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Feb
25

Title: Song in the Dark
Author: Christine Howe
Publication: February 21, 2013 by Penguin Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 216
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
My Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

From Goodreads:

Where do you end up when you have nowhere to go, and no one to turn to?

Paul isn’t thinking clearly. After destroying a series of relationships – with his friends, his flatmates, his mum – he finally hurts the one person he cares about most of all. And then he runs away.

An extraordinary and heartrending story of love, betrayal, addiction and hope.

Christine Howe’s debut novel Song in the Dark is a book of tough and mature themes definitely written for a mature young adult audience. It’s nice to know that some authors write to not squeeze into what’s popular within the age group such as young protagonists, cliched romances, and genre trends, but write matters that have meaning and levels of emotionality that you wouldn’t see elsewhere. Song in the Dark is one of those, but sadly for me, I didn’t quite connect with the book. I mean, it was good. But as it was written in third perspective it was hard to connect with our main character Paul as he hurts people he loves, family and friends, and runs away to recover at a rehab treatment centre for his marijuana addiction. I felt incredibly distant from him because of it; maybe it’s because I’m the polar opposite. If it were written in first there might’ve been a difference in the way I felt about this book. Despite it being short and a quick read I had skimmed about 30% of it and that’s really a shame.

Thanks to Penguin Australia via NetGalley for the egalley to review.

• • •

Title: Shadow Kiss, Vampire Academy #3
Author: Richelle Mead
Publication: November 13th, 2008 by Razorbill
Format, pages: Paperback, 348
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★½ 

From Goodreads:

It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn’t been feeling quite right. She’s having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all… might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose’s forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line – and choose between the two people she loves most.

Richelle Mead has soooo many passionate fans the world over for her Vampire Academy series and I think I slowly am becoming one. I’ve taken my time – even if poorly – with this series and it’s a goal to finish the series this year. Shadow Kiss, the third instalment in the series, was packed with thrilling if not emotional moments, especially the ending between Lissa and Rose. It’s such a genuinely complex relationship between friends and one of the best I’ve read; there’s a lot of depth and history to their friendship that you don’t see anywhere else. It’s at that ending that it explodes and Rose and Lissa ricochet their own ways, and it’s funny how it’s both their faults. I look forward to reading the next three in this series following Rose and the path she takes to find Dimitri. This was a great instalment and the next books seem like they’re just going to cascade down on me.

• • •

Title: Pandemonium, Delirium #2
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publication: February 28th, 2012 by HarperCollins Children’s Books
Format, pages: Hardcover, 375
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★ 

From Goodreads:
“So what was your name before?” I say, and she freezes, her back to me. “Before you came to the Wilds, I mean.”For a moment she stands there.

Then she turns around.

“You might as well get used to it now,” she says with quite intensity.

“Everything you were, the life you had, the people you knew… dust.”

She shakes her head and says, a little more firmly, “There is no before. There is only now, and what comes next.”

After falling in love, Lena and Alex flee their oppressive society where love is outlawed and everyone must receive the “cure” – an operation that makes them immune to the delirium of love – but Lena alone manages to find her way to a community of resistance fighters. Although she is bereft without the boy she loves, her struggles seem to be leading her toward a new love.

“Don’t believer her.” *heart attack*It was two years since I read Delirium and I had purposely put off Pandemonium until around this time before Requiem releases. I’m so happy I did. Now, I only have to wait two weeks or something like that for Requiem and to find out how this trilogy ends instead of a whole year I would have had. I had loved Lena in Delirium and I continued to love her in Pandemonium, both seeing her ‘then’, what happened after the end of Delirium and her time in the Wilds, and ‘now’, which was her time after the Wilds, disguised as a Cured, and trying to get to Julian, the DFA leader’s son, to bring him to the Resistance. I also grew a liking for Julian because of his raw life story and his real transition throughout Pandemonium. I need to read Requiem now! Pandemonium was a formidable middle book.

