Dark Companion by Marta Acosta book review

 

Dark Companion is the story of one lucky orphaned teen by the name of Jane Williams who is scooped out out the hood or ghetto and transferred to a great town , great school , given a place of her own to live , money to spend and all because of her great academics. While preparing to attend this fabulous new school she is taken under the wing of the head mistress and her family. A family having two sons both attractive in their own way but Jane is drawn to the youngest of the two Lucky for reasons she can't understand even though not so much at the beginning but as time went on we discover is a total rich snobby jerk. There is a connection between Jane and Jack the older of the two sons but Jane refuses to acknowledge it because Jack is not as cute as his brother and was a jerk to her upon their first meeting and continues to be a enigma through out the telling of this story. Jane does make some friends in this academy but is constantly comparing them to her best and old friend that she left behind to come to this school. There are also some side characters like a top drug dealer, a head b*tch of school, some teachers, a pimp, a dead friend , the head of a group home and many more characters that help make up this story. But when Jane discovers the true reason she was brought to her new school is when the story truly starts to take off. Ok I have to say that I absolutely loved this book. I loved the characters , I loved the way it was written , the setting both the place Jane originally came from and where she went the only thing I didn't care too much for was the down play of the whole vampire thing. It was obvious from the way Acosta described most of the residents of this new town that they were vampires. And then then when she went on to describe their abilities I was further pushed into thinking that this is a vampire book but then Acosta backs out of it by saying “no these people just have some weird condition going all the way back their European ancestors that just makes so pale , have a need and crave for blood and have some special abilities. As quoted by me “Huh?” I'm like sitting there thinking they are so totally vampires and not even the newer age ones were it's kind of hard to tell because they don't need blood as much or have that pale vampire look but these were like the normal as described vampires. And I'm thinking maybe Acosta backed out of the vampire thing because it's been so over done but it makes feel some kind of way when a writer committees the reader to think one thing and then makes that thing so obvious and then because of what that thing is they try to tuck their tales between their legs and say “oops sorry didn't mean to make another vampire book but since I did I just going to say they have some weird condition” I yes I know vampire books are getting a little played out and over done but be proud of what you wrote . Have the courage to stand up and say “hey world yes I did make another vampire book and anyone who doesn’t like it can kiss my a**”. Anyone now that I'm done rating it's time for my own personal ratings. Yea! Whoo! *crowd cheering * The setting(s) a 10 out of 10 stars because no matter where the MC=main character was it was described in such a way that I felt like I was there. The characters a 10 out of 10 stars . Why? Because I felt like every character had a purpose and everyone was exactly who they said they were and I loved it! The plot ...ok 9 out of 10 only because the person that turned out to be the real villain in the story was someone wasn't really there throughout the story and when you have a villain like that unless you create a spin off just for them so that they can tell their side of the story you can't fully understand their motives. Cover art 10 out of 10. And the overall book experience a 7 out of 10 only because of the vampire/ not vampire thing and that it ran a little longer than expected, Acosta had plenty of moments where she could had ended the book after it's climax but didn't and kind of felt like she was just trying to fill pages at some point. Would I read a part two if there's a part two …....h*ll yes!

