{Review} The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Release Date: 21 September 2010

Publisher: Razorbill

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 343

Author: Brenna Yovanoff

Rating: 5 Books 

Buy the Book: Amazon

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world. 

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs. 

My Thoughts:

With the Replacement Brenna quickly became one of my favourite writers and I think that one of the main reasons why this happened was due to the fact that the setting plays such a huge role in the book itself.

I found the eerie town of gentry to be really fascinating and I enjoyed reading about this horrible town and what lurked below it. The setting; Gentry, is a small town with a big secret and this secret is just as gruesome and ugly as the town itself, yet the way Yovanoff wrote about this town made me fall madly in love with it and always had me wanting to try and explore it more somehow as I would want to know about every single little intricate detail about this wonderfully horrible town.

The story line or plot of this book was awesome and I loved the fact that this book was mostly about Fae, yet it was completely different to any other faerie books I have read and what makes this book all the more great is the fact that it is such a dark book.

Now when I say it is a dark book, I do not mean hide this book away because it is so touchy and terrible, it’s not at all. This book is wonderful and I loved it to bits, the reason I say it is dark is because the descriptions about this dark town made this book so lovely and delicious.

When reading this book from Mackie’s point of view I was able to relate to him instantly as he had this constant need to belong and to fit in and it is interesting to see him in both the worlds and I just really found this book to be awesome and loved how different it was!

If you like dark faerie tales and would love to read something new and refreshing then I urge you to pick up this book and read it please. It is wonderful!

{Review} Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Release Date: 24 May 2011

Publisher: DOUBLEDAY

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 416

Author: Tessa Gratton

Rating: 5 Books 

Buy the Book: Amazon

Draw a circle ... place a dead leaf in the center ... sprinkle some salt ... recite a little Latin ... add a drop of blood ...

Maybe that last part isn't exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents' horrific deaths. She's willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood.

The book isn't the only recent arrival in Silla's life. There's Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She's not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick's first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can't deny their attraction. And they can't ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power.

Tessa Gratton's intoxicating first novel will keep pulses racing, minds reeling, and pages turning right up to the very last drop of blood.

 My Thoughts:

I had heard great things about this book and I was actually shocked when the book turned out to be way better than I had originally thought it would be. It blew me away, yet had my glued to every word on every single page!

I know for a fact that Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff are friends and to anyone who would like to know; I am in fact in love with Brenna Yovanoff's writing and I am oh so glad to say that Tessa gives Brenna a run for her money. I loved that Brenna showed Tessa how the setting can also be seen as a character and how big a role it actually plays. I love, love, love dark and delicious books(my term for these kinds of books) and I loved every moment of this book due to the setting making it even more creepy.

Silla and Nick were amazingly well thought out characters and I absolutely loved reading from both of their perspectives. You know a book is really great when you enjoy reading from both sides of the story without getting annoyed. I can not explain to you how wonderful these characters were! I will however try- well on the one hand you get a girl; Silla who is a little wacked in the brain(totally awesome) and you can't help but love her and then you get Nick; who is a jerk yet not like any other jerk you have read about because he is not always such a jerk, his thoughts may reflect this but he is just a really fun character to read about.

Blood Magic. That is ultimately what this book revolves around; creating magic with your blood and a few other things, but the thing I loved about this book was the fact that it was not about what species the characters were or what mystical powers they possessed, but rather yet normal people who discover creepy things and are not 'special' or 'gifted'. They simply are NORMAL people.

This book is absolutely amazing and if you have not gathered this yet, then I will say it a little more clearly: I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Tessa; a fantastic debut that had me on the edge of my seat and kept me constantly guessing. Your writing is simply beautiful and even more so addictive and that is why this book is being rated 5 stars. 

{Review} Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: 22 March 2011

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 358

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Rating: 5 Books 

Buy the Book: Amazon

 By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape–before her time runs out?

My Thoughts:

 Wither was everything I expected to be and more, with such a wonderful writing style and captivating voice Lauren DeStefano has effortlessly become one of my favorite authors and I am so excited to read Fever and whatever else DeStefano brings to this world!

Okay, so you see that beautiful cover up there? Well guess what, the story inside is just as beautiful in a kind of sad and horrible way. The writing in this book just seems so effortless and poetic, each and every sentence was just beautiful no matter what subject the sentence may have been based on. This book is about terrible things, but in my mind I wanted to live in this horrible world where people die in the early stages of their lives, simply because Lauren DeStefano made it seem so intriguing and horrible, yet the writing made me want to experience this world first hand. I cannot describe to you how gripping this book is, you just need to read it to understand. If you like poetic, flawless and pretty writing then read this book.

To really prove how wonderful this book is I'm going to tell you two embarrassing things; 1) Every time I said out loud that I was going to read Wither I would say "Okay, I'm going to read 'the pretty' now!" and 2) when i was reading the last hundred or so pages I read as slowly as I possible could just so the magic and feeling of this book did not wear off.

All of these character's struck a chord with me. Rhine was such an amazing character and I love her so much! She seems almost fragile in my mind, yet she is strong willed and sticks to what she believes, she is smart and intriguing. Cecily may have annoyed me at some points in the book, but that was part of her character and I loved her sort of quirkiness. Jenna ripped my heart out due to the fact that she loses the most out of everyone and I really did feel sorry for her and then there's Linden who I actually felt sorry for.

I cannot wait for the next book as I hope to see the relationship grow between Rhine and Gabriel. Speaking of growing, I loved seeing that the characters grew over time in this book, for instance; the sister wives had become almost like real sisters over a period of time. Something else I hope to see in the next book; Fever, I hope we officially get to meet Rowan as I am a twin myself and I so badly want to see more of Rhine and Rowan together!

Lauren, I would just like to let you know that you are now one of my favorite authors and I think I can safely say that I am now one of your biggest fans! Your writing is exquisite and I cannot wait to read more from you.

{Review} Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Release Date: 20 September 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: eARC

Pages: 304

Author: Amy Garvey

Buy the Book: Amazon

 When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can’t imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she’s inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved.

Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can’t turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him—and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart.

Amy Garvey’s transcendent teen debut is perfect for fans of Shiver and Beautiful Creatures. Wren’s unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

My Thoughts:

WOW! WOW! WOW! What a stunning book this was! Amy Garvey sure knows how to write a thrilling book that will have you hooked and emotional right from the beginning to the end! This to me was a brilliant debut.

A brilliant debut that had so much emotion and I loved every single word I read, although each page may rip your heart apart in some way or another you cannot help but love this story any way. This book is filled with emotion to the brim and with Amy’s writing it just makes this book absolutely exquisite.

With great description and a very enticing voice the words on the page seem extremely real and you will never understand how much I loved this book. It is written in present tense and this was really a first for me, I have obviously read books where the writing style is in first person point of view and the tense is presents, but those books were all Dystopias. The present tense and first person point of view had me hooked right from the beginning and was somewhat a refreshing and interesting way for me to read.

The characters are absolutely amazing and even though Danny may have annoyed me a bit with his clinginess, there was a reason for that and it made perfect sense for the story. Wren was a character that I found I could relate to instantly due to the fact that she had lost a loved one and so have I, I have lost many but the point is that she got to bring him back!

Yes this book is about zombies...or dead people that come back to life and smell like earth and are cold and so on and so forth, but this was the first time I have ever read a book that is about zombies and I loved every single minute of it.

The story is great, the writing is amazing and the characters- well I just love them so much! Amy Garvey...I look forward to seeing more from you in the future and I would like to let you know that this is now one of my favorite debuts for 2011!