God Save the Queen by Kate Locke

Name: God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire #1) by Kate Locke.
Pages: 352.
Publication: 3rd July 2012/Orbit.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✩
Buy It: Amazon | Kennys

"Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist. 


The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.


Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle."

Review.

Alexandra or rather Xandra lives in a world where the plague did not wipe out much of the population but rather transformed them into vampires, werewolves and goblins. Queen Victoria is ruling the empire after 175 years, as a vampire. Xandra is halvie with a vampire father and a human mother. She works for the Royal Guard protecting the aristocracy of Britain. Her life is turned  upside down when her sister goes missing and she learns that everything is not and everyone are not what they seem, even Xandra herself. 

Xandra is a great female lead character. She is feisty and full of wit. She is brave and strong but is not made of stone. She has realistic reactions to events that occur which often does not happen in books. The book is also full of other interesting and unique characters such as Church, who is Xandra's mentor, her siblings, the goblin prince as well as the handsome werewolf Vex who seems to have Xandra in his sights. 

At the beginning of the book, two characters are introduced a girl and a guy. For some reason I thought the guy might play a bigger part but he just disappears and I was disappointed because he seemed like he could have been interesting. I do not know, I just wanted to get that off my chest. 

The only real problem I had with the book is how fast Xandra's relationship escalated. You know me and insta-love. Thankfully, this was not actually insta-love, no-one was declaring anything but I felt that the trust between Xandra and her partner was built far too quick.

Locke has created a wonderful world that is well structured and detailed in her debut novel. It is not quite steam-punk yet it has elements of it along with urban fantasy. Locke's back stories for Britain and the monarch as well as the creatures and causes was interesting as well as believable. Locke has a knack for little details that help build a solid foundation for a series. The book did not lag, and moves at the right pace to keep you reading page after page.

Final Thought.

God Save The Queen is full of mystery and intrigue. The book takes twist and turns and will have devouring the pages.

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

Name: Skinned (Cold Awakening #1) by Robin Wasserman.
Pages: 3680.
Publication: 9th September 2008/Simon Pulse.
Rating: ✮✮✩✩✩Buy It: Amazon | Kennys
"The Download was supposed to change the world. It was supposed to mean the end of aging, the end of death, the birth of a new humanity. But it wasn't supposed to happen to someone like Lia Kahn.


And it wasn't supposed to ruin her life.


Lia knows she should be grateful she didn't die in the accident. The Download saved her--but it also changed her, forever. She can deal with being a freak. She can deal with the fear in her parents' eyes and the way her boyfriend flinches at her touch. But she can't deal with what she knows, deep down, every time she forces herself to look in the mirror: She's not the same person she used to be.


Maybe she's not even a person at all."

Review.

Lia had it all. She was the perfect, all rounded, achieving daughter. She had a handsome boyfriend and was popular in school until the accident. The accident where she should have died but instead was saved by The Download. The accident she should not have even been in.

Skinned starts off a little confusing as you are thrown into the story without truly understanding what The Download is. The book contains 'technotalk' and lacks description of some of the technologies used. I was reading it and I felt as if I had missed the chapter or two that explained what was going on. Those chapters come eventually, maybe even a little to late.

Skinned lacks a enticing plot. There was only about two pages of action in the whole book. Sure, the story's concept is interesting but nothing exciting really happens. Nothing that truly builds Lia's character. All she does is lightly tread on the line of her old life and the new life she can embrace being 'skinner.' Some believe she has great personal growth in the book, but I did not see it. I guess this has to do with the book being a part of a trilogy. You need something to keep the readers reading. I, for one, will not be continuing the series. 

Lia character is one that is more annoying than interesting. She seems to have a lot of repetitive thoughts that I do not want to read about...again. You know I lack sympathy for whiny characters and I get it, Lia deserves to be whiny: she was not meant to be in the car but she was and now it is her who lives with the consequences.

Final Thought.

Skinned does not excite or intrigue but what it does do is raise some interesting questions about humanity and can we truly be replaced with machines in the future.

Extra.

Wasserman re-released Skinned in 2011 under the new title 'Frozen.'

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Name: City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare
Pages: 534.
Publication: 8th May 2012/Margaret K. McElderry.
Rating:  ✮✮✮¾✩✩
Buy It: Amazon | Kennys | Easons


"The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?
Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series"

Review. HAS A FEW SPOILERS - BEWARE!

