Review 2013

Review: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

/ beckireads / 2 Comments

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

Title: A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark #2)
Author: Kresley Cole
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 2011)
Blurb:

After enduring years of torture by the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the soulmate he’s waited millennia for is half vampire. Sheltered Emmaline Troy sets out to uncover the truth about her parents, but when the powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle, her dear of the Lykae – and their notorious dark desires – ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction that states her own dark cravings.

Etheral half Valkyrie/half vampire Emmaline somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within Lachlain, but when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces their desire must deepen into a binding love that can give the warrior peace, and turn the gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be . . .

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

A Hunger Like No Other is the second book in Kresley Cole’s The Immortals After Dark Series, although it can be read as a standalone novel. It tells the story of Lachlain, a Lykae who has been captured and tortured by vampires, and Emmaline, a half vampire/half Valkyrie who is sheltered by her Valkyrie aunts. A Hunger Like No Other and The Immortals After Dark Series are aimed at an adult audience.

Continue reading →

Review: Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

/ beckireads / 3 Comments

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

Title: Because It Is My Blood (Birthright: Book the Second)
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: Dystopian, Thriller, Young Adult
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books (29th August 2013)
Blurb:

When Anya Balanchine is released from jail, she’s determined to put her life in order. She’s going to get over her ex, turn her back on her criminal family and concentrate on her siblings and her studies.

But her murdered father’s family have a different idea. They’re not going to let her walk away so easily.

When they take a hit out on her life, Anya’s forced to flee to Mexico. There she discovers that life isn’t all bad – but she also finds that, so far from home, it’s impossible to protect those she loves.

Doing nothing isn’t an option. But going to New York could kill her. Literally.

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

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin is the second book in the Birthright trilogy. It tells the story of Anya Balanchine, the eldest daughter of a dead mobster and the Head of her family, as she struggles to find her place in the world. She wants to escape the Balanchine name and its connections to the mob and chocolate, but at the same time she wants to uphold her father’s legacy. Things are going on in the Balanchine family which will force Anya to discover who she is.

Continue reading →

Review: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

/ beckireads / 4 Comments

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Title: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making (Fairyland #1)
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Genre: Fairy Tale, Middle Grade
Publisher: Much-in-Little (17th January 2013)
Blurb:

SEPTEMBER is a twelve-year-old girl from Omaha. With her dad fighting a faraway war, and her mum always out at work, she is lonely, stuck in a rut and starved of adventure. So when a Green Wind arrives at her window and invites her to Fairyland she accepts in a flash (mightn’t you?). But Fairyland is in crisis, crushed by the iron rule of the villainous Marquess – and September holds the key to restoring order. With a book-loving dragon and a mysterious boy named Saturday by her side, she sets out on a thrilling quest to Fix Things. But time is short, and time is ticking, and every story must have an ending. Can September save Fairyland? Can she even save herself?

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente (hence forth known as The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland) is a modern fairy tale – it even starts with the famous ‘Once Upon a Time’. It tells the story of twelve-year-old September’s adventures in Fairyland.

Continue reading →

Review: Debutantes by Cora Harrison

/ beckireads / 5 Comments

Debutantes by Cora Harrison

Title: Debutantes
Author: Cora Harrison
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books (2nd April 2012)
Blurb:

IT’S 1923 AND LONDON IS A WHIRL OF JAZZ, DANCING AND PARTIES.

Violet, Daisy, Poppy and Rose Derrington are desperate to be part of it, but stuck in an enormous crumbling house in the country, with no money and no fashionable dresses, the excitement seems a lifetime away.

Luckily the girls each have a plan for escaping their humdrum country life: Rose wants to be a novelist, Poppy a jazz musician and Daisy a famous film director. Violet, however, has only one ambition: to become the perfect Debutante, so that she can go to London and catch the eye of Prince George, the most eligible bachelor in the country.

But a house as big and old as Beech Grove Manor hides many secrets, and Daisy is about to uncover one so huge it could ruin all their plans – ruin everything – forever.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Debutantes by Cora Harrison is a stand-alone novel that tells the story of the Derrington sisters. They live in Beech Grove Manor with their father, aunt and a skeleton of staff, as the Derringtons have very little money. Violet is almost eighteen and dreams of being a Debutante and marrying well; her younger sisters have different dreams.

Continue reading →

Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

/ beckireads / 2 Comments

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire (UK cover)

Title: Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (2nd April 2013)
Blurb:

Travis Maddox lost his mother when he was very young. Her parting advice? Love hard. . .Fight harder . . .

Travis ‘Mad Dog’ Maddox is an underground fighter, from a family of tough older brothers. The original Bad Boy, he takes a different girl home every night. That is, until he meets Abby Abernathy . . .

Notorious around campus for his reputation with women, it is no surprise when Abby refuses Travis’s advances; the best she will offer him is friendship. However, Travis is determined to fight his way into her heart . . .

