by Kay | Apr 1, 2010 | Reviews |
Fade Out (The Morganville Vampires, Book 7) by Rachel Caine
Bookdepository / Amazon UK / Amazon US
Librarything / Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 348
Summary: Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again…
Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve’s castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger—and way more dangerous—than anyone suspected.
Thoughts: I had been saving Fade Out because it was my last MV book until Kiss of Death comes out – I finally cracked and read it in a single go! Best 4 hours I’ve had in quite a while!
The book picks up a few months after the chaos of Carpe Corpus – and Morganville is living in relative peace. In fact, this book has less action than is typical for a Morganville book – which is still an awful lot! Caine’s books always pack a punch, and Fade Out is no exception.
A new girl throws all the group dynamics off balance, and it was great to watch how the characters dealt with a less violent disruption to their status quo. Especially Shane and Claire (bless them – I love these two) who are both desperately trying to be grown ups for each other – and not always succeeding. We also got some amazing insight into Myrinn, his relationship with Ada, and the mostly!platonic love between him and Claire. The Myrinn/Claire dynamic is probably my favourite in the series, and Caine really pushes it to its limits. We get a much clearer picture about how Myrinn feels about Claire – and up to what point Claire will have his back. I’ll stop there, because I don’t want to give anything away. Let’s just say that I love their interaction, and there is plenty of it in Fade Out!
Bottom line? Yet another amazing installation in the Morganville Series. A definite must!
by Kay | Mar 25, 2010 | Reviews |
Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires, Book 6) by Rachel Caine
Bookdepository / Amazon UK / Amazon US
Librarything / Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 384
Summary: In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace – until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He’s kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths.
He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants – the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?
Thoughts: Claire and co. are thrown through the wringer – again – in Carpe Corpus. This is Morganville as we have never seen it before – everything that was once only very dangerous becomes terrifyingly so. It seems even worse for poor Claire, as her parents decide that this book will be the perfect opportunity for them to visit their daughter! I loved seeing Claire deal with her parents on top of all the chaos – which makes me sound rather sadistic… hmm.
Carpe Corpus is probably the darkest of the Morganville books so far. There were a lot of game-changing events that will have long reaching consequences for both humans an vampires. It was also the first book where the group dynamics have not been solid. Because of the events in Lord of Misrule, Claire is all on her own at the start of the book – and this time it is not simply The Glass House vs. The World.
Bottom line? Yet again, you NEED to read this series. It is an action packed roller coaster ride of pure genius. Not to mention it is one of the few YA books out there totally dominated by the romance!
by Kay | Feb 9, 2010 | Reviews |
The Espressologist by Kristina Springer
BookDepository / Amazon / Amazon UK
LibraryThing / Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 192
Summary: What’s your drink of choice?Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you’re lots of fun and a bit sassy.Or a medium americano? You prefer simplicity in life.Or perhaps it’s a small decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie.
Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it’s not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their coffee orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte.
With overtones of Jane Austen’s Emma and brimming with humor and heart, this sweet, frothy debut will be savored by readers.
Thoughts: I adored The Espressologist! It is a modern-day fairytale: enchanting, funny and caffinated!
Everything I love about coffee shops is in this book! The drinks, the environment, and the perky staff. Although I have to say, reading it in Starbucks made it even more enjoyable. Short and sweet, I finished it in a single day.
Jane was a breath of fresh air as a narrator – and I felt the style was very much like my own. I swear this is just a book I forgot to write! The only thing I wish had been more developed was the love interest Cam – who I never really, er, got. Had I liked him even a little bit more, this could easily have been a 5 star book. It was honestly that enjoyable!
The hardback edition – which is currently the only one out – has an adorable coffee stain circle etched into it. And how much more adorable could that cover possibly get? ♥
Bottom line? A wonderful, escapist read for coffee-lovers of all ages. Especially if you need a little reality to cleanse your palate between all the fantasy YA in the market!
by Kay | Jan 26, 2010 | Reviews |
Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires, Book 5) by Rachel Caine
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookdepository / LibraryThing / Goodreads
Rating: 4/5 stars
Pages: 256
SPOILERS for previous books!
Summary: In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat.
Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.
Thoughts: Lord of Misrule turns the entire Morganville series on its head – if you ever have to skip a book, make sure it isn’t this one! The relative comfort our characters used to live in has gone, and has been replaced with a war in the trenches. Any action that I might have felt was missing in Feast of Fools is made up for in Lord of Misrule – I gave up counting the life-or-death situations by page 30.
The action turns the entire town around, and the change brings out the hardness in all the characters – including Claire. I’d call some of her actions fierce, but I’d just be paraphrasing Eve (honestly, they are that fierce). I’d say Shane gets the biggest shake-up, character-wise. He had a lot of explaining to do in this book and, unsurprisingly, talking it out really helped with his new enlightenment.
Make sure you have a copy of Carpe Corpus on hand, because Lord of Misrule has the most jaw-dropping cliffhanger yet. And given Caine’s usual modus operandi, that is saying something!
Bottom Line? You NEED to read this series!
by Kay | Aug 16, 2009 | Reviews |
The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson
Series: Sign of the Zodiac #1
Published by Harper Collins on 2009-10-13
Pages: 464
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating: When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert.By rights, she should be dead.Now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset—a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow—seeking answers to whom or what she really is . . . and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.But the nightmare is just beginning—for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful shadows want her for their own . . .
Rec for people who love: tortured heroines, completely unique universes, and a fair bit of blood and guts in their books!
Thoughts: I first saw this book at a second hand store over a year ago, and left it there because I couldn’t quite make out where it fell in the genre. No vampires, no witches, no werewolves. What exactly were these Shadow things supposed to be, anyhow? So I put it back, despite Kelley Armstrong’s quote claiming it would keep me up past my bed time.
A year later, same second-hand store, and they still hadn’t sold it. Marked down to 50p, I figured I could afford to give it a shot. And let’s just say, I wish I had picked it up when I first found it.
Pettersson throws us straight into the action – leaving us to work out the universe as Joanna does. It is a complicated one too, as we have zero frame of reference to go on. Put simply, this series is about a war between two superhero factions: the forces of Light and Shadow. Their battles are depicted in comic form after the fact, then sold to humans as fiction.
Had I understood this before starting, I likely wouldn’t have continued. While I appreciate the whole superhero thing, it just wouldn’t have enticed me enough to read it. But boy, would I have been wrong. Vicki Pettersson is a brutal writer. The blood, the sex, the cruelty just seeps out of the novel, unabashed and unashamed – much like Vegas itself. The setting is more than ideal for the horror of the novel, in fact, it might not have worked set anywhere else.
Joanna is a tortured heroine – for a change – and is damaged beyond belief. It makes her both tough and endearing, an odd combination to say the least. Considering the horror Pettersson subjects her to, you will be as surprised as I am that she does not spend the entire book in tears.
The action is brilliantly described, the writing nearly flawless, and the universe-building is gratifyingly natural. Joanna’s troupe is made up of very complex, unique characters – each with a story of their own. It’s a refined book, if one can say such a thing about horror, and a definite must – especially for those of you hoping to try something a bit new.
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