Important Notice....Sorry

I will not be updating for a few weeks. Sorry if you were looking forward to the novels I was going to review next week. I will review those novels when I come back.

Sorry,
Reader Anonymus

Next Week 10-31-12

I have an update about the novel Chosen written by Sable Grace.  Finally, I just got the novel. Barnes and Noble called recently to tells us the novel came in, so I convinced my parents to drive me over to the bookstore and buy it.  I can’t wait to start reading Chosen and hope to do so soon.

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Black, vampire hunter series, began with the novel Guilty Pleasures.  This first novel is spectacular. It grabbed my attention from the beginning. The main character’s struggles and prejudice with the vampires are incredible to read about. Even her relationships with the people around her, even the vampires, are incredibly complex. She hates the vampires that kill and control others.  Anita, the main character, fights to solve the murders that plague the city.  I will review this novel in more depth at a later date.

 I started Deadworld written by J. N. Duncan.  This novel is the first in a paranormal crime novel.  The main character is a cop who is trying to catch a vampire serial killer.  This novel is very good so far. I started it just recently and hope to have it done by next week.  I love the realistic emotion flowing in this novel from the characters.  I highly recommend this novel from what I have read so far.

Next week, I plan to review two novels, Abandon and Magic to the Bone.  Magic to the Bone is written by Devon Monk. It is the first novel in the Allie Beckstrom series of so far eight novels. It is a supernatural fantasy novel.  Allie Beckstrom is the main character in Magic to the Bone.  She is a magic user and each magic user has a signature. When Allie discovers her father’s signature on the body of a dead boy, she tries to find the truth. While trying to discover what really happened, she becomes the target of a group of conspirators, who are trying to obtain ultimate power and control.

I will also review the novel Abandon written by Meg Cabot.  This novel is the first in a supernatural young adult fantasy series.  This novel has a lot of twists and turns. Its characters are very mysterious and seem to be rather dark.  Cabot created a world that is incredibly unique but takes some Greek myths and incorporated them into her novel.  Abandon is a good read.  I will review more about the novel next week.

Hunted by the Others review

Hunted by the Others is written by Jess Haines. This is the first in a paranormal fantasy series, H & W Investigations.  As of 2012, H & W Investigations series has four books.

The main character is Shiarra Waynest. She is a human private investigator that is hired to find an ancient artifact believed to be in the possession of a vampire, Alec Royce. In this novel, supernatural creatures are now public about their existence and not everyone is adjusting well. Some humans devolved a prejudice against these Others, which is the name for the supernatural population.   The White Hats are one group that is extremely prejudiced against the Others.  Shiarra is somewhat prejudice against the Others, in that she does not trust them as she would another human.  

Shiarra is scared of the Others. She is scared of their power, of their ability to easily kill her and of their ability to change her into one of them.  Her character has a fierce and independent personality.  She generally cares about people and wants to help those in need. The artifact Shiarra has to find is an artifact that could create a war between the Others and release a dangerous creature on the population. She accepts the case of finding the artifact even though she does not want to get involved with the Others, because she needs the money to keep her practice afloat.

At first Shiarra would have been happy to leave the Others to their own demise. Then she starts to care about what happens to the Others, because she realizes that even if they can hurt you more easily, some are good people. Shiarra is considered a three dimensional character because of these changes.

Shiarra’s relationship with Alec Royce, a vampire, is very complicated. She does not want to get involved with any supernatural people, men or otherwise. Royce, on the other hand, you learn really likes Shiarra.  Royce is tough, charismatic, and smart.  Royce is an old master vampire.  He is extremely powerful, which is one of the reasons Shiarra stays away from him.  I have liked reading about these two characters.  Their dialogue plays off each other very well.  I like to read how their relationship develops. They start out as enemies, but work their way to almost becoming friends and are able to work together.

Hunted by the Others is a brilliant work of fiction. I enjoyed reading about these characters and how they develop as the novel goes along. Jess Haines created the perfect debut novel.

Three Days to Dead review

Dark, dangerous and deadly are three words that describe the world of Three Days to Dead.  Three Days to Dead is written by Kelly Meding.  It is the first in the paranormal Dreg City series.

The main character is Evangeline Stone. Three Days to Dead is written in first person in the point of view of the main character.  In this novel, Evangeline Stone dies and wakes up in the body of different women in the morgue.  She was a hunter that worked with the Triad to destroy supernatural creatures that kill.  Throughout this novel, Evy tries to discover who killed her while escaping the Triad that calls her a traitor. The Triad, believing that she killed her teammates, tries to hunt her down. With only three day to live, Evy takes you on an exciting and action- filled journey.  

