REVIEW: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Title: The ETERNITY CURE (Blood of Eden # 2)

Author: Julia Kagawa

Pages: 446

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: 30 April 2013

ISBN: 0373210698

Rating: *4 stars*

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally. Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.

The ETERNITY CURE is not for the light-hearted, that’s for sure. My heart stopped so many times while reading this it is a wonder I never got dizzy. Allie is a kick-butt heroine who does a lot of self-discovery in this book. Despite her being a vampire and attacking humans for blood the way any other legitimate vampire would I always felt like Allie always had her humanity intact. Allie took Kanin’s words to heart about choosing what type of monster she wanted to become.

What I had problems with…

The beginning of The Eternity Cure is slow. Like, brain dead slow. At one point I was even tempted to skip ahead, that’s how frustrated I was. But gosh, I am SO happy, I didn't stop reading there because the second half of the book was so brilliantly woven , fast-paced, and darn amazing that it completely made up for the beginning. So if you’re reading this book and you’re wondering why nothing is going anywhere – keep going! Trust me when I say it gets so much better and you’ll be finishing the rest of it in a sitting like I did.

What I loved…

Allie’s relationship with Zeke warmed my heart. Sometimes I wish certain parts of the book were written in Zeke’s POV instead because I often wonder what’s going on in his head. Jackel lightened the mood of the story and though his comments were often crass and demeaning I found myself agreeing with him when he actually had something sane to say. I love his sister-brother relationship with Allie and am curious to see how that develops in the next book.

AHHHHH the ending…

My mind = blown. That’s all I have to say about it. That and I need to read the next book as soon as humanely possible so I could figure out what the heck is going on. ><

Overall thoughts…

Put together action-packed fighting, psychotic vampires, a crazy virus on the loose, delicious plot twists and you get the heart-pounding sequel. Fans of The Immortal Rules do not want to miss The ETERNITY CURE.

On a side note:

I think the cover model for Allie looks pretty amazing! So glad they changed the cover! 

Goodreads [click here]

Amazon [click here]

The Book Depository [click here]

REVIEW: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

REVIEW: "Renegade" by J.A Souders

Title: R E N E G A D E (The Elysium Chronicles #1)

Author: J.A Souders

Pages: 364

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release Date: November 13, 2012

ISBN: 0765332450

Rating: *4 Stars*

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law. But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded...

Guys, this book blew my mind away...seriously

From the beautiful utopian underwater setting of Elysium, to the deliciously sweet romance, the got-to-love-them characters, and the heart-pounding escape—what’s not to love about RENEGADE? It is rare that I find a book that is able to keep me so entertained and invested in the story. Guys, seriously, don’t let the cover fool you—Renegade is not just a gorgeous cover. It has a beautiful, action-packed, kick-butt storyline to match.

Utopias, claustrophobia, and brainwashing, oh my!

Reading Renegade gave me my first real case of readers-claustrophobia. While Evelyn didn’t seem to mind her underwater utopian home of Elysium I constantly kept getting the chills thinking what life would be like if I never got to see real sunlight again. The setting and world-building is what did it for this book. The technology, the way the society works, and the explanation of how the heck a society of people can survive underwater was pretty darn fascinating. I loved Evelyn’s character, especially toward the end as she began to get back some of her old memories and she became this awesome kick-butt heroine as opposed to the fragile meek brain-washed girl we meet in the first few chapters of the book.

REVIEW: "Renegade" by J.A Souders

REVIEW: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

Title: A Midsummer’s Nightmare

Author: Kody Keplinger

Pages: 304

Publisher: Poppy

Release Date: June 5, 2012

ISBN: 0316084220

Rating: *4 stars*

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things...
(click here to read full summary)

 

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Why Kody’s writing makes my inside hurt (in a good way)...

Upon hearing that Kody Keplinger was publishing another novel I was jumping with excitement and eagerly anticipating its release. What I love about Kody’s writing is how raw it is. How the characters emotions quickly become your own. How she doesn’t shy away from touchy subjects and writes in such detail that once you’re in you’re not coming back out, at least not for a long while. In one sitting I finished this book, completely engrossed and immediately after craving the release of the next book by Kody Keplinger. 

