[REVIEW] Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

GOODREADS

Published: September 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
Age Group: YA
Series: [not sure what it's called] #1

Cover Blurb thoughts: Well it seems like a Harry Potter situation combined with something like the hunger games. Interesting.
Cover: drool-worthy

I don't know what to say about this book. I had high hopes for it (mainly because the cover was soooo alluring) but all I got was a confused jumble of interwining stories and confusing narrators.

Firstly, The City seems very similar to the artistrocratic times of the Middle Ages with a ruling king and the aristoracy all the way down to the poor who thieved and robbed. Then you have the other side of the story that takes place in the Human world. Melissa Marr does a wonderful job in exlaining this City place but the Human world is lacking. Maybe she assumed that since we live in the Human world we could construct it ourselves but in reality she gives very little or no description of the place throughout the story. At the start we are introduced to Mallory who is getting coffee which I find to be the most descriptive scene in the Human World. After that we are just to assume that Mallory can find her way to places with little description of her journey, the people or the environment around her. I'm not a fan of this Human world mainly because I have very little idea what it actually is.

Secondly, the story has three different narrators. All with their own agenda and it gets very confusing trying to distinguish whose who considering they all interact together in the story. I've had to re-read sections to try to figure out who's speaking.

The biggest thing I disliked about this book was that I was really not a fan of the female characters. They all seem very snobbish and I did not feel like I could relate to any one of them. Granted there are only three females but honestly I felt more of a connection to the male characters. The females confused me greatly.
[SPOILERS] For example, Aya seems to be saying one thing when she says something else. First it's "I refuse to breed. I don't want to be just a housewife" Fine that's reasonable but it then turns to "I can't breed" Ok, I'm still fine with that. Maybe she has some biological issue. But then its "They're going to find out my secret if I breed so I can't breed" WHAT? When was she hiding a secret? I was so confused and maybe there were hints along the way but I didn't catch any of them [SPOILERS END]
Mallory, one of the other main protagonists had contradicting actions throughout the story.
[SPOILERS] I understand she's spelled under her father but seriously, it's like there are two different people. Firstly she calls her father "Daddy" for a good half of the book and then all of a sudden it's "Adam" instead. Why does she start him calling him Adam and not Daddy? Does a couple of days change the way you call your father? And then when she's with Kaleb she can't deny the attraction between them. Fine, that's fair. He's your true love yada yada but then when she figures out he's a daimon, oh no. No more attraction. I hate your guts. Don't touch me. A complete 180 in my opinion. [SPOILERS END]
The only female that I can actually understand is Evelyn. Her ruthlessness is consistent and is clearly explained why she acts this way.

Mainly the entire story is full of contradicting actions and 180's.  [SPOILERS] When Kaleb goes to tell Haag he's backing out of the contract he stands his guard and refuses to kill Mallory but then in a couple more sentences it's "Ok. I'll kill her for a good price" Is your love that worthless that you'll bend under Haag? I guess so. And then Kaleb's actions in the story after that do not reflect his promise at all. I am happy that he refused to kill Mallory but the way he conceded in the story didn't match his later actions. [SPOILERS END]

The story seemed to be a combination of middle age rule mixed with different paranormal creature "rules" can I say? I'm not really sure what to call them. In some instances the story follows werwolf stories with the whole having a pack and Kaleb instantly recognizing Mallory as his mate reminds me of the whole imprinting thing. Especially the wedding proxy, that is very middle ages the whole process of having witnesses there.

Some of the titles or different groups of the people in the story also confused me. Some are introduced without any build up and I get confused figuring out who they are. I do enjoy her whole world building and creating this place where you can buy pleasure and murder, distinguished by different masks and how everything is sort of governed by masks but I find it too complicated for it all to be explained in the short paragraph allocated to introducing each.

Also at the end, what just happened? I feel like there was no way to end the story on a climatic note without writing what she did. Even though it doesn't make sense, the timing is too perfect and there was no foreshadowing or build up, it happened just to move the plot along and I absolutely hate when I catch these moments.

I was not impressed with Carnival of Souls and honestly I'll read the second story because I really want to know what happens.

Hopefully you find it more interesting than I do.

2.5 - 3 cups of tea. (I gave it some extra points for the ah-mazing cover.)

