Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

Title: Becoming Alpha

Author: Aileen Erin

Published: December 17, 2013

Series?: Alpha Girl #1

Format Read/Pages: eBook/267

How I Acquired It: NetGalley
Date Finished: December 23, 2013

Find at: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

*This book was provided for free in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind.

But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves.

Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.

When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems.

~

This review was hard to start. It wasn’t because I did not like the book, I did enjoy it, but there was no wow factor to it. For me, this story was something that I have read in many different forms, but all have the main aspects in common. Becoming Alpha introduces us to a young girl that has problems before meeting a boy that changes her life in a drastic way.

Erin created interesting characters, I actually enjoyed Tessa and the relationship she had with her family. The close bond she has with her brother makes sense in the way that he is always trying to look out for her and shield her from things that will set off her ability. I am pretty sure this is one of the first characters that I have read about that has the ability to see memories through touch, or at least the first in a long while.

Tessa’s interactions with Dastien annoyed me at times. They just felt really generic and clichéd. His actions after infecting her also really made me mad. He knew what he had done, so why didn’t he take her to Dawson right away instead of letting her deal with all the people that will shun her for associating with him.

As the rest of the story unfolds it adds some elements that could have been interesting if they were expanded upon more. I am curious to see how her heritage plays a part in the next book in the series, so I might tune in for that. Overall, it wasn’t a bad read; it had a lot of potential that I think needed to be a bit more developed to make it a great story. 

3 Stars

Books in this series:

1. Becoming Alpha
2. Avoiding Alpha (expected pub. May 2014)

Blog Tour - The Death of Ink by M.M. John Review and Giveaway

Title: The Death of Ink

Author: M.M. John

Published: January 30, 2014

Series: The Death of Ink #1

Format Read/Pages: ebook/246

How I Acquired It: Itching for Books

Date Finished: January 19, 2014

Find it at: Amazon | Goodreads

Paige Langley’s life has always revolved around good grades and escaping her less than ideal home life…but once she meets Devon Connors, her life drastically changes.

Although, they share an instant attraction, Devon’s concealing a dark past. And an even darker secret…there’s a dead girl haunting him nightly.

Resolute to win the school’s writing contest, Paige will do just about anything to achieve her goals. So after she finds a binder containing information on a past murder and the illegal activities of the students, she believes the stories are fictional and the perfect way to win the contest.

But the owner of the manuscript, Devon Connors, has other plans. To keep Paige from exposing his secrets, Devon befriends her and even offers to help her write a winning story for the contest.

The chemistry between Paige and Devon is undeniable, but Paige doesn’t know if she can trust him. The deeper she digs into the dark underbelly of their high school, the more she realizes that some secrets are better left buried.

~

This story was a slow start, but it sure builds the suspense. There are a lot of intersecting elements that can be found in The Death of Ink, which in the end leave us a bit confused but wanting more. John weaves a very intricate story that keeps you engrossed and wanting to find out just what is really going on.

I enjoyed both of the main characters, they each brought something interesting to the mix and it worked well together. Paige is striving to make a name for herself as the winner of a writing contest, if only to fund her other expeditions in life, as well as, to get out of the shadow of her last name. A name that is associated with deadbeats and teen pregnancies. Devon is trying to deal with the fact that a dead girl visits him in the middle of the night and convince his family that things are getting better for him. Both of these high school seniors are struggling to go about their day to day lives and make the most of it all, and along the way they find solace in each other.

I must say that the ending was very abrupt and left me wondering what had just happened, I can only home that John plans to explain further in the next installment.

3 Stars

About the Author

College student by day, clandestine writer by night, M. M. John lives in a Florida town full of ghosts, mysteries and secrets. The Death of Ink is her first novel.

mmjohnbooks.wordpress.com 

Make sure to check out all the stops on The Death of Ink tour! 

The full schedule is available at Itching for Books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Shane at IFB and M.M. John for the chance to participate in this tour!

