Quote of the day

Two Moons by Elena Pavlova

Warning: The review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

First I guess I will have to say I'm not really a fan of short stories. By the time I get into the story and it ends. And this book is an anthology of 17 short stories. But... I loved it. Or most of it anyway.

Elven Song - bittersweet story of first love, absolutely loved it.

Three of Swords - nice story, not one of my personal favorites in the anthology but good

Three of Swords 2: The Royal Sword - another story with the characters from previous one. Funny, good but still doesn't make it to my personal top 3  from the book.

A Master of The Bow and Torinawa - one of the stories I wanted to be longer, picked my interest and... ended. Perfect example why I don't like short stories in general.

Cavanos' Dragons - and that's the story on 3d place in my personal top 3. What to say.... Dragons!

Moonlight Path - suspense, blood and... um, can I have a little more please?

Night Club - my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad one, just... really not my cup of tea.

Ghostly Afternoon - loved that one, almost made it to my top 3. Almost. I just liked three others a bit more. Good 4th though. 

They come from the hills at night 2.0 - another one of not exactly my favorites. Can't exactly point out why. Guess it just goes to the group "not my cup of tea", too.

To Walk On Water - nice little story. Read it and liked it... and promptly forgot it. It's a bit... too even, nothing much happens and in between the other ones, most of which have the impact of a hammer strike... just goes unnoticed, forgettable.

A Dinosaur for Christmas - I want one too. And some more of that story. Absolutely loved it. Deserving 2d place in my top 3.

Tasty to The Last Cup - for coffee lovers. Nice but also on the list of a bit forgettable. 

Nomad: The Killer Sleeps Downstairs - a bit overwhelming. Had the same problem with the book. It feels like you are being hit by a train but the violence gets a bit too much for my taste. Okay, I admit it, I'm squeamish. 

Closed Timelike Curve - had a lot of fun here. How much trouble exactly two boys with a time machine can get in?

Two Moons - somehow when I read the title (and the previous stories) I was expecting it to be about werewolves. And... it's not. Big surprise for me. In everything - plot, setting, main character. Got me curious. But not about what happens next as more stories do. Got me curious what happened before it started.

The Manipulator - hmmmmm, really not sure what to say about this one. Goes to the "not my cup of tea" category, I guess.

Winter Census Of The Vampire Population - my absolute favorite. I got swallowed by it, chewed and spit out to pick my pieces. Can I have more of it? Pretty please?

So in total: 

3 absolutely favorite stories

8 others I loved too

2 nice but forgettable

1 nice but got me squeamish

3 in the "not my cup of tea" category

Considering the fact that the book actually offers a little bit for everyone, I think I have a very nice count of likes. Anyone surprised? Well, that's Elena. If you have read something from her before - you won't. 

A World Apart by L.J.K. Oliva

I got the book free of charge from the author in exchange of an honest review through Lovers of Paranormal. The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

A very nice read for everyone who likes paranormal mysteries. The mystery is intriguing and so are the characters. MacMillian is skeptic but curious. non-believer but ready to stand-up against whatever "go bump in the night". At first I was skeptic I would grow to like him, he is not your typical hero. But with time he sort of grew on me. I only wish we got a better explanation what a "baro" is and how that is important. His dislike for Marc Durban was also unexplained but as this is first book in a series, that didn't bug me as much.
Lena... I liked Lena. Mostly. She was funny, smart, likable character. And then she had to go and sleep with Marc. Which didn't fit. Not for her. Especially with the fact that MacMillian didn't like Marc and she knew it. At this point Lena already trusted the private detective, so why she didn't think more about why he doesn't trust Durban? He probably has a reason.
The mystery was interesting, not as much of who but of how and why. Will admit to not being a big fan of cliffhangers but it sure made me curious to read the next book. It looks like it will offer a wider range of night creatures and more mysteries to solve. But I think I'm mostly curious about the whole Jesper-Durban history. What really happened between these two?

Girlgoyle by Better Hero Army

I was given the book free of charge in exchange for an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 6 of 10

Gargoyles! Just heard that and I knew I need to read the book. I loved the story - the idea of gargoyles acting as guardians, the different types of gargoyles, the way they live and function. I would have loved to see more of that.

