Review: Initiation by Imogen Rose

Format: Kindle

Pages: 414

Series: Bonfire Academy (#1)

Buy this book: Amazon

 

From Goodreads:

Welcome to Bonfire Academy. Set in the foothills of the alpine mountains in St.Moritz, this exclusive private school caters to a special kind of student. Enter at your own risk... but if you are human, you may not want to enter at all.

This is part one of the prequel series (Bonfire Academy) in the Bonfire Chronicles. Book two, INTEGRATION, will be released summer 2012.

Review:

Cordelia is a demon princess who is starting her third and final year at a private school for paranormals; The Bonfire Academy.  Cordelia is expecting her last year to be easy with nothing to do except concentrating on Tennis and her boyfriend, Quinn, but the Student Council President has other ideas for her. 

Cordelia is asked to mentor a half-human/half-demon twelve year old girl named Faustine, who is also a demon princess.  After being attacked, Cordelia quickly realizes that her last year at the Bonfire Academy isn’t going to be as easy as she had hoped it would be. 

I absolutely loved the characters in Initiation.  The main character, Cordelia was really easy to like and a wonderful mentor to Faustine.  Jagger is a total hottie and an absolute charmer.  Faustine, although she is very young, she really speaks her mind and she really come into her own by the end of this book.  I’m not really sure how I feel about Quinn, he seems too perfect.  

Initiation had me hooked from the very beginning; it was a very fast read for me.  There are a lot of ‘private school’ books out there but Initiation was very fresh and it has just enough action and mystery to keep your attention to the very last page.  I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next one.

 

~An E-book copy was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.  This in no way affected my review, all opinions are my own. ~

 

Quotes:

“Get rid of Quinn.  You belong to me now.”

“For the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, someone introduce me to him,”

Rating:

 

 

 

 

Early Review: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Format: e-ARC from Netgalley

Pages: 379

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Series: The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten Book 1

Expected Publication Date: October 23, 2012

Pre-Order this book: Amazon

From Goodreads:

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he's dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myths and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.

Review:

Julie Kagawa has done it again; The Lost Prince is fan-freaking-tastic.  If you loved the Iron Fey series then you can be sure that you will absolutely fall head over heels in love with this book.  

Ethan Chase is all grown up now; he’s no longer the little boy that we first met in The Iron King, he’s now seventeen, in high school and trying his best to fit in and be normal.  But being normal isn’t so easy for Ethan.  Ethan has ‘the sight’, the ability to see any Faeries or Fair Folk that walk the mortal world. 

After everything he had endured in Feary, Ethan has vowed never to step foot in the Nevernever again, he absolutely loathes the world that his sister calls home, but when a friend goes missing along with a great deal of exiles and half breeds he finds that in order to keep the people he loves safe, he may not have a choice.    

On the surface Ethan is a ‘tough guy’ but underneath the tough exterior he’s trying to hide the pain he feels over Meghan, he feels like she abandoned him for the Faery world and that she cares nothing about her human family.  He tries to keep people at a distance and not let them get too close in fear of what might happen to them and for the most part he does a good job that is until Kenzie comes into the picture; he quickly realizes that he is going to have a hard time trying to stay away from her. 

I really liked Kenzie, she was smart, stubborn and she wouldn’t take no for an answer once she got her mind set on something.  She did what she wanted to do and didn’t care what anyone else thought about it.  Another favorite was Razor, that little Faery had me cracking up.

Out of all of Ms. Kagawa’s books, The Lost Prince is my favorite book so far.  Once I started picked it up, I could not put it down.  This book has everything that I love; strong characters, action and twists that you won’t see coming.  The Lost Prince is absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Ethan.  This is one book that you do not want to miss. 

Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Quotes:

 “This would be all over school tomorrow.  I wondered how many more crimes I could add to my already lengthy imaginary list.”

“I had no idea you could do…that.  Congratulations, you’re a certified bad ass.”

“I just hope that when I wake up, I’m not in a padded room with a nice man in a white suit feeding me pills.”

 Rating:

 

Blog Tour: Guardian of the Moon Pendant by Laura J. Williams

Welcome to my stop on the Guardian of the Moon Pendant blog tour.  I'll be sharing an excerpt from the book and there is also a giveaway for you to enter.  5 lucky winners will win a signed copy of Guardian of the Moon Pendant.  This giveaway is US only.

 

                             Book Summary from Goodreads:

 

The MacAlpin women are of a fierce clan, born from a rare bloodline that harbors a dark and powerful secret – a mystical heirloom called the Moon Pendant. It is the key to controlling the MääGord standing stones, a magical Portal into the Otherworld, the realm of the Fae.

Anabel and Izzy MacAlpin are two sisters, polar opposites, living separate lives.

Anabel’s life is going precisely according to her plan, a ring on her finger from her steady beau, Edgar, and medical school in the fall.

