This book was a bit chaotic and a bit confusing at times and it checked off some of the 'standard YA fare' boxes, but I still enjoyed it. I think I poThis book was a bit chaotic and a bit confusing at times and it checked off some of the 'standard YA fare' boxes, but I still enjoyed it. I think I possibly might have enjoyed it more if there hadn't been a glossary at the front of the book. It explains some terms that you either don't actually need to know because they aren't used in the book, or they tell you things the MC uncovers across the course of the book anyway, or are just things that a lot of people seem to already know courtesy of pop culture. But because of that glossary, I already had a heads up that the book was headed in a certain direction and it took the gloss off some of the mystery for me. Not too much, thankfully. There was still plenty of unknown and unexplained to keep me guessing.
And the first two chapters of book two at the end of this one...!!! They were a very good hook into the next book.
Sometimes I really don't care about characters after I finish a book. Sometimes too much unexplained stuff is just annoying and makes you feel like you didn't get a full story in the first book. Neither of those situations was at play here. I actually got really pulled into the story and the characters and got enough information to whet my appetite without feeling unsatisfied, although, of course, I won't actually be satisfied until I know everything....more
This is not the edition I read, but none of the editions available on Goodreads show the cover for the version I read. Go figure. It was definitely thThis is not the edition I read, but none of the editions available on Goodreads show the cover for the version I read. Go figure. It was definitely this book by this author, but my version has a blonde girl's face in close-up as she's looking back over her shoulder. She seems to be wearing something dark, like a jacket or a jumper and her forefinger and thumb are resting just below her mouth. There's also a stylistic shape of a bird with outstretched wings on the lower third of the book, just below the title. It says it was published by Limitless Ink Press, LLC and the copyright is 2011.
Anyway, this book is quite typical of books in this genre but different enough to stand up. And where often those traits that they all seem to have feel like weaknesses, here they serve as comforts, like touchstones to let you know what territory you're in.
We have a chick from a broken home with one parent who lives with her but both of whom are essentially absent and who therefore automatically has some angst in her life. Check. She only seems to have one close friend. Check. We have a new guy in school who she feels drawn to but who is also troubled and a bit mysterious. Check. We have a fair amount of stubbornness in the MC, which leads her to do some potentially stupid things. Check. And we have strange, hard to explain, goings-on occurring because, hey, that's what this whole genre is about. Check.
Here's what's different. This chick is an athlete. So often, the girls in these kinds of books are either loners or shy and bookish or really brash, rude and annoying in a supposed attempt to write a strong character. They're generally not athletic, nor are they generally part of a team. I'm not saying any more here because, spoilers.
She has other supportive adults in her life. Often these books will have one supportive person in the MC's life if they are lucky. Often they have no-one. Our MC gets blessed with two of them, although one is, admittedly, a bit crazy.
Her relationship with the one parent remaining at home improves across the book. So many times I've read the opposite.
She and her best friend are not social outcasts or misfits. They seem to be fairly regular girls and her best friend even starts dating a football player. Considering the nature of our MC's 'gift', it would be really easy to screw up and give away her fore-knowledge and become therefore a shunned person at school because she's too weird or strange. The author didn't go there.
Then there's just the fact that I've never read anything like this before. I've read of people who dream stuff but not in this way where it's so particular to her and I've never read about them interacting with another character in the way she and new boy do. For that matter, I've never read about anyone experiencing what he experiences.
So I like this book for the fresh things it brought to us in a YA paranormal romance story but also for the things which I was expecting and which acted as our jumping off point....more
While it conflicts with my own personal beliefs and is not without flaws, this novel about what happens in that bit after death before 'eternity' was While it conflicts with my own personal beliefs and is not without flaws, this novel about what happens in that bit after death before 'eternity' was different and mind of interesting. I enjoyed the brief glimpses into other world religions, as confusing as that occasionally was. I wasn't always so keen on the irreverence, particularly with how she completely changed some of the relationships between certain characters and the lack of respect they were treated with. I don't know if readers of other faiths are feeling the same way but that sat badly with me and I'll assume the same lack of respect was shown to fundamental persons in your religion. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were food for thought at times, if just to illustrate how we all see things differently. I don't know. While I enjoyed the story, it also made me uncomfortable at times, like I was betraying something within myself. Great cover, but I'm not sure that I'll continue with this series....more
Brutal, twisting, fast-paced story. A compulsive read, once you get past the first few chapters. Not that they're not good. But at that point in the sBrutal, twisting, fast-paced story. A compulsive read, once you get past the first few chapters. Not that they're not good. But at that point in the story, I was still able to put the book down!...more
