Review: Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

Title: Spellcaster
Author: Cara Lynn Shultz
Published: 27th March 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: Spellbound #2
Source: eACR thanks to NetGalley and publisher

Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.

Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…

After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....

But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own. - From Goodreads

After finishing Spellbound I was not jumping at the chance to read the next book in the series. In my head Emma and Brendan had faced the obstacles in the way of their relationship and the story was finished. So why was there another book? I could see it possibly focusing on another character, alas no, Emma and Brendan have another issue to overcome.

Emma and Brendan have faced down a centuries old curse which was destined to kill Emma once they couple were together. Not only this, but Emma has discovered that she is a born witch. Now with Emma and Brendan trying to figure out their relationship someone is gunning for their blood, literally. True love is the strongest type of magic and when used in a spell can grant the witch immense power. Emma and Angelique must figure out who is out to get her and how to stop them.

I really liked both Emma and Brendan in the last book, but in this book there were a few things that really niggled me! Emma felt a little less of the witty, spirited book I like in the first novel. I am unsure if this is a reflection of the super-possessive Brendan or if her character has run out of steam a little. Where did the girl go who may not have always stood up for herself but had some really funny comebacks in her head after the fact.I suspect it is the influence of Brendan. Brendan was cool in the last book, but in this book there are some serious boundary issues that I felt he crossed. I like a manly man, but I felt that Brendan smothered her and treated her like a child. Bad Brendan!

With all of my thoughts on those two annoying me every couple of paragraphs, I thought that this book had a pretty entertaining plot. If you can get past the nonsense about it being another story in this magical book (why have neither of them just sat down and read it if it is so important) which was one of Emma's past lives (!!!!) then there is an good supernatural mystery waiting for you.

I found this book a bit of a challenge to get through, although that could be due to the fact that I never felt like another book was needed in this story. I am hoping that this is the end and that in my head everyone can live happily ever after.

Review: Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

Title: Spellbound
Author: Cara Lynn Shultz
Published: 21st June 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Spellbound #1
Source: Own Kindle Copy

What's a girl to do when meeting The One means she's cursed to die a horrible death?
Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Connor, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she's irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.
But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can't stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma's been having the oddest dreams: visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else. - From Goodreads

I was not blown away by the cover for this book, and I admit that it took me a while to getting round to reading it and clearing it out of my TBR pile. I picked it up when I received the second in the series from NetGalley! This book was not what I was expecting and in my mind it morphed during my reading of it from a romance to a paranormal romance.

Emma has moved in with her Aunt Christine in New York. After losing both her twin brother and her mother in the space of a year her alcoholic stepfather almost kills her in a car accident. It is at this point that Emma realised that she probably needs to be in a more stable environment. When she starts at the prestigious Upper East side school she meets Brendan, a mysterious guy she can't stop thinking about. As the school year progresses and Emma makes both friends and enemies and finds out that there may be more between her and Brendan than she first thought.

I liked Emma, she is a sweet, funny and strong character who does not dwell on her crappy past. There was the occasional niggle in the back of my mind that if it had been me that lost a twin and my mum that I might be a little more upset, but Emma just gets on with her life. Emma has a quick wit, that I often wish I had myself, coming back with brilliant one liners that often made her extra enemies. Brendan to me felt a little two dimensional. I don't think we get a good sense of Brandon and to an extent he feels a bit like an add on character. Now this is not to say that I did not thoroughly enjoy the scenes with him and Emma, I did, I just wish we knew more about him!

The rest of the characters were your standard characters for a YA paranormal romance. We had the cool and kooky aunt; the sweet and goofy younger cousin; the gay best friend; the bitchy blonde mean girl; the witchy best friend; and the douchey jock! Even though these characters were nothing new and we have seen them in books a thousand times before I liked reading them and thought they added to the story to make it richer and more enjoyable.

