paranormal Archives - Page 6 of 9

Yzabel / April 12, 2014

Review: Division Zero

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Most cops get to deal with living criminals, but Agent Kirsten Wren is not most cops.

A gifted psionic with a troubled past, Kirsten possesses a rare combination of abilities that give her a powerful weapon against spirits. In 2418, rampant violence and corporate warfare have left no shortage of angry wraiths in West City. Most exist as little more than fleeting shadows and eerie whispers in the darkness.

Kirsten is shunned by a society that does not understand psionics, feared by those who know what she can do, and alone in a city of millions. Every so often, when a wraith gathers enough strength to become a threat to the living, these same people rely on her to stop it.

Unexplained killings by human-like androids known as dolls leave the Division One police baffled, causing them to punt the case to Division Zero. Kirsten, along with her partner Dorian, wind up in the crosshairs of corporate assassins as they attempt to find out who – or what – is behind the random murders before more people die.

She tries to hold on to the belief that no one is beyond redemption as she pursues a killer desperate to claim at least one more innocent soul – that might just be hers.

Review:

[I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

3.5 stars. The idea of mixing cyberpunk, crime, psychic powers and ghosts was really interesting, and in general, I liked what the author created here. The world depicted here seemed true enough to what I expected of such a setting, seen through the eyes of a young police officer who’s had her share of difficult moments and knows how far from rosy and sheltered life is. It addressed the matter of consciousness in various ways, the main ones being ghosts, but also AIs (the most advanced ones are granted citizen status, and failing to repair them is legally considered as murder).

I really enjoyed the way the normal world existed alongside the “dead” world. Ghosts tend to linger due to various reasons, from revenge to being tied to items or places (we get to see a few of these throughout the course of the story). Apart from that, their options are to either “go to the light”, or to fall prey to the strange, shadowy Harbingers, who (which?) come for the darkest souls. The way the novel ends leaves room for more on that, I think, but since we already learn a lot in this first installment, I felt satisfied.

I found it a little hard at times to get into the story, especially in the first half, but after a while things flowed more seamlessly. I think what bothered me in the first part was that a couple of side characters popped up, without exactly being solved. (view spoiler) So I was left wondering, when do I see them again, and… nothing.

Kirsten also annoyed me in the first half, because she’s such a whiner about never finding a boyfriend (they all run away when they find out she’s psychic). She’s 22, there’s still plenty of time for that, and I don’t like it when a female character who has a lot of potential is shown as pining after men, as if everything else wasn’t important. Everytime it happened, I wondered why she kept putting herself in such situations, too (it was as if she set herself for failure?). I must admit that behaviour made me knock off one star here. Fortunately, the second half of the novel was better in that regard, and she was more focused on her job. She also got to battle her own demons, and with this came a new acceptance, too, and another perspective on life.

Dorian… Dorian had his annoying quirks, but I liked what the author did with him, and I hope he appears in the next story. (view spoiler)

In spite of my initial qualms with Kirsten, I do want to read the next installment. I’ve seldom seen ghosts used in such futuristic settings, so the whole premise was interesting, and remained so in my opinion. (Also, I still hope we’ll see some of the minor characters again, such as the ones I’ve already mentioned.)

Yzabel / February 13, 2014

Review: By Blood

By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please.

Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.

But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom…and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.

Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.

By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.

Review:

(I received this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

2.5 stars. I enjoyed parts of this novel, while others seriously grated on my nerves. It wasn’t a bad story; it contains its share of good elements, only I may have read it at a moment when the ones I didn’t like bothered me more than in other circumstances.

I liked the idea of Druids-related beliefs, and how they were introduced into the story. On the one hand, Emma seemed to join in a little too easily; on the other, she was confused, had to leave her country, learnt some troubling things about her family, and it made sense that she’d want a place, a group of people to belong to. In that, the author did a fairly believable job. 17 is still an age at which you can be impressed by many things (hah, you can be that even later in life, after all), and some of her mistakes are somewhat understandable. Not to mention that the girl who introduced her to the whole thing was bubbly and likeable.

Another thing I found nice enough, although it took too much time to my liking to happen, was how Emma grew up somehow throughout the story. She started as an insufferable, self-centered person, and I must admit her tantrums sometimes made me roll her eyes and think “can we stop now?” However, in the end, she opens up and becomes more accepting, more mature. She drops the bratty attitude, and this is good.