I also do see the reason why they decided to adapt this into a tv show, which I believe is a great choice for these books. The ‘then’ and ‘now’ gives the writers for the tv show a timeline to work with, and although there’ll be many changes, I’m excited to see what they bring to the original source. I’m always like that with adaptations.


Dec
05

“You think that because I want to do what’s right, because I want to make things better, I’m weak,” Claire said. “Or that I’m stupid. But I’m not. It takes a lot more strength to know how bad the world is and not want to be part of that, give in to it. And I do know, Kim. Believe me.” 

 

Title: Bite Club, Morganville Vampires #10
Author: Rachel Caine
Publication: May 2, 2011 by Razorbill (Penguin Australia)
Format, pages: Paperback, 448
Source: Publisher
My Rating: ★★★★★ 

Morganville, Texas is a quiet college town where humans and vampires live in relative peace. But lately a great deal of blood is being spilled – not in a feeding frenzy, but for someone’s twisted idea of entertainment. After discovering that vampires populate Morganville – and surviving a number of adventures with her new night-dwelling friends – college student Claire Danvers has come to realise that for the most part, the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. There’s a new extreme sport being broadcast over the Internet: bare-knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against one another – or, worse, against humans. Tracking the out-of-town signal leads Claire – accompanied by a loyal group of friends and frenemies – to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville. And if they want to survive, they’ll have to do a lot more than fight…

Goodreads || Book Depository

So we hit book ten in the series and we are given a change in the way the story is told now. Rachel Caine gives us every now and then first person from Shane’s perspective which does give the story and mostly the character of Shane more depth, characteristically and emotionally. And by seeing more of Shane’s feelings we also get a different side of the events in the story and an “internal look” of the bad things that are happening, not just from the third person of Claire’s with an “external perspective”. This addition to the series was definitely well-needed considering the direction it is going, and seeing more of the characters and their internal feelings will keep this series fresh for ever how many books after number fifteen there could well be. Rachel Caine once again keeps rolling out the big guns with fantastic story arcs/plots and character development. Bite Club is fantastic addition to the series and being number ten, there’s no point in stopping; you just have to keep going, keep being addicted to the story. And this takes me onto Last Breath.

***

Title: Last Breath, Morganville Vampires #11
Author: Rachel Caine
Publication: October 26, 2011 by Razorbill (Penguin Australia)
Format, pages: Paperback, 456
Source: Publisher
My Rating: ★★★★★ 

There is a question Claire has long been asking: why do vampires live so far out in a sunny desert when they’re sensitive to sunlight? The reason doesn’t have to do with sunlight but water – and an ancient enemy who has finally found a way to invade the vampires’ landlocked community. Vampires aren’t the top predator on earth. There’s something worse that preys on them …something much worse. Which means if Claire, and Morganville, want to live, they will have to fight on to the last breath.

Goodreads || Book Depository

I’m finally up-to-date with the series and to be completely honest, I. Will. Never. Get. Bored. Of. Reading. It….and reading about these characters. The more this series goes on, the more I feel I know the characters inside and out. In Bite Club we only saw Shane’s point-of-view beside Claire’s third-person perspective, but in Last Breath we get to see the views of Michael, Eve, Shane, and even Amelie…yes, Amelie. Reading from Amelie’s point-of-view really gave the reading experience another level as we discover the objectives of Morganville and why it was built in the middle of Texas in the first place. Morganville’s politics and overall structure is being threatened and changed with the return of Bishop (slightly), and the introduction of the new enemy—which are evidently even worse than Bishop—the draug (vampires of water nature) and their leader Magnus. And due to these fatalities and the destruction and invasion on Morganville, it is nice to know Amelie’s plans and thoughts on hers and the civilians’ circumstances. Rachel Caine never fails surprises. I am very sure you will be gasping for that—your—last breath as well.


Oct
31

“Someday, my young friend, you’ll find out that girls are actually people too. Just like you and me.”

Title: First Kill
(The Slayer Chronicles #1)
Author: Heather Brewer
Publication: September 20, 2011 by Penguin
Format, pages: Hardcover, 309.
My rating: ★★★½☆
More Info? Goodreads

You’ve heard Vlad’s side of the story . . . now, it’s Joss’s turn.