Evy is a strong, dangerous, and smart woman. Even with little help, Evy is resourceful. She quickly uncovers information leading to her death and stays alive even when everyone is gunning to kill her. Evy is a powerful character used to create a realistic plotline and ending.   

The novel created a very dark and gritty atmosphere and tone. It creates a sense that everything has a dark side and highlights the dark sides of the characters and places in this novel.  Evy is haunted by her brutal death and the events leading to it. The author uses flashbacks to reveal events prior to her death.

Evy’s love interest is Wyatt. Wyatt was also in the Triad but he was a handler of the field agents. Field agents are those that actually go out and take down the rule breaking supernatural citizens.  Wyatt is the one who brought Evy back from the dead. He was not aware that she would die again after three days. He has stuck by Evy through everything. A tough, caring, and compassionate character, Wyatt, is perfect to match with the main character, Evy.  

I would recommend Three Days to Dead. I think anyone who enjoys reading about supernatural creatures, action stories, and likes some romance will enjoy this novel. The plotline was grabbing and interesting. The characters are moving and dark fitting for such a dangerous world. It is an amazing first novel to a series.

Next Week 10-24-12

I have an update on the novel Chosen written by Sable Grace.  I have not gotten the novel yet and I am quite annoyed. I hoped to have the novel this week but no luck.  I ordered it from Barnes and Noble and they have not called yet to say it has arrived.  I am hopeful that it will come in next week.   I was enthralled by the previous two novels and hope that the third lives up to my expectations.  I will keep you informed. 

I finished Dark Light of Day written by Jill Archer.  As I said last week, this novel is the first of the Noon Onyx series.  It is a supernatural science fiction novel.  I loved to read about the main character’s growth as a character and her starting to accept what abilities she possesses. I can not wait for the next novel to come out.  I was captivated by this novel, Dark Light of the Day.

I started Nightseer written by Laurel K. Hamilton this past weekend.  I picked up this novel solely because I have heard that this author, Hamilton, is very good. Hamilton is well known for her popular series the Anita Blake novels. This novel, Nightseer, is Hamilton’s very first novel and it is a supernatural fantasy novel.  I thought the novel could have been better but towards the end it did get a lot better. This is the only novel in its series and will most likely remain that way.  Hamilton’s original editor rejected the second novel and it has been years since then.

Next week I plan on reviewing two novels. The first is the novel Hunted by the Others written by Jess Haines.  This novel is the first in the H & W investigations series.  It is a supernatural series. I liked reading about the main character; her attempt to accomplish her job of finding an ancient artifact all the while trying to stay alive, makes it an enthralling novel.  This novel got me hooked on this series, which has four novels so far.  

I also plan to review the novel Three Days to Dead written by Kelly Meding.   It is the first of the Dreg City series.  It is a supernatural fantasy novel.  Evy, the main character, is resurrected and wakes up in a morgue in a different body. Throughout the novel she tries to kill the supernatural creatures that tortured and killed her.  I thought this novel was an excellent read.  It grabbed my attention immediately and kept me holding on to each word. I read this novel incredibly fast and loved every second of it.  It is a novel that you must read.

Black Wings review

Black Wings written by Christina Henry.  It is the first novel in the Black Wings series. It is a supernatural fantasy novel. The novel was very interesting. As the novel went on and plot thickened the novel became increasingly enticing.   

The main character, Maddy, is an agent of death. An agent of death is like a grim reaper, helping souls cross over. Maddy discovers that her father is Azazel, a fallen angel and the right- hand man to Lucifer.  This allows Maddy to discover the new and dangerous powers that she possesses. At the end of the novel, she finds out that her great- grandfather on her mother’s side of the family is Lucifer himself.  Maddy has to learn the frightening politics of the powerful supernatural governing bodies in order to survive her newfound heritage.  Discovering this heritage means endangering herself by meeting people who could orchestrate her demise and allows more people to find out about her that could attack her to get at Azazel.

Maddy rents out an apartment in her house to Gabriel.  Gabriel is sent by Azazel to protect Maddy. He later becomes her love interest even though their relationship would be forbidden.  Gabriel is a guy that likes to stick with the rules, so any relationship with Maddy is difficult. 

