Review: Alterant (Belador #2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love

Title: Alterant
Series: Belador #2
Authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon | Website
& Dianna Love | Website
Available: Now
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Reading Level: Adult
Source: Publisher (Thanks!)


*Possible Series Spoilers Below*






Synopsis via Goodreads:


From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love comes the second book in the Belador series—featuring a league of international warriors with extraordinary abilities who rise up to save mankind from supernatural terrorists.


On the heels of saving mankind from destruction at the hands of the Medb coven, Evalle attempts to convince the Tribunal that she is an Alterant who can be trusted around humans. But the gods and goddess ruling over this Tribunal twist words she’d uttered in the heat of combat and hold her responsible for three dangerous Alterants that escaped their prisons. She is given a choice to either recapture those three who will lose their freedom forever or face the same sentence. Unsure that she can condemn another Alterant to a life she’d die before accepting, Evalle takes on an impossible task only to learn that the entire future of the Beladors rides on her success—and the only person who can help her is the one who wants to gut her.

My thoughts:

Alterant takes us back to an Atlanta bursting with all kinds of preternatural characters. I really liked the first book in this series and was excited to see what adventures (maybe predicaments would be a better word) Evalle would take part in next. 

I'm not sure if it was because of the amount of time that had passed since I read book one, Blood Trinity, but I had difficulty getting invested in Alterant during the first 100 or so pages. The world Kenyon and Love created is unbelievably complex. I found this to be both an asset and a hindrance. There was so very much happening along with a massive cast of characters. I was left feeling a little overwhelmed. Thankfully, events from Blood Trinity eventually started to come back to me, and I was able to remember how everyone was connected. The large cast also possessed an array of unusual names that I found myself stumbling over quite a bit. The ARC copy did have a glossary in the back. I definitely recommend using it. If you visit Sherrilyn Kenyon’s website she has a super cool character section complete with pictures. I referred to it numerous times while reading. It can be found here. 

The Belador series doesn't contain the amount of romance you would typically expect from Kenyon. If you dig urban fantasy you'll eat this up. If you’re more of a paranormal romance fan you might be left underwhelmed. There is a little more smoochy time in Alterant than Blood Trinity.  Evalle's traumatizing past, and the resulting emotional scars, cause her not to be super comfortable with lots of mushy romance. I totally respect that and like her even more because of it. If she forgot all her troubles because a hot guy showed an interest I’d have a problem finding it believable. I love the way the authors have handled the traumas Evalle has suffered and the slow going process of healing . They could rush it and make Evalle fall victim to insta-love, but they chose a pacing that is perfect, consistent and believable. I can't wait to see how her character evolves as this series continues. I have to say I'm not feeling the chemistry with Storm though. A little more Black Ops Isak would make me a very happy girl :)  

While I had trouble initially, I did thoroughly enjoy the last 200 pages of Alterant, but still felt it didn’t live up to Blood Trinity. I will still continue the series because I really like Evalle and am patiently waiting for Isak’s reaction when he figures out she isn’t just a human girl who attracts paranormal trouble. 

My Rating:

Books in this series:

ARC Review: Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith

Title: Back When You Were Easier to Love
Author: Emily Wing Smith
Available: Now
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary












Description from Goodreads:


What's worse than getting dumped? Not even knowing if you've been dumped. Joy got no goodbye, and certainly no explanation when Zan—the love of her life and the only good thing about stifling, backward Haven, Utah—unceremoniously and unexpectedly left for college a year early. Joy needs closure almost as much as she needs Zan, so she heads for California, and Zan, riding shotgun beside Zan's former-best-friend Noah.

Original and insightful, quirky and crushing, Joy's story is told in surprising and artfully shifting flashbacks between her life then and now. Exquisite craft and wry, relatable humor signal the arrival of Emily Wing Smith as a breakout talent.

My thoughts:

Back When You Were Easier to Love follows Joy's quest for closure. Her boyfriend Zan has left their small Mormon community to attend college in California. Joy places blame on the lame kids in her school because Zahn was so different. More mature, intelligent, good looking. You name it Zahn was better. Of course he’d have no choice but to leave for bigger and better things. This has her heading out on a road trip with Zahn's best friend with the hope she can find the closure she so desperately needs.

This is the story of a girl in love with a boy who might not be as perfect as she thinks. Unfortunately, main character Joy's whining and woe is me attitude took up a huge chunk of the book. While I enjoyed the premise and the look at the life of a Mormon teen, I couldn't bring myself to care about Joy or her cause. By the time Joy had started to look at life in a different light there wasn't enough book left for my opinion of her to change. Her love for Zan was borderline obsessive and caused her to treat many of her classmates like they were second rate. Sure didn’t win her any cool points with me. There were also several interesting secondary characters I didn't get to know as well as I would have liked. Joy seemed to have a great group of friends who stuck with her even when she wasn’t being such a great friend.

