Saturday, December 18, 2010

House of Night Series Reading Order - P.C. and Kristin Cast


Marked - Book 1
Betrayed - Book 2
Chosen - Book 3
Untamed - Book 4
Hunted - Book 5
Tempted - Book 6
Burned - Book 7
The Fledgling Handbook
Awakened - Book 8 - Due out January 2011


Vampire Academy Series Reading Order - Richelle Mead


Vampire Academy - Book 1
Frostbite - Book 2
Shadow Kiss - Book 3
Blood Promise - Book 4
Spirit Bound - Book 5
Last Sacrifice - Book 6

I'm really gonna miss this series :-(

Crescendo (Hush, Hush Series) by Becca Fitzpatrick

A bit about the book
Nora Grey's life is still far perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it: a mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever and, even worse, he's started spending time with Nora's arch-enemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn't been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feeling that he's hiding something.

Haunted by images of her murdered father, and questioning whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death, Nora puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations as she searches for answers. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.

What I thought
Brilliant sequel! I read this book in one sitting it was that good I just didn't want to put it down. I have been so looking forward to reading Crescendo because there was no clue in Hush, Hush (the first book) about what was going to happen with Nora and Patch. I will admit this book made me quite angry lol, Patch and Marcie was really getting on my nerves, so much so, that I wished I could just drag them out of the book and bang they're heads together lol, but it was great because it added to the suspense which was killing me. The cliffhanger at the end of this book just about pushed me over the edge, I nearly threw the book across the living room (it's the hardback copy so it was probably a good job I didn't lol), I still can't believe how it ended, and now the waiting for the next book in this series is gonna be excruciating. There's some shocking discoveries in this one and a few things that throw you off completely when thinking about who's after Nora, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait until the next one comes out!

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy Series) by Richelle Mead

A bit about the book
It all comes down to now.

The queen is dead and the Moroi
world will never be the same.

Rose Hathaway is awaiting wrongful execution and there exists only one man who can stall this terrible fate. Rose must look to both Dimitri and Adrian, the two great loves of her life, to find him.

With her best friend, Lissa, in a deadly struggle for the royal throne, the girls find themselves forced to rely upon enemies and questioning those they thought they could trust . . .

But what if true freedom means sacrificing the most important thing of all? Each other.

What I thought
Amazing book! I've been looking forward to this book coming out and dreading it at the same time. I obviously needed to know what was gonna happen between Rose and Dimitri and Rose's whole wrongful arrest so that's why I couldn't wait to read it. But knowing it's the last book of the series made me want to keep it on my to be read file for a little bit longer because I knew once I read it that would be it, no more Rose and Dimitri :-( I lasted a week then I couldn't help myself. I read it in one day, I couldn't put it down it was that gripping, and there's a few surprises that I didn't expect either. I think Richelle did an amazing job with this last book and I'm going to miss all of the characters, and that's why this series is one of my favourite YA series, I think I went through every emotion with these books, I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I frowned, I was shocked and most of the time on the edge of my seat, anger was also present as well. I recommend this series to everyone because it's got a bit of everything in it, it's action-packed, romantic, funny, and absolutely brilliant!

Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

A bit about the book
Some loves are meant to be.
Others are cursed . . .

One night in the rain, Ethan Wate
opened his eyes and fell in love
with Lena Duchannes.
His life would never be the same.

Lena is a Caster and her family is locked in a supernatural civil war. On her sixteenth birthday Lena made a terrifying choice, which now haunts her day and night.

And as her seventeenth birthday approaches Lena and Ethan face even greater danger. A Caster and a mortal can never truly be together.

Every kiss is a curse.
Ethan's next heartbeat could be his last.
It is their curse now . . .

What I thought
Great sequel! This ones gonna be a short review because all I need to say is it was brilliant. It's got some great twists in it that I wouldn't have even thought of, and Ridley was in it a lot more so that was a bonus because she's one of my favourite characters. It definitely lived up to Beautiful Creatures and I can't wait for the next book!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

A bit about the book
In Ethan Wate's hometown there lies the darkest of secrets . . .

There is a girl.
Slowly, she pulled the hood from
her head . . . green eyes, black hair.
Lena Duchannes.

There is a curse.
On the sixteenth moon, of the sixteenth year,
the book will take what it's been promised.
And no one can stop it.

In the end, there is a grave.

Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and, on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided.
Ethan never even saw it coming.

