Tag Results
27 posts tagged supernatural
Antigoddess, Kendare Blake
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Genres: Young adult, supernatural, romance, mythology, retellings, fantasy
“Old Gods never die…
Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.
Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.
These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.
Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.
Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.
The Goddess War is about to begin.”
Happy reading!
Touched, Corrine Jackson
Release Date: November 27, 2012
Genres: Young adult, supernatural, romance, fantasy, magic
“Remy O’Malley heals people with touch—but every injury she cures becomes her own. Living in a household with an abusive stepfather, she has healed untold numbers of broken bones, burns,and bruises. And then one night her stepfather goes too far.
Being sent to live with her estranged father offers a clean start and she is eager to take it. Enter Asher Blackwell. Once a Protector of Healers, Asher sacrificed his senses to become immortal. Only by killing a Healer can a Protector recover their human senses. Falling in love is against the rules between these two enemies. Because Remy has the power to make Protectors human again, and when they find out, they’ll becoming for her—if Asher doesn’t kill her first.
This is Book One in the Touched trilogy.”
Happy reading!
Spirit and Dust, Rosemary Clement Moore
Release Date: May 14, 2013
Genres: Young adult, supernatural, fantasy, ghosts, mystery
“Daisy Goodnight can speak to the dead. It’s not the result of a head injury or some near-death experience. She was just born that way. And she’s really good at it. Good enough to help the police solve the occasional homicide.
But helping the local authorities clear cold cases is one thing. Being whisked out of chemistry class by the FBI and flown to the scene of a murder/kidnapping in Minnesota? That’s the real deal.
Before the promotion can go to Daisy’s head, she’s up to her neck in trouble. The spirits are talking, and they’re terrified. There’s a real living girl in danger. And when Daisy is kidnapped by a crime boss with no scruples about using magic—and Daisy—to get what he wants, it looks like hers is the next soul on the line.”
Happy reading!
The Collector, Victoria Scott
Release Date: March, 2013
Genres: Young adult, supernatural, romance, death, paranormal, fantasy
“He makes good girls…bad.
Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence has made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple, weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.
Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:
Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within 10 days.
Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky, Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect—he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector, and uncover emotions deeply buried.”
Happy reading!
Review: The Accidental Siren, by Jake Vander Ark: 5/5 Stars
Article first published as Book Review: The Accidental Siren by Jake Vander Ark on Blogcritics.
I received a free copy of The Accidental Siren for review purposes.
The Accidental Siren by Jake Vander Ark is a young adult debut set in Lake Michigan that follows twelve year-old James during the summer of 1994. This particular summer is unforgettable for young James since it is the year he experiences his first love. Beautiful and surreal, twelve year-old Mara is the object of every boy’s dream, yet her attraction goes beyond reality and touches on the supernatural.
Taken, Erin Bowman
Release Date: April 16, 2013
Genres: Young adult, dystopian, romance, fantasy, science fiction, supernatural
“There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?”
Happy reading!
Dark Star, Bethany Frenette
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Genres: Young adult, romance, action, thriller, dystopian, fantasy, superheroes, supernatural
“Audrey Whitticomb has nothing to fear. Her mother is the superhero Morning Star, the most deadly crime-fighter in the Twin Cities, so it’s hard for Audrey not to feel safe. That is, until she’s lured into the sweet night air by something human and not human—something with talons and teeth, and a wide, scarlet smile.
Now Audrey knows the truth: her mom doesn’t fight crime at night. She fights Harrowers—livid, merciless beings who were trapped Beneath eons ago. Yet some have managed to escape. And they want Audrey dead, just because of who she is: one of the Kin.
To survive, Audrey will need to sharpen the powers she has always had. When she gets close to someone, dark corners of the person’s memories become her own, and she sometimes even glimpses the future. If Audrey could only get close to Patrick Tigue, a powerful Harrower masquerading as human, she could use her Knowing to discover the Harrowers’ next move. But Leon, her mother’s bossy, infuriatingly attractive sidekick, has other ideas. Lately, he won’t let Audrey out of his sight.
When an unthinkable betrayal puts Minneapolis in terrible danger, Audrey discovers a wild, untamed power within herself. It may be the key to saving her herself, her family, and her city. Or it may be the force that destroys everything—and everyone—she loves.”
Happy reading!
Splintered, A.G. Howard
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Genres: Young adult, fantasy, supernatural, urban fantasy, romance, fairy tales
“For sixteen years, Alyssa Gardner has lived with the stigma of being descended from Alice Liddell—the real life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s famed novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But cruel jokes about dormice and tea parties can’t compare to the fact that Alyssa hears the whispers of bugs and flowers… the same quirk which sent her mother to a mental institution years before.
When her mother takes a turn for the worse and the whispers grow too strong for Alyssa to bear, she seeks the origins of their family curse. A set of heirlooms and a moth tied to an unusual website lead Alyssa and her gorgeous best friend / secret crush, Jeb, down the rabbit hole into the real Wonderland, a place more twisted and eerie than Lewis Carroll ever let on.
There, creepy counterparts of the original fairytale crew reveal the purpose for Alyssa’s journey, and unless she fixes the things her great-great-great grandmother Alice put wrong, Wonderland will have her head.”
