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| Remembrance by Michelle Madow |
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| Aurelia by Anne Osterlu |
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| Vengeance by Michelle Madow |
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| Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor |
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| Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr |
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| Transcend by Christine Fonseca |
Monday, September 24, 2012
Monday Mania--Masquerade
Review: Kindred by Erica Stevens
Genre: Supernatural
What do you do when the one you love is also you worst enemy?
Trapped in a destiny she does not want, Cassie finds herself lost and adrift, until he walks into her life, turning it upside down and awakening her in ways that she never dreamed possible.
Cassie is stunned and devastated to learn that she belongs to a long line of vampire slayers known as The Hunters. A murderous rampage by a group of elder vampires has left the Hunter line decimated and the remaining Hunters scattered around the world. With her friends Chris and Melissa's aid, Cassie struggles to rid the world of the monsters that murdered her parents. Though Cassie knows it is her fate, she chafes against her heritage, and is resentful of the shortened lifespan that has been placed upon her by the circumstances of birth. Struggling to get through every day, Cassie finds herself simply going through the motions of living. That is, until Devon arrives. Tall, dark, and mysterious his arrival turns the school, and Cassie's life, upside down. Fighting against her fierce attraction to him, and the chaos he represents in her carefully ordered days, she is irresistibly drawn to him. Though worried that what she truly is will place Devon in danger, she is unable to fight her feelings for him. He is the one light, and the only source of hope she has in a world that revolves around death and fear. What she does not know is that Devon has some dark secrets of his own, secrets even more frightening and dangerous than hers. Secrets that threaten to tear them apart forever.
Review:
It seems like it has been forever since I've read a good vampire book. Since the whole Twilight craze started, I've been avoiding vampire novels. However, I have to say that Erica Stevens does a great job at describing the soul searing connection between Cassie and Devon. I do wish there had been more interaction between the love birds, but it suits the needs of a YA reader. What I liked most was how despite Cassie's seemingly careless attitude towards her classmate's social hierarchy, once her status falls she feels hurt. There are so many novels out where the heroine doesn't care about what her peers think of her, but Cassie has a realness about her that is very relatable. I was left wanting more development between Cassie and Devon. Hopefully I will read that in the next installation.
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| Rating: 4 out of 5 owls |
Monday, September 17, 2012
Monday Mania--Classics Revamped
Books in order from left to right, top to bottom:
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
These covers were designed by Mikey Burton for his thesis at Kent State.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Review: Destined by Jessie Harrell
Genre: Mythology
When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear.
As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined.
Destined is a fresh and heart-achingly romantic retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth from debut novelist, Jessie Harrell.
Review:
Destined is an original twist on the myth of Cupid and Psyche. In Jessie Harrell's version Aphrodite actually asks Psyche to marry her son. However, after meeting the selfish jerk Psyche refuses. Aphrodite then manipulates the couple, with a "mother knows best" attitude, and the couple falls in love in typical myth fashion.
When I was a young girl of only 8 years old (cue sappy elevator music) I found a beautifully illustrated book about the mysterious and fantastical Greek Pantheon. Greek mythology quickly became an obsession and I studied the characters and stories for years. This love for Greek mythology followed me to college, where I took multiple mythology classes for my English degree. During those classes I realized that while I knew the myths backwards and forwards, the humanistic flaws that plagued the gods, along with the symbolic tie to moral and principles (much like in fairy tales), still appealed to my love for lore. During my student teaching earlier this year, I had the privilege of reading Destined.
Honestly, I was afraid Destined would read like fanfiction, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved Psyche's spunky attitude and Eros was, as expected, a heartbroken swoon-worthy sexy hunk of man-flesh. Jessie Harrell incorporated aspects of the actual myth while adding some spice and sass. It was the perfect book to read on Valentine's Day. I look forward to reading more from Jessie.
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| Rating: 4 out of 5 owls |
Book Trailer:
Book Release: Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
Fathomless was released on 9/04 this month and I can't wait to read it. Jackson Pearce's novels Sisters Red and Sweetly are amazing, so I have high expectations for the third installation in the series.
Synopsis: Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets, and the one with the least valuable power, Anne can see the future, Jane can see the present--therefore essentially read minds--and all Celia can do is see the past.
Lo doesn't know who she is or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea--an undine, a nymph, a mermaid; all terms too pretty for the soulless creature she knows she's becoming. The other ocean girls, her "sisters," tell her there's only one way for her to earn her soul and humanity back--convince a mortal to love her, and steal his.
Lo thinks a soul is within her grasp when she saves a guitarist, Jude, from drowning. When Celia intervenes, she accidentally reads Lo's past, calling out Lo's long-forgotten human name. The two forge a friendship, meeting by the shore to remember Lo's old life, to talk, to share secrets they'd never tell their "real" sisters.
Yet, remembering makes Lo more desperate than ever for a soul--and despite Jude's blossoming romance with Celia, she can't resist longing for his. Straddling the line between humanity and darkness, Lo struggles to find her place on either side, while Celia wonders just what she and her power have unleashed. But the sister you choose can be more powerful than those you're born with--in a fight against Lo's sisters and the waves themselves, Jude and Celia risk their lives to save Lo from her own darkness. But it is a soulless, wanting existence better than none at all?
Read my review here
Jackson Pearce's website
Follow Jackson on twitter
For your Nook
For your KindleMonday, September 10, 2012
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