Friday, August 30, 2013

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

3.5 stars
(sequel to Throne of Glass)



Well to just get it over with, this book cover...
Sure it matches, the paperback of Throne of Glass, but urgh! Serious dissatisfaction, this is not now I imagined Celaena at all!

Now for my opinion on the book. At first, I was honestly shocked. 
I wasn't sure how to handle the cheesiness. In simpler terms, sometimes I felt like I was reading a book just kind of trudging through the events. Then at other times the style was more fluent and I was able to fall into character forgetting that I was in fact, reading.

For at least the good beginning portion of the book, we pretty much just dawdle in the puddles of drama that consist of Celaena, Dorian, and Chaol. 
Chaol and Celaena get closer, while Dorian just gets more and more jealous, quote:
"Damn him for caring. Damn him for every moment spent with her."



Gag.

It was there that I honestly, had to put my tablet down for a bit and just not...touch it. Not that I minded the romance, I had expected it, enjoyed it even at parts, and in my opinion, it might play some important role for the future books. But it just seemed to be the main event for the first half, and I know I ordered a YA fiction not a romance novel.

I was also starting to get frustrated with Celaena, you'd think she would realize how important is to get in the game, considering her experiences in the previous book. Instead she closes her eyes, covers her ears, and just ignores everything around her to the point where Nehemia pretty much calls her on the carpet for being a coward.




The book improves once some serious shit goes down.
Celaena realizes she can't play blind forever, and that she has a role than just being an assassin. 
We actually start to progress with the story!

Things like what is Celaena's greater purpose? What is Celaena's super secret dark past? (Which I totally called by the way, except for one part...)
What does the deceased fae Queen expect Celaena to do in order to save this Kingdom? How much power does the King actually have?
Dorian also gets some surprises of his own in the book that I don't dare spoil! 

I was able to take the book much more seriously afterwards, making it more enjoyable.

The ending is such a cliffhanger, I am hoping for some serious action in Book 3! So pull through the first half, so you can get to the action! And follow my review for Heir of Fire!







Friday, August 23, 2013

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

oooh pretty :3
3.5 stars


Now I found that there is some little novellas before and in between the series of this book, you don't HAVE to read them, but I found that at least the first four give more rounding to Celaena as a character, compared to just reading this book alone.



To start off in high praises, Celaena is the perfect girl power model. She is the best assassin known in their country, she doesn't take shit from anyone, and she is defiant, strong, clever, and sometimes wise. Depending on the situation. But in basics, girl's got street smarts.

What bothered me about her omnipotent epicness was that for a good portion of the beginning, that's all we hear about. How Celaena could easily kill that man with two moves, she could splatter that man against a wall, and how she was fast enough to do this and that...it finally eased up when more characters were introduced and more action came into play and then I breathed a sigh of relief from all the self praising.


In honesty, I have such mixed feelings for this book. 
It was good, and it could've been better. The action was fantastic, the mystery of finding out who was killing the Champions was intense considering whoever was committing the crime was mangling their bodies, and the characters were really interesting for the most part. 
Nehemia, who you'll meet not too much later in the book, was such a serious bad ass she was one of my favorites in this book. I adored and loved her. The perfect friend to Celaena's intense personality. I didn't care much for Kaltain as an evil character not because she was evil, but she was so...typical.
She was gorgeous, she wanted Dorian more than anything, and she had the generic bad attitude and snottiness as most antagonists in stories.  
In short, she bored me.

The writing was a bit cheesy at times, too. For example, the dialogue between Dorian and Celaena, or her actions in general around him. 
Another example, when she is trying to figure out how to play pool, and she just could not for the life of her, do it right. And she starts throwing a tantrum and biting the cue stick. Really? Really? I mean this is world's top assassin who can throw daggers, hit the ultimate point in a target from extreme distances, can fight with almost any weapon, but she can't play pool. Not to mention she's biting the cue stick like a rabid dog, and then this highly immature moment is attempted to be played off humorously by the entrance of Dorian looking "oh-so-dreamy," and then him saying he should get a picture painted of that moment.
Ahahaha...no...it's not funny. Sorry. 




