Review: Broken Wings by Cameo Renae

Book Description
Emma’s world is falling apart, and Kade, the only one who seems to hold her together, is missing. With death lingering right outside their door, decisions must be made before it’s too late.

The Midway has refused to send help, so they are left to seek out the only other who can stop Lucian.

A perilous quest sends Emma and a few Guardians into the Underworld, where the unimaginable abide, to beseech the Prince of Darkness himself. Lucifer.

Now, they must endure the deadly levels of Hell, which not one …mortal or immortal… has ever survived.

Prepare for love, loss, and the unexpected.

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I want to start this review by saying that I did enjoy this book, even though I may end up saying some negative things about it just because I'm a picker. For the most part, I enjoy a good angel story and this one was definitely a good story. I loved the Underworld aspect of it and it was kind of a dark adventure that Emma and Samuel took. I like the characters in this book and I feel like Emma develops from the first book to this one and really comes out a completely different person.

Now, angel stories are completely unoriginal. I seem to compare all angel stories to the Premonition series and nothing can really compare to them because they are the most original angel books I have ever read and they are very engaging. Broken Wings was engaging, I just thought it was unoriginal and I think it was a bit too chaste for my liking. I understand this was a YA novel, I just felt like it was too YA and could have had a little more romance. Also, I am not excited because I smell a love triangle brewing for the next one. I HATE love triangles and I am not sure how it will make me feel in the future when the next book is released. It is to be decided, I guess.  

I think I would recommend this book for younger readers more than older readers who may be expecting more out of it. I was expecting YA, and that is exactly what this is. I would give this book a 4 out of 5. Even though I may not have liked this book as much as I have liked other angel series, I think it is still worth reading and I will definitely read the rest of the books in the series, however many that may end up being.

Review: A Matter of Heart by Heather Lyons

Book Description
No longer in high school, Chloe Lilywhite is now living and working in Annar, the Magicals’ city-state plane of existence. Since moving, she’s joined the Council, gone on missions with the Guard, moved into her own apartment, and enrolled at the University of Annar. Plus, she’s happily engaged to be married to Jonah Whitecomb, the literal man from her dreams, not to mention her Connection. While she still struggles with aspects of her craft, Chloe feels like she’s finally coming into her own, especially after a difficult year that had her questioning nearly everything in her life.

After a brutal attack by the Elders, her life is turned upside down once more. Accusations fly throughout the Council and Guard, forcing Chloe to confront her worst fears about what’s she’s capable of as a Creator. And then there’s the matter of Kellan Whitecomb, Jonah’s twin brother and Chloe’s ex, who resurfaces after disappearing months before. Although Chloe chose Jonah, and despite their best efforts, the two find it hard to stay away from one another.

But no matter what Fate throws at her, Chloe is determined to take charge of her life, even as it begins to spiral out of control.

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Hmph. This book really pulls at my heartstrings. I read this a while ago and my heart is still aching a bit, and I think it will ache until A Matter of Truth comes out, which is expected in December of this year. The heartache aside, this is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read. This book is very well written and if you are looking for something that will elicit many emotions from you, then this is the book to read. Heather Lyons is the master of emotions and it is tough for authors to be so good at writing that it actually makes you feel these emotions while you are reading the story. 

I want to say that I really am not a fan of love triangles. I kind of hate them to be completely honest, but I did not feel that way with this book. It didn't really bother me and I found myself rooting for things to actually happen to mix up this love triangle even more. And I must say, I think I am officially rooting for Kellan. In the first book, I think I felt as if Jonah was the right choice, but I have definitely been swayed in the opposite direction with this book. I think it even began towards the end of the first one, but by this one I am sold on Kellan.  

I think I expected this ending. I think I expected it to happen so much because I believe I would have done the same thing in Chloe's position. I am not sure if I think she is selfless or selfish, but I know my reaction would have been the same, if not similar. I don't know if other people expected how this book ended, but even though it leaves us on a cliffhanger, I was still satisfied with how it ended because I know that the third book will be EPIC. And I know Heather will deliver on this. 

