Tag: Paranormal (Page 39 of 51)

BOOK REVIEW – On Demon Wings (Experiment in Terror #5) by Karina Halle

BOOK REVIEW – On Demon Wings (Experiment in Terror #5) by Karina HalleOn Demon Wings (Experiment in Terror #5)
by Karina Halle
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Ok, the inner turmoil is over. While the first half of the book wasn’t my favorite, I loved when Dex was pulled into the story. I can’t deny that the minute he walked in the book got 20 times better. Left to deal with Maximus, that damn nasty, lumberjack ginger, for most of the story, I exhaled a very dramatic breath of relief the minute sexy Dexy stepped into the doorway.

ODW was by far the scariest, most spine-tingling installment yet. Was I scared to walk through the house in the dark? Check. Did I have to look straight forward at all times lest my eyes wander and see a demon in the corner? Check. Was there a terrible, evil thing hiding under her damn bed-one of my worst nightmares come true? Check. Was I at the movie theatre sitting in a bathroom stall wondering if Abby was going to make an appearance on the other side of the door while I was sitting there? Check and check. This book dealt with so many different types of ‘demons’ (tangible and emotionally) that I had no choice but to read everything with at least a little daylight seeping through the curtains. There was no other option-read with daylight, or don’t read at all. I chose the former.

A low, menacing growl filled the room.
It sounded more gluttural than a dog. Something deeper, raspier and slick with liquid.
It was coming from underneath my bed.

I think the most common misperception I made about this book would have to be the fact that people who read this are scared of what lurks in the shadows only. You know, like all the other books-just ghosts. And maybe that’s the case for most of the people and I’m just different, but regardless, there was something much more sinister in this story. ODW dealt with possession and losing yourself to something you can’t possibly fathom; even as you start to realize what’s going on, it’s too late. Perry is dealing with an even greater entity, something that she THOUGHT she had dealt with in her previous endeavors, but never truly did-evil. Soul-possessing, mind altering, take your life away just because evil. Her soul was sold without her consent, and the devil doesn’t make bargains-so she’s running for her life. Or what’s left of it.

She’s angry,” he said. “But it’s stronger than hate. It’s evil.”

The sinister undertone of ODW really grabbed onto me with it’s claws and wouldn’t let go. I felt like I was drowning in Perry’s turmoil and sorrow, her struggle to be herself and free again, for HER FAMILY to believe her and help her (the right way). I felt icky for 70% of the story, whether we were meant to or not as readers, I couldn’t help but to feel depressed with both Perry’s life changing events and the lack of Dex. And her f****** parents. W T H. They are the most ignorant, self-serving parents I have…well, that’s a lie-but they SUCK. Poor Perry-and poor Ada. At one point their father states that it’s sacrilegious for Perry and Ada to be researching why Perry’s body is being taken over-they NEVER ONCE believe their daughters.

The tears fell out of my eyes, hot and fast, streaming down my cheeks in mascara-ridden rivers.
It was all too much.
Too, too much.

Only one person, her best friend, the man she once loved, can save her. He’s been her rock, believed in her when things got so out of hand that she didn’t even believe in herself, but he’s not around. She won’t contact him, nor does she believe he is what will truly save her, but she knows that he of all people, aside from Ada, is the one person who always believed in her. And despite everything, she misses her rock-the person who would have done anything for her, and that’s probably the saddest part of the whole book. Thank God Ada has the common sense we all were begging for throughout the entire book, or the story would have been altered indefinitely.

“…You have every right to never see me again. To spit on my grave. But tonight, now, I’m not going to give up on you. I’m going to fix you or,” his voice fell with weight, “die trying.”

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and made zero attempts to put it down. It consumed most of my daytime the whole weekend, and as much of the night as my fragile, scared mind would allow. Every time I pick up an EIT story, I fall in love with the characters and their world all over again. I have a hard time getting back to the real world and can’t seem to get into other stories which ordinarily would have been deemed 5 star worthy reads. These books consume me and they are all I think about when I have to put them down to rejoin the real world.

Now that all the messy business is out of the way, I just hope we can start moving forward with Dex and Perry’s relationship in the next installment, because I’m dying for these two to KISS and make up :P.

**************
Ok-not sure what to rate this yet. The first 75% is a four star and then enter dex and some well paced action and it teeters to 5 stars…..maybe I’ll settle on 4.5 come Monday…maybe a 5. Guess well see. What a fun ending. Review to come Monday 🙂 love my sexy dexy 😛

BOOK REVIEW – Lying Season (Experiment in Terror #4) by Karina Halle

BOOK REVIEW – Lying Season (Experiment in Terror #4) by Karina HalleLying Season (Experiment in Terror #4)
by Karina Halle
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

The Absolute Best in the Series

So far, that is. I am…shocked. I am speechless. I am FLOORED at how good this book was. I was hooked from page one. Before this, Red Fox held the title for my favorite in the EIT series, but now this masterpiece has taken up permanent residence in my heart and stolen the number one spot. It might have even knocked Angelfall out of the running for the
I-am-shocked-this-is-so-crazy-good
award for the month.

