Tag Archives: 2013 books

Audio Book Review: Beautiful Redemption

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Beautiful Redemption CoverBook: Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Narrated by Kevin T. Collins and Khristine Hvam

Published October 2012 by Hachette Audio|Run Time: 11 hours, 21 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: Beautiful Creatures #4

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Beautiful Redemption on Goodreads|Kami Garcia’s Website|Margaret Stohl’s Website|Series Website

Goodreads Summary: Is death the end…. or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan’s return, vowing to do whatever it takes – even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this fourth book and stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

I can’t believe I’m officially finished with Beautiful Redemption.  I’ve really enjoyed this series, and Beautiful Redemption is such a good ending to the series.

This book is different from the other books in the series, mostly because Lena narrates a good chunk of the book.  That was a surprise, and it was actually nice to hear what was going on in Lena’s world while Ethan was in the Otherworld.  And how they managed to work together while in two very different worlds.

What was really interesting about Lena and Ethan narrating is that they narrate in sections.  While Ethan is narrating several different sections, Lena gets a section at the very beginning and in the middle of the book.  And it worked really well, because her narration sets up the book and later shows how she’s trying to figure out how to get the Book Of Moons to Ethan.  Still, I didn’t like her part of the book as much as I liked Ethan’s.  I think it’s because I’m so used to Ethan narrating that anyone else narrating would have been weird, no matter how well it worked.  

I liked Ethan’s travels all over the Otherworld, and how parts of it mirrored our own world.  I loved seeing Aunt Pru and we finally get to meet Ethan’s mom!  We’ve had glimpses of her, but we actually got to see more than a few glimpses, and that was nice.  Pretty much because we’ve heard so much about her that it was nice to have more than a glimpse or two of her.

I also liked how Ethan just wanted to get back to Lena.  Ethan definitely had some anger issues at the beginning, and I liked that he finally realized the consequences of his sacrifice.  And how he appreciated the people in his life after realizing how important they are.  He came across some really interesting people, and I really wish Xavier were in the other books, because he really is an interesting character.  It’s too bad he was only in this one because I want to know more about him!

I don’t think I could have predicted anything in Beautiful Redemption…except for the HEA, of course.  I thought things were wrapped up really well, and parts of Beautiful Redemption made me a little teary-eyed.  

As much as I love Lena and Ethan together, I have totally neutral feelings about her.  Link was funny, as always, but it’s strange to think of a Beautiful Creatures book where Ethan is separated from his friends and family for most of the book.  Amma was great, as were the sisters.

And Kevin Collins did a great job narrating!  I’ve really come to enjoy him narrating the series, and Khristine Hvam is what I picture Lena to sound like.  

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Beautiful Redemption, and I thought it was a great ending to the series.  We meet some really interesting new characters, and we see quite a few old characters too.  Overall, I’ve come to love the Caster world and how intricate it is, and I’m really sad to see this series come to an end.  Beautiful Redemption gets 4 stars.  

Book Review: Lucid

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Lucid CoverBook: Lucid by P.T. Michelle

Self-Published in July 2012|328 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Brightest Kind Of Darkness #2

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

You can find Lucid on Goodreads|You can find P.T. Michelle on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Once Nara combines her prophetic ability with Ethan’s power to outsmart Fate at his own deadly cat-and-mouse game, she’s more determined than ever to help Ethan learn the meaning behind the raven sword tattoo that suddenly appeared on his back after their confrontation with Fate.

During her quest to uncover the tattoo’s secrets, Nara enlists the help of some new friends and discovers her own surprising connection to Ethan.

While Nara digs deeper into the mystery, her desire for answers leads her down a dangerous path full of powerful and ruthless enemies. Swept into an age-old battle, Nara quickly learns that keeping one’s enemies close can be a necessary evil, making an intangible enemy she can control far more preferable to the human enemies she can’t.

I recently finished Lucid, the sequel to The Brightest Kind Of Darkness, and I can honestly say that I really liked it!  This series is definitely unique, and I love seeing Nara’s abilities.  Especially when paired with Ethan’s, who, sadly, is not as present in Lucid as he was in BKoD.

Still, I was glad when Ethan did make an appearance towards the end of the book, and I really want to know what he’s been up to. Because it’s clear that something is going on with Ethan, especially because of how he didn’t want Nara’s help with researching ravens and Ethan’s mysterious tattoo.  And how he evaded her questions about what was going on.

