From Goodreads: Back in her hometown, Tori Beaugrand had everything a teenaged girl could want—popularity, money, beauty. But she also had a secret. A secret that could change her life in an instant, or destroy it.

Now she’s left everything from her old life behind, including her real name and Alison, the one friend who truly understood her. She can’t escape who and what she is. But if she wants to have anything like a normal life, she has to blend in and hide her unusual… talents.

Plans change when the enigmatic Sebastian Faraday reappears and gives Tori some bad news: she hasn’t escaped her past. In fact, she’s attracted new interest in the form of an obsessed ex-cop turned investigator for a genetics lab.

She has one last shot at getting her enemies off her trail and winning the security and independence she’s always longed for. But saving herself will take every ounce of Tori’s incredible electronics and engineering skills—and even then, she may need to sacrifice more than she could possibly imagine if she wants to be free.

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Spoilers to Ultraviolet (book 1) ensue below.  I tried not to, but… I found it impossible.  **Reader Beware**  If you haven’t read Ultraviolet, the prequel to Quicksilver, then I suggest you do not read this review.

Also, stay tuned to the blog as I have a signed used copy of Ultraviolet that I’m planning to give away at some point soon.

{Review of Quicksilver below}

This novel was a lot of fun.  Tori Beaugrand is a phenomenal character, and I really enjoyed her in both Ultraviolet and Quicksilver.  She is extremely gifted and… not of this world (ahem).  When I read Ultraviolet,  I was completely thrown by this kink Anderson thrusts into the middle of her plot, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but the farther I read, the more I loved it.  Many didn’t, but to each his/her own. What we have with Ultraviolet is “a really good [realistic] psychological thriller… and all of a sudden we’re thrust into a sci-fi, paranormal thriller,” which many were not expecting, and it somewhat upset the balance of the story (above quote from my review of Ultraviolet).  But it was awesome, in my opinion, and I was extremely excited to pick up Quicksilver and start reading.  Now, this sequel doesn’t throw us any crazy curve balls like Ultraviolet did, but instead continues the idea of an otherworldly project that puts Tori’s very existence, and the only life she’s ever known, into complete jeopardy.  Though her parents are willing to pick up everything and move in order to protect her, even they are not fully aware of the truth, and Tori and her friends go to great lengths within this novel to keep it hidden from everyone, while trying to figure out a way to shut down the otherworldly project for good.

Like I said, I really enjoyed this novel, especially as Tori makes some new friends, such as Milo, and also learns that not everyone she’s been able to trust in the past is as trustworthy as they seem.  For a while, the story was just chugging along, and I was blissfully enjoying it, though I’d say the action lulled on occasion, but then Anderson threw in a twist that made me sit straight up and scream at the betrayal.  I couldn’t believe it… after everything that happened in Ultraviolet and within this novel itself, well, I nearly died.  I was so angry! All I’m going to say is that Tori is a much better person than I am…

I also screamed near the end when I realized what Tori had decided to do in order to protect herself.  I had an inkling that that was where the story was going, but in my mind I was like, nah, Anderson wouldn’t do that.  Of course, knowing her writing style, I should have known better.  It was gruesome and again, I was completely jarred by the turn of events, but in all honesty, that’s what makes Anderson’s novels so much fun!!!  I highly suggest checking out this series! Four stars.

Also, stay tuned to the blog as I have a signed used copy of Ultraviolet that I’m planning to give away at some point soon.

Lerner Publishing Group has been extremely gracious in allowing me to read a copy of  this novel, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

From Goodreads: Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

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Truth be told, I struggled to get “into” this novel in the very beginning.  I think one of the most jarring things for me was that it’s told from Ethan Wate’s point of view, instead of Lena’s, and I wasn’t expecting that based on the synopsis.  As the synopsis begins with Lena, and the story is really about Lena, I thought it’d be her point of view.  Of course, as I thought about it, I realized that it’s fitting that we get Ethan’s point of view instead, and once I wrapped my head around that, I was fine, but initially, that wasn’t what I was expecting at all.  And to add to that, the story seemed to crawl along for a fairly long time.  It wasn’t until the dinner scene in Lena’s house, maybe about 100 pages in(?), that I actually became interested in what was happening.  Up until that point, we’re given the background information needed, and the characters are fleshed out, but as little action went on, I wasn’t that enamored.  Once the dinner scene came and went, though, I was very interested in the story, and I had a hard time putting the novel down.  I loved the twists and turns, the time travel, the mystery and intrigue, and the struggle between light and dark, not to mention the love story.  There are a ton of really great characters in the novel, and though this is a rather long novel, it was very well done.  Garcia kept me guessing as I read, and I highly enjoyed the story she wove, using the deep South, both past and present, to knit it all together.

