Review ~ Fallen by Stacy Claflin

eARC received from the author exchange for an honest review

Release Date: September 2013

Description:
Samantha Erikson is a vampire with one mission: to rule the world. She’s spent decades winning over the world’s most feared vampire, Vince Moretti. Just when everything is going according to plan, he sidetracks her with the assignment of pretending to be a high school student in a small town.

It’s humiliating enough going from stilettos to sneakers, but Samantha must also follow the most boring person alive: the teenage girl who stands between her and the throne. When she has had all she can take, she finds a fun distraction: an attractive football player who isn't scared of vampires. There's one problem. Against her better judgment, she falls in love with him. Now she must decide between the mortal she adores and a place of power in the vampire world. If she tries to have both, she could lose everything.

My Opinion

Fallen was a quick, easy read that was a nice addition to Stacy Claflin's series. Having read and reviewed the first two books and enjoying them greatly, I was interested to see what the author did with the prequel, especially because it is written from Samantha's point of view. It definitely had a different feel from the other books in the series and I really enjoyed reading about Samantha.

My favourite thing about this novella was definitely Samantha's personality. She had this no nonsense demeanor about her and although she was taking orders from Vince, it felt like she was her own person. She also had a great wit and there were some sections where I could feel myself smiling at her attitude. As well as that I liked how the author set the book before Deception, it gave extra information that was nice to read about.

The novella moved at a quick pace but Stacy crammed a lot into the small amount of pages. It keeps you hooked and gives just the right amount of detail to make it an interesting and engaging novella. I think it helped that I had prior knowledge to the series as there wasn't much background information but that is to be expected. I'd recommend reading at least the first book before the prequel but it's not necessary to follow the story, which takes place before the first book.

Overall Fallen was an entertaining read that was a great addition to the series. I would definitely recommend taking a look at Stacy's work if you like vampires. Also Fallen is free so go get it now!

4.5

Review ~ Betrayal (The Transformed #2) - Stacy Claflin

Ebook received from the author in exchange for an honest review

Description

Alexis returns to her family after being abducted by the powerful Moretti’s. She’s much more confident now that she’s learning to embrace her role as the long-awaited Sonnast.

She stumbles upon evidence that Francine is acting upon her threat to wage war. When she returns to school, a handsome new teacher takes an unusual interest in her. She believes he’s hiding something because there appears to be a link between the pending war and the teacher’s secret.

Alexis has decided between the two guys that she loves, but the other one isn’t ready to give up so easily. He’s determined to win her over at any cost, even if he must risk his life.

When Alexis finally reunites with her birth parents, she discovers a heavily guarded secret about herself which is connected to a deadly curse. Once again her entire world is turned upside down. She’s been misled and betrayed, but she won’t take it sitting down. She’s going to fight for what’s hers despite the obstacles or the consequences.

My Opinion

After reading the first book in this series (Deception) and being left on a huge cliff hanger I couldn't wait to read the sequel and see how things played out. Once again Stacy Claflin has engrossed me in her world and kept me transfixed for hours as I couldn't put the book down unless it was imperative.  

Betrayal picked up where Deception left off straight away and I was thrown instantly back into Alexis's world. It was great that the story took off so quickly as it captured my interest and didn't relent until the end. One of the issues I had with Deception was there were too many cliches in the romance between Cliff and Alexis and I was pleased to find that all though they are still madly in love their relationship came across more believable and less cheesy. The emotions felt right and it made it easy to relate and sympathise with them. As well as this the love triangle that continued was developed brilliantly and I found that my opinions of the characters have shifted from what I thought of them which is great as it shows Claflin has done a good job in their evolution. The book had its ups and downs in terms of emotions, at some points I was laughing and others I was feeling sad for the characters - I love books that can do that!

Although I didn't feel there was as much action in this book it didn't stop it being interesting and the scenes where there was it was fast paced, tense and described with the senses well. The stroyline continued to be unpredictable like in Deception and filled with twists and turns. I won't reveal who or what is introduced as it will ruin the suspense I felt when reading it for you guys but the characters who come up I wouldn't have guessed in a million years. As well as this they all tie into Alexis's life well and I couldn't fault the structure or plot - it was linked really well and was solid.

When reading Deception, although it was a vampire novel it was still pretty original to me due to the nature of Alexis's change and the vampire hierarchy. For me Betrayal lost some of the originality around the mid-way section with the introduction of a new species which I have read about a lot before. Thankfully though these characters took a back seat in the book and after a few chapters the story picked up again and became unpredictable and original once again. Even though they were less original they were still interesting to read about and it was slightly different so I did enjoy the book regardless.

