Book Review: Become (Desolation #1) by Ali Cross

Do you want to know why I picked up this novel? Yes, the front cover is pretty enticing and yes it appears to have the makings of a great YA supernatural fiction based on the synopsis but what really pulled me in, believe it or not, was the author's short biography:

Ali Cross is the sensei of the Writer's Dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

I decided to read Become because I thought to myself if the author is witty enough to bring a smile to my face before I even turn the first page, then I might as well take a peak beneath the cover and I'm glad that I did.

Become is a refreshing YA paranormal novel, holding all the makings of a great little series. Exploring the dark side through the cynical and emotionally crippled Desolation Black, we come to understand that being the daughter of the prince of darkness is no easy task. Couple her black blood with that of a great angelic warrior, and Desolation - Desi for short - isn't sure where she belongs.

Haunted by the destruction that her own touch brings, Desi refuses to see the light within her. She pushes aside friendships and endeavours to ever harden her heart, terrified that the roiling darkness within may one day break free, causing irreparable damage. The goal is to find balance, to accept both the good and evil within and choose a path befitting the burning ache of love that burns brightly at depths of her forgotten soul.

Become is a swift moving novel packed with plenty of action scenes and enough angst and desperation to leave the reader feeling rather solemn and somehow sympathetic. Desolation is riddled with turmoil and unexplored emotion, taking the reader on a journey through the darkness that leaves you clawing at the pages in an effort to rediscover the light.

Characters are consistent in their portrayal and often engage in dialogue that is purposeful in explaining the back story in further detail. Small highlights include the modern day referencing of angels and demons versus the Gods of mythology - Odin, Loki and of course the Valkyries. I was surprised to see how well the two were combined and enjoyed this fresh retelling with an aside story that left the ending quite the cliffhanger.

Well written and surprisingly poignant, I am happy to rate this book three and a half fangs out of five and will probably read the next installment.

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.
When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.

Hi All!
I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! To all my followers you have been a massive support and to those of you that read my posts regularly, leave comments and amazingly don't die of shock from my sometimes ferociously inappropriate subject matter, I wish you all the very best!
It has been an amazing year with a few more of my books due to be released early 2013, so I'm shutting down until after New Year so I can get all of this finished for the eager Hunted fans. Oh, and there will be zombies on the horizon in the New Year ... lots and lots of zombies.
Anyway, you should probably get your hands on a copy of 'The Hunted' for Christmas either for yourself or for a friend or both. I've been told by one of Santa's big-mouth elves that if you don't have a copy under the tree or sitting on your bookshelf then you will be added to the 'naughty list'.
This is fact. *Maniacal laughter*
So now that you're all on the 'nice' list, I'm going to head off, enjoy my Christmas and bid that you all do the same - be safe, be happy, be merry, and of course do what I'm going to do and eat ridiculous amounts of food despite that I know there will be a week long crying sesh followed by massive regret when the scales whisper to me 'one at a time please'.
Have a good one everyone!

Kristy :)

Buy The Hunted on Amazon Now!

Book Review: Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

‘Silence’ by Becca Fitzpatrick is the third book in the ‘hush, hush’ series. It’s the steadily beating pulse of intrigue within the set that finally sees you keeping pace with the urgent tension the writer so obviously wishes you to engage.
The novel once again follows Nora Grey, a seemingly ordinary girl endlessly captured in the web of mystery that the world of angels and nephilim cast around her. Interestingly enough, ‘Silence’ begins mostly where the last novel left off, though it appears all the hard won battles of knowledge in the second book have evaded Nora in the third—her mind stolen by an extraordinarily powerful nephilim and the sinister edge of Devilcraft.
Through the first quarter of the story we see Nora regaining a lot of her former self, tossing aside previous doubts that had slowed the plot in earlier novels and actually trusting her instincts. She embraces some of the more interesting, introduced characters such as a nephilim called Scott—an old friend who appears to press for her affections but really just strives for freedom from the oppressive weight of the nephilim army that had recruited him in the past.
With Nora’s help and the slow progress of returning memories, Scott and Nora work to uncover the plot of the nephilim army. They are not alone in this task—Patch a fallen angel turned guardian angel returns to Nora’s side, plagued by ideals to let Nora forget their past, and yet haunted by the possibilities of what a future built together could bring.
Becca Fitzpatrick’s characters were as always consistent in their behaviour and dialogue. Patch, her male protagonist is naturally a show stealer in this series with his dark good looks and mysterious nature. His constant evasion of the truth, or breadcrumb version of it, leaves you feeling unsatisfied yet strangely intrigued. Although Nora does finally begin to show some gumption, particularly towards the last half of the novel, I still think that fleeting appearances from the fallen angel are what really keep you turning the pages on this evenly paced novel.
Action sequences were sparse but there was more than enough injection of plot thickeners to keep the story moving forward. My only criticism in these novels is that there really isn’t enough grit. We are reading stories of fallen angels and their deceitful enmeshing with humanity and yet we are left feeling as if we are reading about superheros rather than sinister outcasts of heaven.
All in all, I am enjoying this series, but again, I will only rate it three out of five fangs as there aren’t many moments that particularly make your pulse race on the action or romantic front.

