Genre: Paranormal Romance

Of Neptune by Anna Banks | Book Review

Posted June 10, 2015 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 1 Comment

Of Neptune by Anna Banks
Series: The Syrena Legacy #3
Also in this series: Of Poseidon, Of Triton
Published by Feiwel and Friends on May 1, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance
Pages: 330
Format: Hardcover
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Emma, who is half human and half Syrena, and her Syrena love, Galen, need time together. Alone. Away from the kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton. Emma’s grandfather, the Poseidon king, suggests the two visit a small town called Neptune.

Neptune is home to both Syrena and Half-Breeds alike. But Emma and Galen didn’t sign up to be peacemakers between the ocean-living Syrena and the land-dwelling, freshwater counterparts. They didn’t bargain for meeting a charming Half-Breed named Reed, who can barely disguise his feelings for Emma. And they especially didn’t expect to find themselves in the middle of a power struggle that threatens not only their love, but their ocean kingdoms.

In this stunning conclusion to her bestselling Syrena Legacy, Anna Banks thrills fans with more action and romance than ever.

I really, REALLY loved the first two books in The Syrena Legacy, Of Poseidon and Of Triton. I was excited for this third book because I loved the characters. At the same time, I felt like there wasn’t really a need for a third book. Of Triton wrapped up everything for me, and I felt like there really was nothing left I needed from the series. For this reason, I was also worried I would not love Of Neptune. Sadly, I was right. I almost didn’t even finish it and that broke my heart.

I don’t know if I’m tired of Emma or what, but her little wacky idiosyncrasies really bugged me this time around. I feel like in areas of her life, she has grown and changed and matured. In other areas, though, she’s stayed the same silly little teenager she was before she discovered herself and her family and her destiny. Things I found funny in book one, like Emma’s “ohmysweetgoodness” and “fan-freaking-tastic” and sarcastic quips were not funny this time. I wanted her to grow up a little and show me that she has changed over the years. I didn’t even like her in this book. She’s selfish (SO SELFISH) and inconsiderate and petty. She acted too young to be in a relationship. They both did, really.

I didn’t love Galen this time, and that surprised me. Hs uses of marine words inserted into human phrases is not endearing anymore. He calls Emma “Angel Fish” and that really started to bug me! He has also gotten way too broody. I loved the romance in the first book, but things really fizzled in book 2 and even more in book 3. I’m not sure why, after everything we’ve been through with Emma and Galen, a brand new love triangle was necessary in this final book. Emma goes to a town of Half-Breeds called Neptune and meets Reed, who is immediately infatuated with her. He is immediately in love with her. He immediately wants to break Galen and her up. It feels so forced and awkward. And Emma actually considers this and I’m like, “WHAT!?” How can this even happen after it is decided that Galen and Emma are destined for one another. I don’t even believe their love story anymore if she is so easily swayed to leave him for someone else. And REED? He’s a very weak, rather useless addition to the story.

To be honest, the entire Half-Breed town fell a little short of my interest level.I did not enjoy this new storyline that had nothing to do with the other two books. I wanted the magical underwater romance that I got with the first book, and there is none of that. Galen and Emma don’t even get much time with one another. There’s a lot of pouting, brooding, jumping to conclusions, and immaturity and it just bothered me that it was coming from two people who hold a lot of responsibility and who I have invested so much time into. I missed Rayna, Nalia, Toraf, and Grom. They made small cameo appearances, and I did not get their fun personalities. They were the ones I was so excited to see again! I don’t care about these new Half-Breeds and their hidden agendas. I wanted my Syrena family back!

I will admit that I loved the epilogue. If this epilogue had been placed at the end of Of Triton, I would have been a happy girl. If you enjoyed Of Poseidon and Of Triton and are looking for a little something more, definitely read the epilogue because it is very sweet and wraps things up nicely. Of Neptune is not necessary, though, and it pains me to say that more than you might expect.

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper | Book Review

Posted October 10, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 4 Comments

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers on September 23, 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance
Pages: 416
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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A sweeping historical romance about a witch who foresees her own murder--and the one boy who can help change her future.

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island's whalers safe at sea, but her mother has forced her into a magic-free world of proper manners and respectability. When Avery dreams she's to be murdered, she knows time is running out to unlock her magic and save herself.

Avery finds an unexpected ally in a tattooed harpoon boy named Tane--a sailor with magic of his own, who moves Avery in ways she never expected. Becoming a witch might stop her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers her magic requires a sacrifice she never prepared for.

I’m SO sad, you guys. So sad. I was so intrigued by the idea of whales and witches and magic and an eerie little stormy village on an island. But honestly, Salt & Storm is the biggest disappointment of the year for me. I’ve been battling with even writing a review, but I decided to go ahead. My thoughts are very unorganized, so this is just going to be a list of things.