BORROW

[REVIEW] Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

Published: January 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins/Katherine Teagen
Age Group:  Young Adult
Series: Angelfire #2

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay. (From Goodreads)

Firstly, it's been awhile since I read the first book so I had to read over my previous review. Well sadly I was not as excited by this one as I was before. I blame the fact that it's the middle book. I always dislike the middle book.

In Wings of the Wicked, Ellie has to face her destiny and her complicated relationship with Will, no different from the first novel. The only difference is the gravity of the situation.  both issues are now huge and play a large part in this book. The first part of the story was more focused on Ellie's relationship.  Honestly it was like a typical teen romance novel. I find Ellie and Will's relationship to be that of a soap opera. There is so much drama and honestly, I hate Ellie. I just really don't like her character.  I mean Will is absolutely  amazing and all Ellie does is hurt him and push him away. Arrrgh, what a stupid girl. Clearly I was frustrated with the majority of this story.  As Ellie says "I don't deserve you" (page 329) Damn right! Ellie, you don't deserve Will. Okay, now that that's off my chest back to the story.

The second part of the story was good. I think the reason why I liked it was because it focused more on the fight as oppose to the drama.  The second part was more similar to the first book (that I quite liked) as oppose to the first part.

Also is it just me, but when I read this series and they mention reapers, I picture something like this:
If anyone's wondering, the picture is from the anime Bleach.

Another problem I found in this story is that Courtney Allison Moulton writing is very basic and it doesn't do much to get me hooked to the story line, characters and plot. In fact there are also very abrupt changes in emotion (sort of like mood swings!) that make it very hard to relate to the chracters situation and what they're feeling. For instance, Ellie may be mad for 4 pages and than all of a sudden, she's happy! Yay...except I had no idea how it happened...

There's also a very obvious plot line.  And the amount of time passed doesn't really make sense either. It's sort of a very predictable, confusing story (for me at least.)

Lastly, there seems to always be a character that is used to explain what happens in the story. Caden was a messanger in this story. He appears out of nowhere, says or does something important and then leaves.  He's also suppose to be the other person in Ellie's love traingle...but he does a pretty bad job at it.

It hurts me to say this but the ending was quite interesting. The cliffhanger was truly a cliffhanger and I felt really attached to it. Its quite sad that it took me that long to finally enjoy this book. 


I think it's fairly obvious that I wasn't pleased with this book.  Like I said before, I usually hate the middle book in a trilogy so here's hoping the last one will be better!

MEH

[REVIEW] Eve by Anna Carey

Published: October 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Eve #1

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life. (From Goodreads)

Confession Time.  I will admit that the only reason I borrowed this book was because of the cover and imagine my surprise when I read the inside blurb and it said "Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, that world is a perilous place." Clearly this is a dystopic themed book and I was seriously considering putting it back on the shelf and walking away because at the time, I was seriously getting sick of dystopic young adult literature. After the not-as-exciting-as-I-hoped-book-Insurgent [review], I had decided that a break from dystopic literature was in need but nonetheless I still borrowed this book (mainly because of the beautiful cover!) and honestly, I'm glad I did.

Eve takes a new perspective of a dystopic world. Of course there are key elements, i.e. the world ending because of a catastrophe (plague) and the after plague world is attempting to build a corrupt utopia or a better society, and then  there are new parts that I found vey intersting. 

[SPOILER] First, orphans are being used as slaves. Girls for birthing and Boys for labourers.  [END SPOILER]

Perhaps this sort of stoy line has already been used for other books that I have yet to read but based on what I have read, this was very different.

The one thing that I absolutely loved about this book is that Eve instantly got me hooked, which isn't easy for a 300 page book.  After the first chapter I was instantly captivated and had to read more. 

What I noticed was that at the beginning of the story, it seemed that the book would follow the typical dystopic story line.  Escaping, joining rebels and then restoring the proper government. Half way through the story, it changed. I didn't realize it at first until I got to the end (kudos to Anna Carey's seemless transition!) but the story soon became a love story between Eve and Caleb with the whole government scheme as a sub plot. Odd but okay. Some other popular dystopic literature's have done that (e.g. Legend by Marie Lu and Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi) and it's fine. Just interesting how the plot is changing and advancing.

