BORN OF ILLUSION by Teri Brown

Born of Illusion
Teri Brown

Rating: B+
Release Date: 06/11/13
Synopsis:
Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?

My thoughts on the book:
Born of Illusion is a unique addition to both the historical fiction and paranormal genres. Brown explores one of my favorite time periods, the roaring 20's, in this intriguing novel. Along with the fantastic setting, the world-building is pretty well done and the characterization is top notch. The pacing is a bit slow to start, but things quickly pick up. The mystery is complex, and while I saw a lot of things coming, there were also a few surprises. The relationships are natural and evolve organically throughout the course of the novel, and the secondary characters are filled with personality. Born of Illusion is a terrific, fun, and touching summer read. 

Anna is a complex, flawed, but sympathetic character. I really enjoyed learning about her life and all of her gifts. She is likable and easy to relate to in some ways, but extremely complicated in others. She's a good narrator, even if it is hard to trust her take on things. I think the fact that Anna isn't completely trustworthy adds some friction to the narrative, which  makes the story more interesting. Marguerite, Anna's mother, is a character in every sense of the word. She's extremely interesting, and her relationship with Anna, while strained, is touching. The dynamic between them is something you don't see every day, that's for sure. I absolutely adored Cole (one of the love interests). On the surface, he seems a bit dull, but he is full of surprises. He, in my opinion, is a welcome change from the typical angsty, snarky YA male leads. Owen, on the other hand, irritated me. He's supposed to be fun, but to me he was just annoying. Jacques and Mr. Darby are interesting secondary characters, and extremely well-developed. I felt as if I knew them almost as well as the main characters, which is something that is sorely lacking in most literature. 

My only real complaint about the book is that sometimes I forgot the setting and pictured it occurring in modern times. While Brown does a good job painting the setting, I think more reminders needed to be inserted to keep the reader's focus on the 1920's instead of present-day. At least, in my mind, that needed to occur. I automatically revert to "normal times" for me when I get engrossed in a novel, unless the setting is constantly shoved in my face. That being said, when Brown does talk about 1920's New York, I can fully picture it. Also, the world-building is done pretty well. I felt like some of it was revealed too slowly, but that's probably just because I'm impatient. Anna has a pretty good grasp on what's going on, considering she doesn't have anyone to talk to about what's happening to her. 

The relationships between the characters are extremely natural and happen organically. I never felt that Brown forced anything. Also, the relationships are all complex. Furthermore, there is no insta-love, for a change. Anna's relationship with her mother is complicated and touching. It really illustrates the depth of the mother-daughter bond. 

The pacing starts out a bit slow with world-building and setting establishment, but as soon as it picks up, the story is extremely engrossing. I didn't know exactly where Brown was going with the plot, and the book definitely held my interest. I had the "bad guys" figured out by about 2/3 of the way through, but I didn't know exactly what they were going to do or why. Because of that, I kept reading, and I'm glad I did. The ending is satisfying, but leaves room for a sequel, which I am looking forward to. 

Overall, I'd recommend this for anyone who is looking for a unique, fun, and touching summer read. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can't wait for the sequel!

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CRASH INTO YOU by Katie McGarry Cover Reveal!!

As you guys probably know by now, I LOVE Katie McGarry's work. She is my absolute favorite contemporary author, so I am super excited to share this cover with you!

Crash Into You
By: Katie McGarry
Release Date: 11/26/13
Synopsis:
From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other. 

Okay, this cover and the synopsis are H-O-T! I can't wait until November!!!

ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE by Kate Karyus Quinn

Another Little Piece
Kate Karyus Quinn

Rating: B+
Release Date: 06/11/13
Synopsis:
The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

My thoughts on the book:
I went into Another Little Piece thinking that it'd be a mystery more than a horror story... I was mistaken. This book seriously creeped me out! It was well-written, and the character-development and world-building were unbelievably good, but it was creepy. If you don't like scary books, I'd say stay away from this one. For the rest of you, if you're looking for something unique and intriguing, then this is definitely the book for you. 