Happy reading!
Luminosity, Stephanie Thomas
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Genres: Young adult, supernatural, magic, romance, fantasy
“My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings. And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t been the same since.
The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the Dreamcatchers, but I’m finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me.
The enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I think I’ve already helped them win.”
Happy reading!
Struck, Jennifer Bosworth
Release date: May 8th, 2012
Genres: Young adult, supernatural, weather, romance
“Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.
Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.
Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.”
Happy reading!
Hemlock, Kathleen Peacock
Release Date: May 8th, 2012
Genres: Young adult, romance, supernatural, werewolves, mystery
“Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.
Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.
Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.
Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.
Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.”
Happy reading!
Unraveling, by Elizabeth Norris
Release date: April 24th, 2012
Genres: Young adult, mystery, supernatural, romance
“Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she’s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.
But her revival, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.”
Happy reading!
I’ve chosen The Angel Experiment by James Patterson as my next book! I’m going to write a new review shortly after this post, finally! I’m excited that I’m finally reading one of my older books aha, I’ll let you know how it goes :)
“In James Patterson’s blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the “flock”—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel—are just like ordinary kids—only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time…like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the “School” where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare—this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf “Erasers” in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb—now her betrayed and greatest enemy—that her purpose is save the world—but can she?”
Happy reading!
Genres: Fantasy, mystery, supernatural, magic, ghosts, Brit lit, Science fiction
“My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden … and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying. Which, I don’t mind telling you, would involve a hell of a lot of paperwork.”
Happy reading!
Switched, by Amanda Hocking Review
I read Switched by Amanda Hocking in a short span of time, mostly because I went from an adult supernatural fiction (which consisted of ridiculously tiny typing) to a Young Adult novel that was written in nice, large writing. Also, because the content was enjoyable and light, it was a nice reprieve from the craziness of school readings.
Written from the point of view of a teenaged girl who doesn’t quite know where she fits in, Switched is a Young Adult novel that shows us that not everything is as good as it seems, and that we shouldn’t take for granted the things that we care about. Basically, the protagonist, Wendy Everly, is a magical being who finds out why she is disliked by almost everyone she meets, and why her mother nearly kills her during her birthday as a small child.
I have mixed emotions about this one, though it was a fast read (mainly because of how enjoyable and easy it was to read). There are some things I can still remember bugging me and some points that made me laugh and enjoy the story.
The negatives:
1. Some of the characters were a bit… intense. Like, I understand that her brother acts the way he does because of what has happened to Wendy in the past, but his actions felt a bit over-the-top. Also, I kind of disliked the protagonist’s love interest. Why do female characters fall for men who act like they aren’t interested and are at times ridiculously rude?
2. Wendy’s character, though at times relatable, drove me a little nuts. I love the fact that she was spunky, but at times this was too extreme. At the risk of ruining the ending, her decision pissed me off. I know that Hocking is setting the story up for the sequel, but still, it felt like Wendy’s character hadn’t learned anything from her experiences, like most protagonists should at the end of a novel.
3. It was a bit predictable. I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen, who was secretly who, and what some words meant (before Wendy knew). I know it’s hard to create surprise in novels these days, but it would have been easier to accomplish if Hocking hadn’t given us such obvious hints.
4. This isn’t really related to the content of the text, but when did it become a needed event in your writing career to republish a piece of fiction that you first published less than three years ago?
5. Wendy’s inconsistent decisions. First she wants to do something, then she changes her mind and does something else. Drove me a little crazy because it felt like the process of Wendy deciding what to do was just a filler for the novel.
6. The writing. I felt so frustrated with how unrealistic the character dialogues were. Question: Do you talk like this in real life if you’re not trying to sound educated or pretentious?: I am, Will not, Could not, Should not, is not, etc. I know, I know, this is the proper way of writing, but let’s be realistic here: does reading this in a dialogue not make you pause? Doesn’t it kind of feel forced and unrealistic, especially when spoken by a teenager?
I know that’s a lot of negatives, and even if there are less positives, it doesn’t mean that I disliked the book, it just wasn’t a favourite.
The positives:
1. I liked reading a supernatural Young Adult story that explored a topic that wasn’t about vampires, witches, ghosts, or death. Yes, other books exploring the same topic have been written, but this one focused more on the characters than the supernatural beings (if you catch my drift).
2. I know I wrote about disliking the way Hocking phrased the conversations of the novel, but her writing was fluent enough to be a quick read that didn’t leave me confused, or stuttering.
3. The descriptions. Beautiful character and setting descriptions.
4. Wendy’s spunk, though annoying in its indecisiveness, was refreshing when you consider all the other female protagonists and their inability to think for themselves, not depend on others for fighting (except for the obvious point near the end) and do what they want to do (thanks to a little gift that she possesses).
Overall, I liked Switched and I see myself reading the sequel when it is republished, but I wouldn’t put it on my re-read list. If you enjoy Young Adult supernatural books that have opinionated female protagonists and fantastical worlds, then you should probably check this out. If you’ve searched all over for a quick Young Adult read, then check this out. Amanda Hocking will help you pass the time, but don’t expect a life-altering read, just go into it for fun.
I give this novel,
Happy reading!