I never caught the foreshadows or predicted that something would happen while reading this, while I think is part of the reason why I was so captivated by it. Every climatic event and surprise was truly a surprise, which is hard to find in books sometimes.  Often events are forseeable and farily obvious but not for this one so yay to that!

Anna Carey is also really good at describing events and this dystopic world.  I could really picture the deslote world and what was happening.  I absolutely love it when I can immerse myself into a book and visualize what is happening. It makes reading all the more fun.
Now on to the negative parts:

• Eve. I seem to be on a character hating basis because I really didn't like Eve sometimes. Some of her actions were plain stupid and after it caused an event I would look back and be like "Why did you do that? Couldn't you see that this would happen?" (Of course I shouldn't be the one to say that since I: didn't even realize what was going to happen) [SPOILER] For instance when she foolishly calls Caleb on the radio which causes the troops to find her, well that was plain foolish. I think one of the main reasons why that happened may have been because the author needed to a) eliminate a minor character and b) advance the plot, not from a possible happy ending but to the growing love story.  Anna Carey might have forced the plot on that part. [END SPOILER]
• The blurb, I don't know why but it seems very inaccurate to what actually happened. The blurb states "Eve must choose between true love and her life." ... I never realized that there was a point where she had to make a decision...true that there were parts when she didn't want to leave Caleb but she did but that wasn't really a choice. More like a crying, begging girl saying good bye because she had to. The sequel's blurb (Once, releasing July 3!) ends with a line similar to this one.  I can't wait to see if it's actually true or not.

Overall this was a fairly lovely read. It's sort of like a combination of Shatter Me and Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari, both dystopic reads. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a nice love story or different dystopic lit.

Also, I know I said the cover was amazing but the font is absolutely gorgous too.  Whoever designed this is brilliant and hopefully the covers will be as good in the sequels.

MEH

[REVIEW] Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Published: January 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Everneath #1

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...(From Goodreads)

Everneath. A modern take on the myth of Persephone and Hades.  Well honestly if there wasn't a quote on the cover indicating the connection, I would have never known.  Thank you HarperCollins for your strategically placed quote.

This book was okay.  I was disappointed due to the raving reviews about how good the book is. Well to me it's just okay. 

I don't like how the author split each section.  There's too much.  First she has the chapter headings.  Then she has the frequent flashbacks and present day time that is represented by a bolded, capitalized heading of either NOW or LAST YEAR.  Under each heading, is italicised font of the location and how much time is left to the feeding or until her time is up.  Honestly I felt like I was reading a crime report.  There's no need for all the added information. The only thing I appreciated was the time just so I got an understanding of how much time was left, since she only has six months on the surface.  Also the transitions between past and present are instant.  Often the flashbacks relate to what is currently happening in the past but it happens so quickly that I feel a break from the text when I read it.

The three main characters are developed quite well. Each one has their own distinct identity that is evident the further you get in the book. I felt that some characters could have been given more of a part, such as Nikki's best friend Jules, who is meant to create a sort of barrier between Nikki and Jack but that didn't work out that well, probably because she was a minor character and wasn't really needed since there was already Cole who I think brings enough drama to the book.

The other thing I like about this book is how emotionally connected I felt with Nikki.  Not because I went through exactly what she went through but the fact that even though I didn't go through her pain, I could still understand it.

I'm glad that this book is part of a series because if it wasn't, I would not accept the ending at all.

If you like romance driven books with some mythology mixed in to it, then give this a try.

Enjoy!

PS: the cover is absolutely amazing! So pretty!

MEH

[REVIEW] Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Published: November 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Shatter Me #1

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. (From Goodreads)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was definitely a book that got better as you read it. At the beginning I really didn't like the story.  Perhaps it was the author's writing style.  Tahereh Mafi wrote this book with repeated words and crossed out lines (which looks strange at first but you get use to it.) Personally, I'm a reader who enjoys fast paced and to the point writing so repeated words and confusing slashed sentences made it very confusing for me. Now my reasoning behind the repeated words was that it did emphasize the situation without having to bold the text or make it larger for that matter. Also the crossed out words seem to be what Julliette is truly thinking because, usually, right after the crossed out words is the opposite of what she wants to say.  For instance, towards Adam, she'll be like "Touch me Don't touch me" Like that.