Izzy’s life is filled with scars and wounds from her past. Dubbed the “spare child” by her family and treated poorly, she rebelled, and now lives life by her own rules.

These two sisters’ worlds are about to explode when one of them must go to Scotland and fulfill her duty as the Guardian of the Moon Pendant, by recharging this magical heirloom with four elementals, air, earth, water, and fire, and then finally close the Portal.

There’s only one problem…

The Baobhan Sith – a vampiric faery who lures men in with her hypnotic voice, feeding on their blood or transforming them into Màrmann, her zombie-like warriors who do her bidding – desires the Moon Pendant to take control over the Portal, opening a gateway into the realm of man, helping her to seek revenge on the MacAlpin clan, and to quench her eternal thirst for human blood.

Anabel finds herself torn between a sinfully handsome Scottish warrior, Blane and her fiancée, Edgar. Izzy finds herself, angered by her sister’s lack of faith in her.

Both sisters are forced to help one another, but may end up killing each other in the end. Surrounded by an array of good and evil Scottish Fae like a vampiric faery, the Baobhan Sith, zombie-warriors, the Ankou, Dryads, the Fachan, the Ghillie Dhu, Heather Pixies, Leigheas, the Nuckelavee, the Bloody Baron a Red Cap, Stone Faeries, Trows, and Will-o’-the-wisps.

Will these two sisters put aside their differences before the final task to charge the Moon Pendant and close the Portal or will the Baobhan Sith, the vampiric faery, be successful and open the Portal into the Otherworld?

 

The Excerpt:

 That’s when I saw him, the Ankou, a collector of bodies, the man they call death, cloaked in darkness, standing beside a smoldering motorcycle, his sidecar a coffin made of bones. A skeleton of a mangy dog sat obediently, wagging its scrawny tail inside the sidecar, a black tongue lapping out of its mouth, panting hard, its fur patched randomly about his body, exposing its shriveled skeletal frame.

The Ankou’s eyes were sullen, black, and fixed onto me. “I’m just here for the body,” he stated in a low raspy voice, tapping the base of his scythe on the soft ground, holding it like a sword in his withered hand. “The spirit’s not my jurisdiction.”

 

The Giveaway:

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the other stops HERE

Under the Sea Giveaway Hop

 

The Under the Sea Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and The Musings of ALMYBNENR. 

 

 

Hop Rules

• Your post must include the hop image & linky (or link to the hosts' sites)
• Only family friendly blogs & giveaways
• Only 1 mandatory entry. All others must be mandatory. Keep it simple! No long lists of things for people to do. If you have more than a half dozen ways to enter or possible entries you will be deleted from the linky.
• You must feature a book that relates to water somehow.
• Gift Cards are allowed.

 

This giveaway is international as long as the Book Depository ships to you. 

 

1 person can choose 1 of the below books. 

 

 

How to enter:

Follow me via GFC or Network Blogs and leave a comment below letting me know your username.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win (Email, Twitter Handle, ETC..)

 

 

Now hop on over to the next blog :)

 

 



Review: Half Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout

Format: Kindle Edition

Pages: 304

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Publication Date: 9-19-11

Series: Covenant (#1)

Buy This Book: Amazon

 

From Goodreads:

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

 

Review:

I honestly don’t know why I didn’t read this book sooner; I absolutely adore the Lux series, so I should have known that I would fall in love with Ms. Armentrout’s Covenant series as well.

A Hematoi or pure-blood is the offspring of Greek demigods.  The pure-bloods are very powerful, they can control the four elements: air, earth, fire and water and they can use this power to work spells and compulsions.  Half-bloods are the offspring of pure-bloods and humans.  The half-bloods have the same amount strength and speed that the pure-bloods have, but they are also blessed with one extra gift that the pure-bloods don’t have; they can see through the elemental magic that daimons use. 

Since Alex is a half-blood, she only has two options for her life; she can either train to become a Sentinel, someone who hunts and kills daimons or she can become a servant in the home of a pure.  Since scrubbing toilets for the rest of her life doesn’t sound too appealing she chooses option number one, but there’s one slight problem.  Relationships between pures and half-bloods are forbidden and since she has a major crush on the hot pure-blood Aiden, she might end up a slave anyway.   

Half Blood has everything that I love in a book: a strong female character, a smoking hot male lead and non stop action.  Jennifer L. Armentrout is an extremely amazing and talented writer; I can’t wait to read more of her work.  

Quotes:

‘I swallowed and fixed a smirk on my face. “Blah.  Blah. You’re going to kill me. Blah.  I know.”

“You better have had a baby, killed someone, or slept with a pure.  Those are your three options.  Anything less is totally unacceptable.”

