Book Review: Dangerous Depths by Karen Amanda Hooper

Title: Dangerous Depths
Series: The Sea Monster Memoirs #2
Author: Karen Amanda Hooper
Publisher: Starry Sky Publishing (November 20, 2013)
Genre: YA Fantasy

Format Read: Ebook ARC
Length: Novel
Source: Author

Hell hath no fury like a selkie separated from his true love.

The gate to the sea creature realm is finally open. Yara wants to bask in the glow of her budding relationship with Treygan and explore Medusa’s world, but as the new leader of Rathe her powers are needed to save a sea creature she’s never met.

Rownan assumes the worst is behind him when he returns home to be reunited with his wife, Vienna, only to discover she’s gone. She traveled to the evil realm of Harte to find another gateway to Earth and was never heard from again. Rownan claimed he would go through hell to be with her, and now he must prove it.

Rownan, Yara, and Treygan will put their lives and souls at risk by traveling to the most dangerous realm of all. Love is supposed to conquer all, but no one has ever conquered Harte.

Teaser: Rowan ran his hand over his goatee. “We’re going to burn to death, aren’t we? Who would have though hell would be so predictable?” [44% Ebook ARC. I have to admit I loved the hell puns and jokes while they are in Harte (i.e. hell).]

Review: Yara thought her Triple Eighteen was hell, but she’s seen nothing yet in Karen Amanda Hooper’s Dangerous Depths.

This novel is told through three points of view: Yara (mermaid/selkie/siren/gorgon/human), Rownan (selkie/human), and Nixie (siren). Yara struggles with her new powers while exploring her love for Treygan and her new home of Rathe. In Tangled Tides, I didn’t care much for Rownan, but his motivations become so clear and his love for Vienna is so pure and powerful. He would literally go through hell for her. The character who grew the most for me was Nixie. I loved her chapters and seeing her moments with the sprites.

Hooper’s world building is amazing. I loved seeing the beauty of Rathe, cringed at the horrors of Harte, and enjoyed the additions to her sea monsters’ worlds. The fast-paced plot increased the tension, which was punctuated by moments of humor and love. The end made me cry with its heart-breaking beauty.

Dangerous Depths by Karen Amanda Hooper makes me wish I could live in Rathe too or at least have the ability to draw the exquisite world. I highly recommend this novel and the Sea Monster Memoirs series.

 

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

The Other Book in this Series:

 

Click here to read my review.

K is for Kindrily series by Karen Amanda Hooper

 

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.

K is for ... Kindrily series by Karen Amanda Hooper

OMG! I just loved book one of the Kindrily series! It was in my top five favorite books I read last year, and I can't wait to read the next in the series. Plus, look at those gorgeous covers!

Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.

Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she's supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.

Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah's memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.

While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.

X-MEN meets MY NAME IS MEMORY in Karen Amanda Hooper’s latest young adult release.

Click here to read my review of Grasping at Eternity.

Forever is worth the fight.

Maryah erased all memory of her past lives, but she couldn’t erase her soul mate Nathan, or his undying love. Now, Maryah and Nathan have a second chance at a future together, but first Maryah must remember the person she used to be and embrace her supernatural gifts—more than one kindrily member’s life depends on it.

Maryah’s power is Harmony’s best hope of finding her kidnapped soul mate, Gregory. But Harmony isn’t big on asking anyone for help, and she’s tired of waiting, so she’s taking matters into her own hands. Heaven help anyone who stands in her way.  

Teaser Tuesday: GRASPING AT ETERNITY by Karen Amanda Hooper

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!

 

Grasping at Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper

First lines of ARC Novel

I wanted to punch a hole in the sky, rip it wide open, and fly out of this world and into a magical one. Except I’d never punched anything in all my seventeen years of life, I didn’t believe in magic, and I sure as heck couldn’t fly.

What's your teaser? You can leave it or a link to one in the comments. 

Book Review: GRASPING AT ETERNITY by Karen Amanda Hooper

Title: Grasping at Eternity

Series: The Kindrily Series #1

Author: Karen Amanda Hooper

Publisher: Starry Sky Publishing (May 25, 2012)

Format: eARC Novel

Source: Author

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Goodreads 

Description: Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.

Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she's supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.

Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah's memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.

While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.

X-MEN meets MY NAME IS MEMORY in Karen Amanda Hooper’s latest young adult release.

Review: Love knows no bounds in Karen Amanda Hooper’s Grasping at Eternity.

A member of the kindrily—a group of reincarnated souls who have supernatural abilities—Maryah did the one things she shouldn’t have done: erased her memories. Now at seventeen, she finds herself starting over again after her family’s murders. But she doesn’t know if she can start over with this strange new family who is too friendly to her. Then, there is Nathan. Crazy, gorgeous Nathan. She feels drawn to him. She fears him, and she had no clue that eternity is only a memory away.

Grasping for Eternity had me hooked from the first line. The voice is phenomenal. The characters are not only believable but are extraordinarily wonderful. I felt like I was reading about family than people I just met. The novel is fast-paced and so compelling that I read the majority of it in one day. The writing lush and beautiful, and the plot had me guessing at every turn. Hooper definitely likes to slowly reveal the book’s secrets—some will hopefully be answered in book two! And I absolutely loved the worldbuilding involved with these past lives.

Grasping for Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper has quickly become one of my favorite books of all time. I need book two now, and I want to be a part of the kindrily!

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Waiting on Wednesday: GRASPING AT ETERNITY by Karen Amanda Hooper

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at  Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Grasping at Eternity 

By Karen Amanda Hooper

Publication Date: May 2012

From Goodreads:

Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.

Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she's supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.

Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah's memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.

While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.

X-MEN meets MY NAME IS MEMORY in Karen Amanda Hooper’s latest young adult release. Coming in May of 2012.

I absolutely loved Karen's Tangled Tides, and the cover art instantly drew me in (as well as what the book is about).

Also, this is my first "waiting on" Wednesday. I'm excited to see others' books they're waiting on.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper

Title: Tangled Tides

Author: Karen Amanda Hooper

Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing (November 25)

Format: eARC

Source: Publisher

To Purchase: Amazon  

Description: Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.

When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.

Young Adult fans of Mermaids, Selkies, Sirens and Gorgons will love this tale of the sacrifice one makes for genuine love. Love that could be lost at any moment to the ever-changing tides.

Review: Karen Amanda Hooper’s Tangled Tides will make readers wish they lived under the sea.

Yara’s eighteenth birthday isn’t about turning into an adult, but a monster. She’s transformed into a mermaid, and that’s only the beginning of what she discovers within our realm. Selkies, Sirens, and Gorgons also have a place, and she’s caught in the middle of being herself and saving sea monster-kind. Then, there is Treygan and Rownan. Two brothers who need her, but only one can have her. Yara has to discover what she is willing to sacrifice or they’ll all be doomed.

The beginning of Tangled Tides starts a bit slow for me and is a little confusing jumping in and out of three different points of view, but quickly the confusion clears up. Tangled Tides is an ingenious tale combining Greek myths and sea monsters, such as mermaids, selkies, etc. The characters swoop the reader up into their lives. Some parts brought smiles, laughter, and tears. I want to be a mermaid, then a siren, even a gorgon sounds pretty cool. Hooper unveils this magnificent world she created, and I want to live in it.

Despite the slight hiccups in the beginning, Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper has caught me by hook, line, and sinker. I can’t wait to delve below the sea in book two.