Of Triton by Anna Banks (The Syrena Legacy #2) (audio)

In this sequel to Of Poseidon, Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half- Breeds should be put to death.

As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known

So here is the second half of  Of Poseidon and it clears up what will happen to Emma if she is ever found out and about her mother, the lost princess of Poseidon. Galen is such an alpha male and he borders much more on controlling in this book than he did in the first or maybe I don't remember. And Emma comes out much more child-like because of this. Her mother is still not a presence despite being in the book more. I wish there would have been more of that relationship or any other relationship. Galen and Emma spend most of the book apart though they do manage a few nice kissing scenes. Still I wanted them more together. I guess that's why there is going to be a third book. It's not entirely necessary. The plot points were pretty wrapped up at the end of this book so I guess the third one is just for kicks. Ah well, it is a cute series and the characters are genuinely enjoyable. Hopefully Galen and Emma can get time together now that the Syrena issues are settled.

Rebecca Gibel narrates this one as she did the first one. I enjoy her reading and I like the voices she does for each. She is best in Emma's chapters but I would listen to her again.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (audio)

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

Where to begin? First, I'll never doubt Neil Gaiman again. When I started this I wasn't sure. It wasn't grabbing my interest and I wasn't feeling the narration. But once Lettie and the narrator (he is never named) go into the woods to see about the thing that was unleashed, I got interested and then I didn't want to stop. And then Ursula Monkton came to the house and I really didn't want to stop. I wanted to see how they dealt with her and where this story was going and who were Lettie and her family? Of course only a few answers are provided. And that's okay. I liked that framing of the story and how it is told as a flashback and the ending was great too. It is a beautiful fairy tale-like story and I enjoyed it immensely.

5 hours, 45 minutes
 
The narration was provided by Neil Gaiman. This is the first book I believed I've listened to of his with him as the reader and I enjoyed his reading.  I've heard he is a good narrator and I've heard right. I would definitely listen to another one of his books with him as the narrator.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle #2)

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same.

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life.

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...
 
I find this series has sort of a dreamy, menacing quality to it. It's permeated each book so far. Granted there have only been 2 books but it's pretty palatable. I did like learning more about Ronan, who just seemed like a dangerous sardonic character in the first book. He is much more the focus of this book to the determent of Blue sadly. She becomes a secondary character in this book only notable for her romantic feelings. But her family takes a bit of a larger role and that is cool. I just wanted more of Blue and maybe less of Gansey. So Ronan's secrets and his family history are explored and someone is out to get someone like Ronan who is very much like his father. It is all oddly matter of fact. These characters take everything in stride.

The thing about this book, though, is that it is all about the set-up. The Raven Boys was the beginning and got the story moving. This one is mostly about moving the characters to where they need to be for the finale. I'm curious how that works in a 4 book series . Usually that is the job for the middle book. So will the next book also be mostly for moving the characters towards the finale? Who knows? I say this because this is a fantastic book and I flew through it at a speed that I've sadly grown unaccustomed. But when I thought about what happened in the book and what I was going to say about it, I realized that a lot happened but nothing felt like a true revelation. I know that doesn't/can't happen in every book. But I wanted for something to shock me a little.

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin #2) (audio)

When Sybella is sent back to the most hellish place on earth, her father's home, by the convent of St. Mortain in order to protect the Duchess and the country of Brittany, she must endure the torment of her family for her country and her god. But a mission to rescue one of the country's heroes brings her closer to the truth of her own feelings about her family and herself.  

Sybella is one of the supporting characters in Grave Mercy and not one that was really explored so it was interesting to hear more of her story. I was surprised at the direction her story took but then it made sense in the context of the first book too. Sybella has a lot of dark secrets and the book manages to draw them out without making it unbearable. She manages to grow as a character too without losing any of her vigor or righteousness. I liked her relationship with Beast and thought the Beauty and the Beast connection was kind of cute though this isn't fairy tale related at all. It's just a glance in that direction. They really compliment each other and Beast is a terrific character that I wish got a little more page time. But really, at the heart of this book, it is about Sybella and her family and the ties that bind even when they should break.

His Fair Assassin
Grave Mercy #1

Angela Goethals is the narrator and I liked her voice and her reading. She does a good job of bringing Sybella to life. My only problem with the audiobook is one I had with Grave Mercy and that is the odd lag during the track changes. It's not very smooth and disjoints the scenes sometimes with odd pauses. 

13 hours, 30 minutes.

