I'm sure there have been countless other reviews of the second book in this popular series, so I'm going to be brief. I imagine there are quite a few other people out there that share my opinion.

The Capitol is very angry with Katniss and Peeta for forcing his hand in last year's hunger games. The districts are in rebellion and they are using the two as mascots and motivation. The second book in the series takes us back into the hunger games with a whole new arena. I found this arena to be much more inventive and played a major part in the story. The contestants are once again set up to battle until only one survivor is remaining, but once again things don't go as the gamemasters planned.

I did not enjoy Katniss and Peeta nearly as much as I did in the previous book. They did not seem to grow. The other contestants also seemed to be a bit shallow, even though the book was set up in a way that left the door wide open for some new favorites to emerge. I'll be reading the third because the story ended with quite a cliffhanger and I am still quite attached to many of the characters in the book.

3/5

Ten years have passed for Phedre and Joscelin. Years of peace and happiness uninterrupted by intrigue. The only damper is the knowledge that her best friend, Hyacinthe, is stuck as master of the straights, fulfilling an age old curse. But one again the gods have a higher purpose for them, a message seen in dreams and in the form of a plea for help from the traitor, Melisande. her son, hidden away for the past ten years, has been kidnapped. Thus begins the most imporatant journey of Phedre's life. A journey to not only save an innocent boy, but finally a way to free Hyacinthe and thwart an evil that no one realizes even exists.

A fantastic conclusion to the trilogy. Phedre takes Joscelin to hell and beyond and pushed both of their vows, to each other and to their gods, to the test. As they decend into near madness they realize how great sacrifice can lead to such amazing rewards. The journey takes to places few have heard of and brings them back home full of rewards, but scarred for life.

This is my favorite book of the series by far. I keep wanting to say more about the story, but I don't want to give too much away for those that haven't read the first two yet. What I can say is that if you haven't read these yet, you must! There is a follow up series that I have all but the first one for, and I know that it has moved up to the top of my wish list for books to buy.

5/5

I read the first book in the Dreamhunter duet as part of the Most Underappreciated Book Contest earlier this year. It intrigued me enough that I went out and got the second. However, about half way through I almost put the book down. The characters seemed to be stuck in a loop trying to figure the same things out over and over again.

Things were just taking too long for me, but I stuck through it and the second half of the book made up it. The characters started to develop again and the plot become involved and was progressing once again.

Laura Hame is once again center stage of the story, and she has finally started to put things together about the mysterious Place. The pieces eventually fell together quite nicely and the story ended well.

3/5

Maddy Glenn is the mayor of a small town, Santa Rita, in California. Small town politics are her daily business until her campaign treasurer is abducted. The only clue is a Madison Glenn business card with 4 drops of blood on it. And of course that's not all. As the crimes continue with more and more clues linking Maddy to the case, things begin to get dangerous. Police escorts, private investigators, angry fathers, and a van that seems to be following her all add up to lots of stress.

I really enjoyed Maddy as a character. She was a strong woman, but was had a deeper side to her than your stereotypical "strong female lead" role. She was compassionate to others effected by the crimes, and regularly complained about how over protective her parents could act, even though she had been out on her own for years. The characters surrounding Maddy were also very fun to read about. My only complaint were the main police characters seemed a little over the top. The disgruntled (and highly agitated) ex-husband of the first victim was an interesting addition to the story, but he almost played too large a part. However, since this is a series, they could just be setting the players for the second book.

The book was quite enjoyable, but I had the mystery figured out way too early to get excited about the big revelation near the end.

3/5

Gwen Frost is a gypsy. What does that mean? It means that she comes from a family with strange magic-like powers. In her case, she can seen the history of items and people just by touching them. It means that her power turned her life upside down and led to the death of her mother. It means that she has been uprooted from everything she know and sent to Mythos Academy, a school for the decendants of ancient mythical beings such as valkyries and Spartans, where magic and destiny are commonplace. But Gwen doesn't fit in. She just wants to go back to her old school and her old way of life.

But she needs to come to terms with the fact that her life will never be normal again. It all begins when the most popular girl in school, a Valkyrie named Jasmine, is brutally murdered in the school library. Gwen feels that like she is the only one that seems to wonder what really happened and may have found a use for her power after all, except now it doesn't seem to be working the way it should.

I loved Gwen. She was upset and lonely, but there was always a good reason for her emotions and actions. There was no random brooding moments. Throughout the story she begins to feel more like she belongs in some ways, and like she belongs less in others. She finds friends and allies in unusual places and she becomes quite the detective...her mother would be proud.

The mystery itself was quite engaging. The hints to solve it were scattered expertly throughout the story and it all linked up very nicely at the end with an ending that was suprising only in the fact that you didn't figure it out sooner. I will definitely be adding the next book to my wishlist.

4/5

Lisa explores her life as a spokeswoman for several politicians, namely the head of the Christian Coalition. Her voice is humorous and insightful, immersing the reader in the chaotic life she led. But as scandal rocks the organization she is forced to realize that her mentor may not be as honest as she thinks he is. When a series of bad decisions attracts bad press like a magnet, Lisa's skills are put to the test.

A great and entertaining read full of very memorable quotes.

4/5

Verity Scott has lost everything...literally. Her mother died years ago and now her father has committed suicide, which means all his worldly goods are forfeit and he will be buried in an unmarked grave. As Verity is mourning and trying to figure out what to do Max Blakehurst, an old friend of her father's, comes as assists her in honoring his grave in what little ways they can. The young Verity instantly associates this man with safety, security, and love. But he is gone in the morning and she is sent to her Uncle's to live.

