Review: Slated by Teri Terry

August 13, 2012June 15, 2012 / beckireads / Leave a comment

Slated by Teri Terry, UK edition cover.

Title: Slated (Slated #1)
Author: Teri Terry
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: Orchard (3rd May 2012)
Blurb:

Kyla’s memory has been erased,
her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist,
and that they are giving her a second chance –
as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of
the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is
lying to her, and nothing is as it seems.
Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

Slated is the first book in Teri Terry’s Slated series. It tells the story of a girl called Kyla as she struggles to adapt in a world that’s unfamiliar to her.

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Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

August 9, 2012June 15, 2012 / beckireads / 2 Comments

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books (2nd February 2012)
Blurb:

THREE FLYING BIRDS . . . ONE FOR EACH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY I LEFT BEHIND.

Sixteen-year-old Tris is forced to make a terrible choice. In a divided society where everyone must conform, Tris does not fit.

So she ventures out alone, determined to discover where she truly belongs. Shocked by her brutal new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her.

The hardest choice lies ahead.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Divergent is the first book in Veronica Roth’s series. In this book we meet Tris, a sixteen-year-old with some difficult choices to make.

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Review: All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

August 6, 2012May 18, 2013 / beckireads / 1 Comment

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin, UK edition cover.

Title: All These Things I’ve Done (Birthright: Book The First)
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: Dystopian, Thriller, Young Adult
Publisher: Macmillan’s Children’s Books (29th March 2012)
Blurb:

FOR ANYA, LOVE WILL BECOME A LIFE – OR – DEATH CHOICE . . .

New York 2082. When Anya is arrested for attempted murder, the District Attorney offers her a choice: stay away from his son or watch helplessly as he destroys her family. It should be a straightforward decision. Except that the DA’s son is the boy Anya loves, and her family is at the heart of the city’s criminal underworld.

Anya must choose between love and loyalty, knowing that whatever she decides will have shattering consequences: heartbreak or a gangland war that will tear the city apart.

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

All These Things I’ve Done is the first book in Gabrielle Zevin’s Birthright trilogy. It tells the story of a girl called Anya who is struggling to keep her family together in a dystopian near-future where things are both very similar and very different to now.

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Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

August 3, 2012June 15, 2012 / beckireads / 2 Comments

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Children’s Books (1st December 2011)
Blurb:

MAY THE ODDS EVER BEEN IN YOUR FAVOR

WINNING WILL MAKE YOU FAMOUS.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.

In a dark vision of the near future, twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live TV show called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister’s place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

The Hunger Games is the first book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It is one of the must-read books for anyone who likes dystopian fiction. This book has been turned into the film. I had already watched and enjoyed the film before I read the book.

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Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

July 30, 2012December 21, 2012 / beckireads / Leave a comment

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #4)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: MiraInk (6th January 2012)
Blurb:

My name – my True Name – is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining Winter Prince, son of the Queen of the Unseelie Court.

And I am dead to her.

MY FALL BEGAN AS MANY STORIES DO, WITH A GIRL . . .

Love is a weakness for mortals and fools. And Ash, heir to the winter court, is no mere mortal. But when he swore to be Meghan Chase’s knight, his oath bound him to her irrevocably. Now the girl ash loves is ruler of a realm where no Winter Prince can ever survive. To be with her he must have a soul and a mortal body, yet the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible.

There is one thing stronger than his will to live: his vow to Meghan. As Ash battles he larns truths that challenge his darkest beliefs and who him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

The Iron Knight is a continuation of The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, this time with Ash as the protagonist instead of Meghan. In this book we see Ash’s quest to be with the woman he loves. Of course, Puck and Grimalkin deside to help him out – as well as some new characters.

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Review: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

July 29, 2012July 28, 2012 / beckireads / Leave a comment

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title: The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Razorbill (12th June 2012)
Blurb:

WILL LOVE LOSE HER EVERYTHING SHE KNOWS?

SYDNEY IS AN ALCHEMIST.
SHE PROTECTS VAMPIRE SECRETS –
AND HUMAN LIVES.

In hiding at a Californian boarding school, Sydney’s life has become irrevocably intertwined with Jill Dragomir, the vampire Moroi princess she has been tasked with protecting. She has grown close to those in Jill’s circle – and to someone in particular. Someone that forces her to question everything the alchemists believe in. Someone forbidden.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world – her new world – apart, Sydeny’s loyalties are tested more than ever. Should she trust the alchemists – or her heart?

