YA Review: Angelfire

Angelfire
Author: Courtney Allison Moulton
Young Adult Title
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Released: February 15, 2011

Summary: First there are nightmares. Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her. Then come the memories. When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

I asked to review Angelfire because I was fascinated by the blurb for the book. It's the first in a series but didn't have the feel of some "first" stories. The main characters, Ellie and Will, are complex and fascinating. Will is mysterious, protective, brooding, and sexy without meaning to be. His personality is calm and steadfast, but yet he is powerful and will stop at nothing to protect Ellie. She is a typical teenager with school pressures, relationship drama and parental struggles. Once she discovers what she has to fight to protect her world, those pressures don't seem so difficult. In some ways she reminds me of Buffy during the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer minus the snarky vampires. I really enjoyed the interaction between the characters.

Ellie and Will's relationship is complicated and the author made my heart go out to both of them as the story revealed more and more about their past. Issues of trust and honesty are explored, as well as a theme of doing what is right for the greater good rather than personal needs.

Angelfire is fast paced and full of kick butt action, romance, angst, mystery and suspense. I recommend it to fans of Melissa Marr, Maggie Stiefvater, Karen Kincy and Claudia Gray.

Mom notes: This book is for mature teens, 16 and older. Though there aren't any sex scenes there are references to sex and drinking. It fits with the context of the scenes and shows the life Ellie and her friends have as Seniors in high school, but I wouldn't recommend it for younger teens. Over all the story is one of making the right choices, and while there is a rough relationship between Ellie and her father, her mom is a good parent who's trying to understand her daughter. I really appreciated that they talked over things, even when Ellie couldn't confide the entire truth.

About the Author
Courtney Allison Moulton lives in Michigan, where she is a photographer and spends all her free time riding and showing horses. She has always loved reading about ancient mythologies, studying dead languages, and telling scary, romantic stories. Angelfire is her debut novel.

You can learn more about Courtney on her website:
http://www.courtneyallisonmoulton.com/

Review: Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Eternal Kiss of Darkness
Night Huntress World, #2
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon (7/27/10)
Available on Amazon (Paperback or Kindle)

Summary: Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she's only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he'd seen it all. Then Kira appears - this fearless, beautiful....human who braved death to rescue him. Though her burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.

I have a soft spot for Jeaniene Frost's books. I bought Eternal Kiss of Darkness last week, breaking my self-imposed book buying freeze. (Due to a TBR shelf that's exploding with books.) I have every book Ms. Frost has written, and I've read them so often that I can flip open to a favorite page or chapter if I need a pick me up after a bad day. I often choose the first time Bones and Cat dance from her first book or the infamous Chapter 32 in One Foot in the Grave. There are so many other favorite scenes that I can't possibly name them all here.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness is Mencheres' book. It's the second book in The Night Huntress World, which focus on characters from her Night Huntress series, giving us a more in depth look at them. Right off I want to say that Mencheres had not been one of my favorite characters. I know many of her fans were chanting "Vlad, Vlad, Vlad" over and over. Yes, quietly in my head I joined them, but I thought to myself "Jeaniene has her reasons. She knows things we don't. I can't wait to find out what.". Let me put your scepticism to rest. Mencheres rocks in so many ways I can't count them. Seriously folks, he's THAT awesome. I feel the need to kiss Jeaniene's feet and say "Forgive me for not seeing Mencheres' awesomeness sooner."

Eternal Kiss of Darkness is a compelling tale of a vampire who is over 4,000 years old and the human who challenges him at every turn. Mencheres is powerful beyond anything we can imagine and could have any woman he wants, yet he knows they are attracted to his power, wealth and position, never looking deeper. I loved this book for its depth of emotion. I've read many books with scorching hot love scenes. It's always fascinating to note the spin each author puts on their sexy moments. Jeaniene Frost builds up to that ultimate moment with a combination of sexual tension, humor, and emotion. When Mencheres and Kira finally get their moment, it literally had me holding my breath; it was that emotional.

