Getting Caught Up: The Gathering + Giveaway

Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: Harper Collins (April 12, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: For Review
Young Adult  * Paranormal

Description from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.


Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I didn't finish reading Kelley Armstrong's previous trilogy (The Darkest Powers trilogy), so this review won't strictly be a comparison of the two series. There were several things I liked about The Gathering, the first book in Armstrong's new Darkness Rising trilogy. I loved the creepy atmosphere of the novel. I loved the idea of an incredibly small town living on an island dedicated to medical research. The backdrop of the medical research community, foreign doctors flying in for annual doctor's visits, and a history of unexplained behavior and strange deaths on the island made for a great setting for the story. It was a very different environment for a story. From the prologue, where an unexplainable  accident occurs, the tone is set for a good creepy start to a new story. I also liked that some of the paranormal elements seemed to be derived from Native American folklore. There is a considerably smaller presence of Native lore in young adult novels, so it made some of the paranormal creatures/aspects that readers are familiar with seem more unique and original.

I had difficulty connecting with the protagonist, Maya, but I loved secondary characters Rafe and Annie. Their relationship was interesting and they both had very interesting character histories. I look forward to seeing more from them especially in future books in the series. Characters like Sam and Danial, among others, were fascinating, because there were so many suspicious or different behaviors that they showed, which suggests that they might not be who they seemed either.

The Gathering raised many interesting questions and conundrums, but didn't provide many answers which could leave readers either very excited or very frustrated. The ending was very much a cliffhanger. The last few chapters were fast-paced page-turners, with things building to a great climax at the end. I look forward to future books explaining all of the fantastically creepy elements. Fans of Kelley Armstrongs previous YA series and YA paranormal suspense, will not be disappointed.


Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling Women of the Otherworld paranormal suspense series and Darkest Powers young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets. You can follow her on twitter: @KelleyArmstrong

Her official website is: http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/ 

Complete the form below for a chance to win a hard cover copy of The Gathering. Please read contest rules carefully.


CONTEST RULES:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (it will be deleted if you do), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2. The contest runs from August 11 to 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 15, 2011.
3. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5. This contest is open INTERNATIONALLY!!


Getting Caught Up: Angelfire + ARC Giveaway

Author: Courtney Allison Moulton
Published: Katherine Tegen Books (February 15, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: For Review, Also purchased a copy
Young Adult * Urban Fantasy * Paranormal

Description from Goodreads:

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.


Although I'm quite a few months late, I finally read and enjoyed Angelfire from debut author Courtney Allison Moulton. This was highly buzzed about during the months leading up to its released and Angelfire was one of those novels that I knew I would like before I read it. I liked that it was urban fantasy -- I love paranormal stories that have more active female heroines with paranormal elements happening in big cities. I liked how the world of Angelfire seemed to coexist with the world of present-day Detroit. One of the novel's strengths I think was the world-building. I fully understood the rules and intricacies of this paranormal world. Although some of the angel mythology (one of my favorite paranormal "creatures") was familiar from religion/folklore and other novels, there was a lot of originality incorporated into Angelfire that Moulton did a great job of explaining and developing. In Angelfire, beyond just angels, Heaven, Hell, and the usual, there is a dimension called The Grim, creatures called reapers, a general creepiness that makes this probably the most unique 'angel book' I've ever read. Not to sound morbid, but I really loved the darkness and violence of this world.

The characters were also very well-developed. I'm usually attracted to the male lead in most books, but I am completely sincere when I say that Will is probably one of my new book boyfriends. I really liked his history as a character, and the quirks and characterization was really well done. Not too much brooding, not too much bravado. I loved him! Ellie, our protagonist was likable too. For the most part she was strong without being aggressive and her relationship with Will was sweet. I was mostly intrigued by the guys in Angelfire, though. Ellie's dad is a character I couldn't quite wrap my head around. His relationship with Ellie is so complex and much more dynamic than her relationship with her mother. I kept waiting for something to be revealed about him... I guess I'll have to wait for the next two books to see if I'm just being paranoid. Similarly, Will's friend, Nathaniel, and archrival, Cadan (who won't really have a large role until later in the series) were interesting and well-rounded. Even the male villain piqued my interest. Moulton just does a great job with characters, especially male characters.

The plot was also very interesting. It developed at a great pace -- I almost couldn't put the novel down -- and there are several revelations near the end that came out of left field... in a good way! I love it when I can't instantly predict the trajectory of a series after the first book, which is the case with Angelfire. There is something about Angelfire that I can't put my finger on, but I just loved. There were some small issues I had with it. I felt that once Ellie realized her feelings for Will, her character lost some of her funny sassiness and became more fragile and on-the-verge-of-tears compared to the first half of the book. Also, Ellie's human life was left unresolved many times when jumping between her reaper duties and her regular life. There were a few other hiccups that bothered me, but at the same time I was really drawn to this story and its characters. I really liked it and can't wait for the sequel, Wings of the Wicked in 2012. I'd recommend this to fans of Lauren Kate's Fallen series and Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series.


