Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by R.L. LaFevers

April 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Dark Triumph by R.L. LaFevers
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Source: ARC provided by publisher
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats.

Review
I absolutely fell in love with the first novel in this series from LaFevers, Grave Mercy, and I was ecstatic when HMH sent me a review copy of the next book, Dark Triumph. In the first novel, we’re introduced to the convent of St. Mortain where young girls are sent to become assassins. Marvelous right? Who doesn’t love a female assassin? Grave Mercy follows Ismae, but Dark Triumph follows one of her classmates, Sybella, as she is sent out on her assignment from the convent. She’s sent to spy on her terrifying father after she ran away from him and her slightly perverted brother. (And by slightly, I mean very.)

The plot and writing from LaFevers are just as spot on as they were in the first novel. Sybella has a difficult time being in her father’s house and, not unlike Ismae, begins to suspect the motives of the nuns at St. Mortain. She’s had many possibilities to kill her father, yet she has not seen the mark. Why else would she be here – would they send her here – if not to kill him and stop him from overthrowing the duchess? It turns out that she’s actually there to save one the duchess’ knights after a battle. At least, that’s what she chooses to do after being in her father’s house for over a year and getting nothing done.

Together, Sybella and the duchess’ knight, known as the Beast, run across the country trying to keep the country together and end up falling in love. While I loved the love story in Grave Mercy, I didn’t really enjoy this one as much. With such a well thought out background and plot, it felt that that love story was unnecessary to the overall story. I didn’t hate it or anything, but as a lover or love stories, this just wasn’t my favorite. But Sybella’s amazing skills and her growth throughout both novels makes up for the fact this part was lacking.

This novel is driven by both characters and plot, which I find so rare these days, and kept me intrigued to the very last page. There are twists and turns throughout the novel that had me guessing to the very end and some of our favorites from Grave Mercy reappear in Dark Triumph so that was a happy surprise, for me at least! I feel like my review didn’t do this novel justice – I rarely feel like they do – but this book was wonderful and it certainly lived up to the bar set by Grave Mercy and I’m on edge for Mortal Heart!

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Mind Games (Mind Games #1) by Kiersten White

February 27, 2013 by 2 Comments
Mind Games by Kiersten White
Release Date: February 19, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Digital Copy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

Review
I was a fan of Kiersten White’s last series, Paranormalcy, so I was pretty excited for her new series to come out this year once that one ended. And Mind Games DID NOT disappoint you guys. It was similar to the Paranormalcy series in that the heroine is a total badass but that was about all that they had in common. Where Evie was a peppy little demon hunter that eventually had to face down her own demons, Fia and her sister, Annie, started out troubled and the novel follows Fia’s attempts to get them onto a normal path.

Fia has some awesome instincts (like she can’t make a wrong decision) and Annie gets some flashes of the future so these supernatural sisters have a lot going for them but are orphans and don’t really know what to do with their powers. In comes the Keane Institute to ‘help’ the girls and subsequently ruin their lives. But at the same time, the girls are more than a little bit confused about what’s happening to them and although Keane might not be the good guys – we don’t really know – they do shed some light on the girls’ situation. They explain Annie’s powers to her and slowly hone Fia’s. Woop woop. Kind of cool and scary at the same time since they give off of a creepy vibe.

Also as someone who loves love, I was super torn about the love interests in this one! I hate when I can’t decide. Being indecisive isn’t a good quality in anyone and even if it’s just deciding on a ship, it drives me insane. On the one hand, there’s Adam who’s a genius doctor who could be the key to helping Fia and Annie. He’s super sweet from the very beginning and attracted to Fia and I kind of just want to cuddle up to him like a puppy. However, James has been with Fia for years and, in his own twisted way, has been trying to help her. He is part of the Keane Institute too, though, so that stinks. And he could be evil. But but…they just keep talking about so pretty he is. And there’s just so much chemistry between him and Fia. I think I’m leaning towards him and Fia together (I like Adam and Annie, although they haven’t even met yet) but I’m not set yet and I hate choosing the underdog so don’t take my word for it. But the when you think about James just remember…

Overall, the only reason this wasn’t 5-stars was because it was super short – I think they split up the novel into two – and it was so abrupt. As we’ve only seen the Paranormalcy series from White before, I feel like this was a big jump for her but also a great one. Not that I doubted or worried, but there’s always that moment when you open a new book from an author that you’ve liked previously when you wonder, “Am I really going to like this?” Now I know, without a doubt, that White isn’t a one note author and that I will most definitely read anything she publishes in the future. I cannot wait to how this story pans out and to see if I picked the right ships!

