Halfway to the Grave ~ Review

Title: Halfway to the Grave

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publication Date: October 30, 2007

Pages: 358

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Adult

Rating: 5 stars

Summary: Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father - the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner - are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

Wow. I need Bones in my life ASAP. He's a dead ringer (hah!) for Spike off of BtVS, but just much more mmmmmmf. 

I read this in one night. Ill-advised when you're supposed to work the next morning, but really, it couldn't be helped. I was head over heels drawn into this book. Not only did I read this in one night, but I caught a few zzz's, went to work, and then read this book again. Pretty much right after finishing it. IT WAS THAT GOOD! 

Cat isn't a normal girl. Being half-dead does that to a person. Cat is easily one of my favorite heroines, despite some of the actions she takes. She's strong despite everything that she has gone through, and everything she faces within this novel. As for Bones, well, I think I made myself clear on that particular vampire.

I will admit that the supporting characters are not very, well, supporting. They're intentions, demeanor, they're lives seemed insignificant. Even recalling the bad guy in this is a little difficult. Probably because I was so wrapped in the dynamic that is Cat and Bones. Yet I'm still perfectly okay with this. Must've been a great dynamic. ;)

If you want something light, enjoyable, and totally addictive then I highly recommend Halfway to the Grave.

Firebug ~ Review

Title: Firebug

Author: Lish McBride

Publication Date: September 23, 2014

Pages: 368

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Supernatural

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: Ava can start fires with her mind . . . but is it a blessing or a curse? 

Ava is a firebug—she can start fires with her mind. Which would all be well and good if she weren't caught in a deadly contract with the Coterie, a magical mafia. She's one of their main hit men . . . and she doesn't like it one bit. Not least because her mother's death was ordered by Venus—who is now her boss. 

When Venus asks Ava to kill a family friend, Ava rebels. She knows very well that you can't say no to the Coterie and expect to get away with it, though, so she and her friends hit the road, trying desperately to think of a way out of the mess they find themselves in. Preferably keeping the murder to a minimum.

It took me a long time to look past the blurb and sit down to read this one. I'm not sure why the summary put me off, but I'm kicking myself now. Firebug is definitely more on the mature side of YA, so readers beware of sexual, language, and violent content!

Fortunately for me, I adore all of the above so Ava and her cohorts were amazing as well as soothing for my needs! 

In case it hasn't been said yet, Ava is badass. There are a few times that I was wishy-washy with her decisions, but ultimately she is a strong, awesome character that I just wanted to kick ass with. She has restored my faith that YA heroines can be flawless even with their flaws!

I also really enjoyed Ava's relationship with her teammates/ best friends, Lock and Ezra. Their dynamic was powerful and made me a bit envious sometimes. Like, why can't I have a crazy-sexy were-fox and protective, intense half-druid as my best friends. 

Put the three of them together with some on-the-run, start-a-rebellion quest and, people, you've got yourself a fantastic story! Seriously, this book was really refreshing paranormal book that was not all about L-O-V-E. A lot more focused on friendship and loyalty, and I loved that!

 Provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!

The Frenchman ~ Review

Title: The Frenchman
Author: Lesley Young

Publication Date: January 2015 (Originally: December 2, 2014)

Pages: 276

Genre: Romance, Crime, Adult Fiction

Rating: 3 stars

Summary: Fleur Smithers rarely veers off the straight and (excruciatingly) narrow. So moving to the seaport town of Toulon to live with her newfound biological mother—an inspector with the French National Police—for one year is a pretty major detour.  

Son of France’s crime royalty family and international rugby star, Louis Messette, is devoted to his sport, famille and nothing else. But the carefree American he meets one night changes everything. She sparks a desire in him like no other. Possession takes root. She will do as he commands.  

Bit by bit Fleur slips into the Frenchman’s realm of wanton pleasure agreeing to his one condition: that she keep their affair secret. She serves up her heart without reservation in the hub of the glittering Côte d’Azur, and the along the soulful Seine in Paris, unaware of the danger she is in. For her new lover’s family business will pit her against her mother, the police woman sworn to bring down the Messettes. And by then, far more than Fleur’s heart will be on the line. 

Louis (loo-e), I'm afraid to say, didn't capture my heart. He's arrogant, gruff, demeaning, and untrustworthy. I am not saying that he didn't have his moments. But for a good 90% of the book, my lips were curled in a grimace.

