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TillyCurrer

Hardcore Heroines

Teenage book review, reviewing since September 2012. I love reviewing books and reading, I blog at Hardcore Heroines about strong, badass females and hot werewolves and vampires. Kate Daniels and Curran are my kind of people.
Gameboard of the Gods - Richelle Mead If you didn’t know, Richelle Mead is one of my favourite authors, so when I got accepted to review this ARC, I did a little dance around my room…YAY! Thank you Penguin Dutton Adult publishing house for giving me this ARC copy. *That has in no way affected my honest review—Richelle just happens to be an awesome writer*
Gameboard of the Gods completely lived up to my expectations, it was simply amazing. The world Mead has built is so extensive and intricate, with every page turn revealing new, exciting aspects. Due to this, the world-building is laid on pretty thick and it wasn’t something I could skim over or half-read, it’s something that was needed to know to understand the overall plot. That is expected in this genre, because it’s the first book, but be warned–there’s a lot of it. Gameboard of the Gods is vastly different to anything Mead has written before, with this delving more into the Sci-Fi and Urban Fantasy realms.
It wasn’t just the world that was captivating, the characters were also. Justin uses vices like drinking, drugs and woman, and Richelle did a very good job of still making making me actually still like his character. He’s incredibly smart, and is used to being able to watch people and read their body language, which caused Justin and Mae’s working relationship to chafe because of her hard exterior. He also has two ravens making sarcastic comments inside his head, which made for funny entertainment and was incredibly creative.
Mae grew up in fairly wealthy surroundings, she was destined to be married off and give up her own athletic dreams, but contrary to what was expected, she joined the military and became lethal and agile with heightened reflexes and speed. She’s very tough, with impenetrable emotional armour, as she refuses to let anyone get close, which made her character grow throughout the book. She’s certainly a ‘Hardcore Heroine’.
Gameboard of the Gods is in third person, and as well as following Mae and Justin, we also follow Tessa. After having a couple of exciting chapters in Mae and Justin’s point of view, I was worried Tessa would bore me . This was not the case, I got to understand how the RUNA was perceived in a different, intimidating light in contrast to Justin and Mae’s admiration. Tessa is 16 and from Panama, which has different views on women and their future, and is less technology advanced than the RUNA, so despite that it was a jarring change, she also had more freedom.
There are romantic elements to Gameboard of the Gods, which I thought were nicely added and well-written, I’m anticipating how that’s going to continue in the next book.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it!
Rating: A
The Fault in Our Stars - John Green Hazel Grace was diagnosed with stage four thyroid cancer at the age of thirteen—there is no stage five. She immediately quit school and prepared for the worst, but with the help of a miracle drug, she’s been kept alive living with the unpredictable nature of cancer. At her cancer support group she meets Augustus, who is in remission, with the cancer already having taken one of his legs.
This book is incredibly emotional to read. I, like most people, have been deeply affected by cancer and found The Fault In Our Stars to be accurate and undeniably true. It’s not the typical cancer book—which I usually avoid like the plague—it’s witty, funny and gut-wrenching.

All of Green’s books are YA and he’s said in various interviews that writing adult fiction does not appeal to him at all, and he doesn’t ever want to write it. He worked as a student chaplain in a children’s hospital and that’s when he though of the idea for The Fault In Our Stars. This is probably why his characters are so bright and their situation thought-provoking, because John has met people in similar situations and didn't under-estimate the teenager characters. For a man in his 40’s, he writes ‘teenager’s’ POV very well, as they’re not actually completely ‘normal’ teenagers, they've had to face a lot worse than most people face in a lifetime. Therefore, when people say the teenagers are not realistic enough, or are too insightful—of course Hazel and Augustus are not ‘normal’ teenagers, they undoubtedly have a different perspective on certain aspects in life.

I was completely out of my comfort zone by picking this book up, because when I read YA, it’s usually paranormal and I’m very selective about that. However, once I started reading it was very hard to stop, I’m a slow reader, and I read this in two sit-downs. I do not think it’s over-rated in the slightest, John Green’s writing is funny and astute. It expresses tragedy and humour at the same time without being disrespectful. John Green captivated me and made me contemplate certain matters and empathise with every single character.

Hazel was intelligent and fairly ordinary, which was what made her a realistic and likeable character, because it symbolises the fickle nature of life and the fact that cancer can affect anyone. Like most readers, she had a favourite book--An Imperial Affliction and this later became a large aspect in the book that helped her relationship with Augustus grow. Their relationship was authentic and nicely paced throughout, building on a series of events that made them become closer and understand themselves better, whilst at the same time trying to understand their views on life better.

