Review: The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Ingrid Waverley is a young woman to be reckoned with. Faced with her brother's mysterious disappearance after an abrupt move to Paris, she is determined to discover what has happened to him. Soon she and her sister Gabriella are drawn into a Parisian underworld more terrifying than they could ever have imagined, but watching over them are two impossible (and impossibly handsome) young men. Luc is a 'Dispossessed', an ancient gargoyle whose sworn duty it is to protect the humans who inhabit his abbey. Nolan has secrets of his own too. He is a member of the Alliance - a shadowy group dedicated to keeping Paris safe from the demonic forces that threaten to destroy it.

Secrets, danger and hidden powers stalk the girls in this beautifully imagined paranormal romance that will keep readers gripped from beginning to end - and one thing is for sure - you'll never look at a gargoyle in the same way again...

When I saw the description for this book I just knew that I had to read it - 1899, gargoyles, romance - this sounded absolutely amazing. It was pretty close to my expectations! Seriously, there aren't many paranormal romances that I love these days but The Beautiful and the Cursed definitely makes the list.

From the first page I was gripped by all of the mysteries. What had happened to Ingrid in London, and  what's happened to Grayson in Paris and what's the big mystery with all of the character? I have to admit that I'm always a little bit wary when there is a human/paranormal species romance, and especially was here because gargoyles aren't exactly seductive attractive creatures like... say vampires. I really didn't get squeamish by the romance between Luc and Ingrid though since it developed well and most of it is only when Luc was in his human form. I also really liked the Nolan/Gabby romance, that was fiery and romantic and Nolan was swoon-worthy, in some ways I preferred him to Luc who was kind of a typical YA hero.

The thing that made this book so awesome was Morgan's amazing writing which made the book that could have just been the typical YA paranormal romance something gripping and beautiful. Despite the dark tone of this book, Morgan's writing style was something absolutely beautiful and gripping. I absolutely loved it. The storyline is well thought out and the action is spread across so he pace is always good.

Overall, The Beautiful and the Cursed was a fantastic book, with two awesome love lines and a fantastically written story. I would totally recommend it to anyone.

Book released May 2nd 2013 by Hot Key Books

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Transcendence by C.J. Omolol

When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider. As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet-an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both.

I've seen plenty around about Transcendence but never really looked into it enough to know whether I wanted to read it, which is why when it turned up in my post I wasn't all that excited to check it out. I'm kind of glad that I did anyway, it wasn't good enough to blow me away but it was good enough to keep me interested to read Intuition, the second book. 

I really enjoyed how original the idea of the Akhet, people that can remember their past lives, though I was a little confused by all of the flashes to Cole's past lives and which ones matched which. I guess it was done that way to put us in Cole's shoes and make us feel her confusion. I did feel that Cole believed Griffon way too quickly, but I guess if you're having recollections of things that happened centuries ago the Akhet explanation definitely makes sense, so i'll let that slide. 

One thing that did kind of put me off this book was the fact that even though Griffon is only seventeen or whatever, Griffon's essence is centuries old, he's mature and can remember hundreds f lives with kids and wives and being an old man... the whole romance with Cole seemed kind of creepy in the same way that I get creeped out at vampire romances and stuff like that... and Griffon is waaaaay older than Edward Cullen. I did like Cole and Griffon as a couple, it just took me a while to get past the whole almost a thousand year old guy thing.

Omololu's writing didn't really impress me as it was pretty average for YA books, that doesn't mean it was bad, it just means that the writing style was similar to most of the YA paranormal books out there so the voice isn't distinct or memorable, still it was easy to read and a well plotted out storyline with a good pace and flow, so  can't really fault her. 

Overall, Transcendence wasn't the most amazing book out there, but I enjoyed it enough to be eager to check out the sequel and I look forward to reading more about Cole's past lives. The romance was a bit icky at times, but the plot was original and it was developed well. I'd recommend it to people looking for a paranormal romance about something original.

Book released 6th June 2013 by Bloomsbury UK

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Waiting on Wednesday (19th June 2013)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Tell me what you think! I may not reply back until later since I have a busy day today but please do comment with a link to your blog!

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The Elites by Natasha Ngan
September 5th 2013 - Hot Key Books

There is a rumour that the Elites don't bleed.'

Hundreds of years into the future, wars, riots, resource crises and rising sea-levels have destroyed the old civilisations. Only one city has survived: Neo-Babel, a city full of cultures - and racial tension. Fifteen-year-old Silver is an Elite, a citizen of Neo-Babel chosen to guard the city due to her superior DNA. She'd never dream of leaving - but then she fails to prevent the assassination of Neo Babel's president, setting off a chain of events more shocking and devastating than she could ever have imagined. Forced to flee the city with her best friend Butterfly (a boy with genetically-enhanced wings), Silver will have to fight to find her family, uncover the truth about Neo-Babel and come to terms with her complicated feelings for Butterfly.