Both Lena and Ethan are great characters.  Their fight to beat the odds in a town so set in its ways made me love them right away, and even though the adults in their lives weren’t always on their side, I enjoyed the trust and interactions between them all, even when the town went semi crazy over Lena’s presence.  Ethan is a great boyfriend, and his connection to Lena and their past, as it is ever slowly revealed, was so much fun to uncover.  Garcia did a great job on this novel and I definitely recommend it to readers of all ages.  Four stars.

I purchased this novel from Borders.

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Now, the movie, on the other hand, well… if you’re not absolutely dying to see it, then don’t.  My friend and I went to see this movie together, knowing that, as directors usually do, changes would take place, but I wasn’t expecting more than half the book to be cut out and changed!!  That’s right, I’d say about 70% of the movie is different from the book, and that was quite depressing.  For starters, the accents jarred me.  Now, I know this is a book that takes place in the deep South, but I was pretty sure somewhere in the novel it stated that neither Lena or Ethan had southern accents.  In the movie, they do.  But that’s okay, no big deal (and I could be wrong, anyway).  It was the initial 30 minutes of the movie that drove me nuts, though. Someone, the director perhaps, made a very bad decision regarding the length of the movie versus the length of the book.  Now, I know that movies can’t add it all, or we’d be sitting in the theater for days, but you can’t very well take a 570+ book and turn it into a 2 hour movie.  Nope.  Can’t do it.  Not without cutting out way too much, and changing way too much.  And that’s what they did.  Add in the choppy flow of events, a few sad special effects, some semi-decent acting, and you’ve got Beautiful Creatures.

What really irked me was that the movie cut out nearly all the school scenes, which make up such a huge part of the book.  Ethan’s not a basketball player, and we barely see him, or Lena, interact with those in school.  Never mind the choppiness and jumping from “hello” with Lena’s tattoo stating she had 104 days left, to the next scene of “hi again, instant love” with Lena only having 79 days… but everything that Garcia worked so hard to create in order to give the story backbone was missing.  Characters were missing!  In fact, the entire ending is different… I haven’t read the second novel in the series, but I’m not sure how they’re going to make the second movie align with the novel if the ending of the first movie didn’t align… ugh.  But I think what really clinched it for me was the dinner scene.  The special effects used (or lack thereof) made the whole dinner scene look like a children’s Disney ride.  And… for such a serious scene, the comedic relief added to the movie irked me more than it made me smile.  Not. The. Same. And that “comedy” ran throughout the movie.  But it wasn’t funny.  Not really, and it sort of ruined things for me.  Overall, I found the movie to be too choppy, too short, and too different for my liking.  Which is sad, really.  So, if you don’t have to see the movie, don’t.  Read the book.  It’s a much better use of your time.  One and a half stars for the movie.

I purchased my theater tickets at the local theater.

From Goodreads: Twenty-year-old Sydney Hart has always made mistakes and when she meets Michael Grayson, she soon comes to wonder if she hasn’t made the biggest mistake of her life. That one moment of passion between them causes Sydney’s world to spiral rapidly out of control.

Suffering from nightmares, Sydney soon realizes her life and the people closest to her aren’t who or what she believed them to be. Fearing she has been cursed, Sydney attempts to unravel the dark secrets that surround her, and is desperate to discover why a dying man called her ‘Witch’.

A racy, paranormal romance with a chilling twist for readers ages 18+.

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What I love about O’Rourke’s novels is that, without fail, he always surprises me with his many twists and turns, which is exactly what happens in his latest new adult novel, Witch.  This story centers around a 20-year-old female cop who’s a bit wild.  She likes to drink, and she likes sex.  In other words, she makes a lot of bad decisions, and her father, a cop himself, has always looked down on her.  Thus, Sydney’s done the only thing she could think of to make him look at her differently.  She became a cop, too.  But, her wildness is still there, and on two instances, we see her very wild side with Michael Grayson and his kitchen table… and from here, Sydney’s life goes downhill.  Drinking and “playing” on the job leave her less than lucid when she gets behind the wheel, and tragedy strikes at Sydney’s hand…

But, as with all O’Rourke novels, not everything is what it seems.  Though it certainly looks that way, O’Rourke strings his readers along, filling us with many emotions in the wake of the horrible roadside massacre and its strange and eerie relation to a death that happened ten years in the past.  And this is where O’Rourke’s many twists and turns make themselves apparent as Sydney attempts to uncover the truth in order to live with what she’s done.

Sydney is a great character.  She is very flawed, but that’s what makes her so real.  Of course I don’t condone her behaviors at the beginning of the story, but the knowledge of her wild side helps the reader really connect with her and the enormity of what she’s done.  We’ve all felt guilt (though hopefully not at the level Sydney does), and while we aren’t the perpetrators in this novel, O’Rourke makes his readers really understand guilt and self-hatred.  But, he also allows Sydney to grow and become a much more responsible adult, which is always the sign of a great author.  Character growth is key in novels, and in this one, while we do a have the few needed flat characters, our main ones morph and change throughout the text.  And with the many jarring twists and turns, and the paranormal aspect O’Rourke incorporates, well… this is a gem.

