Obsidian Review

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My Review:

Daemon Black is like my perfect guy, he's sexy, he's snarky and he's totally swoon-worthy! I love you Daemon!

Okay, now that my total fan-girl moment is over, let's get to the actual review.

Katy Swartz is not your typical paranormal romance main character. She blogs! About books! Yep, that's right, she's a book nerd like the rest of us! Not only did Armentrout immediately suck me in with that little tidbit, she also hooked me with Katy's humor type. She reminded me of myself and my sarcastic mouth. I just wish that it was my sarcastic mouth and not Katy's that ended up on a certain alien's lips. Sigh.

The plot of this book went FAST. I was practically bawling by the end of this book, totally not ready for any of the alien-goodness to end. The world was so fascinating that despite all of the things I have learned from alien movies and books, like how they can sometimes be scary, best friends, world-threatening or even mailmen, Armentrout had me forgetting all of that. No more would I associate the word "alien" with little green men. From now on it means Daemon Black.

Katy, Daemon and Dee are hilarious characters that will have you busting a gut and sucking in your breath all at the same time. Just heed my words of caution: You will not be able to stop once you have started this fantastic book. And Onyx, book #2 in the Lux trilogy, doesn't come out until August. Basically, read at your own risk of addiction and then some serious withdrawal symptoms.

5/5 stars

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book via Kindle. All opinions expressed in this review are mine.

LOOK AT IT!

This cover is absolutely AMAZING! I've never seen anything like it in YA Paranormal and I'm just super excited! Me waaants...

The Dark Light by Sara Walsh

Mysterious lights have flickered above Crownsville for as long as Mia can remember. And as far as she’s concerned, that’s about the only interesting thing to happen in her small town.That is, until Sol arrives. Mia’s not one to fall for just any guy, but she can’t get intense Sol—or the brilliant tattoo on his back—out of her mind.Then Mia’s brother goes missing, and Mia’s convinced that Sol knows more than he’s sharing. But getting closer to Sol means reevaluating everything she once believed to be true. Because Sol’s not who Mia thought he was—and neither is she.

THE CALLING Book Trailer

ARC Bonanza Giveaway Winner

The winner of the ARC Bonanza Giveaway is...

Latisha!

I've already e-mailed her and she has 72 hours to contact me before I choose another winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Partials Review

Partials by Dan Wells

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered
organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only
tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity
is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island
while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is
still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a
decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this
battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws

have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

My Review:

Partials was different from other dystopian YA books out there. It's a book that would appeal to any gender and wasn't full of mushy romance. (Not that I'm against mushy romance.)

Kira is a strong character. She's smart and serious and doesn't take no for an answer. Her introduction in the book doesn't exactly have you sympathizing with her character, but that's okay, she doesn't need your sympathy. She knows what she believes, she stands up for what she believes and she will make what she wants to happen, happen or she will die trying. Kira leads a completely crazy quest to save everyone she loves and despite some people not believing in her, she refuses to break down.

Some of the secondary characters were easy to read about while others kind of fell a little flat. An easy to read about character included a certain new addition to Kira's group and the not-so-easy included a very friendly friend of Kira's.

If you truly wish to read this book just be prepared that it is LONG. It's about 500 pages and you can tell it. It's not a quick read at all due to the slightly less action-packed scenes. Also at times during this story the dialogue was a bit...different.

The world-building was interesting and I hope Wells will be able to explain more about the Partials and what they are, as well as give us some more insight into their abilities.

3/5 stars

*Note: I received an ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This did not alter my review/opinion.

Cover Changes: Good or Bad?

So, everyone who has read my blog posts knows that I abhor cover changes in most cases. However, I'm not totally sure of what I think about the changes to Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series.

The first editions of the books looked like this:

And the second editions like this:

I'm not sure which one I like better. I loved the color of the first editions, but the second ones are edgier. I'm just glad that I didn't buy the first book in paperback yet, that would have sucked.

What are your thoughts?

Defiance Cover

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Author, C.J. Redwine is holding a giveaway of Defiance on her blog, here. Also, here's the official cover reveal post.

Your Top 5 Must-Haves

So, I''ve got nothing to talk about... I tried to think of a meaningful post, but at the moment it's not happening...

The lack of a stimulating idea has given me no choice but to do a Top 5 post. This post is for my top five books that I must get my hands on this year. This is going to be really difficult due to the sheer amount of awesomeness that is being released in 2012, but I'll try.

5. Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

I loved Demonglass. It was such a maze of twists and turns that I couldn't help but fall in love. Spell Bound may be the last in the Hex Hall trilogy, but Rachel Hawkins won't be able to stop me from reading her other books when they're published.

4. Underworld by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is a writing genius and Abandon introduced me to someone that I could adore even more than the Mediator's Jesse and that was ever-so-sexy John Hayden. Swoon!

3. Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

I freakin' LOVE this cover! It is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen to grace the front of a book. Major kudos to whoever did this! I just wish it was coming out in Hardback...

2. Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

COVER TO BE REVEALED

Ethan, how dare you make me squeal like a fangirl! After what you did in Beautiful Chaos I should seriously hate you, but I just can't...

1. Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I try to make myself forget about Obsidian. No, I'm serious. I've tried to banish it from my mind. The release date for Onyx is just too far away and having to think about how much I absolutely LOVE these characters might kill me if I don't take preventive measures. Darn people moving the publication date back to August.

There you have it. My Top 5 Must-Haves. You should so totally make your own list in the comments so we can compare! And yes, mine are all YA Paranormal Romance, thanks for noticing. I just love me some sexy supernatural.

Hidden Cover

I'm normally not into bashing book covers, but this thing is U-G-L-Y!

The second cover, Vanish, was absolutely gorgeous and book one, Firelight, was really pretty too.

But Hidden is just BLUH! The colors don't go together, there's WAAAY too much red and I was hoping that Will or Cassian would grace the cover of this book. I'm really disappointed in HarperTeen this time.

What are you guys' thoughts?

The first and second book covers are pictured below.

ARC Bonanza Giveaway

In spirit of the month of love, I'm giving away some ARCs.

Here's the ARCs you can choose from:

This is a U.S. only giveaway. There will be one winner of one ARC. Giveaway ends March 1st.

This is my first Rafflecopter giveaway so if something's wrong, just leave it in the comments.

Sorry I've Been MIA

I've been gone for like, eva! Sorry about that. My immune system decided that it wanted to malfunction. I may be gone for the next couple of days due to some make-up work. Hopefully I'll be back super soon. Until then, TTFN!