Book Review: Fade Out

Title: Fade Out
Series:Morganville Vampires (Book #7)
Author: Rachel Caine
Published: 2009

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected.

My Thoughts:
In Fade Out things are almost going back to normal (or eve better) in Morganville, the huge danger is gone, and only minor problems and trouble comes Claire's way. Fade Out is therefor not as action packed as previous books, and Claire's situation isn't constantly life-threatening. The book was a bit slow in the beginning - because lets face it, reading about car races and huge fights are more thrilling than reading about theater rehearsals.

What I love the most about this series is its fantastic characters. I've mentioned Myrnin as a favorite of mine in previous reviews, and Oliver is another. Oliver is kind of Morganville's professor Snape - a person you love to hate (or hate to love) and never can be sure of whose side he is on.

Although Fade Out wasn't my favorite book in the series, each book in the Morganville series are a fast and fun read, so if you decide to try the books, you're in for a treat!

Rating: 3 of 5

Previous books in this series:
1. Glass Houses
2. The Dead Girl's Dance
3. Midnight Alley
4. Feast of Fools
5. Lord of Misrule
6. Carpe Corpus

Waiting on Wednesday (12/29)

Title: Babe in Boyland
Author: Jody Gehrman
Release Date: February 17th

Natalie is Dr. Aphrodite, the love guru for her high school paper. But Natalie's relationship advice is totally bombing, especially when it comes to knowing what guys really think and want. When she tries to investigate, the guys in her class won't give her serious or straight answers.

The only solution? Disguising herself as a guy and spending a week at Underwood Academy, the private all-boys boarding school in town. There "Nat" learns a lot about guys and girls in ways she never expected--especially when she falls for her dreamy roommate, Emilio. How can she show him she likes him without blowing her cover?

Love the sound of this one! Sounds very similar to the movie "She's the Man", which was very funny!

In My Mailbox: Christmas Edition

Bought:

Nailed - Jennifer Laurens

One girl. Two guys. Who says three's a crowd? When Mandy takes an unusual summer job-in construction-she has to prove she's just one of the guys. But she gets more than she bargains for being the only girl on the job. The mixture of hot guys, sunscreen, raw wood and testosterone proves to be an elixir she can't protect her heart from. Brooding Boston and flirty AJ find themselves looking at Mandy as more than just a girl who holds a hammer. Mandy soon finds herself not only lost in a whirlwind of a male-dominated world, but also the center of an inadvertently "constructed" love triangle. Mandy must choose between two guys who want her heart. But what's a girl to do when she wants them both?(less

Christmas gifts:

Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?


The Dark Divine - Bree Despain
A Prodigal Son
A Dangerous Love
A Deadly Secret

Grace Divine—daughter of the local pastor—always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood.

Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attraction to him and her loyalty to her brother.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and how to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul.

I've been wanting to read all of these books for so long, and I'm so happy to finally be able too! :D. Did you get any books for Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Waiting on Wednesday

Title: Cloaked
Author: Alex Flinn
Release Date: February 8th

Think you know paranormal romance? Alex Flinn gives the genre a twist in this modern fairy-tale mash-up!

Johnny’s not your average hero. But a little magic changes everything. There isn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. It all starts with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess. And before Johnny knows it, he is on a mission in the Everglades, with only a flock of swans and a talking fox named Joe to help guide him against the forces of an evil witch.

Maybe I'm stupid, but I can't tell which fairytale this is a retelling of... it sounds good though!

Mini Reviews (XII)

Love, Lies and Lizzie - Rosie Rushton
For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? What would happen if Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was set in the twenty-first century? When Mrs Bennet inherits enough money to move to the kind of village she has always dreamed of, her daughters find themselves swept up in a glamourous life of partying and countryside pursuits. But Lizzie and her sisters soon discover that, beneath the very smart surface, lurks a web of intrigue and rivalries . . .

Love, Lies and Lizzie is a retelling of Austen's famous Pride and Prejudice. Since I am among the few who never have read the book, or even seen one of the movie adaptions (gasp!) I wasn't sure what to expect from this story. And while I recognized the names of some characters, I still didn't know what their motives where or what they had in store for Lizzie.

It's hard to say if people who know the story will enjoy this book more than people who have never read Pride and Prejudice!

This book was a bit confusing at first, it was hard to keep track of all the Bennet sisters! But after putting this book away for a couple of weeks I started reading it today - and finished it in a few hours! And it was quite enjoyable :) A nice read, but far from the best book I've read.

