Review: Feral

 

Title: Feral

Author: Holly Schindler

Release date:  August 26th 2014              

Publisher: HarperTeen 

The Lovely Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological thriller with twists and turns that will make you question everything you think you know.
It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words continue to haunt Claire Cain months after she barely survived a brutal beating in Chicago. So when her father is offered a job in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out will offer her a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an overwhelming sense of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular high school student in the icy woods behind the school, surrounded by the town’s feral cats. While everyone is quick to say it was an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it, and vows to learn the truth about what happened. But the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to realizing a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley….

Holly Schindler’s gripping story is filled with heart-stopping twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the very last page

Oh Feral, what am I going to do with you? On one hand you were crazy and weird and pretty much what I love about these types of books. But then on the other hand, it was not at all where I wanted or thought it would go. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing it just really had this big build up that kept you guessing what was going on that by the time it was revealed it deflated.

Review: The Girl from the Well (yes, that well)

 

The Girl from the Well
Author: Rin Chupeco
Publication Date: August 5th 2014        
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
 

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story 

 

 

 

The Girl from the Well is one I'd love to say I loved, the concept was perfect for me. The ultimate scare because I absolutely freak out when it comes to these types of spirits/myths, as of Bloody Mary. The Ring scared the crap out of me, a few years ago insomnia kicked in and I couldn't sleep and I was too tired to read so I put the TV on, and guess what it just happens to be on? Yup. The Ring. Right were she's coming out of the well. Needless to say that night I didn't sleep at all and decided to stare at the static just to make sure nothing moved.

Review: The Fearless

The Fearless
Author:  Emma Pass

Publication Date: April 24th 2014
~A copy was provided by RHCP and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~

 

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The Fearless. An army, powered by an incredible new serum that makes each soldier stronger, sharper, faster than their enemies. Intended as a force for good, the serum has a terrible side-effect - anyone who takes it is stripped of all humanity, empathy, love. And as the Fearless sweep through the country, forcing the serum on anyone in their path, society becomes a living nightmare.

Cass remembers the night they passed through her village. Her father was Altered. Her mother died soon after. All Cass has left is her little brother - and when Jori is snatched by the Fearless and taken to their hellish lair, Cass must risk everything to get him back.

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So this isn't a DNF review (I kind of wish it was), but it's going to be more of a rant because I just hate myself for just not DNF'ing it. I'd already done it with like three for April, so I just felt so bad if I had, but really, it would've been worth it because the first thing I have to say about The Fearless is that it's so boring.

Review: This Wicked Game

This Wicked Game
Author: Michelle Zink

Publication Date: November 14th 2013      
Publisher: Dial         

 

 

 



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Claire Kincaid’s family has been in business for over fifty years.

The voodoo business.

Part of the International Guild of High Priests and Priestesses, a secret society that have practiced voodoo for generations, the Kincaid’s run an underground supply house for authentic voodoo supplies. Claire plays along, filling orders for powders, oils and other bizarre ingredients in the family store, but she has a secret.

She doesn’t believe.

Struggling to reconcile her modern sensibilities with a completely unscientific craft based on suspicion, Claire can’t wait to escape New Orleans – and voodoo – when she goes to college, a desire that creates almost constant conflict in her secret affair with Xander Toussaint, son of the Guild’s powerful founding family.

But when a mysterious customer places an order for a deadly ingredient, Claire begins to realize that there’s more to voodoo – and the families that make up the Guild – than meets the eye.

Including her own.

As she bands together with the other firstborns of the Guild, she comes face to face with a deadly enemy – and the disbelief that may very well kill her.

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*Some spoilers ahead, since it's impossible to explain without them.

I can't believe I'm saying this but this wasn't good. I know,  it's about Voodoo, and darkness and curses and voodoo dolls and all those wonderful stuff that is just right up my alley. I love reading about it. And since it's set in New Orleans, the same as Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton, that though is more Greek Mythology than Voodoo, it's kind of a mixed one that I loved. I so wanted to love this one just the same...and didn't.

Review: Elusion

Elusion
Author: Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam

Publication Date: March 18th 2014           

~A copy was provided by Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

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Soon, Elusion® will change the world and life as we know it.
A new technology called Elusion is sweeping the country. An app, visor and wristband will virtually transport you to an exotic destination where adventure can be pursued without the complications—or consequences—of real life.

Regan is an Elusion insider. Or at least she used to be. Her father invented the program, and her best friend, Patrick, heir to the tech giant Orexis, is about to release it nationwide. But ever since her father’s unexpected death, Regan can’t bear to Escape, especially since waking up from the dream means crashing back to her grim reality.

