Tag: Paranormal (Page 44 of 51)

BOOK REVIEW – Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi

BOOK REVIEW – Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica RossiThrough the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)
by Veronica Rossi
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads


Aria laughed. That was attractive. She smelled like a horse. “Do you ever miss anything?
Perry smiled. “You, all the time.”

Wow. Just wow. A heartbeat-quickening, pulse-pounding second installment that completely knocked me off my feet. I immediately started TTEN after finishing the first book and I had no idea what was to come. Boy was I surprised. Romance so sweet it gave me an ache, action that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and the idea that you never know who you should trust-how much more could you ask for???

Perry held her against him. “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear. He couldn’t hold her close enough. “I should never have let you go. I missed you so much.”

In the first installment, we got to experience a relationship unfold from enemies, to reluctant allies, to lovers, but we never really got the chance to see where it could go because their days were numbered and they both knew they had to take separate paths at the end of their journey. In this one, though, Perry and Aria show just how much they adore each other with every look, touch, and secret embrace. I was smiling like a goofball every time they were together and couldn’t seem to stop no matter how hard I tried.

Before he could finish, her arms closed around his neck and they were kissing-a clumsy, hasty kiss. They were both breathing too hard. Smiling too much. Perry wanted to slow down and savor everything, but he couldn’t find a scrap of patience. He wasn’t sure if he started laughing first or if she did.

The magnitude in which Perry has grown to care for her has such an intensity that you can’t help but to fall in love with him more and more and root for them to make it as a couple, even if it isn’t acceptable in their mixed society. You get drawn in and feel yourself being swept away by their feelings for one another while everything falls apart around them.

She’d been seeking the comfort of a place. Of walls. A roof. A pillow to rest her head on. Now she realized that the people she loved were what gave her life shape, and comfort, and meaning. Perry and Roar were home.

The aether storms are happening frequently and becoming fiercer, causing unsafe living conditions and upset among the Tides (Perry’s tribe). Not only that, but Perry has welcomed Aria into the tribe and people are not happy-they don’t think that a Dweller should be living among them and they start to question Perry’s judgement.

Soon, Perry isn’t sure who he can trust any longer and he starts to question his own beliefs-but he never once questions his feelings for Aria. She is the one thing he is absolutely sure of-she’s the only person (aside from Talon) that makes him truly happy. When he’s sad he wants to see her face, it’s her voice he wants to hear, and no one’s opinion can alter that.

“We’re together now,” he whispered against her forehead. “The way we should be.”
She closed her eyes and relaxed her breathing, seeking calm. He was rendered to her. Maybe he’d feel it too. “Sleep, Perry.”
“I will,” he said. “With you right here, I will.”

I can’t even begin to explain how hard it is to express how much I loved this book. I feel like everything I’ve written above is so inadequate as to how strong my affections are for TTEN. It was dramatic, it was sad, it was lovely, it was fierce, and, ultimately, it was much, much more. Every character is so great no matter whether they are good or evil, which is part of the reason I have enjoyed this series so much. Like Roar, for instance-he is an amazing friend and ally, and his loyalty shows no bounds. He protects Perry and Aria with everything he has, and he really stepped up in this novel. I grew to love him just as much as the dynamic duo, making for an even more addicting read.

…”It was my idea. It’s the safest way, but it’s strange pretending to be something different. It’s like there’s a glass wall between us. Like I can’t touch him or…reach him. I don’t like the way it feels.”
Roar wiggled his knee, upsetting her sand pile. “Does his voice still sound like smoke and fire?”
Aria rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I told you that.”

Perry and Aria still have a long way to go-I can’t say how it will all end and whether they will find the still blue or not. What I do know is that I can’t stand the thought of not having the final installment within my fingertips yet. It absolutely kills me to know that I have to wait a month to see what happens and how it all ends. I felt what they felt, I grew melancholy when they became depressed and my heart broke alongside them as their world tumbled in around them. I love all these characters dearly, and I love that some got a chance at redemption. Now, I will wait eagerly for book three, hoping only for the best.

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
under the never sky veronica rossi
Under the Never Sky #1
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
roar-and-live-veronica-rossi
Roar and Liv #0.1
Review:
Jen
through the ever night veronica rossi
Through the Ever Night #2
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
brooke-veronica-rossi
Brooke #2.5
Review:
Jen
into the still blue veronica rossi
Into the Still Blue #3
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea

BOOK REVIEW – Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder #2) by Kimberly Derting

BOOK REVIEW – Desires of the Dead (The Body Finder #2) by Kimberly DertingDesires of the Dead (The Body Finder #2)
by Kimberly Derting
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

So here I am again with a short and sweet review. Violet and Jay are only continuing their journey from book one, and there’s no need to write a long, drawn out review about their undying love for one another and Violet’s ability to ‘sense’ the unsettled dead that call to her.

