Book Review: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Please note: This is the second book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and does contain spoilers.

Check out my review for Daughter of Smoke and Bone (1).

Karou has found a way home, but there is nothing left.

Akiva has returned to his flock. Hiding his distraught over losing Karou again, he puts his efforts toward finishing what their love started.

Two sides battle against the other in a different world. Yet Karou is now mixed, she is part of her own world, but she is also of Earth now. The small fact brings new opportunities and worse dangers to her fight.

As each side fights for what they believe is right, how can survival prevail?

I have been hording this book for a while. I knew it wouldn’t disappoint and man, it was just as miraculous as the first book. The blending of fantasy with reality is spectacular, as is the hardship and the grief. Taylor doesn’t hold back and she ploughs full force into this next exciting chapter in her well-crafted series.

If you have read the first book but not this one, DO SO IMMEDIATELY.

I can’t wait for the final book, although I’m sad to say it’s scheduled for publication in 2014, called Dreams of Gods & Monsters.

Book Review: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

Aug20

Vanessa Alder has been haunted since her older sister Margaret’s disappearance. Three years later she finds herself in Margaret’s place as a standout freshman at the New York Ballet Academy. As the handsome Zeppelin Grey catches her eye and head choreographer Josef hints Vanessa could be up for the lead in the winter ballet, she’s easily caught up in the movements.

However, Vanessa isn’t there to dance. Her main goal is to find her sister. Reported as a runaway, Vanessa is positive that Margaret is lurking somewhere in New York. Yet as the pressures of dance begin to overwhelm her, Vanessa wonders if she is starting to hear and see things. There are secrets hidden within the NYBA and Vanessa will do whatever it takes to discover what happened to her sister.

This book was a real letdown. The cover? Fantastic! The blurb on the back? I need to read this now! The verdict? BOOOOOOO.

Let’s go over the reasons why. 1. The romance not only doesn’t make sense, but it makes the plot clunky and derails from a possible interesting plot. Zeppelin Grey? The name annoyed me so much I hated every scene he was in. 2. It wasn’t executed well. 3. The ending is blurry, and there are bits and characters that are completely forgotten about. This is a first in the series, but there was no alluding to ‘there’s more that lies ahead’ until the last page. 4. Vanessa as a whole is one-dimensional and her heart and soul for finding her sister isn’t followed throughout the book. It’s a mistake that could have changed the outcome of the book.

I really wanted to like this book; it had such promise. I was excited from the prologue and cover, but this was not carried through with each chapter. I loved the idea of a dark mystery surrounding an elite dance school in New York. The beauty and grace of ballet flitting through the pages. Perhaps someone else can give it a go. I won’t be continuing the series. There isn’t enough intrigue for me to want to know what happens, but kudos to the Bloomsbury marketing team! They did a standout job! I just wish someone had held the author to the same standard as the cover design. It really could have been a perfect match.

Book Review: Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

Aug13

Please note: This is the fourth book in the Hush, Hush series and does contain spoilers.

Check out my review for Hush, Hush (1), Crescendo (2) and Silence (3).

Nora Grey is not your average seventeen year old. In the past six months she’s had her life threatened, almost died multiple times and fallen in and out and back in love with her destined to be fallen angel Patch.

Now Nora is the leader of the Nephilim army, but there are darker sources at work. The battle is coming to a head and Nora’s wish for peace is a million miles away. To claim her destiny, her life and her love, she’s going to have to fight for a side. But when Patch is on the opposite end, is choosing a side truly the answer?

UGH………..WHAT A LETDOWN………..GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

I am obviously not a fan of this book. TERRIBLE. HORRIBLE. Make it stop it hurts my eyes!

I really, really, really hated the ending. One of the worst endings I have read in a long time. A waste of my time and for a series that had a promising beginning, I had no idea it would go so far astray. I’m sure romance lovers will love this finale, but for me I hated it because it was only about the superficial love aspect.

The plot that had so many different directions got lost, into the ether. The romance took dominance and everything else just closed into an easy box. Nora dissolves into a whiny little brat that can’t, and won’t do anything without her man. This is not ok! As a leader of an army, Nora needs courage and bravery, but instead she became a hunk of mouldy cheese.