This book made me cry and laugh-out-loud, it was a truly enjoyable read and I hope to devour more of John Green’s books in the future.
Divergent - Veronica Roth This book was incredibly intense from beginning to end, there was always something happening and once I got roped in, I didn’t stop reading.
There are five factions in this dystopian world:
Abnegation—the selfless
Erudite—the intelligent
Candor—the honest
Dauntless—the brave
Beatrice was born in Abnegation, and is told never to ask questions, respect your elders, don’t look in the mirror and always help others–no matter the cost to you. She must wear gray robes, so she’s not separating herself from anyone or being individual and to not show much skin. To Beatrice, this never came naturally, and she found herself growing up constantly having to remind herself of these rules. They may seem weird, however Abnegation believe these rules make them utterly selfless. These five factions are how their community live in peace, with no murder and because all the council members are Abnegation, also no corruption.
Beatrice is sixteen and soon she will have the choice of leaving abnegation and joining another faction. That would mean never seeing her family again and being cast out. Before that decision though, her and other sixteen-year-olds to take a test. It is impossible to prepare for and informs their choice considering the type of person they are and how they react in certain situations, however, it’s not compulsory to choose that faction.
The world is so inventive and everything was explained well. With books in dystopian worlds, there’s always the risk of information-dumping, however, I never felt bombarded with information and I was always intrigued. Divergent is compared with The Hunger Games quite a bit, and I would recommend it if you liked The Hunger Games. I think it’s compared because Divergent has factions and lots of ruthless fighting, with corruption. The Hunger Games has districts with ruthless fighting and corruption. However, I believe Roth has brought something different to the table, and once I started to read, I realized that they are very different worlds with completely different characters, but they are both dystopian and that’s where the similarities lie.
I flew through the pages, and before I knew it, I was finished. Page after page, of action, humour and unpredictable things, I was so immersed I didn’t have time to make predictions about how it would end.
The characters were written really well, a few stood out that had a lot of depth and despite the fact this was in first person of Tris’s point of view, I felt huge empathy for other characters.
Tris was amazing, she was strong and took everything in her stride, even when I felt like breaking down and crying for her. She had to grow up a lot, because she wasn’t used to facing the corruption and violence in her comfort home of Abnegation. She was shielded from a lot and just seemed to be going through the motions in life, and then suddenly, she’s jumping from trains and fighting people every single day. Her character was so likeable, she was a little lost, but fighting for what she felt was right and had a witty humour that came out now and again.
The relationship with her father was regrettably distant, he was very self-righteous, but Tris had a lot of support from her mother, who had more secrets than she first appeared to.
Overall it was an engaging book with a strong teenage character, that first drew me in with it’s vivid world.
Rating: 5 Stars
Frost Burned - Patricia Briggs It's widely known that authors don't choose their covers, but I think Patricia Briggs has gotten very lucky with hers! I love how they're drawn, and the books have also been adapted into graphic novels which also make her look badass. I think they're slightly sex-kittenish but I certainly wish I could draw like that, and would choose this cover over the alternative cover any day.

Considering this is book number seven, it’s safe to say I’m attached to all the characters in the Mercy Thompson series, and always watch for the next release. Frost Burned was no disappointment, and all the old characters that I love were involved, which you didn’t get so much in River Marked because Mercy and Adam were on their honeymoon—I still did love that book though. We get Zee, Tad, Marsilia, Stefan, all of the pack and even a guest from the Alpha and Omega series which was a pleasant surprise.

This book is fast-paced and complicated, pulling together both an intricate plot and elaborate characters. Frost Burned jumped right in with action around the second chapter when Adam and the rest of the pack are abducted. This is caused by werewolf politics, because the werewolves have released their existence to the world.

Do not think that because Adam is abducted, you won’t see much of him, because there are two awesome chapter in his point of view, which I just lapped up. We see how Adam views Mercy, the pack bond and how his inner wolf contrasts to Mercy’s inner coyote.

Mercy is such an enjoyable character to read, she’s strong, she has back-story and an intriguing relationship with Coyote. When she’s not fighting for her life, she’s baffled by her pack bond, and saving those she loves. Her voice is really enjoyable to read and every time I hear about a new Mercy Thompson release I jump to buy it--or rather my mum does!

The world Briggs creates is so vivid and complex, with werewolf politics, Fae and Vampires, all weaved into one magnificent plot. One chapter the characters interact with the Fae, the next with Vampire, I didn’t get bored once.

If you haven’t venture into this adult Urban Fantasy world yet, and are looking for something new, I highly recommend this complex, interesting series.

Rating: A
Read more of my reviews at www.hardcoreheroines.co.uk
City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare Did you think it was strange that Clary’s brother was called handsome in the blurb, yet Simon was barely mentioned? Well that’s because Jace and Clary were attracted to each other in City Of Bones and then they found out they were related to the same evil Valentine. I’m a little surprised to see the turn this series has taken and I think Clare has taken forbidden love too far. I don’t understand why she thought this would be a good idea, because frankly it just annoys me. Angsty looks across the room, because they can never be together, but they can’t help their feelings. No. Sick of this storyline, if it was anything but being related, I’d love it. The chemistry between Jace and Clary is palpable, and I have really grown to like both characters. Forbidden love is awesome, but not this. And it’s also a bit irritating because you have this great book about gay warlocks and faeries and then…some weird romance thing that is out of place.

