Review of: Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton

Title: Blood Harvest

Author: S.J. Bolton

Published by: Minotaur Books

Released: 2010

Summary: The town of Heptonclough is full of secrets. 3 little girls have met with tragedy. The family of the Fletchers have just built a new house next to the old, crumbling church and graveyard. They have 3 kids, Tom who's 10, Joe who's 5, and little Millie who's 2. Tom gets the feeling that someone's always watching him and the family. Someone who might not be exactly normal. Someone also seems to be targeting Millie. Weird accidents start happening and the family is far from safe. The secret surrounding Heptonclough must be uncovered before another little girl is lost.

My Thoughts: I feel I should include a little bookish background, I really enjoy the books of Mary Higgins Clark, so when I learned S.J. Bolton was a Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee, I was excited. And this book did not disappoint. It started off a little slow, but I was quickly hooked. The creepy feeling of the book, the disembodied voices, and the new house built right by the cemetery within the moor. Creepy reading gold!

I enjoyed all the characters and was really hooked by the mystery. I really had no idea who done it until it was revealed. This book has lots of tension, suspense, and danger. Definitely a great, creepy read and I will be checking out more by this author.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

Won't outright scare, but will creep one out.

Review of Skulk by Rosie Best

Title: Skulk

Author: Rosie Best

Published by: Strange Chemistry

Released: October 1, 2013

Summary: Meg Banks has a passion for graffiti. One night, while creating her masterpiece, she stumbles across a dying fox who magically turns into a man. This dying man passes a stone to Meg and tells her to keep it safe. Meg has no idea how much her life is going to change from this strange encounter. That dying man not only passed on a stone, but also passes on the ability to shift into a fox. Meg is now part of a world where people can turn into foxes, spiders, ravens, rats, and butterflies. Meg has a blast with her new abilities, until her new world starts getting dangerous. Someone is searching for a weapon and killing shifters along the way. Meg becomes a prime target. Meg must find whatever this evil person is searching for before it's too late.

My Thoughts: This book was just fun reading! I want to thank Netgalley and Strange Chemistry for letting me review an e-arc of this book. I suggest you go pick this up and give the Skulk a read.

Skulk is just a lot of fun to read. It's really easy to just get caught up and lost in the story. Meg is an easy character to like and the world is highly enjoyable. There's also some really gory bits with blood, guts, and evil pigeons that go straight for the eyes.

It might not be a thought provoking or super emotional read, but who wants that anyway? Skulk is super fun and just a great book to lose oneself in. A highly enjoyable read that I definitely recommend picking up.

Reviews can also be found on: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/731455792 and

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3KETVM2D3NVSZ

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

What the fox, Skulk is great!

Reading Right Now! Fuse by Julianna Baggott

Title: Fuse (Pure #2)

Author: Julianna Baggott

What I'm Reading Right Now! is Fuse by Julianna Baggott. This is the second book in the Pure trilogy. I really don't have all that much to say about it because I just started it. I'm on page 21 which makes me about 5% done. I have really high hopes for this book because I loved Pure. The world building and vivid descriptions of Pure just made for really riveting reading and it really is one of my favorite books of 2013. I hope Fuse doesn't disappoint me. So far, it's taking me a little bit to get into the book, but that might just be because I read the first book quite a while ago. Can't wait to really sink my teeth into Fuse and find out just what is going to happen next to these characters. If you love a good, vivid post-apocalyptic, dystopian book then definitely go pick up Pure.

So that's what I'm Reading Right Now! Tell me what you're Reading Right Now! in the comments below. Have you already read Fuse and it is any good? I'd really love to know.

HAPPY READING!

Review of: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Title: The Hunt

Author: Andrew Fukuda

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin

Released: 2012

Summary: Humans have been hunted to near extinction and now vampires rule. Vampires not only crave human blood but also want their flesh. Gene is a human living as a vampire in disguise. His father has drilled rules into Gene to make the act perfect, but then his father disappears and Gene is left on his own. To boost moral in the vampire city, a hunting lottery is taking place. Winners will get to participate in a heper hunt and it's just Gene's luck that his number gets drawn. How can he hide his secret by participating in a hunt that hits a little too close to home. Will Gene be able to keep up his act, or will he become one of the hunted.

My Thoughts: I was really excited to get my hands on this book. I loved the cover, the concept, and even the author's weird, but cool last name. Upon opening and reading the story, I became a little disappointed. I had a lot of trouble connecting with the main character. He's kind of cold and just hard to like. At the beginning, I thought he was kind of a bore and at the end, I was wishing he wasn't such a selfish idiot. I also had a little trouble with the world. I wanted more information on how the world was overtaken by vampires and the humans hunted to near extinction. And, why call humans hepers? Where does that word even come from?

The vampire race introduced in the story were strange creatures. Instead of laughing, they'd scratch their wrists. Instead of kissing, there was something involving an elbow in the armpit. And there were lots of neck cricking and finger snapping. Just odd little creatures.