Snopsis:
Nora Grey can't remember the past five months of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks - with no one knowing where she was or who she was with - she tried to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge mom's creepy new boyfriend.
But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she can almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows.
And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing.
Then Nora crosses paths with a sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers...and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

Book Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Crescendo is the second book in the Hush, Hush series, and thankfully, it does continue on much where the first book left off.
We still follow the story of Nora, a seemingly ordinary girl placed among the most exceptional of circumstances. Angels and the half-breeds known as Nephilim seem to suffocate her world, plaguing her memories of a past unknown and straining to dictate her future. There is no exception to this as new characters of the Nephilim rank are introduced, once again intertwined with the murder of her father and current relationships of a more personal nature intent on shaping her views of the truth. 
Patch, her now guardian angel and the apparent love of her life, continues to keep a myriad of secrets from Nora - some beyond his control due to the restrictions of his new rank among the divine. Naturally Nora is torn between the logic of her blinding affection for Patch and suspicious of these secrets slowly unraveling. No one appears to be trustworthy, including the apparitions of her dead father, the spoken words of her own mother, or perhaps even those she'd considered friends in the past.
Once again Becca Fitzpatrick delivered a stable and consistent story with flowing dialogue and easily relateable characters. Imagery was sedate, though adequate in description. However, there were some aspects that were trying. For one, I didn't enjoy that over three quarters of the book was spent following Nora's inner tirades of jealousy. Some of her thought processes were overly naive and childish given the age group we are following. But what I did appreciate was the author's ability to keep the reader guessing throughout the story, never quite knowing who is who and where the story will end. I can honestly say that I was left guessing right until the turning of the very last page and I very much look forward to diving into the next novel. I rate Crescendo and easy three out of fangs. It would have been four fangs if Nora hadn't become so tiresome.

Synopsis:

Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it. A mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever (if that's possible) and what's worse, he seems to be spending time with Nora's arch-enemy, Marcie Millar.Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn't been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude, Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feeling that he's hiding something.If that weren't enough, Nora is haunted by images of her murdered father, and comes to question whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death. Desperate to figure out what happened, she puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations to get the answer. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.

Kristy :)

Book Review: Impossible by Komal Lewis

Impossible is a YA contemporary fiction, a novel so far outside the realms of my usual genre that you're probably wondering why I would delve into the teenage world of love, angst and sexual inexperience when I'm so clearly devoted to the supernatural/paranormal romance genre.
The quick answer is that "Impossible" was part of a blog tour obligation, one I have found to be surprising, enticing and all together a very pleasant experience!
Impossible follows the story of Ashton and Luca, friends since childhood and next door neighbours now estranged thanks to a life altering event from the past. Ashton is a selfish, acidic-tongued teen with ambitions of popularity and needless attention from the miscreants of her social circle. Luca is a reserved, thick-skinned rocker determined to ignore the stigma of his individuality and the unpoularity that it brings.
A strange twist in fate and the selfish desires of Ashton's whims of highschool sucess see her crossing paths with the neighbour she swore she would never speak to again. A social outcast, Luca is offlimits and clearly unsuitable, but underneath all the gothic make up, clothes and dismissive attitude lies a stud in the making and perhaps Ashton's chance to re-climb the ladder of the school heirachy.
Chemistry soon explodes between these two frenemies and the past is once again uncovered, Ashton and Luca diving deeper into the reasoning behind their initial rift. Bound by combined grief and the promise of a future, we soon see that perhaps Ashton can find substance - Luca being the one to bring it out in her.
Like any teen drama we are greeted with a lot of cliche's but somehow Komal Lewis finds a way to keep this relatively ordinary story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl and then finds girl again adrift with non stop emotional drama. I can honestly say that there were many moments of levity, sadness and even supreme depravity that the author explores through real emotional dilemas and significant reactions from her characters.
Dialogue was realistic and flowed concisely. Characterisation was consistent and interestingly explored via the perspective of two main protagonists - one male, one female - both completely different in thought process.
Congratulations to Komal Lewis on her debut novel, a succinct, entertaining and emotionally lucrative story that I will happily be rating four out of five fangs.

Synopsis:

Ashton Summers is on her way to becoming the most popular girl in school and nothing—or no one—is going to stand in her way. Especially not Luca Byron, her freak neighbour, with his tattoos, loud music, and distracting green eyes.
Luca Byron has three goals in life: get through high school with a low profile, make sure his garage band becomes something more than a hobby, and try to forget about his insufferable ex-best friend, Ashton, who he can’t get out of his mind.
The last thing Ashton and Luca want to do is rekindle their friendship, but when Ashton takes a tumble down the social ladder, Luca—with his new makeover—is the only one who can help her rise up again by pretending to be her boyfriend. At first, being together is unbearable and annoying, but things start to change as Ashton and Luca discover the real reasons they drifted apart seven years ago. 
Now, keeping their hands off each other seems impossible.

Don't forget to check out the giveaway for Komal Lewis's book right here!

Impossible - Blog Tour

Check it out on Goodreads now!
Get the Kindle addition on Amazon for only 99c!

Hey guys,
I'm trying something new - a blog tour stop in support of another author, and to top it off, she's a fair dinkum Aussie just like me, so yay!
Anyway, You all know that I am a massive fan of the supernatural/paranormal romance genre, but I have to say that I quite enjoyed stepping out of the box and reading "Impossible" by Komal Lewis which is more of a contemporary/YA romance.
So stick with me this week guys, because I have a full load for you! On Wednesday the 28th of November you are going to get the author interview with Komal Lewis, followed by a Saturday post which will be the book review of "Impossible". There's also a tour-wide giveaway that you probably don't want to miss, so make sure you bounce back for that one on the 26th of November!
Have a fabulous week guys, support an Aussie, promote good Karma and like my blog while you're at it to receive great big air kisses via secret technical blogging support.

Kristy :)

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