More than anything, this book was based around the growth of Jay and Violet’s relationship-the trust that is earned and given between a new couple. But Jay and Violet have been best friends since they were young, so the trust is already there in spades…until she has to tell Jay what she believes about his new friend’s family, causing a rift among them they’ve never experienced before.

I loved how the ‘killer’s’ POV was represented in this story-through the seven deadly sins. I thought it was cool how she began the incorporation of the sins into the mind of the weirdo that was supposedly stalking Violet. It did become a little forced and a bit of a stretch when the sins started to dwindle down to gluttony and sloth, but I still liked what came of the story because of this creativity. I do wish the author chose to keep the identity somewhat mysterious for us to figure out as readers in each installment of this series, but the story is still good enough to keep me interested without the mystery. Even with the ‘twists’ she generally throws in, they aren’t hard to figure out. But, as I said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the story despite the lack of unpredictability.

There’s still a somewhat corny feel to the story, but I think it was less so in this second one. I am used to the writing and it’s so subtle that I can hardly complain about it-I’ve chosen to continue the series so why not enjoy the light, fun read? I still love Jay and Vi, they make an adorable couple despite their little fight that ultimately tested how strongly they felt for one another, and I am excited to finish this series with books three and four on a strong note.

BOOK REVIEW – Shadowfever (Fever #5) by Karen Marie Moning

BOOK REVIEW – Shadowfever (Fever #5) by Karen Marie MoningShadowfever (Fever #5)
by Karen Marie Moning
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Thanks to all my bestest bestie GR buddies for joining me on my Birthday Buddy Read-Jennifer, Kristin (KC), Sarah, and Sharon chatted along and it was a really fun time. I’ll be happy to reciprocate! Thanks, ladies!!!


Fire to my ice. Ice to my fever.

I’ve really and truly dropped the ball on writing reviews for this series. I can easily blame it on the holidays and even the fact that I read this series so fast that there just wasn’t enough time to write a review for each individual title…but make no mistake, they all deserved a review. Any series that can keep me addicted for five books strong deserves a medal of some sort.

There was something very cold inside me. Always had been. I wanted to welcome it now. Let it chill my blood and frost all my emotions until there was nothing left in me that was haunted because there was nothing left in me.

In my review of book one I struggled with words and what to say. Moning created such intricate worlds that left you grasping for explanations and begging for more. Like many series, the build up and tension of the romance presented in these stories got under your skin, making it the sole reason to push and claw forward, making you crazy with anticipation. That was the case for me, at least.

Shadows are wonderful things. They hide pain and conceal motives.

Jericho Barrons got really deep under my skin. He was such an amazingly strong, broody character with so much mystery woven into everything he said. Protective and fierce, he and Mac had the hero rescuing the damsel in distress bit down, and that’s one of my many favorite things that can happen in books. I love when the mysterious and protective alpha male saves the not-so-helpless heroine-when her will to battle dims and all seems bleak-Moning did an amazing job with that plotline throughout the entirety of the Fever series.

Good and evil, in their purest form, were as intangible and forever beyond our ability to hold in our hand as any Fae illusion. We could only aim at them, aspire to them, and hope not to get so lost in the shadows that we could no longer see the light.

I will admit I was nervous about Jericho for the first couple books. He had something somewhat mean inside him, and he was hardly around. So when he would show up, he was grumpy and would say unnecessary things to Mac-he was still that mysterious, funny guy, sure, but there wasn’t enough information to process what we needed to know about him, thus the basis of his appeal. Yes. I’ll admit it. The only reason I was so inexplicably drawn to this series was my attraction and curiosity for the mysterious Barrons. I would finish one of the books, only to curse silently because I STILL didn’t get what I wanted, and quickly slide right along to book two immediately. It was an obsession-I had to get more of Barrons. And so began my one week reading spree of the Fever series-I was a tornado of reading and I would get headaches from having my nose stuck to the screen for each page that slid by. It was ludicrous, I was a madwoman, and while it hurt when I finally finished and I knew I’d never get to read more about their shenanigans in Barron’s Books and Baubles, I was also relieved to be free of the never ending spell that was Jericho.

