Review: Awry (The Archers of Avalon #2) by Chelsea Fine

Title: Awry (The Archers of Avalon #2)
Author: Chelsea Fine
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 15, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★


Scarlet Jacobs is cursed to live a short life and be "reborn" some time later. When Scarlet dies and then reawakens to the life she was just in, she knows the curse is changing. Along with her band of immortal friends and her mortal best friend, they must race to find the fountain of youth before she dies again.

Oh my, Chelsea Fine can you do no wrong?

This book was fantastic. The first one was wonderful, but this was so much more wonderful. I loved the flashbacks, I loved being able to see why Scarlet was engaged to Gabriel when it was so obvious she loved Tristan. I adored her and Tristan's courtship, it was just so very much like them.

I loved Heather before, I adore her now. I want a Heather of my own. Nate really opens up in this book and is just the funniest geek ever. I like that Gabriel and Scarlet work through their relationship, but I can't help but feel sorry for him. I would love to see him and Heather get together at some point.

The plot really opens up and thickens as things go on. Mr. Brooks' part in things was unsettling but at the same time, I think it was fine since he is so much of a hermit and you find that he is involved in his own way.

Overall this book was fantastic. I was dreading the ending, knowing this couldn't be the end of the story. I am just thankful that the cliffhanger isn't as horrible and heartwrenching as it was in Anew. Fantastic novel, fantastic series. I eagerly await more.          

Review: Night School by C.J. Daugherty

Title: Night School (Night School #1)
Author: C.J. Daugherty
View: Goodreads
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Dates read: June 04 to 05, 2012
Rating: ★★★☆☆


Allie has been a bit of a troublemaker since her brother Christopher ran away. Now she has been arrested for the third time this year and her parents have had enough. They ship her off to board at Cimmeria Academy for the summer term where she has no access to phones, stereos, computers, or the outside world at all. The rules are incredibly strict and then there is also the Night School classes that other students are not allowed to know about or watch. When Allie is attacked one night, it begins a string of events leading to a death during a dance and secrets around every bend. When it seems like everyone is lying, she must find out who she can trust, and quickly, before the danger catches up with her.

I want to say first, that this book is incorrectly shelved on Goodreads. Its listed under Paranormal and Vampires, and there are, regretfully, neither within it's pages. Seeing those shelves and then reading the summary, especially the part about the Night School had me super excited thinking that the story was going to be similar to Vampire Knight. As I met the characters (Especially Sylvain) I got more and more hopeful so part of my disappointment may be based directly on the book being mishelved.

The characters were fine. There are a few side characters that you feel might have more importance but end up fading away into the background. Others are kept so mysterious that it makes them poorly characterized. Allie drove me a bit batty. She starts out so troubled and sarcastic and then she flipflops as soon as she is in the academy and is suddenly a good student. Her panic attacks are random and some of them quite uncalled for. Its like the author has no knowledge of such things but wanted to make her more broken and added them in anyway. Having Carter tell her about his old attacks was just pointless. It was a "too little, too late" characterization. Then, Allie's lack of thinking about her family and old friends was misplaced and random. Its almost like the author went through and thought "Oh! I havent had her think about her parents in a while *adds in passing*. Oh! This person needs a bit more characterization *adds randomly*".

The story focuses too much on the love triangle. The anger/hatred/jealousy between Sylvain and Carter is too unexplained. There wasnt enough tension in the triangle and so the whole thing falls apart. You start out adoring Sylvain and then he becomes a wanker and you just fall into Carter the same way Allie does. Its like, why even have bothered with the triangle at all? Then, as things go by and Sylvain apologizes for being a wanker, Allie just ups and forgives him without worry. She still trusts him and its misplaced.

Because of the love triangle being so forefront, the story itself lags. The climax happens incredibly late and its horribly anticlimatic even then. You can tell that this was meant to be a series. The author wanted to make you asks tons of questions and give you few answers but in the end she makes you ask your tons of questions and gives you no answers. Nothing is cleared up or properly resolved. Everything is just swept under the run until company leaves, obviously to be tackled in the next book, which is always a poor idea. If you wait to tackle all the questions in the next installment you end up forgetting things or dragging on the story and annoying your readers.

Regardless of all the bad, I still enjoyed it. It was an enjoyable read with a frustrating ending is all. I think if the next installment were already out then I would have much warmer feelings for this novel.          

Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 03, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★


Ever notice how once someone enters your life, they are everywhere?
Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend, Kennedy, to the college of his choice just to have him break up with her so he can play the field. While at a party in attempts to get her spirit back, she is attacked by her stalker and rescued by the mysterious and handsome Lucas. Lucas seems like the perfect person to help her forget about Kennedy, but her feelings grow quickly. At the same time, in attempts to not fail Econ, she begins emailing the intellegent tutor, Landon. Their email exchanges are fun and witty and she quickly begins to wonder about the man behind the emails. Now she has to dodge her ex, steer clear of her stalker as he spreads rumors of them hooking up, and try to see who she can actually trust as a connection between Lucas and her tutor arise.

I really loved this book. The story was well written and paced well. Usually, I am not a fan of drama, I like things to be fluffy and sweet. This book contains rape triggers, but it isnt the main focus of the story. The rapes werent graphic either. The most graphic of them was the first, and it was only an attempted rape. It went on to mention that it wasnt the girl's fault, and included a message of empowerment for the victim. 