Beezele is Maddy’s best friend. Beezele is a gargoyle and is incredibly protective of Maddy.  He tries to help Maddy stay alive while meeting dangerous enemies that want to destroy her.  J. B. is Maddy’s boss as an agent of death.  He is the man that wants to do everything right and by the book. J. B. and Maddy clash in personalities often. While she wants to do what is right, she is more laid back, meaning that she does not want to do paperwork. Both sets of characters Beezele and Maddy and J. B. and Maddy have very witty dialogue that goes well together.

 I would highly recommend Black Wings for those who like drama, family mystery, angels, or other supernatural creatures. This novel was very entertaining and got me hooked on to the series.

Nightwalker review

Nightwalker is written by Jocelynn Drake. It is the first in the Dark Days series.  It is an apocalypse supernatural series.  This novel enthralled me and captured my attention from the beginning of the novel.

This novel has various supernatural species in it that coexist with humans in secrecy. The nightwalkers or vampires, the shape shifters, warlocks, and the naturi are all supernatural creatures present in this novel. The naturi is a race that has been mostly locked away in another dimension, but now those still on earth gathered together in hopes to open the “gates” that would allow the rest of their race to join them on earth. They were locked in another dimension for enslaving the shape shifters and for trying to destroy all the humans and nightwalkers. The naturi are supernatural creatures with powers over the earth and fire.

The novel is incredibly descriptive.  The author uses this description to create a dark supernatural world with deadly politics and even deadlier enemies. This dark world allows for the main characters to become dangerous, mysterious, and incredibly fierce, more so than they would have in a different plotline.  It also allows the main character, Mira, to become more outspoken and involved in the politics of her kind.

The relationship between Mira, the nightwalker, and Danaus, the vampire hunter, is fascinating. They originally start out to be defined as enemies and then shortly after they have to become partners to stop the naturi.  Danaus believes that all nightwalkers are monsters and Mira continually tells him and shows him things that contradict his long time held beliefs. One of Danaus’s beliefs was that nightwalkers had to kill to feed but Mira explains to him that the majority of the nightwalkers do not kill their “food”.  Danaus makes many mistakes with Mira when trying to work with her and he starts to really understand that she is as much of a person as a human.  They start to become friends towards the end of the novel.

Mira is the main character of this novel and it is written from her point of view in first person. Mira is called the firestarter by those of her species. She can control and manipulate fire, which makes her incredibly dangerous to her kind as they are vulnerable to fire.  In Nightwalker, you start to learn about Mira’s painful past and discover that Mira has been deeply betrayed by some of the people she trusted. Mira’s need to make Danaus realize that she and those of her species are people, doing what they need to for survival.  Mira is a emotionally realistic character.

Nightwalker is an amazing supernatural fantasy novel.  The dangerous and dark world is captivating.  Its characters are just as alluring.  The author, Drake, created the perfect first novel to a great series.

Next Week 10-17-12

I finished Cat’s Claw, written by Amber Benson, earlier in the week.  It is the second novel in the Calliope Reader- Jones series.  Cat’s Claw is even better than the first novel, Death’s Daughter.  I reviewed Death’s Daughter earlier in the year. I like reading about the main character, Callie’s, devolvement as a person and her ability to overcome a scheme that attempts to destroy her.  I will hopefully give out more information about this novel in one of my upcoming blogs.

I am currently reading the novel Dark Light of the Day.  This novel was written by Jill Archer. It is the first novel in the Noon Onyx series. I am really enjoying reading about the internal conflicts of the main character Noon Onyx.  She is struggling to accept who she is and her dangerous abilities.  This is a supernatural science fiction novel. So far, Dark Light of the Day is very interesting and good. 

I did not end up getting the novel Chosen written by Sable Grace.  The novel was not at Barnes and Noble this last weekend, so I had to order it.  I will be getting very soon and because of this I will not be putting it on my updated list of the top five books I want. 

Next week I will review the novel Nightwalker written by Jocelynn Drake.  This novel is the first of six in the Dark Days series.  I really enjoyed this novel.  Nightwalker is a very descriptive and intriguing novel. It is a supernatural apocalypse series.  The main character, Mira, is well written. I applaud Drake on her work with these amazing characters. 

Next week, I also plan to review the novel Black Wings. This novel is by the author, Christina Henry.  I really enjoyed reading about Maddy, the main character.  I liked discovering who she was as a character and as a supernatural being. This novel had many surprising aspects and was highly entertaining.  I will give you more information on these novels next week.

top 5 wanted books list as of 10-10-12

My top five wanted novels list:

1.      Black Lament is written by Christina Henry and is the fourth in the Black Wing series. Black Lament is a supernatural science fiction novel.  At the end of the third novel, Black Howl, Maddie, the main character, swore vengeance for the death of her new husband, Gabriel.  The fourth novel should be really entertaining.

