Lady Danielle

"[...] hell is a place where the souls of the damned can still see heaven."

Once again, Sarah doesn't fail to impress and amaze me. 

Damn you for messing with my feels like this, Sarah. Damn you.

In a small sleepy town called Sorry-in-the-Vale (with symbolic locations named Shadownchurch Lane, Pleasant Street, Sorrier River, Hope Field, Really Depressed Quarry, and more), things are not going as planned. After finding out that an evil sorcerer with a not-so-hidden-agenda named Rob was behind the death of Nicola Prendergast in Unspoken,it's Journalist Kami's duty to let the people of Sorry-in-the-Vale know that magic exist... with the help of a few Lynburns and some friends, of course. 

"Let's not front. We all know magic is real.

You know. Or it's time you knew. It's time someone told you.

I always said that every town has a story, that even our sleepy Sorry-in-the-Vale must have one. I was so sure that I could find a story hidden somewhere under the chocolate-box prettiness of our town. I thought finding a story would be like bird-watching in the Vale woods, waiting for bright eyes and a burst of wings. I thought it would be like finding gold.

It wasn’t like that at all."

The task will not be easy. Quirky Kami will not only be encountering Scarecrows coming to life, betrayals, and the cold horrifying truth of Rob's plan, but she will experience love as well as the meaning of sacrifice.

After reading reviews of disappointment, I can wipe my forehead of its perspiration from nervousness. I enjoyed Untold just as much as the first instalment; however, I can understand why readers were disappointed with this: the angst and misunderstandings. There was so much of it that even I was shaking the book and yelling aloud in annoyance! This may be the book's greatest downfall. Nevertheless, I'm letting this slide due to the fact Unspoken left off with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that had to continue its way in the second book of the Lynburn Legacy trilogy. Since this is the second book, everything (all the angst and anger and explanations) needs to be let out here; I feel that all of angst will not be present in the the third novel. 

Untold goes into depth with the research, knowledge, and magic -- readers will be reading stories of the Lynburn family and their past. 

"It's time to choose sides..."

Rob wants to return Sorry-in-the-Vale back to the way it used to be in the past: when sorcerer's ruled and had the people in submission; occasionally drawing blood to enhance their power. But in order to do so he'll need a blood sacrifice on the winter solstice... a human sacrifice. Kami, Ash*, Jared, Angela, Rusty, Holly, and Lillian does not want this to happen, so they're making plans to fight back.

I enjoyed reading about this gothic town. The writing was so vivid and atmospheric. I also loved the small conversations here and there between Kami and Angela about Angela's sexual orientation. Kami is there for her and never judgmental which I really liked; she didn't see Angela differently. Though there'll be problems with Holly and Angela that I found really frustrating. I'll see how all of that turns out in the final book. There is some character development in here, but not much, which is fine. 

Untold is an excellent Halloween read: outrageously funny and deliciously gothic.

I honestly have no idea what to do with life now that I'm finished with this book.

* I hated Ash so much in this one. What a little coward! I can't go into details without spoiling, but you'll find out soon enough once you've read this. I really hope he changes and develops in the next book. (Shakes my head)

There are different kinds of happy,' she said. 'Some kinds don't need any proof.' 

I'm usually hesitant whenever I pick up chick-lits. Why? Because I love entering another realm of the impossible (a.k.a fantasy/paranormal books). Reading chick-lits usually bores me due to the fact that it's realistic fiction. Why read what I try to escape from? After reading Hopeless by Colleen Hoover I was ready to give up reading chick-lits/contemporaries completely. For some reason I saw This Is What Happy Looks Like and I snatched it up; before I check out/buy a book I read the first page and, if I like it, I get it. Well, I ended up reading past the prologue and the first chapter of this because it was too cute. I took this book home with me and started gobbling this up. Looks like there's hope for chick-lit romance novels after all....

Imagine receiving an email from a stranger. You tell them they have the wrong email address but, for some reason, you and the stranger start having a conversation. You find this particular stranger an interesting person to talk to so you and the stranger continue to email each other for months. You haven't seen a picture of the stranger, and you don't even know the stranger's name and vice versa -- though you know the city the stranger resides in and the stranger knows yours, as well. Now imagine the stranger finding you and, turns out, the stranger is an international film star. What do you do?