Unearthly(Unearthly#1) by Cynthia Hand book review

 Unearthly is a story that follows the misadventure of a teen named Clara Gardener as she tries to for fill her heavenly ordained birth right which is called a purpose. All angels have a purpose in this and at the time or puberty is when all angels start developing their powers. Because of this purpose of Clara's her whole family of her brother and mother had to up root their lives and move from California to Wyoming and that's where the story takes off and takes place. Now as for the main character Clara I am a little on the fence about liking her or not . There are several times in the book that I considered her out right mean because of her her purpose. Meaning to say that her purpose involves saving this really cute guy that she spends most of her time obsessing over and thinking she should be with but if course he already has a girlfriend, and she's popular, pretty ...you know the drill. Now where I think she's mean is when her new friend Wendy tries to make her feel more comfortable at the school and even invites her to sit at her table and just really does a great job at making her feel welcome were everyone didn't do anything like that and at times Clara just out right blows her off about doing stuff together or ignores her when she's talking about her day or something important to her. That's wrong you don't do that to someone who has proven time and time again that there a good friend . Wendy and Clara's relationship take a turn for the worse when Clara meets another half blood angel kid like herself Angela. It's almost like Wendy disappears from the book and from Clara's mind when that happens. Another thing that bothered me about the plot and not the characters themselves is the whole she must fall in love with her assignment Christian. I was so thinking if her whole purpose is to save him why dose she have to date him even though he has a girlfriend already and even though Christian treated her like she was beneath him and his friends and even though Tucker Wendy's twin brother even before Hand wrote it that way was interested in her. I mean really why does she have to be in love with him in order to for fill her destiny. I agree with a lot of people when they say that adding the whole they must fall in love with each thing to the purpose made it a little less relevant and because Christian didn't seem like the skipping through the forest type I couldn't for the life of me imagine what would he be doing there at the time he's supposed to saved from the fire. Now there is a small fight scene between this fallen angel and Clara and her Mom but really it was so irrelevant that Hand could had just kept it out of the book all together. So to some everything up it's a story of teenage drama with traveling to a new school in a small town where every already knows everyone, self discovery, love with a hint of a love triangle, new friendships and unsure endings. But now it's time for my own personal rating! Yeah! Woo! Yea! *the crowd cheering * As for the setting I give this book a 10 out of 10 stars because Hand described the scenery so well it made me want to go and visit Wyoming so bad! The characters, just the side characters I give a 6 out of 10 because while they were interesting they had some annoying traits . The main character a 4 out of 10 stars because while she had a brain in her head she did come off as annoying when she kept trying to get closer to Christian and she also came across as self absorbed. The plot a 4 and a half stars because while the fallen angel theme in this book was original it fell short at the end and not just left you with a cliff hanger ending but a “what the hell just happened” kind of ending and finally the overall experience a 6 because even with all it's problems it still turned out to be a real page turner for me at least. OK see you next review. P.S the cover art wasn't all that exciting especially compared to some fallen angel books that I've seen with better cover art.

The Lost Saint(The Dark Divine #2) by Bree Despain book

            Ok so the Lost Saint if you didn't all ready know is the part 2 of The Dark Divine so it immediately picks up where the first one stops with Grace being bitten or changed into a were wolf and now. Having to deal if the after math of that while trying to find out where her also now a were wolf brother has run off to. Ok I like how the story starts off right where it left off at but I didn't like how far Despain took the reader or us away from the matter at hand which was finding Jude(Grace Divine's brother) which was what the story was suppose to be about. But then again sometimes an author has to take the reader away from the story at hand in order to introduce the reader to other things happening around the main character but by the time Despain brings Hus back to the important matter at hand I pretty much forgot about finding Jude. This time around there wasn't to many new characters expect for Tall the mysterious new guy that G(Grace) meets in a sort of night club and who happens to be just like her a happened by chance were wolf. For me Tall was likable as a good guy and I didn't like to much when Despain made him into a bad guy. As a bad guy he was a sniveling coward who followed the every command of the head bad guy. So lame!  Any way because I don't want go on and on about minor lame parts of this book i'll just get right to my personal ratings. Yeah ! Alright! Woo! *crowd cheering*  . Ok as for the plot I gave it 5 out of 10 stars only because I do love this author and the way she attempted to keep everything together leading from the first one into this one. The setting I give a 3 because nothing had really changed from the last time I read the first book and what had changed wasn't that exciting. Yawn. *me pretending to yawn over the book's scenery* . The characters i'll give a 5 and a half.  Why not an whole 6 you may ask. Well every was good expect the main character Grace didn't really seal me this time around for some reason(when you read the book you may feel the same way). And finally the over all book experience a ...... 4 only because while it was good read it wasn't as heart stopping,  nail biting and laughable as the first book.( things did seem to move a little slower this time around).

Evernight(Evernight #1) by Claudia Grey book review

       Evernight by Claudia Grey is a story about a girl named Bianca who is uplifted from her small town leaving behind all her friends and is sent to this spooky new school that her parents acquired jobs at. Here at this academy all the students seem to be too perfect and snobby to be true and that's because they are!. A mystery appears as Grey makes us(the reader) wonder why. Bianca is not truly alone at this school she does make some friends and even finds love but the secret that she herself reveals blows this book wide open for me and then the secret her new found lover reveals brings the book to a strange but family place. Hmm..mm....mm ….Evernight !

