This was another of my exploratory expeditions into eBooks. Anya had given me a copy for review, however, I wanted cover art so I also downloaded it from the Kindle store.

A statuesque young lady in an elaborate white gown draws the eye from the dark spooky looking woodland scene behind her, while curtains and a stage let you think maybe not everything is as concrete as first thought. It works well for the story and the ominous air of the trilogy.

The Goodreads Blurb reads…

“Fifteen year old Aisha disappears in the forests on a school hiking trip. She’s the latest in a string of children to vanish there over the past five years. The towns surrounding the forests are on edge and they demand answers. And wildboy Ethan—Aisha’s boyfriend—is on the run after he and his grandfather are blamed for Aisha’s disappearance.

Cassie is just about the only friend Ethan has left. She’s been secretly in love with him ever since her mother dragged her to the wilds of Australia from Florida six months ago.

Desperate to prove Ethan’s innocence, Cassie searches the forests with Ethan to find out what really happened to Aisha. But Ethan’s growing strangely silent, and Cassie’s left questioning if her feelings for him are clouding her judgement.

Cassie discovers a dark secret lurking in the heart of the forests; a secret world of nightmarish horrors—where nothing is as it seems, where the supernatural invades your soul, where the people she trusted most might be the people she can trust the least, and where escape exists only in dreams.”

We’re introduced to the story with a bunch of teenagers dealing with the aftermath of their classmate/girlfriend going missing. What starts out as a quite contemporary tale of kids carrying on when the adults have given up, continues into a story that throws you down the rabbit hole, makes you eat the cookies and drink the tea. Quite frankly it leaves you wondering which way is up.

I loved the build up to what I call ‘The big EEK’ because the dynamic within the group is quite convincing as a regular teenage drama. As for what ‘The big EEK’ is, think life-sized dolls and creepy carousels. Exactly… EEK!

I’m not normally a fan of spooky books, especially one where the spooky isn’t mixed with terrible humour and clichés coming out the wazoo. That being said I gritted my teeth (and read on in broad daylight) to get through the EEK, and found it was well worth it.

I think reading it during the cooler months would add an extra layer of goose bump inducing heebie jeebies for those who like to have the snot scared out of them. If not, the draw factors should be for the well written story and the left of field plot twists. Anya has done well to suck me (the big chicken) into loving her creepy portrayal of the wilds of Australia.

I’m sure I will be looking for book two Paperdolls in the near future. But if I read it it will be with the lights on, the doors locked, and the cats in the bed with me. Just Sayin’!

http://dollhousetrilogy.com/

Kindle Edition, 373 pages

Published 2012 by CreateSpace

Jamie Carpenter’s life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein.

Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein’s monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda, and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire.

“Department 19” takes us through history, across Europe, and beyond – from the cobbled streets of Victorian London to prohibition-era New York, from the icy wastes of Arctic Russia to the treacherous mountains of Transylvania.

Part modern thriller, part classic horror, it’s packed with mystery, mayhem, and a level of suspense that makes a Darren Shan novel look like a romantic comedy.

Hardcover, 489 pages Published March 1st 2011 by HarperCollins ISBN 0007354452 (ISBN13: 9780007354450)

After witnessing his father’s death, Jamie and his mother go on the run, until one day they are caught by two different groups. His mother is kidnapped by the enemy, and he is taken in by the same group his father belonged to, Department 19. Jaime is determined, not matter what it takes, and no matter who gets in his way, to rescue his mother.

Although Jamie is the main character and the story really revolves around him finding his mother, we do get to meet a lot of different character as it goes along. Jumping from perspectives and groups gives the reader a fully-rounded picture of what is happening on each side of this battle.

The author plays on real myths and stories from history to build this narrative, and by doing so, brings in a very classic storyline into a very modern story. The groups’ past, and their current day struggles are very well researched and there are a lot of interesting topics interwoven with a very believable take on what a modern vampire could be.

This book is rather large at just under 500 pages. It contains a lot of world building and is very much a book for those who enjoy detailed war stories; weapons, kidnappings, international travel, conspiracies, and the history behind the groups and wars of the past and current.

I think this book lived up 100% to my expectations of it.  I loved the vampires, the histories and how the departments have changed to today. The only thing that flawed the story was my connection to Jamie. His character felt a little flat, besides his determination to find his mother. I really didn’t get to see a developed character, or as much growth as I would have hoped for. What I did find is that Frankenstein had plenty of humour and personality to make up for Jamie’s lack!

Have you ever read a book and loved it so much, that you wanted to read the next in the series before you’ve even finished the one you just fell in love with? This has never happened to me, until I was smack dab in the middle of listening to Tempest by Julie Cross. Before I was on the last CD of the set, I couldn’t get enough of the characters, the time travelling, the twists, the turns, and of Jackson’s relationship with Holly!

Once Vortex came out, I knew I had to get it on audio (I really liked the way it was read, making Vortex THAT much more AWESOME!) While I wasn’t too amazed by the cover picture I was extremely excited about the story inside of it; who cares about the cover, when the story kicks butt?

When I finally had the first CD in hand, and was waiting for my computer to boot up so I could jam in the disc and finally start listening, I had two enormous fears. First, that this book included more information dumping (I was already having a hard time keeping up with all the different time travelling, worlds and other technicalities in order in Tempest). Second, that it would suffer from middle book syndrome. I loved Tempest, and my heart would have been shattered to millions of pieces if I was lost throughout Vortex, or if it was just a stepping stone to the next book.

