RoseBlood

RoseBlood is by A.G. Howard.

In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera. 

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.

The Breakdown:
1.  Howard does a re-telling/sequel of The Phantom of the Opera.  Honestly, I struggled with this book.  It was so hard for me to get into this book. The characters were a little flat, and the story  was dragging so badly.  It did not help that the text of the book was printed in red which is a little harder on my eyes to read. There were a couple of times I seriously considered DNFing this book, but I stuck it out until the end.

2. I just could not connect with the characters of Rune and Thorn. Nothing about them had me identifying with them.  I can't say that I disliked them, but neither can I say that I liked them.  They were just meh, for me.  The best character is the book was the cat Diablo.

3. Then there was Howard's explaination of the Phantom, Rune, and Thorn's powers/quirks.  It just had a forced/ easy way out feeling to it.

4. I will admit, the last fourth of the book was not horrible. The ending was a good one for the story, and so glad that this a stand alone novel.

To Read or Not to Read:
Don't waste your time.

ARC: The Lake Effect

The Lake Effect is by Erin McCahan.

lake effect | n.
The effect of any lake, especially the Great Lakes, in modifying the weather in nearby areas

It’s the summer after his senior year, and driven, focused Briggs Henry is ready to leave behind his ex-girlfriend, his comically aggressive grandmother, and his parents’ money troubles for Lake Michigan and its miles of sandy beaches. He’s lined up a summer job working as a personal assistant and living in a gorgeous Victorian on the water—exactly the kind of house Briggs plans to buy his parents once he’s a multi-millionaire. But when he arrives, his boss, the eccentric Mrs. Bosic, tells him to get dressed for her funeral. Uh . . . It’s the first of many funerals they’ll attend this summer—to hilarious and eye-opening effect. Add to this a new set of friends-cum-enemies-cum-friends-again, and Abigail, the mysterious girl next door on whom Briggs’s charms repeatedly fail, and “the lake effect” is beginning to take on a whole new meaning.

The Breakdown:
1.  A friend of mine picked up this ARC at a book festival and gave it to me.  It is good coming of age story set on Lake Michigan in the summer.  McCahan writes an interesting story with a quirky cast of characters.  Plus, it is has quick pace to it but it does not feel rushed.

2.  I kind of loved Briggs. He has some super awkward moments, which who has not had that occasionally.  His interactions with Mrs. B are the best.  They are funny and charming.  Briggs goes  through some big changes in this book, and while I liked him in the beginning, I loved him by the end watching him change and deal with the issues in his like.

3. I liked Abigail as a character.  She had strange food taste, and that made her all the more charming.  I did however figure out her secret that Briggs spends so much of the book guessing.

4. While Briggs and Abigail were great, it was Mrs. B that stole the book.  She was funny and sweet.  I loved that she dragged Briggs to all these funerals, and made notes for her what she wanted at her own funeral one day.  Plus, she drops some great wisdom on Briggs throughout the book.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Audiobook: The Struggle

The Struggle is written by Jennifer L. Armentrout and read by Paul Boehmer and Justine Eyre and is the third book of the Titan series.

A bloody path has been chosen… 

The war against the Titans continues, and they remain determined to wreak havoc on the world, but Seth has become something all gods fear. Now the most dangerous, most absolute power no longer resides in those who have been freed from their tombs. 

The Great War fought by the few is coming… 

All may doubt and fear what Seth has become. All except the one woman who might be his final chance at redemption. Josie will do anything to prove that Seth is on their side, but fate has a nasty way of changing lives, of changing people. 

In the end, the sun will fall… 

The only way they can save the future and save themselves is by facing the unknown together. It will take more than trust and faith. It will take love and the kind of strength not easily broken. No matter what, their lives will never be the same. 

For what the gods have feared has come to pass. The end of the old is here and the beginning of the new has been ushered in…

The Breakdown:
1.  If you have read this blog at all, you probably know that I adore JLA, and this book is no different. I am really enjoying the continuing story of Seth and Josie.  Seeing the character development in Seth from the Covenant series is great.  He definitely displays a softer side with Josie, and I like it.   I did feel like, at least, the beginning of this book was darker with Josie ending up in the Titans' hands.

2. I really like the narrators for this series.  Boehmer and Eyre fit the characters of Seth and Josie so well.  I will say there seemed to be an editing mistake in the actual reading, at one point Eyre makes a side note about a change that was made due to a typographical era in her text that was left in the audio. Kind of threw me for a second before I realized what it was.