On the other hand, Tiffany... well, she is nice but I got no idea why she is describing herself as "competitive". I saw nothing of that in her - she is not trying to learn how to fly better, she is not trying to prove to the other girls she is good(at anything), she runs away. I didn't saw even a single competitive bone in her, instead she is just whiny. And a lot at that. Another thing that sort of baffled me was her believe that her parents  can make things better. Usually teenage girls that age are supposed to have lost their superhero worship toward their parents. Altogether, Tiffany was a nice girl around 10 years old or so. 

Franklin is a lot better hero than I expected when we were first introduced to him. A little more back story would have been much appreciated. He is a bit of a stereotypical rule-breaker but is likable and smart.

Will admit that I would love to see a sequel of the book. And would definitely read it if one is published.   

How the Wolf Lost Her Heart by Sarah Brownlee

I got the book free of charge from the author in exchange of an honest review.

The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

3 rereads. What to say? I loved the book. Will probably read it again sometime. The story is set in a future, dystopian London.I loved the way the world is build but have loved it more if I have seen a bit more prehistory. What led London to the condition we find it in? But I loved we actually got an explanation how morphers got their abilities. 

Skye is very likable heroine in my opinion. She is stubborn, she is insecure but she is also strong and knows what she wants. Did I mentioned she is also smart? True, sometimes she acts in the heat of the moment and against her better judgement but who doesn't? She is also too quick to judge without bothering to learn all the facts. As someone who does the same mistake - I can relate. Only I didn't get why her animal is a wolf. What made her a wolf and not a bear for example?

Raphael is sweet... and clueless  I found him fun to read about. The love story between him and Skye was a bit predictable but it wasn't an instant love and I enjoyed it. I also loved to see Raphael's connection to his father. These father-son moments were some of the best parts of the book for me.

Daphne... I didn't like Daphne. Women who just have to be with someone for the sake of having a man on their side are not someone I would respect. But she was believable and she fit, so I guess it's okay she is not really my idea of a best friend. 

I can't wait to see what it to follow. The book raised a lot of questions and absolutely triggered my curiosity for the next one to no end. It is also pretty easy to read and goes well lazy Sunday afternoons.  

Hallowed (Guardian #3) by Samantha Long

I got a copy of the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

In the third and final book of the Guardian trilogy Sophie and her friends head out to demon realm to defeat Akeldama once and for all. But what is expecting them in there was quite unexpected to me. And I loved that. There are a few surprising things but I do not want to spoil too much - friends, or at least some sort of allies, reuniions and what not.
I loved Sophie in this book. She was brave, smart and very much the kind of heroine I like. Can't say the same for Tristan. He have been unreliable if you ask me and I have no idea how Sophie could still have any trust in him after he abandoned her to deal on her own not once, but twice. This is absolutely not the kind of a guy I will count on. I pretty much like Lily too, but can't say she is a favorite of mine. Think she have been missing too long and even in this book I didn't really saw much of her. Mostly I hardly felt her as Sophie's best friend. Morgan had a lot more character to her for example.
For the rest of the characters I can hardly say much. They were nice, but at some point I was feeling confused who is who and what his role in the team is, they were just too many of them.
I also wished that the ending was a bit longer. It felt rushed and not really that much of a culmination of a long fight as I expected it to be. Some of their previous adventures to get to that point were a lot better developed.
Altogether I liked the book and the trilogy a lot. I value high the fact that I am not able to guess half way in, how the things will happen. Will gladly read any sequels or spin-offs if the author ever write one.

Phoenix Rising by Heather R. Blair

I got this book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 6 of 10

Obviously I expected more. The summary sounded absolutely captivating and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the story. But... even if the plot was interesting, it wasn't really developed. The potential was there for sure, but got lost in meaningless sex scenes. The book is 86 pages long only and in 50 of them the main characters are either remembering how they have had sex, have sex or imagine to have sex.  The romance got lost too. For the same reason. We barely saw the characters have other interaction but sex. The only thing that came to mind to them when thinking of each other was sex and hurt. Nothing bad with that, it's just not love, it's pure lust. Or maybe it's just me, because I do not necessary connect sex with love. Love for me is in the time spent together - talking, joking, little things you remember about the other like how they like their coffee or tea, how they prefer to sleep and so on.  Things that weren't there.

