Series

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington (Embrace Series)

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Series / Young Adult by

Summary

“It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

On her 17th birthday, everything will change for Violet Eden. The boy she loves will betray her. Her enemy will save her. She will have to decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, EMBRACE is a compelling novel of good and evil, seductive desires and impossible choices. A centuries old war between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity chooses a new fighter. It’s a battle Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. If angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden.

LINCOLN: He’s been Violet’s one anchor, her running partner and kickboxing trainer. Only he never told her he’s Grigori—part human, part angel—and that he was training her for an ancient battle between Angels and Exiles.

PHOENIX: No one knows where his loyalties lie, yet he’s the only one there to pick up the pieces and protect her after Lincoln’s lies. In a world of dark and light, he is all shades of gray.

Two sides: Angel or Exile.
Two guys: Lincoln or Phoenix.
The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity…”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I have to say, I think that this is my new favorite series now. I have been reading a lot of angel and demon literature recently and absolutely love it and so I saw this sitting on the shelf in B&N the other day and just had to pick it up. The cover was what got me initially because the color of it stood out from the rest and so it sparked me to pick it up. Reading the back made it sound interesting as well. I always love a good romance and fight between the two boys for one girl (I mean what lucky girl wouldn’t?)

And I have to say, I really love this book. It had EVERYTHING that I was looking for. Action, romance, love, desire, troubles and great character development. You really saw the main character, Violet, develop through the entire story and face troubles and have to conquer her own problems.

You then had her good friend, Lincoln, who was her trusty friend and loved her but had lied to her, thus breaking the trust and hurting Violet severely. Linc was still there for her but Violet couldn’t trust him anymore. That was when Phoenix stepped in.

He was a rock to stand with and she trusted him. The only problem, he’s was an angel. Doesn’t really matter whether he was an angel of light or dark, but he had powers. He tried to manipulate her from day one and in the beginning she knew that, but as time passed it seemed like he was backing off with the powers and that it really was love. Oh, the poor naive girl.

You also had some other great characters. Griffin who was the mentor and you just loved and thought was awesome. He reminded me of Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (anyone out there a fan….or even remember that TV show?).You also had a woman, Magda, who I just wanted to smack a few times. She was kind of obnoxious but you didn’t get to know much about her which I was happy about.

Then there was also the romance.

O.O

Just wow. I mean Phoenix loved her and he really did seem to, but manipulated her slightly (sometimes a lot). Lincoln absolutely loved her as well and showed it and did everything that he could to stop Phoenix from being with her and in the end, was right (but won’t say how hehe).

There was also a nice fight between Lincoln and Violet when she got to let out some pent-up anger, and then an epic fight in the end between the good and dark (won’t say who :P).

The fight scenes were put together quite well, but maybe a little more detail would have been good. I understand that it really is quite hard to write a good fight scene (believe me, I’ve tried and it takes practice), but the good thing about leaving it a little vague was that you got to use your imagination. But god forbid, the younger generation now a days can’t do that. I love using my imagination which is why I love to write so I didn’t mind it at all, but I know others won’t find it as easy.

There was some romance in it that was more than what younger readers should know about. Sex was mentioned, but it was very vague. So for that reason I recommend this book for 16 and up. And I don’t think that language was an issue, if I remember correctly. Just some using the Lord’s name in vain….but I mean it did fit the situation and events.

But I have to say, overall, I just absolutely LOVED the book and am totally in love with this author. I had never come across her works but I saw this book next to one of her newer ones and I just had to buy the first two books (just starting the second one now). I really never buy series books just because my library usually has then, but I am so glad that I did buy them. It was a good choice on my part.

So please do go and check out this book as it was amazing and I am sure that you will love it. It is fast paced, exciting, and a page turned. I finished it in a day and it is a 369 paged book. So proud of myself. 😛

I am also really happy that angel/demon books seem to be making a come back and seem to be doing well. They are always interesting to read and fun to write as well (yup……….I have no life). But they aren’t too religious so you don’t have to worry about those issues. This book talked about God but the protagonist didn’t even believe in God in the beginning and never went to church. So you can write books about angel’s, heaven, and hell and not have to make it religious. But I am sure that many people will love this book.

Read and enjoy. Happy Reading!

Tiger’s Destiny by Colleen Houck

 in Book Reviews / Books / Series by

Summary

“With three of the goddess Durga’s quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger’s curse. But the trio’s greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga’s final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

