(ARC) Book Review (97) - Betrayed (The Guardian Legacy #2) - Ednah Walters

Betrayed (The Guardian Legacy #2)

by Ednah Walters 

Publication: 5th June 2012

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Pages: 336

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

** Warning Contains Spoilers From The Previous Book In The Series**

Lil isn't just an average teenager. She's one of the Nephilim--the descendants of humans and angels--which gives her some serious psi skills and a mission for redemption. Just when Lil thinks she's found a balance between her normal life with human friends and her training to become a Guardian, she's warned that someone close to her will betray her. When the boy she loves starts acting strangely and one of her human friends acquires a supernatural ability, Lil begins to realize that someone is manipulating the people she loves... and won't stop until she's been lured to the dark side.

My Thoughts.

This series just gets better and better, Ednah Walters name should be up there with the likes of Stephenie Meyer and Richelle Mead, why it isn't is beyond me.

In most series the sophomore release is usually not as good as the first but this book definitely surpassed it's predecessor Awakened and that book was fantastic!

Words cannot explain how much I loved this, it is high up on my favourite series for sure  and I'm highly anticipating the next book in the series Hunted.

I would suggest that you read the first book Awakened before delving into this one, only because there's a lot of information you find out in that book which helps to set up the storyline in Betrayed.

This book takes place eight months after the end of the last book and Lil is pretty much on house arrest, she's not allowed to go out hunting with the other trainee guardians and her spare time away from school is spent training with a new trainer Master Haziel, or leather face as Lil refers to him.

Lil starts getting phone calls from her father Valafar even after her phone is completely destroyed it's then that she realises that he's using a medium someone she knows and not only that there is a traitor among the guardians who is feeding knowledge to Valafar.

Bran starts to act really strange, he's never around and when he is he's very distracted, Lil knows he's keeping something from her but he won't tell her what it is.

Of course the trainee guardians are all back Sykes, Remy, Izzy and Kim, I love these characters there is not one character in this series that I'm not interested in reading about and I love that, I especially love the interactions between Sykes and Lil they are hilarious and then add Bran into the mix and it's just laugh out loud funny, as much as I love Sykes I'm glad that Walters hasn't gone down the same path that most other authors do and add in a love triangle, Lil and Bran are perfect together.

We actually get to see Izzy's powers in action which I love as we never really got to see them in the last book, Grampa looks set to start a relationship with Cardinal (Aunt) Janelle, helped along by both Lil and Janelle herself which is really sweet it's about time that he had someone for himself and to let go of his past.

And Lil's human friends are back Kylie, Mackenzie, Nikki and Amelia, but Kylie ad Mackenzie start acting weird as well and Lil feels like she's losing everyone she loves, Celeste (Bran's sister) is in this book a whole lot I really like her character and I like that Lil has a friend that she can talk to about all the supernatural happenings.

As for the end and the traitor well I definitely got that one wrong I changed my mind a couple of times through the book but was wrong both times, which reflects on how good Walters writing is.

I'm so happy to have discovered this series and it's author and I look forward to another exciting instalment next year.

I give this a huge 5/5.

A Huge Thanks To Spencer Hill Press For Allowing Me To Review This Book.

(Arc) Book Review (87).

Team Human

by Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan

Publication: 1st July 2012
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia
Pages: 372
Genre: Paranormal
Age Appropriate: Young Adult


Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn’t mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It’s up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!

On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.

My Thoughts.

I loved this book it was a totally different aspect to your normal everyday vampire book, ever since this appeared on Goodreads I've been dying to read it and so I was really happy when I received this arc.

Best friends Mel and Cathy are walking to school one day when they are distracted by somebody in a hazmat suit, knowing that it could only be a vampire inside it Cathy is extremely excited having been interested in them her whole life.

You see New Whitby is described as Las Vegas but with vampires who have their own section of town patrolled by their own policeman, they live in houses that are from centuries past and some of them even dress in clothes from the olden times.

So straight away Cathy is smitten with Francis (the vampire) but Mel is not a fan especially since another good friend Anna's father ran away with a vampire patient he had.

So while Cathy is trying her best and finally achieving to get close to Francis, Mel is totally against them being together and after threatening Francis with some information she found out about why he was enrolled at school he leaves  without a word to Cathy so she turns up at his house, Mel realises where she's gone and after breaking into his house they are caught by the owner of the house Camille a vampire cop and her human son Kit.

After professing their love to each other Cathy and Francis after only being together not even a month decide that they want to be together forever and so Francis asks Cathy to change into a vampire and she agrees.

