Radiant Shadows (One liner)

Wicked Lovely: Radiant Shadows | Melissa Marr

Published by: HarperCollins, April 20th 2010

Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Mythology

Pages: 340

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Hunger for nourishment.
Hunger for touch.
Hunger to belong. 

Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers.

Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. He was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries' coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani's death.

Ani isn't one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin's plans—and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grow closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?


Alluring romance, heart-stopping danger, and sinister intrigue combine in the penultimate volume of Melissa Marr's New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series.

Radiant Shadows was enthralling. The danger and romance was an irresistible combination, and Devlin and Ani's chemistry was off the charts. Sad, terrified, and dying to read Darkest Mercy.

(okay so maybe that's three lines but shh)

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★★
Writing Style ★★★★★

Book Fashion Friday (19)

Book Fashion Friday is a weekly meme in which I post clothes inspired by YA book covers.

So this week's BFF is inspired by the new Gameboard of The Gods cover, which I have fallen in love with. I never really liked the other two, the US or UK editions, but this new one is perfect and I need to own it ASAP.

THE BOOK:

THE FASHION:

$280 from Promgirl.

I love how the pink and orange are separate yet blend together, and I thought that was a really cool way to feature the orange-pink of the GotG cover. I also like how the embellishments of the waist and neckline are a nod to the stars around Mae's head.

~Saruuh

The Holders (DNF)

Holders: The Holders | Julianna Scott

Published by: Strange Chemistry, March 5th 2013

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Pages: 320

Format: Ebook

Source: Purchased

17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called 'experts' who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland's perceived problem, Becca doesn't buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland's family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what's best for Ryland.

What they find at St. Brigid's is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family's heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they've been waiting for. However, they are all--especially Becca--in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There's an attraction between Becca and Alex that can't be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.

Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he's settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he's done?

Do you know how upset I am to have fund a SC book I couldn't finish? Devastated is the answer. I so wanted to love The Holders, and I suspect I would have, had it been set in America like any other Fantasy/Paranormal series. But, being as close to Irish as you could get without being Irish, I really couldn't hack it. It was, essentially, a bundle of outdated stereotypes all rolled into one mediocre book.

But here's what I liked:

That the protag is drawn into this Paranormal world because of her brother, and not because she's the person with ~mysterious power~

That it's set in Ireland (if only it had been set well)

The premise of the school. I'm actually a sucker for a paranormal academy.

The Holders themselves. I'm all for gifted teens

I even liked the similarities to X-Men so many people are complaining about. HOWEVER there weren't enough to make this a compelling book.

Here's what I didn't

The plot doesn't actually come in until about halfway
Becca is dull and lackluster, and so is - actually I can't remember the love interests name.
The romance was cliche, instantaneous, and passionless, but it befits a teenage crush/first love so I will let that slide.
The typos and errors I found in an ebook I paid for
And my personal favourite: the stereotypical, ridiculous dialect. There's a Scottish character who says this exact thing:

"Aye lad." Mr Anderson gestured to Alex, whose eyes hadn't left me. "We're needed yonder."

Barely anyone in Scotland says yonder. I guarantee you that, as someone with Scottish relatives who has been to Scotland more times than she can recall. Aye - definitely. Lad - probably. Yonder - nah. Perhaps this would be more suited to a historical novel, but with peanut M&Ms and McDonalds, I'm pretty sure this is contemporary.

So the incorrect Irishisms/Britishisms and the dull, uninteresting romance just shorted me out with this one. Sad I couldn't love it.

No rating, since I DNF, but if I had to rate it I'd give it 2.5 stars.

Out Today: Uninvited

Uninvited | Sophie Jordan

from HarperTeen

The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

From my review (x)

I liked this book. It was unique in premise and plot. The writing wrought powerful emotion and terrified with high impact action scenes. 

Out Today: Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty | Rosamund Hodge

from Balzer + Bray

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

My rating: ★★★★★

From my review (x)

Utterly faultless. Hodge's writing is lush and descriptive, her world building is wonderfully detailed, and the way she writes romance took my breath away. Rosamund Hodge is, perhaps, the only author about whom I will talk in terrible, gaudy cliches. 

Out Today: Into The Still Blue

Under The Never Sky: Into The Still Blue | Veronica Rossi

from HarperCollins

The earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi's "masterpiece" Under the Never Sky trilogy and sequel to the New York Times bestselling Through the Ever Night (Examiner.com).