Annaliese is an extremely complex and flawed character. I was able to achieve a willing suspension of disbelief, so I bought who she was, but I couldn't really relate to her. Even though this book was narrated first person, I couldn't connect to Annaliese enough to feel like I was living vicariously through her. Also, the more I learned about her, the less I liked her and sympathized with her. That being said, I had to know what happened to her, so she was an interesting character, at least. I liked Dex quite a bit, but like Annaliese, he was not how he seemed at first. The rest of the characters were also believable and well-developed. 

The plot was unique, mysterious, and captivating. The pacing was pretty spot-on. Quinn kept the bits of information pretty evenly spaced through Annaliese's memories, though I felt like things were revealed a little slowly at times. While that maintained the mystery, it also made me want to "cheat" and skip ahead to see what was going on. The character relationships, in my opinion, were a bit under-developed, but the novel held my interest. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good horror/mystery story with a supernatural twist. This will surely be one of the most popular horror novels of the summer. 

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DARK CHILD by Adina West

Dark Child
Adina West

Rating: D
Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, this intriguing urban fantasy follows the story of Kat Chanter, who discovers that the world she knows is controlled by ancient creatures who feed on blood. And she might just be one of them ...

Lately things have been getting weird for pathology technician Kat Chanter. She’s been craving raw meat, and having dreams so realistic they’re scary. When she accepts a job offer from the prestigious Hema Castus Research Institute, she hopes she’ll have the chance to discover what’s wrong with her, but instead, her move to New York thrusts her headlong into a treacherous hidden world, where the wrong move could be fatal . . .

Tarot, witchcraft and astrology all take on a frightening resonance in Dark Child's richly imagined alternative reality where vampiric beings live among us, hidden by magic. Dark romance tangles with paranormal fantasy and page-turning suspense in this enthralling tale of ‘dark child’ Kat Chanter, half-human and half-vampire, who has woken an ancient prophecy and must face a formidable destiny.

My thoughts on the book:
Dark Child: The Omnibus Edition is a collection of the four small installments that make up this series. While the concept is unique and intriguing, and the pacing is pretty spot on, this novel lacks in character and relationship development. Also, the writing is lackluster at best, and the plot is scattered and illogical at times. I didn't have the highest hopes for this book, but I thought it would be better than it was. 

The character development was non-existent, as was the relationship growth. I still don't feel like I got to know Kat at all, and she was supposedly the main character. Likewise, the romantic interest, Alek, also remained a mystery, as did their relationship. I didn't care what happened with them because I didn't feel like I knew them. Also, the whole attraction thing seemed like a waste of time. Then there was Amarok, and I'm not sure what he had to do with anything either. The only thing I know is that he somehow had even LESS of a personality than Kat and Alek. The characters clumsily navigated their spaces, but they were just a series of actions. The characters personalities and physical characteristics were lacking to the point that I couldn't even picture them in my mind. So much more could have been done with these characters to make them believable and at least somewhat easy to relate to. 

The narration style is third person limited at times and third person omniscient at others. Unlike Jane Austen who used free indirect discourse and switched seamlessly through the characters' consciousnesses, West clumsily navigates the narrative, leaving the reader unsure of who they are supposed to be following at the time. Furthermore, West uses many British/Australian English colloquialisms, yet the book is set in West Virginia and New York for the majority of the story. I could not obtain a willing suspension of disbelief due to the fact that these colloquialisms caused me to think, "this can't be set in America with an American citizen as the main character." Additionally, some of the phrases, such as "pot plant" instead of "potted plant" left me thinking that people were growing illegal drugs in corporate offices. All of this detracted from the story. 

The plot itself was scattered, and I'm not entirely sure that West actually knew where she was going with this book. It was clear early on that the story had not been outlined in the slightest, and the world-building was completely lacking. West tried her best to explain things, but her explanations were not clear, concise, or believable. The pacing was all right, but the ending was awful. Instead of having a satisfying conclusion for the series, the story just stopped. Nothing much was really resolved, and I felt like the point at which the narrative stopped should have been in the middle of the book, not the end. Obviously this ending irritated me, and at that point (after wasting 3 days reading this novel), I decided that I will not read anything else by this author. 

