Title: Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover
Author: Ally Carter:
Genre: Young Adult, Spy
Publisher: Orchard Books
Publication Date: 9 June 2009
Goodreads Summary: When Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers' plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

As her junior year begins, Cammie can't shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn't feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion's corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can the Gallagher Girls keep her safe?

Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey's private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth.

{ Review }

Title: Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Young Adult, Spy
Publisher: Orchard Books
Publication Date: 2nd Oct 2007
Goodreads Summary: Cammie Morgan may have a genius IQ and attend the best school in the country, but as she starts the spring semester of her sophomore year there are a lot of things she doesn't know. Like will her ex-boyfriend even remember she exists? And how much trouble did she really get in last semester? And, most of all, exactly why is her mother acting so strangely?

All Cammie wants is a nice, normal semester, but she's about to learn her greatest lesson yet—that when you go to a school for spies, nothing is ever as it seems.

{ Review }

Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack #2) by Staci Weber & Sara Dailey.

Title: Circle of Lies (Red Ridge Pack #2)
Author: Sara Dailey & Staci Weber
Genre: Young Adult, Werewolf
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Publication Date: 20th December 2012
Goodreads Summary: Aiden Wright is trying to figure out who he really is, but the truth could cost him his true mate—or his life.

Life has always been easy for Aiden Wright. He’s smart, athletic, funny, and the ladies adore him. But when tragedy strikes, Aiden discovers the truth about who he really is and his whole world comes crashing down around him. Aiden thought that being a teenage werewolf was going to be awesome, but it might just cost him the one girl who could make him whole.

Since her mother’s disappearance, Teagan Rhodes’s life has been littered with her father’s empty beer cans and his hollow promises to change. Convinced that others would only let her down, she keeps everyone at arm’s length—but resisting Aiden’s charm is proving to be more difficult than she thought. Throw in a psychotic werewolf hunter out to terminate the species and one wrong move, one wrong decision could destroy everything.

{ Review }

Read my review of Pack of Lies (Red Ridge Pack #1) here.

Circle of lies is pretty similar to Pack of lies, the first book, except this time the main focus is Aiden, Alli's brother. At the end of Circle of lies, We found out that Aiden is actually Marcus' son which just makes everything more complicated because Aiden's half sister, Alli, is mated to his (new) half brother, Cade. Talk about incestuous. Anyways, that's not really the focal point of this story. Circle of lies revolves around Aiden and the human girl, Teagan, who we saw a bit of in book one. The love story is really similar to book one in that this is a pair that shouldn't be together, but because of their undeniable chemistry they have no choice. It was a little too similar to the fort book for my liking and had there not been another dimension o the story, I would've complained about this repetitiveness. In this book, we are introduced to a new character, Peter, a human who seems to be clued up on werewolves and how to identify them. Peter befriends Teagan's drunken father and at the climax of this story the two plot strands collide.

I was a little surprised to find that Alli and Cade weren't the focus of this novel, but I actually think that this was a good thing. It was really refreshing to see the old story revamped from the perspective of different characters and I enjoyed getting to know Teagan, Aiden and Peter through their thoughts. As far as I can remember, these are the only three perspectives that we see, but they're the only three we really need in this story. I much preferred Teagan and Aiden's perspectives to Alli and Cade's though I can't really pinpoint why. Although there was also a sort of 'insta-love' between this new pair, their relationship was developed a lot better and there was a build up before they jumped into a relationship. Even though insta-love really bothers me, I accepted it in this novel because there was a sense of real chemistry between the pair. I liked that this story wasn't entirely focused on their relationship, but there were also details about Teagan's home life and the pack. The new guy Peter does sort of appear out of the blue and I feel that his background could've been developed a lot more but he did bring some drama to this novel. This novel ends on cliffhanger so I'm excited for book three and I'm wondering if its going to come from a new perspective.

I still can't figure out why the titles of this books in this series are called 'Pack of Lies' and 'Circle of Lies' because I don't think lying is a particularly major part of these stories but oh well. This was an excellent book that I flew through in one sitting and despite it's similarities to book one of this series I still greatly enjoyed it.

{ ABOUT SARA DAILEY & STACI WEBER co-authors of Pack of Lies & Circle of Lies - the first two Red Ridge Pack Novels }

Both Sara Dailey and Staci Weber are avid readers, English teachers, friends, wives and soccer moms. They have been teaching together for the past ten years and writing together for six.