Now enough of what I didn't like in the story. What I did like? First, the plot(as much as it was there) was actually good. Would have appreciated if they haven't figured out who the killer is so fast but the idea was good. Second, I loved Kelsey. Mostly because she didn't play the damsel in distress and waited for someone to save her. She is strong, she is smart and she knows it. She doesn't let herself be brainwashed and manipulated. I would love to see more of her and also more of Jules. Really hope next installments concentrate more on the plot than on the sex and will surely read them. Best part of the book - Miles' "No, I thought I will give her time to save herself." 

Taker(The Final Deity #2) by Patrick Wong

I was given the book free from the author in exchange of an honest review(Thank you, Mr. Wong!). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

First I will say I really liked the book. And Nicole is still in top 10 of my all time favorite main heroines. She proved herself as a smart girl in the first book and for most part kept that reputation in the second too. The situation on the plane was fast paced and really spiced up the book, mostly I liked the way Nicole and her friends dealt with it.

A few things that put me back thought. First, the book started exactly where Balancer left off, which was good as I hate wondering what happened in the mean time, but I would have appreciated a bit of a introduction. It have been a while since I read Balancer and 20-30 pages into Taker I had to leave it down and go back to the first book, because... yeah, who was Drake(for example)? And as I mentioned Drake, I will admit he was a nice guy, brave and... forgettable. Amy and Ben were a lot more memorable in my opinion, they had more character in them. I really felt for Amy when she was grieving. 

Another thing that bugged me a bit was how easy team Balancer trusted the professor down in the well. I know Ben vouched for him, but still I think they decided to go with him waaaay too easy. At this point I was thinking Nicole will be a lot more careful and maybe even a bit paranoid.

And one more thing - Nicole believed DuBois too easily, without questions. I sort of expected from a smart girl like her to doubt him a bit and think of options or possible consequences.

Agent Bishop is steadily on the path of becoming a favorite of mine too. He is smart and a man of action. Think he is someone worth having as a friend and dangerous to have as an enemy.

Now about the new hero in the book - Jason. I will admit I am not a big fan of instant love, but even I fell for him the moment I first met him. He is kind, brave and I didn't forget about him till he reappeared. His past remained a mystery thought and I would really love to know a bit more of him.

Overall the book was a very good read and I am wondering if there will be a next one. There were some answers offered in it, but still a few questions remained open. I am curious, very, very curious....

First Year (The Black Mage#1) by by Rachel E. Carter

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review might contain spoilers.

Rating 9 of 10

4am, not even 24 hours after I recieved the book and 9 hours after I started it - I am done. After a busy day at work, spending the whole night reading wasn't really what I had in mind, but.... I just couldn't leave that book down.What could I say more? It's captivating, dynamic, a real page turner, something I absolutely didn't expect when I signed up for it. Nice characters, should I say - mostly believable, even thought it's a fantasy book and you might often expect perfect heroes and perfect villains. Not that there isn't heroes in the book, they are just not perfect and I liked it. After all we all have our flaws and doubts.

Ryiah made it to my personal top 10 of main heroines. She strong-willed, passionate, stubborn, smart, friendly, loyal and altogether very likable. And as I already said - not perfect. Which makes her even more likable. She struggles, she fights, she fails, she stumbles, she falls ... but she doesn't give up and keeps going. I am definitely Ryiah fan.

Darren... the dark, mysterious prince. Friend or foe? Well made character and I would love see more of him. Extremely curious to learn more about his past, his relationship with his brother and why he decided to get betrothed....

Ella is sweet. The kind of friend we all wish about - kind, thoughtful, helping. Alec grew on me too. And I think I might like Ruth too if I see more of her.

What I would have liked to see more thought is world building. We get thrown  in directly into the story and we get bits and pieces of how Ryiah's world functions, but at then end of the book I still had no clear idea about it.

Overall, great read. I am already eager to see what happens next and can recommend it to everyone who likes fantasy books. 

Reckless by Jessica Miller (Wanderers #4)

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review may contain spoilers.

Rating 6 of 10

I will admit I struggled reading the book. So... 5 stars for the plot, because I really liked the main idea in the book and 1 star for Josie - she sooo made my day. Let's start with what I liked in the book first.

The plot - demon possessions, power-hungry witches, old lovers, nothing sounds too original but somehow it all worked for me and made me wonder "what happens next?". And that's what kept me reading even thought there were times when I wanted to trow it out and say "I am done".And for that same reason I will most probably be reading the next book too. Come to think of it... I already can't wait for it.