A futuristic sci-fi pick where the main character is the genetically enhanced one, as opposed to books where the genetically enhanced are the antagonists. This sounds great!

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Roses by G.R. Mannering
November 2013 - Sky Pony Press

She bears no name. Her silvery appearance is freakish to the numerous inhabitants of Sago, the cosmopolitan capital of Pevorocco in a fantasy realm. With her mother vanishing at the instance of her birth, she is regrettably sent to live with the nouveau riche Ma Dane, where she is punished daily for something, though she knows not what. Tauntingly named Beauty, she flees Sago in an violent uprising that sets out to massacre all Magics and journeys to the furthest point of the country.

But Beauty cannot hide in the grassy Hillands forever. Before long, the State officials find her and threaten to take her back to war-torn Sago where death surely awaits. In a midnight blizzard she escapes them, running into a deep, enchanted forest to a great and terrible beast who will bargain for her life.

But can Beauty accept Beast? Eternity is a long time.

I am a massive sucker for fairytale retellings and Beauty and the Beast has so many awesome ones, its so fun to read new retellings of well covered stories and this ne sounds fresh and original! 

Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Despite being told multiple times that Angelfall is the best angel book evah. I struggled to believe it, maybe this is because it's self-published and despite having read plenty of awesome self-published books I still tend to think of them as generally not as good as published books. I know, I suck and I'm not going to lie when I say that I really wish I'd read Angelfall earlier. I agree; it is definitely one of the best angel books I have ever read... probably even in the top ten or so books I have ever read period.

Yep... this book is a million kinds of awesome. Plus some.

The angels in this book aren't the bright, chaste, radiant creatures that you see depicted in the annual nativity play, nor are they the dark, twisted, emo bad boys that are so common in YA fiction. In this book, the angels are vengeful and merciless and absolutely amazing. As well as this, this book is semi-biblical but at the same time not overly religious - it was a welcome departure from the typical post-apocalyptic book and the paranormal aspects were fantastically developed as well. The more realistic aspect of the book is Penryn's mother's mental illness which was slipped in there and played a large part in the development of Penryn's character and making people care for the two sisters.

Each of the relationships in this book is fantastically written. the most obvious relationship is the one between Raffe and Penryn which starts off as two allies on a journey together but predictably evolves into something much closer. The relationship is developed so gradually that whilst it's obvious, it never seems instalove-ish or overly deep. The other relationships are also so well written, the relationship between Paige and Penryn is amazing to see, even though Paige is barely in the book in person my heart ached for her at the end.

Never once in this book did I feel able to put it down and when I had to I did it with total reluctance and I was counting the minutes until I could pick it up again. The plot developed flawlessly and the pacing never dropped below gripping. Twists came so often but the biggest twist at the end had me absolutely reeling.

I just... I really can find absolutely no fault in this book. Angelfall is the closest to perfection I have read in a long time.

Book released 23rd May 2013 by Hodder and Stoughton (UK)

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

If you enjoyed Angelfall and are looking for similar books that I enjoyed, I would recommend checking out Bound by Sarah Bryant.

Review: Gloss by Marilyn Kaye

New York, 1963.
Fashion, music and attitudes are changing, and there's nowhere in in the world more exciting. Sherry, Donna, Allison and Pamela have each landed a dream internship at Gloss; America's number-one fashion magazine.

Each girl is trying to make her mark on New York and each finds herself thrown head-first into the buzzing world of celebrity, high-end fashion and gossip. But everything isn't as glamorous as it seems - secrets from the past threaten to shatter their dreams.

They're finding out that romance in New York is as unpredictable and thrilling as the city itself.

Gloss was such a fun book to read. Even though it came through randomly (or at least I can't remember requesting it) I jumped into it pretty quickly and I really enjoyed it. It's deceivingly thick (only 300 pages but the font was larger than most books and pictures and larger quotes take up some of the space) so this book was definitely the perfect 'fast' read.

The book was set in the early 1960s and I loved all the things that make it so authentic, like the fashions and the typewriters and Sherry's traditional southern upbringing. This is the age where women are getting freedom, but still relied on men and it's the story of four girls trying to find what they think that they want, and how their views on life change. It was amazing to read about life in the 60s, and also amazing to read it from all of these different girls that come from different worlds and have different ideals.

Some of the characters get more focus than others, and some are more likable than others, but each of them get enough focus that you start to root for them and feel for them. Donna's story only comes out near the end but straight away I was on her side whereas we know Sherry and Allison's background pretty quickly. There is no happy love story in this book, but each of the girls has their own chance at one and eventually realises that they have more opportunities in their life than they thought. It was a really inspirational book but it doesn't go too deep or dark anywhere, which I really appreciated.

