The book blog hop is hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy For Books. The idea behind it is to link up your blog and check out others who did the same!
I want to welcome everyone stopping by from the Hop!
I'm a 23-year-old aspiring YA novelist and on my blog it's all about YA novels, writing and movies! I'm really excited to be meeting everyone! Feel free to have a look around my blog!
This week's question:
How do you spread the word about your blog?
For the longest time, I wondered this same thing. Then I stumbled across the Book Blog Hop and met so many cool people. I also try to review a lot of book, get author interviews and hold contests to make my blog more attractive. I don't use a lot of social networking sites but I swear by Goodreads and I love Shelfari. As for my Facebook account, it's for private uses.
Make sure to check out my 100 Followers Contest to snag a SIGNED copy of City of Glass by Cassandra Clare and more!
Help me out and take a peek at my Query Letter. I could really use some constructive criticism!
Looking for new contests or to advertise your own contest? Visit The Book Contest Directory!
I'm in my last stage of editing and I'm getting ready to send my work out. I don't often do this but I could really use some help from everyone. I'm posting my query letter up here and if you guys could tell me if it's good, I'd really appreciate it! Even if you aren't a writer, just tell me if you'd be intrigued reading it!
Here we go:
Dear Agent (obviously I'm changing this),
Sixteen-year-old Blake Porter just landed a job to die for… literally.
Found half dead on her front porch, Blake wakes up in the hospital a day later with no memory of the previous 32 hours. The answer arrives on her doorstep in the form of a strange guy, claiming to be the Charon from Greek Mythology, there to pass on the paddle for the rest of eternity. The only stipulation for the new gig is a six day expiration date, and a bad case of denial.
Eighteen-year-old Aiden Wright is still freaked after discovering Blake’s almost lifeless body, especially since he’s been nursing a crush on her for years. Spending most of his childhood alone with Law and Order, he decided to model his life after his fictional heroes, but now he’s not sure he’s cut out for the job.
All Aiden’s detective prep comes in handy when a string of “accidental” deaths occur at their high-school. Aiden suspects a murderer, Blake knows the truth. It’s going to take all of Blake’s courage, and every detective skill Aiden can conjure up to crack this case; before all Hades breaks loose.
Styx and Stones is a young adult paranormal novel completed at around 73,000 words and told in alternating point of views. (There will be more here tailoring it to the agent)
For all the juicy details of this challenge, head over to Princess Bookie but not before you check out my movie star dream date... I promise you'll wanna hang out.
So here's what you need to know:
We were asked to pick a celebrity we'd want to go on a date with and write about it
The prize is a box of surprise ARCs but I feel the real prize is getting to daydream about the guy I'm about to show you! He's that yummy.
I don't think too many people are going to know him but I hope you'll want to after I'm finished.
Craig Horner
Alright, so now that's you've seen the guy, let's dish a little. Both of the photos above are from the t.v. show he's best known for which is The Legend of The Seeker loosely based off The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. In this series Horner portrays Richard, a ax wielding woodsman who is often shown without his shirt. As you can see from the above picture, I don't mind that much. But more than his thick chocolate hair, deep eyes and sculpted body, I actually believe him playing the good guy role. He delivers his lines with a sincerity I don't often see in movies or t.v. shows anymore and he seems to have a passion for what he does. A guy with a passion is always great!
Now, I'm a happily married gal so I'm not going to go into too much detail here. Suffice to say we'd go out on a date as friends (just a friend who I happen enjoy looking at a lot) and I'd ask him about the show. In fact, I'm bringing in his co-star Bridget Regan for my hubby and we'd double.
Of course, Craig Horner would have to do most of the talking, what with his delicious Aussie accent? So there you have it. That's who I'd pick to go on a date with. I leave you (only a little shamefully) with this:
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where you can post about upcoming books you're looking forward to.
I've known about my choice this week for a long time and am surprised I haven't used it yet. I love love LOVE the cover and the blurb looks delicious!
The Lost Saint by Bree Despain
Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven. Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot—a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel is put in danger—in more ways than one. Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her—not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.
I just finished the first novel about a week ago and fell in love with it. The plot was interesting and fast paced and the characters felt real and were so entraining. Despain is a master at combining really light and wholesome characters with really dark ones and showing us how shadows are created. I can't wait to see Grace get her hands a little dirty and I love that the roles between her and Daniel are now going to be switched. Wonder what's going to happen...
Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: HarperCollins Language: English ISNB-10: 006121468X ISBN-13: 978-0061214684 Source: Bought at a book fair (and signed by Melissa Marr!) Cover: I really love all of the covers in this series and this cover is no exception. I love the usage of dark colors. I also appreciate that we get to see the ink on Leslie's back and the little wings sprouting out from it. The only problem with the wings is she isn't a fey but I love the way they look so much I'm willing to overlook it. This is my third favorite cover in the series. First Sentence: "Irial watched the girl stroll up the street: she was a bundle of terror and fury."
The Mini-review: Ink Exchange takes wings of its own, set in the same addictive world as Wicked Lovely, but with even darker undertones.
Book Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of the faeries or their shadowy power struggles. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo, 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 that Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that bind Leslie to Irial, a dark and dangerous faery king fighting for the soul of his court. Slowly, Leslie is drawn deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resists its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils...
The Review:
I've had this novel sitting on my shelf for quite a while because I kept telling myself I was going to buy the rest of the series before I read this one. I'm glad I finally gave up on that notion and dove into this novel. Ink Exchange is an exciting, dizzying and sexy follow-up to Wicked Lovely.
One of the main reasons I was hesitant to read this novel was because it switches main characters and in general, once I get to know a few people, I don't really want to switch pace and read about a minor character in the last book. I was really interested in Aislinn's transition and wanted to know more about that and the tenuous agreement her, Seth and Keenan finally agreed upon in the last book. But in this one, I am pushed into Leslie and wow did I love it!
The last novel did a wonderful job setting up this dark world that these characters lived in and this novel really focused on that initial darkness by giving us some really dark characters. Leslie is a girl broken in the beginning of the novel, desperate to try to claim back her body, which up until a while ago she thought would always be solely hers. Her solution is to get ink but she doesn't realize until it's too late that she will lose even more. I love that Leslie was tough. For me, Aislinn acted sort of tough but she never really walked the walk when it came down to it. It felt like Leslie could take care of herself. I grew increasingly frustrated with Leslie's unwillingness to let anyone in and confide about the horrendous things that happened to her but I understood fully why she felt that way and respected her for it.
Leslie's carrying a pretty heavy burden so we need some pretty dark guys to really amp up this secret world. Enter two faeries of the Dark Court: Niall and Irial.
Niall turned his back on his true court a long time ago and pledged his allegiance to the Summer Court but as he falls deeper in love with Leslie, he's wondering if he truly made the right choice. I loved Niall in the beginning, who despite being frustrated with himself, at least tried to make choices for himself. He was damaged, tough and alluring but as the book continued he became more broken. As a result, (for me) he lost that sexiness in being able to decide for himself and just started wandering. I really didn't like how he didn't do anything the second half of the book and when Leslie does finally find him he claims he'd been watching over her. Even if that's true, why didn't we, as readers, see this because we did follow him too? I just found that to be a weak excuse.
Irial was a really interesting "villain" in the sense that he didn't really want to be. In the first novel, we learn that the Dark Court is bad news and they sort of are. But in this novel, we see why they are the way they are and how some of the court understands that there must be light in order to create darkness. Irial's struggle to find a balance between what his court expects and what he wants is one of the most fascinating aspects of this novel. Plus, I read him with an Irish accent which is just sexy so I was putty before we even got to know him.
Ink Exchange is full of sensual images and metaphors and some of the scenes are VERY racy because it lingers in the shadows. I think that's one of the reasons it feels so gritty and almost unreal (it might have something to do with being about faeries, if I'm being honest). Marr showed a great understanding for the tattoo artist and a real love for the act of tattooing ones body which is really refreshing.
I do wish that the writing was a bit more clear. Sometimes I found myself re-reading conversations to make sure I understood what was actually happening and I was a bit fuzzy on how the magic actually worked which hindered my enjoy just a little. This could have been the very large gap between reading the first and second novel but I still feel I should have had more of an understanding as to what was happening to Leslie. It was all a little vague.
Regardless, this is a gritty dark fairytale that will grip you until the very last word. It's sexy, intriguing with just the right amount of danger and wonder. I highly recommend this novel!
Rating:
Here's a Wicked Lovely trailer since Ink Exchange was never created:
TEAser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others!
Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles!
" "Well, Phoebe," Damian looks over his shoulder at Mom, who nods in encouragement. "There is little the Greek gods cannot do when they choose to act." "
-Pg. 27 "Oh. My. Gods." by Tera Lynn Childs
I've had this novel for a long while but haven't read it yet because the novel I'm currently writing has a lot of Greek mythology in it and I didn't want to be influenced. I'm really happy to finally get to crack this one open and have been really enjoying it!
It's that time of week again! I'm showing another couple of covers that make me green with envy and stuck sitting on my hands until the novels they cover come out. I hope you enjoy!
Blood Magic by Tess Gratton- I just starting hearing whispers about this book a few weeks ago and the cover makes me understand the buzz. I lobe how the flower in the girl's hand mimics blood and turns into birds (I imagine crows because crows are creepy). The flower also works well because it helps the pose of the girl look like she's dead resting in a coffin with a flower tucked in her hand. The usage of red against the black and grey atmosphere is ingenious and works well to draw the eye to the little details-- her lips and her fingernails in particular. I also love whatever is lurking out there in the background (and it's coming closer).
Here's the summary from Goodreads:
For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.
Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.
Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood.
Blood Magic comes out April 26, 2011.
Possession by Elana Johnson- I am digging the white space in this cover. So often in YAs we get dark covers which works to set a mood but I like it when things go against the grain. As with Matched, I feel this cover really works to simplify and show purity. The fragile butterfly trapped in the clear cube for everyone to gawk out perfectly represents the title and bold touches of turquoise draw the eye to the right spot. This cover is breathtaking!
The summary from Goodreads:
In this world, you're just a possession.
Well, this is actually more of a tagline but it's all they wrote. Look for more coming soon I'd bet!
Isn't it beautiful? I was hoping it'd be red as that's my favorite color and there is it in it's red glory! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it and hope you all do to. Let's have a peek at all of them together so we can see it on our bookshelves:
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Don't they look awesome?
You know what else is awesome? Maggie Stiefvater is holding a super cool contest. Head over to her blog to check out out. And also, check out Fountainhead Bookstoreto snag yourself a SIGNED copy of the first two novels!
For a nifty little giveaway challenge, Princess Bookie is asking us to pick our top 5 most anticipated novels of 2011. This is a super hard list for me to craft so I'm probably going to have to throw in some runner-ups at the bottom. I have to be fair to all the wonderful lovely books coming out!
1) Angelfire by Allison Courtney Moulten- I was instantly intrigued by this cover and hooked by the summer. I'm always down for an angel story and a kick butt heroine to go on top of that is just icing on the cake. What really pushed my excitement over the edge was visiting the author's site and seeing her drawings of her characters. I thought it was a really fun way to generate a bit of buzz and felt like an "extra".
2) Wither by Lauren DeStefano- Again, this was a love at first cover sight but upon reading the summary I knew I needed this book like oxygen. I've been really intrigued by the rise of dystopian novels that create such high stakes for the main characters and this is one that I think does. I really want to know how the main character is going to get out of the predicament she's in.
3) Where She Went by Gayle Forman- If I Stay was one of my top five favorite novels since I read it a year ago. It was beautiful, poignant and changed the way I looked at the world. Forman's writing was flawless and I can't wait to get back into that world and figure out what's happened to Mia.
4) Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris- I love Carrie Harris's blog. I can always drop by there and have my day brightened by the randomness that goes on in her fabulous head. So of course, I know her debut novel is going to be no different. I love the cover and adore that the novel's main character is a smart girl who's in to science. What's not to pine for?
5) Divergent by Veronica Roth- The summary knocked me on my butt and had me gripping my desk for me. I need to dive into this world where people are separated by what they choose to be and see how it's going to effect this character. Again, the stakes are great in this one and I can't wait to find out where they are going to lead me!
Over at Sparkling Reviews, they are holding a contest for their followers. Here's the deal: they want to get to 220 followers so they're offering to ship a box of around five mystery books if they get there.
Here's what we know:
Some will be ARCs
At least two will be SIGNED
For every 10 followers they reach after 220, they'll be adding two books!
In my mailbox is a weekly meme created by The Story Sirenthat encourages other book bloggers to share what they bought, won, begged for or borrowed. It is usually held on Sundays! This week I'm pretty stoked because I received to ARCs in the mail and also found out I won to contests! I won't reveal what I got from my contest until I actually have them in my hands. I also *finally* picked up another really popular novel!
