Paranormal – Page 6 – My Good Reads

Relentless trilogy – Karen Lynch

Sometimes, when looking for books to fulfil an online group reading challenge, you come across something that you wouldn’t normally think of picking up. This trilogy is one of those reads.

‘Relentless’ was a book that I wasn’t convinced by initially. It introduces us to Sara Grey who found her father, murdered, and has always been determined to find out what happened to him. She hasn’t got far in her quest, but since his murder she has established she can do things nobody else can and there’s a few odd things going on around her. Everything is thrown at us in this book and, initially, it all seemed a bit formulaic. There’s vampires, Mohiri, trolls, dangerous humans, werewolves, fae…a snarky main character who finds it hard to trust people and a brooding male who you just know is going to be more than we expect. However, as things unwind it became a whole lot better than I was expecting. Elements of the story were interesting, but I felt there were some plot-holes and something of a lack of control over the environment which just stopped this from being a really good read.

In ‘Refuge’ we kick off with Sara in her Mohiri stronghold, undergoing training to try ad keep her safe from the Master vampire who’s determined to find her. She gets to learn a little more of her skills-and find new allies. We didn’t, thankfully, have to wait too long for Nikolas to return and the heat between these two was ramped up – while all being very chaste. Our key focus here is the developing power Sara has, and the realisation that a certain someone will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I got a new favourite character of Desmund, and I really liked how we start to learn a little more of Sara’s potential. I’m certainly pleased to say this left me keen to read the final book in the trilogy.

‘Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires #1)’ – Rachel Caine

Originally published in 2006, this was a book I picked up as part of an online reading challenge. It’s part of a fifteen book series (which, in itself, suggests it won’t maintain my interest for more than a few books) focusing on Claire Danvers, a young student who moves to Morganville for college and discovers that the town has some mysterious links to vampires.

There’s an awful lot to gripe about here.

Claire, our young academically gifted student, is beyond stupid at so many points in the book. When the book opens she is being mercilessly bullied by her peers. We’re not talking the kind of attacks you might brush off – acid being thrown at her, pushing her down stairs etc – and she insists on staying! Her parents leave her at college after several attacks; we have a town run by vampires that humans let get away with killing off people and doing nothing about it; there’s no attempt to explain some of the characters’ situations; they’re hunting for a book that vampires have spent years looking for, and just happen to stumble across it…and I could go on.

The fact is, Morganville is not a particularly well-constructed place. The story twists abruptly if it fits what’s needed, which can cause some confusion. The main character is pretty infuriating.

And yet I found myself carried along by this.

Superficially entertaining, and I did enjoy this (as long as I don’t think too closely about it). I’ll try one or two more because, as is often the case, you become slightly invested in what happens to these characters.

‘White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1)’ – Jennifer L. Armentrout

Originally published in 2014, this is the first in a trilogy which is something of a must for paranormal/fantasy fans (though it seems hard to get your hands on a physical copy in the UK in the usual outlets).

Layla is our main character-a seventeen year old who has the ability to steal people’s souls with a kiss. She lives with Watchers (gargoyles who kill demons), is half Watcher but is also half demon, so we immediately guess there’s a bit more to this story.

The beginning sets up the paranormal elements fairly well, but covering up any anomalies with the idea that the Watchers are keeping these ideas from humans. When Layla’s presence starts to attract all manner of demons, things become rather frantic.

There’s no denying Armentrout gives you exactly what you expect (and want) and does it well. We have Layla, who has potential (though she’s a bit whiny for my liking); a cute best friend who cares for Layla but doesn’t show it until there’s a rival for her affections; her trusty human sidekicks (thinking Buffy) and a very very attractive but snarky rebel who should be the bad boy but who shows himself to be pretty decent.

The story carried me along at breakneck pace. I think I fell slightly in love with Roth, Bambi and the cats. My big bug was Abbott and the Watchers who were clearly hiding a lot of things, and whose rigidity caused some real issues. A blistering climax, which has ensured I will get book two because I can’t leave it hanging there!

‘Angelfall’ – Susan Ee

Originally published in 2011, this first in the trilogy was one I picked up as part of a reading challenge so it was one I approached with a relatively open-mind.

