Review: House of Night: Legacy

 

By - P. C. Cast

Published - July 4, 2012

Zoey has been marked as a vampyre and has moved into the House of Night. This school helps train fledgling vampyres and keeps them safe. Unfortunately, Zoey has been marked in a special way and has shown an affinity with all five elements. Because of an issue at a Dark Daughters ritual, the role of leader for this group was given to Zoey. Zoey is then challenged by Nyx to learn five lessons before becoming the leader of the Dark Daughters. House of Night (graphic novel) delves deeper into the story of Zoey Redbird then what was given in Marked. Whether the reader has read the first book in the series or not, they will enjoy the tangent storyline and graphic representation of these characters.  Goodreads Book Information

Review: Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3)

 

By - Jennifer Estep

Published - May 29, 2012

Dark Frost is a wild ride full of ancient mythology from many cultures and times. Gwen is a gypsy blessed by the goddess Nike. She is Nike's chosen champion and must prevent the Reapers for releasing the god Loki from his underworld prison. Dark Frost is the third novel in the Mthyos Academy series. Readers will struggle along side Gwen as she comes to terms with her gypsy gifts, attempts to understand her relationship (or lack there of) with Logan (a Spartan who has saved her life more than once), and fights the Reapers at every turn of this book. Readers who have followed Gwen through the first two books will not be disappointed in the third volume in the series. The fast paced story and hints/insights into what may come next keeps the reader coming back for the next chapter. Crimson Frost (book 4) can not come fast enough!  Goodreads Book Information

Review: Touched

 

By - Cyn Balog

Published - August 14, 2012

Would you like to see your future? What if you couldn’t select what you saw, but you saw the “you wills” all of the time? Nick Cross tried to listen to the You Wills in his head. After three months of staying on script he veered off script to keep a girl from being run over. Unfortunately, another girl drowned because of this action. Changing the future doesn’t work.

Because Nick saved Taryn, his entire future is uncertain. He can longer see his graduation let alone next month. When Taryn touches him, the voice in his head stops and he feels normal. Taryn and her grandmother have the Book of Touch and it is the reason Nick is able to see the future. Why did Taryn coming into his life turn his future inside out? Can Nick change the future and protect the people around him?

Touched takes the reader on an exploration of self-discovery. How do our actions affect the rest of our life or the lives around us? Not just the big actions, but the little day to day decisions we make without thinking. What would you do to help those around you and change the future already set in motion? Goodreads Book Information

Review: The Girl in the Clockwork Collar (Steampunk Chronicles #2)

 

By - Kady Cross

Published - May 29, 2012

A great sequel in this steampunk series. Kady Cross brings Finley and the gang across the pond to 1897 New York City to help Jas out of his current predicament. Not only is there great steampunk science fiction, there are interesting characters and incredible situations. Be prepared to laugh out loud and forgo all other activities until this volume is finished. Goodreads Book Information

 

Review: Wilde's Fire

 

By - Krystal Wade

Published - May 13, 2012

Kate has a best friend that she trusts completely. Even though he is male, her family trusts them enough to sleep together in the same room and even go on a camping trip with just themselves and Kate’s sister. During the camping trip Kate begins seeing a yellow light and has waking visions. She doesn’t think anything about these actions because for the past six years she has had dreams/nightmares about a boy named Arland. After following the yellow light to the nearby swimming hole and deciding to wait until the morning to investigate the waters, her sister wakes and admits that she also saw the yellow light outside the tent. Kate’s world is shaken when all three of them swim into an underwater cave and land in another world. This world has been thrown into darkness and has many prophecies. One prophecy concerns Kate and calls her The Light and says she will fight the darkness and return the world to light. Wildes Fire brings stories of old and new magic together in a tale that weaves romance, valor and vengeance. Although the gods introduced in these worlds have different names, the reader will welcome the familiar tales of greed and violence that have wrecked many human societies. Goodreads Book Information

Review: Exiled (The Never Chronicles #1)

 

By - J. R. Wagner

Published - June 5, 2012

In a world where magic is real, but can only be practiced by the Faithful there is a prophecy. The Anointed One will be born to Unfaithfuls and be a powerful sorcerer. It is believed that James is the Anointed One. His family was converted and trained when he was 3 years old and during this training period he was isolated, moved often and had several tutors (each more skilled than the last). Unfortunately, not everyone believes he is the Anointed One and some are jealous of his power. After a witness’s memory is tampered with, James is sentenced to exile in The Never for murder. Upon arriving in The Never, he discovers that the residents (other exiled sorcerers) have been waiting for the person who can crack the magic of the island and help them return to the lives they left behind. Exiled includes intrigue, corruption and stories which twist in and out of each other. This first book in a series is a captivating read that leaves enough unanswered questions that the reader will long for the next book.  Goodreads Book Information