Now that I've mentioned Dorian, we must come to the dreadful love triangle. 


So all readers immediately know that this love triangle will be Dorian, the typical handsome, blue eyed, womanizer (Did I mention he's a Prince?! Omg. *flails hands*) and Chaol the strict,  also handsome in a soldier way, Captain of the Guard, vying for her attention. Everything just seemed so wrong...Dorian seemed to be chasing after Celaena's heels like she was a dog in heat, lusting after her then discovering that he had feelings because she was different.
*eyeroll*

 
 Dorian could have any girl he wanted, Lord knows they practically threw themselves at his feet and offered to be his human red carpet to walk on, and yet he had to have the one girl he knew Big Bad Daddy wouldn't let him have. And it was only with her that he felt he could be a man, that he could be King. Pfft.





I was rooting for Chaol for the whole entire book. He seemed to be the lesser of two evils since Chaol was the wiser more cautious and mature one. His connection with her was yes, a little insta-romance, but it felt more natural since it grew into trust and a bond of  mutual understanding. 

Celaena's little heart fluttering moments seemed far more sincere and deep for Chaol than for Dorian since usually it was because Dorian was so handsome, he said something naughty, or the physical closeness of him was just too much! 



When her heart fluttered for Chaol it was because he smiled, or she saw something warm and comforting in his eyes, or she realized she could trust him and depend on him. He got up every morning to train her, and he took care of her.

Despite my frustrations, I still flew through this book in a day because the action was intense, it was interesting to see Celaena compete, and there was some interesting ghosts and magic! I'm hoping the sequel surpasses the first, but we'll see. :) 

See my review of Crown of Midnight here!


The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon


5 stars



To be honest, I was skeptical about this book at first. We get this huge info dump in the beginning of the book that we have to try and sort through to the point of re-reading a couple of times to try and grasp the concept. But that's what I'm here for; sarcasm and summarizing. 

(Plus there's a glossary in the back. Wish I'd known that before.)


Welcome to New Age London, run by a government, Scion, that hates clairvoyants.
Year 20-something or other. Meet main character, Paige, who is a clairvoyant of a more rare class: dream walking. She can project her spirit and did I mention she works in the crime syndicate?


 But hey, who can blame her, I mean the government is pretty much a giant asshole. Think "Watchmen" here, people.
When some unfortunate circumstances come into play, Paige learns a more dangerous trick with her power, and a guard ends up dead, the other insane. Paige gets caught, and knows it's the end for her, the government has killed for less after all. 

Imagine her surprise when she finds herself taken to a hidden city where clairvoyants are hidden right under everybody's noses. Everybody's but Scion who plays a hand in this project. The city is run by creatures who aren't human called Rephaim. 
I wasn't a 100% sure what these guys were exactly, but all we know for sure is that they come from the aether; a place where spirits go for peace and clairvoyants draw their power.

The only reason Scion is working with them is because of these nasty creatures called Emim who hunger for human flesh. Due to these monstrosities Scion needs the Rephaim, thus helping form the reluctant pact between alien and human. 

Now you're thinking, what is so bad about a place that caters to clairvoyants? They get to escape from a society that hates them, to a place where their talents are rewarded.
 Except that Rephaim treat humans and clairvoyants that are useless like slaves, dogs. They beat and starve them, use them for entertainment, for personal slavery, feed from the 'voyant's auras, train most of them to be soldiers to fight the Emim and capture more clairvoyants. Rephaim can also take clairvoyants under their wing, and become their "Keeper's." 
All around assholery 'round these parts.



Just wait until you meet the Queen of these winners, Nashira. This woman is all out poison, and the more you read about her in this book the more you despise her.


We also get to meet Arcturus. 
Yummy!
 
 Also known as the Warden. Dark, sexy, mysterious, and yes, different, from the other cruel Rephs.
(You'll come to find that the words "special" and "different" in a book describing a love interest are serious taboo for me.)
He changes this story, and helps Paige. He takes her under his wing, becomes her Keeper and trains her to help master her unique gift.  He has quite the history and Paige is out for freedom, for a revolution and she plans to escape or die trying.
 Intriguing, yes?

