chinese and half-Caucasian. The other characters comment on it once or twice, which made it believable. Those interactions made me laugh, and endeared Bridget and McNeil to me.
I love that there are so many layers to sift through. Bridget has to deal with so many things: her father's murder, school, having an extra-curricular activity, one that she can't talk about. And she deals with them. She's really a well-adjusted kid, and I love reading about how she's balancing her schoolwork, along with her personal life and of course, banishing demons.
The romance was fun to read, the rekindling of flames, unwittingly helped along with an annoying sidekick who's in love with her. Bridget has a pretty diverse group of friends, who may seem stereotypical at first. The ending was epic, if a bit disappointing for me to read through.
This is a great book to read for the character development and creepy scenes. You should check it out.
I like it. It gets to the point. I haven't read the book, and the thing that I noted most is the scratched out words. I thought perhaps it was Juliette imagining the harsh words, but it's more likely that she's replaced them with the positive dialogue so as to keep herself 1) from feeling too lonely, and 2) from giving in to the darkness that will lead to her killing touch.
But that doesn't seem likely, since her touch is said to be fatal, which I'm assuming is all the time, without any triggers. The fact that she crossed out 'gorgeous' and replaced it with 'dangerous' seems more towards point 1, keeping herself from feeling too much.
As we read, she was abandoned by her parents, and the situation in The Reestablishment is not welcoming. It's not hard to be depressed in there, or go insane from the long period of self-isolation in the cube. Juliette's also clearly affected from living there, with her counts and numbers that are keeping her company.
The new boy seems to have shaken the monotony a bit, though whether for good or bad is to be seen.
Here's the synopsis:
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.
Draw a circle... place a dead leaf in the center... sprinkle some salt... recite a little Latin... add a drop of blood...
Maybe that last part isn't exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents' horrific deaths. She's willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood.
The book isn't the only recent arrival in Silla's life. There's Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She's not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick's first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can't deny their attraction. And they can't ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power.
I didn't like this book, and I really wanted to.
The problem was that the message I got completely contradicted the events and conclusion of the story: that blood magic was bad. No matter how Gratton worded it, the characters were fascinated with blood magic, and their actions and inner thoughts showed more of a revulsion with the magic, despite the complete turnaround of mindset they had in the last few pages of the book.
Perhaps the lessons that were taught to Silla and Nick had been ingrained into me through the numerous experiments they did. The effects were shown to be skewed and not long lasting, causing more emotional and physical harm to the user.
I did like how journal entries were alternated with the present events, building up to a climax that was pretty satisfying to read. There was no cop out endings, and the book did start out with loss amongst the two main characters' lives, but they were more for setting up the story. The chemistry between Nick and Silla was adorably awkward to read, if a bit too fast-paced.
They seemed to have an innate understanding of each other's thoughts and motivations in the time they knew each other, which felt odd given that they had only some chemistry, and thus the romance scenes didn't work for me. Furthermore, I was told that those two characters are just a shadow of their previously awesome selves, but I don't see it, given that what is shown is their sadder selves.
For the scenes. They're actually very well written, and had a lot of emotional resonance to accompany the battle in the climax. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling the book by then, so what I did feel was just mild interest. The scenes are graphic, so if you're squeamish about blood, this isn't the book for you.
Daniel Nayeri, one half of the creators of the ANOTHER series, has a new project coming out on October 25 called Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow.
Take a look at the books trailers below, which are really some of the best I've seen. Live action book trailers, mmm. My favourite's WISH POLICE, which is the trailer for BRICK HOUSE, about a detective story set in modern NYC which features a squad of "wish police" and a team of unlikely detectives.
Dude. Wish police. It's freaking awesome, except that it's probably of the evil side, with horrible consequences as you see from the video. And the team of detectives investigating those circumstances. Or perhaps the wish police keep the balance of karma: for every positive (a birthday celebration) comes a negative (the ARROW!). I don't know, there are so many possibilities. You'll probably have to be a lawyer to cover all the loopholes in wish making.
SWBB seems geared more towards the older spectrum of YA readers. It's a collection of four novellas, and while novellas are not really my thing, collections such as LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES have shown me that they can be excellent. I'm super excited for the book, because if it's anything like the ANOTHER series, it's sure to be dark, sly, mysterious and all around unexpected.
Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life.
Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite.
To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger.
Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.
This is a book that has been hyped about for months before its release. I've been seeing copies of it in local bookstores, so I finally decided to take a look and see if it's worth the hype.
It was alright.
