Mistwalker by Saundra Mitchell

On the cover it says: Creepy, romantic and oozing with atmosphere...

Not quite. More than creepy, this is the heartbreaking story of a girl, and of her family, trying to deal with the aftershock of the death of one of it's members: their son, and Willa's brother.

Romantic?

No, this doesn't have a romantic bone in it. We all know that romance sells, especially YA romantic stories, but this story, isn't more of the same, so do not expect romance in it.

Atmospheric?

Yes, amazingly so. Beautifully done, this is one of those books in which you can almost feel the elements pressing down on you. In these case, the mist and the fog.

Biggest compliment about this story?

The fact that it is completely different of the usual YA trope: the characters, their motivations, their objectives in life, are completely different of what we're used to. And I guess in this factor lies its biggest asset and weakness, all at the same time, depending on whom is reading it.

I am not even sure which tags to use towards this story... this is not a fantasy book, it has some paranormals elements, but this is a story mostly rooted on earthly elements. In this case, the sea.

To label this a contemporary, it would be just too misdirected... so, I guess I am going to go with magical realism story. And maybe I've got it all wrong, but I can't help feeling that this wasn't directed at it's appropriate audience. I think that fans of author Sarah Addison Allen would love this story.

The story is one of coming of age, at a time when everything seems to be set in stone, when we  know that it only takes one thing, to make it all fall apart...

This is what has happened in Willa's life. Her brother died, and she's been drowning in guilt ever since.

She thought that she had her life all figured out: she was going to take care of the family business, she was going to marry her long time boyfriend, but things and priorities change.

So when she finds herself all of a sudden, thinking about the abandoned lighthouse a couple of miles of her island, reality and the unexpected, suddenly collide.

In the lighthouse, Willa will meet the Grey Man, not an ancient being of power and elemental power, but a boy who like her, also found himself attracted to that island, and to the girl that at time lived there...

For a hundred years, Grey has been "living" under a curse. Just like a prince in a fairytale, the lighthouse is his castle, and he can have everything he wants... except being truly alive, and abandoning the island.

When Willa starts taking notice of the cursed island, and of Grey himself, he believes that the time has come to shed his burden, and that Willa will be the new lighthouse keeper, allowing him to get back to a body of flesh and bone.

But what would prompt a young girl to leave everything behind and sacrifice her life in order to take her place as the Grey Lady of the lighthouse?

Let me tell you this: Just when I thought that I was seeing where this was going, the author pulled the rug under my feet!

I loved it! :)

Bottom line: I completely fell for the storyline, but this had some uneven path...

I love beautiful language, and this has it in spades... but, the pace of it, at time drags somewhat, which may cause some irritation (side effects, and stuff, lol) on other readers. Especially if they were expecting a story written more in the fantastical side of things.

But in the end, I loved the fact that this wasn't a story about a girl who fell for a boy, and how her life got transformed because of it *eye roll*. I loved that the parents weren't missing in action, but instead were a vital part of this.

I loved the fluidity of the end, and the message it carried.

Oh, and this is a stand alone! Amazing in our "time and age"! ;)

Author Official Site

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The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen #2) by Amanda Stevens

This story really disappointed me...

After reading the first volume, Amelia's strange characterization no longer came as a surprise. But while on the first story, the mystery kept me from dwelling on a "couple of things" that I just found irritating; in this one, the mystery wasn't all that interesting...and not all that mysterious.

If the book were to be evaluated only on account of its "photography" aspect, its so called atmosphere and scenario, it would definitely deserve a higher rating. The whole underwater graveyard scenario was creepy as hell...

But then let's talk about the attempted sense of creepy/horror "thing" that tries to "permeate" the story....it didn't work. There wasn't anything new in it, so it just become boring to read.

 I am used to reading dark fantasy stories, namely some works by Marion Zimmer Bradley, that I read more than a decade ago.

Stories that I liked reading back then, but I'm betting that were I to read them NOW, they wouldn't get the same reaction from me. Stories in which the horror descriptions are extremely linked to paranormal romance. See where I am going?

That's what happened here.

 A nameless EVIL, who influences everyone and everything in a small town. Then you have the "evil witches". Then there's the "powerful patriarch" who rules everything from behind the scenes. Clichés, clichés...

And then there's the love interest.....yeah, I wish! And once again, let the cliché feast begin.