Now a lot of people are calling this story unique and original, that Shannon is the next J.K. Rowling, and that there is a possibility of seven books.
I wouldn't say this story is original, but it's very entertaining, a great read! One for my personal shelves. Exciting suspense once you stick through the beginning, but I don't see a necessity for seven books. (Dear God, please, no.) Just seems highly unnecessary.

The next book's release does not have a date yet! Also, if you'd like give me a shout out on your opinion of the book, feel free. :)

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand

This review will include the entire series.
5 stars



 A truly unique angel series.
 I usually avoid the cliched themes if I can help it, I'm sure you've all noticed when there's a theme in the book business. Vampires, werewolves, mermaids, you get the gist.
I was drawn in however, when I saw promising reviews on this angel series! Yes, it has a love triangle, and yes it's about a young teenage girl trying to fit in.

But it exceeded the usual crap by starting out immediately with Clara, our main character,  
receiving a vision.
From the reaction her mother takes of immediately picking her family up and moving to another state in accordance with this vision, we know these things are pretty damn important. There is also different types of angels. You have your quarter bloods, half bloods, and triple bloods which are more rare, and of course your full blood angels whose appearances come and go on Earth.

You also have your good and bad angels.
Which are defined by the color of their wings, since their wings represent their soul. So naturally, evil angels are called "dark wings." 
 Intriguing little concept that was thrown in there!
The whole story revolves around Clara moving from California to Wyoming with her mother and brother, in order to complete her vision and meet the boy in them.
We find out later that this boy is Christian, local popular boy but we also get to meet Tucker, our hometown cowboy; meet our love triangle. It was definitely one of those rare good love triangles, but for the first book the love triangle doesn't get competitive just yet.


As Clara tries to adjust to a more simple lifestyle with new people, she of course pines and pursues her vision boy, Christian. All the while, trying to be a good angel, and live a somewhat normal life. When Clara reaches a low point in her romantic pursuits, Tucker is there to pick up the pieces which leads to a budding romance that nobody can honestly dislike.
What makes the romance wonderful and difficult for readers is that for once, both boys are crush-worthy gentlemen!  
 The book is definitely has its action points, for example, a stand off with Clara and a dark wing! The ending of the book definitely hints at future romantic tension, people. Prepare yourself.



Don't you just love matching covers?
5 stars


What a follow up!
Usually sequels are outrageous disappointments, that "slow book" in the middle to lead up to the final book and it's (possible) excitement.
Cynthia Hand said NAY.
I found myself engaged in an exciting rising action book, that made me cry bitter tears into the pages. Bitter not because I was frustrated, but because this book was genuinely sad.







To start off, I can see why this book was named Hallowed since "hallowed ground" plays an important and often used appearance in this book. Clara's complicated life has taken a definite turn for more drama, as it has now peaked with a moody brother, new angel related worries, and Christian determined to put himself into Clara's life
and Tucker trying to make sure he stays out of it.

We find out more about Clara's secretive mother,  and are introduced to a  
ton of new angel bloods!
We also get to FINALLY meet Clara's mysterious father and what we find out is wow, mind blowing.
 Samjeeza, the dark wing who was causing a lot of trouble for Clara and family, keeps pestering and causing problems more than ever in this book, but this time we find out a little more about his history and how it ties into Clara's future and how he was was an important part of her mother's past.



5 stars

I've got to applaud Cynthia Hand for writing a smooth flowing story that never slows, is well paced, developed, and keeps readers engaged.
 Each book is fascinating, 
I was never bored. I especially appreciate how she developed her characters in this series so you can feel how they've matured since Unearthly and Hallowed. The way she ties angels and religions together appeases readers, and the importance of family is beautifully displayed, a concept lost on a lot of books from the YA genre in this day and age. This really is a must read series.

