Thursday, January 26, 2012

Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz

Reading Level: Young Adult

Paperback: 288 Pages

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

ISBN-10: 1423102290

My Rating: 5/5
Schuyler Van Alen's blood legacy has just been called into question: is the young vampire in fact a Blue Blood, or is it the sinister Silver Blood that runs through her veins? As controversy swirls, Schuyler is left stranded in the Force household, trapped under the same roof as her cunning nemesis, Mimi Force, and her forbidden crush, Jack Force. When an ancient place of power is threatened in Rio de Janeiro, however, the Blue Bloods need Schuyler on their side. The stakes are high, the battle is bloody, and through it all Schuyler is torn between duty and passion, love and freedom.

True to Melissa De La Cruz's style and in typical Blue Blood's fashion, this book was incredible! Melissa De La Cruz is one of my favorite authors. I know that if I pick up one of her books to read, I'm going to love it! She's always my "go-to" author. If I'm kind of in a reading funk, I know to read one of her books and it gets me back on the band wagon. I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of books to read by her! haha. There is not one thing that I didn't like about this book. Amazing!

Revelations' is the continuing story of Schuyler, Bliss, and Mimi. Schuyler is living with the Force's and hating it. She finally found her grandfather and now can't even live with him. On top of all that, she has been banned from talking to anyone she cares about. Schuyler's got it rough. I don't want to give away too much....although
I guess I just did. But, this book is fantastic.

I was actually so into this book when I was reading it that I couldn't focus on my school work. I actually had to walk away from it and finish reading 'Revelations' because I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was action packed and intense! I highly recommend this series, if you haven't had the opportunity to read it yet, you should! It's well worth it!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Earth Blend by Lori Pescatore

Paperback: 194 Pages

Publisher: CreateSpace

ISBN: 9781463673567

My Rating: 4/5
Earth Blend is the second book in the Blend trilogy and the sequel to Human Blend. In this installment, the mysteries of the Blends and Earthlings are revealed. How can Julie live a normal life when she is anything but normal? Her relationship with Austin is complicated by emerging abilities in both. Trust is hard to come by as lies and secrets hinder them at every turn. Is the past destined to repeat itself as the Earthlings once again rush to save them? Te ensuing chaos breeds fatal consequences.

'Earth Blend' is the second book in the Blend trilogy by Lori Pescatore. This review isn't really going to contain much info about the book because, if you haven't read the first one, I don't want to ruin anything in the second one. It is definitely a must read book though! Pescatore stays true to her style through Earth Blend with all of our favorite characters making a return!

'Earth Blend' picks up right where 'Human Blend' left off. I think that was a plus for these books because I always find myself asking questions when there is a time frame in between and we don't know what happened. Not only does 'Earth Blend' pick up right where book one left off, but it also contains a lot of background information not only on the human blends, but the earth blends as well. For someone like me, this is another positive feature. I love to learn about characters in books and having such detailed info as Pescatore gave us, makes the characters seem more relatable and it allows you to really get to know them.

Overall, the Blend trilogy (book one and two) are awesome and I highly recommend the series. I actually went back and read some other reviews and there are a lot of positive reviews. I'm not sure why I didn't hear about this trilogy earlier. If you haven't had the chance to read the Blend trilogy yet, I insist that you do! So far book one and two are available as ebook and paperback. I can't wait to read book three in the Blend series!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Human Blend by Lori Pescatore

Paperback: 234 Pages

Publisher: CreateSpace

ISBN: 978-1453765135

My Rating: 4/5
Marion, Virginia seemed like a nice place to live a normal life, but she is not a normal girl. Laney has special abilities that keep her looking over her shoulder as she makes her escape from the men who had kidnapped her.
A young doctor's interest is piqued when he witnesses her mysteriously curing a young child's illness. He befriends her due to his growing fascination with uncovering the true nature of her abilities, but not without harboring secrets of his own.
Laney's budding relationship with a local boy puts both of them in danger when the men she was hiding from find her. All of their lives will change forever as ancient secrets become unearthed.

'Human Blend' was so much more than I anticipated it to be. I loved the Characters (for the most part) and the storyline was consistent, engaging, and it made sense. As with all books and characters, there will probably be something you like and something you don't like. The only problem I had with any character in this book was Laney. She can be a bit much sometimes haha. But she is still a GREAT character.

'Human Blend' is the story of Laney who runs away from these terrible people and attempts to live in secret in Marion, Virginia. The people she is running from are the worst sort of people. Anyways, I don't want to say much about them. So, Laney has these abilities that we learn about throughout the book. The first thing we learn is that she can see numbers and she can heal people. Which is really why these people want her in the first place.

Overall, 'Human Blend' is an awesome book. I was hooked on it and actually read it all within a couple days which is something I haven't done since the summer! I can't wait to start book #2, 'Earth Blend' and see where Laney's story goes. I'm actually planning on starting it today! So, if you haven't checked out 'Human Blend' by Lori Pescatore (which is book one in a trilogy) you definitely should, you won't be disappointed!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Kevin's Point of View by Del Shannon

Reading Level: Young Adult

Paperback: 400 Pages

Publisher: Flatiron View Books

ISBN: 978-0-615-40123-2

My Rating: 4/5
Kevin Tobin is a relatively ordinary twelve-year-old dealing with the ­aftermath of his father’s death in a mountain biking accident near their home in Boulder, Colorado. To escape from his emotional turmoil, Kevin has ­developed his imagination into a dangerous foil and a powerful ally. While he antagonizes his mother and sister through his superhero antics on an average Wednesday ­morning, his ability to escape inside a character’s head becomes critical to his ­survival after his life is once-again turned upside down a year after his father’s death.

A mysterious package arrives in the mail, Kevin and his best friend are hunted down by a ruthless villain set upon world domination who is determined to ­retrieve the package, and after enlisting Kevin’s teenage sister and her pizza-­delivery boyfriend in a battle for control over time itself, the secret of Kevin’s whole existence is revealed to him by a source we never expected.

I don't know exactly where to start with 'Kevin's Point of View.' There were so many great things about it! I loved the story! It was cute and light but it still had depth and was completely engaging. From the first few pages you are sucked into Kevin's world and you get stuck there. I just wanted to keep reading because it was such an amazing story.

My favorite character in the story, hands down, is Kevin. I loved that you actually get to see his immaturity and how unpredictable he is. I found myself laughing as he would transform into "Captain Disaster!" Another character that I particularly liked in 'Kevin's Point of View' was the bad guy, Devin. He is completely relentless. He knows what he wants and he does NOT hold back when he goes after it. We get to really see how deranged and psychotic Devin really is when one of his first interactions with Kevin is to try and kill him. All the characters in this book were developed very well and I really liked something about all of them.

Del did a fantastic job of writing Kevin. He is one of my favorite characters to date! Reading 'Kevin's Point of View' was like actually living through Kevin. He is so imaginative and Shannon does an amazing job of portraying it to us. I really loved that it made me feel like I was experiencing these events through this 12 year old boy. I hope to read more from Shannon in the future and I'm hoping there will be another 'Kevin's Point of View.' Oh, and I can't finish my review without saying, the ending to this book was incredible!! I was being presumptuous through it thinking I knew what was going to happen, turns out I was wrong! I won't spoil the book or the ending because I think everyone should read 'Kevin's Point of View' be Del Shannon!