Title: Diabolical (Tantalize #4)
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Published: January, 2012 by Candlewick Press
Thanks: Candlewick Press via NetGalley
Pages: 368
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Prepare for a hell of a ride as Cynthia Leitich Smith calls on characters from her previous novels – and conjures up new ones – for a climactic showdown.

When “slipped” angel Zachary and his werewolf pal, Kieren, arrive under suspicious circumstances to a mysterious New England boarding school, they quickly find themselves in a hellish lockdown with an intriguing assortment of secretive, hand-picked students. Plagued by demon dogs, hallucinatory wall décor, a sadistic instructor, and a legendary fire-breathing monster, will they somehow manage to escape? Or will the devil have his due? Best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith unites heroes from the previous three novels in the Tantalize Series – including Zachary’s girl, Miranda, and Kieren’s love, Quincie – along with a fascinating cast of all-new characters for a suspenseful, action-packed clash between the forces of heaven and hell.

Final Thoughts:
I’ve stuck with this series because I like to finish things once I start them, but I just don’t think these books are for me. I enjoyed Blessed more than the first two, but something about Diabolical just didn’t work for me. I’m not quite sure why the books in this series are alternating between present and past tense, but this one is written in present. There were also a lot of POV switches back and forth between three of the characters. Ditching the vampire plots for a demonic boarding school during this book did bring some interesting moments, but unfortunately, the romance took a back seat to the hellish game of survivor the characters were trapped in.

Title: Being Human (Being Human #1)
Author: Patricia Lynne
Published: September, 2011
Thanks: Patricia Lynne
Pages: 284
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository // Amazon // Smashwords

For Tommy, there is only one thing he needs to do: survive.

Only surviving isn’t that easy. The hunt for blood can be tricky when humans know to fear the night. Desire sits on the edge of his mind, urging him to become the monster humans think he is. Vampire Forces, a special branch of police, is determined to turn every vampire to ash. Tommy included.

The only human Tommy can trust is his twin brother. A bond connects them, and with Danny’s help, Tommy starts to understand the human world he struggles to survive in. He’ll learn what friendships means and feel the sting of betrayal, find that sometimes the worst monsters are very human, and come to understand that family means more than blood.

Tommy just wants to survive and he knows what he needs to do. But with the number of humans that mean more to him than a meal growing, he’ll learn there’s more to life than simple survival. He’ll discover being human doesn’t mean being a human.

Final Thoughts:
Why can’t I find a nice, boring book that won’t wrench apart my insides? This is the third one in the past week. I can’t handle it. Stop writing amazing books people. With that said, I can’t believe I took so long to get around to this one. With the simple, yet eerily awesome dark cover begging me to open it up and read, I have to wonder what the hell was wrong with me. I shouldn’t have kept Tommy waiting. There were so many times that my eyes teared up leaving me blinking away the blurry vision so I could keep reading, that I lost count. Being Human took me through so many emotions—both good and bad—there was just simply no way to put it down. It’s what I loved about it. There were never moments where I felt like nothing was happening. The staggered insight into Tommy’s life after being turned was just too riveting.

Title: Alienation (C.H.A.O.S. #2)
Author: Jon S. Lewis
Published: January, 2012 by Thomas Nelson
Thanks: Thomas Nelson via NetGalley
Pages: 288
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The invasion was only the beginning . . .

After his parents were killed in a car accident, Colt McAllister was drawn into a world he thought only existed in comic books-one where mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles don’t even scratch the surface.

Along with his best friends Oz and Danielle, Colt is now training at the secret Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural academy. But strange accidents seem to follow him. . . even with the security of the school grounds. What first seems random soon turns deadly. But who is targeting Colt?

As the alien invasions increase in frequency and force, C.H.A.O.S resources are taxed to the limit and they’re forced to utilize the new recruits. In the midst of battle, Colt will discover some startling revelations . . . about himself, his friendship with Oz, and why he has been chosen to defeat this alien attack against earth.

Final Thoughts:
Compared to the first book, this one lacked a little something. The characters were still just as fun, showing the strengths and the weaknesses in their friendship, but it felt like things could have been taken further. The resolutions to some of the books plot points came a little too easily for me. Personally, I felt like the first half of the book could have been shortened to allow for more time spent at the actual CHAOS academy rather than waiting so long to ship them off—CHAOS was where all the excitement was. Though, for those not particularly interested in boarding school novels, they may enjoy the prolonged transition.

