Saturday 30 March 2013

The Collector (Dante Walker, #1) by Victoria Scott


He makes good girls...bad.

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.
I was really excited to read this book as i'd read loads of great reviews of it. It was really good, but sadly not as good as my expectations. In fact there were a few things that annoyed me.

Charlie is a walking stereotype of a dork. She was too nerdy and dumb for me and constantly called ugly and i found her generally really annoying. She is too naive and trusts Dante too quickly. And mostly, she didnt have a spine. She was always made a fool out of at school and it was always Dante who stood u for her, not herself. She is so shallow that she agrees to sell her soul to get pretty in a second. And as soon as she does, she is dying to turn into one of those slutty girls from school. The list goes on, but you get the general idea of why i despised her.

Dante, thankfully is another story. He was compared to Daemon a lot from Lux series and while i didnt like him as much as Daemon, I m definitely a fan of Dante. He is snarky, confident and HOT! Usually, i dont enjoy a guy's POV as much but thanks to Dante's hilarious narration, i found myself really enjoying it.

The romance was slow and felt real. I liked it even though i hated Charlie and wished Dante could be with someone better. I understood why he fell in love with her and want to see where their relationship goes in the next one.

The plot wasnt original and wasn't that interesting either to be honest. However, overall i enjoyed the book and will be checking out the sequel.

Saturday 23 March 2013

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3) by Cassandra Clare

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.
WOAH!!! I m in shock right now because of how good that book was. I m still reeling from that ending. Too many feels! I cant believe how much this book made me cry! I know Cassie is an amazing writer but this book just surpassed all her others by a mile.

Jem, oh Jem! He made my heart break so many times! His health keeps worsening and the possibility of his death is becoming more and more real. I just cant get over what a perfect guy he is. He says the most swoon worthy things and i just wish someone would play violin for me like he plays for Tessa. I was rooting for him and Tessa throughout the whole book because Jem and Tessa are just adorable and need to be together.


I wasnt the biggest fan of Will before, mainly because he was getting in the way of Jem and Tessa. However, this book has converted me into a fan of him too. Just the love he has for Jem and how he is willing to sacrifice his happiness for the two people he loves most made me like him too. The relationship between Jem and Will is so special and amazing and made me sad for both of them.

What annoyed me was the fact that Will was making vows that he would never go after Tessa because of Jem but as soon as they thought Jem was out of the way, they got together. I mean they couldnt even wait a single day! That JUST PISSED ME OFF LIKE HELL! i M a very dedicated Jem fan and i wanted to smack them for it!

There are a lot of other romances in this book. Gideon and Sophie who i love and Gabriel and Cecily as well who i thought were perfect for each other. Cecily was a really cool, headstrong person who i grew to love and Gabriel goes from an asshole to a likable person.

We finally unravel the mysterious of what Tessa is. It wasnt some big revelation for me as half of it was alrealy explained in CP so this was kinda anticlimactic. But you do learn the exact mechanics of it and how everything happened. There is also the secret of her clockwork angel necklace and i found that really interesting.

There is a small battle at the end with Mortmain but for me the book was about the relationships between the characters and especially the love triangle. Here is a fair warning - keep a packet of tissues with you before starting the book because trust me you will need it. I can honestly say this is one of the saddest books i have ever read. In fact i was bawling pretty much the whole way through.

My favourite part was the EPILOGUE and i was soooo happy that (view spoiler)[ Jem and Tessa finally got together! (hide spoiler)] I had mixed feelings about the ending but i guess it was satisfying. An epic end for an epic series.

Teasers:

“I am nothing if not gracious,” Will said. His eyes searched Jem’s face, that face as familiar to him as his own. “And determined. You will not leave me. Not while I live.”




He looked at her with a light in his thin face that made it more beautiful. “Wo xi wang ni ming tian ke yi jia gei wo.”

“You . . .” She drew her brows together. “You want to get married? But we are already engaged. I do not think one can get engaged twice.”

He laughed, which turned into a cough; Tessa’s whole body tightened, but the cough was slight, and there was no blood. “I said I would marry you tomorrow if I could.”


View all my reviews

Tuesday 12 March 2013

A Shade Of Vampire (A Shade Of Vampire, #1) by Bella Forrest

 On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood. 
She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains. 

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince. 
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?
I love reading about vampires, so i was excited for this too. It sounded quite different from others, revolving around vampires who reside on an island, where sun doesn't shine ever. Sofia is kidnapped and taken there, where she meets prince Derek who has just woken from a long sleep, and if she doesnt impress him, she could become his next meal.

