artsy musings of a bibliophile

review

Review: Intuition by J. Meyers

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Title: Intuition
Author: J. Meyers
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Publisher: J. Meyers
Release Date: 17 October 2011
Pages: 18 (eBook)

Synopsis
Intuition: A Bonus INTANGIBLE Short Story 
Luke and his twin sister Sera have unusual abilities. Hers is a gift—she can heal with a touch of her hand. His is a curse—he can see the future but he can’t do anything about it. 
On a hike up the mountain, Luke has a vision unlike any other—one that leaves him terrified. Knowing that it will come true—and that he must do everything in his power to stop it—leaves his own future uncertain. 

My Rating
* * * *
The Review
Intuition is a prequel novella to Intangible and it’s very short. The synopsis of Intangible had me intrigued and when I discovered that it has a free prequel, I was all for it!
I am glad I read Intuition, the whole concept seems very different from the usual paranormal young adult books out there and the covers are pretty, too. Intuition started off with Luke feeling the impending doom and urging the feeling to take over him. He can see the future. He and Sera, his twin sister, then start out for their traditional hike to Mt. Mansfield where Luke has two visions. The first takes some healing from Sera while, the second vision terrifies Luke. 
Who was the person Luke saw in his vision? And why doesn’t he want to tell Sera about it, yet? This is what Intangible would answer and I am hoping, it would be with a dash of some action!
Best Quote:

“It felt so big up here. Earth. The world. But it didn’t make Luke feel small—he felt as if he were a part of it all. Connected. Necessary.”

Review: Oppression by Jessica Therrien Blog Tour + Giveaway

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ABOUT THE BOOK
Oppression by Jessica Therrien
young adult fantasy published by ZOVA on 28 February 2012 

first book in the Children of the Gods series


Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She’s been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she’s closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal.
For Elyse, these things don’t make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she’s been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability.
Or so she thinks.
Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her.
Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable–except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to centuries of traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning–and she’s not entirely willing to play by their rules.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW

Once in a while you get to read a book that completely and utterly takes your breath away. Oppression was that kind of a book for me. It is just perfect the way it is and I never expected it to be so good. I am so glad I got to read it! Elyse and William, the protagonists, go through such character development that it is astounding to see them grow to adjust in a flow.
Elyse is such a beautiful name for the heroine (although, I read in an interview of the author that at first, it was supposed to be Ruth which, in my opinion, is equally beautiful). Whereas, William is the kind of a guy who has a perfect combination of everything from emotions to the take on life. I love it when the characters offer an aura of mystery and depth to the reader. I could actually feel why Elyse did what she does and why William thought like he did. The rest of the characters gave a little to the story as well and build it up so well that it felt good to read about them all. I actually am in anticipation of how things will go for the Descendants from now.

The prophecy and the oppression that has been a part of life for the likes of her makes things dangerous for Elyse, William and the others. But is Elyse willing to play by their rules? Think again because she’s one hell of a tough girl when she wants to be. I never liked a female protagonist more than I like Elyse. William is charming and a perfect hero to read about. I liked reading about the scenes involving the persuasion.

I took Mythology a year back but reading Oppression made me fall in love with it all over again and seeing what Jessica Therrien did with it is just awe-inspiring. I never could stop reading and well, I finished the latter half in a single sitting! Each of the powers are so creatively thought up from their respective ancestors that it is very enjoyable to read about them.
Oppression is a beautiful start to an awesome series and it offers so much potential to grow in a universe of its own. The ending is just perfect and is a complete story as far as the first book goes. Jessica Therrien created a universe that I would love to read about. A new favorite of mine, and one of the bests 2012 has to offer, I highly recommend Oppression to fans of young adult fantasy.

THE QUOTES

‘The oracle can see all things that will be, but only the things that will cause profound change stay in the forefront of her mind, things that will change the course of the future. It’s a hard job, knowing what will happen. When things don’t play out the way they should, do you watch the sequence of unfavorable events unfold or do you step in and try and change the tide?’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Therrien is the author of Oppression, book one in her YA paranormal romance/adventure series, Children of the Gods. Oppression was published by ZOVA Books in February of 2012.

Jessica is a graduate of San Diego State University. She lived in Taiwan for a year where she learned Chinese, but she lives in Chula Vista now, where everyone speaks Spanish instead. Although she spends most days in a cubicle at her day job, her alter ego is a writer, who loves the arts with a passion.

Jessica is currently writing book two in her Children of the Gods series.

Jessica Therrien can be found at
Buy Oppression (Children of the Gods, #1)
| Amazon | B&N | Book Depository |

Click the image for the blog tour schedule.

THE GIVEAWAY
Enter here! It is international.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Jessica Therrien for providing me a copy of Oppression for review.