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Crash (Visions #1) by Lisa McMann

January 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Crash (Visions #1) by Lisa McMann
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Simon Plus
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy It: Amazon
Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode…and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

Review

I’m probably not the right one to be writing this. Tina and I daily email each other discussing who loves Lisa McMann more. That being said, my local bookstore happened to get their shipment in early. Because of this and the fact that I pre-ordered the book, I got to pick my copy up on Friday and quickly devoured it. Actually the only thing I stopped for was having to drive home, eat dinner, and watch part of The Shining with my parents.

Really, the book was that good. I couldn’t put it down. Of course I quickly finished (I’m a fast reader, my friends complain about it) and then got upset because the next one isn’t out yet. When I was reading McMann’s Wake series, what I was thrilled about was I read the first two the weekend before the third one came out so I had no real waiting for the series. This is different; the second book doesn’t come out until October. Although that’s only 10 months and not a year. I understand it could be worse.

Crash is the story of Jules, snarky, sarcastic, bitter Jules whose voice often seems like my own. Jules does not have an easy life. First of all, she is a teenager who has to drive a truck with giant balls on the top of it. They’re meatballs, but still, they are balls. Jules does appreciate the good puns that come out of having to drive the truck. Second, her father has…his problems. He is a hoarder. He’s a neat hoarder, but he still hoards. McMann is not new to writing conditions such as hoarding, with a previous book of her featuring OCD. Jules’ mother and father own the family business, an Italian eatery (hence the balls) and the hoarding affects the family business. Jules, however, deals with it. She isn’t on her own, she has a younger quirky sister and an awesome older brother. Her older brother, by the way, is gay. McMann inserts this so subtly into the story that, to be honest, I had to re-read that page because it was perfectly handled. It wasn’t handled as a big way, which in my opinion, is how it should be handled. McMann even brought the Church into it at one point; again, handled perfectly.

But still, Jules goes on with her life. Her crush doesn’t know he exists, because they were once BFFs and then he stopped talking to her. Of course he comes from a rival pizza-making family; they are serious arch rival enemies. At the end of the book when the whole horrid story finally comes out I gasped and then wanted to go in the book and hug the characters. What? That isn’t normal?!

Again though, she continues on with her life until she has a vision. This vision of people dying, including her crush, Sawyer. This affects her in various ways. It of course freaks her out, understandably. It makes her closer to her older brother, who thinks she’s a wee bit crazy, but is happy to help her and makes her on edge all the time because this vision keeps occurring. She can’t stop it from occurring and when she finally tells Sawyer, “hey! I think you’re going to die. Someday at some location” he of course thinks she’s crazy, which is no surprise because she thinks she’s crazy.

McMann’s writing continues to be strong and on point. From the first page to the last, where I am left wanting more, McMann had me hooked in, holding the pages closer to my face, wanting more, but at the same time hoping it would never end. And then when the moment happened? Perfection.

 If you love and adore the Wake series I promise you this one will have you hooked, too.

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Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

January 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Edelweiss
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
Be careful what you believe in.

Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.

Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

Review
This is my first ever Moskowitz book, but I’ve liked her for a long time. She’s an author that managed to keep a level head during the dark times of 2011. when authors couldn’t stop harrassing reviewers for bad reviews. There are authors I will not read because of their behavior during that time. Moskowitz was funny and witty and just rational in her response to the uproar, and all of her novels are on my TBR. When I got the chance to review this one through Edelweiss, I jumped at the chance. I think I requested this one almost six months ago! And I loved being in Rudy’s head, the way Moskowitz weaved his thoughts, and also his relationship with his parents and brother.  Rudy meets Teeth and Diana very early in the novel, and Moskowitz keeps the plot moving through the entire book.

