Blog Tour & Amazon Card Giveaway (INT): Coral & Bone by Tiffany Daune

Coral & Bone

Tiffany Daune

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Publication Date: July 8th 2014

Publisher: Jester Ink Press

Genre:  Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 290

Halen knows the sparks igniting under her fingertips are dangerous. She has spent her entire life trying to quell the tingly feelings that make her destroy things, but now that she is back in Rockaway Beach, where she watched her father drown, the flames have become impossible to tame.Halen is trying to hold on, but when she is thrust into a mysterious new world, the underwater realm of Elosia, she unravels the secrets of her past and can't help but ignite. As she explores Elosia, she realizes her life has been a lie. And when those who have deceived her come to her for help, Halen must choose—walk away or unleash the magick that could destroy them all

When you first see Coral and Bone the initial thought is that it is a mermaid book. You sit there going ‘Oh she’s going to learn that she was secretly a mermaid and it’ll be pretty basic’. That’s not where this book goes, however. Don’t get me wrong, there are mermaids in the book… in name at least, but that’s far from what our main character is and it is not a truly important part of this book in my opinion (okay somewhat important, but not really important to Halen's specific origins).

Of course I don’t want to give too much away, it’s better to read these things on your own.

Our main character, Halen, has moved around all her life with her mother. Suddenly her senses are working into overdrive and new birthmarks have appeared on her and life in general has gotten really weird.

Not surprisingly there is a strong YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE feeling to the beginning of the book. There was one or two chapters in particular that made me wonder if this book was going to fall into a lot of overdone cliches. Luckily however, after that initial dip, Coral and Bone steered more into unique and original story telling, including some fantastic plot twists.

Overall, I really enjoyed Daune’s writing for the book. There were are a few times that fell into feeling a bit off, but then another scene would grab my attention and I’d enjoy it so much I’d forget about that off feeling.

My absolutely favourite parts of this book are how it ended (which I’ll get into under my spoilers tag) and the way Daune cleverly used a cliche to hide one of her twists.

First the cliche camoflauge! Halen and Dax’s relationship seemed to be a INSTA LOVE type of relationship. She’s been drawing him and they have an instant connection and it just screams fated love that is all the rage in YA books right now. Of course, though we may suspect that he was Natalie’s ex-boyfriend, it doesn’t cross many reader’s minds to pin him as their Guardian. Especially with Tage working so hard and him being introduced as full Elosian.

Now on to my feelings on the ending. And by the ending I mean the very end. The fact that Halen has eaten Asair’s soul accidently and now they are secretly living in the same body is just awesome. It gives us so many worries for the next book and even if the author never writes another book in the series, there’s something satisfying about wondering all the things that could happen. It’s rather horror movie cyclical like.

I’d describe this book as a mix of fantasy and urban fantasy. There are some parts that are pure high fantasy and then others, when they are in the “real” world, that you can’t help but get an urban fantasy vibe from. I think it’s pretty unique and I enjoyed it as a read.

4 Bookmarks

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Book Review: The Possession by J.D. Spikes

The Possession (Secret Journals #1)

J.D. Spikes

ARC Disclaimer: I was not paid in any way by the publishers to review this book favourably. The review is my own honest opinion (Whether or not it is agreed with).

Publisher: Lachesis Publishing

Pages: 212

Genre:  Paranormal, Romance, Horro, Young Adult

Daphne Wentworth is almost seventeen, definitely a red head, and most likely the tallest girl in her class, which is awkward to say the least when it comes to dating boys in her school. But she doesn’t have to worry about school for the next two months since she’s spending the summer at her aunt Dwill’s lighthouse in Maine. What she does have to worry about is seeing ghosts in the lighthouse cemetery, having strange dreams, and hearing the voices of star-crossed lovers who lived two-hundred years ago. And then there’s a local boy named Zach Philbrook who works for her aunt. He’s too gorgeous for his own good. He’s also very tall, with midnight black hair, and the most beautiful indigo blue eyes Daphne has ever seen. Zach is treated like an outcast by the local teens in town. He’s Micmac and therefore not “one of the gang”. Daphne can’t help being drawn to his strength, especially considering that he’s had to live his entire life dealing with ignorance. But the local teens aren’t the only trouble-makers in town. As Zach and Daphne get closer, the lighthouse ghost lovers begin haunting them. When Daphne and Zach try to figure out how to fight them, the spirits get bolder and more dangerous. So how do you protect yourself from something that isn’t really there?

