Review: The Gathering Storm (Katerina Alexandrovna #1) by Robin Bridges

Title: The Gathering Storm
Author: Robin Bridges
Series: Book One in the Katerina Alexandrovna Series
Published By: Delacorte Young Readers (Jan. 10, 2012)
Genre: YA Paranormal/Historical
My Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Description:

 St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

My Review:

I have always been fascinated with certain parts of history and the Russian Empire has always been a huge part of that.

I mean who wouldn't be fascinated with the legends of sorcerers and magic and evil? Not to mention the battles and everything associated with Russia's struggles in the late 1800's and early 1900's? 

Almost everyone I know can say that have heard of Anastasia and the infamous Rasputin. 

So when I saw this book and looked at all the combined topics of some of my favorite things to read, this was immediately put on my must read list.

I mean really, witches? Check.

Ghosts? Check.

Princesses, Kings, Tzars, Dukes, Dutchesses, Princes? Check.

Vampires and Werewolves? Check.

Wait (cue sound of record being drug across the needle).

Did you say witches, ghosts, royalty and vampires and werewolves too?

Can you see my eyes already lit up at the possibilities?

So you see, being a lover of history and reading about the paranormal and having them all in one nice little bundle of a book, well it was a no brainier.  Truly, I didn't even have to think about whether or not I would be reading this book, I just knew I would be.

Thankfully it lived up to my expectations. 

First of, even though I already somewhat said it, I loved the setting of this novel. 1888 St. Petersburg Russia. So wonderful. I love all the imagery involved in describing what could only have been a winter wonderland. I loved imagining all the balls and gowns and just the life of a royal during that time. It was beautiful.

I also loved the spin on this book. The fact that the citizens (especially the royalty) knew about the magic. They knew they were decended from the fae. And not just the fae but the light and the dark fae and that both belonged in the royal court.

Even though this is a time when witchcraft and the use of it is frowned upon and people are still being persecuted for it, it is still very much a part of life there.

I really liked Katerina and she struggles to with necromancy. It was fun reading about something a little different even in the world of paranormal. 

I like that this book had a slow start, that it describe a lot of Russia's history and background of the families first. That it didn't just jump into the action and leave you whirling wondering what was going on.

Truly by the end of the story it seemed there were many paths that the sequel could follow. Many things still left unsaid and undone (but in a good way!).

This was beautifully executed and I really grew to feel like I knew the characters and their personalities by the time the story was done.

I couldn't help but like Katerina and her whole family and want the best for them.

I am really looking forward to see what Bridges does with this series when the next one comes out. There are so many paths this story could take and still be fabulous.

Tell Me Something Tuesday

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Cambria Hebert .


   
It is a fun weekly question she asks other bloggers in the hopes that we will all get to know one another a little better.

This weeks question is:

What is your favorite genre to read and why?

Honestly, this should be an easy question for me to answer but the truth of the matter is that it isn't.

I could no more choose a favorite genre than I could choose a favorite star in the sky.

Okay, that might be a little dramatic but still, you get the idea. I love all sorts of genres and truly couldn't pick a favorite.

I do however, have one I read more than others and that would be the Young Adult genre.

But even then, that really isn't classifying a genre since there are so many sub-genres to that one genre. 

YA Realistic Fiction, YA Paranormal, YA Dystopian, YA Fantasy...well you get the idea.

So I guess in answer to this question, what is my favorite genre to read and why?

I don't have a favorite. I enjoy all different kinds but I do tend to migrate to the YA genre in general I think because I like reading about first loves and first kisses and sometimes yes, even the teenage angst and love triangles.

There is just something about it that is appealing and tempting.

And, lets face it, some of the best books and series and even authors write in that genre. Dessen, Echols, Kagawa, Hand, Patrick, Armentrout, Hudson, Scott, Oliver, Hebert, Smith-Ready, Mead, De La Cruz, Clare, ..(once again I could go on and on with the list of wonderful author names).

I would be missing out on so much if I didn't read this genre.

Cover Reveal: Crux by Julie Reece

Crux

by Julie Reece

Book Release Date: July 9, 2012

Target Reader: Young Adult

Keywords: Paranormal Romance, Romance, Urban Fantasy

Back of the Book:

She should have run. Now, she’ll have to fight.