I liked Rudy a lot. His brother is a decade younger than him and has cystic fibrosis. All their parents do is hover over Dylan, while Rudy tries to be a good son and brother. I get the feeling Rudy is benevolently neglected. His parents love him, that’s obvious, but Dylan is their primary focus, maybe to Rudy’s detriment. I think his parents realize it, even though Rudy doesn’t seem to at first. (They confirm this later in the book.) He’s desperate for human contact with anyone his own age. He gets it, twice over, but definitely not in a healthy way.

This book presents teenagers faithfully, the kind I knew, who smoked cigarettes and made out in the gym, who swear and get angry and have thoughts. But the themes are so dark. When I was about two-thirds through, it became hard to read, because the story of Teeth is so brutal and it doesn’t seem like it’ll get better. This entire book is about fish-two kinds, one with life-restoring, but addictive, qualities, and one repulsive half-human. There is just so much sadness in this one, and some self-discovery on the parts of everyone. When I say “dark,” I mean it in a different way from assassin nuns or torture in medieval Wales. I feel obligated to warn that there is rape in this novel, and while not explicit, it’s clear enough. I don’t think that should deter you, unless that’s a specific trigger of yours, because this book handles things beautifully.

Don’t expect a love story, or even any real romance. Don’t expect a walk in the park, or a pretty mermaid book either. Don’t even expect themes like in Monstrous Beauty, one of the darker mermaid books I read last year. Prepare to have your heart broken by Dylan, by Rudy, by Diana, and by Teeth, over and over again. The angst is delicious, and I will be sure to pick up the next Moskowitz book I see.

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Unspoken (II) by Sarah Rees Brennan

January 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Source: Digital Copy
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met…a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head. But all that changes when the Lynburns return.The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Review
Ok, so I’m going to preface this review by saying that out of all of us here at NIAB, I’m probably the worst about the delay between reading the book and getting the review out.  A lot of that has to do with my schedule and the schedule here at the blog.  That said, I read this book on the recommendation from Tina about two months ago, well before both her and Ashley put it on their favorites of 2012 list.  I scheduled my review and it just so happened to fall after the favorites list came out (we’re scheduled into February already!) so I’m not trying to be contrary, I promise.  I just didn’t like this book.

Why didn’t I like this book?  First of all, it was marketed as a YA novel when it read as middle-grade.  I like middle-grade just fine – Ella Enchanted is one of my most cherished books – but I was expecting something a little more adult, young adult if you will, when I started this one.  What I got was bunch of bratty teenagers who were completely immature and wouldn’t listen to anybody.  The plot itself was intriguing – Kami has a friend that she’s only spoken to in her head and then she meets him in real life!  Then things got sticky when they strongly dislike each other, they can’t handle their connection, she’s attracted to his cousin, and something is afoot in Sorry-in-the-Vale.

Instead of letting the authorities handle it, Kami investigates it herself.  It would be one things if she were a regular Veronica Mars, but she’s just a teenage girl with one friend and absolutely no common sense.  She ventures off in the woods by herself more times than I can count, is pushed down a well and can’t tell friend from foe.  It was almost like watching one of those slasher movies where you yell at the screen “DON’T ANSWER THE DOOR, YOU IDIOT!” and then they answer the door.  That’s pretty much how I was with Kami throughout the entire novel.  And the plot was a little too muddled for me.  A lot of it didn’t make sense.  Even in the end I was kind of just like, “Um, ok?”  Soooo…this one isn’t for everyone I guess.  At least it wasn’t for me.

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Magick (Coven #3) by Trish Milburn

December 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Magick by Trish Milburn
Release Date: October 5, 2012
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
The covens are coming for her.But is she a White Witch or a Dark Witch? In a war for control of the witch world, the answer will save-or doom-everyone she loves.

In White Witch, Jax gained friends she’d die for and a staggering power that threatens them all.

