Review: Descended by Blood

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Descended by Blood
Angeline Kace
Released: August 26, 2011
Young Adult, Paperback, 252 Pages
Source: Author, in exchange for an honest review
Overall: Fabulous!
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Brooke Keller's a high school junior who never spent much time living in one place. She's finally in a town long enough to almost snag the boy of her dreams, until her life is threatened by a fanged man in his attempt to kidnap her. Brooke begins a dangerous journey to find out who is after her and how to stop them. Thrown into a world with powerful and prejudiced vampires, Brooke must tap into the side of herself that she never knew existed, at the risk of losing her life in order to save it.


My Thoughts:

Angeline Kace's brought to us a fabulous YA debut novel with Descended by Blood. And rather then give this must-read away with a typical review I thought I'd mix it up a bit.

The Fab....

The Characters: Despite any qualms I have with any one particular character, the characters were developed pretty danged well for a book with such a quick pace. Our main and secondary characters were just that, standing out against the rest but tying in with the background enough that the story seemed almost real.

The character we follow, Brooke is as real as they come as far as people are concerned. She isn't a mega-character, the she-woman who plows through life unscathed. Nor is she a delicate little flower that has to be handle with such care that you find yourself reading with stiff shoulders like you, the reader, could actually harm her. Brooke has extremely strong moments, weak moments and moments that her character flounders as she tries to regain her balance, control, and sense of self but that is why I love her. She is just like you and me- well, except for a little something that she never knew existed and is totally B.A (bad ass!)

Our Secondary characters are the shit. No joke. Excuse my language but even when I want to kick one of them where the sun doesn't shine and threaten him with a string of expletives I totally love them all. They all have their spots in Brooke's life, whether they were there for years or days. Like Brooke they all have a story, their strengths, their weaknesses and their spot in making Brooke's story. Kaitlynn, the best friend is beyond loyal and makes everyone wish they had someone like her in their lives. Jaren, the boyfriend/ex-boyfriend/whatever-he-is is the said character, beyond that of the enemy sort, that makes me wants to kic, him but before he was put on my shit-list he sat happily on my good side. Having him there, following Brooke's "never knew existed" journey adds a whole other facet of drama and complication to the story which I just love! The last secondary character I'll comment on is Mirko, the sorta-the-same trainer/protector/hot-maybe-wanna-be-more guy. Mirko swept in and took control of Brooke's situation setting out to make it all right. Totally swoon-worthy but not exactly perfect and with an emotionally-excessive-package for a past makes him all that much more perfect for this story (and Brooke- TEAM MIRKO! Is there a team mirko?)

The Plot: This story has a plot? Yes, it in fact does. There is a beginning, there is a middle and there is an end. Lately, it seems like so many YA books I have come across it all sort of just blends together. You don't really know where you stand and there are lulls in action with more filler than necessary or appreciated. Descended by Blood is a perfect mixture of action filled, plot sensitive moments and those (filler) moments that finish making all of the characters real.

The Not So Fab...

The Plot: Yes, I have a few qualms here. One, the story ended too soon for my liking. I could have had several more helpings of Descended by Blood (or the next book- that would have worked as well) and been more than okay with it. Two, being fast pace the story did suffer from a few cases when things seemed just a tad too rushed. It wasn't much but a few times I wished a scene would have extended a little longer to help finish developing the characters, their world, and the situations.

Fab's Final Word....

Action packed and chemistry driven, Descended by blood is a single-sitting book that I instantly wanted more of. Angeline Kace gave me a cast of extremely likable and well developed characters with individual voices. Descended by blood is what I believe the beginning of what is going to be a absolutely addictive and fabulous trilogy!

Retribution Book Trailer & Giveaway

SHERRILYN KENYON : RETRIBUTION

Watch the Book Trailer Below then Comment Below for your chance to win a copy of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Retribution!

BOOK PARTICULARS

Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon |Link|
Dark Hunter Novel No. 20
Published: August 2, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Press |Link|

|Goodreads|

"...Harm no human…A hired gunslinger, William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave. He believed that every life had a price. Until the day when he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost everything, including his life. Brought back by a Greek goddess to be one of her Dark-Hunters, he gave his immortal soul for vengeance and swore he’d spend eternity protecting the humans he’d once considered prey.Orphaned as a toddler, Abigail Yager was taken in by a family of vampires and raised on one belief- Dark-Hunters are the evil who prey on both their people and mankind, and they must all be destroyed. While protecting her adoptive race, she has spent her life eliminating the Dark-Hunters..."     

GIVEAWAY PARTICULARS

To enter you must LEAVE A COMMENT with your email address
Winner will be chosen by August 13, 2011
Winner must be able to provide a US or Canada mailing address
Winner must be 13 years of age or older
Following is not necessary but totally cool if you do!
Thank You to Zeitghost Media and St. Martin's Press for providing this book for giveaway! 

ARC Review: Possession

Possession by Elana Johnson
Release Date: June 07, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Publishing
Pages: 416, Hardcover
Young Adult
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab
Overall: Fabulous!
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Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even thinkabout kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself. 
But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn. 
This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

My Thoughts:

In a time where the land is split into territories, those that are for the good, the Goodgrounds and those that are for the bad, the Badlands.  The separation of people isn't the only disconcerting aspect of this book, the fact that Thinkers do your thinking for you leaving the government one hundred percent in control is probably even more scary to think about.