ARCs (Big thank you to BelleBooks):
What I Learned from Being A Cheerleader by Adrianne Ambrose (Review here)
Haint Misbehavin' by Maureen Hardegree
Bought @ Books-A-Million:
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher to give away! (Contest here)
What I Learned From Being A Cheerleader by Adrianne Ambrose
Reading Level: Middle Grade Paperback: 202 pages Publisher: Bell Bridge Books Language: English ISBN-10: 1935661949 ISBN-13: 978-1935661948 Source: ARC sent from publisher (HUGE thanks to Bell Bridge Books!) Cover: I'm not one hundred percent sure how to judge this. I wouldn't pick the book up but that's because I don't often read MGs. From what I know about MGs, most covers are drawn like this and I feel it represents the novel very well. So I like it, but I'm not drawn to it but it's not my genre. Does that make any sense? First Sentence: "Today is my eleventh birthday and I received the following presents:"
The Mini- Review: I don't usually read MG so I don't have much to go on other than to say that I enjoyed Elaine's voice and watching her grow as a person in that shark tank we call middle school.
The Blurb on the Back of the Book:
Eleven-year-old Elaine Rewitzer is funny, smart and happy being a geek, but when she wins a spot on the Cross Creek Middle School Buccaneers cheerleading squad, she gets totally into her new life. Her best mega-brain friend Bethany warns that Elaine will just become "part of the herd", and her best geek-guy-pal, Tim (who is struggling with nose polyps) feels forgotten.
Will Elaine survive the roller coaster of pre-teen cheerleader fame? Will she win the heart of the cutest boy on the basketball team? Will she confess her "uncool" love for comic books? Will she lose Bethany and Tim's friendship for-evah?
The Review:
This novel was a stretch for me because I'm not used to reading MG. I feel a little like I'm out on a ledge here looking down but I'm going to review it like I would any other book and if I say something that doesn't pertain to this genre, disregard it!
Elaine's voice really drew me into the story and reading about middle school really brought me back. I thought the book had great voice, a good plot, some cute characters, and a really fun form it was written in.
Elaine was a really great narrator. She was right at that point in her life when she really didn't know much about herself and was just figuring out how to start the process of being who she wants to be. It was really fun watching her transform from the person she thinks she is to the person she might want to be to the person she becomes. She's a pretty nice girl who just wants to have multiple interests. Too bad her interests are on opposite spectrums of the cool-meter. She has a really difficult time figuring out what's really going on and how she should handle the situation but she eventually learns her lesson.
I enjoyed how big of a role Mom played. All the group-ups in this novel were encouraging and really tried to push Elaine to be the best she could. Mom was smart and forgiving and truly was the guiding light. My favorite character was Mean Grandma, who in fact, was really mean at all. She was funny, unique and the one character that really made me like. Plus, I loved hearing her words out of Elaine's mouth. It was too cute.
The plot itself was a little lacking for me. I liked the whole cheerleading pulling her away from who she is thing that Ambrose did a masterful job at illustrating but I felt like the middle dragged a little. Thing went from bad to really bad to a little better to a litter more better to a lot better to really bad for Elaine and I would have liked to see them go from bad to worse to better to terrible. I would have also liked a conclusion with the Dave plot line. Not even a lot more but just maybe him calling and Elaine signing out just so I know that she was left with a lot of good stuff going her way. I wanted her to be rewarded since she seemed to generally learn her lesson!
Another thing that got a bit cumbersome was the diary aspect. I liked a lot of things about it being in diary form-- the fact that we get Elaine's true feeling, we see what she chooses to write and her voice which tells us loads about her. The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was that everything had to be re-told after the action had happened. For some scenes, I found myself wanting to be there with her, not getting a secondhand account later when all of the good stuff had already been done. This is a risk that is taken when choosing a form like this. It worked for the most part but I sometimes found myself longing to be there with Elaine.