I was so torn between giving City of Lost Souls (COLS) a 3 and a half or 4 star rating. Then I looked at some other book I had given 3 and a half star rating and I realised I enjoyed COLS more than I enjoyed them so I decided on a 3 and three quarters stars. I cannot give the book four stars because Clary annoyed me a little too much and I also missed good old Jace.

A review is hard to write for COLS because the story has a good few subplots going. You have Simon's and Isabelle's subplots, Alec and Magnu's, Jordan and Maia's as well as Jocelyn and Luke's mini, minor subplot. That is a hell of a lot of sub-plots so I think I'm just going to write about the positives and the negative like I did for my Wings of the Wicked review.

Positives:

+Concept: The story within COLS is interesting and invigorating. You have Jace and Sebastian/Jonathan bound. What will hurt one will hurt the other. Clary has to make the toughest decisions of her life. That put everyone is quite a sticky situation if you ask me. You have the sub-plots, such as Simon coming to terms with his new life as a vampire as well as Isabelle coming to terms with having feelings, maybe even for a certain vampire. Alec is trying to get over the fact that his boyfriend is immortal and over two hundred years old and Jordan, well he is just is just a love lorn werewolf, who I actually forgot existed and I was all 'WHAT? WHO ARE YOU RANDOM BOY?'

+Simon: Simon, who is not actually my favourite character but my second favourite probably saves this book in more ways than one. His story, for me was the most interesting to read. Now that he is a day walking vampire with the Mark of Cain on his head, he has issues, especially with his family and with Jace kinda but not really being possessed, Simon steps up as a true friend to Clary. Will Simon be the hero after all? I think he deserves to be.

+Magnus: I just love Magnus. That is all. He had the best lines because I must say Jace's wit was not up to standard in this book at all. For example: “Even the trip through the Portal had not disarranged Magnus's hair spikes. He tugged on one proudly. "Check it out", he said to Isabelle. "Magic?" "Hair gel. $3.99 at Ricky's."

+Sebastian as an antagonist: Sebastian is a very good antagonist. You do not really know what he is up too. He is hard to figure out as he seems to always have an ulterior motive for everything which adds some thrills and mystery.

Negative:

-Less action: There is less fighting in the book which is a bit of a downer because the fighting scenes in TMI series's are often super cool with interesting creatures and demons.

-Over describing: The book is the second longest of the series at 534 pages. There is defintely a good few paragraphs that could be taken out mainly of description, which are mainly of Jace and his beauty.

-Clary: Girl, you got issues and not the good kind. As TMI has evolved as a well fleshed out series, Clary has devolved into a too stubborn, naive, rash and obsessive girlfriend. She does not understand that she is sixteen and that there IS more to life than Jace. She puts him ahead of her family, which is probably a no no and despite my love for Jace, I can see why Jocelyn dislikes her daughter's boyfriend. Clary, as a character has changed, she has lost her coolness and apparently her love for drawing and all she does now is whine and make stupid decisions. If you read the book, you know what I'm talking about. Towards the end, for about a page, she has an epiphany and does something heroic and then the next chapter, well, you see for yourself. Sorry, repetitive rant over. One good thing about Clary in this book is we finally see some of that Shadowhunter within her come to life. ABOUT TIME, I SAY! 

Also, since City of Heavenly Fire is not out until March 2014, Clare thankfully does not end with a cliff-hanger that will have you, well, hanging of a cliff. Oh, what a terrible pun. 

Final Thought.

Many series's by the fifth book are drawn out and boring but Clare has done a good job at keeping the series as fresh and eventful as she can. COLS is the game changer for these Shadowhunters and I have a feeling the real battle is just beginning.

Extra.

Here's a picture of me with the lovely Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments series.

Make Me by Parker Blue

Name: Make Me (Demon Underground #4) by Parker Blue. 
Pages: 224.
Publication: 15th April 2012/Bell Bridge Books.
Rating: ✮✮✮½✩✩
Buy It: Amazon

"Shapiro has a secret she’s desperate to keep—she’s lost her slayer powers. As the new guardian of the Encyclopedia Magicka, Val expected the books to give her powers to replace those that disappeared after she lost her “V card” to Shade. But the encyclopedia exacts a price for every spell, making the job of guardian a tricky proposition.