Forbidden temptation lies behind the iron gates . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

The Golden Lily is the second book in Richelle Mead’s brilliant Bloodlines series (you can find my review here), a spin-off from her amazing Vampire Academy. The Golden Lily follows and is narrated by Sydney Sage, an Alchemist in charge of keeping Jill Dragomir safe and hidden.

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Review: Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

July 28, 2012July 28, 2012 / beckireads / 1 Comment

Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock, UK edition cover.

Title: Deadly Hemlock (Hemlock #1)
Author: Kathleen Peacock
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: SimonPulse (5th July 2012)
Blurb:

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends.
Until Amy was brutally murdered.
But Amy wasn’t killed by a human . . .
she was killed by a werewolf.

Lupine Syndrome – the werewolf virus – is spreading and werewolf attacks are increasing as those infected struggle to control their bloodlust. Amy’s death has turned Mac’s life upside down: her dreams are haunted by Amy, and the Trackers, an extremist group determined to stop those with Lupine Syndrome, have come to her hometown of Hemlock to promote their cause by hunting down Amy’s killer.

Unwilling to work with the brutal Trackers, but desperate to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate the murder herself. But the deeper she delves into the mystery of Amy’s death, the more secrets she discovers lurking in the shadows of Hemlock. Secrets that should have been left untold. Secrets that will chance her life forever.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Source: Won on competition on authors website/Facebook with signed book-plate and bookmark.

Review:

Deadly Hemlock is Kathleen Peacock’s debut novel and the first book in her Hemlock Trilogy. It was published as Hemlock in the US. In it we are introduced to Mackenzie, whose best friend Amy was brutally murdered by a werewolf. Amy’s death has shattered Mac, and as the book takes off six weeks after the event she is still picking up the pieces.

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Review: My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

July 27, 2012May 16, 2012 / beckireads / 1 Comment

My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent, UK edition cover.

Title: My Soul to Save (Soul Screamers #2)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: MiraInk (18th February 2011)
Blurb:

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.

So when teen pop sensation Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn’t wail, she knows something is dead wrong. Kaylee can’t cry for someone who has no soul.

Soon Kaylee finds that Eden’s not the only starry-eyed girl who traded her life for a flickering moment of fame – a deal that has dark consequences no mortal could understand.

Banshee Kaylee swears to help those lost souls. But school football star Nash – Kaylee’s newly acquired, not to mention super-hot, boyfriend – refuses to let her in harm’s way. Still Kaylee knows it’s her duty to save the innocent from the Netherworld – even if it means putting her own soul – and love life – at risk . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

My Soul to Save is the second book in the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent. The book starts several weeks after the events of My Soul to Take.

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Review: Dragon’s Oath by P.C. and Kristin Cast

July 24, 2012May 13, 2012 / beckireads / 2 Comments

Dragon’s Oath by P.C. and Kristin Cast.

Title: Dragon’s Oath (House of Night Novella #1)
Author: P.C. and Kristin Cast
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Atom (12th July 2011)
Blurb:

Had I chosen differently those many years ago,

perhaps I could have kept all this from happening.

Strength tempered by mercy was a mistake.

Do you not remember, my love?

I do. I will never forget.

Dragon Lankford wasn’t always an instructor at the House of Night. Once he was a student: young, talented and in love. But the mistake that cost him everything might be the key to helping Zoey and the rest of the vampyres in their fight against the darkness . . .

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Dragon’s Oath is the first novella in the House of Night series, and the novella is set partly during the events of Awakening, and partly in the past when Dragon and his Anastasia first meet. I would not suggest reading this novella before you have read Awakened as you might be spoiled.

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Review: Awakened by P.C. and Kristin Cast

July 23, 2012May 16, 2012 / beckireads / Leave a comment

Awakened by P.C. and Kristin Cast, UK edition cover.

Title: Awakened (House of Night #8)
Author: P.C. and Kristin Cast
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Atom (25th October 2011)
Blurb:

‘Zoey lives.’

Neferet’s voice was flat, cold, lifeless.

‘She does. What will happen next?’

‘It is quite simple. I will ensure Zoey is drawn back to Oklahoma. There, on my own terms, I will complete the task you failed.‘

Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’a House of Night, Neferet has sworn vegence on Zoey. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Sky and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Bring Queen could be cool, wouldn’t it?

And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?