Review ~ Dreams ~ Daniela Sacerdoti

Title: Dreams

Author: Daniela Sacerdoti

Published:  17^th May 2012

By: B&W Publishing

First line: You’d never think it could happen to you.

Last line:  And I’ve seen the death of Sarah Midnight

Fave line: The last time I see your black hair down your back it will have turned red.

Dreams is the first release in the Sarah Midnight trilogy by Daniela Sacerdoti.  Having read her last book, Watch over me, I was keen to see how Daniela would make the transition from adult fiction into the world of YA and I have to say I think she’s succeeded spectacularly!

Dreams tells the story of Sarah Midnight.  Sarah is a member of one of many secret mortal families whose job it is to rid this world of the demons trying to enter it.  There are many ways that the mortals can fight back and this depends on the skills that each family has.  For Sarah it is the blackwater a force that flows through her hands enabling her to kill what she encounters.  She also carries the burden of being a dreamer, someone who has visions of the demons that threaten the secret families and is able to guide the secret families and their aides, the gamekeepers in the battle to destroy them. It is this same mission that has led to the murder of her parents and as we join the story Sarah is facing losing her home as a result of her parent’s deaths. 

Enter Harry, her long lost cousin. Harry knows the Midnight family secret and has worked as a demon hunter for a while.  Now it seems his job is to protect Sarah from those that threaten to take her life.  All is not well in the mortal world and the game is hotting up for more than one reason. The Sabha, or secret council who rule over the secret families has turned on them and the demons that threaten the mortal world are growing stronger everyday.  It would seem as though the hunter has become the hunted.  For his part Harry is hiding a secret of his own and what starts out as a simple deception ends up having disastrous consequences that threatens everyone that he loves and the mission that he has embarked on.

The world in which the trilogy is to be set is outlined really well at the beginning of Dreams. We learn about the roles of the secret families and the demons that seek freedom.  We also get to meet and know the major characters and are given an insight into why they are the way they are which I think makes for a fuller read.  Each chapter comes from a different POV and as you read the book so you can see how the threads for each character are slowly coming together to form a bigger picture.

When we first meet Sarah she is relatively naive to everything going on around her.  She knows what her parents did, she just doesn’t know how and it is her ignorance and naivety that makes her vulnerable.  But Sarah is no victim.  With Harry’s help and her determination she learns to use the powers that she has and it was interesting to watch Sarah’s character evolving through the course of the story.  That’s not to say that Sarah doesn’t have her weaknesses, in fact her character is all the more rounded for them.  She’s angry at her parents for dying and leaving her defenceless, she suffers from chronic OCD a result of the nights she spent waiting for her parents to return safely and she is incredibly stubborn at times. It is those same traits and her open vulnerability at times however that give her her strength which is why she seems so likeable.

There were a range of characters that made this story into a real page turner. Niall is irritatingly cheerful at times which I actually thought was great, Cathy was a force to be reckoned with and over-bearing Aunt Juliet was just that. Harry...Well I look forward to reading more about him and his counterpart as I do the mysterious Leaf both of whom have woven a very intricate web around Sarah.  You can’t help but wonder how she’s going to be able to take it apart. Sacerdoti has cleverly set the stage for the sequel and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Rating: 4/5.  I really enjoyed this book!  Very much looking forward to the next installment!!

IMM No More

After light had been shone on The Story Siren and her plagiarising ways, because quite frankly the evidence speaks for itself, we here at Midnight Reads have decided to opt out of taking part in In My Mailbox. This decision was a quick and easy one for us because we are not prepared to support a person who is able to plagiarise other bloggers and carry on as if nothing has happened. This is our personal decision and we will NOT stop following other bloggers who carry on taking part in the weekly meme.



On My Wishlist #22

Originally created by the Book Chic City, On My Wishlist is a weekly meme now hosted by Cosy up Book Reviews. It's a cute little meme which allows us to showcase what books we want to get our hands on weather they be old, new or yet to be published.





Bungle

UK paperback

I loved A Witch in Winter. I won a signed copy from Cait ove at the Cait file and I'm so glad I entered her giveaway! I know people have already got their hands on A Witch in Love and I get wait to get it!