Now, truth be told, I’m not really a fan of the new adult genre.  I don’t care for bouts of sex and erotica in my stories, and I certainly don’t seek them out, but with an author like Tim O’Rourke, I know the novel itself it going to be so good that I can handle being out of my comfort zone for a little while if it means I get to be astounded and amazed by his latest story.  And I was.  No matter what genre, I will always read O’Rourke’s work because I know it’s going to be fabulous (But this one is definitely for the 18+ crowd).  Four stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.

O’Rourke’s Amazing Novels YOU NEED TO READ  (On Amazon):

Kiera Hudson Series 1

Vampire Shift (#1)

Vampire Wake (#2)

Vampire Hunt (#3)

Vampire Breed (#4)

Wolf House (#4.5)

Vampire Hollows (#5)

Kiera Hudson Series 2

Dead Flesh (#1)

Dead Night: Potter’s Secrets (#1.5)

Dead Angels (#2)

Dead Statues (#3)

Dead Seth (#4)

Dead Wolf (#5)

Dead Water (#6)–Coming Soon 2013

Black Hill Farm Series

Black Hill Farm (#1)

Black Hill Farm Andy’s Diary (#2)

The Moon Trilogy

Moonlight (#1)

Samantha Carter Series

Vampire Seeker (#1) (Formerly known as Cowgirls and Vampires)

Doorways Series

Doorways (#1)

The League of Doorways (#2)

Flashes Series

Flashes (#1)–Coming 2013

From Goodreads: Beth was sneaky. No lock could hold her. No cage could confine her. No door could bar her way. But, when your adoptive mother is a Spirit Binder, and all your siblings are elementals, being sneaky doesn’t really rank.
That is until the devastation of a city draws her omniscient mother’s attention, and her siblings go missing one by one, then Beth’s sneakiness is the only thing standing between her, her loved ones, and the worst enemy she’ll ever face: herself.

Time Walker is a young adult, 50,000 word, fantasy novel by Meghan Ciana Doidge (After The Virus, Spirit Binder) set ten years after the events of Spirit Binder. It is the first book in the Spirit Bound series, and it’s not necessary to read Spirit Binder before reading Time Walker.

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Time Walker is a great MG/YA novel from those who love elementals.  Beth, her siblings, and her friends are all special, each able to do something the others are not… and Beth’s talent is unlocking things, but that’s not all.  She also holds the ability to walk through time, unbeknownst to her.

I really enjoyed the story, especially as I watched Beth develop and come into herself.  She is one of many adopted siblings who call the Spirit Binder, Theo, mother, but with all the talent around her, she feels a bit… untalented, especially when her siblings are able to do much more than unlock things. Truth be told, I’d probably be feeling pretty down, too.  But with the appearance of her much older, evil self, Beth learns there is more to her powers than she ever knew, and that she holds the key to her family’s future. The concept of this novel is great.  The idea of being able to transcend time, to be able to bend the elements, period, has always intrigued me, and I really liked learning about Beth, as well as her family and friends.

I did find a few things confusing, though, as I read.  First, I had a little trouble keeping everyone straight, as there were a lot of characters within the novel.  Between all the kids on the premise with powers, the Spirit Binder and her entourage, and the guards, I became a bit confused about who everyone was and how they were related.  The other confusion I had was that of Beth’s feelings for her adopted brother.  I’m not sure if the love described was supposed to be platonic, brotherly love, or if it was supposed to be romantic love.  Something tells me it’s supposed to be the latter, which rubs me the wrong way just a little because, being adopted and having an adopted brother myself, I find the “romantic” love aspect somewhat gross.

Overall, though, Time Walker is a fun, clean, well-executed story that I enjoyed.  I love the world Doidge has created, and can’t wait to learn more about it.  Three and a half stars.

From Goodreads: National bestselling author James LePore’s searing, intense novel SONS AND PRINCES riveted readers with its epic depiction of a man caught between crime and conscience.

Now LePore returns with a sequel to SONS AND PRINCES. It is eight years later and life has changed overwhelmingly for Chris Massi and his son Matt. Chris now possesses more power than he ever could have imagined. But with power comes considerable, unremitting risk. And when Matt finds himself drawing the attention of the Russian Mafia, the risks become all too immediate and the reaction all too crucial. As the circle widens to include Chris’s daughter and the woman that has surprisingly captured Matt’s heart, Chris must make moves that could make him and his entire family vulnerable.

Rippling with tension, THE FIFTH MAN is a story of strength and consequences, of the price of the past and the perilous path to the future. It is James LePore at the height of his storytelling skills.