What I really didn’t like:
* For someone who grew up with a cop father, who took and even taught self-defence classes, I found her too gullible and too prone to putting herself in tricky situations. I’ve never attended such classes, but I suppose one of the things they teach you there is how to avoid putting youself in dangerous situations for starters. At least, this seems logical to me. Emma, on the other hand, seemed to seek those, which totally clashed with how she was portrayed at the very beginning of the novel. Being confused should only take you so far.
* It was too heavy on the drama. I may have enjoyed this if I had been younger (I imagine it would ‘speak’ to a lot of teenagers, since those are the years when a lot of us feel rejected—sometimes justifiably so, sometimes not). But it leant a little too much towards woe-is-me moments. For instance, she gets the only small, closet-sized room in the house while her baby brother and basically everyone else get a gorgeous one. It may not seem like much, but considering her overall circumstances, the latter were enough for me to understand her unease; no need for more.
* Love triangle, good boy/bad boy. Predictable.

Yzabel / November 25, 2013

Review: Reaping Me Softly

Reaping Me Softly by Kate Evangelista

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Ever since a near-death-experience on the operating table, seventeen-year-old Arianne Wilson can see dead people. Just as she’s learned to accept her new-found talents, she discovers that the boy she’s had a crush on since freshman year, Niko Clark, is a Reaper.

At last they have something in common, but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier. All while facing merciless bullying from the most powerful girl in school, Arianne’s world is turned upside down after Niko accidentally reaps the soul of someone she loves. This sends them both into a spiral that threatens to end Arianne’s life. But will Niko break his own Reaper’s code to save her? And what would the consequences be if he did?

Review:

(I got this book from its author through ARR #144 in the We ♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)

I’ve had a hard time rating this novel, and am still not completely sure. I guess I’d give it a 2.5: nice enough in some parts, and difficult for me to get into in others.

What I liked:

* The world of Death and the Reapers. Their hierarchical, bureaucracy-like organization formed an interesting counterpart with how some of them, at least, seemed to look out for each other. Death is a harsh master, but also one who can show some forms of concern—or the contrary, depending on the situation and on how you see it.

* The Reapers being immortal in a different way: through reincarnation. This gives them the means to appreciate every step of human life, and I think this is a great idea.

* Carrie. Her positive attitude and optimism, in spite of her predicament, were real sunrays, and reminders that life is fickle, and that all things considered, most of us should really be happy with what we have: bodies that aren’t perfect, but that do their job nonetheless.

* Ben. Such a sweet guy.

* Ari being in love with Niko for years: no insta-love for her, but something that had had the time to develop and get stronger. This is believable for me.

What I couldn’t wrap my mind around:

* Sometimes the text really went in convoluted ways, with similes that just didn’t make much sense, or at best felt weird. I didnd’t understand the need for those.

* Why did Niko remain oblivious to Ari for years, even though they shared some classes, but suddenly started paying attention to her? I wondered if it had to do with his depression, but the latter having been lasting for longer than just a few weeks, I’m not sure.

* The extent of Darla’s influence. Of course, bullying does exist, and there will always be cliques and people who twirl others around their little finger. However, having everybody in her pocket, teachers included? Not believable. I would’ve liked to see more of what was going on behind the scenes with her, to ‘get’ how she managed all that. She seemed close to a sociopath profile, yet we don’t learn enough about her to know for sure.

Overall, it kept me entertained enough, but I admit to rolling my eyes quite a few times.

Yzabel / October 27, 2013

Review: Shifting Selves

Shifting Selves by Mia Marshall

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Aidan Brook’s world was shattered when the actions of a brutal murderer revealed long-buried secrets about her past. A powerful elemental, Aidan discovered she possesses the wrong kind of magic. It’s a secret that could cost her sanity—or even her life.

What she needs is some peace and quiet. What she gets is a phone call from a division of the FBI so secret it doesn’t even have a name, asking for her help with a series of shifter disappearances.

Before Aidan can settle into a new routine of pancakes and evenings by the fire, the case develops claws. She quickly finds herself caught between uptight bears, deadly mountain lions, overprotective parents, and unhappy federal agents. Throw in a stalled romance with an enigmatic shifter and the slow dissolution of her chosen family, and it’s hard to say which will drive her mad first: her magic, or her chaotic life.