In Bane, Jax did the unthinkable and killed a supernatural hunter to protect her friends. She found herself lost in darkness and prisoner to the Bane, a secret society of witches sworn to prevent the use of the dark magic.

Now, in Magick, the powers of Jax and her friend Egan have been magically bound by the Bane. She must convince the Bane she can learn to control her power and become a White Witch in truth. She’s their only hope now that the dark covens have called a Conclave with one purpose-to kill this generation’s White Witch and anyone who has ever stood with her. If Jax can’t amass an army of her own, rebuild the trust of her friends and boyfriend, and find the White Witch’s elusive weapon against the dark, it may be too late.

Review
Here we go! The final installment in what was one of my favorite series at the beginning of the year! (The first two books are reviewed here and here.) We left Bane basically in the middle of a scene, and we arrive at Magick just as Jax is regaining consciousness. The first quarter of this one is Sarah from the Bane explaining the history of both Salem and the Bane, but also of white witches. While there was a whole lot of telling instead of showing (and I’d LOVE to read a history of the original women of the Bane), I found I didn’t mind as much as I normally would. The backstory is interesting and I like getting it in any way I can. There’s also a lot of guilt on Jax’s part due to Barrow’s murder, but that was to be expected. She did what she had to do, and while Toni is afraid of her at first, Egan defends Jax and is on her side. So Jax has to start training to be savior of the world, gain control of her white witch powers, and destroy the covens once and for all.

Things are going swimmingly, romance-wise. Everyone is nicely paired off, including Rule, and… I don’t know. It was all very saccharine, and earnest, like omg, every ten seconds Jax is very seriously vowing to die before anyone else does. This girl is like a forty-year-old. She operates under the weight of her own guilt for the whole series almost, and she’s just so very serious about everything. Love is a big theme in this series, so we go from Jax silently swearing to die for Rule if need be, to Keller going off to buy Jax a Christmas present. It’s all so opposite. There is also a lot of waiting in this one. Jax at the Bane HQ, Jax working on her powers, Jax waiting for the covens to show up, Jax chilling and eating pizza with Toni. But then, something happens, like we’re reminded of the time Jax kissed Rule, and Keller forgave her. And that makes me happy, because it reminds us that Jax is human, and she makes mistakes, and that sometimes mistakes are forgivable. The things we do in times of stress can be the most irrational.

White Witch was one of my favorite books at the beginning of the year, but the series just kind of went steadily downhill for me. It was so sappy, the power of love and all that, and the end was too neatly wrapped up. It was a cute series, but maybe it just ended up not being my style. We didn’t really get to see any real action with the covens either, and the story of Jax’s life with them might have been more interesting than the story of her defection. Anyway, the writing is solid and the love stories are nice, plus all three books are short and super easy reads. If it sounds like your thing, check it out! The trilogy is complete.

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The Cavendish Home For Boys and Girls By Claire Legrand

December 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Cavendish Home For Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Source: Library Copy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
At the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, you will definitely learn your lesson. A dark, timeless, and heartfelt novel for fans of Coraline and The Mysterious Benedict Society.Victoria hates nonsense. There is no need for it when your life is perfect. The only smudge on her pristine life is her best friend Lawrence. He is a disaster—lazy and dreamy, shirt always untucked, obsessed with his silly piano. Victoria often wonders why she ever bothered being his friend. (Lawrence does too.)

But then Lawrence goes missing. And he’s not the only one. Victoria soon discovers that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is not what it appears to be. Kids go in but come out…different. Or they don’t come out at all.

If anyone can sort this out, it’s Victoria—even if it means getting a little messy

Review

This book came highly recommended to me by one of my dear friends. Even with that recommendation I was wary of starting. Mostly because my TBR list is already forever long and I put a lot of thought into adding another book to the list. Okay, who are we kidding, of course I add a lot of books to it. Reason my Goodreads list is currently pushing 400. All of that being said, I am thrilled my friend recommended this book to me. I can tell you I would have never ever picked this up on my own for various reasons; however, I am glad I did. This is a really good/thrilling YA book.

