Wednesday 31 August 2011

book review, marathon (Siren's Storm)


Vengeance is eternal....
(read: 26/Aug)

    Prod dets
Siren’s Storm
Series: book 1
Pub: 2011, Random House
Author: Lisa Papademetriou
Cat: mythology fiction (Greek)
Format: paperback (mid); 206 pp w/ 14 chapters
Age Range: YA

            Synopsis
Nothing has been the same for Will ever since what happened last summer. One day, on an ordinary sailing trip with his brother, there is a strange accident. When Will wakes up, he learns his brother has disappeared, presumed drowned. Worst of all, Will can't remember what happened - his family finds him unconscious, with no memory of the accident.

Now Will and his best friend and neighbour, Gretchen, are starting a new summer. Gretchen seems troubled - her sleepwalking habit is getting worse, and she keeps waking up closer and closer to the water. Will is drawn to Asia, the exotic new girl in town. Nobody knows where she's from - all Will knows is that her beauty and her mesmerizing voice have a powerful effect on people.

Then there is another mysterious drowning, and Will and Gretchen begin to wonder: Is Asia just another beautiful, wealthy summer resident? Or is she something entirely more sinister . . . and inhuman?

      Thoughts
this book surprised me and I think more in the fact that I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did (being it’s a younger YA book) but it was a great book.
    
So it’s many about mermaids and the beginning of series, so it was all about learning what the hell they were, what mermaids and where they came from, why they were there and what they wanted, or who? And honestly if I start going into it I will come out just telling you the book and it’s a thing I hate about reviews so that it.
    
The things I loved the most where the characters, even Kirk who is the towns nutter, and in the real way not the funny way. Will (male lead) who needs to understand so many things, from what the hell happened that night his brother died, to who the hell Asia was. And Gretchen who’s just making it threw the day, honestly the book was great, the history—both with the journal and Asia’s story. they way your understand why things happened the way they did and even the love that blossoming in a way it (well I think) really does happen, a not want to ruin friendship, kinda young love.
    
Honestly, it’s quick and shot and pulls you until the very end, which is complete but makes you want so much more.

Series
[tb], Fury’s Fire
☼☼☼

book review, marathon (a vampire's penance)


He’s the good kind of Vampire. Sort of.
 (read: 1/9/11)

    Prod dets
A Vampire’s Penance
Pub: 2010, MIRA
Author: Jennifer Armintrout
Cat: paranormal romance
Format: paperback (mid); 225 pp w/ 20 chapters
Whose: Graf & Jessa
Age Range: adults

                Synopsis
Buried in the Heartland is a town that no one enters or leaves. Graf McDonald was the first visitor in more than five years... and he was only looking for a party! Unfortunately, Penance, Ohio, is not that place. After having been isolated for so long, its inhabitants don’t take kindly to strangers.

Jessa is the only one who trusts Graf, and she’s desperate for the kind of protection that only a vampire like him can provide. Supplies are low, the locals are stirring for a sacrifice and there’s a monster lurking in the woods. New men are hard to come by in the lonesome town, and this handsome stranger might be Jessa’s only help for salvation. Even if she had to die first...


      Thoughts
First thought: it’s about... wow, a village that’s been stuck in time (they think) for five years until a vamp comes along?
ÔÕÖ×Ø
So this book was slow to start with though it was interesting having the vampire being the clueless one. It’s great. And made up for its start. What also helped was the finish (or just over halfway) it was heart pounding, ranching. Sympathy for Jessa and maybe a little for Graf.
     
I also loved the characters... Graf, the vampire, than man (read to fully understand) he is a great character, a man that was bloodthirsty, and ready to kill anyone, but Jessa. What more could you won’t.
     
And then Jessa, the female like most. Fallen in love with a jackass only to have him marry another. Betrayal, infidelity, lust and ruined reputation, was how we found Jessa. What we discover is the heart that beats in her chest and the hurt that comes from it all. She is the btich we all have in us when you still have our pride and the softness that needs to be loved. She a character that you will either understand, hate and love all at once. While hoping you are that strong.
     
Oh, and God the towns folk. They are awesomely great. And living like that. No wonder they were half crazy.
     
Honestly this book is a welcome surprise. Short and sweet with a bite that will fire you up in too many ways to understand but man the comedown is a beauty. 

Book Review, marathon (Bron at Midnight)


                                         Prod dets
Born at Midnight
Series: Shadow Falls series, book 1
Pub: 2011, St. Martin’s Press
Author: C. C. Hunter
Cat: fiction (supernatural)
Format: paperback (mid); 398 pp w/ 42 chapters
Age Range: YA

            Synopsis
One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens—and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just ‘troubled’. Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifter, witched, and fairies train side by side, learning to harness their powers, control their magic, and live in the normal world.
     
Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks, either. Or does she? They insist Kyloe in one of them and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half Fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear: Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs...

     my Thoughts (review)
First thought in reading the back, after I got it home was, great, did I really just buy this? Yes I did, and it went both ways with me. Yeah I liked how the characters were, all the relationships that were around Kylie. I liked what she found out and even how she did—I even liked that it took her more of the book than not to come to terms with what she is—not that she really did, I think, maybe...?
     
But then again I’m sick of the whole ‘what? Vampires and werewovles are real?’ like really would you? like I get the whole punked thing, the ‘yeah right *strained laugh* come on guys with camera’s you don’t need to hide’, but really, flat out not believing, as if it’s your first time ever knowing what the hell a werewolf is...
     
Not that she really did that. But really what happens is really explained enough in the summary for me to bother telling you. it’s about a chick that goes to camp that’s there to try and train the supernatural into being human like, that’s really it, at least this book and yet there is so much more that it’s actually really interesting, and I think ‘cause Hunter doesn’t really make that big a deal about the creatures about the school, it makes it fill more real and so you can’t let it pass by, let that drain into the background and really focus on Kylie on her story.
     
So I get it , the story, hell I liked it when at first (like the first two chapters) I didn’t think I would and being that I’m a character based person (hence me liking of series) it’s a good read.
     
Like really I liked all the characters and their open vageness, though it was more open, the friendships, I liked her ex, or more so how he made her feeling towards others (yes! She’s not a fallen head over heels for a guy because he looked her way; she pulls back, though she does like them that quickly) honestly to me there’s more pro’s then cons, it ever got me laughing in a few places, but...
     
Nah, I’m going with the likes, and this is one of those books that gets you wonting to know what happens next.

Series
[tb], Awaken at Dawn, Taken at Dusk, Turned at Dark, Whispers at Moonlight,
☼☼☼