Next Week 10-3-12

I started Confessions of a Demon just recently.  It is by S.L. Wright. I found this novel in the Urban Fantasy area in the book store, Half Price Books. It is a novel about demons and a woman’s struggle to stay alive. She, Allay, is stuck in between to two enemies who are fighting to gain more power.  Allay is a demon. So far I am enjoying the novel and I will hopefully finish it in the next week. 

            I know most of my reviews end up being of the positive nature, so I decide that this next week I will be doing a review on a book that I really did not like.  This book is called Destiny’s Star by Elizabeth Vaughan and I did not even finish it.  I usually finish all my books but Destiny’s Star was not for me.  I wanted to try something different and got it out of the paranormal romance section at Half Priced Books. I read about halfway through it before I called it quits. If you want to know more you will have to wait and read my posts for next week.

            Also next week, I am going to review a novel I did enjoy by Chloe Neill called Some Girls Bite.  This novel is the first in the Chicagoland Vampires series.  This book is for those who enjoy reading about vampires and other supernatural people and likes strong characters.

Hex Hall review

Hex Hall is a novel by Rachel Hawkins.  This novel is a young adult supernatural novel.  It is the first novel in the Hex Hall series. I was really entertained by the humor, drama, and supernatural aspects of the novel.

Hex Hall’s main character is Sophie Mercer.  Sophie has horrible control over her powers.  When she uses the power under her control she does not think through the consequences of her actions. At the beginning Sophie uses her powers in a way that quickly gets out of hand.  Sophie is sent to a boarding school for troubled supernatural teens, Hex Hall. These supernatural beings that attend Hex Hall are witches, faeries and shape shifters, troubled Prodigium citizens. The Prodigium are the ruling body of the witches, faeries, shape shifters, and demons.  Hex Hall also now allows “good” vampires to join but only one has so far, Jenna, Sophie’s best friend and roommate. These good vampires are those who don’t harm humans or other supernatural people.

 I really like the humor that is put into this novel. The characters get into very interesting situations and Sophie is a very sarcastic and humorous character to read. Sophie quickly starts to notice her love interest, Archer Cross.  At the end of the novel, you learn that Archer Cross is not just a warlock but also a hunter of the Prodigium. The group that Archer is in that hunts those in the Prodigium is called the L’Occhio di Dio.  I really enjoyed the love connection between these two characters and I hope that in the next novel the star crossed- lovers is an important part of the plot.

Sophie believes at the beginning of the novel that she is a witch.  A white witch in fact but this proves untrue. She is then thought to be a dark witch and again this is proven untrue. At the very end of the novel the author finally reveals that Sophie is a demon.  I liked that the author choose not to reveal what she truly is until the ending because it gives the reader something to think about.  The author put the main character’s questions about what she really is, in a way that does not make you think the author is just trying to get more pages in her novel. The author does not appear to drag the character’s angst out over this one thing.

I recommend this novel for obviously for young adult reader interested in a supernatural novel. This novel contains drama, humor, and romance, all of which kept me hooked from the very beginning of the novel. I found this novel to be incredibly well written and I really am glad I found this novel to read. Hex Hall is a book for anyone who is looking for a good read.

Inhuman Resource Review

Inhuman Resources is by the author Jes Battis.  I read this novel rather recently.   It is a paranormal crime novel.   Inhuman Resources is the third novel of five in the OSI series.  OSI stands for Occult Special Investigator.

This novel continues building the characters and their relationships throughout the story and changing their relationships as the story moves along.  Tess, the main character, is woman who struggles to find out her past and to solve the mysterious murder that occurred at the beginning of the novel.

In this novel, you learn more about Tess’s past and her father.  You learn that Tess’s father has to be someone important and powerful. The author also tells the readers that Tess is also something important because of whom her father is.  I found this to be interesting and could not wait to find out more.

Tess and Lucian’s relationship improves as the series continues and this novel is no exception. Lucian is Tess’s boyfriend and is also a necromancer.  At the beginning of the novel their relationship seemed to be close to the end but when Tess learns, towards the middle of the novel, more about Lucian it further strengthens their relationship.  I really enjoy these two characters together. The author does a good job at showing some of their good moments and some of their bad ones.   

Tess and Derrick, Tess’s best friend and partner at the CORE, solve the murder of a necromancer who was murdered in his own home. The necromancer was found in a mysterious and priceless suit of armor.  I found this murder to be really interesting.  The armor ended up being an important part of the murder story line.  The author really dragged the information about the armor out throughout the novel.  I thought the armor stuff did not need to be dragged out so much. 