With over a million copies already in print, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod is still sinking its fangs into new readers every day. Now, bestselling author Heather Brewer brings us the other side of the story, from the perspective of Vlad’s former friend turned mortal enemy: vampire slayer Joss Macmillan. In five books that can be read alongside Vlad Tod or entirely on their own, Joss discovers his powers as the youngest, strongest slayer in history. And just in time, too: with all the vampires running rampant, he’s going to need all the help he can get. This action-packed series will quench the thirst of even the hungriest veteran minions.

Final Thoughts: First Kill was a great start to this spin-off series. Get ready to witness lots of killings, decapitations, and blood…and blood…and more blood. I was craving for more after the final book in the Vlad Tod series, but unfortunately I wasn’t as crash-hot about First Kill as I had hoped I’d be. Considering how well the Vlad Tod series turned out to be in the end, I have no doubt that the Slayer Chronicles will bask in that same glory and fate in future instalments.

Purchase from Book Depository.

Read More?


Jul
04
***If you have not read the first three in the series, I urge you to not continue reading, unless you’re stubborn.***

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine
(Morganville Vampires #4)
Published January 31, 2011 by Razorbill (Penguin Australia)
It was hard to imagine how Claire’s day could get any worse . . . And then the vampires holding her hostage wanted breakfast.


In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans have learnt to live in relative peace. Still, Claire Danvers knows that after dark, her homework can take a backseat to staying alive. But this tenuous harmony is turned on its head with the arrival of Mr Bishop.

Bad to the bone, the ancient old-school vampire cares nothing about keeping the peace; staying at the top of the food chain is enough. What he wants from the town’s living and dead is unthinkably sinister. It’s only at a formal ball attended by vampires and their human dates that Claire realises Bishop’s plan – and the elaborately evil trap he’s set for the warm-blooded souls of Morganville . . .

My rating:

★★★

★

The Morganville Vampires series from start to finish reads as one long novel. The end of one is the beginning of another. They have continuing plot arcs or a new plot arc just for the one book. And an integration of old and new characters. There is no valid reason why you should get bored reading it. I’m nearly halfway through the series currently and i feel like so much has happened already, wondering what else Rachel Caine can throw at us in the town of Morganville. It proves that there’s much more lurking underneath the surface and does require the twelve books it will have to show you. And I’m happy with that!
Feast of Fools begins with the introduction of Mr Bishop, an intimidating old vampire who claims to be Amelie’s father, along with a few new vampire characters that are even more deadly and possessive. They have returned to Morganville to makes agreements and amends with Amelie, spending most of the squabbling in the Glass House. But all is not what it seems as Mr Bishop has returned for more than just reuniting with his daughter. We also see Claire’s parents relocate to Morganville and takes residence in another Founder house like that of the Glass House, which does bring more pressure and stress unto Claire and her friends.
Particularly in this chapter of the Morganville Vampires series and possibly in the rest of it, I can see that age does not limit what you can or can’t do. Claire is only sixteen — or ‘nearly seventeen’ — and has quite a lot of problems, priorities, pressures and stresses thrust onto her. If I were her, I’d probably be in hospital with the flu or something worse because of the amount of stress I’d have gone through and weakening my immune system in the process. But this is Morganville and Claire has a lot of help, from both vampires and humans.
This book in terms of character advancements or dimensioning, was focused mainly on Eve’s family and her struggle to believe that she no longer owes them anything. Her family continues to have an influence over what she does and she wants to forget it. Whereas in previous books we learnt about Shane’s father and family. Each and every character continues to grow and this is what I enjoy immensely about Rachel Caine’s writing.
I have just started reading book five Lord of Misrule as I am desperate to know where this Morganville war is heading. And already, Claire is given a huge responsibility and order. Wonder how she’ll get through it this time.

