Stacking the Shelves #92

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tyngs's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your  shelves, may they be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

We love sharing our books with you each week but more importantly we loving see what you add to your shelves.

Clicking on a book will take you to goodreads.

 Don't Look Back ~ Jennifer L Armentrout ~ netgalley
Dustlands ~ Moira Young _ Bought
Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Signed) ~ Laini Taylor ~ Bought
The Forever Song ~ Julie Kagawa ~ Bought
Retribution ~ Amy Rachel Thompson ~ netgalley

Grasshopper Jungle ~ Andrew Smith ~ unsolicited from publisher

The Kingdom of Little Wounds ~ Susann Cokal ~ from publisher for review

Love Letters to the Dead ~ Ava Dellaira ~ from publisher for review

The Lovely & the Lost ~ Page Morgan ~ from publisher for review

More Than This ~ Patrick Ness ~from publisher for review

 The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender ~ Leslye Walton ~ from publisher for review

Now that's a stack of books! So, tell us, what did you get this week?

Happy reading!

Review ~ The Belief in Angels ~

Title: The Belief in Angels

Author: J. Dylan Yates

Published: 28th April 2014

By: She Writes Press

First line:Sometimes, in order to tell a story well, so it's truly understood, you have to tell it out of order.

Last line:  Survive for your family who pray that they will see you again; survive for all who could not.

Source: netgalley

Synopsis: Growing up in her parents’ crazy hippie household on a tiny island off the coast of Boston, Jules’s imaginative sense of humor is the weapon she wields to dodge household chaos. But somewhere between routine discipline with horsewhips, gun-waving gambling debt collectors, and LSD-laced breakfast cereal adventures, tragedy strikes with the death of her younger brother—a blow from which Jules may never fully recover.

Jules’ story alternates with that of her Grandfather Samuel, a man with a sad story of his own. Samuel, once called Szaja, is an orthodox Jew who lived through the murderous Ukranian pogroms of the 1920s and the Majdanek Death Camp—but whose survival came at a price that’s haunted him for years.

This is not an easy book to read and I would question whether this should be labelled as 'new adult'. The NA category I thought applied to readers who considered themselves too 'grown-up' for YA but were looking for something in a similar vein with perhaps a touch of spice.  The Belief in Angels is, for me, more of an adult read, mostly because of the content of the book.

The two tales that are interwoven are written beautifully and J. Dylan Yates manages to evoke a gamut of emotions. I found myself swinging from utter rage at the selfishness of Jules's parents who needed more than a slap and the tale of Samael and his struggle to survive the nazi atrocities and to exist back in the real world afterwards.

Many reviewers have described this as a coming of age tale but I would argue that the story content is too complex and at times traumatic to be considered so.  Instead, I would say this book is more a story of survival. It shows how a person's character can be strengthened by an existence which seems all out to destroy them and that no matter how dysfunctional a family may be one can choose to take a better, more peaceful path. 

If you're looking for something away from the norm, something that will pull at the heartstrings more than a tad then this may be the book for you.

4/5 - Well worth a read.

Review ~ Immortal Hunter ( Extinction Underground #2) ~ Kait Ballenger

Title: Immortal Hunter

Author: Kait Ballenger

Published:  April 1st

By: Harlequin

First line: David Aronowitz unsheathed his dagger and studied the weapon.

Last line:  One day you'll even be able to look back on the memories of carrying him and be able to smile.

Source: netgalley


* This is an adult read

Synopsis: Hunters of the supernatural, the Execution Underground are an elite group tasked with protecting humanity…but at what price?

As an exorcist, David Aronowitz grew up the target of demonic assassins. Now he's a member of the Execution Underground, and hellspawn everywhere fear his name. But when a demon slips into the seductive body of the only woman he's ever loved, David must confront the heartbreak of their past to save her.

The piece of her heart Allsún O'Hare gave to David so long ago left her trapped between two worlds: the Fae and the human. And when David comes to her rescue, fate reunites her with her greatest temptation—and her biggest mistake.

Now, as they're swept together into a wicked game with the demon who controls her, David must decide if saving Allsún's life is worth sacrificing his own—and the future of humanity itself.

I have to admit when I got this book through netgalley I was completely unaware that this was the second book in the series.  In fact I'd read the whole book before I found out.  The book definitely stands alone but now I know it's #2 I'll be going back to find number one.

I loved the relationship between Allsun and David.  They've lived and loved and fallen apart in a spectacularly messy fashion. There's a lot of history behind the split, most of which David is blissfully unaware of and I was a bit frustrated at how he was kept in the dark for so long, although I guess I can also understand Allsun's perspective.   That said, the bond between them is a strong one and it only serves to carry the plot forward.  The same can be said for the other major players and now, knowing that this is a series there are several other characters I'll be looking forward to reading about. Ballenger creates a group of fully rounded characters in this book and she leaves you intrigued about each and every one of them. I'm particularly looking forward to reading more about Damon.

Yes, this is a demon hunter series but there are aspects to this book that make it stand apart from other series I've read. The group has links to individuals in the wider community, the methods they use to fight differ in design and the nature of demon possessions is well detailed.  The storyline is well though through and it's clear that there are bigger dirtier battles waiting to be fought.

4/5 I can't wait for the next book in the series!