When a rogue demon kidnaps Val’s roommate Gwen and Micah, leader of the San Antonio Demon Underground, Val is plunged into the middle of a Solomon’s Choice. The rogue wants the dangerously potent Encyclopedia Magicka in exchange for her friends’ lives; the succubus leader of the Demon Underground in Austin is demanding the books be destroyed rather than let them fall into the wrong hands and wants Shade for herself, swearing to do everything she can to prevent Val’s turning over the books. 

The kidnapping isn’t the only crisis Val faces. She’s been betrayed by Fang. Demons and vampires are disappearing. The vamps of the New Blood Movement are forcing Val to keep the terms of her agreement to work for them to combat this new threat. 
The Demon Underground is challenging Micah's leadership, and everyone is depending on a now-powerless Val to set things right. Val needs all the help she can get. Even if it means forgiving Fang and spending time with a dangerously sexy cowboy-vampire."

Review.

First things first, of all the Demon Underground books, Make Me has the least appealing cover but do not let the overly cartoony, childish cover put you off the book.

Poor Val. It seems that trouble just follows her and she cannot do anything about it. Now that she has lost her Slayer powers, all she has is Lola, the succubus within her, which is helpful, but having accelerated healing powers, speed and strength sure did come in handy when fighting the bad Vampires. The good Vampires, however? Well, she has a contract with them to help them until they unveil themselves to the world, which is not going as smoothly as head Vamp, Alejandro, had hoped.

Now, to help clean up this mess, Val is on her way to Austin with Alejandro, his right hand Vamp, the sexy southern Austin, and Jack, ex-keeper of the Encyclopedia Magicka, who is going to teach present keeper, Val, all there is to know about the books. Oh, and do not forget jealous boyfriend, shadow demon Shade, you demands on following Val there. What is the worst that can happen? Well, this is Val we are talking about and everyone, demon and vampire alike seems to be leaning on her for help.

The Demon Underground series is a well built world with each book being highly entertaining. The character's are likable even if a lot of the characters walk in and out of the books, such as Dan, who was pretty big in the first, but now, has turned quite one dimensional and plays a very minute role. 

Make Me has a large sub-plot that on Val's personal struggle with Shade. This was not a very enjoyable sub-plot, mainly because Shade completely changed in this book, even without a certain someone's help. (I'm trying not to spoil here!) From the start of the book, he seems resentful of her despite the fact that Val gave up her super powers when she lost her virginity to him.

The books are also quite short, with Make Me being only 224 pages. This is a good thing, it means the story are fast paced and you will not get bored of the series as it is not drawn out.

Final Thought.

Although less actiony than the past three books of the series, Make Me is still interesting and shakes up the Val's world. Who knows where book five will lead too?

Eden by Keary Taylor.

Name: Eden by Keary Taylor.
Pages: 408.
Publication: 6th June 2011.
Rating: ✮✮✮½✩✩
Buy It: Amazon | The Book Depository

"Eve knew the stories of the Fall, of a time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. She's seen the aftermath of the technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter, able to grow new organs and limbs, how it evolved out of control. The machine took over and the soul vanished. A world quickly losing its humanity isn't just a story to her though. At eighteen, this world is Eve's reality. 


In their Fallen world, love feels like a selfish luxury, but not understanding what it is makes it difficult to choose between West, who makes her feel alive but keeps too many secrets, and Avian, who has always been there for her, but is seven years her senior. 


The technology wants to spread and it won't stop until there is no new flesh to assimilate. With only two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction. While fighting to keep Eden alive, Eve will discover that being human is about what you will do for those you love, not what your insides may be made of. And even if it gets you killed, love is always what separates them from the Fallen."

Review.

Warning, this is a terrible review. Eden tells the story of seventeen, nearly eighteen year old Eve who lives in a world where only few humans exist due to the downfall of Cybernetic technology turning human into pretty much killer cyborgs. Eve is one of a few humans who have banded together to create Eden who are always on the lookout for Hunters. 

Although, Eve remembers nothing from before the Fall happened, she is far from helpless, she hunts game for the Eden residents, goes on raids to the dangerous cities and keeps look-out for the group. Enter three new residents, one, a boy around Eve's age that for unknown reason seems familiar. Enter jealous doctor and Eden resident and queue the love triangle. Her thoughts were repetitive and the romance in the book becomes unbearable due to her chopping and changing between the two love interests. Thankfully, by the end, she actually chose one.

Character wise, I felt it very hard to connect with Eve, maybe because she seemed to be having quite the identity crisis. She often did things that annoyed me yet they annoyed her too because she would say how she was beginning to hate herself so then I felt a bit better about disliking her actions.

