Book Review: The Secret Fire (The Alchemist Chronicles, #1) by C.J. Daugherty & Carina Rozenfeld

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Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository

Format: Kindle

Publishers: Atom

Published: 3rd September 2015

Pages: 424

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy 

Main Characters: Taylor, Sacha
Date Read: 23rd July - 1st August 2016

Rating Given:

Synopsis:French teen Sacha Winters can't die. He can throw himself off a roof, be stabbed, even shot, and he will always survive. Until the day when history and ancient enmities dictate that he must die. Worse still, his death will trigger something awful. Something deadly. And that day is closing in.
Taylor Montclair is a normal English girl, hanging out with her friends and studying for exams, until she starts shorting out the lights with her brain. She’s also the only person on earth who can save Sacha.
There’s only one problem: the two of them have never met. They live hundreds of miles apart and powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.
They have eight weeks to find each other.
Will they survive long enough to save the world?

I received a review copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This cover is a bit different to the covers I've seen around at the moment so for me this one stands out because it's different. I love the colours used in this cover especially the fire looking part of it as my eye is drawn straight to the title of book, plus with the use of fire it's in keeping with the story.

I wasn't quite sure I was going to like this one when I first started this book as things was happening in the first chapter that annoyed me but after I got over that it really started to get better and better. At certain moments I was hooked so much so I didn't want to put it down. It was about halfway through when for me it stalled a bit but again once I got over that bit it was back to it's thrilling stuff again. There wasn't very much romance involved in the story but there was a bit of attraction there so I can see there's bound to be more to come in the future books. Even though there wasn't really any romance involved with the two main characters I did love their friendship and how they grew closer and closer with each other. I loved the whole paranormal side of the story as it was a little different to the normal paranormal books that I've read before. I felt the ending was good as it was left open for the rest of the series but it wasn't a huge cliff-hanger which makes a refreshing change.

I liked the characters but I do think they grew into stronger characters the further I went into the book. Taylor started of a little bit too perfect for my liking but by the end that didn't feel like the case which made her a bit more likeable and realistic. In the first chapter I didn't think I was going to like Sacha but after that little blip I really started to warm up to him.

Overall, this was a good start to this series and I'm very excited to see where things are going to go next.

Book Review: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1) by Susan Ee

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Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository

Format: Paperback 

Publishers: Feral Dream

Published: 14th February 2012

Pages: 284

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Dystopia

Main Characters: Penryn, Raffe
Date Read: 18th April - 26th April 2015

Rating Given:

Synopsis:
It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel. Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl. Travelling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

I received this for my birthday a couple of years ago now and I have only just gotten around to reading it. I really don't know why it took me so long to get around with it but in a way I'm glad I waited as I will be able to get the last book read with he series fresh in my mind.

I'm a huge fan of this cover and I must admit the cover was why I wanted to read it, I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover and I've been let down by favourite covers before but thankfully the story lives up to the cover. I love that the cover is simple with the dark colours saying everything.

As soon as I started this book I knew that all those reviews where not lying as this was one amazing read. There was so much happening in this book that I was never bored of reading it and it was written in a way that didn't make me feel overwhelmed with everything happening. I usually love romance in the books that I read but there wasn't really any of that happening apart from maybe a glimpse of something to come, I just didn't mind the lack of romance as I was so enthralled with everything that actually was happening I found that I didn't miss the romance. I have read a few angel books now and I have enjoyed most of them but I think that this one stands out for me. For me this book was beautifully written making me feel like I was watching what was happening rather than reading what was happening. As well as action there was some emotional scenes in there as well as one particular scene broke my heart and made me want to shout at the character not to believe what he was seeing. The ending was just as amazing as the rest of the book as left me wanting more and I am so glad I have book two waiting for me.

I loved all the characters and hated others (that I was supposed to hate). Penryn has to be one of my favourite female characters ever as she was strong, kick-ass, independent girl. She had to go through a lot of hard times yet it just makes her stronger. What I especially loved about her was the lengths in which she would go to for her sister. Raffe I also loved especially towards the end when he showed a softer (yet heartbreaking) side to him. My other favourite characters where Dee-Dum as they added much needed humour in what was dark times.