I really like how the main character, Tess, is portrayed by the author. The author describes Tess as a strong, smart, vulnerable, and caring but Tess is not known for her people skills.   Tess is a little bit of a smartass and does not like authority. Tess does what she thinks is right not what someone tells her to do.  I like that the author shows that this character, throughout the series, has her own flaws and has good qualities. This allows Tess to be represented in such a way that makes her both realistic and likeable.  I enjoy reading about her crazy life and the lives of those closest to her.  

I recommend this novel Inhuman Resources to anybody who enjoys crime novels and discovering who committed the murder.  This novel is recommended to those who like the paranormal genre and it even has a little romance. This book is filled with a dysfunctional family and those who like books of that type may also like this novel as well.  

I really enjoyed reading Inhuman Resources by Jes Battis. I believe this is the best novel yet in the OSI series.  This series is definitely a series that people should check out. It hooked me from the very start.  

Next Week 9-19-12

I am currently finishing reading the novel Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake. I plan to review this novel in a few weeks.  This story is a supernatural novel. Nightwalker was an interesting read.

Next week, I will review two novels. The first novel I plan to review is Inhuman Resources by Jess Battis. Inhuman Resources is the third novel in the OSI series. It is a supernatural crime novel.  The second novel I plan to review is Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. This novel is a young adult supernatural novel. It is the first in the Hex Hall series.  The third novel of this series is on my wish list of the top five books I want. I will go into more detail next week about both of these novels.

Blood of Eden by Tami Dane review

The novel Blood of Eden is by Tami Dane.  Blood of Eden is a supernatural crime novel.  It is the first novel in the Sloan Skye series.

In the Blood of Eden, Sloan Skye is the main character.  This novel is also in first person point of view by Sloan Skye.  This book drops the readers into the mind of a disbelieving Sloan, who joins the FBI’s new paranormal behavioral analysis unit as an intern working on profiling criminals. Sloan does not believe in the supernatural and believes, at first, that everyone is playing a trick on her. She originally applied for the behavioral unit but was turn down. She then had to join the paranormal unit.

Sloan Skye has dreamed of working at the FBI her entire life. She is a brilliant, with a very high IQ, criminologist, which are those who profile and research criminals. This book deals with Sloan’s crazy personal life and her first murder case.  

The murder case in this novel was not the most entertaining or the most captivating, but for the first novel it wasn’t bad.  I hope in the next novel it gets to be a little better.  I would like to see the book speed up a bit, because in this novel, Blood of Eden, there were several parts that dragged on for me especially toward the middle.  The murders, at first, appear to be not incredibly original because it looks like a vampire killing and it actually was.  The author did however spice things up with Sloan having a stalker and we also discovere that it isn’t a normal vampire but it was an adze.  The adze can transform into one of the African fireflies but only after sunset.

You slowly learn about a creature that stalks Sloan, a Sluagh, which I believe is like a shade.  This Sluagh is the prince of the Sluagh and is called Elmer.  Elmer want to marry an elf, especially a full- blooded elf, in order to become alive and with a whole solid body. Sloan is not a full- blooded elf but a half- blooded one.  Elmer couldn’t find any elf that would willingly marry him so he kidnapped Sloan.  Sloan realizes that Elmer was not a terribly man but one who had lost all hope at not only finding love, but also someone to give him what he wants in life.  She then gave him a deal.  She told him to let her have a year to find his true full- blooded love and if she couldn’t find someone to marry him, she would marry him herself.

This novel introduces Sloan hectic personal life.  Sloan’s best friend and roommate is Kate. Kate is a strong supporting character and a minor character. Sloan’s mother is schizophrenic and seems to be everywhere in this novel. Her mother is almost childlike because Sloan takes care of her mother’s problems, which occur often, and Sloan seems like she is much more mature than her. Sloan’s run- away father also makes an appearance at the end of the novel. We learn in the beginning that her father left her and her mother when she was young. I thought Sloan’s reactions to her father coming back were very realistic and it shows that it is not always a happy reunion.  JT is Sloan’s romantic interest in the Blood of Eden. He is also in the paranormal behavioral unit at the FBI.  Sloan does not want to date JT because she believes quite strongly that dating in the work place is a bad idea.  Sloan wants to do well at her job even if it is not quite her dream job. She still wants to get invited to stay working at the FBI past her internship and hopefully get moved up to a more preferred unit. 