Goodread says:~
Anna still finds it hard to believe that Seth loves her and has vowed to suppress her powers, no matter what.

But magic – like love – is uncontrollable. It spills out with terrible consequences, and soon, Anna is being hunted.


Helen

UK paperback

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Sally



UK paperback

So I love the Demon Trapper series by Riley Blackthorne and more to the point I love Beck!! Foretold is the last in the series and is due out on the 2nd August.  I can't wait!! 

Goodreads says:
Stand by as Riley prepares to kick some serious demon butt for the last time in this thrilling, dramatic and sexy conclusion to The Demon Trappers series.

Riley’s always known that Beck had a chequered history, but she’s not prepared for what it actually means to be in love with a guy with this many dark secrets. Now that he’s finally admitted to himself that he’s in love with her too, there’s no more hiding the truth about his past. And as it turns out, fending off a demon apocalypse is nothing compared to what’s to come...

What are you wishing for?

Review~Intangible~J. Meyers



3.5 stars

Title: Intangible
Author: J. Meyers
Published: January 2012
Review request

Goodreads says:
Twins Sera and Luke Raine have a well-kept secret—she heals with a touch of her hand, he sees the future. All their lives they’ve helped those in need on the sly. They’ve always thought of their abilities as being a gift.

Then Luke has a vision that Sera is killed. That gift they’ve always cherished begins to feel an awful lot like a curse. Because the thing about Luke’s ability? He’s always right. And he can’t do anything about it.

Opening line: "Shall she be the first to die, Seer?"

Closing line: As always.

What do you get if you cross, vampires, fae, elves, the Gifted, the Shadowed & humans, you get Intangible, which I rather enjoyed! It is a story full of many characters, each with their own story to tell or hide. The pace of the story is nice even if there a few slower parts but the twists and turns throughout are enough to keep anyone reading and guessing. Meyers has a nice balance of just about everything in this story which is bought to life by some fabulous characters.

I really liked Sera and Luke, their relationship is very typical of twins but made even stronger by the abilities they share. They really are two halves of a whole, needing each other to allow their powers to work in harmony. I think I liked Luke a little more though, not because he's male and I'm female, but because he seemed to accept everything that little bit more than what Sera did. Also I never really understood why Sera seemed to have a problem believing that vampires and other mythical creatures existed in her world because her bother sees the future and she is able to heal at the touch of a hand. I'd have thought she'd be the first to believe. As I said though I like the twins and they both really come into their own towards the end of the story.

I loved Jonas! He's our vampire that seems to be a mix of good and evil and to begin with you never really know where is loyalties lie. He's rather swoon worthy and I can't wait to see more of him! We also have another male worth mentioning, Marc who has made the wrong decisions in the past but for the right reasons. Marc becomes close with Sera but you never really know if his intentions are good. At the end of the story I wanted to punch Marc in the head, not in a bad way though, just because I couldn't believe the decision he made and the things he said to the twins. You'll have to read the book to see what I mean.

I rather liked Fey, she along with Quinn seemed to be the only friends the twins really had. I don't want to say too much about these two as it will be a bit of a spoiler but I think Fey is pretty kick-ass and I look forward to reading more about her. Quinn though, I did wonder at times why this character had been introduced to us, he seemed to be there then not at all. I'm hoping this character is developed a little more in book 2.

3.5 stars Because overall Intangible is a story with a nice pace with enough action, twists and turns to keep you reading to the very last page.

Review: Dark Parties~Sara Grant

3.5/5 stars

Title: Dark Parties
Author: Sara Grant
Publisher: Orion
Date: January 2012
Provided by publisher

Goodreads says:
Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped since birth. She was born and raised under the Protectosphere, in an isolated nation ruled by fear, lies, and xenophobia. A shield "protects" them from the outside world, but also locks the citizens inside. But there's nothing left on the outside, ever since the world collapsed from violent warfare. Or so the government says...

Neva and her best friend Sanna believe the government is lying and stage a "dark party" to recruit members for their underground rebellion. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realises she must question everything she's ever known, including the people she loves the most.

Opening line: I'm standing in the dark, not the gentle grey of dusk or the soft black of a moonlit night but pitch black.