From my personal notes: I nearly stopped reading a couple of chapters in because the MC and her twin sister seemed to have no real regard for each otheFrom my personal notes: I nearly stopped reading a couple of chapters in because the MC and her twin sister seemed to have no real regard for each other and I couldn't stand reading it. However, it got better. Sunny gets bitten by a vamp by mistake; it was her sister Rayne who wanted to be turned into a vampire. Stuff happens. Some of it fairly amusing. Some, not so much. The book was full of pop culture references, and yet I got the feeling they were inserted because the book felt older in some way in some parts. I often knew exactly how the author was going to finish her sentences, which led me to believe it was probably written by someone much closer to my age. When we got to the end of the book, there was a note from the author saying that the book had originally been published with a publishing house and she'd finally gotten her rights back and re-released it. And, yes, she'd gone through and updated all the pop culture references. I feel vindicated that I spotted it, but I wonder if it was just really obvious, which isn't so good for the book....more
Oh, dear. This book had a great cover, so I wanted to like it. Ugh. It had no way of adjusting it so I could read it on my mobile, which is annoying bOh, dear. This book had a great cover, so I wanted to like it. Ugh. It had no way of adjusting it so I could read it on my mobile, which is annoying but I eventually had a chance to try it on my laptop. Um, yeah. Full of errors. I don't care how good the story might be, you don't publish it full of errors. I got a couple of pages into the second chapter and decided not to torture myself any more....more
From my personal notes: OK, so I have a history with this series. I attempted to read the first book once upon a time. I can't remember if it was in a From my personal notes: OK, so I have a history with this series. I attempted to read the first book once upon a time. I can't remember if it was in a collection or as a single title. Anyway, I didn't really like the writing style or the way the MC 'thought'. I didn't read past the first chapter. Then I came upon it at some other time, probably in a collection. This time I persevered and made it through the first book. It got more interesting as it went along. So when I noticed that I had the first four books of the series in a book bundle on my phone, I thought I'd give it another go. Read through the first book to refresh my memory. Read through the second book. Groaned a fair bit. Tried to read the third book and I just can't put up with this any more. No, no, no. The MC is headstrong and stupid and I just don't like her. And all the talk about power... It gets way too much. I'm not going to force myself to suffer through the rest of it. ...more
From my personal notes: This was promoted as a Regency Historical story. And…it is. But it's also a paranormal/fantasy story as the MC gets hit with a From my personal notes: This was promoted as a Regency Historical story. And…it is. But it's also a paranormal/fantasy story as the MC gets hit with a Faerie gift at the beginning of the book that allows her to shapeshift. All she wants is the opportunity to be independent and make a good living by posing as a man. She then stumbles into a mystery (see, another genre popping up there!) and falls in love with her employer. Which is a romance but that generally goes hand in hand with Regency Historical so it's almost not worth mentioning. Except that it is. So much of the motivation for the character's actions revolve around her growing feelings for her employer. Well written and fun story....more
From my personal notes: Um, a really simple story that I will never want to read again and I don't need to read any more in the series of the same nameFrom my personal notes: Um, a really simple story that I will never want to read again and I don't need to read any more in the series of the same name?...more
From my personal notes: Interesting little blend of witchcraft/time travel/changing the course of history story. I don't think I'll be reading more thoFrom my personal notes: Interesting little blend of witchcraft/time travel/changing the course of history story. I don't think I'll be reading more though....more
From my personal notes: This is book four (?) in the same series as Southern Spirits, about Verity Long who lives in the town of Sugarland, Tennessee aFrom my personal notes: This is book four (?) in the same series as Southern Spirits, about Verity Long who lives in the town of Sugarland, Tennessee and can see spirits, thanks to her gangster ghost offsider, Frankie, who is bound to the earth after she accidentally grounded him by watering his ashes into a rosebush in her garden. Naturally, she didn't realise they were ashes. Anyway, this book was...more of the same. Scary ghosts, the risk of dying, deputy sheriff boyfriend, lots of trepidation and her pet skunk, Lucy....more
From my personal notes: Oh, my. So I'd just read Southern Spirits by the same author and as I was scrolling looking for another book to read, I found tFrom my personal notes: Oh, my. So I'd just read Southern Spirits by the same author and as I was scrolling looking for another book to read, I found this one by the author I'd just enjoyed. Yay, I thought. When you consider how hard it is for me to actually find things by the same author on my phone with the way it organizes things, unless I'm specifically looking for that author, well, it seemed like it was serendipity. And maybe in some ways, it was. If I hadn't read Southern Spirits first but come across this one first, I might not have wanted to read Southern Spirits or given it a fair reading. Because this had one of the most chaotic and difficult to follow openings I've ever come across, with characters I immediately disliked. Deleted as a DNF. I was maybe 6 pages in? Yeah.
From my personal notes: This story was a fun, easy read. A little bit of a cozy, really, although with a sassy young woman in the hot seat and a paranoFrom my personal notes: This story was a fun, easy read. A little bit of a cozy, really, although with a sassy young woman in the hot seat and a paranormal element to it. It made me glad I'd found this writer....more
This is what I'd written in my personal notes: 'I enjoyed her other book, 'Louisiana Longshot', and it gave me the courage to finally get around to reaThis is what I'd written in my personal notes: 'I enjoyed her other book, 'Louisiana Longshot', and it gave me the courage to finally get around to reading this story which has been on my phone for ages and I'd sort of been avoiding. I think I thought it was going to be a mad older woman kind of cozy with a nasty MIL ghost and the MC would be a bit of a wimp. Sometimes that's how these things go, where the MC is just way too nice. But our MC wasn't. She still managed to stand up for herself and was independent. Good story. Had the same feel as the other series. I liked the writing.'
