Review to come.

Review to come

A fantastic end to this series!

Collide is the third (and final…AHHH) book of The Taking trilogy by Melissa West and I have to admit, I have mixed feelings about having this in my possession. Mostly happy because now I know what has happened with Ari, Jackson, and the rest of the group…but also sad because this series is officially complete. **Note: If you have not yet read books one and two (um…what are you waiting for) you will probably want to stop reading here. I don’t usually post anything spoilery but I also don’t want to ruin anything for you.

Collide picks up right about where Hover left off with Jackson missing and Ari in the hands of those she can’t really trust. As Ari wakes up, she realizes just what she is facing. Zeus has Jackson and she has no idea what she is going to do to save him. You’re probably going to hate me for what I’m about to say but….I can’t really say much more about what happens next.



I KNOW…that really sucks!!! BUT – I do this for you because I really don’t want to give anything away. Just trust me when I say that you will love how West brings everything back together.

What I will tell you is that now that Ari is back with her parents and her friends and it falls to her to train the people to fight against Zeus and the other aliens. As she slowly discovers, they don’t really have a chance unless she makes them half-breeds like her. As she and the rest of the crew go around trying to make a difference, Ari realizes what is really going on with the new leader of Earth and Zeus.

West does a wonderful job of tying up the remainder of this story and showing us how things will wrap up for these characters. I can’t lie…there is some heartache but it helped move the story and these characters forward. West made me feel just about every emotion as I was flipping the pages in this story and I couldn’t put it down because I love these characters so much and had to know what was going to happen.

These are some of my favorite characters because I love how tough Ari is and she is smart too. Despite her toughness she has hit this place in her relationship with Jackson that she realizes she needs him and will do whatever she has to in order to be with him. Jackson is his normal swoony self and he, of course is trying to protect her from the dangers that she seems to just throw herself into. I loved seeing how their relationship changed through Hover into Collide…they both have gone through some big changes and come to some major realizations and it is reflected in their relationship and feelings for each other.

This is a great sci-fi series that takes the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions while tying in action, swoons, wonderful characters, and a fantastic story. If you haven’t started this series yet, definitely consider it and if you have and are just waiting for this book to release, grab this as soon as you can. You definitely won’t be disappointed with the remainder of this story.

To Melissa West I say:


Thank you to the author for the review copy!

Yes - this one is a true 5 star for me. I loved everything about this book and couldn't stop reading it once I picked it up.

The characters in this book did it for me...I know, I know - that's not unusual but trust me when I say I have a love/hate relationship with some of them. Love = Jase, Sam, Tim

Spoiler

(Yes - he comes through in the end)

, and George..Ok really I love the entire Garrett family. HATE = Nan and Clay. No spoilers on why but I had really strong reactions to both of these characters.

Sam is the rich blond and Jase is one of those Garrett's. Their interactions are wonderful and the first time they meet is perfect.

Spoiler

I loved how all the time that Sam was watching his family, he was watching her.

He has the best lines in the story and you will most likely find them on my favorite quotes list.

I recommend this book to just about anyone. It is a good story about life, love and friendship. There is even a "holy crap, no way" moment - seriously...it happened and I said it. Just go read and swoon with the rest of us.

Mint leaves, dreams, and Glendower...

If you know me, you know how much I love The Raven Cycle series. Maggie Stiefvater writes stories that make me love reading and this series is one that won me over from the first page of the first book. To say that I have been anxiously waiting to have this book in my hands would admittedly be an understatement. I love every single one of these characters and I love that Stiefvater takes the time to develop each and every one while taking the reader on a journey with them.

Let me start with saying, I won’t be going into a lot of detail on this review as I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone. If you recall from book two, Blue’s mother is gone and outside of the group hunting for Glendower, they are also trying to find Maura. And…here is where you probably will hate me because I don’t want to say anything else about what happens. Sorry, not sorry. You HAVE to read this because I won’t do it justice in my review and you will enjoy it that much more!

What I will say is that I love the relationships that Stiefvater creates in this series. The friendship between the boys and Blue has moved to a stage where you can barely remember when they weren’t close friends. On top of that, we get to see how the friendships have changed between the boys as each of them are changing. Gansey is still my favorite and I will talk more about him in a minute but I have to say I was happy to see Adam grow so much and also get a view into his relationship with Ronan.

So….Gansey. I’m just going to say it, he is my favorite….hands down. And when Stiefvater gave me the bits of Gansey and Blue together…there may have been some sighs from me. All I can say is there were late night phone calls, a car ride, and mint leaves. I can’t even with these two and I just need more of them together.



There you have it…I can’t say much more and I know this might sound vague and seem fairly abrupt but I can’t say much else without potentially giving any of the story away and I really don’t want to do that. Just trust me and start this series if you haven’t yet. There is something for everyone…mystery, action, swoons, and magic…what else do you need in a great story?!?

Can someone please tell me why I took so long to read this book? I loved it and couldn't put it down.

Review to come.

Review to come

Ahhh I love Griff and Wick...I'm going to need the next book real soon.

3-3.5 stars.