I also liked that Nara was trying to help Ethan out, and that led to a mysterious group of people trying to figure out what she knows about ravens.  Because there is some connection between Ethan, Nara and ravens, and I am really curious as to what it is.

We also don’t see a lot of Nara’s aunt Sage, who is such a great character.  Of course, her absence is because she’s trying to hunt down Nara’s dad.  We do learn why he left Nara and her mom so long ago.  And I love Nara’s aunt Corda, who is actually pretty important, because Nara gets a journal that her grandmother kept, so there are some things Nara learns about her family.  I’m hoping we see more of that, because I really liked it.

I loved seeing Nara deal with Fate, who is still around, but in a different way.  Still, we didn’t see as much of Fate, but I have the feeling he might have more of an appearance in the next couple of books.

As much as I liked Lucid, I didn’t like it nearly as much as BKoD.  I’m not sure if it’s because we don’t see a lot of Ethan and Nara struggling to deal with not having her dreams, but I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I thought it would.

There’s also something randomly nit-picky: I do think it’s a little weird that Nara’s name is Inara, but she goes by Nara.  But if the biggest complaint I have is Inara going by Nara, I think we’re doing pretty good.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Lucid, but not as much as Brightest Kind Of Darkness.  Still, I thought it was a really good follow-up to BKoD and I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Lucid gets 4 stars.

Book Review: A Radiant Sky

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A Radiant Sky CoverBook: A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies

Published September 2013 by HarperCollins|368 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: A Beautiful Dark #3

Genre: YA Paranormal/Angels

You can find A Radiant Sky on Goodreads|You can find Jocelyn Davies on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: Since the night of her seventeenth birthday, Skye has been torn between two opposites: Light and Dark, the Order and the Rebellion, Devin and Asher.

But her decision shocked both sides—because she chose neither.

With the help of her friends, Skye forges her own path, setting out to gather an uprising of Rogues. The treacherous and elusive half-angels may be the key to maintaining the balance of fate and free will. But completing the mission her parents left unfinished is more difficult—and dangerous—than she could have imagined. And doing so comes at a cost: Her greatest love may now be a lethal enemy. Because it’s not just the Order that sees her as a threat who must be eliminated. The Rebellion does, too.

And both sides will do whatever it takes to win.

Dark days lie ahead, and if Skye is to survive, she’ll need to rely on her extraordinary powers and the strength of her will. Because she has a future—and a love—that’s worth fighting for.

The sweeping, darkly romantic story that began with A Beautiful Dark and gathered intensity in A Fractured Light comes to a thrilling conclusion in A Radiant Sky.

I finally finished A Radiant Sky, and I really liked it!  It’s a really good conclusion to the series.  I started out thinking the series was okay, but it got better and better over the course of the series.

There are definitely lines that are drawn, and while there’s the Order and the Rebellion, you have a new group in town: the Uprising, who want to keep the Order and the Rebellion in check.  I really liked the idea of the Uprising, because they are the ones who feel like they don’t belong to either group.  So who better than to make sure that things are balanced?  And I really liked the idea of a new council, and the people that comprise that new council.  Because it was slightly unexpected, but still really interesting.

I love that this series focuses on shades of grey, and that sometimes, the middle road is the best one to take.  And that keeping two very different sides in check and in balance is important.  At least in this series.

I was wondering where things were headed, and I got the answers I was looking for.  I loved that Skye had her friends and family to help her through this, and that they worked together, instead of Sky always running off to take care of everything herself.  Her friends and family and love really did make a difference in things, and that was a really cool aspect of the book.

We do have the final battle, and I have to admit that I was expecting more from it.  Like, something more than a few pages, and something with a bit more action.  I don’t know if it’s because of expectations from other series I’ve read or what, but I was expecting there to be something more from it.

I will say that there was something about A Radiant Sky that didn’t quite fit.  I mean, I really liked it and all, but there was also something about it that I couldn’t quite connect with.  Things were pretty easy for Skye and her band of Rogues, so perhaps it’s that.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked A Radiant Sky, and I thought it was fitting end to the series.  Things did seem pretty easy for Sky, and things were wrapped up a little too nicely, but other than that, things were resolved pretty well.  A Radiant Sky gets 4 stars.

