Die for Me (Revenants #1) )by Amy Plum‏

Description:

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love? (Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

I’ve been wanting to read this book for such long time, since it came out. But I never got around it and also the fact that I am trying to abstain from buying books which I’m finding very hard. When I realise that my local library had the book in their collection I was so excited. I put the book on hold right away and as soon as I got my hands on it I started to read it.

I have to say that this book started of very interesting and I was engrossed into the story. Come page fifty and on my excitement for the story started to disappear. I do not know what it was but as soon as Kate and Vincent meet and start to spend time together I started to lose interest in the book. It not that I did not want romance between the two characters, it was just not working. It might be the fact that I really did not like Kate that much by the end of the book. It’s almost like she is trying to hard. I felt bad for Kate and her sister Georgia about losing their parents; Kate and how she dealt with grief of loosing loved once. There was not a lot of emotions that this book evoked from me, even when I read about Kate’s parents. The author tells me, as a reader, what the character is feeling, but the description of those feelings is not being translated into emotions when I read it. I have to say it, because it makes me sound cold, but I felt indifferent. I could not relate because the book does not provoke any emotional response. 

Character development is OK, there was more room for growth but that can be done in the book two in the series. Of course this is yet another series!!! Kate as a character started of very interesting, but then I just became annoyed with her. I think I wanted to scream at her every time she said “Are you spying on me.” This was said at least ten times throughout the books and it became annoying. Vincent was an OK character, actually I liked him more than Kate. I wish that there was more about Revenants and what they are? I wish that there was little bit backstory to their history. You do not have to tell us everything, but you have to throw me a bones to keep me interested. You cannot just give me the minimum and say you have to wait till next book to find out more. 

Relationship between Vincent and Kate was boring, because it does not differ from any other relationship in YA book.  Boy falls madly in love with the girl he just met.  She resists but she can not help but spend more time with him and inevitable happens, love.  One thing that I did like about this book is Kate's and Goergia's relationship, its nice to read about sisters who are close and get along together. 

Overall this was an OK read for me, nothing to gush about.  We'll see if I'll be reading book two in the series, Until I Die.  I'll read if my library gets a copy once the book is published.  I give this book 3/5 STARS.  Happy reading and i hope you enjoy this book more than I have. 

Revenants Series:

1. Die for Me
2. Until I Die - Coming May 8th, 2012
3. Untitled - Coming 2013

In My Mailbox #8

Weekly meme created by The Story Siren, inspired by Pop Culture Junkie.

Bought:

Nocturne by Syrie James
Everneath by Brodi Ashton
The Fault in our Stars by JonhGreen
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

NetGalley:

Goddess Interupted (The Goddess Test Series: Book II) by Aimee Carter
Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Library:

Matched (Matched, #1 by Ally Condie
Paper Towns by John Green

Hourglass (Hourglass #1) by Myra McEntire

Description:

One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut (Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

I heard a lots of good things about this book, so when I saw it on my cousin's bookshelf I borrowed the book from her to read.  I really liked the premises of the story and it sounded very interesting.  But I have been disappointed with a lot of YA books lately that I was sceptical about this book.  I started to read it but I did not have a lot of expectations, that way I will be less disappointed when I am done reading it. 

So what did I think of this book?  It was alright, nothing to get too excited about.  It was better than done some books that I have read of late, but I'm not going to mention here. 

Emerson Cole, since before death of her parents she started seeing ghosts.  However they are not ghosts but rips, they are either from past of present.  Not wanting to give much of the plot line away but here is a brief summary.  Emerson parents die in a horrific accident and she has a nervous break down.  Why is more often than not that YA books always tell a story about a girl or a boy who lost their parents in some kind of tragic accident.  Maybe its just me but it seems that if a girl or a boy have some kind of supernatural powers they in turn have no parents.  They either do not know who they are or they are dead as a result of some kind of accident or someone killed them.  Emerson meat Michael Weaver and he is suppose to help her with her problem.  From here a mutual attraction happens between the two characters. 

I found that for more than seventy-five percent of the book nothing happens, no action or real sense of directions as to where the story line is going.  Only in the last quarter of the book we have some action but that is short lived as well, and it was anti-climactic.  However there is a lot of focus on Emerson and Michael and the mutual attraction that they feel for each other.  But for the whole book Michael keeps Emerson at arms length.  I have to give it to author, there was one surprise at the end that I did not expect and it's not Jack.  Jack I suspected from the very beginning, but not the other surprise. 

Overall this was alright read, I think that there should have been more character development but since this is series there is more oportunities for that.  Book was well written, but nothing to gush over.  If you have not read this book and want to read give it a go.  It not bad read, but its not the best read either; but I will be looking to read the book two, Timepiece in this series.  I think that I need to give this series another chance; I hope that it gets better.  I give this book 3/5 STARS - Happy Reading.