Naked by Stacey Trombley won’t be for everyone but I don’t shy away from stories that have difficult to read situations. If you’re the same, consider checking this one out.

Anna has never gotten along with her parents. Her father is strict and really only ever worries about the impact her decisions will have on the way people see him and their family. As overbearing as he is, her mom is pretty much one who does whatever he tells her to do and doesn’t really stand up for herself or Anna. Because of these things Anna rebelled. By the age of thirteen she was headed down a path that led her to running away from home.

When she gets to New York City, Anna is pulled into a life she never imagined. After being attacked, she is saved by a man named Luis. From Anna’s perspective, things started out ok and she considers Luis her boyfriend. But things shift very quickly and he has her doing things that no thirteen year old should ever have to do. Eventually he is more her pimp than her boyfriend and the day he “sells” her off to another pimp, things change drastically for Anna.

After being taken to the police station, Anna meets Sarah, a social worker who does a bit of digging. Sarah ends up finding Anna’s parents and after being gone for three years, Anna’s parents take her back home to Westchester. To say her transition from living with Luis and being a hooker to moving back in with her parents is tough is probably an understatement. When she and Sarah sit down with them, it is very clear that they still don’t see eye to eye on some things.

In addition to trying to figure out how to integrate back into her family, she also needs to figure out how to do the same thing with school. One of the things her father forces Anna to do, is physically attend school – no GED for her. As she goes back to school, Anna finds herself drawn to a boy named Jackson and even though there are rumors about her swirling around, she is doing whatever she can to make sure Jackson doesn’t find out anything about her last three years and the things she has done. She wants to “just be Anna” to him and because of that, she doesn’t tell him things that she should have once she started hanging out with him.

The other thing I will mention here is that outside of the relationship aspect of the story, there is a little mystery/suspense too. As Anna goes back to school, she sees someone from her past in the hallways and he isn’t above threatening her to get what he feels he is still owed. As Anna tries to balance her past with the life she is trying to lead now, things don’t always go perfectly. She also needs to face her past, including Luis, and make decisions on how she wants to move forward.

Overall I enjoyed this story. As I mentioned, it won’t be for everyone but if you aren’t afraid of tough topics and enjoy relationship driven stories with a bit of suspense, check this one out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent is one of those books that immediately hooked me and I couldn’t put it down until I knew exactly what was going on. Vincent blends the aspects of a paranormal into a dystopian world and she does a wonderful job of it. I absolutely can’t wait to get the next book (yes…I realize how much longer I have to wait) of this series because she has hooked me with the story and the characters. I am going to do what I can to not spoil anything in this one.

I have to say, Vincent did an awesome job of developing this world Nina lives in. One where the Holy Proclamation established the Unified Church as the “sole political and spiritual authority”. With the church in charge, they determine who is worthy of the limited souls available and they also determine who needs to be punished due to breaking any of their rules. As we get into the story, we find out just how much control the church has over everything.

Nina is just trying to survive and keep her sister safe. Since their mother hasn’t really been involved in their lives for a while, when Nina finds out the reason why her sister has been acting weird and then skipped out of her annual physical, she needs to figure out how to fix things. Before she even has a chance, things go completely wrong. Nina finds out why her mother has been so distant and the mysterious boy who saved Nina from a degenerate that morning is the one to save her from the Exorcists that ended up coming to their house.

As the story moves forward, we learn quite a bit about who Nina is and how she fits into this group of people that the boy, Finn, brings her into. Her main goal is to find and save her sister but as she learns more about herself, she also has a bigger role in the whole scheme of things. As an Exorcist, she is destined to save the world from the demons who are there and it’s because of who/what she is that the church wants to find her.

There is a bit of a twist here that I wasn’t expecting. I’m not going to say what it is but it was something I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it. It creates some odd dynamics and with that said, it also helps move the story along and gives Nina (and the group) an edge in their fight against the demons.
As far as characters go, I really enjoyed how Vincent created and developed them. Nina is a loyal and smart girl. She will do anything for the people she loves and she wants to protect her sister as much as she possibly can. It was great to learn what it really meant to be an Exorcist right alongside Nina and I loved seeing the change in her as she learned and embraced the things she could do.

Finn is the boy interest and I really liked him. But really, he is more than just the boy interest. He plays a pivotal role in the story and understands how weird his situation really is but unfortunately, he doesn’t have any answers. He even struggles with it at times, but he also uses his power for good…that’s right I said it. He is willing to take risks for those he cares about and as the story progresses, Nina becomes one of those people.

I loved the secondary characters, Reese, Grayson, Maddock and I suppose Devi. Including Finn, they had all become a family and did what they needed to in order to survive but also find others like them in order to do what they could to get rid of the degenerates.

Now…I am probably not even doing the story any justice. I admit it – I have only touched on a few of the things going on and there are still a bunch of things I didn’t even talk about because I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone. Trust me when I say you need to read this book. It has demons, action, romance, and wonderful characters all mixed into a great story that will keep you turning the pages to find out what will happen next. Definitely add this one to your tbr list…you won’t regret it!

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!