3.  There are definitely some crazy and interesting interesting changes for Seth and Josie.  Seth becoming a god, and the things he can do now are just the tip of the iceberg for them. I cannot wait to see how this affects the story in the next book.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

The One Memory of Flora Banks

The One Memory of Flora Banks is Emily Barr's debut YA novel.

Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life. 

With little more than the words "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to Svalbard, Norway, the land of the midnight sun, determined to find Drake. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home.

The Breakdown:
1.   This book was very hard for me to get into.  I get that Flora cannot make memories after she is ten years old, but the constant rehashing of everything going on made the flow of the book hard to really dive into it.   It did start to flow a little better once Flora made it to Norway, but by that time I had a hard time caring about the story.

2.  There were several things in this book that did not make sense to be.  Minor issue is that Flora goes to movie's with her friend.  Why in the world would you pay like $10 for a movie that you can't remember an hour after it is over. Waste of money.  The biggest issue for me was the parents leaving to go take care of her brother in France and just planned on another 17 year old girl to take care of her. These over protective parents of a child that cannot remember anything are totally okay in trusting her care to a teenager. Not a in home nurse, and trusted adult, but a teenager. That just seemed ridiculous.

3. I did like the characters that Flora meets in Norway. This part of the book was the best with her learning to navigate on her own, and charming all these people.

4. Once learning more of Flora's condition and her mother's response to it made me a. question even more the leaving her in the care of a teenager, and b. really dislike her mother.  The mother's reasoning and responses to her made her seem like some creepy mother with an unnatural attachment to her child.

To Read or Not to Read:
Skip this one

Perfect

Perfect by Cecelia Ahern is the second book of her Flawed duology.

Celestine North is Flawed.

Ever since Judge Crevan declared her the number one threat to the public, she has been a ghost, on the run with Carrick, the only person she can trust. 

But Celestine has a secret—one that could bring the entire Flawed system crumbling to the ground. A secret that has already caused countless people to go missing. 

Judge Crevan is gaining the upper hand, and time is running out for Celestine. With tensions building, Celestine must make a choice: save just herself or risk her life to save all Flawed people.

The Breakdown:
1.   I both love and I am terrified by the world that Ahern creates in this series.   A world where people are judged and rights are taken away from their community for making what is considered a moral mistake.  People are literally branded for making a mistake in judgement. They broke no actual laws. Sometimes it is a little close to what happens in real life.

2. I was very pleased with Celestine's character development in this book. In the first book, she was a little on the whiny side, and terrified of the world after she is branded Flawed.  In this book, she owns up to the role she is playing in changing the system. She learns to take her problems head on, and takes on the cause of the Flawed.

3. This book develops the character of Carrick.  He was very much the mysterious boy in the first book.  This book expands on him. He is definitely a brooding guy, but he truly cares for Celestine. Ahern uses him to show what growing up a child of Flawed parents is like in the government's care.  Plus, he is the one that helps to motivate Celestine to help the Flawed's cause.

4. My biggest disappointment was Carrick's parents.  First, I was not crazy about their personalities.  Then when Ahern reveals that they were branded as Flawed for being Doctors that were anti-vaccination, I really did not like them.  Importance of vaccination is a big soap box of mine.

5. I did really like the ending and how things between the Guild and the Flawed was dealt with. Plus, I thought that Celestine was incredibly smart with her plan.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Silence Fallen

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs is the latest novel in her Mercy Thompson series.

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe...

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise..

The Breakdown:
1.  I submit this book as proof that I do read books other than YA books.  In fact, I adore Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, and this book is no different.  I was doubly excited that Mercy was in Prague.  It is on the top of my want to visit list, and this book only help to fuel that desire.  Plus, interesting introduction to the European Vampires and Werewolves.

2.  I love the character of Mercy.  She has so much sass and is smart.  She often finds herself in impossible situations where her opponents underestimate.  She uses her cunning and wit to make them look like fools mostly. Plus, I like that she feels real, with real fears and love.

3. I find Mercy and Adam's relationship fantastic. They are equals in their relationship.  Both are always worried for the others safety, and they find strength in each other.   And they have amazing banter with each other, good banter between couples always elevates them in my eyes.

4. Along with being in amazing Prague.  Briggs' works in one of Prague's older legends of The Golem in the Jewish Quarter. And most importantly, she throws in a great Doctor Who reference.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read