Overall for me Betrayal bettered Deception and after Claflin left the story on yet another impossible cliff hanger I am dying to find out what happens in book 3 when it's released! I would definitely recommend this series to YA paranormal lovers.

4.5

               

Book Spotlight - Viviana by Georg Freese

Viviana

Description
Viviana loves her man Bartolomeo, who does not love her as much any more. This tense tale of love and blood takes place in 18th century Venice, where Viviana and Bartolomeo dwell in a mansion with their five brethren; their coven of Vampires. As Bartolomeo's mistress, Viviana presides over the coven, but when a new girl, Nicoletta, joins the family and begins to challenge her, Viviana finds herself fighting both to assert her place and to regain Bartolomeo's love.

Genre: Vampire/Gothic/Romance



Links: http://www.vivianabook.blogspot.com/

About the Author
Georg Freese has lived in Europe, South America and the United States, observing and learning from different cultures and peoples. His narrative is intimate and brazen, compelling readers with dangerous storylines.

History and Fantasy are his main inspirations, though the themes of his works, albeit set in ancient lands or mystic realms, always pertain to human nature and the force of circumstances, honoring the old proverb, "adversity reveals the true character of an individual.

Souled Out (Ell Clyne #1) - Blakely Chorpenning

Description

Ell Clyne is lost living someone else’s life. But reading souls to save the fate of a loved one seemed like a fair trade. At first.

The lie has cost Ell her family, her future, her very soul. Now the secret is out and the vampires want answers. Becoming a pawn in her own conspiracy and being abducted more times than a psychiatrist might recommend, Ell just wants to stay alive and reclaim her life without burning something down. Oops, something else.

This is the story of a girl who isn’t a superhero or a badass, but manages to fight for her place in a cold-blooded world regardless of the pain caused by that empty space where her soul should be.

 

My Opinion

It was the description that drew me to this book when I received the request. The concept sounded original and it intrigued me into wondering what Ell Clyne was. The book was interesting and kept me hooked throughout a long train journey. I liked Ell's character, she took no nonsense and could be quite witty at times, a few of which made me laugh, especially towards the start. I loved it when she went crazy but it was also great when we got to see her more vulnerable side. Chorpenning did a great job with balancing the character's emotions so it wasn't one sided. Also, because of this it meant it was easy to relate and engage with Ell. I will admit that there were times I didn't like her and my brain was screaming "What the hell did you do that for!" but that made the book better as it meant it had enthralled me in the world. 

The book was really well written. It gave me enough detail to satisfy my curiosity but did not reveal everything at once. Also it did not overly describe objects, surroundings etc which I loved as it left something to my imagination (I don't like it when book describe every minute detail with flowery language). I found myself a little confused at times but after re-reading the paragraph/section or reading on a few pages it was cleared up easily enough. 

One thing I didn't like/understand is why Gabriel, Seth etc had to be vampires. For me it added nothing to the book and I would have rather Chorpenning make up or use another mythological character related to Ell's job more as it would have been more interesting and unusual. In my opinion it didn't make sense for vampire to want the souls of prospective humans to be read as the book didn't give much background detail on this aspect. In all honesty, for me, it made the book less original as the vampire thing has been done hundred of times now and I don't believe this book needed them. I don't think I would have minded so much if they acted like vampires but besides one feeding, fire and their strength nothing else was related to vampires. 

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to paranormal lovers. It does keep your interest, there was a lot of action and the main character - Ell - was great. However it could have done without the vampires. For me it lumped an enjoyable/partly original (Ell's job and soul element) book into the swamped vampire genre when it wasn't needed. This book would be able to stand on its own if the vampires were changed but for me, as it stands, it is lost as a vampire book. 

3.5

 

Tormented (Immortal Saga) - J. Ann

Description
It's been over 200 years since Humans drove the affected into hiding. Now out of nowhere, people are dying on both sides. When one of the few female specially trained fighters; also known as an Ultorum, is added to the body count, Angelina is forced to make a decision. Now she must betray everything she knows, including her best friend Michael, and follow the one creature she doesn't trust.

Ethan watches this young Ultorum with leery eyes. He is deeply impressed with her abilities, and even more so with her determination. It's just to bad she smells so good.