Review:

(I got this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I read the first installment to this series a few months ago, and enjoyed this second one just as much, although I think I’d have liked to see more development in some places.

This time, Aidan and Sera, as newly employed by the FBI, are caught into a series of kidnappings involving shifters, but whose consequences could affect elementals as well, in more than one way. Aidan is also faced with the gloomy prospect of suffering from her true nature, and the events happening throughout the story are constant reminders for her that she must absolutely keep herself in check; and the stakes are high, since she could very well end up causing harm to those she love, including the man she’s been falling for. Finally, she must also contend with the potential slow dissolution of the new family she believed she had found, as each of her friends have lives of their own they wish to resume.

“Shifting Selves” was an enjoyable read, but perhaps a little too slow in parts to my liking, notably when it came to Aidan’s relationship with Mac. I can’t exactly pinpoint what made me think that, because it was more a faint feeling than anything else, though it lasted throughout the book. I’d say that Mac and Aidan kept running in circles for a little too long, and that in the end, things evolved without really evolving between them. The hints leading to the truth behind the kidnappings felt a little weak, too; I guess I’d have liked to see more of them—more false leads, perhaps.

On the other hand, the group dynamics remained as strong as it was in the first book, and I liked how we got to see more of the politics going on in the world of shifters and elementals (and not to mention the shifter otters: utterly adorable AND badass at the same time).

Definitely a solid 3.5 stars for this one.

Yzabel / August 29, 2013

Review: Earth Power

Earth Power by Adam J. Black

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

EARTH POWER introduces an extraordinary team of paranormal investigators. Led by Raphael Drake and Sam Watkins, partners in the London-based Aquarius Agency, the team includes Tarot reader Gemini Quinn, young newspaper reporter Denny Finch, and a three-hundred pound English Mastiff named Doctor Dee.

When insurance salesman Harry Gill dies in a freak accident on a route the newspapers call ‘The Road to Hell’, no one can explain the cause. But Harry’s death is only the latest in a string of unexplained events in the North of England. Crops have been destroyed, cattle are stampeded, and a family is terrorised by a violent poltergeist.

The situation calls for the unique sensory powers of Raphael Drake, and the investigative abilities of his partner, ex-Metropolitan Police detective Sam Watkins.

With bizarre incidents becoming more frequent and increasingly dangerous, the Aquarius team travel north to investigate. Who, or what, is causing escalating levels of death and mayhem in one small part of rural Derbyshire? What is the purpose of the massive concentration of destructive energy focussed on the market town of Castlebridge? And how real is the threat to their own lives suggested by a series of ominous warnings?

Raphael, Sam and their team race to find the answers in time to avert an impending disaster. But mysterious forces are already gathering, determined to stop them.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ReadIt & Reap 177 in the Shut Up & Read group, in exchange for an honest review.)

This book is based on interesting premises, using the theme of natural energies being gathered for a purpose, as well as people (and/or their deaths) playing a role in it. I liked the diversity of characters, each of them having their own significant traits, including strengths and witnesses and even, for some, potential for complications later on, especially in trems of relationships. I also liked how the author depicted the small town and the countryside where the investigation takes place; it had all the charm of what I imagine to be a typical English town, and even though some might say those things are cliché, they still allowed me to picture the setting very easily. The same kind of detailed description was given to death scenes, making them pretty vivid (as paradoxical as this choice of words may seem!) and pulling me in.

The story itself, alas, proved hard to read in the long run, probably because its pacing felt rather uneven, with disjointed scenes and point-of-view jumping. While Sam and Raphael found their right place as far as roles were concerned, they also seemed to overshadow the other characters in terms of development, which in turn made me feel like said other characters weren’t really needed. I think what bothered me the most, in fact, was how in the end, lots of things were left unexplained, and not only the ones that were clearly kept in store for a next novel (Sam’s family, for instance): I would’ve wanted to read more about the paranormal aspects. Another weird thing was how everything unfolded, leaving the main characters confused as to what happened, and I as a reader wondering what was actually the point of having them investigate at all if it was to have the whole mess solved by a third party.

It’s the kind of book I usually tend to enjoy, and I wished I had liked this story more. I really do. But I prefer to be honest here, even though there were interesting elements in “Earth Power”, and I think those can be appreciated no matter what.

