Dec
02

Title: Dark Reunion (The Vampire Diaries #4)
Author: L.J. Smith
Published: May, 1992 by HarperCollins
Pages: 274
Rating: ★★★½☆ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

The Final Conflict… The Last Deadly Kiss

Elena: Now she rises from the dead to recreate the powerful vampire trio.

Stefan: Summoned by Elena, he keeps a promise to her and fights the most terrifying evil he’s ever faced.

Damon: Joining the brother he once called an enemy, Damon battles this new horror with strength, cunning, and deadly charm.

Final Thoughts:
I’m surprised and impressed by how much L.J. puts her characters through. I can’t say that things ever felt stable or boring. While a lot has changed since the previous book, it still holds the romantic vibe laced with an air of imminent doom. There’s a lot of action this time around, originally being the final book in the series. Personally I liked book three better, but still enjoyed this one for all of its mystery, danger and emotional growth.
Just a warning, there are spoilers for the previous book ahead.

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Dec
01

Title: The Fury (The Vampire Diaries #3)
Author: L.J. Smith
Published: November, 1991 by HarperCollins
Pages: 245
Rating: ★★★★☆ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

Love can kill

Elena: with Damon at her side, and wild with her craving for blood, the changed Elena struggles to control her desires.

Damon: his hunger for the golden girl wars with his hunger for revenge against Stefan.

Stefan: tormented after losing Elena, he will do anything to get her back. Even if it means becoming what he once despised. . . .

Getting what they want may come at a deadly cost.

Final Thoughts:
Just about everything I had a problem with last time around was addressed in this third instalment. The characters evolved, there was real tension, and basically the plot just got better. The last book served its purpose in advancing the overall direction of the series, but in terms of my own personal enjoyment, there was no contest, I couldn’t put down the The Fury. A lot of the teen angst that had plagued Elena faded with the advent of greater problems. Damon’s gradual change also played a part in my enjoyment. While I love evil Damon, semi-good but snarky Damon is just as fun.
Just a warning, there are spoilers for the previous book ahead.

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Nov
30

Title: The Struggle (The Vampire Diaries #2)
Author: L.J. Smith
Published: October, 1991 by HarperCollins
Pages: 236
Rating: ★★★☆☆ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

Torn between two vampire brothers

Damon: determined to make Elena his, he’d kill his own brother to possess her.

Stefan: desperate for the power to destroy Damon, and protect Elena, he gives in to his thirst for human blood.

Elena: the girl who can have anyone finds herself in the middle of a love triangle . . . one that might turn deadly.

Final Thoughts:
A fun escape, although having turned twenty last month, The Struggle is showing signs of its age. The names, the clothing, the speech patterns jarred me at times, but taking it for what it was, I really enjoyed it. Having come into the books after watching the TV series, the differences are obvious, but the heart of it still lies in the love triangle. This Elena is a little frustrating at times, though. I didn’t exactly agree with all of her decision making. The plot may not have been as complicated if she hadn’t been so stubborn. But even with the hurdles, these books have a way of packing a major punch at the end. It’s hard to just read one at a time.

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Nov
29

Title: Every Other Day
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published: December, 2011 by EgmontUSA
Thanks: EgmontUSA via NetGalley
Pages: 336
Rating: ★★★★☆ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

Every other day, Kali D’Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She’s human.

And then every day in between . . .She’s something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she’ll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

Final Thoughts:
This one turned out to be nothing like I’d thought it would. The first chapter didn’t reel me in so I set aside for a few days, little did I know, chapter two was completely different. For some reason I’d expected it to be all about demon hunting, instead it turned into an awesome paranormal conspiracy. The characters felt real, each with their own intertwined histories that made them who they were. Here, not only did the main character get ample development time, the two sidekicks did as well. While there could have been more on the romance front, with the tight timeframe of the plot, I’m relieved it didn’t fall into the trappings of insta-luv.

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Nov
18

Title: Touch (Denazen #1)
Author: Jus Accardo
Published: November, 2011 by Entangled Publishing
Pages: 251
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they’re caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect.

Final Thoughts:
Touch had everything I could have wanted. It’s wickedly romantic, while still managing to pound you with the action and wring you out with twist after twist. I’d liken it to a teen-focussed book version of the CW’s Nikita—evil corporation kidnapping and brainwashing recruits into thinking they’re doing good—well if the recruits had supernatural abilities. The prospect of a boy with a death touch drew me in, but it’s the bond between Kale and Deznee that really hooked me.

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Nov
15

Title: The Pledge (The Pledge #1)
Author: Kimberly Derting
Published: November, 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
Thanks: Simon & Schuster GalleyGrab
Pages: 320
Rating: ★★★☆☆ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It’s there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she’s never heard before… and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

Final Thoughts:
I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. I loved the cover when I first saw it and couldn’t wait to read it. While I still enjoyed the book, I wasn’t overly enthralled by it. The world building was unique and interesting, but the main characters didn’t hold my interest. Charlie is constantly putting others first, looking after her little sister and managing to feign adherence to the language-barrier class system. These are all good traits and I liked her for it, but the romance just didn’t work for me. I just felt like I was sitting through it, rather being caught up in it.

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Nov
09

Title: Warm Bodies
Author: Isaac Marion
Published: October, 2010 by Atria
Pages: 240
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Purchase: The Book Depository

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

Final Thoughts:
Wow…yes…well…just…wow. R’s ellipsis fetish must have rubbed off on me a little. I know this title has been drowning in five stars lately, but it’s worth it. The narrative is a little jarring at first, thrust into the mind of a zombie ready for its next feeding, but what results is magic. With only 240 pages, Marion doesn’t waste his words. There are no lulls, only carefully crafted reams of character development. R is such a loveable zombie that you can’t help but feel for him even when he’s sneaking bites at a brain.

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