Blog Tour - Psycho Inside Me by Bonnie R. Paulson Review & Giveaway

Title: Psycho Inside Me

Author: Bonnie R. Paulson

Published: November 30, 2013

Format Read/Pages: eBook/171

How I Acquired It: Itching For Books

Date Finished: January 11, 2014

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N

I killed my first victim at thirteen years old – my age, not his. He was going to rape me, him and a couple of his friends. And so, I killed him. And then… I killed again. And again.

At seventeen, I’m killing four to six times a year – maybe more. Don’t stress out. I only go after the pedophiles and rapists. There are more out there than I could cover in a lifetime.

Saying I did this on my own would be selfish. Enforcing justice holds a glory all its own. But now, my lifelong friend and backup, Deegan, has been arrested. I have to decide if I want to give myself up and take his place or leave him with all the damning evidence. I don’t want to stop killing. But if I let him take the fall, I can’t kill anymore. And I need to keep doing that.

But the worst part of it all? I love him.

~

Can we just acknowledge that blurb and how catching it really is? As soon as I had read it I knew that I needed to read Psycho Inside Me. It enraptured me and there was no way I could not find out what happens to Deegan and how this all came to be. Bonnie R. Paulson captivated me with a very intriguing premise and kept me interested all the way through.

Something that I really enjoyed was that we jump right into the story; it starts when Cassie, our main character, is thirteen years old and makes her first kill. Within the first ten pages we have the first kill and a promise of more. It starts out fast paced and never lets up. The writing style, I feel, fit when Cassie was young. It was a little all over the place and reminded me of the thoughts and interactions of a young teenager. I would have liked to see it grow right alongside her, but it pretty much stays the same throughout the book, this does not detract from the story though.

While I really liked Cassie, there were times she made me want to pull out my own hair! You would think that after the second killing, where Deegan saves her ass, she would realize that she should just include him in the beginning and save everyone the trouble of having to guess whether or not he will make it to her in time. Their relationship was fitting for this type of situation, even though his insistence that they not be together is what gets them in trouble in the long run.

The story was one that captivated me all the way through and had me on the edge of my seat for the last few chapters. I feel as though the outcome was perfect and was believable in the sense that it really could have turned out that way.

This was a nice fast paced and short read with one of the most original ideas that I have come across in a long while. It was a highly enjoyable, dark and gritty story that shows what can happen when children are forced to grow up too fast. Paulson has written a number of other books and I will definitely be checking some of them out!

4 Stars

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

There are people who know a lot about a little, we’ll call them experts. Then there are people, like Bonnie, who don’t specialize, but rather gather information like pebbles in their pockets and drop them like Hansel & Gretel in the stories they write.

The question is, do you want to follow them back?

Certified as a Radiologic Technologist, Bonnie prefers a touch of medical in her storylines. Don’t be surprised if romance somehow runs through a hospital or comes in contact with a paramedic. It’s just how she rolls. And you know there's nothing more romantic than an 18 gauge needle poking your vein!

She and her Hubs delight in dirt biking, snowboarding, fishing, cooking, eating, spending time together and more with their adorable children.

www.bonnierpaulson.com | twitter.com/bonnierpaulson | facebook.com/bonpaulson

Make sure to check out all the stops on the Psycho Inside Me tour! The full schedule is available at Itching for Books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Shane at IFB and Bonnie R. Paulson for the chance to participate in this tour!

Defy by Sara B. Larson

Title: Defy

Author: Sara B. Larson

Published: January 7, 2014

Series?: Defy #1

Format Read/Pages: eBook/336

How I Acquired It: NetGalley
Date Finished: January 3, 2014

 *Thank you to Scholastic for the chance to read an ARC.

A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and a thrilling love triangle.

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

~

There have been a lot of comparisons made to Mulan and there really shouldn’t be. The only thing that is similar is the fact that a young woman pretends to be a boy and joins an army. The two young women have completely differing reasons to hide their identities and really should not be placed in the same boat. I was excited when I received this ARC via NetGalley, I had read about it beforehand and it seemed like a promising start to what could turn out to be a great series. In the end I must say that I was disappointed with what was presented in Defy.

