YAckers Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Published September 27, 2011.

Author website.

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.


When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?  (goodreads.com)

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE ended up being a mixed bag for us YAcks.  I personally went into it thinking I'd love it so hard I'd slather the book in drool.  I was mistaken.  For many the appearance of Akiva was a total buzzkill and Madrigal is something most of us could have done without.  While the consensus was that the writing was pretty and filled with WORDS there was a bit of distance, to one degree or another, but it was supplemented by lovely world-building and some intriguing characters that require more face time in the sequel.  Lucky for Angie she wasn't the lone downer of this book, as she was totally expecting to be.

Steph (one of Sya's minions) was Keeper of the Book this month but seeing as how the YAcks have spawned their own website, we're all congregating over there now.  LOOK!  And just for visiting you get a bonus YAcked book, inadvertently slaughtered by us.  Sorry, THRONE OF GLASS.  You lose.

Ban Factor: High - Anything that bastardizes Christianity is an automatic fire starter.

Blade Song by JC Daniels

Pub date: August 1, 2012.

Author website.

Kit Colbana—half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades—has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.

So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters—especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.

Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails—she’s dead.
If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long to collect her fee…  (netgalley.com)

BLADE SONG is a bit out of my normal reading repertoire but at the moment I'm all about branching out and I've been following Shiloh  since she unabashedly spoke her mind about the Sirengate debacle.  So throw all of that together and I wanted to read something by her and see what she was all about author-wise because I already thought she was pretty cool as a person.

JC Daniels is the pseudonym for Shiloh Walker who writes romances, among a bunch of other books.  It looks like she writes PNR under her Walker name as well as her Daniels name and I just don't know enough about her to know why she pseudonymously writes.  But needless to say my first Walker book was a Daniels book simply because the blurb appealed to me and it's right up my alley for some adult PNR (because the YA stuff makes me a touch homicidal).

Kit is your kick ass heroine that smarts off right from the get-go and at least has the know-how to realize she should really keep her mouth shut most of the time she allows it to open.  She's part Amazon that allows her to call her sword at a moment's notice even if it's not in the area and it also gives her some other heightened senses that help her out in tough times.  Her childhood was total crap and I really liked the way Daniels interspersed Kit's PTSD with her current job, sending her reeling into her past.  Not that PTSD is a good thing but it's authentic to the character.  For instance Kit spent a lot of time starving and injured in a pit at the hands of her grandmother.  When her and Damon come upon similar pits in the Everglades Kit starts flashing back.  I just felt those flashbacks were authentic.  I bought them and it added a new vulnerable depth to Kit that gave reason to her kick ass attitude.

I was a little less than thrilled with her speech.  I felt that her dialogue and slang was, at times, reaching and it grated on me a little bit but not enough to stop reading.  The story was fast-paced and entertaining enough that it carried me through what I didn't care for and let me just enjoy the story for it's entertainment value.  I'm finding I can do this more with adult books than YA, probably because I'm starting to burn out on YA, I think.

The writing itself was on the simple side in terms of words on the page and at times redundant but I still felt Kit was a fully fleshed out character.  I found her as real as could be, right along with all of the secondary characters that Daniels introduced, from the witches to the cats and even to the humans that she ended up interacting with.  They were barely there and when they were they were serving a purpose but they were fully realized.  I didn't feel like they were puppets in a show, merely there to serve Kit.  They helped her, as much as she needed it, but they all were ultimately their own entity.

I was less than thrilled with the romance.  There was a bit by the way of sexy times but it was an antagonistic relationship that you could see coming from the beginning.  And the way Damon kept referring to Kit as baby girl made me want to strangle something.  From what I got Kit wasn't all on board with that pet name either.  The progression of the romance was exceedingly fast for what ended up coming to fruition but ultimately I think the two actually work together.  They both antagonize and compliment each other in equal measure; neither are dependent on the other, both are a bit possessive (Damon a bit more so which I found off-putting) and both could hold their own.  So I was less than thrilled with it but I didn't wholly not like it either.

You know it's a good foray into adult PNR.  It satisfied a craving that I had for something different yet similar (how . . . vague of me) and not nearly as angsty as I've been getting with the YA crowd.  It was a good deviation from my otherwise norm.  It's definitely gritty and doesn't shy away from the themes it presents so if you're a bit weaker in the will area BLADE SONG might not be for you.  But if you're keen on some violence, a kick ass chick with some issues, a nominal amount of sexy times and a good set-up for the next book, BLADE SONG is your bag.  I didn't love it but I'll keep my eye our for more, that's for sure.

Ban Factor: High - Is that a joke?  Did you read the last paragraph?

Damage by Anya Parrish

Published September 8, 2011.

Author website.

There was a time when I prayed for Rachel to be real--it ended the night she tried to kill me.

When Dani was eight, she fell from a building. No one believed her claim that she was pushed by Rachel, her imaginary friend. It took years of therapy to convince Dani that Rachel was a product of her own mind.Now fifteen, Dani wants to make it as a dancer. But a deadly freak accident sends her a terrifying message: Rachel is back, she's real, and she'll stop at nothing to kill Dani. Complicating matters is Jesse, the school bad boy who's being stalked by his own invisible childhood monster. When Dani and Jesse join forces to learn why their tormenters are back, their investigation leads to a horrifying discovery--and the secret that binds them to each other. (goodreads.com)

I was excited for DAMAGE because I was looking forward to a good YA horror read. It sounds like one, right? Except it ended up traveling down a really weird path that I didn't really see coming at all. And it was weird to the point that at times it bordered on being just downright silly. And it's a weird in a kooky but not endearing kind of way either. There were a few too many elements thrown in that really mucked it up, is what I think I'm trying to say.

I did like the two characters, Dani and Jesse, as the story alternated between their two viewpoints. But their relationship just made me heinously uncomfortable. It seemed so inappropriate considering everything that was going on. In a matter of hours they were totally in love with each other. Seriously. But that wasn't really the awkward part. Being in their respective heads I was privy to their thoughts, obviously, so when they're thinking about kissing each other when they're running from some fake FBI dudes it really threw me. Just the whole relationship seemed immensely forced. It was far too much, way too soon and insanely inappropriate for the circumstances. They didn't have any cooling off periods to dwell on anything. They were constantly moving from the turning point of the story, which was in like chapter 2. It really did not sit right with me.

Removing the relationship aspect their characters were pretty good if not a little stock-ish. Dani is the quiet yet secretly strong character while Jesse is the outwardly bad boy who's merely a product of his environment. Not bad, just not all that original. I still liked reading about them. I cared enough about them to see what happened to them. I was rooting for them the whole time and I wanted them to be okay. I just didn't like their relationship. But I already said that. They were rather smart together. They fed off each other well and not in a synergistic corruption type of situation either. They were each others' idea machines when it came to trying to get out of their problems and they really worked well together. Dani and Jesse were serious compliments to each other and I did like that.