Blood of Eden is a novel that I would recommend to those who enjoy reading about family drama, about crime solving, and the paranormal. This is also for anyone who enjoys reading about the process behind solving crimes.  I did enjoy this novel, despite any criticisms I may have given this novel.  

Shaedes of Grey by Amanda Bonilla review

The interesting and original story, The Shaedes of Grey by Amanda Bonilla places the readers into a supernatural world.  This novel focuses on the supernatural race the Shaedes. The Shaedes are an immortal species that can blend into the shadows of the night.  I really liked this novel. I thought it was very good at grabbing my attention from the start.

I found this novel to a very interesting not only because of the plot but also for the fact that it was not about werewolves or vampires. When I first saw this novel I had read a lot of books that focused mainly on those two supernatural species and I wanted something different. This novel, the Shaedes of Grey, is my something different.

I liked this novel a lot because the characters seemed very realistic to me (just minus the supernatural bits). The author did a good job at putting in character faults which I believe helps make their emotions and reactions more believable.  The author is also very good at doing flashbacks, which help show any background the author wants to share and it a like having another story inside of this one. 

The main character is Darian and she is an assassin. This is because that is all she knows how to do and she is good at it.  Darian believes that she is the last of her kind, the Shaedes. She believes this to be true because her boyfriend, who created and saved her life, told her that they were the last two. Her boyfriend, Azriel, disappeared many years before the story takes place.  Darian is much later told the truth that there are many more Shaedes around the world when she meets the king, Xander Peck. Darian has to protect Xander and she discovers things about her past at the end of the novel that changes her.

The author really did an amazing job showing the character emotions. Amanda Bonilla makes you really see the imperfects of the main character which makes her seem incredibly realistic. Darian is quick to run away from her feelings, does not want people to get close to her personally, and is quick to anger. These can all be traced back to the betrayal of Azriel and those from her human life.

I recommend this novel for anyone who likes the supernatural fantasy genre.  I found Shaedes of Grey to be highly entertaining.  If you want to find out more I suggest you read the book.

Next Week Information 9-12-12

I have recently started the novel Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake.  It is a supernatural apocalypse novel. It is the first novel in the Dark Days series. I have high hopes for this novel.

Next week, I plan to review two novels. First I will review the novel Shaedes of Grey by Amanda Bonilla. Shaedes of Grey is the first of the Shaede Assassin series and a supernatural novel. The second novel I plan to review is Blood of Eden by Tami Dane. This novel combines solving crimes with supernatural twists. Blood of Eden is the first novel in the Sloan Skye series.

Ascension by Sable Grace review

Ascension by Sable Grace is one of my favorite novels.  The third novel Chosen has just been released and I hope that I will be able to obtain Chosen in the next several weeks.  Ascension is the first of the paranormal Dark Breed series.

Ascension starts the series in an end of the world scenario. This world is threatened by the Greek titan, Cronos, and dark breeds that have been coming through the usually closed gate of the underworld in swarms.  Dark breeds include demons, vampires, and shape shifters.  These dark breeds are those have sided with Cronos and have not tamed their need to kill and feed.  Not all dark breeds are evil some have sided with mankind and the Greek gods.  

 This novel is set in third person. This allows the readers to figure out what other characters are thinking or feeling in certain scenes, without the characters having to say what they feel.  Kyana is the main character of Ascension. Kyana is a half vampire, half lychen dark breed. A lychen is a werewolf.  Kyana is on the Greek gods’ side because they helped her through controlling her need for blood.

The readers learn through flashbacks about Kyana’s past. Kyana lived a hard life. She was originally a human who was one of the many wives to a sultan. The sultan and his other wives were abusive to the young Kyana and she almost died. She is rescued by Henry, who turns her into a half breed. Kyana is two hundred years old in this novel. I found that finding more about her past allowed me to discover more about who she is and why she that way. I discovered that the reason she is so closed off to making connections with other people that she is afraid of being hurt again by those who should protect her.

The Greek gods have been dying and need to find chosen few who will take their power and fill their positions as gods.  Kyana has been chosen to find the key to send the dark breeds back to the underworld by the gods. Kyana has to accept this mission in order to save the world and discover Cronos’ plot. At the end of the novel, Kyana is forced to accept the powers and position of Artemis, the Greek god of the hunt. I really liked this new twist because it adds a new power and dynamic to the story. It may allow the readers to discover if Kyana will change in the next several novels and gives the author a whole new set of abilities to work with. 