It’s such a shame, the marketing team truly have done a fantastic job on the series book cover and I just the writing matched.

Book Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Aug6

Please note: This is the final book in the Delirium series and does contain spoilers.

Check out my review for Delirium (1), Pandemonium (2).

The end is near for Lena and the resistance. Tension is rising and has finally come to its breaking point. Us against Them. To be free and feel, or remain a robot and die slowly. There will never be an in between. Lena has chosen her side and so has Hana.

The end is near and with so much death lost. Is it worth fighting?

The end is near.

With each book Oliver has outdone herself. I must say I am not a big fan of the first book, but the second and third are truly fantastic. What began as a traditional YA book has spawned into a series that is about life as whole instead of a silly romance.

There is heart, there is trial, there is loss and it is all so real.

This finale is heart retching. It’s gripping with tragedy and surprises. I blew through the pages and was distraught at the end. I’m really glad I stuck with the series; it’s totally worth reading and challenges your mind as to what you do. Give up everything for the chance to love freely, or be safe by being a number. The sides will never be even, and which side would you truly wish to be on?

Book Review: Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

Jul30

Please note: This is the third book in the Hush, Hush series and does contain spoilers.

Check out my review for Hush, Hush (1) and Crescendo (2).

All summer Nora Grey has been missing. When she appears out of nowhere in the middle of the cemetery, she discovers she can’t remember the past five months of her life. It also turns out her mother has been dating the father of her biggest enemy Marcie Millar. Talk about living an nightmare.

Traumatized and feeling alone Nora tries to piece her life back together. Her friends say one thing and other people from her past say another. Nora knows her mother is keeping something from her, but as she muddles through her memories each road comes up empty.

Try as she can to figure things out there are other forces drawing Nora into danger. Each time she lands in perils way, a handsome unknown stranger swoops in to save her. Like a guardian angel. If only Nora could just remember what really happened…

Sigh. It’s been a slow deterioration for this series. Granted, again, Fitzpatrick has made me eager to know what happened to Nora. However the plot is beginning to thin. I found this book to be ‘too easy’. There were many sections where I thought ‘That seriously wouldn’t happen’ to ‘The world doesn’t operate that way’.

Now I understand this is a YA book and sometimes you come across ones that don’t make sense and it’s supposed to be ok. However, the best YA can weave a tale where even if things don’t make sense it’s still believable. This is not one of those series.

My disappointment is growing, but there is only one book left so I feel I’ve invested this much and need to finish. My hopes are not high though.

Book Review: Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

Jul27

It all started as a practical joke. Cameron Martin is one of the most popular kids in school. At seventeen he’s the star of the basketball team and dating one of the hottest girls at his high school. Life is perfect, his body is perfect and what could make it better? A free piece of birthday cake is always the cherry on top.

But something is wrong is Cameron. Perhaps it was stress of the game or finals of senior year. Everyday he feels…a bit different. Older.

When a visit to the doctor confirms the worst, that Cameron is aging an entire year everyday, it makes one think, how would you spend living the rest of your life?

I LOVED THIS. Seriously. What a fun quick read! Why do male lead characters get all the fun in YA fiction? It’s light-hearted, easy and full of wonder. I mean, could you imagine? Aging a year in an entire DAY? The plot was pretty easy to figure out but that didn’t deter from my enjoyment. I loved Cameron. What a total teenager that bloke is.

It’s a fun story, and I’m so happy to learn it’s an already completed trilogy. The book also helps puts things in perspective. It was a joy to see the progression of Cameron’s character from prick jerkface to an adult male. He makes a lot of mistakes and boy there are some hilarious mishaps that happen. Yet in the end Cameron is still a teenager and Rowe is dead on with his tone of voice.

If you want an easy read that makes you laugh out loud at moment please give this first in a serious a shot. It’s well worth the time and a totally great read!

This book was provided by the publisher, Patchwork Press, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Brian Rowe for such a delightful read and to Patchwork Press for taking a chance on a read self published piece of work!