I want to say that this novel does an excellent job of bringing up middle schoolers. Before reading this novel, I'd tucked middle school away in this file in my brain and written in red ink Do NOT Open all over it. This novel brought that file to light. All of a sudden I was remembering how difficult middle school is and how mature you actually are when you get there. I found myself wondering throughout this novel if some of Elaine's observations where a little too advanced but then I remembered my middle school days and realize they weren't. It also made me look harder at the people around me. For instance, I was walking in the mall and saw a herd of middle schoolers walking by, trying to be cool on a Friday night. I really took the time to notice how the girls dressed and carried themselves and when I peered harder, I even saw some boys in the pack (though you really had to look since most of the girls were taller than them, ha!) and how they interacted with the girls. Before reading this story, it was like I had on blinders when it came to that age group. Now, I can see!
Overall, this novel was a great little read that showed a lot of character growth and maturity. I really enjoyed this book and I think I learned a thing or two about being a middle school cheerleader myself!
I figured that since I did best fictional guys last week, that I ought to follow up with their counterparts this week. This post is crazy hard to do because there are seven that come to mind right off the bat. It makes it even harder because women are usually the narrators in YA and I tend to love most of them! So in no particular order, here we go!
1) Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games- Of course I've chosen the lovely girl who was on fire! When it comes to girls that can take care of themselves, Katniss is so on top of this. She could walk into the woods tomorrow and disappear forever only to be found as a little old lady as healthy as can be still setting traps. She can hold her own in a fight, is amazing with a bow and arrow and really takes what she does seriously. She's not so silly girl flouncing around not doing anything. When she decides to take control, she does so actively. For that, and many more reasons, I love her!
2) Yelena from Poison Study series- This girl is SMART. She knows how to survive and she's willing to fight for it, even with all odds against her and with a lifetime of torture under her belt. I love her acrobatic skills and how well the author (Maria V Snyder) puts them to use in the novel. She is fiercely loyal and can get through anything if put to the test. I also loved these novels for their murder mystery quality and enjoyed Yelena's ability to put together who-dun-it. She's my kind of girl!
3) Gemma Doyle from The Gemma Doyle Trilogy- Confined to an era that wouldn't allow her to be who she was, Gemma was one of the most powerful women I've read about in fiction. Being a witch, she allowed her powers to be enough to feed her through the rest of her everyday life. She wasn't afraid to go on an adventure but she wasn't a fool either. She knew when the danger was too great and she also knew when to listen to her gut. I'll never forget the girl who got locked in the church after going there on a dare by the mean girls.
4) Astrid Llewelyn from Rampant- The science nerd that will knock your skull in. Hello, Astrid is awesome. She doesn't even realize how awesome she is until the last quarter of the book but when she finally embraces it and busts through all the expectations everyone (read her mother here) has for her, she becomes a fully realized bad ass. Worse, she's a bad ass with a level head and a plan to change the future. She's fair, impressive in her hunting skills and * SPOILER* can talk to the most deadly and beautiful unicorn in existence.
5) Bea Szabo from How To Say Goodbye In Robot- I wanted to add a normal girl to this list because there are a lot of great heroines in contemporary fiction that tend to get overshadowed by the more kick ass females in the fantasy/paranormal genre. Bea, for me, is a modern day hero. I think she is because of her ability to really feel which is ironic because her mother calls her a robot. When reading this novel, I was amazed by how nonjudgmental Bea was. If you were nice to her, she was pretty nice to you and even when she made an unflattering observation, she said it more as a fact than to actually be mean. She also really cared what people said and really thought about the observations people made. She strong in a completely different way and by the end of the novel, I was so glad to see her have that strength. Bea's awesome!
Some runner's up:
Maerad from The Books of Pellinor series
Caitlin from Hold Still
Tamsin from Once A Witch
Jessica from Jessica's Guide to Dating On The Darkside
So what about you? Which ladies do you love from YA fiction?
The book blog hop is hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy For Books. The idea behind it is to link up your blog and check out others who did the same!
I want to welcome everyone stopping by from the Hop!
I'm a 23-year-old aspiring YA novelist and on my blog it's all about YA novels, writing and movies! I'm really excited to be meeting everyone! Feel free to have a look around my blog!
This week's question:
When you write reviews, do you write them as you read them or wait until you have read the entire book?
I always wait until I've finished the novel and had a day to reflection on what I've read. I need time to gather my thoughts and figure out what I really liked about the novel and some points that weren't as strong. Since I'm a writer, I like to give suggestions on how I might have done it differently or what I think would have made the novel stronger. I do think of things I know I'm going to talk about sometimes if I notice it while reading, particularly if I see a passage to quote.
