Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton

Published: 14th February 2013
By: Simon & Schuster UK
Source: Bought

4.5 stars

After having to put aside two books that just weren't working for me, I knew I needed to pick up something I was sure to love, to get me back into the swing of things. So, I decided on Neverfall, something short and hopefully sweet. And I loved falling back into this world. Cole's POV sucked me right in, being inside his head was awesome. It brought back some memories of Everneath and left me really excited about picking up Everbound.

Having pushed Nikki aside and taken her place in the tunnels, Jack is now trapped in the Everneath, and Nikki vows to do everything in her power to get him back. But Cole hasn't been around for the last two months, and she needs his help to get her there, or at least, some of his DNA, she'll go alone if she has to.

He finally returns, but refuses to help, wanting Nikki for himself. He wants them both to become King and Queen of the Underworld, and without Nikki, he can't usurp the present Queen. So Nikki tackles him, grabs a clump of his hair, and makes her way to the Stop-n-go.

Fantastic! One of my favourite series. I find myself so torn between Jack and Cole though where I usually prefer to have a definite favour. Makes things a little bit easier when it goes my way lol. Though I do like that bad boy vibe that Cole has going on, I still can't help but feel for Jack too.

We don't see too much of Jack as he's trapped in the tunnels but the memories of him that Nikki has to find inside her, to allow her find a tether to him, really minimalised his absence while also letting the reader see into their past relationship, before Cole ever showed up. This was really good.

Cole's character takes a bit of a turn here when he appears to have a change of heart. He agrees to help Nikki find Jack, which was unexpected, but he's also protective and caring towards her on their journey. Which made him all the more endearing for me, but I still had a little niggling voice in the back of my mind which didn't trust him.

The ending of Everbound really knocked me for six. I was definitely shocked and surprised and left really wanting....

I'm not a big fan of novellas, and usually don't bother reading them, and rarely find that it impacts on my enjoyment of the series. But in this case, I would really recommend reading Neverfall before Everbound. I was really glad I did.

Add to Goodreads

Buy: The Book Depository/Amazon

Read more...

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest
Published: 14th December 2012

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Shade of Vampire is a short book, only 147 pages. But I enjoyed each and every one. But it did feel more like an introduction to the series rather than the first book in a series. We're introduced to the world of the blood shade here and I felt that any action and real plot will take place in future books. Not that this wasn't a really good introduction, because it was.

Sofia is walking along the beach when she's approached by a really good looking stranger, and before she knows it, he's injecting something into her neck. When she wakes, she discovers she's on the island of the blood shade. An island that is bewitched to be hidden from the enemy, known as the shadow hunters, and is constantly dark. They keep humans as slaves, for blood and for other uses.

Sofia was taken as a gift, one of five blood slaves, for the prince, Derek Novak whose been asleep for 400 years but now needs to be awoken as the blood shade is in danger. But Lucas wants her for himself. He is cruel and evil and it appears he'll stop at nothing to get her.

Derek seems to take a special liking to Sofia, and I felt that, in a kind of stockholm syndrome way, Sofia is unafraid and finds herself returning his feelings. While this didn't feel like insta love, it still felt like it happened too quickly. From the Sofia we meet at first, her actions with Derek appear out of character to me. This wasn't quite enough to turn me off though.

A Shade of Vampire was a cute, short read and while not perfect, still really enjoyable and a series I look forward to continuing on with.

Add to Goodreads

Buy: Amazon/The Book Depository

Read more...

Hidden (Avena #1) by Marianne Curley

Hidden by Marianne Curley
Published: 14th March 2013
By: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Source: Publisher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While I've been feeling quite fed up with angel books lately, when I was offered this one for review, my interest was piqued. It's a different take on angel lore. There's no God or Devil, or Heaven or hell. But a King of Angels and a Dark Prince who reside in different realms. The concept of how the Dark Prince came to be is pretty similar, with the Dark Prince creating an army and waging war against The Angel King. There's a realm where the angels reside, a realm where mortal souls go after they die and The Dark Prince's realm. But the treaty that ended the war, allows the Dark Prince to wander the earth and collect souls.

Ebony knows she's different. She's faster, stronger and has better senses than any of her friends. She's never sick and when she gets hurt, she heals really quickly. She's had an extremely sheltered upbringing, even having never left the valley where she was born. At age 16, she's really had enough of this, which causes a lot of arguments between herself and her mother. One night, after she's sneaked out to a club, events occur which cause her to confront her parents once and for all when she gets home to find them waiting for her.