Kyana goes through small character development. She discovers that she doesn’t want to be lonely anymore. She realizes she is not content with her life and that she really would risk her life to save Ryker, a demigod and her future boyfriend, Geoffrey, a friend who is also an ex-vampire and now the new Hades, and Haven, her best friend and a witch.

Kyana changes Haven into a half vampire, half lychen dark breed when she discovers Haven dying.  Haven does not have Kyana’s control of her bloodlust and disappears. It is later discovered that Cronos has taken over Haven. At the very end of the novel, Kyana is set out to find Haven and try to safely expel Cronos’ influence on Haven.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. I would recommend this novel to those who enjoy end of the world novels with action, drama, and a little romance in a supernatural world.

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black review

The Dark Descendant by Jenna Black is one of the best novels I have read recently.  Dark Descendant is the first in the Nikki Glass series.  It is a supernatural novel.  I found this novel to be highly entertaining and captivating.

Dark Descendant brings the readers into a world where all the gods from polytheistic, the belief in many gods, cultures like the Norse and the Greeks are actually real.  This world focuses on the descendant of these gods.

Nikki Glass is the main character and she discovers she is the rare descendant of the Greek god, Artemis. Artemis is the god of the hunt is associated with the moon.  She discovers this strange fact of her family tree because she is the tool that Emmitt, the descendant of Hades and an immortal, uses to commit suicide. The immortal descendants can only be killed by descendants who are not immortal. In order to become immortal, the descendant has to kill an immortal. The immortals are called Liberi.  Emmitt walks in front of Nikkie’s car in order to end his own life. 

The Olympians are the antagonists in the Dark Descendant. They kill non-Greek descendants and everyone close to them. Both the Olympians and Anderson want Nikki to join their groups. The Olympians want her for her supernatural tracking skills from Artemis and Anderson does not want the Olympians to find and kill more people.  Anderson also wants Nikki to work for him and to find his wife, Emma, who was abducted by the Olympians.

 The Olympians only leave one group alone and that Anderson’s group of descendants. At the end of the novel, we discover that the reason Anderson and all those who live under his roof are left alone is because Anderson is not just a descendant but also a god himself.  Nikki moves into Anderson’s mansion because Anderson made a deal with the Olympian. This deal entailed that the Olympians had to leave Anderson and any who reside in his home as well as their families alive and well.  This allows the Olympians and Anderson to have a shaky peace agreement.

There several critiques that I have about this novel.  The first is that some characters are introduced but then they disappear until a much later part of the novel.  The readers forget that these characters even exist and then the author brings them back up again.  The second is that the author brings up several gods and barely goes into any detail if at all. 

In Dark Descendant, Nikki is discovering who she is and what she can do.  She learns in this novel that Anderson’s team is the best choice at this point in time even if some of them hate her for accidentally killing Emmitt.  She starts to see her true potential even if she still has not figured it all out yet.

Dark Descendant is for those interested in a novel about discovering who you are and finding the right path for yourself with new godly twists. I do highly recommend even with my negative critiques. I really enjoyed reading this.

 

 

 

Next Week Information

I have just finished Inhuman Resources by Jess Battis, the third novel of the OSI series.  The author reveals more and more information every novel about the characters’ past.  I enjoyed reading this novel and am looking forward to reading the last two novels.  I will hopefully write a book review for this novel sometimes in the upcoming weeks.

Next week, I plan on first reviewing the novel Dark Descendant by Jenna Black. I had planned to do the review this week but my plans have changed.  This novel is the first in the Nikki Glass series.  It is another supernatural novel. I also plan to review the novel Ascension by Sable Grace.  This novel is the first of a paranormal apocalypse series called Dark Breed.    

Top 5 Wanted Books List as of 9-7-12

My top 5 wanted books list in no particular order:

1.       Chosen by Sable Grace is a paranormal novel.  This novel is the third in the Dark Breed series. The series is becoming one of my favorite series.  I can’t wait until I can read this novel.  I hope it turns out to be even better than I expect.  This novel just came out, but I have not gotten it yet.  I will hopefully get Chosen in the next several weeks. I will keep you updated.

 

2.       Whispers at Moonrise by C. C. hunter is a young adult supernatural novel.  This novel is the fourth book in the Shadow Falls series.  The previous novel left off by revealing a secret that the readers, me included, have been really looking forward to knowing.  Now I am looking forward to learning more.   The novel will be coming out in October.

 

3.       The Devil You Know by Jenna Black, the second in the Morgan Kingsley series.  It is a science fiction novel about an exorcist who ends up possessed by the king of demons.  I really liked the first novel and can’t wait to see what happens next.