I actually still enjoyed this book, although the romance was getting silly. Magnus, Luke, Simon and Maia are all minor characters but I love them all. Magnus with his flamboyant but powerful attitude is incredibly entertaining, his and Alec’s relationship is something I wish was explored more. Alec and Magnus are both attracted to each other but Alec doesn’t want anyone to know he’s gay. I really enjoy this storyline and wish Cassandra Clare would focus on them more. All we get are little snippets and I love their relationship!

I’m glad Jace has an inner conflict with Valentine, because it would be unrealistic if Jace wasn’t confused about his relationship with his evil father who brought him up until he was eleven. I like to read about his vulnerability, I’m glad he’s not the perfect guy, his complexities make him more interesting.

The love triangle has a weird dynamic here, but I don’t want to ruin anything about that and Simon is as awesome as ever, his character is a favourite of mine in this series. His geeky one-liners are present throughout.

I found City Of Ashes surprisingly gripping through most of it, but towards the climax- the area where I’m supposed to be gripped the most- I mostly lost interest because one again, it’s them against Valentine and seemed very samey-samey.

World-building was once again extensive, and I enjoyed it, rating: B-
Half-Blood - Jennifer L. Armentrout I honestly don’t know how to start this review. I am a die-hard Vampire Academy fan, always have been since the moment I read it. Therefore, reading Half-Blood makes me a touch defensive, why you ask? Because it’s exactly the same.
Okay that’s a lie, it’s not. But it’s pretty damn close. Instead of the premise of Moroi and Strigoi, it’s about God’s. It’s like all the major events in one series of Vampire Academy, condensed into one book. If you like Vampire Academy, you’ll most definitely like this, I did. But I couldn’t shake the feeling as I read it that it was copied. Then I found my mind wondering into how far this is on the edge of copyright. I chose to read this book because I love Jennifer L. Armentrout’s other series, I obviously still do. However, I’m not too happy about this book.
I started reading it knowing it was going to be alike, as I heard from word of mouth and other reviews. I really liked Alex and her kickass nature, but I don’t think she even matched up to Rose. She didn’t have the right feistiness for me. Rose is irresponsible for the first half, jumping into things, but she makes a conscious decision to stop, and she mostly does. I felt like Alex made the decision, yet didn’t carry through with it. Aiden and Seth are both sexy, funny characters. But they don’t match up to Dimitri and Adrian, at all.
By copying a lot of details from VA, she’s made me compare the two, which wasn’t something I was comfortable with. This is because I’m extremely biased towards VA. Having said that, there is no doubt VA is better, despite my biased position.
The plot did have the elements I love: just the right amount of romance, not too much, not too little. It also had a strong, intriguing heroine, and other fun characters. Aiden was mysterious and a bit broken—not that he would ever admit it. The plot was about God’s, they don’t play much of a part in this one, but I’m sure their part will grow in the next couple of books. There was also another magical element thrown in, which I really liked, which considered Seth and Alex. I really want to know how this pans out.
I will be reading the next book, because I’ve heard how the series completely changes and diverts from VA, which I’ll be pleased to see considering that I enjoyed the potential so much.
Rating: 3 Stars: Overall, interesting, funny characters, and an entertaining plot, unfortunately, it was too much like Vampire Academy for me to love it completely.
Obsidian - Jennifer L. Armentrout I devoured this book. With an interesting premise about light aliens, it’s certainly different from what I’ve read from any paranormal Young Adult before, especially when it comes to love-at-first-sight. Yawn. This was not the case in Obsidian; when Daemon and Katy met, there were undeniable sparks between them, but their eyes were throwing daggers, not dopy looks of love. As a major fan of witty, sarcastic characters, this book delivered on all levels for me. Daemon and Katy have an interesting relationship, one moment they were about to kiss and the next they were about to strangle each other. Katy could stand up for herself and was gutsy, which was a surprise for Daemon, as his super-model looks usually kept dry insults at bay. Katy began to seem fairly shy, and even though I’m not against shy, I do like my fair share of defiant heroines, but I think Daemon brought out the confidence in her simply because he acted like a douche. I enjoyed following Katy’s character, she had a lot I could relate to and a realistic teenage voice, also, she’s a book blogger, why has no one done this before? There were references to certain books in there, and Katy shared my love for comics, graphic novels and paranormal books.

With the typical hot but a jerk male character, there is always a fine line between thinking they’re attractive and generally just disliking them. Just as I was beginning to slide into disliking Daemon, Jennifer made me love him and from then on Armentrout had captured my attention. Daemon was very interesting and mysterious, and with bonus material showing his points of view at the end of the book, I got to see what he was thinking in various chapters. He is a male bad boy character I really enjoyed and I haven’t read his type so well written in a while. Although, he was the typical everyone-is-stunned-by-his-beauty type of guy, but I guess that practically comes with every book, especially YA.