The weirdness? I can't really say much without spoiling the entire plot. I'll just say it went really far off course of where I thought it was going to be. Bad guys are everywhere and can be anyone and horrible, horrible things happened to the characters when they were younger that they weren't aware of. Rachel would have been a phenomenal entity in a purer horror setting but in DAMAGE she's a bit subdued. Although I will give Parrish credit for not skimping on the carnage. Loved it. As demented as that sounds. She wasn't afraid to do what needed to be done with her tools. But this isn't a horror story. Not really. It's kind of more science fiction/conspiracy theory stuff and it kind of ruined the juju for me a little when it started to reveal itself. Again it wasn't bad it was just really off course for me.

Overall it's not terrible. It's entertaining and the characters are likable enough that I think you'd enjoy reading about them. They really do act like kids stuck in a terrible situation and I believed most of their actions. Dani and Jesse worked really well together although I felt Dani got over the death of her seemingly best friend far too quickly (chapter 1/2 element). Made her look a bit callous. But she's still endearing to an extent. I liked watching her come out of the shell that she made for herself. I don't think Jesse changed all that much from beginning to end although he kept saying Dani was the first person he really loved aside from his sister in his entire life. But other than that he was pretty static. It's an entertaining read. Just don't go into it thinking it's horror. It's not and I think that's one of the major reasons that I didn't think more of DAMAGE. Stupid expectations. Or perhaps just off-point blurbing.

Ban Factor: High - Super scary creatures and kids being murdered? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that would rile the storms.

A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Pub date: March 20, 2012.

Author website.

When her parents are murdered before her eyes, sixteen-year-old Helen Cartwright finds herself launched into an underground London where a mysterious organization called the Dictata controls the balance of good and evil. Helen learns that she is one of three remaining angelic descendants charged with protecting the world's past, present, and future. Unbeknownst to her, she has been trained her whole life to accept this responsibility. Now, as she finds herself torn between the angelic brothers protecting her and the devastatingly handsome childhood friend who wants to destroy her, she must prepare to be brave, to be hunted, and above all to be strong, because temptation will be hard to resist, even for an angel. (netgalley.com)

I have to say I'm less than impressed. My instant knee-jerk reaction was that I hated the voice. It read just far too stilted and contrived for my tastes and I initially wondered if I'd make it through the book based on that. I did. The roar of the tone leveled out for me and ended up being a dull throb right behind the eyes: not painful but manageable despite it being annoying. That same voice also lent itself to quite a few baited questions that seemed to scream at me from the pages. A lot of "whatever do you mean?"s going on. That type of thing. It stood out to me.

And really, for a story about angels, it's pretty lacking in, well, angels. You have the people that watch the angels who are human, the demon/wraiths that are, at most, glimpsed at and then you have the angels. The only way you can tell they're angels is because they can travel by light and you're told they're angels about eleven and a half million times. Other than that they show no defining characteristics of anything paranormal. Remove the word 'angel' and just leave them as human and it wouldn't have made a difference.

I was actually pretty disappointed by this. I went out of my comfort zone with A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS and while it didn't come close to the lulz category it was definitely flat compared to what I was expecting: in a story about angels, ANGELS. No wings, no ethereal glow, no halos, no crazy supernatural powers (aside from the light thing, which is kind of like Meg growing nails in a super hero family), nothing. I honestly don't know why they were pegged as angels other than to draw on the already dominant angel wave in YA. It just seemed really pointless and every time I finished a chapter without anything even remotely angelic going down I couldn't help but get disappointed.

Helen is a nice strong character that makes it to the end of the book pretty much on her own two feet and sticking it to the likes of Darius. Who is super awesome and with whom I sided from the beginning. We share non-existent patience levels. Darius's brother, whose name escapes me and for which I'm too lazy to look up was a puss (Griffin?). He was the "sensitive" one so it was only natural that Helen gravitated towards him. A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS gets points for its lack of love triangle though. It's insinuated that there is one but that's not really true. So kudos there.

The ending was a bit of flash bang, not too much going on throughout most of the story until the culmination of information and events at the end. FINALLY we get to see some semblance of the paranormal but it's over before it begins and don't expect to see any angels.

The whole alternate world kind of bothered me for its lack of presence. It's set in Victorian London but there's supposed to be this alternate side of wraiths and angels and funky globe things. But aside from that weird globe and some seemingly crazy stories, there isn't much going on in terms of other world. I feel shafted in that regard. I was looking for something more substantial but instead what I got was an historical fiction revised to fit a more popular supernatural angle. Seriously, remove all aspects of the paranormal and the story really wouldn't change.

It's not that I didn't like it. I found it entertaining enough to keep reading but it felt like ice cream without milk: missing something. The historical aspect of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS is more of a driving force than anything paranormal so that should appeal to a lot of people. Just don't go in expecting a lot of supernatural stuff. You're not going to find it.

Ban Factor: Medium - Because of its actual low level of paranormal influence I can see this skating under the banner radar. At the same time playing with angels like this, even though they're not really angels (unless you count being told they're angels), still has the potential to ruffle banner feathers.

Gift by Andrea J. Buchanan

Pub date: March 27, 2012.

Author website.

High school sophomore Daisy Jones is just trying to get by unnoticed. It doesn't help that she's the new girl at school, lives in a trailer park, and doesn't even own a cell phone. But there's a good reason for all that: Daisy has a secret, unpredictable power-one only her best friend, Danielle, knows about. Despite her "gift" (or is it a curse?), Daisy's doing a good job of fitting in-and a cute senior named Kevin even seems interested in her! But when Daisy tries to help Vivi, a mysterious classmate in a crisis, she soon discovers that her new friend has a secret of her own. Now Daisy and her friends must deal with chilling dreams and messages from the beyond. Can Daisy channel the power she's always tried to hide-before it's too late? (netgalley.com)

Daisy's got an issue that I can somewhat, nominally, empathize with: she kills technology. She doesn't have a TV, computer, cell phone, nothing too technologically current because she'd just drive it crazy. I feel that. With the trail of computer deaths in my wake, and the shrapnel of other miscellaneous freakazoid technological malfunctions I've had to deal with, I immediately connected with Daisy. I understood her. Of course she's an extreme but such is the way of books. A boring blue screen of death on a PC is nothing compared to spastic fire alarms or igniting a computer lab.

