Book Review: 'Eve'

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. - Goodreads

Title: Eve
Author: Anna Carey
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 4th 2011
Finished Reading: July 19th 2012
Format: eBook
Pages: 336
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia
Sub-Genre(s): Science Fiction
Other Titles in the Series: Once (Eve #2) and Rise (Eve #3)
Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

The story of a young girl set 20-21 years from now in the future after a plague, riding on the hopes for a better life, is a little orphan annie meets I Am Legend.

Eve has been sheltered her entire life, away from all the males of the world and only a distant memory or her mother when everything was ending. Her need to survive is tested by nature and its elements, but mostly by one boy who proves to her that what she learned isn't 100% correct.

The protagonist is sort of a meek girl in the beginning. She has never seen water outside of a faucet/shower, let alone been outside the walls of her school. The girl is forced to make a choice when she discovers the truth about what really happens after they graduate. This is where the real story begins for Eve, out in New America, located on the west coast.

When Eve meets Caleb, it changes everything. She learns how to swim and how to use a weapon. She learns what love is beyond the love of a parent. It takes time, but Caleb is her saving grace in all of this hellish world. Some would think he holds her back, but I believe he helps her push forward for a better tomorrow for all the children in peril. As for Arden, the girl who went to school with Eve, she pushes Eve's buttons in ways that wakes her up and forces her to make choices. Some of which are life altering. This character is truly stone cold outside exterior, while when you get to the heart of her, is really just a sad little girl who feels all alone. Eve is the only one so far to break through to her.

As for the darker side of the story, the character Lief is a prime example of what I despise in men: ruthless, misogynist, assaulting, teenage boy. He didn't like nor understood women, let alone tried to rape Eve after a night of drinking. Situations like that are scary and do happen to women, 90% know their attacker. So to add that realism to the book is a wake-up call for the heroine. Another set of characters I do not enjoy was the King and all the soldiers that roamed the land. The king alone was a pain in my bum! He had such devilish ideas for the women and in how to rebuild society. People like that tend to be dripping with power and abuse it in horrid ways that makes your skin crawl!

Anyway, it was interesting to read about the scenery that was presented in the story. The way San Francisco looked to the Golden Gate Bridge, was eery in many ways. It was as though you could drop a pin and hear it a mile away from the absolute quiet that swept the city.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm very excited to read the sequel Once and see what happens to the lovely Eve and her beloved Caleb as they overcome their biggest hurdles yet.

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Book Review: 'Sweet Evil'

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns? - Goodreads

Title: Sweet Evil
Author: Wendy Higgins
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 1st, 2012
Finished Reading: June 3rd, 2012
Format: Paperback
Pages: 453
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Sub-Genre(s): Romance, Fantasy
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge
Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Sweet Evil is a truly twitter-patted roller coaster of a ride, not just with the way Anna feels, but the emotions she sees in humans around her everyday. The journey alone for her in for the thirst to have questions answered is intoxicating.

The level of disturbing graphic detail is maddening to the scene of the characters at their age was like witnessing those movie moments (i.e. - Saw). All you needed was jigsaw and it would have been a gruesome situation by the end of the story.

I commend Anna with her vibrant integrity to say "no" at certain points. Not many teens can get up that kind of courage, but I found such a reflection of myself at her age, that it made me root for her even more. She is also truly confused at best, but as she grows up, I feel she'll know more in what she needs to keep fighting the insanity of the dark side in her bloodline.

Kaidan at best, is her weakness and ultimately is her strength; a double edge sword. He is a contradiction as well. He plays on Anna's desires, tries to lure her in, yet at the same time tries to push her away. He does however warn her from the start, but that doesn't last long by the time they get towards the end of the novel. I've got high hopes for him the sequel and intrigued by how things will play out between him and the choices he makes in regards to the second to last chapter of the book.

Patti was as typical, if not a little overbearing, of a mother. I do like that they kept a few of the southern hospitality traditions, like offering a beverage/sweet tea to guests. She also was really relaxed about Anna's father coming in and teaching her the ways of his life: drugs, alcohol, and excessive use.

The culture is important to add to the story, it's a character within itself. So major points to Higgins for not missing that part.

I've enjoyed the chaos that comes from Anna meeting her father, Belial, and knowing the other Nep. children, and the training she endures to prove herself. Seeing her with Kopano was thrilling and a good change to the story. Knowing he was different than the other Nep's was nice. Let alone when she meets the others in New York. Now that was quit a scene being played out! The cruel jokes and forcing choices on the Nep's like it was everyday stuff, just seemed inhuman to none other than humans, but to them, was part of their lifestyle. It was most certainly one of those worlds I would never ever want to be apart of for those reasons and more. But it was fun to venture into for reading fun.

I love the scene when they are in New Mexico and exploring the little rest stop area. You got to see another side to Kaidan with Anna.