A flaw in the book though was that I felt honestly torn when it came to Clara choosing between Tucker and Christian. I found Tucker to be a great romantic interest, in the first book especially since I felt Christian had a lot of maturing to do. By the second book, I found myself torn. By the third book I truly felt that it should be Christian. He makes a lot of sacrifices for Clara in the third book, and they have an amazing connection as fellow angels, two of only nine triple blood angels on Earth! 
There was even a great opening in the book where Clara could have truly chosen between the two but instead it took us for a twist, and I found myself disappointed feeling that the book had copped out when it came to choosing the permanent love interest. 

Despite my disappointment, this book was the best out of the entire series! It really had meaning and feeling!

Friday, August 9, 2013

The Curse Worker Series by Holly Black


This review will include the entire series.

5 stars

This cover alone made me interested, it screamed sexy bad boy and his angst filled story. Usually not something that interests me but this time I wanted it.

This series truly intrigued me, a unique take on the fantasy side of the literature, Holly Black charms readers with the idea of "curse workers." People born with powers that are activated by touch, something once prized in others, now considered a threat, a fear for everyone. People are forced to wear gloves in public 24/7, and using your abilities is now considered a crime. Which makes Cassel and his family criminals; usually working as mob bosses or con artists. 
The catch is Cassel is the only one in his family who isn't gifted, which makes him somewhat of an outsider. 
He does have a deep dark secret; that he killed his best friend and love, Lila.
Things start to get interesting when Cassel realizes his family is keeping a secret from him, he has to go deeper in order to find out more.
The idea of "curse workers" was really creative. You have your luck workers, memory workers, emotion workers, death workers, and the rarest of all, transformation workers. Cassel's family is so messed up, that at times I wondered why he hadn't run away. But as jumbled as they are, you can't help but read avidly as the story unfolds.


4 stars

Of all the painful yet enchanting sequels! Gah.

Imagine loving someone for oh say, forever. And you have the chance to have that love reciprocated! Except you don't know if it's even true.
Welcome to Cassel's world.

We've have a heap ton of tid bits revealed to us from the first book for example, Cassel never killed Lila, she is in fact alive! Cassel is actually a transformation worker, and his brothers have known for awhile! In fact, they have been using him for his powers and erasing his memory. Just when everything seems to be working out in Cassel's favor his mom decides to do a thoughtful deed, and emotion work Lila to love him. 
Ouch.
So here we are, struggling with Lila's new re-entrance into Cassel's life and his new grasp on his powers plus his budding romance with Lila which he feels entirely unsure about. Plus Cassel gets entangled with the mob and the feds, plus the other events of his life make the book seem like a constant whirlwind.
I have to give Holly Black serious kudos for her con work in the books so far. This book has an even better con than the first, and they're always so clever and creative! I was so frustrated with the ending and Cassel's decision when it came to Lila and their messed up relationship.

The feels.




5 stars


The third book cover that never was.
  It was supposed to match the first two, and then suddenly, they decided to revamp the covers to attract more readers. I had to buy a book with a cover I didn't want. I wanted to yell at them saying, "Don't I get any say in this?!" Anyway, onto the review.

Black Heart is a damn good ending to a Noire themed trilogy with magic, crime, and good old fashioned style. 
While there wasn't as much crime work in this final book, the con itself was epicly amazing. Probably the best yet. One of the disappointments I had was the diamond. Supposedly, it belonged to Lila's father, and was swiped off of him by Cassel's mother which led to some drama in the book since he is holding her prisoner in a hotel until he gets it back.
There was even more tension for Cassel as he is torn between his usual life of crime and his love for Lila, and his chance to turn a new leaf and help the feds. Yet he feels torn between the two, as though the feds might be using him for their dirty work as well...


Despite all the frustrations, we get a deeply satisfying ending.  
Cassel achieves "the big score." The one con every crook wants to make, because criminals are never satisfied. You'll have to see for yourself!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab


This cover is simply gorgeous.
4 stars

I'm pretty sure this is Schwab's debut book, and I loved it!
A story told in a different time, where women's rights were pretty much non-existent, and men were jerks all the time, magic was considered witchcraft, even evil.
 Lexi is a strong willed girl in a small town, she loves her sister and mother will all her might, and doesn't seem to fear witches as much as other townfolk do. They even have a an old story of the old Near Witch, she calls to you on the wind, but you must never answer. Then things start to get interesting, when Lexi meets a young boy who seems to disappear on the wind. 

