Welcome to the next discussion of the read-along. I hope you're reading (or re-reading in some cases) along with us! Listen to this podcast episode as Nicola, Casey and I share our thoughts on Dead of Winter!
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Find out if we all loved the book or not! Even hear our individual ratings at the end of the episode. Plus don't miss Casey pointing out plot holes!
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Let us know if you read the book or listened to the audiobook and share with us what you thought of Dead of Winter.

Participate in 3 easy steps.

• Join in and get the details of the read-along here. 
• Join the Shelf Addiction Facebook Group and let's talk about the series!
• Tweet with us about the series on Twitter using the hashtag #3Bloggers1Series or call in and leave a Speakpipe Voicemail! We will respond to voicemails on an upcoming episode!

​Welcome to the next discussion of the read-along. I hope you're reading (or re-reading in some cases) along with us! Listen to this podcast episode as Nicola, Casey and I share our thoughts on Endless Knight!
​
Find out if we all loved the book or not! Even hear our individual ratings at the end of the episode. Plus don't miss Casey pointing out plot holes!
​
Let us know if you read the book or listened to the audiobook and share with us what you thought of Endless Knight.

Participate in 3 easy steps.

• Join in and get the details of the read-along here. 
• Join the Shelf Addiction Facebook Group and let's talk about the series!
• Tweet with us about the series on Twitter using the hashtag #3Bloggers1Series or call in and leave a Speakpipe Voicemail! We will respond to voicemails on an upcoming episode!

Hey Friends!

I have a mini review for you today!  A mini review is my short and sweet analysis of a book.  You'll know in 350 words or less if this is a book I recommend.

Publisher: NAL Jam
Release Date: April 3, 2007 (Original)
Format: Audio MP3 (Tantor Audio, Released August 7, 2009)
Pages: 248(Paperback) / Audio Length: 9 hours
Narrator: Cynthia Holloway
Source: Overdrive via Download Destination
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Review Date: May 21, 2014
Rating: 2 bookmarks

Synopsis: Claire Danvers has her share of challenges---like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm, and above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with vampires. On the up side, she has a great roommate (who tends to disappear at sunup) and a new boyfriend named Shane, whose vampire-hunting dad has called in backup: cycle punks who like the idea of killing just about anything.

Now a fraternity is throwing its annual Dead Girls' Dance and---surprise!---Claire and her equally outcast best friend, Eve, have been invited. When they find out why, all hell is going to break loose. Because this time both the living and the dead are coming out---and everybody's hungry for blood.

I almost didn't even know what to say about this book. Wait I know. Blah. Yep, that's it, just "blah". I listened to The Glass House a few years ago and thought that it was decent, so I wanted to give the series another try.  I wasn't impressed this time around.  I always hope that the second book will be even better than the first, but that's not the case this for the The Morganville Vampires series.  

It was a mistake to listen to this book on audio.  Maybe it's better when read, but I'll never know.  The narrators voice is so child like that she can't stretch her voice to encompass other characters, only Claire. Sadly it was my own fault that I tried this again on audio, I guess I was being hopeful. 

I know this review seems like a downer, but it wasn't all bad. I liked that the characters personalities seemed a tad older and wiser. There was still  a lot of teenage angst, but not so much that it was over the top.  Except for the handful of times when our heroine was acting like a complete idiot.  I was glad to see some progression in the plot.  Even though I didn't love the story, the plot progression kept things from getting too boring.

The adults in the story are scary. None of them looked out for the kids, not really. The queen vamp was the least cruel of them  all.  I almost wonder why there were any parental figures present at all.

I understand that I'm in the minority here because a lot of people seem to love this series, but I have no problem with that. Would I recommend this book? Not likely. On audio? Even less likely. Honestly it surprised me that I didn't like it more.  I've read a few of Rachel Caine's adult books and I enjoyed them.  If you want to check her out, I recommend her adult stuff.  If you're interested, you can read those reviews here: Devil's Bargain | Devil's Due

Happy Reading and Listening,
~Tamara

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Release Date: First published March 1, 1999 / Audio unabridged edition released October 27, 2009 by Harper Audio
Format: MP3
Pages: 276 pages (Paperback) / Audio Length: Approx 6.5 hours
Narrator: Rebecca Mozo
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: YA Paranormal, YA Urban Fantasy
Review Date: March 4, 2014
Rating: 2 bookmarks

Synopsis: Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any boy she wants. Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena for her own good. Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers....who will she choose?

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 
Release Date: September 3, 2013 / Audio unabridged edition released by Hachette Audio
Format: MP3 via Overdrive
Pages: 419 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 12 hours
Narrator: Christine Lakin
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Review Date: January 18, 2014
Rating: 3 bookmarks

Synopsis: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

First let me point out that I was torn on if this was YA or NA.  Tana isn't technically 18 yet, but she isn't really in high school anymore either. I ended up swaying more toward young adult because that felt more right. Even though drinking and violence appear to be adult situations, they were pretty muted in the book. I feel like had this been new adult, it would have been more graphic and we would have gotten more "romance".

I enjoyed that this book was told in third person. Because of this we got a lot of story. In addition to what's going in the present, we also got the history of vampires and of a childhoods of both Tana and Gavriel. Toward the end, we even got one part from Tana's little sister, Pearl's POV.  I thought the secondary characters had their purpose and were mostly likable...or evil.