The story itself was a star crossed lovers type of story with a centuries old curse which would cause Emma's death if Emma and Brendan were together (not like that, just together! Tut-tut!). There was flash backs to the origin of the curse, for me this lasted a bit too long and I wanted to get back to the main story and find out what would happen next.

I liked this story. It started out a bit like a contemporary romance as there was practically no paranormal activity until a good way into the book and even then the paranormal takes a back seat to the romance in this story. I would be happy for this story to stop at the end of the book. I don't feel we were left with any cliffhangers, however this is part of a series and even though I feel no need to pick up the next book,  I will to see how the story continues next.

Review: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (VA5)

Title: Spirit Bound
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Published: 18th May 2010
Series: Vampire Academy #5
Source: Own Copy

Salvation has its price.
The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. "You're lying. What you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever."

Robert's next words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. "That which is dead doesn't always stay dead...."

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It's graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside of the Academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. He's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance, and now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won't join him, he won't rest until he's silenced her...forever.

But Rose can't forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic nextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose's prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. In the end, is true love really worth the price?

Fall in love with Rose and Dimitri all over again in Spirit Bound, the eagerly awaited fifth novel in Richelle Mead's enthralling Vampire Academy series. - From Goodreads

May contain spoilers from earlier books in the series:

This books was jam packed with action from the first to last page, so much good stuff happens. At the end of the previous book Rose failed to kill Dimitri, as we know when he sent her back her stake, and Rose returned to school. This should feel familiar to us, having Rose back at school, but after everything that has happened to her recently she seems to have lost a little bit of her spark. After Rose passes her Guardian test with flying colours (they have to invent new things to test her on, she is that good!) her, Lissa, Adrian and Christian head to court with school behind them. There they begin to discover things that the shouldn't and life changes drastically for at least one of them.

Using some of the information that Rose found on her journey to find Dimitri in the last book, Rose and Lissa begin to discuss the possibility of using spirit to help those who have been turned into stigoli. Soon the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and before we know it Victor is being dragged back into the story along with his crazy brother and an angry Dimitri. Meanwhile at court we see the vampire politics in full swing while Lissa tries to navigate her way through the issues that come with her being the only surviving member of her family.

Rose feels like a completely different character in this book than at the start of this series. We can really see the transition between the reckless and, in comparison, carefree Rose from the first book and the more responsible and cautious Rose. I also loved watching her relationship with Adrian in this book. I think about half way through this book I became a solid member of Team Adrian. Within this story each of the characters had a significant part to play, and I always like it when everyone weaves into the story to compliment it and add in their own individual element.

Rose was not the only character to show a completely different side to them. I felt that the Lissa we saw in this book was far less annoying and actually brought something to the Lissa-Rose relationship. There is the possibility that I was just feeling forgiving when I read this book but I think that Lissa was becoming her own woman far less needy and dependent on Rose to think of all the ideas and protect her. Don't get me wrong, I still found her irritating, just far less so!

This book was faced paced and crammed from the first to the last page with drama, drama, drama!! This is good as after reading this book you could see that the last book was a much slower pace. I thought the story was exciting and the final cliffhanger left me feeling like I had been punched in the stomach (which someone had warned me about!) and moving right on to the final instalment!! A great series that I will be sad to finish!

Review: Tris and Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

Title: Tris and Izzie
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Published: 11th October 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Source: eARC (thanks to Netgalley and Egmount USA)

A modern retelling of the German fairytale "Tristan and Isolde", Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school. - From Goodreads

I feel that often retellings can be very hit or miss. I am vaguely familiar with Tristan and Isolde, but I have never actually read it. Unfortunately after reading this book I have no desire to read the original. I wanted to like this book so much, I mean look at that cover, it is stunning, but for me the story did not live up to my expectations.