Born and raised in Houston, TX, Staci Weber is a graduate of the University of North Texas. Staci is a junior high school teacher with an addiction to reading romance novels. She considers herself incredibly lucky to have a close family, some good friends, a fabulous husband and two beautiful little girls.

Sara Dailey co-authored the Red Ridge Pack Novels with her good friend and co-worker Staci Weber. She has a degree in literature from U of H Clear Lake and is a graduate of The Institute of Children’s Literature. Sara is a native Texan and lives with her wonderful husband and son in League City, TX.

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: 1st April 2006
Goodreads Summary: Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

{ Review }

I think I've been subconsciously hyping this book up in my head for years so when I finally got round to reading it, I was a little disappointed. It took me quite a while to get into this book and I read it awfully slowly , but in the end it was worth it. Also, although the title is really quite clever, I'm still not sure what relevance it had.

Cammie isn't your typical 15 year old girl. She's grown up in an all girls boarding school, that her mother just so happens to be the headmistress of, and she doesn't really get much time to experience life outside of the school grounds unless if she's visiting her Dad's family on their ranch. That's not the only thing slightly odd about her upbringing, Gallagher Academy isn't just any boarding school, it's a school for spies (though, of course, nobody will admit it). All the girls who attend Gallagher Academy have extraordinary IQs, can speak multiple languages and probably know a hundred or so different methods to kill a man but none of them know how to talk to boys. In fact, most of them probably haven't ever interacted with boys. One day whilst on an outing as part of her Cove Ops class, she bumps into a boy, Josh, who really shouldn't have seen her at all given that she was undercover, and suddenly Cammie's life is way more interesting than it ever was before. Cammie starts using her spy skills to sneak out to see this boy doing normal every day things like going to the cinema, that are just so alien to Cammie and her school mates. This is a whole new learning experience for Cammie and her friends who really don't know anything about how to be normal, but they've got to make sure she doesn't get caught...

As Cammie has been brought up as a spy in training she's incredibly intelligent but doesn't have a clue about boys which just goes to show that no matter how old you are or how clever you are, girls are never going to figure out how the mind of the opposite sex works. Weirdly enough, I think that Cammie and I are fairly similar and I think that's why I loved this book. In case you're now thinking that I, too, am a spy a training, don't be silly. I do; however, go to an all girls schools, full of incredibly intelligent students who know lots about everything, apart from boys. When I go out with boys, I lie to my parents and get my friends to cover for me and last of all, I have no idea how to be normal. I don't particularly like reading books about characters that are too many years younger than me because I find their naivety a bit irritating but I could relate to a lot of the things that Cammie was going through (was having a bit of a boy crisis myself whilst reading this). This book is written from Cammie's perspective so you see everything first hand and it's rather funny reading all the thoughts that go through Cammie's brain.

I didn't find Cammie's relationship with Josh all that interesting because I don't think we got enough details about his character and I enjoyed this book because of Cammie herself, not because of the plot or anything. If you're looking for a really good teen romance, then this wouldn't be my first choice, but the love aspect of this novel certainly brings hilarity to this story. I'd say this book was more of  a coming-of-age (or coming-of-normal) book rather than a teen romance but maybe we'll see more of Cammie and Josh's relationship in the subsequent books. I'm not sure that all that happened in this book in terms of plot and to be honest I don't think the story-line was that strong, but with Cammie's character, it was enough to carry me through to the end so it wasn't all that bad.

All in all, this was a really good book, but it wasn't as great as I imagined it would be. It'll probably appeal to people in their mid teens as the main character is 15 years old and seems to be having a typical 15 year old crisis but maybe those of you who still haven't figured out how to be 'normal' will find this interesting too. This book made me laugh out loud at some points and I guarantee you'll fall in love with Cammie's character. I actually found a lot of the advice given in this book or reading about the situations Cammie found herself in to be really helpful. It's not like a life guide for teenagers or anything like that, but it's full of relateable incidences that most people will enjoy reading about. Although the first book was good, I am wondering what the heck Ally Carter could've possibly filled another four books with. I guess I'll have to read them to find out, but I hope this series doesn't fizzle out like so many other YA series I've read!