Still, when there are rumors of trouble in Elusion—accusations that it’s addictive and dangerous— Regan is determined to defend it. But the critics of Elusion come from surprising sources, including Josh, the handsome skeptic with his own personal stakes. As Regan investigates the claims, she discovers a disturbing web of secrets. She will soon have to choose between love and loyalty…a decision that will affect the lives of millions.

Suspense, thrills, and romance fuel this near-future story about the seductive nature of a perfect virtual world, and how far one girl will go to uncover the truth behind the illusions.

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I'll start this one with a questions that's plagued me since the beginning of Elusion. What happened to the actual world that it's in the state it's in? Terrorist attack? Some natural disaster? Some evil thing that devastated it? Oh, what's that?

We don't get to know.

Review: The Academy: Love Match

The Academy: Love Match
Author:  Monica Seles

Publication Date: February 25th 2014  (February 14h  UK)           

~A copy was provided by Bloomsbury Childrens  via Netgalely in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

What cover do you prefer?

 

 

 

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The Academy is the sports school everyone is talking about. But for Maya, it seems getting in was the easy part. It’s staying there that’s tough. To succeed it takes more than just talent. You need fame . . .

After a star performance in the semi-finals at a tennis competition, Maya is labelled The Next Big Thing and books a high-profile modelling job. The only problem is her co-star in the campaign is her super-hot ex-boyfriend, Jake Reed – and this is a job that her rival, Nicole, wants! Maya’s only just put the betrayal by Jake and Nicole behind her and now Maya is being drawn back into a circle of jealousy and desire. Luckily, she knows Nicole’s latest secret and gossip is a powerful weapon at The Academy!

If you adore Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls, you’ll be mad about the sassy new series The Academy.

 

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 Personally, I prefer the first, it looks less...childish.

The Academy: Love Match was not what I was expecting, and in a bad way. I liked the first one okay, though It wasn't my favourite, I did enjoy the drama. So because of that I wanted to see where the second one took us. Love Match being the second in the series I was expecting progression, and that's where it failed.

Review: White Space

White Space
Author:   Ilsa J. Bick

Publication Date:  February 11th 2014                           

~A copy was provided by Egmont USA via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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 In the tradition of Memento and Inception comes a thrilling and scary young adult novel about blurred reality where characters in a story find that a deadly and horrifying world exists in the space between the written lines.

Seventeen-year-old Emma Lindsay has problems: a head full of metal, no parents, a crazy artist for a guardian whom a stroke has turned into a vegetable, and all those times when she blinks away, dropping into other lives so ghostly and surreal it's as if the story of her life bleeds into theirs. But one thing Emma has never doubted is that she's real.

Then she writes "White Space," a story about these kids stranded in a spooky house during a blizzard.

Unfortunately, "White Space" turns out to be a dead ringer for part of an unfinished novel by a long-dead writer. The manuscript, which she's never seen, is a loopy Matrix meets Inkheart story in which characters fall out of different books and jump off the page. Thing is, when Emma blinks, she might be doing the same and, before long, she's dropped into the very story she thought she'd written. Trapped in a weird, snow-choked valley, Emma meets other kids with dark secrets and strange abilities: Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie. What they discover is that they--and Emma--may be nothing more than characters written into being from an alternative universe for a very specific purpose.

Now what they must uncover is why they've been brought to this place--a world between the lines where parallel realities are created and destroyed and nightmares are written--before someone pens their end.

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It took me 8 hours over 6 days to finish this. Yes, it's longer than the usual, but I couldn't handle more than over an hour at a time because I literally couldn't take anymore of it.

So, who else thought this is going to be awesome when they heard The Matrix meets Inkheart?  I don't know whether to cry or go back to sleep. You know everybody who watched Lost from the beginning and towards the end though we're finally going to get it and then it ended like that and you wanted 6 years of your life back? I want my 6 days back. And then I realised it's only book one and of course I'm going to have to read book two because I want to know what's going on.

Review: All That Glows

All That Glows
Author:  Ryan Graudin

Publication Date:  February 11th 2014                          

~A copy was provided by HarperTeen  via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.

When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love

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I'm not a huge fan of Fae stories. I've read a few, but I'm not Team Fae. So what made me download All That Glows? Well, the fact that it's centred in London and about the Royal family, even if it's  a fictional one.  Was it what I was expecting?

Yes and no.

Yes, to the fact it was interesting, the whole system of The Guard- Fae who protect the Royal family throughout generations, from The Green Woman, Banshee's, Black Dogs, and well, themselves. It was a fun take, and restoring back to Arthurian, definitely caught my attention, because I love anything to do with that.