Some of my first thoughts were that even though the concept is something that has been around and used quite often, there are still a number of ways that it could have been spun to create something highly suspenseful and entertaining. I was most looking forward to the reveal, how Alex let everyone know that she was in fact, Alexa. When the time came, the way that it was handled really annoyed me. There were so many other ways to have it play out, rather than both love interests having known for years. It makes sense that Rylan might know, but I would have liked to see Damian be surprised by the news, there were also spaces for some moments that could have been added for some comic relief, given that she is pretending to be a boy with the feelings of a young woman, that Larson did not capitalize on. I understand that it is a serious story, but it was a bit flat at times and a bit of lighthearted fun could have been added.

The love triangle was very predictable and quite annoying at times. Given the fact that both boys have been in love with her, without her knowing, for years there was no real development in any of the relationships. It just seemed that one second the prince is letting her think she has fooled him into believing she was a boy and the next they are kissing. And don’t get me started on Rylan; could Larson make him into any more of a chump? Telling Alexa he will wait for her and still love her even after she has clearly chosen Damian. Alexa needs to stop being a baby and take what she wants, even if that person happens to be a prince. “Oh, I will never be good enough for him; it won’t be accepted… blah, blah, blah.” Girl, shut up. You just saved a country, take what you want! 

I really had no emotional investment in any of the characters and the one that I did like, got killed off quite early on in the story. The only thing I could really relate to with Alexa was the fact that I too would have disguised myself as a boy to avoid being raped daily and used as a brood mare. This brings me to something that was not all that necessary, in my opinion, the breeding house. I understand it was used a tool to make us hate the king more than we already did, but it really was not needed and I find it hard to believe that the people living in the vicinity of the castle, seeing what happens to those girls everyday would actually allow that to go on. I really think that there would have been a revolt before, had any of them been thinking compassionately at all.

Overall, I really don’t know how to feel about this story. I really, really wanted to like it, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. In this day and age, where there are so many strong female protagonists out there and Alexa just did not match up. If after reading the plot of the next book, I find myself intrigued, I may check it out; but I have no idea where the story could go from here without introducing a random antagonist that will threaten the lives of our characters, making them act on all the love that is flowing between them. And at this point it would probably just continue to annoy me. Good thing I have another year, to maybe revisit Defy and change my opinion, before Larson gives us another entry into the series. 

2.5 Stars

Sia by Josh Grayson

Title: Sia

Author: Josh Grayson

Published: November 20, 2013

Format Read/Pages: eBook/306

How I Acquired It: NetGalley

Date Finished: December 16, 2013

Forgetting was only the beginning. When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse still, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.

~

To be honest, I had a lot of problems with Sai. The story is a bit overdone and unbelievable at times, but most of it I was able to get over, some not so much.

My first problem with it happened on page seven and made me really debate putting it down and not continuing. When Sia see herself for the first time to try and jog her memory this is expressed;

                “I am pleased to see I am an attractive girl.”

Really?! You have no memory!!! Does it really matter if you are attractive, if I was in a position where I was living on the streets I wouldn’t mind being as unattractive as possible, as to not call attention to myself. But in all reality, it really bothered me that she cared what she looked like.

Another thing that annoyed me was the fact that she didn’t find the nearest police station to try and find out if anyone was looking for her. She was wearing expensive exercise clothing, more than likely she is missed by someone. This all could have been taken care of a lot sooner if she just used her head and made the logical decision to look for information about herself.

The interactions between the girls made me feel as though Grayson did not have a real grasp on young female dynamics. It makes some of the conversations seem stiffer and laughable at times. I also feel as though he took every rich girl/kid stereotype and threw them all together to create the characters he had in Sia’s former friend group. I really highly doubt that all well off young adult are that haughty and unbearable to be around.

The overall story makes me want to believe something like this can happen, but I don’t think that it would have come at such ease for the characters. Something that I really appreciated about the story was that it showcased a great organization, The American Red Cross and Grayson depicted it in a way that I could actually see it operating.

