Wolfsbane

From the jacket cover:
When Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the searchers, her sworn enemies, she's certian her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer - one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack - and the man - she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must figure out whcih battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

I am so in love with this story! I got hooked in Nightshade and have become fully submerged in Wolfsbane! Andrea Cremer has woven a story that is enticing, gripping, and compeling!

Calla finds herself in more than one battle in this book. She is battling her feelings for Ren and Shay, whether or not to team up with her enemies, and just what all that might mean to her and her pack...if she can save them. As an Alpha, you expect to see Calla constantly in control and knowing exactly what she should do and what she wants to do...not so much in this book. It was refreshing to see her softer more sensitive side. Shay still kind of bugs me...he is not bad...but he is still pushy! I felt like he was constantly trying to force Calla to choose between him and Ren...even if that wasn't what he was trying to do. I missed Ren in this book!And when Calla unknowingly makes her choice for her mate...I felt the betrayed for the other...in a BIG way!

There was lots of great forshadowing in this book. There were moments where I wondered one thing, and then convinced myself I was wrong....only to find out...I was RIGHT! The secrets that are revealed will leave you breathless! I loved hearing the story of how the Gaurduans, Keepers and Searchers all came to be...I even felt the loss of Calla of knowing that everything she had ever been told about her life was a lie. Slome readers felt like this was too slow for the book...I personally thought it was great, and it was something that plagued me since Nightshade so I enjoyed it immensly!

Of course Cremer couldn't leave us without a cliffhanger and she is one of the best at those! It left me wanting Bloodrose, the final book in the trilogy RIGHT NOW! Unfortunatly like all good things, we have to wait until next year...sigh!

I gave this book 5 apples!

Supernaturally

From the jacket cover:
Evie finally has the normal life she has always longed for. But she's shocled to discover that being ordinary cane be...kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she's given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disasterous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie's fairie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there's a battle brewing between the fairie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world inot chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

I LOVED Paranormal so I was so exctied to read Supernaturally, and I wasn't disappointed!

Evie's sarcasm and humor stayed firmly in place which I was very glad about. It's one of those qualities that makes her "bleepin'" endearing! It was a painful roller coast ride with her reluctance to tell Lend the truth, and her conflicting emotions over the IPCA...not unlike what we experience in lives ourselves.

I didn't however enjoy all the fighting with Lend. I find it frusterating that authors always make the couple happy in the first book and then fight in the second...but I guess it sells right? I was also sad that there wasn't a whole lot of Lend...her seemed almost secondary in this book.

The storyline was a nice surprise. I never expected it to take us where it did! I really enjoyed learning about Evie and who she was...but of course I would like more answers to those still unanswered questions about her! Jack was a nice addition to the story...even though I found him incredibly irritating! I LOVED Arianna...I hope to see more of her in the next book! Her story was really moving!

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to finish the series up soon!

I gave this book 3 apples!

Moonglass

I read this book awhile ago and thought that I had reviewed it...OOPS!! This is a touching story about confronting the past in order to move ahead. There is humor, romance, and that all encompassing battle to find oneself in this crazy life. Read with Kleenex...there were parts that made me tear up and tore at my heart in a huge way! If you are looking for a nice, quiet, uncomplicated read this is it!

I gave this book 5 apples!

Possession

From the jacket cover:

Vi knows the rules: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she is wary of joining the rebellion, especially since it means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charasmatic, and dangerous-everything Zenn is not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

This book was absolutly AMAZING!! From the very first page I was hooked! The story is so intriguing and moves incrediably fast!

Vi is a perfect heroine! She is a fighter...even if she is not sure what she is fighting for. So many lines have been blurred that she isn't sure who to trust...Jag who seems to know everything, or Zenn...her match and who is under the control of the Thinkers. All Vi wants is to be free to think for herself, make choices that she wants to make, and live a happy life. Someone wants her to use her ablilities to control her friends and neighbors...the hard part...who are the good guys and who bad guys.

Jag...what can I say about Jag except...WOW! He is like Vi...wants to be free to think for himself, and just like Vi someone wantes to use his abilities to control the population as well. There is so much chemistry between the two of them, and yet nothing goes their way...ever!

THere were so many amazing twists and turns in this book it will make your head spin...in a good way! TO me none of it was what I predicted...and the cliffhanger ending...it's going to keep you up at night...I promise!!