I like that there are a lot of red herrings, and for some that I thought would happen, they were revealed slowly. Roth takes the time to explain the reasons behind the revelations through dialogue and scenes that were memorable because of their poignancy. DIVERGENT kept surprising me, and the title made me think that perhaps Tris was going to be of the Divergent tribe, if it was a tribe.
The premise was what it had going for it, but unfortunately I started thinking more about the set-up, questioning it, and it just doesn't make sense to me. Why did they have to segregate the people based on one human quality, and why those four in particular?
The ending of the book let me think that maybe those thoughts that I was having are going to be addressed in future books. That perhaps, the future for the characters are that there not be any more tribes or segregation, that everyone has more than one of the qualities in the book, that with different situations emerges a different quality. While that is hinted at in the book, and both the negative and positive aspects of the qualities, that doesn't seem to be where the series is going.
Overall, interesting. It's well written but I don't think I'll be reading the sequels.
“Could you kill the one you love?"
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.
Let me start off by saying that there are a lot of similarities to Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, the book, not the series. I'm going to highlight some of them, as well as the differences in those similarities.
1) There are pure-bloods, half-bloods, and humans and the warped creatures who hunt on the pures.
There are the pure Hematoi (VA's Moroi), who are highly regarded. There are half-bloods (VA's dhampirs), born from the union of humans and pure-bloods. There are the daimons, which in the VA series are referred to as Strigoi. The daimons are warped versions of the pures, who feast on the aether of the pure and half bloods. They prefer pures to halfs.
He laughed, the sound lacking humor and life. "Maybe if you beg--and I mean, really beg--I'll let your death be a fast one. Frankly, half-bloods don't really do it for me. Pure-bloods on the other hand," he let out a sound of please, "they're like fine dining. Half-bloods? You're more like fast-food."
2) The protagonist comes back after a long absence.
In the VA series, Rose came back against her will, after escaping to protect her best friend. In HALF-BLOOD, Alex came back after being pulled out from school by her mother, for safety reasons.
3) The manner of the homecoming.
They are both... retrieved back to school by a love interest. In VA, it's Dimitri, who is a dhampir like Rose, but for reasons, is unavailable. In HB, it's Aiden, who is a pure-blood. Unions between halfs and pures are discouraged. Really, really discouraged. While Aiden is a Sentinel, which Alex is aspiring to be, this is an unusual happenstance, as those types of jobs are reserved for half-bloods. Dimitri is a Guardian, as Rose will be, but that's the designation for half-bloods.
4) Partner in crime
When they return to school, both Rose and Alex are greeted by their partner in crime. VA: Mason. HB: Caleb. They come back with wits unharmed, quip after quip returned with similar banter.
5) Their looks and identity
Both of them clean up nice. Really nicely. This shouldn't even be a similarity, but since I'm listing them down... They're also troublemakers, with the reputation to go along with it.
6) Training as a matter of punishment seduction
The protagonists are both not up to par to the school's standards, and thus their knight in shining armour offers to train them to keep up with the syllabus. This is because of the potential they have shown in dispatching of some daemons/Strigois without having received proper training.
7) Manner of harm / killing
They can be killed in a small number of ways. There is however, one element that will kill or harm them. VA: Silver, in the form of a stake, blessed with all four elements of the Moroi magic. HB: Titanium.
And that concludes the first three to four chapters or so.
While the similarities are mostly in general, and superficial, they are something to take note of, because there are readers that will dismiss this book purely based on the similarities. I was one of them, and I was dismissing the story despite its potential, until I read on, got sucked in and came out loving this book. The fact that I was reading in spite of the similarities is saying something.
Armentrout has a way of pulling readers in. Her story-telling is perfect. The tension and action just doesn't stop and doesn't lapse for any reason. The pacing is constant, the descriptions suck me in, the banter makes me laugh out loud.
The best parts of the book, that really clinches it for me, are the mythology and the introduction of a character who is an important part of the mythology in the book. I'm not going to reveal details, because I'm hoping that when you read the book, you'll be as shocked and delighted with the events as I was when I read the book. It's pretty lame to give high marks for a review and not go into more detail.
I will say that he is pretty kick-ass, and unfortunately has more chemistry with Alex than Aiden has. I'm rooting for him and Alex, but he'll do pretty well as the main character of a spin-off, if he isn't killed off in this series.
Last word: try it, with or without reservations. Read through the similarities, get outraged, read through the mythology and events of the book, then come back and tell me what you think. I took the risk and it paid off.
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.
Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.