Ok I have to admit that the beginning of this book is a little confusing to me and gives the book a unneeded sense of urgency only to bring the readers hopes up and then quickly crashes them back down again. In the beginning Bianca(MC= main character) talks about running away and then strangely proceeds to do so. This was weird because I just already felt like she was being over dramatic in that “I'm a teenage and I want what I want and if I don't get it then I'm going to run away” sense. Then Lucas(2nMC= second main character) appears and tackles her to the ground like he was going to harm her but turns out he was the person who made her turn from a brisk jog into the forest into a full on sprint. Now me personally I love dramatics but opening with such a unnecessary and confusing piece like Grey did makes you look at the MC like she's a nit-wit.

Just a few more things that didn't sit well with me through this book and on to the fun stuff! Yay! Whoo! Haray! (*crowd cheering*) .

OK in pacific order. 1. I didn't like how the main character immediately starts falling for Lucas when her first impression of him was a serial killer/stalker.

  2.didn't care much for her complete trust in Lucas a guy the MC barely knows.

3.Bianca the MC seems weak,pathetic and needy. She lets people walk all over her.

If those things were to change maybe in the next installment I would like the MC a little better. But for now what I liked …... the MC turning out to be a vampire and that everyone else around her is one too but she's this special kind of vampire that only comes around every so many years. However I feel like this twist came too late into the book for it to be significant and kind of just feels like something the author through in their because she was running out of ideas with the whole young love bit. The fight scene between 2ndMC and MC's parents was awesome no buts needed on that! The cover art could use a bit more work but it's still kind of pretty.

Ok it's time for my personal rating system! The characters a 4 & ½ because of the supporting characters were very interesting unlike the MC. The setting a 5 because I loved the way the school, the school grounds and even the town in this story was described. The plot a 4 & ½ because the delivery was a little late and the over all experience a 2, it was interesting but the whole forbidden love bit has been done before. Would I read what's next to come? Yes but it's something I would have to gear myself up for, that I already bought the entire series.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton book review

   Nikki Beckett a 17 year girl returns to her friends and family from a century long stay in a place called the Everneath which from the book is like the or is the mythological Hades. No ones knows where she's been , what was she doing or why she left in the first place. No one except a being named Cole called an everliving who's only way of surviving is to suck the life force or emotions from people or one specially chosen person called a for-fit. No I know what your thinking how can someone disappear for a century and no one seems to notice?! Yeah like that would happen! This question would be a major whole plot if it weren't for a century equaling six months on the surface. Wow! When I first started reading this I was completely lost, like lost with a capital L but as time went on in the book I became more and more in-tuned with the story. Ashton makes it appears like Nikki(MC=main character) was just another American statistic. “Girl moves to a new town, girl starts dating the most popular boy in school , girls are hating on the new girl, new girl can't deal with the pressure so she runs away and then turns to drugs.” Yawn. Boring. Been there , seen that but then bam! Here comes this whole underworld on earth plot, mixed with teenage love that's unbreakable, mixed with the everyday demons that plague the real world, mixed with suspense, mixed with a hint of mystery. Put all of that together , shake it in a cup and blaimo you have a really interesting book! Even though I sinking all the praise of this book I have to stop and talk about my dislikes. Boo!!!!!!!*a crowd booing me and chucking raw vegetables at my head* Ok, ok first the beginning took a little long starting for my taste. Then the complete mystery over where has this girl been for six months. The way no one at first seemed to acknowledge that she was even gone. The story jumps right into the fray of things and it' like um hello did she or did she not disappear for six months without a peep or a trace. The way Jack(SMC=second main character) just listenings to Nikki's explanation of where she been and what has happened to her without so much as a “your crazy lady” The simple plan J & N come up with to kill Cole(TMC=third main character) just pretty much find his heart which I along with them thought it was in the guitar(I know sounds crazy but you'll have to just read and find out) and smash the thing to bits. Ah oh! I found a plot hole! Waaaaaaaa!*people crying* If nothing could change Nikki's fate from being sucked back down into the tunnels(the quote, unqote battery of the underworld) then why did N&J(Nikki & Jack) think killing C(Cole ) would stop anything, the way I look at it is that he would be dead and she would still get sucked back down into the underworld. Especially if quoted by C he could not stop the forces of nature. That would be like saying killing this one person would stop a hurricane from coming. Think about that real hard and see how that doesn’t make sense. Ok now that's over it's time for my personal five star ratings! Yeah ! Whew!* the crowd cheers* Ok the characters I'll give a 4, a 4 because I didn't like the MC's defeatist attitude it drove me crazy! The setting/ location a 2 because up until this point I still have no damn clue where they where. The plot a 4 , a 4 because their was that one little whole that I don't feel was truly explained( you know the whole kill Cole and save Nikki thing even as they defy nature and destiny) and then finally the overall experience a 7 because it was interesting and I will be reading any more there is to come. :-) P.S the cover art is amazing!!!!!!

