Review: Echo by Alyson Noel

Daire Santos has already saved her grandmother's life and her soul. But at a cost: the Richter family has been let loose in the Lowerworld. Daire and her boyfriend Dace Richter must work together to find them before chaos ensues and the balance between good and evil is destroyed. As their relationship deepens, Dace's evil brother Cade grows stronger than ever, building his power and forcing Daire and Dace to confront the horrifying prophecy that has brought them all together. It will leave Daire no choice but to claim her true destiny as Seeker, but only by making an unthinkable sacrifice.

This book takes place very soon after the first book, so like two to three months after Daire moved to Enchantment and I can't get past the extreme amounts of over the top insta-love in this book. I mean, Daire and Dace are like getting all depressed and suicidal because they are apart from each other and they've only been dating for a month. I get all of the fate and the fact that they are 'tied together by destiny' but seriously. Chill it out a little, you two could be so cute together if you just let it develop more realistically!

Kay... insta-love rant over, sorry guys.

As in the first book in this series I really loved the shaman paranormal aspect of it, though there was noticeably less in this one. I found that the action scenes were better written but I did feel like the romance overtook this book, which made it a little less enjoyable than the first in the series for me. 

The characters were a little better in this one though. Dace was just perfect and I felt like Daire was developed a little more and so was more likeable. I found myself actually liking jennika in this book and Xotichl was fantastic. Cade was genuinely evil in this one and seemed more multi-dimensional in this one. The new character, Phyre, I really don't like, but I can't wait to see what she's hiding, I think she will a fantastic addition to the series.

Overall, whilst I made it through Echo i did feel like it was a let down after the first book and even that one I didn't love. I will probably continue the series but it isn't going to be near to top of my must-read list.

Overall Rating: C-

Book released November 22nd 2012 by PanMacmillan

Book received from the publisher for review (Print)

Other books by this author:

Fated (Soul Seekers #1)
Shimmer (Riley Bloom #2)

Top Ten Reads of 2012

So we're almost into 2013 (and we all survived the apocalypse!) and so here is a quick post talking about my Top Ten reads of 2012. 

Here they all are, in order:

10

Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Review Quote: 

I could honestly gush about this book forever. I won't though. Instead I will just tell you to go out and buy this book, you will not regret it, this book was fun, deep and beautiful and I will not be forgetting it for a very long time.

9

Defiance by CJ Redwine

Review Quote:

Step aside Kristin Cashore, move out of the way Maria V. Snyder, a new fantasy legend has entered the scene.Defiance, Redwine's debut novel is an amazing fantasy and is one that I would definitely recommend you check out, especially if you're a fan of the awesome fantasy author that I listed up there.

8

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Review Quote:

I have been dying to read this book for a long time and when I read it I was not dissapointed. this book had amazing writing, fantastic pacing, amazing action and a sweet and kind of messed-up romance. The ending blew me away and I cannot wait to read the sequel.

7

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Review Quote:

Wow, it is so good to read a young adult vampire book that goes back to the basic, what we have here is true vampire myth - vampires that burn in the sun and can't handle a stake through the chest. This book also doesn't rely on romance to pull it through and instead relies on action, awesome world building and fantastic characters. I just loved this book.

6

Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

Review Quote:

It's been a long time since a book has made me cry. A lot of books make me sad or angry or feel a little down but this is the first book in I don't know how long where I've had to stop reading because the pages are getting blurry and I couldn't focus. I usually don't like books that do this to me but Pushing the Limits was the exception to this. 

5

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Review Quote:

This book is very action packed, whereas the selling point of Divergent was definitely the storytelling and world-building Insurgent had some amazing action scenes and it a superb edge of the seat read.

4

Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris

Review Quote:

Oh my days. I don't know what I was expecting with this book, I was totally expecting it be awesome and this book just blew my expectations to pieces by seriously topping it. i mean, this book was like miles of awesome all rolled into a ball of awesome flattened out and made into a book of awesome. You get my drift? This book was awesome.

