Monday 21 July 2014

Review No. 17: Keeper - Ingrid Seymour


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Genre: YA / Urban Fantasy

Edition: ebook

No. of Pages: 400

Published on: March 3rd, 2014

Published by: PenDreams

Source: CBB Book Promotions

Series?: The Morphid Chronicles #1

Get this book here.

I'm really sorry if any of the above information is wrong. I tried my best to be as accurate as possible.


Description: Greg is a Morphid. He's been looking forward to, and at the same time dreading, his transformation for weeks. He wants to belong to a powerful caste but he's afraid that he'll be placed in a common caste like his parents.
                     Sam is an average girl with heartless parents and a dream to be independant.
                    Unfortunately, Fate disagrees with the both of them. Now, Greg is forced to protect Sam while she struggles against her nature.

What I think about it: This was a well written tale. It pulled me onto a rollercoaster of emotions. Honestly, I didn't expect to care so much about the story but at times I was almost brought to tears. This novel is more character based than action driven. Therefore, it felt as if the events were dragging sometimes. However, this is not a bad thing, as the characters drew me into their stories anyway.  The characters aren't perfect by any means, really. The decisions they made had me gritting my teeth most of  the times! But they're teenagers, of course they're going to make silly choices! My point is, this was really, really well done! I didn't enjoy every second of it, but it was entertaining.

Character Analysis:

Sam- The clueless, average girl with distant parents. She was likable for the first half of the book, then she did some stuff and I got really irritated with her. By the end of the book, she was back on my likable page.

Greg- The Morphid who didn't want to be common. I felt for him.....until I met Ashby. I mean, I could see where he was coming from but I really didn't care if Sam ended up being indifferent to him.

Ashby- The other half of Sam's soul. I really, really liked him (even if he does have a strange name). The romantic in me was backing him up all the way. *sigh*

Conclusion: 3.5/5 Stars. If you're looking for a story that makes you feel, this one is for you. 

About the Author:


  

Ingrid Seymour loves, loves, loves to write. She’s a young and new adult author. She writes in a variety of genres including romance, urban fantasy, paranormal and horror. She loves pizza and sushi, Sunkist and gum. She believes in vampires, witches, but not zombies (uh-uh, never!) She writes to loud music, daydreams constantly and spends too much time in twitter!! Find her there? Ingrid has incredible fun doing what she does, but more than anything she enjoys hearing from her readers. It’s a dream come true.


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Giveaway:
$25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
signed paperback of Keeper & Bracelet (US)
Prizing provided by the author
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday 4 July 2014

Review No. 16: Blood Oath - Samantha Coville


Genre: Fantasy / YA

Edition: ebook

No. of Pages: 189

Published on: April 29th 2014

Published by: Smashwords Edition

Source: Goodreads group; Making Connections YA Edition (free in exchange for an honest review)

Series?: The Secret of the Halflings #1

Get this book here.




Description: Raya Sarian has always been different. Her father is a Siren, her mother is a Human. Raya is a Halfling. Her father has been absent for most of her life. Now, she must live with him and clans of blood-thirsty beasts for a year. Will she survive the year in the company of dangerous enemies?

What I think about it: This is a fast-paced, addictive read. Once you've started to read it, I don't think you'll be able to stop until you've read the last word. With only 189 pages, I had no problems getting through this book in a day. The portrayal of Sirens in this novel is something I've never seen before. They are equal parts terrifying and beautiful. They're also nothing like mermaids. Surprising, isn't it?
                                    The only thing I didn't like about this novel was the insta-love. It is kind of explained but I'm generally not a fan of this type of love in books. Oh yeah, and the main character annoyed me at times. *shrugs* What can you do, right?

Conclusion: 4/5 Stars. Go read it, you're in for an interesting journey. 

Thursday 3 July 2014

Review No. 15: School of Deaths - Christopher Mannino


Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal

Edition: ebook

No. of Pages: 270

Published on: May 2nd 2014

Published by: Muse It Up Publishing

Source: Goodreads group- Making Connections YA Edition (free copy in exchange for an honest review)

Series?: No

Get this book here.






Description: Thirteen year old Susan begins to lose weight at an alarming rate. She eats more and more food but she continues to look like a living skeleton. She's starting to worry that she might have some kind of terminal illness, the likes of which has never been seen before. She soon discovers that her soul is being pulled to the land of the dead and she will die if she doesn't live in the land of Deaths for a year. She's forced to attend the College of Deaths (it turns out that Grim Reapers are actually real, but they're known as Deaths). Suzie is in for an interesting year in this all-male world of Deaths. Will she survive in this world where everyone is against her? Why is she the only female Death in a million years? Read it and find out.

What I think about it: The concept behind this novel grabbed my interest from the very beginning. An entire world of Deaths, a school where Deaths must learn how to reap souls! It was fascinating! There was surprisingly little action, but things were certainly mysterious enough to keep me distracted at every turn. I did have a problem with the romance that was introduced later in the book but it was bound to happen from the very beginning (a world filled with males and only one female, at least one of them was going to have feelings for her). Aside from that, this was a well-written fantasy/mystery and I quite enjoyed it.

Character Analysis: (I'm only going to talk about a few characters, so please don't be mad if I leave out some important characters)

Susan (Suzie) - She's a curious person by nature. Once she had her eyes on the puzzle there was no stopping her from solving it! I wasn't attached to her but it was interesting to see her story.

Billy - Maybe he's her friend but maybe he isn't. He has some kind of 'mood swings' that leave us wondering.

Frank - I think I can honestly say that he was my favorite character from this book. He is really sweet but there's more to him than meets the eyes.

Conclusion: 3.5/5 stars. Go check it out, it's a fun, easy fantasy read that will have you in suspense throughout the entire thing.