The book did contain solid writing and I love when a story takes readers on a road trip. I would have given it a 4 star rating if the characters had just contained more depth and developed more as the plot progressed. Even an extra 20 pages might have given Joy time to get on my good side. While I didn’t feel the love for Joy this is still a cute read with a pretty good ending.

Also wanted to note this is a pretty clean read. Some references to co-ed dorm’s and possible shenanigans resulting from the living arrangement. Also an innocent smooch or two. I’d consider this safe for even younger teens.

My Rating:

Cover thoughts: Cute, cute, cute! It is what made me want to read this book.

Source:

Around the World Tours

Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop

Title: Trapped
Author: Michael Northrop | Author Website
Available: Now
Publisher: Scholastic
Reading Level: Young Adult












Description from Goodreads:


The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive....

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision....

My thoughts:

Trapped follows the story of seven high school students trapped in their school during a blizzard. The story offers a medley of characters, each with very unique personalities. Some of these characters meshed well and others clashed. This led to moments of tension in an all ready tense situation. 

Trapped is a fast paced and intense read. It had no problem holding my interest, but the pacing was a little bit too fast for my taste. I still enjoyed the time I spent reading. I thought the author offered an excellent look at how the instinct to survive sets in when placed in a situation that is rapidly escalating out of control. Not a light read by any means. Parts were downright frightening. If you enjoy being scared, pick this up the next time you’re braving severe weather. I also wasn’t thrilled with the ending because it didn’t offer the extent of closure I desired after riding out the blizzard with these seven teens. 

Other than my minor complaints this was a pretty good book. I just needed a little more development of the characters to fully connect. I was definitely invested in the situation and outcome, but didn’t feel like I knew the characters as well as I would have liked.

If you love an action driven read, than you’ll probably love Trapped. I think guys will especially dig it. Just the right amount of action, danger, and a male narrator to boot. 

My Rating:

Source:

ARC Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium 
Series: Delirium #1
Author: Lauren Oliver | Author’s Website
Available: Now
Genre: Dystopian
Reading Level: Young Adult












Description from Goodreads:


Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love - the deliria - blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.


My thoughts:


Set in a future where love has been blamed as the cause for almost all forms of health issues and even wars, scientists have found a way to cure love with a treatment performed on all members of society when they are around the age of 18 years old. Having watched her mother and sister fall victim to "Amor Deliria Nervosa”, Lena can’t wait for the day her treatment is performed. Then she meets a beautiful boy, and begins to question all she was taught to believe.


Delirium is a book I wanted to love. I saw the rave reviews and everyone gushing over its amazingness. Now I find myself pondering was it that hype that caused it to fall short? I know others loved this one, so please refrain from throwing tomatoes. It had aspects I truly did enjoy and those I didn’t. The idea of love as a disease was a fascinating one, but when the author delved into descriptions of mothers that were so detached from their children they showed no emotion when they were hurt, I had to ask myself how did these same babies survive infancy. I guess I’m from the school of thought that the unconditional love I feel for my children is one of the driving forces behind my need to comfort and care for them. Take that away and will I be able to nurture in the way the child needs? I suppose basic needs can be easily met, but that still leaves the emotional needs all children crave. Children want their parent’s love and acceptance, and all the parent’s in Delirium could offer was bland indifference. I hoped by the end of the book I’d be a believer, but it didn’t happen. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that denying these children love would lead to even more problems, or maybe I’m just over thinking it ;)


The first 150+ pages was so bogged down with world building for this complex idea that the pace moved very slowly and my attention was swaying. The main characters were lackluster at best. By the time I reached the end Lena and Alex hadn’t left much of an impression on me. Lena seemed to be such a strong advocate of “the cure” initially, I had trouble believing she would abandon it all so quickly over a boy. Once plot twists began to come to light I found I was much more interested. The author really has a beautiful writing style, but I need more action and a somewhat plausible explanation for the state of the world when I read a dystopian novel. I imagine her contemporary novel (which I have not read) is absolutely stunning if the flow and pace are similar to that of Delirium. 


Will I read the next? Yes! I truly hope that now that the world has been set up, the next book will focus on answering questions and solving the mysteries that popped up over the course of Delirium. I’m also very interested in what lies outside the fences of civilization. I hope the next installment will trigger a case of "Amor Deliria Nervosa” for me the way it has for so many other readers.

My Rating:

Source:

Around The World Tours

ARC Review & Giveaway: The Demon Trapper’s Daughter by Jana Oliver

Title: The Demon Trapper’s Daughter
Series: Demon Trapper’s #1
Author: Jana Oliver - Author’s Website
Available: Now
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult












Description from Goodreads:


Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself – and that’s exactly what the demons are counting on…

Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps.  The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood.  And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?