I LOOOOOVED this book. I don’t think anything I say or do can express how much praise this book deserves. It’s not simply because we got more Dex and Perry time, it’s so much more than that. You get pulled into this intricately weaved story full of love, lies, deceit, anguish, pain, sorrow, fear….see? There is a magnitude of things I can say about LS, but not one of those emotions alone can encompass the feelings that were brought forth when engrossed in the story.

We delve head first into Perry’s world, once again, where she has only her sister that believes in her show, and her parents who could care less about the success of what they believe to be “nonsense” and “not real”. I don’t know what they’re smokin’, but I would think when their daughter comes back traumatized and bruised from her latest endeavor, they would start asking more questions and actually start focusing on something other than the fact that she’s overweight and isn’t in love with a guy they like. But this time it’s different, this time we get to see Uncle Al and the twins again and it adds some heart to the story. Al apparently has some good advice to offer. And Perry? She grows some SERIOUS lady balls in this one. I mean, I wanted to crawl in the book and hug her/congratulate her numerous times. She was a total badass!

“Perry!” she exclaimed in a voice that was annoyingly like Blake Lively’s in that low, throaty tone. Damn this sexy-voiced couple!”

Dex is…well, he’s Dex. Arrogant, funny, somewhat clueless, neurotic-and apparently he still hasn’t figured out how not to lie to everyone around him. Hmm. Should have been tipped off with the title lol. But Dex is forced to face some of his demons in this installment, though, and we begin to find out the truth, ironically, when we least expect it.

“…I think you traded in the wrong job.”
“Did I?” he questioned, peering into my eyes, already knowing the answer. His voice was warm and serious. I think he believed he had made the right choice; at least I hoped he did.

Okay-I’m going to level with you. I did not read one scary scene in the dark. I did NOT do well after Dead Sky Morning, and I think it soured my opinion of it. I wanted to read LS with a clear head and actually enjoy everything that was going on. Turns out it was pretty easy-while the asylum was freaky as shit, it was only a fourth of the book. There were creepy scenes in the apartment, sure, but they were bearable. In the light, of course. One of the only issues with the scare factor was that after the second visit to the asylum, things just stopped happening. Like…that was it. No more apartment scares, no more creepy drip, drip kitchen scenes-nada. What’s that about? Did the ‘ghost’ just decide it was tired of screwing with Dex/Perry’s minds? And what about the voice recording device? She just left us hanging on the supernatural spectrum! Ah well.

I tensed up and very, very slowly, turned around on the spot.
I expected that if anyone was behind me, they would be way back in the kitchen.
This was not true.
There was someone..
Right behind me.

Lying Season was a heart-pounding, hair-raising, spine-tingling thrill ride, and I couldn’t put it down. What with Dex’s past coming back to haunt him and all the emotions on high from close encounters of the bitchy kind, my head was spinning! I could hardly take a breath without something fun happening! Oh, and the level of sweet and steamy was through the roof. I couldn’t have been happier-and yes! There is a cliffhanger that will leave you teary-eyed and heart broken. A build up of anticipation that will have you screaming for more, but yet, leaving you satisfied with just how well-played and well-written the ending is. Yes, it is THAT good. It hurts so. good. Sometimes, I love being a book masochist. I live for that next thrill. Man, do I applaud that ending. I fed off of it-this is what good books are made of! Of course I want more! I’m dying to pick up the next book, and I doubt it could top how much I adored the acquisition of Peclan/Pex (WHATEVER) in LS…but damn if I’m not willing to let it try.

BOOK REVIEW – Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

BOOK REVIEW – Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle MeadVampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)
by Richelle Mead
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

*2.5 I’m being generous because the writing was decent stars*

Okay. 2.5 stars. I know-harsh. That is such a harsh rating from someone who tries to see the good in literally every story and rates most books 4 stars. But, ultimately, there are multiple reasons why I couldn’t give this book more than 2.5 stars.

I have seen this book off and on for years at bookstores, always catching my eye and urging me to take a closer look. I have a process when it comes to this book- A) pick it up B) read the blurb on the back C) Put it back down while sighing and dubbing it ‘meh’. Now, why this book hadn’t piqued my full interest before now is beyond me-it clearly has a strong following and people tend to love it. Hell. I think I would have loved it had I read it 6 months ago. But something has happened in this last six months that has changed me as a reader. I have found some truly astonishing, truly gripping novels that have tattooed my soul and haven’t let me think clearly for months. Sure, I’ve read some great books in that time. However, after reading these excellent novels, I know what a true 5 star read really is, and it has altered my mind indefinitely on the rating system I used to know as simple. It is so much more difficult now.