I didn't really love GIFT but I didn't not like it either. It was okay. I was entertained enough but at various points in the story I felt a little put out by it, like it was a chore to read. It dragged a bit with the dreams the girls were having, what Vivi's deal was, Daisy trying to deal with her issue (considering she'd been dealing with it her entire life her "dealing with it" now seemed kind of forced). But it was interesting nonetheless and I kept reading until the end so I could see what would happen. The pieces laid themselves out for the ending pretty early on but there is a twist in there that I kind of didn't see coming so I enjoyed that. It's always nice to be at least a little bit surprised by a story.

I liked reading Daisy's humanity, especially towards the end. She is a very strong-willed character but she has flaws and I loved seeing them. It grounded out what is rightly a fantastical story into something a bit more realistic, considering. She rationalizes, she reasons, at times she caves to temptation. I really liked that. I felt like I could relate to that, unlike some other YA heroines that seemingly stand strong the entire time. I need humanness.

Vivi and Danielle I felt were a little underdeveloped. They were just kind of there floating along in Daisy's plot while things kept happening. Not that they weren't involved but as characters I just felt their existence was to serve Daisy. Kevin was the same way except his entire being I felt was a contrivance. He just felt like he was shoved into the plot because that might have been what was "supposed" to have happen. Daisy needed a love interest and someone else to connect to. Kevin served that purpose and that was pretty much it. He provided information when it was required, he supported Daisy when she needed it and he was the perfect level of weirdness to complement hers. It just felt too easy. Their personalities were okay. I didn't dislike them. They were just really plot-serving.

The story itself was okay. The whole reincarnation/past lives things interests me by default and I liked the way the past was brought into the present in this one. It used people and manipulated them and it really took the wind out of its implied sails but again, it made it more real, for what that's worth in a paranormal story. I didn't find the set-up or execution floofy but I did think, in the end, Daisy's powers were pretty irrelevant to it all. It was a means to be used but I don't think it deserved the emphasis that it did. I felt the past life issue was so much more relevant and should have been brought to the surface more than Daisy's electrical abilities. It wasn't bad but I wasn't crazy about it either.

Like I said overall it was okay. I wasn't thrilled with it but it wasn't terrible. A decent read if you don't have much else to do. It does stand out a bit from the rest just because of Daisy's ability and the past life thing which I did really like. And the plot isn't crazy centric on the love interest, another plus. And there's only one, love interest that is. Even bigger plus. Ultimately this one didn't leave much of a mark with me but I'm sure others will find the awesomeness that dwells within and give it the love it deserves. There's nothing all that wrong with it. It just ultimately wasn't for me.

Night School by Mari Mancusi

Published January 4, 2011.

Vampires, Slayers and…FAIRIES? Sunny and Rayne McDonald are about to get SCHOOLED.

After their parents’ shocking revelation about their fae heritage and an attack on their lives, the McDonald twins find themselves on the run—forced to hide out at Riverdale Academy , a boarding school for vampire slayers, deep in the Swiss Alps. With no cells, no internet, and no way to contact their vampire boyfriends—the twins are on their own.

Being a vampire stuck in a school full of slayers isn’t easy. Especially with no blood substitute stocked on campus. Soon Rayne finds herself succumbing to her bloodlust and losing control—especially around the arrogant, but devastatingly handsome Corbin Billingsworth the Third—who isn’t sure whether he wants to kiss her…or kill her.

But when Sunny starts acting strange, Rayne realizes Riverdale Academy may be hiding some deadly secrets of its own—leading to a showdown in Fairyland that may cost the twins their lives. (goodreads.com)

I've read this series in what is probably the most schizophrenic way possible, and mostly not on purpose. The first three I read out of order simply because I didn't know their order and apparently my ability to Google failed me. I skipped the fourth one because it was a Sunny POV and she's not my favorite head to dwell in. BUT based on the excerpt at the end of NIGHT SCHOOL I may be willing to pick up the next one. She appears to have matured and her voice doesn't sound so insipid anymore. And because I adore Mari, and we do have that Lost Boys bond, I may just do it for her.

Anyway NIGHT SCHOOL was a great addition to the whole BLOOD COVEN series and even though I didn't read BAD BLOOD I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. There were some allusions to events in that book at the beginning that I was a little lost on but they didn't play too much of a role in the bigger plot so they were easy to get over. Rayne is still Rayne, Sunny is still Sunny and the shenanigans are still shenanigans. And I'm glad.

Overall the plot is pretty silly but it's silly in the way that Supernatural is silly. Yeah, there are some serious moments but they're surrounded by sometimes absolutely outrageous things that even the characters are going WTF? You know, like when Sam and Dean came in contact with the faeries in Season 6 and Dean was all like, nipples?

Yeah, it's like that. It's a silly story but it knows its silly and that's why its so great. Rayne and Sunny get their butts handed to them by faeries and the faeries are so freaking ridiculous that you can't help but laugh. And Rayne's inability to get Apple Pancake's (Apple Cider? Crisp?) name right just tickled me the right way every time. If NIGHT SCHOOL were trying to take itself seriously it'd completely lose its charm. It strikes a good balance between the insanity and the serious just enough to get its point across but keep it a totally entertaining read at the same time. Rayne's need to feed? Serious. Disney World? Not so much. Read it to get what I'm talking about.

Oh, did I mention it mocks TWILIGHT? Yeah, it does that too. You'll have to read it to pick up the references. I won't spoil that fun for you! A giggle-filled word search!

There are just so many things right with Mari's work that it's hard to pick up on anything that's wrong. If you haven't read any of the BLOOD COVEN books yet, I highly recommend you do. Don't judge them by their covers and think they blend in with your Blue Bloods or Coffin Kisses or whatever else is out there. BLOOD COVEN, and its latest release, NIGHT SCHOOL, stand so far out from the rest that their covers should light up and poof out pink sparkles. Because it would make Rayne go insane and I like it when she gets cranky about pink and glitter. It amuses me. I'll even tell you to read the Sunny POV stories too, just to get the whole story. I'm seriously considering going back to read BAD BLOOD just to fill myself in. Really, Sunny isn't THAT bad. Most of the time.

Afterlight by Elle Jasper

Published November 2, 2010.

Author website.

Savannah's most unconventional tattoo artist, Riley Poe, lives on the edge. Now she's put over the edge when her younger brother is taken by a sinister cult led by vampires. Her only ally is the hot-tempered vampire Eli Dupre, attracted to Riley's beauty and rare blood type. To save her brother from certain un-death, Riley faces dangers she's never dreamed of, ruthless bloodthirsty enemies, and an evil of endless hunger that wants to devour it all... (goodreads.com)

I stumbled across AFTERLIGHT purely by accident. I was searching Goodreads for one title, of course similar, but this one got stuck in my head. When I pulled it up I knew it wasn't what I was looking for but I was intrigued by the cover. I read the blurb and decided to add it to my want-to-read list. It sat there for a little while and when I went on one of my book-buying binges I picked it up, where it promptly sat in my tangible TBR pile for a while. When I finally got around to reading it I was SO, SO, SO happy that I came across it.

