Bitten, Kelley Armstrong

I recently finished Bitten, a urban fantasy novel by Kelley Armstrong. This book had been recommended to me awhile ago and I finally got around to reading it. This book was not what I expected. It surprised me at almost every turn. The TV series is quite different.


Living in Toronto for a year, Elena is leading the normal life she has always dreamed of, including a stable job as a journalist and a nice apartment shared with her boyfriend. As the lone female werewolf in existence, only her secret midnight prowls and her occasional inhuman cravings set her apart. Just one year ago, life was very different. Adopted by the Pack when bitten, Elena had spent years struggling with her resentment at having her life stolen away. Torn between two worlds, and overwhelmed by the new passions coursing through her body, her only option for control was to deny her awakening needs and escape.

But now the Pack has called Elena home to help them fight an alliance of renegade werewolves who are bent on exposing and annihilating the Pack. And although Elena is obliged to rejoin her "family," she vows not to be swept up in Pack life again, no matter how natural it might feel. She has made her choice. Trouble is, she's increasingly uncertain if it's the right one.

Like I said, this book surprised me. I wasn't expecting it to be so outwardly romantic which in retrospect sounds ridiculous. Anyways, Elena's an awesome character and she changes so much throughout the novel which I loved. In the beginning she is constantly trying to shrink herself down -- something very much in line with what a lot of women do. With Phillip she gets to be normal but she doesn't get to be herself. That is something I found pretty disturbing but quite realistic. And then, when she is called away, back to Stonehaven, she almost does a 180. And ends up hooking up with her ex-boyfriend/ex-fiance--the first night. That I found was shocking and not what I was expecting after watching the series on TV. Personally, their relationship I found unsettling. Mostly because as you find out, he is anything but the perfect boyfriend.

I don't really like their relationship. Much. I don't like how fast it was for Elena to hook up with Clay. I was kind of disappointed in that. But at the same time it makes her more real--more imperfect I guess. And it is pretty clear right from the get go that she and Clay have a lot of history-Philip, though nice-ish is more a rebound than anything else. To be honest, I don't really like Philip, he's kinda controlling and when Elena's with him she's always trying to shrink down. I don't like that. It is sad to read.

Her hold in the human world was all but gone when she stepped foot into Stonehaven which was different from how she acted in the TV series. In the TV series she holds on tight to that part of herself and stays away from Clay for as long as she can. While in the book, it is more like she splits up her life; she lives two lives, and steps into the one at Stonehaven completely, almost seamlessly.

Kelley Armstrong is a really great author. I adored her clear and definitive writing style as well as I loved the way that the Pack is so accurately depicted as a wolf pack. The behavior of the individuals is so much like a pack, it is almost strange to read about because it is so well done.

This book was good--full of adventure and romance, a strong story and character growth.
I'm really curious to see how it turns out. What happens next.  

Of Light and Darkness

When one human stands before an army of impossible obstacles, the likelihood of overcoming them in this coming-of-age modern fairytale may result in war between light and darkness.

Abandoned as an infant in Prague, naive and strong-willed Charlotte Ruzikova was raised by one of the last Vampires left alive. As a human, she knows no other home than the one nestled deep in the woods of Eastern Europe, where Witches drew spells of enchantment, Phasers threw tea parties, and Elves are the closest in kin. Charlotte has lived her life in the dark with her Guardian, content to having him to herself and reveling in his attention, until she's realizes she wants more...

Resident medical doctor and Vampire, Valek Ruzik fears the day his ward would come of age and blossom into a fine woman, and he is forced to confront his own motives as time is of the essence once his past catches up to him, and their lives become endangered...

As genocide and war threatens their secret society, the dictator in power is ready to wipe out Valek's race, but Charlotte will not allow that to happen. Fighting for the only one she's ever loved and truly believed in, she will do whatever it takes to save their love...before the sun comes up and light takes over.

This book is gritty, edgy and twisted—filled with likeable, engaging characters and some pretty nasty ones.

This book was full of actual blood-sucking Vampires, meaning, they actually do what Vampires are supposed to as well as that, the main Vamp ends up seducing his *for all intensive purposes* daughter *they aren’t actually related which dials down the creep factor a little…* .

Shayne Leighton’s take on Vampires was interesting, even after reading through half the book the gruesome deaths they die each night. The interesting thing about this book is that the Vampire *Valek* does what he is suppose to: he occasionally looses control, he kills, drinks blood and dies horribly each night.  And yet, Charlotte, no matter what I think of her as a character and a human *ahem ahem*, still falls in love with him! Now that is honesty Edward and Bella just didn’t have.