 

4.       Black Lament by Christina Henry is the fourth in the Black Wing series.  The previous novel left off with the main character, Maddie, swearing revenge for her husband’s death so it should be interesting to see that play out.  I am a big fan of these novels.

 

5.       The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams is another supernatural novel. It is the second novel of the Shadow Reader series.  The first novel was highly entertaining for me, and I hope when this book comes out in October it will be just as good.

 

I will continually update my list every month and will keep you informed if I get a book off of my list. I will hopefully convince my parents to take me to a book store sometime soon. 

A Brush of Darkness review

A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang is the first of the Abby Sinclair novels.  Published in 2011, this novel is a supernatural science fiction novel.  The novel was pretty good at keeping me entertained.

The main character and the point of view are from Abby Sinclair.  Abby works for Moira, a Faery princess and a highly influential political figure.  Abby is a TouchStone, which means she helps supernatural people, that she is contracted to, move from the Faery and human worlds.  She is bound by contract to serve Moira for seven years.  Abby later learns she is a KeyStone. This means she can take up many contracts as she wants to, until she takes too much and dies because she has no energy left.

Abby’s world is flipped upside down when she discovers Moira gone. Abby is required to take care of Moira’s business while she is gone. Abby is unfamiliar with her new world, this fact is extremely disappointing to Brystion. Brystion is a demon looking for help in discovering who has been taking and killing women of his species.

Abby was recently in a car accident with her mother. Abby’s mother died in the crash, and Abby now has seizures. I found this factor in the story somewhat new, because many authors, of science fiction, don’t want the main character to have a physical disability. Most of the novels I have read allow their characters to heal from all physical damage that has been done.  She is also plagued by nightmares. This plays a crucial role in how Brystion convinces her to help him discovering his sister, who has been kidnapped by the person responsible for the deaths.

In the end of the novel, we discover that Moira’s ex-boyfriend, Maurice, is responsible for the deaths and disappearances, including Moira’s.  We discover Brystion’s betrayal to Abby because he handed her to Maurice in exchange for his sister, Sonja.  Brystion realizes that not only will Maurice not give Sonja back but that he regrets his betrayal to Abby. Brystion, along with the majority of the minor characters, rescued Moira, Sonja, and Abby as well as defeat Maurice.

I enjoyed reading A Brush of Darkness. It is an interesting series that I’m hopefully going to continue to enjoy. I am confident the second will be even better than the first.

 

A Flash of Hex review

I have just completed the third of the OSI series, Inhuman Resource by Jess Battis. I am going to review the previous novel, A Flash of Hex, the second novel in the OSI series, in order to talk about more information pertaining to the next book.

A Flash of Hex starts off with the murder of a runaway street kid. This teenager is brutally murdered and then is suspended on the ceiling with magic. The killer quickly becomes a serial killer who murders teenage boys, who work on the streets and are addicted to a powerful and magical drug called Hex. These boys were also mages just before the prime of their power.  Mages come into their full power in the teenage years and their magical prime is in their mid-teens the early twenties.  The killer, an Iblis, killed the children in order to perform a magical ritual, so that it could become an incredibly powerful mage.

 The author really starts to develop more with the characters’ relationships in this novel.  Tess, the main character, Derrick, Tess’s best friend and confident, and Mia, Tess and Derrick’s adopted daughter, really start to become a family. It is a dysfunctional family, but a family none the less. Tess also develops a relationship with Lucian Agrado, a necromancer.  Lucian is a consultant for the CORE. The CORE is an organization that regulates normal humans’ knowledge of the supernatural and takes care of some of the different groups’ problems. Tess and Derrick are assigned to the field, investigating murders of that have anything to do with the supernatural world.  Tess and Derrick are both mages. Tess can manipulate the earth and Derrick is telepathic.

This novel also introduces Miles, a deaf mage, who is consulting on the murder case. Miles, later in the book, transfers over to the Vancouver office, where the series takes place.  Miles is a mage that can see how a spell, for lack of a better word, works.  Miles becomes involved in a dating relationship with Derrick as the story goes on.  Patrick is also introduced in A Flash of Hex. Patrick is the new magnate, a vampire king or symbol.  Patrick joins the odd, dysfunctional, and misfit family at the end of the book. Tess asks Patrick if he wants to live with them when finding out he does not have a place to go.

To find out more information about the novel, you will have to read A Flash of Hex by Jess Battis. I really enjoyed reading this novel and plan to review the novel Inhuman Resources in the next two to three weeks.