Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls

(The Mortal Instruments 5)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: McElderry Books, 2012

Genre: YA Paranormal

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Overview

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Review: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Spell Bound

(Hex Hall 3)

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Hyperion Books, 2012

Genre: YA Paranormal

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Overview

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

Review: Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

Awake at Dawn

(Shadow Falls 2)

Author: C.C. Hunter

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal
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Goodreads

Now that she’s settled in at Shadow Falls Camp, Kylie Galen’s determined to discover the extent of her supernatural abilities.  But with a ghost insisting someone Kylie loves is about die, a rogue vampire on a murdering rampage, and her sixth sense telling her someone is watching her, Kylie’s quest for answers is quickly put on hold. 

To make matters worse, just when she’s about to give her heart to Derek, a half-fairy, he starts pulling away.  When Lucas, a werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past, returns, Kylie’s feels more conflicted than ever. Her weekend with her mom should have been the just the break Kylie needs, but it turns out to be her breaking point.  Someone from the dark side of the supernatural world has plans for Kylie--and it'll take all her resources to get back to Shadow Falls alive...

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall 
Author: Rachel Hawkins 
Publisher: Disney Hyperion, 2010 
Genre: YA Paranormal
Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD

 

Goodreads

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father-an elusive European warlock-only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus.

Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Review: Twisted by Gena Showalter

Twisted

(Intertwined 3)

Author: Gena Showalter

Publisher: Harlequin Teen, 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal 
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Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Aden Stone has had a hell of a week. He’s been:
Tortured by angry witches.
Hypnotized by a vengeful faery.
Spied on by the most powerful vampire in existence.
And, oh, yeah. Killed – twice.

His vampire girlfriend might have brought him back to life, but he’s never felt more out of control. There’s a darkness within him, something taking over . . . changing him. Worse, because he was meant to die, death now stalks him at every turn. Any day could be his last.

Once upon a time, the three souls trapped inside his head could have helped him. He could have protected himself. But as the darkness grows stronger, the souls grow weaker – just like his girlfriend. The more vampire Aden becomes, the more human Victoria becomes, until everything they know and love is threatened.

Life couldn’t get any worse.
Could it?

Review: Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Born at Midnight

(Shadow Falls 1)

Author: C.C. Hunter

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal 
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Goodreads

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

Review: Fate Fixed by Bonnie Erina Wheeler

Fate Fixed

(The Erris Coven Series, Book 1)

Author: Bonnie Erina Wheeler

Publisher: Compelling Read

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
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Goodreads

When Lexie's mother announces she is marrying a Romanian immigrant, Lexie leaves behind her life in Connecticut for her penance in "The Moose Capital of the World." Small town living is strange enough, now Lexie must cope with her overbearing stepfamily monitoring her every move. They disappear into the woods and keep a secret locked in their shed. Her calm mother is now having violent outbursts and Lexie's sister is hearing sinister sounds coming from the forest behind their home. She soon discovers the boy she has been dreaming about is living in Maine. Despite Torin's reputations, Lexie cannot resist the attraction pulsating between them. Animals and people are turning up dead and Lexie learns the strange, new world she lives in has real-life monsters. When she decides she wants to be with Torin forever, she must fight to protect her family from a formidable evil.

Review: Intertwined by Gena Showalter

Intertwined

Author: Gena Showalter

Publisher: Harlequin, 2009

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
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Goodreads

There's something about the new guy at Crossroads High…

Most sixteen-year-olds have friends.

Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:

One can time travel.

One can raise the dead.

One can possess another human.

One can tell the future.

Everyone thinks he's crazy, which is why he's spent his entire life shuffled between mental institutions and juvie. All of that is about to change, however. For months Aden has been having visions of a beautiful girl—a girl who carries centuries-old secrets. A girl who will either save him or destroy him.

Together they'll enter a dark world of intrigue and danger…but not everyone will come out alive.

Review: Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Raised by Wolves

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Publisher: Egmont, 2010

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance 
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Goodreads

Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.

But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?