One fact about the book I loved is that Higgins was found on the site Figment (originally was from Inkpop, but they closed down and moved everything to Figment.) If you wish to see more about her Figment page, head on over here to see it! Anyway, on a side note this should encourage other reader/bloggers out there to maybe start writing and publishing their work over at the website. Maybe someday they can get the chance just like Wendy Higgins and Katie McGarry.

Anyway, back to the book.... I'm also dying to know how the story continues with Anna and Kaidan. It left it with such an interesting, yet simple way, that you can't help but crave more. Overall, I've really enjoyed it! Not many straight up paranormal romance books hook me, but Sweet Evil most certainly was worth every page.

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Book Review: 'Cold Kiss'

Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants—what she must do—is to bring Danny back.

But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it. Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her.

Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her—and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right. But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought—even if it means breaking her heart all over again. - Goodreads

Title: Cold Kiss
Author: Amy Garvey
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 20th 2011
Format: eBook
Pages: 180
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Sub-Genre(s): Romance
Rating: ❤❤❤ ½
Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Cold Kiss is a fascinating story, one that is filled with suspense, romance, even a little magic.

The readers are introduced to Wren, the protagonist of the story. She is 17, emotional, and has one big secret: she brought her boyfriend, Danny back from the dead. Her first real love. The only problem is he doesn't seem like he use to be when he was alive. Something is 'missing', besides his pulse, when she seems him.

It's bad enough the way everything fell apart for Wren, but she has no one to talk to when Danny is back. This forces her to lie to everyone, including her own mother and sister. Her best friends are barely talking to her because of Danny. But then someone new walks into town, Gabriel, the new boy. As time goes on he won't leave her alone and he feels compelled to know Wren. From there the two begin a bond, one that started on an off note.

Now for the thoughts on the book...

The story itself was entertaining. However it left me feeling as thought something was missing, not the characters, but the way the plot played out. I think it has to do with how many horror movies I've seen and such shows as Tales from the Crypt that got me to think Danny as going to go a little choo-choo towards Wren and everyone else by the end of the book. But that is just me in regards to the dead boyfriend coming back.

Once I got past that and let those expectations go, I enjoyed the book.

I simply reveled in the aspects between Wren and all of her family, including her Aunt Mari. The reasons for this stem from the secrets that surround Wren's family that her mother just won't talk about; yet it's vitally important that someone should. It all comes down to how everything was before Wren's father left and before her grandmother passed away. When she was a child, Wren was entertained by her aunt and grandmother always being over at her house, her mother laughing, her father smiling and love just filling the air. Overtime, that all changed and Wren is devastated by this during the book.

The character dynamics played out between Wren and Danny start off simple. But by the end, was tangled up and heartbreaking. You could tell she truly loved Danny with all her heart, that kind of young love at 16 that you never forget. But I was worried for Wren, because Danny had changed. He was actually starting to remember things and how he died, which led to his manic moods. The frantic parts were when Danny forget where he was and who was there. It made Wren start to cry sometimes or get scared a little. Something a person shouldn't have to feel about love and was tainting the memories of Danny when he was alive.

And then the other boy, Gabriel. Something about him and the way he interacted with Wren was captivating. I wanted more between them, but they're young and the story wasn't all about how it unfolded in that direction, maybe in the sequel it'll happen more. Anyway, you could tell Gabriel cared about Wren in the way he was being patient and protective. I think he wanted to wrap her up in bubble wrap and keep her away from the insanity, keep her safe from Danny. This storyline needs more development, but I loved how it was in the last few chapters, because that's what sold me on the believability in how Wren finally understood what love should be between two people.

Now the story felt a little flat here and there in the book, which is okay, I was still enjoying the journey. Not sure how to describe it, but it lacked a little fire or a little more action or depth, but first books do that sometimes. It's always the sequels that go deeper and explain more. I have so many questions and I need answers.

Overall, this was a good book and worth every second that I read it. The trek from the beginning to the end was delightful and simmering, but also was cold (no pun intended!)

It may not be for everyone, but if you appreciate a good love triangle story with a twist that has a magic undead element, this could be for you.

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Book Review: 'Shatter Me' by Tahereh Mafi

"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." - Goodreads

Title: Shatter Me (#1)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: November 15th, 2011
Format: Paperback (Advance Readers Copy)
Pages: 342
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Sub-Genre(s): Paranormal/Sci-Fi
Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles | The Book Depository

So this story is A-MAZ-ING! Before I dive into that let me do a short quick recap of the story....

It starts off with a young woman named Juliette who has been locked in a room for almost a full year. She gets one small window, a four walls, and one of those walls is her door with air holes. It's gray and dreary. No animals outside, no birds flying in the sky, and the grass doesn't really have that color anymore. The Reestablishment treats her and everyone else like property in this world. It's a really sad life to live in. But then Juliette's life gets thrown upside down, she experience things she hasn't in all her life, and she finally learns the truth about herself and the Reestablishment's true motivation for the world.