That's what Ellie O'Neill is trying to figure out. She has many reasons for trying to keep knowing Graham Larkin, the well-known star (who has a pet pig), a secret. This is your average clichéd fairytale; though it's fairly unrealistic, it was a cute read. I simply loved reading Graham's POV and his life of a stardom -- how he doesn't have any privacy; the fact that his parents barely speak to him because they don't have any idea on what to talk about with their famous son. He was a lonely person who couldn't find anyone to trust, that is, until he meets Ellie. The two will have to go through a lot of sticky situations and secrets, but love conquers all in the end. 

If you're not into happy-endings, sappy love stories, etc., then this book is definitely not for you (honestly, the title clearly states that it's a happy story). I love Jennifer E. Smith's writing as well as the unnecessary (but acceptable) details she adds to make this love story all the more delicious. It felt as though I was walking the streets of Middle-of-Nowhere, Main with Ellie and Graham. I'm definitely looking forward to reading The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by her. 

This is what my happy looks like

Friends, coffee, books, romance, films, long walks on beaches, acting, theatres, my cat, le langage de l'amour, travelling, nature, snow, Christmas, music, concerts, vanilla ice cream, Sprinkles Cupcakes, the old Disney films, theme parks, overcoming a fear, writing, the fresh smell of the air after it rains, curling up with a good book when it's pouring, Halloween, potato chips, costumes, and so much more...

EDIT So I just finished watching The Vampire's Assistant the film... I'm kind of disappointed. The film was completely different — the film was a mixture of both A Living Nightmare and this; the first 30 minutes of it stuck with book one. Unfortunately, it did not continue with the plot and started its own. The film wasn't about the friendship that was made in here; rather, it was about romance (OK, so it was entirely based on romance, but it was present in the film). I was extremely irritated with that. However, the acting was really good and if I had not have read this, I would have loved it (and talk about the special effects as well as the Cirque! I wish I were there!).

So.... I'm giving the film 2.5 out of 5 stars. I wish they would continue making more films based off of the series, it does have something going on there and it seems as though it'd be interesting. and am i the only one who found mr tiny awesome?

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This review is being reviewed on my android, please excuse any grammatical errors and the like. 

This was a good vampire story.

These vampires don't sloppily bite the victim's neck and leave two punctured holes. They're careful: knock the victim out, find a good place on the body to drink blood, cut open the skin and drink. When finished, they use their saliva to heal the cut, making a very light scar that wouldn't be noticed by the victim once they've awaken. That's something I've never read before regarding vampires. Awesome. I also love how vampires can't survive on animal blood [spoiler] the wussy way out. Sorry, Edward Cullen and Stefan Salvatore[/spoiler], they'll grow weak and eventually die. Human blood is a must.

I must confess, I was a little weirded out by The Vampire's Assistant This book was a book unlike anything I've ever read that's to be expected for a younger audience. In my opinion, I honestly think this shouldn't be handed to a person under 14, then again, it's all in the matter how one takes things. Like The Holy Terror stated in her review, "this could be nightmare material". Parents, be warned this isn't a "happy rainbowland filled with unicorns" kind of book. It's gruesome and shocking that such a book is recommended for kids starting at age 12. I also should mention how Shan mentioned illegal substances (i.e., marijuana and shrooms). 

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book despite the fact that I was semi-disturbed by it — especially by the last few chapters! I cried quietly in bed. Maybe I'm too sensitive.... My brother basically introduced me to Darren Shan's stories. He ate these books up in middle school as well as high school. I remember reading the first Cirque Du Freak book in 8th grade and enjoyed it just as much as I did this one, but the first book wasn't nearly as gruesome and creepy as this. I have no idea why I never continued to with this series. I'm glad I've started again now.

Our protagonist, Darren Shan, is a half-vampire, but he doesn't want to drink human blood. So he feeds on the blood of animals; Mr Crepsley (the vampire who turned Darren into a half-vampire and made him his assistant) is trying to convince him that drinking animal blood will not satisfy his thirst and drinking it will only weaken him. But Darren feels that drinking human blood is evil and not right, and he still wants to be human, so he's doing everything he can to avoid doing so. Unfortunately, this will not be the only problem he faces — after joining Cirque Du Freak, Darren will not only make friends, but he will make enemies and encounter many horrors.