Like what happened with the first book, The "romance" is just pitiable.

We get a new character, who's tall, and handsome. This one, thankfully isn't brooding as Devlin....thank God, for that!

In fact I was really hoping that Amelia would have a nice, normal relationship with Thane. Who unlike, Devlin, shows that he likes her.

 But unfortunately, I'm not seeing that happening... ever.

 Because the author, made perfectly clear that part of their mutual attraction was fuelled by EVIL....ugh, ugh, ugh.

Could this explanation be more cheesy? And soap-opera like?

So like the first story_ SPOILER! SPOILER!! Remember the scene when she's with Devlin? And all of a sudden you have a voyeuristic scene with ghosts? Including his dead wife? END SPOILER _ in this one, the scenes where the characters all of a sudden decide to throw themselves at each other in a sudden fit of passion, were really strange, and eye-rolling inducing....you know, because the EVIL was messing with them. (sigh)

 One of "those" scenes even takes place in a graveyard....c'mon!

 Too much can be TOO MUCH!!

Then she's always thinking about Devlin and his dead wife, and after a while the thing just transformed itself into a creepy soap-opera!

In the end, Amelia is probably one of my least favourite characters, and after this book, I most certainly will not be reading the third one.

Honestly, for me, _and I don't think I ever said this! _ the only way for this series to work would be to skip the romance entirely!

Author's Official Site

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The Restorer (Graveyard Queen #1) by Amanda Stevens

             

                    

Having already read the second volume of this series, I can definitely say that I won't be reading any other books of this series.

I've also removed a star, since on further consideration I've decided that this was just an okay reading.

Yes, there were some aspects that I liked but, in the end, the negative parts surpassed the positives.

My Previous review:

I can't say that I actively disliked reading this.

However, there was something that just felt a little off...like the characters and the feelings portrayed that just felt a little too "harlequin" novels for me.

 The only compliment I can give it, is that I had no idea where the story was going to go.

I was completely at the author's mercy to know what was going to happen next.

The negatives:

 Another of the things that I disliked, was the way that Amelia's characterization at times didn't seem compatible with her age.

She had no emotional maturity... imagine a thirteen year old on a twenty seven year old body, and you have Amelia.

The "crush" she has on Devlin, is embarrassing and obnoxious  in the "best" "insta-crush" format.

Did I mention that she's twenty seven years old?

 I also would have liked to see Devlin playing a more "active" part in the story, since he's the leading male character, and all that.

Because in the end _for me_, his character just felt too insignificant. And not all that interesting...

The mystery was interesting, but the romance just felt out of place, and forced.

I felt that it was just created to counteract the creepy aspects of the book..

 Because Devlin, on account of his past, never showed a real interest in Amelia.

And Amelia, felt a little like: "Oh, tall, handsome, BROODING_ this word appears quite a number of times_ yes, I'm interested in him!"

 In the end, I just felt like the author kept "all her aces" to herself in order to fill the following books, because there's still a lot of secrets to unravel, and questions to be answered.

For instance, who Amelia really is.

Who are her biological parents, and what is the secret that her mother keeps to herself.

As a side note, I can't help but mention that I thought that it was kind of strange, that Amelia should share her "gift", her cursed gift, with her supposedly adopted father.

What are the odds of that?

But this is part of a series, so, I guess one just has to keep reading it...to find out the answers to those questions.

In the last pages of the book we see the reality of her life completely take another route. Every rule that Amelia has been following since she was nine years old, when she first saw her first ghost has dramatically changed.

NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEAD.

NEVER STAY FAR FROM HALLOWED GROUND.

NEVER GET CLOSE TO THE HAUNTED.

NEVER,EVER, TEMPT FATE.

.......

OR NOT.

Author Official Page

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Taming the Forest King by Claudia J. Edwards

This book was recommended to me by Goodreads itself, based on my ratings and my favourite genres. To be fair, Goodreads tends to get it right. Not this time, though.

First of all forget the title. It has absolutely nothing to do with the story. 

I picked up this book thinking, "Yay! A book from the 80's! No clichés that became obnoxiously ubiquitous in recent times!" Yeah... no.

Heads up, this book contains a love triangle - that by itself made me want to put it aside. But I had actually ordered it for my birthday...

So onto the plot. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good things about it. Tevra, our main character, is at the top of her career. She's a no nonsense lady, she navigates well the sexist culture and the political traps that keep springing up.

