Review 2012

Review: Frostbite by Richelle Mead

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Vamprie Academy #2

Frostbite by Richelle Mead, UK edition cover.

Title: Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Razorbill (1st October 2009)
Blurb:

. . . WINTER BREAK TURNS DEADLY

A MASSIVE VAMPIRE ATTACK HAS PUT ST. VLADIMIR’S ACADEMY ON HIGH ALERT. WITH THE DEADLY CREATURES CLOSING IN, THIS YEAR’S TIP TO THE WINTER PEAKS OF IDAHO HAS JUST BECOME MANDATORY.

But Rose Hathaway can’t escape her (guy) troubles. Her relationship with gorgeous tutor Dimitri can never be and her closest friend has just confessed to his huge crush on her . . .

The glittering winter landscape may seem like the perfect hideaway – but Rose, and her heart, are in more danger that she ever imagined.


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

Frostbite is the second book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. Rose and Lissa have settled back into life at St. Vladimir’s, but things are starting to heat up and the Strigoi are getting bolder.

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Review: Burned by P.C. and Kritin Cast

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House of Night #7

Burned by P.C. and Kristin Cast, UK edition.

Title: Burned (House of Night #7)
Author: P.C. and Kristin Cast
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Atom (7th October 2010)
Blurb:

Y’all need to get yourselves together. Here’s a newsflash from the only High Priestess you have left at this dang school: Zoey isn’t dead. And believe me, I know dead. I’ve been there, done that and got the fricken tee-shirt.

Zoey Redbird is the youngest High Priestess in House of Night history and is the only person – vamp of fledgling – who can stop the evil Neferet from raising all kinds of immortal trouble. And she might just have a  chance if she wasn’t so busy being dead.

Well, dead is too strong a word. Stevie Rae knows she can bring her BFF back from her unscheduled va-cay in the Otherworld. But it’s going to take a lot more than hoping to bring Zoey back. Stevie Rae might have to give up a few secrets of her own . . .


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

Burned is the seventh book in the House of Night series by the mother and daughter team P.C. and Kristin Cast. Burned starts with the dramatic events at the end of Tempted, but this time from a different point of view.

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Review: Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

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The Cahill Witch Chronicles: Book 1

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Title: Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles: Book 1)
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Putnam (7th February 2012)
Blurb:

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it could mean an asylum, a prison ship – or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with six months to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood – not even from each other.


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

Born Wicked is the first book in Jessica Spotswood’s The Cahill Witch Chronicles. In this book we get to meet Cate and her sisters Maura and Tess, and watch their struggle to fit in.

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Review: Exodus by Julie Bertagna

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Exodus #1

Exodus by Julie Bertagna

Title: Exodus (Exodus #1)
Author: Julie Bertagna
Genre:  Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  Pan MacMillan (6th June 2003)
Blurb:

Mara’s island home is drowning as the ice caps melt and Earth loses its land to the ocean. But one night, in the ruined virtual world of the Weave, Mara meets the mysterious Fox – a fiery-eyed boy who tells her of sky cities that rise from the sea. Mara sets sail on a daring journey to find a new life for herself and her friends – instead she discovers a love that threatens to tear her apart . . .


Rating: * (1 star)
Review:

Exodus is the first book in Julie Bertagna’s Exodus trilogy in which the Earth is slowly drowning, and the human population is fighting to stay alive.

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Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

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Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)
Author: Beth Revis
Genre:  Sci-Fi, Young Adult
Publisher:  Razorbill (3rd March 2011)
Blurb:

AMY has left the world she loves for a world 300 years away.

Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she’s due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy’s lost on board and nothing makes sense – she’s never felt so alone.

Yet someon is waiting for her. He wants to protect her – and more if she’ll let him.

But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies?

A killer is out there – and Amy has nowhere to hide . . .


Rating: ** (2 stars)
Review:

Across the Universe is the first book in the series. It follows the adventures of a girl who wakes up on a spaceship two hundred and fifty years in the future. There have been a LOT of recommendations for this series on book blogs, so I thought I would give it a go.

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Review: Temeraire by Naomi Novik

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Temeraire #1

Temeraire by Naomi Novik

Title: Temeraire (Temeraire #1)
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre:  Alternative History, Fantasy
Publisher:  HarperVoyager (16th June 2011)
Blurb:

Captain Will Laurence has been at sea since he was just twelve years old. Rising on merit to captain his own vessel, Laurence has earned himself a beautiful fiancée, society’s esteem and a golden future. But the war is not going well. It seems Britain can only wait as Napoleon plans to invade.

