Review 2012

Review: My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

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Soul Screamers #4

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

Title: My Soul to Steal (Soul Screamers #4)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: MiraInk (21st October 2011)
Blurb:

SOMETIMES DREAMS
DO COME TRUE . . .
AND THAT’S THE LAST
THINK KAYLEE NEEDS

Working things out with Nash – her maybe boyfriend – is hard for Kaylee. She’s already coping with being a teenage banshee. Worse, Nash’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend just transferred to their school.

Sabine’s no ordinary girl. She’s a mara, a real-life walking nightmare. Draining people’s energy through their darkest dreams sustains Sabine . . . and makes her Kaylee’s top suspect in a cluster of sup-creepy deaths.

To win back Nash, Kaylee’s determined to unearth the truth. But Sabine knows the deathly secrets of Kaylee’s subconscious – and she’s not afraid to use them to get whatever and whoever she wants . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

My Soul to Steal is the fourth book in Rachel Vincent’s brilliant Soul Screamers series. It continues the story of Kaylee and her friends as they struggle against the forces of the Netherworld.

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Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

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Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Title: Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Harper Collins (date)
Blurb:

VAMPIRES
WEREWOLVES
FAERIES
SHAPESHIFTERS

Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shapeshifter and she’s the only person who can see through paranormal’s galmours, but stil. Normal.

Only now Paranormals are dying and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She begins to suspect there is a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths, and even worse, that she is a the centre of a dark prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Paranormalcy is the first book in Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy trilogy. It tells the story of Evie, who thinks she is as ‘normal’ as every other human being – except for being able to see through paranormal’s glamours .

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Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury (2nd August 2012)
Blurb:

MEET CELAENA SARDOTHIEN.
BEAUTIFUL. DEADLY.
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.

In the dark, filthy mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament – fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her  assassin’s heart be melted?

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Throne of Glass is Sarah J. Maas’s brilliant  debut novel. In it we are told the story of Celaena Sardothien, an assassin, who is offered the chance of earning her freedom by entering in a tournament that could mean her death.

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Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin USA (4th August 2011)
Blurb:

Can Anna find love in the City of Light?

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she’s not too pleased when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new friends, including a handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately he’s taken – and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she’s been waiting for?

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

Anna and the French Kiss tells the story of Anna Oliphant; an American teenager sent to Paris by her father to go to boarding school for her senior year.  Stephanie Perkins relates a brilliant tale of contemporary romance for Young Adult readers in this book.

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Review: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter

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Gallagher Girl's 1

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter

Title: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1)
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Spy, Young Adult
Publisher: Orchard Books (6th May 2010)
Blurb:

“Do you ever feel like you’re invisible? I know I do – just call me Cammie the Chameleon. But at my [blank] school, that’s seen as cool. Why? Because Gallagher Academy might say it’s for geniuses, but it’s really a school for spies.”

Cammie Morgan might be capable of killing a man in seven different ways, but she’s about to begin her most dangerous mission yet: falling in love.

Rating: ** (2 stars)
Review:

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You is the first book in Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series. The series is about a group of girls who go to an all-girl boarding school, where they just happen to learn how to be spies. The series stars, and is narrated, by Cammie Morgan.

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Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore

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Graceling Realms, #2

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Title: Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (6th January 2011)
Blurb:

HER BEAUTY IS A WEAPON – AND FIRE IS GOING TO USE IT.

Fire’s exceptional beauty gives her influence and power. People who are susceptible to it will do anything for her attention, and for her affection.

But beauty is only skin deep, and beneath it Fire has a human appreciation of right and wrong. Aware of her inability to influence others, and afraid of it, she lives in a corner of the world away from people – not only to protect them, but also to protect herself from their attention, their distrust, and even their hatred.

Yet Fire is not the only danger to the Dells. If she wants to protect her home, if she wants a chance to undo the wrongs of the past, she must face her fears, her abilities, and a royal court full of powerful people with reason to distrust her.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Fire is the second book in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realms series. In it we are introduced to a new world and new characters; it tells the story of Fire, a girl born with incredible beauty who sees it only  as a curse.

