Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Hush, Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Published: 13th October 2009
Series: Hush, Hush #1
Source: Own Kindle Copy

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life. - From Goodreads

There seems to have been a rash of books revolving around angels released lately. This combined with reading Hush, Hush a few months ago, and reading other angel books after it, meant that when I sat down to type my thoughts I had no idea what had happened in this book. As luck would have it I had a couple of Audible credit's in my account so decided that this would be a great purchase and would not impact on my reading time as I could listen to it while driving, walking to work... Oh am I glad I did this, and how could I have forgotten? It all came flooding back to me.

Nora lives a fairly quiet life with her best friend and her biggest decision will be to decide between the ivy league schools she is set to be accepted to. Then one day in class all the seats get moved around sitting Nora beside Patch. Dark and mysterious, Patch seems to know everything about Nora, but she knows nothing about him except that she can't stop thinking about him.This story was full of suspense, romance, danger and fallen angels.

I liked Nora. I could relate to her and unlike other female characters Nora tends to over think situations instead of under thinking them! This tends to mean she does not jump to ridiculous conclusions (or sometimes any conclusions). And then can we talk about Patch? At the start I think he seems like, as we say in the UK, a total Dick! It took me a while to warm to patch, but as soon as I did I think I fell in love!! Patch can save me from danger any day of the week! I'm not completely blind to Patch being a tad over protective, but I'm willing to overlook that.

There were a couple of points to this story which I felt were cleverly tidied up at the end with a, without giving away to much, "all of those reasons was because..." which perhaps felt a little contrived. Another point that stuck in my mind was that at the start of the book Nora talks about how they are best friends who are an extension of each other. Even as an outsider I thought some of V's behaviour was a bit off, why did Nora not notice? Does V usually act shady?

In a way I am happy that it has taken me so long to get round to doing this review as I can now swiftly move on to Crescendo and the Silence, and by the time I have finished those two books and reviewing them the final chapter of this story will probably be close to publication!! I can't wait to read the next books.

Review: The Witches of the East by Melissa de la Cruz

Title: The Wiches of the East
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 21st June 2011
Series: The Beauchamp Family #1
Source: Copy Borrowed from AB

Freya, Ingrid and Joanna Beauchamp love their sleepy life in the East Hamptons. A new engagement, promotion at work, a happy home - its all going perfectly. And, to top it off, no one's come close to discovering the secret of what they can really do in hundreds of years. But throw a few accidental love potions in the mix the Beauchamp girls are going to need more than a broomstick to clean up this mess... - From Goodreads

When I saw that this was in a pile of books one of my friends was lending me I was excited because I had not read any books by Melissa de la Cruz and this would be my first. It took a little looking on Goodreads for me to find out that this is actually the UK title for Witches of the East End which had been on my TBR list for ages, then started my happy dance!

This book is slightly older than the YA books I have been reading recently, but I loved it anyway. In the small town of East Hampton Freya, Ingrid and Joanna Beauchamp (even their family name is great!!) try to live a normal magic free life. Over the course of the book however the sisters Freya and Ingrid start to use magic more and more. Before we know it the police are looking for a scapegoat to some crimes and the fingers are beginning to point to the sisters.

This book was atmospheric and took a while to describe the town and the people who lived there. We are pulled into this small town and the rich descriptions bathes us in a feeling that we are actually there. This also gave some depth to the characters and allowed us a proper glimpse into how they lived their lives without magic. I really liked Ingrid as a character, even though she is the more sensible of the two characters in life, she is the one who is more willing to break the rules.

What I liked the best about this book was the mythology behind the Beauchamp Family, what happens when one of the sisters dies or is killed, where they came from and why they can't use their magic. I thought this was all well thought through and left me wanting to know much more. I wish this book had looked at this for longer, but it did not really come in until the end of the book, presumably as a build up to the next in the series.

I really enjoyed this book. It took a little while to get into the meat of the story as there was a lot of setting the scene going on at the start. Once I was into it though I found it hugely entertaining and I did not want to put it down. I wanted to know more about the witches and their history, so I will definitely be picking up book 2 (also because the cliff hanger at the end has left me with many more questions!!).

Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Title: Unearthly
Author: Cynthia Hand
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 4th January 2011
Series: Unearthly #1
Source: Own Copy

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart. - From Goodreads

I am fascinated by angels. Some of them are pure and as we have seen in a number of other Angel based books there are also "bad" angels waiting to corrupt our main characters. Part angels or Nephilim are just as fascinating, have you ever seen the Paul Wesley mini series The Fallen? I thought was awesome! (If you have not seen this yet then check it out!!) With the popularity of angels being the main supernatural  increasing at the moment I was surprised to find that Unearthly felt really fresh and new to me. It was not what I was expecting, in a really good way.

For a start the main character is Clara who is struggling to come to terms with the fact she is part angel and has a destiny or purpose to fulfill. Before Clara began to get her visions all she really had to worry about was not being too good at school as being an angel-blood means she is faster, stronger and smarter than a teenage girl should be. Clara's visions start with a handsome boy standing in the woods. From this vision her family (Mum and Brother) move across the country to live where Clara has to be for her vision to take place.

We only find out small details about the vision at a time and the boy who has a starring role in it, Christian. He is not the only handsome man though; there is also the twin brother of Clara's best friend, Tucker. Now to me I felt that the character of Christian was a bit distant and a bit flat and Tucker was definitely the star of the show for me, I am Team Tucker all the way (although I do admit I have a thing for the rugged cowboy)! I think if Christian had been a bit more rounded as a character I would have felt more like there was anguish between the 2 boys.

I liked that a lot of this story was Clara's internal struggle of doing what feels right and what others perceive to be right. There is also a good number of issues left hanging at the end of the book which I am looking forward to finding out about in further books but none of them left me feeling cheated. Too often with books in a series I feel like parts of the story are just left to make you come back, but in this case it felt like there was just so much to know and we would find out in time when it was needed for the story.

I can't wait for the next book in this series, it promises to be amazing.

Review: The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Baswell

Title: The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Author: Liz Braswell
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 7th June 2011
Series: Chloe King # 1 - 3

Chloe King is a normal girl. She goes to class (most of the time), fights with her mom, and crushes on a boy…or two. But around her sixteenth birthday, Chloe finds that perhaps she isn’t so normal after all. There’s the heightened night vision, the super fast reflexes – oh, and the claws.
As she discovers who she is – and where she comes from – it is clear she is not alone. And someone is trying to get her.
Chloe has nine lives. But will nine be enough? - From Goodreads

I was desperate to read this book as I love the TV show and I felt it was not moving fast enough for me so I decided to find out the ending as soon as possible (OK so I have very little patience!!). This was a fine book. I did not have any major problems with any specific parts of this book, more just niggly annoyances. I think having seen most of season 1 before reading this gave me a better understanding of the vision and the concept.

So if you know absolutely nothing about Chloe King here are the top 5 things you need to know about Chloe King (the book character!) -

1. Chloe King is Mai. Descended from the Egyptian cat goddesses on her 16th birthday she develops crazy balancing skills, claws and generally becomes half human half cat!

2. Chloe is a special Mai and has 9 lives. After falling off the top of that tall tower in San Fransisco (hey I'm from the UK I can't remember everything!!) she dies and comes back to life.

3. I find Chloe's 2 best friends ridiculously annoying and wish she would just walk away from them. I thought the characters of Amy and Paul were weak and most of the time moaning about how bad a friend Chloe is.

4. Chloe has 2 hot guys chasing after her. Alec is Mai, Russian and cocky, you would think that this would make Chloe go all weak at the knees, but there is also Brian. The problem is Brian is human and Mai and humans cannot mix. In fact Mai are deadly for humans. This makes the whole Brian relationship doomed.

5. Lastly I think Chloe's attitude at the beginning of the book stinks!! In my day I would get a 4 hour lecture and grounded if I refused to talk to my mother, skipped school for a day to hang out with my buddies and snuck out most nights (damn, I didn't get away with anything.) Towards the end of the book she does seem to grow up a bit and take a bit more responsibility which is better.

There are some similarities between the books and the TV series, especially the first book, but the story seems to have diverged onto a different path in the TV show. I enjoyed the book and found it very easy and quick to get into and finish.

