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
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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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Uglies Trilogy Review

I've just finished reading the third book in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Trilogy. There is actually a fourth book, so the trilogy became more of a series but I will review that separately.

Overall I enjoyed this YA science fiction trilogy. Tally was a believable character with plenty of flaws but enough strength of character to pull through when it really mattered.

The story throws up some interesting thoughts about modern society, the obsession we have with body image, how it feels to not fit in and how our modern way of life impacts the natural world.

I found the books to be reasonably fast paced and held my interest all the way through. Some of the slang phrases like 'icy', 'bubbly' and 'fashion missing' used in the books began to irritate me and were overused.

There were plenty of plot twists, but some things were left unanswered for me. Tally's parents don't get a mention after the first book and we never discover who destroyed the pre-Pretty world in the first place or introduced the operations and brain lesions. I hope that Extras (the fourth book) ties up those loose ends.

I liked that Tally was imperfect, and although Pretties and Specials disappointed me with Tally not choosing to reunite with her first love, David, It felt truer to real life and less melodramatic than the tangled love triangles in the majority of YA books.

I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys YA science fiction.

Uglies (Boxed Set): Uglies, Pretties, Specials (The Uglies)

Rating 4 out of 5 stars
Source- These books were purchased by me from a bookstore
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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