Nothing in this book seemed rushed, it was all so nicely paced! I have problems with pace because I’m really picky. I don’t like things going so slow they’re boring, but I also don’t like things –especially romance- moving too fast that it’s unbelievable. Jennifer knew when to pull me in and raise the tension throughout the whole book, and I was entranced.

Aliens are a great idea and go into sci-fi realms slightly so I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get here. But it didn’t seem to far-fetched and I found myself enjoying something that was completely fresh and it felt like Jennifer was throwing cool new ideas at me. Really enjoyed that part and hope she’s going to bring her game up in the next book.
Once Burned - Jeaniene Frost Ever since a terrible accident, Leila has been able to see peoples past/present/future and can electrocute them without meaning to- all with a single touch. Having deemed herself a freak, Leila travels with a carnival, performing gymnastics with her Vampire friend Marty. Vampires are the only creatures that can touch Leila and not get hurt when zapped with her electricity. Due to her unusual powers, Leila leads a very isolated life, her mother is dead and she barely talks to her father and sister, she doesn’t really have any friends except Marty. When Vampires capture Leila and force her to use her powers to their advantage, Leila accidently reaches out to the one and only Vlad Tepesh, who’s quite surprised by their telepathic encounter.
“That one tickled. If electrocution is your way of flirting, I commend you on your originality.”
Once Burned was an enjoyable read, with sizzling tension between Leila and Vlad all the way through. Leila knows exactly how to annoy Vlad and she got under his skin more than most people could. He is an extremely alpha character which I enjoyed. Mostly. He kept on doing things that irked me. Vlad Tepesh is a distinguishable character, he was also very cold, torturing people etc, and this bothered me at times. Leila and Vlad have a lot of arguments because of that. It meant that even though he was badass Vlad The Impaler, I didn’t quite like him as much. He softened up slightly at the end, but he still has a bit to go before I’m completely sold on him. Having said that, he was an amazing character to read about, he had enough mystery about his past that kept me guessing, but was also very distinct in his actions and personality because he had to live up to the legends. The romance between him and Leila was blazing all the way through.
“People frequently bore me, sometimes amuse me, most often irritate me, but rarely intrigue me.”
It appealed to me that Leila was a gymnast, and this connected to certain areas of her personality that were explored, including her past and her powers. It made her more complex and was done sparingly enough not to distract my attention from the main storyline, yet it kept my interest piqued.
Marty and Maximus are both minor characters that add to the book well, as this book mostly revolves around Vlad and Leila. From the Night Huntress series some complain that Jeanine’s Frost’s Cat and Bones’ relationship is fizzling out, this is certainly not the case here. We do get some cameos from Cat and Bones, and it was very amusing to see him from someone else’s perspective, we also see Mencheres and Keira as well.
With a sizzling romance and characters that kept me glued to the pages, I give this a 4.5 Stars

Nobody Loves a Bigfoot Like a Bigfoot Babe (Book 1)

Nobody Loves a Bigfoot Like a Bigfoot Babe (Book 1) - Simon Okill I posted this review on my blog months ago, I felt guilty about posting it because it sums up how much I hate this book. No more, sorry Simon Okill, but after seeing your rude comment on someone else's bad review, I realised I'm not the only one. I'm posting mine. I have an opinion.

Even though the blurb is a little bit…confusing, this book looked very intriguing to me, seriously, who doesn’t want to read a book about Bigfoots? It was described to me as a romantic comedy, let me tell you it was far from it. The book itself was well written and the premise seemed great, it was just the content that spoiled it for me, really. The awful characters were a big problem to me, never once did I find myself liking any of them, at all. How is this even possible? They were all narcissistic and just plain rude to everyone else, commenting on appearances that seemed unnecessary to the overall plot. I realise that was the point of their character to possibly be funny, but it meant I didn’t like them.
Take Duane for instance. He was a slob. I’ve got no problem with slobs, but he was simply unbearable, I never liked him, he was always thinking about getting into other women’s pants and the breast size of the barmaid. I have to say, even though he says he sleeps around with every women, I can’t imagine anyone would want to touch him with a twenty-five foot barge pole. He scratches his butt about 200 times in the whole book. I’m not even exaggerating, it was boring the first five times, but throughout the book it got intolerable. MB was pretty funny, what with his Old Indian legends, but even that grew wearing after a while. Lou was vain and had no real personality, the first introduction of her is her admiring how beautiful and sexy she was. Then she comes out with this:

“He was in his midtwenties, not too tall which made him all the more fat, cleanshaven with a rosy-cheeked, round face that told everyone he was stupid.”

Excuuuuuusssseee me? How am I ever meant to like her now? I tried, oh how I tried.
We also followed Duane who just commented on the size of women’s breasts and how he slept with half the town, and as a female, this got pretty wearing.

“Annie was quite attractive—she even had once done a swimwear photo shoot for Sports Illustrated, and relished showing off her Grand Canyon cleavage as she leaned over the counter top for her male customers to ogle at.”