 

ABC Family

Rating: 3 / 5

Review: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Title: Starcrossed
Author: Josephine Angelini
Published: June 3rd 2011

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Series: Stracrossed #1

Source: Own Copy on Kindle

Set on the island of Nantucket, STARCROSSED tells the tale of Helen Hamilton, a young woman whose destiny is forever altered when she meets Lucas Delos and tries to kill him in front of her entire high school. Which is terribly inconvenient, not only because Lucas is the most beautiful boy on the island, but also because Helen is so achingly shy she suffers physical pain whenever she is given too much attention. 
Making matters worse, Helen is beginning to suspect she’s going crazy. Whenever she’s near Lucas or any member of his family she sees the ghostly apparitions of three women weeping bloody tears, and suffers the burden of an intense and irrational hate. She soon learns that she and Lucas are destined to play the leading roles in a Greek tragedy that the Three Fates insist on repeating over and over again throughout history. Like her namesake, Helen of Troy, she’s destined to start a war by falling in love. But even though Lucas and Helen can see their own star-crossed destiny, they’re still powerfully attracted to each other. Will they give up their personal happiness for the greater good, or risk it all to be together?

Recently I had been having a bit of a reading slump. I won't go so far as to say I had lost interest, I was just having difficulty motivating myself to sit, read and enjoy it. Then this book came along...

I was excited even before starting it. I bought this shortly after midnight on the day of release and started reading it a couple of minutes later (I love my kindle!). This book was already a winner in my eyes, with Greek mythology and starcrossed lovers, I knew it would not take me long to read. I had read a few reviews which compared it to twilight. I could see the similarities, single father raising his daughter, a family full of beautiful teenagers with special gifts and the main characters struggling with their feelings for each other.

I liked the writing style and found it a very easy read. Written in the third person you are swept along with the story very quickly and there was some really well rounded secondary characters. Helen is a very quiet and shy girl who tries her hardest to keep herself under the radar. When the Delos Family move to her small sleepy island there are parts to Helen she can't help but keep hidden. Helen's talents start to grown and manifest within herself even if, in the past, she has ignored them or passed them off as something else.

The Delos family are special and I think that they were wonderfully written. Again as the reader you only get introduced to the abilities of this family bit at a time. For me the "slow reveal" is what keeps me reading. You are constantly being given tiny bits of information, like a nickname or a throw-away comment, from the family that keeps you wanting to read on and find out what they were referring to.

As far as the plot goes, It was well thought out with a good final challenge (as all these books have) which I felt was not rushed or glossed over. HOWEVER... there were tiny things which would be mentioned and it made me want to shake the characters and say "did you not just hear that? Are you stupid?" and a little plot twist that made me go "Seriously!! What!! No!! Yuck ewww...".

So overall I really enjoyed this book. There was enough Greek mythology sprinkled throughout to feed my love. Saying that it was not too much that I get bored reading about the past desperate to get back to the story in the present. I can't wait for the next books in the series to come out so that I can read them in one sitting too!!

Review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Title: The Goddess Test
Author: Aimee Carter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: 26th April 2011
Series: Goddess Test #1
Source: Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

This is the first book in the Goddess Test series, and after finishing this book I can't wait for the next. Aimee Carter manages to pull you into this world of myth and mystery that I had no choice but to read the whole book in one sitting.

From the beginning of the story you can tell that Kate is a strong woman. She has been looking after her dying mother for the last 4 years who has now decided to come back to her home town of Eden to die. Kate is not happy about this, but is willing to try for her mother. We are slowly introduced to a host of other characters such as James, Ava and the charming Henry. In exchange for Henry helping Ava Kate agrees to spend 6 months a year with Henry in his house.

I have always enjoyed Greek Myths and this book did not disappoint. It touched on the myths and threw light on them without getting bogged down in details. It also does not disappoint with a great romance story running in parallel with Kate facing tests and avoiding assassination attempts. All of the characters in this story are rich and well rounded. The romance is also believable and very charming. All in all I was swept away with this story and I am looking forward to picking up the next book in the series. Bring it on!!