The Cavendish Home For Boys and Girls is at its heart the story of Victoria. Victoria who hates most things, including her only true friend Lawrence. She doesn’t even consider Lawrence a friend, she considers him a project that she needs to fix because he isn’t perfect and often troublesome (to her). One day, however, Lawrence disappears. His parents have a cover story, but even to Victoria the story sounds fake. She is convinced there is more to this story than Lawrence’s parents are letting on. This becomes more obvious when more of Victoria’s class disappears.

Victoria starts to research this when it becomes obvious. She notices people go into the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, but they rarely come out. When Victoria begins to research this, she notices she has much in common with the owner of the home, Mrs. Cavendish. This is a fact that ends up worrying Victoria, because she hates who Mrs. Cavendish is. Slowly Victoria herself becomes trapped in the Home and starts to break her down. Victoria, the one who always must be strong, starts to break down because of what the house, and Mrs. Cavendish, do to people once they become stuck there.

The ending is amazing and very fitting to the story and will make you look at common aspects of your house twice. Also, have I mentioned the illustrations? They are perfect and even fit the story perfectly. Sarah Watts perfectly captured the tone of the story in an illustration. I only wish Legrand had other YA/MG books out right now for me to read!

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The Dark Divine (The Dark Divine, #1) by Bree Despain

December 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
Release Date: December 22, 2009
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Buy It: Amazon
Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared–the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood–but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude’s high school. Despite promising Jude she’ll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel’s shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy’s dark secret…and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it–her soul.

Review

This is the story of Grace Divine. Yes, that is her name. Her father is a preacher who named his eldest son Jude. Jude, who happens to be the perfect child. But we’ll get more into that later. Grace Divine lives a fairly normal life. She has a loving family, goes to school, volunteers. She is a completely normal teenager. Until the day her brother comes home after a night out with his friend Daniel, who Grace happens to be in love with. Jude and Daniel’s friendship was forever changed that night and no one talks about it again. That was over three years ago and that night is still not discussed in the Divine household.

Until Daniel comes back. Grace didn’t know how much she missed or how much she was drawn to Daniel until he comes back. They are drawn to each other like two magnets. Daniel is artistic and makes Grace want to be a better artist and makes her look at things in a way she never truly did before. Of course this is problematic because Grace promised Jude that she would stay away from Daniel and she doesn’t lie to anyone, family or not. She takes that very seriously. She also turns many shades of red which make it next to impossible to lie, but that’s not the point. When she promises something to her family it’s important to her to stay truthful and honest.

Of course she doesn’t stay away from Daniel. She can’t. The magnets! The more she stays near Daniel and talks to him, the more she comes to find out what happened that night with Jude three years ago. This is where the mysterious element comes into play which I will not ruin for you. I will state that Despain handles it in an interesting way and with this being a series, I will be interested to see how it continues.

I wanted to like this book, and I did. Don’t get me wrong, I totally liked this book, I just expected more from it in the end. Thankfully it is a series and more is coming. Despain has a very interesting writing style and while I enjoy it, I often found it a tad too preachy for me. The fact that Grace’s father is a preacher, Jude is perfect, Grace often makes sure her point gets across in a childish way while continuing to be the good girl. I have no problem with the good girl character. However this version of the good girl was so sickeningly sweet it often hurt to read in parts. That is honestly another reason it didn’t get another star from me. I hate when books get preachy with me. You can get your point across without repeating it over and over again.

Alas, I will be reading the rest of the series because well, I am hooked.