I have a feeling that this novel is supposed to take after 50 Shades of Grey, which I've yet had the pleasure of reading. (Sarcasm, my dears. The snippets I've read of 50 Shades makes me want to put it through an industrial shredder.) Let's take a look at the parallels, shall we? The MC is a virgin, the Love Interest is involved in something "bad" and the MC believes their fantasy that her love is good, no matter what discriminating evidence is thrown their way. Not a bad recipe for a book, tbh, but I feel like it could have been just a tad more original. And nicer. At least Christian Grey was polite. 

This novel's Mary Sue, or Fleur, wasn't terrible. In fact, I liked her quite a bit in the beginning. But once Louis' reputation became harder and harder to ignore, I lost a lot of respect for her. Even when Louis practically tells her that he's part of a crime family, she ignores it believing he's "innocent." Puh-lease.

Things do look up in the end when she finally accepts who Louis really is. You think, finally, she gets it. She's going to be stronger for it. She's gonna be ok. Sadly, this makes her act, in my opinion, a little crazy and she makes some, again in my opinion, stupid, stupid decisions.

There were some other elements going on that is mentioned in the summary. I wish that the book had a little bit more to do with Fleur's budding relationship with her mother. But honestly that whole part felt like a plot device for the author to exploit in regards to creating some sort of antagonism for Louis and Fleur. Pretty much every character was a plot device for them, now that I think about it. Le sigh.

I don't believe I will be continuing with the series. As I understand it, it won't be a continuing story of Louis and Fleur (though the book is left open to do so), but will introduce a new international couple. Might check out the blurb and see if it catches my attention.

Provided by the publisher via Roger Charlie for an honest review. Thank you!

Of Metal and Wishes ~ Review

Title: Of Metal and Wishes
Author: Sarah Fine

Publication Date: August 5, 2014

Pages: 320

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling

Rating: 5 stars

Summary: There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.
Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her … for a very long time.
As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her … and she might go down with it.

Have you ever just sighed in content while reading a book? That's what happened to me with this one. The language, the writing, ah, I got chills! It is beautiful. Truly gorgeous writing.

Plus it's a reimagined telling of The Phantom of the Opera. How does one simply resist?! While the Ghost isn't nearly as suave as my dear Phantom, he doesn't shy away from his "job." Especially when our MC practically double dog dares him to prove his existence.

I will admit that some of the scenes are grisly. Tastefully done, but still bloody. If Phantom had a warehouse full of meat hooks and dangerous machinery, I shudder to think of what would happen. Ghost was mild compared to the viscousness of Phantom. Even in the beginning, before we really know about Wen's Ghost, I felt that he was a lot more immature than Phantom, and I found the difference lacking. Don't get me wrong, I loved this story's Ghost! Once we learn more about him, he pulled at my heart strings. Just not as much as Phantom.

Now you cannot have a Phantom retelling without Raoul de Chagny. Wen's love triangle (if you can call it that. It's pretty much a given in this one.) involves a foreign red head called Melik. Red heads for the win! (Ayyy, talk about that pun. Go on, say it aloud. Get it? Knew you would, you're a smart cookie.)

Melik is not your typical love interest. For one, red hair. How often do we see a love interest that doesn't have brown or black hair?! My first crush had red hair, I loved my carrot top crush. If he were anything like Melik, I might have married him. Too bad we were in the 2nd grade…

Where was I? Oh yes. Melik. Not typical. Right.

Melik is also highly responsible, and is the unofficial leader of the Noors, the "barbaric" foreigners who come to work at the factory. Wen, the MC, falls for him gradually (thank goodness) and I love the development of their relationship. It's complex (different social classes), real (there are trust issues), and stunningly written. (Did I already mention the writing? I think I did.) The ending is what kills me though. --heart breaks--

Now I'm not saying that this is the kind of book that the relationship is the central thing and other elements like plot and all the other parts of people's lives fall by the wayside. Nooooo my friends, I will not steer you wrong. There are so many aspects to this book, and I think because we get to see so much of their lives outside of the romance, it made it all the sweeter for me.

It's not as often an occurrence that I get wrapped up in a book. So glad that I was able to get my hands on this one!!!!

