Title: True (Elixir #3)
Author: Hilary Duff
Published: April, 2013 by Simon & Schuster
Pages: 287
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Following the harrowing events of Elixir and Devoted—and the ceremony that almost killed Sage—Clea faces a new reality: With Sage’s soul in Nico’s body, the love of her life looks an awful lot like her best friend’s boyfriend. Can Clea and Sage really be happy under these circumstances?

Clea wants to try to enjoy their new life together, but Sage is acting different—angry—and she struggles to keep her friends from finding out what has happened to him. Something is clearly haunting Sage, and Clea is losing control. Can she trust her friends with the dangerous truth, or will she have to risk losing Sage to madness?

Final Thoughts:
Coming from a massive Hilary fan from way back, I have to say I didn’t like this book. What happened? Elixir showed a lot of promise, adding in mystery, warring factions, and a fun romance. It went downhill in the second book, but compared to this one, it was a masterpiece. Okay, it wasn’t a masterpiece, but it put this one to shame. There’s barely a plot anymore and the romance, it’s hardly setting a good example. Sage has become physically abusive and Clea just puts up with it. What’s worse is that she tells us she’s not one of those girls, but everything she does just shows that she is.

Title: With All My Soul (Soul Screamers #7)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Published: April, 2013 by Harlequin Teen
Thanks: Harlequin Teen, AU
Pages: 377
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

What does it mean when your school is voted the most dangerous in America? It’s time to kick some hellion butt…

After not really surviving her junior year (does “undead” count as survival?), Kaylee Cavanaugh has vowed to take back her school from the hellions causing all the trouble. She’s going to find a way to turn the incarnations of Avarice, Envy and Vanity against one another in order to protect her friends and finish this war, once and forever.

But then she meets Wrath and understands that she’s closer to the edge than she’s ever been. And when one more person close to her is taken, Kaylee realizes she can’t save everyone she loves without risking everything she has….

Final Thoughts:
I finally finished this one. Not that it was bad. It was great. GREAT. I just found getting time to actually read it the struggle. It’s so easy to procrastinate, even in regards to something we want to do. Anyway, review time. The seventh book. The final one. It’s here. (Spoilers for the previous books, btw) Kaylee, a girl who started out in a mental ward, unable to tame the screams bursting free of her, has come so far since then. For starters, she’s dead, sort of, and unlike before, she’s no longer waiting around, she’s taking the fight to them. With her now-wide group of friends, she’d ready take down the demons that lead to her demise.

Title: Forgotten
Author: Cat Patrick
Published: June, 2011 by Hardie Grant Books
Pages: 267
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

I remember forwards. I remember forwards, and forget backwards. My memories, bad, boring, or good, haven’t happened yet. So I will remember standing in the fresh-cut grass with the black-clad figures surrounded by stone until I do it for real. I will remember the funeral until it happens – until someone dies. And after that, it will be forgotten.

Here’s the thing about me: I can see my future, but my past is blank. I see the future in flashes, like memories. I remember what I’ll wear tomorrow, and a car crash that won’t happen till this afternoon. But yesterday has evaporated from my mind – just like the boy I love. I can’t see him in my future. I can’t remember him from my past. But today, I love him. And I never want to forget how much.

Final Thoughts:
Reading very much like a contemporary romance than a paranormal, Forgotten had come and gone before I knew it. While it wasn’t what I’d call amazing, I definitely enjoyed my time with it. The ideas behind this girl’s condition hold enough intrigue and make you wonder how she manages to keep it together so well. It does have its faults, places where I thought things didn’t exactly play out believably, but it’s a fun escape. Beware though, there is a fair share of high school angst. But if you’re up for that, dig in, there’s a very sweet romance to lose yourself in here.

Title: Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3)
Author: Rachel Caine
Published: January, 2011 by Razorbill
Pages: 372
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Morganville is such a nice place to live… And die. If you don’t mind that sort of thing.

When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but that garlic may come in handy.

Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden, people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire’s past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

Final Thoughts:
Stepping back into this series almost two years after finishing The Dead Girls’ Dance I have to wonder why I left it for so long. I could barely put it down over the past day. It was like catching up with an old friend, slipping right back into conversation like no time had passed. The main character, Claire, and her three housemates, are such a likeably unique bunch. Each of them smart—most of the time—and able to steer well enough clear eye-roll-inducing mush that some other books have led me to recently.

