Tag: Paranormal (Page 37 of 51)

BOOK REVIEW – City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare

August 19, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)
by Cassandra Clare
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

One spoiler for those who haven’t read COFA…

So…this one took me a while to finish. I’m not sure if it’s because I read so many TMI books so fast or if something in the story just didn’t do it for me. I do have to say that I didn’t have this problem with any of Jennifer Armentrout’s long series so I might have just rushed reading these instead of taking it easy after the awesome third novel.

I still love the Jace/Clary dynamic. Jace is so devoted to Clary and she loves him with a fierce passion that draws you in and keeps you there.

I love Jordan and Maia and Simon and Isabelle. I can even safely say that I now love Alec’s character and his new found vulnerability. These characters have grown and shaped into such fun people to read about. They banter and get themselves into precarious situations that are hard to tear away from. Even Sebastion-I like a good villain. He is beyond creepy and crazy, so we get a little insanity added to the story as well. I know that’s weird…liking a villain and all…but I do. He was the only thing that kept the otherworldly situation interesting for me.

Which leads me to my next point…I just couldn’t get into the otherworldly plot. Maybe it was the constant change of setting, but more than most likely, it was the idea that Jace was, once again, not himself. I mean, how many times do we have to toy with Jace’s mind? Yea, steal him away, add some peril to the story, but quit making him all….not Jace. I LOVE plot twists and romantic yearning for the other (Save me, save me, I’ve been taken! or We are in different places, but I yearn for you! or I’m supposed to kill you muahahaha), but enough with Jace losing his free will. Much like the brother/sister scenario, the free will bit is being a tad overplayed and it becomes boring or not as exciting.

Certain things happen that made me cringe, made me applaud, smile, laugh, and do the happy squeal. The ending was awesome (the way I wish it all would have been paced), and I loved the club scene. It was beyond gross and disturbing, and I found it to be highly entertaining. So much happens that I couldn’t possibly recap, but overall I can’t deny that this series (generally/most of the time) excites me, and I have grown to love all the characters-even the villains. So I can’t wait for the 6th novel to come out, and the wait/anticipation will be good for me. Bye TMI, until 2014…..

Purchase on Amazon or iBooks

BOOK REVIEW – Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2) by Becca Fitzpatrick

August 19, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Crescendo (, )
by Becca Fitzpatrick
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

There isn’t much more to say than what was already said in my Hush, Hush review, in the negative sense. Many of the same problems were present in this second installment. But that is understandable since it is, in fact, the same author. There were some things that were better, though. So I will just review on what I liked and what I didn’t.

What I liked: Despite the romantic turmoil throughout, I have grown fonder of Patch. He genuinely cares about Nora and he did his best to look out for her. I can identify with the jealous boyfriend type-only to an extent. If he is dating or screwing around with someone else, that act doesn’t fly nor is it cute. I love the creepy factor in these books.

It tends to be an undertone to each story and the scenes in which dangers lurk really get to me. It seems every time I get under the covers to read, one of those creeptastic scenes pop up and I have to look around a little in the dark room. Oh sure, I read all day with none of those scenes and then-BAM! Right when I get in bed, something that freaked me out would happen ha. And Detective Basso-FINALLY he listens to Nora. I couldn’t have been happier that he started doing his JOB. ‘Nuff said. I loved Nora’s badass demeanor when it came to Patch (i.e. There is a scene with his Jeep at the beach that I LOVED). Yes she was jealous, bitter, sad, and angry, but she also took action so many times I couldn’t help but to chuckle and agree with her actions.

What I didn’t/don’t like: Again, Vee has gotten better, but she still has this annoying quality that she needs to drop. She did improve, but not enough. I hated the fact that Patch was hanging out with Marcie incessantly. It was sickening to read about and he is just horrible with words to help explain himself when confronted….or worse, maybe he just didn’t care enough. This is all explained and went over at the end, I just can’t get over how I felt as the story unfolded. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t resolved, (for those diehard fans who might be reading this) I just had a very hard time digesting these sequences in the story. Again with the unrealistic-ness…so many conversations and scenarios are just full of crap. Not the paranormal or otherwordly parts mind you, but the damn dialogue, inner dialogue, or lackthereof.