So onto why I rated this book thusly. Probably the ultimate reason I could not immerse myself into this story, is the characters. I have read many, many dramatized YA stories with characters that you want to strangle, yes. But, Rose….Rose was…a special case. At one point I wanted to stab her. She is a prime example of the character development in VA. She was vapid, shallow-a character that merely scraped the surface of her being. How many times can one character alone ask a guy if he ‘wants to see her naked’ or explain how ‘hot’ they are? I had a very hard time connecting to her as a person. Many of the characters had interesting lives they led, but how would we know? The author, who
can
write beautifully, didn’t let us in, fully. Instead of playing out a whole scene or letting us get deep into the character’s persona, we got the ‘explain all’ method. I would be excited for a scene to transpire, and then halfway through, she would end it with “and then we drove home. Hours later we…” and so on. I am not a fan of this writing style. I like to see scenes played out to their full potential-not shortened and summarized. She wrote as if we, the readers, knew what was going on-telling us instead of showing us. Again, this is not a knock on the author-she wrote flawlessly. She just didn’t execute scenarios as I would have thought they were meant to be.

I feel as though I was disconnected from the story the entire time, because half a day would go by in a single page. I am the type of person who, if I feel I am not being told everything, starts to lose interest or care less about the characterization in question. At certain points I was so disconnected I felt like I wasn’t even reading, I would start to fade out and think of other things without even realizing it-like what I wanted to eat kind of things. Which is no stretch-I LOVE to eat. I just don’t want to think about that whilst in the middle of a supposedly important scene. Half of the story was lost because I would find myself skimming to get through a part that dragged onward with no ending in sight. I would peruse along looking for key phrases to ‘trigger’ my interest, and I STILL felt like I got the whole story that everyone else read-just by skimming.

Keep in mind that it was never my intention to make this sound so negative. My friends I BR with were intrigued enough to continue on and still encourage me to do so. And I will. I trust that I can get into the next installments-I just won’t put other awesome books on the backburner to continue. I gave this book a 2.5/3 solid star rating because…I rate books with horrid writing at 2, and I can’t with good conscience rate this a 2 solid star. Like I’ve said, my opinions towards books/book ratings have changed dramatically, and I wish that was different. But it can’t be. A climactic scene that doesn’t get my heart racing or make me beg for more? Not a good sign, seeing as how that’s my favorite part of a book. So I will continue this series someday, maybe sooner than I think, but it is not a favorite of mine and I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. For those of you reading this review, my advice would be to READ IT. GIVE IT A CHANCE. Just because the character development didn’t do it for me, doesn’t mean you all won’t love it. I love books, and I am one to encourage others to give books a chance, and this is no exception-it just wasn’t for me. 🙂

BOOK REVIEW – Ashes to Ashes (Experiment in Terror #8) by Karina Halle

BOOK REVIEW – Ashes to Ashes (Experiment in Terror #8) by Karina HalleAshes to Ashes (Experiment in Terror #8)
by Karina Halle
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

*5 Scared Shitless Stars*


“You…make me feel sane in this crazy world. You give me hope. You give me life. When I’m with you…I can’t even believe I’m with you. It’s like that every morning. Like I’m dreaming, but I’m not.”
Perry

They’re baaacckkkkk! I didn’t realize just how much I missed Dex and Perry until I picked up A to A and became immediately immersed into this amazing story. It’s not often that such a long series can entice me for such an extended period of time, this being number eight in the series. With each new installment I have progressively read, I’ve found myself falling head over heels for this ghost hunting duo with absolutely no reservations about how many books are in the series. Much like with television shows, I tend to see that the higher the seasons or series (books) climb, the dumber or more forced they become (excluding Friends, of course). But not with Karina Halle’s EIT series. Sure, Come Alive, for me, was by far the weakest of the series, so I had some reservations about this upcoming release, but I was ecstatic to be wrong in my presumptions.

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BOOK REVIEW – Into the Hollow (Experiment in Terror #6) by Karina Halle

BOOK REVIEW – Into the Hollow (Experiment in Terror #6) by Karina HalleInto the Hollow (Experiment in Terror #6)
by Karina Halle
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads


“This is me trying, Perry,” he said softly, the anger being drained of his face. “This is me taking my heart out of my chest and putting the bloody mess in your hands. I can’t give you much more than that.”

Swooning. Lots of swooning. Soooo much swooning. Into the Hollow was by far the sweetest, most adorable book yet. If there was one sweet moment there were fifty. There was a neverending onslaught of Dex’s charm and I was left with permanent butterflies throughout the whole story.

“I was trying to be a better man, Perry. For you.”
“And I’ll keep trying,” he quickly said, voice low and somber. “Until I get it right.”

We begin where On Demon Wings leaves off. Perry is still stuck at home with her overly watchful parents and has Maximus sniffing around thanks to her parents’ meddling. But when things take a turn for the worst and Perry realizes that living at home is a danger to her free and sane future, she has to make a safe, albeit rash, decision. She moves out…packs up and moves in with the most unlikely of candidates.

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