Review: Entice by Jessica Shirvington

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Series: Violet Eden Chapters #2

Pages: 464

Source: Received from Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: September 4, 2012
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengence of exiled angels.

Knowing who to trust is key but, when Grigori reinforcements arrive, it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know: Phoenix's hold over her is more dangerous than ever.

The race to find the one thing that could tilt the balance of power brings them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet's power will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed.

My Review: *POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR EMBRACE (BOOK 1)

So I remember hearing all about EMBRACE when it first came out and I remember devouring that book, so when I got the chance to find out what would happen next I could not decline that. Just as with EMBRACE, I devoured this book in a matter of days, I can definitely say this is one of those few times that I loved the sequel so much better than the first one!

I found I liked this one better because I found the first book was more focused on Violet running away from everything, whereas this book has so much more happening and I find Violet has grown a lot in this ENTICE, I liked her character so much more. And on the topic of characters, let me talk about Lincoln... as much as I did like him in the first book I was a Phoenix fan, but after this book (which does not have a lot of Phoenix in it) I am all Team Lincoln!! He was so adorable and I really loved learning more about him and really delving deeper into his emotions. There were also a great bunch of new characters that are introduced in this book who were a lot of fun and helped out Violet's storyline a bit.

Just like EMBRACE the reader is brought into a suspense filled book right from the beginning. Shrivington really knows how to keep her reader guessing throughout everything, wondering what will happen. Though I did see one or two things coming there was still a lot of great surprises. I really love all the drama that comes out of everything that happened in the first book, like Phoenix saving Violet and Onyx now being a human (which really brought some great comedy to this book)

I did not want to finish the book just because I was so engrossed in the story I was sad for it to end, I also knew that the ending was going to leave a huge cliffhanger... and what a cliffhanger it was, I loved everything that happened and how the ending was brought out slowly until you just get hit with everything. I can not wait for the next book in this series and I feel like I need it NOW. This is a great series to get into, this is not like other angel books out there, Shirvington really delves into the mythology of things and explains everything well for her readers.

Review: Inbetween by Tara A. Fuller

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Series: Kissed by Death #1

Pages: 400

Received: Received from publisher from NetGalley

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky — and unending — lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.

My Review:

I've been getting into the angel books a lot more lately because they all have something so different to them, and this book really stood out for me because it was a whole new take on that... now we are getting into the reaper books. I was really interested in this one when I read the synopsis, I needed to get my hands on it ASAP.

Everything that happens throughout keeps the reader interested and glued to the pages to see what will happen next. The story behind Finn and Emma is what really keeps you coming back to this book, there is a whole back story that slowly unravels during everything. I would have liked us to know a little less about the background story, I think it would have been a little more fun to learn everything along with Emma, but I was still interested in everything to see what would happen when everything was realized.

I was not a big fan of the character of Emma, I understand there were a lot of "accidents" that happen to her through the years but I felt that she needed to do more during the story. I loved her friend, Cash, he was so much fun and so full of life, he was the complete opposite of Emma. I wanted more of them together because he seemed to ground Emma a lot. Finn was an interesting character as well, watching him take on the job of protecting Emma while hiding it from those around him and still doing his job of a reaper.

For this type of book I found there was a great mix of action with the romance. Fuller has a great style of bringing out the feelings of her characters and making her readers feel those emotions as well. The love that Finn feels for Emma really comes out strong. The ending came us a surprise to me but was really adorable, I'm excited to see where Fuller takes her characters in the next book. There is still so much to deal with. 

Review: The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Pages: 288

Received: Received from publisher from NetGalley

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mia's ordinary life is disrupted in the most horrifying way possible when she is possessed by a hungry and powerful demon--and only saved by the arrival of relatives from Italy, the country her grandfather fled many decades ago. Now her cousins Emilio and Giuliano say the only way to keep her safe is for her to come back with them to Milan, to live, to learn Italian, to fall in and out of love, and to master the family trade: fighting all demons with the lore of bell, book, and candle. Milan is not what Mia expected, but it will change her forever, in this stunningly well-written novel about an American girl who, fleeing an ancient evil, finds her only salvation in her ancestral home.

My Review:

To be honest I was not completely sure about this book when I started it, I had read very few reviews on it and the title kind of threw me a little. The cover doesn't really draw me in all that much and I find it doesn't really do much for the story itself. I was really surprised when I finished it, I found that I really enjoyed this story.

Readers are right away taken into Mia's life and quickly thereafter you see her being possessed by a demon, you are quickly thrown into the history of her family who fight demon possessions almost every day. This book really interested me because of the idea of possessions and Beyer does a great job of writing out those possessions and describing the different events when they happen. I definitely felt creeped out at times while reading this.

I really loved the history that is placed throughout the book, Beyer did a great job with her research on Italian history and I liked that she got the Italian correct as well (so many different dialects). I felt like I was able to learn a lot throughout the story of some background of Milan, I know some of it is a stretch but it still made the story itself interesting.

The characters were interesting, in all honesty I wasn't as interested in Mia as I was with the rest of her family. Emilio was by far my favorite character throughout because there was so much to him. By the end of the story I had warmed up to Mia's character a lot more and really love how she grew and began to understand things more by the end. Beyer definitely has the idea of an Italian family down to a tee, everyone gets together all the time including second cousins and cousins of your grandfather and what not (I know this one from experience) and I love how they are always welcome.

The one thing that disappoints me is that I hear this book is a standalone, but there is still so much that is left open and unresolved. I am really hoping that those rumors are wrong because I want and need more of Mia's story. Overall this was an interesting book, but if it's a standalone has a very disappointing ending for readers.