As this is Grayson’s debut, I would be interested in seeing how he develops as a writer in the future and what else he has to offer the literary world. 

3 Stars

Control by Lydia Kang

Title: Control

Author: Lydia Kang

Published: December 26, 2013

Series?: Control #1

Format Read/Pages: eBook/400

How I Acquired It: Penguin’s First to Read

Date Finished: December 19, 2013

*An ARC was provided by Penguin for an honest review. 

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.

A spiraling, intense, romantic story set in 2150—in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms—this is about the human genetic “mistakes” that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.

~

I was extremely excited when I was chosen by Penguin for an advance reader copy of Control. I had read a lot about it and it was a highly anticipated to-read for me. I was not disappointed and found an engaging and thoroughly thought out world within the pages. The story concept and technology introduced kept me questioning what it would be like to live there and how it would all shape a person in that day and age.

First, I must say, I really liked all the characters. I feel that they complimented each other in a way that made me eager to read the next interaction between them all. I would have liked to see more interaction between Zelia and Dylia before she was taken, but I understand to have the story we needed the catalyst of Dyl being taken for thing to get moving. One character that I did not really care for and not because it was expected because of who he is and what he did, was their father. I feel as though he was not fleshed out in a way that would make the choices, good and bad, he made have as much impact as they did. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Cy, but it may be because I am a sucker for ink. His story was one that really made sense as things went on and once we know his importance, the choices he makes at the end made even more of an impact and reaffirmed his need to take care of those he loves.

Some of the twists throughout the story were predictable, but they were combatted by the ones that came out of nowhere and left my mouth gaping. The truth about their father was, in my opinion, a bit obvious; I just could not fathom the extent of his involvement in the mutation of the children, especially that he would go as far as to do it to his own child. I also knew early on that it was Zel, not Dyl that was special. In some ways I wish this was not the case because I think it would have been just as good of a story to see a girl who has no extra power or special genes, fighting these extraordinarily gifted individuals to save her sister. But, as it was, I still loved what was written. The ending though, surprised me greatly when we find out who has been helping the other side.

An aspect of the story that I didn’t really care for, but was able to overlook, was the shared horror that Ana and Dyl went through. It just seemed like it was unnecessary to have that type of trauma happening to young teenage girls, Dyl was only thirteen. I understand that it was used as a way to incite hatred for Micah, but I feel as though it could have been done in a more tactful way.

I have seen some reviewers saying that they thought the middle was a little slow in places and I will have to agree, but it wasn’t so bad that I needed to stop reading or thought I would not get through it. The ending in comparison was very faced paced, but I found that the details in some places were a bit much and I found myself skipping through to get to the action and find out how everything played out.

Lydia Kang has provided a great first entry into an intricately woven new series. I will be looking forward to continuing on in this futuristic world with Zel and the others to see how life shapes up for them in a place where they are not accepted or understood. 

4 Stars 

Shadow Embraced by Cheree Smith

Title: Shadow Embraced

Author: Cheree Smith

Published: April 24, 2013

Series?: Haven #1

Format Read/Pages: ebook/234 pgs. 

How/When I Acquired It: NetGalley/April 2013
Date Finished: Dec. 6, 2013

No escape.

Those words haunt Scar's dreams. She thinks the creature that terrorises her while asleep isn't real, but when she's abducted and taken to a reform school meant to contain creatures too dangerous to function in society, she starts to wonder whether she isn't some monster.

She turns to an underground fight club full of vampires, werewolves and witches established by the students to control her urges, and who is she kidding, she loves to fight.

When fighters begin to disappear, turning Scar into the prime suspect, she must race to prove her innocence before her true nature is exposed.

The only problem is that she's not entirely sure she's innocent.

~

I really wanted to like this book. To be honest I did not go in with high expectations and I am glad I didn’t. The beginning started off with a bang, so that made me think that things were looking up, but ultimately I was disappointed.

