She's So High Above You

Expected Publication:  April 9th, 2013

The Rising (Darkness Rising # 3)

By: Kelley Armstrong

HarperCollins

ISBN-13: 9780061797088

Things are getting desperate for Maya and her friends. Hunted by the powerful St. Clouds and now a rival Cabal as well, they're quickly running out of places to hide. And with the whole world thinking they died in a helicopter crash, it's not like they can just go to the authorities for help.

All they have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they're so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control.

But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And now, like it or not, she'll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life. Because Maya can't keep running forever.

Old secrets are revealed and unexpected characters make a surprising return in this stunning conclusion to Kelley Armstrong's New York Times bestselling Darkness Rising trilogy.

Review

     Lets just start off with this statement: I am Armstrong's biggest fan for her other YA series, Darkest Powers.  That said, the first two books in this series had filler syndrome and mostly failed to impress me in any real lasting way.  I went into this one kind of fuzzy on the characters and happenings of her last novel, but it wasn't too difficult to refresh as it started right where the other one left off.  Maya, Daniel and Corey are still on the run from the St. Clouds and all of the rival Cabals who would like to use the kids to their own advantages.  With the rest of their friends either missing or kidnapped, time is running out for Maya and the boys to think up a solution and finally get some answers once and for all about who/what they are.  But can they all survive the journey to the answers?  I thought that this book wrapped up the series quite nicely and tied up all the loose ends.  My only major complaint stems from all of the terminology involving Cabals and their people.  I felt like I'd been dropped inside of a series I hadn't been reading from the start and while fans of her adult novels may have been familiar, I wasn't.  It was jarring to say the least.  Maya still seemed pretty cold as a character to me and the resolution to the love triangle between her, Daniel and Rafe surprised me but didn't make me jump for joy like in Darkest Powers with Simon, Chloe and Derek.  Speaking of my fave characters from the other series, it was wonderful to see them get some play in this conclusion because they way their series ended was fairly abrupt.  I know I felt like they still had stories to be told.  The action in this one is non-stop, which was a nice change from all of the build-up in the other two that left me antsy and bored as a reader more than once.  Overall, I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who isn't a die-hard fan of Armstrong's but at the same time it was far from the worst I've read.  And this last book was definitely the strongest.  If you've read the other two books, you should finish the series to get some true closure! :)

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 April 9th, 2013*

Forget Me Not, My Dear

Expected Publication: March 12th, 2013

Deep Betrayal (Lies Beneath # 2)

By: Anne Greenwood Brown

Random House/Delacorte

ISBN-13: 9780385742030

Once you dive into Deep Betrayal, the sequel to Lies Beneath,you won't come up for air!
It's been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she's counting. And when Calder does return, it's not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily's dad monopolizes Calder's time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.

Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman's natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn't know what to believe—only that whoever's responsible is sure to strike again. . . .

Review

     Lily Hancock has spent the last thirty days exiled from home, sent away to live with her best friend Lori in her old town.  All because her Dad wants her kept away from Calder, the boy she loves, and Lake Superior's depths - both of which hold dark secrets beyond his comprehension.  It has been thirty days since Lily saw Jack Petitt kill Tallulah, one of Calder's sisters and now his tainted family believes that revenge has been served - and Lily is dead, having taken her Dad's place as a sacrifice.  Then the body resurfaces and Lily returns to Superior, deciding to tell her Dad the truth - that he's half merman.  In the process the sisters discover Lily's presence and bodies begin to turn up again, with everything pointing to them being the killers. But is it really that simple?  It's up to Lily and Calder to investigate the murders and stop whoever is responsible, family or not.  With her burgeoning mermaid traits and the possibility of a mermaid creationist legend being true, things are about to get interesting.  Will they be able to fix the situation before a vengeful Jack exposes the existence of mermaids to the world?  I went into this one expecting it to be something I wouldn't get very into.  I was okay with the first one, which had a good premise but the follow-through less than impressed me.  So color me surprised when I sat down and got a third of the way through in my first sitting!  

     I liked the switch from Calder's narration, over to Lily's.  She was a lot easier to sympathize with and I enjoyed seeing her perspective.  It really fleshed her out as a character and gave me a motivation for her actions.  Not to say she was perfect.  Lily is a hothead, who does things on her own terms without always thinking about it rationally first.  But she's an individual which made her dumb decisions easier to read about.  The inclusion of a possible sea monster/creature of legend was interesting, but I felt like Brown waited until too late in the narrative for that plot twist to have a full effect on the readers.  The identity of the murderer was not at all surprising to me and I was bored by that mystery frankly.  I would have liked a more interesting resolution.  The family issues with Lily's parents and her Dad training to live with his Merman heritage was basically background noise.  The only thing Lily is fixated on in all intensity is Calder and being with him romantically.  Calder's sisters played practically no part in this one.  Including them as a threat hanging over everyone's heads was effective at first, but lost the thrill when they were shown to be starving and pretty much unable to care about revenge anymore.  The ending was okay, but not the best ever.  It did fit in with the rest of the novel though.  I hope the author leaves it at two books and doesn't feel the need to go further than that.  Overall, better than the first book in the series and worth the follow up to see what happens to the characters.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  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 March 12th, 2013.*

Not Written In The Stars...

Expected Publication: May 22nd, 2012

Fated (Soul Seekers # 1)

By: Alyson Noel

St. Martin's Press

ISBN-13: 9780312664855

The first book in a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.

Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.

There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before...but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.

Review

   Daire Santos has lived with her single mother for her entire life, because her Father died before she was born and his mother, her Grandma, disappeared.  But now that Daire has turned sixteen, her Mother's free-wheeling traveling lifestyle has become too much for her - or so it seems.  On the surface it appears that Daire is suffering from a break with reality and her mental health is in jeopardy.  But in reality she is the newest in a long line of soul seekers, able to navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead.  Now she is sent to live with her long-lost Grandma and learn to control her powers before it's too late.  Not everyone wants her to succeed, including the family of evil shape-shifters living in town.  Also, Daire forges a connection with Dace, a boy she's seen only in her dreams.  Can she discover her allies and manage to stand against the evil threatening to destroy her?  Or will Daire be consumed by it?  I will admit that I went into this ambivalently, expecting the worst on a subconscious level.  I have read exactly one and a half books by Alyson Noel, because I couldn't stand the direction of her Immortals series after the first book.  So, I was wary.  I ended up liking Daire and admiring her stubborn nature (much like my own) and wishing that I had a Grandma as cool as hers.  Every other character in the novel fell flat for me.  This book had far too much setup for my tastes and it left me feeling disconnected.  The powers that Daire struggled with felt a little too vague for my mind to comprehend and I was disappointed by how little time was spent on action versus romance and boring trivialities.  The mythology of the Native American tribes was at various times over and under utilized. I probably won't read the next book in the series.  It wasn't a horrible book, certainly not the worst I've ever read, but it was far from the best as well.

VERDICT:  2.75/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading Copy from the publisher, via LibraryThing. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is May 22nd, 2012.*