Now, when I think of an unconventional tattoo artist I think of someone wearing GAP that drives a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. But that's besides the point. But aside from that, that blurb really isn't anything different. It's not. A vampire attracted to a human because of her blood type? Yawn. Really. But there was something about it that kept me thinking that it wasn't quite the same as the rest. And I was right. To a point.

It had some vague TWILIGHT-ish similarities with the family of vampires (except this one is an actual family, not adopted) that are "humane" vampires, a couple of off the cuff rogue vampires and their pack of newlings going insane in a city, Riley's rare blood that drives vampires insane and that's kinda where it ends and the original pieces pick up. Like the hoodoo/voodoo stuff. That plays a very prominent role and I really ended up liking Riley's adoptive grandparents. They just had an unusual aspect to them that one doesn't tend to find in this kind of reading that really made it all stand out. It was set in Savannah, a place I'm not all that familiar with and it's not "typical." Meaning it's not your normal New Orleans/New York City get-up. Really, it's just a random city and I liked that. Plus it was really obvious that Jasper knows Savannah with the detail that she wrote about it. All the cemeteries, the moss, the smells. It just all popped off the page and it felt like I was there while reading it.

The writing isn't stellar. I've definitely read better. Riley toes the edge of being a bit of a Sue at times (she can fight with the best of them, in super high heels no less, has a six pack to die for, tiny little body, is an awesome tattoo artist, self-made, rare blood, etc.) but she's just enough not and someone that can really stand on her own that I give her a pass. Had not all of the outlying factors existed that made me love this book then I probably wouldn't have liked her and thought her a bit too much. Plus there's her being turned on by being nearly brutalized by Eli in the beginning. Weird and a bit contrived. As was some of the dialogue (it sounded just a bit TOO hip) and some phrases got way overused ("a totally guy laugh" was one of them and made me wonder if that's the only laugh guys make in Riley's world).

But I did love Riley, despite all of that. She had her life shit on when she was growing up and had enough brains left to reform herself (thanks, in large part, to her adoptive grandparents). Life rode her like a cowboy for a little while there and she bears the marks of that. But she's surprisingly well-adjusted and deeply committed to her brother. She sacrifices everything she has to save the last remaining blood family she has. And she doesn't do it stupidly. She trains, hard, to be able to do it. She's forced to face her own limitations and while, like all good heroines, she makes some dumb ass judgment calls, thankfully the Dupre family is there to hold strong where Riley falls short. It's not just her brother at stake but a greater threat to the whole city should they not succeed in stamping out this rogue vampire threat.

And did I mention the sexy times? Yes, there are sexy times, RIFE with heinously unattainable orgasm times and vampiric loss of control. The sexy times are good but there's a sinister aspect behind them. No pillow-biting and feather-flying going on here. Eli nearly loses his shit and Victorian wraps his metaphorical hands around Riley's throat by dream-raping her. The juxtaposition of the sexy times is definitely an intriguing aspect of the story, because it's sexy times with a deeper, Freudian meaning behind it. Thinking, I like.

And I liked Eli. He wasn't shy about calling Riley on some of her idiotic moves. Like when he told her to stay put and she didn't. He got all over that. I love it when stuff like that that's overlooked in other books gets almost ragged on in ones I like. I think it was fairly obvious that it was a jab at other heroines not listening to words of advise and not having to deal with their repercussions but Eli's not about to have that. For all his brooding (not Louis-level brooding, or Edward-level, but still a bit of a brooder) he's really solid when it came to calling people out. I squealed a little every time he did it.

Of course I can't forget the Lost Boys reference. That absolutely sealed the deal. Enter rose-colored glasses. Riley could have probably skipped off with Eli in wedded bliss on a rainbow to pink fluffy clouds at the end and I wouldn't have cared. Lost Boys reference. And a favorable one at that. Vampires giving kudos to an epic vampire movie? Yes, please.

So it's not the most well-written book I've ever come across but there's so much love in this story that I just couldn't stop. It's been a long time since I've come across a title that's sucked me in in all the right places that I could just roll around with it and read it over and over again. It just hit the absolutely right spots at absolutely the right time. There's no other way to explain it. The stars aligned, I found AFTERLIGHT and it was love from there on out. EVERDARK, the sequel is already out and EVENTIDE, the third installment, comes out in March so I'll be waiting until then to get those two copies. Seriously, can't wait.

Ban Factor: High - Vampire sex. That should about do it.

The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford

Published October 2009.

It’s 1938, and the tentacles of Hitler’s terrifying Third Reich have commenced their stranglehold on Europe. The Nazi empire will soon be clean of all bloodlines deemed tainted or undesirable…including vampires.

London’s ancient tribunal of vampires is aghast at the destruction taking place on the Continent. Though vampires try not to interfere with human politics, Hitler’s terrible plans force them into action. They resolve to send five of their most formidable vampires to Berlin— millennials that have lived over 1000 years and whose age and wisdom make them close to invulnerable— to infiltrate, disrupt, and destroy the growing Nazi war machine.

The brilliant and beautiful millennial Brigit is loath to go, but her powers are needed if the mission is to have any chance of success. She must summon all her strength to endure the separation from her lover Eamon, whom she made almost eight centuries ago, but whose lack of millennial status makes him an unacceptable choice for this operation. Though he longs to join her, his duty to Brigit is best served from afar, by nurturing their deep psychic connection and reinforcing her spirit with his fierce devotion and memories of his tender embrace.

But as the millennials attempt to penetrate and sabotage Hitler’s armies, they discover that the Nazis are more capable than any human force they’ve yet encountered and more monstrous than they'd ever imagined. Forced to take bolder, more dangerous steps, they soon attract the attention of specially trained vampire hunters loyal to Hitler and his vision of a vampire-free Europe. Exposed, deep inside enemy territory, with vicious Nazi officers and hunters at her heels, Brigit must attempt a daring escape from the Continent, guarding precious cargo that marks the only hope of salvaging their mission. (goodreads.com)

Good lord that's a long blurb. Blurbal diarrhea. Anyway, DNF. The concept seems interesting enough. Anything about the European theater during World War II will catch my attention. Throw in vampires and I'm there. But the execution left much to be desired. It was just exceptionally slow-moving, a lot of contemplating on a train ride, talking at parties, and not much else. Frankly, I was bored. I don't like being bored reading a vampire book. Vampires aren't supposed to be boring. Yet authors continue proving me wrong on that front. I mean, this book had all the elements of being totally awesome: vampires, Nazis, plot to overthrow the Third Reich, the potential for slaughter. Sounds like a fanged up Quentin Tarantino movie.