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard (Something Strange and Deadly #1)

Eleanor Fitt is one of the Philadelphia Fitts though they've fallen on hard times since her father lost his business and then died. Her mother is determined to marry her off to a rich husband in order to reclaim their wealth and standing. But the Dead are rising in Philadelphia controlled by a necromancer and Eleanor's brother is still missing. When one of the Dead gives Eleanor a letter from him, she knows that something has gone terribly wrong. So she turns to the Spirit-Hunters for help and finds herself dealing with unnatural forces.

First, let me say that I read this is in 2 separate reading times. I was reading it and then it was due back so I had to wait to check it out again. One of the hazardous of this is having a disjointed reading experience. I'll try not to reflect that in the review but just so you know. The other thing is that I expected this to be a zombie novel and it's kind of not really. There are dead rising, yes, but not of their own power (not all of them anyway) but under the power of a necromancer. It's a concept I don't mind but I wish it had been spelled out a bit more.

Eleanor is a pretty cool girl. She doesn't act like a girl from the 1800's, seeming much more modern than a girl of that era. And the language wasn't quite right either. But it was a fun book and I enjoyed it. I do like a main character with some gumption and sass and Eleanor had both to spare. She certainly didn't shy away from much. The romantic aspect was a bit meh for me. I did like how everything tied together though. But really it was pretty obvious who the necromancer was from early on since it really could be only one of two characters so I wasn't surprised. I did wonder how this was going to be a series but the ending was good enough to provide a unexpected way into a trilogy.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (audio)

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

I didn't realize this was a historical novel set in 15th century Brittany, a place I didn't know a lot about so I learned something new. Isamae is an interesting character. Very much abusive by her "father" and eventually sold off into marriage by him to what would have been an abusive husband, she is rescued from that situation and brought to the convent of St. Mortain as the saint is her true father. There she learns about all the ways to kill a person and becomes an expert at poisons. Finally she is sent out on her first mission to kill a traitor of Brittany, someone who is marked by Mortain. In the course of her mission, she meets Duval, the bastad son of the former Duke of Brittany though she doesn't realize it at first. Isamae and Duval do not like or trust each other at first and so it's nice to see their relationship grow in an organic manner.

There is a lot of political intrigue and maneuvering in this book as befits this time period. And learning more about court life and assassins is always interesting. While the romance part was nice, it is the court life that makes this book so interesting. And the character growth in Isamae is refreshing.

Provided by SYNC

Erin Moon is the narrator and I enjoyed her reading. Her French pronunciations are excellent and she moved the story along just fine.

14 hours, 15 minutes

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #3) (audio)

Tessa and Jem are still engaged to be married and Will is still in love with Tessa but puts his feelings aside for his parabatai. But as Mortmain begins his final assualt against the Shadowhunters, he still needs one thing to complete his plan, Tessa. Will and Jem as well as the rest of the London Institute try to protect her and find Mortmain, but they find opposition from the least likely place.

I enjoyed this last installment of The Infernal Devices series. Though it felt like the the Mortmain plot was plot B and the love triangle was plot A. It never really felt like there was a danger from Mortmain but I did like how that plot point was resolved. And overall how the love triangle was solved too. It was nice to see so much growth in these characters from Clockwork Angel to Clockwork Princess. I think I will be moving on to the Mortal Instruments series sometime soon.

Daniel Sharman is the narrator and I enjoyed his performance. He was a really good reader for this book and I liked him better than the narrator for the last Infernal Devices book. 
16 hours, 15 minutes

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks (The Syrena Legacy #1) (audio)

Emma is on vacation in Florida when she literally bumps into one of the hottest guys she's ever seen. Little does she know that Galen is a prince of the Syrena (aka merpeople) who is looking for her. Emma has the ability to communicate with fish, something unusual for both humans and Syrena. This ability might be the key to uniting the two Syrena kingdoms who are engaged in a bloodless war. 

If you've ever read a romance novel especially a paranormal romance novel then you will be familiar with the elements to this story. There's the ultimate alpha male and the sweet, spunky, curvy girl who drives him crazy. They fight a lot but there is an undeniable attraction and they have great chemistry when they kiss. That doesn't mean this wasn't a great book. It was really fun and I liked Emma and Galen. It was just very familiar. It really could have been an adult romance if it weren't for the fact that Emma is still in high school. Both of them are legally adults but I guess they are on the fine line between young adult and adult. But don't worry there is no sex and very little kissing (sadly). I loved Emma and Galen but they needed to get their act together.