Review: Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Wolfsbane

Author: Andrea Cremer

Publisher: Philomel, 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
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Goodreads

Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer-one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack-and the man-she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Nightshade

Author: Andrea Cremer

Publisher: Philomel, 2010

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
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Goodreads

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

TGIF

Meme by GReads

This Friday's Question:

Character Envy: If you could be one character from a book, 

who would you choose & why?

1) Rose Hathaway, from Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. If there ever was a more badass teenage girl around, it’s Rose. She is fiercely loyal to her friends, fights for what she believes in, is not afraid to get her hands dirty, and always needs to be in action. She has a hunk of a Russian boyfriend who can make you go weak at the knees with just one look.

2) Mercy Thompson from Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson series. She is a VW mechanic and coyote shifter with some pretty awesome tattoos and a kick ass body to display them. Her best friends are a hippie vampire, a gay werewolf and his human mate. Plus she has a drool worthy werewolf neighbor who always manages to bring the sexual tension up a notch...or two. 

~lauramw

3) Aly of Pirate's Swoop from Tamora Pierce's Daughter of the Lioness novels. Her mind runs a mile per second, and her plans cover every scenario possible, and she leads a whole nation to revolution. Although this calls for the dethatched nature of a spymaster, Aly manages to make friends and become intensely loyal to them. Also, with the persistence and affection of a crow-turned-sexy-man, she learns to love.

4) Kaylin Neya of Michelle Sagara West's Chronicles of Elantra. She lives in a world were dragons stay in their human forms and their anger is reflected by the color of their eyes (run if you see the eyes turn orange or red), god-like races constantly battle in court, a lion-man is her boss and roars at her daily for being late to work, phone calls are made through mirrors, and she has these weird tattoos on her skin which not even the greater mages (the dragons) can decipher or match in power. Her childhood sweetheart, turned grown-up enemy really cares and looks out for her, and even if she doesn’t want to admit it to herself, she still loves him.

Friday Finds (3)

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading.The idea is to post great books that you heard about/discover this past week.

~My Werewolf Finds~

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

When the FBI request a pack consultant on a serial killer case they're following in Boston, Anna and Charles are sent in. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves – all of them were.

Someone is targeting their kind. And if Charles and Anna can't get to the bottom of this mystery, they may be next...

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses - or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who-s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

Wolf at the Door by Christie Warren

Sullivan Quinn didn’t travel 3,000 miles from his native Ireland and his wolf pack just to chase rabidly after the most delectable quarry he’s ever seen. Quinn is in America on a mission—to warn his Other brethren of a shadowy group willing to use murder and mayhem to bring them down. But one whiff of this Foxwoman’s delicious honeysuckle fragrance and he knows that she is more than a colleague or a conquest…she is his mate.

Anthropologist Cassidy Poe is a world-renowned authority on social interaction, but the overpowering desire she feels around Quinn defies every ounce of her expertise. Working by his side to uncover The Others’ enemies poses risks she never expected—to her own safety, to those she loves, and to her heart, as every encounter with Quinn proves more blissfully erotic than the last…

Now, with no one to trust but each other, Quinn and Cassidy face a foe that’s edging closer every day, threatening to destroy the life they’ve always known, and the passion they’ve just discovered

~My Dystopia Finds~

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Eve by Anna Carey

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares.

Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.

***Summaries are all from Goodreads***

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Forever  
(Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 3)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD

Goodreads

Then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

Now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

Forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment – a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

Out Today!

Two new book releases today!

First we have Dragon's Oath (A House of Night Novella) by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast. As the title indicates, it's the story of Dragon Lankford and how he comes to be the Sword Master at the House of Night.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The US cover seems to be a new design and its lovely but, I got myself the UK one, just because of the cover matches the other US covers.

And second, we have Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 3) by Maggie Stiefvater. A continuation to the series and the lovely romance between Sam and Grace. Will they ever find a cure for the wolves? And if not, how much longer before they're all wiped out by the hunting parties?

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Both of these covers just rock my socks.

I pre-ordered mine so they should be in the mail today and making their loooong journey to me.