Rating:

 

Review: Tab Bennett and the Inbetween by Jes Young

 

Format: E-copy from Netgalley

Pages: 283

Publication Date: April 30, 2012

Series: Princess of Twilight and Dawn (#1)

Buy this book: Amazon

 

From Goodreads:

Yesterday Tab Bennett was a bank teller. Today she’s at the center of a centuries old war between Light and Dark. Tomorrow...well let’s just say she’ll be lucky if she lives to see it.

Engaged to her childhood sweetheart, employed at the local bank, and finally living on her own for the first time at twenty-four years-old, Tab Bennett has no interest in a fairy tale life. She’s perfectly happy with the normal one she already has. But when her sister is murdered on a moon-dark night, revealing a world of power and magic she never dreamed existed, a fairy tale is exactly what her life becomes. Figures it would have to be the Grimm kind.

Just like that, the life she had planned is over. Instead of cashing checks and handing out lollipops, Tab is unraveling clandestine assassination plots and learning to wield the magic that is her birthright. And as if fulfilling her destiny isn’t hard enough, she’ll also have to choose between Robbin, a man who’s turned out to be a lot more complicated than the proverbial boy next door, and Alexander, the handsome prince whose smile leaves her weak-kneed and weak-willed.

Now, while Tab struggles to hold on to the human world she’s always known and understand her place in the magical one she’s just discovered, dangerous forces are gathering close to home. If she wants to live to see happily ever after, she’ll have to figure out who she can trust, who wants her dead, and why. The answers will change everything she believes about herself, the people she loves, and the place she calls home.

Review:

On the outside Tab Bennett seems like your ordinary 24 year old bank teller; she’s engaged to her high school sweetheart and up until recently everything has been perfect.  But Tab has a unique physic gift.  Well, I’m not sure that I would call it a gift; I think curse is more accurate.  Tab knows the exact moment when someone that she loves dies and she actually witnesses their death through visions. 

During the past three months, all three of her sisters have gone missing and through her visions she has watched each of them die and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.   Since Tab is now the last Bennett girl alive she knows that she is next. 

On the day of her sisters’ funeral, Tab learns that everything isn’t what it seems, including her and her family.  Tab is about to find out who and what she really is.  On this day that she should be grieving her sister, she not only learns that she was meant for someone other than her fiancé but she also isn’t human.

I have to say that this book isn’t what I thought it would be from reading the first chapter.  I thought it would be more of a mystery book, since we start off with Tab witnessing her sisters’ murder and I really wasn’t expecting the love triangle to be as big as it was or Tab’s reaction to Alex at the funeral.  But overall, I enjoyed this book and I plan to read the next one.

Rating:

 

 

 

Review: Sheltered by Debra Chapoton

Format: E-Review Copy

Pages: 236

Published: August 5, 2012

Buy This Book: Amazon

 

From Goodreads:

Living together unsupervised, five troubled teens confront demonic forces and are compelled to deal with their problems in distinctly different ways. Paranormal meets psycho meets Goth in this story of a supernatural haunting and budding love.

High school junior, Ben, hacks into his step-father's real estate holdings and provides rooms in an old two-story house to various outcasts: the schizophrenic kid, the angry Goth girl, and the homeless girl who worships him. When Megan needs a place to live she comes to the rooming house with a different set of problems and the ability to confuse and attract Ben.

One by one strange and mysterious occurrences stretch the teens’ beliefs in the supernatural. How they deal with demons, real and imagined, has tragic as well as redeeming consequences.

Review:

First off, I have to say that I love the Preface for this book.  Sheltered deals with quite a few serious issues, so I love that we get statistics at the beginning of the book so we, as readers understand just how severe those issues are, I think by reading these statistics it makes more of an impact.

Sheltered follows the lives of six teenagers, Ben, Adam, Chuck, Cori, Emily and Megan, who are all living in the same group home.  Each of them are far from perfect, they each secretly have their own problems that they are dealing with.

Ben is kind of the leader of the house.  Even though everyone thinks that they have a house mother, Mrs. Kremer, that they never see, really it’s Ben who does everything and makes sure that they are all taken care of.  I have to admit that Ben is a pretty smart guy; I mean I would never have thought to stake out bars and pay women to pretend to be Mrs. Kremer so that the new house tenants don’t get suspicious when they don’t see an adult around. 

There is a lot more going on in the house than just mood swings and drama that you would expect with six teenagers living together under the same roof and it isn’t long after Megan moves in that weird, unexplainable things start happening.

Sheltered is a quick but intense read.  The characters felt very real and had genuine problems that they were dealing with and because of this; it made it very easy to sympathize with them.  If you aren’t bothered by disturbing issues like suicide or self-mutilation, then this is definitely a book that you should read.  

 

*This book was provided to me free of charge by the author for an honest review*

* All opinions are my own*

Rating:

 

Waiting on Wednesday (9)

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that showcases books that we are eagerly anticpating.

