Saturday, 28 April 2012

Book Review (78).

Shadowland (The Immortals #3)

by Alyson Noel

Publication: 17th November 2009

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 339

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

*Warning Contains Spoilers From Previous Books In The Series*

Ever and Damen have traveled through countless past lives—and fought off the world’s darkest enemies—so they could be together forever. But just when their long-awaited destiny is finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon Damen…one that could destroy everything. Now a single touch of their hands or a soft brush of their lips could mean sudden death—plunging Damen into the Shadowland. Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses herself in magick—and gets help from an unexpected source…a surfer named Jude.

Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar. Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past. She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true. But as Damen pulls away to save them, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before…

My Thoughts.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and while it only took a day to read each one this one took me longer.

While the plot twist at the end of the last book was different and made me think ok this could go somewhere and make this series really interesting, and then it was never resolved in this book and was instead carried on to the next one with another problem added to it all because Ever continues to act irrationally and trusts the wrong person again, never mind that Damen who's her soulmate (and yes she feels the need to keep reminding us of that fact in every single book and now it's just annoying) keeps telling her the right thing but she ignores him and does the complete opposite.

One thing I did really like was Jude, I wish more attention was paid to their past and their relationships together and I was kind of hoping they'd end up together, I figure she can't touch Damen and he was so busy making sure that the twins Romy and Rayne who were now living with him got whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

I also have taken a disliking to ever's best friend Haven I can't say I was a big fan before but now she just annoys the crap out of me and let's just say what happened to her at the end of the book had gone the other way, it wouldn't have bothered me at all.

Most of this book is spent with Ever trying to find ways to convince Roman to give her the antidote to the problem they have, and then after her plan of using dark magic (dark magic people that should be the hint right there to not attempt it) backfires and instead she finds herself physically attracted to Roman which leads to her feeling the need to sleep with him whenever she's drawn to him (which is a lot).

I'm still hoping this will get back on track although I have said in a previous review of a book in this series that a lot of people don't like the rest of the books in this series I will persevere because once I've started a series I like to finish it, regardless of whether or not the books are no longer good.

I give this 3.5/5.

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Feature And Follow Friday (25).

Q: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

This has never happened to me but I used to hate Jacob in the Twilight books but thanks to Taylor Lautner in the movies, I quite like him now, so yeah I've had the opposite happen.

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

Waiting On Wednesday.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on....

Sacred

by Elana K. Arnold

13th November 2012 By Random House Children's Books

Growing up on Catalina Island, off the California coast, Scarlett Wenderoth has led a fairly isolated life. After her brother dies, her isolation deepens as she withdraws into herself, shutting out her friends and boyfriend. Her parents, shattered by their own sorrow, fail to notice Scarlett's pain and sudden alarming thinness. Scarlett finds pleasure only on her horse, escaping to the heart of the island on long, solitary rides. One day, as she races around a bend, Scarlett is startled by a boy who raises his hand in warning and says one word: "Stop."

The boy—intense, beautiful—is Will Cohen, a newcomer to the island. For reasons he can't or won't explain, he's drawn to Scarlett and feels compelled to keep her safe. To keep her from wasting away. His meddling irritates Scarlett, though she can't deny her attraction to him. As their relationship blossoms into love, Scarlett's body slowly awakens at Will's touch. But just when her grief begins to ebb, she makes a startling discovery about Will, a discovery he's been grappling with himself. A discovery that threatens to force them apart. And if it does, Scarlett fears she will unravel all over again.

Marionette

by Jamie Dougherty

November 2012 By Jamie Dougherty

"I gazed upon him from behind glass eyes. My mouth wouldn’t move, I couldn’t tell him the words I had longed for him to hear. He had always taken such care when he placed me away into my cedar box but if he only knew that I screamed inside. I screamed to be released from the wooden cell I had been cursed to long ago..." ~Chastity

League of Strays by L.B. Schulman

1st October 2012 By Amulet

When Charlotte Brody, a lonely 17-year-old student at a new school, receives an invitation to join The League of Strays, she's intrigued by the group's promise of "instant friendship." The League does provide companionship--and even a love interest--but Charlotte grows increasingly uncomfortable with its sinister mission to seek revenge against the bullies of Kennedy High. When escalating acts of vengeance threaten to hurl her down a path of remorse, Charlotte must choose between her new friends and the direction of a future she's never fully considered

Freakling (Freakling #1)

by Lana Krumwiede

9th October 2012 By Candlewick Press
A thrilling, fast-paced dystopian novel about the dangers of unchecked power and the dilemmas facing a boy torn between two ways of life.

In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi — the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony. The "dud farm" is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance. But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too — dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered. When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage — even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him?

The Innocents (The Innocents #1)

by Lili Peloquin

October 2012 Razorbill

Two sisters fight to belong in a town built on secrets and lies in this romantic new YA series.

Nothing ever came between sisters Alice and
Charlie.
Friends didn’t.
Boys couldn’t.
Their family falling apart never would.
Until they get to Serenity Point.

The Innocents is the first in a new series of young adult novels that weaves a saga of nail-biting drama, breathless romance, and gothic mystery.

Falling to Ash (Moth)

by Karen Mahoney

September 2012 By Random House

You can't choose your family ...living or dead.

Trapped between two very different worlds, newly made vampire Moth is struggling to find her place in either. Not only does she have to answer to her strict Irish-Catholic Dad, but her over-protective maker, Theo, is intent on making her the star attraction in his powerful Boston vampire clan. Moth will have to pull off the double-act of the century to please both of them...

Adding to her problems is the dangerously attractive Jason Murdoch, a trainee vampire hunter who loves to play cat and mouse in his spare time (Jace = cat; Moth = mouse). But when the teenagers of Boston's wealthiest families start to disappear, it forces Moth and Jace into an uneasy truce. Will they be able to solve the mystery behind the disappearances - before someone winds up undead?

Sunday, 22 April 2012

10 Book Covers With.....

Wings.

Book Review (77).

Blue Moon (The Immortals #2)

by Alyson Noel

Publication: 7th July 2009

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Pages: 289

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

**Warning Contains Spoilers From The First Book**

Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever’s powers are increasing, Damen’s are fading—stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.

Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen’s past—the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden—but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them—or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day...

My Thoughts.

After absolutely loving the first book in this series I was more than eager to start this second book to see where the story leads and I liked it, not as much as the first book but the storyline was different and we're introduced to some new characters, some good and some not so good.

What I loved most about the first book was the relationship between Ever and Damen and since he was under a spell that left him with pretty much no memory of Ever he thought she was stalking him instead, so I didn't love it like I did the first, take away that relationship and you have Ever sulking around because not only is her boyfriend not having anything to do with her but thanks to the new kid in school Roman even her best friends Miles and Haven are hanging out with the cool kids after Roman put a spell on them too.

And then Roman spends his time trying to come onto Ever, now that Damen is no longer around.

We get a look into Damen's and Ever's pasts and how they met in each one and while Ever is in Summerland (the in-between) she meets thirteen year old twin girls Romy and Rayne who befriended Riley (Ever's dead sister) before she crossed over and Ever is unsure whether to trust them or not which culminates at the end when to save Damen she has to decide whether to trust either Roman or Rayne and the decision she makes affects the following books in the series.

Ever is also betrayed by somebody she thought was a friend and because of her betrayal Damen nearly dies.

I also missed Riley in this book I realise that she's now passed over but I liked the interaction between her and Ever.

But the end was a bit of a shock I can't wait to see how the storyline develops to solve the problem and I want more Ever and Damen time.

Now I'm off to see how the next book goes.

I give this 4/5.