ALL THESE THINGS I'VE DONE - REVIEW - GABRIELLE ZEVIN

Book: All these things i've done

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Publisher: PanMacmillan

ISBN: 9780330537896

Rating: A

Sixteen year-old Anya becomes the head of a mafia family after her parents are both murdered by rival gangs. Although Anya is embrolied in the criminal world, she is determined to keep her brother and sister out of the mafia family, but her father's relatives aren't so keen to let them go. When Anya's violent ex-boyfriend is poisoned with contaminated chocolate – chocolate that is produced illegally by Anya's mafia family – she is arrested for attempted murder and sent to the notorious jail on Manhattan Island.  Eventually she is freed by the new D.A. in town, who believs she has been framed. But this D.A. is the father of Win, a boy at school to whom Anya feels irresistibly drawn, and her freedom comes with conditions. Win's father wants to be mayor, and he can't risk having his ambition jeopardised by rumours spreading that his son is seeing a member of a notorious crime family. Anya knows she risks the safety of her family by seeing Win again, but the feeling between them may be too strong to resist..

Elsewhere is one of those books you hear so much about, I just never got around to reading it so when this popped through the letterbox I decided I would gobble down Zevin's new novel and I really really enjoyed it. It's one of these book where it takes half the novel to get to the point it says on the blurb but you don't really care because the beginning is amazing anyway. I suppose if i were to describe it, it would be 'a Dystopian Mafia Love story with a twist'. No, but honestly the book was a spectacular read. I loved it to the very last word.

It follows Anya, a girl accused of poisoning her ex boyfriend with spiked chocolate, and then the novel commences. The type of novel and the world it is set in along with the type of characters is fantastically unique and I don't think you'll find a thing like it anywhere! A masterpiece? I have no doubt.

The plot is the most unique one I have ever read and to be honest I absolutely loved it! The world it's set it is so kind of silly yet Zevin makes it so real and acceptable, to have a world where chocolate is illegal and caffeine is a drug, and you know what? She makes it work. She twines the mixture of dystopian wonder to create an intoxicating novel.

The writing is something i haven't quite experienced before and for me it was quite weird but the moment my mind adjusted I instantly fell in love with it, from the edgy prose to the deep emotional dialogue, It was all just so wonderful. The detail in the text and those little words that juts make your heart break. As for the scenes, the one at the end... blew me away.

The characters are set to a small few which is always nice when being introduced to a new series so you can get to know them as well as the world around you without lots of characters to make you confused. Also having the same ones means you learn about them in more detail, and almost befriend which i love to do to characters. As for my favorite it is Leo her older brother, because he is so sweet and innocent and you can see him struggling to fight this mental block and it just breaks your heart when he becomes a 'wanted dead' person when he was just trying to help and support his parent-less family.

Zevin is a god in herself, for creating a book so amazing and so brilliant. I loved the deep sodt undertones of the edgy surface of this truly, amazing, novel.

THE SON OF NEPTUNE - RICK RIORDAN - REVIEW

Book: The son of Neptune
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Puffin
ISBN: 9780141335711 
Rating: A+

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa tol him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring and bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth


Percy is back. I am very I happy. I friggin loved this book! It is so much better than the previous! I loved it more than a million times and read it three times straight but it's just such a wonderful, fantastic amazing book, made by a genius named Riordan (Fact not opinion!). God was I waiting for this after the most epic cliffhanger in the amazing, fantastic wonderful previous novel only the find the second book is a even more fantastically fantabulous whizzbang novel!

Honestly this book gripped me from the first page and I was thrown into a modern america combines with the wonders of Roman and Greek mythology. The book was definitely and amazing adventure thriller and was fantastic. It had me hanging at every chapter and I loved the rush.

Now I've met Riordan, lovely guy, so down to earth, and this was just and amazing book by an amazing guy but the story line was just so bloody amazing! This was the most genius, compelling funny quirky story written with pure talent and I loved it. The book plot is so clever bringing in little twists here and there making you think so sometimes you're that one step ahead of the characters!

The writing as usual was brilliant. Enticing, locking and thrilling the writing was perfect and balance of the dialogue and the description.

Characters... well for starters Percy is back! *whoop whoop*, and me is very happy. But seriously, we're introduced to a set of new characters, no names shall be given away, but they are very interesting indeed, being Roman demigods, not greek. My favorite would have to be Hazel thought, and not just because of the awesome name. I felt closest to her out of all the characters and she just seemed really special.