I also found that this book, mainly at the beginning, was written like a journal. I'm not sure if this is her writing style either but the writing changed half way through the story.  It blended perfectly together so it wasn't easy to tell but I instantly enjoyed the story much more after the change.  It got quicker and less crossed out and repeated words. 
The author also likes to use internal monologues to countdown days, seconds, breaths etc.  Basically there are a lot of numbers in this book...that I don't particularly think add anything exciting to it and honestly, if they were taken out, I feel the book would be the same (maybe even better)

I thought the descriptions were different, in a good way, and written in a way that metaphors or analogies are compared to things that I wouldn't normally compare them to, and yet it makes perfect sense when you think about it.  I've read very few books that describe actions and emotions like this book does.

The characters are also very well written. Juliette seems like the frail, innocent, peaceful  girl who has this deadly touch but she can also be stern and violent if need be.  Adam seems to be the rigid, rule-following guy but can be a total softy when need be too.

I love a good romance and Adam and Juliette's romance together is something that I absolutely adore.  If I were to critic anything, it is that their love blossamed a little too quickly for me.  There was no build up just a sudden click and they were a couple.  They make a very good couple so I'll let that go but it's a little hard to believe in their love it happens like that first.

The love triangle (or corners as I have been repeatedly told by my friends) in this story is...unusual.  Usually it's a girl that's torn between two guys, both equally amazing and she has to choose one.  In this case, it's two guys torn between one girl and yet the girl only reciprocates her love to another.  I have a theory that Juliette's touch doesn't work on people that truly love her. Because Warner and Adam are both immune and both love her.  It'll be interesting to see how this triangle/corners turns out in the future.

Shatter Me is a Dystopic novel (no surprise that I would find another one).  The story line reminds me of Legend by Marie Lu. And even a little bit of the Hunger Games.  I feel like the whole escape and finding the resistance is like it but of course that's entirely my opinion.

The ending was definitely written for a sequel in mind.  There was no definite ending so I guess I'll have to wait a year to read the sequel (Released early 2013)
Enjoy!

MEH

[REVIEW] Fateful by Claudia Gray

Published: September 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult

A tragic tale about falling in love on the world’s most infamous ill-fated sea voyage as heroine, Tess, discovers darker secrets that lie beneath the doomed crossing… and a hidden brotherhood that threaten to tear her lover from her forever.

The RMS Titanic is the most luxurious ship ever built, but for eighteen-year-old Tess Davies it’s a prison. Travelling as a maid for the family she has served for years, Tess is trapped in their employ amid painful memories and family secrets.

When she meets Alec, a handsome upper class passenger, Tess falls helplessly in love. But Alec has secrets of his own… and soon Tess is entangled in a dangerous game. A sinister brotherhood that will do anything to induct Alec into their mystical order has followed him onboard. And Tess is now their most powerful pawn.

Tess and Alec fight the dark forces threatening to tear them apart, never realising that they will have to face an even greater peril before the journey is over…

New York Times best-selling author Claudia Gray delivers adventure, dark paranormal suspense, alluring romance, and a truly surprise ending, set against the opulent backdrop of the Titanic's first — and last — voyage. (From Goodreads)

First of all, the cover for this novel is absolutely amazing.  Well mainly the font...but the colour is good too!  My first thoughts from seeing this cover was that this book was definitely about ghosts...well clearly I'm not very good at guessing because this book was not about ghosts.  After reading the story the cover quite accuratly depicts the story.

Fateful is about a girl, Tess, who is a servant of the Lisles family, an old noble family, that board the Titanic with them on a trip to America.  At this moment, you can already see where this is going.  Of course the story is about the sinking of the Titanic.  Claudia Gray puts her own twist in to this by introducing werewovles and this werwolf cult called the Brotherhood that has some buisness on this boat and Tess ends up in the middle of it.  On the boat, Tess also meets a wealthy nobleman called Alec.  The only problem is Alec is hiding a secret that could possibly harm Tess if she were to get closer to him.

Of course in Claudia Gray fashion Alec is a man that is of different background or social standards than Tess.  It is predictable and quite frankly tiring to read every time but I guess that's one of her signature trademarks and makes her special as an author.