The characters were one dimensional and there was not much development to be had with them. I don’t even think Scarlett, our main character, made any major developments, that in reality, she needed. Something early on that really bothered me was the fact that after she was taken she did not even think to ask about her parents and if they knew where she is or if she is okay.

I feel like when she gets to school we meet a lot of minor characters that really play no part in the actually story. The relationship she has with Daemon was laughable; it actually made me cringe at times to read it. I also start all my first dates with the guy attacking me in a way to “find out about me”. And don’t forget the kiss to make it all better and rip a shirt for good measure.

Getting into the whole supernatural fight club aspect if the book, I thought it was a weak way to connect all the victims to Scar. It was a bit unbelievable how she got contracted into this underground fighting ring. There was no choice, she had to accept her position in this club or “suffer the consequences”.

Something that I wish was explored more or better explained was the Romanian background that gave the characters their supernatural abilities. In all, the story was just disappointing and was not well edited, making it an even harder read. I will not be reading further into the series. 

1.5 Stars 

Fault Line by Christa Desir

Title: Fault Line

Author: Christa Desir

Published: Oct. 15, 2013

Format Read/Pages: ebook/240

How/When I Acquired It: Pulseit.com's 31 Days of Reading/ Dec. 2013

Date Finished: Dec. 7, 2013

Ben could date anyone he wants, but he only has eyes for the new girl — sarcastic free-spirit, Ani. Luckily for Ben, Ani wants him too. She’s everything Ben could ever imagine. Everything he could ever want.

But that all changes after the party. The one Ben misses. The one Ani goes to alone.

Now Ani isn’t the girl she used to be, and Ben can’t sort out the truth from the lies. What really happened, and who is to blame?

Ben wants to help her, but she refuses to be helped. The more she pushes Ben away, the more he wonders if there’s anything he can do to save the girl he loves.

~

This was a surprise read, through pulseit.com’s 31 days of reading, which I had to fly through to get to the end before the 24 hour deadline, so bear with me if this review is all over the place.

I really enjoyed this book, not that I enjoyed the subject matter, but I really appreciated the human feel all the characters carried. The story revolves around couple, Ben and Ani, from their first meeting to their uncertain fate at the end of the book. At first their relationship is great and they are having fun exploring each other, physically and emotionally. Then an unexpected and tragic event changes the course of their relationship, the story is mainly about how they deal with it.

The opening few pages had me hooked. It drew me in and I felt the need to know what the hell happened to make them get to that point (spoiler: Ani sucking off a teacher in a classroom at school and Ben reacting to seeing it happen.) We then go back sixish months, to the beginnings of their relationship. It all goes downhill when Ani goes to a party with a friend and is sexually assaulted. The remaining pages are spent with both Ben and Ani trying to deal with what happened in their own ways.

Some people are upset about the portrayal of Ben and the way that he seems to be making what happened about him and not Ani, but in reality, this is a completely logical and common reaction and in my mind it makes the character more realistic. He is a teenage boy who is trying to come to terms with the rape of his girlfriend who he is supporting through something he does not even really understand. At that age most kids do not have a handle on their emotions, nor do most have firsthand knowledge of something like this. Given that, his reaction is completely normal. I liked this better than if he was a perfect boyfriend who did and said all the right things, because then it wouldn't be real and have the raw feeling that it did.

Ben isn't without his flaws, he had ample opportunity to take help and advice that was offered to him and he waited until the last minute to really open his eyes and see the truth. By that time it was too late and had escalated past the point of return. My main issue with Ani was that she wouldn't let the ones that love her in at all. By not telling her mom what happened and resenting Ben for trying to be there for her she isolated herself. I understand that it would be hard to let others care for you, especially when they have no idea what it feels like to go through those ordeals, but she completely shunned any help that was offered and instead went down a darker road to cope with what happened.

Overall, Fault Line was a real and raw look into a subject matter that most people do not want to discuss. I found the story to be believable in a way that I could see it playing out in real life from the reactions of the two leads to the interactions that happen between the students in the high school. Ms. Desir did a wonderful job of keeping the characters human and relatable. 