Overall I adored this book and I am now off to read the next book as I need to know what on earth is going to happen next.

Book Review: Stitch (Stitch #1) by Samantha Durante

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Format: earc

Publishers: Indie

Published: 1st August 2012

Pages: 314

Genre: New Adult, Dystopia, Paranormal, Romance

Main Characters: Alessa, Isaac

Date Read: 14th July - 29th July 2013

Rating Given:

Blurb from Goodreads:

Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa's body screams at her to run... but yet she's powerless to move.

Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees - and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell - Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.

Because what Alessa hasn't figured out yet is that she's not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university's idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface...

The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results. 

 Sorry its taken awhile to get this review posted but I've finally got it done!

I was given this book but the author for review. It did take me a little while to get to it but I had to get it read when I signed up for the next book.

I really like the cover of this book as its different to what I'm used to seeing. Even though it doesn't have much, what it does have makes it stand out. I feel like it does tie in with the story as it seems very scientific.

When I first started this book I couldn't really get into it as I found it a little confuse it confusing but the further I got in the book the more I started to understand and then started to enjoy it. There was so many twists and turns which I don't want to give away so it is hard to write this review without giving anything away. I kind of enjoyed the romance side of the story but I would have liked a bit more but I think that might just be because at the minute I am loving romance novels. I enjoyed the ending as it left me wanting to find out more and it made me even more excited to read the next book in this series.

Alessa has been through a lot making her a little depressing character but then over halfway through we find out that she hasn't and isn't such a delicate flower which was nice to see. I didn't feel like we really got to know Isaac as well as what we could have done at the beginning but the more we read the more we find out. There was some other great characters that I wished we got to know more.

Overall, not a bad book but it only gets good after the halfway point so bare with it and you will be pleasantly surprised especially when the big twist is revealed!

Book Review: The Vampire's Promise (Deadly Offer #1) by Caroline B. Cooney

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Format: E-ARC

Publishers: Open Road Young Readers

Published: 22nd January 2013

Pages: 192

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Main Characters: Althea

Date Read: 12th February - 14th February 2013

Rating Given:

Warning: This book had a different name (The Cheerleader) which wasn't even the first in the series so I found it hard to find the information on the book so if any of the above information is wrong I apologise.

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

Cheerleaders are beautiful, popular and exciting - girls that Althea longs to be. But Althea is nobody - she gets no phone calls, shares no laughter and has no friends. Then one day she meets him, a vampire who offers to make her a cheerleader in exchange for a simple bargain.
 

While looking through the books on Netgalley I came across this book which I thought sounded interesting which it was it just wasn't as good as what I thought it would be.

The cover I think looks a little menacing but after looking through Goodreads and finding there was another cover which I thought looked better.

I found this book to be a bit shallow which made me not want to continue reading but the more I kept reading the more I found I couldn't stop reading it. I think the reason why I found it so addicting was that it was different to the other vampire books that I have read before. I didn't find anything believable as everything that Althea was experiencing was from what the vampire did which made me not trust anything that happened but there was times when I wanted to believe it. I would say there was a bit of romance but again it wasn't believable which was a shame as I thought they could have made a cute couple. I didn't really like the ending as I felt everything was left up in the air and even though this is a part of a series I don't think the next book will follow with Althea. I do think there is a message in the book though with the main message being be careful of what you wish as you just might get it.

Even though there was a few characters the only person we really got to know was Althea who at the beginning I didn't really like as she was far too shallow and changed her mind as soon as she got what she thought she wanted. It wasn't until the end when she grew on me as she seemed to have acquired a backbone by then. The only other person we kind of got to know was The Vampire as he was the one that made an offer to Althea that she couldn't refuse but I did think he was manipulative but that seems to be his nature preying on the vulnerable. The other characters where just apart of the manipulation so I couldn't say whether they where nice or not.

Overall it was an addicting book that made me want to find out what was going to happen next but I just wish is was more believable.