Review: My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

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Title: My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers, #1)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: 1 August 2009
Pages: 279 (eBook)


Synopsis
She doesn’t see dead people, but she senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally. 
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next…

My Rating
* * * 
The Review
Right after reading My Soul to Lose, the prequel to the Soul Screamers series, the personality of Kaylee Cavanaugh prepared me for kind of series I was getting into. So I expected the first book to be a slightly clichéd but an overall refreshing series. However, I do have few issues with how the story progressed. 
First off, there is a slight mention of Kaylee’s fellow high school footballer in the prequel. Apparently, Kaylee’s social circle is next to non-existent and Nash is the incrowd. Why am I not surprised? Moreover, he develops a rather sudden interest in Kaylee because of what she is. I am not liking this at all now. 
So that’s where it is made clear that Kaylee, unbeknownst to herself, is beautiful and even though Nash is somewhat of a womanizer, he’s totally into her. Therefore, there is a lot of sexual tension between them all the time. And that would have been totally fine, if not for the looming factor that they both belong to the same species and so, everything is intensified for them including the sexual tension…well, maybe.
Moving onto Nash Hudson, I liked him, he didn’t act like a jerk, got jealous at the right moments and isn’t in lieu of anything bad actually. Plus, he was all over Kaylee when she needed him to help her. In short, there was nothing much unlikable about him and he seems like the perfect guy for Kaylee. I liked his take on things as well, even though he seemed to be (slightly creepy) calm than other people in stressful situations. But that could totally be because of the Influence.
The character of Tod however, has more of that perpetual scowling and frowning going on. He seems to have more depth than Nash at certain moments in the book but he is really just more prone to sulkiness than Nash. I can’t really say much about him but, I would say this that he is a lost soul and still trying to find his place in the world despite his status as a grim reaper.
Even though the characters had depth and there was apparent growth as the story progressed, there were some things I couldn’t quite get acquainted to. Like the whole system isn’t much organized even though they are talking about death which should be much more than it is shown to be in the book. It was also somewhat distracting to read the book knowing that Emma, the BFF, was grounded for more than half of it and so couldn’t talk to Kaylee when she was busy adjusting to the fact that she’s not human. What kind of grounded is that, anyway?
On a side note, thank the Lord that bean sidhes do age, by the way, however slow that process might be. Moving on, there was a lot of fresh dialogue and witty thoughts from Kaylee going on. The book also had its serious parts as well, so much that I found it emotional towards the end. I will be continuing the series and I hope it gets better as it has potential to be so.
Best Quote:

“The problem with getting everything you want in life is that you’re not prepared for disappointment when it comes.”

Review: Always You by Shilpa Mudiganti

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Title: Always You
Author: Shilpa Mudiganti
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: InkSpell
Release Date: 6 March 2012
Pages: 112 (eARC)


Synopsis
Lyla had to move on. With Nick, her fiancé. So, what if she cannot seem to either forget or forgive Alex, the modern day Casanova who broke her heart. She will try again. Just as she had done for the last 5 years.

What Lyla did not know was all that Alex wanted in those five years was her. Because the Casanova had fallen in love. Five years back, when Alex met a grieving Lyla at his friend Andrew’s grave, the world had blurred in the background. He fell deeply in love. Yet, Alex was harboring a secret that, if known, would destroy his relationship with Lyla and it did.
But now, fate brought them together in such a way that they had no option but to remain dangerously close – dangerous enough for Lyla to fall in love with him again. How can she?, she argues. Not after what she knows about Alex? What he did to Andrew?

It is true Alex seemed different. Changed. And attractive enough to defeat her defense against their dark past. But is it enough? What will happen when two broken people with a past come together? Can they forgive or heal?
My Rating
* * * 
The Review

Always You is a short entertaining read and I finished it in a few hours. What attracted me to Always You is the awesome cover with Eiffel Tower in the background which I just love! Moreover, the cover fits the story perfectly which I think is an important thing for any book.
From the beginning of Always You, it dives into the heart of the matter. Lyla has been hurt and deceived by Alex five years ago, but she still is unable to move on despite being engaged to another. She has decided to move back to Spain after her current project. But little did she know that she was to meet Alex again and what it would do to her. She wanted her last project to be memorable and boy, was it! Needless to say, she still has feelings for Alex as do Alex himself. But stubborn as she is, Lyla chooses to ignore those.
I fell in love with the character of Alex because he had so much to offer to the reader! Sensitive and down to earth, Alexander Knight is a character who is hot and caring at the same time. A Casanova for sure!
From then on, as Alex her boss and a business trip to New York and Paris on the schedule, it is a whirlwind ride into the world of second chances and how much damage can misunderstandings initiate. I really loved how the author has managed to integrate the whole concept by writing such a thought-provoking story.
I really enjoyed Always You and it is a really good debut by Shilpa Mudiganti. I will surely be looking forward to more books by the author!

Best Quote:
“She hated him more than anything else. But why couldn’t she find anyone who could replace him? As night fell over her window, she wondered if she really had tried or was it that she didn’t want to forgive and forget.”

Procrastination Much?

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Hey all!
I have been so busy with school work and classes and everything that I haven’t had time to update on my blog. Where do the days go? Is procrastination involved? You bet! Plus, I am so behind on my 2012 reading challenge that it is shameful. But ironic as well, because reading really helps me alleviate stress!
But, I am back now and will be blogging regularly again. First up, I signed up for a blog tour of Always You by Shilpa Mudiganti. I will be doing a review and an author interview (my first, I am so excited!) on 27 February 2012. Everyone, stay tuned for that!
This is one of the many forms of procrastinations that I have gone through the past month:
All I can say is, wish me luck!
Sana