Vi, is our spunky protagonist which find herself split in more than one way.  A part of her wants to succumb to the thinkers and the other half of her wants to beat them, to not be drawn in by them, and live her life how she desires.  Her story is less than   Zenn, Vi's less-than-spunky Goodie boyfriend, which she is promised to, is on the special forces and while he understands Vi and roots for her, has completely given him over to the Thinkers letting them control his every thought and action even when he fights them.  Then there is Jag, a Baddie with a fitting name, is the guy who helps Vi learn who she is, come into her own powers, and leads her on a journey she would have never went on had she not been caught, had she not found herself drawn to the boy who had an obsession with hair, and had she not surrendered her 'thinker-free' emotion over to him.

Elana Johnson did a fabulous job of bringing a unique, and quite unsettling.  She brought this world to life and the characters in it.  The mix of special abilities and technology make this book a great mixture of everything good in a dystopian novel.

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ARC Review: Sirensong

Sirensong by Jenna Black
Published: July 5, 2011

Published By: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 320, Paperback
Source: Around The World ARC Tours

Overall: Fabulous!

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When Dana is invited to Faerie to be officially presented at the Seelie Court, it’s no easy decision. After all, everyone knows Titania, the Seelie Queen, wants her dead. But Titania claims not to be the one behind the death threats; and her son, Prince Henry, makes the decision a whole lot easier when he suggests Dana might be arrested for (supposedly) conspiring with her aunt Grace to usurp the Seelie throne. So she and her father better do as they're told . . .
The journey through Faerie is long—and treacherous. Dana thought it would be a good idea to have friends along, but her sort-of-boyfriend, Ethan, and her bodyguard’s son, Keane, just can’t seem to get along, and Kimber’s crush on Keane isn’t making things any easier. When a violent attack separates Dana from their caravan, the sexy Erlking saves her just in the nick of time . . . and makes it clear that he hasn’t given up on making her his own.
Arriving at Titania’s beautiful palace should be a relief. But Dana is soon implicated in an assassination attempt against Titania’s granddaughter, and is suddenly a fugitive, forced to leave her father behind as she and her friends flee for their lives. Will she be able to prove her innocence before the forces of the Seelie Court—or, worse, the Erlking—catch up with her? And will she save her father before he pays the ultimate price in her stead?

*May Contain Spoilers for Glimmerglass and Shadowspell*

My Thoughts:

Jenna Black pulled me back into the world of Avalon and Faeries in the third installment of her Faeriewalker Series.  I will admit, while I have thoroughly enjoyed the previous books I have only given them a written rating of 3-stars, which in I still consider Fab!, Sirensong, however, has completely blown me away with Dana's story this time around.

Dana, our protagonist, is still the same girl, albeit a Faeriewalker, that she was in her first two books.  While she's still okay with herself and her style she is still the shaky, nervous, girl she was since she first met her faerie father and others of Avalon.  I like that about her and of course her loyalty and personal strength is off the charts where those she cares for and loves are concerned.  While some people may not enjoy the predictability where her character is concerned I adore that about her and think that it adds a facet of stability to the books.

Ethan, Keane, Kimber, Dana's Mom and Dad fall in line with Dana in Sirensong.  Their characters have stayed true to their core, even Ethan when he is struggling with his ties to the Erkling and The Wild Hunt.  Their consistency with their personal beings is a breath of fresh air and their emotions and actions are believable.  While everything may not always be one hundred percent perfect and while people do make mistakes and lessons are learned, they have all grown but I'm still able recognize them as being the people I first met.  Their personalities are so different including the way they carry themselves but is what adds to the story and the whole group seems to round each other out and I was able to learn something about faeries and Avalon from each of them.

One thing I do love about Dana is her sureness in her like (or is it love?) for Ethan.  Despite what the Erkling does to her when his magic is involved, or the fact that at one point we know that Keane seemed to perhaps have a bit of interest in her, she never really wavers from her feelings for Ethan, even when her insecurities of his feelings for her and his ability to deal with her situation scare her.  So many characters, in other books, are struggling with active love-triangles and I really enjoy that a situation like that isn't at the forefront of the Faeriewalker books.  It is a welcome change and even though there isn't the typical Young Adult Love Triangle there is plenty of romance and all of that which comes with it.

The action in Sirensong definitely picks up.  While there has been a big dose of action in Glimmerglass and Shadowspell I have to admit that Sirensong completely took the cake with our first glimpse into Faerie, some of the creepy and less attractive inhabitants of Faerie, and the mystery of who-is-trying-to-kill-Dana-now.  The tables are turned and we are looking at some of the characters we normally wouldn't look at and we are formulating our own theories on who is behind the newest of Dana's threats.  Before now I have really been that involved in the books but this time I was there, solving the mystery with Dana and those closest to her, and was equally surprised when it all came to a head and we were given the answers we were wanting.  And believe me, it was nothing that I was expecting.  Many characters this go around proved things about themselves I never thought possible.

I'm not sure whether we have come to the end of Dana's story or not.  I can not find anything giving me hopes on expecting another installment and I can not find anything telling me we are at the end.  Either way, I am one hundred percent content with where Jenna Black left us.  I have seen some speculation that people believe it was an open ending but I'm not so sure I completely agree.   But like I said, either way I am absolutely content with where we were taken with Dana's story and the way Sirensong tied up. 

Full of mystery and drive-me-crazy romance with a overflowing handful of twists and turns, Sirensong was definitely worth the wait and left me completely fulfilled.

Purchase | Glimmerglass | Shadowspell | Sirensong |  

(As of July 24, 2011- with the link Shadowspell is only $4.00!)