Our Standards for book reviews is as follows:
Buy this NOW!: V^^^^^V
Will Read Again: V^^^^V
Not to Shabby: V^^^V
S'Ok: V^^V
Meh: V^V
Don't Bother No fangs
Pamela's fangs will be in Maroon
Michelle's fangs will be in Pink
Michelle's fangs will be in Pink
Chronicles of Nick -Sherrilyn Kenyon ~ V^^^V
Young Adult series, Chronicles of Nick, is an offshoot from Dark Hunters. There are many reoccurring characters from Dark Hunters as Nick himself is a main character in that adult series. Chronicles of Nick is a Teen offering, we meet Nick Gautier as a poor kid growing up with a whole lot of freaking happening around him, even more so than the norm for NOLA. Teen action and inter-character relations seems to be well written and par of a younger reader. That said, I found this to be too young for my tastes. However who can resist a back story about the Malachai? Book two, Invincible was more fun than Infinity in my opinion so I can only think it will get better with Infamous. ~Michelle
Book 3: Infamous 3/13/12
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling ~ V^^^^V
If you haven’t read Harry Potter, perhaps you've been in a cave? In which case, here is the synopsis. Orphan boy lives with his Aunt, Uncle and spoiled cousin. Said boy, Harry Potter, gets an invitation in the mail to attend Wizard School. Harry proceeds to go off to wizard school, learns the history of his family and finds out he is an all-important wizard in the grand scheme of things. This series is wonderfully written, and the characters are memorable. Though this is a Young Adult read, Paranormal and Urban Fantasy fans of all ages will find themselves sucked in for a wild adventure of non-stop action, a whole slue of minions to the bad guy, friendships that will overcome all odds, and even a bit of love.
7 Titles Total
The Gateway Chronicles by K.B. Hoyle ~V^^^V
Darcy Pennington is your average American Teenager. Her parents just don’t understand. She is afraid to make new friends and now she is spending the summer away from her horse camp. A week at Cedar Cove Family Camp creates all new adventures when Darcy finds a Gateway to a new world. Alitheia holds all the independence and adventure any teenager would crave.This series is fairly new with Book 3 still in the works.~Michelle
Book 3: The White Thread (TBA)
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer ~ V^^^^V
Typical story. Girl moves in with dad. Dad lives in the wettest part of North West Washington state, which she hates. Girl goes to new school in the middle of the year where she doesn’t know anyone. Girl meets beautiful auburn haired boy with a piss-poor attitude. Girl and boy fall in love. Oh, no! Boy is a hundred plus year old vampire! Bad vampire wants to snack on girl. Boy doesn’t like that idea so much and kills bad vampire. Boy feels that girl is safer not in his world and leaves her. Girl gets depressed and makes best friends with boy #2. Girl and best friend start to do stupid stuff and boy’s sister sees girl die. Girl isn’t dead, but crap! Girls best friend is a Werewolf! Ex-boyfriend goes to Italy to kill himself. Ex-boyfriend’s sister sees this and drags girl off to save him. Girl and ex-boyfriend are now together again. Bad dead vampires’ girlfriend wants to avenge boyfriends’ death by killing girl. She creates lots of mini-me’s. Girls best friend tells her he loves her. Boyfriend and best friend are sworn enemies and boyfriend isn’t so happy about this, but boyfriend and best friend combine forces and kick mini-me butt. *sigh* Girl is between a rock and a hard place. Whatever shall she do? Marry boy of course! Best friend is devastated, then finds out girl is pregnant. What? How can this be?? Best friend must stay around to make sure girl will be ok. Girl turns into vampire to save herself from dying while having baby. Baby is born and best friend imprints on her. Ah-oh. Girl is going to be ticked when she wakes up. Vampire police try to make war with girl and boy’s vampire family, but they get scared off. The end.
4 Titles Total & Related Short Short: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Young Adult Alien Huntress by Gena Showalter ~V^^^^V
This series starts off with a pretty intense story. Phoenix Germaine is a recovering Onadyn addict who is hoping to prove to her mother and the rest of the world that she can be trusted to stay clean. After a run in with some aliens she meets her fate. A mother who no longer has faith in her and a Government Agency that thinks she has seen to much. There is only one choice join with them and make her mother proud.
