Category Archives: Something a Little Different

These are the books with supernatural, paranormal, and fantastical twists.

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Rippler by Cidney Swanson

I wanted to like this book, I really did. It has an interesting idea behind it and I was really hopeful, even after the first few chapters being a little slow. But something held me back and I just didn’t enjoy it as much I had hoped I would.

Sam is a typical teen with an interesting ability. I did like Swanson’s ability to blend these two pieces in a way that was believable and made Sam into a very real person. She has to deal with the typical teen problems with friends, parents and relationships. But she also has to deal with her ability to turn invisible, or ripple. She learns more about her ability and starts to work on controlling it as she goes along. I did enjoy that aspect of the book.

However, I felt like the romance side fell a little flat and usually I wouldn’t have a huge problem with this, but within the book it seemed that Swanson was trying to make something happen that just wouldn’t happen. I didn’t understand Sam’s love for Will and where it came from. I didn’t swoon and I don’t really have an opinion of Will either way.

I was also a little put off by the Nazi tie-in. I’m not sure why, but I do feel like it wasn’t necessary. I was fine with the idea of secret tests being done sometime in the past, but for some reason, the idea that the experiments the Nazis conducted during World War Two were tied to the rippling ability kind of squicked me a little bit.

All in all, I’m not very invested in this series. Maybe if I get bored with my usual books and feel like finding out the rest of this story, I’ll pick up the next books, but I was a little disappointed by this first book and don’t really have the desire to find out what happens next.

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Die for Me by Amy Plum

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, but waited until the second book was closer to come out. I’m not the world’s most patient person, but the wait was worth it.

The story is unique, in my opinion. In the flood of recent Young Adult fantasy and supernatural novels, it was incredibly refreshing to find something that hadn’t been explored before. To make it even better, Plum has a wonderful way of writing that just sucked me into the story right away. I was equally interested in the revenant side of the story as I was the romance of the book. There was a perfect balance between the two and that can be difficult to come across, and I give Plum tons of credit for being able to pull it off.

Kate is a wonderful female character. She thinks about the consequences of her decisions and sets limits for what she can handle in a relationship (she even sticks with them). She makes sure she and Vincent are on as level playing fields as they can be and won’t take no for an answer when it comes to being kept in the dark. I just loved that she didn’t push herself aside for the relationship with Vincent and didn’t let him do it either.

Vincent is amazing. He’s romantic and yet the banter between him and Kate is just as wonderful as when he decides to be the deliciously sweet French boyfriend that he is. He cares so much for Kate that he’s willing to go above and beyond the call of good boyfriend duty to make sure she feels like staying with him is the right thing to do. He’s not overbearing and gives her the space she needs. I want a Vincent for my own life.

Die For Me was one of the best books I’ve read this year. It was romantic, sweet, and had enough action to keep me turning page after page. This is a book that doesn’t disappoint. Read it and you’ll fall in love with every word.

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Archon: The Books of Raziel by Sabrina Benulis

Archon is unlike any angel-centric book I’ve read recently. It’s darker, grittier, and more complex. It’s definitely not a love story with angel elements. It’s about the darkness that is so dark, the Vatican has created a special Academy designed to help them find and destroy the evil that has everyone so afraid.

Angela Mathers is an extremely strong and independent female character. She might start the novel suicidal and slightly off-kilter, but by the end of the novel, she’s powerful and steady. She’s faced demons, both personal and physical. Saying that she’s just a strong female seems like I’m diminishing her in a way; it feels more appropriate to simply label her an extremely powerful lead character, male or female. Not once while reading did she act like I thought she would. I devoured her.

There’s really not a good or bad side. Everything is muddled with personal reasons and vendettas. Just when you think you have someone figured out, they do something that makes you totally reevaluate them. You’re on your toes the entire time you’re reading, just waiting for the next twist that will leave you reeling.

There are a lot of things left open and a lot of confusion left at the end of this book. There’s not a completely cliffhanger ending, but it’s not sewn up prettily, either. The ending left me feeling content, and yet needing more.

Archon is unlike any book I’ve read before. It’s dark and moving, with lots of amazing action. There’s twists and turns where you least expect them and at times, it’s hard to tell which way is up. It’s an amazing book and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next novel.

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The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I’m split on this book. If I look at it as a teen romance book, I loved it. If I take it as a paranormal book, I didn’t really like it. There wasn’t much of a balance of the two throughout the book and I think that’s why it failed to live up to expectations.