Charlotte was just abandoned as a baby, dying in the cold when Valek finds her and is brought up into a bad world and does things that are just wrong. But then as Shayne Leighton introduces us to a group of Elves that at first seem good end up having an even worse idea of their world, we, as the readers, are faced with the question, which wrong is right?

That is one thing I find fascinating about this book, I thought that the vampires world was twisted and wrong but then we are shown the elves world.  Which is still as twisted and control hungry as the vampires, but at least some of the vamps care enough to know they’re twisted and bad, the elves mask themselves in sun and pretend to be good.

This book definitely has more than one question buzzing around in the background, and for the most part I enjoyed this book though to find the meaning within it, I felt that you have to dig really deep.  

I felt the writing was really done well, though she used to word very, lots.

Something interesting about this book is the eventual romance of Charlotte and Valek (the vampire who unofficially ‘adopted’ her and for all purposes is her father figure). At first *and even now a little bit* thoroughly disgusted me, to be honest. I thought it was just wrong, but I got to thinking about the Twilight books, though I’m not a huge Twilight fan I know the general story of it and this made me think about how Edward and Bella would have been if Edward had raised Bella, really not much different.

Though I don’t feel that this is a coming of age fantasy novel I enjoyed it—I really enjoyed the characters.

The biggest question in this book is: can a heroine be a murderer?

 Well apparently she can be.

I was a little disappointed when it came to Charlotte not dealing with what she was doing to humans, I mean she would hunt humans for Valek. She also didn’t have to deal with the consequences of her actions—and I felt the love between Charlotte and Valek was confusing and all over the place and kind gross—I mean at first it was obvious that their relationship was father/daughter and I liked it, I liked that they stuck to their roles as father and daughter even though it was kind of obvious that they cared way too much about each other in an unfather/daughter way.

I liked that through the flashbacks we got to see Charlotte and her perception of Valek and her world. She knew that Valek was a monster—little Charlotte had more of a moral compass than big Charlotte did when it came to feeding Valek. I was so disappointed to realize how Charlotte’s moral compass went ignored—but at the same time I’m hoping in the next installment of this series Charlotte will recognize her past and take responsibility for it.

I honestly expected more from this book as far as morality, good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, ect.. goes—I hoped that Charlotte would decide to do what is right despite the fact it’s hard, or at least struggle more with doing what was wrong, but I am hoping that there will be more of that in the second book.

Over all—taken at face value, it was a good read. Enjoyable, something I would want to read at Halloween again.

I found that there were strong characters within this book, such a variety of characters too, each of them made you laugh or grit your teeth,  I also really loved the authors writing style, she has a very rich writing style, as you may or may not know.

Among my favorite characters:

Edwin—basically the talking scarecrow

OMG so adorable! <3 I feel so bad for him though, he died three times!

Mr. Trinozoka—basically a talking spider

I know what you are thinking. Ew. And yes, at first he is just ew, but he is such a funny spider-man and I loved that he wore goggles, I don’t know why but somehow that just made him such a likable character. But I still shiver every time I think of Charlotte riding him like a horse.

Sarah—the browned haired witch, funny enough out of all the characters I liked her most.

She was so cool, with such a cute personality, very non-judgmental about the whole twisted romance between Valek and Charlotte.

This book was good—I loved the author’s style of writing and I loved her descriptions. This book is definitely for mature audiences, I wouldn’t suggest anyone 15 due to content but honestly, it was good. I would read it again just to be able to spend more time with Edwin, Sarah or Mr. Tinozoka. I would actually love a novella of those characters as well. That is how much I loved them.

Shiver, The Wolves of Mercy Falls

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house.

One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. This wolf haunts her, and her him.

Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets Sam as he bleeds on her porch, hiding from men with guns, no longer a wolf. This yellow-eyed boy's presence is just as haunting as the wolfs, his familiarity takes her breath away.
It's her wolf.
As months pass on Grace and Sam grow closer, in love with each other. As winter nears, Sam and Grace have to face the past. Sam has to fight to stay human--because once he's a wolf, he looses himself.

A haunting love story between Grace and Sam, with beautiful writing and leaves you thinking. 

Shiver is a great read for a cold night.

My thoughts on this book are simple, I truly loved it.

