Book Review: Darkest Day by Emi Gayle

Title: Darkest Day
Series: The 19th Year #3
Author: Emi Gayle
Publisher: J. Taylor Publishing (January 6, 2014)
Genre: YA Paranormal

Format Read: Ebook ARC
Length: Novel
Source: Publisher

Mac Thorne’s time as a Changeling is coming to an end.

It may have taken eighteen years, but Mac did finally manage to do what the Council wanted: she chose a teacher and renounced the in-between.

There’s just one last step. She must say goodbye to her human. Forever.

After being challenged in every way possible, Mac leaves what she thought would be the easiest task for the last possible moment. As midnight on July fourth draws near, though, she hasn’t found a way to give up Winn Thomas.

Nor does she want to.

With time running out, Mac stands at a literal crossroads. Choose Winn, and she’ll be stripped of the only family she’s ever known — vampires, dragons, and her favorite demon. Even her own mother. Accept her position on the Council and rule as an equal to her twelve peers, and she’ll forget Winn ever existed.

Independence and freedom have never before been so limiting.

In this final chapter of the 19th Year Trilogy, it’s time for Mac to decide.

Responsibility? Or Love?

 
Teasers: “So what are you going to do?”

The question hung like leaden feathers, ready to drop on top of my head and crush my soul. [11% Ebook ARC. Love this description!]

“No. You can’t fall in love for real before you’re like thirty, or something.” [17% Ebook ARC. I’d say that’s about right. LOL!]

“Midnight, Cinderella, and no later,” Dad called from behind me. [78% Ebook ARC. This made me laugh.]

Review: Mac must choose between the human boy she loves and her place on a supernatural Council in Darkest Day by Emi Gayle.

The third and last installment of the 19th Year Trilogy put this reader through the emotional wringer. I didn’t know what Mac would choose to do until about 89% of the book when it dawned on me how this might work out. To keep out spoilers, certain events broke my heart. I love how strong and honest Mac is, even when people might not want to hear her honesty. Winn is smart and keeps Mac in line, which is quite the challenge. They make a perfect couple. Suze is still my favorite demon ever, and I just love him to pieces.

Gayle does an exceptional job at tying up loose ends and bringing a satisfying yet emotional end to her trilogy. The world-building keeps up pace with the previous books and brings about new twists. I love Gayle’s fast-paced writing style. I wanted to sit and read this in one sitting.

A fantastic end to a fantastic series, Emi Gayle’s Darkest Day will leave the reader satisfied and yet missing the characters because they’re awesome like that.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Other Books in the Series:

 

Click here to read my review.

 

Click here to read my review.

Book Review: The Faerie War by Rachel Morgan

Title: The Faerie War
Series: Creepy Hollow #3
Author: Rachel Morgan
Published: October 21, 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy

Format Read: Ebook ARC
Length: Novel
Source: Author

The fate of the fae world is in her hands ...

Violet Fairdale is in big trouble. Her home is gone, her beloved forest lies in ruins, the guy she gave her heart to has deserted her—and she doesn’t remember any of it. The powerful Lord Draven is taking over, brainwashing guardians into fighting for him. No one is safe from the evil spreading throughout the fae world.

As alliances are forged between the remaining free fae, Vi struggles to reclaim her identity and figure out where she belongs in this new world. When someone from her past shows up, life gets even more complicated. He brings with him a long-forgotten weapon and an ancient prophecy that places Vi at the center of the fight against Draven. With the future of the fae world at stake, can Vi carry out the prophecy’s instructions before it’s too late?

Teasers: “Welcome to the reign of Lord Draven, supreme commander of uncomfortable weather conditions.” [15% Ebook ARC. I had to laugh at this.]

I burst out laughing when I see the small, purple-stitched words: Property of Violet Fairdale, Most Kick-Butt Guardian of All Time. [32% Ebook ARC. Definitely true.]

Review: Violet Fairdale must relearn what made her forget all she loves in Rachel Morgan’s The Faerie War.

As the third novel in the Creepy Hollow series, this review may have some spoilers, if you haven’t read The Faerie Guardian or The Faerie Prince yet. And if you haven’t read them yet, then why haven’t you?

Morgan’s Creepy Hollow series is one of my all-time favorites. Vi is definitely a kick-butt guardian. She’s strong—sometimes tries to be too strong—but she’s such a real heroine. Her growth through the series is fantastic and natural feeling. Ryn is another kick-butt guardian who grows from jerk to hero throughout the series. Each character is three-dimensional with their own personality and hopes, dreams, and fears. I loved learning more about some of the Underworld fae in this novel, and Morgan peels back the world she’s created throughout the series.