Yzabel / July 28, 2013

Review: Broken Elements

Broken Elements by Mia Marshall

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

“It’s happening again, Aidan. We didn’t stop it, after all.”

As an elemental, Aidan Brook holds the power of water at her fingertips. A descendant of the earth’s oldest magic, she can cause tides to ebb and flow, put out house fires without calling 911, and give anyone who’s annoying her an impromptu shower.

But even her magic has its limits. After it fails her one terrible night, she hides from the world and everyone she once loved, trying to escape the memories that haunt her. Ten years later, her exile is brought to an abrupt end when her former best friend appears on her front porch. An elemental killer is once again murdering her friends, and she must return to the scene of her own crimes.

Lake Tahoe proves more than she bargained for. Between a sadistic killer, some clever FBI agents, an annoyingly attractive landlord, and way too many new roommates, she has a pretty full plate. Add in a past she’s desperate to escape and her own uncontrollable powers, and Aidan Brook is having a very, very bad month.

Review:

3.5 stars. “Broken Elements” reads fast and with ease. While elemental powers are nothing new in itself, they were woven into the story in a seamless way that made sense.

I really liked the relationship between Aidan and Sera, and their interactions that were sometimes bumpy, but always speaking of their underlying affection for each other. The downside was maybe that compared to these two, the other characters seemed a little flat, less defined—albeit still enjoyable (I quite liked Simon’ behaviour). I also appreciated that the romantic interest was woven in gradually, and didn’t end up in full-blown eternal-love-at-first-sight: there’s still room for evolution in it, that will hopefully span over the next book(s), and this seems more natural to me than the contrary.

The author took care of avoiding info-dumps as much as possible; however, there still was a big one in the first chapters, which seemed a bit forced. I was also left dubious about the involvement of some of the human characters (no names here, to avoid spoiler), who I expected would have been more suspicious after the revelation of elemental powers: after all, it was the girls’ word against their meager knowledge, so how would they be sure said girls told the whole truth? Finally, I thought that sometimes, the characters reacted a little too much like “young” people: they have lived for several decades, so I’d expect more wisdom from them. (But this is something that I always find tricky in books dealing with older-than-they-seem and/or immortal characters; it’s clearly not an easy job to do.)

All in all, though, I still enjoyed this story, and will very likely pick the next volume to learn more about the world and characters presented in the first one.

Yzabel / July 17, 2013

Review: Real Vampires Don’t Sparkle

Real Vampires Don’t Sparkle by Amy Fecteau

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

Matheus Taylor didn’t ask to be murdered.

To be fair, the percentage of people actually asking to be murdered is probably small enough to be safely ignored, but he felt it was worth stating regardless.

His life might have been ordinary, but it was his life and he wasn’t done with it yet. Quin didn’t care. A seventeen-hundred old Roman, Quintus Livius Saturnius had a different view of morality than most people. Killing Matheus and hijacking his undead existence seemed perfectly acceptable to him.

Now, Matheus spends his nights running for his life, questioning his sexual orientation, and defying a mysterious new threat to the vampires within his city. Not that he set out to do any defying; he just wanted to be left alone.

Unfortunately, that was never going to happen.

Review:

(I got this book from NetGalley, in exchange for a honest review.)

There are good ideas in this novel, but I think it’s in need of serious editing and cutting for the story to become more interesting. While there was some humour in it, and a few dialogue lines that made me smile, things tended to go on for too long in between plot points, without necessarily providing information and/or character growth. It made me feel like the story was dragging on, and in turn, I had a hard time pushing myself to read it.

The characters have their interesting sides, and some dialogues had a nice dynamics—what can I say, I like a dose of healthy snark. On the other hand, too often they behaved like drama queens, with a lot of pouting, glaring and other behaviours I’d associate to teenage girls rather than to grown-up men, especially when those are supposed to have lived for centuries and be all badass otherwise. Matheus struck me as childish most of the time, and only in the very last part did he seem to partly grow out of this. I expected Quin to be less patient with his antics, and show him things the hard way, instead of letting him pout and whine, with the occasional outburst. (Same with Alistair, who in my opinion should have been old enough to get over it.) Not to mention that Quin kept too much to himself, which led to Matheus not understanding, demanding answers, being denied them, throwing a tantrum, then dropping the matter—only to run after Quin when the latter went out to do something dangerous.