Honestly the book was a joyride thriller that i loved to the very last page and I really need book 3!

THE SECRET CIRCLE: THE INITIATION AND THE CAPTIVE - REVIEW - L.J. SMITH

Book: The secret circle: The initiation and the captive - omnibus

Author: L.J. smith

Publisher: Hodder

ISBN:9780340999547

Rating: B+

Forced to move from sunny California to gloomy New England, Cassie longs for her old life. Even so, she feels a strange kinship to a terrifying group of teens who seem to rule her school. Initiated into the coven of witches that's controlled New Salem for hundreds of years, she's drawn into the Secret Circle, a thrill that's both intoxicating and deadly. But when she falls for the mysterious and intriguing Adam, Cassie must choose whether to resist temptation or risk dark forces to get what she wants—even if it means that one wrong move could ultimately destroy her.

I decided to read this because of the new tv show, which I am enjoying very much and I found that it was in fact very different, but in a good way! The book are quite unique and there isn't much out there in the teen market for witches at the moment, authors living in fear that their  witches may become stereotypical but Smith has gone all out and created a success.

The books are actually really nice and short as they come in a omnibus of two so I will be covering both in one review. The story lines are actually really simple and nice, and extremely easy to follow. The twist of having the witches is a nice part but my only criticism is that they need to 'USE MORE MAGIC!'

The characters are all so wonderful and created so well and you even get a soft spot for some of the darker characters like Faye. The characters are built up in a really nice close way. I remember my heavy criticism of the Vampire Diaries and a tad less criticism for Dark Visions but Smith has really got me with this book. It's just wonderful.

Favorite character... Cassie. Shy, kept to herself, exiting and extremely and speaks her mind whether it's mean or not... when she's drunk. No really, she was a really nice character to have to the book based on. She is a people person and really captures you heart and sometimes you really feel for her... a lot.

Overall, wonderful job Smith, I liked it and I guess it's onto the next two!

FANMADE MARKED MOVIE POSTER

The rights to the house of night saga have just been acquired for a movie/s so i thought i would do this!

Yay or nay?

DARK ANGEL - EDEN MAGUIRE - REVIEW

Title: Dark Angel

Author: Eden Maguire

Publisher: Hodder

ISBN: 9781444901863

Rating: B+

Tania's heart belongs to Orlando. Nothing can rip them apart. Until the seduction begins in a flurry of glamour and magic, music and parties all orchestrated by the mysterious and mesmerising Zoran, an iconic rock star who has retired to a remote ranch in the nearby mountains. And there Tania meets the dark side. Can she resist temptation?

Dark Angel is one of those books that is both thrilling and different. I was really up for this book as I adored Eden's previous series, Beautiful Dead. But this was better, by miles. The book spins a new twist on paranormal romance that hasn't been done yet and keeps you on the edge for the whole novel, just waiting to find out what will happen.

The plot is a basic good vs evil, girl discovering a alternate world theme but the way it has been done completely draws you away from that and this is what makes the book so special. It's a well structured strong plot, balanced in every perspective, and I thing it is so wonderful!

The writing was blunt yet so whimsical and it gave all the info it needed to give short and snappy not droning on and on. It's a really compelling novel, and the writing is just what it needs. It's not too much of anything, just right.

I have to admit, I did struggle with the first few chapters, but once i was in i was hooked. The characters, are pretty much set in stone. There aren't many, which is nice, because it makes it an easier book to read and build up a larger profile for each one, getting closer to them.

My favourite character would have to be Zoran, only because he is the main mystery of the novel, and you just want to know more about him, and when you do, at the end, it's so crazily, scarily, awesome that you just love him and hate him at the same time. 

This book is definitely the art of twists and mystery put onto paper with a supernatural twist and I really enjoyed it! 

ANGEL FIRE BLOG TOUR: Q&A WITH L.A. WEATHERLY

So today I am the final stop on the Angel Fire blog tour and I have an exclusive interview with the amazing L.A. Weatherly so I hope you enjoy!

Would you be an AK, Angel or Half Angel?

I think I'd have to choose AK. Though it's a dangerous life, they have a great
camaraderie when they're working together as a team. Being a half-angel would be
really difficult, I think; neither Willow nor Seb have an easy time of it before they
meet each other. And I couldn't possibly choose 'angel' without revealing my evil
side. ;)

Seb or Alex... which is your guy?

