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YA Paranormal

Audiobook Review:: My Soul To Take by Rachel K Vincent

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  • Release Date : July 29th 2009
  • Pages : 279
  • Audiobook Length : 8hrs 21 minutes
  • Genre : Urban Fantasy
  • Publisher : HarlequinTeen

Synopsis: She doesn’t see dead people. She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next.

In Texas, beautiful teenage girls are dropping dead. No one knows why. Not even  Kaylee Cavanaugh who can predict these deaths with a deep ear-splitting scream. Kaylee thinks she is crazy, but with the help of the popular jock, Nash Hudson, secrets will be revealed and the deaths of these girls will be solved one way or the other.

I enjoyed this novel. I liked the way we see how Kaylee is dealing with her special “ability” before she knows what  it is. At first she is confused, frustrated and angry; but even more she is afraid of herself because last time she screamed it landed her in the psych unit. It doesn’t help that her father is living thousands of miles away in Ireland and has left Kaylee with her aunt, uncle and Sophie, her spoiled cousin.

The paranormal elements weave into the story nicely and I found the setup believable. There are a few twist and turns and it’s exciting to see how the story develops.

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Book Review : Black Heart by Holly Black

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That’s family for you. Can’t live with them, can’t murder them.”

― Holly Black, Black Heart

 

Synopsis: Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy.

Our favorite coffee addicted charming anit-hero, Cassel Sharpe is back for a  Curse Worker’s finale where the stakes are higher than ever before for Cassel, his friends, and his family.…

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Book Review : Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

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Release Date : May 1st 2012

Synopsis: What if there were teens whose lives depended on being bad influences? This is life for sons and daughters of fallen angels in Sweet Evil. Tenderhearted Southern girl, Anna Whitt, was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna. 

Sweet Evil is a provocative paranormal romance with angels, demons and a sinful twist.

The paranormal concept behind this novel is  something different than what I have encountered while reading paranormal romance. In the novel Nephilim, the children of fallen angels, live on Earth and  embody a sin. Their most important work is to pull humans into sin. Sweet Evil  explores the concepts of nature versus nurture ideas of sin. The book made me think about how we make sense of the bad things that others do.

Higgins writing is fun and addicting, and will appeal to teens and YA readers. However I did feel  like some parts of the plot were spoon fed, we are told too much instead of being shown and allowed to create our own opinions.

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Book Review : Born Wicked By Jessica Spotswood

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Synopsis: Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave. . . Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance.

Born Wicked is a debut historical fiction that features an alternate history with a magical twist. In this revision of 1890’s New England, the Brotherhood–a sect of a priest–rule with an iron fist over the lives of women who fear they may be witches.

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Book Review : Illuminate by Aimme Agresti

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Illuminate (Gilded Wings # 1) is one of those novels where the mystery and glamour will instantly pull you in,  as the characters uncover the seemingly perfect facade of The Lexington Hotel, owner Aurelia Brown and the perfect employees known as the Outfit.

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Book Review : Red Glove by Holly Black

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“Changing is what people do when they have no options left.” 

― Holly Black, Red Glove

In the second book in the Curse Workers Series, our coffee addled protagonist Cassel Sharpe is still clever as the devil and twice as pretty. Red Glove expands the world we were introduced into in White Cat, something I think every good sequel needs to do. In this novel, we meet new characters, get to see more into Wallingford and learn more about curse worker politics

The plot wasn’t as tight and concise as the first one. This novel reads less like a con job and more like a murder mystery While this series is a fantasy, White Cat felt more realistic than Red Glove. That isn’t to say it’s awful, it just doesn’t flow as well as it did in the first book.

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