 Magic!
Children in the town start to disappear,
 and Lexi fears the worst and knows she must investigate before her sister is next.
Such a good book, appropriately creepy and spooky! I adored the love story behind the action and mystery. You'll fangirl over Lexi and Cole too once you see them together!  The characters are well defined, you do have some of your typical cookie cutter types, and the development was intriguing! Truly a fun read!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

I really liked this one.
5 stars


A lot of love and hate went out for this book, I personally put myself on the side of the fandom. 

Mary Lindsey made a stunning debut, with this captivating book cover and a story of ghosts some up to no good, others roaming about the earth with unfinished business. Then you've got Speakers and Protectors. Speakers are the people who can be possessed by the ghosts in order to communicate and help satisfy and complete unfinished business the ghost has. Protectors do what their title indicates, and feel an emotional connection with their Speakers. They also try and help out with the spirits by also communicating and guiding them. The bad thing is not all spirits are good, and you have your dangerous ones dubbed "malevolents."
Usually there is a reincarnation cycle for these speakers and protectors, so usually once you're partnered up, it's for life, after life, after life...ect.
Lenzi thinks she's a normal young gal with her boyfriend, who in my opinion was a flaw in this book. He had some serious issues. She's normal alright, except she can hear ghosts and it's freaking her out, until she meets Alden who promises he can help her.
I found the story to be engaging and fascinating. 
It was a new take on the whole spirit communication process, not to mention I was dying for some serious make out action with Lenzi and Alden this entire book. Plenty of action and chaos to keep me intrigued, and the ending was good though I'll admit it left me wanting more and in a frustrated way. 

Lucky for me, and all the other fans, Mary Lindsey has announced a sister book!
 da-da-da-daaaah!
Different characters, but I was told that Alden and Lenzi would be making an appearance! Yaaay. 
 Follow my review for Fragile Spirits

 

Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent

This review will include the entire series.
 4 stars
 
I started this series back when Borders was still open out here! It's been a long time coming but I've got to say I love this series.
 It had it's ups and downs, but I found myself enchanted with Kaylee, and her strong will. A 7 book series that will genuinely toy with your inner feels.
 
This series is about "bean sidhes" also commonly known as banshees. A whole new take is given to these screamers, as our story unfolds with Kaylee, unsure of who she is, what her powers consist of, and feeling pretty alone in this big world. She was put into an insane asylum at one point, her father has left her in the care of her Uncle, and she and her cousin do not get along. Especially since the cousin, Sophie, is kind of a bitch, but she doesn't know her father or Kaylee is a bean sidhe so it's kind of like the elephant in the room.

One fateful evening, Kaylee runs into Nash, hottie, popular guy at school, ect. She sees the familiar signs of death approaching and freaks out at a club and runs outside. He approaches her, and she finds out Nash is a bean sidhe, and he wants to help her. It's through this connection that we get to meet Tod, Nash's dead brother who is now a reaper, and Harmony their bean sidhe mother.
The story begins to unfold, as girls begin to fall dead for no reason around Kaylee and after her best friend Emma almost dies, she's determined to find out what's going on. If you want to know more, you'll have to read the book. 


I found this series to be unique, funny, a little dramatic at times, but not all that bad. It's especially interesting because a female bean sidhe can sing for people's souls, and to a male bean sidhe this unearthly screaming sounds like a beautiful symphony, not to mention male bean sidhes can use their powers to guide the soul and also manipulate people.
 Did I also mention they can read each other's emotions through their eyes?
It's quite enchanting.




4 stars



We pick up where we left off in a whole new story with a new villain.
I was worried since it was the sequel, but it was really good. Avari is a proper villain, a hellion of greed, and we get to know Tod more in this book than we did in the first. In this book we encounter greed at it's finest: girl's selling their souls to Avari for fame and fortune.
But the story gets complicated and emotional when it's Tod's ex Addison and her younger sister Regan, who at any moment, will have to pay the piper. Kaylee puts herself at serious risk by crossing into the Netherworld, another nifty power of the female bean sidhe, in order to help these sisters unseal the deal. She has to make a new deal in order to get their soul's back since they run on Demon's Breath, Avari's to be more exact. Things get sad though at the end, when it doesn't exactly go as smoothly as planned, and Kaylee nearly loses her life in the process.