The problem is there is a 10% chance that Cathy could become a zombie, yes in an original idea in a vampire book,  in turning a human if it doesn't work you die or turn into a zombie who then gets destroyed.

So Mel teams up with Kit who has some classic lines in never having associated with humans before he knows only what he's seen on t.v and his reactions to things had me laughing out loud, to change Cathy's mind.

We also have a subplot in which her friend Anna is worried about her mum who is the school principal acting suspicious so Mel investigates sometimes with Kit tagging along.

I loved Mel as a character she was a tough tell it to you straight kind of person who would do anything for her friends and I can't wait to continue on with her other adventures in the next book being released next year.

I highly recommend you pick up this book  it puts a spin on your classic vampire stories and it's full of action and humour and may even get you thinking that if you had the chance to become a vampire would you take it?

I give this 4/5.

A Big Thanks To Allen & Unwin Australia.

Book Review (68).

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

by Jess Rothenberg

Publication: 28th March 2012
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Pages:375
Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Young Adult

 Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever. 

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. 

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after. 

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

My Thoughts.

Wow I don't even know how to start describing this book, heartbreaking comes to mind as does the power of forgiveness and acceptance that life moves on after you die and while you'll never ever forget your life, you'll never be forgotten either.

Which begs the question if you were to die tomorrow could you accept it? Or would you not be able to let go of your life?

Brie has this problem after dying of a broken heart (her heart actually broke in half) after her boyfriend told her he doesn't love her, Brie in her afterlife finds herself at her favourite pizza place, with a strange assortment of people, one of who is Patrick an eighteen year old boy who died in the eighties  and is dressed the part who helps her get through the grieving process of the end of her life.

But you see Brie is angry she's upset her life is over and she wants revenge on Jacob her boyfriend whom she blames for killing her, so she convinces Patrick to help her and it's when she goes back and is checking up on her family and friends she discovers that the people she left behind aren't handling it very well at all, her boyfriend Jacob was keeping a huge secret from her which was why he broke up with her, her best friend was also keeping something from her but it's the betrayal from her Dad that she discovers which hurts most of all, her Dad who is a well known heart surgeon is obsessed with discovering why Brie's heart broke the way it did and in the process has pushed his family away.

Patrick who seemed familiar to Brie when she first met him has some secrets too in fact a big one that may just involve Brie, and the way he died is part of the secret.

I loved the banter between these too and the various names he came up with for cheese (her name's Brie, get it?).

The way the book was separated into the five stages of grief was fantastically done, and the struggle Brie had to finally let go of her life and move on had me in tears, actually throughout the books I shed a tear or two which isn't good when you're in a food court at your local shopping centre or eating lunch in the tea room at work.

I loved the ending and while towards the end I sort of guessed what the connection was between Brie and Patrick it still made me happy when it was revealed.

A fantastic read which I highly recommend and I definitely look forward to seeing what the author has planned next.

I give this 5/5.

A Big Thanks To Penguin Australia.

Book Review (55).

Wonder

by R.J. Palacio

Publication: 14th February 2012

Publisher: Random House Australia

Pages: 315

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age Appropriate: Middle Grade

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.

My Thoughts.

I can't remember the last time I got so emotionally involved in a book, this story didn't just leave me a crying mess it broke my heart a little too, and I couldn't have picked a better ending for this fantastic book.

We have August (Auggie) ten years old a regular kid who's funny, really sweet loves his Xbox, Star Wars and reading but there's one thing that stands him apart from every other ten year old his face is deformed, he has had twenty seven surgeries on his face since he was born but he's still left with facial deformities, his eyes are halfway down his face, he has a hole inside his mouth so he can only chew with his front teeth, he has no cheekbones so his face is all sucked in and people describe it as if he'd been in a fire and his face has melted and he has pretty much no ears but can still hear.

After being home schooled all his life his parents decide to enrol him in grade 5 at school but Auggie doesn't want to go because he knows the reactions he'll get, the same ones he's been getting all his life from both children who sometimes scream when they see his face and adults who should know better but move themselves and their kids away when the see him.

Auggie also wore an astronaut helmet two years straight so no one could see his face.

While at his school to meet the principal before school starts he's introduced to three kids Jack, Julian and Charlotte who were asked to come in on their holidays to show Auggie around, and of course like most people are taken aback at his appearance, school starts and Auggie is excited he sits next to Jack but Julian is a mean boy and makes remarks that Auggie knows are directed at him, lunchtime comes and Auggie is sitting all alone while everyone is staring not wanting to get close in case they could somehow catch something off him because of his face which later becomes known as the Plague where everyone goes out of their way not to touch him, a girl called Summer sits down with him after initially feeling sorry for him but soon finds herself enjoying his company and becoming friends.