I'm definitely going to get started on the third book as soon as possible. I want to see how it all goes in the end... and it looks as though it's going to be a fun, yet creepy, adventure.

Let me also point out these books are an excellent choice to read on Halloween.

So I had to sleep off my my chaotic thoughts so I could actually write this review without going insane.

I wish the first 70% of The Evolution of Mara Dyer were as awesome as the last 30%. Reading from page 1-300 was quite dull and not as good as the The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer; a lot of things were left unexplained just like the first book (and I thought at least MOST of my questions would be answered in this book if not all). Fine, some questions were half-assed answered and I had to piece together this mind-boggling story. After reading this you'll have no choice but to sit in your chair impatiently awaiting The Retribution of Mara Dyer.

“The thing about happiness, though, is that it never lasts.” 



Who is Mara Dyer?

Well, don't look at me, I don't know that answer. And Mara doesn't know either. So really, you're stuck in this ditch with the rest of us trying to figure it out. 



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Even though I'm extremely frustrated with Hodkin's damn story, I love her and her writing to bits and pieces. And despite the fact I gave this three stars, I'm still placing this in my "favourites" shelf because the last 30% of the book was just that good.

The story was depressing,
shocking,
chaotic,
beautiful,
and everything I could 
ever want in a paranormal romance 
and m o r e.

Hodkin knows how to write the most tender kissing scenes in the most darkest times in the story. 



"I'm not sure you can appreciate how much I want to lay you out before me and make you scream my name." 

Mara's labelled 'psychotic' and is sent to a ward. Her parents don't believe a word that's coming out of her mouth. They don't want to listen to her and that really irritated me and I was shaking the book in anger.

But Noah Shaw believes her. He knows Mara isn't crazy, because he knows Jude is alive too and wants payback for trying to hurt Mara.



But staying by her side will come with a price.

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YOU WILL LOVE HIM TO RUINS. 
The words echoed in my mind as I ran through clots of laughing people. Blinking lights and delighted screams bled together in a riot of sound and color. I knew Noah was behind me. I knew he would catch up. But my feet tried to do what my heart couldn't; they tried to leave him behind.
I finally ran out fo breath beneath a leering clown that pointed to the entrance to the Hall of Mirrors. Noah caught up to me easily. He turned me to face him and I stood there, my wrist in grasp, my cheeks wet with tears, my heart splintered by her words.
If i truly loved him, she said, I would let him go.
I wish I loved him enough.

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The Evolution of Mara Dyer is a little bit creepier than The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I'll give it that. Mara is being haunted: the doll appearing in places where it shouldn't be, a dead missing cat laying split open in front of her door step, ominous messages written in blood... and that is only a piece of it.


The only difference between us and them is that they hide it better.

And there's more to Noah. He's being secretive in here, always avoiding questions about his past, always changing the subject of a topic Mara would bring up. 

A lot of people complained about the book being too big and felt it was unnecessary for it to be 527 pages long, but I didn't see this as a problem at all. Hodkin needed to explain Mara and Noah's story, explain all the creepy hauntings, etc., etc. I'm sad that I have to a year for the last book....



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PRE-REVIEW:

*opens mouth* *closes it* *blinks* *looks around confused* wait... hold on... can someone tell me what the HELL just happened. Why — oh god. Hodkin, what did you DO?! NO. I NEED BOOK THREE NOW. I'M CONFUSED, SHOCKED, ANGRY, SAD, WHAT. 

But really, Michelle, how are you gonna leave me hanging like this? Like, I can't even get a PIECE of book three? A SNIPPET, a CHAPTER?!

WHY :) ARE :) YOU :) DOING :) THIS :) TO :) ME :)

BUT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE RETRIBUTION OF MARA DYER COMES OUT IN 2014...

More of my craziness to come.

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Copied from my GR; read + reviewed in 2013

Random thought: I don't like this cover as much as I loved Anna Dressed in Blood's. I dunno, it doesn't seem as spooky as the first book and it looks like this jacket artist went all extra with the red. 