The Possession is a book about curses, ghosts and prejudices. It is set in a small town and lighthouse where the main character, Daphne is helping her aunt out. She meets the Native American, Zach while helping to clean the lighthouse’s graveyard and then everything starts to go crazy.

My main issue with The Possession is the suddenness of the romance. There is absolutely no build-up or courting it is just BAM they meet for the first time (despite her having visited this area for years) BAM they are in love and act as if they are girlfriend and boyfriend. Excepting that, they did have a rather good portrayal of relationship that is going from new to serious, so if Spikes hadn’t just skipped to there it would have been done quite well.

Lack of build-up was also at fault with the mystery as well. It felt like we went straight from nothing to everything. I did enjoy the mystery, however. I loved reading about the ghostly couple and the troubles they went through trying to have a bi-racial bi-cultural relationship in that time period. I also enjoyed how the “curse” caused this relationship to repeat itself generation after generation.

I also loved the setting of the old lighthouse. It was something different and highly interesting.

I have to mention the ridiculousness near the end of this book. All the kids who had been very discriminatory towards Zach pretty much since the moment he arrived in the town, added with how predatory and rude they had been to Daphne. There is no way I could ever believe that they would have a complete change of heart and suddenly just want to help. Life doesn’t work that way. Not so suddenly and it made for cringe-worthy reading, I’m sorry to say. It knocked me completely out of the book. It also throws out the theme of racial issues that can happen, writing it off as something that solves itself in an instant.

Maybe, with the one main girl from town it could be somewhat believable, we deal with her for much of end bit and her coming to terms with the ghost I can understand, but those kids who went straight from hard core bullying and sexual advances to “I WILL HELP YOU!”, not so much.

I thing I did enjoy was how our main couple dealt with the issue of sex. It felt very real. It’s not always a clear-cut easy decision especially when you’re younger and you’re getting advice from all sorts of places. I like how they had both brought condoms, showing that they kind of wanted to, but how in the end that indecision made Daphne decide she just wasn’t ready quite yet. I really do think that was an interesting touch.

Do you like ghostly mysteries? Do you like lighthouses? Do you like fated romances at are bi-racial, bi-culture? Then it doesn't hurt to pick up this book and give it a try

3 Bookmarks

Blog Tour and Kindle Giveaway: Shattering Halos by Sunniva Dee

Shattering Halos (Halos #1)

Sunniva Dee

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Publication Date: February 24th 2014

Pages: 362

Genre:  Paranormal Romance, New Adult

I traded my death for love. I wasn’t given a choice. His decision has caught up with us, so now I am a living, breathing catalyst to war between Heaven and Hell.

The violations he committed saved my life. Since the collision, he’s appeared everywhere. In my hospital room, my school, even my house. He shows up in my paintings, my drawings, in all of my art projects. I can’t stop thinking about him.

He says his name is Gabriel, and he doesn’t understand what’s happening to him. He doesn’t know how I can see him or why he wants me in ways that should be impossible for a Celestial.

My obsession grows. I need him to hold me, kiss me—give all of himself. For every day he protects me, the consequences loom darker and taller. Soon, they’ll crash down on us.

The war is about to begin.

When Shattering Halos starts it is a story about obsession. It is frightening to read, even. For some it may seem romantic, but for me I didn't trust it one second. I was worried I wasn't going to like this book because of how much it put me off. Then our two main characters stop fighting and the story changes.