Together they set out to find the one responsible for all the killings, but what they find, they are not going to like.

My Opinion

As you can probably tell from the books I read, I am a paranormal and romance lover and when I got asked if I would read this book I was instantly intrigued by the description, even if I wasn't keen on the cover. I know the vampire/werewolf genre is getting slightly over used now and maybe becoming a little predictable so I was slightly worried about whether J.Ann could bring anything different to the genre. I must say this book was a pleasant surprise though and it hooked me more than I thought it would.

Even though vampires and werewolves are included in the novel, the story focuses more on the Ultorums (stronger humans) and I loved that fact. It meant that the book strayed from the stereotypical vampire novel and separated it slightly in the overwhelmed genre. It mostly follows the life of Angelina -but did switch between different people's lives at certain points - and how her life changes when a near death causes her to meet the Vampire Ethan. I loved Angelina, she was strong, determined and knew how to fight so in a way it made the book remind me of Rachel Vincent's Blood Bound, which is one of my all time favourites. 

The story line was intriguing and gripping. The action moved at a faced pace and I had trouble putting it down, I probably would have been up all night finishing it if I hadn't had college the next day. I loved the romance triangle that started to develop and J.Ann did a brilliant job of making the reader connect with her characters. At first, before the (predictable) love triangle emerged I thought that I would stay on Micheal's side as he was strong, kind, supportive etc and when Ethan appeared I thought I would grow to hate him. However by the end of it I was torn as to which guy I preferred and would want Angelina to be with and if you think everything will be resolved you are wrong, Tormented leaves you on a terrible cliffhanger and will leave you wanting more.

There were a few downsides to this book though. At times, when the book switched perspective I found myself a little confused at first at what I was reading but this was sorted out as I began to learn the characters more. It also jumped a lot with J.Ann using "***" to move the story along. I'm not against this but maybe it needed to be less frequent so as not to disrupt the flow too much. There were also a few minor grammar and spelling issues that caused me to re-read  a few sentences (breaking up the story) to make sure it wasn't me just reading something wrong and figure out what was meant to be there instead. These were however minor and infrequent so didn't detract too much.

Over all this book was a nice surprise. It brought a slightly different twist to the vampire genre and was easy to understand. This book is a quick read (maybe too short if you enjoy it as much as I did) but packed with action, romance and suspense. It was well written and the characters were developed brilliantly. I can't wait for the next installment to find out what happens and would highly recommend this book to paranormal/romance lovers! 

My Swordhand is Singing – Marcus Sedgwick

Description

In a bitter winter, Tomas and his son, Peter, settle in a small village as woodcutters. Tomas digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so that they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, or why his father carries a long, battered box, whose mysterious contents he is forbidden to know.
But Tomas is a man with a past--a past that is tracking him with deadly intent. As surely as the snow falls softly in the forest of a hundred thousand silver birch trees, father and son must face a soulless enemy and a terrifying destiny.
 

My Opinion

OK, so because it is Halloween I have decided to re-read one of my favourite horror books. I still remember the scared feelings I had as I lay in bed after finishing this book for the first time. Reading it at 2am with just a fire light was definitely not the best idea... I lay awake for hours after the last few pages but even though I was scaring myself with my over active imagination I just couldn't stop reading. I loved the title and this is originally what drew me to the book as I really enjoy gothic/horror books.

This was the first book of Sedgwick's I ever read and since reading this book I have read many other books he has released. His writing is truly amazing! Sedgwick takes old legends, myths and period of times and twists them into a dark interesting, horror story.

The plot of this novel was great! It was dark, different and shocking with all it's twists and turns.

The character's were interesting and engaging and I found myself being drawn deeper and deeper into the world Sedgwick created. The bit that effected me most was towards the ending but by that point I was finding it impossible to stop. As well as this, the short chapters kept me turning pages just to find out what happened next. The books was incredibly atmospheric and I loved the darker version of a vampire/zombie story.

Even though this is like the fifteenth time I have read this book it still scares me every time. I don't know if that is just because I'm spooked easily but it is probably down to my over active imagination that gets lost in the believable worlds created by Sedgwick. I have definitely learnt my lesson though after the first time and now only read his work during daylight.

I can not recommend this book highly enough. Sedgwick's novels are some of the best I have read and his writing is great! If you want something that you can lose yourself in to get scared on Halloween this book would be great!  

Other great reads by Marcus Sedgwick that I have loved!