Jun
04

Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3)

Author: Rachel Caine
AU Publisher: Razor Bill (Penguin)
^ Publication Date: January 4th 2011
R.R.P: AU$16.95
My Rating:

★★★★1/2

More Information: Goodreads
Claire Danvers’s college town may be run by vampires but a truce between the living and the dead made things relatively safe. For a while. Now people are turning up dead, a psycho is stalking her, and an ancient bloodsucker has proposed private mentoring. To what end, Claire will find out. And it’s giving night school a whole new meaning.

[-|~*^*~|-]

Rachel Caine never fails to deliver and this is the third book in the series. I wonder how the last three books in the series compare to these first three in which I have only read. I bet they will be a million times better simply because I say so and that’s what I predict. If I had continued to read the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and all the way to the latest book right now, I could hypothesise that the exposure from all currently released ten (?) books of the series would force my mother to send me to a psychiatric hospital just because of the endless amount of shocks and jolts given to me and for them making me emotionally unstable, and psychotic. Dear Rachel Caine. Please at least try to keep your readers stable until the very last book, wherein you then have permission to kill them if that is what you desire. Looks like I should take a little break from this series before I continue anymore just to regain the composure I once had.

What I love about The Morganville Vampires series is that Rachel Caine makes the whole series seem like just one big-ass novel because of how she immediately continues the next book from the one before it. And there is no repetition within the plot whatsoever because Rachel Caine is a master of plots. Like the two before it, Midnight Alley introduces us to a few new characters, and is full of endless twists and turns, surprises and mayhems, which intrigue you from the very beginning. An excellent addition to the series making me want to dig into the next book straight away. But I have persuaded myself by ‘other’ means to take control of this compulsion that you would end up having too if you read these books.

I guess this is not a review but more of a warning involving praise, wouldn’t you think? I guess so. Just go read these books :p.

First line/paragraph:

‘The instant the phone rang at the Glass House, Claire knew with a psychic flash that it had to be her mother.’


May
25

The Dead Girls’ Dance (The Morganville Vampires #2)

Author: Rachel Caine
AU Publisher: Razorbill (The Penguin Group)
^ AU Publication Date: January 4th 2011
R.R.P.: AU$16.95
My rating:

★★★★

More information: Goodreads
*Synopsis not given for caution of spoilers.*
In the second instalment of The Morganville Vampires, we return to Morganville to find hell break loose between the humans and the vampires. Glass Houses finished on a slight cliffhanger, but was immediately addressed within the first couple of chapters where we are introduced to Shane’s father.
The main quartet are thrown into a whirlwind of struggles and challenges which just doesn’t stop. Rachel Caine just keeps on pouring out surprises and it was a thrilling read. Her writing is once again easily readable and was very enjoyable. At first I was wondering where the title was going to fit into the plot, and then I read it and was surprised. It seemed to have been a bit early to put something like this in the series, but I guess it just introduces us and Clare to the things she must avoid to stay out of trouble.
First paragraph:
‘It didn’t happen, Claire told herself. It’s a bad dream, just another bad dream. You’ll wake up and it’ll be gone like fog…’
Favourite quotes/lines:

*To come*


May
23

Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires #1)

Author: Rachel Caine
AU Publisher: Razor Bill (Penguin)
^ Publication Date: January 4th 2011
R.R.P: AU$16.95
My Rating:

★★★★

More Information: Goodreads
It’s a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows – one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn’t have the right connections – to the undead who run the town.


When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Hew new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood…


