Je Serai Être: May 2011

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Demon Thief by Darren Shan

Release Date : March 31, 2007

Publisher : Little Brown

Pages : 244

Series : Book Two in the Demonata Series

Rating : 4

"The voice says something crazy to me. I want to argue, roar at it. But, as scared and confused as I am, I can't disobey. I find my legs tensing. I know, with sick certainty, what's going to happen next. I open my mouth to scream, but before I can, a force makes me step forward - after the monster, into the light."

First thing first, don’t read this review if you haven’t read Lord Loss by Darren Shan. Lord Loss is a wonderful, horror filled novel and this book I’m reviewing is its sequel, so go read the first!

One thing I love about the Demonata series is how the books, at least the first two, don’t seem to be related at all! When you start Demon Thief you have just finished Lord Loss and you’re expecting the story to continue but it doesn’t! It takes you into a completely different story with characters you’ve never met before, although Dervish does make an appearance.

The main character of this book is Kernel Fleck. For as long as Kernel can remember he has been surrounded by lighted shapes in the air. They’ve never bothered him, but when he concentrates he can move them around into patterns. One day, he discovers that if he moves the pulsating pieces together, they form a window. Unfortunately there is a demon trying to come out of the window. Kernel manages to push it back but feels compelled to follow it through the light. When he wakes up, with his brother Art in his arms, several days have passed and he cannot remember what happened after he went through the window. One night his parents bundle Kernel and Art home and drive them to their new lazy town called Paskinston. In Paskinston, no one knows that Kernel disappeared and he is able to live a normal life. Until he must find out what happened to him and what the lights are.

The only thing that made this book not as interesting to me as the first was that I knew exactly what would happen. I think this is because I read the book a couple years ago and was drawing off that. I knew who the demon thief was from the very beginning. Because of this I was hurrying to finish the book and move on. But never the less I found it to still keep me enthralled.

Shan’s horror is still ever present in this installment of the Demonata Series. If you have a queasy stomach or rather not read a description of a head being torn of a body, this book is not for you. But if horror is your thing, don’t pass this book by. Once the action starts you won’t be able to put down this book, it’s a fast entertaining read.

In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by the glorious Story Siren, if you don't know who this is, check her out! This week I have bought 5 books.

The Demonata Book One : Lord Loss
by Darren Shan
My Review

The Demonata Book Two : Demon Thief

by Darren Shan

My Review

The Demonata Book Three : Slawter

by Darren Shan

Cirque Du Freak Book One : A Living Nightmare

by Darren Shan

The Au Pairs

by Melissa De La Cruz

I didn't realize how many books but Darren Shan I got. Well he is one of my favorite authors and I want to own the Demonata series and Cirque Du Freak. What did you guys get in your mailbox?!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Random Acts Of Kindness

Random Acts Of Kindness is a challenge hosted by Book Soulmates. In this challenge, every month you send a book to another blogger and receive a book from a blogger as well.

Rules

Sign up every month that you'd like to participate
Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button :)
Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each RAK post for the month.
If you choose to do a RAK for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.
At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR RAK! Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us. :)

Here is my wishlist!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephine Perkins

Bec (The Demonata Book 4) by Darren Shan

White Cat by Holly Black

It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

The Genius Wars by Cathrine Jinks

A Living Nightmare (Cirque Du Freak Book 1) by Darren Shan

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Across The Universe by Beth Revis

City Of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Lord Loss by Darren Shan

Release Date : June 12th 2005

Publisher : Little Brown

Pages : 224

Series : The Demonata Book One

Rating : 4.5

"The door feels red hot, as though a fire is burning behind it. I press an ear to the wood - but there's no crackle. No smoke. Just deep, heavy breathing...and a curious dripping sound. My hand's on the doorknob. Inside the room, somebody giggles - low, throaty, sadistic. There's a ripping sound, followed by snaps and crunches. My hand turns. The door opens. Hell is revealed.

Grubbs Grady is about to learn three things: The world is vicious. Magic is possible. Demons are real. A horrifying new adventure begins with this first book in the spine-chilling Demonata series."

Darren Shan is one of my favorite authors. You may know him by his best selling series Cirque Du Freak. They made a horrible movie out of it and the ending was a little disappointing but that is a different post. This post is about his series titled The Demonata. I started this series a couple years ago but only got about three books in. I have no idea why I stopped because I did really like the books. I’ve recently decided to pick up the series again and try to read through the ten book series.

Lord Loss is the first book in the Demonata series. Grubbs, after being left at his grandmother’s house, sneaks back home only to discover that his parents and sister have been murdered by demons. He is instantly whisked away to a mental institution where he constantly falls into horrible nightmares about the demons. One day a man named Devrish, his uncle, visits and claims he knows all about the demons. Grubbs goes to live with his uncle and is learns about his family history with magic and demons.