Title: Shift (Shade #2)
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Published: April, 2011 by Simon Pulse
Pages: 367
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Aura’s life is anything but easy. Her boyfriend, Logan, died, and his slides between ghost and shade have left her reeling. Aura knows he needs her now more than ever. She loves Logan, but she can’t deny her connection with the totally supportive, totally gorgeous Zachary. And she’s not sure that she wants to.

Logan and Zachary will fight to be the one at her side, but Aura needs them both to uncover the mystery of her past—the mystery of the Shift. She’s not the only one seeking answers, though, and danger grows as she discovers new truths.

Who can Aura trust with her secrets? And to whom will she give her heart?

Final Thoughts:
This took me AGES to get through. It just wasn’t clicking for me. I kept finding myself putting it down mid chapter, leaving it a few days, then telling myself I had to get back into it. It was just so different from the first book, and not in a positive way. With great ideas, this paranormal had heaps to offer, but unfortunately most of the plot this time around gave way for a mess of relationship drama. And with Aura playing musical beds, I really couldn’t connect with her. For me, this love triangle (and at times, square), just didn’t work.

Title: Girl Defective
Author: Simmone Howell
Published: March, 2013 by Pan Macmillan
Thanks: Pan Macmillan, AU
Pages: 294
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

We, the Martin family, were like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects. Dad was addicted to beer and bootlegs. Gully had “social difficulties” that manifested in his wearing a pig snout mask 24-7. I was surface clean but underneath a weird hormonal stew was simmering…

It’s summer in St Kilda. Fifteen-year-old Sky is looking forward to great records and nefarious activities with Nancy, her older, wilder friend. Her brother – Super Agent Gully – is on a mission to unmask the degenerate who bricked the shop window. Bill the Patriarch seems content to drink while the shop slides into bankruptcy. A poster of a mysterious girl and her connection to Luke, the tragi-hot new employee sends Sky on an exploration into the dark heart of the suburb. Love is strange. Family Rules. In between there are teenage messes, rock star spawn, violent fangirls, creepy old guys and accidents waiting to happen. If the world truly is going to hell in a hand-basket then at least the soundtrack is kicking. Sky Martin is Girl Defective: funny, real and dark at the edges.

Final Thoughts:
I was hoping to like this one. The premise sounded fun, but I didn’t expect to love it. But love it, I did. Girl Defective is very near unputdownable. It was struggle come bed time when ‘just one more chapter’ turned into five. Filled with such engrossing, realistic and distinct characters, I felt like I’d picked up a John Green novel. Steeped deeply in family issues, the main character, Sky, holds herself out as the only semi-sane one amongst them. Very easy to connect with, her own angst seems to play second fiddle as she navigates the craziness that keeps gravitating around her.

Title: Demon Eyes (Witch Eyes #2)
Author: Scott Tracey
Published: October, 2012 by Flux
Thanks: Flux
Pages: 395
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Demons don’t die without a fight…

After destroying the demon Lucien, Braden—son of Belle Dam’s most powerful warlock, Jason Thorpe—doesn’t need the power of his witch eyes to see that everything in his life is turning against him: friends, family, and even his visions. When disturbing nightmares of Lucien’s return haunt him, Braden discovers that the simmering feud between the city’s two witch dynasties is fast approaching its explosive boiling point.

While struggling to come to terms with his attraction to Trey, Catherine Lansing’s son who should be his mortal enemy, a diabolical plan starts to unveil before Braden’s eyes. Young women are disappearing from Belle Dam, and as he investigates, Braden is forced to explore the dangerous unknown power within himself. But when the truth about his family is revealed, Braden must pay a terrible price.

Final Thoughts:
This book drained me. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. It just didn’t click for me. I enjoyed Witch Eyes a great deal, but with this one, it just fell flat. I felt like I was reading one big epilogue for basically the first half of the book. Nothing happened. The characters avoided each other, or if they did interact, it was incredibly stilted. As for the ‘plot’ of the book, it seemed like it wasn’t going anywhere. Read a hundred pages of characters whining, throw in few lines about the creepy voice in the main character’s head and repeat. How I managed to finish this one is beyond me.