Book Review: Unbreakable

The finale book I'll be reviewing today is Unbreakable, the final book in the Unraveling duology. 

Title: Unbreakable

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Series: Unraveling #2

Publisher: Balzer & Bray / HarperCollins

Original Publication Date: April 23, 2013

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from the publisher:
Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she'll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but civilization is slowly rebuilding, and life is starting to resume some kind of normalcy—until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up, asking for Janelle's help. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human-trafficking ring—kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths. And Ben, with his unique abilities, is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn't turn himself over within five days. When Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger.

Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they're lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she's in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

In this heart-pounding sequel to Unraveling, author Elizabeth Norris explores the sacrifices we make to save the people we love and the worlds we'll travel to find them.

I have to say, after reading the first book, Unraveling,  I wasn't sure what Elizabeth was going to write for the second book in the series. She could have very easily just left the first book open ended or tweaked the ending a little and been done with the story. Overall, I'm glad she didn't. I enjoyed the second full length novel, although, not quite as much as the first book. 

The sudden jump from the last story to human trafficking was a little bit of a stretch for me or at least a change of pace. Nevertheless, I could easily see where there are multiple universes how people could take advantage of that. Elizabeth Norris even managed to write a good story about it. On the other hand, I could have more easily seen a book strictly about Janelle and everyone trying to rebuild after the disaster at in the first book and Ben coming back to help, with some universe travel thrown in. I think that could have been an equally entertaining novel.

One of the things I really liked about this novel is the evolution of Agent Barclay. I enjoyed learning about his character, he really grew on me. I also like how much stronger Janelle becomes through out the book. Knock the girl down, give her a really hard task, and she manages to rise up and overcome the problem.

I think anyone who enjoyed the first book and maybe the novella, would most likely enjoy the conclusion in this series. I look forward to seeing what Elizabeth Norris comes up with next.

If you liked the Unraveling series, you might also like The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (4 Stars) or Slide by Jill Hathaway (3 Stars).

My Rating: 

Book Review: Undone: An Unraveling Novella

The second thing I'll be reviewing today is Undone. I picked this novella up after reading Unraveling and was not disappointed.

Title: Undone: An Unraveling Novella

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Series: Unraveling #1.5

Publisher: Balzer & Bray / HarperCollins

Original Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from the publisher:
Riveting and romantic, Undone: An Unraveling Novella contains three short stories set in the world of Unraveling, the first book in the gripping sci-fi duology by Elizabeth Norris.

Before Ben Michaels saved Janelle Tenner's life, Janelle saved Ben when he stumbled through an interuniverse portal into a completely new world. That day, he fell in love with the girl of his dreams. And he never forgot her.

Through three stories told from Ben's point of view, learn how Ben and his friends discovered their ability to travel between worlds, how Ben first met Janelle, and how he pined for her for years before he actually got the chance to meet her, save her life, and capture her heart. And find out what happens to Ben between the cliff-hanger conclusion of Elizabeth Norris's Unraveling and the beginning of its heart-stopping sequel, Unbreakable.

Since this is a novella, this will be short. I LOVED seeing Ben's point of view. Each little story is a short little gem. Not only do you learn more about Ben; how he got to Janelle's world, how he pinned for Janelle for years, as well as his perspective on when he saved her; through his eyes you learn more about Janelle too! I enjoyed every minute of it. 

My Rating: 

Book Review: Unraveling

I want to thank all of the men and women, who have fought and died to make sure our country is still free. Happy Memorial Day! 

Today I will be reviewing BOTH books in the Unraveling duology, as well as the short novella that goes along with them.

I was really looking forward to reading Unraveling and I was not disappointed.

Title: Unraveling

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Series: Unraveling #1

Publisher: Balzer & Bray / HarperCollins

Original Publication Date: April 24, 2012

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from the publisher:
Like The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Elizabeth Norris’s Unraveling blends realistic coming-of-age issues with a gripping science fiction world.

Unraveling’s heroine, sixteen-year-old Janelle Tenner, is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle’s mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared.

And that was before she died…and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth’s destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet.

I really liked this book. I found the ideas to be very interesting. The very basic concept made me reminisce about watching Sliders years ago (I know this dates me). I found the story-line to be a very believable science fiction story. It's possible, if you are a hardcore science nerd, you might find some fault, but I was easily able to go along with the story.