I also liked how the book started. Ella was struggling with the fact she had killed someone and that was okay. If we had seen more of that by the end of the book - things would have been nice. And Josie telling Ella that she is selfish? I soooo wanted to read that from book 1. Absolutely made my day.

Josie and Billy's love story... sweet. I really like seeing these two together. They have a dynamic in them that I still haven't seen in any other couple in the series.

And we are to a point where things went down.... Ella, who at book 3 finally acted her age, went back to the hormonal teenager from book 1 - she couldn't make up her mind on anything, got moody and selfish and everyone was pitting her for having so much to deal with. Yeah, right, she wasn't dealing with anything - the only thing she did for 90% of the book was making out and have sex with Tristan(or thinking for Tristan). Which sort of was my biggest problem with the book, because the entire time it was like the real big problems were secondary to Ella's sexual life. A bit annoying for me. And we practically saw close to nothing from Roman. He was the one possessed but they didn't even kept an eye on him. Oh, and have I mentioned how much I dislike Tristan? He is annoying, self-obsessed, believes sex is the answer in every situation and he has the ability to bring out the worst of Ella. No idea what she sees in him but good looks.

Overall, bad balance in between a good plot and Ella's emotional struggles.  I hope that next books will be better on that part because I really want to know what will happen next.

Earth Power by Adam J. Black

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

I had some really good time reading that book. It's fast paced and intriguing. My favorite for sure was Doctor Dee. He believed he can beat the monster so he did. Hilarious!
Sam and Raphael make a good team. I like the fact that they are so different but respect and understand each other. They work well together.
I liked Gemini. She is real sweetheart and I would have loved to see more of her. Why she is putting up with Raphael thought, is beyond me. Still she can stood her ground when needed and I really hope we see her in next installments.
Denny is also a nice character. Not sure what her role will be in the future thought. I am curious how she will develop.
The plot was very interesting to me and I especially enjoyed the humor here and there. A bit more background on the characters and some more development would have been nice thought. How did Raphael became so sensitive for example? Training? What, when, where... And his back story with Riley is left absolute mystery too. Altogether I would really love to see what happens next. My curiosity about what Riley's game is, has no end.  

Alex's Destiny (Defender's Blood #1) by A.K. Michaels

I got the book free of charge in exchange for an honest review(Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

I liked the book. A lot actually. It was sooo not what I expected and in a very good way. Alexina for me was a very nice heroine.She is a woman in mid thirties and seems to know her place in the world. The fact that her world got shaken the core is another matter. She still manages to find her place in it. Alex is what i really like in main heroine - a fighter. She doesn't give up.
I liked Zach too. The strong, scary warrior found his match. Think there is more too see, thought. Or at least I hope so.
The other couples in the book I really found cute too. All of them - Tadius and Tatyana, Vlad and Irina, Duncan and Margaret...
What I didn't like in the book.... First - too much sex. it wasn't needed for ll of it to be so descriptive. At some points it seemed like it was put to feel space. More of Alex training would have been better. Other thing I didn't like much was the whole insta love. I get that they were made for each other but still... Would have been nice to see that relationship growing a bit. The last thing I expected more of was the whole Amelia situation. It was resolved too quickly.
Overal, very nice read. Believable characters, not many things unexpected but enough and pretty sweet. The surprise at the end wasn't such a big surprise for me actually, but I think is a nice way to lead us to the next book. I can't wait to get it.

Serissa's Song by M.Cundy

I got the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

Liked the book a lot. It's easy to read and does keep your attention. Serissa is struggling with her new career and some unexpected complications arise on the way.

I liked Serissa in this book.  She was trying to adapt to all the changes in her life and struggled with it. There isn't anything that is not changing for her - her boyfriend, her mom, Rose is gone, Amber goes to college and she leaves home to start working on her album. The fact she didn't just accepted all these changes but needed time to get used to them was a key point for me. It was natural and I liked it.

I missed Gabe a little bit in that book. I felt like he wasn't much there, even when he was. He was going trough a change and that was a major part of the plot but for me Gabe as a character was missing. He was.... static.

I very much liked the fact that we got to see more of Dayton and Colby, thought. They are both very interesting characters to me.

Another thing I sort of missed in the book was the culmination. Was it When Amber got sick? Or after? Or was it the funeral? Got confused on that point.

All together, I liked the book pretty much. A lot of new questions arise, not many answers are yet given... Can't wait to get my hands on the next one.