So on that note, this book deserves a big 5 out of 5 stars and I would recommend this book until the day I die.

Review: A Matter of Fate by Heather Lyons

 

Chloe Lilywhite struggles with all the normal problems of a typical seventeen-year-old high school student. Only, Chloe isn't a normal teenage girl. She's a Magical, part of a secret race of beings who influence the universe. More importantly, she's a Creator, which means Fate mapped out her destiny long ago, from her college choice, to where she will live, to even her job. While her friends and relatives relish their future roles, Chloe resents the lack of say in her life, especially when she learns she's to be guarded against a vengeful group of beings bent on wiping out her kind. Their number one target? Chloe, of course.

That's nothing compared to the boy trouble she's gotten herself into. Because a guy she's literally dreamed of and loved her entire life, one she never knew truly existed, shows up in her math class, and with him comes a twin brother she finds herself inexplicably drawn to.

Chloe's once unyielding path now has a lot more choices than she ever thought possible
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-sigh- I'm a little torn about this book; however, this was probably the most original storyline that I have read in a long time and I must say, it was rather refreshing. The ideas in this book were very unique and I am very excited about the rest of the series. At some points in this book I was not really sure if I really like Chloe, though. Most of the time I was fine with her, but sometimes I found her kind of unrealistic and I wasn't sure how I should feel about her. Also, I feel like her relationship with her parents is rather bothersome and I think she needs to stop holding out hope of them changing. Also, I am not a big fan of the love triangle that has bloomed, but I do think it makes for a compelling story. I think this series is going to mainly center around this love triangle because there really is no way around it. I think I like both Jonah and Kellan in their own ways. For most of the book I was rooting for Jonah because I considered the fact that she had been visiting with him in her dreams since she was little a sign that they were meant to be together. But by the end of the book, I am not so sure and I am a bit torn on who I think she should actually be with.

I will say though that this book was very good. I'm Miss Picky so I like to pick things apart, but I really did enjoy it and I think I can conclude that this series is going to be one of my all time favorites. I think this book deserves a big 5 out of 5 stars and I really think Heather Lyons is a genius. I needed something that was different, even if there is so many conflicts that I can see being present in the future in these novels. This book was a breath of fresh air in a world full of unoriginal ideas and story lines. This book is a work of art and it should be treated that way by every person who reads it. It was definitely a pleasure to read and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Wow, so I'm way behind on this stuff! I realize I suck at it either way, but I promise (to myself, I guess) that I'm going to pick back up on this stuff. I've been so busy with working way too much and trying to focus on my homework for college that I kind of put reviewing on the back burner for far too long. I didn't stop reading, I just stopped taking the time to review, which is going to stop, I swear!

So, I am definitely going to post a review here very soon and it's going to be for A Matter of Fate. . . once I finish my homework, of course (even though I can hardly concentrate on it because I would much rather continue reading REAL books instead of boring college textbooks).

Review - Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So I'm a bit behind in blogging than where I am in reading. I finished this book a while ago, but I figure I should stay in chronological order with these =] And while I should really be doing my homework right now, I just can't do it till I get this all out of my head!


Book Description
There is need. And then there is Fate...
Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have -some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her.
When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon... and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude... or killing her.
When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

 Can I just say that I really loved this book? I want that to be known before I say anything negative about this book cause I will, but not to forget that this was really fun to read. And to all the people who said they didn't like this series cause it was exactly like Vampire Academy, well you have no imagination then. 
While this book really frustrated me (Aiden, whyyyy?) I understood there was a reason behind everything that was happening. And let me just say that I've never liked Seth (even though it's my son's name =]) not once and not from the very beginning. I've heard some people say that he really had his moments in this book, which I do think he did, but I still don't like him. I've always felt like he was Mr. Fakey Fake... and he is. But there were some things that he did or said that made me swoon a little, but he's not Aiden! It's a little hard for me to write this review since I've already read Deity, but I am trying. 