It was lyrical and beautiful, descriptive and so haunting. 

I may have found the idea of her being in love with a wolf a little strange, as the werewolves in this book are so much like real wolves, I love this authors style of writing.

It was just such a unique book. Kind of feels like a long lost memory, that is the feeling this book gives you. If this book were a sound it would echo.

I've read that some people found the love story a little unnerving, because she is basically in love with a wolf. Okay, yes that is weird. 

But she isn't. 

Not at first at least, she is fascinated by them but she isn't sexually attracted to them. 

So you don't have to worry about that. 

I found that I really did enjoy it--though reading it in the rain while waiting for the bus in the freezing cold was not fun, and I wouldn't suggest that, I really loved Grace, I thought she was an awesome character so much more independent then most teen heroines which I really loved.

I couldn't believe how oblivious her parents were throughout this entire book--it was mind blowing. I really felt sorry for Grace in that respect, no matter what she did, her parents were just too wrapped up within their own worlds to notice their daughter.

Reading this was like reading about a dream.

And the company who published this and whoever designed this book, deserve a highfive. They made the whole book encompass the feeling of what was inside the book. The whole book was divided into chapters  in a series of temperatures. The werewolf life and culture is so much different then most I've read, a million times better than Twilight. I think what gives this book such a feeling of 'dreaming' is that the human in wolves eventually fades away--which is so sad but so thought provoking. 

I thought Isabelle's transformation throughout book was interesting to see. 

The book switches between Grace's and Sam's POV. And Sam's narration doesn't stop when he's a wolf--imagine that for a second. Sam is a fascinating character. He was really cute. I absolutely adored the relationship between him and Beck. I loved being able to see inside his head when he was a wolf, Maggie did such a great job with this book. 

I could (and would) probably go on and on about how creative this book is, and how I love it because of that. The font was perfect, the appearance of it was a dark blue, not black. The look of it, the feel of it and the creative writing in it, was all superb..

I loved the chemistry between Grace and Sam, and oh my gosh, the surprise ending was so good. 

I did find this book easy to predict, but it was still a great read. 

I  thought at times it was a little strange, her fascination with the wolves--I actually found normal, but the whole idea is strange and fantastic.

I would suggest this to anyone who likes love stories, slightly sad stories that will surprise you, and anyone who wants a strong female lead. It would be a great Christmas present as the whole feel of the book has that winter-y feeling.

Die for me (Amy Plum) *May contain spoilers*

Love the cover, haunting and beautiful. 

I noticed the last few Harper Collins books have been in this theme, I really like it. 

**

What an awesome name this author has, as far as I know, it is her real name. 

**

Anyways....

Die for me, was described by the author as a zombie love story. 

Yeah...no. 

A zombie love story that didn't include actual zombies, they didn't eat people, and there really wasn't any engaging zombie induced emotions. 

Not a zombie love story. 

Now that we have that settled...

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

***

The best way to describe this book would be slightly dry, my feelings towards this book aren't strong. I don't hate it, I didn't love it. Vincent is an interesting character, throughout the first book there were some hints of possibly more drama that that will be created by his obsession with Kate. And honestly, if that happened I think it would enrich the story. 

Some hints were, her pondering the statue of an angel, and discovering the way the angel looked at the women he was carrying. I think if you switched this into a real like scenario, and took away some of the fantasy elements; you would find that a good number of teenagers, and even adults find themselves in situations where their partner expects them to *for lack of a better word* save them. I may read the series to see if it goes where I expect it to.  

For the most part, my interest was kept regular. But there were many times where my interest would really lag, nothing that happened in this book honestly, surprised me. Oh, except that Kate held her own. Not diving into the waiting muscular arms of Vincent. 

I was able to put the book down. 

Which if you're me, isn't a good thing.

I liked the characters. I loved the setting of France which added extra mystery around everything, as I've yet to visit there. I loved how the history of France was intertwined throughout this, you can tell that the author really cares about this place. And she makes you too. 

Vincent was tall, dark, immortal and turned every head, he was quiet, shy. Withdrawn, and nobody just goes up to talk with Vincent. Because, well, he's devastatingly gorgeous, with chiseled abs, and a face made by angels.  

Yes, I am mocking it a little. The general character descriptions reminds me of so many YA novels recently...but he is also more than just that. He is an interesting character, fairly complex and slightly mad. *Which is a good incentive to read further on in this story.* 

Amy Plum is a good writer; she crafted a whole new world and a whole new species, created a war that has been fought throughout centuries. Her writing was good, detailed and really showed us France. I liked that. 