Anyone read the rest of the series? Worth reading or not?

Pack of Lies (Red Ridge Pack #1) by Sara Dailey & Staci Weber. 

Title: Pack of Lies (Red Ridge Pack #1)
Author: Sara Dailey
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Publication Date: 8th April 2012
Goodreads Summary: The last thing Allison Wright ever expected when she moved to Red Ridge, New Mexico was to come muzzle to muzzle with the wolf of her dreams.

Seventeen-year-old Allison Wright is convinced she’s losing her mind. Uncontrollable mood swings, hot flashes, and the urge to punch anyone who gets in her way are suddenly becoming everyday occurrences. Before her erratic behavior gets out of hand, Allison’s mother finally comes clean about her dark secret. Mom is a werewolf, and soon Allison and her brother Aiden will suffer the same fate. When Allison reaches her breaking point, the family leaves their life in Texas to move to Red Ridge, New Mexico where they rejoin the pack that Allison’s mother left behind almost 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Red Ridge is thrilled about Allison’s arrival, especially when she attracts the attention of the very handsome, very taken, soon-to-be alpha, Cade Walker. Little does Allison know, her mere presence is causing a rift in a once unified pack. Not only has Cade been forbidden from being with Allison by his father, the pack’s alpha, Cade’s girlfriend, Kendall Stuart, will stop at nothing to get Allison out of the picture. Well on her way to becoming the next alpha’s mate, Kendall expects to rule the pack by Cade’s side even if it means teaming up with a rogue werewolf with an agenda of his own. Determined to get rid of Allison permanently, when Kendall and the rogue join forces, all hell breaks loose and no one in the pack is safe, especially not Cade and his true mate.

{ Review }

Werewolf books are not my favourite but for some reason this one caught my interest. Pack of Lies is about a brother and sister who start experiencing strange changes in their bodies. When Alli starts getting into trouble at school, their mother decides to tell them why their emotions are all over the place: they are teenage werewolves. Suffice to say, it's not an easy situation to be in so the parents decide to move the family away from Houston and back to the wolf pack they deserted years and years ago. For Alli this is a welcome change because she's lost all her friends in Houston to jealousy and she's hoping her new were-friends will accept her. However, there are some complications, namely Cade, soon to be alpha who already has a girlfriend, Kendall, a class-A bitch who won't let newcomer Alli come between her and the title of alpha-female.

I'm not really sure why it's called Pack of Lies because there wasn't that much emphasis on lying in my opinion, though I do like the pun on the word 'pack'. Pack of Lies is written from the point of view of Alli, Kendall and Cade, but mostly Alli. Each of them is interesting in different ways but personally I found Kendall's to be the most interesting because you get a look into her home life and Cade and Alli's relationship from a distance. She might be a pain in the arse but you do feel some sense of sympathy for her because it's clear her mother has influenced her to be the way she is.

The best way for me to describe my feelings as I went through this book would be to compare them to a heart rate monitor you find in hospitals. It's going up and down and up and down at the beginning, but then it goes completely flat and doesn't really pick up again. The only reason I'd say this is because it started off really great, but when they find out their mum is a werewolf it's the stupidest passage ever. It was a great start to a book and then it was ruined by this moment. I didn't think the situation was explained all that well or that the characters handled this piece of news in the right way. After this it started to get really good again and I thought Cade and Alli's first meeting was brilliant. It made me smile and gave me a slight tingling sensation like a good romance should. The next low was when there was a 3 week gap where supposedly Cade and Alli continue sneaking around together but we never find out what they were doing in this gap. Were they just making out or did they actually connect on another level? I'm assuming a bit of both but because it wasn't written down I found it difficult to genuinely believe in their 'love'. The book is basically all about Cade and Alli so rest of the book was pretty stagnant in that I didn't feel anything more than a superficial affection between the pair. I disliked that there wasn't much more to this story apart from the main relationship as I think it could've been a lot better if the stories of more characters were explored. There is a 'climax' to the plot I suppose but Cade and Alli's relationship is at the heart of this too. The ending happened too fast for my liking and again, I felt that things weren't developed. There weren't a lot of plot twists but they were glanced over and written in little detail.