I found this book to be well written with really enjoyable characters. It's written from the POV of Ebony and Jordan, and I instantly liked them both. They are both really different people, with very different upbringings but they are brought together by events that are unbelievable to both of them.

Thane and the angels were great secondary characters. While we spend very little time with some of them, I still found it easy to like and build interest in them. There isn't much romantic interlude here, but what little there is, I did enjoy. And there's an action packed battle that had my heart pounding in my chest.

In my opinion, Hidden was a fast paced page turner that I didn't want to put down.

Add to Goodreads

Buy: Amazon/The Book Depository

Read more...

The Collector by Victoria Scott

The Collector by Victoria Scott
Published: 25th March 2013
By: Entangled Teen
Source: Netgalley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was highly anticipating meeting Dante Walker. We've been hearing about him for a while now and I thought he sounded like an awesome, swoonworthy character. I felt he might resemble Patch from the Hush Hush series, with his bad boy attitude that I would love. But this wasn't what Dante was. I found him to be rude and ignorant moreso than bad boy. He was actually more good! Almost straight away he's looking out for and trying to help Charlie. And for anything bad that he does do, he's riddled with guilt. This didn't quite fit the guy that I thought I was going to be reading about.

I didn't build up much feeling towards Charlie, the girl whose soul Dante is supposed to take, either. When they first met she came across as being very immature and childlike. It annoyed me how she never questioned Dante, just trusted him, this complete stranger who just arrived at her door one morning, in everything he said. The whole book takes place in less than ten days and yet we have the 'L' word being thrown around. This annoys me no end.

Annabelle, Charlie's unlikely, in my opinion, friend is probably the most likeable character in the book, the little we know of her. Annabelle, nor their other friend Blue, who are fairly significant, are not very well fleshed out. I couldn't say the plot thrilled me too much either. The romance, if you could call it that, was boring and stank of insta love. And I felt a lot was vague and unanswered.

One thing that really bugged me about this book was how many times Charlie's 'ugliness' came up. Complete strangers commenting on it?? Does this happen? Are people really this shallow? I understand a lot of the plot was based on how she looked, but come on. Really?

Anyway, I feel there is little else I can say about this book. As one of my most highly anticipated reads for this year, to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. Do I need to state the fact that I won't be continuing with this series?

Add to Goodreads

Buy: The Book Depository/Amazon

Read more...

The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3) by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter
Published: 26th February 2013
By: Harlequin Teen
Source: Netgalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spoilers for previous books

I read the first two books in this series last year, and I really enjoyed them. Unlike some readers, who couldn't take to Henry, I did, and I was really rooting for him and Kate as a couple.

The ending of Goddess Interrupted, which ends on a cliffhanger when we find out that Kate is pregnant and being betrayed to Cronus and Calliope by Ava, who she thought was her best friend, left me reeling and I was really looking forward to picking up The Goddess Inheritance.

Kate is being held prisoner on the island where the original six have Cronus trapped. Henry or her mother don't know anything has happened to her, or about her pregnancy, as Ava's been telling them that they're still in Africa where Kate and Ava where supposed to be heading to locate Rhea, also a Titan and mother of Henry, and maybe their only hope to stop Cronus.

Kate is in her ninth month of pregnancy when Ava finally goes and confesses to Henry about what happened to Kate, and he immediately goes to her rescue. But Calliope, goddess of marriage and fertility, who made Kate get pregnant, now makes her go into labour early, and takes the baby. Cronus tells Kate he'll make sure the baby is safe if she'll stay with him and become his queen for eternity when he takes over the world, as he plans to escape the island at the winter solstice, if not, he'll kill the humans and the gods and destroy the world. Kate leaves with Henry, and Cronus begins the war by wiping out Athens.

Henry and Kate have had their fair share of relationship problems in previous books but I was always behind them. In this book, I felt they were a much more united front, and Henry's love for Kate is undeniable, having been doubted before.

James in prominent in this book too. He helps Kate out a lot, and together they both do what they can to help in the war, as the rest of the gods feel Kate is not strong enough yet to participate in battle. There's no love triangle, Kate only has eyes, and love, for Henry, though James does tell her he wants to be her first affair :)

This book ended, almost, perfectly for me. We do suffer a loss, and that was my only negative, but still, I could see why it was necessary.

There's a hint given at the end of this book that this may not be the end of the Goddess Test series. I would of course, give any more books a go, but hopefully they'd be good. Not just more books for the sake of prolonging the series unnecessarily, which in my opinion, rarely works.

Add to Goodreads

Buy: The Book Depository/Amazon

Read more...

