Even after all the months of training to face the fire from her visions and fulfil her purpose, part-angel Clara made a choice that may have permanently  altered, not only her destiny, but Christian’s as well. As if dealing with senior year, a failed purpose, blackwing attacks and being torn between two guys isn’t hard enough, now she finds herself bombarded with a whole new set of visions. Visions with the shocking revelation that someone close to her will die in a matter of months. Just how much can one girl handle, even if she does have kick-butt angel powers? With a future more uncertain than ever, the only thing Clara can be sure of is that the fire was only the beginning.

If you have already been swept away by the first in the series “Unearthly”, you may be feeling the same sense of apprehension that I was with approaching the second instalment. Well don’t. Hand has again crafted a beautiful tale that will have you falling for the amazing cast of characters all over again and soaring along with a plot that raises the bar even higher.

In fact this also should come with a warning label: “entering this world of delights will leave you breathless with a racing pulse and dreams filled with smouldering hot angels and mortals alike”. Just like our protagonist Clara, Hallowed has a more grown up feel than Unearthly as we approach not only a whole new branch of issues and revelations that will leave you on the edge of your seat, but the loss of a loved character that will have you reaching for the tissues.

Not only has Hand firmly put her stamp on the angel sub-genre, she gifts us with characters that are some of the most realistic and honestly flawed that I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. Hallowed is darker and more adult than its predecessor, yet despite the darker context it’s not overly morbid and you will surprisingly walk away feeling light in spirit. The glimpse of Clara’s emerging maturity certainly helps chase any lingering sense of morbidity away.  And for those of you who have been dying to know the answers to those burning questions, you will get your wish and a few more fresh new ones to ponder. If you have Hallowed on your wishlist and you haven’t read Unearthly, I highly recommend you read it first. Trust me it’s worth the extra wait for the whole experience.

My only negative was that I was hoping to see Jeffery take on a larger role and to find out just some of the secrets he has been hiding, the ending does give me hope that this may just be around the corner though and plenty of theories on just what Clara will find herself facing next. And don’t be surprised if Team Edward and Team Jacob are replaced with Team Christian and Team Tucker. Just sayin’.

Hallowed- Cynthia Hand

Harper Collins

395 Pages

ISBN:978-0-7322-9261-4

“Ahhhhh!

Maggie Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls series!! I loooove!”

Yes, indeed, you’ve witnessed just one, of the many fan girl moments I have. But trust me, this one is totally worth it!

The book I’m reviewing for you today is, Forever by (duuhh) Maggie Stiefvater; the final installment in herseries. PLEASE READ! I want to warn you guys though! I can get a bit excited, and babble the ending or other important things, so if you plan on reading this book or any other in the series, please don’t read the italic parts. Those are things I would consider spoils, and give away important parts. I would never want to ruin such a good series for anyone.

Okay so fan girl moment, check; spoiler warnings, check! Now to the actual review.

Maggie Stiefvater’s series includes three books, #1 Shiver, #2 Linger, and finally #3 Forever. What makes this series so special and unique, is that the cover’s color, is the same color used to print the font inside of the book! Isn’t that crazy??! I’ve never seen any other book, besides children’s books which do that! I think it’s amazing! I feel like this is a huge plus, why? Well people would want to see it for themselves if the font really is the same color as the cover, but to that, they would have to find a book, and crack it open. Which means there’s a huge chance that, that someone who took the time to check the font, might actually start reading the story.

While reading Forever in school, a few of my friends pointed out, that the cover gives them almost a Twilight kind of vibe. Yes that might be true. But no, Wolves of Mercy Falls is nothing like Twilight. It might have wolves, but it doesn’t have anything to do with vampires, nor is the story line even close to the same. But if you’ve read Stephanie Meyer’s series, and you haven’t had enough of a sweet and cute werewolf, than you should definitively pick up this series.

Throughout Shiver and Linger, we got two different perspectives, Sam’s and Grace’s, which I really enjoyed! You get to see what both of them are thinking, and they are truly feeling about themselves and the current situations their in. In Forever, not only do you get Sam and Grace’s side of the story, but you’re also getting Cole (the wolf selected to protect, take care of, and lead the pack once Beck is gone), and Isabel (the straight forward girl, would falls for Cole, but can’t admit it to herself).