 

My WoW pick this week is:

 

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Expected Publication: March 5, 2013

 

 

Summary from Goodreads:

 

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight. Of Pandemonium, ALA Booklist noted that “like all successful second volumes, this expands the world and ups the stakes, setting us up for the big finale.”

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

 

 

 

What book are you waiting on?

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Early Review: Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate & Michael Grant

Format: e-ARC from Netgalley

Pages: 304

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Imprint of Macmillan)

Expected Publication: October 2, 2012

Pre-Order this Book: Amazon

 

From Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, EmmaRose, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible.

While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything... until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely.

Review:

When I saw the cover and read the synopsis for this book, I knew that it was one that I would love.  So when I got approved for an e-ARC from Netgalley, I was super excited and I couldn’t wait to start reading it. 

This book starts with Evening Spiker; E.V. to her friends and Eve to her mother getting hit by a car, Eve knows that she was lucky to survive the accident.  After her operation her mom, Terra Spiker, a biopharmaceutical research facility mogul has her transferred to Spiker Biopharm, for reasons unbeknownst to Eve, but she will find out later on in the book.   

When Eve starts getting restless, her mother comes up with the perfect solution to keep her occupied.  Her mother wants her to design the perfect boy using a simulation program for what she calls project 88715. 

Solo has lived at the research facility ever since his parents died when he was eleven.  He is a computer whiz who knows everyone and everything that goes on at Spiker and he has an agenda of his own.  He plans to bring down Terra Spiker, but will his plans change once he gets to know Eve?

I really like the fact that Eve and Adam is told in alternates points of view between Eve, Solo and at the end, Adam, I feel like we get a lot more out of the story this way than what we would have if it was just told in Eve’s POV.           

One thing that I absolutely loved about Eve and Adam is that there is no slow build up with this world instead we get thrown into the action in the first chapter.  Eve and Adam is a fast and fun read that will grip you from the beginning.  I’m eager to see what happens in the next book.     

 

Thanks to Netgalley and Feiwel and Friends for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Quotes:

‘I believe death is on the list of acceptable excuses for missing homework.’

“Am I doing this with crayons? Or will I be working with Play-Doh?”

 

Rating:

 

 

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (8)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey in which we plan our reading week!

Here is what I've read the past week:

Biting Cold by Chloe Neill

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

 

 

Here is what I plan on reading this week:

Origin by Jessica Khoury

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

 

 

 

What are you reading this week?

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Early Review: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Format: e-ARC from Netgalley

Series: Darklight (Book 1)
 

Pages: 320
                            
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
 

Publication Date: October 2, 2012
 

Pre-Order this Book: Amazon

 

 

From Goodreads:

Darynda Jones, author of The New York Times bestselling series that began with First Grave on the Right, brings us Death and the Girl Next Door, a thrilling Young Adult novel garnering high praise and early buzz from major authors

Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home. For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be. Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night. Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school. Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.

"Unique, witty, and touching—I LOVED THIS BOOK!" —P.C. Cast, New York Times bestselling author of The House of Night Series

 

Review:

Having read Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series and absolutely loving them, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Death and the Girl Next Door and once again Ms. Jones doesn’t disappoint, this book is fantastic.

Lorelei McAlister has always gotten visions of the past or the future with just one touch, which you would think would come in handy but her visions are very sporadic and most of the time she sees stuff that couldn’t really happen, so she writes them off as nonsense.   

Things start getting weird when a classmate suddenly starts turning up everywhere she goes, including standing outside her house all night long and the new guy in school pays extra attention to her.  The guys appear to know and dislike one another; you can feel the tension and detestation radiating off of them whenever they are near each other.  It isn’t long until Lorelei finds out just how much history is shared between the two and how she is connected to both of them.

Lorelei is a really great character and she’s very easy to like, she’s smart, witty, and feisty.  I would love to have best friends like Brooke and Glitch; they are hilarious, outspoken, loyal and completely awesome.   This trio is absolutely entertaining, I could read a book just about them and their conversations alone and never get bored.

Death and the Girl Next Door is fast-paced with just enough humor and mystery to keep you captivated until the very end.  This is a stay-up-all-night, will-not-put-down-until-its-finished kind of book.  Darynda Jones is absolutely amazing, her writing is flawless and the characters are incredible.  I can say with absolute certainty that I will read anything and everything she writes…multiple times.  I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

Quotes:

“I know lots of things you could do to me.”

“Do any of them involve piano wire and a razor blade?”

 

“Lorelei, friends don’t let friends get killed by serial killers.”

 

Rating:

 

 



 

Stacking the Shelves (9)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that showcases what books we have got the past week.

Here's what I got this week:

 

 

For Review:

 

Sheltered by Debra Chapoton

 

Bought on Kindle:



All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

 

 

Gifted:

 

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda (Thanks to The Book Belles)

 

 

 

What did you get this week?

 

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