My thoughts:

Riley is training to become a Demon Trapper just like her very skilled demon trapping father. Being young and a girl doesn’t earn her any cool points from fellow trappers. Some even make comments about her only being accepted because of her father’s status. As demon activity around the city increases, and their usual predictable behavior changes, Riley finds herself facing a devastating loss. The demons have also started referring to her by name. Not the norm, and Riley is growing more concerned with every encounter.

I need to start by saying how much I enjoyed this book. I read it in one sitting. The author really brings a fresh idea into the world of Young Adult and Urban Fantasy. The whole demon trapping idea is uber-cool. With that said, I do have a couple of teeny tiny complaints. I found myself seriously jonesing for a better explanation as to why demons were running amuck in Atlanta. Also some points seemed to contradict the status of the world in which the novel takes place. Cars and gasoline were a luxury, but the just getting by trappers all had one. With such an emphasis on how people were struggling it seemed the author wasn’t consistently demonstrating the hardship.

I really liked main character, Riley. After reading other reviews I found she doesn’t have much of a fan club. I admit I didn’t like how she treated her dad’s trapping partner, Beck, over the course of the book. In her defense after having a huge crush on him, she is bound to suffer from a case of bruised pride over him not reciprocating the feelings. Does it give her a free pass to be a bitch? Of course not, but she is obviously a character who has trouble channeling her feelings without losing her temper. She is far from perfect, but I like that her “flaws" give her character so much room for personal growth as this series progresses. I wasn’t feeling any chemistry between Riley and love interest, Simon. I can actually say I didn’t like anything about Simon. I loved Beck, and this is probably where my hate strong dislike for Simon stems. I’m Team Beck 100%, but could do without the dialogue the author used to emphasize his southern accent. I lost count of how many times he said “yer”, and found it very distracting, but I still ♥ him. There is also a third boy thrown into the mix, but he wasn’t around enough for me to give him a love him or hate him label.

Final Verdict: I feel this is a series with huge amounts of promise, and one that I will continue without a doubt. I noticed the UK version has about 80 pages more than the US version. I’d love to get my hands on a copy to compare. I’m giving this one a very high 3 kitty rating (leaning oh so close to a 4 kitty rating). I feel like the author offered us characters and a world that has so much room for growth. I’m eager to see how this story continues, and hope the author will delve a little deeper into how the demon infested world came to be.


Content Warning: This is YA, but is very heavy on the adult language/situations. I’d be hesitant to recommend it to anyone under the age of 15 or 16.

My Rating:

If you want a peek at the world Riley lives in there is a free bonus story in e-book form titled Retro Demonology. 

Order The Demon Trapper’s Daughter from Amazon:

Want to win my gently used ARC? Just leave a comment with a way to contact you (email/Twitter/Blog Address/etc.) I’ll choose a winner on 3/19 I’m willing to ship within the U.S or to Canada.

Review: One Season of Sunshine by Julia London

Title: One Season of Sunshine
Author: Julia London
Available: Now
Number of Pages: 392
Reading Level: Adult


3 out of 5 Stars








Description from Goodreads:


Should some questions be left unanswered? 

Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up. Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she’s come to Cedar Springs for answers. 

Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly. Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been. 

As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna’s past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear. Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever? 


My thoughts:


Jane Aaron moves to Cedar Springs, Texas in search of her birth mother. Taking a leave of absence from her job as a school teacher, Jane needs to find a job to help make ends meet. After a quick, and impersonal interview she is hired as a nanny by a very wealthy widow. Jane and her new boss, Asher, clash from day one. Lucky for Jane he finds her outspokenness attractive, and doesn’t fire her. As the relationship between Asher and Jane begins to evolve into an intense attraction, they find several obstacles standing in their way. 


This was a good story, but the characters left much to be desired. Jane came off as whiny and selfish the majority of the time. With her character’s age, and the amount of education she had I found her too immature to really fit the part. Asher was a bit better, but he still ranked low on my interesting scale. With that said, the plot and pace of the story was good. I also really loved what the resolution entailed, and never saw it coming. 


I don’t usually comment on the covers of the books I review, but I felt the need to with this one. I found the cover of this one very misleading. I know the cover isn’t always a perfect representation of the characters, but this one makes me think this story is about a young girl and her grandmother. Not a 20 something searching for the woman who gave her up for adoption.


While overall I did enjoy this one, I  never felt any connection to the characters or sympathy when it came to their troubles. A nice solid story, but the lack of realistic characters caused this one to be flawed in my opinion. Still a solid 3 stars considering the pace was enough to keep me reading. I’m usually a character driven reader, and find it difficult to finish books with characters I don’t enjoy. That was not the case with this one as the plot was enough to hold my interest.

*Received from the publisher in exchange for my review.