When it comes to the teen romance aspect of the book, it was really sweet and intense. Mara isn’t completely insecure when it comes to herself and boys, and while Noah was too much of a perfect character (tall, British, rich, speaks several languages…you get the idea) for me to completely love, he was still nice to read. I really loved their back and forth relationship. It wasn’t the typical sappy love where everything is sweet and roses. They don’t head over heels in love, but bicker in a playful way. For some reason, I really loved reading this.

As for the paranormal aspect of the story, I felt like it was ignored for a large part of the book. Mara questions things before meeting Noah, and then she becomes boy crazy and the paranormal part of the story just drops off. It picks back up again much later in the book, but it felt slightly rushed. There are too many left unexplained or let open, and while I understand that there’s a second book that will hopefully answer these, I still wish this book had offered a bit more in the way of explanation.

I will definitely be reading The Evolution of Mara Dyer when it’s released, because I do want to know how this story ends, but I’ll probably be going into it with lower expectations. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a confusing book with two personalities. If you’re reading for the love story, you’ll love it. If you want the paranormal, you’ll be left disappointed. I am holding out hope that Hodkin will conclude the series better than she started it.

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Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

I have so many feelings after finishing this book and while some of these feelings hurt, they hurt in the best way possible. I know what I’ve read is amazing when, after finishing the book, I want to thank the author for crushing my heart. That is exactly what I want to do with this book. I’d like to thank Aimee Carter for writing a book that has ripped my heart out in the most delicious way.

My main problem with The Goddess Test was how the mythology was handled. I missed that sinfulness that has become so associated with Greek Mythology. In Goddess Interrupted, you get some of that put back in the story. The Gods and Goddess aren’t quite as put together as they appear in the first book and I absolutely loved it. I love more and more this world Carter has created.

I found Kate extremely interesting in this book. In The Goddess Test, Kate was very dependent on her mother. Nearly everything she decides is connected to her mother in some way. In Goddess Interrupted, Kate has lost the dependence on her mother, but instead needs Henry. She hasn’t quite become her own person just yet, but the ending of Goddess Interrupted gives me hope that Kate is finally coming into her own and finding the ability to depend on herself for something. Of course, the major cliffhanger has me salivating for more and hoping Kate is able to keep growing into her own person, not dependent on anything or anyone, but can stand on her own.

The romance part of the book takes a slight backseat for parts of the novel and I’m completely fine with that. The parts of the novel between Kate and Henry were frustrating, sweet, amazing, and perfect. They’re still trying to figure everything out about their relationship. They don’t fall into the perfect relationship right away. They dance around each other, make mistakes. It’s absolutely wonderful to see a relationship written the right way.

Goddess Interrupted is a book that has left me utterly crushed, yet hopeful and eagerly anticipating The Goddess Inheritance. It can’t some out soon enough.

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Fracture by Megan Miranda

The premise of this book was extremely interesting, but I felt like the book was a little lacking in the execution. It was a little hard to connect with Delaney, the relationship with her parents was a little strange, and I understood Troy’s necessity, but his character annoyed me a bit.

Delaney comes across as cold towards the people in her life she should look to most. Decker has to remind her to be nice to her friends when they come to visit her. Decker saved her from the lake and she even treats him with a harsh distance. She becomes a person her parents don’t recognize and she doesn’t really give them much respect. Granted, there are times when her parents don’t deserve that, but there are other times when they are just being parents that nearly lost their daughter and she acts like there’s nothing she can do.

I had a problem with Troy acting as God. I was really hoping he’d come in and be more of a helping force for Delaney; someone that can help her come to terms with what is happening in her life. Instead, he plays extremely hot and cold and has a major God Complex. I can see the need for that to wake Delaney up and make her see what she should be doing with her new life, but that doesn’t make me like it anymore.

There were a couple other plot lines left open that I wish had been dealt with. It would have given a little bit more closure to the book. I don’t want to name them, as to not give away spoilers, but there were just a couple issues with Delaney’s friends and with Troy that I wish had been explored a little more before the book ended.

However, even with those two major issues I had, the writing itself was amazing. Miranda was really able to capture the character’s emotions and get Troy’s mentally unstable emotions across. She wrote the human mind and its complexities very well. I was never entirely sure where the novel was going to go next and I really enjoyed that.

Overall, this was a good book that left a few too many things open for it to be a great book. It was an interesting look into how people deal with death and the aftermath of not dying. I’m glad I picked this book up to read.

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A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

This book has left me confused. I’m confused because it has several of the things that usually annoy me in Young Adult books, and yet…I really enjoyed reading it. The book started out a little slow, but it eventually picked up and made for a very interesting angel story.

Skye was a little murky as a character and I found myself liking pieces of her and annoyed by other parts. She’s not the strongest female character I’ve read, but she’s also not the weakest. I think she has a lot of potential and I’m really hoping she reaches it in the next book.

Asher and Devin were polar opposites, which of course led to the Young Adult love triangle. This one just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t understand why she felt a pull towards either one strong enough to leave her life as much as she did. I felt that Davies could have really done something different and built a romance between Skye and Ian, giving Skye a choice that was her own and not tying the fight between angel sides into it.

Aside from the characters, the origin story really drew me in and held my interest throughout the entire novel. It felt like it was a unique enough take on angels to make it believable and yet something new and fresh. Davies’ writing was also wonderful to read and had a nice flowing style that made going from page to page easy and finding a place to stop reading difficult.

The only other thing that bothered me a bit is the setting. As a native Coloradoan, I was trying to figure out where River Springs would be located. It sounded like it was a mountain town, but there’d occasionally be lines that made me think it was a plains town and it left me feeling a little confused.

A Beautiful Dark is a fresh take on the good vs. bad angel struggle and despite having things that annoy me in the Young Adult genre, I found myself unable to put it down and the ending has me anxiously awaiting A Fractured Light.

 

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The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while. As if the description wouldn’t do enough to draw me in, the cover is absolutely gorgeous and I’m a sucker for a pretty book.

I really liked this book. Yovanoff took a story which many people know and made it unique and interesting. She takes a look at good and evil, love, and courage. I loved how the “bad” guys weren’t always bad and the “good” guys weren’t always good. You were rooting for the demon and dreading the angel. It was intriguing to read a book set up like that.

Daphne as a character is left a little clouded and I had to work to put together a picture of her in my head. I liked not being told exactly what she looked like, but instead, given some traits and piecing together a person from my own mind. It connected me to the story in a way that’s rarer for me to find and I loved it.

Truman was yet another wonderful character. He redeems himself from start to end and it’s a testament to Yovanoff’s writing that she was able to make him such a beloved man out of the pieces she started with.

This is a dark book that left me feeling hopeful and happy. The ending felt a little off, but not enough to bother me. I’ll be telling all my friends to pick this book up and give it a read.

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Allegiance by Cayla Kluver

I rarely like the second book in trilogies. They generally feel like a bridge to get from the end of book one to the beginning of book three without anything happening. It usually feels like a waste of a full book when simply making books one and three just a little longer would have worked just fine.

Allegiance is nothing like that.

There is not one part of this book that felt like that. I could not stop reading. The only times I was forced to put the book down were driving home from the coffee shop and when I grabbed the bag of pepperonis that classified as my dinner. The rest of the past 10 hours has been spent reading this book.

Allegiance picked up right where Legacy left off and while it would have been easy for Kluver to follow the recent novel trends and make this the book that introduces the typical love triangle, she doesn’t. Instead, she builds the characters and makes you like people you couldn’t stand in the first book. Kluver was able to take characters and make them people. They have flaws and you’re still rooting for them in some capacity or another.

Alera grows up in this book and it’s easy to see from start to finish. She becomes the person she needs to be rather than the person she wants to be. The wonderful thing is that in the process, the two becomes the same. Even Steldor grew on me and I find myself wanting even more from his character.

There’s a nice mix between the romance aspect of the story and the action. It never gets overloaded with the love story, but it’s never too action heavy. There’s enough of both to keep the hopeless romantic in me happy, and the fight scene lover engaged. It’s amazingly mixed and only adds to the story.

I can’t wait for November to get my hands on the last book. I’m incredibly impressed with how Kluver has written the story thus far and will be anxiously waiting to see how she concludes this fantastic series.

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The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

I am a huge fan of Greek mythology. There are so many different stories and so much drama and betrayal and love and war that it’s easy for me to get lost for hours, if not days, searching and reading as much as I can about the Greek religion.

That’s why, as much as I enjoyed this book, I couldn’t give it more stars. If I looked at this book without using Greek mythology as its base, it was an amazing book and I would have loved it completely. However, it is based on a Greek myth, and while I understand the need for artistic license on some things, there are parts of the Greek history I really wish had been followed. Mostly, I felt something was lost when that drama and sex and general craziness was left out and replaced with an almost democratic, nearly Catholic view on some things.

The last thing that bothered me a little bit about the book were the challenges themselves. I was waiting for something that would have me on the edge of my seat, frantically reading and hoping Kate would be able to make it through the test. Instead, I barely realized the tests were happening.

Looking past that, Kate was a great person and I really liked reading her. She was strong, and yet weak enough to make her connectable. Henry was wonderful, but I wish there had been more of their romance depicted. Hopefully that will be shown more in the next novels.

While I felt let down by certain aspects of the novel, I’m so happy I picked this book up to read and I’m anxious to continue reading Kate and Henry’s story later this year.