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

My rating: ★★★★★

From my review (x)

The way to the Still Blue proves treacherous and tempestuous, with more complications than anyone could foresee, more dangers for not only Cinder, but Perry, Aria, and the rest of their tribe, and a million ways to die. My heart was pounding the entire time I was reading this, either from intense emotion or the horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen. There is never a moment, nor a single page, when this book didn't suck me into the story and hold me captive.

This book, this series, is harmonious and captivating. The writing carries you on a gentle wave through beautiful passages only to dash you against the rocks at the end. I'm in awe of Veronica Rossi, and I have never loved the third book in a trilogy more than this.

  (Released Feburary 6th for us UK folks *grumbles*)

Cover reveal: Captivate Me by S.J. Pierce

Captivate Me | S. J. Pierce

Expected April 1st 2014

I adore this cover. It's totally reminiscent of the Bloodlines covers and I LOVE those books. I especially love the green of the cover. You don't get many green covers these days - it's always reds and blues and purples. But this colour is so pretty.

The summary for Captivate Me is as follows:

“My mom had always told me – when you meet “the one”, you’ll know; they’ll captivate your heart the moment you lay eyes on them. I had always wondered, though, if my mom’s words of wisdom were finite – if they applied to everyone. Maybe those who had found their one great love were the lucky few, and maybe the rest of us would have to settle for less than earth-shattering.”

Seventeen-year-old Kat Walsh is a Gifted – a human with paranormal abilities. With her mom a former Angel and her dad a dream prophet, it’s always been in her genetic make-up to be extraordinary. Unfortunately for her, the world can’t handle the strange or unusual. So when she slips up and uses her powers at her high school in Ireland, the entire student body treats her like a freak – even the ones she thought were her closest friends.

Broken, but hopeful for a fresh start, she allows her parents to enroll her in a boarding school buried deep within the forests of a small Colorado town. At Midland Pines, School for the Gifted, she feels as though she can finally be herself; she makes new friends and even has the attention of the most popular guy in school – Levi. Everything feels normal again… or does it?

Not long after her arrival, weird dreams of an alluring boy whom she’s never met surface during the night, and the eerie, shadowy trees encircling their school seem to call to her. As these disturbing, yet enticing developments intensify, other bizarre occurrences happen – students and staff turn up missing, and mystery visitors leave gifts while she sleeps. With all of these other things vying for her attention, a desperate Levi has to fight even harder to keep her interest. But with the dreams of the attractive boy slowly captivating her heart, Kat has to make a choice – will she settle for ‘great’ Levi, or will she search for her elusive dream visitor, possibly stumbling across ‘amazing?’

From the author of the Alyx Rayer Chronicles, comes a refreshingly different Young Adult series with plenty of love, suspense, and a new take on the Paranormal.

Recommended for readers 16 and up due to mature content.

About the Author:

Susan James Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, spare time to writing Fantasy and Sci-fi novels. 

Even though her full-time career has nothing to do with books at all, she has always enjoyed complex storytelling with fascinating characters, and has had a penchant for the written word since grade school. As a matter of fact, her first publishing credit was a poem she wrote at the age of twelve. Why her love for writing never translated into a career, she can only attribute to 'life happens', but her wish is that she can redirect her career path into something that satisfies her creative inner-self.

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Reading round up (11)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress and my thoughts on each book as I read it. Gonna try and get through a couple more galleys this week, but we'll see.

20th January

Currently reading: Infinityglass | Myra McEntire

Current page/percent: 34% 

# of pages/percentage read today: 13% 

Thoughts: Hallie's growing on me. This book seems very anti-climatic to the whole series though. Hopefully something will happen soon to bring in a little excitement and stakes.

21st January

Read another 10% of Infinityglass today, bringing me up to 44%. Things are starting to happen, though it's not as high impact as I've come to expect of series enders. I also picked up Radiant Shadows, and let me tell you I am in love with Devlin. Current page: 86.

22nd January

Currently reading: Infinityglass | Myra McEntire

Current page/percent: 85% 

# of pages/percentage read today: 41% 

Thoughts: Alright so this got much more series-ender-y. I can see where this is going. Also Hallie/Dune is adorable.

23rd January

Currently reading: Infinityglass | Myra McEntire
Current page/percent: 100% 

# of pages/percentage read today: 15% 

Thoughts: Is it really the end? Nah. Can't be. Give me more. 