These perspectives, do switch from chapter to chapter, but not in any specific order.

I absolutely adored Sam, he seems like the perfect guy, even with his horrible past. His relationship with Grace was one of the big things that made run out to the store, the day Forever came out, and buy it!

Grace on the other hand, is like no character I’ve read about. When she was younger, not only was she attacked but also saved by a wolf. She has weird parents, who care about her, but also let her do whatever she wants, hardly noticing that she’s still alive. Grace just isn’t the average Young Adult book, kind of character, I had a great time reading, and learning more about her.

Cole, the wolf who was selected to lead the pack, once Beck was gone, just like Sam, has his own past. I wasn’t sure if I liked Cole, the first time we meet him in Linger. He just doesn’t seem like the type of guy I would want to hangout or even be around. But by the time I was halfway through Forever, I grew attached to him. Now I like Cole almost as much as I do Sam!

Honestly, Isabel almost reminds me of myself. No I’m not rich, I’m average. And there’s no way my dad would hunt and kill animals, he’s just not that kind of guy. But the way Isabel acts, towards Cole, reminds me of myself when I was in middle school. I’ve never had a boyfriend before (at that time), and I didn’t really trust them. So if one tried to get anywhere near me, I would kind of just push them away. Which she does a lot with Cole.

I really enjoyed all of the characters, and their different personalities, no one was boring, or stuck up. Some how I could relate to each one in a different way, and that was one of the best things about this story.

The story line, and the ending was nothing I expected! Not even close, as I was reading the last page or so, I caught myself with my jaw dropped! I couldn’t believe what happened! Of course I can’t tell you, but I’m sure you’re in for a shocker! The ending was a bit open, I wish it would have left me more satisfied, instead of making me want more! But let’s just hope Maggie Stiefvater has another Wolves of Mercy Falls book up her sleeve!

• ISBN-13: 9780545259088
• Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
• Publication date: 7/12/2011
• Pages: 400
• Sales rank: 786
• Age range: 14 – 17 Years

Meridian is a 16 year old Fenestra. In layman’s terms, she is the light people see as they are passing away. A month ago she had her life turned upside down and inside out by learning she is one of these part angel, part human beings, a window to the ‘other side’. But that story is contained within the pages of the book Meridian. Wildcat fireflies is the next installment of the story of Meridian and her protector, Tens.

Will Juliet hang on long enough for Merdiain and Tens to find her?

Or will the Aternocti that lurk in the very house Juliet calls home get to her first?

Now I must admit it seems like an eternity since I closed the cover of Meridian and began the wait for the next book to pop up on my local shelves. So it was with a great whoop of pleasure I found Wildcat Fireflies within the first few days of 2012 and added it swiftly to my library.

The cover is dark and somewhat brooding with accents of dark green butterflies, fireflies and curling vines twining their way around the front and back flaps. I’m not sure which character is portrayed on the front, but it looks to be the girl from the first book; I assume it is Meridian. Cover art is by Chad Michael Ward, and I think it’s beautiful.

Though 506 pages, I found myself leaping through the last 350 in a single morning. The storylines flow, the setting is extremely vivid and the characters are brilliant (even the nasty ones.)

There is a new tension between Tens and our heroine that I wasn’t expecting; it went a long way to making the couple seem more realistic on a basic level.

I loved the way the country town was portrayed as I have personally found them to be; friendly and warm, but with deep secrets, and sometimes a thread of evil lurking.

Trying to find anything that I didn’t like about Wildcat Fireflies is more ordeal than I would bother with; I just wish I’d owned it sooner. If you haven’t read Meridian, read it before this one. Though this book can stand on its own, you get more emotion for the situation and more empathy for the plight of the Fenestra.

You will adore the tale Amber weaves. So much heart and soul went into the telling, pun completely intended.

Australian release date November 2011

Paperback 506 pages

Random House

http://www.amberkizer.com/

http://www.meridiansozu.com/

Hey everyone!