This story captivated me. It was like a beautifully choreographed dance on a broadway stage, watching that final number that has fireworks going off in the background while everyone is in dazzling sparkling outfits. You couldn't look away and had to watch it till the last note was sung. I was exhausted last night, couldn't sleep and finished the last few chapters of the book. I don't regret it one bit!

I'm in awe of her connection with the character Adam. I can't tell you too much, but they both have a profound effect on one another from the moment they met. He makes her come alive and she softens him to a human form of existence inside again.

The magic of how evil the Reestablishment is truly makes me think of how reckless power can be in any hands with the wrong ideas. It felt like a communist regin in charge of the people. Their way or the highway type of thinking. They shoot down people if they don't fall in like to their way of thinking. Kind of sick, don't you think? Makes me glad to live in the world that I do live in. But it was so intense to be reading it and live in Juliette's shoes for the story. I loved every moment of it!

Then the best parts were the moments that felt like poetry. Some of the most amazing words, lines, paragraphs I've ever read in all my years of living! Here is a short sample from the book:

❝ I only know now that the scientists are wrong. The world is flat. I know because I was tossed right off the edge and I've been trying to hold on for seventeen years. I've been trying to climb back up for seventeen years but it's nearly impossible to beat gravity when no one is willing to give you a hand. ❞

Mafi wrote Juliette in such a way, it made me wish I could write as beautifully as she does. Even if it's for a moment, because it was so woven perfectly with the story, the tone, mood, even the setting; the words she used made me feel alive more with each chapter. I'm so thankful for writers like her. They reinvigorate the sense of reading a book and make you ache for the next installment of the series.

Oh this book... I would recommend it to everyone, more so women because of the romance aspect dripping in through out the book. But it's beautifully done the romance, so no complaints there hehe.

Anyway, the book just literally came out yesterday, so if you've gotten a copy, you won't be sorry. If you have yet to receive on in the mail don't worry, it's worth the wait. And if you haven't bought one yet? Well depending on if your pockets are tight right now, but in the long run it's a great investment.

This is one of those books, if I could, I would throw down 10 hearts for the love of this book! © 2011

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Book Trailer: 'Everneath' by Brodi Ashton

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Book Review: 'The Secret Circle: Omnibus Vol 1'

"Forced to move from sunny California to gloomy New England, Cassie longs for her old life. Even so, she feels a strange kinship to a terrifying group of teens who seem to rule her school. Initiated into the coven of witches that's controlled New Salem for hundreds of years, she's drawn into the Secret Circle, a thrill that's both intoxicating and deadly. But when she falls for the mysterious and intriguing Adam, Cassie must choose whether to resist temptation or risk dark forces to get what she wants—even if it means that one wrong move could ultimately destroy her." - Goodreads

Title: The Initiation and The Captive, Part I
Series: The Secret Circle
Author: L.J. Smith
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: August 1st 2008
Format: Paperback
Pages: 396
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N

The story starts off with meeting young Cassie Blake. She is just fifteen years old and on vacation in Cape  Cod for the summer with her mother. She is described of having brunette hair, wavy, and petite too. Over time the read comes to find out that plans change and Cassie is forced to move with her mother to the town of New Salem, Massachusetts for both of them to live with her grandmother, who she has never met till they show up at her front door. The story continues with her meeting students, having a rocky start her first week of school, and learning something peculiar about a group of students; which either half the students are afraid of or worship the group they walk on. But for reasons Cassie has no clue about.

So no more spoiling the book, because it's awesome! For most people, they only know of this because of the show and watched the show instead. But I think for the most part, the show lacks a certain quality that the book has: magic! I'm not talking spells or doing cool things with incantations, but I'm talking that quality that book has that makes you enjoy every second you read the book.

There is something about the way that Cassie meets everyone and how she learns of the "secret". My favorite part was that is was set in Massachusetts. The show doesn't have that. My big complaint about the show. Reason for this is the witch trials happened in Salem Mass. and that reference/story is brought up in the book too. It's one of the huge elements that is played on the last half of the book as well.

I simply enjoyed how there was a part in the beginning when Cassie sees Diana for the first time. She is described as this tall girl, with hair so long and beautifully blonde, "that is woven with the sun and the moon". She is also described as being this unbelievably nice girl and how everyone LOVES her in school. All the girls can't get enough of her and every single guy she passes in the hall asks her out on a date.

Then you have the complete opposite to her: Faye. Faye is a this tall girl too. Dark black hair that is long and raven black. Red fire painted nails and the body of something 'exotic'. She is always wearing clothing that is too sexy for her and doesn't give a care in the world that she goes after the boys that are never single or just flat out a challenge.

Those two characters added such a dynamic, that it was intriguing to know what they were capable of doing to anyone or to each other in their "circle".

This book is a great read for those wanting something deeper than the show can offer, while also knowing maybe how it came about as a book. The one thing I can give away is that in the books that didn't happen on the show: Cassie's mother never died and her father wasn't a witch either. Something I didn't enjoy they doing for the show. Took away too much about the original story at hand.

Anyway, this is something to really check out if you have the time, especially if you haven't seen the show.

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