Izzie has the perfect life, a best friend, a hot superstar boyfriend, Mark, and a witch mother. So when Tris turns up as the new boy at school he throws Izzie into a spin. Izzie tries to help her best friend fall for Tris by trying to give them both a love potion, but she accidentally eds up drinking it herself with Tris. This starts the beginning for Izzie's inner war between staying with Mark or following her heart and going with Tris. After she is attacked by a two headed dog at a football game Izzie finds out that not only is she also magic, but she is only one who can save the magical community from a giant snake who eats magic.

I found a lot of things about this book rather annoying. Firstly the dialogue felt very immature and one dimensional. Tris's speech felt very stiff. I understand that it is intended to show that he is from a different society where modern day has little influence, but I am sure that he would still revert to don't, won't and can't. The magic love potion in this novel is referred to as a love philtre throughout, and was spoken about quite a bit which left me wanting to shout "just call it a love potion"!!

As I say I have not read the original text, so I am not sure if there is magic in the original story, but it all felt a little thin for me. It is just assumed that some people are magic and some are not, and that few non-magical people know about magic. I thought that this could have used a little more back story, like have they always lived in their own community, and have the fairies, dragons, giant butterflies or any other creatures ever been seen in the real world, and if so how was it covered up? I thought it could have used a little more depth.

I thought Izzie was also a little annoying. She was constantly moaning about how awful it was that she had taken the love potion and was going to forever love Tris, but she was going to do this to her "best friend" in the first place! The other characters also seemed to be quite happy about swapping relationships, all with no hard feelings.

This book was a bit of a struggle for me to finish as I didn't particularly care what was going to happen and the battle at the end all seemed to be quite easy for Izzie, I didn't feel her struggle or pain the way I have with other characters. I am interested to find out how close this is to Tristian and Isolde, but after reading this I realise there are other stories out there I want to read more.

Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Title: Beastly
Author: Alex Flinn
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 1st October 2007
Source: Own Copy

I am a beast.
A beast!
Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. I am a monster.
You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll, stay this way forever ruined unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly...beastly. - From Goodreads

So from reading my past reviews of books such as The Lying Game and The Secret Circle, it should come as no surprise that when I saw there was a movie coming out for Beastly I wanted to read the book. I thought the trailer looked great and (I am truly ashamed when I say this) I thought this was the book of the movie (I know I'm hanging my head in shame) and grabbed a copy. Now it was stupid of me to think that the movie came first, but what I got was a richly woven tale of magic and romance.

It is a story we all know, beauty and the beast. Kyle is popular, vain and a total ass. Everything is all about him and these are the morals his father has instilled in him, to get ahead you have to be attractive. So when the unusual looking Kendra asks Kyle to the school dance he decides to make a bit of an example from her by standing her up in front of everyone and waling in with someone else. But Kendra is a witch and gets her revenge later on that evening. She turns him into a Beast. Over the next 2 years Kyle has to find true love. He is also banished to a house with only a housekeeper and a tutor by his father.

OMG I loved this book so much. I thought the film was good, but there were some important parts which were changed from the book to film. At the start of the book Kendra appears as a tubby unattractive girl, but this is just what she is portraying to Kyle, she is actually quite an attractive witch who we learn has made quite a few mistakes in her past. Kyle and Kendra can communicate with each other through a magic looking glass.

Kendra was one of my favourite characters. I thought she brought some humour to the role, worrying about messing up again and making mistakes. There were other snapshots of humour peppered through this book with short chapters of conversations going on in an internet chat-room. The conversation is between other mystical creatures like a frog / prince and a mermaid.

In the film the very pretty Alex Pettyfer is made to be bald with weird tattoos and scars all over him, however in the book Kyle is a proper Beast. Hair, claws and all. I think this is more of a challenge and made his reclusiveness seem to make more sense.

I loved this book. I loved it so much I felt like I wanted to slow down my reading of it towards the end so that I made it spin out just a little more. There was little mystery in the story as we all know what happens in Beauty and the Beast, but this made little difference to me. This tale was worked with such enchanting magic that I can't wait to read Bewitched which will focus on some of the other spells Kendra has cast and the fallout!

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!!).