The only major criticism I have with this book is that there are several sub plots that seem pointless.  Closer to the end, the purpose of them is revealed but I am pretty sure that if they weren't included in the story, the story would be equally as good, if not better.  For instance, when Tess starts reminiscing about the past and the mistake her sister did, I was constantly thinking "so? What does this have to do with the fact that you're on a boat bound to sink in the cold, freezing water?" Clearly I was very confused and then later the sub plot reaches a purpose and I'm still thinking "What did that have to do with the story?"

There are also dates, probably to show what happens during one day or the time line of this voyage.  I didn't really understand those either.  If the story is written well enough, readers should be able to tell when a new day has come or if several days have passed.  There is no need for prompting dates (as I call them) in this story.  The story is so simple that these dates only hinder the reading.

What I did like about this book is mainly how Claudia Gray explains emotions.  She does this in her Evernight series as well but all the characters have their own distinct emotion that is explained so detailed and written so well that sometimes I feel like I'm in the room with them when a daughter and mother get into a fight or when Tess is running for her life or when she experiences love.  This writing also made this Titanic tale much more interesting.  Claudia Gray's writing brought the sinking to life.  I'm pretty sure most of us, in our lives, have written or seen something detailing the catastrophic tragedy of the Titanic.  Fateful is written that I felt the explanation of the sinking and what the passengers actions and emotions were, was different to what I've encountered before.  There was pure emotion there and I really felt sorry for the passengers that couldn't make it off the ship.

Fateful is a stand alone novel and I really wish there was a sequel to this but there isn't. 

Give Fateful a try, perhaps you'll find you like it.  I didn't hate it but there were definitely parts that I was iffy on.

MEH

[REVIEW] The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Published: April 2011
Publisher:HarperCollins New York
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Darkness Rising #1

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.

In The Gathering, New York Times best-selling author Kelley Armstrong brings all the supernatural thrills from her wildly successful Darkest Powers series to Darkness Rising, her scorching hot new trilogy. (From Goodreads)

The Gathering takes place in a small town on Vancouver Island with a population of about 200. There, the St.Cloud company filled the town with employees that were promised the best care for their children. All employees that were hired have young children and the St. Cloud company thought that the best way to attract the parents is to promise the best for the children. In this town, the main character, Maya lives with her parents. Maya was adopted at the age of five and has a paw print shaped birthmark above her waist. Her best friend's called Daniel and her other best friend, Serena, drowned in a lake. The incident was deemed an accident but both Maya and Daniel have different opinions. Besides that, the new guy, Rafe, is constantly following Maya, wanting her to be his girlfriend. Mix that was a bunch of cougar appearences, a shady women by the name of Mina Lee that wants any information the towns children can tell her, and the unnatural events that are occuring and you have a very complicated life. So what does Maya do when she figures out who she really is and uncovers a huge conspiracy happening in her own town?

I love Kelley Armstrong books. More like i really like her adult books (The Women of the Otherworld series). Her teen books (The Darkest Powers Series) wasn't too good in my opinon so i was quite hesitant to read this book but i gave it a shot and well, it's definitely Kelley Armstrong.

There aren't as many, shall we say, romantic scenes as one expects from the Women of the Otherworld but this book has it's fair share. For once though, i'm happy to say that the plot of this book was not driven by the romantic relationships the main character has. In fact, the entire plot of the book is introduced ever so slowly. The reader does really know what it is until the main character realizes.

Basically the lie gets bigger and bigger and more secrets are revealed as the protagonist realizes that her small and quiet town might have more secrets then it seems to have. 

Of course, this book has to have some reference to the supernatural but Armstrong took a different route this time. The supernatural part of this book was more connected to First Nations and their tales as oppose to our perceptions of vampires, werewolves, etc. 

What i also really liked about this book was that Kelley Armstrong wrote it so ingeniously that you don't even realize that at the beginning, she's already revealed what the big secret is, but you don't know about that because you don't know clearly what's happening to the main character and what you're reading about. In fact, all i though about when reading the first couple of chapters is that the main character was getting visions and possibly she had some sixth sense. 

Well i was sort of right. The fact is, when the secret is revealed, the facts sort lining up, and you have a EUREKA moment when you realize that the signs were all there, you just didn't know what you were looking for. 

