SOMETIMES YOU CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES. AND SOMETIMES, THEY CHOOSE YOU…

Once, Max dreamed of a career, a home, a loving family. Now all she wants is freedom…and revenge. A witch named Giselle transformed Max into a warrior with extraordinary strength, speed, and endurance. Bound by spellcraft, Max has no choice but to fight as Giselle’s personal magic weapon — a Shadowblade — and she’s lethally good at it. But her skills are about to be put to the test as they never have before….

The ancient Guardians of the earth are preparing to unleash widespread destruction on the mortal world, and they want the witches to help them. If the witches refuse, their covens will be destroyed, including Horngate, the place Max has grudgingly come to think of as home. Max thinks she can find a way to help Horngate stand against the Guardians, but doing so will mean forging dangerous alliances — including one with a rival witch’s Shadowblade, who is as drawn to Max as she is to him — and standing with the witch she despises. Max will have to choose between the old life she still dreams of and the warrior she has become, and take her place on the side of right — if she survives long enough to figure out which side that is….

I have been craving books about witches for some time now, so I was so excited to find out about the Horngate Witches series by Diana Pharaoh Francis. But guys, I don’t know what it is about this month. I keep finding book that I’m just not getting into. Bitter Night seems like a fabulous book. It’s about witches who tie humans to them, who then form into either Shadowblades or Sunspears. It seemed fresh and edgy, but ultimately it was too harsh and bland.

The real negative part about this book is that I didn’t care for either of the main characters, Max and Alexander. Max was one fierce you know what, who was wayyyyy to uptight and well..bitter..for my taste. Alexander was just too weak. I want my male characters to be strong and courageous. Instead, I got a wimp. And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for girl power and girls protecting guys every now and then. BUT MAN UP! I just wanted to smack Alexander senseless from time to time. And I basically felt the same toward Max, to be honest.

What really tore me away from this book was the fact that I just didn’t care for the plot. I haven’t really ran across that much before. Usually it’s the character or something in the book that really pisses me off. This time, I just really didn’t like the plot. The whole Shadowblade and Sunspear thing was lame. It also didn’t make any sense. They werent’ vampires, but if the Shadowblades stepped in the sun..or even the moonlight…they would burn to a crisp. And if the Sunspears were in the Dark…even a cave or something…they would dry up and crumble. I’m sorry, but I find that so stupid! It might have been different if maybe there was only one type of them…Shadowblades OR Sunspears….but not both. No thanks. Too much for me.

On a positive note, I will say that Diana Pharaoh Francis really does know how to write. I could tell when I was reading this book that she really knew her stuff. But, the writing didn’t make up for the poor plot and bland characters. I tried so so so so hard to like this book, but it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Pages: 387

Publication Date: October 27th, 2009

Publisher: Pocket Books

Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “I don’t mess around with the men in the coven, especially my Shadowblades,” she said with quiet finality. Flirting was one thing but anything more, it was a mistake of epic proportions.

His eyes narrowed and he gave a slow shake of his head. “That is all right then. Because I want so much more than just to mess around.”

They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you’ve ever seen.
And They won’t stop chasing you…until you are dead.

Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.

After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.

Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta.

You know when you see a book cover and you just know that you have to read it? And not only that, but when everyone is talking about how good it is. Everyone is saying “This book is the next big thing! You have GOT to read it! You’ll LOVE it!” And then, of course, you end up not liking it? I’m sure we’ve all had that feeling. Well, that was what happened to me with In The After by Demitria Lunetta.

I received an arc of In the After from Harper Teen, and I was so so so so SO excited to read it. The girls over at Epic Reads kept talking about how much they loved this book, and I just had to read it. The cover is gorgeous. The synopsis is great! Everything pointed to the fact that I should have loved this book. But from the very first chapter, I couldn’t get into it. The story is about a girl named Amy who is a survivor of an alien invasion. She believes both her mother and father to be dead. She’s living in her house with a little girl she calls Baby, who she found on one of her raids to the grocery store. Together, they live in relative safety due to the electric fence that her mom built around the house, but they still have to be very quite because noise draws the aliens closer. Later on, the story switches to Amy and Baby’s time with other survivors and their encounters there.

I got about halfway into this book before I had to switch into skimming mode. I tried so hard to like this book, but I just found it to be so boring. The writing itself was great, and I can see why other people love this book, but it was just not for me. First, I hated how Amy and Baby had to live in silence. I am not a person who can read about a bunch of descriptions. I NEED to have my characters talk. That didn’t happen. Amy and Baby learned sign language, but they created their own form of sign language based off of real sign language. I love sign language. I’m not fluent at it, but I can get by if I needed to rely on it. It super bugged me that the language was chopped up in this book. I know that that’s probably a silly thing to let bug me, but I couldn’t handle it.

Secondly, In the After is truly a sci fi book. At least…as sci fi as you can get for a YA book. It was just depressing. I mean….it honestly just brought me down. Nothing seemed to be going well for anyone in this book, and all I could think was….”what if?” What if this horrible alien invasion was really to happen? No, thank you! It was very difficult to read about something that scared the crap out of me.

Like I said before, I skimmed half of this book. I didn’t put it down…I tried to read as much as I could…but it was just too much for me to read every page. Huge sci fi and dystopian fans will adore this book. Unfortunately, though, it just was not for me.

Pages: 400

Publication Date: June 25th, 2013

Publisher: Harper Teen

Rating: :

Things are getting desperate for Maya and her friends. Hunted by the powerful St. Clouds and now a rival Cabal as well, they’re quickly running out of places to hide. And with the whole world thinking they died in a helicopter crash, it’s not like they can just go to the authorities for help.