ARC Book Review: Pawn

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Pawn CoverBook: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Expected Publication is November 26, 2013 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 356

Where I Got It: netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1

Genre: YA Dystopic

You can find Pawn on Goodreads|You can find Aimee Carter on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING. 

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country. 

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister’s niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter. 

There’s only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that’s not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she’s only beginning to understand.

I have mixed feelings about Pawn.

So: I loved the idea.  The hierarchy really reminded me of The Selection, and there is something very familiar about Pawn. Something about Pawn felt very familiar- almost like I had read it before.  Or at least, something about it is really similar to other books I’ve read.  There were quite a few things that were predictable in a way that made it hard to stay interested in what was going on. Sometimes, I don’t care if a book is on the predictable side, but Pawn, unfortunately, is not one of those books.

Back to the idea: a test that determines your future is pretty interesting, and Kitty’s transformation into Lila Hart is also interesting. The idea that someone can be transformed into someone else so that people don’t know you’re a replacement/double…definitely interesting.  Like, how well would that work in our society?  I feel like it would be really easy to realize that someone is not who thy say they are.

I’m not the biggest fan of Kitty, and I found it was hard to care about her.  She was definitely naive, and that was a bit irritating at times.  I think I would have expected her to be a little less naive than she really is, and it’s because of how she grew up in a group home.  Although, her struggle with reading was slightly interesting, and I wish we saw a bit more of that, because it is the most interesting thing about her.

Overall, I really like the idea of a rebellion against such an important test.  I suppose you could draw some sort of parallels to the SAT’s, and it’s not all that hard to imagine a world where one test determines your entire future.  And Prime Minister being handed off to the next generation is an interesting idea, especially in the U.S.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I liked Pawn, and thought there were some really interesting ideas in Pawn.  I just couldn’t connect with Kitty, and there’s something very familiar about Pawn.  Pawn gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Daylighters

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Daylighters CoverBook: Daylighters by Rachel Caine

Published November 2013 by Penguin|368 Pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Morganville Vampires #15

Genre: YA Paranormal- Vampire

You can find Daylighters on Goodreads|You can find Rachel Caine on Twitter, Facebook, and her website

Goodreads Summary: While Morganville, Texas, is often a troubled town, Claire Danvers and her friends are looking forward to coming home. But the Morganville they return to isn’t the one they know; it’s become a different place—a deadly one… 

Something drastic has happened in Morganville while Claire and her friends were away. The town looks cleaner and happier than they’ve ever seen it before, but when their incoming group is arrested and separated—vampires from humans—they realize that the changes definitely aren’t for the better.

It seems that an organization called the Daylight Foundation has offered the population of Morganville something they’ve never had: hope of a vampire-free future. And while it sounds like salvation—even for the vampires themselves—the truth is far more sinister and deadly.

Now, Claire, Shane and Eve need to find a way to break their friends out of Daylighter custody, before the vampires of Morganville meet their untimely end…

As much as I love Morganville, and as sad as I am that Morganville is now finished, I found that Daylighters is not my favorite one in the series.  I still really liked it, because I am such a huge Rachel Caine fan, and there’s a lot of awesome in Daylighters, but it’s a really liking this kind of awesome.

Seeing what happens when Claire and everyone gets back home, and seeing how different Morganville is now that the Daylight Foundation has taken over the town…wow!  Definitely interesting to see what they did with the vampires, and some of the things they did to ensure that vampires and humans don’t mix.  And the head of the Daylight foundation, and his connection to Myrnin and the vampire community was interesting, but also unexpected.  In a good way, because it’s definitely different.

I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting for Daylighters, but it’s totally not a bad thing, because it really could have gone in any direction, and because I wasn’t sure what would happen, which was kind of fun, because I was surprised a couple of times.  Overall, it’s not that surprising, what happened, and I suppose it is what I was expecting…but maybe I was still processing Allegiant, and didn’t pick the best time to do another series-ender.  But maybe not.  Who really knows why I really liked it but also feel a little meh about it?

I will say that things did end very well, and while Morganville is definitely a different town at the end of the series than it was when we first visited, it’s still a crazy town with quite a few surprises.  And…there may have been some silent squee-ing towards the end, because our two favorite couples get their HEA.  Which isn’t surprising, since they’ve been through a lot, and it’s good to have that.