One of the things I found most interesting about this novel is the point of view. You follow Janelle's point of view. Janelle does not have any special powers. She is just a girl who was brought back to life by Ben. Ben is the one with a special power or ability. Normally with these types of books you follow the person with the special ability's point of view. That is not the case here. However, it works. You get to discover what is happening at the same time that Janelle does. 

I not only liked Janelle, I liked all of the main characters in the book. They are all very realistic characters, people that could very easily exist in real life just a few doors down from you. I eagerly anticipate the further novels in this series. 

If you liked Unraveling there is a pretty good chance you will also like Undone: An Unraveling Novella and Unbreakable, the next books in the series currently available. You might also like The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (4 Stars) or Slide by Jill Hathaway (3 Stars).

My Rating: 

Book Review: The Legend of the Blue Eyes

Good evening, today I'll be reviewing, The Legend of the Blue Eyes by B. Kristin McMichael. It is the first book in The Blue Eyes Trilogy.  I received a copy of this book for free in return for my honest review, through the Never Too Old For Y.A. Books Group on Goodreads. However, I received a copy of the through through Smashwords using a special coupon code from the author. This in no way effects my final review of this book.

Title: The Legend of the Blue Eyes

Author: B. Kristin McMichael

Series: The Blue Eyes #1

Publisher: Lexia Press

Original Publication Date: March 7, 2013

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Paranormal

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from Goodreads:
Arianna Grace liked her boring, Midwestern, teenage life where she ignored the many unanswered questions of her childhood. Why were her parents dead? Why did she not have family? Where was she raised until she was five? When someone offers to explain it all, Arianna thinks she’s just getting answers. Instead, she is thrown into a world of night humans who drink blood.

On Arianna's sixteenth birthday, her world is thrown upside down when she changes into a vampire. Night humans, or demons, as some call them, live in normal society. Learning all of the new rules of a world she didn’t know existed might be hard enough, but it's further complicated by two former-friends that now want to help her take her role as the successor to her grandfather. 

There is a war going on between the night humans. Sides have been taken and lines are not crossed. Four main clans of night humans are struggling for control of the night. Divided into two sides, clans Baku and Tengu have been at war for centuries with the clans Dearg-dul and Lycan. That is, until Arianna Grace finds out the truth; she’s the bridge of peace between the two sides. But not everyone wants peace. With the night humans divided, Arianna is now a pawn in the war between them. She must choose a side—her mother’s family or her father’s—and for once in her life, decide her own fate.

In the Acknowledgements the author thanks her husband for pushing her to go further with this novel. It would seem she originally wrote it two months before Twilight came out. We all know how that went down with crazed girls, sparkly vampires, and a slew of similar books. So, before we go into what I thought of the book, I just want to thank the author for listening to her husband and taking a chance in publishing this book.

Aah, the world/creature building in this book is wonderful! I love the four different types of night humans the author came up with. We all know about vampires, lycans, and the such, but Mrs. McMichael manages to put her own unique spin on them. I will admit the whole warring races in this book, did remind me a little of Underworld, but I was okay with that. 

Basically, you have this "hidden" world filled with four different races of night humans, that live among us regular folks. You have the Dearg-duls, who are basically vampires. They need to feed on blood and are sensitive to sunlight, mostly between the hours of 10am-2pm. The Lycans or werewolves who are sided with the Dearg-duls. They look a little different than other versions of werewolves that we know. They can travel during the day time. Then there are the Baku, who can only fully manifest at night. They turn into these big pale creatures with long hair. In my head I picture a cross between the Castithan and Biomen on the Syfy show Defiance. Aligned with them are the Tengu. They are a night human with bat like wings. Both the Dearg-duls and the Baku need blood to survive and the Lycans and the Tengu are more of raw meat eaters. The disagreement between races originally started over their food sources.

Now poor Arianna, on her sixteenth birthday gets thrown into this whole mess. She never really knew a whole lot about her parents, but it appears they had a whole Romeo and Juliet type of relationship going on. At the age of sixteen she manifests as a vampire or Dearg-dul, but that's not all she is...What side will she ultimately chose? 

I really liked this book. I'm actually quite sad that the author didn't manage to get this published BEFORE Twilight. Mrs. McMichael's world is so much richer and intriguing than the one Stephenie Meyer's created. I would rather see young adults read this book over that one. While Arianna does tend to get rescued in this book I can see her coming into her own in future books and being more than able to take care of herself and even do some of her own rescuing (of herself and others).

I look forward to reading the rest of this trilogy and recommend that you check it out too!