Shimmer(Wicked Woods#2) -by. Kalin Gow book review

<p>Shimmer is the part two to the spine tingling 1st book Wicked Woods by Kalin Gow.And the story immediately picks. Up right where the last one left off with alot of the same characters which is something I did like about the story, However there was alot of things that I didn't,1. The story was a slow starter. Meaning to say that the main parts didn't really pick up until the middle of the book . 2. The love triangle thing between Kevin &amp;amp; Fallen &amp;amp; Briony in my opinion is just unnecessary. The story could do better without that element because the love that Briony(MC) feels for either boy doesn't seem genuine. It comes across like lust more than real love so cut that out of the story and it would be fine. 3. The setting some how the setting lost its creep appeal from book 1 to book 2. The town of Wicked seemed less spooky and more hugs and kisses. *making a disappointed face right now*.&nbsp; And the whole werewolves and vampires have a war thing is a little played to death. Now that the dislikes are done onto the like. *whipping sweat from forehead* .  I liked how the story flowed from book 1 to book 2, I liked the energy that the MC kept up through out the story as it was the same amount of energy that she had in the 1st book. The supporting characters were good without being too over baring. *big announcer voice*  "ladies and gentlemen,  boys and girls of all ages it's time for my own personal rating!" * woo! Yeah* . For the setting i'll give a 5 because it didn't have the same affect on me as it did in the 1st book. The characters a 5 because I really love the MC(main character) , plot a 6 because even though its been done before it was still kinda interesting to get into.  And the overall experience a 4 because I would not read this particular book but would continue to read more to come in this series.

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain book review

The Dark Divine is about a girl named Grace Divine who is a pastor's daughter and a small town teenager like a lot of the MC(main character's) are in YA novels. Grace's happy suburban life is shaking up three years before the actual story takes place when her older brother returns home from their Father’s parish a bloody mess with no explanations. At that time either because Grace was too young or because her family just wanted to keep her out of the weirdness that surrounds their family everything from that day is concealed from Grace. No one every talks about it and she's the only one who has questions about that day and why most of it's details surrounds a once close family friend named Daniel Kalbi. Okay so fast forward from that night three years ago and the story picks up when word spreads about a new kid in Grace's school that she later meets and finds out that he's her brother and her's former art loving and much now changed childhood friend Daniel.

Her family becomes horrified that he has returned to their suburban town and is now in the two older kids(Grace & her brother Jude) school so she(Grace is told to stay away from him and to never bring him up again. Grace being the good girl teenager that she is decides against her families wishes and in turn tries to help him at every chance she gets despite his new bad boy image , unfavorable roommates/friends and even some connection to what the locals of this town calls the Markham street monster Grace can't stay away. Okay now that I have given a quick walk through of this book I 'm going to go on saying that this was a surprisingly good book. I say surprisingly because with a name like “The Dark Divine you would expect that is another falling angels book which I have only read two falling angel's series that I found to be really good! However this is not a falling angels book and I'm glad that Despain didn't take it in that direction because it would have been too obvious but at the same time I was slightly disappointed with the direction in which she took it in only because I felt like their was a lot more she could have done with the story besides turning it into another werewolf story(oops! Spoiler alert).

Fortunately that is my one and only grievances with this book! (yeah do a happy dance) ** Real big announcer's voice** “ladies and gentlemen it's time for my personal ratings!” **the crowd cheers** “yeah whew! Alright!” For the characters I give this story a 4 because the characters even though they were the normal type of characters that you would expect to find in a small town Despain still made them every bit of entertaining.

The setting I'll give a 3 only because Despain didn't do a good job of making the scenery memorable as a matter of fact I can't even if I tried to remember what town they were in or state or any other scenery I couldn't. The plot a 5. **shocked gasps** “Huh!” Yes even though I didn't agree with the werewolf direction it was still a very good plot with some twist and turns and a big surprise at the end.

The cover art a 10 out of 10 stars! Why because it's just that d*mn pretty! And the overall book experience a 8 out of ten stars! I can say that I did enjoy this book, I will read what's next to come and if Despain continues to write this good than she'll have a fan for life! :-)