Because there is so much going on and so many twist, turns, secrets and just really good freakin’ parts, I’m honestly scared to summarize the story and end up giving too much away. I would rather talk about my thoughts on the book, instead of what happened inside of the book. Especially with all the information this book contains, I don’t think my summary would make very much sense anyway.

While Vortex did still have a lot of information dumping occurring, it wasn’t as tough to keep up with it all, like it was in Tempest. I feel that Cross did a much better job, stretching and spreading it out instead of throwing it at the reader all at once.

My favourite aspect of the second instalment is the character development! I loved all of the characters in the first book, and enjoyed them more in Vortex. Jackson isn’t the same boy that the reader was introduced to in the last book. He showed his strong love for Holly, his need for his family (especially his mother and sister), and that he stepped up to the plate by becoming an agent.

The reader is exposed to a completely different side of Holly. While we do still see the girl Jackson fell in love with, we also see a badass angle of her! New characters are also introduced, for example two spies named Kendrick and Stuart, who are strong female characters (LOVE!). The only character I missed was Adam, Jackson’s best friend; he didn’t make too many appearances in Vortex.

The ending was something I didn’t expect. I had to pick up my jaw from the floor, wipe my sweaty hands on my pants, and remember to breath. Vortex leaves off with a cliff hanger that does nothing but force you to go to the store and buy the third book once it comes out!

I had so much fun reading Vortex, and it was even better than Tempest; I know that’s really hard to believe!

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

Hardcover, 237 pages  Published February 19th 2013 by HarperTeen  ISBN 0062135317 (ISBN13: 9780062135315)

Twins, Annie and Fia’s, story is told from alternating perspectives. The majority of the story unfolds in flashback sequences to give the reader the facts and help build the plot of the current day situation. 

Annie is blind but has visions of events. Not exactly events that predict the future, but things that could possibly happen if certain situations play out. Fia on the other hand has the power of intuition.

The story focuses on Fia saving Annie. They are very close and their first and foremost thoughts are always about each other’s welfare. Several times throughout the story Annie warns Fia of visions she has, but even though Fia has the power of instinct, she doesn’t observe Annie’s warnings.

The girls are highly flawed characters. They both seem lost and depressed, as if they are searching for something to replace the loss of their parents. Throughout the story, Fia is taught the skills of an assassin at the school they attend, but it’s against her will, as the school master keeps Annie to make Fia do their bidding.

I found this book very unusual and unique. The “abilities/powers” these girls have are not exactly laid in concrete. This does lead to some confusion in the storyline. Fia acts on initial feelings, but she herself is all over the place emotionally and at any time, may have the instinct to fight or flight. Being highly strung, she tends to act out her emotions by partying and trying to mentally escape her situation.

Many of you may recognize the author from her Paranormalcy series which has a lot of humour, fun antics, great characters and a kick ass heroine. While this story does have a bad ass girl at the fore-front, all the characters in this book are highly flawed, and there is very little humour. Definitely something different than other paranormal books that take place in a private-school setting. It’s dark and and full of emotionally driven characters.

Reviewed by Lisa Smith

If you had the chance to spend the last half of the school year with you friend, without parental supervision, would you do it? Would you lie to do it? And if you got that past your parents, what would you spend those three months doing? In Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have), April does exactly that.

April finds out that her dad has applied and been accepted for a new job far away, and is planning on moving there with her step mother. But April doesn’t want to leave behind the only life she’s ever known, her sweet boyfriend Noah, her friends, and not even her school.

So when trying to figure out a way to be able to stay, April and her best friend Vi, come up with having her live with Vi. Knowing that Vi’s mom is off on Broadway, and that April’s dad would never let her stay with Vi without any parental supervision, the two lie to both of their parents. April explains to her dad that she’ll be staying with Vi and her mom, and Vi tells her mom that April’s dad is okay with having April live with Vi alone. To make things seem more truthful the two girls created fake emails for both of their parents and exchange them.

They gave Vi’s mom, April’s dad’s fake email. And they gave April’s dad, Vi’s mom’s fake email. (Was that confusing?)

After getting all that squared away, the two girls can finally relax and have some fun! Do things they would never even have imagined doing!

The entire book is organized by the ten crazy and adventurous things the two girls do together; including skipping school, buying a hot tub, and losing their virginity (This book doesn’t go into much detail, and isn’t  very explicit).

Everything is going good until April’s kitten is run over by a car, Vi and April throw a crazy insane birthday party, and April’s dad is due to visit early the next morning! And to make things worse (like that’s possible), April discovers she had gotten a sexual disease from Noah.

April’s life quickly changes and becomes out of control. Her boyfriend Noah is lying and cheating (and her friend even knew about it but never cared to inform her), her cat is injured, and April doesn’t know what to do. She wants nothing more than to leave, and move back in with her dad. But can’t.

Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) goes from two girls just wanting to have fun, to things going sour. But the ending is happy, and things turn out well for April. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I’ll make sure to buy a hot tub next time my parents are on vacation!

I felt every emotion possible. I went from laughing to crying, to being angry, to loving one very sweet sweet guy! The characters were all lovable, and realistic. The story line was fun, but also filled with drama and romance. The ending was happy, and I was satisfied. There were no lose ends or anything left unsaid! Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) is the perfect light and fun read for the summer!