 

2.      The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams is a supernatural novel. It is the second novel of the Shadow Reader series. I really enjoyed reading about the main character and her struggles to find out who is telling the truth to her during the first novel.  Hopefully we will see her relationship with Aren grow throughout the next novel. This novel is coming out at the end of the month and I am very excited to find out what happens next.

 

3.      Darkness Falls is written by Cate Tiernan.  It is the second novel in the immortal beloved series. It is a young adult novel but has adult characters and emotions. It is a supernatural novel. This novel also deals with romance and the main character has to learn to accept her past and who she is in order to move on with her life.  I have been waiting a few years for it to come out on paperback and it just did very recently. I will hopefully get Darkness Fallls soon. 

 

4.      Finale written by Becca Fitzpatrick is very appropriately named because it is the finale novel in its series.  It is the fourth novel in the hush hush series. It is another young adult supernatural novel. I would like to see more development in Nora and Patch’s relationship during the finale novel.   I really enjoyed reading the previous three novels in the series. I hope I am not disappointed by the ending and that it lives up to my expectations. 

 

5.      Blood before Sunrise is written by Amanda Bonilla.  It is the second novel in the shaede assassin series.  I really enjoyed the first novel and have reviewed it in an earlier blog.  I really enjoyed the very realistic emotions portrayed by the main character, Darian, in the first novel. I hope to see that kind of emotion also brought forth in Blood before Sunrise. This novel is a supernatural science fiction novel.

 

I also want to read the Chosen written by Sable Grace.  I ordered the novel and it will be coming soon. Because I am getting the book soon I will not include it in my list of the top five books I want. I will keep you informed of when I update my list or get the Chosen. I will update this list monthly.

Confessions of a Demon review

Confessions of a Demon is a novel written by the author, S. L. Wright.  It is a supernatural science fiction novel about demons.  Confessions of a Demon is the first novel of a two book series.  I really enjoyed reading this novel.

The main character is Allay. She is a demon- human hybrid and the only one in existence. In this novel, demons feed off of human emotion. Allay feeds off of the emotions relief and joy.  She owns a bar and uses it as both a feeding ground and a place to keep her humanity by working with humans. Throughout the novel, she is struggling to accept her demon nature and the fact that she is even a demon. Allay does all she can to preserve her human side, even when it would be easier to go along with her demonic nature. In this supernatural world, demons are neither bad nor good and many are in- between. 

Allay is a three dimensional character.  The author created Allay to have many sides to her personality, meaning that the character shows a variety of emotion.  Allay also changes as the novel progresses. She learns to accept certain things about her demonic nature that she had never before. Allay also starts to expand her friend base allowing more people to truly get close to her and to get to know her.

Allay’s relationship with Theo Ram is incredibly complicated and the author does amazing job of creating the complication.  Every relationship has its ups and downs and this one is no different. Theo Ram is originally believed to be a human but we later discover that he is a powerful ancient demon called Ram. Ram tricks and lies to Allay to get into her life.  Throughout the novel Ram develops real feelings for Allay and tries to help keep her alive. I am hopeful that we will see more on their relationship in the sequel to this novel.

Allay was supposed to be the demon that would reveal to the world that demons were real in a mad scheme made by Vex.  Vex was a powerful demon and is murdered by Ram at the end of the novel, because of the madness of his plans. Allay is stuck between two opposing fractions of the demon community each wanting to gain power. I really enjoyed reading about the power struggles of the demons as this is realistic because opposing sides always fight for more power. 

I found Confession of a Demon to be a pretty good novel.  I would recommend for those who enjoy reading novels about demons, a little bit of romance, and enjoy reading about two opposing sides fighting for power. I thought this novel was very intriguing and entertaining.

Next Week 10-10-12

I recently finished Confessions of a Demon written by S. L. Wright during the weekend. It was not a bad novel.  I plan on reviewing this novel in my next week’s posts.  It is another science fiction novel and is the first of a series. I am only aware of there being a second novel to the series.

Next week I will also be updating my list of the top five novels I want.  I know I said I’ll inform you as I get new novels so this is your update. I will be getting several of the novels on my list this weekend.  I have been watching release dates for several of my novels on my list.  There is a couple that just released this week.  Because I have been bugging my parents a lot I was able to convince them to take me to Barnes and Noble this weekend.  If all goes as planned  I will get some good novels and have more books to choose from to review.  I plan on getting Chosen written by Sable Grace, Whispers at Moonrise by C. C. Hunter, and The Devil You Know by Jenna Black.

