Silver Bells and Cockleshells

Expected Publication: October 2nd, 2012
Posion Princess (The Arcana Chronicles # 1)
By: Kresley Cole
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781442436640

Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can’t do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side….

Review

 

   Evie Greene was leading a great life with the perfect boyfriend, popularity and good friends.  Then she started to have visions about the end of the world, which led to her being committed to a mental hospital and brainwashed.  Now that she's out, Evie is ready to make a fresh start without any more psychic nightmares and predictions of doom.  But when the visions start up again and her drawings of them get the attention of Cajun bad-boy Jackson Deveaux, Evie begins to spiral out of control again.  So when the apocalypse really does happen, she and her Mom barely survive.  Struggling with the meaning of her visions, Evie and Jackson find out that the end hasn't quite happened yet and the worst is still on its way.  But when your blood gives life and you have secrets that could kill, who can you trust?  Will they survive when the truth comes out into the open?  Or are Evie and Jackson about to lost the fight once and for all?  This was an intriguing concept and I had never read anything by Kresley Cole before.  So I decided to give it a shot.  I couldn't put it down once I started reading!  Evie is a realistic portrayl of a teenage girl, who is by turns annoyingly weak and strong beyond her years.  The situation of love-hate with Jackson was funny and sad all at the same time.  They're two of the only surviving teens in the whole area around where they live.  Of course they would cling to what they know - represented by each other.  The idea of the apocalypse being a battle between the living embodiments of the tarot deck is something I doubt anyone else has ever thought of before.  The originality was very pleasing.  Some of my biggest complaints were how long it took before anything actually happened and Evie's stupid obsession with finding her Grandma (the one who knows about her place in the tarot and what it means).  She should focus more on surviving before worrying about finding someone who is 99 percent more likely to be dead than alive!  It also took almost  a fourth of the book before the apocalypse actually happened.  The beginning was filled with average high school happenings.  Yes, they gave a backstory.  But they also got boring after the first fifty pages or so.  I liked some of the plot twists, especially the ending which really shocked me.  I did not expect it AT ALL.  I will be reading the next one for sure when it comes out!  Not perfect by far, but a really good start to a fresh new YA series.

 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 2nd, 2012.*

In the Dead of Night Terrifying Things Happen...

Expected Publication: July 8th, 2012
Dead of Night (The Youngbloods # 2)
By: Lynn Viehl
Flux Books
ISBN-13:  9780738726465

True love . . . and an undying obsession
Catlyn Youngblood has a secret life. Despite being a natural-born vampire hunter like her two older brothers, Cat has fallen for Jesse--an ageless boy from a centuries-old vampire clan.
Cat's job cataloguing rare, mystical texts at a bookstore allows her to meet with Jesse alone every evening. But when girls who look disturbingly similar to Cat start disappearing from town, Cat and Jesse discover frightening clues to their whereabouts within the book collection. Together, they must stop a crazed man from realizing his dark scheme-- one that would claim Cat's life.

Review

   Catlyn Youngblood only recently moved to Lost Lake with her brothers, Trick and Gray, but the last few months have been eventful.  Cat found out that she is descended from Van Helsing and has special powers that allow her to hunt vampires - including some vampire blood in her family tree.  But that's the last thing she wants to do after falling in love with Jesse Raven, a mysterious teenage boy who along with his parents, doesn't age.  He is almost a vampire but not quite.  After Trick tries to make her forget the last few months and Jesse altogether with his mind control abilities, Cat plays along so she'll be free from suspicion and able to see Jesse in secret again.  To help this idea along, Cat gets a holday job cataloguing a rare, occult book collection of the town's recently deceased recluse.  But then girls begin disappearing from town under mysterious circumstances - girls who look almost exactly like Cat.  Is she going to be next?  What does the mysterious kidnapper hope to gain and how sinister can circumstances get before someone is almost lost forever?  This book was a good follow-up to the first of the series.  I enjoy the idea of Van Helsing's descendants and their supernatural powers.  Cat is just an average girl with a good family life and awesome brothers (even if it is sans parents) and this highly appeals to me.  I loved the subplot with the out of control horse, Rika, but even I (totally horse uneducated) could get what her problem was.  It took them way too long to figure that one out.  The whole 'deranged and on a quest for immortality' thing wasn't exactly new, but it was still entertaining.  Cat gets some more revelations about her powers and family history in this book.  My main complaint would be the lackluster romance between Cat and Jesse.  They verge on Edward/Bella, with the main difference being I like Cat and Jesses as individuals - they're just not that great together.  Their relationship is pretty boring and vanilla, because those are the traits they bring out in each other.  The rating for this book probably would have been a star lower, if not for Viehl's jaw-dropping, wall-punching cliffhanger.  It's something that was present at the end of the first book too.  I can't wait to see where it leads.  I would recommend this to readers who were intrigued by the first book.  Don't bypass it, or else you probably won't be sucked in at all to the plot and overall character shenanigans. 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is July 8th, 2012.*