A couple years later and Verity no longer exists. Her uncle's family has changed her name and taken her in, not as a relative but a very poorly treated servant. When Max shows up to visit the family he doesn't recognize her but is instantly fascinated by her. He decides to "help" her by offering to set her up as his Mistress. Once her true identity comes to light and scandal is about to set in, he decides he must to the right and proper thing by marrying her.

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed Verity. Many times in Harlequin Historicals the leading lady is a bit washed out, ready to fall into the arms of whatever man is nice to her. Not Verity. She insists on certain things being her way and when it all seems to be falling apart, she's not afraid to up and leave Max in London.

Max, on the other hand, drove me INSANE. He was very wishy-washy, constantly changing his mind about whether or not he loved Verity, trusted Verity, wanted Verity, would treat Verity with respect. He seemed to be apologizing for something every chapter. If I had been Verity I think I would have had enough long before the end of the book. Some of the things he said to her were positively awful.

If Max had been slightly more compassionate and likeable, this book would have been great. He was too much the villain at times for me to ever like him, which significantly lowered my enjoyment of the book.

2/5

Most of us know how deadly and devastating the civil war is. Now try to imagine it even worse. With a third enemy that doesn't care which side of the war you are on. If you are human, then you're fair game. There is a pestilence that is ravaging the land, both North and South, and that pestilence is an army of savage vampires that seem intent on wiping out the human race all together. Only a select few realize the truth behind the strange deaths. Most choose to believe that it is some strange new disease that is highly contagious.

Megan Fox is different. She knows the truth. In fact, half of her is the truth. She is half vampire and has managed to retain control of her hunger and kept her soul. She is on the hunt to eliminate the vampires that have turned to pure evil. Along the way she finds her half-brother, another like her, that also hunts the vampires with a group of his friends, and has been for years.

One of these friends is Cole Granger, a Texas sheriff that has not taken any sides in the Civil War. Apparently Texas has too much to deal with - outlaws, Indians, and vampires. Word of a large outbreak of this "disease" in a military prison brings them East and into the very heart of the Civil War. Cole finds it difficult to trust Megan at first. After all, he's only met one other half-vampire before and tends to hold to the kill it before it can kill you mentality.

As the death count rises and more and more vampires are brought back, Megan struggles with her rising feelings for Cole and strives to earn his trust. But can they learn to trust each other and work together in time? The scales are tipping, and it's not in favor of the humans.

This story had quite a nice twist on traditional vampire historical fiction novels. Since the war is taking place, it's very easy for unexplained deaths to be blamed on wounds received in the field. And with so many being buried away from home, who is there to notice that the dead aren't staying put. The characters of Megan and Cole were very well written. Neither one really trusted the other, with good reason, for quite awhile. Their relationship grew in a very realistic way, even if it did progress rather quickly. The downfall of Megan's character is that she is obsessed with the search for her father, a full vampire, and her search puts many in danger time and time again. It just seemed like she never learned and grew.

3/5

Max, Ally and his mother live in a city called Middleton. Middleton is one of the few places left in the US with a decent school system, safe streets, healthy people, and little crime. But the administrators of Middleton think it could be even better. What if they found a way to get rid of misbehavior in children. Now, we're not talking about just the big ones like arson and fighting, but even the little ones, like giggling in class and expressing an opinion. As this is slowly taking effect on the children of all ages, few seem to speak out against it. Max's mother is one of those few and they begin to hatch a plan to escape from the city.

While, our main character is Max, I fell in love with his little sister Ally. Not the brightest in the bunch, she makes up for it in pure personality. Max, a fantastic graffiti artist, seems to be going through a fairly typical teenage angst stage that didn't seem overly original. The supporting characters tended to remain fairly flat throughout the book until they were effected by the new behavior "cure". Then they just turned into what Max calls zombies....a very appropriate name.

The plot centers around Max and his family and a few of his friends, especially his best friend Dallas, and their lives as they make plans to escape without being zombified. The plan they hatch is intricate and simple at the same time and keeps the story moving as we watch the town slowly become more and more suspicious of the family. There were times when the story seemed to drag a little, but perhaps that was done on purpose to show you how hard it was for the family to make it through. As a concept the story was amazing.

3.5/5

Jared and his daughter, Serda, are in danger. He has stumbled upon a scientific breakthrough that people would kill to have. Jared has set up an elaborate warning and escape system, and when it goes off, all seems to be working as planned. But when only Serda makes it out of the city safely, Jared finds himself trapped and hunted. Serda makes her way to a place known as the Communes where she begins to rebuild her life, only to have it come tumbling down again. She once again falls into a terrible dream and no one knows if they can bring her back.

The storyline has sooo much going on that I'm afraid to say to much more even though the previous paragraph really doesn't do the story justice. This has to be one of my favorite dystopia books yet. It has a deadly disease, government out of control, and cutting edge science that can be used for great or terrible things. The only real downfall was the attempt at romance. While it helped many of the characters grow or show their softer side, it all seemed a little forced to me. Also, since the book was very in depth with so much going on, I often wondered if it would have been better if done as a duet or trilogy. There were several natural stopping places that still left the story as a cliffhanger, and would have given my arms a much needed break.

4/5