I am currently reading Cat’s Claw written by Amber Benson. Cat’s Claw is the second novel of the Calliope Reader- Jones series. The first novel was Death’s Daughter and it was my first review.  The book is about Callie trying to still discover how to navigate through these new responsibilities and through the magical world. It is fun to read about a character that is rather ignorant of magic and sassy.  She tries to make her own unique way through the magical world to accomplish her goals.  I will hopefully have more on Cat’s Claw soon in my upcoming posts.

Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill review

Some Girls Bite is written by the author Chloe Neill.  It is the first novel of the Chicagoland Vampires series.  I really was entertained by this novel.  It had interesting characters and storyline. It started out rather almost like a typical vampire novel where a person gets bitten and has to learn the ropes to being a vampire with the support of their master or sire. Then the novel starts to change to an even more interesting story by adding in more supernatural creatures and the reveal of vampires to the world. The storyline seemed to flow effortlessly together and compelled me to finish the whole novel in one day.

The main character,Merit, is a funny, sarcastic, and an interesting character.  The author made Merit to be three- dimensional meaning that she has more than one side to her. Merit does not just have one set of emotions and is portrayed using a variety of different emotions and sides to her personality.  Merit is a very likeable character and is portrayed in a smart way by the author.  The author reveals some of Merit’s faults as a character, as in she is very ballsy and stubborn.  

Merit and Mallory’s, Merit’s best friend, dialogue play off each other very well and almost as well as the dialogue between Merit and her love interest, Ethan.  Mallory and Merit are very much like sisters, this fact appears throughout the novel.  Ethan is the master of the vampire house, which is like a coven, called the Cadogan House. He is four hundred years old, which I found very intriguing. Ethan also did not appear to like Merit’s personality at first and did not understand nor appreciate her.  He expects obedience from Merit as her master but because of Merit’s independence streak she finds this offensive and tries to rebel in small ways.

Merit gets pulled in a lot of different directions.  She wants to remain in the human world to finish her college degree, she is trying to adapt to her new abilities and to the new people in her life as a vampire while still being resistant to it at the same time.  She has family issue especially with her father.  Merit learns that her grandfather, who is like her father to her, is working as in the Ombudsman’s office, which handles any disputes between supernatural species or crimes committed by a supernatural.  I really found her connections to be very interesting and great ways to introduce more characters to the novel.

I recommend this novel to anyone who loves strong characters, witty dialogue, an interesting storyline and the supernatural. I love this novel and I’m still reading this series five novels later.  This was an amazing start to an amazing series.

Destiny's Star by Elizabeth Vaughan review

I really did not like the novel Destiny’s Star. Destiny’s Star is written by Elizabeth Vaughan.  I wanted to choose something different so I picked it out of the paranormal romance section in Half- Priced Books and did not even finish the novel. I only read about half of the novel. It is very rare for me to not finish a novel once started.  Destiny’s Star is the third novel from a series but at Half-Priced Books I was unable to find the first novel, so I took a chance on the third.  This novel was not a good match for me.

I picked this novel to read because some things in the summery on the back of the book intrigued me.  I have not tried too many novel set in the past and this book was.  I liked that the summery had some mystery to it. The summery says that two people fell out a portal into harsh society and lands located in the plains. Destiny’s Star’s summery also describes that one of the people, a man named Ezren, has strong magic that he can’t tame and control.  Both of these details made me want to find out more about it, and made me want to start reading the novel.  

I have numerous criticisms and dislikes about the novel. I thought the beginning was incredibly slow and seemed to drag on for me.  The characters did not seem to have many sides to their personality.  The two main characters seemed very flat and were not at all three dimensional. Their supposedly stronger emotions were very bland and reactionary.  The only really strong emotion that was not reactionary and was already present was their supposed love or their strong like for one another, which is only because it is a romance novel.  

I did not enjoy the storyline or the setting of the novel at all. The storyline was rather dull and boring. While the author did do a semi- good job making a new society, I found it to be portrayed in a way that I did not find it partially interesting.  I found very few enjoyable moments in the novel, one of which was when the two main characters almost got killed.  I may have liked that part either because then the novel would have ended or because it was the only part that I really thought was really decent.

I did not enjoy this novel, Destiny’s Star, at all. While the summery sounded like the novel would not be too bad, the actual storyline was rather dull and not very interesting. I would only recommend this book to those who enjoyed reading the previous novels in this series.  Destiny’s Star is definitely not a good novel for me.