3

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Review Quote:

Mind if I gush for a while? Of course you don't, this book is totally gush worthy, one of the best fluffy romance books that I have read in a long time, I think it pretty much equals Anna and the French Kiss on the scale of awesomeness. Yes, you know that's high praise from me.

2

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Review Quote:

I absolutely freaking loved this book. I loved the story and the characters and the romance and the world and well... pretty much everything! If I had to describe this book it would be as a kind of mixture between the tournament aspect of The Hunger Games and the supernatural and fantasy aspect of Poison Study, so if you liked either or both of those books I would seriously recommend this one to you. Heck, I'd recommend it to anyone, this is by far the best book that I have read so far this year!

And my favorite book of this year is...

1

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Review Quote:

My phone memo that I made whilst reading this book says:Assassin nuns - yes!
Ismae is kick ass yet naive woohoo!
Duval = sexy, stoic but caring.
Anne-Mature for age but too mature???
Easy politics - YAY!
Long never bored...
GASP DEATH! D:
OMG TWIST... shocker.

To be honest I don't know what half of that is meant to mean... but I so agree with the top one: Assassin nuns are awesome, I could write a whole review on how amazing assassin nuns are.

What about you guys, what were your top reads of the year, what do you agree/disagree with on this list?

Review: Who I Kissed by Janet Gurtler

She Never Thought A Kiss Could Kill. . .

Samantha is new at school and just recently joined the swim team. She’s been flirting with one of her teammates, Zee, who invites her to a party and just as quickly dumps her for another girl. Hurt, but pretending not to care, she turns to his best friend, Alex, and gives him a kiss. And he dies—right in her arms. Alex was allergic to peanuts, and Samantha had eaten a peanut butter sandwich right before the party. She didn’t know. Overnight, Samantha turns into the school pariah and a media sensation explodes. Consumed with guilt, abandoned by her friends, and in jeopardy of losing her swimming scholarship, she will have to find the inner-strength to forgive herself for the tragedy.

I loved If I Tell by Janet Gurtler and though the idea of Who I Kissed seemed a little... urgh... random, I loved the way it was executed though it was a little over the top but I understood why it was done the way it was and actually really enjoyed it.

The story went way deeper than I thought that it would and I was immersed in Sam's emotions - her guilt, her anger, her fears. There was a lot going on but I was so gripped that I read the whole book in no time. I really enjoyed meeting all of the characters especially Aunt Allie who was so funny and inspirational for Sam, or Zee who added to the honesty and believable of the story as his emotions were so multi-dimensional as he has every right to hate Sam but he struggles with his feelings for her.

I loved Gurtler's writing, despite the fact that she deals with some serious issues she does it so delicately and not over the top. I think that I will continue to read her books after how much I enjoyed this and If I Tell.

Overall Rating: B+

Book released 1st October 2012 by Sourcebooks Fire
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (eBook)

Other books from this author:

If I Tell

Review: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home. For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be. Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night. Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school. Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? Thrilling, sassy, sexy, and inventive, Darynda Jones's first foray into the world of teens will leave readers eager for the next installment.

This is Darynda Jones' first young adult book and I think that it shows. There was nothing really bad about this book but I found that it was lacking in substance. To be honest I think she played it a bit safe and stuck to the old cliches in young adult books which made this book pretty easy and predictable to read but nothing that that I didn't enjoy reading.

The first flaw that I have to mention is the overly predictable love triangle. Of course there's the 'light' protector and the 'misunderstood' bad boy and the love story leans towards the typical one and there's a link between these two and our poor innocent heroine is so stuck in the middle and spoilt for choice and in the end goes for the one that I disliked the most. It was a little annoying because it totally overtook the whole series.

To be honest, whilst the book was a bit of a train wreck in execution (I'll get to that in a second), the general plot was good. I liked the whole secret society/angel of death/psychic thing and I really enjoyed Lorelei's friends and their roles in the plot. However, as I said above it was pretty shabbily executed, there are so many things going on and none of them seem well executed. On top of that, I can get that Lorelei is a psychic but to say that she is descended from a long line of super-awesome psychics including (and wait for it) Joan of Arc and Sappho.... Yeah.