I found the characters to be also very intriguing. Maya is a very stubbern girl who often thinks too much in to events and people. Daniel is the overprotective best friend who has his own problems to deal with. The romance in this book was also not what i wanted. I always seem to be rooting for the overprotective, caring boy; not the bad-guy who the girl is obviously attracted to. 

Lastly, the ending of this book is a major cliff hanger. I'm probably going to read the second book just to see what's going to happen to them. Leave it to Kelley Armstrong to keep me hooked. 

So if you're a fan of fantasy, action, dark secrets, and Kelley Armstrong of course, read this book!

4/5
MEH

[REVIEW] Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Published: February 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult

I’m not your average hero. I actually wasn’t your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.

It all started with the curse. And the frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

There wasn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades.

Don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it either. But you’ll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got CLOAKED (From Goodreads)

Cloaked is basically a modern fairy tale story. Johnny is an aspring shoe designer who works at his family's shoe repair shop at a hotel in South Beach in an attempt to try to make ends meet. Johnny and his mother are extremely poor and often the bills are left unpaid. When the princess from Aloria comes to the hotel on a "important, top-secret buisness", Johnny is introduced to a world of magic when she asks him to go on an adventure in an attempt to save her brother, who has been turned in to a frog, from the evil witch. Throughout the adventure, Johnny meets talking animals, is thrown in to a dumpster, has to kill two giants and almost dies, on more then one occasion. 

Alex Flinn mixes together quite a few classic fairy tales in to one story to create a modern twist of them. 

The story's plot is the classic, "damsel in distress", but it's still intersting considering it isn't the damsel in distress it's the prince. 

The character's aren't described as much rather their personality is shown through the dialogue and their interactions. 

The story does go quite quickly. One moment, he's in one location and then the next in some other location. Johnny spends about 1-2 chapters in one location at a time. He's always moving which makes it hard to be completly lost in the book but it was a good read. 

Johnny is your typical 17 year old boy and I think Alex Flinn does an excellent job describing him through his actions throughout the book. 

If your a fan of classic fairy tales then Cloaked is the book for you. 

4/5
(originally posted in the TPL Word Out program)

[REVIEW] Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Published: February 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Angelfire #1

First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.
When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.
Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember. (From GoodReads)

Well the cover instantly got my attention. You see a girl (the main character) holding her sword, which is revealed in the book to be a Khopesh sword. She's dressed entirely in black with her red hair behind her. Well besides the cover, the book itself is pretty good. 
The story is about a girl named Ellie who has recurring nightmares and has no idea why. Later she meets a guy named Will who seems vaguly familar to her and on her 16th birthday, she soon figures out why. Turns out, she's the reincarnation of the Preliator, someone dedicated in saving the world from the "reapers" (think demons). 

Throughtout the book, Ellie meets various foes and discovers the plan that those on the evil side are hatching, so to speak. The author really explains the story well and when I read it, I really could relate to the characters. All their emotions and actions are written very well. 
The only part I disliked about the story is when the author writes about Ellie's nightmares, more visions later on in the book. They take away from the story and I feel there was no need to have about three pages dedicated to these visions when it could be summerized in a brief paragraph. I'm pretty sure my reaction would have been the same from either or but I would prefer the paragraph because it would involve reading less of what I considered the boring parts. 

Angelfire is a story about angels, no surprise there. this one, although similar to other angel books with the whole save the earth mission and the whole future angelic war, this story seems to have a seperate plot. Moulton introduces many new ideas that i have never read about in any other books. Her explanation of the reapers in her book is very concise and explains it very clearly. Each character is also developed and described in that you can relate to their personality and behaviours. 
The ending to this book was sort of a let down. I remember getting to the end and flipping the page expecting a new chapter and only getting the acknowledgment section. Angelfire is part of a trilogy so there is more but the transition between each novel could have been better. 

Another problem is that the main character's personal problems often overshadow the main plot at certain points. Of course I do love reading about Ellie's family or friend issues but I feel it takes away from the entire plot as a whole. One page we're talking about saving the world and the next it's about relationship issues. 

Overall this was an excellent read and I can't wait for the second one. To all those who enjoy action, romance, and stories about angels, definitely give this book a try.





4/5
(originally posted in the TPL Word Out program)