Review: Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Apollyon

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release: April 4th 2013

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, YA

#4 in the Covenant series

Series: Half-Blood (#1), Pure (#2), Deity (#3), Sentinel (#5)

Plot:

Fate isn’t something to mess with… and now, neither is Alex.

Alex has always feared two things: losing herself in the Awakening and being placed on the Elixir. But love has always been stronger than Fate, and Aiden St. Delphi is willing to make war on the gods—and Alex herself—to bring her back.

The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed” theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.

Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer… or she might become the God Killer herself.

Goodreads | B&N

My Favorite Series

Hello! I just had this urge to parade around my favorite books/book series, and I thought to myself: Why not make a blog post about it? I'm sure it's not that hard to figure out, but anyways...
I won't leave an explanation as to why it's my favorite series exactly, because I think things like these are totally subjective. Of course there are certain arguments that made me like the series, but that's not debatable, so it doesn't matter anyway.

Short Review: Roar & Liv by Veronica Rossi

Roar and Liv

Author: Veronica Rossi

Release: October 30th 2012

Genre: Dystopia, Post-Apocalypse, YA

Novella (#0.5)

Series: Under The Never Sky (#1), Through The Ever Night (#2), Into The Still Blue (#3)

Plot:

Before Perry and Aria, there was Roar and Liv.

After a childhood spent wandering the borderlands, Roar finally feels like he has a home with the Tides. His best friend Perry is like a brother to him, and Perry's sister, Liv, is the love of his life. But Perry and Liv's unpredictable older brother, Vale, is the Blood Lord of the Tides, and he has never looked kindly on Roar and Liv's union. Normally, Roar couldn't care less about Vale's opinion. But with food running low and conditions worsening every day, Vale's leadership is more vital—and more brutal—than ever. Desperate to protect his tribe, Vale makes a decision that will shatter the life Roar knew and change the fate of the Tides forever.

Set in the harsh but often beautiful world of Veronica Rossi's "unforgettable" Under the Never Sky (Examiner.com), this captivating prequel novella stands on its own for new readers and offers series fans a fascinating look into the character of Roar. Poignant and powerful, Roar and Liv is a love story that will "capture your imagination and your heart.

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Impatiently Waiting For #1

So, in honor of my goodreads shelf, I decided to just make a blog post for it as well!
This is what you think it is: A blog post to express my frustration at having to wait for these sequels.

Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall

Author: Susan Ee

Release: May 21st 2011

Genre: Angels, Supernatural, Post-Apocalypse, YA

#1 in the Penryn & The End of Days trilogy

Sequels: World After (#2), End of Days (#3)

Plot:

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

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Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unravel Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Release: February 5th 2013

Genre: Dystopia, Paranormal, YA

#2 in the Shatter Me trilogy

Series: Shatter Me (#1), Ignite Me (#3)

Plot:

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

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Review: Silber by Kerstin Gier

Silber

Author: Kerstin Gier

Release: June 20th 2013

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Paranormal, YA

#1 in the Silber trilogy

Sequels: Silber #2, Silber #3

Plot:

Strange doors with lizard handles, talking stone statues and wild nannies with an axe ... Liv Silber's dreams are a little peculiar lately. Especially one is weighing heavily on her mind. She visited a cemetery in the middle of that dream, at night, and observed four boys during a ritual. But the boys embody a connection to her actual life, because Grayson and his three best friends are real. As of late, Liv attends the same school as the four of them.

Really creepy — much creepier than every cemetery at night — is the fact that the boys know things about her that she only talked about in that dream. How can that be? Very bizarre, and Liv has never been able to resist a good mystery...

Goodreads 

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Release: December 18th 2012

Genre: Dystopia, Paranormal, YA

#1 in the Darkest Minds trilogy

Sequels: Never Fade (#2), In The Afterlight (#3)

Plot:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

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Review: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Goliath

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Release: September 20th 2011

Genre: Steampunk, YA

#3 in the Leviathan trilogy

Series: Leviathan (#1), Behemoth (#2)

Plot:

Alek and Deryn are abroad the Leviathan when the ship is ordered to pick up an unusual passenger. This brilliant/maniacal inventor claims to have a weapon called Goliath that can end the war. But whose side is he really on?