Maybe I’m taking this too seriously but…isn’t that a little degrading, bear in mind this was written by a male. There were a lot of quotes like that, I could go on forever, it seemed there were a lot of characters like that, all the people were judged by their appearances, maybe it didn’t occur to any of them that I got sick of their looks being described, which was probably to conceal the fact they all had an atrocious personality. It got to the point where I was over-analysing and thinking maybe this book is really clever and reflecting our narcissistic society. I think not.
The FBI agents didn’t seem realistic and were fairly unprofessional, the whole book is finding a missing teenager and they barely do anything. They spent their whole time not being serious and chasing leads about Bigfoot.

“Duane never got annoyed with his Bigfoot friends, but today was different. She had done a very naughty thing.”

Bearing in mind a Bigfoot kidnaps a teenager- I’m not joking- am I the only one who thinks that a missing teenager is more than ‘naughty’? I know it’s meant to be funny and I shouldn’t be so pious about it but…the teenager went missing for days.
The romance also felt half-baked and kind of thrown in, it seemed unrealistic and they were both people I disliked so they could have each other for all I cared.
And the Bigfoot, I didn’t know how to categorise them, they acted slightly like humans but were animals. There were Bigfoot sex scenes, which frankly, was just plain disturbing and I couldn’t get over that. Can I unread that part? They were all called names like Teeelaaa, Maaawooo, Ooonaaa and Olaaa, it’s safe to say I got them mixed up a fair few times.
Immaturity was also a major factor. ‘Man juice’ was said a lot at the beginning, can’t you just say semen? Or at least think of a better alternative to ‘man juice’… seriously? At one point, one of them does a moon and they make a lighter fire bigger by farting into it. Wait, what? How old are these people exactly? They were grown men and women, yet they acted like eight-year-olds throughout the entire book, it got so tiring with incessant jokes that weren’t remotely funny. It was simply unbelievable and astounding the level of immaturity and pig-headedness this book contained. It took me a lot to carry on. Instead of for adults, this should have been an episode of Horrid Henry, at least then the actions would have fitted the age. If there was any irony to this book, I couldn’t find it and believe me I searched long and hard. There were some things that could have been mildly amusing, it was just the endless farting, piss jokes I could not get over, it was such a huge turn-off, I couldn’t find the other parts funny. I tried not to take it too seriously and it still didn’t appeal, not my kind of humour or book apparently, sorry.
I kept treading through this book to see if it would get better, despite wanting to stop chapters ago and came to the conclusion it only gets worse. The writing was fine, the editing was fine, it was the rest of it that I didn’t like.
I give this a D-, I simply thought it was immature and not my kind of humour, the only reason I didn’t give it lower was because the writing was fine and the initial ideas had great potential. I think Simon Okill is going to have to find a female book reviewer that finds farting/piss/ boob jokes hilarious. Good luck?
City of Bones - Cassandra Clare Clary is an ordinary 15-year-old girl, living in New York with her mum, Jocelyn, her father is dead and her Uncle Luke has been taking care of her for as long as she can remember. But soon she realises she doesn’t know them as well as she thought, and her ordinary family, aren’t so ordinary at all. One night she goes to a club with her best friend Simon and witnesses a murder that no one else saw. She meets a group of people called the Shadowhunters; they are demon hunters, and are curious to discover why Clary can see their world when no mundane should. She discovers she has the Sight and can witness the supernatural world, but she’s left wondering why. As her mother mysteriously goes missing through supernatural means, Clary turns to the Shadowhunters to figure things out and find her mother before it’s too late.
Cassandra Clare has set up an incredible world, filled with Warlocks, Vampires, Werewolves, Demons, I could go on. With world building came a huge information dump right at the beginning that was necessary, yet was not handled as well as it could have been. City of Bones was very thick to wade through, however once you get the lay of the land, there were many plot twists and turns, and I didn’t get bored once.