That all probably sounds pretty negative, but this was actually a really good book. I would've given this book four stars were it not for the instalove between Cade and Alli. This book had the potential to be brilliant but I felt that some plot strands weren't developed as much as they could've been.

Finale (Hush, Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Title: Finale (Hush, Hush #4)
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: 23rd October 2012
Goodreads Summary: Will love conquer all?

Nora and Patch thought their troubles were behind them. Hank is gone and they should be able to put his ugly vendetta to rest. But in Hank's absence, Nora has become the unwitting head of the Nephilim and must finish what Hank began. Which ultimately means destroying the fallen angels - destroying Patch.

Nora will never let that happen, so she and Patch make a plan: lead everyone to believe they have broken up, and work the system from the inside. Nora will convince the Nephilim that they are making a mistake in fighting the fallen angels, and Patch will find out everything he can from the opposing side. They will end this war before it can even begin.

But the best-laid plans often go awry. Nora is put through the paces in her new role and finds herself drawn to an addictive power she never anticipated.

As the battle lines are drawn, Nora and Patch must confront the differences that have always been between them and either choose to ignore them or let them destroy the love they have always fought for.

{ Review }

Warning: This review may contain spoilers for those who have not read the previous three books.
Read my review of Crescendo (#2) here.

Finale is the last book in the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. At the end of Silence (#3), Nora killed her evil Nephilim father, Hank, but not before swearing an oath to lead his Nephilim army. An oath that will kill her should she break it. The war between the Fallen Angels and the Nephilim is coming to a head as Cheshvam approaches but Nora also promised the Archangels that she would stop the two from going to war. Complicated to say the least. What's more, she's just become a Nephilim, but Patch, her uber hot boyfriend, is a Fallen Angel and she has to pick a side.

From reading other people's reviews, it appears that I was significantly less impressed with this book than other people. I have always said that this is one of my all time favourite series, but I think that my love for it had fizzled out a bit by the time I got round to reading Finale. It doesn't help that it's been a very long time since I read the previous three books and that the last book I read was The Fault in our Stars by John Green which completely blew me away. Don't get me wrong, this book wasnt bad or anything, it just wasnt as good as I was hoping it would be. I didn't feel that excited whilst I was reading it. Patch and Nora's relationship is just as sexy as it always has been, but after three books of their banter, I think I just needed something a little fresher. The plot of this book was interesting, but nothing too exciting. I'm not sure what I wanted to happen but I expected more from the finale of this series (pun intended).

There aren't really that many characters involved in this book, it's mostly about Nora with Patch, Dante, Scott, Vee and Marcie as secondary characters. This book, like the rest of the series, is written from Nora's point of view. I think one of the reason's I didn't find this book that exciting was because Nora isn't the most exciting character. Now if this series had been written from Patch's point of view, that would be another story (quite literally). Although she's now head of the Nephilim army and she has lots of responsibility she doesn't seem to think very interesting thoughts and it was the dialogue more than the narrative that kept me reading. Nora is a lot more independent in this novel and thinks for herself but for some reason I just didn't like her character all that much and I definitely prefer human Nora. I really liked Patch in this novel. He's most reader's favourite character in this series but I don't think any of them could deny that no matter how sexy he is, he can be incredibly frustrating. He didn't bother me all that much in this novel, probably because this time round Nora was the baddie (sort of).

Although this book disappointed my greatly, I couldn't stop smiling at the ending. The ending is predictable but how you get there is not. Quite a lot happens in the last fifty or so pages of the book and there are a few unexpected twists and turns. These twists were quite shocking but I felt that they were glanced over and rushed so I didn't have much time to process them and actually react. There is an epilogue at the end where there are some details about what's going on three years on, but in my opinion this epilogue was focused on the most irrelevant plot strand ever and I would've much preferred it if there was more about what happened to Nora and Patch.