I found Sofia a cool protagonist; she was brave, confident and courageous but at times i found it a bit unrealistic. I would be quite terrified if i found myself on an island full of vampires where i m to be a "slave" but she never showed much fear. I liked Derek and the romance between him and Sofia, even though it was a bit too quick. I liked how Derek cared about her and listened to her.

Ben was a cool character though i didn't really get the point of him in the story. I absolutely detested Lucas and he was a cool villain. There were a lot of other characters that i wanted to read more about but sadly they didnt get much development.

Overall, i thought the book was pretty good but could have been a lot better if it was longer. There could have been more development of plot and characters as i thought some things happened quite fast. The cliffhanger was interesting so i m curious to see what happens next.


Here is an excerpt to give you a taste:

I’d been meandering along the shore for about an hour when I suddenly sensed that I wasn’t alone. Someone was approaching me from behind. My heart leapt. I was so sure it was Ben, that when a stranger showed up beside me, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
He must have noticed, because a smirk formed on his lips. “Were you expecting someone else, love?”
I eyed him suspiciously, remembering how many times my father had told me not to talk to strangers. I looked him over, taking in his appearance. My eyes widened. I couldn’t find words to describe how fine a man he was. He was almost beautiful. The first thing I took notice of was how his blue eyes were about three shades brighter than any I’d ever seen before. It was such a stark contrast to his pale – almost white – skin and dark hair. Standing beside me, he was easily more than half a foot taller. His height, broad shoulders and lean build reminded me of Ben, but he had a presence that was far more imposing than my best friend’s.
My gaze settled on his face.
I realized that he was inspecting me just as closely as I was him. His eyes on me suddenly made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable. I gave my father’s advice a second thought, but quickly canceled out all notions of heeding to his counsel when I reminded myself that he stopped caring a long time ago.
I straightened to my full height and mustered all the courage I had to keep myself from running away from this stranger.
Big mistake.
The confident smirk didn’t leave his face for even a moment.
“Like what you see?”
“A bit full of yourself, aren’t you?” I scoffed, annoyed by his audacity.
He stepped forward, closer to me, and leaned his head toward mine.
“Don’t I have the right to be?”
He knew he looked good and wasn’t about to act like he didn’t.
“Whatever,” was my oh-so-brilliant comeback.
My shoulders sagged with defeat as I took a step back, unsettled by how close he was now. I rolled my eyes and did a one-eighty, not quite in the mood to play whatever game this stranger was proposing.
I would soon realize that I was about to play his game whether I liked it or not.
He grabbed my arm and turned my body to face him. This motion alone made every single internal alarm I had within me go off in a frenzy.
This man was danger and I knew it. I tried to wriggle away from his touch, but I was no match for his strength. 


Buy A Shade of Vampire from Amazon:
USA, paperback:
http://www.amazon.com/Shade-Of-Vampire-Bella-Forrest/dp/1481280767
USA, eBook: 
http://www.amazon.com/A-Shade-Of-Vampire-ebook/dp/B00AOHDMFE
 
UK, paperback:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shade-Of-Vampire-Bella-Forrest/dp/1481280767
UK, eBook: 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Shade-Of-Vampire-ebook/dp/B00AOHDMFE
 
Add A Shade of Vampire to your Goodreads shelf: 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17255435-a-shade-of-vampire


Wednesday 6 March 2013

Requiem (Delirium, #3) by Lauren Oliver


They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancĂ©e of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.
A brilliant conclusion to a brilliant series. I always loved this series but this book made me love it even more. The only thing i didn't like was the ending. what kind of ending was that?! it wasn't even an ending. The book was left suspended in the middle and the big questions weren't even answered! I am kinda annoyed now.

Anyway, lots of stuff happens in this and i m not quite sure where to start. Alex returned in the last one after miraculously surviving and i was thrilled about it. But Lena is with Julian now who is in love with her but she is also in love with Alex who is in love with her. I kinda felt sorry for Lena in this as i honestly couldn't have picked between them. They are both so cute and i wanted Lena with both of them. One moment i wished she and Alex would just get back together and the other, i would feel sorry for Julian as he is such a sweetheart and deserves her too.

The story is told from Lena and Hana's POV which allows us to know whats going on with Hana as well and her story was just as interesting as Lena's. She is getting married to Fred who i absolutely despised but was a good addition to the story.

The story had tonnes of action and the stakes keep getting higher and higher. I really enjoyed the entire thing and wish the series hadn't ended yet. My only complaint is the ending.