That is, until she meets the Forest King and starts falling apart over her attraction to him. 

Despite being a strong and observant character (you can't get to her post without a gift for reading people) she is blind until the very end about the feelings of her closest friend/soldier, Hetwith. This dude could not have been more blatant about his interest. 

The Forest King is basically an underdeveloped wishy-washy idiot who had been raised to be king but was so inept that he'd probably wear his crown pointy-side down.

Another thing, Tevra kind of sets out to be this experienced woman, one who's had lovers in the past and is unashamed and in control of her sexuality (as she should be). Yet, get her near a love interest and she acts like an inexperienced virgin.

Conclusion: a nice fantasy with well developed political intrigues, that got swamped by a love triangle and trite romance.

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I am Pusheen The Cat by Claire Belton

Let's start with the beginning, shall we?
Who is this elusive character named Pusheen?
What does she want from life... besides food... and food... and sleep... and did I mentioned a full plate of cat food?
What are her goals in life? *eat a large amount of food*
Friends... *food can be your friend!*
Hobbies... you know? Besides eating a lot and looking pretty and absolutely pettable * I am told that this word does not exist, well, we will make it exist! Shut up, Firefox, before I start calling you Firefly...)
Pusheen is proud of who she is *this means no light food, humans!*, but most especially of hers Toe Beans!
But I am getting ahead of myself... I will let Pusheen do the "talking":

Things you should know about Pusheen ;)

 

But Pusheen is much more than the food she eats!

She is electronically... savy!

 

She's a great baker!

 

Basically she's like... us! Only smaller and furrier... well this should be evaluated on a case to case scenario!

So, what are you waiting for to start reading this cute and extremely funny book?

I promise you, it is funny!!

 It made me, laugh, and I am the average Dickens character in everyday life!!

So, I'll end this deep, deep review with another of Pusheen's thoughts:

 YES!!

Author's Tumblr

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Divided (Dualed #2) by Elsie Chapman

Arc provided by Random House Books for Young Readers through Netgalley

You know all the questions I raised in the previous book regarding the strangeness of certain elements?
Well, most of them are answered in this volume! Which was great! Because it finally allowed for a deeper understanding of how the people living in Kersh, had ended up under so harsh _and strange to comprehend_directives.
.
Were the explanations hundred per cent bullet proof?
Almost... the world building that author Elsie Chapman created, feels so alien at times _the whole idea of having to fight a clone/ a twin at certain point of their lives so mind boggling _, that even with explanations, it's hard not to come out with a different strategy/route that could have been taken, instead of what ended up happening. *all of us readers with our repressed writing abilities, lol*
But, reading this second volume definitely made things easier to understand.

This series turned out to be such a nice surprise, after the way it started. And I am really happy that I kept reading the first volume even when I started saying thing along the lines of:
_WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? ;)

Action packed and with characters that I couldn't help root for, this was so vividly written and with such a cinematographic aspect, that it's hard to hit "pause" . I just wanted to devour this in one sitting.

West is a great character. Despite what she goes through, she just feels incredibly real.

She's not your stereotyped action figure, that goes through adversaries while casually throwing witty and most of time clichéd remarks.
She's human, she has feelings. She's young, she's so very young...

As for new characters _despite just having a small role _ I liked the introduction of the psychiatrist with whom West consults.
Most of the times, while reading YA _ and don't even get me started on the so called adult books _ I find myself saying: _Someone should get that girl/boy a psychiatrist!!
No, really!! I do!!
I said it about Tris in Insurgent *some antidepressants maybe*...and look how that turned out to..*cough*

So, yes, it was a nice aspect to see a character having some sort of mental support in relation to had she had had to go through, during the first volume.
It was also nice to see the mature way, West and Chord dealt with their relationship, and even the way the author wrote it.

Thing is, this a book that is supposedly destined to young readers, but I have the idea _although I hope that I am wrong! _ that most of those young readers who read it, will find it lacking in romance!

Because in our days, most of the times writing a so called dystopia is just another excuse to write some mushy-mushy love triangle, with lots of angst on top!!
*If only I could draw.....*
And those young readers do devour these types of stories!
So, honestly I really hope these two books _so far, right? Because with the way it ended I can see a third book lurking around :) ) _find their way into the right readers hands!
Because this is the type of read that at first you're not so sure about, but after awhile it just gets under your skin!
Definitely recommended! And also, I can't wait to read more about this world!
So thank you Random House Books, for having me pre-approved for this read!