Closing line: Hope gives my heart wings.

First of all, how pretty is the cover of Dark Parties!? I'm a very big fan of snow so I love it and I love the connection it has with Neva our leading lady.
Its hard to write this review because there were things I loved about Dark Parties and things I felt a little confused about. The main thing confusing me, and it may just be me, was the 1 and only 'dark party'. I thought there would be more of them throughout the story but we only seem to have the one at the start of the book. But then I thought maybe that's the point, Grant makes us aware of past parties but as a reader we only need to know about this one because it's this party that sets events in motion.

I liked the idea of the Dark Parties. Every one lives in the Protectosphere, basically a big bubble that keeps everyone inside and 'safe' from what is on the outside because according to the government the outside world is bad and there is nothing there anymore. But Neva thinks differently & believes there is a world beyond the Protectosphere and after being forced to work with her father because of her rebelling ways against the Protectosphere, she discovers information about the outside world.

I really like Neva and thought she was a strong character and easy to relate to on many levels. I also like her best friend Sanna and couldn't stop thinking about her after she went missing, I'm say no more on that read the book to find out what happens ;) But it's safe to say Neva discovers some shocking things about the inside world.

Now, the love triangle. I wasn't sure how I felt about this at first because on one hand we have Ethan who is Neva's ex boyfriend trying with all his might to still be with her and live a good life. And on the other hand we have Braydon, her best friends boyfriend who just happens to kiss her while at the Dark Party. Up until that point Neva had never really liked him but the kiss seemed to change everything. I still can't decide how I feel about their relationship but I did like their little moments together.

What an ending!!! It wasn't a cliffhanger, which I liked, but oh my word the events and actions taken leading up to the ending were brilliant! Things happen that I did not see coming and you think you know a character but desperate times call for desperate measures and people change and some people were just not who I thought. The last 60 pages of the book were like a roller coaster of emotions and a few times I was saying 'noooo way' out loud to no one.

Overall Dark Parties was a book I gave 3.5 stars to because it that had me wanting to know what was going to happen next & then events at the end just shocked me. I hope there's more to come as I feel like it would be a series that developed over time.

In My Mailbox #54

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted over at The Story Siren. This meme allows us bloggers to show what books we receive each week.

We love sharing our books with you each week but more then that we loving seeing what books you get each week!!

Bungle
This week I've been really ill, really really ill and spent most of the week in bed. I was that poorly I couldn't even read because my eyes were so swollen :( I couldn't go into work either which means I have no books this week :( I was hoping to get Until I Die but I haven't :( I'm hoping there maybe something waiting for me at work though if I manage to get back in the week.

Helen's Mailbox
Due to the immanent move to London I am saving all my pennies and I have not been able to buy any new books! Which is even worse after compiling a wishlist for the blog. (you'll see that over the coming weeks:) However I have received a review request this week! which is Any love but mine by Debbie Davies.

   

Sally's Mailbox
I've been a good girl and just bought the one book this week.  I got Ascend which is #3 of Amanda Hocking's Trylle trilogy.  I started reading it yesterday and I'm hooked! I also got Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen from netgalley for review.  I do love a fallen angel!

So that's what we got this week, we're off to look at what amazing books you got this week.

Happy reading everyone.

On My Wishlist #21

Originally created by the Book Chic City, On My Wishlist is a weekly meme now hosted by Cosy up Book Reviews. It's a cute little meme which allows us to showcase what books we want to get our hands on weather they be old, new or yet to be published.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to get the other ladies involved in this meme :) I think it's a brill little meme and it's a nice feeling ticking the books off your list when you get them :)

But for this week it's just going to be my pick, so without further ado here's whats On My Wishlist...........




Title: Ghost Flower
Author: Michele Jaffe
Published: April 2012
By: Atom

I love the sound of this book! I may have even asked Atom in my sweetest, nicest voice if I could have a copy but then I think I got carried away and asked for other book too. oops!! I must learn to control myself!!!
But back to Ghost Flower, it does amazing and like my kind of book. I think Sally would like it too actually!