The premise sounds exciting. Six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse attacked earth and destroyed life as we know it. However, the devastation and general state of things is set up as though it’s been a lot longer. The world-building and general set-up of the novel wasn’t wholly successful for me.

We open watching seventeen year old Penryn take desperate measures to try and protect her family. Events kick off quickly, with Penryn watching an angel attacked.

We’re under no illusion that angels are the bad guys, so it’s odd that Penryn helps the attacked angel and saves him from death. The desperation felt as she watches her sister seized by the attacking angels causes her to act in rather unexpected ways, but it still struck me as odd that she so willingly abandons her mother to try and rescue her sister.

The relationship between Raffe and Penryn was snarky, but also rather cute. I really wanted more to develop between them-but the aid each offers throughout the book and hints of their true feelings has to be enough for now.

Plenty of action, and I feel that some elements of this worked better than others. The ending was frustrating beyond belief, but I’m not sure I cared enough to go on and continue the series.

‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ – Laini Taylor

This, to me, seems like one of those books that will either infuriate or inspire.

We open in Prague, focusing on a young art student. All seems very ordinary – but then we’re told about mysterious handprints appearing on doorways and people dealing in teeth. From early on it is evident that we are in the realms of fantasy, but it is heavily mixed with a more contemporary feel.

The opening descriptions of Prague are evocative and starting with the focus on Karou and her rather interesting secret life definitely piques your interest.

The opening chapters seemed like a contemporary romance in places, but there were enough links to a fantasy world to keep me intrigued. However, the time-frame of this novel was rather disorientating.

We are, essentially, getting the love story of Madrigal and Akiva – a kind of fantasy Romeo and Juliet. They live in a world of seraphim and chimaera, where magic brings danger and few are to be trusted. Only this isn’t clear until about halfway through the book when we start to see how Karou is linked to their story.

I don’t want to give away how the two elements combine, but it works – for the most part.

‘Release’ – Patrick Ness

I don’t know if I dare confess to not knowing ‘Mrs Dalloway’, but I loved ‘Forever’ as a teenager and was in awe of a writer who could be so open and frank about discovering sex as Judy Blume was. This latest release by Patrick Ness may well be inspired by these books, but this was really a book of mixed responses for me.

The story focuses, in the main, on a day in the life of Adam Thorn. He is the younger son of an evangelical preacher, gay but not able to share this with his family (though there are clues that they know this) and about to spend the night at a going-away party for his first love, Enzo. We follow Adam through his day – so mundane in many ways, but also packed with exquisite moments.

Alongside Adam’s story is this rather odd tale of the spirit of a recently deceased girl (murdered by her boyfriend) hell-bent on getting revenge. She is accompanied on her journey by a 7ft faun and, on occasion, people in the real world see her. I confess to not really being sure what was going on here. It felt like some kind of symbolic representation of Adam’s life but it did feel like it was getting in the way of the story I wanted to know more about.

I found myself frustrated at the start by Adam’s family – the chrysanthemum scene was symptomatic of their inability to talk together – but I thought there might be hope when Adam’s brother, Marty, reveals he has got a girl pregnant. Sadly, we follow Adam on his day and there’s always a sense of someone not quite getting it.

The scene with Adam’s sleazy boss, Wade, angered me. I felt rather sorry for Enzo, in spite of the hurtful way in which he behaved towards Adam. However, that moment when Adam realises what has been going on, and gets his release from this toxic relationship was to be applauded. The moment that choked me, where I really wasn’t sure I wanted to read on, was the moment when Adam finally confronts his father with the reality of his life. A rather unconventional approach to outing yourself, but when his dad turns round and says “You’ll never know how hard I have to work to love you” I thought my heart would break!

I can see some readers might be uncomfortable with the level of detail given to describing Adam’s sex-life. Yes, it’s graphic but not really much more than we might get from many writers describing a heterosexual relationship, and I certainly didn’t get the feeling it was gratuitous. What I do think is worth noting is the positivity shown in the relationship between Linus and Adam. There was a real tenderness to their interactions and an emotional intimacy that anyone should be honoured to share.

All in all this was a read that I found absorbing. In turns drawn to and repelled by Adam and his family, I felt Adam’s story was Ness at his best. The other parts were, sadly, detracting and I felt they were Ness trying too hard to be clever.

‘The Afterlife of Holly Chase’ – Cynthia Hand

There’s very few people that will not be familiar with the story of Scrooge and his shot at redemption. With untold students having to study ‘A Christmas Carol for GCSE I can see this being an interesting companion piece.

Our focus is on seventeen year old Holly Chase, a fashion-obsessed teenager who’s been struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother from cancer. She is, quite frankly, an unpleasant character: rude, self-obsessed, selfish, mean…you get the idea. In true Dickensian style she is visited one Christmas Eve by three spirits, keen to give her a chance to change. Holly ignores the warnings, and dies on Christmas Day.

Only she isn’t actually dead.

Holly is, instead, taken to work on Project Scrooge – a secretive set-up where once a year the crew attempt to save the life of one Scrooge (or the modern equivalent). For the last five years we are told Holly has been acting as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Her afterlife is pretty dull. She goes to work, has no friends and does little in her spare time. This year, though, things are different.

This year the target is, for the first time since Holly, a young boy. From the off we can see Holly has a lot more invested in Ethan’s case than others she’s worked on. Though things aren’t done conventionally here, we root for Holly as she tries to change someone’s future.

As the book progresses there’s hints that things are not quite as we were led to believe. However, it all ties together nicely.

This must be the only book I’ve read where I’m actually happy that the romance I was hoping for all along didn’t quite go to plan. When you read it, you’ll know why. This is not a straightforward retelling, but it was instantly recognisable. Aside from the modern setting and the easily identifiable characters, I loved the way Hand updates the source for a modern reader. And the geeky English teacher in me loved all the Dickens references and quotes.

What’s not to love?

Thank you to edelweiss and publishers Harper Teen for allowing me to read this in advance.

‘Seven Trees of Stone’ – Leo Hunt

An unusual read, but it will thrill fans of the series.

It’s been a while since I read book two but this gives some recaps while plunging us into a new story. It doesn’t take long to pick things back up, honest.

Luke has got used to a quieter life, and some time has passed since the events of Book Two. There are still issues between Luke and his mother, and his acceptance of her new boyfriend Darren. When Luke is persuaded to spend New Year’s Eve in Darren’s woodland home we are expecting something dramatic – but this was off the scale of what I thought might happen.

This story tells us about a New Year’s Eve with a difference. After an argument, Luke wakes to find himself in Deadside with no idea of how he came to be there. The world has frozen over, and something is attempting to take over the land of the living.

We watch Luke and Elza encounter some pretty nasty things, but they are resourceful and find a way to take on these Essentials. As with previous books, there’s some graphic description but it is exciting stuff.

I was pretty surprised by the final showdown, and think that’s a fitting ending to events. However, Luke’s final actions imply there could be more to come.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

‘The Caster Chronicles’ – Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book One – Beautiful Creatures – finished 13/04/17

Intriguingly this novel is told from the perspective of a young male, Ethan Wate. He has been having strange dreams, and they seem to be linked to the new girl to arrive in the town of Gatlin, Lena Duchannes. We can tell, immediately, that there is something unusual about these two…the question is, just how unusual.

In this first in the series we are introduced to the hidden people of Gatlin, the Casters. On their sixteenth birthday we are told that each female descendant of Guinevere Duchannes must be claimed. It is an age-old event, and nobody knows whether they will be claimed as Light or Dark. Lena is desperate to avoid this fate, and the novel focuses on her attempts – with help from Ethan – to work out what steps she can take to control her destiny.

Ethan is the kind of character who seems quite content to live his life on the sidelines. He’s fairly popular, but nothing too special. He does what he can to avoid confrontation – until Lena’s arrival, which seems to wake him up and force him to start questioning just what and who is important to him.

There wasn’t anything particularly unexpected in this, but I did enjoy watching Ethan and Lena start to unravel the mysteries surrounding their respective families. A powerful ending, which nicely prepares us for something big in book two.