Young Adult Alien Huntress by Gena Showalter ~V^^^^V This series starts off with a pretty intense story. Phoenix Germaine is a recovering Onadyn addict who is hoping to prove to her mother and the rest of the world that she can be trusted to stay clean. After a run in with some aliens she meets her fate. A mother who no longer has faith in her and a Government Agency that thinks she has seen to much. There is only one choice join with them and make her mother proud.
This series follows the recruiting, training and missions of the Young Adults of AIR (Alien Investigation and Removal) Agents. Book one is mainly recruiting and training, while book two (Blacklisted) is a little more involved with actual mission work. It seems to be a good balance of Romance and Urban Fantasy, the "world" is well plotted and the characters are multidimensional. As anyone who has read my reviews in the past knows I am not a huge fan of YA, so while Red Handed was a little slow for me I found Blacklisted to be much more my speed. So yes I did enjoy this one and recommend it. At this point there are only two books in this series and I am not sure if there are plans for more. However if you are interested the Adult Series of Alien Huntress is still ongoing and currently 6 books deep. Many of the characters introduced in this series are featured in the Adult books.~Michelle
2 Books to Date
Ben and Fran by Katie Maxwell~ V^^^V Thank you fictfact.com for informing me that I was missing this. "Got Fangs?" and "Circus of the Darned" were both originally in the Anthology "Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend" by Katie MacAlister writing as Katie Maxwell. They are YA short stories about Ben and Fran's relationship before "In the Company of Vampires", prequels to her Moravian Dark Ones series. Now these are YA while the Dark Ones series is Adult therefore the stories are MUCH more juvenile than the Dark Ones so prepare yourself. But again they are fun so I recommend reading them if for nothing more than a little extra Moravian fun. ~Michelle
2 Books
House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast ~V^V
I had really high hopes for this series but I have to say it was a disappointment. The first book, I gave an allowance because it was an introduction. However I was immediately put off by the sexual content, seeing as this is a YA, I was more than a little shocked to read about oral sex in the first few chapters. I do allow that their will be discussion of alcohol and smoking because this is a "teen" book. The flow seemed all wrong to me, the first four books only cover a couple months. So as the books progress the Zoey character seems to really only be a more than typical teen, she gets extra powers but seems to whine about it. ALL the boys love her and she treats them all horribly by not just picking a boyfriend instead she is a multi-boyfriend skank. Her whoa is mean mentality is just plain draining. I can't recommend this series to anyone. The sexuality is to mature for younger crowds and her whinyness is too much for an older crowd. ~Michelle
12 Books total
Goddess Girls by Joan Holub
& Suzzanne Williams ~V^^^^^V
I love, love, love this concept. This is a tween book series, I think technically 8-12 years of age. The story covers various Greek gods and goddesses. They are in school training to become what we know and love from mythology. The best aspect is that each book covers a myth either loosely or otherwise. I was able to pick them all out, but some less familiar might feel intrigued enough to seek them out. The telling was ageless enough to make these books REALLY fun. I suggest them, and beg you hint them to your daughters, if nothing else check them out yourself.
9 Books to date
Monster High by Lisi
Harrison ~V^^^V
This series was pretty fun. I love the concept of classic movie monsters set in a contemporary scene. Lisi really made this her own by having it told in a teen setting. The characters are each interesting on their own and together they are excellent. The theme is a tried and true attempt at acceptance. Again I think it has an excellent lesson and would not deter parents from allowing their kids to read it.
5 Books which includes a Diary
Infernal Devices by
Cassandra Clare ~V^V
Blah! Apparently this is a prequel to a series which I have not read. It's a Victorian era Steampunk. If that is your thing then go ahead and check them out. For me I was hung up on the standard love triangle, the language and setting, as well as the failure to really endear me to the characters. I don't recommend this one.
3rd Book: Clockwork Princess (3/19/13)
Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine ~V^^^V
Oh my god! It's a series where the vampires are bad guys! Refreshing, I was grateful for that much. That is not all I liked about it, the story seems to be pretty well told and the overall development of the characters is better than most YAs. It's a relief to not have a love triangle but it's annoying as hell to have so many cliffhangers. I have major issues with some plot points that don't seem to be resolved and recur but I can say that overall I found the series at least entertaining.
12 Books to Date