1. There is hardly any magic at all.
2. The writing style just did not work for me.
3. I felt like the characters spoke in a really weird way.
4. I was really upset by a dream Avery has, which includes a gruesome scene about a whale being killed by humans. It was disturbing. My review policy states that if I encounter a scene like this I’m done, but my curiosity got the best of me. Stupid curiosity.
5. I’m not sure what the point was of even including witches in this story, because there was so little having to do with them. In theory, witches are really important to the island because they bring the whales in to be killed or lead the whalers to the whales, whatever (yes, another disturbing thing to read about), but nobody was doing anything really witchy.
6. I hate Avery’s mother for taking away her freedom to choose to be a witch. This mom went as far as to almost kill Avery’s best friend in order to keep her from fulfilling her destiny.
7. Death. So much death. And I guess it was not a large quantity of death, but the fact that most of the deaths were disturbing or upsetting.
8. The characters were extremely boring. I honestly did not care, even when I could tell the author wanted me to.
9. The romance is not even worth mentioning. I hated it. I can tell the author tried to not have it be insta-lovey, but it was. And I did not like the guy at all. I can’t even remember his name.
10. There were a few twists that kept me going, but I skimmed so many passages just looking for the major details. I was bored. This book is SO SLOW.
11. In order to not spoil anything, I’m not going to discuss the ending. But I hated everything about it. Death, heartbreak, and other events that make you go, “Ok, wait what? What has been the point of this book anyway?” happened.
12. I was left feeling so unbelievably depressed. I had to go and talk to my mom and basically confess what I just read, because I just could not shake that awful dark cloud that this book installed over my head.
13. I wish I had DNFed.

*sigh* Well, there you have it. My brain dump. And honestly, I was over this book until I listed out how upset with it I am. Just thinking about it has me in a funk all over again. I can’t honestly say I would recommend this to anyone.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor | Mini Book Review

Posted May 5, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 6 Comments

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers on September 27, 2011
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 418
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Guys, this book is WEIRD! Haha. It took me a little while to get into it because of its strangeness, but then I was hooked on the story. Laini Taylor is an amazing author, and I feel kind of weird for not having read this book sooner! I am so glad my book club decided to read it for April, because I finally had an excuse to read it.

Karou is the most interesting character I’ve read about in a while. She has blue hair, she is an art student in Prague, and she is not entirely human. She was raised by a demon who lives on the other side of random doors throughout the world. He gives her languages for her birthday, and gives her wishes (hence the blue hair and the fact that her ex-boyfriend itched terribly while he was nude modeling for her art class). Karou runs errands for this demon, and when he needs her he sends a tiny little demon bird to get her. She comes across Akiva on one of her errands, barely escapes with her life, and her world kind of spirals out of control from that point on. Karou is not quite sure who she is, and there are many people who hope things stay that way.

Seriously, Laini Taylor’s imagination is CRAZY. Maybe it’s the bright pink hair? I don’t know. But she is masterful at creating a dynamic and HUGE world that I am convinced exists somewhere. I usually hate stories with angles and demons (haha. No, not talking about Dan Brown here), but I really enjoyed this one! And the mystery of who Karou is, who Akiva is, and what’s GOING ON just kept me on the edge of my seat. The language is beautiful, and can I PLEASE go to Prague!? One of my book club members, Karin, was actually in Prague when she read this and I am SO JEALOUS. From what she told me, though, Laini paints an amazingly accurate Prague… so maybe I’ve been there already? Give this book a shot if you’re in the mood for a little bit of strange and a hugely weird world.

Tempest Revealed by Tracy Deebs (Book Review)

Posted June 5, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 1 Comment

Tempest Revealed by Tracy Deebs
Series: Tempest #3
Also in this series: Tempest Rising, Tempest Unleashed
Published by Walker Children's on June 4, 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Half-mermaid Tempest Maguire is trying to have it all: fulfilling her duties as second-in-line to the merQueen Hailana while periodically returning home to the California coastline to be with her family and longtime boyfriend, Mark.

Living under the sea and rebuilding Coral Straits is grueling work, while being back home reminds her of everyone she loves and misses. But when her old flame Kona arrives bearing news that Hailana has died and Tempest is now officially merQueen, she returns permanently to Coral Straits, even though it devastates her family and rips her apart from Mark.

Once there, she discovers that an old enemy has resurfaced, hell-bent on taking over her throne... with or without her. As Tempest prepares for her final showdown against Tiamat and anyone who stands with her, she must decide what - and who - is really important to her. Because there will be few survivors in the ultimate sea battle that is brewing - and Tempest isn't sure she will be one of them.

And so ends the Tempest trilogy, filled with mermaids, selkies, sea monsters, surfer boys, sand, and protective families. While Tempest Unleashed, book 2 in this trilogy, is still my favorite of the three, I am very happy I got to see how everything turned out for Tempest. It goes without saying, but I am saying it anyway, that if you have not read the first two books of this series, my review will spoil them for you. It’s kind of inevitable. :) As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. I feel like Tempest took a step back in this book. She lost the fire I saw in her in the previous book. She’s still a tad confused over whether or not she loves Mark or Kona… and that bugged me. Maybe I just have The Bachelorette TV show on my mind right now (since I just watched the recent episode), but if you feel like you love two people then you CAN’T and SHOULD NOT be with them! Anyway, I digress. I feel like she played the martyr role out in her mind in a way too dramatic fashion. It’s like she just kept wanting to die for someone, but not for a noble reason… mainly because it would be the convenient way out! It got a little old. And really, so much of this story is of her inner thoughts as she whines and complains and acts selfish. She had a lot of obstacles to go up against, so I give her props for that… but really, she bothered me because she handled pretty much everything like a coward. I don’t like heroines who run away every chance they get.

