Review - Taken By Storm by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

“Every future I can find is coated in blood.” Callum pg 98

Taken by Storm is an emotion filled roller coaster ride that takes readers from the highest high, to the lowest low and every emotion in between. Despite the warnings from Callum that blood will flow, it still is a shock to the system when you find out who actually doesn’t survive.

Taken by Storm will leave readers with questions about the ending and what really happens to Bryn and crew when all is said and done. It has already caused readers to debate the merits of ending this series after three books. I fully support the author’s decision knowing that we can hope for a revisit to this series sometime in the future. I would even accept a novella that begins IMMEDIATELY after the last page of this book.

Bryn’s journey into adulthood and beyond isn’t an easy one to read about. She once again has her abilities to lead a werewolf pack questioned by Alphas who want what she holds; female werewolves and the land they live on. Bryn is tested and pushed beyond her own skin and abilities and somehow manages to come out on top but not without being unscathed by everything that happens to those around her.
 
As a reader of this series, you know that Bronwyn (Bryn) Alessia St. Vincent Clare is the only human/female Alpha of the Cedar Ridge territory which holds the most female werewolves in existence. If you’ve read the series then you know that Bryn asked Callum to Change her into a werewolf so that she could better protect her small pack of 22 including her foster mother Ali and her twins. You also know that he refused yet never really gave a good reason for it. Now, we know the reason why:

“I know you have questions. I know that you want to know why I haven’t Changed you yet. There are limits to what we are, Bryn. Humans grow. They age, they change, and they learn. There are reasons, Bryn-girl,” Callum said finally. “And the only one you’ll be getting out of me is that, sometimes, it’s hard to teach an old wolf new tricks.” pg 45

Callum’s actions, or inaction, when it came to protecting Bryn and her pack, have been debated across the book reviewing world since this book was released. Yet, after everything is said and done, you just knew that Callum was aware that Bryn would be pushed to the very limits of her sanity and it would be up to her to figure out the clues before it’s too late. Sometimes Bryn is a bit clueless about what everything means. It takes her awhile to come up with the correct action and methods to save her pack.

I am said to see this series end, yet I am not sad that I took the time to read this series. Barnes knows how to write. She knows how to take her characters to the brink of emotions and leave them trying to figure out the reasons behind what happens to them. Her world building is awesome and I really look forward to her next creation.

Title - Taken by Storm
Author - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Released - May 22, 2012
Publisher - Edmont USA

Review: Make Me by Parker Blue (Demon Underground # 4)

Make Me (Demon Underground #4) by Parker Blue picks up pretty much where Fang Me left off. In fact, the entire series so far has been told over a period of a few months.

Valentine (Val) Shapiro has lost her slayer powers. She’s extremely desperate to keep that secret from the rogue vampires who would love nothing better than to take her down permanently. Val has been a thorn in the vampire’s sides for years and she’s still only 18 years old!

Val is part Succubus which she tends to call Lola. Lola is the only thing standing in the way of Val being killed outright. Lola is able to take control of any vampire; unless that vampire happens to be female then she’s in deep trouble.

Val remains under contract to the New Blood Movement and Alejandro until they come out into the open and announce that they exist. Since she’s under contract, this means that she has to travel to Austin, Texas along with Alejandro and his crew. This crew includes Austin, who has been trying to teach Val how to fight off vampires.

Val is also the current Keeper of the Encyclopedia Magicka. The only problem is that Jack, the former keeper of the books, is so busy catching up on TV shows, and eating his heart’s content in food, that Val hasn’t been properly trained. What Val does know from Jack, is that she needs to be careful using the books or she could permanently lose her Succubus powers as well.

While in Austin, Val and crew discover that someone is creating rogue demon vampires. The villain, and her reasons for creating these chupacabra’s, shall not be spoiled by me in this review. Let’s just say that things don’t exactly end up the way Val thought they would when she agreed to work with the vampires.

Val’s already complicated life really delves into the darkness when her best friend and roommate Gwen, along with Micah the leader of the Demon Underground, end up being kidnapped by a demon named Asmodeus who wants the books Val now holds. He even brings back a former nemesis of Val’s, Lily Armstrong, in order to prod Val into giving up the books.

Naturally, there’s a huge twist regarding Gwen that I’m not sure needed to be done nor shall I spoil. Val’s life is already problematic, and now thanks to her contract with the New Blood Movement, her former bosses at the Special Crimes Unit have terminated her with prejudice.

She is also betrayed by her so called best friend Fang who wants things to change in San Antonio’s Demon Underground and needs Val’s help in order to bring about the changes that will make the Underground better and safer for Demons.

On the romance side of things, Shade, who Val lost her V to, becomes cold and bitter after he follows Val and crew to Austin because he’s jealous of the vampire Austin and Val’s closeness. After another Succubus takes control of him and uses him for her own desires, Shade lays all blame at Val’s feet and the relationship suffers a major collapse. I guess we should have seen that coming since Val’s relationships don’t last all that long.

Overall, while I still enjoy Val, she came across like a teenager with major angst in her life. Yes, she does have serious problems, but it’s time to stand up and make a choice about what she wants to do with her life now that she doesn’t have her slayer powers, and the books are causing all sorts of fun for her.

This series has been, mostly, about Val and Fang’s relationship and how they work together to fight the villains. This time out, not only does Fang do Val wrong, but he’s not all that funny. Maybe it’s because he’s about read to have a litter of puppies, that his thoughts are otherwise preoccupied.

With the surprise ending to this book, one can only hope that there will be a book # 5 in this series to tie up several of the storylines once and for-all.

Thank you to Netgalley.com and Bell Bridge Books for providing me a copy of this ARC.