I’d snort, but then his tongue is in my mouth, my jaws are wide, and I can’t breathe, and he’s right. One day you do meet a man who kisses you and you can’t breathe around it and you realize you don’t need air. Oxygen is trivial. Desire makes life happen. Makes it matter. Makes everything worth it. Desire is life. Hunger to see the next sunrise or sunset, to touch the one you love, to try again.

I also loved their interactions with one another, Mac and Barrons. He would almost always walk in all broodily with an heir of stealth and silence. They would then bicker and banter with each other and he’d leave just as hurriedly as he had arrived (always with stealth). Their wordless conversations, however, were by far my favorite thing between these two. It was so funny and almost always had me laughing or smiling.

“Ms. Lane.”
“Barrons.”

^^^ALWAYS how they addressed one another, lol. Cracks me up.^^^

The million-dollar question: What are you, Barrons? His answer, on those rare occasions he gave one, was always the same.
The one that will never let you die.

These books went by in a whirlwind that makes it difficult to decipher what happened in each story-yet another reason I am writing one review to cover four books. There was just so much information to sift through and so much mystery. We never knew who Mac could trust and who she should confide in with valuable information. There were generally three evils to choose from: Barrons, Rowena, and V’lane. More often than not, Barrons was her choice of poison, the lesser of three evils-every once in a while she would confide in V’lane, the death-by-sex fae. He proved to be a funny distraction and a comic relief in most situations. I loved all these characters dearly. (Okay, Okaaaaay-FECK Rowena.)

Time is neither scalpel nor bandage. It is indifferent. Scar tissue isn’t a good thing. It’s merely the wound’s other face.

So to sum up-this was a big surprise for me, in part because I pushed it off for so long and didn’t know whether the story would resonate with me. But it did, it got into my bloodstream and deep into my soul-that’s right, I’ll say it-I got the FEVER. 😛

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
karen marin moning darkfever
Darkfever #1
Reviews:

Jen

Chelsea
bloodfever karen marie moning
Bloodfever #2

Reviews:
faefever karen marie moning
Faefever #3
Reviews:

Jen

Anna
dreamfever karen marie moning
Dreamfever #4
Reviews:

Jen
Anna
karen marie moning shadowfever
Shadowfever #5
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea

Anna

Iced #6

Burned #7

Feverborn #8

BOOK REVIEW – Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi

BOOK REVIEW – Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh MafiShatter Me (Shatter Me #1)
by Tahereh Mafi
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads


Raindrops are my only reminder that clouds have a heartbeat. That I have one, too.

Intense, dangerous, and absolutely awesome, Shatter Me barged into my life and didn’t let me go until I was completely finished. Every review I read prior to reading this had a negative undertone, almost causing me to move on without giving this one a chance. This just goes to show that while reviews are a great way to scope out books, they aren’t the only way to scope out books.

In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being compromised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.

I am absolutely and completely stubborn-ask any of my closest GR friends-If I want to read it, I will read it. No amount of bad reviews will keep me away if I think a book is worthy of my time, and I wanted nothing more than to read this book. I went in expecting a not-so-great story-I’ll admit it. I thought, Ok, so, not many people seem to like this book-it will be corny, horribly written, and completely unlikeable. But, hey! I will give it a try anyway, just because I want to.

This book was anything BUT stupid. Well…in my opinion. 😉 View Spoiler » but that was literally my only gripe. Some say this book isn’t really a dystopian. Why? Just because it has a lot of romance it can’t still be labeled a dystopian? I don’t get it. The world is falling apart and the military (or something of that sort) is taking control-food is hard to come by and animals are nill and none. People are hiding away and freedom with safety is hard to come by. There is talk of destroying all books and memories and everything we learned of our past history…they want to reshape the world. I get that there was a very light element of dystopian, but it still, ultimately, screamed…dystopian.

I’ve been screaming for years and no one has ever heard me.

Juliette has a lethal touch. Anyone who touches her succumbs to physical, mind-fracturing, limb-freezing pain-and only she can pull away and break that connection. But with that connection, she starts to feel heady and light, powerful and hungry for more, each time making her feel more and more like a monster. The same for if she touches someone-they freeze in their stance and start to fry on the spot. She is labeled crazy. Evil. Psychotic. Placed in a mental ward in a cell where she hasn’t had any human contact in 264 days, she begins to feel a little crazy herself. Until Adam, her new cellmate, enters.

”Juliette,” he whispers, and I realize just how close he is. I’m not sure why I haven’t evaporated into nothingness. “It’s been me and you against the world forever,” he says. “It’s always been that way. It’s my fault I took so long to do something about it.”