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
Publication Date: 3rd May 2013
By: Harlequin UK
Source: Publisher for review

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed The Immortal Rules, with Kanin winning a place in my heart. After what we seen happen to him then, I was anxiously awaiting the release of The Eternity Cure and looked forward to journeying with Allie to find and save him. What I didn't expect was to finish this book with a new favourite character, Jackal, who really made this book for me.

The book opens with Allie, alone, and following the blood tie she has to Kanin as he's her sire. She's been dreaming of him and the torture that he's being put through at the hands of Sarren, the psycho vamp. She won't give up until she finds him, she wouldn't be where she is now without him. He saved her life when she was attacked by rabids, and then thought her how to live as a vampire. But I found this wandering tedious and boring, making the first 100 pages or so of this book, not quite as enjoyable as I was expecting, or as the rest of the book, thankfully, turned out to be. Once Allie meets up with Jackal I was hooked.

We first met Jackal in The Immortal Rules where he was cruel and vicious. He has an army of human followers, but he is on a mission to find a cure for the red lung disease, and then plans to turn them into a vampire army. I hated him with passion then. But in The Eternity Cure, while he is still cruel and vicious, still searching for the cure, still planning his army, and kills humans without any concious thought, we also see another side to him. He is sarcastic and witty and adds a lot of humour to this book.

Kanin is much the same in this book as he was in The Immortal Rules and still as likable. After all he's been through over the past few months, he doesn't show signs of it having had a lasting impact on him, he's stoic and calm, and seems to hold his head quite well in dire situations.

Foolishly, I wasn't expecting to see Zeke return in this book, he was in Eden, and I expected him to stay there. I liked Zeke even more in this book than in the first one. He's a tougher, stronger, harder Zeke. Where I kind of felt he was a little too 'good' previously, he didn't seem to have that same persona here. He's still good, and extremely caring for everyone, but tough and less of a doormat here. He's out for revenge and we see that past events have definitely taken a toll on poor Zeke. I feel more pity towards him now, funnily enough, than after he lost his father and friends at the hands of Jackal.

A large majority of this book is spent travelling, a lot of which is through the sewers. Again, Kagawa's world building is faultless. And, I have to commend her recapping, I don't have the best memory and often find myself quite lost going into sequels, but not here. It was quite easy to pick up where I'd left off with The Immortal Rules.

Julie left me in shock with the ending. And with no information yet on the third book, I just hope we're not going to be left hanging too long.

Add to Goodreads

Pre-order: The Book Depository/Amazon

Read more...

Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway Naturals (The Chosen Ones #2) by Tiffany Truitt

Naturals by Tiffany Truitt
Published: 2nd April 2013
By: Entangled Teen
Source: Publishers for blog tour

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Naturals is the second book in Tiffany Truitt's The Lost Souls series. In book one, The Chosen Ones, we see Tess sentenced to death by the Council after she discovered she can reproduce. She is rescued by Robert, Henry and James, with the help of some naturals from an isolation camp in the midlands. In a world where natural humans are dying out, one who can reproduce is extremely important. But James can't go all the way, he has to go back to Templeton and Tess fears she'll never see him again.

Travelling through the midlands to the camp in dangerous and they are attacked a couple of times along the way by Abnorms, like Chosen Ones, but not made with the same care. When they reach the isolationist camp they aren't treated very well by the naturals there. They all hate Chosen Ones and look down on Tess for having a relationship with one, and Henry by association. But eventually, things get a bit better and Tess finds a brilliant friend in Lockwood. Until James arrives and saves Tess's life, leaving Tess having to fight for his.

Throughout the book, Tess constantly plans to go back for her sister, and only remaining family, Louisa. Eventually, her hand is forced when a threat comes from George, a violent Chosen One that we met in book one, that he has Louisa, and is willing to make a trade.

This book was just as good as The Chosen Ones and I really enjoyed it. There's some new characters introduced, McNair who is tough and serious, Eric, who is like McNairs right hand man and also a tough guy, they are both nice to Tess and try to help her. My favourite character is Lockwood, he is awesome, funny and sarcastic, apparently thought to be weak within the community but when it comes to Tess, he wasn't afraid to stand up for her and do what needed to be done.

Tess's character really grows in this book and she learns to stand up against authority for what she believes in. I wasn't overfond of Henry in the first book and I can't say I warmed towards him much in this book either. But he wants to be with Tess and will try to keep her safe any way he can. I loved James just as much in this one, and he showed just how much he really loves Tess.

The ending was surprising and completely unexpected. While this book didn't have much by way of action, it was still really interesting to see how things work in the isolation camps and what kind of people are there. I feel the next book is where it will all come to an end, as George plans to bring down the Council. I can't wait!!