I enjoyed all of the characters except for Buck, but I think that was done purposely as you want to see him for the monster he is. I thought the characters were well developed. There are times where Lucas feels a little too good to be true, but you do learn his flaws as the story develops. Ive known guys like him so I cant say that he isnt a real possibility for a person.

Jacqueline and Lucas are perfect together. Their banter and interactions are wonderful to read through. Lucas is hot, you cannot deny that. He leaves fire where he goes, all men in novels should be so hot. It can almost seem like they fall for each other too quickly, but when two people are so perfect for each other, I cant see why time should matter much. I was weary about them getting together, a victim and her hero seldom work, but I feel that since she wasnt actually raped when he saved her that it worked out well. I wouldve been more worried had she clung to him after having actually been raped. 

The story was perfect. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to reread it as soon as I was done. 

Review: What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Title: What A Boy Wants
Author: Nyrae Dawn
View: Goodreads
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Dates read: June 02, 2012
Rating: ★★☆☆☆


Sebastian Hawkins is the Hook-up Doctor. He knows how to help a girl get any guy but because he has spent so much time watching his Mother's failed relationships, he doesnt believe in love. When he starts falling for his best friend, he realizes he is in way over his head and doesnt have a clue.

I was horribly disappointed with this book. The plot seemed promising and cute and Im a sucker for the name Sebastian so I dove right in.

Sabastian drove me a bit nutty. I didnt like how he talked. The whole time I just wasnt too crazy about the fact that he was the main character. Aspen seemed really nice, but I couldnt connect with her. Pris was such a side character that I couldnt connect with her. Out of everyone, Jayden was the most interesting character and he was as much in the background as Pris was.

What bothered me the most with this book was how predictable it was. I knew exactly how the book was going to play out, exactly how it would end by the end of Chapter Two. You should never know how a book will end that early! I kept reading, hoping I would be wrong, but everything played out exactly as I thought it would and that just killed it for me.

The book wasnt completely dull, but I couldnt connect to the characters or the story. Knowing how it would end before the book had even really started was awful. If you are desperate for something fast and light that you wont get connected to, its a good read. Otherwise, dont waste your time.          

Kindle Freebie: Bubbles Pop by T. K. Marnell

Title: Bubbles Pop
Author: T. K. Marnell
View: Goodreads
Summary: Elle's life is totally over. The economy crashed, her father passed away, and now she has to move to the boring suburbs with her stepmother Marie and lame new sisters, Claire and Danielle. Claire needs to grow a spine, Danielle has serious trust issues, and Marie forces Elle to clean things--a torture she would do anything to avoid.

Worst of all, the idiotic school "prince," Steve, falls for her at a party and won't leave her alone. Elle prefers Galen, a serious transfer student who may be the first person she could care about as much as herself.

The problem? Galen is Steve's best friend.

This book will be available for free download from Amazon on June 10th & June 11th, 2012.

Click here to download from Amazon.

EDIT:: It appears that there are a lot of free kindle books today! Info here.

Stressing

Writing a novel can feel stressful. I've been working through my characters to get them developed and outlining my plot. It's so easy to stress about the details. I've been doing a lot of reading from other authors and how they write and I feel like I am destined to be a bit of a free form writer. I think I am meant to get my basic plot down on paper, write, and then truly expand things in the editing. 

My biggest concern presently, is that I am having trouble pinning down my climax. I know where I want my story to go, but getting it there is another story. I stare at my notebook, willing the magic to happen, and I think that is what is stressing me out.

So not one to waste time, I started developing characters for an additional book. These types of things always happen to me when I am working on a story of any kind. I start working on one, get stuck, and suddenly another story is more appealing. I don't see it as a bad thing though. Maybe the original plot doesn't want to be my novel and this one does instead. I don't see a problem with working on both and seeing where they go. What is the worst that could happen? I could have two novels by the time I am done? Oh the horror! 

I've been trying to work with the snowflake method that I have been reading about. I have never used it before and looking at it now I'm not so certain its meant for me anyway. It's open and restricting all at the same time. To be perfectly honest, the fact that I feel that way about it scares me. I've never known myself to be a flip-flop writer, hoping around in my plot, but not being able to keep to some kind of system makes me worry that maybe I am a bit of a flip-flop writer. Just adds more stress there. 

I know I need to just relax and let the story happen. Stressing over things won't do me any good.

Review: Shadows (Lux #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Shadows (Lux #0.5)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
View: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Dates read: June 07, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★


The last thing Dawson Black ever expected to do was fall in love with a human girl. He never thought it was something he would need to be concerned about, until he meets Bethany Williams that is. Their connection to one another is instant and their love quickly blossoms. However, Dawson is an alien. His secret is as dangerous as their love.

I really wish I had known about this novella before I read Obsidian. This tells the story of Dawson and Bethany and really lets you see into the prejudices against Katy in the next story. For a novella, it was suprisingly long.

Dawson and Bethany were as absolutely lovable as Katy and Daemon are in Obsidian. Their relationship is just pure and loveable. They lack the tension since they both just throw themselves into their love for one another.

The ending is just heartbreaking. Such a melancholy conclusion to such a pure love. I am in love with this series and recommend it to everyone.