And welcome to my review of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab! I’ve finished this book about a week ago, and already wrote my review on my personal blog, Turning Pages. But since it can be hard to write two different reviews right after one another, especially when you don’t want them to be anything a like, I usually wait a while until I start my Burn Bright review, taking my time, and letting my mind wander.

Waiting for a week or so, allows me to think of different ways to express what I liked about a book, keeping things fresh and new. So if you want to ever read another review of one of my books, you can just go ahead and check out my personnel reviews.

Without further a do, let’s get reviewin’!

The Near Witch, wasn’t exactly on my wishlist. There was tons of hype about it, not only in the blogging world, but between my friends from school too. Even with The Near Witch being around me at all times, I just wasn’t that interested, it just didn’t catch my attention. But also I’m always worried about reading books that have tons of hype, simply because it is a little disappointing when you don’t get as much out of it as all your friends and blogging buddies.

But after, lots of talking me into it, being asked to review it, and a few threats from friends, I finally decided to pick it up, and give it a go. Before I knew it, I was half way through!

The main character’s name is Lexi, who’s father passed away three years ago. Since than her mother isn’t who she was once before, her uncle is trying to do his best to replace her dad, and the only other people in her life is her little sister, Wren, and the two sisters (two older witches, that live just outside of Lexi’s town).

After a few local kids go missing in the middle of the night, a stranger who just recently came to the small town of Near is accused without any evidence. The local men (including her uncle), trying to bring the children back, and protect the rest, go out looking for this stranger. Lexi, knowing this isn’t right, goes to the sisters, trying to find out if they know anything about this mysterious man.

After meeting him, naming him Cole, and developing feelings for him, Lexi will do anything to stop her uncle and the other local men, from hunting and killing Cole.

The Near Witch was honestly nothing like what I thought it would be. I started reading it, without even knowing what it was about, but I loved it. The characters were amazing, even though Lexi’s uncle was kind of making me angry at times. But he was just doing, the same thing my loved ones would do to keep me safe.

Not only did I really enjoy reading The Near Witch, but I also learned a huge lesson, don’t just turn down a book, simple if it has a huge hype, and I don’t want to be disappointed; takes some risks.

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Lisa

• ISBN-13: 9781423137870
• Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
• Publication date: 8/2/2011
• Pages: 288

Wendy’s known there was something different about her since her sixth birthday – a day also marked as the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of being switched at birth. She’s never really believed she’s the monster her mother claims she is, after all everyone known good old mum’s crazy. Sure, she mightn’t seem to fit in anywhere, and has the ability to influence other people, but that’s better not being thought about. That is, until handsome Finn enters her life, he holds secrets to her past and the key to a place she might just truly belong. Maybe her mother wasn’t so crazy after all…

Once you enter Wendy’s world you soon realise just why Hocking has already become a self-publishing phenomenon, selling over a million books since April 2010 and why her work ended up the subject of a fierce world-wide publishing auction.

Hocking has taken elements of our favourite fairy tales and breathed new life into them, giving them a delicious new spin. Packed with a deftly woven, intrigue-filled plot and amazing characterisation, Switched will keep you enthralled to the very last. In fact, I often felt that I was inside the protagonists head right along with her and her decisions, issues and struggles felt like my own. There is a deep honesty about Wendy that draws you to her and soon has her as your favourite most un-princess like princess of all time.

The cast of characters are all marvellously complex in their own ways. Over-protective Matt will have you wishing for a big brother just like him. Tove’s the one to puzzle over and yet still never really break the surface. Rhys is the friend every girl should have, especially amid all the chaos. Kim and Elora, both cold and unforgiving and yet hiding a glimmer of light beneath their hard exteriors. And Willa, the bubbly and bright fresh of breath air. Then there is Finn, the commoner with the heart of a prince.

The love story is sweet and poignant and has you begging for a happy ever after no matter how long it takes. Book two, Torn will be released in February 2012 with Ascend just around the corner in April. So grab a copy and enter Wendy’s world. This series could very well be one of the biggest for 2012.

Switched- Amanda Hocking

Released 1^st Jan 2012

240 Pages

Tor

ISBN:978-4472-1028-3

Author info can be found at: http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/