I absolutely loved this book. Yeah, it’s super far fetched, but that’s exactly what I wanted! I don’t want safe and easy when I pick up a book-I want to be transported to another world where things DON’T HAVE TO MAKE SENSE. Here is what I know: The writing was AWESOME. I love Patrick Ness, and this author made me feel like I was reading a Ness novel, and that’s so astounding to me. I was shocked to feel that way as I read. Next, I loved Adam. Sweet, kind, fierce, strong, and endearing, he was a great character to become attached to. Finally, I loved the action. It was fun, crazy, and absolutely perilous-this book had me eating out of the palm of it’s hand.

Sometimes I wish I never had to sleep. Sometimes I think that if I stay very, very still, if I never move at all, things will change. I think if I freeze myself I can freeze the pain. Sometimes I won’t move for hours. I will not move an inch.

A great story with a crazy addictive group of characters, I couldn’t put this book down even if someone paid me to. I would read this over and over again, if only to get that awesome, exhilarating feel I did the first time. But the thing is, I can never re-read this book for a first time and that saddens me. But what I can do is get my friends to give it a try. If nothing else, this is an escape from reality that will keep you interested for a few days. I can’t wait to read book 2, but until then I will live in the moments when I read this first installment, and I will thoroughly enjoy looking back at my many, many highlights.

BOOK REVIEW – Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

BOOK REVIEW – Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh MafiUnravel Me (Shatter Me #2)
by Tahereh Mafi
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

4.5 Unsure Stars


And I understand for the first time, that I have the power to destroy everything.

I think there are many things that define how I rate a book…and it’s not always obvious how I am going to feel after I finish a story. I like to tell myself that ‘teams’ don’t sway how I rate, and for the most part, they don’t effect me, because I try to stay in that ‘neutral’ zone. That zone where I like or will be okay with either guy she ends up with. It has gotten me through so many love triangles I can’t even count. And I have even convinced myself in a matter of one year that I ♥ the angst of the triangle, but I’ve decided I’m only lying to myself.

I absolutely LOVED this story. No, it wasn’t as awesome as the first, and no, it didn’t set the world on fire peril wise or romantically (FOR ME, others were VERY pleased). Juliette, Adam, James, and Kenji made it where they needed to be. All is well and Juliette is learning to harness her abilities. Now, I thoroughly enjoyed what was happening with the story-there was romantic angst among Adam and Juliette, because they just love each other so much and they want what’s best for each other. I found myself tearing up more than once as Adam would proclaim how much he loved Juliette. But then…then something started to happen. The story started to swivel on it’s axis, the world became a topsy turvy mess and I don’t know which way is up or where I stand.

I’m beginning to wonder if I should just bury myself in the ground before I remember that technically, I already am. I never even needed a shovel.

I adored the idea of a bad boy who lusted after Juliette-it was the perfect way to add some spice to the story. Truly, it was. And it was cute for a minute, the unrequited love between Warner and Julia. But, BUT, the author began to paint Warner in a less than realistic ideal light, where all the horrid things he has done in his lifetime start to make sense, and isn’t it okay to make the bad guy seem hot, appealing, like a basket case that Juliette needs to save?? Of course. Of COURSE it is. But don’t make us fall head over heels for one guy then start to make him look like the douche. I don’t get it. At least make it fair. Don’t change the ideals of this awesome person who was so strong-willed and sexy in book one.

Bad news offers no returns once received.

And this is my problem. I lost a lot of sleep last night-A LOT. That’s the best feeling in the world, though, right? When you finish a book and absolutely cherished it and you can’t sleep because it was just so, so good? Right. Well, this is where I was upset. I couldn’t fall asleep because I just felt icky. I am starting to sense where this author is taking the story and not feeling one bit good about it. It physically bothers me that such a strong character is being made to look whiny and making way for Mr. Evil Gone Good. *SMH*

So, in a nutshell, although this review is more negative than positive, I did love the story. Truly. I love the way this author writes. It’s just so different and it makes you feel happy and disconnected from reality….the ending just started to push in a way that scares me. Makes me want to look at spoilers for book three the minute it is released in February. I mean, come on-View Spoiler » I still would suggest this book to anyone who wants to read a great dystopian with crazy twists. It’s very well-written and it’s sure to make you feel good-a fun, crazy, easy read that will have you on the edge of your seat at all times.

(I’m sorry-this was more of a rant-I am sick and very hazy right now, so this is what came spewing from my mouth)

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