Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• Phantom Eyes by Scott Tracey (purchased)
• Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer (purchased)
• Broken Dream by Eden Maguire (purchased)
• Agent 21: Codebreaker by Chris Ryan (purchased)
• Agent 21: Reloaded by Chris Ryan (purchased)
• The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton (purchased)

These books were all $5 or less each, except for Spirit, but it was only $8.50. One of my local bookstores was having a 50% off sale in preparation for their eventual closing down once their lease ends. The shopping centre it’s in is being refurbished, so all the stores have to go. It’s sad, and I’m hoping they reopen once it’s done, but in the meantime–cheap books!

I haven’t started the Agent 21 series, and don’t know if I will anytime soon, but it’s good to have the books here if I get the urge to read a spy book. Likewise, I haven’t started Eden Maguire’s series, but if I start buying a series, I want to have them all, just in case I can’t find them later. I’m up to date with the Witch Eyes series, but after a big disappointment with how book two went down, I’m in no rush to get back into it. It’s another ‘one day’ book. I am looking forward to The Blood Keeper though. It’s been a while since I read the first one, but I have a feeling I enjoyed it. I’m always up for a good witch story–hard as they are to find. If you know of any that blew you away, let me know.

That’s it for this time. So, what books have you gotten lately? Let me know in the comments.

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.

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.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith (library)
• Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith (library)
• Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith (library)
• Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith (library)
• Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith (library)
• The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill by Heather Brewer (purchased)
• Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey (purchased)
• Carrier Of The Mark by Leigh Fallon (purchased)
• Torchwood: Miracle Day (purchased)

Sorry for the blurry pic. I had to resort to iPod photography while my camera was on holiday. I turned 22 last week. My parents got me a kindle, which I was especially excited about as I finally have an ereader. I also grabbed that copy of the new series of Torchwood during a 20% off sale which happened to be going on, on my birthday – so can’t wait to get back to Captain Jack. Okay, onto the books… I stopped by the city library and picked up the first three in the Tantalize series. I’m not expecting a lot from them, but I thought give them a shot. I also read the first in the Escape From Furnace series last Monday and picked up the following two. It was kind of like Prison Break for teens, and kind of violent… so obviously I want to read more of it. With the purchased books, I’ve only read the first in the Vladimir Tod series, so I probably won’t get around to this spin-off series for a while… that didn’t stop me buying it though. Witch Eyes and Carrier Of The Mark are ones I’ve been wanting to check out in the near future, so if I can make it through my increasing library pile with any kind of haste, I’ll slot time in for them.

Here is my latest review if you want to check it out:
Smith, Alexander Gordon Escape From Furnace #1, Lockdown

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!