Awaken by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast, book 8

Book Description

Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…

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?

In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?

Summary

The book starts of where it ended in the last book with Stark and Zoey on the Isle of Skye and the return of Kalona to Neferet. Zoey and Skye use their time on the Isle to recover from the Otherworld and explore their relationship but are soon called back to Tulsa after a tragedy.

Review

What can I say except I think this series is brilliant. Every book has new developments that are heart rendering and perfectly integrated so that I’m never disappointed in the way the story moves. All the characters engage my interest with character development and engaging personalities. The plot-lines are complex and multi-layered with seamless connections between books and complications, in one single long running story. The ability of P.C. and Kristin Cast to be able to do this for such a long running series shows, what I believe to be, an impressive display of writing skill. It’s hard to keep every reader satisfied, especially with longer running series, since people expect and enjoy different things from the books they read. They also become more invested in the storyline. However, I was surprised at the amount of lower rated reviews when I looked to see what the general reaction to the book was but I guess this had something to do with it. 

Awaken had a lot of new turning points in the storyline. Some were expected but well executed and others were a complete surprise to me (in particular the ending). I don’t think this book was as good as the last few and considering how emotional Burned was, I’m not surprised. I think almost anything would be diminished in comparison to the emotion stirred in the last one (if I remember correctly, I had the tissue box close by). However, Awaken showed that this series won’t slow down any time soon.

Stevie Rae had some major developments and I’m a lot less worried about her character now. The tempo of the book was a bit different from previous books. For example, there was less group co-operation between Zoey and her friends but it makes sense with the storyline progression. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about the book, except it seemed a little slower than previous books. I think this had something to do with the lack of action in this book. However, I definitely wouldn’t call the book ‘slow’. I loved seeing the new relationship developments after the ending of Burned for Zoey and Stark and I loved the developments with Stevie Rae. There were instances where the developments were not happy but I love how P.C. and Kirstin Cast are willing to have sadder endings for the characters. Her books show that life is not always completely happy but when one door closes another opens. It also shows that when certain things happen it doesn’t mean the end of all happiness. In general, I think the life lessons used in the books are really appropriate for teenagers.

For parents: There are a few references to sex and making love in this book but no graphic descriptions.

My rating out of 5:

4/5

Afterlight - Elle Jasper

Book Description

Savannah's most unconventional tattoo artist, Riley Poe, lives on the edge. Now she's put over the edge when her younger brother is taken by a sinister cult led by vampires. Her only ally is the hot-tempered vampire Eli Dupre, attracted to Riley's beauty and rare blood type. To save her brother from certain un-death, Riley faces dangers she's never dreamed of, ruthless bloodthirsty enemies, and an evil of endless hunger that wants to devour it all...

Summary

Riley Poe, a tattoo artist and a former wild child, is a mortal with blood that irresistible to vampires. Riley’s brother begins to turn into a vampire after releasing two powerful and long entombed vampires. To save her brother Riley joins up with the Dupre vampire family to destroy the evil vampires before her brother finishes his transformation.

Review

I really enjoyed Afterlight. I was initially attracted to the cover but was unsure on how good the story would be. I soon realized that this was going to be a great series.

The characters are engaging, the storyline is interesting and the romance is full of sexual tension and denied chemistry. Each character has a distinct personality. For example, there is Giles, the head of the Dupre family. He is upfront and doesn't beat around the bush, but he is a loving father and husband. His wife, Elise, seems delicate and too caring to hurt anyone but can fight and defend her family with the best of them. Then there are the Dupre brothers, Seraphin, Jean-Luc and Eligius (also called Phin, Luc and Eli). Luc and Phin are two peas in a pod but Luc is a bit vain in an adorable way, while Phin is a lot more laid back. Eli, Riley's love interest, is really protective of Riley, has a good sense of humor and can be a bit of a badass. The youngest Dupre, Josephine (Josie) is a two hundred plus year old vampire trapped in the body of a fourteen-year-old. She acts like a modern teenager with a healthy dose of mischief and a carefree attitude. Victorian, one of the escaped vampires, becomes obsessed with Riley and shows that even characters cast in the villain role can be intriguing. Finally Riley is really caring and protective but also resilient, determined and tough. 

In general, there are a lot of similarities to the Twilight series but it is still a unique story. Elle created a world that was vivid and detailed with character history and context creation. The romance was a little predictable but still really enjoyable.

My rating out of 5

4/5 

Review: Shannon Delany - 13 to life - book 1

Shannon Delany - 13 to life - book 1

Book Description

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…

Summary

When a new student comes to Junction High, the mysterious Russian-American turns Jessica's world completely around. At first Jessica can’t stand Pietr, but as she gets to know him she can’t deny the attraction between them. Soon she is drawn into his world and her belief that she has been through the worst she could imagine, when her mother died is tested.

Review

Jessica Gillmansen is now one of my favourite protagonists. She is fun loving, caring, funny, altruistic, brave, hardworking and smart. Her only downfall from being a great role model is her propensity to lie a lot, even though she usually means well. I also loved how Jessica didn't instantly fall for the love interest Pietr. She only started to when she found out more about him. This was a refreshing change from some of the books I've been reading lately. 

The story was fascinating. The twists and turns were making me dizzy but it was so interesting I couldn’t stop for a rest. As we progress through we find out more and more about the characters as they reveal their secrets and history. Some revelations are easy to anticipate while others left me gob smacked. The only negative aspect I can comment on is the relatively slow way the plot progresses.

One other aspect I didn’t particularly like was the two guys (Derek and Pietr) that Jess liked. Both had (in my opinion) annoying traits that stopped me from getting attached to them. Derek was a classic ‘jock’ character who, after saying he liked Jess, quickly moved onto kissing and dating another girl (for Jessica's sake, of course). Pietr was not as bad but he was very self pitying and after being (fairly easily) pushed into a relationship with Jess’s best friend (by Jess...long story), he later seemed to be quite happy to keep dating her (and later kissing her), while maintaining that Jess was the one he wanted. 

There were quite a few questions that were left unanswered at the end of the book but there was no real cliff-hanger instead it just ended quite suddenly. However, once I reached the ending I didn’t feel really anxious to read the next book as I suspected I would be. I will be reading it when it comes out though.

My rating out of 5

4/5