I read The Faerie War in one day. I didn’t want to put it down and had to find out what would happen next. The horror of what is happening with the fae realm is punctuated with great comedic timing to relieve some of the tension before ramping it back up again. Morgan has created a satisfying ending not only for this book but also the series as well that touches the reader’s heart.

I recommend not only The Faerie War but the entire Creepy Hollow series by Rachel Morgan.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Other Books in the Series

 

Click here to read my reviews of The Faerie Guardian.

 

Click here to read my review of The Faerie Prince.

Book Review: Neverlove by Angela Brown

Title: Neverlove
Series: Shadow Jumpers #1
Author: Angela Brown
Published: October 8, 2012
Genre: YA Paranormal

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Novel
Source: Purchased 

For seventeen-year-old Abigail, one rash decision leads to an unexpected chance for redemption. At V'Salicus Academy, a unique institute where she trains to become an agent of heaven, she struggles with the pain of her past, the changes of the present and accepts a loveless future until her path – and heart – crosses with Basil’s.

Basil's off-chance slip of the tongue binds him to a life of servitude to the Devourer, the master of hell. His existence has no upside until a chance meeting with Abigail brings new perspective.

Keeping the truth of their present lives from each other brings disaster when secrets are brought to light and the life of Abigail’s mentor is put on the line.

Can Abigail and Basil save her mentor and salvage their love amid the chaos? Or will they lose it all, destined forever to NEVERLOVE? 

 

Teasers: The moment Basil said it, he laughed aloud. He was desperate. Just not Faust-desperate. At least ... not yet. [10% Ebook. Hehe! I know what he means to be desperate, but just not quite Faust-desperate.]

“Soul weavers,” the voice chuckled, now closer to Basil. “Can’t live with them and can’t die without them.” [15% Ebook. I chuckled too.]

“There’s no crying in hell!” Drakar pounded his fist atop his throne’s armrest, which happened to be a row of heads. “Wait, actually, there is. By the bucket loads,” he correct. [17% Ebook. LOL!]

Handsome had treated her like crap. She couldn’t help wishing the priest looked like an ogre instead of prince charming. [26% Ebook. Loved this image!]

Review: Abigail and Basil’s paths entwine again in a rush toward salvation in Angela Brown’s Neverlove.

Neverlove starts with a gut-wrenching and powerfully written bang. Broken and beaten, Abigail gets a new chance at life when her mother takes her to a special school. Seeking to get out of his overbearing mother’s control, Basil foolishly makes a deal with the devil. I enjoyed Basil much more than Abigail. Her character seems to grow too quickly, despite her intense struggles in the first few chapters. Basil’s character grows more naturally. I particularly enjoyed his interactions with Drakar, the devil, and his training partner, Pam.

The beginning really pulled me in, but the latter half of the middle toward the end sagged a little big. I was skimming here and there to get to the good parts. I liked Abigail and Basil’s budding yet forbidden relationship, but I wished to learn even more about the world they’ve both entered of Cleansers and Harvestors. I also would’ve loved to have seen more of Abigail’s training at V'Salicus Academy, but beyond that, Brown does a wonderful job balancing the horrors with touches of humor and love. 

An emotionally charged novel, Neverlove by Angela Brown is an enjoyable read.

 

Four Bookworms = I really liked it!

Book Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules
Series: Blood of Eden #1
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen (April 24, 2012)
Genre: YA Paranormal

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Novel
Source: NetGalley

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness. 

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what—and who—is worth dying for again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

 

Teasers: The shadows lengthened like grasping fingers, sliding over the ground. I shivered and hurried into the streets. [3% Ebook. I loved this chilling description of the shadows.]

Strange how a few short hours could change your view of the world. [7% Ebook. That short of time can definitely change a lot.]

It was almost better to be caught by the hungry, soulless vampires; the most they would probably do was drink your blood and leave you to die. Humans were capable of far, far worse. [10% Ebook. Says a lot about humanity.]

Leaving the hospital ruins, we crossed an empty lot where nature had risen up to strangle everything it could get its green-and-yellow claws around. It pushed up through the once-flat parking lots and curled around several outbuildings, choking them with vines and weeds. When we reached the edge of the lot and looked back, you could barely see the hospital remains through the vegetation. [18% Ebook. Wonderful descriptions here.]

Humans were prey. I craved their blood like the worst addict on the street. They were sheep, cattle, and I was the wolf, stalking them through the night. I had become a monster. [20% Ebook. I love how shows the change in Allison.]

Besides, Mom would’ve wanted me to learn, though I wasn’t sure when long division would ever come in handy. [26% Ebook. I still don’t know when long division will come in handy.]