Add to Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

As part of the tour, the publishers are giving away 3 paperback copies of Naturals. 
If the rafflectopter giveaway doesn't show, please click the link to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

About Tiffany Truitt: Tiffany Truitt was born in Peoria, Illinois. A self-proclaimed Navy brat, Tiffany spent most of her childhood living in Virginia, but don’t call her a Southerner. She also spent a few years living in Cuba. Since her time on the island of one McDonalds and Banana Rats (don’t ask), she has been obsessed with traveling. Tiffany recently added China to her list of travels (hello inspiration for a new book).

Besides traveling, Tiffany has always been an avid reader. Tiffany spent most of her high school and college career as a literary snob. She refused to read anything considered “low brow” or outside the “classics.”

Tiffany began teaching middle school in 2006. Her students introduced her to the wide, wonderful world of Young Adult literature. Today, Tiffany embraces popular Young Adult literature and uses it in her classroom. Tiffany is proud to call herself an educator and Young Adult author.

Read more...

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. You know the rules: grab your current read, open to a random page and share a two sentence teaser with us (no spoilers!). Be sure to tell us about the book, so we can add it to our TBR list!

This weeks teaser comes from The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter. I just finished this one last night and I loved it! It's the last book in the series and I thought it ended really well. 

"It will be, sooner than we both dare hope for. I have waited an eternity for this love. I'm not going to let anyone, Titan or not, take it away from us" 

Add to Goodreads

Read more...

Stacking the Shelves #28

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, (and filling our kindle) sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process! Hosted by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews

It's been about a month since I did a STS post, so I have quite a number of books to share with you today. You can click on the book title for more information.

Bought:

   

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Undone by Elizabeth Norris

The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

For Review:

   

Naturals (The Lost Souls #2)  by Tiffany Truitt

The Pirate'sWish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Ink (Paper Gods #1) by Amanda Sun

The Collector by Victoria Scott

   

Prophecy Girl by Cecily White

Shadowed (Fated #3) by Sarah Alderson

Breathless  by Brigid Kemmerer

Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer

  

Runes  by Ednah Walters

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

The Vampire's Reflection by Shayne Leighton

Gifted:

 

Dead of Night (Hunters of the Dark #4) and Dark Genesis by Dave Ferraro

I'm really excited, I have so many great books :)

Leave me a link to your STS so I can stop by and see your goodies.

Read more...

Shadowed (Fated #3) by Sarah Alderson

Shadowed by Sarah Alderson
Published: 1st April 2013
By: Self Published
Source: Copy from the Author for review

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 1 AND 2

Shadowed, is the third and final series in the Fated series. And was I happy with it's conclusion? Well, mostly.

Shadowed begins a few weeks from when Severed ends. The portal is closed, but Lucas and Cyrus are dead. With both of these having been such awesome characters, part of me wondered where Sarah was going to go from here, how could she justify what she did, and another part of me had my suspicions of what may happen and I was hoping I was right.

Evie, is back in her hometown, lost and broken hearted, and suffering the stares and whispers of the locals, wondering what's going on with her. She looks like a junkie, having lost weight and with bags under her eyes but the locals can't decide if she's a drug addict or just upset at being dumped by Lucas. She can't tell anyone what happened, not even her mum, as she can't reveal that other world that she's part of.

She wants revenge! And hopes that with the death of Victor, she can heal a little bit of herself. So, she plans to hunt him down and kill him. But the decision is taken out of her hands, when Ash and Vero, two of the rogue hunters, show up at her home with the news that more originals came through before the portal closed and the death toll is now rising out of control in LA, with the creation of many new thirsters. They need Victor's help, so she can't kill him, yet!

Just like in Sarah's Lila series, this series has some fantastic secondary characters. The rogue hunters Ash and Vero, Lucas' sister Flic and her boyfriend Jamieson, the unhumans, and even Victor, who you will love to hate. With the law of the unhumans not revealing themselves being flouted, our hunters find themselves being hunted, and with only a few of them left, it will be to extinction. But obviously this means, we are treated to a lot of fast paced, nerve wracking action.

However, the love triangle was more apparent in this one and it wasn't one that I could easily solve. Both guys had stole my heart, and it was so hard choosing a favourite, but I did, and after some nail biting moments, things went my way in the end.

Also, the ending is left quite open, with some important details not being tied up. I definitely feel that we could have done with an epilogue for this one.