I keep saying that this book wasn't 'exciting'enough, but it was by no means boring. It was certainly a very interesting book that kept reading at a pretty fast pace it just didn't set off any fireworks in my brain or get my heart pounding. That probably doesn't sound very inspiring but for people that have already started this series, I'd definitely recommend that you keep reading until the end and for people that haven't picked up a book in the Hush, Hush series, you really should. The character Patch is something pretty special and will no doubt capture your heart from the very first time you meet him in book one. I think the books get progressively less impressive as you move through the series, but that's only really because book one was so darn good.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Publisher: Puffin
Publication Date: 3rd Jan 2013
Goodreads Summary: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

{ Review }

Usually after I've read a book, I immediately try to throw some thoughts down on a page so writing the review is easier, but I couldn't do that with this book because I was too busy rolling around on my bed wailing. I've seen so much hype about this book on the blogosphere and well, in life, but to be honest, if it hadn't come through my letter box, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. (Thanks, by the way, to whoever sent me the review copy). Half the time I feel like I'm about to have an emotional breakdown about the petty crap that goes on in my life so I was rather worried about reading an emotional story about real problems. That said, when it did come through my letter box I was ecstatic. I texted all my friends and ran around the house for a bit, a feat I don't think any other review copy has managed.

The Fault in Our Stars follows the story of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a lung cancer patient - though, she probably wouldn't be very happy if she heard me defining her by her disease like that. After being deemed to be suffering from depression, she is forced to attend a support group where she meets Augustus Walters, a gorgeous and muscley boy who for some unknown reason (to her) is interested in her. They develop a close relationship and I can't really tell you much more without ruining parts of the story.

This book is written from the perspective of Hazel and her narrative is really witty and funny. I love that both Hazel and Augustus are so accepting of the disease that is such a huge part of their lives. Neither of them are self-pitying but nor are they unrealistically ok with what's obviously a highly traumatic thing to go through. Obviously I don't know what it's like to live with cancer but I imagine that these two characters are quite a good example of what strong cancer patients feel like. Both of them are determined to live their lives as normal teenagers and it's really saddening to watch them struggle to this. These characters are so inspirational and if I ever met anyone like them I would be completely blown away.

The romance between Augustus and Hazel was one of the most beautiful relationships I've ever seen development. This wasn't insta-love and there aren't many PDAs or anything like that but you can see a real connection between the pair of them. I also can't imagine any other couple making 'okay' a flirty word. These two kids really care about each other and for lack of a better phrase, they have such bants together. At least one of their parents is often tagging along on their dates which I found a bit strange, but then these teenagers don't exactly lead normal lives. There aren't that many huge romantic gestures or anything silly like that in this book and to them hanging out and playing video games is just as good a past time as any which I really loved (and not just because I love video games).

I've read other people's reviews and they said that they could see the end coming, but I couldn't. I think perhaps I was in a state of self denial and was convinced that things would all turn out the way they had in my head, but they most certainly did not. The ending to this story was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever read, ever. When I read the synopsis of this book, I thought I was going to be really saddened by the cancer, but not that affected since I don't usually get too emotionally invested in these sorts of story lines but this book was different. I can't tell you how many times I cried whilst reading this book.There is a certain point in this book where I just couldn't contain myself anymore and full on sobbing ensued. I thought that if I were to cry at all whilst reading this, it would be because of the romance and most certainly not because of the cancer and whilst it was a huge mix of the two, I think it was actually the cancer story that hit me hardest. This must be one of the most painful stories to read if you've had any experience with sick relatives and I honestly can't imagine what state I would've been in if I had.

Another random point, but something that made me love this book even more, is that the physical book itself is really beautiful. I love the simplicity of the cover and the paper and the font that were used made this a really nice book to read (I'm not a nutter, I swear).

I've never read any John Green books before so I can't say whether or not this book is better than his others but the general consensus seems to be that this is his best novel yet. This is such an emotional rollercoaster and it is undoubtedly one of the best books I've ever read. This book is just so real and raw and the writing itself is just so darn brilliant. I tried to write some sort of coherent review and reign the fan-girl in but I think she's about to pop out. Basically, all I really wanted to say is... akhkahfbkahfbklahfgvkahfkbajfhgbkafhgkadhgkdsjfgkdfhgkhsdjbahlkhfahAMAZINGakghkafhgkafhgkahfgkahfgkjhfdgshdfglsjdhfgksdhfgkdfjhgkhd.

Thanks again to whoever sent me this review copy. There wasn't a note, but I'm assuming it was Puffin! :)

Sweet Blood of Mine (Overworld Chronicles #1) by John Corwin. 

Title: Sweet Blood of Mine (Overworld Chronicles #1)
Author: John Corwin
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Raven House
Publication Date: April 26th 2012
Goodreads Summary: From Mega Nerd to Super Stud.