The premise of the vampires in this book is that one turns from an infection received from being bitten. It seems very strange to me that Tana, has been bitten three times in her life and yet to turn into a vampire.  Take that back, twice she’d been bitten and hadn't turned. We have no clue what results from the third bite. Not only that, but in this world, one can sweat out the vampire bite infection.  Who knew! And it only takes something like 66 or 68 days...some crazy long amount of time.

I enjoyed the turn of events concerning Gavriel. For the entire book, he isn't exactly what he says he is. It’s clear that he likes Tana and wants to protect her, yet still he seeks vengeance on his enemies. Gavriel’s vengeance seems to take precedence over almost everything else. When the entire situation unfolds at the end, it's pretty clever.

Throwback Thursday is my weekly feature which I created to post a review that I've written from the past. Every week I will post a review that I've written prior to my blogs existence. I'll be sharing both the books that I think you'd enjoy and the books that I should warn you against wasting your time on! ;-)

I adore L.A.Banks and her series, The Vampire Huntress Legends. That series started my Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance obsession. After reading those books I delved into the world of vampires, werewolves, and all things paranormal and never looked back.  Sadly Ms. Banks died a few years ago.  This was her last published book, and it was also her first time writing YA and it was worth the read. When I wrote the review in 2011 we were awaiting book two, but obviously she wasn't able to publish the next book in the series.  Even if you haven't read her previous adult series, you can read this and won't be lost at all. In addition, if you like Urban Fantasy I also recommend reading The Vampire Huntress Legends series, you'll be happy you did..

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: November 11, 2010
Format: Kindle
Pages: 560 (Paperback)
Source: Purchase
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Original Review Date: January, 2011
Rating: 5 bookmarks 

Synopsis: Set in a post-apocalyptic world following the Armageddon, in Shadow Walker, the teenage children of the world’s Guardians of the Light must learn to hone their extra-sensory talents to one day join in the battle with their parents.

While they are secreted away in the Temt Tchaas Academy, (aka Neteru Academy), these students must learn to fight evil as well as learn to resist the temptation of fighting with each other. Although these young people have super powers, they still struggle with the same dramas and insecurities like any other high school student – and just because their parents may be superhuman doesn’t mean their parents are perfect. Far from it. That only makes life more confusing, as peer pressure, budding romances, decisions about whether or not to snitch, or whether or not to use one’s supernatural gifts for personal gain must be sorted out.

In this coming of age story, Sarah Rivera and her twin brother, Alejandro, must figure out when to use their wings or fangs, how to get along with their compound siblings, how to fit in with others in a huge new school, and perhaps most importantly, how to pick their battles to always fight for what is right

I LOVED this book. It threw me back to the Vampire Huntress series. It was so well told and I was excited to see the characters we loved so much from that series make cameos in the new book. I loved the kids too, the new generation of guardians are so fun to read. Even though they are too defending the world from evil, they all have their own unique personalities and traits. It doesn't seem like we are reading a remix of the old Huntress series. Its fresh. Even though it’s an YA book, I didn't feel like it was too child like at all. A bit of the themes are kind of similar to the Huntress series, which kept it from being too "young". Plus the kids are older teens, so they deal with a lot of issues that kids that age deal with in regards to parents, relationships, dealing with authority. All of it. I read this book in 2 days in my free time. I didn't want to put it down! I'm saddened that Ms.Banks isn't able to share more of her writing genius with us, she was a very talented writer.  She will be missed.

Happy Reading,
~Tamara

Throwback Thursday is my weekly feature which I created to post a review that I've written from the past. Every week I will post a review that I've written prior to my blogs existence. I'll be sharing both the books that I think you'd enjoy and the books that I should warn you against wasting your time on! ;-)

With the release of City of Bones yesterday, I'm continuing on with my last Mortal Instrument review that wasn't on my blog.  This week is book four, City of Fallen Angels. I recall that I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others. Is it possible to have the sophomore slump on the 4th book? Apparently so.  Not that this installment was terrible, but it could have been better.  If you also found this book to be sort of a slump, push through because book 5, City of Lost Souls, makes up for it.  City of Lost Souls is already reviewed on Shelf Addiction, you can find it here.  

Aside from the story line, I must give Cassandra Clare credit, not only has she found a cult following of sorts with this series, she's managing to keep the content fresh and introduce more and more crazy twists to the story.  I also must point out that the cover art for this series as well as the Infernal Devices series are just beautiful. They make gorgeous book candy for your shelf.

Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books 
Release Date: April 5, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 424
Source: Purchase
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Original Review Date: May 5, 2011
Rating: 3 bookmarks 

Synopsis:The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.
But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other one.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

I'm not going to get into the details on this book because it was not as good as the previous three books.  It was decent, but it took me much longer than I expected to not only read it, but also to get into the rhythm of things.  

For some reason, even though I wanted more of this series, sadly, I think if this series continues, the next book will have to be a home run in order for me to continue on.  Which frankly, I want to love this series, so I will read the next book and hope that #5 reignites the Mortal Instruments excitement for me. 

One of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Hearts are breakable," Isabelle said. "And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before".” 

Happy Reading,
~Tamara
City of Bones #1 | City of Ashes #2 | City of Glass #3