What I thought
Brilliant book! I read this book when it first came out and I loved it, so when I read it again to get ready for reading Beautiful Darkness (the Caster Chronicles 2nd book), I enjoyed it more than the first time I read it.
Ethan lives in a small town called Gatlin where everybody knows everybody and Ethan can't wait to leave as soon as he graduates because even though Ethan loves Gatlin he just seems to think there's more to life than this small town. Then Lena Duchannes moves in with her uncle, Macon Ravenwood (everyone in Gatlin call him Old Man Ravenwood), who is the town's recluse, so it's obvious the towns people are going to put Lena in the same category as her uncle and treat her different. But as soon as Ethan sees Lena he knows she's the one for him and he is the only one that befriends her and finds out about her family's secret.
I fell in love with Ethan and Lena, they definitely have that whole star-crossed lovers thing going on and I'm a sucker for books like that. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, all the characters were great and I actually liked Ridley as well, she was spunky and fun and I think at least one character has to be like that. I'm just getting ready to read the next book in the series, Beautiful Darkness, and I hope it is as good as its predecessor, because some sequels can become too much or dull which I have found with some series I've read. But I'm sure it will be just as good if not better, as I have heard good things about it. So I'm off now to start on the next book, oh, and one last thing, everyone needs to read this book, as I've already said, it's brilliant!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

A bit about the book
There are thirteen
reasons why your
friend died. You
are one of them.

You can't stop the future.
You can't rewind the past.
The only way to learn the
secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and first love - who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

Hannah's voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why.

All through the night, Clay keeps listening - and what he discovers changes his life . . .
Forever.

What I thought
This book blew me away. It's hard to explain, I thought it was an amazing, well-written book. The storyline was genius and I will remember this book for a very long time.
It's about a girl called Hannah who commits suicide, but not before she's recorded the thirteen reasons why she did it, and those thirteen people get to listen to it after she's killed herself.
Clay is one of those people so he has to listen to all the cassette tapes and trust me it's an emotional journey.
I read this book in one sitting, I was constantly on the edge of my seat. My emotions was all over the place, one minute I was really angry and the next minute I was holding back tears. I think this book was a real eye opener for me as a parent and I would recommend every parent to read it. Again with this book I don't want to say to much about it because I'd rather people just pick it up and give it a go because once you've read it you will see what I mean. My teenage daughter is reading it now which I encouraged her to do so because I think it will open a lot of teenagers eyes and hearts as well.
What quote stood out the most for me was the snowball effect because it's true, the smallest rumour always has a snowball effect, especially when its been spread between so many people and this book makes you realise what it is actually like for a lot of teenagers in high school that have to put up with stuff like this every day. I definitely agree with Jay Asher, everything affects everything!!!

Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies & Don't Tell by Elizabeth Chandler

A bit about the book - Legacy of Lies
In Legacy of Lies, Megan has to stay with the uptight grandmother she wants nothing to do with. She's determined to get through the visit without any drama, but when she falls into a twisted love triangle with potentially fatal consequences, Megan may be caught up in her family's legacy in more ways than she realises.

What I thought
Great Story! It didn't take me long to finish this story because once I started it I didn't put it down until I finished it. It made a refreshing change as well to not have vampires in it, I mean don't get me wrong I love vampire and were-animal books, but now and again its nice to read books that don't have them in it. I will admit though it still had the creepy factor in there which I thought was great.
Megan has to go and stay with her grandmother, whom she's never met, and her grandmother hasn't exactly got the warm and fuzzies for her, in fact, I don't think she's very warm towards anyone. Her grandmother's grandson Matt is staying there as well and Megan is having strange feelings about him (Megan's adopted so they're not blood related just in case anybodies thinking ewww!). Matt is also acting weird around Megan so obviously all Megan wants to do is get to the bottom of it. Her grandmother invited her there for a reason and when Megan sees a picture of her grandmother's sister Avril, who died when she's was sixteen, Megan realises she can't go anywhere until she finds out what's going on and why people are being so strange with her.

A bit about the book - Don't Tell
In Don't Tell, Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother drowned seven years ago, she'll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimic the days leading up to her mother's death. Maybe her mother's drowning wasn't an accident after all . . . and maybe Lauren is next.

What I thought
Another great story! I don't really want to put to much about this story because it's a whodunit kind of story. It had me guessing all the way through and I enjoy things like that but in this book I definitely was way off on my choice of suspect. This was definitely a murder mystery type of book and romance again played a part. I really enjoyed it.