Justin Case and women do not mix. Man boobs, a love of Kings and Castles, and being tight with the "nerd" crowd certainly don't win him any points either. After rescuing Katie, his crush, it turns out she might not be the girl he thought she was, while Elyssa, the school's Goth Girl, turns out to be more. Can high school get any more confusing?

Determined to improve himself, he joins a gym and meets a sexy girl that just oozes a "come hither, Justin" vibe. Until she attacks him in the parking lot, and Justin realizes she's no ordinary girl but a being with supernatural speed and strength. After a narrow escape and an excruciating migraine headache, he wakes up with supernatural abilities all his own: speed, strength, and the ability to seduce every woman he sees.

While that might sound like the perfect combo for any hormonal teen, Justin is a hopeless romantic who wants his first time to be special. Is that too much to ask for? But he doesn't know what he is or how to stop his carnal urges. One thing is clear: If he doesn't find answers there are other more sinister supernaturals who would like nothing better than to make him their eternal plaything and do far worse than kill him.

{ Review }

It's interesting reading a YA paranormal romance written by a man, its not something you come across often and, in fact, I think this is possibly the first YA romance book I've ever read that's written by a man. It was also quite interesting because the main character was a guy and it was written from his perspective, though I suspect that this sort of book would actually appeal primarily to teenage girls. Perhaps this was an attempt to draw boys into the paranormal romance genre and it might, just possibly, have worked.

This book was really different to all the the other YA books I've read because the main character wasn't super hot, super rich or super cool, in fact, he was pretty much the opposite of all of these things. Justin is an overweight nerd who leads a pretty sucky life. After an argument with his friends, rather friend, and his family, he's pretty much on his own, but for some reason the Goth crowd at school choose to accept him. Then after a strange encounter with a very hot woman at the gym, Justin starts to develop strange powers whereby he can make any female attracted to him. This isn't any sort of attraction though, this is let's-have-sex-right-this-very-second attraction. Suffice to say - Justice is confused.

As I said before, this book is written from Justin's perspective and it's pretty funny at times. Justin is a real loser, not a typical young adult loser who just hasn't mixed with the right people. Justin is pretty clueless about what's happening to him which makes this whole book a bit of a mystery as you know just as much as Justin does. Towards the end of the book you'll be turning pages like crazy as it seems everyone from the crazy hot lady at the gym to  his new Goth girlfriend, Elyssa, to his dad knows the truth, apart from Justin.

I loved the character of Justin but I can't say that he didn't seriously bug me at times (come on, we were in the mind of a teenage boy). As a teenage girl, I can honestly say it was quite the learning experience to read something written from a teenage boy's perspective. Obviously, I know this is fiction, but I can't help but feel that John Corwin nailed Justin's character on the head and I felt like I was really in the brain of a teenage boy. I also really loved the charatcter Elyssa, the girl in the Goth crew, because she was so fiesty and wasn't afraid to say what she felt. She really annoyed me at the end of the book when she proved that fiestiness turned into stubborness but on the whole I thought she was great. Again, it's really interesting to read a young adult romance from the perspective of the boy because we were reading about what boys really think about strong girls like Elyssa.

I loved that this book featured a whole new type of paranormal creature that I've never come across before, which is rare these days. I also loved that this was a mixture of a mystery, romance, action and a paranormal book. It wasn't just about romance either, there's also some stuff about his dysfunctional family, his mum leaves at the beginning of the book and his dad turns to alcohol, as well as friendships. The story really gets going towards the end of the book and there's quite a lot of action that paves the way for a sequel. Once Justin finds out exactly what he is and what he is capable of the plot starts to move a bit faster and the stakes are raised. There was so much juicy material jam packed into this novel but it didn't feel like you were being overloaded because it was all so cleverly crafted.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this book to everyone whether you're a boy, a girl or even an adult. This is a really different sort of YA book that I guarantee will have you flipping through those pages like crazy. A huge mix of genres wonderfully collide in this novel and it's probably one of the best books I read in 2012.

Terry Nation: The Man Who Invented the Daleks by Alwyn Turner.




{ Review }

Lost in Time (Blue Bloods #6) by Melissa de la Cruz.