Anyone who decides to be friends with Auggie is ostracised thanks to Julian, him being in the popular clique.

One of the most emotional parts for me was Halloween, students were allowed to go to school in costume and at the last minute Auggie ran out of time to put his costume on so he put on his Bleeding Scream costume from the previous year and because he had a mask on no one recognized him and he overheard someone who he thought was a friend calling him names, so being all upset he pretended he was sick so he could go home,.

Just the anguish he went through wondering why he couldn't have a normal face like everybody else, even going camping on a school trip and he gets picked on by a bunch of kids from another school after he's been having such a good time.

The end I loved and I was crying tears of happiness for an ending that was perfect in my opinion and for one of the lines his Mum says to him"Thank you Auggie, for everything you've given us, for coming into our lives, for being you" (wow I started crying just typing that).

For all those people who have ever been bullied and who judge people on the way they look and yes I'm big enough to admit I've done it, but this book has made me sit and think for those people who have some kind of deformity they are still people too they just look a little different to you and I.

I can't say enough about this book, the writing was flawless and heartfelt and the author is amazing for being able to get into that mindset and believing in a character that just seemed so incredibly real and brave and courageous.

So please read this book it's fantastic and as Auggie would say 'cool beans'.

I give this an outstanding 5/5.

A big thanks to Random House Australia.

Book Review (48).

Spoiled

by Heather Cocks, Jessica Morgan

Publication: February 2012

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia

Pages: 372

Genre: Contemporary

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Arc Review.

16-year-old Molly Dix loves her ordinary life in suburban Indiana, so when her single mother passes away, she is shocked to discover that her biological father is Brick Berlin, world famous movie star and red carpet regular.

Equally intrigued and terrified by her Hollywood lineage, Molly moves to Southern California and plunges head-first into the deep end of Beverly Hills celebrity life. Just as Molly thinks her new life and family couldn't get any stranger, she meets Brooke Berlin, her gorgeous and spoiled half-sister whom welcomes Molly to la-la land with a healthy dose of passive-aggressive "sisterly love."

Set against the backdrop of a sparkling and fashion-filled Los Angeles, this deliciously dysfunctional family soap opera will satisfy every reader looking for their next lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous beach read.

My Thoughts.

Molly has just lost her mum to cancer and it was while her mum was on her death bed the she admitted to Molly that her father is the world famous actor Brick Berlin, so she moves from Indiana to Los Angeles to go and live with her father and half-sister Brooke.

Brick is an absentee father, if he's not shooting a film he's on the phone not realising that all his two daughters want is his attention and some of his time.

When Molly first meets Brooke she's nice as pie and it isn't until Brick isn't around that she lets her true colors show and is vindictive in spreading rumours around school, Molly gets attention from the press which Brooke has always longed for but has never gotten.

Molly is befriended by Brooke's arch-nemesis Shelby who's father owns the Hey! a very popular gossip magazine and Shelby aims to follow in his footsteps and will do anything to get back at Brooke, even use Molly to get what she wants.

Molly also has to deal with her long- distance relationship with her boyfriend Danny and her growing feelings for Teddy a boy at her new school,

For all those people who ever wondered what the world of celebrity would be like, this is the tale of an ordinary girl who didn't know what she was getting herself into.

I give this 4/5.

A Big Thanks To Allen & Unwin.

Book Review (40).

Touch of Power (Healer #1)

by Maria V. Snyder

Publication: January 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen Australia

Pages: 390

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...

My Thoughts.

This is the very first book I've ever read by Maria V. Snyder and it definately won't be my last.

Avry is a healer, someone who can take injuries and diseases into her own body, unfortunately for Avry all healers a are being accused of spreading the plague and so are being hunted down and executed.

It's after Avry is in jail after saving a little girl's life that she is rescued by Kerrick and his friends who plan on escorting her to heal Prince Ryne who is lying in stasis  after catching the plague.

Avry initially refuses to heal Prince Ryne as she has previously had a run in with him and doesn't like him and the plague is the one disease healers can't recover from.

While traveling with the men she becomes close to all of them except Kerrick who is a forest mage and can camouflage himself who seems cold and unfeeling.

I loved the developing romance between Avry and Kerrick  while it took a while it wasn't until they were seperated they both realised their feelings and I can't wait to find out what else is in store for their relationship.

I was upset when we lost one of the characters from the group that Avry traveled with just wish he hadn't died.

But through it all this is an exciting and intriguing read and I only wish the next book is out sooner, I absolutely loved it.

I give this 5/5

A huge thanks to Gabby @ Harlequin Teen Australia.