Eighteen year old Birdie may be homeless, but she’s surviving, that is until a mysterious guy throws money in the air like a crazy game show host, and she grabs some with the idea she’ll be able to buy dinner that night. 

In that singular moment, unassuming Birdie becomes the girl in everyone’s viewfinder. Thugs want to kill her. Money-guy wants to recruit her. The very hot, very rich and very out of her league, Grey Mathews, wants to save her.

Birdie, though, wants nothing to do with any of them, until she realizes fate didn’t bring them all together. 

Her heritage did.

Now, with only twenty-one days left, she’s got to decide whether to follow in the footsteps of those before her or risk her life for people she’s only just met.

Review: Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Title: Born Wicked
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Series: Book One in the Cahill Witch Chronicles
Published By: Putnam Juvenile (Feb. 7, 2012)
Source: Mindy's ARC Blog Tour, ARC paperback copy
Genre: YA Paranormal
My Rating; 4.5 Stars!


Goodreads Description:

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

My Review:

  Isn't the cover on this book just fantastic?

Reading about ghosts and witches has always been a favorite of mine since I was very little, so much so that I am almost always guaranteed to buy a book if it is about witches, just to try it out. But, here is the catch, I don't like dark witches, or at least I don't like the MC to be a dark witch, that just freaks me out. Because whether I like to admit it or not, I am sort of a chicken and have an imagination that is sometimes a little too active for my own good.

This book was actually pretty perfect for me. It gave me the witchiness that I adore but wasn't too dark or disturbing that I had to repeatedly look over my shoulder while reading to make sure I wasn't being watched. It didn't make me sleep with my lights on and that is always a good thing. There is only so much my husband is willing to put up with after all.

The Salem witch trials have always fascinated me, since I first learned about them as a little girl. They always seemed so sad to me, all those innocent woman that were killed out of jealousy or hate or revenge or just because someone had an issue with you.

And while this book wasn't necessarily about the Salem trials it was like it in the sense that it takes place in a time very much still leery of witches, only in this case, witches are very much real and very much feared by the Brotherhood.

I love the time period that this book takes place, if I am dong my math right it is around the early 1900's in New England. A time when woman were still suppose to obey the men in their lives and go along with whatever they told them to do. When education wasn't really for woman, unless that education was centered around how a young lady was suppose to behave and appear in society.

A time when woman didn't have a whole lot of say in anything and were really rather repressed.

I think I liked this book because Cate wasn't like one of those woman. She stood up for herself and her sisters and would have done anything to protect them and to protect their secrets, in fact she does do anything. She has to sacrifice a lot for them. She has to learn her legacy and she has to overcome a prophecy that she doesn't even fully understand in a time that woman are most at risk and witches? Well witches even more so.

I really think this will be a series that will show a lot of promise if it is handled right. The ending kind of left it open to many possibilities and while my heart broke over the choice that Cate had to make, I understood it and just really hope, that no matter what, Cate and her sisters do get their happily ever after. I really hope it doesn't turn into a series that will make me want to chuck my book across the room in frustration over the ending.

Starting new series that I somewhat become vested in always leave me nervous because, I am always a sucker for HEAs and am so sad when I don't get them.

Hopefully the next book will be even better. I really do look forward to reading more about the Cahill sisters and seeing what Cate and the Sisterhood do next. And I hope, we get more Finn and Paul to because, even though I know where Cate's heart is, I couldn't help but fall a little in love with Paul as well.

Review: Shattered by Kailin Gow

Title: Shattered
Author: Kailin Gow
Series: Book Two in the Desire Series (also one novella)
Published By: TheEDGEbooks (Nov. 8, 2011)
Genre: YA Dystopian
My Rating: 2.5-3 Stars


Goodreads Description:

Kama has made her choice, but now the revolution has begun. Book 2 of the international bestselling DESIRE series about a dystopian society touched by magic.

My Review:

The cover for this book much like the second one, if gorgeous. I love everything about it. It is very eye catching and sort of just draws you in.

So needless to say after reading the first book in the series and hoping that this would be a series that would get better over time and truly thinking the series has potential, I was excited to read the second book, especially after having read the novella that came in between these two which really was quite good, even better than the first book.

So it is with a sad heart that I have to say, this book did not live up to its cover nor to my expectations of it.

Is it wrong to say how disappointed I am with the plot?

This book just felt so..rushed and thrown together.