My Rating:

Book Review: Post Mortem

Last month I was given the opportunity to read for review, Parish Mail by Kira Snyder. I liked it, so when an opportunity to read for review Post Mortem, the second book in the Parish Mail series came up, I jumped at the opportunity. I received a FREE copy of Post Mortem from Coliloquy in return for my honest review. This in no way effected my final review.

Title: Post Mortem

Author: Kira Snyder

Series: Parish Mail #2

Publisher: Coliloquy

Publication Date: February 7, 2013

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Paranormal, YA Crime Mystery

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from the publisher:
Celia Macarty is back in Post Mortem, the second installment in the Parish Mail saga.

Autumn in New Orleans means Homecoming, romance—and murder. When a friend vanishes, Celia believes a desperate letter about an unsolved Civil War-era murder holds the key to unraveling the mystery.

As she searches for answers, Celia enlists the help of quirky witch Tilly, and either all-American boy Donovan or, enigmatic Luc–you get to choose.

As the gang follows the missing girl’s trail, danger turns up on all fronts. A vicious stranger threatens Celia’s family. Celia’s nightmares–about a shadowy, ominous villain–get worse. And a new ghost has appeared: beautiful Angelica, who shares a past with Luc.

It will take all of Celia’s will and wit, and the faith of her friends, to solve an unspeakable crime. And no matter which path Celia takes, she will discover that sometimes the past can come back to haunt you.

What’s Cool from Coliloquy: Throughout the Parish Mail series, readers decide which clues to follow to help Celia unravel each mystery. You’ll even get to cast a vote for your favorite love interest. But remember: Choose carefully, or else the killer might just get away.

Post Mortem is another Active Fiction book. I have to say I really liked it. I liked it even better than the first book. One of the reasons for this is all of the character setup is out of the way and I was able to get right down to the story and the mystery to solve.

You continue to follow Celia along with her friends Tilly, Donovan, and Luc. If I bookmarked all of the choices on my Kindle Fire correctly, I was given a choice on four separate occasions on where to take the story. And unlike in the first book, I liked all of the choices I was given. The book starts off pretty much where the last one left off with Celia discovering even more letters in the "mailbox." She is not sure which one to start with, so she just continues on with her normal life until she decides what to do. Through her continued nightmares of the man with the green crown, a break-in, and a friend's disappearance, Celia finds a letter with a similar situation she wants to investigate. However, there are some differences: the girl in the letter dies, but Celia's friend reappears after a few days (even if she is acting strange). Was Celia's intuition off about it being the correct letter?

I found this book to be even more exciting that the first one. At this point, I'm a little sad there isn't a third in the series for me to read. If there was, I would probably be reading it right now. I liked the mystery that they are trying to solve in this book. Although, I did have some things figured out way before Celia did, I still had fun watching her figure it out. She never frustrated me to the point of wanting to hit her over the head to "figure it out already." The story has a nice progression through to the ending. I didn't notice any out of place information, i.e. something that I would have learned from picking a different option than the one I actually picked. I felt the bad guys seemed to have had proper bad guy motivation. Although, I do wonder more about what the really big bad green crown guy's ultimate goal is and how all of the little bad guys fit into the picture. I think what will develop more through future books, which is a good thing. Celia doesn't understand it all yet, so neither should I. 

I feel that I could easily reread this story again in the future. The option to pick different options, really increases the readability. I'm curious, way more so than with the first book, what would happen if I picked the other options while reading the book.

I highly recommend you check out this book. I found it to be a completely enjoyable read and think most young adults (including younger teens and the young adult in all of us), that love a fun paranormal mystery book, would most likely love this book too. And while I think you might have a little trouble with this book if you haven't read the first in the series, I think you could easily pick up this book and figure out who's who and the basics of what is going on. It would be a great book to bring along to the beach this summer as well.

My Rating: 

Book Review: Lucid

I don't know about you, but that week went by quickly. Before I head off to my grandfather's 80th birthday party this weekend, I'll be reviewing, Lucid, the second book in the Brightest Kind of Darkness series. I received a copy of this book for free in return for my honest review, through the Never Too Old For Y.A. Books Group on Goodreads. However, I received the actual kindle copy direct from the author.