Overall, I'd say steer clear of this book. While I read the entire thing because the concept intrigued me, and I kept hoping things would actually develop and make sense, the ending left me feeling as if I wasted way too much time on a book that has no development or conclusion. Unfortunately, this is a book that needs to be missed. The only reason I gave it a D rating instead of an F is because it somehow managed to hold my interest until the end. 

A KISS OF BLOOD by Pamela Palmer

A Kiss of Blood
Pamela Palmer

Rating: B
Release Date: 06/25/13
Synopsis:
ONLY ONE WOMAN CAN SAVE VAMP CITY 

One of the few humans who managed to escape the deadly twilight world of Vamp City, Quinn Lennox vows to never return. But the vampires want her back, for only she has the power to renew the magic of their crumbling world--and free the vampires trapped within. 

When the handsome, dangerous, and all too seductive Arturo Mazza comes for her, Quinn knows she can never trust him after the betrayal she suffered at his hands. But with her beloved brother's fate hanging in the balance, and her own power beginning to emerge, she chooses to risk all on yet another perilous journey back to Vamp City. And though she tries to deny it, her heart begins to hold hope that even a ruthless vampire can learn the meaning of true love….

My thoughts on the book:
I have been not-so-patiently awaiting the release of A Kiss of Blood since the end of A Blood Seduction, and in many ways it did not disappoint. However, there were some things, mostly to do with the writing style (they may not be present in the finished copy), that made me rate this novel a B instead of an A. The storyline itself is interesting, and the characters grow at a natural and believable pace. Also, this book is action-packed and full of suspense. I could not put it down. 

Quinn changes quite a bit throughout the novel, and while she's stubborn, she isn't so rigid that she can't change her ways of thinking. I think that being in Vamp City this time is really opening up her mind to a lot of things, and I can't wait to see what she decides to do in the end. Arturo is another character who changes quite a bit in this installment, and I love him even more than I did in the last book. He's turning into a really fantastic and complex character. I can't wait to see more of him. The new additions, such as Micah and Amanda, are intriguing and well-developed. I hope we get to know them better in the next book. 

The plot is intense, and there is a sense of urgency throughout this novel that doesn't end with the cliffhanger ending. I hate cliffhangers, so I'm a little irritated right now. Regardless, I'm counting the days until the next release (even though a date hasn't been set yet, haha). The pacing is spot-on, and I didn't get bored at all during the parts that focused on Quinn. The narration is third person limited, and the changing POVs irritated me a bit because I don't really give a big crap about Lily. I know that she's an important part of the story, but I just didn't care what was happening with her. I get why we had to know what was going on with her, but it still bored me. I wish there had been another way for the readers to find out why she couldn't be found. Also, I don't understand why things randomly switched to Arturo's perspective. I enjoyed seeing how his mind worked, but I really don't understand why it happened. I felt like that was telling more than showing. For the most part the book focused on Quinn, though, so the changing perspectives were nothing more than a small annoyance for me. 

The thing that annoyed me the most was Palmer's overuse of the word "male." Sometimes the qualifying noun didn't even need to be written. It seemed like every sentence had the word "male" in it at least once. That annoyed and distracted me. "Man" would have worked interchangeably with "male," and about 90% of the time, no qualifier was even needed. This was my biggest pet peeve with this novel. I hope that most of those "male"s are eliminated before the book is released. 

Overall I'd recommend this book and this series to anyone who is looking for a unique and intriguing Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. This is a dark series, so if you're squeamish, you may not want to give it a try. Otherwise, pick up the first installment at your local library or book store and read it. You won't be sorry. If you're like me and already a fan of the series, then you will more than likely love this book! It has all the good aspects from A Blood Seduction and more! This is one book and series that cannot be missed.

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RUSH by Eve Silver

Rush
Eve Silver

Rating: A-
Release Date: 06/11/13
Synopsis:
So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?

When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.

My thoughts on the book:
Rush is a unique and exhilarating read that you won't want to miss. While the world-building is a bit lacking, it is more than made up for by intriguing and easy-to-relate-to characters, a suspenseful plot, and a creative and one-of-a-kind concept. This book was a little slow to start, but I was soon sucked into the world Silver created and couldn't put the book down. I absolutely cannot wait until the sequel. 

Miki was a pretty good heroine, and she definitely had her own, well-developed personality. However, she got on my nerves with her obsessive questions and attempt to control everything constantly. Overall, it wasn't too bad, and most of the time I wanted the answers, too, but sometimes, I just wanted to smack her. I, personally liked Jackson quite a bit. He was a bit different than most YA heroes, and I like that he wasn't super angsty, even though he was damaged. He did some crappy things, and he was extremely evasive, but I understood why after I found out what he was hiding. Luca was okay, but since I was seeing him through Miki's eyes, he wasn't anything to write home about. Carly, Miki's best friend, was obnoxious, but she's a teenager, and teenage girls get overly dramatic and angry over nothing sometimes, so I let it pass. I'll see how I feel about her in the next installment before making any firm decisions on her character. 

The plot was extremely unique and full of suspense. Since there was an air of mystery surrounding everything, I had no idea what would happen next. I had some things figured out fairly early on, but others I didn't see coming. I couldn't put the book down; I was definitely sucked in by the 20% mark and the pages flew by after that. I think that, for the most part, Silver handled the mystery aspect pretty well, but in some ways it did affect the world-building. Since it was difficult to reveal much about the world without also revealing many of Jackson's secrets, I felt like I didn't understand the world at all for a good part of the novel. I still don't fully grasp what's going on. Hopefully it'll be more clearly explained in the sequel. Also, I don't feel that Silver handled the sharing of information in the best way because sit came as dialogue info dumps, due to the fact that Miki had no freaking clue what was going on. I wish that Miki had summarized some of the information for us and that it'd been given little bits at a time more consistently. Also, I hated the cliffhanger at the end. It was a bit overused, which surprised me considering the rest of the novel was so unique. Of course, as you guys know, I just don't like cliffhangers... period.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. It was a refreshing addition to the sci-fi genre, and I can't wait for the sequel. I'd recommend Rush to anyone who is looking for something different to read.

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GAMEBOARD OF THE GODS by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods
Richelle Mead

Rating: C-
Release Date: 06/04/13
Synopsis:
In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such mega-successes: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

My thoughts on the book:
Gameboard of the Gods did not blow me away. I'm a huge fan of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, but I didn't really like Vampire Academy because I couldn't stand Rose. The same goes with Gameboard of the Gods. I didn't like Justin or Mae, but I enjoyed the premise, plot, and writing immensely. Since I'm a big character person, I was put off by the fact that I don't like these two leading characters, so I doubt I'll be continuing this series. 

I absolutely loathed Justin. He was such a freaking jerk! All he cared about was getting laid and stoned. Not the kind of "hero" I want to read about. I found myself wishing he'd just get killed off so a worthy hero could be introduced. He was that bad. Yuck. Usually I like the "misunderstood bad boy" characters, but I didn't feel like he was misunderstood. He was just awful. Mae had no personality, and I really hated reading about her because of that. She bored me to death. Therefore, I just didn't care what happened to her. She's impossible to relate to, in my opinion, and I think a better leading female could have been written. 

The plot was action-packed and intense. That made this book tolerable for me. There was a sense of mystery and urgency, and Mead definitely kept me guessing. I also loved how unique the premise was. A lot of the dystopians are starting to read like the same book with different characters, but the concept really stood out. Also, Mead's writing was fantastic as usual. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to you if you're not a big character person or if you're looking for a unique dystopian. I've read mixed reviews of this novel, and you may enjoy it. However, I'd say check it out from the library first just in case. 

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