Overall, this book wasn't awful and it was a quick and on the most part enjoyable read. It just wasn't amazingly executed and I just couldn't get past how chaotic it seemed.

Overall Rating: C-

Book released 2nd October 2012 by St Martin's Press
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (eBook)

Review: Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

Gah! What is it about 2012 that has caused such a massive drop in the quality of YA sci-fi. irst there was Origin which was so seriously disappointing for me and now there is this, which I was expecting so much from and was so seriously let down. I am so sorry to say this but though it was a fun book it was so slow developing, the characters were one-dimensional and the romance was totally lacking.

Let me start from the beginning, which I never really managed to get my head around. The thing with this book is that it throws you straight into the drama with Eve in a car accident that causes serious injuries where she loses a leg. Fear not though, for Eve's super rich mother runs a biotechnology company and Eve is giving the best innovotive care and heals in superhuman speed and regains her leg and then meets Solo her mother's charge who she has never met before and that's all in the first few chapters of the book.

You're probably beginning to get the idea that this book moves super quickly and you're right, but the authors just don't pad out the plot enough and so nothing seems to be developed. Then the main plot point comes in, Eve is tasked with creating the perfect man by her mother, we're then given chapters of Eve musing over which nose to choose and how brawny said perfect man should be all interceded with the developing romance between Eve and Solo (which doesn't really develop much, it just appears), and the sideplot of Eve's promiscuous best friend Aislin and her drug dealer/abusive boyfriend Maddox which to be honest had no place in the book and only existed for two reasons: The made Eve look 'pure and good' alongside Aislin and to create a little drama in an otherwise boring book.

Anyway, we finally get to a point where loads of drama has happened and Eve has dissapeared and her mother dispatches somebody to rescue her. Who? Adam, who is actually the perfect man that Eve designed and Eve's mother brought to life with supe rduper illegal technology. Adam has the tiniest role ever in this book yet his name is still included in  the title.

Not much else really happens.

Overall Rating: D

Book released 2nd October 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (eBook)

Review: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

There is a serious lack of fantasy dystopian books out there and that is something that really saddens me. I mean, I love dystopians as much as any other YA blogger but the old dystopian formula is starting to get old and anything that can put a spin on the genre is truly welcomed by me. This book really does put something original into the genre with the fantasy aspect and I really did enjoy this book. The world created was beautiful and magical and I loved the idea of spinning and crewelling, I really think that the world was so multi-layered and well explained and I enjoyed it.

I had a few things that bugged me a little. I really liked Adelice as a character but I do think that she was too easily described as a rebel before she even started doing anything rebellious and it seemed like Albin was trying to pour this character trait down our throat rather than show it to us. This book would have been much better without the love triangle as I really didn't like one of the boys Erik as he seemed really creepy, there was some chemistry between Jost and Adelice which I liked and though the addition of Erik may have been necessary, I would have much preferred him to like... not exist.

I really enjoyed Albin's writing and this book was actually fun to read and very entertaining so I wouldn't use those flaws above as a basis of whether to read it. I REALLY liked this book.

Overall Rating: B

Book released 16th October 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (eBook)

A Quick Note:

Hi guys,

I know that I've barely posted anything in like... forever... I am so sorry.

This blog is still running but due to personal problems in my own life I am struggling to find any time and motivation to review. As well as that, I have left university for the Christmas break and unfortunately left my Kindle there as well, which means that I am reading my ebooks off my laptop which slows the whole situation down.

Fear not, I'm taking the Christmas break to catch up, schedule and reduce the TBR pile so expect to see lots from me starting in the next few days.

I also have a few exciting things lined up in the new year including interviews, blog tours and a LOT of giveaways so keep an eye out.

Drop me a comment if you read this, just so i know that I do still have readers!