I don’t know if this even counts as a review, but I felt shoddy not at least saying something about the book. I feel incomplete after I finish something and then don’t talk about it a little bit. So to finish up I will just say that I bet the third installment will be good and I am anxious to read it after a couple other ARCs I received first.

BOOK REVIEW – Silence (Hush, Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick

August 19, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Silence (, )
by Becca Fitzpatrick
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

What a breath of fresh air! I was really starting to think I was never going to rate a book in this series more than 3 stars! It’s like Fitzpatrick has all these awesome, creepy ideas, but didn’t know how to execute them! Well, I am happy to say I really and truly enjoyed the third installment in the series and I’m glad I didn’t give up on it.

Patch is finally a guy I can relate to-protective, sweet, helpful, vulnerable, and jealous. Guys who are mysterious and quiet for each and every story in their series are not for me (well, that might be a lie, maybe I just couldn’t relate to Patch-whatever, moving on),

so I was ecstatic when I realized he had dropped the facade.

I have never disliked Nora, so again, Nora was cool, and it appears she has gotten a little smarter in her decisions. Sooo I liked her even more. What I liked the most, though, was the lack of Vee. That girl just drives me insane. She is loyal, sometimes funny, yes, but she really makes the stupidest decisions and aside from helping Nora, she is totally self-centered and thinks only of numero uno. So, yes, I was very happy with the lack of Vee in this installment.

Now, I am going to go out on a VERY shaky limb here and say that I don’t get Nora’s venemous attitude toward Marcie ALL the time. Yes, Marcie is a bitch, but in the past two books she honestly hasn’t been as bad as Nora previously described. More so in this story I feel Marcie was actually pretty decent. She, of course, has a hidden agenda, but she isn’t evil. Her father is evil-of course she has a ‘tude. We probably all have people we don’t like or didn’t care for in HS-I know I did. But the fact is, my senior year, we tolerated and talked to each other. It happens-people grow up and get nicer or, I suppose, more tolerable. Idk. That’s just my opinion. I’d much rather have Marcie plastered all into the story than Vee. She is WAY more interesting and makes funnier comments than the latter.

This is definitely my favorite in the series and I am happy to say it left me wanting more. There is an epic battle to come, from what I hear, and I hope it will satisfy in both action and peril. I can’t wait to see what happens in the finale of the Hush, Hush series. (haha, incidentally, Finale is the name of the last book, funny)

BOOK REVIEW – The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin

August 19, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1)
by Michelle Hodkin
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

*sighs* I don’t know what went wrong here…and there really isn’t much I can say to justify why I feel this way without throwing a spoiler in every two sentences.

Was the plot line intriguing? Yes. Did I enjoy the first half of the book? Yup. Was the male lead undeniably sweet, attentive, and attractive? Absolutely. But here is the most important question of them all: Was Noah the ONLY thing that made me want to finish after 65%? It’s sad to say, but it rings true. Noah is literally the only thing this story had to offer. I was fooled by the first 100 some pages, I’ll admit that. There was cute banter between Mara and Noah and I thought this might turn out to be kind of fun. I mean, I chuckled a couple times to myself so I’ll admit that also. But the point remains-at a certain area in this book, and I’m not sure when, Mara went from being a poor, tolerable girl suffering from unfortunate circumstances to an annoying (let’s admit it) psycho who quite frankly was too dumb to deserve Noah and his help.

More than once I wished Noah could be taken out of this story and placed into another more well-rounded novel. But then we wouldn’t have a story at all, would we?

The dialogue became corny and forced, and the situations became so…I don’t even know the word….wonky? That I could hardly contain my laughter. (view spoiler)

The thing is, I feel that what can only be described as a cliffhanger was supposed to save the story. You know, make people want to come back for more. But sadly, while it was kinda cool (if not completely silly and unrealistic) it wasn’t enough to save what I can only label as a time waster. Yes, I wasted 4 days wading through this swamp of crap and have nothing to show for it. And more than that? I can’t stand the thought of spending 9.99 on the next installment, even if I was a little curious about this mysterious cliffhanger and the fate of Noah.

