Tour Review: The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle

• Pub. Date: September 25, 2012
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin court
• Pages:311
• Series: The Hallowed Ones #1
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.

First Line: After the end of the outside world, the Plain folk survived.

Review: I don't do too many tours where I actually review the book ( since I have way too many books to review as it is ) but I had to sign up for this one because of my curiosity about the Amish community and then to see that the author added Vampires to the mix...oh yea I signed up without even thinking twice about it.

Katie is anxiously awaiting for Rumspringa, but before she even has the chance to experience the modern world an epidemic occurs which pretty much wipes out a lot of the worlds population. The only places that are safe are churches and other holy grounds which include the Amish land. Of course the people in the Amish community are ignorant to the fact of what is going on in the outside world since they have no form of technology to find out, they just know there is a crisis and have made a rule that no one is allowed to leave or come inside their gates. 

Katie was a surprise for some reason going in I thought she would be submissive and just a goody two shoes but she was far from that. She was rebellious, independent and strong which really made me admire her character. I really grew a liking for her when she rescued Alex from outside the gates even though the Elders of her community had left him out to die. As far as the Elders, they pissed me off I'm not sure if that was what Bickle was going for but if so then she nailed it, because the Elders were so set in their ways not listening to Katie about what was out there and putting their own people in harms way.

I read this book late at night so plain and simple there were parts of this book that really had me freaked out. Bickle does not hesitate to give us detailed descriptions of all the gore and not to mention the vampires were truly terrifying these were like the old school vampires not the ones we swoon over in most books nowadays.

As wonderful of a read this was I did have a couple of issues with the book such as it did take me a while to really get invested into the novel since the pacing in the beginning was pretty slow. Also the characters besides Katie could have been more fleshed out, there were a lot of interesting characters surrounding her but I didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked to. 

Anyways even with the few issues I had I enjoyed reading The Hallowed Ones and I am so glad to see that there is a sequel because the way it ended has just upped my curiosity about a few things that will hopefully be revealed in the next book.

Review: The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

• Pub. Date: January 01, 2013
• Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
• Pages:304
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

First Line: From the Diary of Kayla Sloane:
 I'm not stupid.

Review: I love a good ghost story especially one that is paired up with a murder mystery so of course I had to get my hands on The Dead and Buried. I don't usually talk about the cover of books much but I'm not a fan of this one, and I probably wouldn't have even cared but I remember seeing the original cover that was planned for this book and it was so much better and actually went with the story. ( I have the original posted below ).

The story is about a girl named Jade moving to a bigger town during her senior year of high school with her half brother, dad and step mom. She comes to find out her brother can see a girl that glimmers. The house they have moved into is apparently haunted by a girl (who just happened to be the most popular girl in school) who went to her school and was just recently murdered in that exact home. Now the ghost of the girl is forcing Jade to find out who killed her and threatening to do harm to her five year old brother if she doesn't.

The only character besides I'd say the ghost who was really fleshed out was Jade and I really did like her. She had a hobby of collecting stones and she knew what each stone meant and it's healing properties and she was her own individual she didn't care about what someones social status was. I also liked how protective and loving she was towards her half brother regardless of her rocky relationship with her step mom.

Now as far as the haunting goes, it was pretty cliched there was the temperature changes, Ouija board being used, and possession. I can't say I was creeped out by the book but there was the part of the possession that did get a little under my skin and that was mainly because it involved a little kid and for some reason anything involving kids and ghosts creep me out. As for the ghost - Kayla Sloane, well she was vicious. She was a mean and hateful yet somehow very popular girl alive and her horrible personality transferred over into the afterlife.

The mystery behind the murder is what really had me turning the pages. There was a cryptic diary left by Kayla in which we got to learn more about her and really learn about all the people that could have had a motive to kill her. Also Harrington did a good job with keeping the mystery around who the killer could be. I had kind of guessed who it was but didn't really find out until the end along with the main character.

Overall the book had a good flow to it and it was a quick read. It wasn't dark or super creepy but had a good murder mystery that kept my attention.

Original Cover

Review: Clockwork Prince ( The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

• Pub. Date:December 2011
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 528
• Series: The Infernal Devices #2

http://www.cassandraclare.com/

"In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.


With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.


Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?


As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart."

First Sentence: 
The fog was thick, muffling sound and sight.


Review: Wow just wow! Clare has definitely outdone herself Clockwork Prince was INTOXICATING!..Epic Page Turner... Exhilarating...well you get the picture. Way better than Clockwork Angel which I also gave 5 stars to. Which is why when I compare the two this book deserves much more than 5 stars, I'm seriously thinking about adding an extra rating for books that surpass the 5 star rating. Anyways on to the review of Clockwork Prince.

 I am torn between Jem and Will. Especially after the big revealing of Will's secret I love them both, everything makes sense about Will now. Than there is the love triangle between Jem, Tessa and Will...I am not a fan of love triangles but I am a fan of this one, if you want to talk about heartbreaking this is it. There were parts where I dreaded to turn the page because of what I knew was coming and  since I love all three characters just the same it was hard to see their heart get crushed.