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This is a wonderful sequel to Sons and Princes that can also stand alone for the reader who hasn’t year read the prequel.  But seriously, these novels are so wonderful that you need to read them both!  LePore is an exceptional writer, bringing his 25 years of law experience to the forefront as he spins his tales of crime.

LePore does a phenomenal job drawing the reader in from the very beginning, fleshing out the cast of characters as his story seamlessly flows together.  What I’ve always enjoyed about LePore’s writing is his ability to take the reader inside the characters’ heads, jumping from scene to scene, and place to place, without losing the reader along the way.  LePore’s meticulous attention to detail, and his background in law help create a believable crime story that will leave you breathless as the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together.

Whereas Sons and Princes focuses more on Chris Massi and his decisions concerning the family business, The Fifth Man gives more of a focus to his son, Matt, which I loved.  The story itself opens about seven years after the close of Sons and Princes, and I really like that LePore chose to add this time gap to his story.  It allows Chris to become something of a bigwig, while it also gives time for Matt and his sister to grow into adulthood, allowing for more interaction and relation building within the walls of the family business.  Seeing Matt all grown up was really fun, too, and I enjoyed getting to know him, as well as watching him fall in love and interact with his father.  He’s come a long way since we last saw him in Sons and Princes, and I really loved the family dynamics LePore creates as he brings us into the world of the Mafia.

This story is about love, redemption, and how far a father is willing to go to protect his family.  It’s a true gem, and I cannot wait for more in the series.  Four stars.

I received a this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review prior to its release on February 12, 2013.

From Goodreas: First, the virus took Kaelyn’s friends. Then, her family. Now it’s taken away her home.

But she can’t look back—the life she once had is gone forever.

A deadly virus has destroyed Kaelyn’s small island community and spread beyond the quarantine. No one is safe. But when Kaelyn finds samples of a vaccine in her father’s abandoned lab, she knows there must be someone, somewhere, who can replicate it. As Kaelyn and her friends head to the mainland, they encounter a world beyond recognition. It’s not only the “friendly flu” that’s a killer—there are people who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the vaccine. How much will Kaelyn risk for an unproven cure, when the search could either destroy those she loves or save the human race?

Megan Crewe’s second volume in the Fallen World trilogy is an action-packed journey that explores the resilience of friendship, the ache of lost love, and Kaelyn’s enduring hope in the face of the sacrifices she must make to stay alive.

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This second novel in the Fallen World Series finds Kaelyn and a group of friends braving the world beyond the island, trying to find a cure to the deadly virus.  But, as when any entourage braves the snowy wild, they will become easy targets set against the white backdrop of snow.  So is the case when Kaelyn, Leo, Gav, Meredith, Tessa, and Tobias stumble into a town looking for gas.  It is here that those who still believe there is hope for human kindness find that there is little left in a world ravished by illness, and the race to deliver the cure and survive the wild becomes a true matter of life and death, one they weren’t prepared for in the least.

Kaelyn is a phenomenal, strong character, though lacking common sense in a few areas.  I really enjoyed her point of view and reliability in the first novel, The Way We Fall, but in this second novel, I found myself wanting to shake her a bit.  With the vaccine in hand, she is basically in charge of her rather large group, six in all, hoping to keep them safe as they trek across Canada looking for someone who can manufacture the cure.  Though I understand it, this, in my opinion, is the first unwise decision Kaelyn and her friends make.  Their group is much too large to forgo detection.  There’s too many to feed, and they’re not all privy to the dangers surrounding them, especially young, childish Meredith.  From there, especially as most of the characters are unprepared for the world they’re entering, the entire group continues to make decisions that put them more so in the line of danger than anything else.  Their inability to harden their souls is their downfall, but at the same time, it’s sort of their saving grace, as it were, and so I found myself torn on many an occasion as events unfolded.

The story itself is a great concept, but as a middle book, I feel that it falls into the category that middle books sometimes fall into, where it’s a good, sound story, but not too much happens and nothing is resolved.  In the grand scheme of things, the characters come across some obstacles, beat the odds, continue their journey, throw smoldering looks at each other, and then come across another obstacle.  While reading the story, it wasn’t as obvious to me as I was waiting for the next big thing to happen, but upon completion and retrospect, not too much did happen—which isn’t a bad thing, but more so a middle book thing, I think.

This novel is also written differently than the first.  Whereas the first novel in the series is written in the epistolary style, with Kaelyn writing letters and journal entries to Leo, her best friend Tessa’s boyfriend, this novel brings all the characters together, making the journal entries and letters obsolete.  While the first chapter of the story does start with Kaelyn journaling, this writing technique is pushed aside as the novel takes form, which I actually liked more than I thought I would.  I’m a lover of the epistolary novel, but if all the characters are side-by-side, what’s the purpose of continuing one?  Kaelyn writes in her journal, for what I think it probably the last time, and then the story follows her and her friends through Kaelyn’s first person narrative, which I also enjoyed.  Overall, this is a good read, and I do recommend it, but remember, it’s a middle book, setting the stage for the big finale.  Three stars.