I was a little disappointed in this book. I might read the sequel that comes out in 2013 just so I know what happens to the characters. I don't know. Other people might really like this book, so don't let my thoughts turn you against The Hunt.

One part I did enjoy, a vampire turning to a gooey, puss-like mush. No glitter here.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

Odd Vampires, Selfish Gene

Reading Right Now! Skulk by Rosie Best

Title: Skulk

Author: Rosie Best

I got this book for review on Netgalley from Strange Chemistry. I'm about 57% of the way through this novel and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's a fun, no stress kind of read that's just fun. I'm kind of losing myself in this world where people can shapeshift into foxes, rats, spiders, butterflies, and ravens. This story is about a girl named Meg Banks who comes across a dying shapeshifter who passes on the ability to Meg. Meg can now shift into a fox and is part of the Skulk. It's just a fun kind of story to lose yourself in. This book came out October 1st, and if you're looking for something fun to read, then I suggest you pick this one up. 

So that's it for what I'm Reading Right Now! Tell me what you're reading right now in the comments below or whatever.

September Wrap-Up 2013!

Another month has gone down the drain. How sad. So, in September, I managed to read a measly 4 books. It wasn't a great reading month for me. I was mostly disappointed (with the exception of one) in the books that I read. Two of them were continuations of series and the other two were standalone books. I was really excited to get my hands on all of them, but just ended up having a meh sort of month.

 

 

1. Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly: The second book in the Angel series. Not my favorite book in the series just cause it seemed the author really didn't have a plan for how to fill this second book. Angel Fire kind of falls into the second book syndrome. It contains an unneeded love triangle that is highly unsatisfying. There is also not enough action in the book to warrant it being 638 pages. I was just a little disappointed in this sequel, but I will be tuning in to see how the series ends in the final book which is due out in November of this year.

2. Help for the Haunted by John Searles: This was my favorite book of the whole month. I really enjoyed it and am so glad that I won the Goodreads FirstReads giveaway for it. It's an adult read that centers around Slyvie who is trying to deal with the murder of her parents and living with a sister who really doesn't care. The whole book is just creepy and delicious and I really enjoyed every second of it. Really recommend giving this one a read.

3. Blackhearted Betrayal by Kasey Mackenzie: This is the third book in the Shades of Fury novels. I really loved the first book in the series, Red Hot Fury, and have thus far been disappointed by the other books in the series. It's not that they are bad per say, but they just haven't managed to capture the magic of the first book. Blackhearted Betrayal was an okay read, but I really didn't love it in the way of the first book. The whole book was just focused on one long action scene, so it just felt kind of short for me. When the next book comes out, I will read it because I really enjoy the characters and the world.

4. Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield: The writing style was what threw me off of this book. It was so stylized and full of metaphors, similies, and descriptions, that it just got hard to read and really wade through to get to the true story underneath. The story itself was interesting, but the writing style really hindered my enjoyment of the novel.

So that was my quick rundown of the books I read in September. I hope to have a better month in October, which is the fantastic month of Halloween! Hope everyone else had a fantastic month of reading in September.

Review of Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Title: Struck

Author: Jennifer Bosworth

Published by: Farrar Straus Giroux

Released: 2012

Summary: Mia and lightning have a strange attraction to each other. Mia has been struck countless times resulting in scars all over her body and a strange, burning sensation in her chest when her emotions become too strong. Mia and her family move to Los Angeles after an incident occurs in their old town. Then Los Angeles is struck with a freak lightning storm and devastating earthquake. In the aftermath of the disaster a man calling himself The Prophet has sprung up. He and his apostles are preaching the end of the world in the very near future. There is also another group roaming the waste that call themselves the Seekers. Both groups are after people with the Spark of Light. People in possession of this Spark all have one thing in common, they have all been struck by lightning. Mia, who has been struck more times than anyone else, is that one both groups want and are pursuing. Who should Mia trust, who should she join, and just what is her ultimate role during this pivotal time? Can she save the world or will she end it and what role does the mysterious and cute Jeremy play in this whole thing? An interesting debut novel where being Struck isn't the only thing to worry about.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. It had a very interesting concept and a very cinematic feel. The world portrayed was terrifying and dismal, but made for very interesting reading. Struck captured my attention and showed just how twisted human kind can really be.

While I enjoyed this book, there was some things that I felt could have made the story better. It seemed the story started in a middle point. I would have loved for the book to start with the terror and destruction of the earthquake. I think starting with the earthquake would have made made for a better and more exciting beginning to the story.

I enjoyed Mia's character, but I especially enjoyed the cinematic feel of the story. I could see the broken down Los Angeles in my mind with Tentville, the Followers in white, and the one lone Tower still standing in the Waste.

A very interesting concept and overall very enjoyable story. Struck offers up disaster on a massive scale and shows how unequipped we are to actually deal with one.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

Electrifying!