Title: Smoulder
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: December, 2011 by Simon & Schuster
Thanks: Simon & Schuster, AU
Pages: 363
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

First published in the USA as “The Space Between” in 2011 by Razorbill, an imprint of the Penguin Group(USA)Inc.

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time – until her brother Obie is kidnapped, and Daphne realises she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying.

With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie’s whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigete the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be…

Final Thoughts:
With a slow start, I spent a few days picking up and putting this book back down. It wasn’t until I crossed the 90 page mark that I got hooked by these characters. I spent the rest of the day in a non-stop reading frenzy. Daphne, the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer, was a lot of fun to watch as she experienced Earth for the first time. And Truman, he was just so broken by what life had thrown at him that he’d given up on caring. The two were quite different, but just seemed to work, playing off each other’s inadequacies. I wouldn’t have cared if there wasn’t a plot, these two were enjoyable enough just following them around.

Title: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published: January, 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
Thanks: Macmillan via NetGalley
Pages: 400
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Final Thoughts:
I haven’t had the best of luck with retellings in the past, but with Cinder, I couldn’t get enough. I attribute that in part to the skilfully crafted futuristic setting of New Beijing. Infusing a wide range of speculative technology with an atmosphere that somehow managed to feel both advanced and primordial at the same time gave the book an intriguing hook. The way the main twist was handled let things down for me. I liked the twist, but the hints were too obvious. Still, Cinder drew me in, displaying multiple facets of her character as she balanced between her headstrong ferocity and self-deprecating withdrawal from the world.

Title: Switched (Trylle Trilogy #1)
Author: Amanda Hocking
Published: January, 2012 by Tor
Thanks: Pan Macmillan, AU
Pages: 328
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of having been switched at birth. Although certain she’s not the monster her mother claimed she is – she does feel that she doesn’t quite fit in . . .

She’s bored and frustrated by her small town life – and then there’s the secret that she can’t tell anyone. Her mysterious ability – she can influence people’s decisions, without knowing how, or why . . .

When the intense and darkly handsome newcomer Finn suddenly turns up at her bedroom window one night – her world is turned upside down. He holds the key to her past, the answers to her strange powers and is the doorway to a place she never imagined could exist: Fӧrening, the home of the Trylle.

Finally everything makes sense. Among the Trylle, Wendy is not just different, but special. But what marks her out as chosen for greatness in this world also places her in grave danger. With everything around her changing, Finn is the only person she can trust. But dark forces are conspiring – not only to separate them, but to see the downfall everything that Wendy cares about.

The fate of Fӧrening rests in Wendy’s hands, and the decisions she and Finn make could change all their lives forever . . .

Final Thoughts:
I went into this without any expectations, and found myself surprised by how enjoyable the characters were. It’s a paranormal, with trolls, known as Trylle, like you’ve never seen them before—but it didn’t focus so much on the magic as it did on the prospects of being suddenly thrust into a world of royalty. Hocking’s character, Wendy, even likens it to a case of Princess Diaries syndrome. Thinking back, not a lot actually happened throughout the book, but it always felt like Wendy was up to something…make sense? And the romance, it was about right for the situation, playing more on the romantic tension rather than shipping characters at the first possible opportunity. The push/pull nature of it all certainly kept me interested.

Title: On A Dark Wing
Author: Jordan Dane
Published: December, 2011 by Harlequin Teen
Thanks: Harlequin Teen, AU
Pages: 312
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for. And Death would be my willing teacher.

Five years ago, Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her “lucky” break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she’s the target of Death’s ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death stalks him because of her.

And Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

Final Thoughts:
This one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. On A Dark Wing has an interesting premise, but the turn it took wasn’t quite what I was expecting. While I still enjoyed it, with five points of view, it was harder to form a connection or maintain the mystery. It ended up leaving the reader with more information than the protagonist. Even so, I appreciated the way the romance was handled. The character interactions seemed genuine, playing more on the non-paranormal aspects rather than the winged boy on the cover.