The things I really enjoyed about the characters were that Cassandra chose various specific characters to focus on throughout the book. City of Bones doesn’t completely revolve around the heroine, we see other characters points of view, and instead of getting bored—which I frequently do in other points of view—I enjoyed reading about the characters. A lot of YA novels have the whole book solely on the heroine, which is quite unrealistic, and can make the world dull and one-dimensional.
Clary had a fiery element about her, but she also had a vulnerability because she was only just introduced to the Shadowhunters when she gets thrown into battles, and therefore can’t kill and didn’t have the fighting training they did. This grew weary because she couldn’t protect herself and didn’t contribute much to fights. But I can’t expect her to be a ninja right away, so I’ll let that go…other than that, I liked her point-of-view!
Simon was Clary’s geeky best friend and I though he was funny; engaging in witty banter with Jace and making Star Wars references made him entertaining. Also, I was picturing him as Robert Sheehan, who’s playing Simon in the film, which didn’t hurt. Jace was a jerk, yet that didn’t bother me much, because it was said many times that it was a facade, and although he had a haughty attitude and a big mouth, I always thought there was a complexity to him and a set of emotions no one sees upfront that he covers up. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Isabelle and Alec as much as I wanted to; Alec had his own issues and I liked that, Isabelle was ‘the beautiful one’ and seemed kind of badass when it came to fighting. But there was always an animosity they both shared towards Clary that I didn’t think was reasonable. It seemed only Jace was actually nice to her and he was meant to be the jerk, which was kind of cliché. There’s also a definite love triangle building here, which I’m not a huge fan of, regardless of the ending I believe this love-triangle is not going away. For me, this wasn’t particularly a love story but was more about world-building than the romance between characters.
Despite minor character issues, I still found this an enjoyable world to read and will be reading the next in the series.
Rating: 3 Stars
Biting Cold - Chloe Neill
After the events in Drink Deep, Merit and Ethan are on their journey to Nebraska, to fight Mallory for the Maleficium. She’s obsessed with the book and nearly destroyed Chicago in her attempts to get it. Even though the Order were in charge of keeping her captive, she escaped her cell and now it’s Ethan and Merit’s turn to clean up the mess.
It’s been such a delight to see Merit grow throughout the series and she’s now a character I fully root for when reading the Chicagoland Vampires series. She has the perfect balance of fighting prowess, a tough personality, yet vulnerability that makes her a believable protagonist. After Ethan’s absence in Drink Deep, it was great to see him back, and along with that, the sexual frustration between him and Merit, as he decides to put their relationship on hold. Again. Merit decides to be mature, and carries on with her job as Sentinel efficiently, but she’s hurt by Ethan’s constant rejection. As Sentinel, she has a lot of responsibilities and people relying on her, and as usual, Merit took this in her stride. It’s been under a year since Merit was made a Vampire, and in that time she has been on many hit lists and overcome many battles. She’s professional and damn efficient at her job, and to Ethan’s surprise, she can handle it more than competently. In Biting Cold, we see her ‘badass’ tendencies and gain a slight look into Merit’s vulnerable side, which made her more authentic and exposed, but it didn’t slow her down.
Ethan and Merit are both complex characters, each have learnt something from the other, and their constant back and forth was entertaining, as well as emotional. Ethan was missed in the previous book and now that he’s back, he’s just as much an alpha as before, if not more so. I like Ethan’s character and the frustration between him and Merit was intense, to say the least. It reminded me how much he was missed- yet I still think Jonah is a great addition to the series. Mallory inadvertently tests the security of Ethan and Merit’s relationship and puts a stress on them as a couple. Ethan’s in a difficult position now that he’s suddenly returned from the dead, as Darius’ visit is at an unhelpful time and nobody’s quite sure who the master is.