~-^-~
I began this series under forceful circumstances. Rachel Caine was having an AU/NZ book tour for the latest in The Morganville Vampires series, Bite Club. Felicity from Penguin sent me nine books from the series therefore I was forced to read them. It felt like Christmas. So this was the perfect one-off opportunity to read this highly acclaimed series and meet its author. After reading this first of a lengthy series, I was most definitely not disappointed. This series alongside The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod has pulled the vampire lever in my brain from ‘hater’ to ‘liker’. With only one word you can guess what made me hate them initially. No relation should be made between that series and Rachel Caine’s books. Ever.
What I enjoyed the most was the world building. It was enjoyable and interesting to discover and learn about. It’s not just the dictatorial and territorial vampires that run the town, but also the role humans play in it too. One tip: you do not want to be outside at night. You’re just asking for two holes in your neck, and this doesn’t work wonders for your innocence and beauty. You are only protected, vampire or not, by the authorities if you have pleaded for Protection and in most cases you are refused unless you are special and/or can help in some way.
Each of the characters are memorable. None of the quartet, Claire, Eve, Shane & Michael, are vampires so this is a big thumbs up. I couldn’t have enjoyed this novel and now this series any other way. We are able to see the vulnerability that the humans have within this town through four characters that each have their own disturbing pasts and secrets. Each have different personalities so this is why it was so enjoyable to read about. And seeing through the eyes of Claire, we are able to slowly discover and learn about this town as she does.
There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the course of this novel to keep me suspended in my seat and my brain in AWOL mode. I can only suspect that there will many more to come in the rest of the series. This is a great start to a lengthy but thrilling series.
First paragraph:

“On the day Claire became a member of the Glass House, somebody stole her laundry.”

Favourite quotes/lines:

“‘Run first,’ Shane said. ‘Mourn later.’ It was the perfect motto for Morganville.”

“‘You’re kidding. I thought all geniuses read Latin. Isn’t that the international language for smart people?’”



Apr
21

I was planning to do individual written reviews for Tenth Grade Bleeds, Eleventh Grade Burns and Twelfth Grade Kills, but I didn’t want to give anything away because so much had surprised me in the end. I want to list so many great things about these last three in the series, but I just can’t.

Although I wasn’t amazed at the first, Eighth Grade Bites, by the end of Twelfth Grade Kills, I was simply loving everything about the series. Vlad was an exceptional protagonist. So here is a video reviewing the whole series:

Jan
14

Junior high really stinks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: His mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers and no one to teach him, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a strange substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he realizes he has a much bigger problem: He’s being hunted by a vampire killer who is closing in . . . fast!

To be sincerely honest…this book kind of fell flat for me. I do own the rest of this series, and Eighth Grade Bites being the first of it, gives me the opportunity to see where the second book leads in terms of execution. Heather Brewer had a really great concept but it was just poorly…umm…executed? The pacing was slow and although being 182 pages, seemed dragged out. The beginning was slow because the usual school stuff happened, and then at the end it picked up but to the point that everything felt rushed. I hope in the books preceding that all the W’s (questions) I had been asking when I was reading will be answered.

Vlad was awesome though. Likable and friendly what else would you want? An average teenager with the usual teenage problems of having bullies to deal with, homework which does not make any sense at all, curfews which suck, and well…girls. He also happens to be a vampire which changes everything into perspective. Who knew an eighth grader could have some of the most hysterical one-liners ever? Heather Brewer was successful at the humour and the way she made her vampires seem enjoyable to be around.

2/5 flasks

You’re not allowed in my YA CONCOCTION this time Vladimir Tod. Come again when you’re brushed up and older with a more developed life. Don’t let the vampires bite in the meantime. Oh wait, that’s you!

Title: Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod #1)
Author: Heather Brewer
Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books
Publication Date: 16/08/2007
Pages: Hardcover, 182.
Source: Bought




Jan
10
Only enjoyed it more than Twilight because of the introduction of the werewolves, but still nothing truly happened to make me want to read. The only aspect that made me finish it was Meyer’s writing and just skepticism in general. Oh yeah also the journey to the Volturi. I feel sorry for Jakob. He deserves so much more. Per reviewing customs here is the synopsis, and then nothing really else to say besides blank lines. A waste of 563 pages of ink and paper. However I’m not that heartless to not think of Stephenie Meyer’s efforts.

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES…

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning. . . .

Legions of readers entranced by the New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bella and Edward. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

LOL! That last paragraph: my freaking own ass is more passionate and full of suprising twists and turns than this book.


**COUGH, COUGH**
nice flower by the way.

★★

Title: New Moon (Twilight Saga #2)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: 21/08/2006
Pages: Paperback, 563.
Source: Bought