Update: I've spoken with Sarah about the ending and she has hinted that she may revisit this world in the future. I feel it's a place she really needs to go if she want's to keep Fated fans happy. But, she also tied up one of my concerns about a favourite character of mine. I'm sure most of you who've read this know who I'm talking about, and all is well with him.

Add to Goodreads

                                       Purchase links: Amazon UK/Amazon US

Read more...

Blog Tour: Shadowed (Fated #3) by Sarah Alderson

Published: 31st March 2013
By: Amazon

Blurb:
Fate has won. The realms have been severed...but the fight’s still far from over.

It’s been three months since the devastating battle that closed the way through between this world and the demon realms but Evie’s still reeling from all she's lost.

When news reaches her that a group of Originals is on the prowl in LA and growing in numbers, Evie must decide whether to join the rogue Hunters in a final battle or fight her fate one last time.

The way through might be closed. But that doesn’t mean Evie’s got closure.

Excerpt: (contains spoilers for previous books)

‘Why are you still here?’ Evie asked, rounding suddenly on Jocelyn. ‘I don’t need protecting anymore. There’s no reason for you to stay in Riverview.’ Jocelyn seemed taken aback by the question. She took  a while to compose herself, staring at ther hands, which were now clasped in her lap. ‘You’re still my responsibility,’ she finally answered, looking up. Evie rolled her eyes. ‘Oh please.’ ‘Your parents…..’ Jocelyn began. ‘Again, oh please,’ Evie shouted, cutting her off. ‘You betrayed them.  Don’t you dare talk about them.’ ‘I didn’t betray them,’ Jocelyn burst out, anger sparking like flint and flaming across her face. Evie grimaced. ‘Well, why didn’t you stop Victor from killing them then? You said they were your friends.’ Jocelyn took a deep breath. ‘Evie, you of all people should know that we can’t always protect the people we love. That sometimes despite our best efforts, we fail.’

Evie’s legs actually went from under her. One moment she’d been standing in front of Jocelyn and the next she was sitting on the sofa, staring at her knees, the room spinning wildly.  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Jocelyn said, pulling a blanket from off the back of the sofa and draping it over Evie’s shoulders.  ‘If you knew what Victor had done,’ Evie whispered, gripping hold of the sofa arm, ‘how could you let him take me when I was a baby, how could you let him come back and train me to be a Hunter?’

Jocelyn drew back. ‘Evie, please,’ she said. ‘I asked you once to try to understand. I’m asking you again. I was barely twenty-two. I’d seen what Victor was capable of. I was terrified of him.’ ‘And you also wanted the way through closed,’Evie reminded her. Jocelyn shrugged, her chin lifting. ‘Yes. I’m not going to lie. I wanted the way through to close. We all did! The realms needed to be severed – unhumans don’t belong in this realm. But believe me when I say I had no idea that it would involve you getting hurt. If I had known about the prophecy – if I had understood what it meant – I would never have let Victor near you, I swear.’

‘You let him get away though. When Lucas and I left him tied up in his store, you let him escape.’ ‘No,’ Jocelyn interrupted. ‘He was gone by the time I got there. I had to take care of Risper’s body before it could be found.’ Evie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the image that arose of Risper lying in bloodied, scattered pieces across the alley. It didn’t make a jot of difference though. She could see it with her eyes open and with them shut.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jocelyn finally said. ‘I’m sorry for my part. For making you believe that the White Light was you. I thought it was true. And I’m sorry about Lucas – I know what he meant to you. And I know…’ Evie shot Jocelyn a look so fierce that she fell instantly silent. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Jocelyn finally worked up the courage to speak again. ‘I know’, she said, ‘that he loved you and that he wanted this.’ ‘Oh really?’ Evie shouted, leaping up from the sofa, unsteady on her feet. ‘He wanted this, did he? He wanted to be dead?’

Jocelyn winced as if Evie had kicked her. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘But he wanted you to live. And he was prepared to die for that.’ Evie’s shoulders  collapsed. Her vision blurred and she whipped around so that Jocelyn wouldn’t see the tears that were threatening to spill. For an instant, it was as if she could feel Lucas’s fingers biting into the flesh of her arms, holding her tight, trying to shake some strength back into her. She shuddered away the thought. He’d promised her that everything was going to be OK – that he wasn’t going to die. He’d lied. And now she was alone. She ground her teeth. There was no point dwelling on what happened. She couldn’t bring her parents back. But she could get revenge for their deaths. 

Evie squared her shoulders and blinked away the tears. Then she turned back to Jocelyn. This was why she’d come to see her after all.

Check back on Wednesday for my review :)

Purchase links: Amazon UK/Amazon US

Author links: Goodreads/Facebook/Twitter

Read more...