-Jade

Stacking the Shelves (7 weeks edition)

Hello you lovely bloggy people, nice to see you returning readers and new visitors again!

I have been so amazingly busy and distracted since I got to university 7 weeks ago that It's been so long since I've done a meme post, meaning that i have quite a few books to get through here. 

Thankfully, these are all review books and I haven't bought any books in the past few months (no time!) aside from the course textbooks so there aren't TOO many here.... anyway, hope you enjoy seeing what I have!

Sorry about the awful quality of the pictures!

Print - Review

Pantomime by Laura Lam - Strange Chemistry, February 5th 2013

Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan - Hodder and Stoughton, January 17th 2013

Echo by Alyson Noel - Panmacmillan, November 22nd 2012

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable - Chicken House, October 4th 2012

Geek Girl by Holly Smale - HarperCollins, February 28th 2013

Sister Assassin (Mind Games) by Kiersten White - HarperCollins, February 19th 2013

Ebook - Review

Edelweiss:

Under Shifting Glass by Nicker Singer - Chronicle, March 1st 2012

Absent by Katie William - Chronicle, April 1st 2013

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza - Katherine Tegan, March 12th 2013

Taken by Erin Bowman - HarperTeen, April 16h 2013

Pivot Point by Kasie West - HarperTeen, February 12th 2013

NetGalley

Renegade by J.A Souders - Tor Teen, November 13th 2012 

Renegade by Amy Carol Reeves - Flux, April 2013

Senshi by Cole Gibsen - Flux, March 8th 2013

Hysteria by Megan Miranda - Bloomsbury, February 14th 2013

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati - Flux, February 8th 2013

A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso - January 29th 3013

Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon - Cedar Fort, December 11th 2012

Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas - Entangled, November 13th 2012

Alternity by Mari Mancusi - October 19th 2012

So what am I really excited about in this haul? Well, basically everything. 

Some I have already read, like Geek Girl and Pantomime and some have been featured as WOW picks from me, like Mila 2.0, Hysteria, Taken, Renegade and Sister Assassin/Mind Games.

What did you get? 

Leave me a link and I'll call by.

Also, if you like my blog please follow me here by GFC or on twitter (Jade_jmbtf) and look out for my email follower widget which will be up soon!

Review: Blink Once by Cylin Busby

West is a high school senior who has everything going for him – until an accident leaves him paralysed. Strapped down in his hospital bed, moving in and out of consciousness, West is isolated and alone. Until he meets Olivia.

Olivia is the girl next door – though not the typical girl next door. She is in the hospital room next to his, and before long, she’s sneaking into his room to talk with him. Only Olivia seems to know what he’s thinking, and even dreaming about. Yet certain questions haunt him: Why is Olivia in the hospital? And how is she connected to the terrible dreams he’s been having? But the biggest shock of all comes when West must face the possibility that the girl he’s fallen in love with – and who’s done more to aid his recovery than anyone else – may not even be alive.

Blink Once was one of those books that I just don't know how to describe, I enjoyed it so much because it was so mind bending and psychological. I never really had a clue what was going on and the ending just totally threw me, just when you think you've grasped what's going on that happens... It was pretty amazing and, in a way, anticlimatic. Don't get me wrong, I loved what Busby did with this book, it was realistic and semi-believable and works well as both a 'supernatural' book as well as a contemporary which makes it pretty awkward to out into one genre, but the ending was somewhat annoying just because it went back on everything that had happened... However the ending was also beautiful and meaningful.

Yeah, I'm pretty confused by my own emotions right now.

I really hadn't heard much about Blink once when it turned up in my mailbox one day and so I kind of disregarded it. I picked it up a few days ago whilst avoiding essays and planned to read one hundred pages before going back to my work... one full book later and my head was reeling and I was speechless. That is the effect that this book had on me... it's pretty gritty. The characters are so real, West was so well written and Olivia was such an enigma, I would have loved to learn a little more about her circumstances.