We definitely get closure, and things are wrapped up so well.  But…it’s also fun to imagine what everyone will get up to!  Morganville and its residents really are very different now than they were in Glass Houses, and the things that they’ve been through have made them better (and interesting) people.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Daylighters, but it also didn’t have that special thing that made me go OMG.  Still, it’s a great ending to a series that I’m definitely going to miss, and I’m sad to see it end.  Daylighters gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

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The Rise And Fall Of The Third ReichBook: The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich by William Shirer|Narrated by Grover Gardner

Originally Published in 1960, Audiobook Published July 2010 by Blackstone Audio|Run Time: 57 hours, 13 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction/History- World War 2/Holocaust

You can find The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: With a new afterword by the author, this unabridged edition tells the complete story of Hitler’s empire. Famed foreign correspondent and historian Shirer spent five and a half years sifting through the vast paperwork behind Hitler’s drive to conquer the world to bring this definitive record of one of the most frightening chapters in the history of mankind.

So, I finally finished The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich!  After almost 7 months…I managed to get through, and I have never been more relieved to finish a book.

Here’s the thing: I don’t feel completely confident in my ability to review this book, because it’s taken me so long to finish, and at this point…well…this sums up how I feel about everything in this book…

This is totally what happened with this book!

I mean, if I ever read or see anything involving Nazi Germany, and things seem vaguely familiar, it’s probably because of this book! Here is what stuck out to me, though.

One: I think I vaguely knew that the Nazi’s kept crazy meticulous records, but it wasn’t until I listened to this book that I realized how detailed their records and documents were.  I mean, seriously.  I’m impressed by the amount of time Shirer spent looking through so many of these records.

Two: While I couldn’t tell you specific things about what happened, I can tell you that it was really easy to see how Hitler came into power, and how he managed to take over Germany.  He just happened to come along at the right time…as weird as that may seem, that’s my recollection.

Three: Shirer was in Germany, working as a journalist during the 1930’s, and he has a really interesting perspective.  I do remember that he does distinguish between his personal experiences, and the documents he looked at, so he does admit to his own biases.

Four: This book was surprisingly easy to listen to, and while there’s a lot of detail- I mean, it is 57 hours, after all- it’s really readable. Still, I found that I could only listen to it for 30 minutes to an hour at any given time.  If I could go back re-read it, I think I’d go with the print version, because it’s a lot to take in and remember.  It’s detailed while not being boring or tedious.  And Grover Gardner did really well as a narrator.  I would definitely listen to other books he’s narrated, because he just has a voice for non-fiction and history.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich.  Well, as much as one can like a book about Nazi Germany, and how they came into power.  It’s a great book if you want to know more about the Nazi’s and the political decisions Hitler made.  It’s easy to read, which is sort of impressive, given that there’s a lot of information to take in.  I am wishing I had gone with the print version instead of the audiobook, but either way, it’s definitely worth reading.  The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich gets 4 stars.

Book Review: Spy Glass

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Spy Glass CoverBook: Spy Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Published September 2010 by Harlequin|400 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Glass #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

You can find Spy Glass on goodreads|You can find Maria V. Snyder on Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: After siphoning her own blood magic in the showdown at Hubal, Opal Cowan has lost her powers. She can no longer create glass magic. More, she’s immune to the effects of magic. Opal is now an outsider looking in, spying through the glass on those with the powers she once had, powers that make a difference in the world. 

Until spying through the glass becomes her new power. Suddenly, the beautiful pieces she makes flash in the presence of magic. And then she discovers that someone has stolen some of her blood–and that finding it might let her regain her powers. Or learn if they’re lost forever…

As much as I really liked Spy Glass, I think it’s my least favorite book in the series.  Opal’s powers are gone, and she now has to adjust to life without them.  There is a way for her to regain her powers, through some of her blood that’s been stolen.  And blood magic.  

Damn blood magic.  There really is no escaping it, is there?

She does go off on her own to figure things out, and with the help of Valek- plus a few others- she gets her blood back in a totally interesting way.  I was not expecting that at all.  I liked that Opal learned who she could trust, and that she has a really good friend in Valek.  I really liked seeing him without Yelena (although I like them together too) because I feel like we get a slightly different side of him.  