Unforgiven (The Wanderers #3) by Jessica Miller

I was given the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

Ella is back in the third instalment of The Wanderers. Infortunately in the beginning of the book she is also back to being 14 years old. If Tristan is making her act this way - he is so not the guy for her. Oh, don't get me wrong, I undersood her need to make sure that Tristan is alive and well but the way she did it.... ught! First I didn't liked her attitude toward Deirdre. She went uninvited in her garden and she engaged in a power duel. For what? What the fact that she is stonger than the old woman proves? Except that she has no respect for others... And the way she acted toward her father.... poor man have been scared shitless and she just challenges his patience. As Deirdre said at one point - god help us if that's the future queen. And I so didn't like how selfish Ella was the entire book. First, she never even thought how her actions will affect others. The only thing she cared about was "me...me... me... me... me...". And second, even after she got the hint that a friend of hers is troubled by something she discarted it with the thought that she is tired or stressed or whatever. Because that's what friends do. Ella, you suck as a friend. Big time!

Half way through the book thought, Ella finally got the memo. Was about time! She was pretty okay after that and I liked that she tried to make amends(but not the fact that the moment she came back she tried to get Roman back, as some sort of a consolation prize). Didn't liked the fact that Josie told her that she is a good, great person even, but made a few mistakes. Ella is so not a great person and as her best friend Josie should have told her the truth "Ella, you suck, but try to get a grip and BECOME a better person." Things worked out thought, so... I am gonna live with that. But enough about Ella for now. By the end of book she seems to have learned her lesson and grown up a bit.

I didn't liked Tristan in this book at all. First for the fact that he had given up. I don't like quitters. Second, I didn't liked how he tried to comfort Ella - it was all about the sex. Third, I didn't like the fact that he left her based on a third person's opinion about who Ella should be with. Forth, I didn't liked that he returned just because he learnt that Ella is with his brother. You made the decision to leave her, now stick with it.

I will admit that I didn't like Roman much either. He became way too possesive and jelous. Why take Ella back if he can't accept her the way she is?

The best parts of the book for me were when we actually got different poins of view. It was so refreshing to be out of Ella's head. I so wanna see what will happen with Xander and Danni, with Dean and Cameron. Josie started to innerve me a bit. She dismissed Billy so easily.

I also didn't get the fact why Jack didn't attack Ella in Ireland. She was so unprotected there and it's not like he didn't know she is there.  Such an easy prey and he missed the opportunity....

So I complained and complained, and complained. Then I keep reading the series? Considering the fact how much Ella annoys me, you must realize that probably the story is extremly interesting and keeps me hooked up. Cause if it wasn't I would have given up ages ago. I am dying to know what will happen next, it's all so unexpected. Hope that book 4 will be published soon and we will finally get some answers. I wanna know what Jasa's game is and also about grantma Bea... Practically, I can't wait!

Reborn (The Wanderers #2) by Jessica Miller

I was given the book free of charge in exchange for an honest review(Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

The second book in "The Wanderers" series. I must say I liked it better than the first one. But let's starts from the beginning.

Tristan is dead, Josie too and Ella is devastated. I got the tattoo rebelion and that was an interesting idea for self pain inflicting. But why she was so opposed to the new school I didn't get. Obviously Ella still have a great problem with autority cause I think she didn't really mind going to the school, she minded that she was told to go. Anyway, for the rest of the book I sort of liked her. She figured it out that something wrong is going on with her and Aiden and I really liked the fact that she devoted to training without much complaining. I didn't questioned as much her age in this book. I questioned her gender once or twice thought. I have never seen a girl so clueless about a boy having hots for her. Girls usually sniff things like that from miles away and I personally thought, that in Roman't case it was way obvious actually. The stupidiest thing in the book Ella did for me was chasing after Jack in the maze. Come on, girl, he is after you, not the other way around. You get to pick the fighting ground if he wants to get to you. Instead Ella let him lead her where he can have more help. Dumb, very dumb!

Altogether, Ella didn't annoyed me as much in that book as in the first.

I liked Roman but not overly so. He is a nice guy, but he tends to make assumptions without all the facts. I think he is a good match for Ella actually.

I liked Billy even more in this book. He is becoming a very interesting character. Dixon holds a special place in my heart from the previous book and I was so pleasntly surprized to meet him again.

Overal solid 4 stars for that book and strong interest for the next one. Hope Ella will finally start acting her real age and not as a spoiled kid. Off to book 3...