While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn's deeply kept secret. Two, actually. Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a guy...she has feelings for Alek.

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek's next--and final--move.

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Review: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Behemoth

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Release: October 5th 2010

Genre: Steampunk, YA

#2 in the Leviathan trilogy

Series: Leviathan (#1), Goliath (#3)

Plot:

The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers.

Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory. 

Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.

Goodreads | B&N

Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Release: October 6th 2009

Genre: Steampunk, YA

#1 in the Leviathan trilogy

Sequels: Behemoth (#2), Goliath (#3)

Plot:

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Goodreads | B&N

Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Reboot

Author: Amy Tintera

Release: May 7th 2013

Genre: Dystopia, Zombies, Paranormal, YA

#1 in the Reboot series

Sequel: Rebel (#2)

Plot:

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

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Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived

Author: Victoria Schwab

Release: January 22nd 2013

Genre: Paranormal, Science Fiction, YA

#1 in the Archived trilogy

Sequels: The Unbound (#2), The Returned (#3)

Plot:

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

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Review: Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Let The Sky Fall

Author: Shannon Messenger

Release: March 5th 2013

Genre: Supernatural, Paranormal, YA

#1 in the Sky Fall trilogy

Sequels: Let The Storm Break (#2), Let The Wind Rise (#3)

Plot: 

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

Goodreads | B&N

Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Black City

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Release: November 13th 2012

Genre: Dystopia, Paranormal, YA

#1 in the Black City trilogy

Sequels: Phoenix (#2), Wings (#3)

Plot:

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

Goodreads | B&N

Review: Black Heart by Holly Black

Black Heart

Author: Holly Black

Release: April 3rd 2012

Genre: Crime, Urban Fantasy, YA

#3 in the Curse Worker trilogy

Series: White Cat (#1), Red Glove (#2),

Plot:

In a world where Magic is illegal.

Cassel Sharpe has the most deadly ability of all. With one touch, he can transform any object - including a person - into something else entirely. And that makes him a wanted man. The Feds are willing to forgive all his past crimes if he'll only leave his con artist family behind and go straight. But why does going straight feel so crooked?

For one thing, it means being on the opposite side of the law from Lila, the girl he loves. She's the daughter of a mob boss and getting ready to join the family business herself. Though Cassel is pretty sure she can never love him back, he can't stop obsessing over her. Which would be bad enough, even if her father wasn't keeping Cassel's mother prisoner in a posh apartment and threatening not to let her leave until she returns the priceless diamond she scammed off him years ago. Too bad she can't remember where she put it.

The Feds say they need Cassel to get rid of a powerful man who is spinning dangerously out of control. But if they want Cassel to use his unique talent to hurt people, what separates the good guys from the bad ones? Or is everyone just out to con him?

Time is running out, and all Cassel's magic and cleverness might not be enough to save him. With no easy answers and no one he can trust, love might be the most dangerous gamble of all.

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Review: Red Glove by Holly Black

Red Glove

Author: Holly Black

Release: April 5th 2011

Genre: Crime, Urban Fantasy, YA

#2 in the Curse Worker trilogy

Series: White Cat (#1), Black Heart (#3)

Plot:

Curses and cons.

Magic and the mob.

In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth — he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything — or anyone — into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she’s human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila’s been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion-worker mom. And if Lila’s love is as phony as Cassel’s made-up memories, then he can’t believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel’s oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue — crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too — they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can’t trust anyone — least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

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Review: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass

Author: Myra McEntire

Release: June 14th 2011

Genre: Supernatural, Romance, YA

#1 in the Hourglass trilogy

Sequels: Timepiece (#2), Infinityglass (#3)

Plot:

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

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Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Release: February 1st 2010

Genre: Paranormal, Faeries, Fantasy, YA

#1 in the Iron Fey series

Sequels: The Iron Daughter (#2), The Iron Queen (#3), The Iron Knight (#4)

Plot:

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

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