Still this was super fun and had some great merpeople elements. I feel like the characters were being deliberately obtuse when it came to figuring out who Emma really was but it left room for a "shocking" ending which left the reader hanging. I'm pretty sure no one will really be surprised at the end but I do want to find out what happens next. My only complaint is that I wasn't feeling how Galen's chapters were written. Emma was in first person and Galen was in subjective third person. I'm not really fond of this kind of back and forth.

Rebecca Gibel is the narrator and I liked her. She does a great Jersey accent for some of the minor characters and she really captures the nature of the characters.
9 hours, 32 minutes

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #2)

The search for the Magister is becoming more desperate as Bendick Lightwood seeks to take the Institute from Charlotte. The Branwells are given two weeks to find the Magister. Meanwhile, Will finds that he cannot get over his love for Tessa and Tessa finds her feelings for Jem are growing even as she can't help loving Will.

I couldn't remember the first book, Clockwork Angel, so when I looked at my review for it I wasn't surprised to find I hadn't been impressed. But still I didn't hate it, just felt neutral on it so I decided to go ahead and continue on with the series. I liked this one. It was really good and I think the narration helped with that. So maybe this is one of those series that works better for me on audio than reading it. It's happened before.

In this one we find out Will's secret, the reason he pushes Tessa Gray (and everyone one else) away. It's a valid reason but I must say the resolution of it was a bit of a disappointment and it came about really easily. I guess having a warlock for a "friend" comes in handy. A large portion of this book is devoted to the love triangle between Will, Tess, and Jem. I think Jem is pretty unaware that he is involved in a love triangle. It gets a little too angsty for my taste though it does have some pretty awesome kissing scenes.

The other plot is trying to find Mortmain and dealing with his minions. Less time is devoted to this. Consequently I don't feel like Mortmain is much of a threat. Probably because I already have assumed the ending. The love story is the real driving force in this series.

Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl) and Heather Lind narrated this story. Lind does the majority of the narration with Westwick always reading the quotations and the beginning of the chapters. I'm not sure where the division came in. I guess Lind read most of the Tess parts and, if the story focused more on Will, Westwick read that bit. It worked out. I enjoyed both their readings. Lind seems to have a better time with voices although Westwick's American voice is really good (it would have to be after all the time on Gossip Girl) he doesn't do girl voices quite right. So it was a nice mixture if a little odd.

15.5 hours

The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle #1)

Description from Goodreads:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

So this is a strange book, but strange in a good kind of way. Strange in the kind of way where I wish there was more. It has a dreamlike quality that works for it, the same quality that Linger and Shiver had. It must be Stiefvater's style. It was written so beautifully and it was hard when it was over. And I liked all the characters even Ronan who tries so hard to be unlikeable. There is something about Gansey's character that he just leaps off the page and I developed a little crush even though that is not something I normally do with fictional characters. Blue is pretty crush-worthy too. She is just a wonderful, strong, fearless girl and she is a great addition to the dynamic of the boys.

There is a lot of mystery going on this book between the ley lines and a boy who was murdered and Adam's home life and Blue's true love. There is a lot of set-up too since this is apparently going to be a quartet of books. But it doesn't feel incomplete like so many first books do. Instead it brilliantly shows the world that Blue and the Raven Boys live in and solves a few mysteries and sets up a few more and includes plenty of other-worldliness and danger in it too.

The Diviners by Libba Bray (audio)

I swear Libba Bray gets better with each book that she writes. The Diviners is a brilliant book. It not only has a mystery written in but it deftly sets up the next book but not in a frustrating way.  There are a lot of elements and characters but the main focus is Evie O'Neill and the Pinnacle Killer. After Evie makes a mistake in her hometown her parents send her to Manhattan to live with her uncle Will, the curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult (AKA "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies") and his assistant Jericho. There she revels in the New York City life. But when someone is killed in a particularly gruesome fashion and the body left with occult symbols, Will is pulled into the case by the police and Evie cannot help herself and gets involved as well.

It's easy to see the vast amount of research that Bray must have put into this book. From the slang to locale to the speakeasies, she covers one of my favorite historical time periods, the 1920s. And then she adds a creepy murder/ghost story to the mix and everything is jake. I will have the little song the murderer sings as he gets to work haunting me for a long time. That's not a good thing but it shows how expertly these details are woven into the story.

Evie is a brat for a good portion of this book. She is very self-centered and comes off as uncaring about other people's feelings. While it was nice to have a strong female character, one is less of an asshole to everyone else would be nice. But it gives Evie room to grow. I love the romance that develops as it happens naturally but I wonder if a love triangle is planned because while Evie develops feelings for one boy, I developed feelings for another. I'm curious to see how it plays out. 