I thought Eden would be more of a actiony dystopian novel about survival but after reading it, it really is just romance novel with a sub-plot of survival. 

Taylor's world she created was impressive. It was interesting and intriguing and it was explained well enough so everything made sense, which is always good. However, that being said, Taylor's writing did let her down on more than occasion throughout the book. The book was too long with too many unneeded scenes and even some unneeded characters.

Final Thought.

A book that graces a beautiful cover, a great concept yet ends up falling flat due to weak writing and characterization.

Illumine by Alivia Anders.

Name: Illumine by Alivia Anders.
Pages: 138.
Publication: 7th January 2012. 
Rating: ✮✮✮½✩✩
Buy It: Amazon


"For the past five months Essallie Hanley has been trying to forget about the frightening murder of her boyfriend. Haunted by vivid nightmares and hallucinations of the event she does anything she can to pretend she's like every other normal girl in High School. 

Only Essallie is far from normal. Able to conjure blue fire and a shimmering silhouette of wings from her body, she seeks the only known solace left to her name; her first home in Belfast, Maine. 

But she soon realizes that her return home is only the beginning of a long and twisted road taking her as far from her humanity as possible, with Kayden, the demon originally summoned to slaughter her, leading the way. Unable to touch her but oddly curious, he joins Essallie in her search to find out just what she is. But neither of them were prepared for the secrets they've begun to unravel, secrets that will change Essallie and everyone around her forever."

Mini-Review. 

This review is only a short review mainly because the book is really short at 138 pages.

The concept of Ander's debut story revealed in the blurb was highly interesting to me, especially the part about the demon Kayden, who is unable to touch her. He actually turns out to be a pretty great character. 

I think the book could have been even better if Ander's fleshed out some more of the history about the world she had created and spent a little more time actually developing the relationship between Essallie and Kayden.

At the Illumine, I was left wanting more. Some questions and secrets through out the book were answered and revealed and a stranger turns up that I want to know more about so yes, I do plan on reading the second book.

Final Thought. 

A good read, Illumine is perfect is you are looking for fast supernatural story.

Vampire's Kiss by Veronica Wolff

Name: Vampire's Kiss (The Watchers #2) by Veronica Wolff.
Pages: 304.
Publication: 6th March 2012/NAL. 
Rating: ✮✮✮✩✩ 
Buy It: Amazon | The Book Depository

"As someone who has survived her first year as an Acari recruit, Drew's ultimate goal is to become a Watcher and be paired up with a Vampire agent. Except nothing is as it seems. The vampire Alcántara is as sinister as he is sexy, Ronan is more distant than ever, and it turns out there are other vampires out there. Bad ones. They've captured one of the Watcher vamps and are torturing him for information-and Drew is going undercover to rescue him.
But when their vampire prisoner turns out to be a gorgeous bad boy, Drew's first mission quickly turns into more than she bargained for..."

Review.

Like Isle of Night, the first book of The Watchers series, Vampire's Kiss, was just okay. It was to quote myself 'neither a hit or a miss'.

In Isle of Night, borderline genius Annelise or as she prefers Drew wanted out of her dead beat life at home but now, now she wants out of her life on Isle of Night where she must she fight for her life against upperclassmen who have it our for her, keep the vampires happy, especially one of them all while figuring out why she is so insanely attracted to tracer, Ronan.

Drew is still a character I could not connect with. She is meant to be of above average smarts yet she rarely ever uses them which is very annoying for the reader. There was less Yasuo in this book which made me sad because he is the best character out of them all. Ronan was as one-dimensional as ever even when he not being distant. 

In my review of the first book I said I was going to read Vampire's Kiss because of a theory I had on Drew. I will honestly say that I have now forgotten what that theory was, sadly. The book does take an interesting turn at the end which although was anti-climatic does have me wondering what will happen in the third book. 

Final Thought.

Vampire's Kiss was an entertaining enough story, but contains no spark that makes a book stand out.

Whirl by Emma Raveling

Name: Whirl by Emma Raveling.
Pages: 258.
Publication: 16th September 2011/Mandorla Publishing.
Rating:✮✮✮✮✩
Buy It: Amazon

"Seventeen-year-old Kendra Irisavie is an ondine, a water elemental caught in the middle of an ancient war with the Aquidae, immortal dark demons who will stop at nothing to destroy the fragile balance of the Elemental world. 