Pretty Girl ~ Review

Title: Pretty Girl

Author: Amy Heugh

Publication Date: July 29, 2014

Pages: 393

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Trigger warning

Rating: 1 star

Summary: If there were one day that she could change it would be the day she was taken. 

After her parents’ divorce, seventeen-year-old Izzy Scott and her mother move to the old town of St. Augustine to begin a new life, a life beyond the media attention and the memories of the traumatic experiences that left an everlasting affect on their family. 
The former ballerina is trying to adjust to the outside world without suffering a panic attack and exposing who she is - all while getting through her senior year at a new school. That’s easy to say until she meets local boy Mason Winchester, a boy with a tragic past. 

Mason has a reputation for violence, but a love for motorcycles. At the age of eleven he lost his mother to cancer and from then he has been running from something, but could never really get away.  

Like any other angry teenager, he just wants to be left alone and to have nothing to do with anyone else because he believed that he had nothing to offer. That changes the moment he saw what was in the new girl eyes. 

Tragedy wasn't new to either of their lives but among the secrets and the memories the one thing they both never excepted was to find hope. 

Did you read that summary? That's the book. There it is, pretty much all of it. Do you notice the way that it's written? That's also how the book reads. I'm sure you're thinking "well, it can't be that bad." Oh how naive you are, my dear. 

Page after page of this nonsense drove me insane. If it weren't for my book resolution to not have one book end up on my DNF shelf this year, this book would be on it. In the span of two chapters I was completely bored, already knew what the big "mystery" was behind Izzy's scarred past, and found the thoughts of both our MC's to be completely unrealistic. 

After informing our coquettish waiter of my unwelcomed filamentous biomaterial...

And that's both the characters "voice." An unending stream of thought vomit with SAT words thrown in for funsies I guess. 

I can get over all the typos, past/present tense inconsistencies, and ridiculous word choices if the story is good. Unfortunately for this error-riddled book, I found it lacking in all aspects. There was a lot of telling, and not enough showing. There was also this really bad habit of bringing up an aspect of Izzy right before it affected the story and characters. Like really? Her brother, for instance, there is absolutely no mention of him for pretty much the first 70% of the story. I thought he was dead. No really, I though he died tragically. All of the sudden we find out that she talks to him every day. Excuse me? Oh wait, five pages later and he shows up for a surprise visit. Well that's super nice of him! It's also really convenient that we learned  more about him five pages ago.

I wish I had more positive things to say about Pretty Girl. The story is there, but it's deeply buried under a lot of other sub-plots (which do nothing for the story), unneeded commentary, and ridiculous characterization. I did put a trigger warning under genre as it does contain sexual abuse, violence, profanity and psycho-babble.

Endless Knight ~ Review

Title: Endless Knight

Author: Kresley Cole

Publication Date: October 1, 2013

Pages: 320

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Fantasy

Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary: Shocking secrets.

Evie has fully come into her powers as the Tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. She now knows that the teens who’ve been reincarnated as the Tarot are in the throes of an epic battle. It’s kill or be killed, and the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

Unexpected allies.  

With threats lurking around every corner, Evie is forced to trust her newfound alliance. Together they must fight not only other Arcana, but also Bagmen zombies, post-apocalyptic storms, and cannibals.
Gut-wrenching treachery.  

When Evie meets Death, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she’s drawn to the dangerous Endless Knight as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a history, one that Evie can’t remember—but Death can’t forget…

Oh man, oh man. How to even begin with this one… How Kresley Cole managed to pull this one off is just beyond me. A love triangle that I actually enjoy?! 

Better yet, a love triangle where I don't know who I want the MC to end up with?!

Aric, a.k.a Death, takes center stage in the second installment of the Arcana series, and I am over the moon in bliss. (well, you know, I was until I read the last page… Cliff-fricking-hanger!)

But then what about Jackson? Unfortunately, there is very little about ole Jack. I may be going through withdrawals. But there is one very important question that readers need to ask themselves before reading the next book, Dead of Winter. (due out in a few weeks, might I add!!!!)

Team Jack or Team Aric?

Ah yes, I knew I liked you for a reason wise, taco shell girl. There is just one small problem with this scenario.

We're in a YA fictional novel. Dammit.

So obviously that fantasy of mine will never come to light. -le sigh-

Welp, nothing like rereading until the next book comes out right? Right.