Title: Lucid

Author: P.T. Michelle

Series: Brightest Kind of Darkness #2

Publisher: Patrice Michelle

Original Publication Date: July 7, 2012

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Paranormal

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from Goodreads:
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 started reading this book almost immediately after finishing up the first book of this series. In Lucid Ethan is away for most of the book trying to mend things with his parents. Nara and Ethan's relationship is reduced to phone calls and text messages. In an effort to stay close to Ethan, Nara sets out to discover the meaning behind Ethan's tattoo.

Nara gets some help from a new friend, Drystan from Wales. I know some people might say, "why, oh why, did the author take Ethan out of a lot of the story and add Drystan," and I say, "because it works and I liked his character." Who else would help save Nara when she needs it while Ethan is away? Who knew researching ravens could be dangerous?

Not only do I like Drystan, I also like the strange little raven Nara named Patches that visits Nara everyday and tries to warn her of danger. 

This book is not only about Nara's search to find out more about the raven tattoo, but she is also trying to search for more information on her Dad that walked out on her family years ago. During this time her friends are getting ready for the big school dance and they all insist Nara attend even though Ethan won't be able to make it. 

Everything in this book fits together nicely. With Nara researching the raven tattoo as the main focus of this book, it has a little bit slower, but rhythmic pace that builds up to the end. And wow what an ending! I immediately wanted to see if I could get my hands on the third book after finishing this one, but it doesn't come out until the end of this month. I'm really excited to see what happens next in this series.  

I liked this book a little bit better than the first book and would definitely recommend it. I would even be more than willing to pay $2.99 (the currently Amazon price as of this posting) to buy the kindle book on my own. 

My Rating: 

Book Review: Brightest Kind of Darkness

We're a little over half-way through the week! For your enjoyment today, I will be reviewing Brightest Kind of Darkness, by P.T. Michelle.

Title: Brightest Kind of Darkness

Author: P.T. Michelle

Series: Brightest Kind of Darkness #1

Publisher: Patrice Michelle

Original Publication Date: June  27, 2011

Format Read: kindle

Genre: YA Paranormal

Purchase: Amazon

Find on Goodreads

Description from Goodreads:
Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.

After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

I picked up this kindle book on Amazon for FREE last November (still free as of this posting). It is a self-published novel, although I think it is more than good enough to be a mainstream published novel, if the author chose to do so. I finally got around to reading it recently as I agreed to read and review a copy of the second book in this series from the author (review for book #2 to post tomorrow). In preparation for reading the second book, I thought I should finally getting around to reading the first one. I was NOT disappointed. I'm actually kind of sad it too me this long to read the book. I devoured it in about a day.

The entire book is from Nara's point of view. Nara has dreamed the entire next day of her life (unless her sleep is interrupted) since she was seven. She is now sixteen. Nara usually avoids trying to change the events of her day, but does try to go out of her way to avoid hearing unpleasant conversations, etc...Dreaming about her entire next day also helps her avoid studying for tests/assignments as she already knows what's coming. It also makes her the star goalie of her soccer team as she knows ahead of time which way the ball is going to go. EVERYTHING is very predictable for Nara. She wishes for once she would live her day like a normal teenager, not knowing what is going to happen next. Fortunately or unfortunately, one day that happens. Shortly after calling in a bomb threat to school (it was just too big for her to ignore and let it happen), Nara stops dreaming her next day. 

Imagine that. You know your entire next day and have for almost the last ten years of your life. Whether you want to or not, you come to rely on the information you gain in your sleep and suddenly one day it's gone. You have no idea why. You suddenly aren't do so well in school and as far as being that star goalie...yeah, not so much anymore. 

However, all of this does come with an upside. The upside? Ethan. Ethan is fairly new to the school, he is a loner that tends to walk around with the "no one cares, why should I give a shit" look. Rumor also has it he was kicked out of his old school. Nara had previously tried to say hi to him before, but he always ignored her or didn't hear her, until after the bomb that is. Ethan's locker is moved right next to Nara's. Come to find out, maybe Ethan is just misunderstood. He does seem to be showing up where she is lately and helping her out.

I have to say I really liked both Nara and Ethan. They felt like very real people to me. I felt Nara did a pretty good job transitioning into going through the day like a normal teen (as her power goes spotty), well as much like a normal teen when people start getting hurt at a high rate and Nara keeps hearing strange whispers and shocks whenever she tries to prevent anyone from being hurt. Who is hurting everyone? What is up with Ethan? And can they solve the mystery before someone close to Nara gets hurt?

A pretty good start to a series. I would recommend this novel to family in friends. It is very well written and has a great story. I started the second book almost immediately after I finished this one.  

My Rating: