Book Quote of the Day

“She had power over the most magnificent forces on Earth, but she still didn’t feel like she had power over the most important thing of all—her own heart.” 

― Josephine Angelini, Goddess

 

Book Quote of the Day

“I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen.

I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.

I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me.

I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Book Review: The Gathering

I have recently finished reading “Wild Talents Book One: The Gathering” by Scott Sherman.

Wild Talents Book One: The Gathering – Scott Sherman (via Amazon)

The blurb reads:

“You’d think the ability to read minds would be a gift, but, if it were, high-school student Angelica Jones would like an exchange. Being a sixteen-year-old girl is stressful enough without knowing your insecurities are justified. Thanks to her talent, she knows her mother thinks she’s a slacker, her principal has some highly inappropriate fantasies about her, and pretty much everyone thinks her football-hero boyfriend is way too hot for her. 

If not for her gay best friend, Carlos, who has a surprising talent of his own, she’d think she was going crazy. With all this pressure, it’s no wonder she has nightmares, so vivid and frightening she’s afraid to sleep. Things get worse, though, when she learns her nightmares are more than harmless dreams. Classmates become enemies, strangers become allies, and Angelica becomes the center of an ancient struggle that may determine the fate of the world. Kind of puts the SATs in perspective doesn’t it? 

Along with Carlos, Angelica joins forces with her totally hot classmate Giovanni, her mysterious and mystifying mother and some surprising others to fight the approaching doom.She doesn’t know the true nature what she’s about to face, but she knows one thing: she better figure it out quick. There’s only one thing standing in the Big Bad’s way and, heaven help us all, it may be Angelica, her improbable, awkward group of friends, and whatever wild talents they may have.”

This a great little book because the teens have fascinating powers which they are learning more about through this book. It’s interesting that the teens have so far managed to avoid being found as having these powers, because otherwise things could get unpleasant.

Angelica is a bit of an outsider and so is Carlos, but together they make a great team, keeping each other in check. They both attend a private school, with Angelica being rich and Carlos having a scholarship. Angelica seems to stay very grounded despite the wealth of her mother, who is determined to get Angelica to dress up more and act more like the rich girl she is. Angelica is happy the way she is, but all the while wonders why her mother is so protective of her(she has a house with security and a limo at their beck and call). We discover that an incident when Angelica was younger is the reason her mother is so obsessed with security, and it also turns out to be part of a bigger problem which ties in with Angelica’s powers.

Carlos has secrets of his own, and despite the two being good friends, Angelica doesn’t really know much about him. He is a fascinating character too, with his ability to talk to machines, bringing about the idea that machines have minds of their own.

They soon come into contact with another peer who has powers as well, and the three join together in friendship to work out what is causing strange things to happen, as they start to question the motives of their parents and others.

I love how they can communicate silently in their heads through a psychic connection provided by Angelica, so they can talk to each other privately. It is also interesting how one seemingly secondary character becomes the one who tells them about their purpose and the future roles they will play. We also discover that many more secondary characters suddenly reveal their own powers, and wonder just how many of these people there actually are!

I give this book 8/10 because it is a great start to the series, and gives a good background to the characters. I love the story with all its twists and the mystery underlying everything happening. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

Note: I read this on Kindle.

 

 

 

Book Quote of the Day

“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.”
― Albus Dumbledore , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

Book Quote of the Day

“What he’s really saying is: Please be a human being. With a life so full of rules and regiments, it’s so easy to forget that’s what they are. She knows—she sees—how often compassion takes a back seat to expediency.” 
― Unwind, Neal Shusterman

Book review: Don’t Fear The Reaper

I have just finished reading “Don’t Fear The Reaper” by Michelle Muto.

Don’t Fear The Reaper – Michelle Muto (via Amazon)

The book description reads as follows:

“Haunted by memories of her murdered twin, Keely Morrison is convinced suicide is her only ticket to eternal peace. But in death, she discovers the afterlife is nothing like she expected. Instead of peaceful oblivion or a joyful reunion with her sister, Keely is trapped in a netherworld on Earth with only a bounty-hunting reaper and a sarcastic demon to show her the ropes. When the demon offers Keely her ultimate temptation–revenge on her sister’s killer–she must determine who she can trust. Because, as Keely soon learns, the reaper and demon have been keeping secrets and she fears the worst is true–that her every decision changes how, and with whom, she spends eternity. “

I was fascinated by the idea of purgatory and Keely confronting her greatest desire for revenge yet her greater desire to protect her sister in the afterlife like she was unable to do while they were still living.

The book opens with Keely killing herself, which is very powerful, scary and emotional, but well written. I was horrified by the way she chose to die and amazed at how determined she was to carry it through. When she wakes up in purgatory, she finds all is not how she thought it would be, with a demon trying to take her to Hell and a Reaper determined to keep her out of Hell, even if it means dooming himself.

Together they set off on a journey through the purgatory where the living and the dead coexist, where death is the only constant companion. All Keely wants is to find her sister Jordan, and know that she is ok. However, there are evil forces at work trying to trick her into Hell.

Keely is an interesting character, strong and determined to find and protect her sister. Her death is horrible but i can understand her reasons behind it and i’m convinced by her love for her twin.

The Reaper and the demon both have their own agendas but they still protect Keely on her journey, showing her the choices she has and the consequences of her decisions. They have their own secrets and their own past regrets, and Keely is determined to find out more about them and why they become what they are. For the strange beings which they are, they are an oddly comforting presence in this scary and confusing purgatory.

In this book we see how people cope with loved ones dying, how the dying deal with their own death and how they end up in Heaven or Hell. The descriptions of death are realistically awful but necessary to the plot, the scenes of grief and moving on are heart-wrenching to read, but there is enough love displayed throughout the book to know how different life is when people love each other.

I give this book 9/10 because it is so well written, is insightful into the possibilities of the afterlife, and portrays a strong and believable love between the two sisters. It is rather morbid and gruesome in parts, and violent as well, and is maybe not ideal for the faint-hearted, but is a superb read if you love the paranormal genre! I definitely recommend this book!

 

 

 

Book Quote of the Day

“Isn’t it supposed to be like this? The glory of first love, and all that. It’s incredible, isn’t it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it?”

- Edward Cullen, Twilight,

Book Review: Starcrossed: Dreamless

I have just finished reading “Starcrossed: Dreamless” by Josephine Angelini, the second book in her “Awakening” trilogy.

Starcrossed:Dreamless – Josephine Angelini (via Amazon)

The story picks up after the cliffhanger of the first book “Starcrossed” in which Helen and Lucas discover they are actually cousins (although the reader knows this isn’t true because Helen’s mother lied about it), thus ruining the blossoming romance between them.

Helen has accepted her role as the Descender – the immortal who can descend into the Underworld – and spends her sleeping hours wandering around the dangerous and deserted Underworld alone, without any of her superpowers and unable to stop herself dying each night. She spends her waking hours exhausted from her nocturnal excursions through Hell, trying to keep her mind off Lucas but struggling to forget him.

Her friends try to help her in her task to free the Scions from the Furies, but the one person who can help her is the mysterious stranger Scion who suddenly appears in the Underworld, and together they attempt to find a way to complete Helen’s task.

Other evil forces are at work, trying to help and hinder Helen in her task, creating a new set of problems on top of her existing burdens. As she gets more and more exhausted, she stops dreaming and becomes more vulnerable. She gets closer to the mysterious Scion Orion, who shares the same experiences in the Underworld, while all the while missing Lucas, who is secretly shadowing her to protect her. A sort of love triangle starts to appear with Helen’s supposedly wrong feelings for Lucas and her growing friendship with Orion.

I really hated how Helen’s mother lied about Helen and Lucas being cousins and don’t understand why no-one has twigged that she isn’t telling the truth when it’s obvious! They are clearly meant to be together! Orion is an interesting character, with his beautiful but dangerous superpowers. He is strong enough without his powers in the Underworld to protect Helen while she tries to figure out a way to complete her task. Helen feels very lonely in her task in the Underworld and Orion is friendly face who she can share this with, now that Lucas is off-limits.

The ending is really good, with a proper showdown and yet more shocking attacks and injuries which no normal person could recover from. Also, Helen’s friends really try to help her and also start learning to protect themselves with all the Scions around them. Claire and Jason’s relationship is starting to blossom, and one old friend struggles with the strangeness of Scion world which he is unwillingly sucked into, at great cost.

I give it 9/10 because it is so full of Greek mythology, amazing superpowers and fights, great characters and a great plot. The tension is built up well, and this second book in the trilogy is really stepping the story up a gear ready for whatever happens in the third book, where hopefully Helen’s mother’s lie will be found out! I had been waiting for this book to come out since i read the first one back in February and i wasn’t disappointed! Well worth reading if you liked the first book!

Note – I read this on my Kindle.