The last two-thirds of this book are an epic paranormal ride. As soon as the actual plot and stakes are introduced things become interesting. We start to learn about this world and become involved. Dee has a way with words. Her sentences compelled me and dragged me along. Her prose style in the beginning is different than most New Adult or Young Adult out there, less straight forward and little more dreamy and it ends up working for her well. The reader is made to feel like they are passing through a dream in that first third, which is very close to Gaia, our main character is feeling throughout it.

Cassiel is the strongest out of all the characters dealt with in the book. Unfortunately Gaia and Gabriel fall flat when portrayed on their own. It's their relationship and romance that is the true main character of the book and not them. Cassiel on the other hand is layered. He's the one that becomes the most interesting to follow. I would read more books with him as a main character.

Though I was better with the romance in the last parts of the book, there was still enough of that obsession making me feel a bit off-kilter (I think that Gabriel being and angel made this far worse, especially when it comes out that Gaia's body would pretty much crave his like a drug and having sex is dangerous yet she is constantly craving it. That's scary.), added to the fact that things worked out too easily for them (no punishment?) that I wish that their relationship would have had a tragic end some how. It would have fit so well with the story as well. An epic love beyond all love becomes even more epic if it is lost.

On another note, I loved reading a description of the battle. I could not get over how well Dee set it up and described it. It was a gorgeous bit of action, I wish I had gotten to read more battles in the story because of it.

I recommend this to people who enjoy stories of angels and fallen angels. I also believe that if you are into reading epic romances (even if some realism is lost in loo of epicness) this is definitely a book for you. It is not surprising that most of the 5 star reviews I've seen around laud the romance as being amazing.

3.5 Bookmarks

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Book Review: The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

The Nightmare Affair (Arkwell Academy #1)

Robin LaFevers

Publication Date: March 5th 2013

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 367

Genre:  Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

The voice of this book reminded me so much of the voice of quirky supernatural mystery books that I tend to read when I need something to take me away and not make me think too hard. I love that voice, I'm so happy to have found it in a YA book.

Dusty Everhart (real name Destiny), our main character, is what the book's world calls a Nightmare, which seems to take off the actual origin of the word "nightmare" which goes back to people saying that a hag was sitting on you, pushing you down so you can't move (in other words, good old sleep paralysis). Pretty much to "feed" on dreams, Dusty sits on top of them and then enters their dream.

I like this set up, because it leads to some amusing moments, including the opening scene. As far as Urban Fantasy/Paranormal goes, the specific way Arnett has created her world has made it unique in good ways.

The best thing about this book however (excepting the fact that the mystery was very well done) was the way this book is YA, and contains emotional and dramatic things, yet somehow keeps out of the annoying "High-School Drama" zone that YA often finds itself in. Dusty could very well have been whiny, her personality has the basis for it, but she isn't. The romance could have involved lengthy descriptions of woe-is-me and he-is-so-beautiful, but it totally didn't. In fact Dusty pretty much blatantly ignored her attraction to the main male for most of the book, which was pretty awesome.

I really enjoyed Dusty. There was something really fresh about her. I also took a bit of sadistic pleasure in the fact that she would never get away with things truly. In most mystery driven books, the main characters often (unless it's the climax) are able to to sneak away without causing too much suspicion when trying to learn new things, but nope not Dusty. She'd get caught and there would be consequences (compounded by her open mouth insert foot problem).

Although Paul was pretty obvious, as he fell into a pretty common cliche (too sweet when he's obviously not the canon hero for the heroine), the way he was almost used as a smokescreen as a reader to conceal who the actual bad guy was, was brilliant.

Up until the very end I was convinced it was an 'F' and Paul was calling the shots, Mr. Marrow blindsided me completely. I trusted that character and then kind of put him aside in my head, just like the main characters did.

