Review: Life Eternal by Yvonne Wood
Life Eternal - Yvonne Woon A Dead Beautiful novel - Book 2 February, 2012 - Hyperion Young Adult / Paranormal 3.5 Hoots Renée Winters has changed. When she looks in the mirror, a beautiful girl with an older, sadder face stares back. Her condition has doctors mystified, but Renée can never reveal the truth: she died last May, and was brought back to life by the kiss of her Undead soul mate, Dante Berlin. Now, her separation from Dante becomes almost unbearable. His second life is close to an end, and each passing day means one less that she will spend with the boy who shares her soul. Just when Renée has almost given up hope, she learns of the Nine Sisters—brilliant scholars who, according to legend, found a way to cheat death. She can’t shake the feeling that they are somehow connected to her dreams, strange visions that hint at a discovery so powerful, and so dangerous, that some will stop at nothing to protect it. Renée thought she knew the truth about life and death. But there is a secret woven through history that holds the only hope for Dante and Renée. Unless they find answers soon, their time together is doomed to be cut short. (Goodreads) Review: In the first of this series, Renée Winters is just a normal sixteen year old girl, until the death of her parents permanently changes her life. Her grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, where all things are not as they seem, and Dante Berlin captures her love. In this second book in the series, Woon’s continues to weave strong themes within the creation of a different world: the obstacles to true love; whether some people have the right to judge others because they are different; and, how children handle loss of family. Renée is confused about where her loyalties truly lie. She calls into question the roles her family, school, and friends seem to accept at face value. The mystery of the Nine Sisters creates suspense and anticipation. The descriptions in this novel are rich, providing intricate details of the various settings. While such descriptions help the reader to visualize this different world, there are some long passages that interrupt the pacing of the book. Numerous characters, who are not essential to plot or story development, force the reader to backtrack for who they are. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to full enjoyment of this novel involves the main character. Renée’s actions seem to fluctuate. One of the greatest inconsistencies involve to whom she decides to explain her plight. Sometimes the rationale for her actions is not clear, seemingly working against her best interests. Furthermore, although Renée is supposed to be limited in her ability to use her senses, there are instances where she seems to have full use of her faculties. For instance, her friendship with one of her male classmates causes her to feel warm when she blushes or he touches her hand. The subject of Woon’s book is engaging and interesting. Unfortunately, the problems of pacing, too many characters, inconsistencies in actions, and behavior detract from the wonderful story.                                                                                                                                                                               Reviewed by Lydia
Review: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
TOP PICK! Every Other Day - Jennifer Lynn Barnes December 27, 2011 – EgmontUSA Young Adult 5 Hoots Summary: Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human. And then every day in between . . .She's something else entirely. Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism. When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process. (Goodreads) Review: Imagine a world similar to our own - except that two hundred years ago, when Charles Darwin voyaged to the Galapagos Islands, instead of simply finding evidence of evolution, he found evidence of the existence of demons. Now, two centuries later, college students learn about the triple helixes found in the DNA of these preternatural beings. Hellhounds are considered an endangered species. Kali D'Angelo, who finds herself as a non-human demon hunter one day and a simple human girl the next, is breaking the law by hunting these creatures. What a whirlwind of an amazing novel! I could not put this down for even a second! Barnes's writing is eloquent, imaginative and hilarious. The heartfelt emotion of the characters is so real it's tangible. Barnes manages to execute one unforeseeable plot twist after another without ever seeming overdone or obvious. My only hope is that Barnes will turn this into a new series. *Fingers crossed!* I will definitely be checking out her previous novels, as I am now a huge fan of Jennifer Lynn Barnes!                                                                                                                                                                               Reviewed by Cindy
Review: Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
Butterfly Clues - Kate Ellison February 12, 2012 - Egmont USA Young Adult / Mystery 4 Hoots Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place--possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home. But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"--a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind. As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined--a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.  (Amazon) Review: Butterfly Clues is a wonderful novel that lingers in your heart and mind. Lo is a young girl who suffers from OCD and has the tendency to be a klepto from time to time. She has moved from place to place with her father and his traveling job as a consultant. She collects trinkets (occasionally steals them) to help her have a sense of home and security. However, since her brother’s death Lo's obsessions with trinkets, OCD and klepto tendencies have escalated to a dangerous point leading her into the hands of danger. Butterfly Clues is a magnificent novel the forces the reader to view life from a different view. The story is told through Lo's perspective, thus the reader is entrapped within her thoughts as a person with OCD. Lo is constantly counting numbers, certain numbers are good omens, while others are bad omens. The constant counting can become annoying along with the repetition, but it is all to help the reader truly understand Lo. When I first started reading Butterfly Clues I was completely confused. The story line seemed choppy and events were not adding up, however once I got past the first few chapters things really started to pick up! Ellison hooks the reader by giving them the smallest of clues and incentives, but they are intriguing enough to keep the reader glued to the story. I was entranced by the mystery surrounding a murder which linked with the murder of Oren. I could not put this book down until the mysteries where solved! This is a wonderful story and heartbreaking when you begin to really understand Lo and the events in her life. A truly enticing read!                                                                                                                                                                               Reviewed by Michelle
