Review: Dark Souls

Dark Souls by Paula Morris
Released: August 01, 2011
Young Adult, Hardcover, 304 Pages
Source: Teen Book Scene + Publisher in exchange for honest review and blog tour
Overall: Fabulous!
| Author Website | Goodreads | Twitter |

Welcome to York, England. Mist lingers in the streets. Narrow buildings cast long shadows. This is the most haunted city in the world. . . . 
Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones, hoping she won't run into the countless ghosts who supposedly roam the city. . . . 
Then she meets Nick, an intense, dark-eyed boy who knows all of York's hidden places and histories. Miranda wonders if Nick is falling for her, but she is distracted by another boy -- one even more handsome and mysterious than Nick. He lives in the house across from Miranda and seems desperate to send her some sort of message. Could this boy be one of York's haunted souls? 
Soon, Miranda realizes that something dangerous -- and deadly -- is being planned. And she may have to face the darkest part of herself in order to unravel the mystery -- and find redemption.

My Thoughts:

Is it safe to say there is a resurgence of ghost-stories in the young adult realm? Was there even a true thick of them? Whatever it is, this trend of new ghostly stories is well appreciated and Paula Morris just further staked her claim on young adult shelves.

I really enjoyed the characters of Dark Souls. They all had their own voice and individual beings where the story was concerned. They were intimately woven with the plot and their surroundings but my adoration of Dark Souls didn't come solely from the characters but from Paula Morris' artfully woven attention to detail. Never having been to England it actually felt like I was there. I could see the surroundings all around me and I was walking alongside the cast of characters.

Dark Souls has a bit of a slow going nature. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't and it can be completely hit or miss on me dependent on my mood. For me, this go, holding out came easily despite the slower pace and I found myself appreciating Paula Morris' work all the more. If it weren't for the attention to detail that I found so fabulous Dark Souls just wouldn't be everything that it is.

I also can't forget to mention that I truly had no clue what was going on with the mystery of Dark Souls. I didn't find myself accurately predicting the outcome of this book how I do so many and to me, that alone, is a priceless quality for a book to possess.

With a bit of love, a great deal of mystery, Haunting and historical, Dark Souls is everything that I love in a book.

Dark Souls: Character Book Pick

Welcome Author Paula Morris to Flippin' Fabulous today as well as Miranda who we are getting a close look at her book picks! Pretty fab, right? Thank You for stopping by Paula!
Original Post Date: October 05

Miranda in DARK SOULS is going through a big Gothic-lit phase at the moment. She got into it by reading NORTHANGER ABBEY by Jane Austen, which is a satire about the kind of novels really popular when Austen was a teen – books involving creepy castles, dark stairways, locked doors, dark heroes, wide-eyed girls getting into all sorts of trouble …

So the next book Miranda wants to read is one name-checked by Austen: Anne Radcliffe’s THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO. This was a huge bestseller, published when Jane Austen was just 19.

I’m not sure if she’ll like it all that much. Miranda has already read two of the great Victorian Gothic novels – WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte, and JANE EYRE by Emily’s sister Charlotte. She liked them both a lot, though she’s still freaked out by the idea of ‘the madwoman in the attic’ in JANE EYRE. Her mother suggested that Miranda read WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys, which is kind of a prequel to JANE EYRE, telling the story of the ‘madwoman’ and her childhood in the Caribbean, before she married Mr. Rochester and got locked up in his attic.

Because Miranda has just visited Yorkshire in England – which is where DARK SOULS is set – she’s decided to read Bram Stoker’s novel DRACULA. Count Dracula himself comes ashore in England on the coast of North Yorkshire, near a beautiful fishing town called Whitby. Miranda wishes they’d made a day-trip to Whitby while they were staying in the city of York. Maybe she and her brother will have to go back there sometime soon …

Dark Souls by Paula Morris
| Author Website | Goodreads | Twitter |

Welcome to York, England. Mist lingers in the streets. Narrow buildings cast long shadows. This is the most haunted city in the world. . . . 
Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones, hoping she won't run into the countless ghosts who supposedly roam the city. . . . 
Then she meets Nick, an intense, dark-eyed boy who knows all of York's hidden places and histories. Miranda wonders if Nick is falling for her, but she is distracted by another boy -- one even more handsome and mysterious than Nick. He lives in the house across from Miranda and seems desperate to send her some sort of message. Could this boy be one of York's haunted souls? 
Soon, Miranda realizes that something dangerous -- and deadly -- is being planned. And she may have to face the darkest part of herself in order to unravel the mystery -- and find redemption.

Return on October 18th for my review of Dark Souls!

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood
Kendra Blake
Release Date: August 30, 2011
Publisher: Tor Teen
Young Adult, Hardcover, 316 pages
Source: Kismet Book Tours + Publisher
Overall: Flippin Fabulous!
| Website | Blog | Twitter |

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.   Via Goodreads

My Thoughts:


Non-stop action.  Love.  Vengeance.  Ghosts and things that go bite in the night.  Anna Dressed in blood is a brilliantly painted tale of Cas a ghost hunter, Anna a revengeful ghost with a story, and everything that made them who they are.  Anna Dressed in Blood is a story that fully embodies everyone in the tale and will amaze you with its descriptive detail.

I can't remember the last time when I read a book with a protagonist like Cas.  His whole persona was a perfect mixture of witty and strong with a slightly vulnerable edge.  Usually when I come across male main characters their voice isn't very believable or they are beyond cocky with a head bigger than their body.  It was nice following a kick-butt character like Cas around.  His opening scene had me giggling then immediately gasping.  I was able to see what kind of potential Cas held all the while seeing who he really was. I think it is safe to say if I were a ghost I definitely wouldn't want to cross paths with Cas, I might just be heart broken to have finally found someone to listen to me then take me out just as quick.

Anna, our other main character albeit a ghost, was a little more complicated than Cas.  While her intentions were as clear as day there was still a part of her, a reviving quality, that made her not the monster I expected her to be.  Not to mention, she isn't what Cas fully expected either.  He knows who she is, knows what she does, yet there is that quality about her that makes it impossible to look away.  She is a mystery worth solving and worth risking.


Anna and Cas aren't the only characters that built their story.  Our secondary cast of characters all had their moments and their purpose. Thomas.  Carmel.  Morfan.  Cas' mom.  Cas' dad.  Will.  Mike.  They all played a part and had a story of their own which added to the tightly woven threads that brought Anna and Cas together.  Some were likable and others not so much.  The back story of Cas' parents also built this story up and shed light onto the story of what drove Cas, where his passion came from.

Kendare Blake told a fabulously brillant story of love and friendship paired with the chilling truths of loss and revenge.  I can't forget to mention the witty tone of humor that Kendare Blake laced throughout Anna's story that had me giggling even in the most stressful of times.  


If you want to try your hands at a hauntingly creepy tale I suggest you pick up Anna Dressed in Blood.  It is definitely a book worth reading even if it is slightly out of your comfort zone and slightly on the horrific side. It truly is unputadownable and completely re-readable.  


Don't forget to check out my Anna Dressed in Blood Blog Tour post on Tuesday, September 13 to find out more about Anna and have your chance of winning a Kindle3 WiFi complete with Anna Dressed in Blood skin and book.