Hourglass Series:

1. Hourglass
2. Timepiece - to be released June 12th, 2012

The Cobra King of Kathmandu (Children of the Lamp #3) by P. B. Kerr‏

Description:

In the third book of the bestselling Children of the Lamp series, djinn twins, John and Philippa Gaunt, are on the trail of another magical mystery. As they travel from New York to London to Nepal and India on a whirlwind adventure, the twins try to help their friend and fellow djinn, Buck, find out who murdered his friend using the venomous snakebite of the king cobra. All too soon, John and Philippa find themselves caught up in the lethal world of the Cult of the Nine Cobras, only to discover that they themselves are a target of the creepy cobra cult (Goodreads). 


My Thoughts:

This is book three in The Children of the Lamp series. I have to say I am very much so loving this series, to the point that I want to have in my book collection. Book three take us with Philippa and John on another adventure across the world, this time to India. One thing that I really love about this series is that each story takes place on a different continent, or just different country.

In this book children set of to India to help their friend, also djinn, Buck to find out who killed his best friend and his father. As they set off to their adventure they encounter few new characters and we learn more about djinn and their powers. This was a very interesting book, even though main story was told from John and Philippa’s point of view, few of the chapters were from Nimrods POV. I love Nimrod, he is probably one of my favourite characters. He is very funny, I especially like his dislike for babies, which I find quite amusing. 

 On their adventure Jonh, Philippa and Buck are trying to track down the an evil cult that it appears is after Buck and something that he has (not wanting to give up too much here). Even though in this story Nimrod and Mr. Rhakasas are not big part of the story, this time around the twins are more independent in their adventure. This book, like previous two books, was very well written and the story line was very concise. It has a lot of laugh out loud funny moments, I especially liked Nimrods description of babies – too funny. The one arm butler – also funny. This books had few open plot lines that were not explained, actually it was a very obvious setup for the next book in the series. I wish that that was little bit less obvious though.

Overall this was an excellent read, and I have already requested book four, The Way of the Djinn Warriors, from my local library. I actually think that these books are up there with Harry Potter, and love love love HP. I think that if you are fan of HP that this series will probably appeal to you as well. Back to this book though – it was well written, has adventure(s), magic, friendship, family, lots of humour, and bad guys. I give this book 5/5 STARS – happy reading. I hope you love this book, or I should says series, as much as I do.

Children of the Lamp Series:

1. The Akhenaten Adventure

2. The Blue Djinn of Babylon

3. The Cobra King of Kathmandu

4. The Way of the Djinn Warriors

5. The Eye of the Forest

6. The Five Fakirs of Faizbad

7. The Grave Robbers of Genghis Khan

Blood Magic (Blood Journals, #1) by Tessa Gratton‏

Description:

It starts off simply.

Draw a circle ... place a dead leaf in the center ... sprinkle some salt ... recite a little Latin ... add a drop of blood ...

Maybe that last part isn't exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents' horrific deaths. She's willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood.

The book isn't the only recent arrival in Silla's life. There's Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She's not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick's first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can't deny their attraction. And they can't ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power.

Tessa Gratton's intoxicating first novel will keep pulses racing, minds reeling, and pages turning right up to the very last drop of blood (Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:

So I finished reading this book last week and I am not sure what to think of it. Book was alright but there was a lot of things that I felt were not well explained. My first problem with this book is the magic, or blood magic. I simply did not understand how it worker and why it worked that way. The author does not do any background build-up on the magic system. Oh the author does tell us that Silla’s father practiced magic and same for Josephine, but nowhere in the book was the magic system explained. All I know that Silla, Nick and Silla’s brother cut themselves and drip their blood onto earth or smear it across their forehead and whisper few wards and that’s it, magic happens. I found it hard to wrap my head around it, and I thought that it was kind of ridiculous just because the author does not take time to tell us how it support to work. Even Silla herself just does magic and that is it no effort is required on her part rather than her blood.

Another problem I have with this book and its characters – it’s the cutting. If you want to hide from people around you that you are doing magic why do you cut your hand where it is most visible. Why not cut somewhere where it can be concealed. Here you are trying to stay inconspicuous but you cut your hands, now that is a dumb move.

Book was ok written, nothing to get too excited over. It is very simplistic and very monotonous. Characters were alright but there was not character growth and development. I find that a lot of YA authors forget all about character build up and development or world build-up for that matter. It just seems like everything is thrown in together and jumbled up and voila I have a book. I think that this book had a lot of potential, but it should have been worked on more, this feels like second draft. I do not mean to sound harsh in my opinions of this book, but that is how I fell. There is probably a lot of readers out there who just loved this book and that is fine. Actually I’m glad for them.