This is what goodreads has to say:~

Eve, a runaway, finds a new job at a coffee shop on the outskirts of Tuscon. When she’s approached by two wealthy teens who claim she bears an uncanny resemblance to their missing cousin Aurora, her life takes a turn for the dark and mysterious. Drawn into a scheme to win Aurora’s inheritance, Eve finds herself impersonating the girl, who disappeared three years ago on the night her best friend Elizabeth died. But when Liza’s ghost begins to haunt Eve, doing harm to the people close to her under the guise of “protecting” her, Eve finds herself in a nightmare maze of lies and deception that leads her to question even her own identity. She realises her only chance is to uncover the truth about what happened the night Liza died, and to find Liza’s kille—before she’s next.

This teen thriller by Michele Jaffe will keep readers turning pages well into the night.

Review ~ The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) ~ Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

Published: April 24th 2012

By: Harlequin

From: netgalley

First line: They hung the unregistered in the old warehouse district; it was a public execution, so everyone went to see.

Last line: Looking up at the approaching rabids, I smiled.

Fave line: Sorry, too many!!

Anyone who reads the blog will know that I tend to go a tad, okay, more than a tad fangirly over anything written by Julie Kagawa. I absolutely loved the Iron Fey series, am a staunch member of Team Ash and have spent the last year or so convincing everyone I know of their need to buy the series. I was therefore really excited to hear that Kagawa was moving on to the world of vampires, mainly because if anyone was going to be able to put a new twist on the genre it was going to be her. Indeed The Immortal Rules was one of my most anticipated of 2012 and boy I was not disappointed!

Kagawa begins the first of the Blood of Eden series in the city of New Covington where our main female protagonist Allison Sekemoto lives on the fringe of society. There are choices you can make in this city which is run by vampires. You can be a feeder and be entitled to the trappings that come with the role or you can be an unregistered. Whilst being an unregistered means that you are free of the vampires it also means that survival is near impossible. Life is spent scavenging to survive and death is an everyday fact. Whilst out searching for resources Allison and the gang that she lives with are attacked by rabids (half zombie, half vampire) and Allison is left badly injured and facing an almost impossible decision. She can be Turned into a vampire by the bloodsucker that has saved her or die. Allison chooses to survive.

The story follows Allison as she makes the transition in to the vampire world as she is taught how to survive by Kanin, her saviour and now mentor. We see how she struggles to align herself with the vampires who are responsible for the death of her parents and how she tries to maintain her own sense of humanity even as she moves further away from the mortal world.

I love this book! I like that in Allison we have a butt-kicking heroine who is trying to be the best version of herself that she can be sticking to her human principles even when it seems impossible. That doesn’t mean she always succeeds, and it was intriguing to read the process that Allison goes through as she tries to fight back against her dark side. And in this book the vampires certainly are dark! There’s some amazing action in this story and I loved the transient nature of Allison’s relationships as she realises that forging a bond with anyone is pointless and more to the point dangerous for the other party – she is after all a predator. As she evolves so do the people she finds herself surrounded by from the vulnerable Stick who was her friend whilst she was mortal, to her guide to the vampire world, Kanin to Zeke. Zeke is one of a gang of mortals who are trying to find Eden, a place which legend has it is vampire free. Somehow Allison ends up on the journey with them and a relationship develops between Allison and Zeke on the way but whether it can survive when Zeke finds out what she is? Well that’s for you to find out. You can’t help but feel for Allison knowing that the mortal world that she still relates to so much considers her to be nothing more than a beast and this is compounded as you watch her struggle with her new immortality and her sometimes obsessive need to feed which is to her nothing short of repulsive.

I love that the story has a dystopian setting. Kagawa has created a world here which adds a nice twist to all vampyric tales that have gone before. Everything is so easy to conjure up in your mind and I loved the main characters, particularly Stick for some reason.... I hope he gets a break! I also liked Kanin and Zeke and I’m really looking forward to reading more about them in future instalments. As for Allison – the YA genre now has a new heroine and she is fierce! Book two now please!!

Rating: 5/5. I loved this book sooo much! Can’t wait to get my hands on the next instalment!!

In My Mailbox #53

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted over at The Story Siren. This meme allows us bloggers to show what books we receive each week. All links will take you to goodreads.

We love sharing our books with you each week but more then that we loving seeing what books you get each week!!