24th January

Currently reading: The Holders | Julianna Scott // Radiant Shadows | Melissa Marr

Current page/percent: 10% // page 128

# of pages/percentage read today: 10% // 42 pages

Thoughts: Standard mysterious set up. // I JUST REALLY LOVE DEVLIN!!

25th January

Read to page 202 of Radiant Shadows. Things are starting to come together, with Ani and Devlin finally going off on their Magical Mystery Road Trip. 

26th January

Read another 4% of The Holders, bringing me to 14%. I'm not sold on this so far but hopefully I will be soon.

Books finished this week: 1

Infinityglass (RC Review)

Hourglass: Infinityglass | Myra McEntire

Published by: Egmont USA, August 6th 2013

Genre: YA, Science Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Ebook

Source: Egmont USA via Netgalley (thank you so much, and so so sorry for the delay.)

The stakes have risen even higher in this third book in the Hourglass series.

The Hourglass is a secret organization focused on the study of manipulating time, and its members — many of them teenagers -­have uncanny abilities to make time work for them in mysterious ways. Inherent in these powers is a responsibility to take great care, because altering one small moment can have devastating consequences for the past, present, and future. But some time trav­elers are not exactly honorable, and sometimes unsavory deals must be struck to maintain order.

With the Infinityglass (central to understanding and harnessing the time gene) at large, the hunt is on to find it before someone else does.

But the Hourglass has an advantage. Lily, who has the ability to locate anything lost, has determined that the Infinityglass isn't an object. It's a person. And the Hourglass must find him or her first. But where do you start searching for the very key to time when every second could be the last?

The blurb does this book no justice. It doesn't focus on Dune, or Hallie at all - though this may be to leave an edge of mystery. But I think it could benefit from mentioning them at least, since they are the focus of this book and so brilliant and fun and heart-wrenching to read.

For most of Infinityglass, I was wondering how this could be a series ender. I suppose that's my fault, coming into it with a preconception that every chapter had to be action packed to end a trilogy. I loved the story of Dune and Hallie, and the idea that a person could be the Infinityglass was intriguing - but it still felt lacking for half of the book.

However - it was fascinating to watch the way Hallie changed, and the rips and new rip worlds were frightening. Dune and Hallie's relationship was both slow and quick to develop, and felt entirely feasible and real. I didn't particularly love them in the beginning, but I personally liked the way I warmed to them as I got to know them more, like I would real people.

Myra McEntire is brilliant at writing authentic, lovable characters. Her plots are always complex and packed full of rips, time travel, and danger, but for me it's the characters and their relationships that make her books. And for that reason I am so upset this is the final book - I'm nowhere near ready to say goodbye to these people.

I didn't know I was sad to let this series go until I had finished it, but now I am a little bit wrecked. I will miss these characters so much, it's not even funny. Please give me a spin off.

To sum up: an engaging, heart-warming love story, wrapped in danger and ripples from the past.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★☆☆

Writing Style ★★★★☆

Book Fashion Friday (18)

Book Fashion Friday is a weekly meme here at Syntax Reviews, featuring clothes inspired by YA books covers. Any cover is used for inspiration - new, old, forthcoming,  Feel free to post your own book inspired fashion and link back to this post!

So this week's BFF is inspired by Into The Still Blue by Veronica Rossi, which is out next week! I hate that this series is ending, but this last book is fitting and perfect. I was lucky enough to get a review copy from Harper Collins, so I assure you it's amazing.

THE BOOK:

THE FASHION:

$550 from Promgirl.

I can almost see the aether in that dress!! How pretty is it?

~Saruuh

Cover reveal: Of Sea and Stone, Kate Avery Ellison

Of Sea and Stone | Kate Avery Ellison 

Expected February 2014 

How beautiful is that cover? I'm a sucker for purple fantasy covers, and the dress blowing in the wind is just stunning. (p.s. the cover was designed by the author and it is amazing, so you should all go leave her lovely tweets and things! I love to see my fellow authors doing their own covers, like I do.)

The summary for Of Sea and Stone is as follows:

All her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.

When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.

Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving…

About the Author:

I've been making up stories since I was five years old, and now I'm thrilled to be able to do it as a full-time job. I have an obsession with dark fantasy, dystopian futures, and Pride and Prejudice-style love stories full of witty banter and sizzling, unspoken feelings. When I'm not writing, I'm creating digital art, reading funny blogs, or watching my favorite shows (which include TVD and BSG). I live with my geeky husband and our two bad cats in Atlanta, GA.

Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for letting me reveal this wonderful cover.