Courtney Allison Moulton lives in Michigan, where she is a photographer and spends all her free time riding and showing horses. She has always loved reading about ancient mythologies, studying dead languages, and telling scary, romantic stories. Angelfire is her debut novel. You can follow her on twitter: @CAMoulton or on her blog: http://courtney-allison.blogspot.com/

Her official website is: courtneyallisonmoulton.com


Complete the form below for a chance to win an Advanced Reader Copy of Angelfire Please read contest rules carefully.


CONTEST RULES:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (it will be deleted if you do), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2. The contest runs from July 28 to 11:59 PM Pacific Time on August 8, 2011.
3. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5. This contest is open in US and Canada only. (Sorry international followers!)


DIVERGENT Winner!

Sorry, I'm so late in getting this posted, but the winner of a hardcover copy of Divergent is:

SANDY B.

Congratulations, Sandy! By now we should have contacted you and your book should be on it's way. Thanks to everyone who entered. Better luck next time -- there's always another contest around the corner.

Book Review: Starcrossed

Author: Josephine Angelini
Published: HarperTeen (May 31, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: Purchased a copy
Young Adult * Paranormal Romance * Greek Mythology

Description from Goodreads:

How do you defy destiny? 

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

There has been a lot of hype about Starcrossed. I've seen it explode everywhere, from the book-blogosphere to Goodreads, to dominating shelves in Borders and Barnes & Noble, so to say that I was a little intrigued would be an understatement. I started this book a few days ago just as something to pass the time while I packed, so I could get all the early boring backstory out of the way and dive into the meaty stuff while on vacation.... except the book never made it on the plane. I devoured Starcrossed in less than 24 hours. I was that absorbed by it. It was a very cute paranormal romance, but it also had some great fresh elements that made it stand out from the crowd -- especially the roots in Greek mythology.

One of the coolest things about this story was the Greek mythology. The protagonist, Helen, and her love interest, Lucas, are intertwined -- starcrossed lovers, actually, if you'll allow me the pun -- in a way that involves the old Greek stories. I won't spoil it for you, but I thought it was a very original concept, especially since Josephine Angelini didn't rely on the old vampire/werewolf/fallen angel/faerie standby. You don't have to know anything about Greek mythology to appreciate the story, but if you are familiar with some of the stories then you might catch some subtle references that the general reader might miss. As someone who knows very little about Greek mythology, I loved that every new plot development caught me by surprise and I wasn't able to anticipate where the story was going. (And when I did start to "figure it out," a few chapters later, I realized I was wrong.) My favorite element of young adult literature is usually the budding romance, but this is one of the few paranormal romance novels wherein I actually found myself more drawn to the plot action and world of the story than the boy-girl interaction.

I say this, but I also loved the Lucas-Helen interaction. I liked that their relationship didn't start off as a love at first sight scenario, when two days later they are professing the inability to breathe without each other. The relationship has a rather interesting start and grows at a believable pace, and they have such great chemistry on the page. I was particularly fond of Lucas and his story. Helen was also interesting, especially in how she comes to realize that she is part of the "paranormal" (or "Greek") world. Her hallucinations are genuinely creepy and information is revealed slowly, rather than building up to a "big reveal" chapter.

I just loved how Angelini paced the novel, always keeping you guessing, but never frustrating you... unless it was absolutely necessary. The characters were very interesting, especially in Lucas' family -- I loved Hector probably more than Lucas even -- and there are several exciting things that happen at the end that leave me on the edge of my seat. As someone who reads a lot of teen paranormal romance, I will admit that there were some elements of the romantic plotline that were similar to a couple other novels I've read, which is probably why I preferred the action plot that was totally unpredictable. I wouldn't call this a cliffhanger ending per se, but Starcrossed definitely ends as things are kicking up several notches. Just remembering those last 50 or so pages gets my heart racing. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend, especially to fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Maggie Stiefvater's The Wolves of Mercy Falls series, and Shannon Delaney's 13 to Life series. A must-read for fans of paranormal romance, looking for something a cut above most and wildly original.


Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and the youngest of eight siblings. A real-live farmer's daughter, Josie graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in Theater, with a focus on the classics. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Starcrossed is her first novel. You can follow her on twitter: @josieangelini or on her blog: http://www.josephineangelini.com/blog/

Her official website is: http://www.josephineangelini.com/