Whoo, this book was a roller coaster! So many emotions were rolling through me while reading this. Girl of Nightmares is definitely better than the first, in my opinion. After Anna basically sacrificed herself to save Cas and his friends by opening the gate to Hell and brought the Obeahman with her, Cas can't stop thinking about her. He sees her everywhere -- in his dreams and in real life, but with each visit Anna makes it looks as though she's being tortured. Cas knows there's something wrong with these visits and can't help but feel she's in trouble....

"Cassio," she whispers. "Get me out of here." 

Girl of Nightmares definitely has more suspense; the ghosts he fights are more sinister:

His skin is black as a struck match, cracked and oozing liquid metal heat, like he's covered by a cooling layer of lava. The eyes stand out bright white. 

Kendare's writing is absolutely amazing. Cas isn't the douchey guy (even though I enjoyed Cas's douche-y-ness)from Anna Dressed in Blood; however, he's a depressed, lost soul trying to get his Anna back. Everyone is telling him to move on and let Anna go since it's been months after Anna's departure, but Cas can't help it. That's the first girl he fell in love with.... I love how Cas finally accepts the fact that Thomas and Carmel are there to stay so the has this bond with them 

Major spoilers ahead

I hate how Cas started trippin' near the end. He wasn't the "oh I'm so tough with a smart ass mouth" guy that he was in middle of the book. He went completely emo and cowardice and he was really starting to piss me off. Here're some passages that makes me feel this way:

"Don't just stand there! Help her!" Jestine yells at me as she streaks past to into the fray...

My legs are frozen. Between the two of them I don't know what to do, where to attack. None of their movements have any effect. We should have gone. Gotten out when we could. Inside my head, Thomas is talking to me, his voice urgent. I can't pay attention or look back. I watch as the Obeahman snaps Anna's arm like a twig, shoves her, and sends her rolling. Jestine he just shrugs off... Not once has he taken his gaze off me... I fear him. I've always feared him. 

At first I was like



Shit just got real. But then I start to realise that, yeah, Cas did have a chance to leave; instead he wanted to play hard ass and try to fight the Obeahman but then freezes and doesn't do shit to help his girlfriend and Jestine while they're getting their asses kicked, so then I was just like



Not only THAT, but now he's coming off like a straight bitch when two FEMALES are saving HIS ass while he's going on and on about how scary the Obeahman is. Hefinally does something when Jestine gets slammed to the ground and blood starts shooting out her mouth. Now he wants to play hero. 



So yeah, I no longer like Cas even if the end was "amazing". I can't get over what he did.

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Copied from my GR; read + reviewed in 2012

She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil's lair. She wasn't innocent now...

2.5 stars Don't get mad at me for giving this book two and a half stars! I really wanted to enjoy this book, you guys have no idea how badly I wanted to. This is my second time reading this and my first rating was 2 stars. I thought, maybe, I rushed into it the first time around so I decided to give it another shot. Still disappointing. 

The first 200 pages were great (Karou's best friend annoyed me, though), then it just falls from there: everything was getting too predictable. Let me just throw in this isn't going to be a review where I bash this book, because I loved Laini Taylor's writing and the passages from the story. I just didn't enjoy how I started figuring everything out. I never give books I've read half star, but I can't really decide whether to give this 2 stars, or 3.

I also disliked the story of Madrigal, 60 pages based on that story really wasn't needed, so I skipped that part.

This short review is going to contain mild spoilers.

Meet Karou. 

She draws chimaeras in her book. She was raised with them and calls them her family. The people enjoy her stories about these creatures, but they don't believe she's telling the truth; neither about her hair actually being blue. She has weird tattoos on her palms that are eyes called hamsas. She has no idea who she is, where she came from, or who her parents are. 

Meet Brimstone, he's a ressurectionist and a teeth collector. He raised Karou and sends her on errands to collect teeth from traders for wishes. 

Angels are entering her world from Eretz and making peculiar black hand prints on the portals Karou enters to go to Brimstone's shop. Strange things are going on and Karou starts unravelling her past. She's going to uncover the truth about her hamsas and who she is. 