Fierce and independent, Kendra has always played by her own rules. Gifted with the powerful magic of Virtue and trained to be a deadly fighter, she has spent her life breaking hearts and getting into trouble. 

When her life explodes one violent night in a northern California city, a dark stranger appears, promising answers to her mysterious past. Alone and with no one to trust, she must now navigate through a dangerous new world, face the temptations of a forbidden romance, and remain true to her duty and destiny. 

All while the Aquidae continue to hunt her down, in the hopes of eliminating her forever..."

Review.
I enjoyed Whirl a lot more than I thought I would, mainly because I had no real expectation for it because I had not read any other reviews for the book.


The world Raveling has created is very interesting with different elemental magic.
Kendra is a seventeen year old ondine meaning she can control the water element. Well, she is a little more than that, but she does not believe that at all. I was confused at the start about all the different names and what not but then after reading the book I found there is a glossary at the end of the book, just to let you all know!


I really liked Kendra. She is a rogue elemental after her mother and herself ran away from their Ondine santucatary. I like that her personality is quite realistic for a seventeen year old. She liked to go and party even if she was underage. She is also pretty fiery and feisty with a sharp tongue and an even sharper fist which most water elemental lack. She is outspoken and smart and stands up for what she truly believes in.

Final Thought.

Give it a read. Whirl is well paced full with action, interesting characters and a witty dialogue.

Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by Jessica Therrien

Name: Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by Jessica Therrien. 
Pages: 346.
Publication: 28th February 2012/Zova Books.  
Rating: ✮✮✮✩✩
Buy It: Amazon

"Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules."

Review.

Elyse is eighty nine years old yet she only look eighteen. That is because she is a Descendant, except she does not that because she believes that herself and her deceased parents are the only people with such slow aging genes. Due to these genes, she moves around A LOT. Her newest home, San Francisco. 

I do have questions about the whole age thing, like what about puberty? How they develop both physically and mentally because although Elyse is eighty nine, she thinks and acts like a teenager but should she not think like a eighty nine year old woman? I do not know, but I would like to know about the aging concept.

Elyse, such a pretty name, as a character was interesting in the way she is a very moral person. She wants to help as many people as possible. Yet, she is humanized but the selfishness we all have; wanting to save the ones we love despite if it is the right or wrong thing to do.

William, Elyse's love interest is introduced very well; the handsome guy who you look at for little too long in the local coffee shop. We've all done it. That being said, after we meet him and the insta-love occurs. You all know if you have been on my blog before, I hate insta-love. HATE IT. I do not care if it is their destiny or fate or whatever, I will condemn a book, no how much I like the rest of it, on insta-love. Sorry, no offense to authors, I rant about rushed love all the time. William actually reminded me of Edward from Twilight a little, he says a lot of romantic things and is also a little too protective (Well, Edward, is actually super creepily protective, William is in no way, that protective).

To be honest, my favorite character is Kara. She seems really interesting and I am hoping she plays a large part in the second book. 

What kept me interested in Oppression is the Greek mythology throughout. I loved Greek mythology and it is very interesting reading about all the bloodlines.

The whole book felt a filler to me. There was a lot of repetitiveness about what Elyse was going to do and some scenes not needed. Nothing exciting really happened in Oppression. I expected a lot more action especially with all these people with powers but alas, no. I wish we were told more about the Council, to understand the antagonists a bit more. 

Final thought.

A unique novel with a fresh take on Greek mythology that is interesting yet has no real climax at all.

Forgiven (The Demon Trappers #3) by Jana Oliver

Name: Forgiven by Jana Oliver.
Pages: 407.
Publication: 1st March (UK)/27th March (US) 2012/Macmillan Children's Books.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✩
Buy It: Amazon | Kennys | Easons

 "Riley Blackthorne. Kicking hell’s ass one demon at a time... 

Riley has made a bargain with Heaven, and now they've come to collect. 

Lucifer's finest are ruling the streets and it seems that Armageddon might be even closer than Riley imagined. But with her soul and her heart in play it's all she can do to keep herself alive, let alone save the world. Riley's not afraid of kicking some major demon butt, but when it comes to a battle between Heaven and Hell, she might need a little help..."

Review. Likely to have a few spoilers.