Review: Tempest by Julie Cross
Tempest - Julie Cross Temptest - Book 1 January, 2012 - St Martin’s Griffin Young Adult / Sci Fi 4.5 Hoots The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun. That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future. Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities. But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him. Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.  (Goodreads) Review: This fantastical novel of teen-age time travel is a fun, well-paced and well written story.  From the beginning the reader is immersed into the problems of Jackson Meyer’s time travel issues. Here is a teenage boy who does not know how to control his ability to time travel, furthermore only thought his ability to time travel was limited, only to find he can go further into the past than he ever contemplated. Cross has given him a concrete goal: to get back to save his girlfriend who was shot by undercover agents when he “jumped” from 2009 to 2007. She presents a particularly conflicting subplot as he wonders about this “freakish” ability. Cross is an excellent writer. The book is paced to entice the reader to keep reading on and on. What is going to happen next? Every reader will want to know the answer to that question. Cross expertly integrates those small essential elements of what would happen with a time traveler. What about the waitress you used to know? Is this the same coffee shop with the same employees? And how could your sister whom you see in a past setting possibly understand she is looking at an older brother? Perhaps the most effective elements Cross uses is the journal which Jackson keeps, even as he travels through time. This particular prop allows Cross to insert important information yet stay within the voice of the protagonist. Jackson’s varying images of people through time lend a realistic feel to a contemporary novel with a fantastical feel. She establishes some basic propositions for the protagonist to follow and maintains them throughout the novel, such as the concept of how Jackson can time travel and how persons will react to him in different time periods. She portrays Jackson as an innovative, thinking and creative person, concerned about the people who matter to him. The novel is an interesting and fun novel for those interested in contemporary fantasy. There are strong characters, solid plot and appropriate subplots, a solid novel framework, excellent pacing, and interesting writing.  Readers of this genre should have a good time.                                                                                                                                                                               Reviewed by Lydia
Review: Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliott
Too Wicked To Wed - Cara Elliott Lords of Midnight - Book 1 November, 2011 - Forever Historical 4 Hoots Outspoken and independent, Lady Alexa Hendria enjoys the heady freedom of making all her own decisions, even though the challenges of overseeing her family's country estate are daunting. But when a chance encounter with London's most notorious rake awakens a secret longing for adventure, she accepts her aunt's invitation for a Season in Town . . . only to find that breaking the rules of the ton has serious consequences. The Earl of Killingworth uses his rakehell reputation to hide the fact that poverty has forced him to work for a living. As the owner of a gambling den and brothel, Connor has no time for glittering ballrooms or innocent young ladies. But after a reckless wager leaves him with a new business partner, he is forced to take a risky gamble . . . Will the cards fall in their favor? Alexa and Connor begin to play a dangerous game of intrigue and deception as they seek to outwit a cunning adversary who wants to put them permanently out of business. But if they are not careful, it is the flames of their own fiery attraction that may destroy them. (Goodreads) Review: Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliott is an exciting historical romance. It is the first in a new series Lords of Midnight and is a fabulous start. Too Wicked To Wed has what every romance reader will enjoy, romance, love, rogues, redemption, secrets, passion, intrigue and danger. Alexa and Connor are strong characters and will capture you from the start. Lady Alexa Hendria is a heroine after my own heart! She is outspoken and independent, happiest in the country and determined to get what she wants. Alexa's family has allowed her to become educated and run the family farm. When her brother is in trouble she sets out to help him and in turn meets the Wolfhound, a notorious rake who owns a gaming hell and brothel. Connor Linsley, the Earl of Killingworth, cannot believe a lady has come into his brothel for information on her brother. He is shocked and wants to shock Lady Alexa as well...little does he know when he kisses her, he will not be able to stop thinking of her! Connor has a rakehell reputation, a shocking past and has secrets of his own. Together, Lady Alexa and Connor must stay alive, fight their own desires and find their future. A fast paced story that has irresistible temptation and an undeniable passion between two people who are strong willed, wicked and full of intrigue, Too Wicked to Wed is a must read!                                                                                                                                                                               Reviewed by April
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