Author: Parker Blue
Title: Make Me
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Released: April 30, 2012

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Abandon, by Meg Cabot, is the first book in the trilogy and is supposedly the retelling of Hades and Persephone. Pierce Oliviera, our storyteller, had a death experience at the age of 15. They say it was a near death experience, and yet, Pierce was actually dead for over an hour before being resuscitated by the Emergency Medical Technicians.

On a stopover in the Underworld, Pierce once again meets John Hayden whom she first met when she was 7 years old at her grandfather’s funeral. Hayden is charmed by Pierce and wants to keep her around so that she will be safe from evil. He even gives her a necklace that is said to ward off evil.

Instead, princess Pierce escapes and returns from the dead where everyone thinks she has major issues like PTSD, Attention Hyperactivity disorder, and inattentiveness. She’s then involved in the attack on a teacher that ends up costing her father money in a civil suit because nobody can find evidence to the contrary that Pierce wasn’t to blame for her teachers attack.

Pierce is pretty much thrown out of school in Connecticut and put in the middle of a costly divorce between her uber wealthy father, and liberal leaning mother who blames the father for everything, including Pierce’s brush with death.

As the story opens, 17 year old Pierce and her mother Deborah Cabrero now reside in Isla Hueso (Isle of Bones), Florida alongside her Grandmother, Uncle and cousin. Pierce is forced to start her senior year off in the trouble maker wing of Isla Hueso High School where one of the traditions is a Coffin find.

Later we learn that the necklace that Pierce wears around her neck was in fact made by Hades, the god of death, for his love Persephone. It also saves the wearer from the so called Furies who are actually spirits of the dead who are really unhappy with where they ended up after they died.

Since I haven’t read the Goddess Test, which is pretty much based on the same story, I can’t compare the stories. I did find myself disconnected with Pierce as a character since she pretty much gets whatever she wants. She needs money; she calls daddy deep pockets. She needs help getting out of trouble; her father pays off the civil suit. She's not the brightest light bulb in the pack most times.

Pierce is kind of a mess as main character. She has no clue about who Homer is, or what the story was between Hades and Persephone. One of the sub characters had it right on the money in saying schools these days don’t teach students anything of importance. I've been reiterating that fact for the past 20 years!

As for John Hayden, I would definitely call him a stalker pure and simple. He pretty much stalks Pierce from the time she’s 7 years old, until she ends up in Isla Hueso where his cemetery is located 10 years later. He has the ability to be anywhere Pierce is in a blink of an eye, and has more than a few times, assaulted anyone who has tried to harm her.

I think the most interesting part of the story was when the cemetery caretaker was explaining to a blank eyed Pierce about the whole situation with Hades, Persephone, and Hayden and how different religions have different ideas about where a soul ends up after it leaves this plane of existence. I found myself wanting to learn more about the 5 rivers of the Underworld (Acheron, Kokytos, Phlegethon, Lethe, and Styx) as well as the 5 prongs of Persephone’s necklace (Sorrow, Fire, Hate, Lamentation, and Oblivion.)

One of my major beefs with this story is the consistency of the story. It was all over the place. It was like attempting to follow an individual who is totally disconnected from reality and expecting readers to understand that the hell was going on. Now, look, I’m a fan of Cabot’s writing so it’s nothing personal.

Naturally, since there are two more books in the series, this book is left with a cliffhanger after John spirits Pierce away to the Underground. No spoiler here. It’s as obvious as reading the synopsis for the next book called Underworld.

I liked the setting for the story as being the real life Isla Hueso. I love when writer’s use an actual settings to tell their stories especially Key West that has a very long history. The part about the bodies not being buried underground because they continually raise to the surface after Hurricane’s hit the Isle was based on factual evidence, and not myth.

Overall, a decent start to the series with all sorts of improvement and avenues to explore from here on out.

Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Point
Released: April 26, 2011

White Cat by Holly Black

17-year old Cassel (Cass) Sharpe has grown up believing that he killed his girlfriend Lila when he was 14 years old and that he had no abilities like the rest of his family of so called curse workers. Since curse work is illegal in this alternative universe America, Cass comes from a family of criminals who work closely with the mob.

Cass is a student at Wallingford Preparatory School where he runs his own con games as well as a fairly productive bookmaking business while trying to stay under the radar because of his family ties. One night while Cass dreams that a white cat has stolen his tongue, he somehow finds his way up on a ledge where he suddenly awakens after a bout of what is being called somnambulism, or sleepwalking.

The story itself is Cass’s awakening call to the fact that his entire family has been using him, lying to him, and erasing his memories to keep him from knowing that he has a very rare and powerful gift that everyone is after. Imagine Cass’s surprise when the truth about what he has done in the past comes out.

As for the rest of Cass’s family; his brother Philip can cause physical damage, while his brother Barron is a luck worker as well as being able to remove and distort someone’s memories. His grandfather Desi Singer is a retired death dealer and his mother is in jail for working emotions and con jobs on rich men.

I have never read the Spiderwick Chronicles or any other title by Holly Black to my utter bemusement. Imagine my surprise, after reading reviews by GR friends, that I actually found myself loving this story. Naturally, there is one negative and that is the obvious lead in to the next book which is a huge cliffhanger as well as leaving questions unanswered about Cass's mother and Lila's fate.

This is a YA urban fantasy story without the whole 3 way love triangle which for me is a plus. The story and world building is original and unique. White Cat takes place in an alternative world where a small percentage of individuals are born with the ability to work one of seven different forms of magic through touch. Cass’s ability makes him pretty much the only person able to do the things he can do.

Cass is the main story here, but the sub characters like Audrey, Sam, and Daneca (Dani) are all interesting enough and likable enough that the story doesn’t lose its focus or suffer because of their inclusion.

Next up:
Red Glove (April 2011)
Black Heart (April 2012)