Posts Tagged "Fantasy"

The heat is on. Rose is entering the final stages of her guardian training and before she can graduate into a fully qualified guardian, she is required to undergo six weeks of field experience first. After spending two years of her life guarding Lissa from real attacks, Rose thinks that the field experience will be a piece of cake. But the Academy throws her a curve ball and assigns her to guard Christian – Lissa’s boyfriend and the very same Christian that Rose doesn’t exactly like. Rose finds herself suddenly confronted with a whole stack of new challenges that have absolutely nothing to do with guarding and protecting the life of a royal.

As if spending six days a week with Christian isn’t enough drama for Rose to deal with, something weird is going on with her. She’s been seeing Mason, like really seeing him, and she thinks that maybe she’s going a little crazy. But Mason died, she saw him slip away with her own two eyes. So what, or who, is she seeing now? Ghosts aren’t real, right? Maybe not, but maybe they are… Rose desperately wants to talk to someone about ghost-Mason, or whatever it is that she is seeing, but she knows that sharing her story would lead to no good. No good at all.

Then there is Dimitri. Even though she’s tried, Rose just can’t shake her feelings for him. How could she, when he’s everything she’s ever wanted? How many girls can say they found their dream guy, their soul mate, during their adolescence? Not too many, I would assume. Rose however, has found her soul mate, it doesn’t take a genius to figure this out – she just can’t have him. It’s a cruel twist of fate, but soul mates or not, Dimitri and Rose know that guardian/guardian relationships are strictly forbidden. Will that be enough to keep them away from each other, or can love really conquer all? Loving Dimitri is the scariest thing in Rose’s life, and she knows that if anyone found out, both their lives could be ruined forever. Rose and Dimitri face some very interesting challenges indeed. Will they walk away from their guardian destiny to be with each other, or will they continue to deny themselves, deny each other?

Just when Rose thinks that her life couldn’t possibly get anymore complicated, the Strigoi launch a surprise attack on the Academy and suddenly everyone Rose ever cared about is unsafe. This time, the Strigoi fight dirtier than ever before and take something of Rose’s that will change her life forever.

“I ran. I didn’t look back. I didn’t ask what he was going to do because I already knew. He was going to stop as many Strigoi as he could so that I could get help. And a moment later I heard grunts and hits that told me he’d found another. For only a heartbeat, I let myself worry about him. If he died, I was certain I would too.”

Prepare yourself for a monstrous cliffhanger ending that will leave you gasping for breath.

Rose learns a lot in this installment and watching her develop as a person is a humbling experience. In all the loss, through all her trials, Rose never loses sight of who she is, or what she stands for. She is stubborn and fierce but she’s also selfless and loyal – qualities that are a rarity in today’s society.

Richelle Mead has outdone herself with this installment. Fabulously written, full of action and nail-biting suspense, Shadow Kiss is an unputdownable read.

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Melissa Marr has announced that from now until the April release of Fragile Eternity, she’ll be posting an excerpt from the book on her blog once a week! We here at yaReads couldn’t be happier about this, either.

To read this month’s excerpt, click here

Zachary is an angel – literally. He’s had many charges over the years but being Miranda’s guardian angel is his toughest gig yet. See, he’s in love with her and love just complicates everything. Deep down Zachary knows that he would do anything to keep her safe – he’d even risk his own position in heaven. When Miranda heads out one night with her friend, Zachary sees trouble coming a mile off – trouble of the vampire kind. In the process of trying to protect Miranda from becoming a meal, Zachary breaks the one rule guardian angels are never allowed to bend, under any circumstances, and he reveals himself in human form.

As punishment, Zachary is cast out of heaven and sentenced to life on earth, as a human. Knowing he failed the love of his life, Zachary begins on a downward spiral of destruction. Someone upstairs, however, thinks that Zachary deserves a second chance and the heavens assign him a task – to kill Dracul, the most bad ass vamp around. If he succeeds, he’ll win back his place in heaven and his guardian powers will be returned to him. When he gets to the Dracul castle, however, he doesn’t expect to find Miranda all vamped out and running the show. This complicates things, just a little. See, even though she’s now a vampire, Zachary can’t shake his feelings for her and embarks on a mission to not only eliminate her master, but save her soul from her vampire self.

Miranda is a lousy vampire. She’s not evil enough, nor scary enough to throw her authority around like her master expects her to. Some of the servants even like her a little. Then, Zachary arrives at the castle and she’s drawn to him immediately. He makes her want to be a better person – if its possible for a vampire to live like a person at all. She stops drinking human blood, opting for animal blood instead, and helps Zachary orchestrate his plan to eliminate the master. But the question remains – can Zachary save Miranda, or is she destined for a life of eternal damnation?

