Friday, June 26, 2009

A good sister?

My sister turns 24 on Sunday and she loves to read just like me. That's why I decided to give her books for her birthday.. and I bought books I want to read(so I can borrow them when she has finished them ;)) lol. This might seem a bit mean and selfish of me but luckily we have the same taste in books(almost at least).'

What do you think of my choices?

I bought City of Bones and the sequel City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare and Skin by Mo Hayder. I was suddenly a bit unsure but Mo Hayder's Skin can be read as a standalone novel?


Their hidden world is about to be revealed....

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....


When the decomposed body of a young woman is found by near railway tracks just outside Bristol one hot May morning, all indications are that she’s committed suicide. That’s how the police want it too; all neatly squared and tidied away.

But DI Jack Caffery is not so sure. He is on the trail of someone predatory, someone who hides in the shadows and can slip into houses unseen.

And for the first time in a very long time, he feels scared.

Police Diver Flea Marley is working alongside Caffery.Having come to terms with the loss of her parents, and with the traumas of her past safely behind her, she’s beginning to wonder whether their relationship could go beyond the professional.

And then she finds something that changes everything. Not only is it far too close to home for comfort – but it’s so horrifying that she knows that nothing will ever be the same again.

And that this time, no one – not even Caffery – can help her …

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Book review: Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

First things first, if you haven't read Wicked Lovely [my review] yet don't start with this one! These books has to be read in order to make sense to the reader.

Book description:
Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.
Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.
The tattoo does bring changes—not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils. . . .
My opinion:
In this second book in the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr we meet again Ash's best friend, Leslie. Although we meet Ash and Keenan this story is mostly about Leslie's life. Leslie is trying her best to survive, make a better life for herself and take control of body and soul. She has decided to have a tattoo done to mark the change but this tattoo gives Leslie more than se bargained for.

Ink Exchange is a much darker book than Wicked Lovely and more realistic in that way. Yes, this is a book about faeries but that doesn't mean that things can't seem real, especially when the main character is human. In all the darkness there is love and perhaps more love and attention then Leslie wants?

I somehow find Leslie more believable and likable as a character than Ash, the main character in Wicked Lovely. I'm not quite sure why but perhaps it's because Leslie's life experiences seems more real than Ash's does?



When I started Ink Exchange my immediately reaction was that this book is better than Wicked Lovely. When I finished the audiobook I still felt that this series lacks something and I think it is the pace of the plot that bothers me and I would have liked some more action. For me this series hasn't lived up to all the hype. I almost feel guilty towards Melissa Marr when I write this about a book/books she has put a huge amount of time and effort into(and difficult personal experiences). Even so I have to be honest, no use in pretending to love a book. If I didn't already have Fragile Eternity here I wouldn't run to the store to buy it.

I've also read Fragile Eternity and will be reviewing it shortly.

My rating of this book:
3,85 out of 5 stars.

If you have reviewed this book let me know and I'll post a link to your review below.
Want another opinion on this book? Check out these reviews below:

Book details(Paperback):
• Reading level: Young adult
• Genre: Fantasy
• Pages: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061214701
• ISBN-13: 978-0061214707

For more information about the author and her books visit:

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Okay.. I really need to write some reviews


I'm a bad book blogger, I hardly write one book review during a whole week. I've done a little checking on my bookshelf and here are the books that I have read but not yet reviewed:

  1. The Alchemist by Paolo Choelo
  2. The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
  3. Eat, Pray, Love by Elisabeth Gilbert
  4. The Abortionist's Daughter by Elizabeth Hyde
  5. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
  6. Sandman vol. 1 - Preludes and Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman
  7. Saffy's angel - Hilary McKaye
  8. bellwether by Connie Willis
  9. Dead until Dark by Charlene Harris
I have something to work with at least..

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Book review: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr


Rule #3: Don’t stare at invisible faeries. Aiislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don’t speak to invisible faeries. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don’t ever attract their attention. But it’s too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything. Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in this 21st century faery tale.

My opinion:

Wicked Lovely was an entertaining book and might I add a great debut novel. I'm looking forward to read the next book in this series(so far I believe five books is planned), Ink Exchange. Even tough at the end of Wicked Lovely I felt that it would do find as a standalone novel. I slightly disagree in the statment that "If you liked the Twilight-saga then you'll love Wicked Lovely", don't get me wrong I enjoyd reading this book but I felt that there were some dry spots which I didn't experience when I read Twilight. I guess the reason for the dry spots is as Alaine - The Queen of Happy Endings commented to me on her own review of this book:
I think it's like the first book in any series and is setting the scene so it needs some patience.

Take a look at the Wicked Lovely book trailer:


The characters in this book is believable, I love the way Melissa Marr makes the characters develop through out the book(neither too little nor too much). I especially like the way that the main character, Aislinn, grows into a stronger woman in this novel(yes, I know she's only seventeen). I like her as a main character better than Bella in Twilight.

Wicked Lovely contains some sexual references and underage drinking, for those who'd like a warning. This is a young adult book, I've noticed that the age definition of a young adult is from 12 - 18 years. I believe that this book isn't targeted for the younger ones in the YA defintion, perhaps for 15-16 year olds and upwards(this is a good book for adult as well as teens).