“For now, with his emerald eyes locked on mine, where I was going didn't seem so scary.”

Mallory was really annoying me in the previous book, and I was glad that Merit didn’t easily excuse her of the pain she’d caused. I pitied Mallory in Biting Cold, and Chloe Neill did a very good job of keeping her fairly likeable, so I assume her character will be recovered in the next couple of books. The focus turns away from her and more onto other issues with different power plays and creatures such as Claudia- the Fae queen- who Merit encounters more than once.
The plot was engaging, and very entertaining, as new characters join the fray, each with their own funny one-liners. There’s a undertone of humour that lightens the mood and makes it more amusing, especially Merits love for Mallocakes.

“Your Mallocakes may be hard to find.”
“That’s why I packed a box in my duffel bag.”
He burst out laughing like I’d told the funniest joke he’d ever heard, but I’d told the absolute truth. Mallocakes were a favorite dessert—chocolate cakes filled with marshmallow cream—and they were exceedingly hard to find. I’d brought some along just in case.”
Other Side of Forever - Shannon Eckrich
I’d like to start by saying thank you Shannon for giving me this book to review. The Other Side Of Forever had a very original premise and if you’re sick of the constant vampire/werewolf books being churned out, I recommend this one. The concept of mortals and immortals was refreshing.
The telekinetic powers attracted me because it was unique; Allie hates her powers and can’t manipulate them easily, she has kept this secret hidden and whenever she gets emotional, her powers get out-of-control. I liked the idea of energy and how she could control certain objects, this made for a more entertaining read. Allie’s problems at home gave her a believable background and many teenagers could relate to this. It also gave another layer to her character and made her more complex. She had a hard time loving Ethan, because she’d gotten hurt before, so at the beginning she pushes him away. This angst was great and I thought the build-up to their first kiss was nicely paced. Sadly, as the book progresses, I thought they fell in love too quickly to be believable as I felt they barely knew each other. This ruined the romance slightly for me, as their professing love for each other seemed a little silly.
The bad guy’s bravado was poor, he didn't infuse me with fear for the characters, no matter how powerful he supposedly was. The climax at the end was good, especially because I always like a bad guy that has a past and reasons for his actions, but it was a bit of an information dump at the end, and he sounded like a bad cartoon character.
I had problems with Allie being saved a lot- she was saved by Ethan on numerous occasions. All of those times she didn’t even try to save herself and that bothered me. I realise she is a character a lot of teenage girls would like though, because she is very passive and could be easily related-to, but she was too passive for me. I think this might be deliberate to make her stronger throughout the series, at least I hope so because I liked the twist at the end and it seemed to be the beginning of her character development.
Ethan was a great male character, I can see a lot of girls fangirling over him. He grabbed me from the moment when he simply sat down and read a book- guys reading books are hot. He had a certain type of mystery surrounding him that made him more alluring and his past was an interesting back story.
There was also a strong balance between plot and romance, with puzzling occurrences in the beginning that lead to hair-raising conclusions in the end.
Overall, it was a great debut novel and even though I had some problems, it had characters that were easily related-to, an original premise, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.
Frostbite: The Graphic Novel - Richelle Mead, Leigh Dragoon, Emma Vieceli I really liked it, and thought it got the whole gist of Vampire Academy. However, with the graphic novel, you miss certain funny back and forth, or entire conversations that simply make the book. It's harder to empathize with Rose, because you don't fully get immersed into her thoughts.Yet, I think that's simply because it's a graphic novel and you can't cram it full, it just needs the important bits. Leigh Dragoon adapted it very well, and the witty thoughts are still there, making me laugh. It's a really quick, easy read for someone who wants to catch up with the books but doesn't have a lot of time.
The drawings are amazing, Dimitri is drawn well...ahem, and the characters are how they are described in the book, Emma Vieceli has clearly worked hard at trying to get everything correct. I found myself getting enraptured with the story again and flying through the pages, I haven't read the books in a while and this reminded me how much I desperately need to re-visit them.
Cry Wolf - Patricia Briggs Anna Latham lived in Chicago as a waitress earning next to nothing and living poorly. An abusive werewolf turned her three years ago because she is a rare Omega, this means she can help calm the pack and doesn’t have to obey to orders of those in her pack. Her life before was simply to get by until her knight in shining armour killed her pack Alpha- Leo and her main abuser-Justin.
I thought Anna’s behaviour would bother me, because she acts like a submissive wolf and normally Patricia Briggs has quite strong characters, yet I actually liked her personality and thought her submissiveness was realistic, and gave her character more depth. Also, the chance to grow throughout the series, proving we can have strong female characters that aren’t mouthy.
The hero is Native American Charles, who has never before had a mate, but what he calls his ‘Brother wolf’ instantly chose Anna the moment he saw her as his mate. Neither of them know what they’re doing, and because this is written in the third person, it’s quite interesting to see their thoughts and the complete miscommunication between them as they find their footing in the relationship. Both think their doing everything wrong. Charles is a very dominant wolf yet his father-Bran is alpha and Charles is effectively the pack killing machine, he kills those who need to be killed.
Anna has to move from Chicago which she finds tough, her surroundings are completely different as she enters a plush house. Gone has her little apartment with sparse furniture, and instead of city life, there is a small town with a huge forest and scenery. Anna copes well with this and though Charles and Anna don’t know each other that well, I liked to see their relationship develop as they slowly began to trust each other and fall in love.
We gain insight into a fellow pack member Asil, his mate died long ago and he keeps having terrible dreams and asking Bran to kill him. I liked his different insight and it quickly became clear why we were told his past and troubles.
The plot slows down towards the middle when they are on a mission, focusing more on their sweet romance, but soon picked up again towards the end. The last chapter seemed slightly rushed, because I think Patricia Briggs didn’t want to lengthen it out in the next book.
Patricia has a series written before this following Mercedes Thompson, and she also has issues with abusive behaviour in the series, they are set in the same world, yet you can read this book first even though there are some references to Mercy. She first wrote about Charles to make the Marrok’s pack seem more real to the reader, she found herself liking Charles’ character and when asked to write a short story, thought he would be a good idea. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the character building, and am looking forward to reading the next in the series.