The writing in this book is so raw. busby really get's down to the emotions that West is feeling; his frustration, his fear, his determination and his raw pain. The flashbacks to West's life before his accident show how much he's changing as a person and how much he's lost and I really felt that the narrative reflected the pure desperation of this novel. It was so well written.

Overall, a beautiful and poignant and shocking book. The books bends the edges of reality and leaves you reeling, I honestly don't know what to say... despite a few flaws this is a book that I would so highly recommend.

Overall Rating: A-

Book to be released October 11th 2012 by Bloomsbury
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Print)

Review: Breathe by Sarah Crossan

When oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides which lucky few will live inside the Pod. Everyone else will slowly suffocate. Years after the Switch, life inside the Pod has moved on. A poor Auxiliary class cannot afford the oxygen tax which supplies extra air for running, dancing and sports. The rich Premiums, by contrast, are healthy and strong. Anyone who opposes the regime is labelled a terrorist and ejected from the Pod to die. Sixteen-year-old Alina is part of the secret resistance, but when a mission goes wrong she is forced to escape from the Pod. With only two days of oxygen in her tank, she too faces the terrifying prospect of death by suffocation. Her only hope is to find the mythical Grove, a small enclave of trees protected by a hardcore band of rebels. Does it even exist, and if so, what or who are they protecting the trees from? A dystopian thriller about courage and freedom, with a love story at its heart.

The problem with being an Environmental Geography student is that it really messes up your enjoyment of dystopian books with environment issues as a base, such as this one. i really could not bring myself to really like this book just because it takes too many liberties with the scientific aspect of this book. Coupled with the slow pace at times I really struggled through this book.

One aspect that I really did enjoy was that nobody could survive without the air tanks. This makes the book original in comparison to other YA dystopians as it isn't just the government that is a threat to our characters but the world as well. Though the upper class have more accesible air, Quinn's struggles show that this does not make them indestructible and it did add more suspense to the book.

I really struggled with the characters though. Quinn and Alina I just could not like but they weren't utterly hatable, I reserve the word hate for Bea who was so whiny and annoying I felt the urge to skip her chapters. Yeah, the only characters that i could like were Maude and Jazz which is pretty depressing because they're only secondary characters.

The most annoying thing was the science though, I understand that this based on basic science - no plants = no oxygen = DEAD but there are so many aspects that she didn't take into consideration that i just could not get out of the back of my mind. I won't get into it because it's Sunday and I am not trying to think about anything to do with my university course but GAH IT'S FRUSTRATING!

I didn't give up, and I enjoyed the small bit of originality, but I honestly can't recommend this book. Maybe you'll enjoy it, but I'd recommend Under the never Sky over this.

Overall Rating: D

Book released 11th October 2012 by Bloomsbury Children's Books
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Print)
ARC also received from the US publisher via Edelweiss (eBook)

Review: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Imagine that you have two minds, sharing one body. You and your other self are closer than twins, better than friends. You have known each other forever.

Then imagine that people like you are hated and feared. That the government want to hunt you down and tear out your second soul, separating you from the person you love most in the world.

Now meet Eva and Addie.

They don’t have to imagine.

I have been itching after What's Left of Me since I first heard of it last year. The whole concept was so original and I knew that I was going to really enjoy it. I did really enjoy it even though I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped. There were some flaws in this book, but it was gripping and chilling and an unputtadownable read. I loved it!

Unlike other dystopian books that try to deal with touching and gripping subjects, Zhang doesn't try too hard to throw all the action and fear and negativity at us, instead she focuses on the compassion and caring and the positive bond between Addie and Eva which makes some parts of this book even more heart-breaking and poignant. The relationship between Addie and Eva is the most beautiful part of this book, I thought it would be difficult to see them as two different people but it's so easy to see their different personalities. The pair had difficulties but got through them together, showing a lot of love, dedication and selfishness towards each other.