Ooh, tough one! I can't actually choose. When I'm writing the Alex scenes I'm totally
in love with Alex, and then when I'm writing the Seb scenes, it's him I'm in love with.
In fact, Angel Fire has shown me how utterly fickle I can be!

What was your inspiration for Angel and why did you pick Angels over Vampires or
Werewolves?

It's funny, but I didn't really start out thinking 'I want to write paranormal romance,
so what type of creature should it be about?' Instead, I was just looking for the right
structure for the love story I wanted to tell, which as it turned out needed to have
a supernatural aspect to work. I was also trying to do something original, so was
disappointed to realise that other authors had been writing about angels around the
same time - though as it happened, this worked in Angel's favour. The idea about
angels being beautiful parasites was just one of those wonderful 'what if' things that
come to you sometimes...'What if angels are real, but they're not good and kind like
we think?'

Are any of the characters based on you or people you know?

Most of my characters are based on different aspects of myself, which is why I feel
that I know them so well. The one who's the most like me is probably Seb, with all
his complications and contradictions.

Will there be a movie of Angel?

I hope so. Very excitingly, the film rights to the series have recently been optioned,
so keep your fingers crossed!

When did you know you wanted to write?

I've written almost literally my whole life - one of my first memories is of writing a
story and being very serious about getting it published.

What is your favourite book/s or author/s?

I always find it difficult to answer this question, because it changes on such a regular
basis! (See above point re: fickle.) However, one of my all-time favourites is I Capture

the Castle by Dodie Smith.

How does it feel to see your book in a bookshop or to know you’ve created a
worldwide phenomenon?

Wow, thank you! I don't know that I've quite created a worldwide phenomenon
yet, but I've certainly been extremely touched by people's enthusiasm for the Angel
series. It's wonderful to feel that readers love something that you've written as much
as you do.

If you could meet any 3 people in the world (dead or alive) who would they be?

How about the ultimate writers' dinner-party? For me, this would be Margaret
Mitchell, Mark Twain and L. M. Montgomery.

Thanks for the great questions - and I hope your readers enjoy Angel Fire! :)

Don't forget to go the the amazing: 

ANGELFEVER.COM

INTERVIEW - AIMEE CARTER

      What inspired you to write The Goddess Test?  

I love Greek mythology, and I’ve always been fascinated with the myth of Hades and Persephone. It was very much a process rather than a moment of inspiration, and the plot came to me in a lot of different pieces over the years. It wasn’t until about a year before I sat down to write the novel that I figured out how to put them all together to create a story I was very excited to write.

      Out of the book who is your favourite character? 

This is tricky. I love them all for various reasons, and while certain ones may not get much page time, so to say, they’re fleshed out in my head, and I love seeing how they react to situations. Henry, James, and Ava are my top three, and I think they all bring something a little different to the page. Either way, they’re never dull to write, that’s for sure.

      Are any Characters based on people you know?

Nope! Though after I wrote the book, I realized that one of the characters (Nicholas) vaguely resembles a good friend of mine who also happens to be called Nick. There are enough differences between them though that I’m pretty sure this is a coincidence.

      If you could spend a day with one god who you it be?  

Hades for sure. I would love to see the Underworld and visit my departed loved ones.

      Also, any sign of a film in the works? 

Not at the moment, but if there’s ever any breaking news, I always post about it on my Twitter account (@aimee_carter). I absolutely love films – I majored in film and screenwriting at university, actually – and would love for it to be made into a movie someday. I don’t have my hopes up, but you never know!

      If you could create a new god what would they be called and what would they be the god of? 

 I think the Greek and Roman pantheon (and Celtic, and Nordic, and the countless different religions throughout the world) pretty much have it covered. Maybe a god of publishing. We could call him/her Austowlingway. (Austen/Rowling/Hemingway)

      Can you give us any spoilers on Goddess Interrupted? 

I will tell you exclusively that the book starts in the September following Kate’s holiday. And that you will meet a new character on the very first page.

      How many books will be in the full series? 

Right now I have two written, and while I could go on, though not necessarily from Kate’s perspective, there are no solid plans to do so just yet.

AND DON'T FORGET TO LOOK OUT FOR 

GODDESS INTERRUPTED

SEQUEL TO THE GODDESS TEST

COMING SPRING 2012