3 stars


Things get intense, when Avari strikes again!  
His breath is being passed around in balloons like deadly party favors, and it's killing humans.
Kaylee once again jumps into the rescue to help save Sophie and Emma's boyfriends before Avari claims two more souls. An interesting twist were the twins, the lampades. You'll find out more about them in the book. We also pick up a new friend near the end of the book.  
So why such a low rating?
Well, the plot was good, it's just sad because we lose a few people, and one gets sent to an asylum because he went crazy from all the demon's breath. It's when we find out Nash is using, and his payment is the emotional feeling he gets from memories.
Memories of him and Kaylee. The bitter thing about it is he accidentally got addicted from their adventures in the last book. What's even worse is Nash let Avari possess Kaylee in order to converse with him. Very dramatic, very scum baggy. I gotta say it really lowered my liking for Nash.



 2 stars


Ugh....How do I even start?
This book was so dramatic and annoying that I honestly had to keep putting it down to give myself breaks. Probably my least favorite book in the Soul Screamer series.

Nash is trying to get off Demon's Breath, and his relationship with Kaylee is currently in the gray area. Tod is hanging around with the group more, and Kaylee is trying to recover from all the heaping drama in the previous book. And then lo and behold satan's mistress enters: Nash's ex girlfriend Sabine. And she's set on having Nash back since they didn't really "officially" break up. Did I mention she's a mara, or a "Nightmare" who feeds off people's nightmares and helps produce them? Which just makes her all the more a nuisance.
I hated her in this book. Her presence was constant torture, especially since she wasn't entirely helpful in Avari's newest onslaught of evil bidding. Except now he's got two different demons working for him: the demon of vanity and the other envy.
While we know shit is going down, we don't truly get action until the very end. But I will say I was excited to see some romantic conflict arising: Tod seems to be mighty interested in Kaylee!




What a comeback! And the crowd goes wild!
5 stars


Rachel Vincent really made up for screwing us over in books 3 and 4, yes I know it was necessary for plot buildup, by heaping on the romance! 
 The sad thing is Kaylee finds out she's at death's door; for real this time.
And the reaper set to claim her soul is the asshole who took her mother's. So he of course tortures her day in and day out, without anybody but Tod knowing. Let alone, Kaylee's school has a new math teacher and he's an incubus, desperate for an heir. But apparently, making an incubus baby can be quite deadly for human girls.

Kaylee as usual, rises to the occasion, and everybody tries to team up to help. Meanwhile, Tod is trying to tell Kaylee why she shouldn't be with Nash anymore, while Kaylee is determined to lose her virginity before her mortal time ends. Basically all conflicting ideas, but everything changes when Tod proves himself to be freakin' awesome! Kaylee certainly thinks so too since she kisses him!


I'm of course thrilled, since I was a fan of Tod...point being things begin to progress in a very different direction!


4 stars

Honestly, I was really nervous for this book, since If I Die was amazing!  
To my delight, I was not disappointed.

The story is taken into a new perspective, as Kaylee is now dead, er... undead, and is learning to cope with it. The subject of her being dead, plays a heavy hand in this book. It was understandable how hard it was to come to terms with the fact that living life like she used to, really doesn't matter anymore, and the only thing she cares about is Tod who makes her feel alive with the fact that he loves her and her heart beats for him. Heavy duty Tod and Kaylee fans will love the entire book if they were looking for some action.

The only downfall to Kaylee and Tod's relationship is how it suddenly becomes heavily dependent. Kaylee was saying constantly how she needed Tod to live and to feel and after awhile it gets a tad old...

Besides this one downfall, it was interesting to read how Kaylee is now the Soul Police and takes care of souls that shouldn't be reaped or just saves them from being stolen in general. It especially escalated once Avari stepped into the picture and begins wearing dead people's appearances in order to emotionally torture Kaylee. 


