Guilty Pleasures, by Laurell K. Hamilton

Title: Guilty Pleasures

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Reading Level: Adult

Pages: Paperback - 265

Chapters: 47

Genre: thriller / fantasy

Series: Anita Blake Vampire Hunter:

1-Guilty Pleasures, 2-The Laughing Corpse, 3-Circus of the Damned

Person: First

Tense: Past

Rating: 9/10

Blurb (quoted):

“’I don’t date vampires. I kill them.’

My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me the Executioner. What I call them isn’t repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I’ve seen their victims. I carry the scars…

But now a serial killer is murdering vampires – and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer…”

Opinion:

To be honest, I was quite worried picking this book up. I haven’t had much success finding adult books on vampires that aren’t all sex, and I am aware that this particular author has another book series that isn’t exactly suitable for a younger audience, so typically I didn’t have high hopes for this one.

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! There is the barest of hints at such content, but it’s certainly suitable for a mature audience – 13+? (Though I can’t vouch for sequels just yet). There is a touch of romance but it doesn't run wild through the story.

I was almost immediately drawn into the book. It has my favourite kind of vampires – the dark, dangerous and sexy kind – with some Shapeshifters and zombies thrown in. Best of all would have to be the snarky, sarcastic protagonist.

Definitely a favourite book and I recommend to anyone who is mature and looking for a bit more than the sappy teen romances hogging the shelves of teen-fic.

City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Glass

Author: Cassandra Clare

Reading Level: Young Adult

Pages: Paperback - 541

Chapters: 21

Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Series: The Mortal Instruments:

1-City of Ashes, 2-City of Bones, 3-City of Glass, 4-Cit of Fallen Angels

Person: Third

Tense: Past

Rating: 10/10

Blurb (quoted): “Amid the chaos of war, the Shadowhunters must decide to fight with the vampires, werewolves and other Downworlders – or against them. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary have their own decision to make: should they pursue the love they know is forbidden?”

Opinion:

I was propelled through this book by anticipation; I could hardly put it down. There were so many pages that had me so involved I lost track of time.

This book is an amazing read, the characters have amazing personalities, there’s humour, despair, romance – everything.

There are so many twists and turns to the story line, you’re constantly asking ‘what next’. It builds so well on the two previous books from the series, the plot is solid.

It has me antsy for the next one.

City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Reading Level: Young Adult

Pages: Paperback - 411

Chapters: 21

Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Series: The Mortal Instruments:

1-City of Ashes, 2-City of Bones, 3-City of Glass, 4-Cit of Fallen Angels

Person: Third

Tense: Past

Rating: 8/10

Blurb (quoted):

“With her mother in a coma and her father hellbent on destroying the world, Clary Fray is dragged deeper into New York City’s terrifying underworld of werewolves, demons and the mysterious Shadowhunters. Discovering the truth about her past was only the beginning. Now the fate of the word rests on Clary’s shoulders, but can she master her new-found powers and control her feelings for a boy who can never be hers?”

Judgement:

It’s hard to review this book.

I absolutely loved reading it, and it was amazingly detailed and descriptive, it drew me in, it made me laugh, it made me hold my breath.

But it also annoyed the hell out of me. First, near the beginning, I noticed that the way it was written or the writing style… was cheesy and it got on my nerves. Secondly, this is the second book in the series that has ended in a way that frustrates me, though this time it’s just because of the very last page that make me need the next book – which of course is probably what the author wants, but I hate it.

There is definitely a mystery aspect to the story, which makes it a page-turner, but my favourite parts are the ones that made me hold my breath or laugh. The story line pulls on all your stings, it has every emotion.

This book would have a 10/10 if a few things were different, but even as is, I’d recommend the series to anyone.

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 442

Chapters: 24

Genre: Fantasy / Mystery / Romance

Series: 1-City of Bones, 2-City of Ashes, 3-City of Glass, 4-City of Fallen Angels

Person: Third

Tense: Past

Rating: 8.5/10

Blurb (quoted):

“It’s after dark in New York City, and Clary Fray is seeing things. The best-looking guy in the nightclub just stabbed a boy to death – but the victim has vanished into thin air. Her mother has disappeared, and a hideous monster is lurking in her apartment. With her life spiralling into darkness, Clary realizes that she has stumbled into an invisible war between ancient demonic forces and the secretive Shadowhunters – a war in which she has a fateful role to play.”

Judgement:

First and foremost, I must say I absolutely loved this book, and the only reason it didn’t get a higher rating is because I was incredibly frustrated with the ending, which I can’t go into more detail about without spoilers.

The story line is exactly my cup of tea; it’s got an amazing fantasy aspect fused into the world as we know it, and the storyline is captivating (though I wasn’t sure what genre to class it as…). The plot is well constructed, consistent, and mysterious, though I have to say the drastic twist near the end was upsetting and I am now eager to read the second and pray something is not as it seems…

Descriptions aren’t lacking in this book and it became a movie screen in my mind – definitely a page-turner.

I loved this book, I’m keep for the next, and I definitely recommend it.