Title: Lost in Time
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Atom
Publication date: 27th September 2011
Goodreads Summary: The stakes have never been higher for the young Blue Bloods of Manhattan. After their brief yet beautiful bonding ceremony in Italy, Schuyler Van Alen and Jack Force depart for Egypt, desperate to find the elusive Gate of Promise before Jack must face his twin, Mimi, for a blood trial. A blood trial that only one of them can survive. But everything Schuyler thought she knew about the gate turns out to be a lie, and they soon find themselves ensnared in a deadly battle against the demon-born. Schuyler and Jack take up arms, only to realize that there is a much graver threat simmering in the Kingdom of the Dead.

Meanwhile, determined to save the only vampire she still loves, Mimi has followed Kingsley Martin into Hell. With the help of her new human Conduit, Oliver Hazard-Perry, Mimi makes a bargain with the Queen of the Dead that she may soon regret. When the time comes to choose between love and revenge, both Mimi and Oliver will learn the true meaning of sacrifice.

confronted by danger, betrayal, and loss at every turn, the Blue Bloods must find the will to fight - and love - another day.

{ Review }

This series seems to alternate between awesome books and not so awesome books. So since Bloody Valentine, the Blue Bloods novella proceeding this book, was frickin' awesome, that would make this book not so awesome.

There are three main plot threads in this novel, one with Jack and Schuyler, one with Mimi, Oliver and Kingsley, and one with Allegra, Steven and Charles. The three plot strands are explored in alternate chapters  as it does in the other novels but it particularly bothered me in this one for some reason. I felt that the chapters were too short and I didn't have enough time to get into them before we were thrust into another story. Sure, there was a cliff hanger on the end of all the chapters which kept you reading, but given the change of scenery and a few new concepts to get to grasps with, I was just confused.

Jack and Schuyler are in Egypt where they believe the real Gate of Promise is but of course there are still a hundred thousand obstacles between them and their goal. If I'm perfectly honest, I don't remember Jack and Schuyler's thread all that much despite the fact that I finished this novel just this morning. At the beginning of this series, this pair was the thing I always most excited to read about, but as time has gone on, it has become my least favourite. I feel like the spark and excitement in reading about their relationship has completely died and their story just isn't as interested as it used to be. This is probably because their story line is one that started right back in book one whereas some of the others are new and refreshing to read about. The other thing that I've come to realise is that I believe Schuyler is actually younger than me and she's already found a boy who she's irrevocably in love with, who she'd die for, yada yada yada. It just seems a bit unrealistic to me. Not that any of the other young adult books I read are particularly realistic either, but this pair actually act like an old married couple, probably because they are actually married - which is also kind of creepy.

The other two plot strands are far more interesting. Mimi and Oliver have travelled to the Underworld to try and rescue Kingsley Martin, Mimi's new love interest. The problem is that things are quite as they expected. After their long and perilous journey to find Kingsley, they find that he is not tortured or unhappy, but he seems to be pretty content and not all that bothered about Mimi's appearance in the Underworld. This section fluctuated between mediocre and really, really awesome. The bit that was really really awesome was a romantic scene between Kingsley and Mimi that actually made me cry (yes, real tears). My opinion of Mimi was shifting between love and hate constantly throughout this novel but in the end I decided that I love her character. She may seem really bitchy but deep down she has got a heart and she's really loyal and even though sometimes her decisions make you want to hate her, she does do the right thing in the end.

The third plot strand was a flackback from Allegra and Bendix's (or Steven's) past. It's been several years since Allegra left him at Edicott Academy and she's resigned herself to loving and bonding with her brother Charles (creepy, right?), but everything changes when she bumps into Bendix at an art gallery. The story of Allegra's past has consistently been my favourite part of this series and this was no exception. It's really interesting to read about her past life as it makes some of the events in the present a little clearer, especially since lots of the older characters in the present are featured in Allegra's past. This part of the story is also really romantic, though I would argue not quite as romantic as Mimi and Kingsley's. This particular part of their history isn't as exciting as it has been in past books but it's really interesting nevertheless.

At the end of the novel, two of the plot strands come together and there's a pretty climatic finale. I'm excited to read Gates of Paradise, the last book in this series, and I'm really, really hoping that it's good. Hopefully all the plot strands from the previous books will all come together in this book and be resolved but I'm trying not to get my hopes up just in case it's a disappointment.