After a skirmish with a French ship, Laurence finds himself in charge of a rare cargo: a dragon egg bound for the Emperor himself. Dragons are much prized: properly trained, they can mount a fearsome attack from the skies. One of Laurence’s men must take the beast in hand and join the aviators’ cause, thus relinquishing all hope of a normal life.

But when the newly-hatched dragon decides to imprint itself on Laurence, the horrified captain’s world falls apart.  Gone is his golden future: gone his social standing, and soon his beautiful fiancee, as he is consigned to be the constant companion and trainer of the fighting dragon Temeraire . . .


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

Temeraire is the first book in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. The series is an alternative history for adult readers of the Napoleonic wars, that features dragons. Some have therefore considered it a steampunk series, but I think it is actually an alternative history series as  the only change is the inclusion of dragons.

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Review: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

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Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Genre:  Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperCollins (9th September 2003)
Blurb:

‘There isn’t really a gay scene or a straight scene in our town. They all got mixed up a while back, which I think is for the best . . . And whether your heart is strictly ballroom or bluegrass punk, the dance floors are open to whatever you have to offer. This is my town.’

Meet PAUL. Gay his whole life, and finding love as wonderful, confusing and heartbreaking as every other teenager in his high school.

Meet Paul’s friends:

JONI – his best friend, who  may not be his best friend any more;

TONY – his other best friend, who can’t leave the house unless his parent’s think he’s going on a date . . . with a girl;

INFINITE DARLENE – homecoming queen and star quarterback on the football team;

KYLE – the ex-boyfriend who won’t go away;

RIP – the school bookie who sets odds;

And NOAH – the boy who changes everything.

Witty, engaging, refreshingly upbeat and slightly surreal, this book is a celebration of love in all forms.


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

This is another book I picked up because it was on Sarah Rees Brennan (which you can find here). I’d also heard good things about the author, so I decided to give it a try.

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Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

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The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Genre:  Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperVoyager (4th August 2011)
Blurb:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

In our brave new future, DNA engineering has resulted in a terrible genetic flaw. Women die at the age of 20, men at 25. Young girls are being abducted and forced to breed in a desperate attempt to keep humanity ahead of the disease that threatens to eradicate it.

16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife. Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage – and Linden’s cruel father. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left.


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Wither is the first book in Lauren DeStefano’s The Chemical Garden Trilogy. Time is running out for Rhine, for Linden, and for Gabriel: for the rest of humanity too.

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Review: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

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The Iron Fey #3

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey #3)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  Mira Ink (21st October 2011)
Blurb:

In less than twenty-four hours I’ll be seventeen.

Although, technically, I don’t actually be turning seventeen. I’ve been in the Nevernver too long. When you’re in Faery, you don’t age. So while a year has passed in the real world, age-wise I’m probably only a few days older than when I went in.

In real life, I’ve changed to much I don’t even recognise myself.

MY NAME IS MEGHAN CHASE.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.

THIS TIME, THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.


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

The Iron Queen is the third book in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series. The ending of The Iron Duaghter was pretty dramatic, and this book takes off pretty much where that one left-off.

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Review: Kiss The Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

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An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel #21

Kiss The Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton, UK edition cover.

Title: Kiss The Dead  (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel, #21)
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher:  Headline (7th June 2012)
Blurb:

I KNEW WITHOUT DOUBT THAT IF ANY MORE VAMPIRES TRIED TO ATTACK US I’D KILL THEM TOO, REGARDLESS OF APPARENT AGE, RACE, SEX, OR RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS. I WAS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY EXECUTIONER; I KILLED EVERYBODY.

My name is Anita Blake and I am a vampire hunter and necromancer, as well as  a US Marshal. So when a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to me to find her. And when I do, I’m faced with something I’ve never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people – kids, grandparents, soccer moms – all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving their vampire master. And where there’s one martyr, I know there will be more . . .

But even vampires have monsters they’re afraid of. And I’m one of them . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

Kiss The Dead is the twenty-first book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s epic An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel series. Anita is in a very different place to where she was in the first book Guilty Pleasures, and at this point in the series it is very definitely an adult book. On the whole I’ve really enjoyed this series, watching Anita and her guys change and develop, and this book was no exception.

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