As for the plot itself, it’s quite hard to define. It was partly too full (the hunters, Zeb’s book, Milo’s role, Bianca, the ‘real bad guys’…), and yet at the same time went too slowly, being glazed over in favour of what I might called “filling up”. Also, in the end, several things remained to be solved. Was there a traitor? Why did Quin claim Matheus, what prompted him to turn him instead of just murdering him? Perhaps this story would have fared better if divided between two books, and with less bantering in between turning points. For instance, Matheus discovering the world of vampires, going on his first hunts, being confronted to Grigori and the others, and to the hunters, would’ve made a complete story in itself. The way things were, I found those aspects weren’t explored enough, and left too much room instead to those behaviours I mentioned above—which sure didn’t fit well with what the title had led me to expect.

It looks like this is the first volume, and another one will follow, hopefully bringing answers. However, I’m still convinced it would’ve fared better with more editing, even if this meant going with two books instead of the one. The war mentioned in the last third would really deserve its own story, set apart from the rest—or be made the main plot from the beginning, without all the interruptions in between.

Yzabel / April 19, 2013

Review: Echo

Echo by Alicia Wright Brewster

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

A young adult science fiction adventure novel, this story features a strong, but flawed heroine and complex world building, along with themes of friendship, loss, faith, and tolerance–and the end of the world. With the countdown clock showing 10 days until the end of their planet, everyone has been notified and assigned a duty–but the problem is no one knows for sure how everything will end. Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit, traveling toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans. Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task group, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on something unexpected–Ashara’s death.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #88 in the We ♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)

What attracted me to Echo was the world it depicted—a world on the brink of destruction, more o nthe science-fiction than really dystopian side, with paranormal powers to boot. I liked this world the author wove through her story: close to ours in many aspects, yet with powers based on elements, each practitioner being able to perform feats based on his/her elements (people working with Air can move very fast, those with the power of Metal can bend, extend and control anything containing metal, and so on).

The concept of rewinding time, too, was a nice add-on: while it might seem at first sight that it made things too easy, it has its drawbacks, and it quickly becomes clear that it can’t be used as a good method to prevent the end of the world, only to delay it.

I’m still unsure about what to think of Ashara. On the one hand, she often came as whiny, as boasting “I want to save the world” only to run away at the first sight of real danger; on the other hand, considering how she was brought to the Ethereal task force with only ten days to learn to master powers she never knew she had, I don’t think I could blame her for being quite overwhelmed. Other characters, such as Rey or Krin, were more likeable, at least to me. And there was no love triangle. Things between Ashara and Loken were sometimes awkward, sure, but at least their respective relationships were otherwise clearly defined. (I’m no fan of love triangles for the sake of love triangles, if this makes sense; and too often, the YA genre revolves around such devices, as if they had become mandatory. So, kudos to the author, who wisely chose to avoid that.)

What I liked less in this book:
1) There are only 10 days left, but I didn’t really feel a sense of urgency until the last chapters. Also, Ashara’s progress seemed to go to fast past some point, especially if we consider the “quiet” circumstances she was in for most of the story (no spoiling here, but she wasn’t so often on the field, nor in actual training).
2) A few points in the story would have deserved more of an explanation, notably the part about Ashara’s father. I kind of got it, but… something was still lacking in my opinion.
3) The Elders’ decision about Ashara. Somehow, I’d have expected them to be more clever about that whole situation.
4) The temporary shift in points of view near the end, when all the other chapters were from Ashara’s. It would’ve worked better if the story had been told in the third person, and if the technique had been used from the start.

Because of those things that tended to annoy me, I’m giving “only” 3 stars to this book. Nevertheless, it remained an enjoyable read, written in a pleasant style, and I enjoyed the world built here by the author.

Yzabel / March 22, 2013

Review: Something Strange and Deadly

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

There’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about.
Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper:
The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.
And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor… from her brother.

Review:

Balancing between 3 and 4 stars here.

I found the book fast-paced enough to my liking, as well as convincing in terms of mores: Elanor’s mother is concerned about keeping up appearances, about her daughter snagging off a rich husband to save the family from ruin… all things that fit, in my opinion, with matters related to societies with a strong bent on social classes. The book reads fast, too, and I regularly wanted to pick it up again. Not to mention that necromancy is one of those kinds of magic that I always enjoy reading about.