While the romance and sexiness is abound in Eternal Kiss of Darkness I would be remiss to the action and suspense. Since Mencheres is "older than dirt" we expect him to kick ass with the best of them, but Jeaniene is never one for giving us weak heroines. Kira rocks. She's strong, smart, stubborn, compassionate and has an awesome sense of right and wrong. I love her character, and certainly hope she makes an appearance in more of the author's books.

If you haven't read any of Jeaniene's books you could easily start with Eternal Kiss of Darkness for a taste of the Night Huntress World. After reading it, I can't imagine a reader not going out and picking up every one of her other books. They are every bit as compelling, fast paced and riveting. Eternal Kiss of Darkness takes the reader through a hodge podge of emotions including sadness, fear, surprise, joy, righteous anger and titillation. What more can a reader ask for?

TEASER WORDS
As promised, I'm going to start giving teaser words at the end of each review. These are words from Eternal Kiss of Darkness that give you hints to my favorite parts of the book.

underwater
hospital
exploding doors
bubbles
Big Thunder Mountain
Grand Canyon
akhs
jungle
Symphony Tower

The trailer below is amazing. I love the people portraying the main characters.


~Moonsanity

Pseudo Emo Teen Review: FEED

FEED
Newsflesh, Book 1
Author: Mira Grant
Paperback: 608 pages
Publisher: Orbit(5/1/10)
Available from Amazon

Summary: The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.


Let me start out by saying: FEED is one of the best, if not the best, book I have read in long time. After my mom received the book, she asked me if I would like to read it, as her list of books she needed to read was already quite large. I came in fully expecting your standard, run-of-the-mill zombie book. What I got was something so much better.

Georgia and Shaun Mason are now two of my favorite literary characters, plus all of their friends and enemies are up there too. Mira Grant uses the rules of a post-apocalyptic world to build entirely original characters. You don't see your run-of-the-mill ex-military zombie fighters in FEED. Instead, she sets out to show that it takes all people to fill the world, even if most of them happen to be zombies.

I thought that the idea of the main characters as two bloggers in the new world was quite fascinating, as was the new found importance of their trade. Being in a household where both my parents blog may have something to do with that, of course, but I still think the average reader will find the idea refreshing and original. Speaking of which, Grant's storytelling blends horror, suspense, drama, conspiracy and even politics seamlessly into one hybrid tale that defies classification.


Even if zombies aren't your thing, I would still recommend FEED if you like political thrillers or mysteries. Grant uses the rules of her world to form a completely new brand of politics. People now argue for the death of animals to protect them from an outbreak. The death penalty is useless, as it just creates more zombies. Tobacco is now accepted, because the zombie virus cured cancer. The reality the author built is amazing, inventive, and above all, believable. That may sound crazy, but I actually could picture the planet turning into what Grant describes.

The one factor that probably clinches my love of FEED, is the theme of loss shown throughout the book. Though humor is spread throughout, the sadness is still ever present. That is my one warning to the potential reader- do not expect a happy ending to come out of the bleak world of FEED. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a story about the truth- no matter how harsh it may be.

You can visit Mira Grant at her website for some cool desktop wallpaper and other extras: http://miragrant.com/newsflesh.php

The publisher, Orbit, has also set up website just for FEED, including a look at the Internet "After the Rising": http://www.thefeedbook.com

~Pseudo Emo Teen*

*Note: In case you missed the post, Pseudo Emo Teen is a seventeen year old high school Senior with a mathematical, yet creative mind, living in the Midwest United States where he plays guitar, reads dark urban fantasy and horror, tutors his friends and classmates in Spanish, Math and Science, while contemplating the state of the world we live in.

