Title: Torment (Fallen #2)
Author: Lauren Kate
Published: September, 2010 by Delacorte Press
Pages: 452
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.

Final Thoughts:
This isn’t the book I was expecting. Rather than following on from the action-packed plot that we finally got to in the final quarter of Fallen, here we’re thrown into a new school, new characters and Luce. That’s it. Everyone else from the first book is gone, so it’s like starting over again. Only this time, it’s on the complete opposite extreme. Shoreline, possibly named after the cliff edged beach the school borders, is nothing like Luce’s old school. Gone are all the prison-like qualities of Sword and Cross, replaced by laptops with free wi-fi for all and extravagant breakfasts on the terrace.

Title: Fallen (Fallen #1)
Author: Lauren Kate
Published: December, 2009 by Delacorte Press
Pages: 452
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Final Thoughts:
A lot of people have been divided over this one. I can see where the not so positive thoughts have been coming from. It is incredibly slow in getting toward the actual paranormal aspects. So if you’re looking for a hot paranormal romance, you might find yourself disappointed for the first 350 or so pages. I admit, I was disappointed at first, but after getting into the story and taking it for what it was, I actually started to enjoy myself. Boarding school stories can get tiresome, but this one was a bit out of the norm.

Title: Evernight (Evernight #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: February, 2009 by HarperTeen
Pages: 327
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Bianca’s been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn’t fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He’s not the “Evernight type” either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

“I couldn’t stand it if they took it out on you,” he tells Bianca, “and eventually they would.”

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can’t be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she’s ever believed.

Final Thoughts:
A slow start to another vampire boarding school series. Stick around through the first half and it picks up the pace. There’s lots of romantic angst, but plenty of the good stuff to balance it out. Not as much vampy-ness as I would have liked, but I’m guessing that’s what book two is for.

Title: The Secret To Lying
Author: Todd Mitchell
Published: June, 2010 by Candlewick Press
Pages: 329
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

James was the guy no one noticed — just another fifteen-year-old in a small town. So when he gets into an academy for gifted students, he decides to leave his boring past behind. In a boarding school full of nerds and geeks, being cool is easy. All it takes is a few harmless pranks to invent a new James: fighter, rebel, punk. Everyone’s impressed, except for the mysterious ghost44, an IM presence who sees through his new identity. But James is riding high, playing pranks and hooking up with luscious Jessica Keen. There’s just one thing awry: he’s starting to have vivid dreams of being a demon-hunting warrior, a thrill that is spilling over into dangerous and self-destructive acts while he’s awake. As he’s drawn deeper into his real-life lies and his dream-world conquests, James begins to wonder: What’s the price for being the coolest guy around?

Final Thoughts:
A book about how not to be yourself, and why that’s a problem. There are plenty of bits that are sure to crack you up, but if you’re looking for a light, fun read, this isn’t it.

Title: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Published: August, 2007 by Razorbill
Pages: 332
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school; it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s; the very place where they’re most in danger…

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi; the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires make Lissa one of them forever.

Final Thoughts:
Not an instant favourite, but still very enjoyable for fans of the vampire genre. Tough females and high school bitchiness, add to that some hot guys and you have a very fun read.

Title: Unnatural (Archangel Academy #1)
Author: Michael Griffo
Published: February, 2011 by K Teen (Kensington)
Pages: 480
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

In the town of Eden in northwestern England stands the exclusive boarding school known as Archangel Academy. Ancient and imposing, it’s a place filled with secrets. Just like its students…

For Michael Howard, being plucked from his Nebraska hometown and sent thousands of miles away is as close as he’s ever come to a miracle. In Weeping Water, he felt trapped, alone. At Archangel Academy, Michael belongs. And in Ciaran, Penry, and especially Ciaran’s enigmatic half-brother Ronan, Michael finds friendship deeper than he’s ever known.

But Michael’s only beginning to understand what makes the Academy so special. Ronan is a vampire—part of a hybrid clan who are outcasts even among other vampires. Within the Academy’s confines exists a ruthless world of deadly rivalries and shifting alliances, of clandestine love and forbidden temptations. And soon Michael will confront the destiny that brought him here—and a danger more powerful than he can imagine…

Final Thoughts:
Slow to start, but stick with it and you’ll be greatly rewarded. Michael and Ronan will keep you glued to the pages. Full of snarky vampires, apathetic mothers and controlling fathers, Unnatural comes as a fresh breath in the vampire/boarding school genre.