All they have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they’re so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control.

But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And now, like it or not, she’ll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life. Because Maya can’t keep running forever.

Old secrets are revealed and unexpected characters make a surprising return in this stunning conclusion to Kelley Armstrong’s New York Times bestselling Darkness Rising trilogy.

Have you ever just wanted to kidnap an author and keep them with you forever? Make them write constantly for your enjoyment? That’s my relationship with Kelley Armstrong. Creepy? Hell, yes. But that’s my love for her writing. I have a select few books that I can actually call my favorites, and Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series is at the top. Ever since I read that series, it has become my mission to read every single thing that Armstrong writes. I haven’t completely finished that goal (the lady writes a lot!), but I’m getting closer!

I read the Darkest Powers series a few years ago, and I fell head over heels in love with it. Seriously, if you’re looking for a series full of a mix match of supernatural powers and an awesome story that will hook your eyes to the page, then go read the Darkest Powers series. You won’t regret it. The Darkness Rising series is a spin off of The Darkest Powers series. I’ll admit….this series is my least favorite series by Kelley Armstrong. I don’t know what it is. The writing is as great as usual, but there’s something lacking for me. It might be the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of Maya or any of the supporting characters. Regardless, I was really impressed with this third and final book. It was, by far, my favorite in the Darkness Rising series. I still didn’t fall in love with it, but I did have a really hard time putting it down, which I think says a lot.

For those of you who haven’t read the Darkness Rising series, let me give you a brief description. Bear with me, I haven’t read the first two books in over a year, so I’m more up to date with the third and final book in the series. The Darkest Powers series is about a girl named Maya who discovers that not only is she a shape shifter living in a world full of supernatural creatures, but she and her friends are also part of a supernatural experiment. The St. Clouds, one of the four supernatural Cabals, created the town that Maya and her friends live in and have supplied them with everything they have needed since they were born. The series continues with Maya and her friends going on the run and multiple Cabals chasing them. The final book in the series, The Rising, continues with Maya and her friends trying to find out more about their history and trying to get out of the mess they found themselves in. There’s a lot more information about the supernatural experiment, family ties, and Maya’s shape shifting abilities. Later on in the story, we also see appearances from the main characters of the Darkest Powers series.

When I was reading The Rising, I felt a mixture of emotions. There were parts of the book that upset me and other parts that made me happy. Let’s start out with the annoying aspects of this book and then we’ll move on to a more happy note. My first complaint, and one that has stuck with me throughout the whole Darkness Rising series, is that I think it’s too confusing for readers who have not read the Women of the Otherworld series. During the first two books that complaint was minor, but this book pushed it over the edge. I’ve read the whole Women of the Otherworld series. I know every single character and plot and twist. It’s my favorite series in the world, so I knew exactly what was going on in the Darkness Rising series. However, the book doesn’t really explain much about the cabals, which could be very confusing and distracting to readers. The Rising also brings in characters from the Women of the Otherworld series. Not only are the St. Cloud’s chasing the kids, but now the Nast’s are, too. Sean Nast, Savannah, Lucas, among other characters are mentioned in this book. And not only was that confusing, but readers only here about Savannah and Lucas once. Readers who have not read the Women of the Otherworld series are going to be very confused about who those characters are. They’re mentioned…not introduced. I don’t think that characters should be brought into a story unless their character is going to be explained. And since this is the final book, readers will have to read the Women of the Otherworld series to completely understand who those characters are and what they become in that world.

My final complaint with The Rising was that I didn’t like the characters from the Darkest Powers series being brought in. I thought that I would enjoy it, and I got really annoyed when they weren’t brought into the second book, but I HATED what was done with them in the final book. The Darkest Powers series is absolutely spectacular, and I had a vision of what happened to those kids after the final book. Everyone who has read the final book in the Darkest Powers series remembers how horribly it ended. Nothing bad happened, but the ending wasn’t finished. In my mind, I created what happened, and Kelley Armstrong went and erased all of that for me. I didn’t like what happened at the ending of this book. Not only did the ending suck, but it was confusing. The Darkest Powers and the Darkness Rising series have very similar endings in the fact that they don’t really end. It’s just a major cliffhanger for the ending of a series. There’s not another book coming out. That’s it. That’s the end. And I’m going to have to decide for myself…again…what’s going to happen. Honestly, the only thing that makes sense is if Armstrong decides to write an adult book based on these kids. That’s the ONLY THING that makes sense! And right now, I don’t think she has plans to do so.

On a more positive note, I will say that The Rising was the absolute best in the Darkness Rising series. I still didn’t fall in love with it, but I never wanted to put the book down. I had a really hard time reading the other two. They weren’t bad….they just didn’t have the spark that the rest of her books had. I really liked this one, though. I didn’t like what happened between Daniel/ Maya and Rafe/Maya, but whatever. My guy won…I just didn’t like how he won. And I didn’t like how the relationship with Maya and the loser ended. It didn’t make any sense. I was not a fan of that. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book.

I’m sitting here talking about how much I enjoyed this book, but I’m sitting here destroying it. The only reason I’m doing that is because I’m SO in love with the Women of the Otherworld series. It makes me have to dish out everything that annoyed me. But I want you all to know that Kelley Armstrong is one of the best authors out there. I can’t even begin to tell you guys how much I love her. Is my gushing not reason enough to go read her work? Screw the young adult books…go read the Women of the Otherworld series! Then come back to her YA series. You’ll appreciate it a lot more [;

If you like this series, then try out:

The Otherkin series by Nina Berry

The Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance

The Chicagoland Vampires series by Chloe Neill

Pages: 406

Publication Date: April 2nd, 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Rating: :