I give this 4 Stars
Graceling - Kristin Cashore 18-year-old Katsa is the niece of King Randa, living in one of the seven kingdoms in this dystopian/fantasy world. Some people are born with a ‘Grace’, meaning they have a certain skill, but are often feared or exploited for their talents. Born with a killing Grace, Katsa accidentally killed a man at a very young age. She began to train her lethal ability, at first using sacks filled with grain, perfecting her knife, archery, combat, and sword skills. Her ability to fight and kill was well known, and one day the King; started exploiting her skills to kill or maim anyone who displeased him in the other kingdoms.
For years Katsa is repulsed by the orders she obeys, and later decides to create a Council to secretly defy the King, where she helps people in the kingdoms who have been wronged. On one of her missions, she meets Po, who has a Grace of fighting, and they seem matched in their abilities. They start to train together and their next mission is to find out who kidnapped his grandfather.
Katsa was an interesting person at times and also a little frustrating, because she has only ever had one friend before and doesn’t know how to proceed in any relationship. As Po and Katsa become friends, their relationship was quite relaxed, and it was clear to me, they were going to be more than friends. Katsa grows, as she learns how to mostly trust another person, other than herself. Most of the people in the Kingdom are disgusted by her, and in doing so, making Katsa believe she is a savage monster herself. We see her vulnerable in a relationship and it’s a new experience as she always keeps people at arms length.
Katsa refuses to marry because of her inability to trust, and her desire to be independent her whole life. She can’t bear to wear a dress or have her hair done up, heading straight to the archery building for her comfort zone when she gets upset. It seems like she’s compensating for physical strength, because she feels vulnerable. I understood why Katsa feels she can only trust herself and a handful of other people, and I thought Po and her fit very well as a couple, him being the Yin to her Yang. However, I have two opinions on their relationship. I really liked their relationship when they were friends. I truly believed the build up towards their relationship, but from then on, I was slightly disappointed. I really wanted their love as an opportunity for them to act more as a couple. Having said that, I understand that it’s not Katsa’s type of personality.
The plot had such potential, and there was lots of build up, but the fight scenes were quick and didn’t give me enough time to enjoy them. Katsa was praised a killing phenomenon, yet there were not enough fights to satisfy me. Throughout the book, I didn’t get enough intrigue and it didn’t leave me guessing. I liked the premise of the story and what Kristin Cashore has built, but the story never hit me hard enough.
The twists and turns in this plot were very interesting, but not un-put-down-able. I really liked the different characters and their development, enjoying the contrast between Katsa’s badass personality and her vulnerable side. The world Kristin has build is interesting, and I’m excited to see where she takes me in the next book.
I give this a 3.5 Stars
Bloodlines - Richelle Mead This is a great series for those that loved Richelle Meads Vampire Academy series and is pining for more. Bloodlines is set in the same world as Vampire Academy, with some of the same minor characters being brought to the fore-front. Mead purposefully left some loose strings at the end of the series to be explored and the consequences people would face for helping Rose in Last Sacrifice. Bloodlines can be read on it’s own, but I would recommend reading the Vampire Academy series first and then reading Bloodlines.
Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, part of a large organisation that help Vampires cover up their existence to protect humans. They believe the Moroi (Vampires) and Dhampirs (half-Vampries) are evil and Sydney was taught from a young age to fear them and believes they are evil monsters. Lately, she’s been in some trouble with her Alchemist superiors for helping those very same monsters, and thus, is on rocky ground with her job. The Alchemist’s send her undercover at a school in Palm Springs with Moroi Jill Mastrano in an attempt to save Jill’s life. All she has to do is protect Jill, but Sydney’s beliefs are ingrained, and she fears having to spend so much time with the unnatural beings that she has spent her life being taught to hate.
With Sydney are familiar friends: Eddie, Jill and of course Adrian. I got completely emotionally invested in the characters, mentally cheering them, and hating others for defying them. Every character was complex and had a convincing motive for every action, all connecting in a web of plot lines. I really like Richelle Mead’s voice, in any of her books. Bloodlines drew me in with serious events one moment and then will flip on it’s side and have a humorous scene involving Adrian’s witty banter the next.
Ah, Adrian. Where do I begin? He’s had an unfortunate time with Rose and is now drowning his sorrows in booze, cigarettes and Moroi women. He was brought along in an attempt to give Jill a familiar face and because, let’s face it, he had nothing better to do. At first, he comes across as self-pitying and selfish, but he’s devil-may-care, he’s bad-boy and his witty quips are hilarious.
At the beginning, I was not completely sold on Sydney. I certainly am now. She was everything Rose wasn’t at the beginning, she’s mature, level-headed and over-thinks everything instead of rushing in situations without a moments thought. Sydney has her own issues with Vampires and their magic, she is conflicted between what her family and the Alchemists have brought her up thinking and what she’s seeing before her. She has father issues as well, with insecurities about her weight, as she compares herself to the Vampires perfect shape, which was somewhat her fathers fault.
One of the reasons she is such a brainiac was because her father strictly homeschooled her and this meant that she had little normal social interaction. She was socially inept which was utterly hilarious, her cluelessness made her unaware of any simple social dynamics. Sydney also had a tendency to help and protect everyone and everything, which sometimes backfired on her. Nonetheless, she was an efficient, competent woman who stood up for herself when needed and did not cower. It was enjoyable to see such a strong, intelligent character that didn’t need brute force, but had brains. Rose and Sydney both are strong characters, and I liked the stark contrast between their personalities. Bloodlines proves to readers that mental strength is just as important as physical strength.
Both Sydney and Adrian have their issues, and I believe they’re perfect for each other. Their relationship is slowly starting to grow into friendship as they begin to trust each other. They do not jump in each other’s arms five minutes after meeting declaring their love, for which I’m extremely grateful. I immensely enjoyed the slow build-up and found it more believable.
Mead has once again created a fantastic, funny and complex world, bring on The Golden Lily!
Rating: 3 Stars