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

Walking Disaster is the second book in Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful series. It tells basically the same story as the first book in the series Beautiful Disaster, but has the events narrated through Travis’ eyes rather than Abby’s. Walking Disaster gives an insight into Travis’ character that is unavailable in Beautiful Disaster.

Continue reading →

Review: With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent

/ beckireads / 2 Comments

With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent (UK cover)

Title: With All My Soul (Soul Screamers #7)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Mira Ink (5th April 2013)
Blurb:

KAYLEE CAVANAUGH’S TAKING HER FINAL STAND!

After spending the last year undead, Kaylee has had enough of the paranormal creatures who have plagued her ever since she came into her banshee powers. Now she’s ready to take her school back from the evil hellions, once and forever.

To protect her friends, Kaylee needs to find a way to turn the living incarnations of Avarice, Envy and Vanity against one another.

Yet when one more person close to her is taken, Kaylee realises she can’t save everyone she loves without making some powerful sacrifices . . .

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

Rachel Vincent brings her brilliant Soul Screamers series to a close in With All My Soul. Kaylee realises that something needs to be done about Avari; the hellion is too fixated on her, and is more than prepared to go through her friends and family to get to her. In With All My Soul Vincent shows Kaylee’s struggle to find a solution to her problem with Avari and his obsession.

Continue reading →

Review: The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

/ beckireads / 5 Comments

The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen (UK cover)

Title: The Secret of Ella and Micha
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Publisher: Sphere (11th April 2013)
Blurb:

‘The girl he thinks he loves needs to disappear. I don’t want tonight to be irreversible, so I pull away, breathing him in one last time.’

Ella and Micha have been best friends since childhood, until one tragic night shatters their relationship and Ella decides to leave everything behind to start a new life at college, including Micha.

But now it’s summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else. And he’s determined to win back the girl he lost, no matter what it takes.

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

The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen is a New Adult novel. It tells the story of Ella and Micha, two best friends who grew up next door to each other until one day when a tragic event occurs that sends Ella fleeing from her life. Ella cannot cope with the events of that night and the blame she feels, not even with Micha’s help, so she leaves everything and everyone behind.

Continue reading →

Review: The Rising by Kelley Armstrong

/ beckireads / 2 Comments

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE DARKNESS RISING SERIES AS THE RISING IS THE FINAL BOOK IN THE SERIES.

The Rising by Kelley Armstrong (UK cover)

Title: The Rising (Darkness Rising Book 3)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Atom (2nd April 2013)
Blurb:

Maya Delaney is a skin-walker – a supernatural who can “Shift” into the shape of a cougar. But her gift comes with a terrible cost. With every transformation, she risks losing touch with her human nature – for ever.

Maya and her friends are on the run from the people who experimented on them and transformed them into supernaturals in the first place. They know they must confront their enemies if they are to have any hope of a future. In order to succeed, Maya will need to use her dangerous, unpredictable powers – but they price for freedom could be too high a price to pay . . .

Rating: **** (4 star)
Review:

The Rising brings to an end The Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong. In the previous book The Calling Maya and her friends were involved in a helicopter crash and ended up on the run as they try to reunite with their families. In The Rising Armstrong brings The Darkness Rising series to a conclusion as we witness Maya and her friends struggle to remain free and plot what to do next, as they contemplate their futures – can they go back to a normal life, or if they will be on the run forever?

Continue reading →

Review: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

/ beckireads / 5 Comments

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, Book 1)
Author: Robin LaFevers
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Andersen Press (7th June 2012)
Blurb:

YOUNG, BEAUTIFUL AND DEADLY.

Trained as an assassin by the god of death, Ismae is sent to the court of Brittany, where she finds herself underprepared – not only for the games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

A dangerous romance full of intrigue, poison and ultimately finding one’s way.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Gave Mercy is the first book in the His Fair Assassin series by Robin LaFevers. It tells the story of Ismae who is taken to the abbess of St. Mortain to train to be an assassin. The story takes place in Brittany before it became part of France, and it follows Ismae as she takes the final steps to become a member of the abbey.

Continue reading →

Review: Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

/ beckireads / 5 Comments

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt (UK cover)

Title: Going Vintage
Author: Lindsey Leavitt
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic (4th April 2013)
Blurb:

Mallory loves her boyfriend and she’s sure he loves her back. Until she accidentally logs on to his Authentic Life profile, that is.

He’s been cheating on her … online!

Mallory’s relationship is ruined and the internet is to blame.

And then Mallory finds a list, written by her grandma as a teenager. Things were so much simpler in the 1960s – it was all about sewing dresses and planning dinner parties.

Maybe it’s time for Mallory to go vintage…

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt is a stand-alone novel. It tells the story of Mallory who discovers by accident that her boyfriend Jeremy has a completely different fake life on Authentic Life – he even has a cyberwife! When she breaks up with him, Mallory decides to break with modern technology and live a simpler life based on a list she discovers, that her Grandma wrote in the early 1960s. Going vintage isn’t as easy as Mallory thinks it is.

Continue reading →