3.5 Stars 

Reality Ends Here by Alison Gaylin

Title: Reality Ends Here 

Author: Alison Gaylin

Published: June 10, 2013

Format Read/Pages: ebook/250

How/When I Acquired It: NetGalley/May, 2013

Date Finished: June 20, 2013

With a major crush on an adorable pop star, annoying younger siblings, and a mom and stepdad who are too strict, Estella Blanchard is a typical teenage girl-except that her daily struggles are plotlines on the reality show Seven Is Heaven, which relentlessly documents her life as the older half-sister of sextuplets. Estella's an Oscar-worthy actress at hiding her true feelings from the camera.

However, she can't outrun the spotlight when she receives a Christmas present from her biological father...who died ten years ago under mysterious circumstances. Blamed for this "sick prank," Estella is placed in an unorthodox support group for troubled child stars-including a twenty-three-year-old has-been, a backstabbing drama queen, and a super-cute (but very off-limits) boy bander. And, as weird as the group is, when a creepy paparazzo starts stalking her, claiming that her dad is actually alive, Estella's going to need their help to uncover the truth and stay alive. 

~

When I read the blurb for this I thought that it had a lot of promise and it did, but Alison Gaylin took it so far out of reality that it became very unbelievable at a fast pace.

Now, I know a lot of reality television is in fact, fiction, but if I was to see this ridiculousness on my screen or read about it in the papers, I would have officially lost all faith in humanity. We have a family with a number of children that are dealing with problems and parents that are always making light of the situation, seemingly  because they are the ones that cause most of the problems in the first place. I mean, if I was given a leotard that was a few sizes too small as a Christmas gift and expected to smile about it, while my mother informed the world that I will be going on a diet (because she cannot have a slightly overweight child on camera), all at six years old, I would have bawled my eyes out. Actually, no. I would have no idea what was really going on, or what a diet was, and would have moved on the the next present and never looked at the leotard again. Gayling portrayed the sextuplets in a way that made them all seem a lot older than their supposed six years, with Estella often stepping in to be the mother figure that they clearly needed. 

If the plot had centered around Estella's emotional journey to find out more about her father and coping with her reluctant fame as a reality TV start, I think the story would have been a lot more believable. The whole mystery aspect would have been in there, but in a way that did not make it seem as far fetched. As it stands, the second half of the story is laughable in the unbelievably of it all. A young heartthrob getting shot and no one caring? I highly doubt it. 

It all culminates in a rushed explanation of actions and a HEA that we all knew was going to happen. There are so many thing that I think could have made this story better, more interactions between the kids in the therapy group, for one.I really would have liked to see how the participants dealt with their everyday lives and how things would have played out if it were a real therapy group and not something that someone was profiting off of. The list is endless, but as it is Reality Ends Here was just a really unsatisfactory adventure into the lives of people we would watch and not really care  about.

2 Stars

Concealed by Sang Kromah

Title: Concealed 

Author: Sang Kromah

Published: October 15, 2011

Series?: Concealed #1 

Format Read/Pages:  eBook, 382

How/When I Acquired It: NetGally / March, 2013

Date Finished: April 12, 2013

Some believe that at birth, we’re each born with some sort of guardian angel attached to us, watching from afar, but never seen by the human eye. But they’re wrong. Truth is it’s not that simple. There are certain people, special people, born of this world and of the other, who need that extra protection…that extra guidance. They go their entire lives, unaware of the other world, and unaware of the existence of their own personal watcher that watches from afar. But what happens when fate takes a turn for the worse, and The One who needs the aid of a watcher more than anyone before her can’t be found to be protected?

Bijou Fitzroy is strange. With the chaotic and unwanted gift of being an empath, she has spent her entire life as a sheltered recluse, being homeschooled by her secretive overprotective grandmother, who never stays long enough in one location for Bijou to ever settle and make friends. Not only does she lack social skills, but her physical appearance is so ethereal that it beckons onlookers to look away before she has the chance to make eye contact. Oh, and things get even weirder. Besides the occasional tendency to see strange things that no one else seems to notice, sixteen-year-old Bijou has been plagued by semi-prophetic nightmares of strange creatures her entire life; yet she yearns for sleep, because it’s the only place she gets to see him…well sort of. No matter what Bijou dreams of, the faceless boy is always there like some sort of harbinger of danger, always watching, always waiting. And even though his coming always pre-empts chaos, she’s fallen in love with this boy without a face.