Disney Book Group has been extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to its release on February 12, 2013.

From Goodreads: An internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives — all over the course of one meal.

It’s a summer’s evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse — the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.

Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.

Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

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Herman Koch’s The Dinner originally released in Holland in 2009 and has finally made its way to the United States after much critical acclaim.  And what a great novel it is!

This is the story of one family’s response to the havoc their children have wrought, and how they choose to deal with it.  It’s a novel of mystery and suspense, while at the same time making a satiric social commentary on parenting and the fusses of high end living.  The novel follows Paul, the father of one of the young men of questionable behavior, as he sets out to dinner with his wife to meet his brother and sister-in-law at a rather upscale restaurant.  It is evident, from the very beginning, that Paul’s relationship with his brother is quite estranged and that they don’t see eye to eye, but it isn’t until the couples meet that the reader begins to see just how different the two families really are.

I was nervous going into the story as I didn’t know how a novel could possibly have depth or keep my interest if it only covered one meal.  Thinking of my own conversations around the dinner table, and how drab they can be, I was worried that The Dinner might not hold my attention.  It did.  What Koch has done is interspersed flashbacks along with bathroom and meal breaks in order to alleviate what would have otherwise been monotonous chitchat.  Paul finds many an excuse to leave the table, and it is at these points that the real issues, those of the children, begin to take the forefront, especially once Paul realizes he has his son’s phone.

Tensions are high throughout dinner, and though it takes time for the truth of the children’s misdeeds to hit the light, Koch does it in such a way that the reader is captivated throughout the meal, slowly putting together the pieces of the puzzle as Paul attempts to figure out what to do next.  Alongside Paul, we are thrust into the men’s bathroom, we hide alongside the restaurant, we read texts and delete messages, we watch videos we ought not to see, all to figure out exactly what he knows that he isn’t telling us. I really enjoyed being inside Paul’s head, even though I didn’t know everything up front, and Koch does a phenomenal job keeping reader interest throughout it all.

The end, in all honesty, completely floored me; this novel is definitely food for thought, a great conversational piece, as it were.  It was exactly what I didn’t expect, and the fact that Koch chose to end it this way left me speechless.  I’ve been dying to discuss it with someone, but none of my friends have read it, yet, and so I will continue to wait.  Five stars.

Crown Publishing Group has been extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to it’s USA release on February 12, 2013.

From Goodreads: Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King–a bold new direction for widely acclaimed Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale.

May Lynn was once a pretty girl who dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star. Now she’s dead, her body dredged up from the Sabine River.

Sue Ellen, May Lynn’s strong-willed teenage friend, sets out to dig up May Lynn’s body, burn it to ash, and take those ashes to Hollywood to spread around. If May Lynn can’t become a star, then at least her ashes will end up in the land of her dreams.

Along with her friends Terry and Jinx and her alcoholic mother, Sue Ellen steals a raft and heads downriver to carry May Lynn’s remains to Hollywood.

Only problem is, Sue Ellen has some stolen money that her enemies will do anything to get back. And what looks like a prime opportunity to escape from a worthless life will instead lead to disastrous consequences. In the end, Sue Ellen will learn a harsh lesson on just how hard growing up can really be.

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This novel is divided into three parts, and I wish I had known that going in, because if I had, I would have read it much faster, instead of taking a break after the first section.  While superbly written, the first section of the novel didn’t draw me in as far as I wanted it to, and so I took some time off to read other things before picking the novel back up.  But once I started the second section, the story picked up fairly quickly and I was swept away down river with the characters.  Add in a psychopath killer at the end of section two and all of section three, and I couldn’t read fast enough.  Hence, I’m glad that I always finish a book, no matter what. I never know if I’m going to find a gem like this one after wading through it for a while.

While part one sets the stage for this novel, parts two and three are really what make it a must read.  The publishers got it right when they said this was a story in which
“Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King.”  You have all the elements and dialect from the deep South you’d expect from Twain, as well as the added fear factor you’d expect from King.  I was floored, especially when I realized this wasn’t just a novel of coming of age, but a real down and out fight to the death kind of story.  Wow!  It really gripped me and wouldn’t let go.  That is, once I passed the first section.

I highly suggest reading this novel.  The characters are great, and it’s an adventure that you don’t want to miss.  Stick with it because it just keeps getting better and better.  Four stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher during NCTE, 2012.

From Goodreads: “There is very little peace for a man with a body buried in his backyard.”

But it could always be worse. . . .

More than a year ago, mild-mannered Jason Getty killed a man he wished he’d never met. Then he planted the problem a little too close to home. But just as he’s learning to live with the undeniable reality of what he’s done, police unearth two bodies on his property—neither of which is the one Jason buried.