Demon in My View, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Title: Demon in My View

Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 176

Rating: 7.5/10

Genre: Vampire Romance

Person: Third

Tense: Past

Blurb (quoted):

(None)

Summary:

Jessica Alodola has been writing novels about vampires and witches for a few years before one is accepted for publishing and soon comes out under a pen name.

What Jessica doesn’t know is that her ideas that come from her dreams are all real and the vampire’s who’s lives she’s allowed humans to read about aren’t happy about it. It’s not too long before there are bids for her blood and Jessica comes face to face with her favourite fictional character: Aubrey, a decidedly dangerous vampire.

Aubrey is supposed to be hunting Jessica. Instead, he finds himself fascinated by her unexplainable knowledge and obvious ignorance about the world she writes about without a missing a single detail.

But when the attacks start on her life, both Jessica and Aubrey are forced to make some tough decisions – and along the way discover a few new things about both themselves and the past.

Judgement:

I owe a lot of credit to this book; I first read it when I was thirteen, when I was only beginning to discover my book-worm-ish nature, and have since read it several more times. However, this time I found out that the author was around fourteen when she wrote it and decided it would be interesting to reread it, this time in a critical manor, and noticed that the writing style and form is noticeably young-minded, though it sure didn’t affect my enthrallment or adoration of the book.

There are a few poems in the book that were fun and interesting to read and attempt to comprehend, which makes me smile.

The story is a mystery, the puzzle coming together piece by piece as the story progresses, so your mind is continuously flitting around the information to try and figure it out before the author wants you to (which is at the end). The characters have very strong personalities, and there is a bit of development and change by the end.

Though quite typical, it’s an enjoyable read and I loved it – even now, after three or four years and reading it eight times.

It’s a great read probably for more beginner-novel-readers, rather than those who are more mature – though I still enjoyed it, but I might be a little biased because I’ve always loved it.

However, I have to say that the book hasn’t done itself any favours by not including a blurb on the cover.

A Hunger like No Other, by Kresley Cole

Title: A Hunger like No Other

Author: Kresley Cole

Target Audience: Adult

Pages: 356

Rating: 7/10

Genre: Romance

Person: Third

Tense: Past

Blurb (quoted):

“A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her…

Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is small, ethereal half Valkyrie / half Vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy…

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents – until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae – and their notorious dark desires – ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire…

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?”

Summary:

Emmaline Troy, half Valkyrie, half Vampire, has only just left the nest to search for information on her ever-missing parents when she is suddenly taken hostage by a savage man that terrifies her. When forced to help him return home, Emma doesn’t realise that going with him means changing her life forever – and along the way discovering new things, not only about herself, but about the parents she never knew.

Lachlain MacRieve has been trapped and tortured for longer than he can track, doomed to burn alive repeatedly thanks to his immortality. But when he senses the presence of his mate, the soul he’s been waiting for all his life, it gives him the strength to escape – only to find, to his horror, that she is a vampire, the same species that had tortured him.

But with both of them keeping secrets and a dangerous opponent hunting for Emma, can they possibly survive the trip to the safety of Lachlain’s home? More troubling, can they survive each other and the roiling turmoil inside them both?

Judgement:

First of all, I have to say I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked up this book – I’d never heard of the author before or anything, and I was in a rush, so after the library computer search turned out this books name, I swiped it up and left… Only to discover later the amount of detail in the sex. With nothing to compare it too, I’m not really sure if this one counts as erotica, but honestly I’m seeing a trend – anything in the adult section that involves vampires always seems to have a bunch of sex involved… So I warn you now, this is for a MATURE audience.

Now, other than that surprise, this was a highly enjoyable novel – I liked the storyline, it was very original so far as I’ve read, and the characters have specific personalities that develop and change as the story progresses – though, I think perhaps a few of them change too much, especially the main character who could well be a new character entirely by the end; I’m not sure if I like that about it or not. And honestly, I think the rhetorical question in the blurb is cheesy, typical, and easily guessed, which almost made me not bother reading it, but once I started the novel was compelling enough to keep me reading.

I thought, once so many names started popping up, that I’d get at least a few of them muddled, but the way it was written made it so easy to keep them all straight in your head and always had a way to hint who’s who.

Admittedly, I have a couple of complaints. Firstly, I kept forgetting that Lachlain had a Scottish accent until I read him saying “no’” instead of “not” and then my mind’s voice would automatically jump into the accent again, only to die off when he stopped speaking – though I’m not sure this can be blamed on the author. Also, the names got a little confusing – not to remember, but to pronounce and I had to guess at a lot of them; for example, I had to decide to pronounce “Lachlain” as “Lack-lan”, even though I kept trying to think “Lock-lin” or “Latchlin” simply because the first one sounds normal and the second one is how it appears to be said…

It’s an entertaining read for sure – definitely has it’s highly laughable moments, it’s tension, and it’s romance plus adventure.