REVIEW: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: Auracle by Gina Rosati

Title: AURACLE 

Author: Gina Rosati
Pages: 304

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Release Date: August 7^th 2012

ISBN: 1596437103

Rating: *4 stars*

16 year old Anna Rogan has a secret she's only shared with her best friend, Rei; she can astrally project out of her body, allowing her spirit to explore the world and the far reaches of the universe. When there's a fatal accident and her classmate Taylor takes over Anna's body, what was an exhilarating distraction from her repressive home life threatens to become a permanent state...

(click here to read full summary)

 AMAZON | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY

Not Just A Pretty Cover...

In the past year I have been beyond frustrated with the Bad-Book-Amazing-Cover trend. A lot of these books have made it into my Did Not Finish (DNF) pile because I could not get through them at all. In spite of my initial feelings that Auracle might turn out to be another BBAC, Auracle manages to do its beautiful cover more than enough justice and more.

REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: Auracle by Gina Rosati

REVIEW: Immortal Hearts by Ellen Schreiber

Title: IMMORTAL HEARTS

by Ellen Schreiber

 

Pages: 260

Publisher: Katherine Tegan

Release Date: May 15^th, 2012

ISBN: 0062070088
Rating: *4 stars*
Buy: [ B&N | Amazon | Depository ]

Athena "Stormy" Sterling is coming to Dullsville, and Raven is both excited and panicked in anticipation of Alexander's little sister's visit. Alexander tells Raven that she and his sister have a lot in common, but can the mini-Raven be everything she hopes for? Alexander calls her Stormy for a reason...
(click here to read the full summary) 

To be perfectly honest…

The Vampire Kisses novels aren’t the best of books. They don’t have the best quality of writing, especially in the department of showing vs. telling. The dialogue is cheesy—the whole book is really. BUT, despite all this—I love it to death. This is the only book I can read for pure enjoyment without caring about how cheesy it is. It reads almost like a middle grade novel even though it’s YA so it’s easy for me not to take it the cheesiness too seriously.

 Why have I followed this series for years till this very last 9^th installment?

Because once upon a time in middle school I picked up this book and lost myself completely in its pages. It’s a quick read and Raven and Alexander were unapologetically dark, quirky, and different. I couldn’t get enough of them. The town called Dullsville was a place where being anything other than normal was almost taboo. Raven stood out like a sore thumb with her unconventional clothing and obsession with vampires. Then Alexander Sterling moves into Dullsville and completely shakes her world. I somehow expected to fall out of love with this series as I grew older and the time spans between the novels release dates grew wider apart (way longer than usual), but I never did. Reading Immortal Hearts is like jumping back into my middle grader mind for awhile and reminiscing about a time where books turned from instruments of torture to something wonderful and exciting, and a much needed escape from the real world. That is my reason for loving this series despite its many fault, and why I continue to love it. I am so sad to see this series come to an end.

What went wrong, and what went right.

Immortal Hearts didn’t have the momentum of previous books. Conflict in Immortal Hearts only lasted for a chapter (barely) before it was resolved. At times I felt like the author just gave up and decided to make all the bad characters good and let everyone have their happy ending just to get it over with; which is pretty much how the story went. A lot of the plot are candy bar scenes with mini surprises every once in awhile that weren’t really surprises. Despite how predictable the whole thing was I’m extremely glad I finally got to see the happily-ever-after of Alexander and Raven.

New York bestselling author, Ellen Schreiber wrote her first novel after reading a young adult novel on a plane ride to Los Angeles. First published in Europe, her books were then published by HarperCollins. Schreiber has been busy writing ever since—the Vampire Kisses series, Blood Relatives manga, Teenage Mermaid, and Comedy Girl .

Find Ellen on: http://www.ellenschreiber.com/

REVIEW: Immortal Hearts by Ellen Schreiber

REVIEW: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Title: Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Dystopian
Pages: 525
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
ISBN: 0373210515
Buy Links: B&N | Amazon | The Book Depository

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Why I loved Divergent...