2. Tempest Unleashed made me really dislike Kona, and now Tempest Revealed made me annoyed with Mark! He kept trying to die too! And all of a sudden, I liked Kona again. Mark has his redeeming qualities, though. His big romantic gesture is really sweet, but both he and Tempest act just a little too immature for me to pull for them. Kona’s maturity and nobility made me end up liking him the most in the end, even though he threw his own temper tantrums every now and again.

3. My favorite person in this book was Zalek, the healer who saved Moku (Tempest’s little brother) in Tempest Unleashed. I felt like he played a larger role than he had before, and I just adored him. I wish the book had been about him instead of Tempest. And I really liked Mahina, her best friend. The book could have been about her as well. She’s inventive, sweet, loyal, brave, and a hopeless romantic. I just love her.

4. Considering the fact that Tempest Revealed is the final book, and all events have been leading up to the destruction of Tiamat (the sea witch), the climax was really anti-climactic. Everything was resolved in a page or two, and it was such a tiny part of the story that I felt really let down. SO much of the book was devoted to Tempest’s mourning over lost this and that.

5. Yet… happily ever after ensues. You know it will. And honestly, I was already so let down by the anti-climactic climax that the pretty bow of an ending just frustrated me. Plus, there are loose ends flapping in the breeze. I would have liked to have heard more about her family. I mean… they end up being such an afterthought, yet everything Tempest did, she claims was to protect her family! So where are they?

All in all, I’m disappointed. I was tearing through the pages for most of the book mainly because I wanted to get past Tempest’s complaining, and get on to the action. When I finally did, it was over in the blink of an eye. Rather than going out with a bang, the trilogy really just fizzled in my eyes.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Book Review)

Posted May 2, 2013 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 19 Comments

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha #1
Also in this series: Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising
Published by Henry Holt and Co. on June 5, 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance
Pages: 356
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
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The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

PEOPLE. I have no idea why I took so long to read Shadow and Bone. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge fan of fantasy, but I AM NOW! This book was chock full of awesomeness and excitement and mystery. I just can’t contain my love for this book, and for Leigh Bardugo, who I am now a fan of for life. As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. This WORLD. Oh wow. My absolute favorite thing about Shadow and Bone is the world Leigh created for us. I love all of it, from its setting in futuristic Russia, to the elaborate keftas, to the mysterious Shadow Fold (a dark and barren wasteland filled with volcra, which I swear are some kind of dragon on steroids), and all the awesome talents of the Grisha. This world is complicated and complex with its own language. It’s amazing.

2. Leigh’s writing is out of this world. OH man. Have you seen that episode of Friends with Ross’s wedding in London, and Joey is having a hard time figuring out how to read his map, so he puts it on the ground and stands on it, putting himself INTO the map so it made more sense? That’s what Leigh did to me! I was IN the book, and I could picture and see everything. It all made so much sense, and I absolutely loved everything. Had the writing not been so amazing, this book would have flopped.

3. Alina. Oh, Alina. Talk about an amazingly bad-a heroine. I love her! She’s just a run of the mill girl one day, and then all of a sudden she’s Ravka’s everything. She gets swept up into the magic and excitement of the lavish castle, and gets to wear fancy clothes, dine on yummy foods, and be the topic of every conversation. But through it all, she stays humble, really just wanting to become a part of the wall or the floor rather than shine. She’s timid and scared and confused, and she feels inadequate. But as the story progresses, she grows into this brave, confident young woman who will sacrifice and cause problems and fight for herself.

4. Oh, the Darkling. MAN. I’d heard stories about him floating around the blogosphere, and now finally understand what everyone has been talking about! He’s dark and sexy and charming and dangerous, and people are just drawn to him for some mysterious reason. Reading about him was rather intoxicating. I was drawn to him too! But like I said, he’s dangerous… and I swear, I always love the dangerous character!

5. MAL. Can I have Mal for myself? Mal is Alina’s childhood friend, who she has never really been able to live without. But when she is taken to the castle, and he is made a tracker for the kingdom, they lose each other. What a beautiful friendship they have. He’s brave and protective and SO full of secrets and depth.

6. The romance is perfection. There’s not too much, not too little, nothing really insta-love… it all makes sense for the circumstances. I loved it. And that’s all I will say, because it’s too good to even come close to spoiling.

7. I feel like everything happens! Shadow and Bone is chock full of adventure, mystery, action, emotion, romance, opulence, relationships, and questions. The ending is just… urg.se.rgusheg;sghus.ergisjherg!

Clearly, I loved Shadow and Bone. I have nothing bad to say about it, and can’t stop thinking about it at ALL. I read this one really fast, and when I was not reading I was thinking about it. If you love fantastic world-building, strong characters, mystery, intrigue, romance of extreme proportions, and beautiful writing, you will love Shadow and Bone.

Watch the book trailer for Shadow and Bone! Pretty amazing!