When Bijou and her grandmother move to Eldersburg and she starts to attend the local high school, she meets Sebastian Sinjin, a strange boy, who forces Bijou to question the world around her, and the grandmother she thought she knew. Bijou’s world begins to crumble as the creatures from her nightmares begin to take shape in her reality, the faceless boy becomes real, and town locals begin to disappear as she finds herself at the center of a war she never knew was being fought. Bijou has to stand alone and be the savior everyone expects her to be.

~

I have been struggling to write this review and it will probably be a short one because of it. I really, really want to like Bijou and Sebastian, but I just cant commit myself to them. I really don't know what it is about them, but they just don't pop for me in the way they probably should. The relationship between them and Bijou and Niko just seems forced, which makes it hard to care about what is happening between them all.

One real criticism I have is the fact that all the action happens in the last fifty pages, but it makes the other 300+ pages seem like unending filler. The book was just too long, for the amount of story we actually got. The concept was great, I think that with a little more flesh it could have been a really fun read, but on more than one occasion I had to push myself to keep reading.

There does not seem to be any mention of the second book or when it will be available, but with an ending like Concealed had, there has to be something in the works, I just probably won't explore it.

2.5 Stars

Surrender by Rhiannon Paille

Title: Surrender

Author: Rhiannon Paille

Published: October 6, 2011

Also Known As: Flame of Surrender

Series?: The Ferryman & The Flame #1

Format Read/Pages:  eBook, 392

How/When I Acquired It: NetGally, March 2013

Date Finished: April 5, 2013

Kaliel and Krishani weren't meant to meet or fall in love but they did. Krishani’s dreams of death led him to a fate he’s terrified of--becoming the next Ferryman. His only refuge is Kaliel, the peculiar girl that swims with merfolk and talks to trees. Kaliel has a secret of her own--she’s the Amethyst Flame, one of nine apocalyptic weapons. The Valtanyana will destroy everything on Avristar to get to her. Kaliel has to choose: face them, hide or unleash the Flame.

How far would you go to save everything you ever loved?

~

I had high hopes for this book, it seemed like it could have been a pretty great read. But, I must say, I was a disappointed when I finally got to the end (and I was pushing myself to get through it). One of my major misgivings is that at times it seemed like things were being too rushed, both in the the love story and the explanation of who our main characters are supposedly becoming. This is the first book in what I assume will be a three part (or more) series, and I hate to even think what the pace of the rest of the story will be.  

The two main characters  Kaliel and Krishani, have a love like no other. Literally. They are elves and apparently these elves have no love for anything other than the land. They marry the land at some point, which I can only assume means they follow the path that has been set for them, kind of like a destiny. Of course they do not comply as all others have before them and fall in love after meeting accidentally at the forbidden waterfall. Their love, like everything else in the book, is set into hyper-drive when, after their first meeting, they are forced apart and must pine for each other for more than a year before coming back together by chance. It is all just really unbelievable and at times trite. 

Something that I really wish would have been explored in more depth, and could possibly be in the future books, is what it actually means for them to be The Flame and The Ferryman. We get very brief explanations, but nothing that really gives the reader an idea of what is to come for our two characters. It would have been great if the two stories had not intertwined from the very beginning. Perhaps each, Kaliel and Krishani, could have had their own separate stories, before it all comes full circle and their love affair begins. It just seems they were not done enough justice by forcing them together right in the beginning and not having been established as an individual being.

The best thing about this story is the writing of Avristar, the world where this story takes place. Paille did a wonderful job providing us with details which allowed for a full view of the world. I could picture the forests and the cave were their love bloomed. It was one of the few ways that I connected with the story. 

2 Stars