Author Official Site

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And Here It Is, Another Book Release...

....June 24 th finally arrived, and with him came a lot of book goodies!

The awaited conclusion to Demitria Lunetta In the After duology!

Read  Isa's Reviews of "In The After ( In The After #1") Here!

And  of "In The End (In The After#2)"  Here!

"Okay, this was mind-blowingly amazing. I know that there's a lot of hype when new dystopias come out, "the new hunger games blah blah" but if any is deserving of the title this is it. It's like it took elements from all the most horrible dystopias like The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, The Road with a sprinkle of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. This book packs a hell of a punch."

(excerpt of Isa's review on "In The After")

"Still, it was an absolutely amazing book! Everything I could have hoped after having read In The After!

And I hope Lunetta has some new project lined up, because I love her writing and can't wait for more!"

 (excerpt of Isa's review on "In The End" )

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Calling All Walker Papers fans!

SHAMAN RISES WAS RELEASED TODAY!!

YAY....

Get ready for Joanne, Michael and Gary's last adventure!

*SOBS*

As a side note:
Hey, "you people who design the covers"?
Stop "blanching" the characters faces!
Joanne doesn't have Ischemia!

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Dualed (Dualed #1) by Elsie Chapman

 

More than a though cookie, this is a very strange cookie....from a dystopian perspective.

Truth is _for me _ this book crashed and burned as a dystopia. There's one two many lose ends, a very problematic use of science _that would probably leave other readers in fits of anger, lol _, and a very underdeveloped world building...

This was one of many books that never actually caught my interest during its release last year.

Of course I saw it being mentioned on GR's, but there's always books that will not be read, because time will never be enough for all of them. And that's too bad.

This year, to my surprise, I was pre-approved  on Netgalley to read it's sequence "Divided", and I thought to myself : Why not?

When I started reading it: ~Good first line~

I’ve buried nearly everyone I love.

After awhile: ~Oh, my God, this is a poisoned apple!~

Since the city is closed off to the rest of the world, limiting space and resources, only the best of us are wanted. The Board, in their genius, created Alts, manipulating genes so two identical children are born to two sets of parents. 

A little after: ~Okay... the world building is a disaster, and the science doesn't make sense, but I'm curious to see where this is going~

"But now they’re also the eyes of an Alt gone active, no longer an idle. Encoded on each pupil is a black spiral of tiny numbers. The sequence seems random, (..)"

 Towards the last chapters: ~Staring avidly into the pc's screen~

I bend down to the coffee table, studying its glossy surface now covered with a layer of dust.
It’s a water ring. 

From a careless cup or mug. It cuts through the dust right down to the wood, so I know it’s recent.
I straighten, my heart pounding just a little bit louder now, a new thought forming in my mind. In the wake of my discovery of her ability to make herself at home here, I go to the front door.
It’s unlocked.

This dystopia makes absolutely no sense!

In the future (???) the cold vaccine has had the side effect of rendering most of us (???) infertile.

Apparently people have been living in a constant state of War outside this enclave.

Enclave that was created due to some sort of split in the territory (how?), and the people who wanted to stay in this *of-war zone* would have to live; according to some very harsh rules (of course according to this reality, I would have liked to see any of these characters consider leaving this place!).

_People are infertile _ Solution _ Lets create clones/twins _and lets allow for each of them to get raised by a different set of parents.

_We live in a closed environment so_ Lets make those twins/clones fight one another in order to make sure that only the strongest one, survives.

Did I mention the infertility thing?

Why create them, to end up killing them?

I have an idea: Military training from childhood!

Oh wait, that already happens... O_O

And then there's the fact, that you could be over this phase _that happens until the 20' mark _ and end up dead, because you found yourself  in the middle of some completion of an assignment!

Once again, if people numbers are so important, why risk killing bystanders?

And then it's not like these idles (people waiting to become Actives, which in turn will fight to become Completes) only fight when they reach, at least puberty! No, eleven years old can turn into actives (30 day period that the two alts have to fight one another), without having had proper training!

On one side, I understand the author's approach: If things aren't fair, why would the rules to this unfair way of living, be as "fair", moral and neatly as possible?