Bethany's betrayal also surprised me for some reason. I love that you don't feel like Dusty is dumb for not realizing some things (other than Paul, but I feel like Arnett did a good job showing that she was letting infatuation cloud her judgement when it came to him) because you were believing the stuff coming out of their mouths as well.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy reading lighthearted paranormal mysterious. I also recommend this to people looking for a highly entertaining book, without having to worry about the book emotionally dragging you down. I personally enjoyed reading it before bed (before the mystery got too gripping to put down).

4 Bookmarks

Book Review: The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

The Treachery of Beautiful Things

Ruth Frances Long

Publication Date: August 16th 2012

Publisher: Dial Books

Pages: 363

Genre:  Paranormal, Adventure, Young Adult

A darkly compelling mix of romance, fairy tale, and suspense from a new voice in teen fiction

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she's lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack's help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she's faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice--and not just her own.

I first read this book as an ARC in 2012 before it debuted (I was only able to have the book for a short period of time however and had to pass it on before I was able to get the review finished back then). I was incredibly excited about it, however, because it showed fae in my favourite light: terrifying.

Honestly, for me, this book is a masterpiece. I love Jenny and the realistic way she reacted to seeing her brother engulfed by trees as a child (by being traumatized). I loved Jack and the incredible amount of depth to his character and origins. I even loved the romance, it did the cliches in all the best ways.

The way the book is written follows the evolution of how Jenny sees things. The first half of the book is horror focused. Jenny is encountering creatures that are viscous, untrustworthy and some are just down right scary. Yet, as she gets used to the paranoia and grows to trust Jack and Puck, even if she really shouldn't, the book evolves its storytelling to that of an epic quest. The more determined she becomes to save not just her brother, but Jack as well, the more grandiose the writing becomes. I have no idea if Long did this on purpose or not, but I really enjoyed the way it evolved.

As for the world building, it is top-notch in The Treachery of Beautiful Thing. I can tell that there is much, much more information that the author could tell us about it, but didn't. Always just when it seems we have the breadth of it, another layer is revealed and we realize that it was hinted at throughout the book, thus not just tacked on.

I absolutely adore the fact that Jenny doesn't accuse Jack of betraying her at Tatiana's or Oberon's palaces. So, so, so many times in YA fiction does the male or female lead start off making a deal, doing something when they don't know the other very well, or even just being offered that ends up causing huge and annoying drama later. I loved that even when the other characters tried to throw it in their faces Jenny was just like: he took me where I told him to, he didn't do anything I didn't want him to do.

So thumbs up for that!

I also like them finding each other in the real world afterwards, though I wish it had cut off at him just saying Jenny Wren.

Oh! A final thing, I love how I didn't make the Jack-in-the-Box connection write away despite it being spelled out for us! I don't think we were supposed to, as Jenny didn't, but rereading it, it seems so blatant. The fact that Long could do that is awesome.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys terrifying accounts of sidhe and fae. If you enjoyed the book, Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon, then this is similar to it in many ways (although less terrifying). I also recommend this book if you enjoyed reading O.R. Melling's The Chronicle of Faerie books as the quest feeling in the second half of the book reminded me immediately of that series.

4.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Lies Beneath

Anne Greenwood Brown

Publication Date: February 7th 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Pages: 303

Genre:  Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love--just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty.

Okay, I'm not going to lie, I went into this book truly afraid I wasn't going to like it, that I would want to throw it across the room because the characters were angsting too much. You could say that I'm very wary when it comes to YA Paranormal, especially if I'm not an angst "Oh! I cannot be with you!" fan (just my personal preferences). I also am wary with male perspectives (that's pure personal bias that I'm not one-hundred percent proud of). So needless to say I started reading it with the lowest expectations. Thus, when I ended up with my eyes attached to the book and enjoying it, I was happily surprised.

Yes, Calder does seem a bit melodramatic for my taste, and Lily plays the part of sacrificial lamb. Yes, they cannot be and it is very dramatic, but there are a lot of other things that were more up my alley. Their love developed slowly, with Calder trying to charm her pants off because he's supposed to and Lily pretty much ignoring him. Calder's sisters are top notch villains with interesting and different personalities, and the idea and mythology of the mermaids is so well done. This idea is unique and actually had made me nervous to take my backpacking trip up the edge of Lake Superior a few months after I had finished it.