Eternal is narrated through both Zachary and Miranda’s points of view. I love this technique of dual narration because it allows the reader to really get both sides of the story. Zachary is an adorable character whose strength and conviction is admirable, at the very least. I found Miranda’s failed attempts at being evil humorous at first, but towards the end her self-pity was a little on the annoying side. Even so, I was compelled to keep reading. You know the author has some serious talent when you’re interested in reading about a character you don’t like very much. For Zachary’s sake I found myself hoping for the best. Does he get his girl and his place in heaven back? Or does the Dracul master ruin his life forever?

Only the pages of Eternal have the answers…

Set in the same world as Smith’s previous novel Tantalize, Eternal will draw you in – fangs, angel wings and all!

Available February, 2009

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Granna drummed her fingers on the table. “You’re about the right age for Them to start making trouble. Shallow things. I don’t think they have much use for anything old or not beautiful. They’re only interested in brand new toys.” She shrugged, as if she were talking about an ant problem or something equally mundane. “So I gave you the ring.”

Dee is not a normal girl. She can do things with her mind that no one else can. Unbeknownst to her, she’s caught the attention of a very powerful woman, and her life takes a weird, weird turn.

The fey are following Dee. Only Dee doesn’t know they’re fey, not at first. But then she meets Luke at a recital and she knows that something isn’t quite right about him. What she does know, however, is that she is drawn to him beyond belief. Dee has never had a boyfriend before, never even been interested in a boy before, but there is something really special about Luke that draws her in. And she can’t walk away from him, regardless what the consequences might be.

But Luke can touch iron. In fact, Luke gives her an iron key for protection against the fey. So if he can touch the one thing that they can’t, what does that make him? She knows he isn’t a normal human, but now she’s not so sure he’s fey either. So, what is he, then?

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. All I’m going to say folks, is be afraid. Be very afraid.

Against her better judgement, however, Dee is unable to feel the fear she should in his presence. And so starts a love affair destined for doom even before it gets off the ground.

Nevertheless, Luke does everything in his power to keep the fey away from Dee, but the fey are smarter than they look and suddenly Dee finds herself in the worst situation imaginable. Conniving and vindictive, the fey blindside Dee and come at her from behind – if they can’t have her, they’ll take the two things she loves the most, instead.

Lament is one helluva tense read. From the moment Dee starts hurling at the recital in the first chapter, right through to the very last full stop, I had to remind myself to breathe. Once the action pops it just doesn’t stop.

Dee is an inspiring character who never forgets what being a decent person is all about. Even when the going gets tougher than one could ever imagine, Dee never forgets who she is and what matters most. Reading Dee’s journey was more like watching a movie and Stiefvater masterfully navigates the English language, bringing her characters to life with colour and a three-dimensional aspect that is so often missing from young adult novels.

Lament is the first novel in an ongoing series, and is also Stiefvater’s debut novel. We here at yaReads think its a pretty sensational effort, too. We can’t wait to see what else she’s got coming. Whatever it is, we know its going to be big!

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Have you ever wondered what your dreams mean? Well, Janie does, because her life is one huge dream after the other.

Except the dreams aren’t her own.

Janie is gifted – or cursed, depending on which way you look at it – and has the ability to step into other people’s dreams. Its something she can’t control, though, and she often finds herself being ripped out of her own consciousness only to be sucked into the dreams of those sleeping around her. And it seems that everyone around her hides their deepest, darkest secrets in their dreamland. She knows things about the kids around her that no one else does, but she can’t tell anyone because everyone would just think she’s crazy, right?

Wrong.

Cabel doesn’t think Janie is crazy, but he does know that something is quite right with her. Although she tells him nothing initially, he seems to understand that there is, in fact, something to tell. Cabel starts looking out for Janie and eventually, he finds himself in a bit of a predicament. You see, Cabel has some secrets of his own – secrets, which, if they were to be revealed, could destroy everything he has worked for.

That’s the pesky thing about love, though. It always seems to pop up at the most inopportune times. Often, it forces people to make very hard choices indeed. But Cabel isn’t having it, not this time. He wants the best of both worlds and does everything in his power to ensure that he can have a future with Janie. The question is, will Janie let him in?

She’s scared of her powers, and because she has spent her whole life shutting people out, including someone like Cabel in her life is going to take a bit of work. But as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Janie can’t do this for much longer alone, and she’s actually a much more valuable player than she ever expected to be – in anything.

Wake is a short, punchy read that will have your head spinning from the very first page. It’s a unique story idea, and the narrator’s voice is raw, edgy and above all – it’s real. Wake is full of characters that remind me of teenagers found out in the real world. The people in Wake (for the most part) are doing things that kids everywhere are doing, too. Lisa McMann should be commended on her bravery, as she leaves nothing to the imagination. In an age where so many young adult novels are sugar-coated, McMann chooses an honest approach, instead.

Wake is a diamond in a sea of broken glass. I can only hope its brilliance is repeated in the upcoming sequel, Fade.

For those of you that are interested, we’ve been reading Wake in our bookclub on the forum this month. Click here to join the discussion.

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