But the plot took itself far too seriously and the vampires were insanely TSTL. I'm not sure how one can live past 1,000 years and complain that their species nearly ran out of food during something like The Great War or the Black Death. For serious? Ever hear of a boat? You're effing vampires and you fail to grasp the concept of hunting and gathering? I was really taken aback by that, that the purpose of stopping the Reich from succeeding was to keep their food supply up. Does only Europe exist in this world? Really?

That was a big hurdle for me. The other was the talking heads. All they did was talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Good mother's ass DO SOMETHING. You're effing vampires and you have to infiltrate the Third Reich like the other dissenting humans do? How about just laying the vampire smack down and ripping Hitler's throat out of his neck? Problem solved. Blame it on a rogue lawn mower to hide your identities, done. But nooooooooo. They have to go all Valkyrie and take it down like humans would. Lame. Why make them vampires to begin with if they're not actually going to act like vampires for something like this?

To their credit, they were vampires when it came to feeding. Merciless, brutal and without a concern for their victims. I applaud that in a land where vampires have all but been neutered. I only wish they applied this side of themselves more to the overall plot instead of just talking their way through things.

I don't know if this is an alternate historical fiction. It would make sense if it were, otherwise I already know the ending and the vampires are going to lose since their mission is to prevent the war from happening. Really, it's kind of like watching Titanic and not knowing the ship sinks at the end. But I don't know if this is the case because I obviously didn't get that far. I don't even think I made it until my token half-way point, I just started begrudging reading it so much. It was just dull. If you want to give me vampires, then give me the shit that goes along with them do. The book had so much potential . . . I want to see what Tarantino would do with it.

Blog Tour: Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey + Giveaway!

Published June 21, 2011.

Violet Willoughby has participated in one too many fake seances to believe in the supernatural - especially after watching her mother fool widows and wealthy old men into handing over their fortunes. But she is forced to reconsider her jaded views when her mother is invited to conduct seances at the country estate of prominent Spiritualist Lord Jasper. There Violet encounters a frightening vision she can't ignore - the ghost of a girl her own age, seeking justice from beyond.

Thrust into the center of an unsolved murder amidst the highest echelon of Victorian society, Violet must discover the mystery behind this girl's violent death, before her twin sister suffers the same fate. The only person Violet can trust with her new secret is her mother's assistant Colin, the boy she's grown to love but can never be with because of the rigid rules enforced by the world Violet and her mother have swindled their way into. Can Violet find a way to accept her new talent and prevent another murder without risking her own chances for a future with the one she loves? (book back blurb)

I find the Spiritualist movement absolutely fascinating simply because so many people were hoodwinked so rampantly, and publicly, for so many years and it took a decent amount of time for them to catch on. This higher level of society, too hoity toity for their own good, bamboozled into thinking that women with wooden planks bound to their knees were their dead relatives come back to contact them. So smart they were.

What I loved most about HAUNTING VIOLET was that it didn't take itself too seriously, just like Violet didn't take herself too seriously. Here she was, having grown up in a world of trickery and lies, and she was nominally undaunted by it. She didn't get suckered into the life like her mother did. She held her own ground and kept being her own person. The book overall was a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of "street people" working their way into the first class cabins, the games they played and how duped they made the people above them who thought they were just that, above it all.

Violet is a strong, well-intentioned character that doesn't take any shit, not from ghosts or Colin or her "better off" suitor. Her mother she puts up with a little more but, well, I can relate with her there. The breaking point comes a little later when it comes to the parental figures. But she does reach it, just not in the way you might think. Or someone as strong as Violet, you'd think her set on one path but she really ends up wandering down another. It's shocking and at the same time relatively expected, but she doesn't curl in on herself. Violet stands tall, regardless of what she faces.

The main plot, Violet solving the murder mystery of the ghost's death, is compelling and at times frightening. The ghost shows up at the most inopportune times and does things to Violet that not only frighten her but aggravate her as well. It doesn't take Violet long to desensitize to the ghost and start throwing the sass right back. How else is she supposed to solve the murder when the victim won't even cooperate?

Violet just has so much sass and spice about her, it's hard not to like her. Not that I went in going "I'm not going to like Violet." She's just such a dynamic, resilient character that you can't help but root for her. Even when it comes to Colin, things aren't simple with her and she lets it be known that she's pulled in multiple directions about it. Subtlety isn't really her thing, as evidenced a few times throughout the book. And while she gets embarrassed at first, she gets over it. Quickly. You can't help but love someone that springs back to their feet as often as Violet does.

The voice is fantastic. The second I started reading HAUNTING VIOLET the voice had me. It has just enough pomp about it to showcase the Victorian times but it's not so convoluted that that's all it becomes. It sounds just like what a "lower class" person pretending to be an upperclass one would sound like. It's compelling and riveting and it had me turning the pages. Seriously, I zoomed through this one in about a day. I didn't want to put it down.

Harvey's ability to capture the time yet keeping it relevant and interesting is great. Not only are you sucked into the plot of trying to find this killer hiding in plain sight but you're immersed in this beautiful world that's nothing but lies. You can't help but feel guilty for Violet and want to hit her mother with a stage coach (did they have stage coaches in England or just carriages?). Violet's mother is the type of pseudo-villain that you just love to hate. She's such a rich character that her nastiness just oozes off of her and you try to keep away lest you get some on you but you stay close enough so that you can get all her dirt.

Overall, HAUNTING VIOLET is a fantastic historical fiction steeped in accuracies and riddled with compelling characters that'll drive you through straight until the end. You'll get sucked in in no time and as you read, you'll find yourself trying to work out who dunnit, competing with Violet to see who can come to the right conclusion first. You don't want to miss this one.

Giveaway time!!!

Want to win my ARC of HAUNTING VIOLET? Then just fill out the form below for your chance to win.

• Open to US residents 13 years of age and older only.
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• Duplicate entries will be deleted.
• Giveaway ends July 14th at midnight, EST.

Mystify by Artist Arthur + Contest!

Published January 25, 2011.

Sometimes being an outsider is the best way to fit in…

Sasha Carrington has grown up feeling like an outsider, and her parents are too concerned with scaling the Lincoln, Connecticut, social ladder to even notice her. They’d be really horrified to know about the supernatural abilities Sasha and her friends Krystal and Jake possess. But as part of the Mystyx, Sasha has found her place.