And believe me when I say this: Kris-If it wasn’t for you, reason numero dos, I most likely wouldn’t have kept going. So, yeah, thanks for not making this a total waste of time…essentially. lol

BOOK REVIEW – Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee

August 19, 2014 / Chelsea / 2 Comments

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1)
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with Raffe, an injured enemy angel. Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco, where Penryn will risk everything to rescue her sister and Raffe will put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Re-read with my buddies Kristin (KC), Jennifer, Natalie, and Sarah

Raffe was even better the second time around-this book has not left my thoughts since I finished it a month and a half ago. Well-written, fast-paced, and swoony as all get out, I could not be happier with this story and I am proud to say that it has earned
5 stars
in my eyes. It deserves it.

Thanks for taking a chance on this guys 🙂

Officially one of my favorite books of all time. ♥

~~4.25 Stars~~ 5 AMAZING STARS

This was a hard book to rate-it took me forever to decide what amount of stars to forever attach to this story. I repeatedly make the mistake of reading reviews over and over again until I get a chance to sink my claws into the story. It’s no secret that this book is well-liked among the GR community. Now, I get the hype, I actually get it for this one. For real.

There was just a point in the middle where it lost some of it’s…let’s say sparkle, because they were at one place for an extended period of time (in this story, anything more than a day is too long based on what they seek). The beginning seeped action with pure malice right at the starting gate. Nothing good can come from your sister being abducted by the things that started the apocalypse-the end of your world as you know it, right? So, sooo right. More than you can know.

Penryn is attempting to survive with her handicapped sister and, I’m sorry, crazy mother in a world where the gangs rule the daytime and creatures that even the gangs fear rule the night. Talk about a win/win situation. Then, on the fateful night that her sister is taken, she sees an angel being attacked by his own kind-and quite frankly, holding his own. But when things take a turn for the worst, the angel’s wings get cut from his back and Penryn has a decision to make: help the angel, or keep running. Let’s just say her decision pisses off a particularly vengeful angel, thus leading to the abduction of her kid sister.

Raffe was such a fun character to read about. Strong, lightweight (literally, lol), fierce, loyal, and passionate. He is so many things wrapped into a neat, angel-sized package, with more to give than we even realize. I always love that story where the supernatural being pushes the human girl away, only for us to realize or think he is bluffing. I’m not saying either way, I just love the dynamic of it all. It’s that love story you are dying to see unfold, because it isn’t just handed to you on a silver platter. We have to work to get what we want, and all the while we grow fonder and fonder of the characters and their struggle to survive.

More than anything, though, this book had humor laced into each chapter. I love dystopian-but add some humor to the main characters or the situation and I LOVE dystopian. Yes! There IS a difference. Raffe honestly cracked me up with his half smirks when he thought she wasn’t looking and the eye-rolling when she was just trying to help. At one point I laughed out loud because I could just see this clumbsy scene unfold where a tiny human girl is trying to help a strong angel out of a tense situation. That’s about as comical as it can get. Even when Raffe is hurt, he has the whole “mouth twitch” thing going on. Thank God for small favors in this morbid society.

“In the long second before everyone absorbs what just happened, I see the angel rolling his eyes heavenward, like a teenager in the presence of overwhelming lameness. Some people just have no sense of gratitude.”

With so much happening throughout the story, I thought it had gotten about as gross as it could get in the woods. *Cue Cady from Mean Girls* Wrong. So Wrong. There is a point near the end when I literally was so disgusted with what was unfolding before my eyes, that I had to put the book down and digest just what I was reading. I didn’t think the author would go there…but she did. Full-force. It got weird, people. Beyond disturbing. So kudos on that, because I devoured that whole sequence.

It takes a good author to slow my roll as I read, and Susan Ee is a DAMN good author. I was shaking with anticipation and dread in the final chapters, I couldn’t put the book down, I couldn’t read fast enough nor could I read slow enough, and I just had no idea what direction she would take. Needless to say, I loved the direction she took. So again, I am faced with yet ANOTHER cliffhanger and ANOTHER long wait until the next installment comes out. Haven’t I been punished enough? Can’t something be released early for my wounded reading soul? Apparently not. Now, we wait.

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Angelfall #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Laura Anna	World After #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	End of Days #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea