Friday, September 10, 2010
"Hex Hall" by Rachel Hawkins
This debut novel is about a young witch named Sophie who is sent to a reform school for supernaturals (called Prodigium) who have used their powers unwisely in the past. All of the students are different and have their own powers: there are witches, vampires, werewolves, fairies, ghosts, and groups of assassins out to get them. The string of attacks on a certain group of students leaves the school in shock and the hunt is on to find out who is out to get the Prodigium and Sophie is left to deal with this while learning about her own identity, which has until now been kept secret from her. The first few pages were kind of slow going, but after that I was hooked! I even laughed out loud at times! Rachel Hawkins paints a vivid world of Hecate Hall and I felt like I knew all the characters personally. What more could you want?? It had romance, suspense, and amazing characters...not to mention an ending that left you wanting the second book NOW!! Book two, "Demonglass" will be out this spring and I will be one of the first to buy it!!
"Kisses From Hell" Anthology
I love, love, LOVE the "From Hell" anthologies! They all contain great short stories and this one didn't disappoint - for the most part. It wasn't as great as some of the other From Hells, but still read-worthy. Since this had multiple stories, I'll give a quick review of each one.
"Sunshine" by Richelle Mead: This is a short story that is part of her Vampire Academy series. It is told from Eric Dragomir's point of view (Lissa's brother) and was very engaging. I couldn't stop reading once I started! Richelle Mead always does a fabulous job with her stories, but I feel like this really needed to be a full length book. As soon as it picked up in action, it was over. The VA series is so complicated, I don't feel any character's story can be told in approximately 40 pages. Fabulous read, just not long enough, or detailed enough.
"Bring Me To Life" by Alyson Noel: This was a welcome break from her Immortals Series (which I adore - review coming soon on her newest novel in the series, "Radiance"). A young girl Danika is sent to a creepy art school in the UK where nothing is as it seems...the school, the people, nothing. She tries to capture her dreams in paintings, only to see them become a reality. Best story in the book in my opinion. It was amazing. It had a good beginning, good climax, and good ending.
"Above" by Kristin Cast: I had unrealistically high expectations for this one. Kristin Cast writes with her mother, P.C. Cast in the outrageously popular House of Night series (amazing and addictive - one of my all-time favorites), so I was most looking forward to this one. I wish I could tell you what it was about. I have no clue. Random lyrical prose was inserted. The story was disjointed and I never got a good feel for the characters. Not good at all. I can't believe I read 40+ pages and all I can say is "BAD". I will from now on only read her work when she writes with her mother. Sorry to be so brutal!! I feel bad, but its the truth.
"Hunting Kat" by Kelley Armstrong: A young girl named Kat, is hiding from a group doing experiments on vampires. She is involved in a car accident and ends up on the run with two boys and has no idea who she should ally herself with in this race for her life. This short story had an amazing amount of action! It really grabbed my attention and didn't let go. Like Kat, I kept changing my mind on who was the Good Guy and Bad Guy in the story. It was so good, I would love to see it become a full-length story sometime with Kat as the heroine!
"Lilith" by Francesca Lia Block: This story centers around a young boy who had created a fantasy alternate world for himself to live in so he can escape the cruelty of school. Somehow, he meets Lilith, who lures him into the world of vampirism. It was a little too sci-fi for my tastes and the ending was a little too open-ended, so I wouldn't really rave too much about this one. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It kind of was just there.
Overall, I enjoyed this anthology - and it definitely gave me some new perspective on authors!!
"Sunshine" by Richelle Mead: This is a short story that is part of her Vampire Academy series. It is told from Eric Dragomir's point of view (Lissa's brother) and was very engaging. I couldn't stop reading once I started! Richelle Mead always does a fabulous job with her stories, but I feel like this really needed to be a full length book. As soon as it picked up in action, it was over. The VA series is so complicated, I don't feel any character's story can be told in approximately 40 pages. Fabulous read, just not long enough, or detailed enough.
"Bring Me To Life" by Alyson Noel: This was a welcome break from her Immortals Series (which I adore - review coming soon on her newest novel in the series, "Radiance"). A young girl Danika is sent to a creepy art school in the UK where nothing is as it seems...the school, the people, nothing. She tries to capture her dreams in paintings, only to see them become a reality. Best story in the book in my opinion. It was amazing. It had a good beginning, good climax, and good ending.
"Above" by Kristin Cast: I had unrealistically high expectations for this one. Kristin Cast writes with her mother, P.C. Cast in the outrageously popular House of Night series (amazing and addictive - one of my all-time favorites), so I was most looking forward to this one. I wish I could tell you what it was about. I have no clue. Random lyrical prose was inserted. The story was disjointed and I never got a good feel for the characters. Not good at all. I can't believe I read 40+ pages and all I can say is "BAD". I will from now on only read her work when she writes with her mother. Sorry to be so brutal!! I feel bad, but its the truth.
"Hunting Kat" by Kelley Armstrong: A young girl named Kat, is hiding from a group doing experiments on vampires. She is involved in a car accident and ends up on the run with two boys and has no idea who she should ally herself with in this race for her life. This short story had an amazing amount of action! It really grabbed my attention and didn't let go. Like Kat, I kept changing my mind on who was the Good Guy and Bad Guy in the story. It was so good, I would love to see it become a full-length story sometime with Kat as the heroine!
"Lilith" by Francesca Lia Block: This story centers around a young boy who had created a fantasy alternate world for himself to live in so he can escape the cruelty of school. Somehow, he meets Lilith, who lures him into the world of vampirism. It was a little too sci-fi for my tastes and the ending was a little too open-ended, so I wouldn't really rave too much about this one. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It kind of was just there.
Overall, I enjoyed this anthology - and it definitely gave me some new perspective on authors!!
Mary Janice Davidson & Anthony Alongi's "Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace"
Okay, Mary Janice Davidson is probably best known for the "Undead" series she writes about a shopaholic, shoe-loving Vampire Queen. But this series, she writes with her husband, Anthony Alongi. It is a YA series; all of her Mary Janice Davidson books are adult, as far as I am aware. This particular Jennifer Scales book is the first of a series, all titles beginning with "Jennifer Scales and the ______ ". In this one, Jennifer realizes she is half-dragon and has to learn the ins and outs of being a dragon - which definitely kept with MJ's humor as half of Jennifer's lessons seem to go awry. My biggest complaint was the characters all seem so ANGSTY!! I kept reminding myself, "they're only 14 years old", "they're only 14 years old" - but somehow I don't remember having that much angst in all my teen years combined! Anyhow, overlooking that, the end had several very surprising twists, a new perspective on supernatural critters, and a very unique villain (who could certainly illicit nighmares in some)!! I'm excited to get to the rest of the series. Look forward to reviews on the next 4 books soon! :)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Reviews of series and books I read long ago...
Okay, let's see...as a very avid reader, if I were to reveiw EVERY book I have read in my life starting now, I would be here for the next 832,587 bajillion years and my husband would never see me again. That said, if there is a book I read that is in the middle of a series, I will be starting with that particular number. BUT if you want to get my thoughts on a previous book in a series or a book I read a while back, just let me know and I would be more than happy to post on that book or series. I just can't back-blog that much. Just thinking about it makes my eyeballs cross!
Happy reading to all! :)
Happy reading to all! :)
Richelle Mead's "Spirit Bound"
"Spirit Bound" is book 5 in the popular YA Vampire Academy series...and quite possibly my favorite book so far! Rose continues her quest for love and battles between feelings for both Dimitri and Adrian. The action takes place primarily at the Moroi Court and proves to be an exciting new environment. The book gradually picks up pace throughout the story (amazing since the book is 400+ pages long) and yet manages to throw in at least 3 SPECTACULAR and major twists in the last 15 pages or so. I was slightly dissapointed in the interaction of Rose and Lissa. Usually there is a great deal of "communication" between them and I felt this one lacked that some.
I am anxiously awaiting the release of book 6, "Last Sacrifice", in December (and yes, I may cry as that is the last VA book)....until then I am tiding myself over with Richelle Mead's VA short story in the anthology "Kisses From Hell" (review to come soon) and her adult Dark Swan series. There will be a VA spin-off series, though; however, Rose will not play a major role from what I've heard. Still exciting to all VA fans!
I am anxiously awaiting the release of book 6, "Last Sacrifice", in December (and yes, I may cry as that is the last VA book)....until then I am tiding myself over with Richelle Mead's VA short story in the anthology "Kisses From Hell" (review to come soon) and her adult Dark Swan series. There will be a VA spin-off series, though; however, Rose will not play a major role from what I've heard. Still exciting to all VA fans!
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