I also want to say that I really liked Alex in this book. I found her kind of whiny in the first one but I didn't really feel that way in Pure. I thought she was a badass, actually. I think Jennifer has a really good talent for imagining and bringing to life wonderful heroines in her books and it is refreshing to see. I think I may have a new sort of favorite author. I'm absolutely in love with her writing and I am really excited to read more (even though I must wait =[)

I gave this book a 4/5 and I think I'm going to stick to that. I enjoyed it but there were some things that bothered me about it. And I guess I just really don't like the names she chose (besides Seth and Elena). I feel like Aiden is such an overused name (so is any form of Damon) and Alex is kind of generic. But that's really nit picky on my part because I did enjoy this book a lot. I always feel like once I finish them they are over too soon!

Review: Half Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout

Book Description
The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

 So before I decided to read this, I read a bunch of reviews. Unfortunately most of them were pretty negative and the reviewers were upset because they felt like this book was basically plagiarism of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy. I'm glad I didn't really let this keep me from reading this book because I honestly felt like it wasn't exactly like Vampire Academy like everyone else said it was. I did see similarities (student falls for her older trainer, halfs and pures turn into daimons) but it really was not exactly the same and after about half of the book was through it wasn't really the same at all. Now the Vampire Academy series is one of my favorites (and I'm super excited for the movie next year) so I really liked this as well. I haven't read a book in a while that I stayed awake super late just to get in "one more chapter, just one more chapter." 

Now as for Alex... Hmm, I just don't know. The majority of the time I really like her and she actually does remind me a lot of Rose Hathaway. She's feisty just like Rose and has the same dry wit as well. But sometimes it seems like she's kind of whiny. But sometimes they're like that in the first books in series because it gives them room to develop and mature as the series continues. A little thing that I found funny in this book though is that there's a character named Seth and a character named Elena and those are my children's names! I just thought it was weird to find both the names I chose for my children as the names of characters in the same book. I also enjoyed the bit of Greek mythology that was layered in the book as well. It's always fun to learn about those kinds of things because they are incorporated into a book you are reading.

For the most part, I thought this book was excellent and I am really excited to read the rest of them. I rated it 4/5 on GoodReads, but I'd actually give it 4.5/5 because it was really good. I'm one of those people that rarely ever gives a book a 5 star rating because I always end up comparing it to something else that I've read that I thought deserved 5 stars and finding something that I didn't like quite as much.

Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

So, I did like this book, but I am infuriated by the ending! Plus I will have to wait until July for Origin to find out what happens next. However, I do love books with an epic cliffhanger because I feel like it makes you anticipate the next book even more than if the book ends calmly or happily. Smartest technique ever to keep people reading.

Well, what can I say about this book? I actually had a hard time getting into it compared to the previous books in the series. I felt like the first 65-70% was pretty slow going and I had to force myself to keep reading. But I tell you, that last 30% of the book made up for the rest of it. It was just EPIC. This book was filled with a lot more romance which I do appreciate and we get to see a lot more of the "sweet" Daemon this time around. And can I just make it clear that I hate Blake and always have? If he were a real person I would never be his friend, no matter how charming he appeared to be. I would have killed him in Onyx, but then there would not have been a plot to this book. Just remember in the wise words of Luc:  Don't trust anyone who has something to gain or lose. I knew those words would be very important to the events that unfolded in this book and I kept them in the back of my mind while reading until they became apparent that they were going to slap the characters in the face.

Katy has also... evolved to say the least. Due to her experiences she is no longer the timid, too trusting Katy that we saw in Obsidian and Onyx. There's some points in this book where I feel like she could definitely be promoted to "Badass" status, which I always enjoy seeing in females in books. 

I give this book 4/5 stars. If this whole book had been like the end of it, I would give five stars but I just can't forget that it was a little boring to me for a lot of the book. I would still recommend it especially if you have already started the series. The end is worth any discomfort I may have endured!