Jason races to stay ahead of the consequences of his crime and while chaos reigns on his lawn, his sanity unravels, snagged on the agendas of a colorful cast of strangers. A jilted woman searches for her lost fiancé, a fringe-dweller runs from a past that’s quickly gaining on him, and a couple of earnest local detectives piece it together with the help of a volunteer police dog — all of them in the wake and shadow of a dead man who had it coming. As the action unfolds, each discovers that knowing more than one side of the story doesn’t necessarily rule out a deadly margin of error.

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This novel follows the lives of three very different people, all unwittingly connected through the bodies buried on Jason Getty’s land.  The synopsis of this story really pulled me in, and I was excited to read it as I love a good suspense novel.  And suspense it does deliver, but getting there was a bit of a hike.  The story opens with Jason Getty worrying about the body he buried the year before.  Of course, the unearthing of two other bodies by a landscaping crew leave Jason with even more to worry about as his nerves and rationality begin to dwindle…

We learn a lot about Jason in the following pages, but of course, the reader is kept in the dark concerning the identity of said body for quite some time.  Now, while I do like a bit of mystery in my books, I felt like it took much too long to get to the “good stuff,” as it were.  To spread everything out, we’re given the back story of Leah, the fiancé of one of the bodies uncovered, and then we’re given the back story of Boyd Montgomery, the previous owner and murderer of the two other bodies found on Getty’s property (his wife and Leah’s fiancé).  This is where things start to get a little confusing as the novel switches back and forth between perspectives, but it does give us insight into the murders.  However, in my opinion, it took too long to get there.  I loved getting to know all the characters, and I enjoyed their stories, to a point, but I felt like the story dragged on a bit too long, setting up the background when all I wanted was to know what was happening in the here and now, what with three bodies in the yard and the cops closing in… I wanted the action piece more than the background piece.

Once everything is hashed out, though, and the three characters come together, the story takes off at a rather fast pace, creating an awesome psychological thriller that I really enjoyed.  Honestly, this is a great novel, overall, though it takes some time to get to the meat of the story.  Three stars.

Gallery Books has been extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to its release on February 12, 2013.

From Goodreads: (Ages 13+) Mary is part Vietnamese. Carter is a complete jerk. Normally, they don’t talk much.

But when Mary’s in an accident on the way to school one morning, Carter nearly dies saving her life. The doctors say his chances of living are slim, and Mary’s feeling the full weight of survivor’s guilt.

However, Carter’s back at school in a matter of days, as if nothing had happened. Although, he is a little “glitchy,” and he’s developed a sudden and intense interest in Mary. She thinks he’s suffering from major brain trauma from the accident. Or that he’s been possessed.

As it so happens, Carter really is possessed. And the thing controlling him is having the time of its life learning to be human.

Featuring a diverse cast of characters, RADIANT is a funny “paranormal-lite” story about being human, being in love, and being healed.

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This is just an absolutely adorable read!  It’s a great YA and MG novel, one you could read with your children, or recommend to them, knowing it’s clean, well written, and all around entertaining.  I really enjoyed it, especially as I learned what is possessing Carter, and why.  I just found the whole premise of the novel to be ingenious and fun, a lighthearted read that I didn’t want to end. This is a warm and funny tale that you don’t want to miss!

Mary is a great character; she’s vivid, real, and very well fleshed out.  I loved her many quirks, and the fact that she is really close to her grandmother is just awesome.  I really enjoy reading novels in which positive teenager-adult relationships exist, and Radiant certainly delivers in this aspect.  While Mary doesn’t necessarily tell her family everything going on in her life, she does spend time with her family, mainly her grandmother, and I loved that she even brought Carter along to dinners and visits.  I don’t tend to come across many novels where the families are closely knit, and it’s refreshing to see such tenderness, love, and trust.  I also liked it because I, personally, could easily relate.  Mary is the same way with her grandmother as I was with mine growing up, and this helped me easily connect with Mary on a deeper level.

Carter, like Mary, is also a great character.  I really enjoyed the humor Daley evokes as Carter’s possessor attempts to learn what it means to be truly human.  It’s natural for us, but just think, if we were to attempt to imitate another creature, how horribly would we flounder?  Watching the story unfold, we see Carter make many a mistake that leaves Mary scratching her head and wondering just how unscathed he really came out of the accident, or if he’s even Carter at all.  It was a lot of fun to see Mary trying to piece everything together, and I loved the ease with which Carter told her when she finally just asked.  Trust is key in this story, and I loved every minute of it. Five stars.

I received an ARC of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.