The other characters who are minor in this book are interesting as well. I expect that they will become more major as the series plays out. Memphis Campbell and Theta Knight are my favorites. They both have such sad back stories. I can't wait to find out what happens to them next especially given that so much of their characters haven't been fully explored. There is actually a lot that needs to be explained. But it didn't feel unfinished like so many cliffhangers do. It just feels like there is so much more to learn.

18 hours

Read by January LaVoy who does a great job voicing all the characters though her Will and Jericho don't deviate too much from each other. And she only seems to have one child voice. But she still does a great job of acting out the story and I liked her reading of it.

"Naughty John, Naughty John, does his work with his apron on. Cuts your throat and takes your bones, sells 'em off for a coupla stones."

The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright

Amy is frustrated with constantly having to care for her brain damaged sister. Her mother always thinks that Amy should be taking care of Louann but Amy just wants to be normal for a change. When the chance comes for Amy to stay with her aunt while she cleans out Amy's great grandparent's house, Amy jumps at it. But something spooky is going one with the dollhouse in the attic. The doll seems to be moving on their own reenacting a grisly scene that took place years ago.

My sister bought a bunch of our old childhood favorites at a library book sale a couple of months ago and I couldn't resist picking up The Dollhouse Murders. It used to creep me out big time when I was younger but I still have fond memories of it. While the language is outdated, specifically referring to Amy's sister as "retarded" the story still holds up. Amy's frustrated at always having to take care of her sister and her embarrassment over Louann's behavior is something I think most older siblings can relate to at one time or another. The story also touches on Amy's mother's expectations and her own frustrations. As an adult I can understand more of Amy's mother than I did as a child.

The dollhouse mystery is still spooky. Dolls that can move by themselves is a creepy concept and it have them act out a murder is freaky. It is interesting that in the end Amy needs the help of her sister to figure out what the dolls are trying to say. That was a nice little twist to the story.

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

All Lizzy wants to do is lead a normal life baking delicious cupcakes. But her dreams are interrupted by Diesel who informs her that she has a special gift of sensing magical energy trapped in objects. Now the two of them are after  seven powerful stones each imbued with the essence of a deadly sin. This time it is the Luxuria Stone also known as the lust stone. Between Diesel's evil cousin Wulf and a crazy lady calling herself Anarchy, Diesel and Lizzy are going to have a hell of a time retrieving it. 


I am enjoying this series. I think Lizzy and Diesel make a good team and their adventures are pretty funny. I love how all these weird things happen and Lizzy just takes it in stride, for the most part. The scavenger hunt they go on to find the Luxuria Stone is pretty interesting and takes up most of the book. I really wanted there to be more when they did find the stone but it was still a good book. The addition of Anarchy is interesting and she makes for a better villain than Wulf because she is just crazy. Sometimes I get a little tired of Janet Evanovich's penance for ending a book on a cliffhanger or in the middle of interesting scene and that is what happened here. But I will definitely continue to read this series.


Second in the Lizzy and Diesel series
#1 Wicked Appetite

Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Steifvater

Sam and Grace have been through so much together and now they face a challenge that means life or death.  Isabelle's dad has found a way to eliminate the wolves and with Grace still shifting, it becomes imperative that Sam, Cole, and Isabelle find a way to save the wolves.

This was a great ending to this series. I was actually expecting a much sadder ending.  While it was sad enough that I cried, it was still hopeful and I didn't mind the fact that a finite ending wasn't given to Sam and Grace. Real life doesn't work that way and so books don't have to either. Though I did find Sam and Grace, well Sam in particular, much more frustrating. His inability to do something made me want to shake him. Isabelle and Cole are really my favorites. They are much more sarcastic and proactive and I love them for it. Sam and Grace's pure sweet love is wonderful to read and I love them too, but sometimes you need a bit of grit in your romance.

12 hours, 10 minutes

Read by Jenna Lamia, Pierce Cravens, Dan Bittner, Emma Galvin, Maggie Stiefvater

The same cast from the previous book returns and they do a great job. Each manages to embody their character and they play them beautifully. The audio books are great for this series because the actors really manage to convey the emotions well. I enjoyed this audio series a lot.