I must admit that I was a bit peeved at Jackson for the little time we did have with him. I mean, come on man, stop invading Evie's privacy!! Some thoughts should remain private! Evie recounted her entire story into Arthur's (The Hermit) recorder. Well guess who naturally snatched that up and listened to it. Yup, Jack. Do you remember everything that Evie said about Jackson? Well, I didn't. So naturally I reread the first book and whoaaa, buddy! There are quite a few things that Evie should really be mortified over.

Pair that with the shocking revelations about Jack (which come from Death! Whaaat?!) and there is a fine heated argument due for the tarot-crossed lovers. Unfortunately, I doubt that this exchange will ever take place thanks to the cliffhanger Kresley leaves us with. (Thanks for that btw. -pouts-)

I wish I could have a much more coherent thought process about Endless Knight. I feel like I am all over the place. But that's how I am feeling!

P.S. Kresley Cole, this is probably not an important literary question about Endless Knight, but it is so very important that it's answered in some way. If Evie smells like honeysuckle when she's turned on with Jack, then how does she smell to Aric?
I NEED TO KNOW THIS! Thaaaanks. :)

The Fifth Vertex ~ Review

Title: The Fifth Vertex
Author: Kevin Hoffman

Publication Date: August 2, 2014

Pages: 290

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Rating: 3.5 stars

Summary: Urus Noellor--a boy born deaf who is about to be publicly branded as a burden, incapable of being the warrior his people demand--stands upon a rooftop, poised to throw himself over the edge. His failed attempt at suicide unlocks within him a long-dormant form of magic thought to have died out thousands of years before, a power that may be the key to saving the world from an equally ancient enemy. 
Urus and his companions--Goodwyn, the greatest warrior in Kest, and Cailix, a mysterious orphan--must find a way to stop a powerful group of sorcerers from destroying the five long-hidden vertices that ward the world against threats from beyond, while fighting off threats from within. They soon learn that the scope of the coming danger may be more dire than any of them could have imagined. As the battle for the vertices spreads to the neighboring realms, Goodwyn must face the realities of war and death; Cailix discovers a devastating truth that could change everything; and Urus discovers his uncanny gifts and courage as he peels away clues to his true identity. But even as Urus gains the power he has always craved, he experiences it all in profound, lonely silence.

First off, this cover. Wow. I'm sorry, but if I saw this in a book store, there is no way I'd pick it up. And that sucks, you know, to be judging books by their cover. But it is a very real, very sad truth that authors and illustrators and whoever else need to come to grips with. I really hope that this isn't the final artwork for this.

Moving on though, I really enjoyed this book! There were a variety of fantastically diverse characters that I loved!!! Our main character, Urus is deaf. His best friend, Goodwyn is gay (although we don't see a lot of this in the book, just snatches here and there. But one part of this relationship is shown wonderfully and I was very smiley throughout it.) I felt the stirrings of love between two of the main characters but there is no insta-love, and in reality the story only shows that the two are beginning to care for each other. It doesn't delve into the romantic tension/omg he touched me/omg she smells like strawberries ridiculousness found in YA nowadays. So thank you for that! Show me real characters, and real emotions, and fricking a healthy growth into a relationship. (I mean as healthy as it can be with Cailix, granted.)
While the world building was incredibly complex (maybe a little too complex), I still think it was strong. Definitely have to pay attention however, as this does jump between characters and each are in an exotic setting.

Now there were some disappointments with this book, I won't lie. Throughout this whole story, it's gearing towards this huge climax of two forces battling out to save the world. We're talking epic-sized proportions in regards to this battle. Yeaaaa, that didn't really happen like I thought it would. There was so much build up to this moment that I thought it would be huge. It's all the characters would speak about. Yet, it felt like a big flop to me. Does anyone know of a fantasy that has GREAT battle scenes? Because that would be awesome to read.
It also took me forever to get to this not-so-awesome battle scene. I'm sure this is just me, but the writing didn't suck me in. I wasn't drawn to it. Those times when I had to put the book down (you know to walk my dogs or make some food, what have you), it wasn't like I just HAD to come back and read this. I wasn't dying to know what happens next. This despite having some really great characters!

So in actuality, the only thing this book really has going for it is wonderful characters. The rest, welll, not my cup of tea unfortunately.

 Provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!