Now her parents have suddenly taken an interest in everything she does, and their timing couldn’t be worse. Sasha’s father wants her to become BFFs with snooty Alyssa Turner, who hates Krystal for stealing her boyfriend. Then there’s Antoine Watson, the boy Sasha has liked forever, the boy her parents would never approve of. But with the dark side getting more dangerous by the day, and the Mystyx’s own powers growing in unexpected ways, Sasha is facing choices that could affect her friends, her love life—and even her destiny… (netgalley.com)

I have to say, I wasn't a fan of Sasha's side of the story. Not because she was a spoiled little rich girl (quite the opposite, actually). Not because she was a drama queen (which she wasn't but drama always seemed to find her). Not because she just couldn't make up her mind about the boys flocking around her (it was just one boy but she actually couldn't really make up her mind, so that's partially true). I just didn't like her voice. I didn't find all that much compelling about it and when it ended, I was glad to be out of her head.

Now with that aside, I liked everything else. I actually really liked Sasha as a character. Despite her upbringing, she's pretty grounded in reality and thinks for herself. I really liked that about her. She's an immensely loyal person and doesn't cave on her laurels very easily. She swayed back and forth with Antoine because of what her parents would think but considering everything else she could have done considering her parents, I think that was pretty minor and I could easily accept it as a character flaw. She's a very strong-willed girl and I wish there were more like her in YA all around. I just didn't like her voice. I didn't like the way she relayed information to the reader. Despite the situations she was in, at times I found her descriptions boring. But other than that, no complaints.

As I was saying above with her and Antoine, well, I'm not an Antoine fan. Any guy that doesn't get the hint does not rank highly on my list. I found him forceful and pig-headed, constantly in Sasha's face when she was trying to get away from him (not in an attacker sort of way but just 'I said no now leave me alone' sort of way). That's not to say he wasn't a nice guy when Sasha gave in to him, but she gave in. Did she start liking him because she really liked him or was it all a result of consigning to his persistence? I have a hard time telling. And the little fit he threw when she couldn't hang out? I didn't think Sasha was the one that should have been apologizing. But that's just me.

For the overall story arc, it's getting interesting. Characters that were merely a passing reference in Krystal's story are front and center in this one, and not in a good way. The Darkness is getting more and more desperate and resorting to more horrifying things to achieve its end. And this "club" Sasha's parents want her to be a part of? Sketchy at best. Considering all of the elements around the club, Sasha would do well to find her own apartment.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Mystyx series. I'd really like to get inside of Jake's head and Lindsay? What's her deal? Poof she's there and she has powers too? I want to know what's going on with her. Overall Mystify was a pretty good sequel to Manifest. I don't think Sasha's voice was as strong as Krystal's was but it was entertaining. I can't wait for the next one!

Contest Time!!!

Thanks to Lisa Roe, Arist's awesome publicist, I have a brand new copy of Mystify to give away to one of my readers! Want it? Then just fill out the form below for your chance to win. Open to US residents 13 years of age and older only. One entry per person per email address. Duplicate entries will be deleted. Contest ends March 21st at midnight, EST.

Manifest by Artist Arthur + Contest!

Published August 1st, 2010.

When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moved to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener - and everything she'd ever want - except that he was killed nearly a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door - Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly, call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good? (book back blurb)

I raced through this book in a matter of a few hours (collectively, over the course of a couple days). Cover to cover. I just couldn't put it down. The story opens with a really bratty Krystal having to go through her parents divorce by pretty much being dragged through it against her will. Despite the over-the-top brattiness, her voice was just so compelling I couldn't stop reading. She really is self-centered and really tried to make the world revolve around her but I can somewhat sympathize with her. My parents divorced when I was just a little younger than her and while the circumstances of their divorce were wildly different, the loss was still there. I just didn't have to uproot myself which was a good thing.

Enter Ricky who essentially hands Krystal the smackdown she so desperately needs. It's because of him that she grows from this self-involved girl caring nothing for anyone else to someone that's willing to go out on a limb to solve other people's problems and actually see the forest for the trees. Her own self-deprecation makes her all the more appealing as a character. When the full situation behind her parents divorce comes to light, she ends up with egg on her face and fully feels the guilt for acting like such a bitch to her mother and step-father. I found this growth so amazingly appealing because it felt so genuine and so realistic. Being humbled hurts and it was nice to see that Krystal doesn't escape that.

I love the fruition of the powers and the people that have them. Sasha is such a torn character, straddling a line between a rich obligation and a human one. I found it ironic that someone who shouldn't want nor need the ability to disappear does have it. I'm wondering how her power is going to grow and what it's going to be used for. It doesn't seem to be as wondrous as Jake's telekinesis or Krystal's mediumship. It'll be interesting to see how that develops. And I love just how pivotal Jake's role in uncovering all of the information is. This "low life" Tracker basically holds the key for these teens to figure out the whys and the hows behind their powers. He's humbled because of his position in life but when the situation calls for it, he protects what he does have unabashedly and without shame. The dynamic between these three is great and they compliment each other wonderfully.

I thought the driving conflict of the story was a little far out there but I liked how it had a very Supernatural (as in the TV show) feel. I couldn't help but equating that black fog that kept appearing to the way demons appear in the show. It makes me want to know what that black fog is, to see if it's similar. I also liked how the supernatural element was kind of second tier to the development of the characters themselves. Yeah, it was a pretty big part but it was more about growth of character than flashy super powers.

The only real issue I had with the book was the rich vs. poor attitude in school. I live in Connecticut and yeah, there are some really rich people here. Really rich. There are also some really poor people too. And the thing with coastal towns in Connecticut, they're either ridiculously rich or pretty inner city. The likes of Bridgeport and New Haven have really high crime rates and if really rich parents happened to live in these cities, their children would not be going to public schools. I mean, if a CT girl was rich enough to have a driver, he certainly wouldn't be driving her to a public school. So that was really the only part that really kept pulling me out of the story. I know that kind of juxtaposition creates great drama but I just don't know how realistic it is for CT. If I didn't know the area, it wouldn't have been a problem.

So overall, Manifest is a great, compelling read that'll have you rocketing from one cover to the other. The spirit-talking is freaky, Krystal is a great character that's put in some scary situations, her friends are awesome and the ending had me wanting to read more. So when does the next book come out?

Contest Time!!!

Want to win my ARC of Manifest? Just fill out the form below for your chance to win. Open to US residents 13 years of age and older only. One entry per person per email. Duplicate entries will be deleted. Contest ends August 28th at midnight, EST.

The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels

Pub date - August 13th, 2010.

No one knew of its existence until it was removed from the attic upstairs.

In a beautiful house that overlooks the sea, an antique clock has the power to change the course of their lives.