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

What if Buffy was only Buffy every other day?  That's pretty much the premise behind this book.  But it's pretty awesome.  Kali is kick ass on some days and on the others she is an ordinary human.  She doesn't know why but on her hunter days she is compelled to seek out the things that go bump in the night and kill them.  But it's one on of her ordinary days that she finds that a classmate is infected with a chupacabra, a virus-like organization that sucks the blood out of people and erases their memories.   Figuring that she can kill it on her hunter day, Kali takes it into her body only needing survive the chupacabra's draining until the next sundown.  But she finds that it's presence changes her in ways she could not predict.  Aided by some new friends, including a sort-of psychic, her older brother and his girlfriend, the girl who originally hosted the chupacabra, Kali begins to seek out the truth behind her origins.

I am a huge Buffy fan.  And I love the idea that superhero is only a superhero some of the time.  It makes the hero(ine) much more interesting.  I was surprised by the direction that this book ultimately takes, but surprised in a good way. Kali legitimately has a reason to complain because basically her life changes from day to day without her control.  And she wants to know if she is alone or if there are others like her.  But she and her dad have a frosty relationship so she can't ask him and tip him off. The answer actually comes from a surprising source and I love that. Kali is a great character whether she is the hunter or not and she is very much a teenager despite her unusual nature.  This is a fun read, not too gory or over the top, but just right with a unique concept.


From NetGalley

The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson

Rory is from a small town in Louisiana, but she moves to London when her parents decided to teach in England for a year.  Luckily she gets a good roommate at her new school and starts figuring out the ways of the English. Less lucky is the fact that someone has started imitating the Ripper murders.  And there is no evidence of who it is despite there being cameras everywhere.  And somehow Rory has started seeing people that no one else can see.  

Annoy a Southerner, and we will drain away the moments of your life with our slow, detailed replies until you are nothing but a husk of your former self and that much closer to death.  p.25

I'm always wary of non-Southerners writing about teens (or really anyone) from Louisiana.  Sometimes it's hard to get right.  And I love Maureen Johnson so I wanted her to get it right.  But the thing about Rory is that she is less Louisianan and more Southerner and more teen than all of that.  And she is a definite fish out of water at her Wexford.  But she manages with the help of her new friends.  The thing about Rory is that she just sort of goes along, just doing what everyone tells her.  She was a little blank for a main character.  I guessing she is suppose to act as proxy for the reader and that would explain it.

But beyond Rory, the story definitely fell on the creepy side of the line.  So much so that I refused to read it before bed as I like sleeping and not dreaming of murders or imagining ghosts in the dark corners of my room.  I don't know much about Jack the Ripper so I did a little research after I started.  The background is explained but I like to know before I start.  I liked the introduction to the mystery and I liked the twist in the middle that changed the story.  It made it different.  I was actually surprised that by whodunit and thought it was set up nicely though the info dump at the end was a little too much.  The set up for the next book was unique and I'm excited to see what happens to Rory in the next book.

350 Page

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Pearl is a fun-loving, blood-drinking sixteen year old bad girl vampire.  That is until she is stabbed by a unicorn.  Suddenly she is a different kind of vampire, one who can walk in the sunlight and has a reflection.  But she is also turning into a different kind of girl, much to her family's displeasure.  Now they have given her the task of luring a large meal to the Fealty Ceremony and, for Pearl, that means going to high school.

I loved Pearl in a weird way.  I love that she was so badass and so out to prove herself and that doesn't change even after the unicorn incident.  I love that it was a unicorn of all things that stabbed her.  So random and fun.  But I loved Pearl's gradual transformation the best and the fact that she went to the library of all places as soon as she could walk in the sunlight.  Her fascination with daylight was almost touching.  It's something everyone just takes for granted but as a vampire she had no experience with it.  Pearl was awesome, even in high school.  She was just the coolest.  And Evan, the boy, was super sweet and I liked him too.  It is a romance-light book which works for the story being told.


The story was really fun and I liked this book.  The vampires and the unicorns, it's a weird combination but it works in this book.  I did have a little laugh at the Vampire King of New England because I mean, come on, what kind of title is that? But the world was built nicely and everything made sense and there were some good light hearted laugh out loud moments in the midst of Pearl's identity crisis.  And prom, of course.

From the publisher
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publish date: 9/13/2011

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Evie works for IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency)  bagging and tagging paranormals and wishing she was a normal girl herself.  But when the paranormals start dying, the mystery of who and what Evie becomes all too important.

Just as he reached for my neck, I tased him. I was there to bag and tag, not to kill. Besides, if I had to carry separate weapons for every paranormal I took out, I'd be dragging around a full luggage set. Tasers are a one-size-fits-all paranormal butt-kicking option. Mine's pink with rhinestones. Tasey and I have had a lot of good times together.