Overall, Gloss was a really fun and meaningful read, perfect for passing a couple of hours in the bath. It's not the most memorable or amazingly written book, but the 1960s setting was authentic and the stories were real.

Book released 6th June 2013 by Panmacmillan Children's

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Review: Wake by Amanda Hocking

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

Despite kind of enjoying Switched a year or so back, I haven't ever really felt the urge to pick up any of hocking's books. They all seem really cool and the hype is awesome, but none of them really strike me as gripping or original so I've kind of stayed away from them. However, I was offered Wake and Lullaby for review from the UK publishers and I though 'well, why not give it a try?'.

I may just start buying into the Amanda Hocking hype now. Okay, so Wake wasn't ground-breakingly original and I didn't totally love it. I did really enjoy it though, and there were definitely parts where I just couldn't put it down. My favorite parts of this book were the parts with Harper in, despite the fact that she's so straight-laced and I really didn't like her to start with she really grew on me, and her interactions with boat man Daniel, who is like her polar opposite, really grabbed me. I didn't really find that much chemistry between Gemma and Alex, who are meant to be the 'main' couple, because neither character seemed fleshed out. Gemma is the risk-taker and a little more stupid than Harper but that's most of the personality we see from her, and Alex just seemed to be there as a prop - a reason for Gemma to feel tied to her home and not want to live with the sirens.

The atmosphere in this book is what really gripped me. Small, touristy island with creepy killings happening is creepy enough, but Penn, Thea and Lexi take the creepiness up a new level - they were terrifying, like a mixture between the unapproachable, popular girls at school and the creepy monsters that I guess they kind of are. I didn't think there was anything outstanding about Hocking's writing, but the pace was always fast and the action scenes at the end were especially gripping.

This book would be recieving a much higher rating if I'd like Gemma and Alex a lot more, but I am going to read the rest of this series because I am gripped by the story and I want more of Harper and Daniel. If Lullaby is even a little bit better than Wake, Amanda Hocking will have a new fan.

Book released September 2012 by PanMacmillan (UK)

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviews for other books by this author:

Lullaby (Watersong #2)

Tidal (Watersong #3)

Review: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

In a world in crisis, children are the future. Part of the cure. Not now. Children are deadly. Marked one to ten. Fiona is a TEN. She just doesn't know it yet . . . She doesn't know her true strength.

Fiona doesn't remember going to sleep. But she has woken to find her entire world has changed - her house is abandoned and broken, and her neighbourhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right wrist that she doesn't remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. And she's right. When the honeybee population collapsed, a worldwide pandemic occurred and the government tried to bio-engineer a cure. But instead the vaccination turned people into ferocious, deadly beasts. They have been branded as a warning to unvaccinated survivors. Key people needed to rebuild society are protected inside a fortress-like wall. Fiona has awakened branded, alone and on the wrong side of the wall . . .

This book made me so angry, because there was so many ways it could have been absolutely awesome but to me, this book kind of just fell down a hole of... suck. Maybe it isn't fair to start a review so negatively, but it is so rare that I come across a book that annoyed me as much as Stung. I absolutely hate writing ranty negative reviews, so I'm going to expand on the good and bad of this book, because I'm a critic and I won't blindly ignore that there were some good points to this book, but that the bad seriously outweighed them.

Let me start with the good, possibly the only reason that I read this book to finish: Dryden Bowen. He was my hero... okay so he definitely had his idiotic moments, in fact he had quite a few of them, but as a character his mature and protective side definitely was a good match for Fiona (I'll get to her in a moment). I liked that to start with Bowen is all set to give her the lab, it doesn't start out really positive for the two and I liked this. This book also had some moments of great pacing and the mystery between who Fiona is was also gripping, I wanted to know how things were going to pan out because Wiggins does a good job of building up the mystery.

However, the main character Fiona had me all set to throw my book on the barbeque and use it to cook sausages whilst pretending they were Fiona's fingers. Sorry, that may be a little extreme, but if Wiggins was tying to make a likable character in Fiona she did a sucky job of it, I wanted to punch her so much. Fiona, I get that you've just woken up in a strange world which requires survival skills which you clearly don't have, but how stupid do you have to be to change into a flowy sundress when you may need to blend in and run at a moments notice... and why not hide when someone is coming who may kill you lest you accidentally shoot the love of your life... who you've known for a few days. Okay so they knew eachother before the disease broke out, but he's a new person and you still have the maturity of a thirteen year old, it doesn't just take a few days for true love to happen. Though, to be fair, I guess two days in YA fiction is equivalent to two months in real life.

Overall, Stung seriously dissapointed me, even though I was so excited to read it. I'm sorry Bethany Wiggins, your writing was great but this book didn't quite do it for me... at all.

Book released 4th July 2013 by Bloomsbury Childrens (UK)

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review