Rating: 3 of 5





The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

Some summers are just destined to be pretty.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

This book reminded me a lot of the book The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols; it's about a girl spending her summer in a house by the water, hanging out with two brothers and having a crush on the older one of said brothers.

Present events are mixed up with Belly's memories from previous summers. For me, the memories wasn't that fun to read, and I actually skipped a few of them...

I thought I had this book all figured out, but then Belly surprised me by picking the other brother! Which was a nice change! (But hey, still two books to go! Things can change.) The sequel called It's Not Summer Without You is already realeased, so I think I'll borrow it from the library to find out what will happen to Belly :)

I guess this book was an okay read, but I found it quite boring at times. Many other reviewers seem to love this story though, so maybe it just wasn't my kind of book. In my opinion The Boys Next Door & Endless Summer is much better! ;)

Rating: 3.5 of 5

Book Review: My Soul To Steal

Title: My Soul To Steal
Series: Soul Screamers (Book #4)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Release Date: January 1, 2011

YOU WANT MY SOUL AND MY BOYFRIEND?

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

I DON’T THINK SO.

My Thoughts: My Soul To Steal picks up a few weeks after My Soul To Keep left off. While the immediate danger is over, Kayla's life is far from fuss-free! The wounds from Nash's betrayal are deep and her trust in him is gone. They're both devastated and miserable, and this book is more emotional and raw than previous installments.

Nash has changed so much since the last time we saw him. Gone is the confident, popular and charismatic Nash. The new Nash is broken and lost, and he is no longer Kayla's secure rock. Can Kayla's trust in him ever be reinstalled?

But relationship problems isn't all Kayla has to worry about - Alec, who she saved from the Netherworld, is temporary staying at her house, and getting him adjusted to human life again isn't easy, especially not when he seem so confused from time to time...

Kayla thought school would be a safe-haven, a place where she could feel normal - but she was wrong, Something or someone is killing of Kayla's teachers, one by one... And as if that wasn't enough - Simone, the new girl in school, turns out to be Nash's ex-girlfriend and she is determined to get him back!

Simone was definitely an interesting character, and Vincent made a great job developing her. She was redoubtable, manipulating and smart -she used Nash and Kayla's emotions to turn them against each other.

I have to say that Tod continues being my favorite character, he's fun and incredibly sweet towards Kayla. I love how he takes her side against Nash, and how he chooses to become visible only for her. In this book there are a few signs that Tod may like Kayla more than just a friend (it might just be me imagining things because I love Tod) and I can't wait to see how that develops in future books!

This series is getting better with each installment, and so is Vincent's writing and story-telling. Very impressing!

Don't miss this book in stores on January 1st!

Rating: 4.5 of 5

Previous books in this series:
My Soul To Lose (free prequel novella)
My Soul To Take (#1)
My Soul To Save (#2)
My Soul To Keep (#3)
Reaper (free novella)

Book Source: E-book from netGalley

Waiting on Wednesday (12/15)

Title: Timeless
Author: Alexandra Monir
Release Date: January 11, 2011

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

Oh time-travelling! Doesn't this book sound interesting? It's definitely on my wish list!

Book Review: Wings

Title: Wings
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Published: 2009

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

My Thoughts: I've never been a fan of faerie books, so needless to say, I was very reluctant to read Wings. But I had read many good reviews of it, so when I spotted its colorful cover in a

the library shelf I decided to give it a try. And I am so very glad I did!

Aprilynne Pike has created a new kind of faeries; gone is the scheming faeries who is allergic to steal and lures children and other humans to destruction. No, Pike's faries are beautiful and very different from the stereotype.

What would a paranormal young adult book be without a love triangle? Wings definitely has a good one going on between David - Laurel's human best friend, and Tamani - the beautiful fearie who apparantly knew her when she was young. Laurel can't make up her mind about who she loves the most, but I think I have a favorite! ;)

Wings turned out to be a great read! There are mystery, science, some love - what more can you ask for? I definitely don't regret picking this book up at the library. In fact I'll go back there tomorrow to see if I can find the sequel Spells!

Rating: 4.5 of 5

Cover Combat: Angels on Sunset Boulevard

In Cover Combat, Swedish covers are being compared with the original US/UK covers of the same books. Today, the US and Swedish covers of Angels on Sunset Boulevard by Melissa de la Cruz are being compared!