I was quite surprised by the romance.  Not completely surprised, because it really was headed towards a Devlen/Opal relationship, and not the Kade/Opal relationship.  Even though Kade and Opal wouldn’t have worked as a couple in the long-run, part of me still likes them as a couple a lot more than Devlen and Opal.  

I really liked Spy Glass, but I can’t, for the life of me, pinpoint why I’m not completely in love with it.  Maybe it’s because I love how Opal uses magic so much that her without it was hard to get used to.  It’s a really good end to the series, but I just had a harder time getting into it, and for reasons unknown to me, I just didn’t like Opal as much in this one.  

To be honest, I really liked it, and I have no clue why…I just do.  

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Spy Glass but can’t pinpoint the reasons why I like it.  However, Opal without her magic for a good chunk of the book was a little strange.  I just couldn’t get into it the way I got into the first two books.  Spy Glass gets 4 stars.

A Spoiler-ific Book Review: Allegiant

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Allegiant CoverBook: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Published October 2013 by HarperCollins|544 pages

Where I Got It: Nook Store

Series: Divergent #3

Genre: YA Dystopic

You can find Allegiant on goodreads|You can find Veronica Roth on Twitter, tumblr and her website

Goodreads Summary: One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?

What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?

What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

I definitely want to start off this review by saying that there are major spoilers for Allegiant, so if you don’t want to know what happens, you’ll want to avoid this post until you read it.

So…Allegiant.  I honestly don’t even know where to begin with Allegiant.  It’s definitely my favorite book of the trilogy for so many different reasons.

One reason why I love Allegiant is that Divergent and Insurgent make a hell of a lot more sense having read Allegiant.  They made sense before Allegiant, but Allegiant is the book where we learn so much more about the world Tris is living in.  You really see the big picture after finishing Allegiant.  You find out what being Divergent really means, and that people who are Divergent have healed genes, because genetic manipulation went very, very wrong, and a large portion of society is considered genetically damaged.  So there are all sorts of experiments, some of which involve cities, and figuring out what is the best way for the Divergent population to grow, since those are the genes that are healed enough to pass on.

I found all of that really interesting, and it wasn’t until I read Allegiant a second time that I realized that it reminded me of eugenics. It definitely has that feel to it, and if you’re the type to dig a little deeper and look at things a little more closely, you could totally have a field day with everything that we learn in this book.  There’s so much I really needed to read it a second time just to process it all.

Tris and Four take turns narrating Allegiant, which worked really well!  You see how they see things so differently, and how the things they learn affect them in so many different ways.  And when it happens, you can’t help but feel for Four.

And by it, I mean the death of Tris.  I totally get the major reaction so many people are having.  I’m sad and angry…and pretty much was FEELING ALL OF THE FEELS.  Seriously.  I started crying, and I could not stop.  After a moment of just staring at my Nook in shock and confusion, of course.

For me, while sad and upset and all that, I also…I’m not sure how to put this exactly, but I think I’ve accepted her death.  I mean, she does survive the death serum only to get shot, and while that’s a little strange, Tris has put herself into quite a few life-or-death situations that is was bound to catch up with her in the end.  And given that she wants to live up the example set by her parents and is pretty selfless, even though she feels like she isn’t, I do find that it makes sense for her as a character.  I don’t like that she survives death survive to get shot, but…I don’t know that what comes after would have had the same emotional impact.

And what happens after, with Four’s reaction?  SO.  FREAKING.  HEARTBREAKING.  His reaction to her death was heartbreaking and sadly, it took her dying to realize that there are different ways of being brave, which (sometimes) is moving forward and just putting one foot in front of the other.

Actually, I think I was more upset by Uriah dying than Tris dying.  Mind you, what happened to Tris was really sad, but something about what happened to Uriah was so heartbreaking.  Heartbreaking is a good word for the ending, I think.  Uriah and Four…it really was emotional to see where their stories went.

Final Thoughts:

Four narrating after the death of Tris was so heartbreaking, and while I’m still trying to sort out how I feel about the way she died, I also thought her death fit.  Allegiant gets 5 stars.

ARC Book Review: Cursed

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Cursed CoverBook: Cursed by Lizzie Ford

Expected Publication is November 17, 2013 by Evatopia|Expected Number Of Pages: 246

Where I Got It: Netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Voodoo Nights #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Cursed on Goodreads|You can find Lizzie Ford on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: The Red Man is coming…

Five years after her sister disappeared, seventeen-year-old Adrienne finds the strength to return to her father’s home in New Orleans. But soon after she arrives, the mark of a curse appears on her, leaving her worried. Will she be the next victim of a four-hundred-year old family curse…the next to be claimed by a serial killer roaming the back alleys of the city?