Overall this was an OK read, as I already said it could be much better. It lacked world build-up, character build-up, and magical system build-up. Of course this yet another new YA series which I am not surprised. Lately it seems that every YA book is part of series, which I find very annoying but yet I keep reading them. Thank god for a decent library that I have here where I live, all I have to do is get the books from there. But still I buy a lot of books. I am not going to say do not read this book or read this book, you make your own mind about it. But it is best not to start this book (or any book) with too high of expectations because a lot of times you will be let down. I give this book 3/5 STARS and I actually think that I am being to generous with that one star . But I am giving it for the potential that the book had (if that makes any sense), and I hope that the story gets better in the book two, The Blood Keeper. 

The Blood Journals series:

1. Blood Magic

2. The Blood Keeper - Comming 2012

The Prince of Mist (Niebla #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Lucia Graves (Translator)

Description:

A mysterious house harbors an unimaginable secret. . . .

It’s wartime, and the Carver family decides to leave the capital where they live and move to a small coastal village where they’ve recently bought a home. But from the minute they cross the threshold, strange things begin to happen. In that mysterious house there still lurks the spirit of Jacob, the previous owners’ son, who died by drowning.

With the help of their new friend Roland, Max and Alicia Carver begin to explore the suspicious circumstances of that death and discover the existence of a mysterious being called The Prince of Mist—a diabolical character who has returned from the shadows to collect on a debt from the past. Soon the three friends find themselves caught up in an adventure of sunken ships and an enchanted stone garden, which will change their lives forever (Goodreads).

My Thoughts:

I been wanting to read this book for quite some time; my local library had it but everytime I wanted to check it out it was already checked out. So this time around I put the book on hold. I read this book in one setting, once I started to read it I could not stop.

Story line is set during WWII I believe; Carver family moves to a small town next to the coast. Unbeknown to them the house that they moved into has some history and some strange things begin to occur. This book was translated from Spanish and translator did a very good job. Book was very well written, enjoyable storyline and there were nice twists to the story that I did not anticipate. Character were likeable and well developed,, they were multidimensional . Max, the main protagonist in the story was my favourite. He is smart, resourceful, kind and not your typical teenage boy. I really enjoyed reading about Max and His relationship with his sister, it was sweet and very well done. I also enjoyed the storyline between Jacob and Alicia. This story did really creep me out few times. Even though this is not the horror story but it has that creep factor to the story that makes you want to check your closet to make sure that there is nothing in there. It was tastefully done, no gore just enough creepiness. 

Overall this was a very entertaining read and I was not disappointed. I loved every minute of this book. It was well written, enjoyable characters, and some creepy moments. If you like books with some supernatural element to the story than you might like this book. I noticed that here is a book two in Niebla series, titles The Midnight Palace, I will have read book two. I give this book 5/5 STARS – Happy Reading.

Guarding a Notorious Lady (Devine & Friends #3) by Olivia Parker‏

Description:

Exquisite trouble . . .

A woman of pristine breeding, Lady Rosalind Devine is also an unrepentant meddler and snoop— which is why her brother refuses to leave her to her own devices while on his wedding trip. But Rosalind will not make things easy for any unseen, unwanted “nursemaid”—and vows to use her considerable wiles to expose her mystery guardian.

Nicholas Kincaid, the Marquess of Winterbourne, agreed to secretly guard his friend’s spoiled, stubborn sister, though her infuriating penchant for mischief is causing him to question his decision. Though bound by the rules of society—and friendship— Rosalind’s spirit and sensuality have sparked a fierce desire in Nicholas to play a very different role in her life, one that entails passion, ecstasy . . . and unavoidable scandal.

My Thoughts:

I bought this book in the used book store some time ago; I started to read it and for some reason I stopped. Not sure why. It wasn’t because I wasn’t enjoying it. Anyways just after the New Year I picked up this book and finished reading it. As you can tell from the cover this is a historical romance novel; this is my first book by this author. I have to say that I enjoyed reading this book very much. It was funny and entertaining. It has good female protagonist character, Rosalind. I liked Rosalind, she is very funny, independent, smart, and kind. Nickolas, her anonymous guardian, was also very likable character. The two had a lot of chemistry and I really liked them together. I liked the fact that this story did not have a lot of drama. It was a straight forward romance story.  

Overall this was a great read and I will check out other books by this author. I hope she has more books out there, because I really liked this book. Writing was good, well as far as the historical romance novel goes. It was not the best or the worst writing, but rather mediocre. If you like historical romance novels that have easy going pace, not a lot of drama, but still is fun than you might like this book.

I usually cannot read to many historical romances in a row, I get bored with them too fast. So I usually pick up one once in a while and read it.

I give this book 3/5 STARS – Happy Reading