It’s a race against time–and the evil sorcerer Lokesh–in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling Tiger’s Curse series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tigers’ true destinies once and for all.”
– From Amazon.com
Review
alslkjdflijwlelflja! (excited jumble)
I cannot believe that I had not reviewed this yet. I mean it came out September of last year and I did get the ARC of it so I had it in like July or something. My lame excuse is that I was told not to review it until the book came out, and then the ARC did not have the last chapters (darn you Colleen Houck for the suspense) so I had to get the new copy to do a good review, then I started school and….well I will be simple and blunt…I forgot! Yup, I forget a lot of things and my mom calls me a bobble head😄.
But being home sick and not doing ANYTHING made me bring out some interesting books and series and that included the Tiger’s series. I decided to pick up the last one as I had only read it once and read through it again, and boy did it bring back some great memories of the series. Then reading a little further, it hit me that I had never done a review of it. So here it is and yes, it will be another glowing review.
Well this is the second to last book of the series, as she has said that there will be a fifth book. Reading this, I did not know about the 5th book and how it ended, it made you sad, so I am happy that there will be another one.
The story follows Kelsey, Ren and Kishan on their journey to break the curse and her battle for the two men she loves and which one she will choose. A lot of the book was about her finding her way through her heart and trying to find out which of the two men she really loves. She knows who she loves but she just cannot accept it because she is afraid after everything which has happened, and during all of the tests which she is put through during the book she finds out who she really needs. They are also sent into the past where they meet the young goddess Durga and accompany her into battle where they battle the villain, Lokesh.
This was probably one of the saddest books out of them all, as there was a character death, and it had an ending which you did not expect.
The story line was absolutely amazing though. There was such amazing creatures described as well. There were phoenixes, demon/human like creatures, qilin, and many other fantastical creatures…all of which were described in such great detail that you really had to control your imagination🙂 (what you don’t have that problem as well?)
Also another great thing about this book is the cover.
Tiger's Destiny Cover
The cover is so colorful and has so many layers and textures. I have loved all of the book covers as they all have a similar idea but the theme is different (the first one a white tiger as it was about Ren, the second with a black tiger as it was about Kishan, the third with an ice dragon as they were visiting dragons that represented the different elements, and the phoenix on this one to represent new life and truth which she had to find and courage and knowledge.)
This is definitely a curl-up-in-bed-with-your-cat-and-a-good-cup-of-tea book of a snuggle-infront-of-the-fireplace-with-a-cat-and-hot-chocolate book (yup, those are my two book reading perfect situations.)
If you have not read this series already you have to go out and give this a try. They are absolutely amazingly well done and a must read.
A movie will be coming out in 2015 and I am definitely looking forward to that and am ecstatic about the last book which I believe is coming out in the summer.
Let me know what you think of the book, if you are interested in reading it, thoughts on the cover, or any other comments you have about the book and/or series. Love to hear from you.
Happy Reading!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Interesting / Older Readers / Series / Young Adult by

Summary

“Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight–she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace–or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.”

– Amazon.com

Graceling

Image via Wikipedia

Review

Before I even start about this book I would like to thank Omar my YA librarian for finding and giving me this book. Thank you so much because without you I don’t think I would have ever found this amazing book! 🙂

This was absolutely amazing. This is going to be on my top 5 favorite books of this year (unless I come across something more amazing which I highly doubt). The story had everything possible. It had romance, action, it was set in historical times, it was exciting, it was captivating, and it was overall amazing.

The story was about this girl named Katsa. She is Graced with killing but she did not want to have to use her grace. She does not like killing. The book follows her journey from when she meet Po, says no to her Uncle, and then follows her journey of finding a Princess and helping save people who need to be saved, and hurting those who need to be hurt.

I thought that the description in this books were very good. The author, Kristin Cashore, really painted a mental image of the scenery and what these places looked like. I enjoyed reading this book at night because I was kind of in that la-la land and I would go to bed with pretty scenery in my head (yes, I know, I am strange.) I just loved this book’s imagery. It was one of the highlights of the book.

There were not too many characters so you did not get confused as to what was going on. You always knew who was present and you always knew where they were which was helpful as there was a lot of traveling.

There are two more books like this called Fire and Butterblue. Fire happens 30 years before Graceling (even though Graceling was the first book published) and Butterblue takes place 8 years after Graceling.

I am going to be checking out these other two books and I hope that they will be as good as the first one.

If you would like to visit Kristin Cashore’s blog, please click here.

Her blog is great and have a look around.

This book was rated in my library PG-13 because there is some violence in it and there is some blood mentioned but I believe anyone 12/13 and older can read this book.

So happy reading.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fun / Interesting / Older Readers / Otherworldly / Series / Young Adult by

Summary

Teenager Clary witnesses a murder. A murder of a person covered in tattoos and she cannot report the murder because no one else can see the person and the body vanished. She learned that the teens were called Shadowhunters (teens who kill demons and monsters.) But these Shadowhunters will not believe that Clary can see them because after all she is only a mundane (human.) Shortly after watching this happen her mother is kidnapped and it all seems to be relating to her. It also all seems to be revolving around something called the Mortal Cup. In this book with friendly werewolves and vampires, Clary must find her mother, retrieve the Mortal Cup and stop loving Jace. But will all of this stop the Cup from being used for the wrong reason and her mother being killed? The other question is where is her mother and where is the Cup?

Review

This was definitely a Buffy-like book. It had the action, it had the romance, it had the friendship clashes. For those people old enough to know who Buffy is (I am not that old, I only found it on Netflix and I enjoy watching it), Clary  is the modern-day Buffy in the sense she fights vampires and demons and the creatures, when they are dead, vanish.
I received this book from my Secret Santa and when I saw it, I nearly fell off my seat with joy. My mom could not take me to the library so I could borrow the book, so when I received it I was enthralled. My mom did not want me to read it just yet because I am reading a lot of vampire/demonic creature books. But I read the excerpt and I read the prologue and I just could not put it down. I read the book in just over three days because it was so good.
The story line was interesting, it kept me turning pages, and it was fun to read. The characters were described well and the story was consistent. It did not jump around all over the place like  some books do. A lot of the chapters ended in suspense and that was one reason it kept me going. The cover was interesting and not because it has a picture of a guy with a shirt off but because it has a cemetery, a city, and a boy with weird and swirly tattoos.
I really do hope that you read this book because it was really good. They also might be coming out with a movie for it some time in the next two years – hopefully. They have a directory, a screen writer, and a person to play Clary. Keep your fingers crossed and happy reading.