The power the clock resonates will not only force Destiny and ex-boyfriend David on a journey into the depths of one man's mind long dead, but into the mind of a man filled with hatred and bent on revenge.

With the only clues to the nature of the clock having disappeared into the sea, Destiny and David must retrace the steps the man had taken into the darkness, before they fall prey to the trap he had set in motion over half a century ago.

Hatred never dies. (from goodreads.com)

After careful consideration, I’ve decided to publish my review of The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels. For a while I was very torn. After I finished reading it, I had my opinions which went against, literally, every single review out there. No, I wasn’t worried about what the author might think. When has that ever stopped me? What made me hesitant was what my fellow book bloggers might think as Emma Michaels was/is a book blogger.

There seems to be this feeling of unadulterated support for her because of her book blogging status. She’s a book blogger so we must support her. I support anyone that has the dream of becoming an author. Writing has been my life and I would never deny it for someone else. But I will not support by pandering, lying or being dishonest. I will support by telling the gods-honest truth as I see it because that’s what I feel this book desperately needs.

I’m not trying to convince anyone not to like this book. If you want to like it, it’s your prerogative. But as a writer, editor and book blogger, I could not, in good conscience, let the community get people’s hopes up for a book that I feel doesn’t deserve the unabashed praise its been getting.

You don’t have to agree with me. In fact, I really don’t care if you do. Just remember I’ve been doing this long enough that I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about. Plus I really don’t want that $75,000 in student loan debt to be in vain. With that being said, I’m going to treat Emma’s book as I would any other author’s.

*

I wanted to dump this book after the first word. I absolutely abhor the name Destiny. It’s used so often in Suefic that it’s hard for me to disassociate it. But that certainly wouldn’t have been fair. Judging a book because I don’t like the name of the main character? Silly. So I gave it the benefit of the doubt and kept reading.

By the fifth page I was Googling the publisher to make sure I wasn’t reading a book from a vanity press. After verifying that it didn’t look like they were pay-to-publish, I read on. Oh how badly I wanted to stop but I made it to the end for only one reason – to see if Michaels could write the ending. She couldn’t.

Where to start?

Let’s start by saying that I felt like I was reading the first draft of a person’s very first novel who only has a couple years of high school-level English classes behind them. The idea was undeveloped and the writing was mediocre at best.

The writing as a whole was horribly mechanical. I felt as if Michaels just didn’t know how to transition anything so it felt like I was reading a laundry list of actions. “They went there. Then they walked over here. They got filled in on what happened. They left.” Everything was totally devoid of emotions. I was told everything and shown nothing. I didn’t feel any of the action or suspense or character emotions. I was just told what they were and then we carried on.

The incessant passive voice kept me away even more. Had, had, had, had, had, had, had. Absolutely no sense of immediacy. And then there were the dialogue tags after every single line of dialogue. Not. Necessary. If the characters’ emotions need to constantly be portrayed through dialogue tags, then there’s something wrong with the dialogue.

The voice was strange as well. It looked as if Michaels might have been pushing for omniscient third but she wanted to keep some mystery behind what was happening in order to heighten tension by denying the reader information that the characters, whose heads you're in, knew. Which you can’t do in omniscient third. Because it’s omniscient. I wasn’t biting my nails in suspense; I was trying to keep from hurling my eReader across the room. It’s way too expensive to sacrifice.

I actually liked the very base premise between the clock and the jail but the development of it was so immature that as a whole, I don’t think it’s even salvageable.

The characters were pretty unlikable too. The woman and her daughter from the antique shop were pretty pointless except to be moody infodumps when needed. David’s just fucking ridiculous. Over the course of the story he carries an unconscious Destiny down a mountain in a blizzard with a busted knee, damn near drowns at sea (yet is such a great swimmer despite the fact that he’s terrified of the water that he could swim to shore after piloting a boat that capsized during a raging storm) and then falls off a cliff onto some rocks, rolls into the water and then manages to actually scale back up the cliff free hand. By that point I was laughing. Absurd. Stephanie’s a tramp and a horrible friend. Her David-lust (which is Destiny’s ex) is joked about yet serious but I couldn’t laugh at that. Your best friend’s ex is off limits. I thought that was a pretty golden rule. Leslie’s unconscious for 90% of it and Destiny’s hollow, serving only to be rescued by the superhuman David. There was absolutely no character development or growth whatsoever, despite everything that happened. That was bothersome.

Outside of David’s world of Murphy’s Law, there were other equally contrived and self-serving events in the story. For instance, the tree that falls in front of the house decides, after lying still for a bit, to not only roll over the only car but roll right in front of the house’s only entrance (which is implausible in and of itself) to further inhibit the characters. Really? Was there a kitchen sink we could have thrown in there too? The ending might as well have been rocks fall and everyone dies. Except in this case Super David unburies everyone with only one arm and everything turns out a-okay.

Between the juvenile writing and the blip of a story idea buried underneath it, this should have been a trunk novel, without a doubt. Kill your darling and move on.

I honestly can’t recommend this book to anyone. Why? I wouldn’t recommend anyone read anyone else’s first draft of anything ever. It’s just not ready for anyone else’s eyes but the author’s. It’s poorly written, the idea is poorly executed, it’s not scary in the slightest and at the end of the day it could have used, at the very least, one total rewrite, if not more.

I wish Emma the best of luck with writing in the future. I really do. But if I had to be frank (and why wouldn’t I be?), I would highly recommend a good honest critique group. These writing flaws are not fatal and can be killed dead with some solid constructive criticism. The want to succeed is there. I can see that. But there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Light Beneath Ferns by Anne Spollen

Published 2010.

Elizah Rayne is nothing like other fourteen-year-old girls. More interested in bird bones than people, she wraps herself in silence. Trying to escape the shadow of her gambler father, Elizah and her mother move into an old house that borders a cemetery. All her mother wants for them is to have "normal" lives. But that becomes impossible for Elizah when she finds a human jaw bone by the river and meets Nathaniel, a strangely hypnotic boy who draws Elizah into his dreamlike and mysterious world.

Only by forgetting everything she knows can Elizah understand the truth about Nathaniel - and discover an unimaginable secret. (book back blurb)

This is a ghost story. An awesome, awesome ghost story. I can't really say what it is that I loved about this book so much. Maybe because it was a ghost story unlike anything I've ever read. It wasn't scary but at the same time it was kind of creepy. They're not ghosts that haunt and torment but remind and maybe love. It was just so unique that I honestly want to read it again just to soak it in even more.