The Numa and the Reverents are the two groups. The story was somewhat steady going through the first few chapters, I like that the author actually had the accident of Kate's mother and her father affect this MC, too much are the traumatic emotions of events underplayed in fiction. It had just the right emotion to it, and spent just the right amount of time within this, while it still didn't get tedious. 

There were times when I thought "This is fantastic!". The points when Kate is a really different, unique character; not who I thought she was. I liked that Kate was strong girl, BY HERSELF. I liked that she didn't immediately fall into the arms of Vincent, proclaiming "Oh Vincent!"  swearing, undying love to him. 

She was okay on her own, and for some of the book she was a smart character. She actually tried to avoid him. 

I found that the character arc of her own strength felt kind of shaky to me; like the author almost, wasn't really all that sure about implementing a strong character that didn't heel over for a guy. Of course, in the end she did. 

This story was good, maybe for ages fourteen-fifteen. But I found that by the ending chapters, I had already figured out everything about it. And the actual ending...I really did NOT like. 

Why? 

Well, I won't say for fear of spoiling the book for you, anymore than I already have. If you'd like to discuss it, comment or message me. 

Firelight, Sophie Jordan

A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki, a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Beautiful writing and vivid descriptions, you'll long for the sky as much as Jacinda. 

Such a cool book and story. 

The story line was unique, I'd classify this as more of a YA romance novel, with a very fast pace and lots of action. 

Jacinda is a draki, a descendant of dragons. Just with that knowledge alone makes it extremely appealing to read. Jacinda longs for a freedom that she can't have, her pride is a very strict society. So when she sneaks out, and escapes her pride one morning. She breaks some serious rules by doing so, and events ensue that make it impossible for her to return to her pride without being seen when hunters attack her. 

Right when she's waiting to die, split second decision making  on the part of a young hunter saves her life. 

Personally, I loved the opening. It was an extremely effective way to be introduced to these characters, and their lifestyle. 

After Jacinda's close call with hunters, she journey's back to her clut-like community to find out that it has a dangerous side of it, she would never have guessed. Her, her mother and her sister are forced to flee their pride in the middle of the night, her mother whisking them away to who-knows-where. Everything Jacinda loved, her friends and her way of life, she was forced to leave behind. 

Her and her family move to the driest place possible, in hopes of killing off the draki inside her.  And keeping her safe.

I love the strong connection Jacinda has with the earth, how she describes the energy of rocks and the earth. The one thing she was able to take with her, was her family's treasured gems and rocks. And when her mother takes them to sell them, Jacinda is heartbroken. That entire scene was horrible; I felt so bad for Jacinda seeing, and feeling how much she loved her gems. 

As Jacinda and her family start their new lives, Jacinda's life begins in a downward spiral, she begins to remember how her sister felt all those years living in Jacinda's shadow.  Jacinda feels her draki beginning to die. She struggles to keep the part of her she most loves most, alive. While her sister and her mother, wish that she would just let it die. Jacinda's sister thrives in the human world, making friends and loving it. 

It is quite heart breaking to read through everything that Jacinda goes through everyday as her connection to the earth falters.  She also has to deal with many regular problems that you or I would have to deal with. Like bullies, expulsion, and ensuring she stays hidden from her pride. 

While Jacinda's mother and sister settle into their new lives, Jacinda chooses to grow closer to Will. As every time she's near him, her draki awakes. She knows she shouldn't, as she recognizes him. 
He was the hunter that saved her, something that still haunts her and probably drives her towards him.  Her connection to the earth, and to her father slowly dies. 

There were so many characters in this book, and they all were vividly real. For example, Will's cousins, aren't the typical bad boys. I've noticed that in most books lately, the bad boys are some what desirable, but in this case, Will's cousins, just make you squirm. 
They are truly unnerving to just read about.  Jordan did a fabulous job with her descriptions and the emotions conveyed within them. 

This book would be very good to read for lovers of all degrees of fantasy. Girls, mainly aged fourteen and up, would love this. 

The only thing about this that bugged with was the instant love connection, which was unreal and slightly overdone. 

Otherwise, it was a great book. Enjoyable to read. I can't wait until I go to chapters, as I'll be excited to read more of Jordan's stuff, and find out what happens to her and Will.