On the other hand... societies need some form of stability, and a strong set of rules, and having, I don't know, dozens, hundreds of people all at a same time, walking around with guns, striking collateral damages *collateral deaths* as they wish, would be like having a bomb waiting to defuse at any single time!

What would stop these people of turning against the Board?

So, like I said:

This dystopia, *cough sorry*, kind of sucks...

But as an action book... hello!!

West, could be a young, female, Jason Bourne.

Get ready for some seriously grisly moments. Honestly I lost count to how many people, the girl _fifteen years old_ends up killing.

Once again I wish that had been more development towards certain parts of the story: she becomes an hired assassin when she hasn't even completed her training . And since she works for such a part that relies heavily on not being compromised _as things normally do _, where's the logic of allowing a green girl into that type of job? She could have been caught, and forced to reveal what she knew. Not much _true _but even so, it could turn out to be an unnecessary complication.

Okay, action story....

As an action story this definitely worked. The writing was crisp enough, with enough parts of emotion, to keep me hooked into the story.

West is a character who is grieving for her family, and I liked that the author didn't try to turn her into a robot.

She has human reactions, despite the fact that she has been training through most of her life to kill another person.

I would have liked however to have seen West's Alt, portrayed in a less emotionless form...because we only got West's emotions, it was as if we were being desensitized towards her Alt.

The romance

Thank God, it was kept to a minimum (lol) and on the background, where it should be! ;)

Very well done, it never stole the spotlight of what was actually happening:

West's fight for survival.

So, do I recommend it?

Well, the first half, with all it's dystopian strange rules, is like I said, quite problematic.

But if this kind of thing, doesn't bother you, and if you want to read a real action page turner, this is the book for you... if you're not squirmish, that is.

Also, if you're interested in reading a book that features a real female assassin, this is your book!

Forget about wannabe assassins that end up not being more than spoiled princess!! *coughcoughCalaenacough*

Myself, after the way this turned out to be, and since I got an arc from Netgalley, I'll be reviewing Divided in the next couple of days.

Author's Official Site

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Sparrow Hill Road (Ghost Stories #1) by Seanan Mcguire

 

Well, I am somewhat disappointed with this story, due to it's promising premise!

 I loved how in the short "Ghosts of Bourbon Street", this ghost world, and its characters were presented to us readers; but I'm afraid that as a full length book, this became quite repetitive.

Apparently this was written in a serialised format, and reading it, that becomes painfully obvious so.

As usual with everything everything written by this author, the world building is described perfectly, and the rules of it are thoroughly explained to us, but in the end, I felt that during most of the time I was reading Rose's _the leading character _journal.

Okay, she's dead, and according to the rules she's been living by, "life/death" is no longer as straightforward as it used to be.

But as I kept turning the pages, the pace never changed and neither did the storyline.

Also the constant repetitions _a side effect I'm sure of the serialized format _ of how everything worked in that world, became really boring.

I understood the importance of a free given jacket by the living to the dead, the first time I read it.

I understood the cold she constantly feels in her ghost state...

I understood why she has to keep hitch-hiking, and why she has to keep on the roads...

I understood why she seeks warmth -all types of it -everywhere she can.

Ad infinitum....

However, when it comes to this last part, and since this is coming from a ghost, someone, that knows intimately just how hard life can be, I disliked the almost romanticized aspect of she accepting to have sex with every guy who wanted it _this part is just mentioned. 

During most of the time, this was the basic idea I got while reading this: I know that by accepting one of these rides, I'm accepting everything they want, and that's fine by me.

What can I say? Just that I find hard to believe that during sixty years on the road she only met guys who only wanted to have sex with her, and not one, who tried to kill her.

Okay, she's a ghost, things are different, but I don't know this didn't work very well with me.

And yes she can be killed _ again _while she's corporeal _wearing a living person's jacket.

Luckily for her, those moments don't take long.

Normally...

The romance in this, is really only just a dash of it, and the little there is, is enough to break one's hearts.

Well of course it is, right?

The girl is dead.

I won't lie by saying that I was not expecting a very different "end game"... to something that ended up happening, and which honestly I quite disliked ~strange and disturbing mix of Knight Rider with an episode of Ghost Whisperer~ *shivers*.

The supporting characters did their part, and in the end, I guess it just depends on the amount of patience you're willing to give to this story.

Great premise, great characters, but in the end, the pace of it, basically killed things for me.

Author Official Site

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