My rating of this book:
3,85 out of 5 stars.

If you have reviewed this book let me know and I'll post a link to your review below.
Want another opinion on this book? Check out these reviews below:

Book details:
• Reading level: Young adult
• Genre: Fantasy
• Pages: 328 pages
• Publisher: HarperTEEN (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061214671
• ISBN-13: 978-0061214677


For more information about the author and her books visit:

Monday, June 8, 2009

Book review: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Book description:
My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.
All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

Take a look at the book trailer:


My review:

I loved this book! I got sucked in from page one and could hardly put the book down.
One of the things I loved about the protagonist in this book, Chloe, is that her love for movies reminds her of all the stupid things a hero does in the movies. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt the urge to shout at a hero in a movie: "No, don't go there" or "don't do that, it's so obviously a trap!". No at last there is a hero that knows these traps, therefore she can't fall for them, or can she?

The characters in this book is absolutely believable, they are real teenagers with many of the problems that comes with being a teen and going through puberty. A few examples; Chloe herself, some of her problems is waiting for her first period and something to fill her bra, 16 year old Derek has real problems with acne.

This book has a real cliffhanger ending so a word of advice: When you buy The Summoning make sure that you also buy The Awakening!

My rating:
4/5

The Summoning is the first book in Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Power trilogy. The second book in this trilogy is called The Awakening and it's available in stores, the third and the last book is called The Reckoning and won't be released before May 2010! I believe that those of you whom enjoyed The Twilight Saga will enjoy this trilogy. It is a young adult fiction trilogy in the urban fantasy genre, still I would recommend it to adults as well.

If you have reviewed this book let me know and I'll post a link to your review below.

Want another opinion on this book? Check out these reviews below:



Book details:
• Reading level: Young adult
• Genre: Urban fantasy
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061450545
• ISBN-13: 978-0061450549

For more information about the author or about her books visit:

Sunday, June 7, 2009

A short note on a Sunday

I have a bad habit of not reading my books in the order I've intended to. Friday I received a large packet with books from Amazon, among those books were The Summoning and The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong. During this weekend I have devoured both of those books, putting all of the other books I was reading aside(needless to say that I loved them both?!). Now I have to wait almost a whole year before the third book comes out, oh.. the pain!

Now I'm off to my cousins confirmation, enjoy your Sunday!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Book review: The Novice by Trudi Canavan


‘The most important attribute of a magician is knowledge . . . Without it his strength is useless.’ The magician’s eyes flickered to Sonea, ‘Even if his powers surface of their own accord, he will soon be dead if he does not gain the knowledge of how to control them.’
Sonea knows the other novices in the Magicians’ Guild all come from powerful families, but she also knows she can turn to Rothen and Dannyl for help when she needs it. That is, until someone starts spreading malicious rumours about her - and Akkarin, the High Lord, steps in.
Promoted to Guild Ambassador, Lord Dannyl leaves for the Elyne court. His first order from Administrator Lorlen is to resume, in secret, High Lord Akkarin’s long-abandoned research into ancient magical knowledge. Not knowing the true reason for his journey, Dannyl is soon facing unexpected dangers.
Meanwhile, Sonea has almost forgotten the High Lord’s dark secret, but keeping the truth hidden may be a grave mistake...
My review(may contain SPOILERS!):

The Novice is the second book in Trudi Canavans Black Magician Trilogy, and it is definteily better than, The Magicians' Guild[my review]. The Novice on the other hand I didn't want to turn of(audio book) and when it ended it left me really annoyed with myself for not getting the last book.

It's not easy being the only one in the university from a poor background and Sonea has to deal with harassment from an ever increasing group of novices and with no friends to support her. It was almost a bit too much at times, I started getting annoyed that teachers could let this going on, knowingly, to such an extent.

I would have wanted Ceryn's role to have a larger part in this book, because I liked him as a character in the first book. All through this book I kept wondering what Cery was up to. But, yes, there is a big BUT here, there will be a challenger for his role in this book and it's quite an enjoyable character if I may say so. There will be some romance in this book, but only a little bit, and that is a good thing because I wouldn't want this book to change into a love story.

This book made me wonder what it is about The High Lord and the practicing of black magic, it is almost like there is something more to it then using it for evil.

Canavan addresses a, still, difficult matter in this book(mentioned in the first book as well), the subject I must say took me by surprise. It wasn't something I expected in a book about magicians, but why not?! It shows us of how difficult it can be to come forth as a homosexual, both in admitting it to oneself and the rest of the world. Canavan sheds light over the difficulties one can face being gay in different countries and cultures, some countries and cultures are much more excepting than others.

It's awful having to wait to read the last book! I want to know what happens now!

My rating of this book:
4/5


Book details:
• Reading level: Young adult
• Genre: Fantasy
• UK edition: 592 pages
• Publisher: Orbit Books (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841493147
• ISBN-13: 978-1841493145

For more information about the author or about her books visit:

Trudi Canavan's homepage
Trudi Canavan's blog