It has some of the most unbelieveably cheesy lines in it between Kama and Torrid and that is saying a lot from me because normally cheesy it okay with me. I am after all a hopeless romantic so I normally eat that stuff up but in this book it just felt so insincere and like Gow was just trying too hard to make it seem romantic and lovey dovey and just...ugh!

This was a short book to begin with so really there wasn't room for a whole lot of action or things to happen, I understand that but what did transpire just was so fast and sometimes even a little confusing feeling. 

Things happened a little too quickly and Kama didn't grow like I was really hoping she would.

The book said she did and wanted you to believe that she had but when it came down to her fighting and using her powers she just bombed. 

Like everything she had been training with Torrid flew right out of her mind and she just couldn't do it.

She made some stupid mistakes and then couldn't get herself out of them.

Liam was just off in this book too. 

I understand he learned a lot about Pim in this story that was devastating to him but his character still didn't feel right. He became hardened and acted almost like he espected Kama to be with Torrid and that he was okay with that. I mean, he is suppose to love her. He isn't even going to fight for her?

That is just wrong.

I don't know. I really am considering whether it would even be worth it to continue on with this series.  

Maybe once the disappointment doesn't seem so sharp I will give it another shot.

Indie Book of the Week: The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

This week I have the great pleasure to bring to you something a little different for my Indie book of the week.

Something a little fun and a little sci fi and something that will leave you reeling with the sheer amount of creativity that must have went into creating this world.


The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

Description from Goodreads:

When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds.

Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane.

Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works?

Together, they discover what it’s really doing to them.

My Review:

I can't even begin to describe all of my thoughts and feelings while reading this story.

I can't even really wrap my mind around all that happened in this book in such a short amount of time. It honestly left me reeling a bit.


It left me wondering what was fact and what was fiction and just sometimes scratching my head wondering what in the world was going on (in a good way though!). 


It could be a bit confusing at times but I believe that was actually part of the plot as well. It left me clueless as to what the outcome (if any) of the boys lives was going to be and sometimes even wondering if this all wasn't just some made up fantasy land like Neverland itself.


Truly this was a fun interesting read that I really did enjoy even if it was something that I normally probably wouldn't have picked up on my own.

The Versatile Blogger Award

So this week Camelia from Love.Without You     gave me the Versatile Blogger Award after coming across my blog. 

I will be honest and say I have never heard of this award before but was very honored to have received it and that she took the time to check my blog out and deem me worthy of it.

So of course I had to check her blog out too and get all the details.

This award is given to bloggers, by bloggers–peeps, you rock!

Now for the details, here’s how it works:

• If you are nominated, thank the award giver and link back to them in your blog post
• Share seven things about yourself
• Pass this award along to recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading (the more the better).
• Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award and post the award picture

So without further ado, here are seven things about me that you may or may not already know.

1. I hate scary movies. I admit it, I am a chicken and scary movies tend to haunt me long after I have watched them.

2. Even though I hate scary movies and have an imagination that is sometimes way too active for my own good, I still watch them. I can't help it. There is just something about watching something spooky at night in the dark that gets your blood pumping and your heart racing. Maybe I am somewhat of a masochist?

3. I love books. Okay, okay you already knew that one. But what you may not have known is that I love lots of different genre of books. YA, paranormal, historical, urban fantasy. I read a wide range of them and love each and every one....well, for the most part. 

4. The first book I can ever remember reading when I was little are the Mommy and Me books. You know the Little Critter ones? I adored those and think I read every single one the school library had when I was in first grade.

5. Even though I loved reading from an early age, it wasn't until third grade when I discovered the Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin that my true passion for books was sparked. 

6. Even though I am a big chicken, I love Stephen King books! I read a ton of them in high school and lost many a nights of sleep because of them. To this day, I still hate clowns thanks to It.

7. I liked the Twilight series. There I said it. I liked them, I really did.

 I enjoyed reading them. I don't think they are a great piece of literary history and yes the writing could have been better but they sparked my love of paranormal romance so, I have to give credit to them for that. 

Okay, that is it, that is all you get from me. :)

As for blogs that I would like to nominate, well I am still thinking about some of my choices but for now, I think these ones are awesome and I think everyone should check them out if they haven't already.

 http://www.laceyshoelaces.blogspot.com/

 http://rainydayramblings.typepad.com/

 http://guiltypleasuresreviews.blogspot.com/

 http://cambriahebert.com/