Let Me In

Title: Let Me In

Genre: Thriller

Rating: R16

Opinion: 7/10

Running Time: 116 minutes

Directed by: Matt Reeves

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Richard Jenkins

Blurb (quoted): “From the director of Cloverfield comes Let Me In, a darkly haunting and provocative thriller. Abbey (Chloe Moretz – Kick Ass) is a mysterious 12 year old who moves next door to Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Road), a social outcast who is viciously bullied at school. In his loneliness, Owen forms a profound bond with his new neighbour but he can’t help noticing that Abbey is like no one he has met before. As a string of grisly murders grips his wintry New Mexico town, Owen has to confront the reality that this seemingly innocent girl is hiding a dark secret.”

Quotes: “The best American horror film in the last 20 years” – Stephen King. “A macabre love story… sinks its teeth into you and doesn’t let go” – Nick Dent

My Summary: Owen, a bullied 12 year old boy, has no friends – that is, until Abbey, a similarly lonely and oddly mysterious girl of the same age, moves in next door. Soon after her arrival in town, bodies begin to turn up.

Despite Abbey’s warning that they can’t be friends, Owen pursues a friendship with Abbey and ends up falling in love with her. But once the police start knocking on her door, Abbey knows she must leave town; that she must leave Owen.

But the story doesn’t end there. In a final plan of revenge, Owen is half drowned by four bullies, but thanks to a visit from a certain friend, Owen ends up with a new plan for his future.

Opinion: A great late night movie for those who are looking for a thrill but not a scream.

Review: Having previously read the book ‘Let the Right One In’, I was interested in this movie from the moment I realised it was based on the book, and it sure didn’t disappoint.

Unlike most movie versions of a novel, Let Me In was delightfully similar to the book, not skipping chunks of the novel that are some of the best parts. I could relate just about everything back to the book, and that might just be my favourite thing about the movie.

To be honest, despite the unrealistically fake blood, the special effects in this movie were really awesome and the movie was well-cast, and definitely well planned out.

Thankfully, the movie follows the line of traditional vampires, with nothing appealing or sexy about them – if that’s how you like your vamps, nice and gory and original then this is a movie for you!

The romance thread was quite interesting as well, considering all the events in the movie. If I’m being totally honest, I think the main character, Owen, is… messed up in the head to say the least. It’s actually a slightly twisted story, but definitely enjoyable.

Blue Bloods, by Melissa De La Cruz

Title: Blue Bloods

Author: Melissa De La Cruz

Target Audience: Young Adult

Pages: 302

Chapters: 44

Opinion: 6/10

Genre: Fantasy

Series: 1-Blue Bloods, 2-Masquerade, 3-Revelations, 4-The Van Alen Legacy, (Companion Book)-The Keys to the Repository, 5-Misguided Angel, (Novella)-Bloody Valentine, 6-Lost in Time. (Coming soon (Fall, 2012): Wolf Pact, a spin-off of ‘Misguided Angel’)

Person: second

Tense: past

Blurb (quoted): “Schuyler Van Alen has never fit in at Dushesne, her prestigious New York City private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes to the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates. But when she turns fifteen, Schuyler’s life changes dramatically. The death of a popular schoolmate haunts her in unexpected ways. And strangest of all, Jack Force, the most popular boy in school, is showing a sudden interest in her.

Once an outcast, Schuyler is thrust into Manhattan’s most exclusive social circle. It’s members are the powerful, the wealthy, and – as Schuyler soon discovers – the unhuman. They are Blue Bloods, an ancient group of vampires, and for centuries they’ve been invincible. Now, something is preying on this elite group, and Schuyler wants to find out the truth. But is she the most vulnerable of them all?

Summary: Everyone seems to fit into a group; somewhere, there is a place you belong. Except for the baggy-dressing Schuyler Van Alen, who is social outcast with Oliver and Dylan at Duchesne, a rich-kid private school in NYC.

Well, the world seems to start spinning in the opposite direction when Schuyler turns 15 and finds out that she’s not even human! Dropped in the deep end of the most popular social circles, Schuyler is one of the few ‘Blue Bloods’ asking questions about a mysterious death that shouldn’t even be possible.

Now it’s up to the newbie to save her race, but Schuyler has a long way to go before she gets any answers. The biggest question of all though, is who can be trusted? When a Blue-Blood-turned-bad could be anyone, Schuyler has limited options, limited time, and unlimited danger to face.

Judgement: Well to be honest, I was a little disappointed. After having the book suggested to me multiple times buy a dozen people, I finally picked up the book. And then put it back down. The entire first half, if not more, of the book is dull and uneventful, I ended up forcing myself to continue due to the promise that ‘it gets better’ from friends.

At least they were right. Somewhere near the middle there, the book has a complete turn around and I couldn’t put it down! Otherwise, my Opinion would be below 5.

Thankfully though, the storyline picks up and by the end of the novel I’m begging for more – and boy am I glad it’s a series!

There isn’t really much else to say on this series; I enjoyed it once I slugged through the slosh (er…?) and I recommend you read it if you’re looking for something different, something that isn’t completely focused on swooning, head-over-heels teenagers.