Please feel free to check out my 100+ Followers contest going on right now! I just added some new things to it!
Want more contests? Hop over to Book Contest Directory for a list of contests going on right now! We'll add your contest there or you can get the scope on active book contest!
Also, I just read The Dark Divine and reviewed it if anyone's interested!
Reading Level: Young adult Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: EgmontUSA Language: English ISBN-10: 1606840576 ISBN-13: 978-1606840573 Series: The Dark Divine #1 Source: Bought from Books-A-Million Cover: This cover is absolutely beautiful in it's simplicity and represents this novel fantastically. The legs look so vulnerable and represent innocence really well which completely speaks to the MC Grace. I love the use of black with the shocking white of the legs and the floaty purple fabric. This is breathtaking! First Sentence: "Blood fills my mouth."
The Mini-review: A fast paced, exciting read with a unique take on werewolves and what it means to have faith.
Summary:
Grave Divine--daughter of the local pastor--always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood.
Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attaction to him and her loyalty to her brother.
As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and hos to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul.
Review:
I was apprehensive about this book because of the religious tones. I'm not overly religious and I was afraid this book would get preachy. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't. The plot was fast paced and exciting, the characters were intriguing, the romance was engrossing and sweet and the writing was crisp and clear.
I don't often really take the time to think about the plot in novels but this one was so good that I need to mention it. I had no idea where it was going or how the characters were going to dig themselves out of the holes they kept falling into. It was a mixture between a who-dun-it and a guess which creature we are dealing with. I had the creature down from the beginning, though it was a different take on werewolves that I enjoyed thoroughly but I had no idea who was behind all the odd things that were going on.
One of the main reasons I was unable to guess who was causing all the trouble was because Despain does an amazing job crafting a clever male lead. Daniel is smart, he's a smart ass, he's artistic, infuriating and unavoidable. I wanted to to stick near him to hear the next thing that came out of his mouth. But what made him all the better was he wasn't "good". I won't ruin too much, but he has a past that directly links to Grace and her family and he openly (well, when Grace finally gets around to asking him) admits to what he did. He knows he can't control what's happening to him and he doesn't hide that fact. I was pretty sure he wasn't causing all of the strange things but I liked that I could see him doing these things. There was strong evidence pointing towards him besides the usually, he's "the new guy in town" so it must be him. I really appreciated that.
Grace played a lovely light note to Daniel's dark one. She was pretty sheltered in her home life, obedient to her parents, loyal to her brother and not a trouble maker. But she had a personality. She was also bossy, she loved painting, she was intensely loyal to what she believed was right and above all else, she usually searched for proof instead of saying "uh. well, it looks like this so it must be". I really loved that for as innocent as she was, she wasn't afraid to follow her gut. A lot of times, I have a hard time seeing MC's personality come through in these novels but Grace did not fail me.
Grace's family got a little annoying to me. I'm not a parent but if I were, I wouldn't be one that sheltered their kids from the world and Grace's parents (particularly Mom) came off that way to me. That annoyed me to no end, especially since I wanted to be experiencing things with Grace and Mom ALWAYS got in the way of that. I think this means that Despain did a good job. The parents were meant to be annoying (or at least I think so) and they were!
Another thing I really loved was Grace and Daniel's blossoming romance. I'm always more fond of stories were the boy and girl were either friends first or knew each other when they were little so since this romance followed a little bit of both categories it was made for me. I liked watching Daniel and Grace fall in love. The one complaint I have about this though is many times Grace calls Daniel her "brother" because Daniel lived with their family for a few years. Hearing that and then reading a romantic sentence right after made me feel uncomfortable. I know they weren't actually siblings but it was still a little weird.
I think what I might have liked the most about this story was the writing. Grace's voice was so clear and I turned the pages so quickly because the writing was easy to understand and gripping. Her voice flowed so nicely and there were some really wonderful descriptions.
I should also mention that Despain is a master at adding light and dark characters like shades in paintings. She fills out the white spaces with characters like Grace and Jude and shades in the shadow with Daniel and his bunch to make a beautiful picture.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I really liked the two main characters and wanted to see them together, the writing didn't feel corny and it didn't try to shove a message down my throat. The paranormal aspect was unique and the ending was surprising. I highly recommend it!
Rating: What did you think and who was the dark Divine?