I think it’s best to start off this review with some of my thoughts on Divergent. Refreshingly different. Downright exhilarating. It was the most memorable novel I read that year amongst the hundred or so books I was also reading at the time. Reading Insurgent brought back my ardent feelings for Divergent but left me feeling a somewhat…dry in the aftermath. I realize that this is a sophomore novel and that most of the time they end up becoming filler spaces for the third book, but I was not expecting it to happen with Divergent. I guess I was expecting a little bit more…? That lack of that extra “something” is my reason for this being a 4 star.

Girl power at it's finest = Trice

Trice is the same firecracker she was in the first book. An impulsive risk-taker with her adrenaline where her brain should be half of the time. I enjoyed every bit of her risk-taking moments even though they were discouraged in the book. I know Trice is not supposed to be too impulsive, but after awhile I got tired of seeing female protagonists in YA novels being left out of fights for their protection. It’s way too common and I’m sick of it. If there’s an important battle/fight going on Trice is in it. I’m glad I do not have to read through some angst-filled monologue of how the protagonist wishes she was strong enough to go. Good for you Trice!

REVIEW: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Review: DESTINED by Aprilynne Pike

D E S T I N E D 
Author: Aprilynne Pike

Publisher: Harper Teen

Pages: 320

Release Date: May 1^st 2012

Source: Publisher

Where to buy: Amazon | The Book Depository

Laurel now knows the truth: Yuki is a rare Winter faerie, the most powerful—and deadly—of all, and she is working with Klea to conquer and destroy Avalon. With Tamani, David, and Chelsea by her side, Laurel prepares for a fight she never thought she would have to face.

Filled with heart-pounding action, sweeping romance, and higher stakes at every turn, Destined is the series conclusion that readers have been clamoring for—with a twist that will leave them breathless.

I thought I’d start off this review by saying that I loved the three previous books WINGS, SPELLS, and ILLUSIONS because of how well all three managed to pull off 3^rd POV while still focusing on the characters enough so that you never felt distanced from them.  Although I felt like a lot of the things that happened in the book were slightly predictable, DESTINED was a great end to a series I loved and I’m so sad to see it end.

Tamani. Gosh, I loved Tamani. His thoughts and personality light up the pages of the book. His situation with Laurel picks up right where ILLUSIONS left off. And let me say, those two are absolutely adorable together. David wasn’t as present in this book until more toward the end, but he played a huge role in saving Avalon and I enjoyed the parts of the book where he finally got his shining moment.

I do really wish that this book ended with a bigger bang rather than the way it did. There were a few poignant instances in which DESTINED pulls a Deathly Hollows over on us, but I felt like I knew it was going to happen way before I was supposed to.  I loved that we all finally get to learn all about the evil villainous Klea in this book. She’s a cold hearted murderer and I have absolutely no sympathy for what happened to her. At all. I was actually kind of shocked by how reluctant they were to do away with her after all the horrible things that she did throughout the course of the book.  

As a fair warning if you want a truly happy ending then don’t read the epilogue.  But if you’re more into the bittersweet type endings (like me) you’ll read on and find out what happens to all the characters. I’ve been following this series for years, and now that it’s the last book it’s like saying goodbye to an old friend. I highly recommend this last installment to all those who loved the WINGS series.

 / 5 stars

It's great, but not as AMAZING as I thought it would be.

Review: DESTINED by Aprilynne Pike

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter REVIEW

 

By: Aimee Carter

Release Date: March 27, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: Publisher

Add to Goodreads: Link 
Pre-order Goddess Interrupted

Kate Winters has won immortality.

But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. . .

I'm not going to lie--for the majority of the time I was reading this book I was angry. Really angry. Not angry as in I didn't like it, but angry as in "How could [insert character] do that to [insert character]?" But if a book managed to make me feel so angry that I wanted to rip a character's head off then that's because I was involved in it enough to do so. Which means despite all the things that happened in Goddess Intterrupted and how predictable some of the plot was, I was really engaged in this book.

Why was I so angry? Henry is infuriating.

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter REVIEW