Anyways so much happens in the lives of all the characters in this book, from Henry and Charlotte,  Jessamine and Nate, and of course Will, Tessa, Jem, and then there is Sophie who plays a bigger role as well. We also see more of the Lightwood brothers Gabriel and Gideon. And of course Magnus Bane who is just awesome.

I'm also still trying to emotionally collect myself after the ending of Clockwork Prince. Such heartbreak I can't believe I have to be tortured for a whole year before I can get my hands on the next book in the series. Cassandra Clare also leaves us with a major cliffhanger, one that I was not expecting at all!

Overall go read it NOW! I still can't get the charcters out of my head it's like they have been weaved into my soul. Clare I have no clue how you do it but you are amazing.

Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

• Pub. Date:Dec 2009
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover, 563pp

http://www.kamigarcia.com/
http://www.margaret-stohl.com/

"Ethan Wate is struggling to hide his apathy for his high school "in" crowd in small town Gatlin, South Carolina, until he meets the determinedly "out" Lena Duchannes, the girl of his dreams (literally--she has been in his nightmares for months). What follows is a smart, modern fantasy--a tale of star-crossed lovers and a dark, dangerous secret. Beautiful Creatures is a delicious southern Gothic that charms you from the first page, drawing you into a dark world of magic and mystery until you emerge gasping and blinking, wondering what happened to the last few hours (and how many more you're willing to give up). To tell too much of the plot would spoil the thrill of discovery, and believe me, you will want to uncover the secrets of this richly imagined dark fantasy on your own. -"

First Sentence: "There were only two kinds of people in our town"

Review: I was ready to fall in love with Beautiful Creatures after all the "you have to read it nows" I kept getting and the continuous hype surrounding it. Instead sadly that was not the case for me. I really tried which is why  even though I was ready to stop reading the book half way through I stuck to it and finished it, regardless of the fact that it took me close to two weeks to do so.

I really felt that Beautiful Creatures could have been easily cut down a couple hundred pages. There were lots of details that were pretty insignificant and thought it did nothing as far as moving the plot along. As far as the characters are concerned I didn't care for Ethan or Lena. I did not feel the supposed love between the two. Lena was just flat, I was more intrigued by her cousin Ridley. Ethan, well lets just say the narration sounded like it was from a females point of view. Which is maybe why the whole time I kept thinking gee Ethan and Lena can be best friends vs wow they are really meant for each other...etc.

What I did like was the uniqueness of the casters. I also like the fact that it was set in the south but having experienced living in the south myself for quite some time, I felt that the authors could have delved deeper about the south instead of just portraying the same old cliche.

Overall loved the concept of the casters but did not care much for the characters.

Review: Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Bloodfever (Fever Series #2) by Karen Marie Moning

• Pub. Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback 337pp

"MacKayla Lane's ordinary life underwent a complete makeover when she landed on Ireland"s shores and was plunged into a world of deadly sorcery and ancient secrets.


In her fight to stay alive, Mac must find the Sinsar Dubh-a million -year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over both the worlds of the Fae and of Man. Pursued by Fae assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she cannot trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and irresistible men: V'lane, the insatiable Fae who can turn sensual arousal into an obsession for any woman, and the ever-inscrutable Jericho Barrons, a man as alluring as he is mysterious.


For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them..."

Review: I'm keeping this review very short, because I am eager to go start the third book in the series.

Highly addictive series so far. At first I was mad at myself for waiting so long to start the Fever Series but now i'm glad I waited since Moning creates cliffhangers that would have most def tested my patience. Mac is a lot less girly girl in Bloodfever and a whole lot more bad ass. As for Barrons I effin love him. Dark, dangerous, and mysterious..enough said! We still don't know what he is which is another reason for me to continue the series besides all the obvious such as great plot and character development.

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

• Pub. Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Format: Mass Market Paperback , 342pp

"MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. 

Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens. 

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….
As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands…"

Review: I am so mad at myself for waiting sooo long to start this series. Darkfever was beyond an amazingly thrilling read. I loved the world Moning created, I felt like I was right there besides Mac and Barrons living in their world.

This book surprised me, despite all the rave reviews I kept hearing about this series in general I kept putting it off since i'm not really into the whole "fae" thing. Well that was the case until now.

Mac is a favorite of mine. She was your typical girly girl which I did find odd in an urban fantasy read, but her character develops throughout the book and while not completely losing her love for pink or pretty girly clothes she does turn into one bad ass chick. Even when she was depicted as just the girly girl I still found her to be a strong character, and the reason being she had no problems traveling thousands of miles to avenge her sisters killer.

There is also Jericho Barrons. I freaking love his character although he is still a complete mystery. Can't wait to get to know more about him as I continue the series.

I did enjoy Mac and Barrons interaction with each other, no love at first sight they downright can't stand each other. There really is no romance at all in Darkfever. I'm not even sure if there is going to be a "Mac & Barrons," I'm just assuming based off of the sexual tension between the two.

Overall one of the best Paranormal Urban Fantasy books I've read.