What seemed to start off as a slow week in books, mainly because Bungle is still trying not to buy anything, turned out to be a rather nice week for the Midnight Reads team!

First off Helen was extra good again this week and kept her purse strings tightly closed. How does she do it!? Bungle was good too though and she didn't buy anything but she got some awesome books!

Bungle's Mailbox
I am extra excited this week because of the books that came through my door & also because of the awesome 'spill the ink' box from Harpercollins which came to the bookshop. Have I told you how much I love working at Waterstones!?!?!?! Here are my books:~

This is the awesome 'spill the ink' package which included:~

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr & mask (perfect colour, fits with the blog)

~I am super excited about Marr's book, I'm a BIG fan

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

There was also some information about Lauren Conrad's new book & a lolly, yummy!!

Also this week for review I got:~

Dreams by Daniela Sacerdoti

We are big fans of Daniela here at Midnight Reads and honestly I think Dreams looks like it was made for us ;)

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

I'm not gonna lie, we like to be honest here at Midnight Reads, I'm not a fan of Picoult's fiction titles but this YA that she has written with her daughter looks brill!

Sally's Mailbox

I have three books to report this week.  For Easter I treated myself to Blood Red Road by Moira Young which I've been hearing fab things about.  I also got a copy of A Million Suns by Beth Revis which I've been waiting for for ages.  It seems like a decade has passed since I read Across the Universe.  I'm not sure about the cover on this one... That said I'm about a third the way in and I'm really enjoying it! *Bungle butting in* I totally agree about the cover! Why have they done that!? Back to Sally. For review I got a copy of Dreams #1 of The Sarah Midnight Trilogy by Daniela Sacerdoti which arrived in the mail yesterday and made my day!  This is my next read so I'll be putting up a review for this one soon. *Bungle butting in, again* I told you we are big fans of Daniela!



So that's what we got this week, awesome right!?!

We're off to see what you got :)

New Signautre Designs

We thought we'd share our new signatures with you :)

I have been thinking for a while I would love a signature for the end of my posts that represents me and after speaking to my boyfriend he offered to design me one. I didn't really tell him much just that I wanted nice font and some kind of image. And this is what I got..............

I think he knows me better than I thought because I love my new signature!! Over the last few years I have developed a liking for faeries, I think this is mainly due to reading Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series, and I love that he added one to my name! After Helen and Sally saw my signature they naturally wanted new ones too :) Helen's brief was green and Florence like, as in Florence and the Machine and this is what she got...................

Sally asked for an Angel to be sat on her Y and I think the colour works perfect with what she asked for.

We hope you like our new signatures just as much as we do and we are looking forward to using them in our future posts :)

Designs are that of Nicholas Uttley/Spikeenick please do not copy them. If you would like help with a design please get in touch with us at the blog email address.



Cover Reveal:~ Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor



Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Paperback edition

Here is the cover for the paperback edition of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone. I loved loved loved this book and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book! You can read my 5* review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone here.

When I opened the email with this cover reveal I just though wow! There is something so striking about this cover, for me it feels so other-worldly almost instantly the story started to play out again in my head. The doorway fits perfectly with the setting of the book and I love the image of the book on the floor with the torn out pages.

I feel like this cover has a more adult feel about it than the hardback did and I'm looking forward to getting in at the bookshop, it will definitely be a 'faceout' in section!

What do you think of this cover? we would love to hear your thoughts.



Review ~ Pure ~ Julianna Baggott

Title: Pure

Author: Julianne Baggott

Published: Feb 8th 2012

By: Hatchette

From: netgalley

First line: There was a low droning a week or so after the detonations; time was hard to track.

Last line: And then the cindered wood starts to shiver in that spot and one by one, the black boxes pull themselves up from the char.