This book is definitely gruesome with a lot of blood and gore. I would recommend this book not to be read by anyone under the age of eight or nine.

My favorite parts of the book were at the end. The final showdown between Grubbs and Lord Loss was captivating. I loved how it was as much psychological as it was physical. I also loved the very last couple pages of the book. They were hilarious.

If you like Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freaks series and want to read something darker, or if you’re looking for a good horror story definitely try Lord Loss or, actually, anything by Darren Shan.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Reckless by Cornelia Funke

US Release Date : September 14th, 2010

Publisher : Little Brown

Pages : 400

Series : Book One

Rating : 3/5

"Beyond the mirror, the darkest fairy tales come alive...

For years, Jacob Reckless has enjoyed the Mirrorworld's secrets and treasures.

Not anymore.

His younger brother has followed him.

Now dark magic will turn the boy to beast, break the heart of the girl he loves, and destroy everything Jacob holds most dear....

Unless he can find a way to stop it.

If you're looking for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place."

I, like many other people, fell in love with Inkheart and went on to read other great books by Cornelia Funke. When I began this book, I thought it would become another book I would love but unfortunately this book let me down quite a bit.

In this book there is a mirror in our world which takes you into another world in which all our fairy tales are real. A young man, Jacob, finds the mirror and begins to hind in this other world when his parents die. One day his brother, Will, follows Jabob into the world and gets scratched by a Goyl. Goyls are at war with the humans. The Goyls were aided by a fairy who cast a spell that said whenever a human was scratched by a Goyl they would slowly turn into a Goyl. Therefore, Will begins to turn into a Goyl. With the help of Clara, Will’s girlfriend, Fox, a girl who can turn into a fox with the help of a magic pelt, and a dwarf Jacob sets out on a quest to keep his brother from changing into a Goyl.

There were a couple things I didn’t like about this book. The first is the changing perspectives. At times it is really hard to tell who is telling the story. Another problem is that I never felt like I got to know Jacob and Will very well. I didn’t care about what they were doing and if they lived or died. I was much more interested in what Fox and Clara were doing.

That being said, there were parts of this book that I did LOVE. The chapter about the tailor was terrifying! I would love a whole story surrounding that character. I also enjoyed the illustrations on the first page of every chapter. I also loved Fox. She was a strong female character who was used to protecting herself and Jacob. She knows how to fight and can’t stand being left behind and out of the loop.

Reckless definitely has its flaws but it’s still worth reading if you enjoy darker retellings of popular fairy tales. I, for one, would only reread it for the chapter on the Tailor and the character of Fox who I loved.

This book was part of my "Off The Shelf" book challenge.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Elixir by Hilary Duff

Release Date : October 12th, 2010

Publisher : Simon and Schuster

Pages : 327

Series : Book 1

Rating : 5/5

"A soulmate for life...or death.

Seventeen-year old Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent politician, she has become a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a world that allows her to travel to many exotic places. But after Clea's father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea begins to notice eerie, shadowy images in her photos of a strange and beautiful young man - a man she has never seen before.

When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance, and they discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives-and their futures."

Now, the first thing I have to say is that I LOVED Hilary Duff as a child. I idolized her and wanted to look and be her, so when I found out she had written a book I HAD to have it. After I bought it I put off reading it for months because I didn’t want to be disappointed by it. But I finally picked it up and LOVED IT! I loved the characters and how it was able to be, in a sense, paranormal without any paranormal monsters. I also loved the idea of the two groups fighting for control over the elixir of life.

Clea, the main character, is a strong teen who can’t get over her father’s death. Her father is the one who introduced her to photography, which quickly became her career choice. Clea is driven to find out everything she can about her father’s disappearance. She is also very stubborn and once she has an idea it is difficult to put it out.

Ben and Rayna, Clea’s best friends, are adorable. Rayna is infatuated with the idea of a soul mate. Whenever she meets a new guy she falls head over heels for him and believes he is her soul mate. Ben is the sweetest guy in the world. He is, of course, in love with Clea who can only see Sage in her field of vision. There are so many times in this book when I just want to give Ben a HUGE bear hug.

Sage, I never trusted. He’s introduced as a dark, creepy man who shows up in Clea’s pictures and I never really got over it. At the end of the book, I did have a great deal of respect for him, but I never wanted Clea and Sage to become a couple.

All in all, I thought the plot was a reveal of old ideas, succubus and the elixir of life, presented in exciting new ways. I’m thoroughly impressed with Hilary’s debut novel and I’m looking forward to the upcoming sequel.

This book is part of my "Off The Shelf" book challenge.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

In My Mailbox (2)

So, as you probably know, last week was Easter. When I went to visit my family I got to have a huge Barnes and Noble shopping spree. Also when I got home there was a package from Book Closeouts aka the cheapest book store ever. Because I don't think I'll get any books in the upcoming weeks I'm going to be splitting the books up into sets of five to post here on In My Mailbox!