The writing has a rather poetic, dramatic (like stage play dramatic) tone to it that I like, and most of the side characters seem to have their own direction and depth to them that is unusual in a lot of books that worked to add a layer of realism to a paranormal tale.

I absolutely adored the twist at the end where it turns out that Lily's father is actually a merman and just never knew it, that technically Calder's foster mother was Lily's blood grandmother, making Lily some kind of mer-hybrid-thing. The thing is, is that Brown forshadowed this like crazy, but I didn't even suspect that was the truth and I think that proves how well she did it, foreshadowing can be a very thin line to walk (you don't want to make it too obvious, but you want reader's to realize the twist was ALWAYS there).

I recommend this book to people who love mermaid stories, but wants something a bit different, for people who love Lake Superior and for people who enjoy good villains. I am very happy that despite my reservations I chose to read this book.

3.5 Bookmarks

Book Review: The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

The Devil's Metal

Karina Halle

Publication Date: September 20th 2012

Publisher: CreateSpace

Pages: 329

Genre:  Horror, Paranormal

It’s the summer of 1974 and 21-year old Dawn Emerson has only three things she wants to do: compete one last time in the Ellensburg Rodeo, win back her ex-boyfriend Ryan, and become the best damn music journalist at Central Washington University. But all her plans are left in the dust when she’s contacted by Creem magazine to go on the road with one of her favorite groups, the up-and-coming metal band, Hybrid. 

At first the assignment reads like a dream come true. Not only will Dawn land some much-needed credibility as a female music journalist, but she’ll finally get to experience life from the other side of the stage, and maybe crack the drunken, enigmatic code that is guitarist Sage Knightly. Instead, Dawn finds herself on an aging tour bus filled with ego-maniacs, band politics and a whole lot of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. When monsters start showing up in dressing rooms and some of Sage’s groupies become increasingly strange and dangerous, Dawn discovers the band is not only going places – they’re going straight to Hell. 

And Dawn has a backstage pass

Now, I'm a huge Karina Halle fan from her Experiments in Terror series. She has a knack for horror mixed with romance and characterization that I don't see often. The Devil's Metal is her first foray into something different. Halle calls up from her own experiences as a music journalist, mixed with a historical point of view and all of those bits and pieces she does best.

The Devil's Metal starts a little weak, mostly due to the fact that we're trying to put ourselves into this 1970s world of the characters and so many issues that they're dealing with are still not really all that different from today. It's not until we are shoved into the backstage music scene that the era really becomes one-hundred percent cemented in our minds. The other weakness is trying to get a hold of where Dawn (or Rusty as she is lovingly called) as a character is in her life and what goes on in her head. In the end, for me, Dawn was a character who really was naïve about a lot about life, but tried so hard to put on that cool façade. She's a character who doesn't even know who she is right now (which at her age is perfectly normal I think).

Once everything in the book got settled in, however, I was hooked hard. The supernatural elements were introduced slowly at first, almost like going up a rollercoaster and then everything starting hitting terrifyingly hard and fast. For me, it was the perfect transition from historical novel about a music journalist following a rock band, to demons and devils and insane groupies.

The world is partially borrowed from Experiments in Terror, but explores a whole other part and issue with it, and scarily enough believable among all the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

I also would like to tip my hat to Halle for the epilogue/ending, due to the cyclical nature of it. For me that is one-hundred percent classic horror, I honestly wouldn't care either way if there was a sequel. It is of course open to the possibility, but at the same time I love just wondering and wondering.

Overall this book is highly enjoyable. I wish there were more books that catered specifically to my age range (19-27) which still had the lightness of the young adult novels of today, (just a little more mature). This book will make you make faces in horror (and not because of the horror), remember the days where rockers died young and hard, scream in frustration and yes even cry. I enjoyed it tremendously. 

4.5 Bookmarks