I remember this being kind of wacky fun, with some good sleuthing in it. ...more
It's actually hard to write a review of this book without giving away spoilers but I'll try.
The story begins with a young woman/girl in a typical mediIt's actually hard to write a review of this book without giving away spoilers but I'll try.
The story begins with a young woman/girl in a typical medieval fantasy setting, where she's joined the ranks of the Guard of the Stronghold she's a household member of. I remember thinking, "This reminds me of one of the Tamora Pierce books." It doesn't stay like that for long though.
Things then get freaky and a strong paranormal element is introduced to the story. There are quite a few twists as the MC unravels exactly what is going on. And it is not pretty.
There are some occasional leaps of logic where plot says, "These are the only options", which leads the thinking until, coincidentally, that just happens to be right, and I sat there going, "Wait a minute. There were other possibilities that were never even considered that would have slowed our drawing of conclusions right down and kept the waters muddied for a lot longer", but the author chose not to go there and the book was probably long enough without having a thousand red herrings.
I liked it. I like when a genre takes a turn from what I'm used to. Well, I like it when it works! And this one worked for me....more
I've read a few books by C.J. Archer now, and they've always been interesting but only up to a point. As in, the idea was there, but I felt the book uI've read a few books by C.J. Archer now, and they've always been interesting but only up to a point. As in, the idea was there, but I felt the book under-delivered.
With this book, I feel like C.J. has finally hit her stride with this story. I love the era, I love the notion, I love the delivery, I love what we learned about the characters. This book felt more uncompromising than the others I'd read, a bit more harsh, but it benefited from it. And I connected with this MC better than I did any of the other MC's. She has attitude, but it's born of what life has thrown at her, rather than her just being a cow because she's a generally unpleasant person.
There's still so much more to come with this story, but a really good start....more
Man, was this one scary. There was a really well-done sense of foreboding, if now downright terror, during much of this book. I pity the poor main chaMan, was this one scary. There was a really well-done sense of foreboding, if now downright terror, during much of this book. I pity the poor main character so much. Nobody would want to live like that and the fact that she's still sane is a miracle.
I also got a bit thrown by an apparent noodle incident that had me checking to make sure I was actually reading Book 1 and not Book 2. I've since been led to believe that said noodle incident actually does get explained in the 2nd book. That sounds really interesting to me, as it would be nice to know the exact circumstances that led to the condition the main character is suffering with/from and what happened then.
It's macabre, it's grim, and it's just a little bit cray-cray....more
This book had some issues but despite them, I liked it. Go figure.
When I first began reading this book, I nearly rolled my eyes at the overly dramaticThis book had some issues but despite them, I liked it. Go figure.
When I first began reading this book, I nearly rolled my eyes at the overly dramatic scene that greeted us in the first few pages. I felt it was OTT. Then again, teenagers. As they vary so widely in when their maturity seems to kick in, you can put almost anything in a book and get away with it because some teen somewhere will actually relate to it, even if the rest of the world are shaking their heads.
I liked that the book was more convoluted than it first appeared it might be. That held my interest. Having said that, there were times it was too convoluted. And the degree to which I liked various characters got less and less across the book. I liked Gray at the start. She seemed like the reasonable twin. She had some quite extreme circumstances to contend with but she turned into someone I disliked almost as much as her sister. This is not good when it's the MC that you're supposed to be rooting for.
I did like Raj, but mostly because he turned out to be more complex than originally painted and because I kept picturing Ram from the Dr Who spin-off 'Class', who is another character who seems like nothing but a jerk when you first meet him but who has hidden depths and develops as we watch.
The flow of the story was choppy in places and I'm not talking about the event where Gray loses a whole chunk of time. And sometimes I couldn't fathom people's motivations at all. Person X does a thing and it seems out of nowhere. Why was this a thing that a) had to happen and b) had to happen right then? Sometimes it was because the plot needed it to happen, even if it appeared apropos nothing, but sometimes it didn't even have that excuse.
There were a whole lot of unexplored things that I would hope would be addressed in later books because otherwise they appear more like plot inconsistencies or something. And we had a few throw away characters, a thing I dislike.
And yet I liked the book. I liked that it was not just your average teen romance or even paranormal romance. There was a really interesting idea behind this story. And I can see that what has been set up for the next book could be really interesting as well. But I don't think I want to pursue it....more
This was fun. Another pretty quick read, but there was more to it than the one by the same author that I read immediately before this one. I've been aThis was fun. Another pretty quick read, but there was more to it than the one by the same author that I read immediately before this one. I've been avoiding reading vampire books because they're often all quite similar. Now I'm not sure if it's the fact that I haven't read one for quite some time, or if this is just original enough, but I wasn't bored with this story. I didn't find myself saying, "Oh, no, here we go again." I mean, sure, I've encountered a lot of the elements of the story before but running into them here felt more like bumping into an old friend who I feel comfortable with, as opposed to simply being a lack of anything fresh and new. I'm almost tempted to buy book 2....more