US hardcover and paperback cover:

Swedish Cover (title: The Tattooed Angels):

It's interesting how the Swedish cover and the US paperback cover are similar and have the same theme. But - I like the other US cover better! The colors are nice, and the wings and text looks like a tattoo motive. Definitely my favorite!

Which cover do you like the most?

Waiting on Wednesday (12/8)

Title: Prom and Prejudice

Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Release Date: January 1, 2011

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single guy in his spring semester at Pemberly Academy must be in want of a prom date.

After winter break, the girls at very prestigious, very wealthy, girls-only Longbourn Academy are suddenly obsessed with the prom, which they share with the nearby, equally elitist, all-boys Pemberly school. Lizzie Bennett, who attends Longbourn on scholarship, isn't exactly interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be - especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance, but less than impressed by Will Darcy, Charles's friend, who's as snobby and pretentious as his friend is nice. He doesn't seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it's because her family doesn't have money. It doesn't help that Charles doesn't seem to be asking Jane to be his prom date, or that Lizzie meets George Wickham, who tells her that Will Darcy sabotaged his scholarship at Pemberly. Clearly Will Darcy is a pompous jerk who looks down on the middle class--so imagine Lizzie's surprise when he asks her to the prom!

Will Lizzie's prejudice and Will's pride keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making? From Elizabeth Eulberg comes a very funny, completely stylish prom-season delight of Jane Austen proportions.

I recently read another Pride and Prejudice retelling, Love, Lies and Lizzie, so it would be fun to compare those two!

Waiting on Wednesday is created by Jill @ Breaking the Spine

Book Review: Carpe Corpus

Title: Carpe Corpus
Series: Morganville Vampires (Book 6)
Author: Rachel Caine
Published: 2009

In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace-until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He's kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths. He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants-the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?

My Thoughts: With no signs of Amelie and her allies, Bishop can do everything he wants with the town of Morganville, and its human and vampire residents. Claire Danvers and her friend Michael is forced against their wills to work for Amelie. As a result of this their friend Eve is now not talking to either of them.

But there is a group planning to fight and defeat Bishop, but since Claire is working for Bishop, they refuse to share their plans with her. So Claire sees no other choice than to continue following Bishop's orders to get what she wants the most - visit Shane. Needless to say, Claire is very frustrated and alone during this book, and she's not the only one!

Just like in the previous book, Morganville is in chaos! The battle isn't as intense this time though, not a first... but then the book ends with an exploding, dramatic conclusion, as the Morganville books usually does!

Rating: 4 of 5

Previous books in this series (linked to my reviews):

1. Glass Houses
2. The Dead Girl's Dance
3. Midnight Alley
4. Feast of Fools
5. Lord of Misrule

In My Malbox: Week 48

Won from Becky @ Stories & Sweeties:

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

I have heard great things about this series, so I was very excited to win this book! I think I'll have to get my hands on Beautiful Creatures before reading this one though!

Book Review: My Soul To Lose

Title: My Soul To Lose
Series: Soul Screamers (prequel)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Published: 2009

It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

My Thoughts: My Soul To Save is a prequel novella to the Soul Screamers series, and it's also available for free! You can download the novella in many formats, I chose to download it as an audio file. This was the first time I've listened to an audio book, and I really liked the format! I was amazed with how I could write a document and in the same time listen to the book with not missing one word of the book - talk about multitasking!


Now onto my thoughts about the book itself! If you are a fan of the series, My Soul To Lose definitely is an interesting addition. For the first time you read about what an unstoppable force Kayla's scream really is, and how she absolutely can't make it stop. You can't read about Kayla really screaming in any of the other books.



Lydia was an interesting character, with an interesting talent of her own, and I wouldn't be too surprised if she, or another person with the same talent as her, show up in coming Soul Screamers books.


For a person who hasn't read the Soul Screamers books yet My Soul To Lose might be a way to try the series for free. But they should know that the novella doesn't make the series justice, the books are much better!

Read & Watched in November

Books:
1. Love Sucks - Lauren Hammond (Review)
2. This. A Vampire Cure For Forever - Shaun Roundy (Review)
3. Wings - Aprilynne Pike (Review)
4. Love, Lies and Lizzie - Rosie Rushton (Mini Review)
5. My Soul To Lose - Rachel Vincent (Review)
6. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han (Mini Review)
7. My Soul To Steal - Rachel Vincent (Review)

Movies:
1. Date Night
2. A Walk To Remember
3. Wall Street 2 - Money Never Sleeps
4. Going The Distance
5. Forever Strong

*RTC=Review To Come