The secondary characters were good. I would have liked to get to know more about the other kids in the institution, especially Eli, I would also have liked the backgrounds of the doctors just so I could see why they acted the way before. I also really liked getting to know Devon and Ryan , though I hope they become a little more developed in the next book. i think Jackson may become a prominent character in book two and I'm looking forward to seeing how Zhang deals with the romance aspect in relation to the hybrids.

Though I was a little disappointed by the main bulk of this book which took place at a government institution, it seemed very cliche. The momentum slowed down and the book seemed to be going into familiar territory with all the secrets and the nasty government people and though I was never c lose to giving up at times I did feel like I needed to put the book down and take a break, but I read on. I read on on because I wanted to see how Addie and Eva dealt with the obstacles being thrown at them. The end was a little anti-climatic but I'm looking forward to book two.

Overall, What's Left of Me was a unique addition to the dystopian genre. I really enjoyed it but there were some flaws in the pacing and originality of certain parts of the plot which means that it may be pretty forgettable for some people. I look forward to seeing where Zhang takes the Hybrid Chronicles.

Overall Rating: B-

Book released 27th September 2012 by HarperCollins Childrens Books
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Print)

Review: Pantomime by Laura Lam

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

This book has a secret, a big secret. I won't tell you what that secret is, I will make this review very cryptic just so that I don't even let out any clues about that secret, but just remember that this book has a secret. It's a pretty awesome secret that makes this book amazing and twisty and completely unique and yet this book will appeal to so many fans of YA fantasy fiction. So yeah, I will start this review by saying that you should read this book. It's pretty amazing.

Strange Chemistry have this knack for picking out appealing and original books and this one is no exception. I swear that I went into this book expecting something magical and fun and came out feeling very shocked and twisted but not disappointing at all. This book was everything that I never expected it to be and more, in the best possible way. Keep doing what you're doing, Laura Lam and Strange Chemistry, I have a feeling that you'll be impressing me for a long time.

The characters in Pantomime just jump off the page, the main characters, Gene and Micah are both fantastic characters that seemed so real. Gene's story of living in a world that she doesn't quite fit into and Micah's story of running away from something in his past are emotionally written and when the two stories cross the result is amazing. I liked the secondary characters as well; Drystan the clown is a fun and multi-dimensional character, I never quite knew what his intentions were but I always sure that he was a good and caring person, I also grew to like Aenea, Micah's romantic interest despite disliking her towards the beginning.

The pacing of this book was great, though it does have a bit of a slow start. By about three chapters in I couldn't put this book down and it pulled me out of an awful reading slump. The ending was fantastic and this book had a fantastic climax.

Overall, Pantomime was an amazing book that kept me gripped. The characters and plotlines were both written superbly and the twist in this book is just shocking and unique. I've never quite read anything like it, and I loved it.

Overall Rating: A

Book to be released February 5th 2013 by Strange Chemistry
ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Print)

Review: Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel

Can the living coexist with the living dead? That's the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as "The Laz" hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites. Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety. Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren't the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder's crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target. As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora's scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of "The Laz" and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus-and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.

It's no surprise that after finishing this book I found myself in a total reading slump, not because this book was SO AWESOME that nothing could compare but because this book was slow and dreary and at times it also got stupidly complicated. It took me so long to finish this book and even the super cute ending couldn't convince me to read on in this series.

The one thing that seriously annoyed me in this book was the jumping narration. I could have dealt with two narrators but there was like... six? in this book. Nora was a good heroine and I still love Bram but then  it jumps to like Pamela who is so weak as a character and my interest in what was happening plummeted. I didn't care much for the rest of the narrators either, I would have been happy with Bram and Nora.

I also began to find the setting very awkward, I do like steampunk books and I did like how it was done in the last book but it's odd to have the very judgemental victorian society and phones and texting in the same book, it just didn't seam as well executed as in Dearly, Departed.

I totally regret that I didn't enjoy this book, but in all honestly I don't think I'll continue with the series.

Overall Rating: D

Book released September 25th 2012 by Del Ray
book received as an eGalley for review via NetGalley

Other books by this author:

Dearly, Departed (Gone With the Respiration #1)