Title: Tempest (Tempest #1)
Author: Julie Cross
Published: January, 2012 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Thanks: Macmillan via NetGalley
Pages: 352
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Final Thoughts:
Seriously…I need the second book now! A year is just too far away. I’m so glad that I loved this book and that it wasn’t just another pretty cover. It managed to bring tears to my eyes not once, but three times. Maybe it’s just me, but when a book can do that to me, it immediately enters my favourites. And if a time travelling 19yo guy wasn’t cool enough, the addition of interwoven conspiracies had me hooked. This is definitely a book to get guys into YA, although it’s still very female friendly. Whereas some books tend to fall to one extreme, this one managed to balance a variety of genres. Easily shifting between action and romance, it incorporates issues such as sex, lies, friendship and family, all while creating an intricately mysterious paranormal world.

Title: Witch Hunt (Witch Hunt #1)
Author: Nick Chivers
Published: October, 2011 by Dreamspinner Press
Thanks: Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley
Pages: 200
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Mike thought he could escape his past. He renounced his crown as High Mage of The Council, had the Bands of Binding placed on him, and tried to start over as a normal human.

It didn’t work. And now a part of that past wants him dead, and Mike is running for his life.

With his best friend, Andrew, and Andrew’s soulbound partner along for the ride, Mike can’t help but feel lonely until he meets Rick, an all-around gorgeous man who might just be the wrong guy—again—especially since Mike can’t shake an ex-lover who’s hoping for a second chance. It’s a lot to deal with as demonic forces pursue him from Mongolia to Brazil, but Mike has to make it to the safety of The Council if he doesn’t want to be the prize trophy at the end of this witch hunt.

Final Thoughts:
I wanted to like this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. I persevered through it all and made it to the end though. I suppose it follows the title, with the three witches constantly on the run from whoever is chasing them, but personally, I don’t think adventure books are my thing. I did enjoy some of the scenes in the beginning as we were introduced to the boys and their magical heritage, but the second half was a mess with way too many supernatural abilities brought in, sudden (and unbelievable) love proclamations and resolutions that came too easily.

Title: Invasion (C.H.A.O.S. #1)
Author: Jon S. Lewis
Published: January, 2011 by Thomas Nelson
Thanks: Thomas Nelson via NetGalley
Pages: 336
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Colt McAllister is drawn into a war against things he thought only existed in comic books.After a car wreck takes the lives of his parents, Colt moves to Arizona to stay with his grandfather. There, an informant tells him that his parents were actually murdered because his mom, a journalist, was getting ready to write a story exposing Trident Industries. Along with Oz and Danielle, his new comrades at Chandler High, Colt vows to uncover the truth. But the more they learn, the more bizarre reality becomes. Mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles only scratch the surface of what they discover. Colt is recruited by a secret organization called the Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural. But the battle isn’t just against an out-of-control giant corporation. A gateway to another world is opening, and the invasion has already begun.

Final Thoughts:
When comic books are becoming your reality, your name must be Colt McAllister. It’s an exciting premise that brings together a range of early-teen issues. I may be a little older than the target demographic, but I still found myself caught up in the conspiracies, the friendships and the cool gadgets. It’s actually the first book of this genre that I’ve seen incorporating romance as well as the action. Not enough for my tastes, but still, I appreciated the effort. In general, there were moments were I felt things could of have been described further, but as for the plot, it didn’t detract.

Title: Witch Eyes (Witch Eyes #1)
Author: Scott Tracey
Published: September, 2011 by Flux
Pages: 332
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Seventeen-year-old Braden was born with witch eyes. He has the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, anguish, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but it comes at the cost of horrible pain.

After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden is lured to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. Rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe are desperate to use Braden’s powers to unlock Belle Dam’s secrets, but Braden refuses to become their sacrificial pawn.

To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—even if the effort destroys him.

Final Thoughts:
It goes to show what not reading blurbs can do to you. Based on the cover alone I was expecting something heavy in fantasy, but instead found a book full of teen drama, town-wide family feuds and an underbelly of magic. That’s a good thing, though. It was exactly the kind of book I felt like reading. It was actually lucky that I skipped the blurb, too. The last few lines of it have some of the twists detailed (I’ve removed them from the blurb above). I loved that I managed to fly through this one, staying up til 4am because the chapter endings just wouldn’t let me put it down. With a fun collection of characters including new friends, new boyfriends and frustratingly power-crazy adults, Witch Eyes is one series I’ll definitely be coming back for.

Title: Blessed (Tantalize #3)
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Published: October, 2011 by Walker Books
Pages: 454
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Quincie P. Morris, teen restaurateur and neophyte vampire, is in the fight of her life. Even as she adjusts to her new appetites, she must clear her best friend and true love, the hybrid-werewolf, of murder charges; thwart the ambitions of Bradley Sanguini, the seductive vampire-chef who ‘blessed’ her; and, keep her dead parents’ restaurant up and running. She hires a more homespun chef and adds the preternaturally beautiful Zachary to her waiting staff. But with hundreds of new vampires on the rise and Bradley off assuming the powers of Dracula Prime, Zachary soon reveals his true nature – and a flaming sword – and they hit the road to staunch the bloodshed before it’s too late. Even if they save the world, will there be time left to salvage Quincie’s soul?

Final Thoughts:
Things really turned around for me with this instalment, the first two weren’t exactly books I’d rave about, so I was surprised when I actually enjoyed almost the entirety of Blessed. The extended page count helped with the development and the pacing—generally the plotting just felt better put together. I’d probably like the series a lot more if I had started with this one, but then I would have missed out on all of the character backstory. I really liked the culmination of the two different casts and the change in Quincie’s persona. She still has the restaurant at heart, but she’s got bigger problems to worry about than organising menus and hiring staff.

Touch Jus Accardo	Warm Bodies Isaac Marion	Dawn Of Darkness Daniel A. Kaine
If I Die Rachel Vincent	Stick Andrew Smith	Burn Bright Marianne de Pierres
Forever Maggie Stiefvater	Black Swan Rising Lee Carroll	All These Things I’ve Done Gabrielle Zevin
Raised By Wolves Jennifer Lynn Barnes	The Demon’s Surrender Sarah Rees Brennan	White Cat Holly Black
Alpha Rachel Vincent	City Of Fallen Angels* Cassandra Clare	Unraveled* Gena Showalter

* Review not available

Title: Death Sentence (Escape From Furnace #3)
Author: Alexander Gordon Smith
Published: August, 2011 by Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 256
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Alex’s second attempt to break out of Furnace Penetentiary has failed. This time his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins–a sinisterly dark nectar–Alex becomes what he most fears . . . a superhuman minion of Furnace. How can he escape when the darkness is inside him? How can he lead the way to freedom if he is lost to himself?

Final Thoughts:
It took me a while to get into the first book, but with each one that followed, I just can’t get enough. This series actually feels like one in the sense that the plot in each book flows into the next as part of a much larger arc. Sure, something new happens in each, the stakes growing ever higher, but it really keeps you guessing as to what may lie ahead. Not shying away from harming and killing off characters, with this instalment, not even Alex is safe. I really like it for that. When the main character’s own mental stability is in question that’s when you know a book is going to be fun.