Series Review: Night Huntress Novels

Night Huntress Series
Author: Jeaniene Frost

Halfway to the Grave (Book 1)
One Foot in the Grave (Book 2)
At Grave's End (Book 3)
Destined for an Early Grave (Book 4)

Publisher: Avon
Available from Amazon

Summary: Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

Notes: The series should be read in order to really appreciate the plots in each book. I bought the books from Amazon and read them in order, including the shorts. I also recently won a signed copy of the first book from Jeaniene Frost's blog.

The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost is the first series I read after discovering and reading the Twilight books last fall. Though I had been a huge fan of vampire and paranormal movies and television for a long time, I had never ventured into urban fantasy books. The horror, science fiction and fantasy genre are all favorites of mine, but somehow I had skipped over paranormal romance and urban fantasy. It was an entire new world for me. Where to begin? I remember seeing a quote that said the Night Huntress novels were like an R rated Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The idea of books with Joss Whedon humor, and maybe even vamps as sexy as Spike and Angel was too much to resist. I was not disappointed.

Jeaniene Frost has a wicked sarcastic sense of humor. Where she comes up with the scenes in her books is beyond me. She mixes action that keeps you on the edge of your seat, with romance that makes you grab the arm of your chair and hang on until you can stop holding your breath. I kid you not. When, and I so hope you do, read her books you will understand when I say that Chapter 32 of One Foot in the Grave is the stuff legends are made of.

I do want to caution certain readers about a few things. Jeaniene Frost pulls no punches on the violent world of vamps and ghouls. Also, there are erotic scenes in her books, but for me, they are part of Cat's life, her world. To NOT have scenes about her introduction to love and sex would mean we really wouldn't understand who she is. They aren't the focus of the stories however, but they are a part of them. I don't want to give any details, or spoilers. Part of the joy in reading the Night Huntress books is in the surprises, because there are many and they are HUGE.

Jeaninene Frost is not writing a series for young adults, I wouldn't recommend these to any one not of college age. To really get a feel for the series, read the first chapter of Halfway to the Grave here: http://www.jeanienefrost.com/halfway-to-the-grave.html .

~Moonsanity

Book Review: The Alpha and Omega Novels

Books Series: Alpha and Omega
Cry Wolf, Hunting Ground
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace

Note: I read this after I read the Mercy Thompson series. I haven't read the short story that begins it all in the anthology On the Prowl, which many have recommended be read first.

Summery: Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega.

I read the first book in this series last summer after reading all of the Mercy Thompson books. I had to make myself read it NOT as a continuation of Mercy's world, but as a stand alone book. Once I did that the characters and the story came alive for me. Anna had been beaten down, suffering much like a woman who's just come out of an abusive relationship, except she was abused by everyone in her pack. She's fighting to regain her confidence, her strength; to become the woman and wolf she needs to be. This isn't a quick fix. Her struggle carries through to the second book as well.

The Alpha and Omega books tell a story of love, trust, and of healing. They read quickly, at least for me, because I wanted to KNOW what was going to happen between Anna and Charles. I couldn't wait to finish one page and go on to the next. Their relationship is complicated and multi-dimensional. There is the interaction between Anna and Charles, as a man and woman, but also the interaction between his wolf and Anna. They often don't see eye to eye. The wolf would protect her to the point of suffocation. Charles, the man, knows she needs to learn to protect herself as well. Anna is trying to figure out just what she needs and wants.

Each book has plenty of action, suspense and mystery to make it an adventurous read. I love the pack dynamics as Anna tries to figure out her place with the wolves, beyond her status as a mate to Charles. I thought Briggs did an excellent job of showing the reader both Anna's take on things, and how Charles reacted to the same situation. Brother Wolf, the wolf part of Charles, is fascinating. Briggs treats him as an individual character, one we get to know and love as Anna's fierce protector.

If I found any fault with the books, it was they read so fast that I felt let down when I finished them. This, however, could be my background of reading epic fantasy novels that can easily run 600-1000 pages. I highly recommend both books to fans of Mercy Thompson, and those new to her writing.

Read Chapter One:
http://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/cryWolfChapter.shtml




~Moonsanity