Haunted- Kelley Armstrong

Haunted by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Hmm, I didn't love it quite as much as the last 3 books but it was still an enjoyable read.

Kristof was portrayed as a basically good character in this story which was way out of context from when he last played a reasonably central role- in Dime Store Magic. I don't think enough thought or explanation went into making that transition from bad guy to good guy believable for me.

Eve is a reasonably likeable character- very pragmatic and pretty kick-ass. I enjoyed seeing things from her POV and would like to see more of her in the series.

There's quite a lot of action in this one, although somehow some of it felt like 'padding'. Particularly the chapter spent in the serial killer hell dimension felt dragged out.

Overall a decent read but compared to the last 3 in the series it was missing the usual wow factor.





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Review of Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

Wow, for a book about mermaids this is pretty powerful stuff! Sarah Porter has created a darkly compelling tale of abused children, murderous mermaids and teenage bullying. The writing is good and it is easy to picture the world that is being created despite it being about fantasy creatures.

14 year old Luce has lost her mother and father and lives with her abusive uncle. She copes with this by mostly keeping quiet and not drawing attention to herself. Then one evening her uncle tries to inflict his worst assault yet.

The emotional pain of the incident and preceding events turns Luce into a mermaid. Mermaids are young girls who have been mistreated by the humans who were supposed to look after them. The Mermaids dislike humans because of their troubled human lives and delight in singing to boats that pass their way enchanting the humans aboard and causing them to jump into the ocean and drown.

Luce finds a home with a tribe of mermaids led by their queen Caterina. Caterina's character is fascinating and I changed my opinion of her several times as the story developed. Luce's devotion to Caterina was a bit much, however, almost bordering on obsession.

As more new mermaids join the tribe there is unrest among them which I suppose is kind of political but was more a demonstration of how teenage girls can behave toward each other and be either wonderful friends or bitter enemies from one day to the next, driven mostly by their own insecurities.

The most important thing to the mermaids is singing. A great voice is considered a gift and the best singer is always the Queen of the tribe. Luce's voice is amazing from the beginning which both pleases and threatens Caterina as existing Queen. Luce seems oblivious to how good her voice is at first, and even after she learns more about what she can do with her singing she has no desire to take Caterina's place. Luce also struggles with the killing humans part of being a mermaid and is torn between the intense need to sing and the guilt at what the singing does to the humans.

The power struggle between Luce, Caterina and a shallow selfish mermaid named Anais has some dramatic consequences which were left mostly hanging at the end of the book.

I was disappointed with the ending as the story just kind of stopped. I assume the next in the series will pick up from there but it was still quite disappointing to be left hanging.

The ending aside, I found the second half of the book better than the first. I didn't really get properly into the story until the ninth chapter and would have liked Luce's pre-mermaid life to have been expanded on a little more.

Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.

I was lucky enough to get an Advance Reading Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately the book is not scheduled for general release until July 4th 2011 but is available for pre-order now from Amazon.

    

My Rating 3 out of 5 stars
 Source- ARC from netGalley

Shades of Atlantis

I loved this book.

The writing style is very good and kept me captivated. The story was fast paced and had enough mystery to keep me interested, but provided enough just enough detail and back story to let me build an understanding of and relationship with the characters.

This was a refreshing change from some of the YA paranormal books I have read recently that have kind of 'dragged me along' with the story before I have any idea what is going on and who the characters are!

The mythology in the book is very authentic and based on actual Celtic mythology.

Triona started off very likeable but the more she 'needed' Caleb and we went through the 'does he or doesn't he love me' saga, the less I identified with her. Despite this I still thoroughly enjoyed the beautifully written love story between them, just lost a tiny little bit of respect for Triona.

I did feel she redeemed herself in the final chapters though, showing the strength of character that was hinted at in the beginning of the book.

As I have mentioned before I hate unnecessary comparisons to Twilight but with this book I feel I cannot avoid it. The romance between Triona and Caleb is quite Twilightesque: love/lust at first sight; Colossal misunderstanding where she thinks he hates her when in fact he knows he can't live without her; Heroine in constant doubt that she's good enough for her man, terrified he will leave her;
Then he does leave her for 'her own good', she crumbles and struggles to cope without him; By the time she is beginning to move on, poof he's back! Plus a little love triangle with a 'good friend' who never really stood a chance but tried his damnedest anyway.

This similarity really isn't a negative and I am sure any YA paranormal romance fan - Twilight fan or not - will adore this book.

The epic romance aspects aside, the story is very different to Twilight and is about the Fae, or Guardians as they are referred to in this book, and their history with humans. I enjoyed the battle scene near the end immensely and would have liked it if that scene had been longer.

I enjoyed this story more than other recent Fae books I have read and would highly recommend it.



Rating 5 out of 5 stars

Source- this book was won in a giveaway from Goodreads
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The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher

The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


For a free book on my IPod this was actually pretty good. There were grammatical errors but once you get past that The Demon Girl is quite a decent short read.

It's a YA book, and I found it to fit well in the category. I didn't really find it as gory or bloodthirsty as other reviewers have done but perhaps years of horror/paranormal books and TV programmes have desensitised me.

The main thing that prevented me enjoying this book was it's pace. It wasn't that it was slow- it was too fast! I felt that I was dragged along for the ride in Rae's world with not a clue what was going on at the beginning. I just didn't feel the author had enough skill yet to carry that off. Too much was either unexplained or under explained which was a shame because the concept of Rae's world was fascinating with the different types of supernatural being and the post apocalyptic type setting.

It is the first in a series and I would like to continue with the second book to see how the storyline develops and answers some of the questions I had about Rae's world. I usually find that it's the second book of a series that makes or breaks it for me so I am looking forward to seeing what Rae's future holds......


Source- This book was downloaded from iBookstore

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Audiobook Review of Need by Carrie Jones

I have just finished listening to my first audiobook, Need by Carrie Jones. I'm not sure what to make of the experience to be honest.


At first it was very strange, especially as the reader has an American accent. The book is set in America so this makes sense, but the 'voice in my head' when I'm reading never has an American accent (well, except when I read Sookie Stackhouse but that's another story....)


That threw me at first. As did the fact that I can't re-read a page. Rewinding isn't quite the same. It was also difficult to stay focused as my eyes were free to wander and closing them made me fall asleep. Although that could have been the book rather than the format.


Then there was the fact that I was just disappointed in the story itself. Zara is quite frankly, annoying. It takes her friends only a couple of hours to decide that the strange occurrences happening around them are caused by pixies. And Zara is being stalked by the pixie king.


Then Zara just can't make up her mind. She believes in pixies. Then she doesn't. Then she does. Then she doesn't. Aaarrrrgh make your damn mind up.


She can't believe that her boyfriend Nick is a werewolf. But she thought for a while he might be a pixie. Right, so pixies are ok but you struggle with weres? This annoyed me even more because every time we see Nick there have been more and more clues. His eyes are 'wild' and 'feral', there are clumps of fur in his car. These are just a couple of the 'hints'. Yep- subtle as a brick Ms Jones.


Some of her classmates turn out to be pixies. No real explanation is given as to why pixies would choose to attend high school for several years for no real reason.


There are more exciting parts to the story like when we finally get to meet the elusive pixie king, but overall, the story was confusing in places and transparent in others.


Need is part of a series, but I will be unlikely to carry on with it.


As for audiobooks, I am still undecided. Perhaps I will try an author I know I love like Kelley Armstong.




Rating 2 out of 5 stars

Source- This Audiobook was purchased by me