From Goodreads: Say you’re a time traveler and you’ve already toured the entirety of human history. After a while, the outside world might lose a little of its luster. That’s why this time traveler celebrates his birthday partying with himself. Every year, he travels to an abandoned hotel in New York City in 2071, the hundredth anniversary of his birth, and drinks twelve-year-old Scotch (lots of it) with all the other versions of who he has been and who he will be. Sure, the party is the same year after year, but at least it’s one party where he can really, well, be himself. The year he turns 39, though, the party takes a stressful turn for the worse. Before he even makes it into the grand ballroom for a drink he encounters the body of his forty-year-old self, dead of a gunshot wound to the head. As the older versions of himself at the party point out, the onus is on him to figure out what went wrong–he has one year to stop himself from being murdered, or they’re all goners. As he follows clues that he may or may not have willingly left for himself, he discovers rampant paranoia and suspicion among his younger selves, and a frightening conspiracy among the Elders. Most complicated of all is a haunting woman possibly named Lily who turns up at the party this year, the first person besides himself he’s ever seen at the party. For the first time, he has something to lose. Here’s hoping he can save some version of his own life.

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I’m sorry to say that this novel was not for me.  In truth, it was a little beyond me.  Now, I understood the idea behind the birthday party, and the many versions of the main character, but I think I became overwhelmed when our main character began changing identities and becoming different versions of himself.  Or, at least I think that was what was going on.  Now, don’t write this off as too confusing  for you, just yet.  I have an inkling that if you enjoy intense puzzles, or the movie Inception, then this is right up your alley.  I, personally, like everything spelled out for me directly, cut and dry, so with the changing of identities and the evaluations of different clues left by future selves that our main character later becomes, I kind of became lost within the story.

I did thoroughly enjoy the portion of the story that dealt with the main character’s romance, though.  The story surrounding Lily, and a world where everything we’ve ever known is pretty much in ruin, was very intriguing.  I especially liked Lily’s back-story of playing “house” for a lonely old man who pretends he still has his family; it was a bit mind blowing, but awesome just the same.  Ever thought of having a job in which you are paid to “be” someone’s relative?  For me, this was the true redeeming aspect of the story as we learn about Lily’s past and what eventually brings her to the party, but then, once again, the novel jumps back to the party and the many identities of our main character, which left me confused again.

This novel isn’t going to be for everyone, but like I said before, those who really enjoy mind-boggling movies and books should check out this novel.  It’s a completely unique mystery novel.  I, personally, can only give it two stars, though.

Soho Press has been extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, vai Netgalley, prior to its release tomorrow, February 5, 2013.

From Goodreads: R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

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Some may say that what I’m about to tell you is a spoiler and that I’m ruining the big surprise, but I don’t think I am.  I actually think potential readers need to know this information in order to choose their reading material carefully, as this novel is not going to be for everyone.  The first thing any potential reader needs to know going in is that this is a LGBT novel.  Now, if that’s not your type of story, because, let’s face it, it’s not for everyone and not everyone wants to read about it, then right here you know this book isn’t for you.  Quite honestly, this book should have been marketed as LGBT for said reasons above, but also to stave off the bad reviews.  Any person who doesn’t plan to read about the exploration of LGBT within this book is in for a rude awakening that will probably make them a bit mad.  At least, it did me. I like to know what I’m about to read, and I didn’t see anything on Netgalley, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble that alerted me to the true content of this novel.  Now, I would have read it anyway, but at least I would have known what I was getting into, and I wouldn’t have felt so misled.  I have a feeling that the book wasn’t marketed as LGBT though, because it might give away the “big surprise” in the book, but to be quite honest, I figured that out by the time I was 15% into the novel, and I, personally, would have liked the warning instead.

Now, I will try to write the rest of this review without giving away the “big secret,” but it’ll be hard because the entire novel hinges on this one fact which could/will destroy our main characters if it is found out.  So.  Well, as I realized the big secret early on, I spent much of the novel in the know and was able to piece together a lot of things, which was very interesting.  In all honesty, this is a very well written novel, but the secret itself isn’t really that well hidden, in my opinion, which makes me think we’re supposed to know the truth early on.  But, should one not pick up on the heavy foreshadowing, I think the secret itself will be a bit of a shock, which is always great in novels.  I kind of wish I hadn’t figured it out so early because then, I think, the information given to me would have been more intriguing and scandalous.  As I didn’t miss it, though, the novel sort of unfolded in a “now you know the who, figure out the why” kind of way, if that makes any sense.  Basically, I knew the truth and now the novel was giving me the background to piece together why certain things happened.

One aspect I really liked about this novel was that the point-of-views kept changing between Gene and Micah, and I loved having access to both perspectives as they morphed together to make one complete story.  I think Lam did a great job bringing everything full circle, too, though it took a lot longer than I thought was necessary.  There’s a lot of downtime in the novel, in my opinion, and I would have liked it to have been sped up, with a few things cut out here and there, and a few others clarified.  I really would have liked to know more about the addition of the paranormal that crops up at the end, for instance.  I certainly hadn’t seen that coming, and it was jarring and great, especially as everything begins to unravel as the truth comes out.  I didn’t really understand what power Gene had, or why, and I would have liked more information concerning that and less information, say, about her inability to decide whether to share the truth with her two best friends.  Needless to say, the end of the novel really pulled me in, and so I look forward to the next installment. Three and a half stars.