Review: Allison Sekemoto becomes the one thing she hates the most in Julie Kagawa’s The Immortal Rules.

Each character adds to the worldbuilding and plot and brings the story alive. Tough and resourceful, Allison is a strong female heroine. She battles to keep her loyalties and protect her friends, even when they are more than willing to turn on her. I love Allison’s growth throughout the novel and how she had to change her opinions on what it means to be a vampire. Her relationship between her sire and the humans she comes across says so much about her character as well. Zeke is adorable and a great match against Allison, for he too has to learn to change his views on the blood-sucking fiends.

Kagawa paints a bleak world in her Blood of Eden series. Her descriptions are spectacular and give the reader just enough without being long-winded. For the most part, The Immortal Rules was fast-paced. A few places lagged a little when Allison is wandering around, but the action picked up again. And that ending left me craving for more!

If you’re looking for a different vampire book out there, then I highly recommend The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. Now I need to move the second in the series up on my to-read list.

 

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Hook Me: Transparent by Natalie Whipple

Title: Transparent
Author: Natalie Whipple
Publisher: Harper Teen (May 21, 2013)
Genre: YA Paranormal

Book Description: Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl. 

First line: I nearly died the second I was born. 
Last line read: “You should have just enough time to find your locker.” 

Overall Impression: This book has a very intriguing premise. Fiona is literally invisible. I like the glimpses of the worldbuilding within the sample, but right now I feel like I’m trying to catch up, I suppose. With the sample, I’m not sure I have a clear view of Fiona beyond the fact she worked in her father’s syndicate (like the mafia), is invisible, and that’s the only life she’s ever known. 

Would I keep reading?: Maybe.

Book Review: The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan

Title: The Faerie Prince
Series: Creepy Hollow #2
Author: Rachel Morgan
Published: May 30, 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Format Read: Ebook ARC
Length: Novel
Source: Author

Guardian trainee Violet Fairdale is just weeks away from one of the most important occasions of her life: graduation. After messing up big time by bringing a human into the fae realm, Vi needs to step up her game and forget about Nate if she hopes to graduate as the top guardian of her year. Everything would be fine if she wasn’t forced to partner with Ryn, her ex-friend, ex-enemy, current ‘sort of friend’. They might be trying to patch up their relationship, but does she really want to spend a week undercover with him for their final assignment? On top of that, the possibly-insane Unseelie Prince is still on the loose, free to ‘collect’ as many specially talented faeries as he can find—and Vi is still at the top of his list. Add in faerie queens, enchanted storms, complicated not-just-friends feelings, and a murder within the Guild itself, and graduation is about to become the least of Vi’s problems.

 

Teasers: Tora looks as shocked as if I just told her the Seelie Queen died and was being replaced by a giant, fluffy quirkizil. [8% Ebook ARC. I want to know what a quirkizil is. It sounds cute!]

“Trust me, I’m not about to break that rule again.” [12% Ebook ARC. Yes, Vi mustn't break certain rules. Again.]

“Hey, Pixie Sticks,” Ryn says, “Look here.” He holds up a long, pink straw and shakes it, smirking at me. “Someone who can’t spell named a candy after you.” [14% Ebook ARC. This teaser had me laughing out loud and sharing it with my family.]

Ryn steps forward and catches me easily, as if catching falling girls is something he does all the time. [28% Ebook ARC. Such a swoonworthy teaser!]

I creep down a curving stairway constructed from nothing more than slim, black pieces of wood inserted into the wall on one side. [85% Ebook ARC. This staircase is one of my worst fears.]

Review: Graduating the top of her class may be the least of Violet Fairdale’s worries in The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan.

The Faerie Prince picks up around where The Faerie Guardian left off. I loved the character growth and developing relationships between the characters. Vi is an awesome faerie, but the reader also sees her softer side in this novel. The character who impressed me the most this time was Ryn, who is way more complex than I gave him credit for in book one. I love how we see more characters from the faerie world this time. Morgan also creates delightfully devious villains, whose morals come in shades of gray.

Morgan paints a brilliant faerie realm with its own modern advances. Each moment reading the novel, I was engrossed in the world. The plot is fast-paced and exciting, filled with adventure, horror, and beautiful romantic pauses that touched this reader’s soul. And that cliffhanger ending—oh my!—it’s one you just have to read and hope book three comes sooner rather than later.

Reading Rachel Morgan’s The Faerie Prince is like coming across an old friend and rekindling that friendship as if no time had passed. I highly recommend this series!

 

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Other Books in the Series

 

Click here to read my review.

 

Click here to read my review.

 

Click here to read my review.

 

Click here to read my review.