Synopsis: We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

I’m huge fan of anything dystopian/post-apocalyptic and so this seemed like the perfect choice for me, indeed there was a lot about this book that I really wanted to like. When I started reading I did take a liking to Pressia and Partridge and felt that there was a vulnerability about their characters that ensured you were rooting for them. Unfortunately that enthusiasm didn’t last long and by the end of the book I wasn’t quite so bothered. Some details regarding the characters, more particularly the deformities they suffer from as a result of the apocalypse are quite sinister (and indeed pretty original!) although I felt that even for me the boundaries of my imagination were being stretched too far. I think for me it was the writing style that put me off more than anything in as much as it felt like a series of stage directions with a script rather than a story. The plot was a little thin at times and the emotion the characters portrayed seemed to appear only at the surface level. That said, there may be readers who might find the style of writing punchy and may not be such big fans of the overly dramatic prose. If that is the case I would absolutely recommend this book to you. As I said at the beginning, the premise is a brilliant one, I just didn't feel it was particularly well executed. Sadly, as much as I wanted it to be this was not the book for me.

2.5/5. An excellent idea for a story, but it just wasn’t for me.

On why YA isn't just for YA at all...

It’s been nearly a year since I started writing reviews for Midnight Reads and what a year it’s been! During that time I’ve met some amazing authors, read some breathtaking books and found myself becoming part of a community full of people who, whether you agree with their opinion or not, are passionate about what they read.

It’s a community that has grown at a tremendous rate. The UK’s Living Costs and Food survey is a study which details what the nation is buying on a regular basis, from cooked chickens to lottery tickets and everything in between. The most recent release however showed that the purchase of YA books has now crept onto the consumer’s list. YA fiction is beginning to really make its mark on society.

It’s not difficult to see why it’s happened. When I’ve attended writer’s events I’ve been amazed at how readers (young and old) enthuse about the characters and at how they’ve dissected every word and sentiment within the books they’ve read. Invariably discussing one book leads to the mention of another and another. When I went to see Cassandra Clare in London I left having met some wonderful people and with a to-read list of about a dozen series that I’d never heard of! Adaptation of books to film is another contributory factor. The release of The Hunger Games movie saw all three books fly back up the charts and when I went to see the film there were dozens of fans sitting in the queue reading as they waited to be let into the auditorium, their hair braided just like Catniss’s. One girl had gone as far as to draw on Seneca’s beard! So the market keeps expanding and more and more teens and adults are turning back to reading because of YA, indeed it was the release of Twilight that bought me back to a genre that I had loved as a teen but seemed to lose somewhere along the way...

So why is it that YA has become so popular among the adult population? I think that YA fiction not only evokes some kind of teen nostalgia in adult readers but also offers a fresh kind of hope that perhaps a lot of adult fiction doesn’t. There’s a newness and a certain naivety that doesn’t exist in books written about adult life which we as adults find appealing. Romances are fresh, new and trusting whereas in adult fiction there is often a back tale which has left the main protagonist leaving bitter, twisted and gnarled inside. The fantastical stories in YA often hark back to myths and stories that we as adults read as children ourselves and there’s nothing more comforting than being able to regress back to a more simplistic time where right and wrong were easily distinguishable and where the right choice is clear even if it’s not easy. The books we choose have the ability to re-light something in our imagination which has perhaps been snuffed by the harsh realities of adult life. It’s so much easier to contemplate and disappear into other worlds such as those created by Julie Kagawa or Veronica Roth than it is to sit down and contemplate mundane stress-inducing issues such as finances and real-life relationships (or it is for me at least!). So maybe it’s as simple as that – it’s pure escapism and what better reason do you need if you need any at all?

So there you are, the reason why I think adults are flocking to YA as much as young adults are! And hey if it gives us something to smile and swoon over even if it’s for a short time, then long may it continue!!

Happy Easter everyone!!

Review ~ Goddess Interrupted ~ Aimee Carter

Title: Goddess Interrupted

Author: Aimee Carter

Published: March 27th 2012

By: Harlequin

From: netgalley

First line: Calliope trudged through the sunny field as she ignored the babble of the redhead trailing behind her.

Last line: With that she cracked the stone against the back of my head, and the world went blank.

Goddess Interrupted is the sequel to the extremely promising Goddess Test by Aimee Carter which I was looking forward to reading having enjoyed it’s predecessor. We pick up the story pretty much where we left off. Kate has achieved immortality, succeeding where others before her have failed and is to become Queen of the Underworld ruling alongside Henry. We join her as she returns from her six months back in the ‘real world’ if you will.