On the other hand, and while I consider myself a pretty clueless reader whose disbelief is easily suspended, I found that too many things were predictable early in the story. Well-tied together, granted, but predictable, to the point that sometimes I just wanted to tell the character what an idiot she was for not understanding the clues left everywhere. Also, this book falls in my own personal catgegory of “how is it steampunk?”. Steampunk is easy to render in illustrations, but not so much in words, and slapping off a few contraptions, goggles and some engine in an exhibition isn’t enough for me to justify the label. This may be merely a personal pet peeve, but I still believe that too many authors, publishers and readers don’t understand what exactly lies behind “steampunk”. It’s much more complex than that.

However, I’ll probably still pick the next installment. Eleanor as a character wasn’t of the wimpy kind, showed willpower and abilities to think and act for herself, and to uphold her decisions, no matter the outcome. The ending left me wanting to know what’s going to happen next.

Yzabel / December 30, 2012

Review: Becoming

Becoming by Raine Thomas

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

Every three years, Amber Hopkins explodes. Okay, not a blown-to-smithereens explosion, but whatever it is always hurts like hell and leaves her life a shambles. She’s already worked her way through five foster placements, and she’s doing whatever she can to avoid getting blasted into a sixth.

As her eighteenth birthday approaches and she feels the strange and powerful energy building, disaster looms. When the inevitable explosion occurs, her life gets its biggest shakeup yet. She’ll not only learn how her fellow foster and best friend, Gabriel, really feels about her, but she’ll discover that she isn’t really without family.

To top it all off, she’ll finally find out why she’s having the power surges: she isn’t entirely human.

Amber must Become, transitioning to another plane of existence and risking the loss of the most important relationship she’s ever had. Her choice will impact the future of an entire race of beings, and will pit her against an enemy that will prey upon her doubt to try and take her very life.

Kind of makes the explosions now seem like a cakewalk.

Review:

I first picked this book because of its cover and somewhat intriguing blurb, not to mention that I’m always up for discovering new authors (published or indie–there are real gems in indie too); but now I’m not so sure what to make of it. I can’t exactly say that I didn’t like it at all, only it doesn’t completely reach the “it was OK” mark for me either.

I think I would have liked it if the story had been closer to what the blurb got me to think. “Every three years, Amber Hopkins explode” would have made up for an excellent in medias res beginning, something that would have prompted the action and then the revelations in an interesting way. Unfortunately, things dragged for too long. Although the romance between Amber and Gabriel was sweet and beautiful, there was too much time wasted in everyday little things, what each character is wearing, and this goes on until the end of the book. The ‘bad guys’ really started intervening some 30 pages before the end, which came too late to my tastes–I’d have appreciated seeing more action from them, especially since the girls were told they were in danger in the human world too. I never really felt the pressure they were supposed to enact.

I found most of the characters hard to relate to, and rather cliché too. Some were just too perfect (Amber, Gabriel), some too detached (granted, it’s a cultural trait), and mostly who they are was told rather than shown (there’s actually a chapter in which the girls’ strong points and shortcomings are described in front of a crowd…). The villains looked cardboard-like, maybe because they didn’t get much screen time, so to speak, which doesn’t usually make for strong development. Add to this a definite feeling of mary-sueness: everyone gets eyes that change colours, wings, super long hair for some, powers, strength… and accepts all of this a tad bit too quickly. By that point, I was rolling my eyes, I admit.

The Estilorian society had its interesting sides, and I liked the idea of how they developed parallel to humans, offering another explanation to the ‘gods’ and ‘demi-gods’ that were said to walk the Earth in times of old. I only regret that their tribal/caste/groups organization was a little too complicated to grasp all in one go, and might have been better kept to 3 or 4 groups only. Even by the end, I couldn’t tell who was supposed to do what and why they were in that specific group. Unfortunately, some things here also added inconsistencies to the book. For instance, the Mercesti were mentioned, they seemed to be a class of their own; then they were simply those who wanted the sisters killed; and then they wanted to recruit them (so what happened to the “kill the half-bloods because our blood must remain pure”?). There were also a few instances where I wasn’t sure where the whole Estilorian society was supposed to stand: though they had many angel-like traits, what I appreciated was that they *weren’t* angels, yet later there’s mention of a sword cursed in Hell, which throws an angels/demons manichean veil over the whole thing.

As for the ending, it didn’t do for me. Too cheesy and cliché to my tastes.