The day before his senior year begins, Jayden is given a skeleton key passed down through his family for generations — a gruesome reminder of how his ancestors betrayed their own people and sold them into slavery. He doesn’t believe in the curse the key allegedly bears and puts it away with the intention of forgetting about its message. Until he meets Adrienne, a girl he’s compelled to for more reasons than her beauty. 

He’s not the only one who notices her. A man in a skeleton mask and a voodoo gang member are also drawn to Adrienne. One is determined to protect her. The other intends to mislead her. Haunted by the mythical Red Man, all are connected to the ancient curse.

Can they overcome their misgivings about one another and prevent the dark prophecy looming over them? Or will they be lured away from each other by evil’s siren song?

I definitely liked Cursed, and I liked the idea of a curse that hovers over two different families because of things that happened hundreds of years earlier.  I also really liked the role that voodoo played, especially because it’s something I haven’t seen a lot of in paranormal books.

I liked the connections between Adrienne’s family and Jayden’s family, and how connected they are, and how things could be very different because of trying to break the curse.  So, the origin story for curse was interesting, but it seemed more complicated than it could have been.  I’m not sure if it’s something I need to go back and read again, or if it wasn’t explained as well as it could have been.

I also liked how there were a variety of people who did and did not believe in voodoo.  It definitely makes it interesting to see how things are going to work out when one person is very much believing that the curse doesn’t really exist.  There is a lot going on, in terms of voodoo and what we learn about it.  It is quite a bit of info to take in, but Ford also does do a great job at not overwhelming you with the particulars of how voodoo works in this particular world.  I also liked how the prophecy was worked in, and I can’t wait to see how everything will all play out, given how things went in Cursed.

I’m a little bit iffy about the ending.  It feels a little incomplete to me, and while I get that it’s the first book in the series, it was also a little too abrupt for my liking.  Still, I’m definitely interested in where things are going, and if the curse will broken, and all sorts of other things that I don’t want to spoil for anyone.

Final Thoughts:

I liked Cursed, and the idea of a 400-year-old curse is a really interesting one!  While the ending was a little too abrupt for me, I’m still interested in where things are headed.  Cursed gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Fallen Too Far

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Fallen Too Far CoverBook: Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines

Self-Published December 2012|Pages: 445

Where I Got It: Nook store Series: Too Far #1/Rosemary Beach #1

Genre: New Adult Romance/Contemporary

You can find Fallen Too Far on Goodreads|You can find Abbi Glines on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: To want what you’re not supposed to have…

She is only nineteen.

She is his new stepfather’s daughter. 

She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother. 

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far.

I really enjoyed Fallen Too Far!  There were parts that made me so mad, especially in terms of the secrets kept, and there are definitely a character or two that I could not stand!  But…i think they were supposed to be that way…

Fallen Too Far is definitely addicting, and I loved the tension between Rush and Blaire.  I definitely felt for Blaire, who’s trying to fit into a world where there are rumors circulating about her, and secrets that no one wants to tell her.  At one point, I sort of managed to figure out what the secret was, but couldn’t completely pinpoint it until it actually happened.  I didn’t care if the secret was a little predictable, because I just wanted to know what it was after it being mentioned so much.  I also don’t blame Blaire for reacting the way she did, because I’d probably react the same way.  Well, not completely, but to a certain extent, I probably would.

Actually, if I paid a little more attention, I probably could have figured it out completely.  And no one wanting to tell her, because it wasn’t their secret to tell made me so angry, because they all had an idea, but it was infuriating that they didn’t tell her what rumors were out there.

Anyway: I’m not sure how I feel about Blaire and Rush.  They are definitely very different, and yet…they can’t stay away from each other. There is a certain something about them, but I don’t have strong feelings about them either way.  I’m hoping that they’ll grow on me in the next book.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Fallen Too Far, and I’m officially an Abbi Glines fan after reading Fallen Too Far!  Rush and Blair didn’t quite click for me, and no one talking about secrets was a little irritating, but overall, things are complicated but complications are why this book was addicting!  Fallen Too Far gets 4 stars.