Elizah is a loner by nature, which some people just can't grasp the concept of. People think that because someone actually chooses to not want to interact with people that there's something inherently wrong with them. The guidance counselor that Elizah goes to feels this is the case and not only she but Elizah's mother forces social interaction on her in a gross attempt to make her "normal." I can kind of relate to Elizah simply because I'm a loner myself. Not quite to the extent she is but I am looked at oddly by some people because I choose not to go out and socialize. Not to say I don't have friends; I'm just horrendously picky of the company I keep and bar hopping every weekend is not only a waste of my money, it's just not my scene. I have better things to do. Like talk to the voices in my head.

My favorite aspect of the story was the imagery of Nathaniel's village. Just the way it was described your mind couldn't really picture it without it being coated in a cold mist, as if looking through an early morning lens. You could see what it looked like but at the same time it was never really clear. You knew it looked like that colonial reproduction village just down stream but it fades in and out of the shadows as the sun casts them through the trees. Or doesn't. It was just so gripping and ethereal, tangible and intangible at the same time. I wanted to go there and see it for myself and just hoped I'd be able to get back. It leaves you (or you leave it) with a sense that just maybe if you took the wrong turn, you might not make it back. It's not scary but it is unsettling.

The adults in this book irk the crap out of me. I kind of half understand the mother's situation because she was married to a degenerate gambler for so long that was so afraid of people coming after him for money that he forced his family into solitude. I get that. But at the end of the day she was really self-involved and didn't so much care about how Elizah felt but more how people would view her because of Elizah's "abnormal" actions. She really wasn't a likable character and I'm not sure if she was supposed to be. She's damaged, yes, but I was in Elizah's head with her in every conversation she had with her mother going, "yeah, it's all about you, isn't it?" I felt it. I don't think you even needed to be an objective third party to know that.

The rest of the adults were kind of stock characters, cookie-cutter cut-outs that were way too into normal. But maybe that was the point. Maybe this overwhelming sense of suburbanite normalcy that ran throughout the book was a means to overcompensate for what they previously lived through. Sure, Dirk was too into playing the father-figure role and took it on way too quickly, but maybe that was the point. He's normal. Elizah's mother wanted normal and fast. I guess it fits.

I loved how Elizah's father was often compared to the actions of a ghost, flitting in and out of someone's life, neither there or not. A presence more than anything tangible. It described him perfectly; except for how much of a creep he really was. Big creep.

Nathaniel is the best part. It's pretty obvious from the beginning just what he is, and it's pretty easy to make the connections once the character start talking about local legends and Indian lore but I don't think it was meant to be subtle. But what was was Elizah's and Nathaniel's inherent connection to each other. That was subtle and I really liked how in the background it was kept. The notion of past lives was barely even scratched but it was there enough to make you question what was going on in that entire situation. It left a whole different, and separate, story lingering at the end that you wished was filled in but you're left to use just your imagination.

It's a sad love story and a sad friendship story really. The only people Elizah connects with are those in the cemetery and really, being a loner isn't all it's cracked up to be. But somehow the entire situation is settling for her. She accepts it for what it is and while she wants to ask more of it, she doesn't because she knows she won't get it.

It's a story about a loner that isn't as much of a loner as she thought she was. It's a ghost story and a love story. A story of loss and healing. But really, it's just a great story.

Original Sin by Allison Brennan

Published 2010.

Haunted by chilling memories of demonic possession and murder, Moira O'Donnell has spent seven years hunting down her mother, Fiona, whose command of black magic has granted her unprecedented control of the underworld. Now Moira's global search has led her to a small California town that's about to become hell on earth.

Tormented by his own terrifying past and driven by powers he can't explain, ex-seminarian Rafe Cooper joins Moira's dangerous quest. But Fiona is one devilish step ahead. Hungry for greater power, eternal youth, and stunning beauty, the sorceress is unleashing upon the mortal world the living incarnations of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Together with a demonologist, a tough female sheriff, and a true-crime writer chasing the ultimate story, Moira and Rafe are humanity's last best chance to snatch salvation from the howling jaws of damnation. (book back blurb)

I read a review of this book where the reviewer said that it was too religious for her so she had a hard time getting into it. O_o Uh, duh. With a title like Original Sin, part of the Seven Deadly Sins series, it certainly wasn't going to be nondenominational, now was it?

Anyway, have you ever read a book where it feels like you're reading forever and when you go to stop and put the bookmark in, you look at the top of the book to see how much more you have to go before the end and it looks like the bookmark hasn't moved at all? That's what this book was like for me. I had a hard time getting into it and staying interested.

It's not that it was bad. There were some parts I enjoyed. One was the execution of the Seven Deadly Sins (not as in their deaths but in how they were used in the story). These are sneaky little bastards that don't need to actually possess a body but they can infect them with their sin of choice with a brush, or even a presence. The sin overwhelms a person, like they lose self control and start acting purely on their id. They feel like they're not acting like themselves but it doesn't feel like a separate entity's invaded their body. I just really like that concept and I really liked how it was played out in the story.

The rest of it . . . meh. I felt the action was cyclical and redundant at times. A lot of the time I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over because it felt like the same action was being replayed, as were the same emotions and the same circumstances. It got old quick and kept me from wanting to read on.

The demon thing overall was just a little too campy for me. It read like something out of a cheesy B horror movie made in the 90s or something. Moira's snarky lines when she was faced with one didn't come off as working but as something contrived. Yeah, because when I'm faced with a demon, I'm going to crack jokes, right? I think it was meant to portray her personality but I didn't think it worked.

I didn't feel any growth for any of the characters at all in the book. Moira, Anthony, even Skye, I felt all stayed the same from beginning to end. I didn't see any of them reaching beyond their character. They all stuck firmly to their roles and didn't branch out. Despite all the demon stuff, it kept the story kind of boring.

I'm also not a fan of the "all magic, black or white, is evil" notion either. Maybe it fits into the plot the story dictates, but it's not something that sits well with me, especially witches actually preferring to be called magicians. Pardon the pun, but not a snowball's chance in hell.

The gratuitous sex scene was interesting. Rather random and unnecessary but there you go. It was a way to wedge the word 'cock' into the manuscript. The story wouldn't have been any less lively without it.

The ending irked me, especially Fiona's too-easy hand-over of the situation. It was like, "You've won this time, but the battle's just begun." Very cliche and the situation was wrapped up way too easily for my liking. I felt Fiona as a whole was just a very cliche villain. Basically she's out for world domination and eternal beauty and youth. Just not very original to me and I didn't find her a very compelling antagonist because of that.

I mean, it's not a bad book. The writing's okay but the overall story really isn't for me. I like a certain kind of cheese but this isn't it. I think it might be just a little too much for me. But it's supernatural and it does have some interesting takes on the ways of demons. I think it'd make a decent beach read but it'd be a one time thing and then just pass on the book or donate it to the library or something.