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Arise (Hereafter #2) by Tara Hudson

November 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Arise by Tara Hudson
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library Copy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
Increasingly worried that dark spirits will carry out their threats and hurt the people she cares for most, Amelia is ready to try anything to protect them. And for his own very different reasons, Joshua has come to this cemetery at midnight to join her in a powerful ritual.Both know that once Amelia steps inside the Voodoo circle and the beautiful girl from the Conjure Cafe begins the ceremony, everything will change.Tara Hudson’s enthralling sequel to “Hereafter” escalates the danger and excitement, bringing a new dimension to her already mesmerizing story of a haunted love

Review

This book picks up very much where the first one leaves off. Amelia is still a ghost, she is still in love with Joshua, and she is still fighting the world for trying to keep her and Joshua separated.  While on a family trip to New Orleans, Joshua and Amelia try to find answers about Amelia’s dreams/nightmares/life. This is where Hudson’s writing is brilliant. The storyline becomes more original, it becomes even more suspenseful than the first book in the series ever was.

In New Orleans they are led to Gabriella (Gaby), who is supposed to help Amelia and Joshua. Ah, yes, that key phrase ‘supposed to help.’ Gaby ends up leaving Amelia and Joshua with far more questions than answers and the event comes down to one thing: does Amelia stay by Joshua (her love) or does she leave for his safety? I promise you, this book isn’t as New Moon as it sounds. I promise.

I feel bad for Joshua throughout this book because he really loves Amelia, he wants their relationship to work. Of course Amelia is thinking of Joshua growing up, wanting a family of his own and she can’t help him do that. Because they are teenagers in a brand new relationship they don’t talk, they both do what they think is best for the relationship. Even if the reader can see how horrible both sides are being (which they often are) but Joshua really wants what is best for Amelia, and Amelia really wants what’s best for Joshua.

Another highly recommended part of this book is that it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger and doesn’t have a love triangle. Yes, a YA series that doesn’t have a cliffhanger or a love triangle! It does exist!

This was a much better book than I was expecting. I reviewed the first book in the series here, and while the first book was good it was nothing amazing. Arise, however is completely different, it is a solid, strong, second book in the series. I again repeat, Arise is not a New Moon type of book where it is pure filler and you don’t know why you are reading it. If anything I’d only read the first one to get to this book. Hudson’s writing is strong, her world building is as solid as it can be, I can’t recommend this book enough.

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The Diviners by Libba Bray

November 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readres
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Buy It: Amazon
Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City–and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult–also known as “The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies.”
When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer–if he doesn’t catch her first

Review

This is the story of Evangeline, who if the story took place in 2012 would be considered a normal teenage girl. However, this story takes place in the 1920s and because of that fact she is considered rebellious, her parents are unable to control her after her brother died in World War I. Evangeline, or Evie as she prefers to be known as, is shipped off to New York City to live with her uncle after she did a parlor trick that embarrassed one of the rich families in her town. This story quickly turns into one that tells two tales at once. Evie’s story and Memphis’ story. Both of which run parallel to each other, but by the end overlap just a little bit. But if you are reading this for Memphis’ story you will be let down, this book is mostly Evie’s to tell.

Evie is the type of character who is overly theatrical and often childish, even though she wants to be taken seriously as an adult. Much like everyone her age wants to be, even in 2012. However, even with that said, she is entertaining, has a smart mouth and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. A few times I wanted to be Evie! She spoke her mind with no worries about the repercussions about what would happen until said repercussions happened. I can’t wait for the second book to see more of fiesty Evie.

I recently read her Beauty Queens and that was so light and fluffy I wasn’t sure that Libba Bray could do creepy well. My fears were not needed, she does creepy beyond well. Naughty John, isn’t the type of character that one wants to read about at night; which of course when I read this book! At 600 pages, Bray has a chance to make this book complex, compelling, and only a few pages too long. This is one of those books that uses its 600 pages to the best of their ability. Any fewer pages and I’m not sure this book would have been the same. This book needed the length to make the reader feel like a flapper in New York City in the roaring twenties, and that I did

I adored this book. If you follow me on goodreads you will notice it took me longer to read than most books usually do but that is only because it’s midterm time in grad school and all my time is dedicated to reading about libraries and how they can shape the future while emailing a friend going “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE I NEED TO QUIT.” So the fact that this book took me over a week to read isn’t a sign that it’s a bad book and I couldn’t get through it; it was more of a situation of I only read before bed, but then this is a mystery book and required a lot of thought. Plus, Naughty John at night? I could only handle so much!

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