We are introduced to a new character, who is in fact, a necromancer! We definitely lose some of our beloved characters...but the ending leaves wanting for more since it's leading up to it's last book.



 5 stars

So I have a lot of mixed feelings for this book, but all in all it deserves every star. 

 Our adventure continues with a lot of adjusting, the hellions raising...well hell, and Kaylee and crew fighting reigning terror. Rachel Vincent introduces a new concept in this final book about soul mates which was intriguing in my opinion, and we also got to meet Ira the hellion of wrath. He was quite the character and definitely my favorite hellion if I had to choose, not just because he plays a sort of anti hero in this book. But because although he can be creepy as shit, he's got this rocker flair.

The book was fast paced, I honestly don't think events extended beyond a week for our characters but it was the thrilling conclusion to a seven book battle between good and evil, so I can imagine it being pretty fast paced. Kaylee's final deceptive plan was extremely clever and I admired for it but it definitely left the ending bittersweet. Kaylee makes a big plan/deal with Ira that requires a great sacrifice on her behalf. I felt like it was bittersweet, so I found it a little hard to deal with.

All in all, I had been nervous with how Rachel Vincent would conclude her series considering she kind of backed herself up against the wall with such indestructible villains, but I was not disappointed! We get the happy ending that Tod and Kaylee deserve although some part of me longed for an epilogue for the romantic couple, but I am still satisfied, I am a little sad to say goodbye but Vincent has given me a series to cherish that I have enjoyed over the years so no regrets.

I look forward to Rachel Vincent's newest creation, set to be published in 2015, Anathema! Check it out guys!


Thursday, August 1, 2013

Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

This book was a nightmare!
2 stars (I was tempted for one!)
   
A young adult witchcraft book that tries too hard to be adult, in my opinion.
Stacey is a "woe is me" character, whose friends suck. With friends like these, her enemies in the book don't seem so bad anymore! One of them humiliates her in front of her crush out of jealousy. Wow. Not to mention, Stacey's oh-so-wet-dream worthy love interest, was completely unmemorable. So forgettable in fact, that I can't remember his name! Chad? Chase? Conrad? I immediately placed who the villain was and found myself wanting to scream at how dim witted the characters were. I mean this guy screamed creepy!
Ugh...stupidity hurts.
I'll give the book kudos for accuracy in their flower language, and the fact that someone actually dies in this book! 
These, ladies and gentlemen, were it's only good points.

Now. The whole story revolved around a stalker, and the fact that Stacey was having prophetic nightmares. Nightmares that made her wet her bed, but not out of fear! No, no, just because during the dream she had this strong urge to piss herself and couldn't seem to wake herself out of the dream in order to use the toilet like a grown up. Weird and weirder. So we try to grasp the fact that Stacey is trying to hide her bed wetting for nearly the entire book.

To sum it up, this book was blah.
Blah, blah, blah. So blah, I'm not even going to bother reading the other 3 books or the damn graphic novel.

Fullmetal Alchemist 1-27 by Hiromu Arakawa



5 stars
One of the first manga series I purchased. *sniff*
 A truly brilliant series, that is creative, funny, and spunky.

FMA, is one of my all time favorite manga series, that I own personally. All 27 volumes! Now if you're confusing this manga for a sad tale with lots of death, you're thinking of the anime, Fullmetal Alchemist, and need to watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood,
 that one follows the manga more accurately than it's predecessor.

Two brothers set out on a journey to right their wrongs. During an
 illegal alchemy experiment gone wrong, Edward Elric loses his arm and leg, and Alphonse loses his entire body, and is tied to a suit of armor by a rune done in blood. Edward becomes a dog of the military in order to get the research funds and information he needs in order to help Alphonse and himself get their original bodies back.

Along the way we run into many interesting characters, some offering friendship, memories, and a hand to help you up when you fall. We also eventually get a more detailed back glimpse into the boy's back story in volume 6 and possibly 7.
The villains are quite villainous, powerful, and intriguing and make for a powerful dark side to this series. If you haven't picked up this one yet, get to it cuz  
you're missing out on a really good mind blowing journey!