I liked Evie's sarcastic tone and her naivete.  She was kick-ass without being too in-your-face tough.  This was a fun book and I really enjoyed it.  I was a little frustrated by the fact that no one would answer a darn question in a straightforward manner, but still it was interesting, uncovering the secret of Evie and Vivian.  Thought not too much of the secret, I assume, since this is still a series and there is more to the story than what is in this book.  It was nice that the book didn't end on too much of cliffhanger.  I hate that.  It could almost be a standalone if necessary. 

Lend is my favorite boy of the moment.  Who could be more perfect and more perfect for Evie?  Sigh.  No one.  He is awesome and so is his family.   I loved that part of the book.  And I loved the chemistry between Evie and Lend.  I can't wait to read more about them.

8 hours, 40 minutes

Emily Eiden is the narrator and she does a great job of capturing the sacrastic nature of Evie and the sweetness of Lend.  I liked her voices for all the characters.  Her pacing was pretty much just great and she has a wonderful voice.  I really liked her and would definitely listen to something else read by her.

Whisper in my Ear

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

When Ari goes searching for her mother it leads her to New 2, the city formally known as New Orleans, now a washed out shadow of itself after two hurricanes devastated the area.  There she finds all manner of people and she begins to learn about the curse that has taken the life of her mother and so many before her.

I'd just killed a man - my fingers flexed on the hilt of the blade - with a goddamn miniature sword.
Family time with the Sandersons never covered this.  p.22

The good: New Orleans, baby!  It was fun reading a book and knowing all the places the author was describing.  From Covington and Mandeville (where my in-laws live) to the drive across the Causeway to the Garden District and the French Quarter, I know it all and I love it in a book.  Especially a book about New Orleans basically existing outside of the United States and being truly its own place. The atmosphere was just right for a book about paranormal creatures because what better place than New Orleans.  Ari is a pretty kickass character though she jumps to conclusions too quickly and is always ready to just leave when she doesn't like how things are going.  Sebastian too is pretty awesome and definitely a worthy boy for Ari.  I think Violet, a mysterious little girl, might be my favorite character.  Something about her intrigues me.

The bad: My problem with this book is that it reads like an adult writer writing a young adult book.  While I'm not opposed to language in a book (I rarely mention it in a review) this cursing felt forced in places.  Some of the characters who used curse words just seemed wrong saying them.  It was odd.  And I felt like it pulled me out of the book and made me contemplate whether or not such a character would really say that. I also felt like the author just threw every supernatural or paranormal creature at the book hoping something would stick. I was initially disappointed by the reveal of the main antagonist and who Ari turns out to be.  It just felt random.  But I can see it working too so maybe I withhold judgement on that point.

Overbite (Insatiable #2) by Meg Cabot

Meena Harper is now working for the super secret Palatine Guard using her psychic abilities to keep its employees safe.  But when her ex-boyfriend, the prince of darkness and vampire king, Lucien reappears, she knows her life is about to get crazy again.  Something is going on in New York and within the Palatine Guard itself and Meena is right in the middle of the whole thing ... again.

And true, their relationship had gone from amazing to unmitigated disaster in record time because he'd kept biting her.  And then the members of his family kept trying to do the same.  And now vampires all over the world seemed to think of Meena's blood as a refreshing pick-me-up, like Dr. Pepper.  p.30

Another fun book from Meg Cabot and I'm guessing the last book in this series which is fine.  Meena is not very good at keeping in control of her life and she seems to attract the Alpha Male types, like Lucien and Alaric, neither of whom I liked very much.  Both of them rankled my nerves and I have a hard time believing someone as generous and kind as Meena would ever really love either of them.  But I am obviously wrong and, also, not the writer of these characters, because for some reason she does love them both.  So there is the kinda sorta love triangle, only not really because Lucien is a giant ass through the whole book and even Meena had to recognize this at some point.

I thought the mystery of who was turning everyone Meena knows into vampires was very good.  The perpetrator was a little obvious, but it still worked as far as mysteries goes. The book moved at a pretty good clip so there wasn't a lot of down time and Meena and her crew  have to work very fast to figure things out.  There were some funny moments as per any Meg Cabot book and I love Meena's brother who provides the most comedic relief.  The POV switched around so the reader gets a little bit of each person and the story unravels in a more whole manner.  It was a cute and funny story and definitely not the standard vampire story going around these days.  It's more old school than new school and I don't mind that at all.