Title: White Cat (The Curse Workers #1)
Author: Holly Black
Published: May, 2010 by Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 310
Rating:  
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Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Final Thoughts:
Insight into the workings of a teenage boy: One who killed his girlfriend, scams his schoolmates, and shies from his crime-driven, magic-infused family. Basically an addictive read.

Title: Need (Need #1)
Author: Carrie Jones
Published: December, 2008 by Bloomsbury
Pages: 306
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Zara White suspects there’s a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She’s also obsessed with phobias. And it’s true, she hasn’t exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane…but Zara’s pretty sure her mom just can’t deal with her right now.

She couldn’t be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara’s overactive imagination. In fact, he’s still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There’s something not right – not human – in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you’d have to fear.

Final Thoughts:
Very addictive. I love when a romance is able to capture you so easily. Pixies, shifters and lots of phobia naming make for a very fun read.

Title: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Published: August, 2007 by Razorbill
Pages: 332
Rating:  
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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: Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2)
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Published: October, 2010 by Simon and Schuster
Pages: 427
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Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away, and Nora can’t figure out if it’s for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father’s death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn’t answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch, or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed Hush, Hush a lot more than this instalment. I just felt frustrated throughout the majority of this book. Nora is the same as always, and if there’s harder way to go about something, she’ll find it.

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