Angry Robot was extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to it’s release on February 5, 2013.

 From Goodreads: A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

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Truth: I picked up this book because the previews for the movie looked rather hilarious, and up until the previews started airing, I hadn’t even known there was a book.  As the movie looked like something fun I’d like to see, I did a little research and found out it’s another book-turned-movie that has become so popular these past few years.  So, I scooped up the novel and read it, hoping for a humorous zombie tale.  But, that’s not really what I got (reader beware, there are a few spoilers below).

First of all, this is not an original story, in my opinion.  It’s actually a spinoff of Romeo and Juliet.  Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but to call Warm Bodies an original debut, well… that it is not. It’s true that it took me until halfway through the book to begin making the connections between the novel and the classic tragedy, but the balcony scene itself, when Julie is recording her thoughts and R is below her unbeknownst, gave it away, especially when Julie made the famous statement about names, which comes directly from Shakespeare.

Here’s my breakdown of our cast of characters:

Julie, the only daughter of a well known, high status general=Juliet

Perry, Julie’s boyfriend who is killed by R=Paris

Nora, Julie’s best friend and confidant=Nurse

R, a moping, depressed zombie looking for the meaning of “life” and who falls instantly for Julie=Romeo

M, R’s best friend=Mercutio

Random unlucky guard, who is also killed by R=Tybalt

General, father to Juliet unable to see past his own beliefs=Lord Capulet

Aside from our characters, the two feuding houses from the classic work out to be the humans vs. the zombies. And, as I’ve already mentioned, there is a balcony scene that follows Shakespeare’s scene to a tee.  There is instant love, at least in R’s case, as well as distant parents, big housing complexes that are dangerous to both Julie and R should they enter the other’s housing area and, the list goes on. Hence, this is a spinoff of Romeo and Juliet, with the needed vast changes to make it a spinoff and not a retelling: the weird zombie marriage (Rosaline?) and child adoption, skeleton priests or something of that nature, weird out of body experiences, or, the dead talking to R in his mind, and the lack of “death” at the end.

Now, I said earlier that I went in to this novel thinking it would be funny, and while some aspects did cause me to crack a smile, the novel itself takes on a more serious note than I was expecting.  I also found some of it a bit disturbing, and am glad the movie came out with a rating of PG 13 because, in all honesty, I think this book is rated R, what will all the blood and gore and the eating of brains (not what I pictured for a funny zombie tale).  Likewise, we don’t know how old R is, but right away, he is married to another zombie, and they adopt kids, which is sort of a strange set up.  I don’t know if this was meant to invoke humor, but it certainly didn’t with me.  Neither did the talk of zombies trying to have sex with one another.  They knew enough to get naked, but their lack of cognitive thought had them naked and slapping their parts together, unable to figure out exactly how to do the deed.  That actually made me a bit ill.  I mean, there isn’t anything humorous in dead, rotting corpses trying to have sex.  Not to me.

It is interesting to be inside R’s head, though, and he makes some great observations, but overall, the book just didn’t do it for me.  It’s not what I expected, and I think that was half the problem on my end.  I expected an almost “make-fun of zombies” type book, not blood, gore, and lengthy out of body experiences that I had trouble following.  I also didn’t really follow the logic of the zombies turning more human after R’s consumption of Perry’s brain, or how that consumption allowed the other zombies to begin to transform, either.  Therefore, while I think the book had a lot of potential, it fell a bit flat for me, whereas teenagers may find this type of book very funny, indeed—at least, I was trying to explain the grossness of a scene to a teenager and she thought it was absolutely hilarious, so.

Now, when it comes to the movie, I have to say the director actually was fairly spot on with his interpretation.  I was thinking that the movie, at least, would be funnier and probably less serious than the book ended up being, but I was wrong on that account, too.  The book and movie parallel each other quite nicely; they’re very similar, and I think the acting was decent (though I do think the zombies moved a little too fast and fluidly in the very beginning, but that’s beside the point).  Levine did a great job following the book, though a few changes were implemented here and there, such as the removal of much of the blood and gore, as well as doing away with most of the Perry/R conversations, the zombie marriage, and the sex, to name a few.  Kudos to Levine for that, because I think I would have walked out of the theater, otherwise.  Gross.  But, as I didn’t really care for the book all that much, and the movie and book are basically the same, I have to say I didn’t really care for either, in all honesty.  Two stars to both the book and movie.

I purchased this novel from Amazon, and the movie tickets from the theater nearest me.