The Wanderers by Jessica Miller

I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review(Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 5 of 10

Very good book, a real page-turner. Very unexpacted twists that keep you guessing what's next till the last page. 

BUT....

Ella.... 

That girl was annoying. Don't even know where to start with. She is selfish, spoiled, stuborn(and not in a good way) and very stupid girl. I felt for her at the beginning. She seemed nice and I liked the fact that even after the tragedy she is trying to get a grip of her life and move on. If the book was about her trying to do just that, it would have been great. No such luck. I didn't like how she acted on that party and made out with that Mark guy but I overlooked it. Hey, a girl have the right to be a bit recless after such a tragedy. Accepted it as part of the healing process and moved on. And then Ella went to the university. To get drunk as pig on your first party there is absolutely unacceptable behavior for a girl in my opinion but that's just me. I have seen it happen, so... whatever. Now enter Tristan. She said he annoyed her but I never saw her doing anything really to get rid of him, just a few half-hearted attempts that looked more like a flirting to me than anything else. And don't tell me that she couldn't get rid of him, cause he was persistent. If Ella wanted to do it she could have done it. As it happened - Tristan played her like a cat plays with a mouse... and she played along. He challenged her and Ella never knew when to back down or fight back. If she really liked him from the very beginning and had second thoughts because of Kyle I would have thought it normal. But at this point I would have loved to hear more about Kyle. He sort of have been forgotten somewhere on the way. Okay, lets move on. The date was nice, nothing much to say for it. But after Ella saw Tristan with another girl I thought she will finally get the hint. Nope, she lets herself being smitten with him again. And then Tristan refused to sleep with her because she was drunk(again). This is the point that I actually decided that he is a good guy and is worth the shot. Ella, of course, finally decided to get rid of him. Because she obviously prefers bad guys and the possibility of Tristan actually being a nice one repulses her. So she chooses Jack. The creepy guy. At this point I already had a bad feeling about him. Mostly because of his reaction on her dating Tristan. Looked a bit too possessive to me. And that leads me to another annoying thing about Ella - she never asked herself who the killer is. She was way too self-absorbed to bother with suck a trivial thing like a murder on the campus. A child would have been more curious than her. And I laughed when they found the second body. Ella herself mentions he have been dead there for days. But is worried about the roommate. Like there is a chance he didn't noticed that his roommate is murdered.... Funny girl.

And then the big secrets are revealed. Ella is annoyed about being lied to. I get that but why she had to trow a tantrum? Didn't saw Josie doing that. But Ella obviouly had a problem with autority. I get her prolems with being royalty but not the one with the guardians. Hello, girl, time to get the memo - there is someone out there determned to kill you. But what she does? Sneaks out to go to a party. And not only there, but back to the empty building where they are an easy prey. Do I blame Ella for what happened? I sure do! Josie didn't get the whole danger, but Ella did. She was just too stupid to even think that someone might get hurt. For a stupid party? If you want to go that much why not ask permision first? Go with guardians? Honestly, at the end of the book I wished Ella was dead.

And in the same time I couldn't just put the book down. At some point, I think it was when Ella trew a tantrum and refused to listen to anything her father said, I went back in the beginning to check how old actually Ella is. If I have found out she was 14-15-16 years old I would have given the book a 10 and never given it a second thought. At the age of 18 a girl is (supposedly) out of puberty and that confusing age of the 'misunderstood' girl. 

What else I really liked in the book?

The secondary characters were actually very well developed. Josie grew on me from page one, her brother was adorable and Billy and Dixon were just great. Would have been happy to see more of Josie' and Billy's love story. The twists in the plot were actually unexpected.

Time for book 2. Can't wait to see what happens next and I really hope that Ella is going to grow up.

Sacred by Samantha Long

I received the book free of charge in exchange of an honest review (Lovers of Paranormal). The following review contains spoilers.

Rating 6 of 10

This book is the second in the Guardian series. It is a bit slower paced than the first book and maybe a bit more focused on Sophie's inner torments. I pretty much liked it thought.

So why the lower rating?

I will admit I struggled reading it. It took me way too long to read it and there were places where I thought I would not be able to finish. But this not authors fault, it just the book hit my only trigger when I read books - sexual abuse. When was mentioned that a girl was raped I had to press on to continue reading. When Morgan's attack happened... I just left the book to rest for a few days and considered giving up. I am happy I didn't thought. It was a good read and I would have been really sorry to not see how things turned up. There were some interesting twists in it, thought I realized who the traitor is much sooner than they. I thought it was pretty obvious.