It’s not too long before things start going wrong. There are some issues that she has dragged back with her, like her potential relationship with James and the fact the her life is still on the line because of Calliope. Add to that the fact thatKate is almost instantly disillusioned by what will be her new home as soon as she enters it and then to make matters worse Henry seems to be cold and distant, the anticipated welcome home is a no show. The icing on the cake? Cronus, one of the original Titans has begun a slow and tortuous escape from his cell and is intent on causing havoc. It would seem that the only person that can help them out of the dilemma is Persephone, Henry’s unrequited love and it falls on Kate to do something about it.

There are loads of familiar and new characters in this story and I thought the on the whole the plot progressed really well. However, there was one aspect of the book that really grated and that was Kate’s perpetual whining about her relationship or lack of with Henry. There was plenty of action throughout the story and it felt at times as though her constant emotional turmoil prevented her from being the kick-ass heroine she actually had the potential to be. I hope the character develops further in the final book in the series as she has great potential to do so which brings me on to the cliff-hanger and it is a doozy! Not that I’ll be telling you what it is – that would be spoilery madness! Am looking forward to seeing how this series culminates and we’ll get to find out in #3 The Goddess Inheritance. Fingers crossed it won’t be too long!

Rating: 3.5/5. I did enjoy this book even after the above criticisms and would absolutely recommend, particularly if you’re a fan of the mythology genres.

The Hunger Games

So by now the world and his wife has read The Hunger Games and it has been reviewed to the moon and back since the release of the film. So for these reasons I won't be doing a normal review for this book!

When I first started working at Waterstones four years ago it wasn't until about my second year there that I really got stuck into my reading again. My Assistant Manager at the time loved reading books from the teen/ya section and she spoke about The Hunger Games all the time but for some reason I failed to pick the book and read even though we had similar taste.

I think the problem was there was so much hype about a book I think you may have heard of, Breaking Dawn, do you know it? Well anyway, I didn't have a clue what it was at the time and I didn't know how big the Twilight books were but these two teenage girls spoke about how much they loved Edward I was sucked into the whole Twilight world and the world of paranormal romance. And I read anything from that genre I could get my hands on and it was not until the hype of The Hunger Games film that I picked up the books.

I was at the cinema and the trailer for The Hunger Games played and I thought it looked pretty awesome so the next day I bought the trilogy. But other books got in the way and I was very naughty and ended up watching the film before reading the book! I know, I know! For many readers this is a sin and I always say to the Harry Potter watchers how they should have read the books first. But after seeing The Hunger Games and then reading the book I was not disappointed!!

Of all the books I have read that have been turned into films The Hunger Games is the best adaptation I have ever seen!! And isn't that a statement an half!?! For me the film captured the essence of the book so well. Yes a few mini characters were left out here and there but that was fine by me because after reading about them in the book I had forgotten them a few seconds later. And a few other things may have been changed but not enough to take away from the book.

The only problem with seeing a film before reading the book is that the characters faces are already in your mind and you are robbed of your own imagination. But if I'm honest I preferred it that way with this book and I enjoyed the book just as much as the film and I am very much looking forward to starting Catching Fire tonight.

In My Mailbox #52

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted over at The Story Siren. This meme allows us bloggers to show what books we receive each week.

We love sharing our books with you each week but more then that we loving seeing what books you get each week!!


So this week Sally has been extra good and has stayed away from the book shops. Is this the first time Sally has had nothing to add to IMM? I think it might be ;) Sally hasn't been feeling great this week though so we hope she feels better soon!!

Bungle's books
I was good and I didn't buy any books this week!!!! I can't say it hasn't been tempting, after my week off there are so many amazing looking books that have been added to the shelves. I did get sent two books though his week which were Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway and one of my favourite reps sent me Sara Grant's Dark Parties.

Helen's books



I decided to treat myself this week and I have firstly bought The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen, Sarah Addison Allen is one of my favourite authors and I have wanted this book for awhile!
The second book I purchased this week was the final instalment of 'The Fallen Star' series by Jessica Sorensen, The Promise. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and I am really looking forward to seeing how the story concludes.

So that's what we got this week, now we're off to see what you got this week.

Happy reading everyone!!