Title: Croak (Croak #1)
Author: Gina Damico
Published: March, 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Thanks: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley
Pages: 311
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Final Thoughts:
This one ended up being surprisingly addictive. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting—something along the lines of a Dead Like Me clone—still, it turned out to be a little gem, just in a different way. Lex quickly progressed from her initial delinquent state featuring quite a lot of physical violence and a general defiance of reason into someone that seemed somewhat pliable. I enjoyed her antics in the beginning, but found it a relief that the book didn’t rely on her punching people for 300 pages. It goes off on a mystery solving tangent instead, backed by a town full of death and reaping, laced with plenty of humour, teen bonding—the occasion bout of underage drinking—and a mashup of board games.

Title: City Of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published: May, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Pages: 534
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Final Thoughts:
This book just went on and on. Don’t get me wrong—it was definitely a solid four stars, but it did have me constantly checking if I was getting any closer to the end. I think a nice, thin book is in order to cleanse the palette after the ten plus hours I spent lying on the couch today, clutching my hardcover of City Of Lost Souls. I found improvements in this instalment over the previous incarnate, the second half of the series finally forming a distinctive plot with some actual tension. However, I found the overuse of alternating point of views detracted from my enjoyment. With over ten different perspectives, they seemed to be used more to create suspense by jarring us out of situations just as they were getting interesting, rather than to give extra insight into these other characters.

Title: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)
Author: Aimee Carter
Published: April, 2011 by Harlequin Teen
Thanks: Harlequin Teen, AU
Pages: 293
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall.Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

Final Thoughts:
This one took a while to get through, but was enjoyable throughout the whole book. I think I’d been expecting something a little different going into it, but the end result was equally fun and intriguing. It does have a high school aspect that tries to bring in the angst, but thankfully it was shown the door quite quickly. It wasn’t grating though—I actually found Kate’s blasé attitude towards the social hierarchy refreshing. It helped give more weight to her feelings towards her tenuous home life, waiting for her mother to die.

Title: Shadows (Lux #0.5)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: February, 2012 by Entangled Publishing
Pages: 179
Rating:  
Purchase: Amazon

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane. Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in. Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence…and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

Final Thoughts:
I love that this novella exists. But if you haven’t read Obsidian, go read that now before you get stuck into this or you’ll probably be pretty confused. Everything that we were introduced to gradually in the first book was thrown straight at us in this. Focussing on Daemon’s twin, Dawson, we get to see an equally hot guy, minus the snark. I love both brothers, but Dawson was so much nicer, and I guess, more mature, giving off a vibe that made it really hard to believe he was actually sixteen. If you ignore the ages though, and enjoy it for what it is, you’ll find this to be one very addictive, albeit short, romance.

Title: Zero At The Bone
Author: Jane Seville
Published: April, 2009 by Dreamspinner Press
Pages: 308
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

After witnessing a mob hit, surgeon Jack Francisco is put into protective custody to keep him safe until he can testify. A hitman known only as D is blackmailed into killing Jack, but when he tracks him down, his weary conscience won’t allow him to murder an innocent man. Finding in each other an unlikely ally, Jack and D are soon on the run from shadowy enemies.

Forced to work together to survive, the two men forge a bond that ripens into unexpected passion. Jack sees the wounded soul beneath D’s cold, detached exterior, and D finds in Jack the person who can help him reclaim the man he once was. As the day of Jack’s testimony approaches, he and D find themselves not only fighting for their lives… but also fighting for their future. A future together.

Final Thoughts:
A hitman falling for his target—it doesn’t sound too original, but it ended up being a completely addictive read. Alternating POVs, we get to see inside the closed off mind of a killer as he tries to come to grips with his warring emotions, as well as the mind of the target—a surgeon-turned-highly sought after witness. It’s a very long book, or at least it felt like it. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, spreading things out, giving them time to build, while still packing in oodles of plot. Once this thriller infused the romance, it became very hard to put down—I stayed up well past 4am on this one.

Title: Obsidian (Lux #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: by December, 2011 by Entangled Publishing
Pages: 268
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Final Thoughts:
Full of sexual Tension—and yes, that is with a capital T—Obsidian drew me in, right from the start. Any scene with Daemon was almost certain to plaster a grin to my cheeks. Total douche—but I loved it. As for Katy, she was pretty much your standard YA main character—dead parent, insecure over her appearance, and a carrying a bit of an attitude. She also repeatedly got herself into some dangerous situations against the better judgement of others. Still, like I said, the sexy alien premise hooked me, and I did end up enjoying the book—especially since Katy had a heap of obsessive book blogger tendencies. I cracked up over her freak out at missing a Waiting on Wednesday.

Title: Hero
Author: Perry Moore
Published: August, 2007 by Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 428
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his dad, Hal’s, pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he’s been asked to join the League–the very organization of superheroes that spurned his father. The most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he’s gay.

But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world for Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide, but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.

To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagine. To find happiness, he’ll have to come to terms with his father’s past and discover the kind of her he really wants to be.

Final Thoughts:
Hero is a welcome alternative to the dark creatures inhabiting the YA landscape, and just a heap of fun. While I did find some similarities between it and Smallville, in terms of the books I’ve come across so far, it was incredibly unique. Thom’s voice stuck out with an addictive realism amongst such a fantastical world, shown through his insecurities as well as his courage and his heart. Taking many turns, the book explores the importance of family, friends, teamwork and trust. It’s not all roses, with many moments of pain as the characters come to grips with the harshness of life. But with all of that, it still managed to bring about an uplifting message somewhere in between.