Book Two – Beautiful Darkness – finished 26/04/17

Book Two in the series was, for me, possibly better than the first but it did seem to take a long time to get going. We pick up after the unfortunate events of Lena’s birthday and we expect everything to be positive…but it’s very far from alright. Lena and Ethan are drifting apart, and Ethan has no clue why.

The struggles in the relationship between Ethan and Lena form the backdrop to this story, but the real interest lies in the developments in the Caster world. There are hints that what people believed might not be quite the truth, and there are some rather shocking revelations.

I enjoyed the journey to try and help Lena, though I am amazed that Liv – who seemed to have her head screwed on right – found much to like about Ethan. He learns a little more about himself, but he is clueless to say the least. I wonder whether he’ll come into his own in the rest of the books, but I’m hoping to see a little more of Link who is definitely not having the best of times by the end of this!

Book Three – Beautiful Chaos – finished 30/04/17

There’s a horrible sense of inevitability to this third in the series. We suspect that things are not going to end well for Ethan and Lena, and there’s a lot to suggest that this is the case. Nothing is, however, certain by the close of the novel so I am hoping that we’ll get proper answers in the final book.

Abraham is becoming more of a threat, though nobody is entirely certain what he is planning. What is clear is that Lena’s earlier actions have upset the order of things, and there will be a price to pay.

I loved the development for Link, who is rather a goofy character but one you cannot help but like. I was also pleasantly surprised to see some of the other characters in a new light here.

Book Four – Beautiful Redemption – finished 30/04/17

A shorter read in the series, and thankfully everything panned out nicely.

I wouldn’t say this was as good as the others in the series, but you definitely could see the story progressing and were able to get a sense of how matters might be resolved.

Ethan and Lena share the telling of this story – and this makes sense once we know what’s going on – but it did lead to a more disjointed feel.

If you’ve read the first three, you’ll not want to miss this.

Lauren Kate – ‘Fallen’ series

Fallen Torment Passion
Rapture Unforgiven

Book One – Fallen (read 02/03/17)

This is the kind of story that carries you along quite happily, and it is only after you finish reading that you start to pick holes in it.

Luce is sent to a reform school due to an unfortunate incident involving a boy and flames, lots of flames. She has, since she can remember, seen mysterious shadows around her and is, understandably, keen to not share this information with people. Unfortunately, everyone she comes across at this new school clearly knows a lot more about her and her situation than Luce is allowed to know.

Things happen fairly quickly, and the inevitable relationship dilemma is dealt with in a fairly engaging way. There’s a lot of characters, many of whom are expendable and don’t seem to have much impact on the story.

While this book was not particularly bad, it was frustrating because we watched Luce get into ridiculous situations without questioning what was happening. There were a few too many unanswered questions for my liking, but I’m looking forward to seeing the development of the story in the rest of the series.

Book Two – Torment (read 05/03/17)

‘Torment’ picks up immediately after the events of ‘Fallen’. We start with Luce being taken to a new school where it’s hoped she’ll be safe as she’s surrounded by the Nephilim (offspring of humans and fallen angels).

It’s no surprise to see that it all goes rather wrong. She gets to see Daniel occasionally but Luce spends most of the book digging round and trying to find out more about her past. We meet some new characters, learn a bit more about angels and watch Luce bumble from one disaster to the next as she tries to lay low. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it was incredibly frustrating to have yet another book where we get no closer to any answers.

Book Three – Passion (read 06/03/17)

In the third in the series Luce is determined to go back through time, to the times she and Daniel have met, in order to try and work out how she can put an end to her fate. What follows is a bit of a mish-mash of us seeing Luce and Daniel fall in love through history.

I understand that there is something slightly romantic about watching Luce and Daniel fall in love in their various incarnations, but we remain pretty short on answers in this novel. The style felt even more fractured than the previous two, but there were some nice scenes.

Where this did become fun was as we drew closer to the Fall and start to gain an insight into exactly what happened and how the curse affecting Luce came into being. We get some hints of where we might be going, but it does seem that things are being drawn out rather for the sake of it.

Book Four – Rapture

Book Five – Unforgiven