It's 2018 in Atlanta and demons still run riot but this time they seem to be that much tougher. For demon-trapper Riley, demons are just one of her problems. The Vatican and yes, the Pope are waiting for her to make one bad move, Heaven is counting on her, she has boy troubles and she still has to get her homework done for her classes, life is not easy. Yet, neither is stopping a war between Heaven and Hell, which Riley has to do also. How hard can it be? 

Forgiven is more focused on Riley and how is she is dealing with, well, pretty much everything that has happened since book one. She has to deal with how it feels to see her Father again under such strange circumstances as well as the ever old issues of boys. Although Ori may be gone, he still lingers in her head and her heart. She also has to put up with Simon, he ex-boyfriend who believes she works for hell even though Riley is the reason he is still alive.

I love that Oliver has left Peter as just Riley's best friend. He has no hidden feelings for her and is there for her. I'm glad she did not write a love triangle with Riley, Beck and Peter or in this, pentagon, Riley, Beck, Peter, Ori and the still hateful Simon.

I really enjoyed the increased presence of the Demon Hunters. It was fun to have a few fresh characters. They are more three dimensional in Forgiven than they were in the second book, Forbidden. As well as the Hunters, seeing more of Mort, the necromancer and Ayden, the witch and their powers was refreshing.

The one disappointing aspect for me is the fact we see barely any demon-trapping from Riley. in the three books, her skills have barely developed and the only way she seems to get a good trap is if someone is in danger and her adrenaline kicks in. I thought at this stage, she might have learned a few new tricks but sadly, no.

Final Thought.

Although, not the best of the Demon Trappers Series and a little more fillery than I would like, I am sure Forgiven is leading us up to an epic finish in the fourth book, Foretold.

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers

Name: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers.

Pages: 509.

Publication: 3rd April  2012/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Pre-order it: Amazon | The Book Depository

"Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? 

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. 

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?" 

Review.

I loved Grave Mercy. It didn't get those five stars for nothing yet I am having a terribly hard time reviewing it. I think I may have reviewers block. Does that exist?


1485, Brittany - Ismae has to face a life married to an abusive man just like her abusive father. However, she is saved and brought to the St. Mortain convent for a life as a handmaiden of Death.


I really liked Ismae. She is tough and strong and independent. She is not to be messed since she carries about five different weapons on her body alone and most of the time, her tongue is sharper than her dagger. Yet, she is also caring and compassionate to people she cares about. With this being said, she is innocent when it comes to love. She has only ever known cruel men and is not willing to put her heart on the line. I think it was nice to have something a little naive about Ismae, it made her more realistic.


Speaking of love, I really enjoyed the relationship aspect of the book. Although it was obvious it would happen, not only to me but to the other characters in the book, it did not make it any less interesting. What I really liked, because I has an issue with this, is the realistic pacing. The book is set over a span of at least a few weeks and the relationship took time.


I am not the religious but if someone told me I was allowed to go to the convent of St. Mortain, I would be there in a heartbeat. Learning how to kill someone over a hundred different ways sounds pretty damn cool. That and the convent has awesome (it is the only to describe them) gadgets. Daggers, killer bracelets and pearls of poison, to name just some, these handmaidens of Death are not playing around.


The book is a little long. There was a few unneeded scenes and it took a little longer to figure out who the bad guy was then I hoped since I had figured it a good while before.


The history intertwined in Grave Mercy regarding Gods of old, Saints and what not was really interesting. There is enough of it so you actually learn something yet it is not loaded with it so you do not feel burdened by the facts.


The book is the first the first of three yet by the end of Grave Mercy, Ismae's story is pretty much wrapped up. The second novel will follow Ismae's fellow assassin Sybella and I am guessing the third will follow Annith.


Final Thought.
A must read for YA and adults. If you like historical or fantasy fiction, Grave Mercy has both. It is full of action, romance and humor which will have you desperate to read on.

March Releases: Part 3

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig.

Publication: 13th March 2012.

Starters by Lissa Price.

Publication: 13th March 2012.

A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink.

Find my review here.

Publication: 20th March 2012.

Goddess Interrupted by Aimée Carter.

Sequel to The Goddess Test.

Publication: 27th March 2012. 

Slide by Jill Hathaway.

Publication: 27th March 2012.

March Releases: Part 2

Here are five more YA releases this month:

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington.

Publication: 6th March 2012.

Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser.

Publication: 8th March 2012.

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter.

Publication: 13th March 2012.

Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3) by Rachel Hawkins.

Publication: 13th March 2012.

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard.

Publication: 13th March 2012.