Along the way, she meets Akiva, the angel. They're enemies first, but he starts to fall in love with her. The story begins like this: 

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.... It did not end well.

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Copied from my GR; read + reviewed in 2012

From Tumblr

What book has changed you?

— Lemony Snicket

I have yet to read The Lord of the Rings; it's weird because I adore the films and one would think I read the series....

I'll get around to reading them I swear!

DNF

Damn I wanted to like this. I wanted to love this book so much. This book sounds like everything I want in a novel: romance, historical premise, and throw in some time travelling to 1743 amidst Scotland torn by war.

I'm not going to try and sugarcoat or "be nice" -- Outlander was dreadfully boring. The first few chapters were great; once Claire accidentally travelled back in time to 1743 I quickly grabbed some snacks, thinking, "shit's about to get real". Oh, man! how wrong I was. So incredibly wrong. I'm not saying Outlander wasn't awesome because of the sex and I'm a prude or whatever. On the contrary, I've read multiple reviews (five, if you want me to be anal about it) clearly stating there's sex in here. Lots of it. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the writing as well as the plot -- how slow it was.

Not to mention how Claire married Jamie when she already has a husband. "Well, technically, her first husband, Frank, isn't born yet...."



Rubbish. It's still adultery.
Okay fine. I admit I'd probably do the same thing and give that poor half-assed excuse. So let me shut up about it.

I did, however, loved how Claire kept her composure when finally realising she was no longer in the year 1945. She accepted the fact she travelled back in time. I also loved how this book made me laugh a couple of times that I had to reread the passages. These are the reasons why I'm giving this DNF (did not finish) a 2 stars instead of my usual 1 star rating. Also because of this

"Does it bother you that I'm not a virgin?" He hesitated a moment before answering.
"Well, no," he said slowly, "so long as it doesna bother you that I am." He grinned at my dropped-jaw expression, and back toward the door.
"Reckon one of us should know what they're doing," he said.

He's a virgin!

When stumbling upon the first sex scene, I was cool with it. Then after they had sex they started talking about how much they can't stop and started to have sex again. I was like, "Um, okay. He was a virgin. It must've felt awesome and wanted to do it again." Then they started talking again and, lo' and behold, they started having sex. "Oh, lassie, I don't think I could e'er stop." Then he flips her over for buttsex. I was just like,



No wait it gets better.
When they start feeling sore -- and acknowledges it -- THEY DO IT AGAIN.



So I started browsing through the story, not giving an ounce of fuck about spoiling the whole thing (let's be honest, I'm not missing anything special). I flipped to the last chapter and read it and GUESS. THE. FUCK. WHAT???

wait for it


wait for it




wait for it.....




IT ENDS WITH THEM HAVING SEX.



Of all the awesome endings Gabaldon could've written. Like her going back to the present with Jamie and he and Frank have a duel. I don't know. Something other than "oh, Jamie please. We've time." "Not yet, mon duinne. I love your groaning."

I can't really say the characters were annoying because they were so.... flat and underdeveloped that they all had the same boring ass personalities. If it's any consolation, I was forcing myself to finish Outlander. I stayed up twice until 4am reading this, hoping it'd get better. I've read wonderful reviews on this book, they made it seem magical. I'm wondering what the hell is the book the rest of the people who enjoyed it read and where can I get it so I can write an awesome review, too.

And what the fuck is with Jamie beating Claire "for her own good"? W H Y didn't she leave him? Is she stupid, or just stupid?

For those of you pretty potatoes getting ready to type a wonderful, long, boring essay about how wrong I am for this review:

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So I wrote this review a couple of months ago (copied from my GR); for some [strange] reason, I can't stop thinking about this book. Like, I really want to read this again.

Maybe this review seemed harsh...

I'll give this book another go since I own it. Mayhap I 'ad a bad month whilst reading this one, ye ken?

Whenever I'm on GR and go to a book that has yet to be published (and I'm pretty sure no ARC was given out), there're ratings (especially the 1 and 2 starred ones); I don't know why it makes me upset. Like, you haven't read the book yet -- why rate it?

Does this make me a bitch?