These four parts are now part of one novel: The Faerie Guardian.

Book Review: Day After by Emi Gayle

Title: Day After 
Series: The 19th Year #2
Author: Emi Gayle
Publisher: J. Taylor Publishing (May 6, 2013)

Format Read: Ebook Novel
Source: Publisher
Genre: YA Paranormal

Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.  

Or so Winn Thomas always thought. 

Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school. 

Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right? 

In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.

Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.

He intends to have her pick human.  

Whether she can or not.

Teasers from Day After: Unlike Google or Wikipedia, the pages of text in front of us held information no human knew about vampires, fairies, gargoyles, werewolves, griffins, dragons—hundreds of beings I’d only hoped could be real half a year ago. Life went from wishing to a little freaked at that point. - 9%

Just goes to show you, you can’t judge a book by a cover or a house, or a vampire. - 18%

For a destroyer demon, Suze had a milder manner than a declawed kitten, and the brains of a toddler. - 37%

Early March in North Carolina could be thirty degrees or eighty. - 75%

Review: Winn Thomas strives to do the impossible in Emi Gayle’s Day After.

Unlike After Dark, Day After follows Winn’s point of view. Winn is such a great character, and Gayle does well in writing from a male point of view. I felt his frustration with the tasks given to him as well as his heartache when it comes to his girlfriend, Mac. Mac is up to her old stubborn tricks, and she put Winn through the wringer. Of all the characters, my favorite character is still Suze, the destroyer demon. He’s just so awesome and so unique when it comes to demons.

The challenges facing Winn and Mac seem insurmountable, and I was on the edge of my seat while reading. Gayle has a fast-paced style I just love. It did take me a couple chapters to get into Day After because it’d been awhile since I’ve read After Dark. The touches of humor helped alleviate the intensity of the storyline. The twists and turns kept me guessing, especially as Gayle continues to build the mythological world within our own. Several times I gasped at the new information we learned about Mac, Winn, and his sister, and that ending—wow, it had me crying.

For readers looking for complex worldbuilding, humor, and an intense fast-paced read, then I highly recommend Emi Gayle’s 19th Year trilogy. I loved After Dark, but I enjoyed Day After even more!

 

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Other Books in this Series:

 

Click here to read my review.

C is for Creepy Hollow series by Rachel Morgan

 

For 2013's A to Z Challenge, I am talking about book series, particularly some favorite series as well as series I've been waiting to read for a LONG time.

C is for ... Creepy Hollow series by Rachel Morgan

I've been following Rachel's blog for a while, and I was excited when she was going to release her Creepy Hollow series. The first four of the series, Guardian, Labyrinth, Traitor, and Masquerade, have now been added together in one book The Faerie Guardian with the first part Guardian being offered for free. I absolutely loved this series. Vi is one bad-ass faerie. I'd definitely want her on my side in a fight. And Rachel was excellent about the twists and turns in each novella. I can't wait until the end of May when she releases book two of The Faerie Guardian, called The Faerie Prince.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamour follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? Not when you factor in evil faeries, long-lost family members, and inconvenient feelings of the romantic kind. Vi is about to find herself tangled up in a dangerous plot—and it’ll take all her training to get out alive.

[This novel was originally published in four separate parts: Guardian, Labyrinth, Traitor and Masquerade. It includes bonus scenes at the end that were not published in the individual parts.]

Click here to read my review of Guardian.

Click here to read my review of Labyrinth.

Click here to read my review of Traitor.

Click here to read my review of Masquerade. 

Guardian trainee Violet Fairdale is just weeks away from one of the most important occasions of her life: graduation. After messing up big time by bringing a human into the fae realm, Vi needs to step up her game and forget about Nate if she hopes to graduate as the top guardian of her year. Everything would be fine if she wasn’t forced to partner with Ryn, her ex-friend, ex-enemy, current ‘sort of friend’. They might be trying to patch up their relationship, but does she really want to spend a week undercover with him for their final assignment? On top of that, the possibly-insane Unseelie Prince is still on the loose, free to ‘collect’ as many specially talented faeries as he can find—and Vi is still at the top of his list. Add in faerie queens, enchanted storms, complicated not-just-friends feelings, and a murder within the Guild itself, and graduation is about to become the least of Vi’s problems.

Teaser Tuesdays: THE WATCHER by Lisa Voisin

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

15% eARC

He should have joined the UN. Maybe he’d invent an app for world peace.  

And 56% eARC

“Are you going to wave a magic wand or something and make it all better?”

He whispered in my ear, “I’m an angel, not a fairy godmother.”

Both these teasers made me laugh and smile, so I just couldn't choose between them.

What's your teaser?