ARC Review: Gretel and the Dark

Gretel and the Dark
Author:  Eliza Granville

Publication Date:  February 6th 2014   

~An Advance Readers Copy was provided in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gretel and the Dark is Eliza Granville's dazzling novel of darkness, evil - and hope. Vienna, 1899.

Josef Breuer - celebrated psychoanalyst - is about to encounter his strangest case yet. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings - to be, in fact, not even human. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance.

Years later, in Germany, we meet Krysta. Krysta's Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the 'animal people', so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper, and more. And when everything changes and the real world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could have ever guessed . . .

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Say hello to my little friend...

Joking.

I'm not friends with this book. So...

EARC-Review: Witch Finder

Witch Finder
Author: Ruth Warburton

Publication Date: January 2nd 2014        

~A huge thank you to Hodder Children's Books, and Netgalley, who provided a copy in exchange for an honest review.~  




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London. 1880. In the slums of Spitalfields apprentice blacksmith Luke is facing initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum, the fearsome brotherhood dedicated to hunting and killing witches.

Luke’s final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself. Luke knows that tonight will change his life forever. But when he picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine.

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I am very indecisive about Witch Finder. I would love to say I loved it. But I can't. I didn't. I would love to say I hated it. But I can't. I didn't. Though there are some aspects of both that I did love and did hate. Of which I'll discuss later on in detail, but one of the main thing Witch Finder has going for it is the fact it is very well done and authentic. Written in third person, and split into two perspectives you have two stories to contend with, that has to be seamlessly in sync with one another, which, for the most part, were. Needless to say, Witch Finder wasn't exactly what I was expecting. With historicals, it's all about the execution. Though it was executed well, there was something that didn't sit well.

Review: The Rules

The Rules
Author: Stacey Kade

Publication Date: April 23rd 2013        
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
 

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules.

Dear Hannah Montana, where did this book go?

Disappointment, disappointment, disappointment.

It was so promising, it really was..

Review: Witchstruck

Witchstruck
Author: Victoria Lamb

Publication Date: September 24th 2013        

~A copy was provided by Harlequin Teen, via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.~

If she sink, she be no witch and shall be drowned. If she float, she be a witch and must be hanged.

Meg Lytton has always known she is different; that she bears a dark and powerful gift. But in 1554 England, in service at Woodstock Palace to the banished Tudor princess Elizabeth, it has never been more dangerous to practice witchcraft. Meg knows she must guard her secret carefully from the many suspicious eyes watching over the princess and her companions. One wrong move could mean her life, and the life of Elizabeth, rightful heir to the English throne. With witchfinder Marcus Dent determined to have Meg's hand in marriage, and Meg's own family conspiring against the English queen, there isn't a single person Meg can trust. Certainly not the enigmatic young Spanish priest Alejandro de Castillo, despite her undeniable feelings. But when all the world turns against her, Meg must open her heart to a dangerous choice.



This review has some spoilers, since I couldn't actually write it spoiler free with my issues with it.

You know when you can read the first couple of pages and know you'll like it? You can pretty much tell by the writing and voice of the character, I was indecisive about Witchstruck and Meg for a while, I liked the beginning and I thought eventually it would evolve into something that could have been done really great.

Review: Two Lies and A Spy

Two Lies and A Spy
Author: Kat Carlton

Publication Date: September 3rd 2013        

Publisher: Simon & Schuster  

Kari plunges into the world of espionage on a mission to save her parents while trying to impress the guy she’s been in love with forever.

When sixteen-year-old Kari’s dad sends her an unexpected text, she and her brother immediately go into hiding. Because when your parents are superspies and your dad declares a Code Black, it can only mean something bad. Very bad.

Kari soon discovers that her parents have been disavowed and declared traitors, and she’s determined to clear their names. Breaking into the Agency seems like a reasonable plan, especially with the help of a team that includes her long-time crush, Luke, as well as her two best friends—an expert hacker with attitude and a master martial artist—and Luke’s popular, vindictive twin sister. Oh, and a new guy, who’s as cute as he is complicated.

 

Alright folks, I have 12 words for you.

Two Lies and a Spy rates from cutesy to right out ridiculous.

That pretty much sums  it up perfectly, unfortunately.

I was expecting a cross between Alex Rider and Gallagher girls.

 

What did I get?

A mess, that's what.

 

Review: Unbreakable

Unbreakable
Author: Kami Garcia

Publication Date: October 1st 2013        
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me.
 When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.



I really, really wanted to like Unbreakable.

1) It was in one of my Waiting on Wednesdays

and

2) It was pitched as Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code.

What wasn't there to like?

A. Lot.