I gave this book 5 apples!

Matched

Cassia has always trusted thier choices. It's hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears in the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one...until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she has ever known and a path no one else has ever dared follow - between perfection and passion.

Everything is fine in Cassia's world until her Mathcing that is. When Ky's face flashes for a mere moment Cassia's life is forever changed. She should be happy that Xander, her best friend is her match, and she is...kind of. There is something about intriguing about Ky and his past, and how the Soceity was formed. Cassia's curiosity will come at a price. She will be forced to make a decision that could cost her everything she loves and values.

Blurring the lines between right and wrong, and good and bad, Matched is a breathtaking and powerful read!

I gave this book 3 apples!

Graveminder

Three sips to mind the dead...

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed ipon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral Maylene didn't attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: She took three sips from a silver flask and spoke the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you."

Now Maylene is dead, and Bek must go back to the place she left a decade earlier. She soo discovers that Claysville is not just the sleepy town she remembers, and that Maylene had good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead and dangerously connected; beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles aka Mr.D. If the dead are not properly cared for, they will come back to satiate themselves with food, drink, and stories from the land of the living. Only the Graveminder, by tradition a Barrow woman, and her Undertaker - in this case Byron Montgomery, with whom Bek shares a complicated past - can put things right once the dead begin to walk.

Although she is still grieving for Maylene, Rebekkah will soon find that she has more than a funeral to attend to in Claysville, and that wait awaits her may be for the worse: dark secrets, a centuries old bargin, a romance that still haunts her, and a frighteningly new responsibility - to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong.

I loved Melissa Marss YA series The Wicked Lovely books, so I was interested to read her first adult novel. I must admit that for an adult novel it was really quite clean...there was some language, but there was not in your face sex scenes (finally)! And I have to admit that when I first started reading I got a little creeped out...and then I couldn't stop reading!!

Bek is as dysfunctional as they come! She has an insane fear of commitment, and is in denial of her feelings for Byron. Ah, Byron...Bek has a guilt complex over her feelings for him because he was her older half sisters boyfriend...that is until she took her own life. Bek thinks it is because of a kiss that she and Byron shared that Ella took her life...if only! There were a few times where I found Bek annoying and overly angsty, but the rock steadiness of Byron more than made up for it.

The story was interesting and intriguing! A town with an ancient bargin that if that dead are taken care of properly they can rise again...yes were talking full fledged ZOMBIES!! Bek and Byron are more than surprised by these revelations and by their new responsibilities as Graveminder and Undertaker...not to mention the whole relationship thing!

I am glad to know that there is a sequel to this book...there were a lot of things left to make you wonder about! The mysterious Mr.D...the bargin and can it be broken...and of course the relationship between Byron and Bek.

I am not really a fan of ghost stories or zombies AT ALL! But this book was really too good to put down!

I gave this book 5 apples!

Blood Red Road

From the jacket cover:
Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried up wasteland ravaged by the constant dust storms. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother, Lugh, is around. But when a monster dust sandstorm arrives bearing four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on a quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. Teamed up with a handsome
daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revoltuionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her civilization.

Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, relentless action, and an epic love story.


At first I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. I struggled with the way it was written...not one speech mark graces a page in this book! That and the dialouge...it is written exactly as Saba speaks. The language compliments the dystopian world created by Young though. What I first struggled with I cannot now imagine any other way!

Saba is a flawed character. She loves her twin brother Lugh, but hates her sister Emmi. However, Emmi and Saba's relationship grows as they are thrown into a quest to save Lugh. It doesn't happen over night though, which makes the relationship all the more human.

On her journey to save Lugh, Saba is kidnapped and forced to be a Cage fighter. There she meets another cage fighter, Jack, who she is instantly drawn to, and she has no idea why. When she is finally able to escape, she knows she can't leave without him. Her own feelings frusterate her as much as Jack's comments do.

Jack is cocky, arrogant, and good looking, and he rubs Saba the wrong way...BIG TIME!! She can't understand how she can love him and hate him at the same time. Their relationship is intense and adds just enough romance to the story.

This isn't a "romance" by any means! It is an adventure! It is a story about friendship, love, loss, trusting others and finding oneself! The characters are easy to identify with, which makes them easy to love!

If you are a fan at all of dystopian books this is a MUST READ!!

I gave this book 5 apples!!