I feel like this series has been dragging on for so darn long,  I kind of just want it to end. Don't get me wrong, some bits are brilliant, but the basic plot line hasn't changed all the much and the same story has been carried through six (eight, if you include the novellas) and it still hasn't been resolved. This book is definitely worth a read for the Mimi/Kingsley and Allegra/Bendix parts, but in my opinion, Jack and Schuyler's part of the story is a massive let down.

Bloody Valentine (Blue Bloods #5.5) by Melissa de la Cruz.

Title: Bloody Valentine
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Atom
Publication Date: 28th December 2010
Goodreads Summary: The Blue Bloods have powers beyond human comprehension: strength that defies logic, speed that cannot be captured on film, the ability to shape-shift, and more. But in matters of the heart, no one, not even those immortal vampires, has total control. In Bloody Valentine, part of the best-selling Blue Bloods series, author Melissa de la Cruz offers three tantalizing stories that delve deep into the love lives of the all-powerful vamps (and their Red Blood friends) from New York's Upper East Side. Might a witchy new girl help cure Oliver's broken heart? How did Allegra fall in love with a human? Will Schuyler and Jack finally be bonded?

Romantic and sensual, Bloody Valentine reveals the undying love, the hope and devastation, and the lust and longing that have defined the Blue Bloods throughout history. Prepare to be swept off your feet.



{ Review }

Having read 'The Keys in the Repository' (review here), the previous Blue Bloods novella, and being throughly disappointed by it, I was not keen to read Bloody Valentine. The paperback blurb did not really give any indication as to what this book was about (again). I really don't understand how the blurb of every. single. book. in this series could be so bad. They are absolutely awful and giving you any sort of indication as to what really goes on in this series and this book was no exception - in fact, it was so much worse. The Goodreads summary tells you what's contained in this novella, but the blurb does not, so I was thoroughly confused as to what this book was about when I started it.

This book contains three short stories. One follows Oliver, Schuyler's best friend come conduit come familiar, as he tries to resist the power of the mark that was placed on him when they shared the 'sacred kiss'. In simple terms, Schuyler sucked Oliver's blood and now he's irrevocably in love with her (well, even more so than before). We've never really heard much about Oliver in the previous books. He always seems to be around but he's not usually the focus of the story. I've actually found him to be quite irritating with all his pining for Schuyler, but I really loved this short story about him. You get a real sense of Oliver's pain as he tries to carry on without Schuyler and it's quite touching. This is also the first, I think, story told from the perspective of a human and it was interesting to see the devastating effects that a vampire could accidentally have upon a human. This section surprised me as it made my heart flutter a little and there's a rather sexy scene.

The second short story was my favourite by far. It was about Allegra Van Allen and her time at Endiscott Academy where she meets Steven Chase. I was a little perplexed at first because she was dating a guy named 'Bendix', not Steven, and I assumed they were the same person, but I'm still not 100% sure. Either way, Bendix is a human (an uber hot human), who catches the eye of 'Gabrielle'. Her brother, Charles, is less than pleased about this given that they are bond mates but he assumes it is little more than a fleeting romance and leaves them to it. Charles is an incredibly irritating character throughout the series but especially in this novella. You do feel a small sense of sympathy for him but he comes across as a really pompous and clingy character. I loved the character of Allegra Van Alen. She's so feisty and sure of herself, I kind of wish I could be her. The romance that plays out between her and Bendix is really cute and romantic (even a bit saucy at times). I think one of the reasons I preferred this short story to the others was because it was a story with new and unexplored characters in an unfamiliar place. Instead of being at Duchesne, it's set at Endiscott and although Allegra and Charles are frequently mentioned throughout the series, we never really get to find out who they really are.

The third short story follows Jack and Schuyler as they're about to be bonded. This was probably my least favourite section, though I'm not really sure why because I thought it would be my favourite. I think perhaps I've heard too much about Jack and Schuyler's relationship and I'm slightly bored by it now because nothing new or exciting seems to be happening in it.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novella and I'd highly recommend it to any fans of the Blue Blood series. If you haven't read it yet then you'll probably find this book a bit confusing but the stories really are good. All the stories are romances, but none of them are sappy. These short stories are a refreshing break from the Blue Bloods series still using the basic outline set out in the main series.