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Review: Destined by P.C. and Kristin Cast

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As this is the ninth book in the series it may be possible that this review will contain spoilers for previous books in the House of Night series.
House of Night #9

Destined by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Title: Destined (House of Night, #9)
Author: P.C. and Kristin Cast
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Atom (28th June 2012)
Blurb:

‘Zoey, what is it?’ Stark said softly. I didn’t answer Stark. Instead I faced Neferet. Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear the buzz and the whispers of the kids around me, and I knew forcing a confrontation with Neferet here and now wasn’t smart. But I couldn’t stop myself . . .

Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet – which would be a whole lot easier if the High Counsel saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is.

But there are new forces at work at the House of Night. An influx of humans threatens its precarious stability. And then there’s the mysterious Aurox, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous boy who is actually more – or possibly less – than human. Only Zoey can sense the human compassion that wars with his Dark calling. Will Neferet’s true nature be revealed before she succeeds in silencing them all? And will Zoey be able to touch Aurox’s humanity in time to protect him – and everyone – from his own fate?

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Destined is the ninth book in the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. The story of Zoey and her friends/circle continues as they struggle against the forces of darkness.

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Review: Fae Hunter by Nicolette Reed

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Title: Fae Hunter (Soulstealer Trilogy, Book #1)
Author: Nicolette Reed
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Nicolette Reed (23rd June 2012)
Source: Nicolette Reed, the author.
Format: E-book
Blurb:

Who is the enemy when you hunt your own?

Valora Delos is a Hunter, charged with tracking the treacherous Soulstealers and bringing them to justice. Unlike the other fae of her kind, Valora was born with stunted wings that render her flightless, driving her to prove herself in the eyes of King Aric, with whom she has been infatuated since she first set eyes on him as a young prince.

She descends to Earth and finds herself trapped in suburban Seattle after the portal to her world closes. With the help of a sexy half-fae named Dooley, Valora must find her way back to save Dell’Aria. Dooley uses his own brand of magic to help Valora discover memories buried deep within her, which produce more questions than answers- questions about her growing attraction to Dooley and her devotion to her King. Uncovering who the Soulstealers are and who is behind the destruction of Dell’Aria brings Valora a truth she may not be able to handle.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Fae Hunter is the first book in Nicolette Reed’s Soulstealer Trilogy. In it we are introduced to Valora Delos who is a Hunter and fae, despite this she doesn’t really fit into her world – and her colleagues are sure to let her know this. By order of her king she ends up in Seattle.

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Review: Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

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As this is the fourth book in the series it may be possible that this review will contain spoilers for previous books in the Vampire Academy series.
Vampire Academy #4

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Title: Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: RazorBill (4th February 2010)
Blurb:

HOW FAR WILL ROSE GO TO KEEP HER PROMISE?

THE RECENT STRIGOI ATTACKS AT ST. VLADIMIR’S ACADEMY WAS THE DEADLIEST EVER IN THE SCHOOL’S HISTORY, CLAIMING THE LIVES OF MOROI STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND GUARDIANS ALIKE.

Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them . . . including Dimitri. He’d rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa – the one she has sworn to protect no matter what – and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago.

But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the one person she loves most?

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Blood Promise is the fourth book in Richelle Mead’s fantastic Vampire Academy series. At the end of Shadow Kissed Rose made a difficult decision, and in Blood Promise we see her choice played out.

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Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

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Divergent #2

Insurgent by Veronica Roth, UK edition cover.

Title: Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins (1st May 2012)
Blurb:

I HAVE DONE BAD THINGS. I CAN’T TAKE THEM BACK, AND THEY ARE PART OF WHO I AM.

Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes even more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.

Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever . . . because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

Insurgent is the second book in Veronica Roth’s amazing Divergent series. We continue to follow Tris as she adapts – growing more reckless – from the events at the end of Divergent.

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