This is my second Maureen Johnson book, and I loved it.
Let's go straight to the best part of the book: the cultural differences between England and the small town that Rory lives in US. Granted, I don't live and have never visited either place or actually, any place described in the book, but TV and other media have enlightened me and thus, allowed me to appreciate the jokes made about each location.
It starts off with a murder committed from the view of a CCTV. While its purpose in the book is to focus on the supernatural aspect, The Name of The Star plays with media's influence on society, and society's reactions to it. There's a history of how the murders affected England, and the worldwide phenomenon it has become. This book wouldn't be here if it wasn't a worldwide phenomenon, and this revelation might affect the universe much like Amy did and then the Doctor will have to save the day, if only Amy remembers him, but he doesn't exist so how can she remember him-
ANYWAY.
The murders that happen in present-day in the course of the books events are prominently featured in all aspects of the media, gaining a wide audience. It's all sort of a perverse facsination with death, and how the public seems to lap it up as it happens. While they were scared, and the fear of the people was palpable when reading (dude, I had to turn on all the lights and cower in the blanket-fort. Writing this review while a thunderstorm rages is kinda freaking me out right now.) their reactions were more suited with a football game. Crowds hang around to find the latest news. Experts were called in. Themed events happened while the murders happened.
It was horrifying.
The only thing that bugged me was the disappearance of Jazza upon the introduction of a another certain character. She did reappear once again, but the relationship between Rory and her didn't have the same connotation as before. It felt like the book was split from Before Revelation and After Revelation.
While it did wonders to the plot and moved the story along, I didn't really understand it. Rory and Jazza are pretty much BFFs by that point in the book, with every minute of their free time spent together. For Rory to just forget her or not inform her of what was going on was odd but understandable in the face of things, andI could buy it. But for Jazza, to buy Rory's odd behaviour, and then to conveniently disappear for a few pages of momentous events? Nah, didn't buy it.
This is a smart book. It's an entertaining read, one that I couldn't put down. I was more intrigued when the during the Before Revelation part, because the After Revelation downplayed and, dare I say it, cheapened the awesomeness of the Before part.
I don't know if the next book in the series will live up to the strong introduction of this book, but I sure hope it does. The dark humour gave me chills and still made me read on. Powerful book. Read it.
When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. What she didn’t know was that the serious, real-life danger would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when she faced off against an ancient terrorist organization dead set on kidnapping her.
Now the danger follows her everywhere and even Cammie “The Chameleon” can’t hide. When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent Cammie no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers—or even her own heart.
In this fourth installment of the New York Times best-selling series, the Gallagher Girls must hack, spy, steal, and lie their way to the truth as they go searching for answers, recognizing that the key to Cammie’s future may lie deep in the past....
The most recent instalment of the Gallagher Girls series is undoubtedly the best book in the series. With the revelations of the past book come to light, Cammie's life has changed for the worse. She's kept under tight security outside of school grounds, and her mother has been called in for questioning.
That's a euphemism by far. Spies and questionings, ouch. :/
This time, it's her friends who have to take care of her. Cammie starts to become reckless and paranoid, and it's heartbreaking to see like this. She's come a long way from the naive schoolgirl whose only adventure was how to gain the attention of the cute boy without getting disdain for being a private school girl.
Along with the revelations come a new addition to the Academy. While he's unpleasant in every aspect, it's refreshing to see a character who doesn't hold the Academy and its occupants in high regards. Of course, this might be taking it to a new extreme: he looks down on the Academy, and the attention that Cammie gets.
I have more thoughts to add regarding Cammie and her actions. Given the climax and events of this book, and their repercussions, I believe that Cammie's been given a pass because of the magnitude of what has happened, and is going to happen to her. Can I call it the Harry Potter case, where Harry is forgiven, or even rewarded for wrong doings, because we all know he's the one who's going to finish Voldemort or die trying.
Similarly, it's going to a dark near future for Cammie. What's different is that she has chosen to take the heavy task alone, and her friends have to chance to step in, intervene and help her. I do believe Cammie will be able to solve all the mysteries concerning the climax of the book, but I can't help foreseeing some casualties, none in her circle of friends though.
Again, Headmistress Morgan and Joe Solomon's romance is one to take note of. I love this pairing. I love how it's written, how HM still loves her husband, but loves JS too. I love that she didn't disregard his memory, and I love that she didn't push JS away because she was still in love with her husband. While this sounds awful, for their sakes, I hope he's dead and stays dead, with no surprise uprisings and more angst.