Sophie is confused in this book, a bit lost. And even if we saw some of her inner struggles maybe even more insight would have been nice. Her brother's death was barely mentioned and I was sort of expecting her to still try to deal with it.

I sort of lost sight of Tristan and Jackson in this book. Especially Jackson. He was like some sort of a decor there, a non important, secondary character. 

I happy I didn't had to read about Morgan's inner demons now. I am happy of it as I might not have been able to handle it but I am not sure if it was that good for the character's development in the other's readers eyes. She does have some new demons to handle, we just didn't saw them.

And I am in love with Aiden. That boy is so sweet and kind. My favorite character for sure.

Altogether I liked the book. Never expected that demon in the end and I am really curios what his agenda is. Would love to read the next book.

Awakening by Samantha Long

I was given the book free in excange for a honest review(Lovers of Paranormal).

This review may contain spoilers.

Rating 8 of 10

I loved the book. The concept of a group of kids with supernatural abilites is not new of course, but the idea of these kids being reborn was. Sophie is sweet and pretty likable heroine. I, sort of, didn't really get a good sense of Lili. A little bit more insight on her character will be really nice. I liked both Tristan and Jackson and I can honestly say that Morgan is actually a complicated character and she's believable. My soft spot, thought, is Aidan. He is complicated, troubled and he has the most dangerous ability. I loved him almost from the very beginning. His relationship with Morgan interested me a lot more than Sophie and Tristan's.

The story itself was very engaging and had some unpredictable turns. I read it in one breath. I can't wait for the next book.

Serissa by M.Cundy

I got this e-book free in exchange of an honest review(Lovers of Paranormal).

The following review may contain spoilers.

Rating 7 of 10

Serissa - 17 year old girl, who doen't know what she wants to do with her life. She surprized me. No, not the fact that she doesn't know what she wants to do for living(honestly I don't think that any teenager actually knows). She surprized me with the way she has to save the world. I was like: "Wow, that's new!". THAT was totally unexpected. And I really like to have things that surprise me in my books.
Another thing that surprized me was, of course, Rose. I would have loved to see more of her backstory in the end. I didn't really get why she was the reason that Sarah and Gabe got together again.
And mentioning Gabe, I will have to say I really loved that character. There was something really charming about him. Still couln't put my finger on what it was but I can easily say he got to be my favorite in the book. The only thing I regret about him is not seeing him interact more with his friends.
I don't really have what to say about Kyle. From the moment he showed up in the book I sort of thought "Too good to be true." and that was pretty much it. I didn't really get any 'feel' about him - I didn't love, nor hate him, I remained pretty much indifferent about him.
The other person I didn't really noticed in the book was Amber. She was like a backgound sound to me.
Altogether, I really liked the book. It has some very original points and consepts. It is easy to read and entertainig. Would love to read the next, thought it's not listed as part of a series, I suspect it is as too many questions remained unanswered. 

Neogothic by Anthony Jerome Brown

I got this e-book free in exchange for an honest review( Lover of Paranormal).

This review may contain spoilers.

Rating 5 of 10

I was really a bit disapointed in that book. The idea was great, really original. But the way it was executed sort of ruined it. My first problem was the fact that everything happened waaaay too fast. There was practically no time to get to know the characters. It was like riding a rollercoaster. I knew time was passing in the book but only because I was told so, I never actually felt it. And the characters didn't seem to develope at all. Would have been nice if we had a better insight of them.

The second major point that bothered me were the dialogues. Or more likely the lack of them. Everything was like one big monologue all the time. Like when Atara was explaining the origins of the species in the book and she kept talking and talking and talking for pages. Sort of I don't believe that Rob won't ask questions and interupt her at least once. Also hate how the characters kept explaining themselves like "I did this and then she did that and after I did something else..." And then there were the repeating of the same things. For example,  Atara described how some of the warriors looked like and later when Rob meets them we ger the same description all over again. Or when they were fighting in the club and we got a detailed dscription where the door and the bar and the sofas were and after we get it again like the door is behind Rob's back and so on....

I would have loved to give that book a better rating as the idea is really one of the best I have stumbled upon but it really looked like being written by an amateur, more like a fanfiction than a book... Next time maybe.