Review: Poison Tree

 

By - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Publication - July 10, 2012

This world is not our world.  Inside this story the reader will find SingleEarth, vampires, shapeshifters, Tristes and the Bruja Guilds.  Although each group may work with other groups, cooperation is the exception, not the norm.  Sarik is a shapeshifting tiger that left her clan after her human sister was brutally murdered and became a mediator for SingleEarth, an organization that helps supernatural creatures.  Alysia is a human with a checkered past in the Bruja Guilds, groups of assassins that have a mixed up honor system, who has found satisfaction working for SingleEarth.  When an attack occurs at SingleEarth, both women must face the past they left and rediscover who can be really trusted.  Can either woman survive the personal and political issues they thought they left behind?

 

Most of the main characters are introduced in the prologue and then their stories split before reuniting halfway through the book.  The book is of a moderate length that made for a quick read, but the writing is stunted and the storyline varies from confusing to very simple.  The book would have been a better read if the length was stretched and more detail was applied to the characters and storyline.  Goodreads Book Information

Review: The Immortal Rules

 

By - Julie Kagawa

Publication - April 24, 2012

Allie has only known life since the Plague. After the Plague starting killing off most of the human population Vampires came out of hiding to govern cities where humans were Registered and required to be blooded twice a month. Allie chose to be Unregistered. This meant she was not required to be blooded, but also wasn't allowed any food rations. Her life was turned upside down when during a scouting raid with other Fringers they were attacked by Rabids and her death was eminent. That was until a Vampire fought off the Rabids and offered her immortality or the death that awaited her. Allie chose to become a Vampire and "live." How can she survive as something she has always hated? What does it mean to see humans as food? She is still struggling with these questions when she is forced out of the city she has know her whole life and must venture alone into the world outside the city walls. Julie Kagawa spins a tale of adventure, self discovery and just a little romance. The Immortal Rules is a captivating first book and I anticipate the continuation of the series. 

Review: God Save the Queen

 

By - Kate Locke

Published - July 3, 2012

Queen Victoria is preparing to celebrate her 175^th year of reign.  Since the aristocracy mutated during the plague to become vampires, werewolves and goblins, Britain hasn’t been the same.  The aristocracy is protected by half-bloods (children of royal blood and humans).  These half-bloods are stronger and quicker than humans, but don’t have the immortal limitations of daylight or shape shifting.  Xandra is part of the Royal Guard and is thrown into the unbelievable world of the insurrectionists when she discovers that someone has staged a fake suicide for her younger sister.  She no longer knows who to believe.  Her friend and long-term mentor, Churchill, has taught her that goblins are monsters and insurrectionists are traitors.  Yet her sister and mother are trying to convince her that the aristocracy are performing experiments on half-bloods and can’t be trusted.

God Save the Queen is a cross between steampunk and a vampire tale all thrown into a modern England.  The reader will be pulled into the story and history inside while attempting to stay one step ahead of Xandra while she is searching for the answers.  Although the sex scenes are not very graphic, the topics and language throughout make this more appropriate for older teens and adults.  This first book in The Immortal Empire series finishes in a great spot.  The reader will want to read the second book to discover what Xandra will do next. Goodreads Book Information

Review: The Book of Blood and Shadow

By - Robin Wasseman
Published - April 10, 2012

Nora had the perfect senior year project.  She was a professor’s translation assistant with one of her best friends and his roommate at the nearby local college.  She is to translate personal letters from the 16th century from Latin to English.  At first she is upset because she is given the personal letters because of her age, but then the author, Elizabeth, begins to grow on her and she begins translating the letters in her spare time.  All translations come to a stop when the professor is hospitalized, the manuscripts go missing and her best friend, Chris, is found dead.  She believes these events are all related and convinces her other best friend, Adriane, to skip the senior trip to Paris and go to Prague (the original location of these manuscripts).  Can they determine who is behind Chris’s murder?  Was the device mentioned in the manuscripts real and is it still hidden and waiting to be rediscovered?  The Book of Blood and Shadow is a cross between The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure.  Secret organizations, hidden codes, long lost documents and European history abound in this page turning tome.  Goodreads Book Information